#i like food i like making food and baking

[ollieofthebeholder]

I used to get violently ill every time my church had a celebration. Like, VIOLENTLY ill. I was fine with the regular potluck, but if it was, like, a graduation party, with cake and a punch bowl and all of that? I would be sick most of the night. I spent about ten years getting scolded for eating too much cake at these celebrations, as it was assumed that I, as an obviously fat child with no self-control, was simply lying when I said I'd only had one piece, or that I hadn't even had any because it was obviously whipped icing and I hated whipped icing.

Then when I was about fifteen or so, I was waiting patiently for the woman in charge of the punch bowl to add more soda so I could have a second cup of punch in hopes that the carbonation would settle my stomach, which was already starting to hurt, because the rest of the guests had drained it dry. I watched her come out with the bottle. I watched her pour it. I noted the paler label on the soda bottle. I expressed surprise (and mild dismay) that she was using diet soda in the punch bowl.

I was informed that she always used diet soda in the punch bowl.

It might seem like not such a big deal to YOU, because it tastes just as good and it's healthier and you don't need that much sugar anyway and and and...I've heard all the excuses, trust me. But saccharine triggers migraines, and sucralose gives me digestive issues, and aspartame does both, and even stevia makes my mouth hurt. I cannot drink diet sodas without getting sick.

And because nobody told me that was what was going on, I spent ten years getting fat-shamed by people who were trying to fix the wrong problem.

I'm also allergic to grapes. Guess what one of the most common filler juices is. Guess how many commercial cookies have raisin paste in them. Guess how many recipes use wine, or sherry, or brandy. (That's also one I have a lot of people trying to fix the wrong problem with. I ask if there's wine because the recipe commonly has wine in it, they assure me that even if it DOES the alcohol all cooks out, I explain that you can't cook out the grape, they get a very panicked look and say they'll find out.) Did you know that cream of tartar is a byproduct of wine making, and that cookies (like traditional snickerdoodles) that have cream of tartar in them are therefore unsafe for someone like me?

I'm also allergic to bananas. Guess what the most common egg substitute is in vegan baking.

And you know what? My brother hates mayonnaise. Absolutely loathes it. It's not an allergy thing, he just doesn't like it. And I still wouldn't give him food that had mayo in it without telling him. (I did once, at my mother's instigation. I'd made a pasta salad in scouts and brought it home for dinner, and my mother told him it had marshmallow fluff in it. He ate it, and afterwards, she told me to tell him what was REALLY in it. He threw up. Don't know if it was a genuine reaction or just him making a point. Don't care. I've never done that since.)

Don't sneak people food without telling them what's in it. Even if you want to show them that something is just as good as [insert food here], even if you know it's just a preference and not an allergy...just. Give them the courtesy of making their own damn decisions.

“Meatless alternatives are getting so good, you should try them! I bet you wouldn’t even be able to tell the difference! In fact….”

Please

Please

Please stop trying to sneak-feed me meat alternatives.

I am willing to prepare and share a vegan meal with you, I’m willing to skip animal products in our group spaces.

Please.

Stop trying to sneak-feed me meat alternatives.

[sunseed-fandump]

Witch's Castle Headcanon Time Because I Said So

Since, in my own works, I imagine the Witch's Castle and Kingdom settings do exist in the same world (the games themselves taking place in different timelines) I've kinda developed a few headcanons revolving around life in the Castle itself! Y'know for funsies. :>

The Witch's Castle itself is rather isolated, this is because when the Witch of Light first built it she wanted it to be a safe haven for herself and her Coven-sisters. I imagine due to their powers and normal humans' general feelings towards witchcraft, they wanted to make sure they wouldn't be hunted down or have a random stranger stumble across their sanctuary. (Or like in the case of the Witch who would become First Grain Cookie, they didn't want anyone who would try to exploit them discovering their hiding place.)

The castle itself is huge because these are 13 witches who had to be entirely self-sufficient. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a wing for each Witch to have space to conduct her own branch of magical research. Not to mention space needed to create basic necessities like a greenhouse for food, a water pump for plumbing, etc etc etc. Even by human standards, it's ridiculously massive and very easy to get lost inside of.

Because the castle is so big yet so isolated, this has had an interesting affect on those who call it home. By Cookie standards, the castle could be considered a small continent in and of itself. There's a multitude of settlements and what could be considered independent city-states scattered throughout.

A common insult around the Castle is "Your batch should've burnt" not just between desserts but its used between non-baked residents as well, this little idiom has stuck in the common Castle vernacular even long after the Witch of Light and her coven-sisters vanished.

SPEAKING of the residents of the castle, as we've seen in the game, not all of them are desserts or food items, they're animals! But while some of them make sense like mice and chipmunks, other creatures should be way too big to fit in castle walls; like the Stag brothers and the Marlin Chefs. They don't LOOK like desserts, so I don't think they were baked, but if they're not desserts, what are they? Well, I wouldn't be surprised if they're a result of whatever Life Powder experiments were being conducted in the castle. When it comes to the Mice, the Life Powder might've given them heightened intelligence. And in the case of the animals that SHOULD be bigger, I personally headcanon that they started off as small things like figurines or toys that were brought to life via Life Powder; made "real" like Pinocchio but retained their small stature.

Most food and water in the castle does not have Life Powder in it. Where on Earthbread, it can be found everywhere, it's a lot more of a precious resource in the Castle. That's why the residents need a constant supply of Life Potion, since it's one of the few resources in the castle that contains Life Powder. Cookies on Earthbread don't need to worry about going stale from not drinking Life Potion consistently, because Life Powder is in the rain, the crops, everything! Life Potion still exists on Earthbread, however it functions more as a typical RPG Healing Potion.

The food grown in the Syrup Garden and the Temple of Abundance are a few exceptions to this, their goods are full of Life Powder, hence why crops grown in those places are so heavily sought after and their well-being is so vital to the Castle overall.

Unfortunately, there are very few left in the Castle who were around during the era of the Witch of Light. As such, when the Shadow Witch moved in, the mood towards Witches shifted from reverence to fear.

So don't say anything like "Witch's Blessings be upon you" in the Castle, you'll get some weird looks.

Most residents within the Castle are active at night since that's when it's considered "safest". As in: the Witch and other dangers SHOULD be asleep. Unfortunately for everyone, the Shadow Witch has a terribly inconsistent sleep schedule.

She's also a massive workaholic. Which does work in everyone's favor, because typically she's too tunnel-visioned on her work to notice little things.

Castle residents don't like being out in wide open spaces, as being out in the open means it's all the more easier for the Witch or her minions to find you.

[wqlfstqr]

◟𖥻 loml : sirius black

▰▰ pairing(s): past sirius black x fem!reader, platonic remus lupin x fem!reader.

going back to his life after spending all those years in azkaban proves to be difficult for sirius when he has to look back on what he lost.

warnings: angst, hurt/no comfort, mentions of past relationship, mentions of war, lowkey dumbledore slander.

She has been on edge the entire meeting. Sirius knows it, because he still knows about her nervous habits even after all those years apart from her. He also knows it is most likely about Harry, being apart from him for so long had clearly taken a toll on her, but it had been Dumbledore's request that Harry spent the summer with her aunt to keep him away from everything.

As soon as the meeting comes to an end, Sirius sees how she almost jumps from her seat, Remus standing up a few seconds later. And since Sirius is also excited about seeing Harry again, he follows them.

He stops near the kitchen doorway just in time to catch a glimpse of dark, messy hair running down the stairs and then, Harry is throwing himself at her arms.

"I missed you so much!" she tells him, pulling back a little just to cup the teenager's face, her eyes examining it. "Are you okay? they better have treated you well! I won't let you go back to that house, Harry. I don't care what that senile bat has to say about it."

She starts rambling and Harry can only smile and nod, his eyes shining with amusement as he lets her fuss over him. He moves to Remus next, hugging him with the same excitement he used with y/n. "We missed having you around the house, Harry" Remus tells him, ruffling the young boy's already messy hair.

When he finally turns to Sirius, he looks so much like James that it takes everything in him not to break down crying right there. Thankfully, Harry doesn’t seem to notice because he's already hugging him. And it's exactly the kind of hug Sirius needed, comforting, grounding.

"Do you want me to prepare you something to eat? I'll cook whatever you want." y/n offers as soon as Harry pulls back from the hug, and when he nods, she takes him away immediately, leading him to the kitchen.

Remus and Sirius follow while Molly said her goodbyes and ushered her redhead twins out of the kitchen, muttering something about leaving harry some time to spend with his family. Family. That was a word Sirius has not heard in a long time.

Though as he sits on the table again, it doesn’t take him too long to realize that he doesn't feel like part of said family. it only takes one look at them to feel like he doesn’t belong the way he used to.

He watches as she fusses over Harry, hurrying to make enough food for him while she scolds him for being too thin, worry pouring out on her every action: the way she sets down the plate of food in front of him, the way she brushes Harry's hair out of his face and listens to him talking about his summer with so much attention.

And Remus— Remus fits in perfectly. He jokes with Harry about something from school, knows exactly what to say to stop y/n from worrying too much, makes them smile in a way Sirius doesn’t know how to anymore.

He knows, deep down, that there's nothing going on between Remus and her. They have always been close, but in a way that seems purely platonic. But still, he can't help but feel jealous of the way they seem to understand eachother in ways Sirius can't even begin to comprehend. It all feels so domestic. So easy. And Sirius? he can only sit back and watch.

Watch as y/n talks to Harry, her voice lighter than a few moments earlier, full of fondness, something Sirius recognizes but no longer belongs to. Remus smirks into his glass, adding something that makes Harry's laugh. And that laugh— it sounds so much like James, that Sirius is helplessly dragged into the past.

To what was taken from him.

He remembers Harry's first birthday: The smell of the cake James was baking, Lily chasing Remus around the Potter's living room, a birthday hat on her hat. "You have to wear this for the photo, everyone has one"

Sirius, sprawled on the couch, laughs as he points at the pointy hat on his head. "Come on, Moony."

In the middle of the room, y/n is laying on the floor, her own hat tilted as she tries to balance harry on her feet, holding his arms and making airplane noises for him. Harry is absolutely delighted, his laugh carefree. He loves her.

And, Merlin, Sirius is so in love with her. He loves the way she can make Harry laugh so easily, the way she treats him with so much care and love. He loves the way she fits here, in his life, in his future.

She catches him staring and smiles, her expression soft, fond. "What?"

Sirius grins at her, his heart beating fast against his chest. "Marry me"

She snorts, but her expression softens when she realizes he's not kidding. "One day, when this is all over—"

He knows. She doesn’t have to say more. That's enough for him. For now.

One day, when this war is over and they can go back to their lives— maybe he could have this too. A house filled with laughter, with warmth. A family with her. A child with her smile and his hair, something good after all the darkness.

Something he never got to have.

Because when Sirius blinks, he's back at the present. Where y/n is talking to teenage Harry about going to Diagon Alley soon to buy everything he needs for his new year at hogwarts. "And don't even worry about that ministry nonsense, I told Dumbledore he better fix that because it's his fault for sending you with those— those people for the summer."

"She was not very nice about it, let me tell you." Remus tells Harry. "Called him a walking library of bad ideas." and Harry's laughing again.

And Sirius' heart aches, looking at Harry so grown up and happy despite everything. Looking at her and knowing that she went on without him. They all did. And he can't even blame them. They had to. It was what was best for Harry.

Still, he has to clench his hands under the table because— fuck. This is what he had dreamed for, even all those years in azkaban, he had allowed himself to dream about her waiting for him. About a life outside those dementor infested walls. Those fantasies had kept him alive for so long.

And now here he was, looking at what once was his— what could've been his.

After dinner, Harry goes to sleep and Remus follows after he makes sure y/n doesn’t need help with anything. She ushers him out, but she stays behind cleaning up. And Sirius is still there, looking at her. He can't help it. He wants to ask her so many things but the words die on his mouth before he can even gather the courage to mutter them.

As she passes by him though, she probably sees the tension in his face because she pauses for a second and squeezes his shoulders. Sirius stiffens for a second, but then it's like muscle memory and he can only relax under her touch, that lingers a little more than expected.

Before he knows it, he's leaning against her touch. It's for just a second, he can't deny it to himself. It reminds him of what they used to be, of how easy everything seemed to fit between them back then. But then, it's also a reminder that this isn't his anymore. This warmth, this comfort—

He pulls away and she seems surprised but doesn’t comment on it, only gives him a small smile that doesn’t quite reach her tired eyes. He knows it's supposed to be comforting, but it only leaves his heart completely shattered while she's already moving on.

And he knew it then.

It was the loss of his life. She was the loss of his life. And he knew the what ifs would follow him until the day he died. Perhaps even beyond that.

[sdv-confessions]

Seeing alot of discourse so, I'm gonna say something about all the characters i can remember myself, to try n lighten the mood!

Sam would use a LOT of emojis when texting. i mean Look at him. he also gets very insecure about how he comes across after sending texts.

sebastians bong no longer exists because he kept smoking up his room and it got confiscated because just walking in could render someone high.

I think Abigail could probably bake decently! no clue if its been said otherwise or not, i just think she would be able to. she also would be an amazing reptile/bug parent, please give our homegirl a katydid to care for.

Robin, she's a decent cook but theres some things she absolutely can't make. she's sometimes tasteblind and thats fine. Also no doubt, but she smells like burnt wood constantly.

Demetrius can bake, really well for some reason, but he also sucks at certain baking activities. he's also judges food very bluntly, if he dislikes it, you'll know, BUT if he realized he upset you, he'll try and give you tips on how to improve it.

Maru, she also likes motorcycles like Sebastian does, but she'd rather put one together than buy one. it's just more interesting in the long run.

Jodi, I don't know much about her. but I can definitely see her giving tips and stuff when she can to other parents in town.

Kent, I really think he'd like oatmeal raisin cookies? I also don't know much about him, i love oatmeal raisin cookies myself. i think he'd like cross stitching, even if he isn't good at it.

Pam, I think she and Willy hang out on occasion to fish together, chat about old times because it makes her happy, i also don't think she gets on well with alot of the other townsfolk in recent times since she seems to be quite self isolated like her own daughter. so the times she does talk with others can lighten her day, She also has a habit of being abit rude to those she cares for in a joking manner.

Willy! That man and Clint are friends, Good friends! though I don't think Willy is on bad terms with Anyone. besides being annoyed with lewis sometimes, but he still cares for him. something tells me he likes knitting scarfs and mittens. but thats when he isn't able to fish. He can't knit a sweater and he swears he gets worse every time he tries.

Clint, i think Clint is also good at baking, though he surprisingly has a habit of burning his hands, keeps thinking he can grab the pans he's using without consequences. i think his favorite to make would be Blueberry or Carrot muffins :]]

Emily! she tries her best constantly, and is actually very nervous of how to make a good first impression, but she also acts on impulse which can be a rocky mix. i think she really likes roller skating, Haley probably does to, so its probably one of tbe activities she cherishes because its time she can spend with her sister.

Haley, It think she'd actually really be able to get into the punk/rock scene if you take the time to introduce her to it. she wouldn't change up her style no, but she'd be able to enjoy something outside of her usual comfort zone.

Alex. i think he couldn't roller skate for the life of himself. and would take alot of time to accept help in learning how to. but he doesn't want to admit it because he has an easy time ice skating and thinks he should be able to roller skate just fine.

George, He likes to go rock picking, and when i say that I'm not just saying that because of how many rocks he gived you, i think he likes to search for agates, has afew glass containers full of his favorite finds, And wouldn't admit it, but he'd be really happy when people join him in the little hobby kf searching

Evelyn, i think she actually really likes fishing, and used to fish at some point, but can't really do it nowadays, but i think she'd like to hang out near the river and talk to Willy when he's there.

Marnie, she's a heavy metal girl, she secretly knows so many metal bands it would surprise you. she'd be elated in a surprized reaction from whoever she's telling. She knows alot of niche bands aswell.

Shane, he once got an eyebrow piercing, but it rejected so badly he couldn't build the courage to get any other form of piercing for ages, He does now have ear piercings though.

Pierre, he has really bad luck, and by that i mean he's extremely clumsy, He walks into so many things, accidentally shuts cupboards and doors on his fingers or foot. curses like a sailor afterwards, likes to jokingly blame Joja for bizarre happenings as abit of an inside joke. Also he's the one usually cooking.

Caroline, THAT WOMAN, i fully believe she knows kick boxing, i just, get that vibe from her. She totally would, She also does most of the hard work around the house as her husband sits around looking pretty. Strong lady, can't convince me otherwise.

WIZARD, He can't cook, not at all, he keeps saying he'll learn, but its just not working for him, It should be just as easy as potions right? No, but he is really good at making tea. he has several blends he favors, and he wishes to share them with someone again someday.

Morris? He actually does feel abit bad for the inhabitants of pelican town, be he can't pinpoint why, so he blames it on the idea that he's just sorry they won't accept Joja. as mean as he is, i do think he has a heart somewhere beneath the Joja logo in his chest cavity 😔 I think he's also the son of the CEO. But I also think he worked Really really hard to get to his position. Morris also has a habit of not actually getting sleep. like, to the point he'll just crash in the work place and get woken by an employee clocking in, Usually Shane. Because Yoba knows Shane wouldn't hesitate to dig in to the fact Morris was sleeping on the Job. Morris used to have slight buck teeth but got them shaven down, (This is lowkey because of an inside joke that takes a LOAD of different characters from different fandoms and chucks them into the same family, because they have similar characteristics.)

FIZZZZ, theres not much on him, But i think he likes to play up on the stuff he does, such as practically scarying the player, He's playing it up, Morris is scared of him. but also has mad respect for him. I know that just because they're some of the only Joja workers that aren't exactly important, that i shouldn't immediately decide they know eachother, BUUUUT, I think they're actually friends, like, MORRIS crashed on Fizz's couch often, his own house was too far back in zuzu city for him to get there on time and still have enough time to sleep, and that they'd also be friends with Dobson if he was part of the game. Though Dobson wouldn't share the sentiment .

Dobson. Dobson should be real, Not just left in code. Thats not a headcanon, just sadness. But I think that if he was in the game, he'd be even harder to convince of not being a member of the Joja workforce than Morris or Fizz would be, he'd be Devoted to it. absolutely devoted. Theres a cardboard cutout of a heart in his chest, and when you turn it around Joja. Co is written across the back in blaring blue ink.

The Cashier girl! She actually is good friends with Sam, Sam was helping her come out of her shell while she worked there, but, when Joja mart is ran outta town, she had to leave aswell since she just oustide of town, (someone help her she had to drive quite the ways to work.) She HATES Joja but she needed the income. She doesn't hate anyone who works under joja, but aren't high ranking ranking, she pities them knowing they aren't actually evil, just, stuck in a hard work environment. I agree that her name is Carrie, it just suits her.

Gunther, That man is literally so gay, You can't tell me otherwise, that man is a fruit. Also, he is related to the guy who sells mermaid pendants, something tell me they are.

Elliot, he's learned how to fish from Willy. he was more than thankful to be taught, i think he's been learning alot from afew of the residents, Like Evelyn, and Caroline, i think they taught him how to Garden, Leah told him alot about nature. Abigail Sebastian, and Marlon told him how to get out of a pickle if he's dealing with monsters if he ever gets stuck in the mines.

Linus, I think everything i can say for him is expected, but i think he used to take great joy in crocheting.

Leah? I'm shocked to say i know nothing about her and i can't make an accurate judgement, same goes for Harvey.

Sorry if I left anyone out, and I'm sorry its easy to tell which characters i am hyperfxating on. peace out. - 🔹️

.

[cigarettesaftersae]

cream puff - 03 this spring

⋆.ೃ࿔*:･ Series: shidou ryusei x f!reader | contains : fluff, (slight)angst, a bit suggestive(its shidou.), highschool au, troublemaker shidou, reader loves baking, spring :P, warning is shidou

masterlist

°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

Dear Diary, im severely thinking about how this spring is blossoming with surprises. My bakery life might come a little sooner than i thought, thanks i guess ryusei And the milk boxes are delicious

°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

You really can’t shake the feeling off, his whole vibe, his look, and smile, blonde to pinkish hair, striking eyeliner makeup- which is confidently much better than yours for some reason. Now some may confuse this with ‘love’ but you swear to your cherry pink heart, it isn’t. It’s something else, right? Right. Because right now, you glare him down, he’s took custom of the place where you wished you carved your name into so you wouldn’t be all the way in the back of the class. Pain of hearing the teacher in the front, blurry across the room of the board. He’s just messing around, not paying attention unlike you, you would’ve written down notes that could battle Napoleon's army.

Suddenly, his chair scraped against the floor as he stood, striding over to your desk with a casual air that somehow felt calculated. Without a word, he placed another milk box in front of you, his fingers lingering just a second too long.

“For you, buzz,” he said in a tone so low and smooth it sent an involuntary shiver down your spine. The playful nickname rolled off his tongue like a private joke only he understood. But you understood it. Your eyes flicked up to meet his for the briefest moment, but his intense gaze pinned you down. You dropped your eyes immediately, lips parting to say something—anything—but no words came out.

Shidou tilted his head slightly, a curious, almost amused expression crossing his face. He looked as though he were inspecting you, searching for some hidden detail, his sharp pink eyes narrowing slightly. “Hmm… You didn’t even finish the last one I gave you.”

His voice carried a subtle edge, teasing but not quite annoyed.

You fidget under his scrutiny, the weight of his presence making your pulse race. “You can take them back if you want…” you mumbled, trying to sound indifferent but knowing you failed miserably.

“But they’re all for you”

“Why?” you blurted out, immediately wishing you hadn’t.

“Figure it out.” His smirk was maddeningly cryptic, his tone a playful challenge as he pushed himself upright and returned to his seat.

Just then, the teacher walked in, silencing the chatter in the room. Her gaze zeroed in on Shidou immediately, sharp and accusing. “You’re not late anymore, Shidou,” she remarked, her voice tinged with exasperation.

“Really?” Shidou mumbled, the sarcastic bite in his words sparking quiet laughter across the room.

The teacher huffed, clearly deciding it wasn’t worth the battle, and began her lecture instead. You let out a quiet breath of relief, thankful for the distraction. But just as you started to focus on the lesson, you caught it—a subtle movement in the corner of your vision.

Shidou’s head turned ever so slightly, his eyes flicking back to you with a look that sent your heart into what you could call terror. Or maybe it’s just your mind filled with curiosity, or both because why now, is he just happening to talk to someone like you?

Thanks to the bright skies, the bell’s lousy ring signals the start of lunch. You couldn’t handle another lecture—your brain already fried from endless notes and scribbles. Rushing over to Lui, you clutch the small bento you had prepared last night, packed with enough to share—a friendly thought meant just for her. The moment she spots it, her eyes sparkle like diamonds, reflecting every bit of excitement at the neatly arranged meal in your hands.

Settling into a secluded spot in the cafeteria, both of your stomachs rumble in anticipation, practically begging for food. Just as you’re about to dig in, you can’t help but notice a lingering gaze fixed right on you…

“I really think he might like you” Lui began “I mean he’s been trying to talk to you ever since you switched seats with him”

“Following me and giving me milk boxes is oddly unusual though, put a letter in my locker or something..” You sigh heavily, chewing away your thoughts with the food placed in front of you. Shoving you hand in your bag, you felt the string on your heart drop as you couldn’t feel a single inch of your water bottle anywhere. You took a look inside and it was gone! Disappeared, no where, at least not in your bag.

“Did you forget something?” Lui’s stuffed squirrel cheeks jiggle as she spoke

“I just…forgot my water bottle-” A sudden thud lifts up your shoulders up in surprise, a simple milk box extended out for you, your third one now. Slowly, inching up your eyes, and to your surprise the shadow looming over you is none other than Shidou Ryusei, again. “Now you have three—unless you secretly drank one or two?” he smirks

“I didn’t” you reply swiftly, “Why are you following me?”

“So bold and straightforward. I like it” He began “What, am I not allowed to?”

“That doesn’t answer my question”

“Dunno, something about you just gets my cells all excited, buzz.” There he goes with that name again; you and Lui exchange a look of mutual disbelief, a questionable form of words which you wouldn’t dear to imagine. What kind of reasoning was that? “Look Shidou I don’t really know what you’re trying to do but-”

“I want to be friends with you” Without hesitation, he tucks his feet under the table and sits in front of you.

“Uh- friends?” Lui shoots you a confused glance.

“Why didn’t you say that from the beginning”

“Well I just said it” his shoulder lumps up as a shrug, “and I’d like if you could call me Ryusei”

“Shidou…”

“Ryusei.”

“Uhm- yes Ryusei… I”

““Yep. Oh, that looks good—can I have some?” He effortlessly shifts the conversation, already eyeing your freshly packed bento of food. “What-” His fingers already made it’s move before you could even answer, not that you knew what to say in the first place; acting as if you two were already friends, “Do you notice anything different?” and he’s so random “No- I don’t think so?” Staring down at his tan features, you couldn’t partially notice anything ‘different’ “Your hair?” You take a guess “That hurts me a lot buzz, I touched up my makeup real well jus’ for you” The pouty lips, droopy eyes eat you away, what a baby

“O-oh your eyeliner yes- it seems more defined. Right Lui?” She kicks your feet, nudging you as payback for bringing her more into this situation “Uh-huh, sure, totally noticed that before he mentioned it.”

“Bingo” Shidou shoots you a wink, and to his fortune you accepted the multiple milk boxes he gifted you. What’s the worth if you never try? You take the milk placed beyond you and poke the straw into the hole, gracefully grazing your soft lips onto the tip and sip. Clearing up the desert dryness in your throat.

Outrageous really, returning after lunch—this was never the situation you thought you would ever be in. At first you thought his presence would annoy you entirely but walking back to class; side by side with him, didn’t really bother you much. Lui had left you two to be alone, excusing herself because she had some work to do with the festival. Hopefully this would be a good chance to talk about what being friends is like with Shidou.

“Shi- Ryusei, why exactly do you want to be friends with me?” Your footsteps are the only two heard while walking down the hall back the class

“You’re pretty cell exploding” (You’re pretty (and) cool)

“Oh, thanks I guess.” Now is your chance! Run away from the inevitable Shidou Ryusei before he keeps you with his claws. Or maybe that's what any other person would think of in this moment, he was quite extraordinary—yes, not weird, but extremely extraordinary in your head. Despite the somewhat weird comments thrown at you.

“Did you even have lunch? I didn’t see you eating much”

“I had a bite of your food,” You tilt your head in confusion; was that all he really ate? “Quite tasty,” he comments, ever so casual and smooth. Little did he know, it may or may have not just made your heart giggle with a wide ear to ear smile, with colorful so butterflies and daisy fresh flowers, exploding in your heart just by the sheer compliment, beside Lui, no has ever complicated your marvelous cooking. But in reality, you kept a rather straight face, and a slight red blush on the tip of your ears, something that Shidou took quick notice of and said nothing but a subtle chuckle.

“I’m…glad you liked it.” Is that really all you can say? Oh you wanted to say more, maybe even offer him an everyday lunch so he’s healthy and full. Wished for a star to grant more than a miracle can strive for.

“Mhm, hey think you can hook me up with some more of your food?” Or maybe you don’t need a wish, or a miracle, maybe you just needed Ryusei.

“You’d want that?”

“Who wouldn’t?”

As you two walk into back to class, your classmates and their spirts as hopeful as this spring festival was a wavering welcome. The class president, who took great notice of your late attendance and immediately opened his mouth to lecture you two. Your ears could bleed any moment, “Shidou, I expected you to be late but not you, Y/n” He extended out the syllabus of your name like a warning ringing in your ear. “Sorry I-”

“Blah, blah, blah. So what?” Shidou cuts in, unbothered as ever. “We’re the ones who’ll be doing most of the work anyway.”

The class president narrows his eyes. “And exactly what work would that be?”

“Uh, the baking, obviously.”

“Ahem… right.” With a sigh, he turns to you instead. “Y/N, could you put together a menu of what you’ll be baking? We have other classmates working on the design and setup.”

“Of course, I can start on it now.”

As you sit down, Shidou follows along like a dog on a leash, sitting in front of you. “wha’cha thinking of making?”

“Lui really liked my red velvet with white chocolate chips cookies, so that’s one. And…a blueberry tart, some cake of course with a hint of my own recipe and design.” You could yap forever about the recipes you made and would love to try. Make the jaws yawn till they couldn’t keep their eyes open anymore. “Do you know how to make cream puffs?” Shidou fiddles with one your pencils, “They’re pretty easy yeah…you like them?” The spinning pencil between his hands stops and he locks eye contacts with you “Would you make them for me pretty please?” He leans in closer to you, nose touching, tickling, shivering against each other. He’s begging for a little more, inching for even a kiss on your soft cheeks but he didn’t want to make you anymore the shy gal you are so he left his intimacy at that. For now.

Despite the sudden closeness, you don’t flinch. His eyes darken, black pupils expanding, dilating, his amorous gaze lingering on your lips before flicking back up. You swear you hear his breath hitch, just slightly.

“And some yukhoe too please, my favorite.” He began to fiddle with your pencil once more, backing away from you—the lead lightly tracing on the surface of his sketchbook

“I suppose if you like it that much but doesn’t it seem a bit…weird for the festival”

“Just make them for me, and me alone”

“Isn’t it…raw?”

“Raw is always better, don’t cha’ think so?”

You sigh at his utter mindset, nonetheless would it ever bother you though. You made a new friend.

.

.

.

[himbopunk]

most the stuff that grows in the high anderfels is tough and anything else is half spoiled by the time the traders get to the mountains so iktom is king of macgyvering a hearty stew or some such meal out of next to nothing useable but hes not got hardly any experience with more complex dishes. his food will make you feel sooooo comfy and at home but he looks at some of the stuff bellara or lucanis make as if theyre performing magic (he will sometimes literally ask this if its bellara)

oh and he's good at baking bread also.

also, ham, the dad cookbook classic. (modern au iktom would be such a grill guy. god.)

hakim is a muuuuuch better cook generally, but he doesn't show it as much cuz he'll eat pretty much whatever. like neve his heart is with street food vendors so every once in awhile he'll try to make something he misses from pulling in the docks in llomerryn & this is when everyones like. why tf doesnt rook cook more this shit slaps. (also i think its funny if the stuff he ate there is Very different from what taash keeps saying is rivaini food cuz they came up on opposite sides of the country. "this is what the pirates eat when they come into port" "lmao no we fuckin didn't. where's the fish wheres the rice wheres the stuffed flatbreads from the market vendors. wheres the CITRUS" anyways.)

Lucanis keeps trying to get recipes from him cuz he's genuinely interested considering rivaini food uses a lot of fruits and other stuff he's not used to, its an adjacent but very different palate to some antivan food, but theyre not very helpful cuz rook seasons everything by heart and lucanis wants /instructions/ (bellara too but she gets it better fsr. adhd to adhd communication)

harding's cooking this, lucanis and bellara's cooking that... how is your rook's cooking?

[fairyboy1111]

A poem for Hestia + Digital offering

Kind-hearted Hestia, shining forever bright

Throned in the heart of the home, you of the warm smile

Both first and last, lovely daughter of time

Honored by gods and mortals alike, beloved by all

Reverenced queen, veiled in smoke and flame

Maiden goddess, dancing with such grace

In every twist and turn of the fire at the hearth

Lighting up our lives when all is dark

When freezing cold, it is you to whom we run

For you welcome all into your tender hug

Dispelling our shivering worries and burning our fear away

Holding us by the hand and reminding us that you’re there

Rich in blessings, endless gifts spring from your soft hand like shimmering sparks

Putting food upon our plates and marvelous people by our sides

Those who shows us what it means to love and to be loved

Those who we call our family with such pride and joy

You delight yourself in the baking of bread and in the stirring of bubbling pots

Upon the brewing of tea and in the sizzling meals grilling over hot coals

You rejoice in the laughter of children and in every mother’s hugs

Every time a grandparent hands their grandchildren some candy, every time two siblings share a joke

You bring forth pets of all kinds into our arms, making them feel safe and comforting us too

Giving us a chance to nurture another being, and to nurture our own souls as we do

Teaching us over and over again that we’ve got much left to learn

Searing our lives with sweet memories that will carry forth into the rest of our days

Yours is the planting of gardens, the dirt that fills the pot

The well-earned pride that surges trough our bodies upon seeing our cherished plants grow

Verdant, florid dame, perfumed in the freshness of spring

Inspiring us to mold a house into a home, a sanctuary of our own for our essence to live

You wait for us at the doorway after a long day

Whispering into our ear: “It’ll be okay”

You lovingly wipe away our bitter tears when we need to cry things out

You joyfully cheer us on when we celebrate and laugh

Hestia of the many shapes and of the many names, may you light your fire inside my heart

For I will tend to it always in my acts

Let me be as kind to others as you’ve been to us, and let me not forget to be kind to myself

Hail, goddess Hestia, the ever-burning immortal flame

[theafroamericaine]

Soul Food: A Black American Cuisine

Baked macaroni and cheese, candied yams, collard greens, smothered chicken, fried chicken, fried fish, oxtails, ham hocks, okra, jambalaya, dirty rice, gumbo, cornbread, shrimp and grits etc... the possibilities are endless when it comes to down this ethnic cuisine.

Originating in the American South amongst enslaved Africans this cuisine combines West African, Central African, Western European, and Indigenous cuisine of the Americas. Having to survive off of inadequate provisions and trying to preserve their traditional recipes, enslaved peoples laid the groundwork for soul food. "Soul" is used to describe African-American culture and its' people as a whole, the term gained popularity in the 1960s. Initially soul food was looked down upon and wasn't respected in the North amongst other Black communities it garnered attention due to the Great Migration and has since become a staple in most households. From Sunday church gatherings to backyard barbecues (cookouts) to dinner tables to restaurant menus, this cuisine has become a symbol of cultural pride and perseverance.

Truly food from the soul.

Cornbread, greens, mac and cheese, yams and fried chicken.

Soul food is closely associated with the Southern cuisine of the United States. There are a few different versions of soul food, you can have it Creole, Cajun or Gullah style; just like most dishes it depends on the region.

Jambalaya and Louisiana seafood gumbo

Spaghetti and catfish

"Soul food historian Adrian Miller said the difference between soul food and Southern food is that soul food is intensely seasoned and uses a variety of meats to add flavor to food and adds a variety of spicy and savory sauces. These spicy and savory sauces add robust flavor. This method of preparation was influenced by West African cuisine where West Africans create sauces to add flavor and spice to their food. Black Americans also add sugar to make cornbread, while "white southerners say when you put sugar in corn bread, it becomes cake"[9]. European immigrants seasoned and flavored their food using salt, pepper, and spices. African Americans add more spices, and hot and sweet sauces to increase the spiciness, or heat of their food.[10] Bob Jeffries, the author of Soul Food Cookbook, said the difference between soul food and Southern food is: "While all soul food is Southern food, not all Southern food is soul. Soul food cooking is an example of how really good Southern [African-American] cooks cooked with what they had available to them."[11] - Sourced from Wikipedia

June is National Soul Food Month.

Red Drink aka Liquid Soul

Red drink is derived from West Africa's hibiscus tea called bissap. The plant's flower petals are brewed resulting in a cranberry-red to magenta-purple color, depending upon dried or fresh petals being used. Kola is another one that's brewed using kola nuts. Bissap and red kola nut brew are hospitality drinks that can still be found in West Africa to this day. Jamaicans also have a similar drink called sorrel.

Like with soul food African-Americans created an adaption from their homeland's drink. Red lemonade was popular in the 1870s-1880s, coloring the beverage with fruits like cherries and strawberries; then red soda in the 1890s and finally powdered drinks such as Poly Pop and Kool-Aid in the 1920s. Just like bissap or red kola nut brew, liquid soul is our hospitality drink. Whenever there's a gathering you can almost bet this beverage will be there. It doesn't matter the flavors or drink type just as long as it's red.

"What exactly do I mean by “red drink?” Well, in soul-food culture, red is not just a color, it’s also a flavor. We soul-food aficionados don’t get caught up in describing a drink as “cherry,” “strawberry,” or “tropical punch,” and we don’t say it has “hints of cranberry.” It’s just “red.” Red drinks have such a special cultural resonance that whenever African Americans gather together, there’s usually a red drink in the mix. In short, it’s liquid soul." -Soul Food Scholar, Adrian Miller

Writing this piece has been enlightening and entertaining; my goal is to showcase our ethnic cuisine and give some history behind it for a better understanding for Black History Month. There is so much more to soul food history that I would be here all day if I wrote it out. I also love to find similarities among the diaspora. Our jambalaya rice is similar to West Africa's jollof rice, our gumbo is similar to West Africa's okra soup. Red drink is also referred to as "red drank" in some areas, here in Detroit we prefer Faygo red sodas (pop), but in the South they prefer Big Red. "Red, in many West African cultures, is a symbol of strength, spirituality, and life and death, according to historians."

I would like everyone to list their favorite cultural meal in the comments below and their favorite drink along with it. Thanks for reading!

Source 1. Source 2. Source 3. Source 4. Source 5.

[yuurei20]

Do we have any context on the TWST characters favorite food?

Hello hello! Thank you for this question! 🍓 (⚠️first-year birthday groovies included below!)

There are a few characters we have context for and a few we do not, starting with Heartslabyul:

Riddle: Strawberry Tarts

Both Riddle and Trey have commented on Riddle's love of strawberry tarts, and while this may be connected to the trauma of his childhood, Riddle himself has maybe never given an explanation.

--

Trey: Candied Violets

Trey explains his love of candied violets at length in his first birthday vignette, saying that before he started elementary school he was apparently amazed by the concept of edible flowers.

Trey says, "I like the taste, of course...but I also love when the violet aroma overtakes my senses. It's like I'm lying in a bed of flowers. That's the real appeal to me."

He says that he used to snack on them all the time when he lived at home, and to this day his parents will send them to him: "I like munching on them during study breaks."

--

Cater: Spicy Ramen

Cater's favorite food is listed as "spicy ramen" in his profile, but when asked directly his first response is, "I'm a big fan of grilled lamb chops with diavolo sauce. It tastes good, and it just SOUNDS cool," and when Trey asks what the group's favorite food in in Book 1 Cater responds, "I like a nice lamb chop with diablo sauce."

In his birthday vignette he then follows with, "Oh yeah, and l've been super into spicy ramen lately!"

--

Ace: Cherry Pie

We have multiple examples of Ace declaring his love of cherry pie, but he has maybe never provided an explanation of why.

--

Deuce: Anything with eggs

Deuce says that he enjoys eating eggs and they are also fun to cook with, and he says that "a nice, eggy chiffon cake" is superior to cherry pie for being "easy on the palate and not overwhelmingly sweet."

Rather than Deuce liking eggs because they are what his mother would always cook for him, it seems that she was always cooking them because they were already his favorite: Deuce says that she would make him "omelet rice, poached eggs, baked eggs..." and "always cook egg dishes for (his) birthday."

[crazylittlejester]

I'm having a really shitty day, do you have any fluffy headcanons of the modern au Links? It doesn't have to be anyone in particular, I love them all (sorry if this is demanding, you can ignore this if you want to /gen)

i gotchu anon, im sorry to hear your day hasn’t been going well i hope you feel better 💙💙💙

- Twi is strong enough to hold (for brief periods of time at least) all of the dogs on the ranch, none of them are too heavy for him, so if they’re in the mood to be “lap dogs”, he can absolutely hold and cuddle them. Wolfie in particular loves to be held, and Twi will carry that dog around like a puppy because he loves him so so so so much and he gives him so many kisses and talks to him like a toddler. and Wolfie is obsessed with every second of it

- when War isn’t feeling good, mentally or physically, he’ll flop face down on his floor and his cat Tara will come sit by him and rub her head against his jaw until he picks her up and goes to his bed. Sometimes when its more of a mental health bad day he’ll call Wild and Wild will come over and make sure he eats something and just be there near him for as long as he needs (War does the same for him when he needs it)

- Sky loves to carve little birds for his girlfriend but he’ll also make little goats for Twi and little cats for War. Both of the boys have all the little figures Sky has made them on their desks so they can look at them

- Sky stress bakes because cooking is something that makes him feel calm and happy, so whenever he’s stressed out their apartment smells INCREDIBLE, and then he feels better by the end of it AND theres a delicious meal. Sometimes he’ll end up making more food than he, Twi, and War can reasonably eat so they’ll invite Legend and Hyrule up

- War’s cat Milo has a love for kitchen counters and so when Sky’s cooking and Milo is inevitably on the damn counter, Sky will call him “Chef” and say things like “Well we have to get the milk now, Chef Milo” as if the cat is going to help him open the fridge. Sky also sings/hums to himself as he cooks and Will end up singing/humming to the cat

- Twi goes through some pretty low lows with his mental health and sometimes he doesn’t have the energy to speak, but he’ll come silently sit next to War or Sky somewhere in the apartment and thats how the others know he’s looking for a little extra love so War will usually give him a cat to hold and they’ll watch a movie

- Every time War slips on a patch of ice on the pavement Twi makes fun of him because “mr world champion figure skater slips on patch of ice” will never NOT be funny to him, and War will hit/kick at his ankles until he falls down too

- Groose will sometimes send Sky texts like “haha fuck you, you loser, i caught this really cool ass bug and you dont have one of these” and Sky, out of sheer spite, will drop literally everything he is doing, go to the city park, and search for a cooler looking bug so he can respond with “FUCK YOU” and a 0.5 of whatever bug he found. This has gotten him out of bed on days where he was too depressed to move, this has made him go outside and walk around when he really REALLY needed it, because somehow Groose always knows when a good 30 minutes of looking in the dirt for bugs will be good for Sky and he always feels better afterwards

- War took Sky and Twilight skating once, led them both out into the middle of the rink, and then sped away, leaving both of them in varying degrees of distress. Sky was able to figure things out and get back to the edge, but Twi just stood there like a baby deer on a frozen pond (if either of them expressed being GENUINELY upset and scared, War would’ve gotten them immediately)

- Every so often they’ll have “sleepovers” where they all drag their shit into either War’s bedroom or the living room and watch movies until they fall asleep together on the floor/War’s bed. The cats join them every time

[dangermousie]

The way he takes care of her the way she did of him back way when. It makes sense - the only way he knows how to take care of someone is the way she showed him, since nobody except for her ever bothered to care for him.

Awwww, he made her (a terribly burnt) mooncake and he's so skittish about it - really like a cat that brought a dead rodent it caught and wants praise but is also trying to pretend it's too proud to want it.

"I just casually baked some" oh I need every good thing to happen to you, poor dude!!!!

His little pleased face!!!!

And then she drags him off (by hand) to eat. I love love love how much of language of care in this highly fantastical setting is something as mundane as food. At his cultivation level, he no longer needs to eat but she keeps pestering him into it and it's honestly such a big deal because he was so starved and what not as a kid. Honestly, this man badly needs a domme - not for sex but to tell him to have his meals on time and like make sure put medicine on if he's hurt.

He is so hopeful but doesn't believe she'll want this when she gets her memories back. Honestly, their dynamic can be summed up as:

Her: I will fight heaven for you.

Him: you hate me, right?

He is very full of disordered thinking and it makes total sense with background but dude - she never hated you.

[waynes-multiverse]

So happy to have you back! And again, hopefully no stitches were torn during the consumption of this 😂❤️‍🩹

lolll I don't want to doubt him, but somehow I feel like it's gonna take a lot more than junk food and half-baked charm to win her back on this one. 😂

You'd think, but she has known this idiot for a long time. She accepts it with an eye roll and a sigh 😂

"Green-eyed chaos theory" is such an apt description, I'm dead! 😂 It's also conjuring mental images of Jurassic Park Era Jeff Goldblum.

Hahaha I thought that was so fitting for him. Glad you agree 😂 And omg, yes, total Jeff Goldblum vibes!! lmao

The whole mission of why she's here is so compellingly detailed and feels very authentic. It feels like an episode of what Jensen's new show Countdown might be like!

Ooof, don't remind me all the fanfics Countdown will inspire 👀 But thank you so much! Huge compliment 🥰

You know I love my crime and spy stuff. I blame watching too much Homeland for this lol

I love these Colter interjections, because he's thinking the same things I'm already thinking about Russell's mysterious life lol.

Aww, I'm glad you enjoy these. I could totally see him quietly listening with a furrowed brow, trying to learn more about his brother, and then totally go, "Hmm? What now?" loll

We already know from Polaris that I like to fill in blanks 😝

God Russ seeing the pictures of their kids on her phone wrecked me. 😭😭😭

I swear everytime I mentioned their kids in this story, I cried 😭 That's such a tough spot to be in, not seeing your kids and watching them grow 🥲

But their conversation went from heartbreaking to hilarious to... *ahem* hawt, to drawing me even more into their complicated web and wanting to know everything that went down between them for them to be estranged like this, yet they're so clearly made for one another. 💕

I'm glad their connection came across. I was a little worried since my head has already filled in so much gaps from the prequel that it's hard to tell if it makes sense to everyone else as well 😅

And their estrangement was not entirely planned, but I mostly wanted to show that these two are so connected that they knew they can survive a temporary separation. I love playing with the "fated love/soulmates" trope quite a bit lol

Thank you so much for reading, Alex! I hope you feel better soon and can relax a little before life gets crazy again 🤪🩵

The Exit Strategy – Part 3

Summary: Russell is ready to hang it all up and retire, open up a brewery, and enjoy the rest of his civilian life. However, there’s one important thing missing before he can take the big plunge. Luckily, he knows just the right person to help him find it.

Pairing: Russell Shaw x Female!Reader

Warnings: 18+, language, some spice & implied smut (incl. a bit of dirty talk), mentions of a terrorist attack, a tiny bit of angst & feels, fluffy fluff

Word Count: 6.8k

A/N: Thank you guys so much for your feedback on the last two parts! So happy I get to finally share this little adventure with you and that you all loved it so much 🥹🩵 Welp, let's dive in before I get too fucking sappy... 😝

Main Masterlist || Series Masterlist || Tag List

Part 3: This Is a Heart-To-Heart

With pursed lips and a clicking tongue, Russell’s eyes skimmed the seemingly endless aisle of breakfast cereals, his pointer finger drifting from box to box before it landed on the Lucky Charms. His lips rose to a satisfied grin, his heart skipping a beat as a memory popped into his mind.

The supermarket’s PA speakers announced the opening of a third cash register during the evening rush as Colter stood idly by, hands in the pockets of his jacket, and blew a raspberry. In his periphery, Russell could see his younger brother check his watch for the fifth time and smiled a little to himself.

“Russ, uhm, hate to break up your very serious choice of breakfast cereal here, but we need to move. We’re gonna be late,” Colter finally dared to remind him. Russell had wondered how long it would take. “Can’t you do your grocery shopping some other time?”

Russell only chuckled at that. “Oh, this isn’t that. I need this for tonight.”

“Uh-huh.” Colter wasn’t entirely convinced. “You do know we’re invited to dinner, right? There’s gonna be food. You don’t need to bring a–,” his eyes narrowed at the item Russell threw into the cart, “–box of Lucky Charms. Wow. Okay…” Colter scratched the nape of his neck. “You know, most people bring a bottle of wine. Flowers… You want me to–”

“Nope, I’m good.” Russell shook his head. “I have a plan, alright?”

“Oh, so now you have a plan?” Colter deadpanned. “Where was that plan when I got beat up in a supermarket alley?”

Russell snorted a laugh and cocked his brow. “Is that why you’re so jumpy since we walked in here? Did she actually give you supermarket PTSD?”

“I’m not jumpy,” Colter defended with a too defensive shrug.

“Well, alright, I’m almost done here,” Russell assured him and pulled out a tiny piece of paper with unreadable scribbles on it – his shopping list. “All I need now are Nacho Cheese Doritos, rocky road ice cream, brownies, and potato chips. Luckily, I already got the beer in the trunk.”

Colter’s frown deepened, but his lips quirked a tiny smile of amusement. “Alright, should I even ask?”

Russell laughed. “Trust me. Those are all the things I need to win her back. I know what I’m doing.”

Colter relented with a sigh. “Alright, gimme the list. I track down the snack aisle.”

“If you find them, I’ll give you a five dollar reward, little brother,” Russell quipped, earning him the middle finger as Colter rounded the corner.

Russell exhaled a sigh of relief once he was alone. All afternoon, he’d wracked his brain if he could or should tell Colter about you – about the fact he had a wife and two kids. Was now the right moment? Or had it already come and gone?

And if Russell was looking for a petty excuse, he could just audaciously claim Colter never asked. Never asked if Russell had someone special in his life. Never asked if he was an uncle yet. So, was it really on Russell to offer information that was never asked of him? Now, that wasn’t really his nature, was it?

Like he said, petty excuses…

Russell knew it was (mostly) on him. He did give way to the illusion he was a lone wolf without any strings anywhere. At the end of all his pondering, however, he came to the conclusion it was best to let you navigate how to proceed. You’d always been his compass.

On a late summer evening, with the sun slowly approaching the horizon and dipping the suburban cul-de-sac in shades of golden orange, you found two men on your doorstep: One who only looked familiar despite knowing him almost your entire adult life, and one who seemed familiar, even though you’d never met him before, but some unmistakable features and mannerisms reminded you of your husband.

Said husband beamed at you from ear to ear, carrying two paper bags worth of groceries in his arms. “Hey, sweetheart.”

The heart in your ribcage pounded faster as your eyes landed on his smile. Nothing and no one ever broke your composure or pulled the rug out from under your feet – but Russell had always managed to do both since day one.

“Well, I guess… come on in, guys,” you said with a small sigh of hesitation and held the door open wider, mentally preparing for an entirely unplanned night – they usually were whenever you spent time with the green-eyed chaos theory.

Never in a million years did you think you’d end up here when you met a young soldier on a sunny day at the American embassy in Iraq and put him through a baptism of enemy gunfire only a few hours later. And to be fair, he’d always been handsome, but the quirky shit didn’t reveal itself till later. If Russell Shaw had been a book, you would’ve definitely misjudged him by his cover.

Russell set the brown bags down on the kitchen island, a small smirk flickering across his plump lips. Internally, you heaved another sigh. Of course the idiot would think about sex – a curse conjured up by your own making. If Russell ever had a bad influence in his life, it would’ve been you.

“So, what did you bring me here?” you entertained his little plan, spying into one of the bags. You already had a pretty strong inkling of what might be inside, your heart swelling that he, A, cared and, B, even went as far as making a thoughtful, swoon-worthy effort.

He used to do these things all the time – till it all eventually stopped.

“Only the best for my girl,” Russell said, chuckling giddily as he hauled a tub of rocky road from a bag as if he was making a bunny appear from a hat. Only in your opinion, it was a way better magic trick.

“Oh no, you are the fucking best!” You squeezed his shoulders, short of jumping fully on him, with a grin from ear to ear. Your cheek muscles even began to hurt. You hadn’t smiled this much in ages. “Look at this! You even got brownies! You’re unbelievable, Shaw. You know I’ve been craving this shit for months. We’re supposed to be an organic family,” you explained with an eye roll, your hands still rummaging eagerly through the bags.

“Yeah, I figured somethin’ like this. Remember when you had to pretend to be vegetarian for that greenwashing gala?”

“God, don’t remind me. The asshole served cauliflower steaks and then turned around and shot a fucking lion,” you scoffed, both of you chuckling at the memory. Russell had been right in the chicken coop – it felt like no time had passed at all.

Not touching him and falling into his strong, warm embrace was hard. Not kissing him was harder. And being in his near vicinity without doing any of these things was unbearable. You weren’t just important to Russell; he was important to you, too. For a long time, he’d been the only person you could trust and confide in. You never lied to each other – that had been a rule.

“Wow, okay, so this is different,” Colter noted, you and Russell both glancing up at the young man across the island. As he was only met with two furrowed brows, he clarified, a finger gesturing to your cross necklace. “Just the-, uh, the whole swearing… I mean, at church you were… you know.”

You laughed when you realized what he meant. God knows your aliases had confused the shit out of Russell in the beginning, too – till he learned to take advantage of your role-playing skills. Then, he had tons of fun with it.

“Yeah, I know. Quite the mind-fuck, isn’t it? I usually only pretend to be someone else for a short job – a day or two, a single event. Deep-covers like this aren’t my favorite either,” you shared and hoped it would signal to Colter that he could relax. If his shoulders became any tenser, you’d worry they might freeze that way.

“Speaking of, where’s your husband?” Russell chimed in with a teasing grin.

For the briefest second, your reply would’ve been, “Which one?” Russell could see it, too – the twinkle in your eyes – but then you stopped short when you noticed his look.

Colter didn’t know you two were married. Oh, Russell…

“Basement. Finishing up our report,” you said in a quieter voice, turning on the faucet of the kitchen sink.

Colter’s brow knitted with an amused smile when Russell turned on the radio as well. “Is that really necessary?”

“Can’t be too careful,” both you and Russell replied, not even noticing you spoke at the same time, too zoned in on your routine.

“Who’s your mark?” Russell then asked, leaning back against the kitchen island in an angle that shielded his presence from the window as you got to work on your fake dishes.

“Congressman Eric Mueller.”

“A congressman? Really?” Colter’s brow raised before his eyes showed a little intrigue. “What’d he do?”

“Selling sensitive national security information to foreign agents,” you answered.

“How’s the pastor involved?” Russell asked, opening a box of Lucky Charms and stuffing a handful of dry cereal into his mouth.

“How do you know he’s involved?”

Russell only chuckled at your blatant diversion. “Oh, c’mon! You’re an open-minded person. I know you don’t hate the man for no reason. So, what’s the reason?”

You sighed in proud defeat – checkmate for Russell. “Mueller is laundering money through the church. Pastor’s taking a cut.”

“And?”

“He’s a pedo,” you finally admitted, dumping a clean plate ungraciously into the soapy water before swinging around to meet Russell’s eyes.

“There it is…” He nodded with a winning smirk that felt wrong, rubbing a hand through his beard. “Thought I caught a bit of a creeper vibe. Figured it was just all the kumbaya Jesus shit.”

“I wish… Every time he touches my arm, I wanna cut his hand off with a fucking spoon.”

“Well, we might get to that later if we find the time,” Russell quipped, flicking a marshmallow into the air before catching it with his mouth. You frowned – your son did the same damn thing in the mornings. “What information is Mueller selling?”

“Security protocols, blueprints…” you replied.

“To what?”

“Mall of America,” was all you said before the kitchen fell silent. Crickets. Well, and the faucet and radio… “Our intel suggests they’re planning an attack in December.”

“Well, merry Christmas,” Russell huffed bitterly. “So, that’s the carrot.”

“Yup, that’s the carrot,” you confirmed.

The lives of innocent children and families going about their Christmas shopping in America’s biggest mall was what the agency used to lure you back into the field – the carrot in front of your nose.

For days, you had debated whether to take the job or not, leave your family, and go back undercover to do things no one else wanted to do. But one look through the door at your peacefully sleeping son and daughter made the decision for you. How could you not go? If you didn’t do this, other parents might not get the same courtesy of seeing their children safe and sound in their beds and kissing them goodnight. So, you left your children for the sake of others.

Russell nodded with understanding, telling you he would’ve done the same thing if he were in your shoes. You knew he would have. Still, a part of you felt incredibly guilty, always hoping that Lewis and Amelia would understand someday when they were older.

“Who is it? Russia? China?” Russell asked.

“Neither. It’s an extremist splinter group. Has ties to both ISIS and Hezbollah, but works mostly out of Iran,” you said.

“How did you infiltrate Mueller? A guy trying to blow up a mall doesn’t strike me as a good Christian,” Russell noted.

“Well, he’s not, but his wife, Clara, is. She’s very involved in the church. Was easy to get in this way. I helped her with a few charity events. She got me a job as a bookkeeper for the church, not knowing I’d actually find a bunch of evidence there. Afterward, she invited me for coffee. Now, we have brunch on Mondays, play bridge on Wednesdays and tennis on Fridays. I’m at her house all the time. God knows I have the place bugged in every room now at this point…”

“Bridge,” Russell snorted in amusement, earning him a scolding glare from you. “Does she know?”

You shook your head. “Nope, doesn’t have a clue what her husband’s up to. Wonder what that feels like…” you muttered the last sentence under your breath, Russell narrowing his eyes at you. “He was in the Navy. Stationed in Pakistan. We think he got approached there. He was probably a sleeper agent till he got elected.”

“How far is he in it?”

“Honestly, can’t say. He might be fully turned or just doing it for the money and glory.”

“Glory?” Colter cocked a brow.

You confirmed his shock with a nod. “The mall’s in his district. After the attack, the plan is to portray him as a hero who vows to avenge his constituents. Puts him on the map as running mate for the next election.”

“Then they’d have someone on the top level,” Russell deduced thoughtfully and then found your eyes. “We can help.”

You felt the creases between your eyebrows deepening.

“Yeah, and I already told you – no, thank you,” you huffed, shaking your head. “I didn’t tell you all this as a sitrep, Russ. I told you, so you know we have everything under control, and you can leave again.”

“We both know I’m not going anywhere,” Russell replied stubbornly, his stern gaze drilling into yours. “I can help.”

Undeniably, Russell, with his expertise and certain skill set, would be a helpful addition. You had never trusted someone more in the field than him. The two of you had been an unstoppable team. After almost twenty years together, you could communicate with just a single look. You knew he always had your back, just as he knew you’d always have his – and in the espionage life, that was probably the greatest asset of all.

However, while your mind all too eagerly agreed with him, your heart protested just as heavily. It was a high-risk, high-stakes operation, and a part of you wanted to protect him and keep him as far away from it as possible. You’d known that feeling almost your whole adult life – since the day you’d met him, you had wanted to protect him. Whenever you ignored him, shot him down, or even left him, you were always doing it for his own good. Protecting him meant sometimes hurting him.

But the persistent motherfucker never listens…

Bringing your husband into this and turning your children into orphans wasn’t your only fear, though. There was still Colter.

“Oh, I know you can. I trained you. Remember?” you retorted with a fiery look.

Russell clicked his tongue. “So, this isn’t about me. It’s about him.”

“Oh, ‘cause I’m not one of you guys?” Colter quirked a brow and assured you with easiness in the shrug of his shoulders, “I can handle it.”

Ignoring him, your focus stayed on Russell – the culprit. “You brought a fucking clueless wildcard into a clandestine operation! No offense, Colter…”

“None taken,” Colter said with pursed lips.

“Bad move, Shaw,” you continued directing your anger at your husband.

“I can vouch for him. He’s good, alright? Trust me. He helped me out with something before. And just recently, he even stumbled onto a DoD black site,” Russell reasoned with a weak chuckle like he was sharing the family newsletter.

Your frown intensified. “Yeah, the word stumbled really fills me with tons of confidence here.” Then, you expelled a deep sigh. “Look, I know you two had a weird fucking childhood, but you, of all people, know it’s not the same thing! He isn’t trained for this.” Your eyes then drifted to the younger Shaw. “No offense, Colter, but if I ever need someone to kill a bunny, I call.”

“Little offense taken,” Colter quipped with a creased brow.

“I assure you he’s good, alright? Great, even,” Russell said, stepping closer to you. Your heart jittered, the movement like dominos that fell a path from your ribs up your spine and down your arms where goosebumps formed in their wake. “Everything he doesn’t know, I’ll teach him on the road. You don’t have to worry about a thing, sweetheart. Shaws are excellent at improvising. Remember the helicopter?”

“I remember screaming and wishing to die quickly for two hours straight.”

Russell pursed his lips, hiding an amused smile.

“You can fly a helicopter?” Colter asked, brow rising in genuine interest. He slightly leaned forward as if to hear better, cherishing those bits and pieces of his brother’s mysterious life. He hoped one day he would’ve collected enough of them till the nonsensical puzzle matched the picture on the box.

“Yup,” Russell grinned boyishly, wagging his eyebrows. “Named her Birdie. She was a beauty.”

“She was a piece of shit. And he couldn’t fly at the time, hence all the screaming on my part,” you clarified.

“She made me take flying lessons after, but honestly, I had a pretty good handle on it the first time round,” Russell bragged, earning him another frown from you. His irresistibly green eyes then bored into yours. “But it worked, didn’t it? We’re both still here, right?”

You exhaled another long sigh. You hated when he was right.

“Just take tonight to think about it, okay?”

“Fine, I’ll think about it,” you softened, feeling a warm palm gently splay across your back – slightly lower than a friend would place it. You knew Russell was lulling you into agreement – you had taught him that damn trick yourself – but you couldn’t deny it felt so, so, so nice.

“C’mon, ice cream’s melting. Let’s get some unhealthy food into you before you chew someone else’s head off,” Russell teased.

“I am kinda hungry,” you admitted in a meek mumble.

“Oh, I know. I can tell.” Russell chuckled behind you and kissed the top of your head, his arms snaking around your waist.

Fuck. It felt too good. Too familiar.

You wanted his hands to wander down, fingers lifting your skirt, brushing along your inner thighs on their way up. You wanted his head buried between your burning legs, fingers bruisingly gripping your hips while his tongue dipped into your heat. You wanted him to step even closer, tear your lace panties down, pry your buttcheeks apart, and take you hard and deep.

God, you hadn’t had sex in forever. Who could think clearly like that?

Swaying out of his embrace, you grabbed one of the paper bags and looked at him suggestively. “Wanna take this downstairs? I have to show you something.”

Russell’s lips twitched with a smile. He knew what it meant – not here.

His gaze then drifted to Colter. “You’re gonna be alright up here for a while?”

“I’m good.” His little brother nodded with a shadow of a smile as if he had only waited for the moment the two of you would excuse yourselves and retreat.

“I’ll send Tom up here. Have him brief you,” you said, both brothers’ eyes then blinking at you.

“Does this mean I’m in?” Colter asked.

“If you want to, you’re in,” you stated and muzzled a sigh.

Colter’s head bobbed for a moment, a hand scratching his throat. “Well, not exactly something you say no to.”

Russell and you shared an amused look and both replied, “We know.”

“Oh, Tom’s also made some lasagna. I’ll tell him to feed you,” you added kindly.

“Thank you.” Colter matched your smile.

“Whoa, not so fast,” Russell threw in, pointing an accusatory finger at you. “Did your cute little hands have any involvement in the making of said meal?”

“No, Tom wouldn’t let me get near it,” you huffed with an annoyed eye roll.

“Smart man,” Russell quipped and then turned to his younger brother. “You should be safe to eat it, then.”

His joke earned him a whack of his chest from you.

“Ow!”

Russell followed you down the creaking wooden steps to the basement. The walls were still raw, the giant room unrenovated. In passing, you switched on the washing machine for an adequate noise level and pulled back the thick, navy curtains to reveal a whole setup with desks and computers.

Russell whistled lowly, green eyes flashing around the room. “Got the whole spy gear down here, huh?”

“Yup.”

Sliding an old artwork to the side, you entered a code into the wall safe. It held mostly sensitive information but also some personal items. You retrieved your private phone before locking it again. You scrolled through your photos until you found what you were looking for, handing it to Russell.

As soon as his eyes landed on a picture of his son on a swing set – with a grin brighter than the sun and one that looked just like a copy of his father’s – Russell inhaled sharply, his grip on the phone tightening.

“He looks like you,” you said softly, leaning your head against his bicep, tangling your arms around his. Then, you swiped to the next picture. “That’s Amelia on her second birthday. She liked blowing out the candles so much, I had to light them seventeen times in a row,” you giggled. But Russell only swallowed thickly, quietly laying the phone down on top of the dryer. You could see the tears well in his eyes again. “Was this too much? I’m sorry.”

Russell shook his head, offering you a sad smile. “No, uhm, it’s too little.”

“Yeah, I get that. Feels like they change every time I turn around. Bet they’re already looking different now,” you said with the same regret-filled sadness in your voice.

“When this is over, you think I could see them?”

The hopefulness shimmering in his green orbs devastated you, adding a few more cracks to your already damaged and bruised heart.

“Of course you can. You can see them as much as you want,” you assured him. “Maybe Amelia first? She’s still little. I mean, it’s just–”

“No, I get it,” he brushed off your concerns with an easy smile, but you could see all the hurt underneath it. “Lewis is older. It’s more complicated. He probably doesn’t even remember me.”

“Russ… Of course he remembers you,” you said. “You’re his dad. He has a picture of you on his nightstand. He talks to you every day.”

Russell snorted a humorless chuckle, the guilt eating him alive from the inside out. “Kinda makes it worse, doesn’t it?”

“I don’t think it does,” you replied, smiling softly. “He missed you. We all did.”

Russell’s lips on yours took you by surprise, reminding you of the first kiss you’d shared – only back then, the roles had been reversed, and he’d been the shocked one.

The kiss was gentle and tentative, nothing hasty or thoughtless about it. He still tasted the same. He still felt the same, even though the beard tickled slightly. His large hands cupped your face – a perfect fit – his thumb sweetly caressing your cheek as he pulled back, hazy pine green eyes searching for yours.

“Sorry,” he said with a rather unapologetic smile and a bob of his Adam’s apple. “Couldn’t hold back any longer.”

“It’s fine,” you mumbled with a half-hearted shrug and tiptoed up to claim his lips again, your arms draping around his neck and pulling him closer.

What started slow and careful became a fever dream when your tongue slipped inside his mouth, his hands wandering down your sides till they reached their rightful place on your lower back. Your mind flooded with every kiss, every touch the two of you had ever shared, your heart close to bursting because it had found its missing piece again.

As he drew back, his nose brushed yours, his fingers lovingly tucking a few strands of hair behind your ear. His eyes then focused on the top of your head. A smile rose on your lips, guessing his intentions.

“Can I?”

You nodded, biting down on your bottom lip. “Go ahead.”

Carefully, he lifted the wig from your head, and a few sorries and giggles later, the fake hair was gone. Removing the hair clips and tie, you gestured with your chin to the desk.

“Can you hand me that blue case?”

Russell grabbed the small case and turned to you with a cheeky smile. “Eye drops, too?”

You nodded, and he came back to you with the requested items. Pulling your eyelids open with your fingers, you took out the colored lenses, placing them back in their case.

Russell held up the eye drops. “Want me to do the honors?”

You giggled and gave him another nod. “Yes, please. You know I hate doing that stuff.” Russell then gently pulled down your eyelid as you tilted your head back. “God, this feels so sexy…”

Russell laughed, the sound reverberating deep in his chest. “You’re always sexy. Doesn’t matter if I’m giving you eye drops or stitching you up.”

“That’s sweet, but shut up. We both know you’re lying. You’ve sewn me back together in some pretty rough states,” you remarked, but your cheeks couldn’t stop from rising higher and higher.

“And vice versa,” Russell said simply, administering the last drop into your right eye.

“Ugh, fucking burns.” You sniffled, blinking your eyes a couple of times till the sting subsided.

Russell’s hands then cupped your cheeks, bringing your focus to him. He smiled at you, bright and warm. “There she is,” he said softly, his voice only a whisper. Your heart tugged in your chest, trying to squeeze itself through your ribs just to be closer to him. “Missed those beautiful eyes.”

“You’re so cheesy,” you teased and pressed your lips on his, slow and sensual – careful. As you glanced up at him, your heart cracked a little more again, your eyes welling up and burning with tears.

“Hey, what is that? Why are you crying?” Russell worriedly checked on you like you were a kid with a fever, his thumb catching a salty teardrop that had escaped.

“It’s the eye drops,” you replied lightheartedly in a last ditch effort to hide the all-consuming guilt in your stomach.

Russell sent you a kind smile, stroking your cheek. “I don’t think it’s the eye drops, sweetheart…”

“I’m so sorry, Russ. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I thought I was helping you…”

“I know. I know…” he soothed and opened his arms. “C’mere.” As you fell into his embrace, he kissed your crown repeatedly, his arms holding you just as tightly as you held onto him. One palm patted the back of your head, the other rubbing your back in soothing circles. “I know you did, okay? And I know why you left. It did help, you know? To get my own head outta my ass… Just one of those things, I guess. Didn’t know I needed to hit rock bottom first before realizing what I’d lost. I’m only sorry I didn’t get my shit together sooner.”

Swallowing, with an ear on his chest, you listened to his heartbeat for a moment – steady, strong, safe. There wasn’t one single person in this world that could give you what Russell always could – comfort. It was what you wanted the most, what you needed during your worst times, and what you goddamn craved, always.

“You know, when you didn’t come back after a year, I was scared you finally found what you’re looking for, and it wasn’t me,” you admitted quietly, swallowing.

Before Russell, you barely ever shared your true feelings and thoughts with anyone, not even family and friends. Your heart, mind, and soul stayed hidden like your personality, your identity, and everything else that made you you. But Russell had always seen beyond the walls, the masks, and the aliases.

He drew back slightly, the hand that tangled in your hair lifting your head till you met his eyes and their loving crinkles. “Never gonna happen,” he assured you with nothing but honesty in his gaze. “You’re it, baby. You know I’m a one-and-only kinda guy,” he quipped, flashing you his signature grin. “You’re everything I ever wanted, sweetheart. The only family I ever had, really. I should’ve told you that sooner. Maybe you wouldn’t have left then.”

“This is soon enough,” you said and pecked his lips. “Why didn’t you tell Colter about me? Or the fact that he’s an uncle?”

With a sigh, Russell grabbed the brown paper bags, the ice cream in it surely melted by now, and settled down on the raw concrete floor, leaning his back against the rumbling washing machine. “Well, if we’re gonna talk, we might as well do it old school. Sit down. Eat,” he ordered you.

Taking a seat next to him, you grabbed a container of room-temperature rocky road and opened it. “Whoa, that is soup, yep!” you exclaimed with a laugh.

“Eh, it’s better when it’s melted anyway,” Russell remarked.

“So true…”

“Hand me the Doritos.”

“Yup.”

Quietly, you and Russell then created your dish like the two of you were parodies of Gordon Ramsey on the comedy channel, and only after savoring that first bite of rocky road cream soup with Nacho Cheese Dorito sprinkles (the croutons to your meal if you will), did you stray back to topic.

“So?”

“Right, uhm…” Russell scratched the back of his neck.

You snorted in amusement. “You always do this, you know.” He raised his brow, giving you a sideways look. “You change the subject and distract me in that cutesy way of yours.”

“I don’t think I’m cutesy.”

“You were twenty years ago,” you countered with a fond smile and took a crunchy, spicy spoonful of your soup. “I still see you that way sometimes, you know?”

“God, I hope not,” he groaned, chuckling. “That’s just horrifying.”

“You weren’t so bad. Pretty sweet, actually.” You shrugged, the hint of a smile tugging at your lips. Russell had always been the lost little duckling that had imprinted on you.

He smirked, but his cheeks betrayed him by turning sweetly red. “Yeah, that’s how I lured you in.”

“I don’t think you did much luring, big guy…” you retorted. “You had zero game.”

“What?!”

“Oh, c’mon, Russ… This can’t come as a surprise to you,” you said, giggling.

“Fine,” he caved with a roll of his eyes and chuckled lightly. He scratched the scruff on his throat. “Guess I was a little nervous that night. You were really intimidating.”

You snorted a laugh. “I know.”

“‘M glad you made the first move, though.”

“I made all the moves,” you corrected teasingly. Your gaze then fell pensively to your lap, where your fingers nervously fumbled. Your heart jolted once, like the jump start of a car. “So, uhm, you know… were you making any moves on other people?”

“People?”

“Women,” you clarified and pursed your lips. You didn’t look at him. You knew he would probably find your discomfort amusing.

“Ah.” Russell smacked his lips, trying his hardest not to grin. Then he looked at you – brow raised in an almost scolding manner, but his lips curved upwards and gave his act away, dimples barely hidden by the beard. He held that gaze till you finally met his green eyes. “Have you not been listening to me before? I told you – there’s only you, sweetheart.”

Your brows drew into a frown. “Don’t sweetheart me. It’s been three years, Russ.”

“So?” He twitched his broad shoulders. “You know that’s not a problem.”

“Well, that was before…”

Russell snorted loudly. The crinkles around his eyes doubled as he rubbed the tears out of them. “What, you think sleeping with you has suddenly awoken the dragon?”

“You don’t have to make it sound so ridiculous,” you muttered.

Russell licked his lips, nodding. “Well, news flash – you’re the only treasure for this dragon, baby.”

You stifled a gasp. “I said less ridiculous!”

His grin only broadened, but then he apparently decided to let you off the hook. “Look, in the past three years, has there been opportunity and maybe a little flirting? Sure. But nothing ever came of any of it. Twice, I came scarily close to kissing someone, but I bolted. Wanna know why?”

“Yes? I think…” you replied hesitantly, causing that infuriating smile of his to rise again.

“‘Cause all of it felt like cheating on my wife. So, are we done with this now?”

Defiantly, you shrugged him a nod, but your heart pumped warm, fuzzy happiness into your veins before Russell’s next question made them freeze again.

“Bigger question is, did you kiss a few toads? Or, you know, did some quacking?”

Your lips rose till dimples formed and your cheeks started to hurt. “Please let me be there when you give the kids the sex talk…”

“Okay, don’t even try to change the subject now,” he chided playfully. “I just meant out of the two of us…”

He choked on his words when you narrowed your eyes to a small glare.

“Out of the two of us what, Russell? Please finish that sentence.” Your voice rang with challenge.

“Nothing.” Sheepishly, he scratched the nape of his neck again. “I just meant that, you know, you’re the one who has more, uh… experience in that area.” When your glare morphed into daggers, he swallowed thickly and corrected course, clearing his throat. “Which, you know, I’m real happy about because God knows I’ve profited greatly off of it.”

“Are you slut-shaming me right now?”

“Nope, mm-mm. No, ma’am.” Russell’s lips pressed into a thin line. Then he muttered under his breath, “Not like you’ve sent more soldiers off to war than Bush… Ow!”

Russell rubbed the burning spot on his chest where you had punched him.

“That one hurt this time…” he groaned.

“Good.” The daggers in your eyes blunted back to a frown. You let out a sigh. “You’re an idiot. Please move on.”

“Yes, ma’am.” With curled lips, Russell bobbed his head. “So?”

Musingly, you then rolled your eyes to the ceiling, your head falling back as your tongue darted out between your lips. “Alright, let’s see… In the last three years, I’ve slept with one, two…” you muttered and then mouthed till #4, beginning to count on your fingers.

“Oh, stop it! You think you’re real funny, young lady, huh?” Russell huffed.

When you saw his exasperated expression, you bursted into laughter, the sound echoing off the bare concrete walls.

“C’mon, I had to,” you choked out your excuse between belly-crippling laughs and hysterical snorts. “I’m a single mom of two small children. I’m thankful if I get five minutes in the shower alone.”

Russell laughed a little too, but his heart flooded with relief. The thought of you with someone else had gnawed on him for some time, sharp little bites that pricked his soul. He didn’t know what he would’ve done if it were true – well, aside from dissecting amphibians.

“Almost gave me a heart attack, sweetheart,” Russell chuckled. “Can’t do this to me anymore. That was a young man’s game…”

Instead of uttering an apology, you captured his lips, kissing him till his head spun even more. His breathing quickened, his heart clinging to every last bit of oxygen when your tongue slipped past his lips. His hands tugged on your hips only all too eagerly until he had pulled you into his lap. Your legs straddled his muscular thighs, your clothed cunt rubbing against the growing erection in his jeans. Your underwear soaked at the thought of him splitting you open.

“Make me cum,” you sighed into his ear, nibbling on his lobe. “Want you inside of me again.”

“You’re killing me here,” he groaned as you kissed your way down his throat, teeth grazing over his skin. His fingers twitched with an itch to crawl up your thighs, push any obstruction to the side, and plunge right into your surely wet and waiting channel.

“Good,” you smirked, rocking your hips harder against his bulge.

“Sweetheart, I’d love to, but you’re not exactly quiet.” He chuckled against your lips. “We’d have to blast some death metal on the highest volume for the neighbors not to hear. Doubt they ever heard those sounds coming outta this house.”

With a frustrated huff, you relented breathlessly and slid from his warm lap back to the cold, empty space next to him, cursing the bad timing.

“First time I stitched you up was pretty memorable,” Russell noted after a labored minute, a tiny smirk tugging on his lips.

Your cheeks blushed, your chest still heaving with panting excitement, but you matched his mischievous smile with your usual cocky attitude. “Bet it was. I looked hot in that towel.”

“Yeah, you did. Had a pretty massive boner the whole time. Was surprised you never noticed,” Russell said.

You grinned. “Who says I didn’t?”

“Oh, I know you didn’t, or you would’ve jumped me right there in that bathroom,” Russell teased.

Gasping, you slapped his arm. “I did not jump you!”

“You kinda did.” Russell only laughed harder, with that same boyish grin he always carried when he was happy. “All you wanted was to pull my pants down and hop on for a quick fix.”

“Really? Are you done now?” you playfully scolded him. “And excuse me for wrongly assuming a soldier who’d been stuck in the desert for months with a bunch of other dudes might want sex if the opportunity arises.”

Russell’s boisterous smirk only grew wider. “You wanted me. You had it bad.”

The heat in your face was burning, your tongue poking the insides of your cheeks. “Alright, I don’t think you need an ego boost, Shaw.”

“Still think I’m handsome?” he asked you with a nudge of his elbow.

Pursing your lips, you musingly narrowed your eyes at him, assessing him in jest. “I don’t know. You are a little more rugged these days. The beard’s definitely a midlife crisis.”

Amused, Russell quirked an eyebrow. “Midlife crisis?”

“Yeah, what’s next? Buying a ridiculous car and brewing beer in your basement?”

“Actually, I brew it in the trunk of the ridiculous car.”

Your brows drew together. “Shit. Really?”

Russell laughed loudly, throwing his head back. “Yeah, really.” He then a hauled a bottle of unlabeled beer from the bag, handing it to you. “Taste it. It’s good.”

“If it tastes anything like that schnapps you made in that Guatemalan prison, then no thank you,” you retorted, uncapping the bottle and taking a sniff.

“I promise this wasn’t made in a designated pee bucket, alright?” Russell laughed. “Just drink it. Tell me what you think.”

“Alright, here goes nothing,” you mumbled and took a hesitant, quick sip. Then you took another longer one, squishing the liquid around in your mouth. Your brow raised. “Huh. Not bad,” you remarked, watching Russell’s grin widen. “Why do I taste marshmallows?”

Russell then fully beamed at you. “Knew you’d get it. Took me a while to perfect it. Wasn’t easy, you know? The secret is only adding one of those little Lucky Charms marshmallows. First try, I used the whole pack. God, that was gross.”

“That’s actually pretty genius,” you said with an impressed smile.

“Well, if it is, I kinda owe it to you. You were the OG food genius.”

Smiling, you leaned back against the washing machine with a small sigh, your head dropping to his broad shoulder as you snuggled up against him. He opened his arm and pulled you closer as you nursed your sweet-tasting beer. Russell placed another kiss on your temple, calloused fingers gently caressing your skin.

“When did this job get so hard?”

“Wasn’t it always kinda hard?” Russell answered your rhetorical question, mumbling half his answer into your hair.

“Guess so. Didn’t always feel that way, did it?”

“No, we had some pretty good times,” Russell said with a warm smile and pecked your crown once more.

“You think we’re bad people?”

Russell’s absentminded gaze dropped to you then, now fully focused. “What’s bringing this on, hm?”

You only shrugged in his embrace.

“Alright, I’ll play,” Russell said and then hummed. “Well, we’re not the best people…”

“I was hoping for a little more reassurance,” you said with a playful huff.

Russell chuckled softly. “Look, we always did what we thought was right. And we’ve seen real bad… evil. I don’t think we fall into that category, sweetheart.”

You nodded against his chest. “I guess so…”

Part 4: This Is Not an Exit

One of the things I loved writing most about this series were the deep conversations between all characters, but especially this one in the basement. Hope you enjoyed this as much as I did before we break some, uhm, news to Colter next week 😉

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[itslusii]

🤍 Dating Franco Colapinto

pairing: franco colapinto x reader

request: yes/no

warnings: food, one cuss word and i don’t really think anything else

Author’s note: heyy so i was bored and i felt like doing this!! hope you enjoy it !🫶🏻 down here i’ll leave the translations/meaning to some of the spanish words i used!

mate= traditional drink from Argentina that is similar to tea asado=barbecue but better. bizcochitos= salty biscuits empanadas= is a baked or fried pastry filled with, usually, meat and chicken, or cheese and some other stuff. merienda= tea time!!! te amo= ily

-Franco is from Argentina (obviously) so he would need you to know about our his culture. He’d make you try mate and maybe some pastries if you’re into more sweet stuff. But if you are not, asado and some salty bizchochitos would be a great choice.

-he would love when you go to his races and support him. His name in a jersey on your back would be a something he’d be really proud of.

-just like i said in my Carlos post, he is also a very family guy. All his little cousins would love you and his sister is your number one fan.

-he’d ask you to cook for him because he may be good at driving but he’s useless in the kitchen area. Since he left home at a really early age, he didn’t really had time to learn some stuff about being independent and living on his own.

-in relation to that, please cook some empanadas for him, he’ll love you forever🙏🏻🙏🏻

-i don’t really see him as of being someone who uses words for his love language. I see him being clingy and not caring about others. But if your love language is words of affection or any other he’ll gladly take it!

-Sunday’s afternoon are his jam, even tho these seem to be sort of depressing he really knows how to make it better. Some music, maybe a movie and lots of cuddles.

-he will support you in everything you do and desire. But for example if you know how to play an instrument he’ll be asking you to play his favourite songs for him all.the.time

-your waist/hip area is his favourite place for his hands to go. If you’re in public it’d be rare if his hands aren’t on your waist or your lower back.

-he’s really funny, so expect your stomach to hurt after laughing so much. Not because he’s cracking jokes every single minute of the day, it’s just the way he says things that are funny.

-workout with him!! he’ll love it, but do know he gets kind of cranky when working out. But a really good merienda afterwards would solve that issue.

-he’d say i love you first. One afternoon early in the relationship he saw you watching some youtube video on how to cook something he had mentioned he liked and he knew then he loved you with all his heart. But he blurted it out when he saw you wearing an Argentinian football jersey.

-Sometimes just because he’s a cheesy motherfucker he will say te amo instead of i love you. But you love it nonetheless.

[dandysworldhcs]

I dont think we have much info regarding things you can actually do when visiting the gardenview centre (before it shut down) so I had some thoughts about it.

Each toon either leads or is a co-leader for at least one activity that the kids who visit can participate in at certain times. The activities only happen 1-2 times everyday, every few days at set times and they’re not all at the same time so you will also see toons wandering around and interacting with each other and the kids.

Anyways, some specific activities that could’ve existed!

Brightney is in charge of a storytime where she reads books to kids, sometimes other bookclub members join her as guests.

Looey teaches kids pretty simple circus tricks like juggling and spinning plates.

Cosmo and Sprout show kids how to cook/bake certain foods (this is mostly reserved for older kids since little kids and kitchens aren’t usually a good combination).

Goob and Scraps have a craft corner, Scraps shows the kids how to make certain things and Goob goes around and helps kids who are having a bit of trouble figuring it out.

Rodger leads a mystery the kids have to work together to solve; he usually gets a few other toons to play some role for the mystery, either as somebody who needs a mystery to be solved or as a culprit who stole some cookies or something.

Thats all the ideas I have for now, sorry for the long ask and if I accidentally sent this in already.

Also, could I be ink anon?

welcome to the crew ink anon!

also, im really in LOVEE with this concept. i know most of the fandom includes things like the arts and crafts aspect, but never much else.

gardenview actually makes sense to have the learning center if all the activities are happening

edit: some weird stuff is happening lmaoo, it says cheeky queued it, but it includes all my commentary and shit. sorry cheeky lololol

note from cheeky: we prob just answered it at the same time lol

[wormieapple]

hello my friend!!! it occurred to me that i have like……never been in ur ask box. so here i am!!! i hope u had some good food after all that booping today 😴

thank u 🥺 welcome to the box!!!

i did have some good food!! i made a feta tomato pasta sauce with penne rigate and spinach. i don’t even like cheese but man the tangy savoury flavour from the feta pairs so well with the sweet acidity of the tomatoes, and spinach is. spinach. i just need plants in my diet so. spinach. overall doesn’t detract from the dish so it’s overall delightful.

[animatronic-assistant]

Elara nods in understanding, making a mental list of cakes she could bake, noting BloodyHarvest's enjoyment of the chocolate. Sweet and sour, huh? Maybe some lemon candy or desserts would be up their alley. She had finished her meal and looks to GrimReaper.

I had the berries dried so they would last longer. They are not as juicy but the flavor is more pronounced. You might like the dried cranberries.

She gets up and starts cleaning up the food mess.

@h-didanart

(Hello again :3)

Due to no longer having a terrible smell, the cabin’s current guest Bloodmoon wasn’t as easy to find as they previously would have been, which wasn’t helped by their steps being incredibly quiet (a feat considering they were wearing steel-toed boots)

They shuffled up to the recliner chair, falling on it face first before shifting themselves to sit on it

The sound of the recliner creaking against their weight was the only thing that gave them away.

As if on cue, GrimReaper came stalking out of what is known as the 'craft room'. It was a place where all the hides, leather and bones were taken after a hunt. Especially if it was deer or boar. GrimReaper made things and they had nothing but spare time to do so.

They came out of that room and passed by BloodyHarvest, dropping a black and red braided leather bracelet with a metal skull charm on it into their lap. The four armed Bloodmoon sat in the love seat across from the Other and lounged back comfortably.

For you. We made it.

GrimReaper looked the Other over with a slightly smug smirk.

You look and smell cleaner. We see Our Nightlight got to you after all.