#i may have to build a planter box for them so they can be together whoops I HAVE AN ENTIRE SHED OF POTS AND NO RECTANGLE PLANTERS?? WHY

[saintofanything]

u fucking bet i bought these babies immediately!! pittsburgh penguin petunias!!

[aurashine]

P L A N T S - part №2 collection

So in my last post I told you a bit about the backstory of my indoor garden, a little of my trials and errors, a few successes, and some of my favorite ways to buy, sell and trade plants. Now it's time to show you the personal collection that I've worked very hard to refine, curate, collect, display and care for.

(These top two photos are my current set up as of 2022. I have a few other plants scattered throughout my home but didn't feel like posting my whole home online.)

(This photo set is some of the phases and changes my set up has went through in 2021.)

Throughout this time I've bought power tools to build beautiful custom shelving for my plants. Learned a variety of painting methods to paint or re-paint pots and planters to my decor preference. I've also really stepped up my macrame skills to make holders for some of my beloved plants.

I think the biggest thing I've learned is that it's super important to leave your plants in the nursery pots for drainage and ease of changing containers. I prefer using a method called bottom watering to prevent moisture, mold, fungi an mildew issues and issues with rotting. So almost all of my containers are no drainage and I slip the nursery posts inside of decorative pots with no drainage. If you don't like the pot it's super easy to mix things up. If you over water, dump out the excess water in the bottom and set the nursery pot out to dry up, once its dry you can replace it in the pot. I use this method to keep most of my plants on a monthly to bi-monthly watering schedule. After doing this for years my plants are all very healthy and happy. It's actually rare I lose a plant now. I also never fully repot anything. I typically only add new soil every 2-3 years. I fertilize 3 times a year, once every 8 weeks. I typically choose March 1st, May 1st and July 1st. Depending on how the plants look, if they look good I'll skip fertilizing them because I don't want them to grow too fast for their current housing conditions. I also move my plants like cacti outside from May - October during the summer months in my temperate zone. I usually start by putting them in an area where they have similar light to inside, then spread them out after they adjust to more heat and light. Then in early October I start preparing to do the same process to re-acclimate them to indoor life, but in reverse steps. During the re-acclimation, I also throw neem granules in the soil a few times to ensure that soil gnats and other buggies don't come back inside with them. Through winter I only water most of my plants 2-3 times because my plant room doesn't get as much light in the Winter, it's also a little colder in here so the water doesn't evaporate quickly enough to prevent rot issues. So I just water a little bit a few times. It's pretty easy. This is my third year on this schedule and majority of my 75+ plants have been here all that time.

My plant collection has grown significantly. This is what it looked like at some point during my year of moves. The two in the middle of the planter box are my longest living cacti. Their names are Blue & Grandpa, I think they're meant to be together forever. They've stayed in this planter together since Grandpa Cactus joined the family. Also the cacti in the small white pot on the right lives with them now, her name is Plumpy, because she's quite short and thick in comparison. I like to think of her as Blue & Grandpa's adopted grandchild. She's been through a lot and I though she was going to die on us quite a few times. But she pulled through and made it and is still part of the family. I honestly think encouragement and guidance from Blue & Grandpa helped her the most. No one else in my plant family has a name except for a pencil cactus not pictured that I've dubbed "Abomination" because it either refuses to grow or grow properly, but somehow hasn't died. It's too ugly to give away, but too alive to throw away so I'm stuck trying to help it sort itself out, because I feel like it somehow belongs in my little family of misfits.

I found this cactus in a local natural park. It's an invasive species that doesn't belong in the eco system here, so I actually dug this up carefully to not harm anything in the park and relocated it to a pot in my bedroom. I've since gifted parts of it to friends as gifts or fed the excess paddles of it to my tortoise after peeling them since it reproduces quickly.

Here's a photo of one of my other edible plants. A banana tree. It is a dwarf banana tree known as a Cavendish Banana tree. I also plant edible succulents in the booth for my tortoise to graze on in the Summer time. (Abomination is actually the plant in the back of the photo. She irritates me with her "I only sprout branches on on side phase". Abomination is toxic or I would have already fed her to my tortoise.)

I don't really have anything else to talk about in this post. That's pretty much the bulk of my plant origins and collection wrapped up in the past two posts. I'm thinking about writing more posts about plants I find on adventures or the new plants I get when I buy them. So here's a picture of what my boyfriend calls my grandma plant mug, it's vintage and it's got a botanical field journal style buttercup on it. It's basically my plant mom cup, I drink my coffee out of it every day, while looking at my plants.

All photos in the past two posts were photographed and edited by me. If re-posting please credit.

[houndsofcerberus]

Apotheosis Chapter 2

Summary: Techno and Theseus arrive to Nimius though the arrival is met with…mixed reviews

No CWs

https://archiveofourown.org/works/33386038/chapters/83133148

The rhythmic clopping of the horse’s hooves and the rolling of the cart wheels had become monotonous and boring by the time they finally reached their destination. The only change from the expanse of identical trees was when they had neared. Nimius was large but it’s capital, settled near it’s southernmost border, was a sight to behold. Nimius was known for its abundance, having been named for its wealth. This of course brought with it lavish lifestyle, but this wasn’t unanimous across the kingdom. The country had many smaller villages and hamlets, a great deal of the Nimian population was in fact farmers and ranchers. The land Nimius occupied was some of the best across the continent for farming, the soil was rich and fertile and the conditions were mild enough and the growing season long enough to have made Nimius an agricultural giant amongst the land.

Technoblade was of the opinion that no description could do the feeling of walking into the Nimian capital justice however. No story, nor poem, nor song could ever compare to the feeling of walking in. The royal family’s crest depicted a peacock, bright and fierce, and proud as all hell, signifying the wealth of the region. The crest was frequent in the city however it was more apparent around the castle. They were a proud people who showed their wealth happily. Techno hadn’t been in Nimius for quite some time, though as the cart rolled into the city it appeared not much had changed. The streets were well kept, clean and had planter boxes lining the cobbled streets, the stones were smooth and the buildings light in color. White and teal were everywhere, along with dull orange terracotta and faux gold shimmer. Murals decorated the walls of several buildings, well kept up and beautifully bright. It was like walking into a painting. Theseus was leaning forward, looking around, eyes wide as he took in the market smelling strongly of fresh bread and other delicious smells from the vendors in the street. People walked idly, moving out of the way of Techno’s cart and looking in curiously. Some frowned and watched Techno, though he didn’t blame them. He had accumulated many many battle scars from his adventures, and several were laid into his face, leaving him looking… rough to say the least. He pressed on, ignoring them and driving the horses to the castle ahead.

It was an architectural masterpiece, within its large gates it was covered in ivy and tile mosaics of trees, peacocks, and farmland. The things that made Nimius what it was. It was beauty and luxury in its purest form, abundance at its most bare and most extravagant. Technoblade had missed Nimius.

“Woah!” Theseus gasped, leaning so far forward Techno needed to grab his shirt and pull him back into the seat. “What are those?” he asked excitedly, pointing at a blue bird amongst several others, it’s tail long as it trailed behind the bird, folded. The feather’s were iridescent and there was a small crest on its head.

“That's a peacock, the monarch has an affinity for them,” Techno said fondly. As his dog passed the bird, clearing the path for the horses, several of the peacocks shook out their tails and Theseus’ eyes went wide once more.

“It’s got so many eyes!” he said, looking at Technoblade in wonder.

“It’s just a pattern, they use it to scare off anything trying to eat them.” Techno said, smiling lightly.

“They’re so pretty,”

“Very, but you can’t pet these ones, they aren’t nice. There’s one inside you could pet though.” Techno said. Theseus nodded excitedly as Techno stopped the cart in front of the castle, looking over each of the guards. As much as he loved it here he couldn’t be too comfortable so he kept his sword on him and stepped off, whistling to the dog and gesturing with a nod of the head to the cart. She jumped up and settled in the back as Theseus scrambled down off the cart, running to catch up. A young man had come out and paused in front of them as they both waited for Theseus.

“Eret is waiting for you inside. Just f-” The young man was cut off by another who had approached, staring at the sword.

“No weapons.” He said gruffly.

“I’m not stupid enough to kill a seer, let alone a monarch. Let me in.” Techno said flatly.

“No. Put the sword in your cart. And that whip too.” The man said stepping in front of Techno, arms crossed. He had a mask over the top of his face but Techno was close enough to see his bright green eyes and furrowed brows.

“And if I don���t?” Techno asked, smiling lazily.

“You don’t wanna find out.” came the reply as he went to draw his sword. Techno copied the move, hand on the hilt of his sword. Theseus grabbed onto Techno’s pant leg, and Techno chanced a quick look, seeing briefly the fear on his face. When his eye darted back up the man had relaxed slightly, eyes focused on the child for a moment before looking back at Techno and glaring twice as hard.

“Boys quit it,” came a new voice, familiar to Techno’s ears. Techno grinned and let go of his sword to smile innocently at Eret descending the stairs to the castle doors, accompanied by a woman a bit younger than Technoblade. Eret was… well Eret. Well dressed in beautiful clothes, somehow looking well dressed and casual at the same time, putting Techno’s outfit of his usual cape, shirt, pants and other gear to shame despite sharing the same style. She smiled and approached, shaking his head playfully.

“What? I was just playing around,” Techno said, laughing easily and relaxing. He bowed to them, head down in a show of respect before standing.

“You’re a bad liar. Come on, we have a lot to discuss with Puffy here, she’s my general that I told you about.” Eret said, gesturing for Techno and Theseus to follow.

“But my liege, he has weapons on him!” The man Techno had just confronted spoke up, looking panicked.

“As he always does. Sam it’s alright, this man has saved my life more times than I can count. If he wanted me dead he would’ve done so long ago. He’s as harmless as a pup.” Eret laughed, shaking their head. The man, Sam, stood there bewildered for a moment as Techno walked by, followed by Theseus who stuck his tongue out at the guard. They walked in through the large doors into a beautiful castle. Polished wood and marble was everywhere, large murals and tapestries of the gods and of old tales lining the entry hall beautifully. Techno felt out of place, dirty grungy clothing, scarred and unpolished, unrefined. Eret led them further, past the large throne room and into a further hall. Puffy opened a door, revealing a round, average sized table, six chairs around it, a teapot and snacks upon it. Eret took their spot and Puffy chose one nearby, Techno opting for one across from Eret, and Theseus clamoring up onto the chair beside Techno.

“You never told me you had a kid,” Eret said, smiling and placing a few sweets in front of Theseus.

“Sorry, I didn’t have much time, I came as soon as I got the letter,” Techno said.

“No no, it’s alright, he’s quite adorable. What’s his name?” Eret asked, smiling at Theseus who was currently enjoying a cookie that Eret had given him.

“Theseus,” Techno replied.

“I go by Tommy.” Theseus interjected, staring at Techno.

“You never mentioned that before.” Techno sighed.

“You didn’t ask.” came the reply. Puffy snorted and covered her mouth, trying to hide her smile. Techno took the moment to take her in. Her uniform was well kept, a deep indigo blue with gold accents. She had very long curly white hair, though it didn’t age her. She looked young, or at least seemed to be younger than Technoblade, though that wasn’t saying much. She had a scar, faint and light, stretching from her jaw to just under her eye. He couldn't decipher what from by the look of it, though it had obviously been taken care of considering it was so light.

“What’s wrong with your eyes?” Theseus interrupted Techno’s thoughts, loud and abrupt.

“Theseus!” Techno scolded, staring at him in disbelief.

“What?”

“You can’t say that!”

“Why not?” Theseus asked, crossing his arms. Techno sighed, frustrated.

“I’m so sorry,” He apologized.

“It’s alright, kids are kids, I take no offence.” Eret said. Their eyes which had previously been a bright and vibrant brown had slowly dulled over the years, as though there was a white film over them. Techno hadn’t mentioned it, he had only ever known Eret with the vague film on their eyes. She was a seer, it was a natural part of having Sight. “I have a gift. I can see the gods,” Eret said smiling and looking at Theseus patiently.

“Woah, that’s so cool! I wanna see the gods!”

“Well it’s not all good Tommy. My eyes look like this because it makes it so you can’t see after a while, it makes your eyes turn white and soon you can’t see anything.” Eret explained. Theseus frowned and tilted his head.

“So you’re blind?”

“Not yet. I’ve got some years ahead of me, I plan to enjoy them as much as I can.” Eret said, eyes darting to Techno who laughed.

“You did enough living for twelve lives back in the days.” Techno smiled fondly upon the memories of their journeys together.

“Never enough Blade, never enough,” Eret said, sighing happily at their own memories of the time. “We’ll need to reminisce some other time unfortunately. You’re aware of why I requested your help?”

“Yes, the letter told me all I needed to know.” Techno said, nodding curtly, smile fading.

“Lovely. As capable as our wonderful General here is, we'll need the help. They’ve been making bold moves. We need to be bolder.”

“Are you sure?” Puffy interjected.

“You have no ideas left either. We need him.”

“No, not that. Him. Are you sure about him? I did my research, I know what he sees as ‘bold moves’.” Puffy said firmly, glaring at Techno. Just when he thought he may be able to escape mistakes of the past, here they were yet again coming to bite him in the ass.

“Can we not discuss that? Not right now? I’d rather not defend those actions in front of a child.” Techno said sharply. Puffy looked between Technoblade and Theseus before nodding. “We’ll finish this later.” Techno added. “For now I need your files and information about it. As well as anything relevant to the situation, including border declarations. Anything Nimius and Ecren have both signed.”

“Of course. I have an office for you in the south wing and your room is ready. We can give Tommy a tour of the castle maybe and have some dinner, by then I’ll have a room for him beside yours.” Eret said, pouring herself a cup of tea, and then pouring one for Technoblade. “Puffy, can I ask you to gather the necessary documents while I catch up with my friend?” He asked kindly. Puffy nodded and gave a brief informal bow before leaving the room. “Maybe Tommy would like to go find Calypso in his garden,” Eret said, smiling.

“Who’s Calypso?” Theseus asked,

“You remember I mentioned there’s a peacock you can pet inside the castle? That’s Calypso. He’s a sweetheart, and has his own garden.” Techno said, smiling. Theseus grinned, turning to Eret and nodding quickly.

“Alright, give me a moment,” Eret said, standing and walking to the door. Eret smiled and gestured to someone. “Skeppy, are you on your way by Calypso’s garden?” She called.

“Yeah, gonna go visit Bad in the kitchens, see if he needs help.” came the reply, presumably from Skeppy.

“Lovely, we have a guest, come here,”

Skeppy stepped in, smiling and waving at Techno and Theseus.

“Can you show Theseus here how to get to the garden? He’d like to meet Calypso, maybe swing by and steal an extra treat for him when you go pester Bad hm?”

“I wasn’t gonna steal anything, just… taste test,” Skeppy argued.

“Uh huh. Grab him an extra bite,”

Theseus looked to Techno for permission to go this time. After the last time he went off away from Technoblade he didn’t seem keen to repeat the situation. Techno nodded and gestured to Skeppy.

“Go, I’ll come get you in a bit, kid,” He said reassuringly. Theseus ran off with Skeppy, following him into the hall excitedly chatting with Skeppy. Eret sat and they both waited until they could no longer hear them.

“So… you’re a dad.” Eret said, leaning back with their teacup in hand. “That's… unexpected for you.”

“Yeah. I didn’t plan to be.”

“Past few years must’ve been quite the learning curve for you then huh?” Eret chuckled. Techno froze, not looking his friend in the eyes.

“Well… I wasn’t around.” Techno admitted. “His mom had to track me down to tell me. And we had an agreement.”

“You didn’t…” Eret said.

“I didn’t abandon them… entirely.” Techno said, trying to defend himself. “She knew what kind of guy I was, she knew about them. I told her when she said she was pregnant. She agreed it wasn’t a good idea, but she couldn’t work with a child and no husband so… I’ve been sending her money over the years. Bought them a nice home, money for food and clothes, a repairman, and extra for savings. I made sure she could give him a good life. I swear I wouldn’t just leave, I just…”

“So why is he with you now then?” Eret asked.

“She passed. A few days ago actually. She wrote to me and had the message passed along urgently and when I got there it was bad. She told me to take him and take care of him. I figured I owe her that, but I… have no clue how to do this.” Techno sighed, shrugging and leaning back. He didn’t dare look at Eret, he didn’t want to see their look of disappointment.

“Gods above Technoblade, what a fine mess you’ve made for yourself. We’re a nation at war, why’d you bring him?”

“The other jobs were too dangerous. Tracking down criminals, on the front lines for weeks, assassination, murder, this was the safest. He doesn’t have to be involved in the war, he can stay and if we must evacuate he can go with. This war won’t be fast, Ecren is not going to give in, it’s more stable.”

“What makes you say that?” Eret asked. Techno sighed and reached into his pocket, pulling out a crumpled piece of paper and standing, leaning over the table to hand it to Eret. Eret took it and unfolded the paper. “They requested you as well?”

“Yeah. Offered me the position of General.”

“You didn’t take it. Why?” Eret said, frowning skeptically, eyes trained on Technoblade’s sword.

“I’d be on the frontlines, the pay was worse, it came after yours, and you’re one of my oldest friends. I’m a lot of things, but I am not a liar and I don’t go back on my promises. I told you I’d come back if you ever needed help. I’m here. I have no obligations in Ecren or interest in helping them. This was my home for a while too, I’m going to defend it.” Techno said.

“You never change. It’s nice to have you on the team, old friend,” Eret said, smiling and folding the piece of paper, tossing it back on the table and relaxing. “Like the old days.”

“Like the old days.” Techno agreed

Techno found Theseus in the garden, sitting amongst the beautiful abundance of foliage and flowers, Calypso sitting in his lap fast asleep. It was kind of sweet, Theseus was gently petting the bird, making sure not to wake him, looking around at all the butterflies fluttering above them from flower to flower. The garden was vibrant, it was as though you stepped into a forest, and though it was a bit warm it was comfortable. Theseus seemed at peace there. Techno walked over and sat on the bench near Theseus’ spot on the ground.

“Where’d the name Tommy come from?” He asked quietly, being careful not to startle the bird or the child.

“My mom. She always called me Tommy instead.” He replied in a whisper, transfixed on the bird in his lap. He seemed enamored with Calypso, fascinated endlessly by the brightly colored and well kept feathers. Enough so that he had finally stopped moving and talking for the first time since Techno had met him. He was a lively kid, probably even more so before his mother passed. He hadn’t been sleeping well, crying himself to sleep in the wagon, waking from nightmares. On the worst days when it seemed he truly realized he was never seeing his mother again he had refused to eat, and sat silently in the wagon. Technoblade was not someone experienced in grief, and he hadn’t had even the mildest clue on how to comfort a child who had just lost his primary caregiver, that was never easy, especially not after watching her suffer for weeks on end before dying. Techno hadn’t spoken with him much about it, unsure of how to approach that topic with an adult, let alone a child.

“Do you want me to call you Tommy instead?” Techno asked softly, voice still low to not wake the bird.

“No,” Theseus said flatly, shaking his head. Techno froze, and stared for a moment waiting for him to elaborate. No explanation came. He just left it there. Technoblade decided that it wasn’t meant to be rude, even if it sure did feel like something he should chastise him for. It wasn’t as though it was a big deal, it was just a name. Theseus had the right to say what he wanted to be called.

“...alright” Techno said after a solid minute of silence from both parties. “Dinner’s almost ready, we should head to the dining hall,” he added, gently patting him on the shoulder as he stood to get him to stand up as well.

“I don’t wanna go.” Theseus said. Techno took a moment and decided his curiosity took precedence over his ego bruising from the fact Theseus just outright refused,

“Why not?” He asked, crouching down. Theseus looked away, refusing eye contact. He looked conflicted and uncomfortable, but Techno just waited until he was ready.

“What if it’s bad? Mom always made good food, what if this is bad? And it's so big in there, the roof is so high, and everything echoes and it’s just too much. I don’t like it.” Theseus said, grimacing and glancing at the door back in. “I miss home.” He added more quietly. Techno stood and thought for a moment.

“Come with me,” He said, standing and holding out his hand. Theseus looked at Calypso and hesitated before gently picking him up and scooting him off his lap, standing and brushing the dirt off his pants.

“We’re going anyway?” Theseus asked, frowning.

“Nah, I hate the dining hall anyways, but you can’t just not eat kid. I’m taking you to the kitchens. Did you like Skeppy?”

“Yeah! He’s really funny, he told me about you!”

“...what’d he tell you?”

“That you sucked at the games he played with you!” Theseus said happily, smiling as he looked ahead.

“...huh… well I’ll have to get a rematch then. We can have dinner with Skeppy and the cook, Bad, in the kitchen instead, it’s much nicer there, not as fancy,” Techno said, taking Theseus’ hand and leading him inside, instead of going through the large extravagant halls he took a detour into a smaller homier feeling hallway. It was lined with pictures of the staff and their families, and of Eret and his parents, all the goofy pictures they wouldn’t be able to present in the front halls for guests to see. Techno looked at a few of them and got oriented to where they were. He had always preferred going through the staff halls anyways. The main halls were designed to be long, extravagant and force you to take in the wealth and lavish castle. The staff halls were shortcuts, small and much easier to navigate due to the fact that they didn’t look the same and had labels on all the doors so nobody got lost. Techno finally found the door labelled ‘Kitchen’ and pushed it open.

Beyond the door was a nice looking kitchen. It wasn’t fancy or covered in white and gold. It had a large wood stove that was next to an oven, as well as another separate brick oven in the wall. The brick oven was unlit and cold, and the wood stove looked as though it had just turned off. There were large windows that were wide open, letting in a cool breeze, and plenty of countertops littered in plates and dishes. The room was bigger than a normal home’s kitchen and much better equipped, even having a cooler to store food and a meat locker door off to the side, but half of it was occupied by a large oak table and chairs, a tablecloth spread over top. In the centre of the table was a vase with freshly cut flowers, and beside it was a basket of bread rolls. In the kitchen was a familiar face, Bad. Though Bad seemed occupied trying to get Skeppy to stop trying to eat the food before it was out on the tables.

“Skeppy, quit it!” Bad yelled, exasperated.

“Awe come on, I’m just testing it!” Skeppy laughed as he was chased away from the stock pot.

“You’re being a pest is what you’re doing,” Bad huffed, shaking his head and turning to smile. “You finally came back!” He cheered, smiling at Techno. “You come to visit or to steal food like someone else here,” Bad asked, glaring pointedly at Skeppy who had started creeping towards the other basket of bread rolls for the dining hall.

“But I’m huuuuuungryyyy” Skeppy whined. Techno laughed and grabbed a bread roll from the basket on the table, chucking it to Skeppy to occupy him for a while.

“Actually I came to see if me and the kid could eat with you and Skeppy tonight,” Techno said, smiling and gesturing at Theseus. Bad gasped and leaned over the counter to look at the kid, grinning brightly.

“Of course! Skeppy mentioned we had a little guest! I thought he was lying for an extra lemon tart,” Bad said, smiling.

“I told you he wash real,” Skeppy said triumphantly through a mouthful of bread, smiling smugly as he took another bite of the bread roll proudly.

“Yeah yeah, whatever.” Bad said, brushing him off with an eye roll and a dismissive wave. “I’ll let Eret know when we send out the food, they may join us but I doubt Sam and Puffy will let him out of sight while they have a chance to discuss things.”

“Speaking of what’s the deal with those two?” Techno asked, leaning forward against the counter.

“Ah not much, Sam is the newer one of the two, he takes his job very seriously, and Puffy is normally a lot more calm but everything going on has been stressing her out. This’ll be her first conflict as General, she’s been in the military for a long time but this time she’ll be calling the shots on the field so she’s just trying to be careful,” Bad said shrugging. “Nice folks, heart in the right place but you caught ‘em at a bad time. Why are you here now?”

“Same reason. Eret asked me to come as a strategist.” Techno said. “War needs experience, I guess that’s why she asked me to come.”

“What’s war? You guys keep talking about it and I don’t know what it means.” Theseus asked abruptly. Bad looked as though he had frozen to the spot and Skeppy was trying not to laugh at him but Techno just turned and looked at Theseus unbothered.

“Y’know how there are countries? Well sometimes they get into fights with lots of people on both sides. That's war.” Techno said flatly. Bad gave him an incredulous look and when Techno made eye contact he shrugged. There was no point in lying. This would be the kid’s life for a while.

“Oh. When will it be over?” Theseus asked, frowning. “It seems like a lotta work.

“I don’t know, kid, probably not for a few years.” Technoblade replied, shrugging.

“That’s a long time. I want it over now,”

“Me too, tell you what though, you and I get to live here with Skeppy and Eret and Bad until it’s over, so that doesn’t seem too bad right?” Techno asked, smiling ever so slightly and ruffling Theseus’ blond hair gently.

“I guess not,”

Dinner had gone well, Theseus ate all his food for the first time in ages, even telling Technoblade as they left the kitchen that it was “almost as good as mom’s” which seemed to be high praise for him. Techno was just glad he ate all of it. They had talked with Skeppy and Bad easily, and despite Eret not being able to join them it was a good time. Afterwards Techno had gone to the stables, Theseus trailing behind him. Someone had put away his horses and his dog wasn’t too far off from them. Techno checked what they had to eat and drink and after deciding it was good enough he grabbed his brushes from the wagon behind the stable. He would bring his books and Theseus’ things up to their rooms when they went back in. Theseus stood just inside the stable door, watching Technoblade brush the larger of the two horses meticulously.

“Why didn’t you name them?” Theseus asked, echoing his question from days earlier.

“I just didn’t.”

“Can I name them?” Theseus asked. Techno made the mistake of looking at Theseus, whose eyes were large and watery as he silently begged. Not even he could last against that look.

“...fine.” Techno conceded, sighing and shaking his head.

“Yay! This one is gonna be.... Andrew!” Theseus proclaimed proudly, looking chuffed with himself.

“That’s a good one,” Techno said, chuckling slightly.

“And the other one is gonna be Carl!” Theseus added. “Oh and the doggie! Can I name her? Pretty please?”

“Might as well,”

“Clementine!” Theseus cheered happily. The dog, who had previously been laying calmly, watching Techno and Theseus from outside the stall stood at that, walking over and wagging her tail at Theseus.

“Well she seems to like it. Nice job kid,” Techno said, smiling fondly. He continued brushing the newly named Andrew and Carl, meticulously picking out their feet and checking for any rocks before he finally let them be. Clementine, also pleased with the new moniker curled up in Carl’s stall, and Techno pulled out some dried meat from the wagon, promising he’d take her hunting the next day for some game. He knew she couldn’t understand but it gave him peace of mind at least.

He took Theseus to the wagon and grabbed his large box of books and other important trinkets within, buried under the pages, and helped Theseus grab his few things. The child frowned as he looked for something, not finding it.

“What’re you missin’?” Techno asked.

“My teddy bear, mom gave it to me, I had it hidden in my bag!” Theseus said, looking distressed.

“You think you forgot it at home?” Techno asked, frowning. His frown deepened when Theseus nodded, tears welling up in his eyes. “Hey, hey it’s okay kid.” he rushed, trying to think about what one of his friends would’ve said. Squid had always been better with kids, so he tried to think of what he would say. “Your teddy bear is.... Protecting your house?” He suggested. Theseus paused and sniffed, nodding slowly. It seemed to work. “He has to look after it cause you’re not there anymore.”

“...okay,” Theseus said quietly, nodding. He still looked sad but no longer like he was gonna cry, which Techno counted as a massive win in his favor. Maybe parenting wouldn’t be that bad after all.

They brought in the items, and Eret showed them to their rooms. Eret’s was at the end of the hall and Techno’s was a few doors down. Beside Techno’s room was Theseus’ room and both seemed good, better than the wagon had been. There was a fireplace in techno’s room, and he remembered the layout of it quite well. He had stayed there for some time previously, and chosen the room specifically for the fireplace and the small bathroom attached to it. It wasn’t as large and well furnished as Eret’s washroom or any of the others in the castle, but there was running water, a sink, a toilet and a bathtub. That was more than enough for Techno, who had long since grown used to mostly washing up in rivers. Techno let Theseus settle in his room and showed him where to go if he needed help before slipping into his room. He put his books on the empty shelves and the various treasures were hidden in the room. His jewelry box set on the nightstand.

He opened the dresser and found some clean clothes that he had previously left. That would also be nice, laundry wouldn’t be such a pain. He bathed himself and got Theseus to stop jumping on the bed long enough to catch him and wrangle him into the bath as well afterwards. He had protested heavily until he hit the warm water, sinking into it almost immediately. He still protested as Techno scrubbed the dirt off his face and out of his hair but it was half-hearted and he seemed quite happy afterwards, wrapped in a blanket and wearing clean pajamas donated by Eret from when they were young. They were a bit big but Theseus said they were comfortable. Techno got him settled into bed and blew out the oil lamp in the room, leaving him to sleep. Techno lit his fireplace and stoked the fire until it was roaring steadily, warming the room. He blew out his own oil lamp after grabbing one of his novels, deciding on an old hero tale he had been fond of. He settled into the rocking chair by the fireplace, opening the well worn pages and settling in to lose himself in the story.

He had always cherished the fact he could read, and he was thankful for the escape. Sometimes he found solace from everything around him in the pages of a good story. He particularly enjoyed adventures with a clear hero. He never saw himself in those pages, and though as strange as it may have seemed it was nice. He wanted an escape from himself, not a reflection of him on the pages. He was okay with the fact he didn’t see himself in the heroes, though all too often he saw himself in the monsters the heroes slayed. He wasn’t proud of it, and he’d never speak of those events aloud, he’d never admit to what he’d done to anyone who he cared for. Though he didn’t know how much longer he could ignore it when Puffy knew. He had no doubt Sam knew as well. The hatred and fear in his eyes as they had stood face to face earlier told him all he needed to know. He didn’t know if Eret would still accept his help if he knew, but he had to try to explain himself. Nothing would justify it, but he wanted to help people this time. Not hurt them. He paused, shaking away the thoughts, it would only encourage them to start up once more. He hadn’t gotten a handle on them just for them to pop up now of all times. He had become so wrapped up in his book that he hadn’t realized the door opened until he heard it click shut. He turned, almost expecting Eret, but instead seeing Theseus, blanket around his shoulders, sniffing and wiping at his eyes.

“Hey… what are you doing up?” Techno asked, tilting his head and closing his book, finger on the page he was on, holding it ajar.

“I couldn’t sleep…” Theseus said, sounding as though he had been sobbing. Techno frowned and gestured to him to come closer, and as he stepped into the firelight Techno could see his eyes. They were red and watery, bloodshot and puffy. His cheeks were tear-stained and he looked awful.

“Nightmare again?” Techno asked. Theseus nodded. Techno thought for a moment. He didn’t know how to comfort kids very well. “Is there something you want me to do?” He asked, figuring it wouldn’t hurt to just ask him.

“Mom would always cuddle with me…” Theseus said softly, not looking up to meet Techno’s eyes at all, but he got the message. He leaned forward and gestured him forward. Theseus took a few steps closer and Techno picked him up, placing him down on his lap. He shifted Theseus so the child was laying across his lap, leaning against his arm and chest.

“Does this work?” Technoblade asked, hoping he was doing it right. He’d seen other parents do this, but he wasn’t sure. Theseus nodded and rested his head on Techno’s chest gently. “You want me to read to you?” he asked, getting another silent nod. Techno flipped the book open to the first page, and started reading aloud off the first page. He felt Theseus cuddle into him, pulling his blanket closer around himself while yawning softly. Time escaped him, and what felt like minutes went by before he paused and looked down, to see Theseus fast asleep in his arms. He felt like he couldn’t move without waking him, and looked around to see if there was a way to take him to bed, but there wasn’t. So Techno resigned himself to sleeping in the rocking chair that night, gently putting the book down on the small table beside him. He sighed and leaned back, holding Theseus gently and closing his eyes. He smiled slightly as he felt Theseus grab onto his shirt tightly with his small hand. Maybe it was worth sleeping on the chair tonight if it meant Theseus slept soundly. It wasn’t so bad.

[ericsonclan]

Trimming the Tree

Summary: Omar loses a bet with Louis and has to fulfill Louis' unique idea for Christmas decorating.

Word Count: 1884

Read on A03: 

“Alright, everyone, I have an announcement to make,” Louis stood in front of the picnic table, his hands proudly pulling upon the collar of his coat. “I’m sure everyone remembers the bet I placed with Omar back in October, the one where he said there was no way I could bag five rabbits singlehandedly for us in one day and I did.”

“I remember the bet,” Omar replied calmly, setting aside his stew bowl. “It’s one I’ve begun to dread considering the fact that you still haven’t called in that favor you won from me,”

“Well fear no more, Omar, for today is the day I call upon you for that favor,” Louis declared, a cheeky grin on his face.

A frown pulled at Ruby’s lips as she looked up at Louis. “Now I know I don’t have to tell you not to choose anything stupid. And by stupid I mean dangerous,”

Louis raised his hands in self-defense. “Why, sweet Ruby, I would never! What I have in mind for Omar isn’t dangerous at all. For you see, the favor I am asking for is that Omar be a tree,”

Clementine’s brow quirked at that line. “A tree? What do you have up your sleeve, Lou?”

“Only a deck of cards, my dear,” Louis replied with a wink.

Omar looked unimpressed. “You want me to be a tree. What does that involve, standing completely still for an entire day?”

“Ah ah ah, not just any tree, Omar,” Louis lifted a finger. “You see, the tree I want you to become is… a Christmas tree,”

That got a reaction out of the kids. None of them had had a Christmas tree for Christmas since before the world ended. There were pine trees that grew in the forest, but they were a great distance away and most were far too large to carry. The one year obtaining a Christmas tree had been attempted back when they were young teens, they’d almost lost a kid in the process. Having a human stand in for the Christmas tree was an interesting prospect to say the least.

Omar crossed his arms, eyeing Louis evenly. “And what exactly will I be doing as a Christmas tree?”

“Why being decorated of course!” Louis quipped. “There’s a box full of decorations in the basement that the school used to use. You’ll stand in place in the music room and the rest of us will dance around you and put decorations all over your clothes and hair,”

“You know,” Aasim cut in, “There’s a perfectly reasonable alternative to this which is building some sort of artificial tree ourselves. I think-”

But Aasim had already lost the attention of the others before he started. Most of them were quite excited at the idea of decorating Omar, the little boys already abuzz with ideas and inspiration. Omar looked rather conflicted at the thought of being a stand-in for a tree but upon seeing the joy in A.J. and Willy’s faces his expression softened and he gave Louis an approving nod.

“It has been decided!” Louis declared, dramatically drumming upon the table. “Tomorrow we shall convene to decorate the music room and Omar!”

---

The next day after all the chores had been completed everyone gathered in the music room to begin decorating. Prisha, Violet, Willy and Ruby had grabbed the decorations from the basement while A.J., Clementine and Louis had gathered together all the paper and craft supplies they could carry in order to make even more decorations. Omar and Aasim tidied up the music room in order to prepare it for its Christmas transformation.

Once they were all gathered and had everything ready, Omar took his place at the center of the room, standing in as the tree. Ruby put one of the few Christmas records they had on the gramophone. “Rocking Around the Christmas Tree” began to play and everyone bopped their heads softly to the music.

Louis rooted through one of the boxes of decorations, clearly looking for something in particular. “What better way to start our decorating than with… tinsel!” The dreadlocked boy threw the silver strands into the air with a happy cry watching in glee as they came to rest all over Omar’s afro. A.J. immediately followed Louis’ lead, grabbing his own handful of tinsel and throwing it directly in Omar’s face.

“Not the face, goofball,” Clementine instructed, coming over to join them by the boxes. Fishing inside the nearest one, she grabbed a simple ball ornament and stepped forward, gently dangling it from Omar’s ear.

That seemed to be the signal everyone had needed to really get started. Violet and Prisha grabbed a length of garland made from red tinsel and began to circle Omar with it, smiling at each other as they did so. Willy had gone crazy with the ornaments, trying to place them on any possible place they could stay: Omar’s other ear, his nose, each one of his fingers. He wanted to take off Omar’s shoes to decorate his toes too, but Aasim put a stop to that.

The Indian boy had been working mostly with Ruby on other ways in which they could decorate the room for Christmas. Colored candle holders filled the room just as they had the night of the hootenanny, but now paper snowflakes had been added to the mix, decorating the walls and being scattered across the top of Louis’ piano. Paper chains crafted by Clementine and decorated by A.J. also did their part to brighten up the room as well as joining the garlands wrapped round and round Omar’s form.

Omar tried his best to stay still, a soft smile on his face as he watched his friends get into the Christmas spirit. Blowing a stray piece of tinsel away that was tickling his nose, he looked over at Louis who was in the mist of trying to make a paper crown as a “tree topper”. “You know, Louis, if this was your plan all along, shouldn’t you have made the bet with someone taller, say, Aasim or Prisha?

Louis smiled, looking up from his cutting. “If that had been my plan from the beginning, then certainly. But it wasn’t. I just made that bet on a whim and inspiration didn’t strike till later. But boy, when it did, I just knew I had to make this happen. You may not be the tallest tree, but you’ve certainly brought our Christmas to life,”

The boys looked around the room together, smiling at all the joy that was present there. There hadn’t been a true Christmas celebrated here in quite some time. Last year they’d been in the midst of healing from the Delta attack with Clementine and Violet still recovering from their injuries. The year before, well, they hadn’t known it at the time, but Marlon had been too busy hiding the truth about what happened with the twins for any Christmas celebrations to happen at all. 

And even the years before that the kids had all been so focused on survival, just barely scraping by each winter, that it had never felt like Christmas was something worth celebrating. Now things were different though. Things were peaceful, they were safe, and the reintroduction of the greenhouse and the additions of a vegetable garden and rabbit hutch meant they had quite a bit of food stored up for winter. For the first time in a long time they were all happy, really truly happy.

Eventually the decorations had all been used, the room was fully decorated, and Omar was covered from head to toe in tinsel, ornaments and garlands. The kids took a step back, admiring their work proudly.

“Great job, team,” Louis declared, tugging on his collar once more. “Before we call it a night though, there’s one more surprise for everybody. Well, everybody but me and A.J. that is. You ready, buddy?”

“You know it!” A.J. ran over to Louis’ side, bouncing excitedly. “Is it time to tell the secret now? Can I, can I, can I?”

“Just a second, little man,” Louis chuckled, fondly ruffling the boy’s afro. “How ‘bout we show instead of tell them?”

“Right!” A.J.’s eyes lit up with joy and he rocketed out of the room, Louis close behind him. It took a few minutes, but soon the others could hear the pair’s footsteps shuffling back towards the room. Louis backed through the door with A.J., both boys carrying something within their arms. It only took a moment for everyone to recognize what it was.

“A tree!” Willy shouted, his mouth wide open in awe. “A real live Christmas tree!”

It was indeed a Christmas tree, but a much smaller one than the full-grown pines that grew so far away from them. It was about A.J.’s height and had been placed inside a large planter which the pair now placed upon the floor.

“That’s right,” Louis smiled proudly. “This was the source of my inspiration: a pint-sized Christmas tree we can plant and grow in our very own yard!”

Everyone oohed and ahhed at the tree, stepping forward to get a closer look and touch the tiny branches for themselves.

“Louis and I found the tree a few days ago,” A.J. explained, standing beside the tree. “But when we found it, Louis told me we should keep it a secret, a scallion secret,” he raised a finger to his lips and looked at Clementine with a smile. Clementine returned the gesture, happy to hear the Disco Broccoli line from him.

“Wait a minute,” Aasim raised an eyebrow. “If you already had the tree, then why did you convince Omar to stand in as a fake tree instead?”

“Because this is our outdoor tree. Omar served as our indoor tree – duh,” Louis said dismissively in a way that caused Aasim to roll his eyes. “Although once we have this little beauty planted, we can probably transfer some of Omar’s decorations over to it,”

“You expect me to stand still like this for the rest of the day?” Omar asked evenly.

Louis thought on the question for a moment. “Well, per the rules of the bet I could require you to uphold the favor for the entirety of the day as I originally stated, but in the spirit of Christmas I will graciously declare the favor fulfilled,”

“Wonderful,” Omar immediately reached up to remove the ornament from his nose then got started on taking off the rest of the decorations. The others helped him until only the paper crown and a few stray strands of tinsel lay upon his head. Omar knelt down and picked up the box that had been refilled with the decorations once used to adorn him. “Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s plant this tree,”

“The party continues outside!” Louis crowed, moving to pick up the tree once more. “C’mon everybody, let’s head outside!” With that he was off, A.J. scurrying alongside and helping hold up a corner of the tree. Everyone else followed closely behind, their conversations picking up once more as they left the decorated music room behind and headed toward the outdoors. Christmas wasn’t contained in just one room; it was all around them.

[positivementalaxolotl]

A Little Lesson In Trickery: Adrien Agrest Isn’t Good At It.

It had been a long night. Ladybug and Chat Noir had just ended another fight and separated back to their homes.

Well, not quite.

Marinette went home, but Adrien? He was suppose to already be asleep so no one would be checking on him, and frankly he had a lot to think about. He technically did go home, but only for a quick refuel and prepare in case he needed to again. He knew he wasn't suppose to use his powers for selfish reasons but... This wasn't entirely selfish right? Keeping himself in a stable mindset would help him in battle, help save Paris and the people in it, so it would indirectly help, right?

Leaving again, he jumped from building to building feeling the air wisping by his face. It was a chilly night but he still needed the fresh breeze flying by. In a way, staying off the ground helped him beccome more grounded. Reminded him that he was more than his father saw in him, that he could do more than look pretty and smile.

He could be happy, even after the previous day. He and Kagami were so happy together, he thought it might've been fate, but no matter what he did he couldn't completely get over his first love, Ladybug. Adrien had made the mistake of telling Kagami the focus of his desires in life and broke her heart. Hearing that he loved someone else but was trying to forget and use her... It hurt so much more.

Luckily all it took was a few sentances between them and they still thought of each other as very close friends. He cared about Kagami and hurting her was the last thing he wanted to do, but some things are inevitable. All they needed was a little time and after that hopefully they'd be able to resume what they had. Comfortable companionship, nothing romantic.

Actually, speaking of his lady, she seemed off that night. Something was obviously on her mind, but she dismissed it as soon as she was asked what was wrong. After the battle he had tried again but she pretended like she was about to transform any second, when she clearly had several minutes left. Instead of pushing it, he decided to give her time. Whatever it was it was serious and made her distracted, he didn't want to remind her of whatever happened.

His long journey through the night had him on a very familiar street. He hadn't exactly been paying attention to where he was going, his cat senses would be able to lead him back home, anyways. Jumping from building to building hadn't stressed any of his stamina or made him any more tired, if anything he felt much more clear and rejuvinated. But his better mood was quickly washed away when a familiar girl on a familiar balcony on that familiar street was seen. She seemed upset, almost like she had just finished crying- maybe she still was. As a super hero of Paris, and his dear friend Marinette being a Parisian, he felt a duty to to at least offer an ear. Though it was more because he didn't want to see her hurt.

He jump to the building next to the balcony and leaped onto the railing, startling the girl sitting on her lawn chair, covering herself with a blanket and a cup of what he figured to be hot cocoa. "Marinette? I'm sorry to *jump* in like this. I promise I didn't mean to startle you."

The girl seemed panicked for a moment, looking around. She looked over to her planter box full of roses though and took a very visible sigh of relief. Was the box loose? No matter, he had other things to focus on right now. "No, it's fine. Though I am surprised to see you out here." She said, sniffling and wiping her eyes before continuing, now looking away out of embarrassment from being caught crying. Such a small world apparently. "What are you doing out here? Is there an akuma? If so you have better things to be doing than staying here."

The statement had a ring of sounding to it that he thought might be her wanting him to leave, it worried him but there wasn't anything obvious in her expression or words that convinced him she did. "I was just taking a walk, don't worry. Well, less of a walk and more of a leap around." He gave a soft smile, walking over to her as she seemed to relax more. Perhaps she didn't want him to leave. She certainly seemed welcoming enough. Not that he would stay if she didn't, but he wasn't sure if she did. "But... Is everything okay? I'm... I know I'm a super hero and all but that's more than saving Paris from monsters. It's saving it's civilians from being alone too." Obviously he couldn't help everyone who needed someone, but he wanted to whenever he could. Sitting next to the lawn chair, he looked up to her. "If you don't want to say anything or if you don't want me here-"

And then he was caught off by the girl in question. "No, I'm glad you're here. If anything, you came at the perfect time. I'm just having... A difficult time right now. So much drama, I'm sure you don't want to hear any of it. And I don't blame you, if I were in your shoes I don't know if I would be able to handle any more drama." She tried to joke, though it was so half hearted it went over Chats head that she was trying to even giggle to herself.

"Not want to hear any of it? Marinette, you attended my pitty party when Ladybug didn't show up to the rooftop date I set up for her. Even if I didn't want to be there for you, it's really the least I could do." If Chat squinted, he swore he would be able to see that Marinette had a flash of an expression of guilt plastered to her fae, before quickly hiding it. Though he was sure it was just from it being so dark. He was better able to see because of the Paris lights and his cat-like vision, but even that didn't make it perfect and clearly visible. "Spill all the beans you want, I won't force you but you seem like you want to get something off of your chest."

Marinette finally fully smiled, feeling accompanied and supported. She never really imagined Chat caring about her as more than a civilian he had to save, but he seemed to be a lot more serious about the job, and perhaps he really wanted to be her friend. "Bean? Like a cats toe beans?"

Laughing escaped both of out heros lips, both masked and unmasked. Disquised and unrecognizable. "Not what I meant but I'll take the credit."

It was nice, being able to be so light hearted in a horrible time in her life. At least not everything in her life was terrible at the moment- No. She needed to not think like that. She had plenty to be happy about...

Chats smile slowly faded as Marinette got lost in thought. He remained patient though, waiting for her to go on.

"A lot is going on in my life right now. Lila Rossi? We've saved her a few times from akumas but... She's going after me. She keeps threatening me and trying to get everyone to hate me- and today I think... I think it worked. None of my friends are talking to me and Lila just keeps snickering at me. Even Alya is taking her side. She tried to explain it to me but none of it was relevant because I knew she was lying. But I'm the only one so I look like the asshole..." She sight, pulling her knees to her chest and hugging them, tears spilling again. Chat noticed everyone had isolated her that morning, but Lila had told him that something had happened and she wanted to be alone, so he believed her. He needed to talk to her tomorrow at school. "I guess I exaggerated a little bit... There's still one person who talks to me. But unfortunately it's my boyfriend..."

Chat tilted his head a bit, much like a cat would when it saw something interesting or confusing out the window, though in Chats case it would be the latter. He knew she was dating Luka, but why was that a problem? And *Chat* didn't know she was dating anyone. "Your boyfriend? I didn't know you were with someone. Why would that be an issue?"

Marinette sniffled, reaching over to her round table with a box of tissues, only then did Chat notice the wads of tissue that littered her balcony. "Because... I've kind of been using him. I'm in love with someone else but I realized they loved someone else and I wanted to move on. Though I guess I moved on in a terrible way and I don't want to hurt him. I want to stay his friend but what if he's mad at me for using him? That I never moved on from Ad- erm... The boy I'm in love with?"

The blonde in leather listened intently, memorizing every word. "I'm sure he wouldn't be mad- I mean, you're still trying to figure out what you want. As long as you talk to him I'm sure he'll be okay. Some time apart to think and make things clear will help too." He smiled up to her, moving from the cold floor to sit next to her on the chair. "If it helps, I recently went through something similar- yesterday in fact. Really, it's the reason I needed some fresh air. I was with a girl that I tried to make myself think I loved, but... No matter what I could only think of Ladybug and how unfairly I was treating this poor girl by using her as a crutch for my feelings. If you need time to move on properly then you can't take shortcuts- I know that now and hopefully you do too." He did know what he was talking about. He had experienced this first hand.

"Thank Chat." The darker haired girl sniffled out and layed back, looking up at his with puffy red eyes. They were a beautiful shade of blue. "You really did help me. How... How did things end out?"

Now sitting criss-cross and pressing his elbow to his knee, Chat rested his chin on his palm. "We're still friends. We're taking some time but we hopefully will be able to get our heads on straight enough to continue being friends." The reminder that they were friends made his smile a little wider, a tiny bit more genuine. "If I may ask, who are these people you're talking about? Maybe I know them and I can help."

Marinette figured that there was no way that in all of Paris he would know Luka. Adrien was kind of a celebrity so it would be hard to say that Chat hasn't at least heard of him. "Well... My boyfriends name is Luka. He really is sweet, he's just not the one. And the boy I'm in love with..." She took a moment, could this in any way reveal who she was to Chat? She suddenly remembered back a few months ago, Bunnix had taken her to another timeline where Chat Noir was Chat Blanc, how it was all because she somehow let Adrien know who she was and he somehow got the news to Chat who somehow used that to get her and him together- though she didn't know how. But there was no way that could happen here, right?

"The boy I love- it's silly... There's no chance."

A hand reached over tilting her head from the point where it looked down in shame that he had feelings. Her gaze was met with Chats and he already knew what he was going to say. "It's not silly. I'm in love with a girl that repeatedly tells me no. As much as I wish I could change my heart, I can't." He gave a reassuring, support smile before letting her chin go and sitting back.

Taking a deep breathe, the girl nodded. It was several moments, seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years... She didn't know how long, but it was a minute.

"Adrien Agrest- He um..."

The boys ears perked up and his face heated up. Wait, him? Did she mean like- someone he introduced her to? There were the people at the fencing class that he helped introduce her to, he brought her and a few other friends to some photoshoots and such with plenty of people... "W-What about him?"

"He's the... He's the guy I love. I know it won't happen, but I can't help it." He sighed, flinching to prepare for the hurt in her heart to settle in, though she's surprised when she truthfully feels better. Chat is quiet for a moment so she looks up, though the sight before her is a surprise. Chat is blushing- or is that the lighting? No, there weren't any pink lights nearby, maybe she's just tired- it was getting pretty late. "Chat are you oka-"

"Yup!" The questioned kitty swiftly and quite loudly confirms. "I'm just peachy! *Cats* just got my tongue is all!" He laughs just as volumously and as Marinette notices, forced.

"Do you not like Adrien?" She tilts her head, mirroring Chats previous action, a very cat like motion. "I know a lot of people think that because he's rich he's stuck up but I know him personally and he's actually-"

"No, no that's not it! I actually know him personally too!" Realizing his mistake, Chat quickly covers his mouth. Big green eyes looking much wider than before as he panicks. Will she figure me out?

"Oh... Then what is it? If I didn't know any better I'd think you were blushing over there-" It seemed a thought crossed Marinettes mind, but it was obvious she had to force it to the back burner.

"I erm... I don't know how to say it-" He had to respond or else she would figure him out- no more secret identity then no more Chat Noir Adrien, No more Chat Noir Adrien, no more freedom. "I have a crush on him too!"

He mentally facepalmed- why would he say that? Now when she figured him out she would think he was so self absorbed- though at least he wouldn't have to break her heart-

She paused, staring. "Oh." She made out after several minutes, then remained silent for several more. It was awkward for them both.

"Erm... You know, as I said I know him personally and him and Kagami broke up- it seems that these days a lot of people are trying to get over someone else." He tried so desperately to fix the situation.

"Are you saying he likes me back?" She seemed to get the slightest glimmer in her eyes of hope- and Chat knew that he had to squander it- fuck.

He hated to do it so reluctantly, he responds. "No, unfortunately he doesn't. He likes... Someone else." He looked away and bit his lip, seeming so upset that he had to hurt her. "Though he talks about you a lot! He does like you just... Just as a friend. A very good one, one of his best friends! He just wishes you could talk to him and be more open... Maybe if you tell him how you feel you'll be able to feel more comfortable around him. He's not the kind of guy to shame you for it or anything." Chat could only offer more and more words and a smile that he could only hope helped her feel better.

It does. Only a little bit but it does. She sunk back down and looked up to the sky. "So many girls are after him. Chloe, Lila, hundreds of fan girls. I knew I didn't have a chance. Though... Being friends is better than nothing. Perhaps he'll fall for me in time, perhaps not, but with so many options for him I can't blame him for not picking the weirdo girl who always makes strange noises around him."

He frowns. He really is letting her down, maybe at school he should tell her- no. He wasn't doing that again. But then the girl spoke up again. "If I tell him how I feel about him, you have to too. I'm not taking your advice unless you're confident enough to yourself."

She had a point- but how was he suppose to do that? Obviously he couldn't do it at the same time as her because he can't be two people. But maybe when she came over to him the next day he could mention he had to turn Chat down? Yeah yeah, that makes sense.

The girl yawned and stretched. She was exhausted and needed some sleep. "Hey Chat, I need sleep for tomorrow school- I mean, school tomorrow."

Without a second thought, the boy scooped the lady up bridal style, already walking her to the hatch- she's obviously surprised since she thought that she would be walking herself to bed- but she didn't have the energy to complain. So she nuzzled his shoulder as a thank you and quickly fell asleep in his arms. He was able to get her to bed without a hitch and decided that was enough torturing people for one night, so he headed home- Plagg happily ate the leftover cheese he got from the start of the night.

------------------------------

The next day started and Marinette was full of energy. She trusted Chat and knew he wouldn't lead her astray or lie to her, so she felt confident that Adrien wouldn't make a laughing stalk of her.

She put in her lucky hair ribbons and a nice denim jacket- heck, if she's doing herself up all special she might as well wear that skirt she's been dying to try out on herself. ANd she has to say she erally likes it with her cute t-shirt and cardigan. She looked soft and pastel but modern as well. She actually felt... Cute!

Heading to school with a nice breakfast in her stomach, she marching with her head held high and a bright smile, texting Alya that she was going to tell Adrien.

Of coarse Alya also thought that Adrien was still with Kagami, so she told her not to- it would make her seem like she was trying to steal him away from her, but she made sure Alya knew that she had no intent on actually going out with him. She just wanted things off of her chest. Alyas response did surprise her but after the previous days events, she understood it. Alya was hesitant to be the fault of Marinettes heart break and wasn't as sure about Marinettes actions or intentions. Thanks Lila.

Maybe this could even clear her name? Instead of stealing Adrien away, she would be helping him find happiness in someone else! And perhaps that someone was Chat.

As she walked through those doors, the girl looked around until a familiar head of blonde hair came to view. She smiled to herself and walked over to him, gently tapping his shoulder. He seemed to be having a conversation with Nino who looked- apologetic. He tipped his hat Marinettes way then noticed how she looked. "Oh uh- MariDude. I'm sorry about yesterday I just- erm... You know, Lila is really persuasive. I didn't mean to make you think I turned on you or anything, I was just confused and didn't know who to trust. I'm so sorry that I like, ever doubted you."

Adrien smiled to his friend, proud that he stepped up to his mistake. "Yeah, I noticed you were down but Lila insisted that you just had something going on. I didn't know you were going through *anything* let alone another one of Lila's hissy fits. I... I should have at least tried to talk to you and hear it straight from you."

Marinette was surprised and gave a soft smile. At least Someone besides Luka was there for her from the beginning. She couldn't help but reach over and hug the two tightly. It was a warm and forgiving embrace- after all, everyone makes mistakes and Lila tricked everyone, so the fact that Nino was going against what everyone else thought was enough for her to believe him. "It's alright you two. I'm just so happy you don't hate me-"

This seemed to surprise them both, pulling away. Nino and Adrien held onto each shoulder, speaking at the same time as if they had rehearsed this- but they were so genuinely surprised there was no chance they did. "We could never hate you, Marinette!" One of the two boys adding 'Dude' to the end.

She sniffled, wiping her eyes. Adrien hated seeing her hurt, but this time the tears were accompanied with a smile that he himself had worn as well. "Thank you so much, especially you Adrien since it seemed like you talked to him... I guess I'm really lucky, huh?" It was a small feat, but one that made a big difference in her mood. Both boys were happy to see her so happy.

"Anyways, I'm going to go tell Alya what Adrien told me. It's almost time for class so I'll meet you two in class." And with that, Nino walked off to find where Alya was. Marinette and Adrien alone together now.

They were quiet for a moment. Was Mari really about to do this? How could she? How couldn't she? She promised Chat that she would- "So... How is everything?" She decided to start. Maybe she could just bring it up casually?

The boy laughed a little- now very aware of what she was doing. How did he not see it before? It was so obvious that she liked him, though he was locked in a big house with home school so he didn't have a lot of people skills. "I'm doing fine, Marinette. A lot has happened these last few days. Photoshoots, dating, breaking up and then Lila..."

So he hadn't told him yet? Or maybe Adrien just didn't want to talk about it. Maybe she forced Chat to talk to him too soon after he broke up with Kagami- how hurt was he? "I'm so sorry to hear about that! You and Kagami sounded so happy together. If you want to talk about it you can." Now she knew that she was procrastinating what she had to do, but she couldn't help it.

The boy nodded though and decided to take the offer. Talking about the same thing twice to the same person as two differen't people? Who would have thought that would happen to him. "We were very happy together, but I can't say that I was with her for good reasons. It was a distraction from the person that I'm in love with. But I know deep down that it would never happen... I just need to learn to get over it."

"Why wouldn't it ever happen?" She asked, curious. No, Chat had confirmed that it wasn't her- but she had to support him in whoever it was! If he was in love with Chloe or someone else she had to be there for him! "Anyone would be crazy to turn you down. You're the biggest sweetheart I've ever met!"

Her grin was immeasurable. She was so truthfully joyful and it brought a grin of his own onto the playing field. "Well the person I love isn't exactly on my level... They're so much more popular than me. They'd never have the same feelings for me that I have for them. They've been there for me ever since I met them but they like someone else." It was a sad truth- to Adrien at least.

But Marinette wouldn't let him think that way. Opening her mouth to speak she-

RING

The school bell rang and Adrien looked around, as if confirming that he wasn't imagining it. "Sorry- maybe we can continue this conversation at lunch?" He started. Marinette nodded and the blonde started up to class. Marinette still needed to head to her locker so she did so and packed up her things. While away, she got a text from Alya, apologizing for her attitude the day before and that morning. Today couldn't get much better, could it? She finished getting her text bbooks together and headed to class where her normal arrangement of seats were a little mixed. Nino and Alya were sitting next to each other and Adrien was by himself. Likely what happened? Alya told Nino that Marinette was going to tell Adrien her feelings for him. Chloe was in the room, getting excited and jumped at the opportunity to sit next to her "Adrikins."

She was a little disappointed- until Adrien had explained to her that the seat was taken. He had saved her a seat- in fact as soon as he aske Chloe to get out of the seat, he looked and waved over Marinette, to which Chloe scoffed.

"You're really going to sit with that lying idiot? Did you hear what she did yesterday? And she even tried to blame Lila, saying she was a liar! Yet you're going to choose that pompous brat over me? Ridiculous!"

Adrien shook his head. "Chloe, did you even think about if Marinette was right? You only jumped to the same comclusion as everyone else *because* of everyone else. You like to follow trends. You hardly even *know* Lila so why would you even believe her?" He did little to even look at Chloe after that, trying to reassure Marinette that it was alright. "It's okay, Marinette. I'm still here for you."

Those words cause a whole change in her demeanor. She say next to the boy of her dreams, slouched and completely relaxed- even Alya was surprised to see her so lax. "Thanks Adrien, I can always count on you."

Previously mentioned blonde stormed off, declaring war against Marinette Dupain-Cheng and sitting next to Sabrina.

------------------------------

It was now the end of the day. Marinette and Adrien had such a productive day together and had so much fun with each other. She decided the end of the day would be the best time to tell him, so they could go home and think about what was spoken about and then tomorrow they could talk to each other about it and finally conclude to being best friends! That was all she wanted at this point in time. So now they were standing out in front of the building while Adrien waited for the Gorilla.

"Hey Adrien? Can I tell you something?"

The boy looked expectedly to the other, as if he knew what she was going to say. "Of coarse Marinette. You can talk to me about anything."

The girl nodded, shifting her weight from the front of her toes to the backs of her heels. "So long story short, Chat Noir gave me a surprise visit last night." The looked surprised, but it seemed a little off.

"Chat Noir? What was going on?"

She took a deep breath. She had to do this. "He told me that you and him know each other personally and that you're in love with someone else. I'm guessing he hasn't spoken to you yet?"

"Nope." The boy froze, stiff, blushing bright red at the reminder of what Chat had told Marinette. He was such an idiot- why did he have to say he had a crush on himself? Was he really that dumb? He knew he was smarter than that.

Bluebell eyes shifted around, half shut while observing the blonde in front of her. Adrien was acting strange. At the mention of his crush and Chat Noir, he was already a mess. Why would he be so distraut about Chat Noir? "Alright... Well, he's suppose to see- are you alright? Do you have a fever or anything?"

The boy only could glance away, coughing into his hand with big nervous energy. "No no, I'm fine I'm fine." He promised.

"Okay, if you say so..." She started, still worried. "Well he told me he would talk to you about something if I spoke to you about something." She took a deep breath.

Adrien wanted to just support her. He forced himself into a better composure before looking back to her. "Of coarse! You say whatever you want. I won't judge you."

The girl came back with a new found confidence. She had to do this for Chat. She couldn't let him down! Not after he helped her so much! "I wanted to tell you that- that... um... H-He's curious about the girl you like! He wants to hear all about her!" Shoot! Now not only was she avoiding the underlying issue but she was risking Chats feelings! He doesn't want to hear about her, he wants to tell him his feelings! Shoot shoot shoot-"

Now Adrien was panicking- he couldn't tell her he liked Ladybug! It was embarrassing enough to tell his now ex about it, but his friend that had finally given the chance to get close to and had feelings for him! He bit his lip and glanced away again-

Though to Marinette, Adrien had freaked out twice now when Chat Noir was mentioned. AFter thinking about it for a minute, it seemed to snap the puzzle piece into her brain. She knew what was going on!

"Adrien, did you tell Chat Noir you had a crush on a girl because you really had a crush on him?" She seemed genuinely curious and needed to know.

Poor poor Adrien getting mixed up in this whole situation. He didn't know what to say so he stuttered, trying to explain himself without revealing that he actually loved Ladybug or that he was Chat Noir! Imagine the betrayal she would feel if she ever found out that he pretended not to know her and still consoled her as someone else! Fuck fuck fuck-

"Adrien, you don't have to pretend with me. I'll support you, no matter who you love! That's what friends are for, right?" She seemed so happy to hear that Adrien knew who he loved. Who he wanted to be with. Even if Adrien was in love with another boy, she didn't care. He could be happy since she now knew they both loved each other!

Adrien just became silent. He couldn't get himself out of this one without either embarrassing himself or revealing his identity which was a big old no no. "Y-You caught me red handed..."

She laughed happily and hugged him tightly. "When Chat comes by, I think you should tell him how you feel! It'll really clear things up for you!"

He found it ironic that Marinette was saying this, yet she hadn't done so herself. "Alright I... Guess I will. But only if you tell your crush that you like him!"

Marinettes brows furrowed in confusion very suddenly. "I never mentioned even having a crush- how did you know?"

Now he was *really* panicking. He needed to get out of here. He was screwing everything up! He was about to get found out! But by some miracle the girl didn't seem to figure out. Instead she took her own notes of his body and came to her own conclusion. "Wait a second, did Chat already see you? He did didn't he? And then he told you I liked you! You two are already together huh? I oughtta grab that kitty by the tail and- and-" But deep inside, she knew she wouldn't do anything to Chat Noir He was so kind and sweet, and she already hurt him enough by liking someone not at all interested in her. Leaning forward and placing her forehead on the others chest, she could only sigh, embarrassed as all hell. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner."

Green eyes shut and he gave the wildly blushing damsel in distress an embrace. Supportive and caring... "It's alright. I still want to be your friend. I'm sure we just need some time. Or we could go into this friendship thing guns ablaze." He joked.

"Yeah. That sounds nice."

------------------------------

Tell me what you thought! I’m not new to writing fanfiction but I think this is the first fanfic I’ve written on here... Anyways, I had this idea stuck in my head ever since a post by @buggachat (Particularly >>>THIS<<< post) This is mostly an original idea, since I’d been thinking about it before. Buggachat is just so inspiring with some of their things though so some of that got shown here! (Erm I hope it’s okay with them- I uh... Didn’t exactly ask if they wanted a plug or anything but they deserve more love!)

[catsaar]

Hey Sara :) I realise this question may be difficult to answer but I really hope you can help me. You have such amazing realistic builds & I want so desperately to be a better builder so can you please give me any advise based on how you build, particularly the exterior and how you add so much realism? Thank you for any tips you are willing to share. I wish you a happy Christmas. Hugs x

Hey there! Thank you for the kind compliment! I’m going to try to give some advice, but half of the time I don’t know what I’m doing either and I just try things out until it looks good to me. I’m going to take it that you know the basics of building.

My number 1 tip would be pinterest. I love going on there to get inspired. I never completely replicate a house, but I’ll take aspects of one I see or mix different parts/ elements of different buildings together as a start. I’ll search for a certain style of building and pick and choose. It’s also a great resource for landscaping tips.

Keep your detailing realistic. Add drain pipes, air vent, window planters (don’t overdo these, irl you don’t hang them on all windows either), door mats, a mailbox that fits the style of the build, wall plants, wall lights, garden hose etc etc. Columns and trims are a great way to add definition to your build. Shelves can be used as window sills. Aka go explore the wall deco category and don’t be afraid to use items in a different way than their initial purpose. I also love using the stains (rug and wall deco) we got with Strangerville but I’ll size them down, the dirty paws from Cats and Dogs, the food stains from City Living because things aren’t super clean irl either. Putting things a bit skewed is also a nice touch I think, like the bins or the door mat.

Speaking of detailing, in debug (bb.showhiddenobjects) you find so many good items you can use. Def with the additional cheat bb.showliveeditobjects that gave us so many world objects. More plants, more fences, mailbox, solar panels, electricity boxes, so so many things. I suggest putting your filter on a certain pack or basegame before searching on debug because the amount of items is pretty overwhelming.

Landscaping wise I avoid the cartoony looking plants. If I use the same plants I turn them different ways so they don’t all look the same, add grass in between, to give it all a natural feel and I play a lot with resizing them. I’ll always add dirt with the terrain tool under them, but also use it on the borders of pathways and around the house for some definition. 

I hope these tips were useful, I have no idea. Feel free to come off anon and send me a DM if you were thinking of other things you’ve seen me do and wonder how I do them or whatever. I don’t bite :) Have a wonderful Christmas as well!

[phonenut20-blog]

Leading Tips For Selecting A Garden Awning

Results For White Wooden Blinds In Furnishings, Curtains And Also Blinds, Blinds.

#toc background: #f9f9f9;border: 1px solid #aaa;display: table;margin-bottom: 1em;padding: 1em;width: 350px; .toctitle font-weight: 700;text-align: center;

Content

Preserving Faux Wood Blinds.

Vertical Blinds Vs Horizontal Blinds.

Blinds Ca Cordless 1" Mini Blind.

Pvc Venetian Home Window Blind.

Are Hillarys Blinds Expensive?

Do Hillarys repair blinds?

When you combine all of these factors, we think the answer is clear – Yes, Hunter Douglas blinds are worth the money. There are many benefits to getting these blinds, and just by saving you money on your energy costs and on your furniture, these blinds can end up paying for themselves.

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Maintaining Faux Wood Blinds.

Which blinds are better Bali or Levolor?

Basic options here amount to around $100 per window, with extravagant options costing $1,000 or more. Shutters. Shutters must be custom measured and installed, just like custom blinds and shades. Depending on the materials you use, they can cost as little as $20 per shutter, but the average is closer to $250 to $700.

Yet with the economic situation improving and outside areas ending up being much more preferred, purchaser passion is again stimulated by a high quality timber spruce up back. The price thinks a 16-by-20-foot deck with built-in bench and also planter, barriers as well as staircases. Buyers are absolutely thrilled by completed basements, Kmiecik stated. Improvement Magazine consists of in its price a 20-by-30-foot enjoyable area with wet bar as well as a bathroom. However, completing your basement may not always add worth in an appraiser's eyes, as an evaluator generally counts living room above grade only, Kmiecik stated.

Vertical Blinds Vs Horizontal Blinds.

https://www.suntex.nl/jaloezieen-op-maat/ , premium, custom-made made curtains at a rate you can pay for. Zonwering for custom drapery was birthed from our frustration with not finding a maker of economical, top quality custom-made drapes. It is our objective to aid you discover stunning, high quality personalized drapes, that fit completely with your residence and also way of life, at a cost you can pay for. Their professionals are ready to help you meet your vision for your home when it pertains to personalized drapes as well as drapes, but with keeping your spending plan in mind.

Nonetheless, if you want extra personal privacy, after that getting a choice that allows you to see out however doesn't enable people to see into your house would certainly be an excellent selection for you. As a result of their inexpensive and toughness, adding steel entrance doors generally supplies the greatest roi of all residence improvement projects, according to Remodeling Magazine. Just 2 years earlier, wooden decks recovered around 70 percent of their value, having actually gone down throughout the economic downturn.

If you intend to have the ability to shut all the blinds in a space at the same time without rising, you can utilize the remote to lower the slats without having to do so manually. Although you might listen to the work blinds and also think about a conventional model with a stick on one side for angling the slats and also a cord for lifting and also lowering the blinds, this is not the only alternative. There are blinds that feature a cordless operation that does not require you to draw a cable to raise or change the slats.

These home window treatment rods might be one of the most best design around. The black color mixes with any kind of type of design - transitional, modern, standard-- even modern. As well as the antique bronze highlights truly flaunt the detail and also make them look a lot much more expensive! I suggest this style because if you determine to alter your home window therapies, these will certainly still function-- conserving you the expense of getting new components. Leaving just breezy sheers and also blinds can provide brand-new life to a stuffy area.

Blinds Ca Cordless 1" Mini Blind.

Custom-made drape can last you 20 to thirty years when effectively looked after. On top of that every one of your textile will certainly originate from the exact same dye lot so there are no shade variants between drape panels. Here are a few of the distinctions in between custom curtains and also a ready-made ones that make the rate of the customized versions worth it. Give your windows the upgrade they are entitled to-- get started with Kwik-Hang today. If you have neutral decoration in your house, utilize blue as an accent in window accessories, pillows and also treatments to pull a room together while producing a tranquil, relaxing vibe.

Are Hunter Douglas blinds worth it?

Firstly, as mentioned Blinds 2go don't include any screws in the box. Additionally they don't advise what screws to use.

Garden space is restricted in London, so if you have actually got it, see to it you're taking advantage of it, particularly when you're planning to market. A deck or patio can change a yard into an amusing space, and when created as an additional room, a summer home can additionally add to the building value. You can include value by adding a tiled roofing system if you currently have a convservatory.

We have fundamental blinds as well as shades that are thousands of bucks as well as greater end designer tones and also blinds that can be countless dollars.

House owners typically integrate blinds or shades with drapes or valances, adding to the general expense.

Understand that custom blinds-- while much more costly-- generally use better than what you can locate in a house improvement store.

The rate of window treatments differ greatly by product, producer, material, and options.

Pvc Venetian Home Window Blind.

As soon as you start planning, you'll need to get to grasps with the types of conversions readily available. Alternatives vary from a roofing light conversion, which requires the least quantity of architectural work therefore is the most economical, to a more pricey mansard conversion. Right here, one or both inclines of the roofing system are changed with a new framework with steeper sides and also a practically level roofing. Add a Border - If you require to include a foot or more to the length of your drapes or drapes, you can add a contrasting border at the end of the panels for a recent appearance.

If you can stitch a straight line on the sewing equipment, you can conveniently make this change on your own. https://www.consumentenbond.nl/test Leading - If you need to include a number of inches to the size, you can open up the top side of your drapes or curtains. You'll be eliminating the rod "pocket", so this functions well if you're adding drape rings. You'll need to end up the top side by sewing or making use of iron-on hem tape.

What type of blinds are easiest to clean?

To allow more natural light into the room to create a more open and airy feel, you'll want to go with sheer blinds and shades. Sheer shades not only allow more sunlight in, they also offer an unobtrusive view which can also make a room feel bigger than it is.

You are in great hands when you go to a specialist customized drape company. They will certainly show you the most effective way to determine the width and also length of the window to get the most precise measurements possible. When friends and family involve check out, they will value the moment and also cash you put into making your house both elegant as well as comfortable. You will certainly make certain to get a lot of questions regarding where you went to get your custom drapes.

Are Hillarys Blinds Expensive?

There are additionally alternatives to think about when it pertains to the structure. The product you choose will directly impact the performance of the sunroom-- aluminium, upvc as well as lumber structures all have various qualities, so do your research study and ask experts for recommendations.

Where are blinds made?

A: When it comes to covering sliding patio doors from the kitchen or walkout basements and wide expansive windows, vertical blinds still remain as the best window treatment option until today.

Exterior service a property, from brand-new home siding to replacing windows, dominate the checklist of projects that use the biggest value. They use the biggest return due to the fact that a possible house sale can be made or broken on the exterior alone, property agents say. Weigh up your choices with our newbie's overview to eliminating internal walls.

[nochanchu]

back to you

pairing: lee donghyuck x reader genre: spiderman + post-break up au | drama, romance, fluff, themes of comfort and aching for it; includes anxiety wc: 3,920 description: He knows he shouldn’t lean on you for fear of what may come, but he’s young, dumb, and impulsive, if there’s anyone he’d come running back to—it’s you. author’s note: a long overdue story I’ve had in my drafts since may... but still one I enjoy nonetheless!

It hits Donghyuck just how much he depends on you a moment too late.

A moment far, far too late—several months actually.

Despite this, he knows that out of everyone in his pool of friends, the one person that he can lean on when the going gets tough and he can’t seem to breathe, that he can call in the ungodly hours of the night when he just needs to talk and silence is too unbearable, it’s you.

If he can recall far back enough, you’ve always been his solace, his guiding light in the darkness that follows any hero. He calls you, airs out all the baggage and anxieties until suddenly he has to pause to catch his breath, and all at once, fresh air fills his lungs and nothing else matters. He basks in the soothing dulcet tones of your voice, clinging to every word even if they’re mumbled and coated with fatigue. That’s how it’s always been.

Even now, when the last thing he should be doing is forgoing what Doyoung said.

He knows he’s being selfish by moving away from the Kim Enterprises building in favor of another path. But between the pain eating away at his ribs and the aches across his body, his brain acts on its own accord.

When he blinks, what he last remembers as the New York skylines becomes the brick-stacked walls he knows too well. He rolls up his mask just to make sure he isn’t seeing things, and it’s just as he left it all those three months ago. He’s not sure what he expected to be different when this area of your home has never once looked different during his occasional passing trips, but his uncovered eyes drink in the vicinity for something different for no particular reason. 

The bag of soil you had him carry up is still at the corner near the entrance to your dining room, half-touched and only somewhat smaller than before. There’s still an empty beige planter beside it, too. The plants that litter the corners aren’t as lush and viridescent as before, but they’re alive. Trying to be, at least.

Kind of like me. He would say this aloud, but he feels his throat close up.

If he makes a sound now, then this is really happening. He can’t even accept that he’s standing right here, right now. As Doyoung has said time and time again, this is dangerous, and really, really bad things could happen. Unspeakable things that holds reasons his mind didn’t register until reality sunk in and reminded him that his situation was not as simple as it once was. So, Donghyuck had to make that promise to the two of you that he wouldn’t just come to you like this, in fact he made well to add that he wouldn’t be coming to you at all anymore.

The very thought of how big of a risk he’s running frightens the ever living fuck out of him, but he’s scared for other reasons too. The biggest of them is the one he feels deep within the marrow of his bones, where a wound cuts so deep into his abdomen unlike the previous ones he has gotten in battle; the sort of pain that wraps around him and elicits thoughts he hasn’t considered for his own sanity. The kind of thoughts that an newly turned eighteen-year-old shouldn’t be having in what is considered the prime of his life. But they won’t stop. The pain doesn’t stop. And all he wants to do is be selfish just this once if it means seeing you right now.

Perhaps if he wasn’t so damn selfish, he wouldn’t be standing at your balcony right now, and he certainly wouldn’t let his own body act on its own accord and fumble with one of the planters for the bronze key you’ve kept stashed there if ever he needed you or your place for whatever reason. He wants to do this despite how much he hates to admit that the distance has done nothing to sate these feelings at all. A part of him wonders if time has changed things on your end as he sifts through the dirt. He realizes he has to hope it’s still there even though he wouldn’t blame you for moving it either.

To his relief (and somewhat surprise), it’s there. He can feel the edges dig into the uncovered parts of his palm, now certain more than ever that this is no dream. Otherwise, he would have woken up by now out of shock to be this close, and from the cold that seeps into the ripped seams of his suit.

Donghyuck hesitates to use the key now that it sits in his hand. He knows he shouldn’t be here. How many times has he been told to stop going to you? How many times has he told himself that he can’t just come back to you whenever he pleases? Given, this is the first time since he put an end to things with you, he feels an unbelievable amount of regret coursing through him. He can’t tell if it’s the waning adrenaline from the earlier battlefield or if it’s the heartache that’s been clenching his heart, but being here is bittersweet and comforting all the same.

Knowing you’re so close, yet so goddamn far makes him wish to close the distance and finally get it through his own thick skull that there isn’t anyone else that he would rather be with than you. If he’s dying like he feels like he is in the “I’m really about to bleed out and collapse on the ground I’m standing on,” then you’re the last thing he wants to see before everything goes black and that light at the end of the tunnel greets him like everyone says it does.

Of course, he’s probably overreacting. Doyoung probably would have dragged him by the ear otherwise. However, all logic aside, his limbs won’t let him move anywhere but forward, while his brain is screaming at him to hightail it out of there. It’s as though his heart has taken over all motor functions. The way it moves his hand to press the key into the slot, he can’t seem to stop until there is a click! and he can slide the door open, hesitantly.

He takes about one step before he stumbles over the long-forgotten step, trapping a curse in his throat when he realizes he has knocked over the planter in his haste to stop from falling. His limbs have grown even heavier since feeling  the warmth and familiarity of this place even from this area. Your scent manages to envelop him like a tight embrace and reminds him that he is supposed to be a stranger here, that he shouldn’t be here. But he knows this already. He hears it in his own voice and Doyoung’s, and when he tries to hear it in your voice, it’s impossible.

While his body is saying everything he wishes he could—as if trying to convey how he wants to see you just this once by making it ridiculously difficult to walk away, as if to tell him that if he can do that, then he can find some strength to get through the rest of tonight—his anxieties work to fight him against these whims. As quiet as the doubts were before, they have gotten louder and louder since the first sign of his turmoil.

Donghyuck takes a little less than a minute to decide that he better leave right now. He doesn’t know how long it will take until you wake up from the ruckus he has caused, but if he lingers he will face you for sure. And if he faces you, he isn’t sure what he’ll do. His mind could conjure up a plethora of scenarios, each one meant to mentally prepare him for an inevitable reunion that he’s been pushing for since he let you go, and the more he considers these things, the more certain he is about leaving back to his apartment where he can self-loathe and patch himself up, probably receive an earful from Doyoung for turning off his comms until—

“Hyuck?” The hallway light blinds him for only a moment, giving him enough time to register the confusion, vulnerability, and surprise riddling your hoarse voice. You squint at him, as if trying to decide if he’s really here or if you’re some figment of your imagination brought out by some odd dream. He takes you in all your glory in without missing the familiar dishevelled bed head you’re sporting and the way you don’t oppose his presence right now.

Donghyuck can’t even express his true feelings when a strong surge of pain overthrows all initial responses, and whatever words stuck to his throat get washed out by the sharp exhale of pain passing through his lips. You propel yourself forward and catch him before he collapses straight onto the floor, disregarding the slick, scarlet trail he leaves behind on your oversized t-shirt.

You frown more so at the wound than at him before setting him onto the floorboards as carefully as possible and locking the doors before leaving for the first-aid kit you keep on hand for situations like this. It’s a quick departure—by the time he blinks, you’re back with the red and white box, now flicking on the tableside lamp in your quaint living room.

He has to squint at first to adjust to the incandescence and the closeness of your proximity that constricts his throat from further conversation, because if he says anything now, he isn’t sure he can hold himself accountable for what comes out.

But Donghyuck whimpers as soon as the antiseptic wipes touches his wound. He doesn’t realize he’s gripping the end of your t-shirt, but he is and he hears your voice get smaller like the way you would on those late night phones calls or back when he was too scared to look at his grades after a test—those were simpler times.   

“You’re safe. You’re okay.”

Those words were his lullaby. A mantra to get him through the roughest patches in this heroic business. He could see your face with the corners of your lips curled slightly and your half-closed eyelids fluttering between waking and dreaming everything single time. And somehow everything was okay, again.  

But he’s not okay. He hasn’t been okay for a while now.

He was when you were together, at least. But any relationship is symbiotic. There’s a give and take, a push and pull. And like you with him, he wants to keep you safe, okay. He wants you without worries when it regards him. To know that you have spent nights on end just wondering if he’s going to make it back from an impromptu mission makes his heart clench, because there are things that you are more than willing to do for him, and it isn’t just picking up his call at four in the goddamn morning.

There was once a moment in your time together that you told him that you would go to hell and back for him. And he believes it. He knows you would. And that absolutely frightens him, because as ethereal as you are through his eyes, you don’t have the same lifespan as an angel. Neither does he, but he certainly stands a better chance against any demented, powered guy than you. And such an impermanence always made him second guess what he was doing by being with you. It was indisputably selfish to think that he could hang out to the only normal part of his life and expect no repercussions out of it. With a risk that high and a reputation growing as big as his, he had to stop before something happened.

He cut those ties and nipped them, and he hoped for better out of it.

/

You’re okay you’re okay you’re okay, he hears. I promise.   

Donghyuck doesn’t open his eyes. He fears that if he opens his eyes, then this won’t be real; that he’ll wake up on the battlefield or in Doyoung’s medical room. But he fears that if he’s dead, then he’ll have never even seen you at least once before his demise, and that, for all reasons, frightens him as much as not being able to protect his aunt.

“Don’t go.”

I’m here, I’m not going anywhere.

“I’m sorry.”

It’s okay, just open your eyes for me. Okay? Just open them, please.

He doesn’t know what he’ll see if he opens them, if this’ll be real, or if what’s out there will be the end of him. And, he doesn’t know if he’ll ever be ready. He just knows that it doesn’t hurt as much as it did before.

“Okay.”

He opens his eyes.

Your eyes meet his, and his breath catches in his throat—“This is real.”

You look like you’re torn between laughing and crying, and his heart leaps too far and wide for him to gauge. You’re still just as he remembers with your hair falling out of its makeshift ponytail, with strands all over the place, oversized t-shirt now stained in his blood, and a smile that could only be done justice by seeing it in real life.

“Of course, this is real,” you respond, unable to fight back the urge to hug him. He realized then that you hadn’t moved him from the floor, though he couldn’t blame you considering how hard it would’ve been to remove blood stains from the couch. It hurt a lot more to hug you back, but he did it and didn’t regret it either. “I’m here. I’m not going anywhere, even if you tell me to go.”

You kept your hold on him, even as he let go, thinking that was his cue to do so.

“I’m sorry,” he says once more, this time with complete coherence. “I—I—I don’t even know where the hell to begin besides there, but I fucked up. I fucked up so bad, and I don’t know if you want to talk to me or if this is another part of some messed up dream, but even if it is, then I’m sorry for—you know—coming back to you like this. I’m sorry that I couldn’t even keep my word. I’m sorry for being a selfish jerk, okay? I miss you so much. So goddamn much. I don’t even know what to do with myself. I just came here on my own accord. I really wanted to see you, just in case—”

“Just in case of what, Donghyuck?” He winces as you let go of him, and lock eyes with him. “Just in case you… die? You don’t come back? Just in case of what, exactly?”

He hates how panicked you sound, how pained you sound to say these things, and how he isn’t sure how he can alleviate any of it now that you two are in the position that you’re in. If this were any normal circumstance, the kind that didn’t involve talking about his death as plausible albeit all too soon occurrence, he wouldn’t hesitate to draw you into his arms and let you know that everything would be okay, that whatever was concerning you both was just a passing(, non-life threatening) phase that would come and go before either of you could blink. But things, as they currently were, have been different for too long to go back to old times like that. To reminisce in such a way feels like lifetimes ago, and yet he feels an obligation and desire to let you know that he’s here for you too.

“I’m sorry,” he says again, sighing. “I—I—yeah, alright? Just in case I die. I was scared, okay? So scared. Just a few hours ago, I was out there fighting for the sake of everyone else’s, and something went wrong or maybe—I dunno—almost went to plan for the bad guys, but I thought that was going to be my last battle. I thought if there was one thing I’d want to do, then it’d be to see you. And, I’m sorry that it took me being in this position to do that, but I want to keep you safe. I can’t just keep depending on you and risk your life like some selfish asshole. I’m sorry.”

“You’re an idiot. I hope you understand that, because you and I both know I don’t give a shit about what happens unless I know you’re okay. I only know you’re okay when I see you passing by every now and then. Or if I see you at school. Or I dunno, I hear from Auntie Soon about you. But, Hyuck, what I don’t get is why can’t you see that no matter how hard you try to push me away, that’s not going to keep me away. I mean I’ll respect any boundaries you set considering our break up, but that won’t ever stop me from caring about you, ever. I mean it. I want what’s best for you, and I think one thing I wish the most would be for you to stop being so stupid, and just accept that I’m here and I’m not going anywhere. Even if Mr. Kim set up some top-security detail to keep me from you, I’d manage a way to find out how you are.”

You both cracked a smile at that—of course, you would find a way. Of course, you wouldn’t relent, even if the odds were against you both. And, of course, he loved you for it. For all of that and more.

“That’s not fair…” His heart hasn’t stopped, not even a little bit. Only you could do that.

“It’s not fair that you keep saying that this is for the best when we both know who’s really taking care of your ass when a mission goes awry. I mean sorry Mr. Kim but I’m the best medic you got. I’m your own nurse and therapist, so I have him and his multi-billion dollar doctors beat by a long shot.”

“I know, that’s why I came here.” He adds, chuckling, “among other reasons.”

“Yeah, yeah, I missed you too.” You smile as he does, just hearing it is enough for him. Being here with you is actually more than enough for him—he tells you so, too. “Well, come back then. Stay then. Just stop pushing me away, alright? I want to hear from you, whether you’re hurt or sad or happy or whatever. All of that, Hyuck. Because I love you. I miss you. And, no matter what, we both know you’ll always come back to me.”

“I know. This was me trying not to do this anymore, and yet, here I am. Back as always.”

You take hold of his hand, knowing how badly he wants to hold you, yet being fully aware of how scared he is to initiate that.

“Tell Mr. Kim that you can’t push away someone you love, thinking it’s for the best—it isn’t. For either parties.” You pause for a moment, glancing at your window. “Who knows though? Maybe he knows you’re here.”

“Well, if he does, then he does, and I’ll deal with him if he doesn’t approve. I just had a near death experience, and I need this,” he says, raising your joined hands together a few centimeters off the ground. “I don’t ever want to leave, honestly.”

“You’ll have to. So will I. We have school.” You laugh as he groans. “Sorry. But I mean, we still have a full day to ourselves tomorrow. If you’re okay with sticking around. My parents are out, somewhere in Europe more than likely, and I know Auntie Soon will be happy to hear that we’re talking again.”

“True, she’s been ready to fight on your behalf ever since I’ve started deflecting all conversations about you.”

“That must be tough. I imagine she brings me up every second she gets, probably telling you that letting me go was the worst mistake of your life and other things along those lines. Would probably also leave behind hints about how to woo me back and get Auntie Taeyeon to nag you about breaking up with me.”

Donghyuck nods as fervently as he can in his state and enjoys the way you laugh so happily. “It’s almost as painful as this wound at how accurate you are. Were you telling her how I could potentially woo you back or something?”

“No! Not directly, at least. I said everything jokingly, so I didn’t expect her to actually tell you to do any of them.”

He thinks back to the suggestions; you would hint to his aunt about what he could do, though Auntie Soon probably did fabricate them, he doesn’t mind so much. He knows you both mean well, even Auntie Taeyeon, as intense as she can be.

You lie beside him, having already cleaned the floor sometime during that period he was passing out, propping yourself up by your elbow as you do so.

“You don’t need to do any of them, by the way,” you mention, “I know that look, and I mean it, you don’t. I’m content with this. As long as you’re being yourself. Not some robot you think you need to be to protect me from whatever metaphorical and literal bad guy is out there.” He opens his mouth to protest but you quiet him with a squeeze of you hand. “Let me protect you this one time, Hyuck. I can’t be out there fighting alongside you, as much as I wish I could, but I can protect you here. This is my domain, alright? And, if you’re okay right now, then that’s all that matters.”

“Okay, yeah, you’re right.” He cranes his head to look at you, not wanting to miss a moment.

“You must’ve been scared before, huh?”

“Yeah, I was scared shitless, honestly. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know what would happen. I mean I know the consequences of defending the city, but this was a different reality—if that makes any sense?—” he continues once you nod, “I think I’m absolutely scared of death. I don’t know what it is or what to do about it, but no amount of powers in the world could ever make me feel as powerless as I did earlier. Like, if anything really had gone wrong, it would’ve been game over, and I’d be alone.

“Yeah, I have Mr. Kim and all but Auntie Soon and you and the guys? Imagining just being gone from you guys hurts my chest to think about, and even just thinking about it hurts my head more than any concussion I’ve ever had these past few months. But I’m okay right now. I’m here with you. I don’t need to think about that what-if, if I can help it.”

“Not while I’m around,” you tell him, pressing your lips to his cheek. “I’m here, and I’ll say that again and again until that sticks in your head.”

“Well, I guess I’ll just keep coming back, again and again.”

His eyes soon grow heavy, even as you find more things to talk to him about, and despite how hard he fights to stay awake, you let him sleep.

You’re safe, you’re okay, you tell him again, and for once during these past few yet long months, he believes it.

[lily-of-the-eyrie]

🔍💭 Study: Lawrence Washington

Here I present my 4000-word eulogy essay on what an accomplished, dedicated member of the Order my man Lawrence had been, because he deserves to have his life’s work known for more than what Birch dissed it for, dammit.

Meet the man whose work laid the foundation on which our one and only 🎉Colonial Rite🎉 was built!

◈ Contents ◈

Timeline

Joining the Order 　How did he start his Templar career?

Building a Base 　What did he manage to do in the colonies?

The Virginian Rite 　A portrait of the proto-Colonial Rite in 1750

Challenges to the Search 　12 years, and still no Grand Temple―what’s the holdup?

Retrieving the Relics 　Why look for the Precursor box and manuscript in the West Indies?

The Other Washington 　“A bright spot in a troubled land”

Lawrence the Templar 　A summary of Lawrence’s character

✠ Lawrence Washington (1718-1752) ✠

☙ Timeline ☙

1718 - Born to a planter family in Virginia 1729 - Went to study in England 1730s - Inducted into the Templar Order, and quickly rose to the rank of Master Templar 1738 - Completed his education, and went back to Virginia 1739 - War of Jenkins' Ear broke out between Britain and Spain; Lawrence joined the Virginia militia and joined in the fighting in the West Indies 1742 - Returned home, and obtained a commission for the post of militia commander, with the rank of Major 1743 - Married Anne Fairfax, daughter of William Fairfax, an influential leading figure in the local society 1744 - Elected to the local parliament 1746 - Sent a letter to Gist talking about creating a front company to double as a Templar communications network, and also about starting a correspondence with William Johnson in New York. Achilles established the Colonial Brotherhood in this year as well 1750 - Received a letter from Birch notifying him of Monro's transfer Sep 28, 1751 - Sailed from Virginia to Barbados; arrived on Nov 3 Nov 21, 1751 - Port-au-Prince earthquake; after interrogating a member of the Haitian Brotherhood, he stole the Precursor box and manuscript from the local Assassin Mentor's camp July 26, 1752 - Passed away at his home in Mount Vernon

☙ Joining the Order ☙ How did he start his Templar career?

　According to what we can glean from his database entry, Lawrence had quite an impressive start to his life as a Templar. Scouted out during his school years in England by none other than the Grand Master himself, he proved to be so competent that, within a few short years, he was promoted to Master Templar at 20. This route of advancement is comparable to that of Madeleine de L'Isle of the Louisiana Rite, who was inducted into the Order at 15 years old, and was a Master Templar at 19; the promotion was, in the words of Birch's good friend John Harrison, well-deserved because she had "proven herself ruthless and capable" in serving the Order's interests in her area (✉️“Savannah”, 1751). Lawrence may have followed a similar course, and must have done his work equally well, because at the end of it, Birch had enough faith in the young Templar to entrust him with his one great dream: finding the Grand Temple spoken about in Edward Kenway's journal.

　While the exact motives behind Birch's recruitment weren't directly stated, it can be inferred; Liam mentioned that Lawrence "had great ambitions that the Templars helped fulfill" [Rogue Seq.1-3, “Tinker Sailor Soldier Spy”], while Birch, judging by the contents of his parting letter to the Master Templar returning home, wanted someone to serve as his "eyes and ears in the New World" and find the Temple for him (✉️“Lawrence of America”, 1738). The Washingtons' status as a relatively well-established family in Virginia is probably a nice bonus to add to the requirements; it would, at the very least, give him something to work with compared to his fellow brethren in the British Rite, whose centers of power may have been more tied to the isles and are therefore more useful at home than abroad.

　And so, armed with a grand mission and some resources to get started on it, Lawrence returned home to Virginia in 1738.

☙ Building a Base ☙ What did he manage to do in the colonies?

　Now we all know how this story ended―Lawrence would never find the Grand Temple, which the Order only managed to find in 1754, 2 years after his death. But he didn't spend his entire lifetime just sitting on his thumbs, and since Rogue didn't explicitly cover much of what he did aside from the very last bit, we're going to go over his other accomplishments here.

　Starting from the beginning, the first notable thing in Lawrence's New World ventures surprisingly didn't involve the actual colonies he was presumably supposed to comb over. In 1739, not one year after his return home, the War of Jenkins' Ear broke out between Britain and Spain, so away he went again in 1740, only this time it's to join the army as part of the Virginian militia and fight in the West Indies.

　Why he would suddenly drop his Precursor search in Virginia to go to the Caribbean, an area that is technically still part of the New World but probably not in his intended searching range, is a mystery. On top of the usual risks of battle and the rampant fatal diseases colonists tend to catch in the area, he would have needed to also consider the Assassin threat there―after the death of Laureano de Torres, the Grand Master of the West Indies Rite, in 1722, the region was known to be heavily under Assassin control. Another Templar, Rafael Joaquin de Ferrer of the Louisiana Rite, was so concerned by the local Brotherhood's influence that he feared the Templars will never gain any footing there again until their enemies are eradicated (✉️“Cuban Salvage”, 1750). His visit was then a risky leap right into enemy territory on multiple levels. The database entry said nothing about the involvement of Templar business in it, but it sure has the potential to tell an interesting story if it indeed had some.

　After spending 2 years in the war, he returned to Virginia in 1742, and in the following year, got married to Anne Fairfax. The Fairfax family was one of the most prominent families in Virginia―being able to call Anne's father, William Fairfax, his father-in-law increased the amount of power Lawrence held in the colony. This new connection gave him a solid backing to help with his rise in society and also with his business ventures: he was elected a member of the local parliament a year later.

　Having secured a stable foundation of influence, he began to work on strengthening the Templar presence in the colonies. He became acquainted with Gist (and presumably Weeks) at around this time, and sent him a letter discussing the need to establish front companies to form a secure communications network for the Order in 1746 (✉️“Front Company”, 1746). In that same letter, he also urged Gist to go and introduce himself to William Johnson, who was in New York at the time, and whose government connections and close relationship with the natives could be useful in aiding the Templars in the colonies. In the meantime, Lawrence would go and influence his in-laws, the aforementioned Fairfaxes, to create the Ohio Company, one of the Templar front businesses closer to his base in Virginia. This company, which was chaired by Lawrence and his trusted associates (Including James Wardrop and Samuel Smith—more on them below), was to become an important vehicle for the Order's activities in the colonies―it allowed him to disguise the search for the Grand Temple as land surveying expeditions, such as the one to chart the Ohio area, which was led by none other than Gist himself.

☙ The Virginian Rite ☙ A portrait of the proto-Colonial Rite in 1750

　With a goal like locating a particular Precursor structure in an unfamiliar land 40 times the size of Britain, there's a lot for Lawrence to do, so it was logical of him to make gathering helpful friends a top priority. Here are the core members of his team:

Christopher Gist (1706~) 　A frontiersman and surveyor born in Baltimore, Maryland, up north from where Lawrence lived. He appears to be the Master Templar's closest, if not also oldest, associate, judging by how Lawrence's existing letters were addressed to him specifically. Given his profession, Gist would have been familiar with the lands in the area, and more than qualified to explore the ones they've yet to chart. A jolly good fellow with a penchant for outrageous storytelling and an unrivaled love of drink, he's nevertheless not very sympathetic (or even outright casually hostile) to anyone he considers an enemy. 　For all the ease in his usual disposition, though, he does have a stake in the Templars' success―displeased with the chaos and constant fighting in the unstable colonies, he believed that the accomplishment of their goals will grant peace and order to the land [Rogue Seq.3-3, “Circumstances”; Seq.5-1, “Men o' War”].

Jack Weeks (1723~) 　The Albany-born son of a couple who had escaped slavery in Virginia, Weeks was a clever, resourceful man, with a dash of cheekiness to boot. Hardy even as a young boy, he led a rough life, and was already a pickpocket active in the Albany markets at the tender age of 10. It was sometime during this part of his career that he tried picking Gist's pocket, but the explorer, catching him in the act, decided he liked his audacity enough and hired him as an errand boy. However, rather than consigning Weeks to the fate of a mere servant, he taught him various things as they traveled together, chiefly the workings of trade and how to mimic people of all kinds of standing and birth. 　A calm, level-headed man with a strategic edge, he accompanied Gist on his travels, which meant that Lawrence may have picked them up as a pair. He and Gist worked as detached associates to the Order until they were inducted by Monro in 1751.

James Wardrop (1705~) 　Born to a Templar family in the colonies, Wardrop was arguably the most sinister member of the party. Tasked with securing land and wealth for the Order, he was involved in putting together a trade network that ran from the colonies to the West Indies, work on which began in 1744; to add to that, he worked together with Gist to purchase land in and around the colonies in 1750. He was merciless with his methods when it comes to making things run the way the Templars want it to―the Assassins charged him with evicting many local tribes from their land, and for orchestrating countless massacres, which earned him the reputation of being "one of the most devious and ruthless men in the colonies" [Rogue Seq.2-2, “We the People”]. 　To add to this, he was also a shrewd, opportunistic man, who wasn't above using his position to help increase his own wealth when he got the chance to, and strove to maintain the colonies' loyalty to Britain. Despite having quite the dangerous edge, however, he was an absolute lightweight when it comes to drink, and for some reason or the other, simply could not get along with Weeks (although he seemed to fare better with Gist). 　Wardrop and his family was likely already serving the Order's interests when Lawrence called, showing how he worked on linking existing Templar groups together into a network in the colonies.

Samuel Smith (???~) 　There's very little that can be found about Smith, who probably had the shortest database entry among the whole cast. We know that he was probably born in Virginia, with some experience as a sailor. As far as Templar work is concerned, he served as treasurer in one of Lawrence's Templar front businesses, which was likely related to how he wound up as one of the Order's members. 　Unlike the rest of the team, Smith was very timid, and carried himself in a very fidgety manner (which really shows when he's standing next to the casually elegant Wardrop). He was also flighty and/or not very good at fighting―Shay, who went after him, reported that he "could barely hold his sword straight" [Rogue Seq.2-2, “We the People”]. Whatever strengths Lawrence might have seen in him, it was probably more to the desk job side, although the number of techniques he employed when trying to throw off the Assassins pursuing him by ship showed that the can hold on his own for a while on water as well, which is also worth a mention.

William Johnson (1715~) 　As New York's representative to the Iroquois, and as someone who had gained the indigenous peoples' respect by familiarizing himself with their language and customs, Johnson offered a very advantageous set of skills and connections for Lawrence and his quest to find the Grand Temple. Since he's more knowledgeable about the northern colonies, places a little too far from Lawrence's home base to work in effectively, he would've made a very handy ally―after his induction to the Order, they cooperated behind the scenes, dedicating themselves to building a Templar infrastructure in the colonies. (Johnson's appearance in Rogue is a cameo at best, since his main role is in ACIII, but this does make me wonder if the list of Templars that Birch gave Haytham on his departure from London in 1754 is the result of Lawrence & co.'s work...)

[PS. Monro was also supposed to be part of this group, but he wasn't someone Lawrence picked on his own, so let’s leave him out of this for now.]

☙ Challenges to the Search ☙ 12 years, and still no Grand Temple―what's the holdup?

　So Lawrence had been keeping himself busy with Templar work since he went back to the colonies, but to Birch, all that work was conspicuously missing the one thing he wanted most: the discovery of the Grand Temple. This one setback was apparently enough for Birch to dismiss everything else he did as insignificant, regardless of their relevance to the Temple hunt.

　To Birch's credit, it was the main mission that he tasked Lawrence with, so he had every right to be rather miffed about the unfruitful search (although I'd take this opportunity to mention that Precursor sites aren't easy to find; the Caribbean Observatory took 2 decades for the relatively established West Indies Rite to locate, for example [ACIV Seq.2-3, “Mister Walpole, I Presume?”]), but I'd also like to highlight the particular challenges that Lawrence had in particular due to the rather unique conditions under which he had to conduct that search. Aside from his obvious health issues, which must have slowed him down, the primary problems I can identify can be divided into these 2 categories: (1) the lack of an existing network, and (2) the unfortunate fact that he focused his search in the wrong area.

　Unlike Britain, where the British Rite had been around for several centuries, the colonies at the time didn't have a Rite of their own. There were a number of individual Templars who had either gone to or lived in the New World (like Lawrence's very own subordinate, James Wardrop, who was born into a Templar family there and joined the Order himself in 1720), but the first proper Colonial Rite wasn't established until Haytham's arrival in 1754.

　Judging by how Birch took the trouble of appointing Lawrence in particular to lead the Grand Temple search instead of any Templar already in the colonies in 1738, it seems that the Order's presence in the New World was still rather sparse (and it was sparse for the Assassins—enough for Achilles to be surprised when he encountered John de la Tour there in 1740 [✉️“The First Colonial Assassin”, 1740]). In addition to this, there's also the fact that Lawrence saw some necessity in building up basic Templar infrastructure through the 1740s, which he wouldn't have done if such a system was already in place. With this scarcity of usable resources at the time of his return, he couldn't have gone looking for the Grand Temple from the second he set foot in Virginia―not when he still lacked the proper tools to facilitate the search, which he'd have to put together first, even if it takes time to do so.

　The other problem was, of course, the lack of pointers about the location of the Grand Temple. Edward Kenway's journal may have specified which continent the Precursor site was on, but that's hardly helpful when much of North America was still uncharted territory for the British at the time. In addition to this, while Haytham had the Grand Temple key to at least provide a hint as to where the lock that fits it might be, the Templars still had no such hint back then. Lawrence would have had trouble just trying to determine where exactly he needed to start looking (no doubt this is related to why his oldest known friend, Gist, was a widely-traveled surveyor familiar with the lands he was to search in).

　He most likely started his hunt in Virginia itself, seeing as it's where he'd lived and where most of his connections were based. As of the time he began this search, all of the original 13 colonies had already been established, so at least he could use the British Rite's connections to help expand his operation along the continent's Atlantic seaboard. He had his eye as far up as New York, whose news he kept up with enough to hear about Johnson, who was stationed there at that point. Still, he was not limited by just British territorial limits, as seen in the establishment of the Ohio Company in 1748. This company, which he sought to use to help the Order, was made to support ventures into the Ohio region, which at the time claimed by the French as their territory. If this was where he'd focused his efforts, anyone familiar with the actual location of the Grand Temple (Turin, at the northern tip of New York state) would've noticed a big problem with the strategy: he was going in the wrong direction. With that kind of problem, it didn't matter how thoroughly he searched the land that he managed to cover―he was never going to find the Grand Temple there.

☙ Retrieving the Relics ☙ Why look for the Precursor box and manuscript in the West Indies?

　From then on, we know how the story went―Birch decided he's just about done waiting, thought that Lawrence was a disappointment, and staged an intervention by sending him some assistance in the form of the Colonel. And yet, the next time we hear from Lawrence, he's gone to Haiti and raided the local Brotherhood, which was how he got his hands on the Precursor box and manuscript.

　The question is―why?

　Of course, the obvious answer is that any Precursor relic is of interest to the Order, but his health by 1751, when he went to Barbados, had already worsened to the point that it really concerned his family and friends. He was most definitely not in a state that made it a simple matter to go down all the way to the Caribbean, a heavily Assassin-controlled area, and pull off the footwork necessary to steal First Civilization items from the Haitian Brotherhood. He could've sent someone else, if it was really pressing, and Birch's letter about Monro's transfer hadn't explicitly told him to stop looking for the Grand Temple. Why did he switch his target to the box and manuscript, in an obviously premeditated hunt, despite there being no evidence that they're directly relevant to the Temple?

　The only hint to Lawrence's motivations is tucked away in his letter to Gist about what he did in Haiti, in which he hoped that, having obtained the relics, "perhaps his leadership in the colonies will finally be recognized" (✉️“Family Vacation”, 1751). For a short line, there's a lot of weight in it―Lawrence evidently felt strongly about his authority as the leader of the Templars in the colonies, so much that he would stake his life on winning it back after Birch's scathing review of his lack of progress and subsequent interference, which I doubt Lawrence appreciated much. As such, aside from the practical reasons he might have had to retrieve the Precursor box and the manuscript, there's another personal layer to it as well.

[EDIT: After mulling it over a bit more, it occurred to me that, as of the time Lawrence went hunting for the Precursor box and manuscript, he still didn’t know if these artifacts would contribute to locating the Grand Temple. Hell, he didn’t even know what Precursor artifacts he might have gotten—the only thing he might have possibly known about the West Indies Assassins is that François Mackandal, Mentor of the Haitian Brotherhood, made a hobby out of collecting First Civilization relics (✉️”Arranged Marriage”, 1748), and that an old Precursor box may have ended up in that area following the trail Harrison picked up on in 1742 (✉️”The Manila Galleons”, 1742). He might have decided to take that leap of faith out of desperation, knowing that he’d look much better if he could find an artifact, any artifact, at this point.

Meanwhile, de Ferrer of the Louisiana Rite was also looking for the Precursor box in the Cuba area just a year before Lawrence went, but reported finding nothing and left in 1751 (✉️”Cuban Salvage”, 1750; “Chichen Itza”, 1751). Could these two events be related?]

☙ The Other Washington ☙ "A bright spot in a troubled land"

　Speaking of personal matters, despite fully committing himself to serving the Order's goals, there are certain things he'd never give up for the Templar cause. Specifically and obviously, of course, I'm referring his little brother, George Washington, who he repeatedly insisted should never, under any circumstance, get pulled into the Order’s business.

　The actual Washington brothers were also very close, so this attachment didn't just come out of nowhere―they were often together whenever it was possible for them to be, and for his part, Lawrence didn't spare any expense or effort when it comes to grabbing opportunities for his brother, whether in the form of sharing acquaintances (such as the time when he introduced the younger Washington to the influential Fairfaxes), or helping him launch a career (once in the Navy, an attempt which was thwarted by George's mother, and later as a surveyor, which was a more successful case and helped George amass a sizable wealth of his own).

　On his end, George was never too far away from Lawrence's regular non-Templar work, ready to tackle requests from his older brother. He'd often wind up using his surveying skills to either map out their holdings' borders or plots of land used for his businesses. He also helped take care of Lawrence when his health began to fail, and even after the elder Washington's death, George continued to see him as an influential and inspiring presence―he has a portrait of Lawrence hanging in his personal study at Mount Vernon, the only family portrait to get that privilege.

　Going back to Lawrence, his sentiments about his brother revealed two things―the immediately observable one being that he had a very high opinion of George, along with a good helping of protectiveness for the younger boy, and the other one being that he shows a self-deprecating awareness of the darker, less noble side of the Order's work, the "ugly truths of [their] most serious business" (✉️“Family Vacation”, 1751).

☙ Lawrence the Templar ☙ A summary of Lawrence's character

　Having been introduced when he was already on his last legs, Lawrence had a very brief on-screen presence that was largely dominated by his illness. Still, despite the shortness of both his screentime and lifespan in general, he managed to achieve a lot in terms of Templar work. While he regrettably couldn’t locate the Grand Temple himself, the effort he put into trying to find it most definitely contributed to the overall search by giving the Order more hints about its location, and it was his work that led to the creation of a solid foundation for the future Colonial Rite that Haytham would put together after his death.

　As the leader of the Templars in the colonies, he showed considerable skill at administration, managing not only his local Templar circuit, but also reaching out to the other colonies along the continent's east coast, and even expanded his reach as far south as the West Indies, a major Assassin territory at the time. He prioritized building an infrastructure to ensure the Order's survival and smooth operation in the area, both necessary in order to facilitate their search for the Grand Temple, especially after the Assassins joined the fray in the mid 1740s.

　However, he wasn't just a pencil-pusher―his account of his excursion in Haiti, where he made his way through an earthquake that rivaled Lisbon’s and stole the Precursor box and manuscript in person, showed that he was quite the efficient field worker as well. If he could manage that while already on the last stages of his illness, what he could do in better health must've been quite impressive.

　On the personal side, though merciless while carrying out the Order's work, Lawrence didn't completely lack a more human facet to his character. This showed most clearly in the soft spot he had for his brother George, but also across scattered details, such as his disgust at the Haitian Brotherhood's bloodthirsty Mentor, Mackandal, who he lambasted as a "reckless tyrant"; and, for what it's worth, Gist did remember him as "a good man", so he seemed to have had the respect of his subordinates, even if he didn't have Birch's.

　He was also ambitious, which was a trait he'd shown since a very early age. He may have been subservient to the British Grand Master until the very end, but his need to have his leadership in the colonies acknowledged suggests that he'd always aimed higher. Given his position as more or less the head of the colonial Templars, and his pride in that fact, it's not unlikely that he'd hoped to one day be a Grand Master himself―and considering he quite literally spent his life building what would become the Colonial Rite from the ground up, had he lived long enough to be one, it would have been nothing if not a well-deserved post.

[thepencilnerd]

- 𝐅𝐥𝐨𝐚𝐭 - 2

➳ Part 1  || Part 2 || Part 3 || Part 4

➳ Pairing: Jaebum x Reader

➳ Summary: AU! After taking a gap year from college to pay for your tuition, you felt like your life was finally back on track- until you met him. What happens when life doesn’t go the way you intended it to? What happens when you find out that your anchor is just as broken as you are?

➳ Genre: AU, fluff, angst, friends to lovers

➳ Word Count: 2k

➳ Warnings: Swearing, awkward first encounters? 

♪ Winter Aid- The Wisp Sings 

a/n: Masterlist & links to other parts can be found @ my main URL

“That’ll be $4.65, please.” Swiping the credit card against the machine, I typed in an order for a caramel macchiato with an extra shot of espresso. 

Working at the on-campus coffee shop was probably the only good thing that had happened this year, and I only had my counselor to thank. 

The schedule for this semester was pretty simple. Working for 2 hours in the morning at the café had allowed me to fit afternoon classes into the day, which left me with half an hour for lunch and half an hour to tutor some classmates while eating lunch. Three times a week, I had evening classes that lasted until 10 at night, but the remaining two days of the week allowed me to have some free time to study and relax or tutor more classmates. 

It was exhausting, but it was better than the situation I was hurled into last year. With my parents unable to support or aid me financially, I decided it was best to take a year off to save up for tuition fees and re-evaluate my entire life. After saving enough money for a two semester’s worth of school, I had a talk with my counselor about what scholarships and certificates I was eligible to apply for. 

All I had to do semester was stay focused, steer clear of all distractions, and pray to the high heavens that the end-of-year exam scores would prove to the teachers and school board that I was eligible to receive a late scholarship. 

If last year had taught me anything, it was that life was a bitch to live. This year was going to be different. It was going to be. It had to be. 

Taking off my apron and throwing on a jacket, I quickly said goodbye to my co-workers before leaving for my philosophy class. I wondered if it was okay to miss today’s lecture since the TA was subbing and I was pretty good friends with him, but I realized that I didn’t have anything better to do and would be better off going. A month into the semester and I already felt too comfortable for my own good. Nothing had ever come easy in my life, so why did the universe all of a sudden decide to take a turn for the best? 

Shaking off the thought, I couldn’t help but admire at the outside weather. Closing my eyes, I took it all in; the smell of fresh petrichor on the concrete, the soft trickle of water droplets as they hit the shop’s patio cover, and the delicate fog that had enveloped and rolled over the entire campus grounds. Looking at the people walking around with umbrellas, my focus shifted to a red umbrella across the road. 

A couple dressed in matching beige coats and scarves were grasping the handle together, looking into each other’s eyes with an air of complete harmony. My smile quickly dissipated, however, realizing that a broken person like me might never feel anything or find anyone like other people. Almost as instantly as I had spotted the couple, the two walked off and reminded me that I was probably late for class. 

Throwing on my hood and shielding my eyes, I sprinted across the wet cement and felt like a maniac as I laughed heartily, enjoying the feeling of the cold air and rainwater on my face. Getting drenched in rain was probably one of my favorite childhood activities, and none of my friends really understood why I kept doing it even when I got sick. 

Once I got to the classroom, I was relieved that I made it on time and early enough to grab a good seat at the front. I couldn’t escape the few jokes that came from my friendly familiar classmates. 

“If you get me sick before midterms, I’m going to kill you,” one said in an overdramatic and ominous. 

“Did you lose your umbrella again?” another asked. 

“I’ll buy you a matching pair of boots and a raincoat for your birthday, Y/N!” one more cheered. 

Giving them the finger and smiling at the familiar playful banter I missed so much, I grinned, realizing that I was finally getting my old life back. 

“Maybe she left it at home with her report card from last semester.” 

The room went dead silent. I was on good terms with everyone and appreciated a good joke occasionally, but all of my classmates knew where the line was. This particular person, however, did not. 

Turning my head slowly towards the nasal voice that spoke, I squinted at a pip-squeak excuse of a girl who couldn’t possibly be bigger than a yard sale Christmas decoration. She was sat in the middle row of the room and went from intimidating cheerleader to quaking chihuahua as soon as my eyes caught hers. 

“What?” she stuttered, trying desperately to fake confidence in her tone. Newbie, my brain automatically identified. “You—you all know why she had to take time off last year. It’s not my fault everyone’s been spreading rumors about her tuition fees and parents—”

Before she could utter another word, I stomped over the staircase array of desks and placed my hands firmly onto the table in front of her, fists clenched and knuckles turning white. 

“You want to know why I took a gap-year?” I asked vacantly, not for the sake of getting an answer. “Because I couldn’t afford it.”

“Burberry and a Louis Vuitton?” I inquired, gesturing to the coat hung on her seat and bag under her chair. “I’m not exactly ‘well off’ like you. My family can barely make enough money to put food on the table, and yet you seem like you have more than enough to burn.” 

She quivered and gulped as she tried to pry her eyes away from mine. 

“We’re not in middle school anymore; let’s stop acting like it.” Lowering my head so that I was eye-to-eye with her, I stared at her head on before speaking. “I may not be rich, but at least I don’t look the way that I am on the inside.” 

Gathering my stuff, I quickly texted the TA and said that I had a family emergency come up. He replied telling me that he didn’t have a lecture planned and that I wouldn’t miss anything, so I responded with thanks and walked back outside. 

The rain had stopped, but it was still freezing cold. Against my better judgment, I decided to do what I always did when I needed to clear my head; go onto the roof. The rooftop of the main building was kind of my secret hideout. The few people who knew about it were some of the art majors who would come up very rarely to sketch and take pictures of the mini garden that grew there. Other than that, no one really ever went up there. The only downside was that the rooftop was accessible solely through the back stairs. 10 flights of stairs, may I add.

Huffing and puffing up to the door, I opened it to find the rooftop just as beautiful as ever. Flowers of all kinds lined the planter boxes and string lights hung from the side poles, mimicking the setting of a fancy restaurant. The lights never turned on though, and I couldn’t remember if I’d ever seen them lit at all. I tossed my bag onto the ground and found my usual spot near the roses. The wind was blowing just enough so that the scent of the freshly bloomed and still-damp flowers wafted towards me. 

Outlooking onto the campus below, I sighed. 

“Hey, mom and dad...” I spoke quietly as I stared into the gloomy but bright sky.

Looking down at a rose petal that had fallen onto the dirt, I picked up it up and stroked the colored fauna. “Are you guys having fun in the Bahamas? Australia? Cancun? Maybe Mexico?”

A gust of wind blew across my face that made me close my eyes, and it was immediately followed by a rustling noise that came from behind me. 

“Who’s there?” I asked, standing up. 

A familiarly shaped figure arose from behind one of the rose bushes. Stretching out his arms and letting out a yawn, the random field boy from the first day of school was now standing clearly in front of me. 

“Who are you?” I looked at his similar choice of simple attire, noticing his white shirt and pair of distressed jeans that coincidentally mirrored your outfit. 

“Good morning to you too,” he greeted while yawning again. 

The boy simply chuckled, his deep tone causing a strange feeling in the pit of my stomach. “Im Jaebum. A pleasure to meet you.” Extending his hand, I shook it cautiously. 

“Y/N. Y/N Y/L/N—” The second that I replied and his hand enveloped mine, he pulled me close into his chest. 

What the fuck is wrong with this dude

Observing his features up close, attractive would have been an understatement. His eyes were the darkest shade of brown I had ever seen, while his angular features gave him an edge that only animated characters possessed. To top it all off, I counted seven individual piercings that decorated his ears. 

I snapped back into reality when I noticed that I had been staring much longer than what was considered normal and shoved him abruptly off of me. He simply smirked. 

“You’re that girl who saw me on the field, right?” he asked softly, taking slow but deliberate steps back to me, trying to close the distance between us.

Of all the times I was able to compose myself and structure my sentences, my throat felt as dry as the Sahara Desert. 

“Yeah,” I somehow managed to reply. 

“You’re a lot taller than I originally thought you were...” he admitted quizzically, circling me and examining my physical features. I sat down forcefully, crossing my arms over my chest and scowling slightly at his perverse nature. 

I decided to take charge of the situation. “What are you doing up here?” 

Jaebum kept his distance and sat two-arms lengths away from me, likely sensing my discomfort. “I just like coming up here sometimes. It helps me clear my head.”

Although I admired his relatable and honest answer, I still held back. 

“Do you come up here often?” he asked this time. 

Nodding my head yes, I also told him about my rooftop therapy sessions. A slightly awkward silence began to grow between us. With neither of us willing to compromise and start the conversation up again, I stood up before Jaebum stopped me. 

“That was a night feat you had before class today.”

I turned my head towards him so quickly I almost pulled a neck muscle. “Oh. You saw that?” 

He laughed, flashing a perfect white smile. “I didn’t really realize it until that night on the football field, but we’re in pretty much all of each other’s classes.”

“Oh...” Thinking over it, I must have made an expression of confusion because Jaebum immediately began explaining. 

“I sit behind you during French 103? We worked on a project during the first semester of physics. I’m in the same major as you, so I hope you don’t think I’m a stalker or anything. I never see you, and you never see me. We’re both kind of invisible, right?” he admitted, fidgeting slightly with his hands in whenever he would try to think of sentences. 

“I guess you could say that...” I mumbled. 

“How about we be invisible together?” he asked while smirking and shooting me a wink. 

I scoffed. 

Oh. Of course, he had to be that kind of guy. 

“Uh, I hate to break it to you, but I don’t do—” I chuckled awkwardly while trying to think of the word. “—that.” He looked at me confused, wondering what message I was trying to convey when I outlined a circle with my hands. 

Time to come clean and do what you do best, Y/N.

“Partying and going to clubs with friends? Smoking so much that you feel like your lungs might collapse any second? Staying out until 4 in the morning and drinking so much that the hangover the next day makes you want to throw up, crawl into a hole and die?”

Jaebum was silent, eyes magnetized at my brutally honest tone. 

“I don’t deal with any of that, but above all of the stupid and dumb shit a college kid can do? I don’t do that,” I repeated, drawing the circle again. “I don’t do hook-ups. I don’t mess around with guys or let them mess around with me and waste my time. I don’t go out with anyone for the sake of just ‘having fun’ and most importantly, I don’t date. Sorry to get your hopes up.”

Getting up from my sitting position, I grabbed my back and turned to Jaebum once more, his widened eyes and appalled expression telling all. 

“I’ll see you around in class.” I waved him goodbye and smiled, jogging down the stairs before he could reply.

Don’t you dare think about his smile, Y/N

He’s not any different.

No stupid decisions.

No reckless choices.

No broken promises.

And absolutely no falling in love.

[one-fucking-intimidated-wri-blog]

Hey, if anyone is reading this!

Would anyone want to read my writing? I do just some of my own style of fantasy. It’s nothing special but I feel like I might want to get it out. I’m gonna post it anyways because what can I lose, so let me know what you think 😬😄

Ansley’s Books

Magnus Spears: a young boy in his twenties who loves a book store (aptly named Ansley books)

Leonard Ansley: an old, mysterious man who runs a bookshop that always seems to be closed.

The world is magical and Mr. Ansley has quite the secret...

****

Magnus Sears was walking down the surprisingly quiet city street. For being right in the middle of downtown, the cobble-stone paved road was relatively barren, just the occasional stray cat that skittered across the street and under haphazardly parked cars.

Magnus could feel the magic emanating from here, some houses giving off more energy than others, but magic was here nonetheless. Although most beings here knew magic, the modernization of the city blocked the feel of it; the rubber and concrete and heavy metal absorbing the reverberations that the spells put off. But here, with basic houses and more trees and plants than anywhere else in the city, the magic was able to easily permeate the air.

No house or shop looked alike; with a lack of major city funding, homeowners were free to build and decorate the houses as they pleased, something that always pleased Magnus. The well maintained, put together city always seemed disingenuous to him. To Magnus, magic was a raw, beautiful practice, but the rest of the world only seemed interested in making it as easily accessible and user-friendly as possible.

Alder street was one of the very few remaining places in Ohio that denied the oncoming slought of modern magic, and that is why Magnus spent so much of his time here.

He passed a few more earth-toned houses and brightly colored shops before he came upon his favorite; a run-down looking building surrounded by the most beautiful arrangement of flower beds on the street. The one small window rested just besides the front door, adorned by a small planter box filled with rosemary, basil, cilantro, and one plant that looked unfamiliar to Magnus.

This was Ansley Books.

Magnus walked up to the door, not without stopping to smell the fragrant lavender and the potent eucalyptus that lined the gravel walkway. Through the small and grimy window, he saw the faint outline of a closed sign. It was always up since the owner was a bit of a hermit. How he kept bringing in enough money to run the shop, no one knows. But nonetheless, Magnus walked up to the door.

He knocked. This was mainly out of politeness for the owner; for Magnus had been here a few times a week for almost a year now. He waited for a response, although he knew he probably wasn’t going to get one. The old man was likely lost in an old manuscript of some sort, oblivious to the young brunette man knocking at his door.

Magnus opened the door, which protested the action with a loud whine. The sunlight from the outside briefly lit up the dark room, illuminating motes in the air like little dusty fireflies. He shut the door behind him, and suddenly he was surrounded with the stuffy scent of old books.

His eyes adjusted to the darkness, revealing he was surrounded by hundreds of books. Each shelf was stuffed so full, the wood beneath the heavy bound paper was bowing with the weight. No book was the same, each title more obscure than the rest. There was a large amount of bookcases in comparison to the size of the building, but even with the intricate, maze-like pattern of them, it felt cozy rather than cramped.

Like the street, the store was eerily quiet, and Magnus could feel the magic in the air more tangibly than the air outside. Each book, he sensed, had some sort of spell, incantation, or hex put on it, and he swore he could feel each one separately. His skin tingled with the feeling.

How, Magnus wondered, was it possible for someone to have so many books?

After casually weaving through a few shelves, he made his way to the cluttered desk in the back of the room. Behind a rather large mess of papers sat an old man, looking to be around 70 or so years old. The wrinkles around his mouth and eyes were deep set, creased like someone etched the skin with the knife. Whether or not the man noticed Magnus enter or not, he did a great job at not showing it.

Magnus gently cleared his throat, the sound slicing through the silence the way a knife passes through jell-o. The man didn’t even look up to acknowledge him.

“Make me your best offer on a book, and don’t stay here for too long, I’ll be closing up soon.” The old man continued looking through the faded yellow papers scattered in front of him, clearly not interested in probably the only customer he’d have that day.

“What, no hug?” Magnus asked teasingly. The man didn’t think that was very funny, although the stony look on his face softened slightly at the sight of the young boy in front of him.

“Greetings, Magnus. I meant what I said, don’t stay here for too long. I have important things I need to tend to and I can’t waste my precious time.”

The man had said this before, many times, but by the time Magnus successfully roped him into an engaging conversation, all thoughts of the apparently high importance tasks dissipated into nothing.

I wonder how long I can keep him here today, Magnus thought. He never knew exactly how much time in the bookstore he would be granted, some days he managed to keep the man talking until late into the night. Most of the other times though, Magnus could only extract a few sentences before being shooed back onto the street.

“I was wondering if you have any books about ancient religions. Specifically Celtic?”

****

Let me know if you like it or want to be added to the tag list! I do admit, I love a busy life and also struggle with procrastination so I may not post consistently but I will try to post as much as I can!

[cassiefisherdrake]

There are some ways to have a food or non-food garden that require a LOT less effort but do still require some initial effort, and here’s the trick: garden with species specific to YOUR area.

Look up what goes natively in your area, just out in the forests and woods and meadows and prairies - for the least amount of effort, choose only perennial plants. If raspberries or asparagus or blueberries or strawberries grow in your neck of the woods, look up their sun requirements. If you don’t want food at all, look at native grass and flower species and their sun requirements. Have a space of land that feeds those sun needs? Great, now look up their soil needs (sandy, clayey, loamy, etc.). Look up what season to plant them in and during that season, build a planter box (4 planks of wood your desired length nailed together) and place them that sunlight requirement area, fill them with that soil, sprinkle seeds of the thing you want, and gently till them into the soil with a rake.

As described in replies above, they will never be perfect. Some birds may eat the seeds, but the ones leftover will germinate. Some squirrels may steal some fruits, but you get the leftovers if you want to harvest them at all, or maybe don’t and let the fruits drop or be eaten by wildlife. Sometimes plants will die and sometimes they’ll thrive, drop seed, and propagate. But because the plants are native to your area, you have to put in a lot less effort at keeping them alive, especially compared to food plants like tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, etc., which are not likely to be native where you live and therefore require careful planning and lots of attention. You may still need to occasionally replace plants, trim things back, or water during droughts, but not with nearly as much precision as something like tomatoes require.

You can meet the land halfway. The garden won’t entirely take care of itself, but neither will a lawn, and it will take far less effort than what’s described in replies above. A native garden is far more likely to (mostly) take care of itself AND attract native wildlife like native bees and butterflies which are beneficial for the land and for conservation. You can have more than just a shorn green lawn without dedicating all of your free time to it, and the land will be better off for it.

This isn’t a comprehensive post, I know, but this is what I plan to do in my future if I can ever afford a home with a yard. I’m a botanist by trade - I study plants! But even I don’t want to and can’t fully invest in a giant food garden, so this has always been my plan: research my area and plant accordingly.

And, hey, if gardening at all just isn’t your thing and you have the money? You can pay folks to garden and landscape for you with native species. It can be an expensive start because people DO need to be paid, but it’ll slowly take less effort over time depending on how you set it up. Gardening not your thing at all? Don’t want a lawn at all? 100% no offence meant when I say consider buying a home that doesn’t have one in the first place or only has a small one. Then you don’t have to worry about it at all!

Point is, your lawn doesn’t have to be made into your food haven, it can just be made into a native species haven and be better for the environment than a shorn lawn will ever be.

By the way, gardening CAN be made accessible for all ability or disability types! Here are some resources which may help you, although there’s plenty more available if you google ‘gardening with [X disability you’re trying to accommodate]: https://www.pnwmg.org/garden-info/gardening-techniques/gardening-with-disabilities/

I'm very much a proponent of "food not lawns" but I'm also fucking realistic that a ton of people do not have the resources/time/energy and getting into gardening is daunting as fuck. I'll excitedly encourage it but if people can't or even just don't want to then that's FINE. I hate the posts full of pictures of idealistic food lawns. Even outside of the actual growing and care, just processing a harvest takes so much damn time and More Energy and More Resources or Techniques and acting like it's as simple as "just grow your own food!" is setting people up for a huge letdown when they realize how much that can take

[bangays]

Okay y’all, here’s a bunch of stuff I’ve learned about sustainable living and urban farming. Keep in mind, I’m no expert and I’m always learning, but what better way to share my knowledge and learn more than to make a giant post? I’m going to put this under a read more so when I update this I don’t have old versions floating around and so it’s not a super long post. Also, i’m more than happy to answer any questions or add in any knowledge you may have!

This is version 1.0, updated 4/24/18

Anyways, I’m going to do this in three main parts: “I have no yard but I still wanna grow my own shit” “I have a yard and wanna grow shit” and “I don’t wanna grow shit, what else can I do?” Keep in mind that tips for each area could be modified or used if you fit in another category, so reading through the whole thing could be worthwhile! For example, the “I don’t want to grow” category has a lot of tips for sustainable living outside of growing produce. Also, I’ve lived in northeast Ohio my entire life so this specific growing zone (6a / 6b) is what I’m basing everything off of and have experience in. This is a link to GROWING ZONES, which tell you how hardy a plant has to be to grow in your specific location. Most plants on their seed packet will say where they are best for growing.

But first! Good tips for everyone:

Keep all food prep waste and food that’s started to rot for compost! If it came from the ground, it can go back into the ground! Composting is an extremely easy way to reduce your waste and it’s literally free (and fertilizer is so crazy expensive) Here’s a wikihow article about composting!

If you’re going to throw something away, try to think of ways you can use it! I’m not saying keep the button that fell off your pants that you’re never going to sew back on bc you’ll just become a hoarder, but if you have old containers, or something antique looking, see how it could be reused! This is called upcycling! This helps stop waste, reuses perfectly good items, and keeps plastics out of landfills! This is a cute article about upcycling for examples! 

Look into specific laws for your community! Some municipalities do not allow for farming on the tree lawn or do not allow for tall trees, fruit bearing trees, etc. If you go to or call your town hall there should be someone there to answer your questions bc going through legal documents is absolutely exhausting. 

Look into if your city allows chickens / ducks or if you have a fairly large yard, goats! They’re super great animals (that I honestly have minimal experience with) but do require much more love and care than a plant. Farm animals can live for years and require professional medical care, so if you’re v tight on funds I would not suggest this. Also, if you would not be able to kill a farm animal, there are many places that will do it for you or that you could sell it to for a lil profit. 

Rain barrels! Water from gutters is a great way to water plants, and some people even connect their shower drains (if they use plant-friendly soaps) to rain barrels to reuse the water for gardening! Obviously, do not use rain barrel water for human consumption because it has not been properly treated & we’ve put so much harmful shit into the environment. The simplest way is to get a giant ass bucket (like 20+ gallons) and reroute your gutters into them. (most gutters have one main gutter on the side of a house that most likely drains into the sewer system) (Also, do not make modifications to a house you do not own / are renting / etc) Here’s a simple way to make a rain barrel!

THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT TIP BEFORE WE START: If you want to plant something that does not naturally grow in your location, PLEASE make sure it is not an invasive species! This is a link to learn more about invasive species!

I have no yard:

Obviously, not having any green space makes any food production difficult. But! As long as you’re creative, there’s still a lot of ways you can grow your own produce. The best way if you don’t have any green space is to look into a local community garden. This is the best way to learn, because there’s always people outside tending their own gardens & they’ve always been super friendly. Also, this is a great way to get to know neighbors and get involved with your community! I know the community garden near my previous home in Cleveland had a start of the season fee, but they always had a garden coordinator on sight, tools available to borrow, and seeds to plant a garden with. Obviously, even community garden is different due to most being grassroots organizations, so I can’t speak for all of them. But, you’ll get a small square of land that’s all your to cultivate for a growing season! A small garden like this could easily be well managed by a 20 minute visit 3 times a week for weeding and watering. (If you live in a v hot and dry climate, you’ll need to visit more often)

Do you have windows in your apartment? (I sure hope so bc legally you have to) Window boxes are an easy way to grow herbs and small plants! These could be as simple as a old plastic container or if you’re crafty a wooden window box can be super cute! Here’s a link for how to make your own window box!

Do you have doors in your house? (God, again I sure hope so) Do you know those plastic shoe holders that go on the back of a door? Grow herbs in these! Obviously, this has to be in a room that gets a lot of natural sunlight. Or, if for some reason you don’t have doors, or just can’t stop yourself from slamming the door, just hang it up on two command hooks! This is a great way to grow your own herbs, because herb plants are typically p small and won’t rip through the plastic.

Grow your own potatoes / onions in planters inside! Potatoes and onions typically need much less sunlight than above ground plants. This is a link for indoor potatoes! This is a link for indoor onions!

I have a yard!

The first thing to do is see where water puddles in your yard. If you plant something in an area that typically has a 3 inch puddle when it rains, it’s not going to do well. Improving drainage is pretty labor intensive, so another option is to build raised beds! If you have the time and resources, here is an article about improving drainage!

The second most important thing is to look at where your yard has the most and least sun throughout the entire day! Plants are grouped into three specific categories, full sun (6+ hours a day), partial sun (4-6 hours), or full shade (Less than 4 hours). If you plant something that prefers full sun in a full shade area, it’s going to die practically instantly. This is an article that further explains sun / shade!

The next step is to design your garden! Every plant has a minimum distance it must be planted from other plants. Also, if you plan on having dogs or chickens, make sure you leave a space for the dog to poop & the chickens to graze so they do not destroy your hard work! Also, some vine-like plants (Such as tomatoes or beans) need a stake or a cage to grow around. There are many different garden designs and every yard has a different amount of sun, so pre-made designs should be used as a guide, not an absolute. This is a link to 19 different garden designs!

Do you want to grow corn or anything else tall? Great! DO NOT PLANT THESE IN NORTH-SOUTH LINES!! Corn grows to be 6-7 feet tall, and will cast a giant shadow on your other plants! If you plant them in a East-West line, they will cast a much smaller shadow on surrounding areas but will not impede the other corn plants. 

I don’t want to grow my own food:

Hey, I get it. Some people don’t have time and some people just don’t want to grow things. There’s a lot of things you can do to help live a sustainable life!

Take the bus / public transportation as often as possible! I know this is a basic example and many people use this as their main trasportation, but there’s so many people that refuse to use public transportation. Yes, everyone has a public bus horror story, but 99% of the buses I’ve been on have been super clean & efficient! Also, if you live ina rural area, I know this is not really an option for you. If you cannot use public transportation, car pool! Currently, 86% of Americans drive by themselves to work, which is super wasteful! 

Support your local farmers market! I know they’re known for selling honey for $7 for like three tablespoons, but there really is no better way to support you local farmers than to buy their produce! This also helps remove the grasp big business has on your community and keep money in your community, which most likely will be reinvested in your community! Most farmers markets are weekly and are held on weekends! If you look up your city / neighborhood there should be links to nearby markets!

Offer your yard to someone that wants to garden! I mean, free landscaping and they’ll probably offer you fresh food! But also, make sure you trust this person enough to give them free reign over your landscaping and you wouldn’t mind seeing them 3 times a week when they tend their garden.

Donate! Most urban gardens / garden collectives are 100% grassroots organizations, so donations keep these organizations going! I know living in the rust belt, we have so much land that was sitting vacant that is now brought back to productive use by urban farms! Urban farms help stabilize housing markets in neighborhoods and remove blight, and are one of the best hands-on ways to help fight food deserts in communities that cannot support a grocery store!

If you don’t have a local urban garden, start one! Even if you don’t want to grow food yourself, starting an organization that lets other people grow food in your community is a great way to bring a community together! Many land banks have programs where you can “rent” vacant land from them for a small fee (The land bank for Cleveland is $1 per year, I believe). Also, if you start an official nonprofit, that’s a great thing for your resume and all money you invest into it is tax deductible! giving your community the ability and the knowledge to grow its own produce is an amazing opportunity to bring a community together and has a great impact on a community’s health!

Thank y’all so much for reading & I hope this was even slightly helpful! Any questions, comments, suggestions, etc are greatly appreciated!!

[outdoors-living]

Gardening for small spaces

Are you an enthusiast about gardening?

So we are.

We are excited to present this new blog post about how to create your outdoor cute garden in a small backyard.

As a gardening enthusiast, I read blogs very often, but I find all those are to describe big gardens. So I life in a tiny house and my yard is so small…only one of those a pergolas would take all the place.

Years ago I was learning bout window farming, this concept of growing veggies indoor…I love. Ever since I grow my Italian herbs at home.

 I’m kind of inspired by home and garden décor, I tend to choose minimalistic products for my self and I curate them for others. I enjoy simple living and the décor accents that I choose are durable, well constructed and enhance calm and Zen.

At the end, indoors or outdoors, the target is to create this intimate sense of home.

Read more about this topic on my last blog post here  

Keeping my blog updated is something I do constantly. I'm inspired by creating an ambiance of beauty, warmth and welcoming atmosphere to welcome my loved ones and to make them feel comfortable in my home

To discover the full line up of blog posts, please follow this link https://solytierra.shop/blogs/news

 I put together 10 easy gardening tips for small spaces, so you can set-up your dream outdoor living space, even if it’s tiny. This is great for you living in a urban apartment or tiny house, or even those having (as me) a small house entrance.

  As said, finding good gardening ideas for small spaces is not easy. Pinterest, Instagram and others show impressive gardens, but what about the real homes or apartments?

  In this post you will discover how easy is to gardening for small spaces and it’s like a therapy. I like to take things positively, so every time I sit down on my garden I think to myself…well…at least I don’t have to do the lawn (since is so tiny)

  So let’s dive into it and let’s answer the question: how to build a garden in a small space?

  We may all have dreams of big, never ending gardens, but the reality is that most of us simply don’t have the space.

There’s nothing wrong with that– with a little creativity even the smallest of spaces can give you plenty of joy of gardening, flowers, or even a relaxing outdoor green room all your own. Keep reading to learn more about plants for small spaces and how to make a garden with little space.

Here are my 10 tips to create your very own garden area

  1 Using containers

  Creating a Small Garden Space with containers to create this sense of space without clutter. Less is more in small living areas.

On the image above, you can view an sphere solar powered fountain behind the nice lavenders.

You can get the look in this Pinterest post

If your space is too small for a wooden raised bed, you can also make gardens in small spaces using containers.

Containers are rectangular concrete planters, also known as box planters.

These are great to create this sense of botanical garden , where everything has its place and all is so coherent that it seems all had been there for years.

You can choose a nice container garden to suit whatever space you have available. I curated this set-of-3 multi size containers for you

Plant things that have interesting foliage and bark and a long flowering period, so they beautify the space year-round. Plant a single large item, like a flowering bush or dwarf tree, to create a sense of varying levels and different views from different angles.

I selected these nice containers here on Amazon

    2 incorporating the element water, solar water fountains fo complete the look

  I curated these self powered water fountains, so you don’t need electricity wires, just to set-up the small solar panel and start enjoying the nice sound of the water stream.

Discover these solar powered water fountains

  3 Using all the space to extend the outdoors living area

  What about using all the space, even if it’s a tiny patio?

Do you find that you only really use one particular section of your garden? If so, dividing your space up into specific zones is a great way to maximise every inch.

As a basic layout, you can divide your garden area in three distinct areas for sunbathing, playing on the grass, and in order to create these sections, you can use box planters. They are easy to set-up and a great décor addition to your outdoor living area as well.

What about creating a mini path between those sections? This would be great to entertain your visits and to give your place a feeling of order and sense.

  These set-of 3 concrete planters are great to ensure that even the very bottom of the garden is used.

  4 Incorporating flooring for outdoors living room

  Flooring is a really effective way to zone a garden space – see how the paving, grass and decking are used here. But if you can't change your flooring, look to screens, outdoor rugs or living walls, to create distinct 'rooms' within your garden. 

  Small garden ideas can be quite subtle. Take this one, using zoning, a trick usually reserved for breaking up large indoor rooms into different areas – say, one for relaxing, and one for dining. The key to garden zoning is using different textures, colours or materials to differentiate between the areas. Flooring, for example, is perfect for doing this, and will create a larger-feeling, more interesting outdoor living space.

  5 STACK GARDEN POTS IN MULTIPLE HEIGHTS TO ADD DIMENSION

  Container gardening is one of the best small garden ideas, especially if your garden has a patio or decking. The trick is to go for as many different types and heights of garden as possible: this will help add dimension and texture to the space. For instance, mix and match large terra-cotta pots with tall and slender glazed pots. And if you have a really small space, stack them up like this or wall-hang them to pack more in.

  6 INCLUDE AN OUTDOOR FIREPLACE OR PIT FOR COOL NIGHTS

Outdoor fireplaces are actually even better suited to smaller gardens than larger ones, for the simple reason you will really feel the cosiness in a smaller space.

If your house won't permit the addition of a fireplace structurally, consider getting a clay chiminea or look at fire pit ideas instead.

  7 CREATE A SMALL BUT LUXURIOUS OUTDOOR RELAXATION AREA

Even the tiniest garden can become a luxurious, relaxing sanctuary. You will have to decide what's most important to you – a fully planted up outdoor space, a nook for reading, perhaps even a tiny pond... However small your garden is, once you've decided what you want your space to be like, there's no reason you can't achieve it, with the help of a skillful garden designer or landscape architect. 

  8 LESS IS MORE IN A SMALL GARDEN

'In a small space, a few large features are better than many small ones. Two or three big pots will have much more impact and look far more stylish than a dozen ill-assorted smaller ones. One tree, if you can fit it in, is better than three shrubs of a middling size,' says gardening expert and TV personality Alan Titchmarsh.

  9 Growing your food

how to grow a vegetable garden in a small space?

You can also think of growing Italian herbs for your foodies’ creations. Are you a hero of homemade pizza? Growing oregano is so easy as throwing seeds on a box container and water it often. Put this under morning sunlight and voila! Fresh herbs right away on your doorstep

    10 GO MONOCHROME TO ENHANCE A SMALL GARDEN

And by monochrome we don't mean black or white; washing your entire small garden in a deep, vibrant colour will create a jewel-box effect that's very attractive, and it'll distract from the small size of your garden. 

In the case you’d like to have pottery, add other elements in terracotta tones, maybe other plant pots or play with fabrics.

    Bonus: ADDING TEXTURES

  Adding some outdoor potteries can create a huge impact recreating this sense of eternal décor. Even you can extend this feeling by using clay dinnerware sets, as these ones on Etsy

  Is gardening a therapy for you? Read my last post about this topic here

https://solytierra.shop/blogs/news/creating-your-dream-garden-as-a-therapy

  Would you like how to bring Feng Shui to your garden area? Find it here https://solytierra.shop/blogs/news/5-tips-bring-feng-shui-to-your-outdoor-space-this-summer

  Are you a Pinterest aficionado? Discover these beautiful pins here

https://www.pinterest.ca/Pottery_sol_y_tierra

Thanks for reading, don't hesitate to contact me for suggestions, comments or ideas

Bernat

[livingcorner]

21 DIY indoor herbs garden ideas – Ohoh deco@|how to make an indoor herb garden@|https://ohohdeco.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/52Bdiy2Bto2Btry2B25232Bindoor2Bherb2Bgarden2BNL.jpg@|21

You don’t need a huge backyard to enjoy gardening. In fact, you can create a green nook even if you live in a small apartment. The easiest way to start is growing an herb garden. 

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It’s simple, the plants grow fast enough and you will always have them on hand to season your dishes. 

[ This post probably contains affiliates links, our full disclosure policy is really boring, but you can read it HERE ]

DIY herb garden kit

First, and whatever the planter you choose for your herb garden, you will need seeds and soil. You can get them at your local nursery store or order them online. 

I found two great options for online purchase: 

This starter herb kit contains 4 different herbs: Basil, Cilantro, Parsley, and Chives. It includes soil pellets, which means you can start growing your plants right away and then transfer them into your DIY herb garden adding extra soil.

This other herb kit is to grow an herbal tea garden. You will receive herb seeds for growing organic tea plants and making your own chamomile tea, mint tea, lavender herbal tea & lemon herbal tea. Sounds wonderful, don’t you think so?

Now that you have your seeds or plants, you are ready to build your herb garden. 

A few simple tips to successfully grow an herb garden

Use planters with good drainage and prefer to add organic soil to the planters.

Sow 4 to 6 seeds per scoop, spacing them at least 1/2 in. Cover with a thin layer of soil, tamp lightly, and water gently without digging up the seeds. Keep the soil slightly moist until the seedlings appear.

If you bought plants, take out the herbs and place them in the indoor planter, leaving them a little above the potting soil.

Place your herbs in an area with really good light. It’s very important to have light for them to grow. Water every few days. Don’t overwater, let the soil dry a little between.

Below you will find a selection of the best DIY ideas to create an indoor herb garden. Depending on the space you have available, you can grow your herbs on the window sill, the kitchen counter, or hang the planters on the wall. 

Some of the following DIY indoor gardens imply a little woodworking, others use recycled materials. Have a look at those smart and space-saving ideas and find the project that fits your home! 

RELATED: 50 easy to make DIY planters

RELATED: Easy way to customize a planter

DIY herb garden planter box

Using a planter box is the simplest solution if you want to place your herbs garden on a windowsill or along your kitchen counter. It’s easy to build and takes up little space. It’s a great way to grow your herbs together.

How to make a box herbs planter // DIY network

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Toolbox planter // The navage patch

Herb garden made with old pallet

DIY Indoor herbs garden stand

Easy to build planter box

No time for DIY? You may like this compact self-watering planter

DIY indoor herb garden with mason jars

Mason jars are cheap and nice to use but don’t have great drainage, to remedy this you can place some small stones in the jar bottom before filling it with the soil. The stone will help to drain water and prevent the roots from rotting.

DIY mason jar vertical garden // Rebecca

DIY mason jar wall planter

Mason jars DIY herbs garden

No time for DIY? You will enjoy this Mason jar herb garden kit

Want to go further? There is plenty of herbs, fruits, and vegetables you can grow indoor. This book helps you take the next step.

DIY indoor herb garden with grow light

If you want your herbs to grow well, it is vital that you place them in a very bright place. If you lack space near the windows, you can use a grow light to compensate for the lack of sunlight.

DIY grow light

DIY indoor garden with grow light

No time to DIY? Try this ready to use grow light stand

DIY hanging herb plant garden

If you live in a small space, a great way to optimize the space and be able to grow a nice indoor garden is placing is along a wall or a window. You will find below some awesome ideas to build hanging herbs display planters of any size.

Copper herb garden // Homemade modern

Indoor hanging herbs planters

DIY shelf for herbs garden

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DIY hanging garden

Simple DIY hanged herbs garden

Macrame wall hanging herbs planters

No time to DIY? You may enjoy this cute wall hanging

Recycled indoor herbs garden

if you are on a budget or like to use recycled materials, you will love these simple and beautiful herbs garden made out of trash. Seriously, how cute are theses tea can planters?

DIY bottle garden // Design*sponge

Make an indoor herbs garden with denim

Tea tin herbs garden

DIY plastic bottle herb garden

Indoor tin can herbs garden

RELATED: Tin can planters

RELATED: DIY Air clay planters

Want to remember it? Save these DIY indoor herb garden ideas on your favorite Pinterest board.

You will find all the tutorials featured in the video on my “Best DIY” page.

Amaryllis

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source https://livingcorner.com.au/21-diy-indoor-herbs-garden-ideas-ohoh-decohow-to-make-an-indoor-herb-gardenhttps-ohohdeco-com-wp-content-uploads-2020-04-52bdiy2bto2btry2b25232bindoor2bherb2bgarden2bnl-jpg21/

[sabraeal]

Desperate Liaisons (Part 2 of 3)

(The second part to @thelionshoarde’s birthday gift; this time actually reaching the actual conceit)

Part 1

No matter how long he is gone, Shirayuki never grows used to it.

It’s her turn to swing by the stock room to replenish the lab’s supplies; Suzu reminds her of it helpfully after lunch, handing her a list that runs down a scrap of parchment as long as her arm. A quick glance at it tells her what exactly she’s suspected seeing him run small, strange experiments on his bench: he’s run out of everything and has been stretching his supplies to make it to stock day.

It’s in her pocket now, nestled with a bundle of receipts, one for each of the other pharmacists. An old treatise gets tucked under her arm as she sways up the ladder as well; Shidan asked her to confirm its results with whatever time her other projects left her, and half of what it lists no one keeps to hand. Bags and boxes and ties follow her up as well, and Shirayuki allows herself a moment to bask in the simple pleasure of being well-prepared before opening the first list.

Of course, it’s chicken scrawl and faded ink that greets her when she’s finally up the ladder, and Shirayuki closes her eyes to shut out the pressure building behind her eyes. She should have known it wouldn’t be so simple to just grab supplies.

She’s tying up a bundle of peppermint for Izuru, trying to discern whether the old tome says koko or roka, when she feels the person standing just one side of the ladder, hand steadying it from it’s slow, rickety roll.

“Take me to the analgesics,” she tells him, “Suzu says they’re running low on most of them in the pharmacy with the flu going around.”

“Gladly, my lady.”

The voice startles her; it’s not -- she thought --

Shikito smiles, gentle. “But I’m afraid you’ll have to tell me where they are.”

“You’re not Obi,” she yelps, the words falling out before she can catch them.

“I’m sorry, my lady.” He does a very valiant job of not laughing, though his shoulders shake. “But I am not.”

She takes a breath, two, before she holds out a trembling hand. “Just that way, if you please. If we’ve hit where the floor changes, we’ve gone too far.”

When he rides away from her, she misses another set of arms, the other half of her brain. She has to teach herself how to just rely on her own hands, her own thoughts.

She doesn’t like it.

“Come on,” Yuzuri cajoles, fluttering her eyelashes over wide, guileless eyes. “You’ve barely been out of the lab in days. You can take a long lunch. The dumpling-seller just finished his first batch. I could smell it from the hothouses.”

“I’m sorry,” Shirayuki sighs, adjusting the vent on her burner. The flame shifts from red hot to super-heated blue. “I can’t. Shidan wants this done by the end of the week, and it takes three days to --”

“Suzu?”

His shaggy head pops up from behind a shelf.

Yuzuri’s mouth unfurls into a sly smile. “Does Shirayuki have time to go get some lunch in the Tent District?”

“Sure.” He lifts his goggles, curls falling askew. “We can just have one of the apprentices watch the flame. It just needs to boil before cooling?”

“To room temperature,” she confirms helplessly, eyes darting between the flame and Yuzuri’s smirk. “But I really should --”

“Lady Shirayuki.”

She springs off her stool at the sound of her name, mouth already parted in a smile.“Shikito!”

He returns the gesture, lips curving shy and slow. Yuzuri give an appreciate hum behind her.

(”Shy and handsome,” Yuzuri says, peering out over the courtyard where the guard trains. “That’s a good look.”

A voice that sounds oddly like Obi offers, not as good as rugged and clever, but Shirayuki knows better to say those things out loud. It just gives Yuzuri ideas.

Besides, if the gaggle of girls that wait for Shikito when he comes off duty is any indication, Yuzuri isn’t alone in her opinion)

“Do you need me?” Shirayuki asks, hopeful, trying to convey through eyes alone that any excuse to escape before Yuzuri steals her and starts prying about Obi and letters would be much appreciated.

But, of course, it’s not Shikito who can speak that way with her.

“Ah, no.” The words sound wrong when she’s so used to -- to always, or, more than you know. Shikito reaches into his coat. “I wanted to let you know the mail came, and --”

And she doesn’t need to see more than the languid scrawl of her name to jump forward, to snatch it up from his hands. Her fingers trace over the letters, following the tight loop of an ‘s,’ the spiky lilt of a ‘k,’ and the knot above her heart aches.

“Thank you,” she breathes, eyes not straying from the parchment. “I...” She licks her lips. “I’ll read it later.”

Her good intentions don’t last.

She should wait, she knows; what’s inside is confidential, encoded information meant for Izana, but she’s too excited, too eager. Shikito has hardly turned his back when she breaks the seal in the middle of the lab, hungry to see his hand --

It is a mistake.

“Oh my,” Yuzuri hums, sashaying to her side. “Just what is making you blush so – oh wow.”

“That’s not --” her mouth is too dry to speak -- “It’s not what it looks like.”

“My dearest,” Yuzuri reads, dropping her voice to a deep rumble. “It’s been so long my hands ache to hold you –“

“It’s in code,” she shrills, slapping the parchment in half, hiding the words. “That’s not – it’s not –” 

“Hm,” Suzu observes elegantly, “didn’t think you two were like that.”

She clutches the parchment to her chest, rounding protectively over it. “I’ll just – read this later!”

Yuzuri grins. “I bet.”

My dearest,

It’s been so long my hands ache to hold you. Only a week and the bed we’ve never shared feels empty. Do you remember that first night, years ago? When you invited me into your bed? I find I cannot forget it...

“That’s not how it went at all,” she mutters, reaching for the book she’d buried deep in her drawers.

The edition is lovely, leather-bound and tooled; a collector’s piece, Kazaha would call it. A Hundred Poems would sit proudly on her shelves, if only it’s first page did not actually say, The Heat of Winter, and was not followed by three hundred more of a romance so shameless it would make Yuzuri’s collection seem positively tame.

He had handed it to her in that barn, straight-faced, don’t you know me better than that, Miss? And now he was sending her -- this, as if she were someone else. A different Shirayuki entirely, one who lived her same life, walked her same steps, only --

Only for herself.

A laugh huffs painfully from her chest. Of course Obi had crafted a kinder fiction than she had for herself.

The words dog her, nipping at her heels until she finally turns her mind to her task, until she sees the first section of the letter is not encoded gibberish, but makes a message.

“Miss,” she reads, “Apologies for the surprise, but the men here are suspicious, even of the infamous Nanaki. Apparently they expected a more impressive beard.”

“Unfortunate,” she murmurs, smile tugging at her lips.

“I suspect that the monkey isn’t helping,” it continues, his plaintive tones ringing in her ears. “It may surprise you to know that his tricks have not made for fast friends. A mystery, that.”

His letter as Nanaki had made her flush, but the one he writes to her as Obi makes her warm in a different way entirely. Trust him to write in code as easy as breathing, to be able to make his message sound so much like him that she can hear the lilt of his voice as she reads, the smirk he must be wearing as she writes.

“I thought they might be more at ease if I wrote not to a friend,” he explains, “but to a lover. I promise to keep the letters tasteful, though if you find yourself intrigued –“

Shirayuki slaps the paper down, lips thin. “That’s quite enough for now.”

The letter itself is -- is a distraction, but it’s only when Izana’s reply arrives from Wistal, freshly encoded, that Shirayuki realizes the true problem:

She has to reply.

It’s not that she’s never written to someone she had a -- a mutual attraction with. But every time she puts pen to page she sees Obi’s spiky hand scrawl the word lovers across parchment, hears his voice murmur, my hands ache to hold you, and --

And this feels different from what -- what used to be written to her. What she used to write back.

Her pen twiddles between her fingers, candlelight dancing across her desk. My hands ache to hold you.

She remembers them, strong as they stoppered up her words beneath the trees of Tanbarun,  gentle as his knuckles tapped hers in Wistal, warm around her wrist as he hauled her along the wall, hot beneath her thighs before the full-belly shiver of free-fall.

Cheeks hot, she shakes herself. This isn’t -- it’s not a letter from Obi to her, but from Nanaki to this...other Shirayuki.

She presses her nib to the page. She would -- she would do well to remember that.

Dear Nanaki,

I miss you too. Much is happening, even with you gone. Last week, after lecture, Paku cooled Suzu’s crucible far too quickly, and we all had to take cover when shards of porcelain exploded across the lab. I’m afraid some of Ryuu’s pots didn’t make it out unscathed...

He keeps his promise, mainly, though he makes it plain that Nanaki and this other Shirayuki have gone well past the point of chaste kisses and cuddling in tents.

Today I looked at the sea, and the waves shone golden, he writes once, and all I could think of was your skin in the morning light. Another reads, the way your hips fit in my hands as we come together, and another still, the taste of your pulse when I make it race.

They never stray to specifics, but even so, she cracks open her windows as she reads them, hoping the chill air will keep her focused, will remind her that she is supposed to be decoding not -- not whatever this is.

“What’s with that face?” Yuzuri asks, glancing up from the planter as Shirayuki sits back on her heels, pressing the cold backs of her hands to her cheeks. “Are you feeling all right?”

“I --” she coughs. “Yes. I’m – I’m fine. It’s just – sweet lips?”

“Better or worse than swan-neck?” Yuzuri’s mouth lifts at the corner, far too amused. “Though far and away my favorite kiss fiend. You need to let me read that one.”

“It’s confidential,” she says, rote. “Besides, I’m sure you can guess the content.”

“Yes, but…” Yuzuri grins. “I want to judge his technique.”

A laugh escapes her, and Shirayuki suggests, “You can ask for a demonstration when he gets back.”

“Please.” She bends back over the bed, shaking her head. “You are the one that should be asking for a demonstration.”

“It’s not --”

“What about that pretty boy of yours?” Yuzuri arches an eyebrow. “Any letters from him? Been a while.”

“No.” Her mouth pulls flat. “I won’t be getting letters from him.”

Yuzuri hands stutter as she works, but there’s no surprise written on her face. “Yeah. I had a feeling it was something like that.”

She hesitates, as if she’d like to say something else, but instead she stands, brushing dirt off her skirts.

“So what’d you write Obi that’s got you all bothered, then?”

Shirayuki coughs, turning back to the planter. “Look at the time! We best get a move on if we want to get dumplings for lunch!”

Miss,

Please be aware that they read the letters. As much as I enjoy the catalogue of plants in the hot houses, I have been teased more than once for my ‘lackluster charms.’ You can guess at how much the monkey has been warming to the topic. Maybe mention my many merits as a partner? My devotion? My dexterity? The way my uniform cups my --

“Well,” Shirayuki coughs, skipping to the next page. “I don’t think I’d know anything about that.”

Dearest plum-bottom,

I am afraid I can no longer pretend I do not long for you, not after the way your words have torn away the walls of my heart. I long to hear your voice, to feel your breath against my neck, your warmth on my skin...

Dear Miss,

You’ll be pleased to know they all have taken to calling me plum-bottom, as well. Thank you, for that.

You should also be aware, if they are reading my letters so closely, they have probably sent a man to keep an eye on you as well...

Shirayuki could walk the wall from Lyrias to Wilant in her sleep; still, Shikito insists on sticking close, on being her handsome and companionable shadow until she is at the door to her room. She ignores the way it rankles, if only to save his feelings -- it’s not his fault, after all, that the underground has sent a man after her. But still -- there is no safer place in the north for her, not with the way Obi left the patrols, and how Jirou runs them still.

They both raise a hand in greeting as he passes, one of the newest guards struggling to keep pace beside him, despite his longer legs.

“That reminds me,” she says as the light of their torches fades, leaving only the light of her glowstone behind. “Did you --”

A shadow moves where it shouldn’t, over by chimney across the way. Her breath catches.

“My lady?” Shikito leans close, expression bent into concern.

“Shikito,” she breathes. “Laugh.”

His eyes widen, but he’s too well trained to look. Instead he throws his head back, hands pressing over his belly as his laughter rings out across the wall.

“My lady,” he says, just loud enough. “What a mind you have!”

It takes all her courage to put the shadow to her back, to pretend she can’t see what she shouldn’t. “Oh, you know,” she says with a smile she can’t make real. “My Nanaki says that all the time!”

Obi,

I only meant to make up for my previous letters. I thought ‘plum-bottom’ was right in line with the sort of names you were making.

I should tell you that I have seen their man. He follows close, and is not at all as adept as you are at hiding in the shadows. It will be hard to keep ignoring him, at this rate...

Miss,

Do not let him know he is found. These are not the kind of rogues you are used to. They make Mihaya look almost palatable. The other day I almost willingly spent time with him, if only so I didn’t have to play checkers with Rat-tooth Han. But then I remembered rats are better than monkeys...

Her day off finds her on Pavilion Street, arm wound through Yuzuri’s as they try to pick which café to have lunch in. Shikito trails not far behind, looking out-of-place without his uniform on, making awkward yet pleasant conversation with Suzu and Kazaha.

It’s all so normal, so much like how things should be, that she nearly forgets it isn’t Obi behind her, sandwiched between two bickering scholars. She nearly forgets that there’s a shadow following her, that her actions are being scrutinized and reported back to see if she’s real enough --

Unit she sees a man with a hat tilted low over his face across the street, cheeks covered in bristle, and she gets a – a hunch.

A hunch that is confirmed when they eat out on the terrace – there’s no reason to not, when it’s one of the few nice days Lyrias will see – and he does the same at the café down the street, eyeing them over his paper. All he has is hot water and lemon, a half-eaten sweet bun discarded on one of the cafe’s plates.

When they leave, she excuses herself, jogging across the street.

“You must be one of Nanaki’s friends,” she says with a bright smile as he stares at her. She sets a bag across from him. “If you mean to stay a while, you should know – the chocolate here is good, but they have better pastries across the street.”

His face is nondescript, the only noticeable part about him the shaggy start to a beard, but she’ll never forget the way she gapes as she steps away, as she waves. “Tell my plum-bottom I say hello!”

Dearest Heart, his next letter reads, far more sedate. She allows herself a measure of smugness, thinking she got the best of him, but then –

It has been too long since I’ve seen you. I ache to be inside you again, to bury my head between your sweet thighs and drink your –

She slams a hand over the paper, sweat beading at her brow. She can – she can handle this tomorrow.