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jadelotusflower · 3 years ago

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Robin Hood Rewatch: 2x08 Get Carter!

This is actually one of my favourite episodes of the season, partly because I really enjoy relationship angst, but mostly because we get multiple characters dealing with their trauma/grief. If we can't get these guys and gals into therapy, at least we get to see them talk (and hug) it out.

Also the best episode title they're had for a while - I have no doubt one of the writers is a fan, and Carter is so named only because they wanted to make this reference. The assassin seeking revenge for a dead brother is wholesale lifted from the plot of the film, and Joseph Kennedy almost has a passing resemblance to Michael Caine's look in that role.

"Get Carter - before Carter gets you!"

Carter is one of the only guest stars they actually will bring back later, and for good reason.

"Why don't you ever kiss my ring?" Vaisey, always making things creepy.

Marian is simmering with unrestrained anger, eager to get into the fight, while Robin is the one advocating for the watch and see approach, and it’s quite the role reversal.

The gang's reaction to her charging off is quite funny though, she knocks John over completely and Djaq throws her hands in the air.

Robin’s now getting a taste of what the rest of the gang have to put up with dealing with his recklessness.

Tying Marian up in the middle of a melee, however, is disgusting behaviour - while Marian was hot-headed throwing herself into the fight (nothing Robin hasn't done before himself), he knows that she can hold her own with a sword and doesn't need protecting. Tying her hands is the absolute worst thing he could have done, because how is she meant to defend herself? I can somewhat understand where Robin is coming from in this episode (even if he goes about it badly), but this is unjustifiable.

Clearly she gave that guard she clanked on the head amnesia, because he never reports back that Marian was fighting with the gang.

“I owe you my life”/“I won’t take it just yet.” Nice.

Scimitar is still missing in action.

Robin doesn’t want Marian to be seen in case she needs to return to the castle, when he’s spent the whole season urging for her to join the gang. I think he realises he made a mistake asking her to flee last episode without giving her time to deal with her grief, and wants to leave her options open. But telling her that she’s not ready to make the decision (about whatever she wants to go back), however correct, is patronising.

There's a fundamental conflict that Marian wants to be treated like a member of the gang, but doesn't want to cede to Robin's authority like the rest of the gang - in turn Robin expects her to follow his orders like the others, but isn't treating her like he would the others either - he would never tie them up to keep them out of a fight, and Marian has every right to pissed at him about it.

Djaq and Much having a little tête-à-tête about Carter - I just really enjoy that they’re often paired together in these gang scenes, they balance/play off each other so well. Just this pure platonic frazzled vs calm vibe.

Much just has this really great memory for faces - he was able to recognise fake Richard last season just from his profile despite wearing a helmet, and now he knows he remembers Carter's face from somewhere (or as it will turn out, Carter's brother).

Much really just does not let up, and I love that about him. "You'll be disappointed though, with uh, today's wound. I mean if you're planning to go back to the Holy Land and, uh, kill him." That not so subtle probing for information and Sam Troughton's delivery is always perfect.

"Wasn't me, was it?" Oh Much, so close.

“The crusty one” - lol

It's not explicit, but implied that Vaisey and Guy believe Edward was the one passing information to Robin, and Marian is cleared of any suspicion (paving the way for her return). Guess Guy never showed the Sheriff that hair dagger after all.

Vaisey is actually giving Guy some really good advice here, albeit laced with his usual cruelty and getting all up in Guy's personal space.

"Grow up Gisborne" - now I don't think it's deliberate on Vaisey's part to invoke a Marian parlance, seeing as she really only says this to Robin (and once to Much), but it's a nice little callback, however unintentional.

Marian asks for an apology (and deserves one), but Robin doubles down and doesn't come out of this exchange well.

Because his delivery is terrible, but he's otherwise quite correct - as skilled as Marian is, she’s used to relying on (and having to worry about) only herself and not work in a team, and look to a single point of command. But both of them have their backs up - they're two strong personalities and neither is going to give ground, reverting to the ideological clashes of season 1, except now in much closer quarters.

Robin's also not used to being challenged in this particular way, and in his frustration is reacting like a captain disciplining a soldier, not a lover helping their partner through their grief. I do wonder if the conversation would have gone differently if they'd been alone.

lol at the gang awkwardly standing around listening to Robin and Marian fight. Djaq trying to busy herself with her mortar and pestle as Robin and Marian argue around her.

A really great scene between Marian and John aka the camp dad. Marian really just needs someone to listen to her and appreciate what she's going through - Robin is too fixated on the dangerous way she's channeling her grief and not even trying to address the root cause. He trying to tell her what to do, not listen to what she actually needs.

On the other hand it's probably better coming from John, a neutral party without the emotional baggage she has with Robin.

Because Robin and Marian are really being driven by completely different motives - Marian by grief and therefore loss, and Robin by trauma and therefore fear. In her sorrow, Marian has lost all her fear of being discovered, in fact she wants to make it know she's with the gang, to finally be free to say which side she's on and fight openly, to make her father's death worthwhile, and can't understand why Robin is trying to stifle that.

"I thought you used to have your own men Little John?" So someone remembers Forrest and Hanton!

After Carter takes down the gang one by one, Robin takes down Carter in three seconds (including catching the long dagger Carter throws at him, and flinging it back) and it's lights out. Can you believe it's the first concussion of the season? (Notwithstanding the multiple head injuries Allan sustained last episode).

While Marian has been known to be punch-happy, the "he'll tell us more if he knows we're willing to hurt him" is just so (intentionally) out of character - it is however somewhat reminiscent of Robin in 1x08, wanting to get his punch and torture on with Guy. However rather than understanding where Marian is coming from, he pushes her away with the "go and cook something" jibe. This almost feels like he was going for familiar banter and miscued, but is also an asshole thing to say. When their positions were reversed in 1x08 Marian at least tried to reason with him - Robin is seems to be ill-equipped to do the same.

Allan just having a little snooze against the castle wall. He really seems defeated and depressed after last episode.

Marian's corset has a pouch to hold a dagger - or at least I hope there is because otherwise it's ouch time.

Leaving Marian at the camp is again a mistake on Robin's part - it excludes and isolates her from the gang, rather than trying to involve her so she can bond with them, engaging in their outreach to the peasants - who she helped as the Nightwatchman, but never really had the opportunity to come to know. It would remind her that they are not just fighting against the Sheriff but for the people, which in her frenzied grief she has perhaps lost sight of.

Instead, Robin's focus is on Carter, who he rather identifies with and so finds it easier to address his motives, and try and change them.

Carter is in many ways Robin’s dark mirror, what he could have become in the Holy Land if he chose a different path. It’s important that this happens right when Robin is backsliding - he’s trying to save his own soul as much as Carter’s.

Okay, let's talk about Marian’s forest gear - fashioned from the outfit she wore when she fled the castle the previous episode - but dear me it's awful. The grey culottes, rather than becoming trousers have now been turned into that corset, and her vest/skirt overlay have now become those trousers. Just baffling.

“I’m good with nuns” followed by Allan straight up knocking the Mother Superior over and stealing her ring is iconic.

Much gives Robin a sword to use going after Carter - still no scimitar.

I really love the confrontation/fight scene between Robin and Carter - it's very well choreographed and written, but we also see the best of Robin's character (after seeing some of the worst earlier).

Carter's brother is called Thomas - Allan's brother was called Tom. Lots of dead brothers in this show (including Djaq's).

The story of Carter's brother Thomas dying because he "stopped listening" and led a raid against orders is a little on the nose, but gives context to Robin’s fear for Marian’s safety in part triggered by his war trauma - someone charging in against orders and then dying in his arms.

But it shows Robin as a man who, even when Thomas' recklessness had cost not only his own life but others of Robin's men, was still moved to instruct the stretcher-bearers to make Thomas the hero, and himself the negligent captain, in order to comfort his family.

The fight is fairly even, and although Robin gets the upper hand in the end, it's only partly his skill - rather his true strength is in reaching the man inside the assassin, and then surrender and allow Carter to take his revenge if that's what he wants, and despite his fear, trust that there is good still in him, and that he can leave behind the life as a killer as Robin has done (tried to do).

This scene is the core of why I really love Robin as a character. He's riddled with PTSD and a reckless bravado, he's at time emotionally stunted with those he loves, makes terrible mistakes and often says the wrong thing, but he also has this great heart and compassion that allows him to reach people, to understand and help them, even at the risk of his own life. He's trying.

"He was a hero - just not on that day" is quite a poignant line.

Much and Djaq together again, just saying.

Robin finally finds out that Roger of Stoke was intercepted. I had assumed he'd figured that out once he knew Allan was a traitor but okay.

Poor Much crying out for Robin's attention - he's got his own trauma from the war and wants to talk about it, to commiserate with Robin about what they went though, but Robin can only cope by not talking about it, not even thinking about it.

Much makes a good point that Robin should have listened to him about recognising Carter, but it comes across as jealously over Marian and Robin misses just how deeply Much carries his hurt.

One of Robin's biggest flaws is that he's overwhelming in his affection, compassion, and understanding for strangers, but takes those he loves for granted - Carter's response to grief was the same as Marian's, but Robin listened to Carter, consoled and comforted him, while keeping Marian at arm's length. Perhaps because strangers don't ask for anything beyond that - it is the granting of kindness, but not the sharing of self. It's the latter Robin truly fears, but what Much and Marian deserve (although tbf Marian has problems with this as well).

“Either I’m part of your gang or I’m not” is a valid point, and Robin's still not happy even when she agrees to stay behind!

But she disobeys him, and saves his life. It's a rite of passage - almost all of the members of the gang have this.

Allan looking rather distressed as Guy is about the chop off Robin's head, and he makes a small movement just before the swing (as does Much).

Guy again pushing Marian past the point of discomfort - she left, wrote him a letter asking him to leave her alone, straight up told him to his face to leave her alone, and still he persists.

Her kissing Guy (to distract him from seeing Much and Will) is really the only time she sends mixed signals, but Guy's whole energy seems to be just to wear her down until she agrees to be with him and it's gross. It is however kind of amusing that he tries to be authoritative and forbid her from leaving, and she immediately walks away.

Robin and Marian are back in playful banter mode, although I wish there had been a deeper discussion (and that Robin had apologised in return). It doesn't quite feel like the conflict between them has been resolved, it really is just a "truce".

But I do like that it's Marian who reaches out to Robin at the end of this episode, because up until this point it's Robin who has been (somewhat) the one making overtures - asking her to join the gang, telling her he needs her, telling her he loves her, while Marian's been more reserved. This feels like her acknowledging that sometimes she needs to take the first step.

This was a long one - but as a I said, I really love this episode!

#robin hood bbc #robin hood rewatch #rewatch #2x08 #get carter!#long post #lots of rambling here sorry

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werejusttouchingeachother · 5 years ago

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Playing With Fire

Summary: You tell yourself not to touch the flame over and over again, but like a child, you only learn once you feel the burn and the regret that comes with the sting

Genre: angst, smut

Pairing: Kai x Reader

Words: 5532

A/N: This was supposed to have only a hint of angst since I’ve never written angst before but I really got carried away and ended up writing a really angsty smut that I’m not all that mad at so yeah, just a heads up

The first thought that crossed your mind when you saw them was that no one is going to believe you.

You wouldn’t blame them either because you had a hard time believing your own eyes as your friend, Sera shook your arm in excitement.

The ride to the club hadn’t been the most pleasant tonight considering all the crowds and traffic on the roads which you had expected since EXO were having their concert at the stadium hall just a block away. What you hadn’t expected was for them to visit the club at midnight after wrapping up the concert.

“You realise what this means, right?” Sera yells to be heard over the music, her eyes shining with the lights reflecting from the overhead ceiling. “We’re basically seeing them for free!”

“I’m going to get a drink, do you need anything?” You ask, choosing to not respond to what she said in the guise that you didn’t hear her. Sera shakes her head in response and you quickly head for the bar.

Johnny, your usual bartender, raised an eyebrow at you as you approach. “Usual?”

You nodded, hopping up on the barstool as he turned to prepare your drink and you jumped slightly as the bass beat suddenly boomed through the club. You swivelled around in your seat with wide eyes, wondering what happened as the DJ increased the volume and tempo, short quick beats reverberating within the walls and you watched the crowd, almost as if in a trance, immediately grew thicker when everyone started moving and dancing to the beat.

As someone who’d frequent clubs often, it wasn’t rare to see the music control a large mass of bodies but the sudden random transition that happened just now was a random bout of surprise.

“EXO’s here,” Johnny said when you turned back around, in explanation.

“Yeah, I know,” you replied, nodding absentmindedly.

“It’s why he did that,” he gestures towards the DJ’s booth. “Crowds are too drunk to notice at this time anyway.”

“Right,” you say in disinterest, hoping he’d get the hint and drop it. You grab the glass that he slides towards you, murmuring thanks.

You turn to your side, watching the crowd and almost like a magnet, your eyes are riveting towards the lean man dancing on the far right of the floor, his body moving like fluid. It isn’t even at the centre of the floor but so captivating are his movements that everyone’s eyes are naturally drawn towards him, giving him his own spotlight.

You arch your back as you lean forward to see him clearer through the crowd and the blue lights overhead shift suddenly to red right as his eyes meet yours.

Kai.

Your eyebrows rise in shock and he smirks, straightening and your eyes widen as his hands grip the hips of the girl dancing in front of him, maintaining eye contact with you as he rolls his body suggestively against hers.

Feeling flushed more than ever, you turn back around to sip your momentarily forgotten gin and Coke, fingers wrapped tightly around the glass. You let the cold drink slosh around in your mouth before swallowing slowly. The image of what you just saw behind you still replaying behind your eyelids; his warm honey skin glowed in the bright lights of the club and his black tank top did nothing to conceal the rippling veins on his bare arms as he moved them around the random girl. You closed your eyes, recalling the stage that you’d seen just a few hours ago where Kai had stood at the centre. His eyes had surprisingly caught yours in the crowd right before the iconic chorus and you’d immediately frozen, not expecting him to have noticed you in such a large audience.

But he did, and if he was surprised, he didn’t show it at all as he raised his arm over his head, bit his lip seductively while looking right at you before thrusting his pelvis to the beat drop of ‘The Eve’.

You sighed deeply, pressing the cold glass to your forehead in an effort to cool your skin that felt as if it was on fire suddenly. You’d thought that your imagination was acting up at the concert hall but seeing him smirk at you right now in the club too, confirmed that yes, he definitely did see you and yes, that’s definitely why the pelvic thrusts had been especially more aggressive and sexual tonight.

Everyone around you had been saying stuff like, ‘Damn, Kai really let the hoe jump out tonight,’ but no, you know better. He’s always been a ‘hoe’ and a petty one too, which was why you were certain he was doing all this purposefully, knowing that you were watching.

“Hey, stranger.”

You froze as you heard the familiar voice behind you, addressing you in that familiar way. Taking a deep breath, you swivel to the side as Kai leans against the sleek black marbled counter, placing himself between you and the barstool beside you rather than sitting on it. In fact, this position had your knee pressing slightly to his side since you’d crossed your legs on your seat. You hated how he was still tall enough that even when sitting on a high barstool, you were on eye-level with him.

He gives you that familiar smile and that, paired with that greeting, takes you back, even if just for a moment, to the first night that you two had met. A cold November night where you’d met literally as strangers, felt an instant attraction that was supposed to be momentary, supposed to have fizzled out but eventually grew into a fire that grew more wild and toxic with time, lasting over two years with you constantly trying to desperately put it out with your tears before you finally decided to leave it ablaze as you packed up and left without another word.

Almost a year later, at a different country in a strange city, you gaze into those eyes that were grey from the lenses he hadn’t taken off after the concert, still holding that familiar intense flame that you recognise well.

“Hello, Jongin,” you reply back curtly, noticing his eyebrows rise as he acknowledges how you don’t respond with the flirty, ‘Hey, Kai’ that was your usual response in the same tone that he addressed you. His cool stature accompanied by the easy-going smirk unnerved you as you wondered if you’re the only one who could feel the terseness in the air.

He cocked his head at you. “Didn’t expect to see me here, did you?”

You raised an eyebrow, retorting, “Didn’t expect to see me at the concert, did you?”

Kai blinked, grinning at your words, leaning forward to you. “Still so feisty, Y/N.”

You glared at him. “And you’re still so…”

Cocky. Selfish. Arrogant. There’s so much you want to say but as a bead of sweat trickles painfully slowly down his purple hairline along his forehead and the side of his face, you feel the words dry in your mouth. Your eyes lock with his intense gaze as your stomach clenches and you want to look away but as always, it’s already too late—you’re already burning in the addicting flame.

You clear your throat, forcing yourself to turn around. "My friend got two tickets," you explain, sipping your drink. "She didn't have anyone else, so I came with. Don't flatter yourself."

Kai smiled, eyeing the glass which you'd just emptied. "Let me buy you another."

You shook your head immediately, shooting him a look as you start to get down. "No, thanks. I'm done."

"Oh come on—”

"I said no, Jongin." Your words are final, the sharp tone making his playful expression sombre for a second.

You're standing in front of him now, his hand gripping your arm as he attempted to pull you back when insisting to buy you a drink but at your words, both of you stop and freeze. His eyes are burning into yours and again, you can't look away. You've forgotten how to breathe and his grip loosens as his gaze searches your face. You start to step back to put more distance between the two of you but suddenly, a tall guy shoves into you from the back as he makes a beeline for the dancefloor. You stumble and Kai's hands are quick to reach out and help steady you, your own hands flying up reflexively to stop your fall except that during the collision, you laid them on Kai's chest in a panic where they rest now.

His hands are around your waist now and you'd be flush against him if it weren't for your hands keeping you separate. Your body is tingling from every inch that is pressed against his, you feel like you could collapse in his grip and your head is screaming at you to shove him off, to step away, to run, to do something but you can't seem to even breathe, nevertheless move as you hear your heart pound in your ears and your hands tingle as they feel that familiar warmth beneath the fingertips, the soft material of his shirt over that chest you had seen so often, touched so often, kissed, bit and licked so often.

Your eyes have absentmindedly drifted down now to where your hands are, various images and memories flashing through your head. All of them heated up your body more as you realise that yes, he was a fire that was perhaps toxic but you couldn't deny that the sex was always so incredibly hot and god, you missed it so damn much—his arms around you, his breath hitting your forehead where those gorgeous lips were hovering over, his warmth, his embrace, him.

Head feeling clouded with lust and longing now, you glance up and meet his eyes that have darkened now with the same emotions that you feel coursing through your veins.

And you realise then that even if you didn't recognise your own mother's voice one day, you'd still recognise the meaning behind this particular gaze of Kai, the one that still made your thighs clench.

You fooled your heart into thinking you'd forgotten him and your heart is mostly good at lying but your body doesn't even try to pretend.

"I should go," you found yourself muttering, your brain and last shred of arrogant pride overtaking the messy thoughts and emotions as they force the words out of your parted lips, your hands half-heartedly pushing on his chest to back away.

Kai blinks, arms falling away in surprise and you're disappointed for only a moment as the warmth falls away before your brain commands your legs to start moving and almost as if of their own accord, they start to turn you around to walk away.

Kai shakes his head and grabs your arm, stopping you completely and you turn your head to him again, eyes wide at his sudden strong grip.

"Let's dance," he says quickly.

You furrow your eyebrows at him in confusion, already shaking your head. "What? No, I can't—”

"Just one dance."

"I can't, I'm here with Sera, she doesn't know about us, no one does, remember? She'll search for me, I can't—”

"Please dance with me," he pleaded, his eyes boring into you with their intensity for the millionth time tonight, breaking down your resolve and guards with every second.

"Just once," he continued. He hesitated before adding, "For old time's sake. Please."

You pursue your lips, frowning slightly as you feel the last of your fight leave you. A sigh escapes your mouth and its enough to get Kai smiling in victory as his hand slips down your arm to wrap around your own instead, tugging you towards the dancefloor.

The music playing is a remixed version of a familiar R&B song, fast and slow at the same time. He stops when he reaches the centre and grabs the shoulder of a tall man with his hand that isn't holding yours. Chanyeol turns around, eyes widening when he sees you.

"Y/N!" You don't hear him but rather see his lips mouth your name in surprise. The others turn around too and you've never wanted to run like you do right now but you can't even try—not when Kai is still holding your hand firmly in his. He doesn't stop to explain your presence and it makes you wonder if it was only him that noticed you at the concert but you don't have much time to think about it as Kai grabs two drinks from the hands of Chen and Chanyeol.

He turns to face you, hands holding out the drinks and you look up at him, hit with the sudden nostalgia of what you two always used to do when you clubbed together—rush to the centre of the floor, grab two drinks from the nearest strangers, down the entire thing and then use it as adrenalin to start dancing crazily, without a care for the world.

You can't stop the smile from spreading across your face as you reminisce the memory, grabbing the drink from his hand. You nod at him and the two of you tip your heads back, chugging whatever was in the glass.

Its vodka and the liquid burns as it goes down your throat but your heart is pumping with that familiar adrenalin, fuelled further by the beats pounding through the walls of the club, and its overpowered by the burn in your chest as you see the lights flicker on Kai's face.

You grin at each other as you toss the glasses aside—Chanyeol is quick to grab them in a panic as he tries to save them from hitting the ground—and throw your hands up, surrendering your body to the music as you let it take over.

You close your eyes, feeling the euphoria spreading from your chest to the rest of your body as you swayed. You feel a familiar grip around your waist and you don't open your eyes, throwing your head back as you dance in his arms.

He pulls you in closer when you don't resist and you feel his body moving against yours, the warmth surrounding you until you can only feel him.

You open your eyes, slowing your movements and see Kai looking right at you, his hands loosely holding your hips as he watches you with a small smile on his face. You weren't a great dancer—definitely not when standing near him, of all people—but when he looked at you the way he was doing right now, the way he always used to whenever you two did this, it made you wonder, even if only for a second.

The lights are shifting colours rapidly again, changing with every beat that reverberates through the club and you think how it'd probably annoy you or hurt your eyes if you didn't choose to watch it reflect on Kai's gorgeous face. Your hands are on his chest again, loosely gripping the material of the EXplOration tank top and you can't remember for the life of you how they got there but you feel yourself regretting opening your eyes because now you were drowning in the flame that burned in his own yet again, more intoxicating than any vodka you've had. Kai doesn't give you much time to regret or even think to step away as he lowers his head, closing the gap between your mouths.

You blame the vodka. You blame the music. You blame the way you felt in his arms again. You blame his addicting fire that is burning you yet again and you know—you know that you'll feel the sting later but for now, you decide to blame everything else in this club right now as you melt into his kiss, arms quickly wrapping around his shoulders as you arch your back to lean more into him.

For now, you decided to just play with fire.

His hands burn into your skin through the thin material of your shirt as they rest on your back and you lean your head to the side to kiss him harder. There's nothing sweet about the kiss—tongues wrestling in desperation, teeth clashing and him harshly biting down onto your lower lip, making you moan into his mouth.

You hear the chorus of curses from the other members as they notice you and despite your eyes being closed, you feel them scurry to stand around you and block the two of you from anyone who might look over in your direction.

You're arching your back until your chest is pressed up against his front, fingers slightly yanking on the hair at the back of his head in the way that he likes it, eliciting a groan from him that sends tingles straight to your throbbing core.

Its only then that you realise Kai has somehow snuck his knee in between your thighs and as you let him kiss you senseless, you'd been grinding on his leg the whole time.

"Guys, you can't do this here around so many people." Suho's voice cuts in like a sharp knife as he says, "Seriously, get a room."

Kai pulls away then as if he realises and you blink hazily, feeling slightly dizzy. You're still pressed up against him, arms wrapped around each other and you blink a few times as you look at him. Almost as if he can understand that your sense is returning slowly with every second and that the regret will soon set in, Kai's eyes widen as he presses a quick kiss to your lips again.

"Hyung's right, let's go," Kai says hurriedly but you're already shaking your head.

"No, I can't." You stretch your arms back to remove his hands from around you but he doesn’t budge as you explain, "I'm serious about Sera being here. I can't ditch her."

"We don't..." He hesitated before tightening his grip on your waist. "We don't need all night."

You narrowed your eyes at him as the beat suddenly dropped and loud deafening beats started thumping through the club. You yelled to be heard over the music, "Are you serious right now?"

Kai dropped his head to yours, mouth moving to your ear, and you wondered if the pounding of your heart was louder than the music. Your fingers tightened around his arm that you'd been gripping as you feel his lips press against your ear, sultry voice loud and clear as he says, "We never did have post-breakup sex, you know?"

Your eyes widen as he pulls away and gives you a meaningful look. Right as the excuse forms in your mind, along with the decision to leave this place right now, he pulls you to him again and kisses you feverishly.

You blame his kiss. Again.

Pulling away yourself this time, you watch the flash of panic in his eyes as he wonders if you're going to leave, replaced by the relief when you instead hold his hand and start tugging him to the far right of the club where the rooms for the private dances were.

Barging into the first one, the order ‘Get out’ left your lips even before you'd properly seen who was inside. A couple hurriedly scrambled away from the other, trying to cover themselves as they glanced at you in confusion.

"I said get out, can you not hear me?" You repeated before they could ask anything and after shooting glares to both of you, they left the room in a hurry, the similar dim red lights not even allowing a clear view of their faces.

As soon as you heard the door slam shut behind you, you spun around to Kai and grabbed the front of his shirt with your hands, yanking him down to your height so you could kiss him. He was quick to react as he grabbed your wrists and pinned you to the closed door, the back of your head hitting the wooden frame as his mouth devours yours. You moan loudly and his one hand frees your wrist, lowering to lock the door at your side without breaking away from the kiss.

As soon as you hear the lock click shut, he slides his leg in between yours and you groan into his mouth as you feel his thigh press into your throbbing heat. You grind against him, desperate for any kind of friction and his hand snakes down to your centre. You breathe heavily as his lips kiss down your jaw and suck on your neck, feeling his cool fingers untuck the shirt from your shorts and slip inside, making you spread your legs further. You're reminded briefly of how he always loved marking you all over by the desperate way that his mouth sucks the sensitive skin of your throat raw, as you notice he is still appreciative of the possessive purple bruises that he loves leaving on you.

You arch your back as you feel his finger enter you, your pussy immediately clenching around him in a grip that had him pulling away from your neck as he groaned loudly in pleasure.

"Fuck, you're so wet already," he hissed against your skin as he stroked you up and down with his long digit, not wasting any time to be slow and teasing. You writhed underneath his ruthless finger fucking, your nails digging into his shoulders harshly as you moaned loudly.

"Kai," you gasped causing him to suddenly pause in his movements. You whine in desperation and open your eyes to look at him, only realising when you see his expression that it was the first time you'd called him by that name tonight.

You don't get the chance to catch your breath as he smashes his mouth onto yours hungrily.

"Say it again," he demands gruffly as he inserts another and fingers you roughly. "Call my name again, Y/N."

Knowing exactly what he wanted—since this definitely wasn't the first time—you arch further into him and thrust your hips to meet his fingers, voice dripping with desperation as you beg right in his ear, "Please, Kai, please just let me cum."

His groan is muffled against the crook of your neck as his finger thrusts into you at a quick pace, speeding after your words. Your moans increase to a crescendo as you feel yourself reaching your high and right then, Kai stops moving his fingers completely.

Your body froze, the sudden stop in stimulation causing you to cry out in protest. You grab the back of his head that was still buried in your shoulder, yanking him back by his hair to gape at him. He keeps his eyes locked on yours, and you know him enough to know that he enjoys the growing sensation of despair in your eyes as he pulled out his slick fingers agonisingly slowly, the sounds of your arousal audible as he slid his hand out of your underwear.

Almost ready to kill him now, you start to say, "You—”

"I'd rather be inside you when you come, Y/N," he cuts off whatever threat was leaving your mouth, effectively shutting you up and presses a soft kiss on your lips.

"Jump," he mutters lowly in an oh-so-familiar order and almost reflexively—your body still remembering it—you do as he says and wrap your legs around his waist, arms around his neck while he presses his hands to your ass and pushes you into him.

Slipping his tongue into your parted lips, both of your mouths caught in yet another heated messy kiss, he carries you away from the door. He sits you down on a smooth surface and you pull away to see that he's placed you on the wide armrest of the leather couch.

You don't question it, more desperate than ever as you yank off his tank top. Roaming your hands down his chest and moaning into his mouth as you feel him groan at your touch, his own fingers are tugging at the hemline of your shirt. You pull away to help him tug it off and his hands are quick at unclasping your bra and throwing it off. His mouth is immediately sucking on your neck, lips travelling down your throat, over your collarbone, between the valley of your breasts before finally latching around your nipple. Your back arches off the seat, thighs clenching around his hips as you feel the sparks of arousal elicited by his tongue and lips, his long fingers massaging the one that wasn't occupied by his mouth.

"Fuck, Kai, please," you whine, fingers twisting his hair in frustration and he pulls away, quickly unzipping and yanking his jeans down. You lift yourself to help him remove the shorts from your legs and start to pull down your panties too but he slaps your hand.

"Leave it on," he says and you watch in almost a frenzy as he pulls his cock out from his boxers. Pumping himself a few times, he lets go of your waist to pull your panty to the side and rubs the head of his cock up and down your slit, spreading your wetness. You're almost whimpering in desperation now, eyes trained down as you wait for him and he raises his fingers to your chin, lifting your head up. You meet his strong gaze only for a second before your eyes automatically shut as he kisses you—softer, gentler and tender this time, the gesture making your heart flutter a bit. Your eyes are still closed as you feel his thickness enter you in a smooth and fluid motion, easily slipping into your wet heat.

Both of you moan in an almost synchronised harmony as Kai groans, "God, I've missed this so much."

Home. You hated to admit it but in that second, in that shared breath and in the unity of your bodies, you and he both knew that this was like coming home.

You wish you could respond the same but you settle for running your nails over his back as you kiss him, not caring that you weren't supposed to—only he could leave marks over you since it wasn't rare for him to take his shirt off, given his profession, and that's how it always was.

Until now.

You expected him to freeze or even flinch like the way he did when you first had sex and tried kissing his neck--he'd pulled away immediately and told you not to do it, that it was too risky, in case it left any tell-tale marks the next day since he had a concert.

But Kai didn't do any of that now. Instead, he moaned into your mouth and that sound—dear god, did it awaken a beast in you.

Was it just a petty vengeance to bruise him, to taint his perfect body with the same reflections of those purple flowers that his beautiful lips always painted on your skin that you were never allowed to reciprocate, to ruin him the way that he'd ruined you, to release all the frustration that you'd never gotten a moment to yell aloud since you'd upped and left all those months ago without even a confrontation? Or was it mere lust fogging your senses into giving him the best angry fuck of his life so that when he looked in the mirror tomorrow morning, he'd see the souvenirs and remember you, in this moment, right now?

You don't know. You didn't even know if you wanted to hurt him the way he hurt you or just wanted him to regret not being able to have this anymore.

Your body, however, did not care for any of your thoughts as your mouth latched onto his neck almost desperately, the urge to absolutely wreck and mark Kai coursing through every vein in you. His soft moans and light tugs on your hair encouraged you as you harshly sucked on the supple skin of his throat until it was reddening, licking and nipping a trail of bruises down to his chest. Your tongue was only able to graze over his nipple before he yanked your hair roughly, making you gasp as his hips stuttered against yours at the new sensation that your tongue had sparked in him. He let go of your hair and Kai grabbed your waist in an attempt to catch you as you lost balance but ended up falling over you as you now leaned back on the armrest with your head touching the seat.

The new position had your hips involuntarily bucking higher and simultaneously Kai thrusting in deeper in what you could only describe as bliss. With his head buried in your chest, he circled his tongue around your erect nipple while a finger had reached your clit now as he rubbed against the bundle of nerves, pounding you into the couch until your legs were trembling around his body. The panty that he hadn't taken off was still stretched over the side that Kai had pushed it too, the slight restraint creating a sense of tightness in your walls that he was thoroughly enjoying as he thrust into you.

"K-Kai," you stuttered breathlessly, hands clutching his back as you felt him fill you deliciously, the warmth of his erection as he thrusts into you. Your head was slapping against the leather seat of the couch and you were beginning to see spots in your vision as the sensations all surround you together in a perfect orchestra—his thickness stretching you out, his finger relentlessly circling your clit and his mouth overstimulating your nipple.

You moan and arch your back as you feel that familiar tightening in your stomach and you feel cool air suddenly hit your wet breast as he pulls away. You open your eyes to look at him and as soon as your eyes lock with his, that were already focused on you, where his chin rests between your breasts, he grabs your wrists and pins them to your sides on the armrest, pulling out and shoving deep into you.

You let out a loud groan as Kai slams into you repeatedly, his hips thrusting without mercy as he fucks you hardly and roughly into oblivion. You don't look away, knowing that what he wanted was to watch you as you came—yet another sight he enjoyed.

But as your orgasm crashes down on you, you can't help throwing your head back with your eyes closed, lips parting as you feel it hit your body in waves. You shudder underneath him and whimper as he doesn't waver in his rough fucking, eager to chase his own high. Your legs have almost gone numb but you force yourself to raise your thighs and wrap them tighter around his waist, clenching the walls of your pussy around his cock and it's enough to trigger his orgasm as he floods you with warmth, filling you up in that familiar delicious way that you'd missed so much.

Heavy breathing fills the air as the two of you pant, your head slightly clearing as you finally see the ceiling which had been blurry all this time.

Kai rests his head on your chest, ear pressed to your heart and you feel him smile, knowing it was probably because he could hear your heartbeat that was still erratic. Your body is burning and he lifts his head to look at you, catching you off guard.

And then, he smiles.

He smiles that same smile, drawing you like a moth to a flame and it’s enough to finally hear those warning bells in your head now as your eyes widen, hands going to his shoulders in order to shove him off you harshly.

Kai's eyes widen as he detaches from your body, eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he watched you quickly adjust your soaking panties into their original position and get back into your shorts.

"What are you doing?" He asks, frowning at you.

"Leaving," you mutter as you grab your shirt that was tossed on the floor and you don't even pull it on properly in your hurry to reach the door but Kai is quick to grab you.

"What the fuck?" He seethes in disbelief, eyes narrowed into slits as he holds your arm in a death-grip. "Are you fucking kidding me?"

"'We don't need all night,' remember?" you mocked his words from earlier, the bitterness evident in your tone. "You wanted post break-up sex and you got it. So I'll leave now before I do more things that I'll regret."

You don't wait for him to respond as you quickly unlock the door and step out of the room. You close it behind you and quickly manoeuvre through the crowd to get to Sera in order to get the hell out of here before things could get worse.

And you know they would. Because like an idiot, you'd played with fire again and not even five minutes later, you could already feel the burn.

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bunny-banana · 5 years ago

Note

For the director's cut thing, the story where Fabri asks Ermal out on a date but Ermal doesn't realize that? 👀

YO SO WE GONNA DO THAT OR WHAT

Its this fic btw if anyones curious.

Chap 1

Even with closed eyes, he sensed the man lying next to him turn towards him but Fabrizio did not spoke immediately. No, he just stayed silent for a bit, Ermal wasn’t quite sure what he was observing but before Ermal could ask, Fabrizio broke the silence.

its u. he’s gazing at u, u idiot.

’You didn’t exactly give off the vibe that you’d say yes’

“What the fuck does that even mean? I don’t give off the vibe?!”

mr no-homo meta has NO right to be surprised at that. boy went into a panic attack every time someone as much as breathed the suggestion ofc fab was Anxious

A certain Roman showing up at his doorstep looking like he’d belong to the Milan Fashion Week.A tight grey shirt whose top three buttons almost begged to be opened (yet remained miraculously, in Fabris case, closed!) clung nicely to the body underneath it. A very fine silver chain hung around his neck that perfectly fit with the rings and the watch on his hand.Instead of ripped denim, now tight & shiny dark jeans were worn and to round this look up, an impeccably tailored black, suit jacket was thrown over him.

so not to be Hoe on main but we all just love Sexy Fab. but more so, i really thought Fabrizio would have put a lot of effort into dressing nicely this time around. Probably called a few friends, crying to help him. He just wanted Ermal to like his look. Which he did. A lot. again, outstanding heterosexual of the year, ermal meta is completely mesmerised by that look.

“Well, well, Fab. Gotta say, this place is on a whole different level“ The curly haired man commented as he flipped through the menu.“You like it?”“How could I not?”

again, Fabrizio intentionally looking up a fancy place for their Date, something he actually felt a little bit uncomfortable about himself and wouldnt normally chose for himself. But then again, he was greatly relieved when Ermal actually did say he liked it.

*It felt.. nice. The whole evening was quite nice, Ermal had to admit, even with the unusual ambient.

Ermal is just honestly iconic in this fic. man enjoys fabrizios appearance, enjoys talking with him, eating out with him, just spending time with him in general sooo much……and yet.

Fabrizio tilted his head and was it the candle light or something else, but a intriguing shine filled his eyes.“I’d know something sweeter than this.” In the next moment, everything turned upside down when Fabrizio suddenly took his hand and intertwined their fingers, his thumb gently brushing over the back of the younger man’s hand.

THE COURAGE THIS TOOK. THE NERVES WHICH WERE WRECKED. Fab really just went “ok here we go balls to the wall now or never”

Chap2

“So, Fabrizio….Fabrizio likes me. Apparently.” It felt interesting to say it out loud. Ermal got a tingly feeling at the thought. So ..it was him who made Fabrizio blush earlier? Who made him nervous? And smiley? Christ, he actually really wanted Ermal to like his outfit, didn’t he? A small smirk found its way on Ermal’s face. Who would have thought that he’d have Fabrizio Moro of all people wrapped around his finger.

erm: so im het

also erm: wow i really really like the fact that fabrizio is into me. its actually super exciting. kinda makes me happy in a way.

“Wait, what?! I should ask him out?!”“Yeah? Isn’t that something you want?”Is that something he- But that would imply that he’d want to pursue Fabrizio, his very male, masculine, manly friend Fabrizio who was definitely not by any chance a woman. To have a relationship with guy that was …..romantic… and oh sweet Mother of God, sexual?!“I- I- I don’t know.”

so yeah, to get to the bottom of this, when you’re in the process of realising your own …..non-heterosexuality, its just A Lot to take in. I thought, realistically, that would just be a bit too much for Ermal to take in at that moment. He had to process the mere thought of “yes, you could have a romantic relationship with this guy, since he’s into you. Its absolutely a possibility”. When you’re conditioned to think “i can only ever date people of the opposite sex” all your life, it takes a bit of time to get accustomed to new possibilities.

And then theres the sexual aspect which is like, on Jupiter, for Ermal’s current state of mind.

Chap3

The video he currently was immersed in showed a slow-mo fight between a mongoose and a cobra that in all its intensity outdid any action movie in a heartbeat.

i remember watching that vid before writing that chapter and being mesmerised by it. u fucking go lil mongoose!

[Bizio]: sorry i cant this weekend

First, i just love the thought of him being saved as Bizio on Ermals phone. Second, the reason why he replied so late was because he was wrecking his mind about it. Should he go? should he not? god, the thought of seeing ermal excited him and yet scared him. nonononno. he’s trying to get Over Ermal. He needs space. he is not ready yet.

[Ermal]:Fabri!! Heard you’re coming up North! 😁 I have this excellent bottle of wine that a fan gave me the other day (don’t ask) so how about we open it at my place? I know you love a good wine 😉🍷

He couldn’t even slide the phone back into his pocket before it started buzzing. Surprisingly, the reply came almost instantly this time.[Bizio]:sorry no the schedule is pretty tight for me at the moment i dont think ill have much time in milan

i just image him getting the weirdest fucking fan gifts. also lmao the lightning speed with which fab replied. homeboy saw that wine would be involved and imemdiately thought “nononononono. worst case, my drunk ass might kiss him, god forbid. we are absolutely not gonna do that”

[Ermal]:So I’m flipping through the channels at home and there comes a baking show and I wouldn’t normally stop to watch but you know what they’re baking? Those creamy pastry things we had in Lisbon!

Now the idea about the Pasteis de Nata stemms from a real life event! During ESC 2018 i slept at a friends house and since the contest was held in Portugal we decided to cook something portuguese. Thats what we did. They fucking slap. Also, one of the best weekends ive ever had

However, this is how things continued as to all of Ermal’s messages, he’d receive rather uncharacteristically short replies. When he sent him photos he’d often not reply at all and even when he called Fabri didn’t pick.

Okay we have to image in WHAT kinda mental state Fabrizio is in that time. Boy is EMBARASSED to death. Then obviously, he is trying his hardest to get rid of this crush. So he just isnt talking to Ermal at all. Which in turn makes him lonely and sad. So then Ermal shoots him a message, sends him a picture and Fabrizio is immediately head over heels again. Which he shouldnt be. Bad Fabri. And the circle repeats itself.

Fabrizio who smiled sweetly at the host, who hugged her tightly, who joked with her and oh, whose eyes didn’t stick to her face but wandered more and more south.

Dude honestly, Fab was not flirting with anyone. He was just being nice as he usually is. And we all know he a lil bit sleazy so yeah, he might have looked down once or twice. but he really was not flirting. It was just Ermals affection-deprived mind going berserk.

Also that was the first time Ermal witnessed Fabrizio being affectionate with someone else. And the contrast to that cold shoulder he received was just the last straw for him.

“Why is he all smiley and lovey-dovey with her while he treats me as if I’m a war criminal?!” Ermal shouted the second the other line got picked up.“Uhm, hello? Maybe a ‘Good morning’ first of all? A simple ‘how are you doing, Sabina?’ would have been appreciated too.”

Damn bitch can ya greet ur sister first before going off smh

And would it have been really that bad if Ermal had just held on to his hand? Let Fabrizio gently stroke him with his thumb, maybe even squeeze back while Ermal’s finger draws circles over letters that covered the older man’s knuckles.It would have been nice and Ermal would have liked it.

I think he just needed to see what he was missing out to realise what he really has always wanted. If things were to go back to normal, he would have never made any realisations.

“Am I- Do I like Fabrizio?”

No, we dont ask what he is. Because thats for another time, a calmer time. Or maybe not at all. He doesnt know the answer to that question and its not important right now. All he knows is that despite it all, he likes Fabrizio.

The fact he was a guy was new, but those feelings involved weren’t.

I feel like this is just a very bisexual experience. At least to me it was. Its very confusing when u are genuinely attracted to the opposite sex, so you make the conclusion: you are obviously straight. Its not possibly that you are not-straight.

Then u start feeling attraction to someone of ur own gender and its like “hmmm. Obviously this must be fake since we have established that Im genuinely attracted to the opposite sex ”

But the thing is..it aint going away. And then u think how you’d perhaps be down for sex, and perhaps be down for something more, and perhaps do all those nice things you would be doing with someone of the opposite sex.

So yeah, its ..its really confusing and complicated to figure it out. And if you actually do have a feelings for someone it only makes matters more complicated ig

“Jesus, I really do like him. Me. Liking a guy.”

Again, once u made That Realisation, its just the WILDEST thing in the beginning. a complete NEW concept being applied to yourself.

“LISTEN CUT THE BULLSHIT I KNOW EXACTLY THAT YOU’RE HOME! OPEN UP OR I WILL STAND HERE ALL NIGHT I’M NOT FUCKING AROUND!” In addition to the knocking he now also started ringing the doorbell. He sure as hell wouldn’t move here until that door wasn’t opened.“I DONT GIVE A FUCK, I WON’T EVEN SLEEP AND NEITHER WILL YOU. I CAN GO ON FOREVER YOU HEAR ME, FABRIZIO MOBRICI?!”

Ermal is just unhinged in all my fics.

Epilogue

[Ermal💛]: You ready?

Fabrizio added that heart right immediately after Ermal left his house a week prior.

Ermal looked….cuddly.

So yeah we all know Fab isnt the keenest on fashion and shit. And i just though Ermal would want him to be as comfortable as possible on their date, so he was like “ay come casual” . and also, its sort of cute that Ermal lets Fabri see him so casual too, its sort of more private in that sense.

And those were still the mild surprises, let’s not start with the downright shock he felt when his brain started providing words like kissable, attractive, sexy and hot during lonelier nights.

i have a fic for those kinda nights too

“It’s not that far and God knows men your age need the exercise anyway.”

ermal just cant show affection like a normal person, he has to roast u even when he’s madly in love with u

What followed behind the colourful door was a small chaos. Literally. People constantly coming and going, with buzzing voices chatting in every corner. They made their way half through the rather crowded establishment, got greeted by a waiter who rushed past them, before they finally spotted a couple leaving, liberating two chairs for them.

SO YEAH. the restaurant. it is loosely based on a place here in Vienna. Its pakistani food too, its a buffet, its kinda chaotic like described in the fic. also u can pay as much as u want.

i just thought, yknow, its home made cooking and its kinda relaxed and chill and casual and has a certain liberal flair to it. and i thought yeah that has fabri energy we gonna use that. also their mango rice puddings fucking slap

Languages were not his forte, those belonged to Ermal, but Fabrizio ran through his options. It surely wasn’t French or Spanish, that he would at least recognise. German looked different too; they had those dots over their U’s and those curly B’s which allegedly weren’t B’s at all. Swedish? Danish? No. He’s been to Ikea often enough to know that his wardrobe wouldn’t be called Qershor. And Russian had different letters but maybe it was something similar to Russian?

Okay, so I’m a known Slut for Languages. Fabrizio is not. I can pretty much recognise most European languages in written form at some point in a text. Fabrizio can not. Therefore writing this from the perspective of someone who really isnt into languages was kind of interesting and a bit challenging. I was just thinking ‘how would he recognise them when he isnt into them?’ And i think, in the end, i did it realistically.

“Is it like..Serbian? Croatian? Or something?” He mumbled while putting a piece of eggplant in his mouth but quickly realised the answer when Ermal almost spit out his water from laughing.“No, definitely not. I can guarantee you, it’s very much not Serbian or Croatian ‘or something’.” Ermal chuckled with a bright smile, obviously enjoying their little guessing game. “But you’re close. In a way.”

This is SO embarrassing but this whole language guessing game was just a setup to an inside joke I have with myself. So, for those who don’t know, I speak Serbo-Croatian. And I study Slavic studies. The first things they tell you in the first lesson of the Slavic Linguistics course is “Please, for the love of God, PLEASE, dont say Albanian/Hungarian/Romanian is a slavic language”. Apparently many europeans assume these languages are because theyre surrounded by slavic countries. BUT TO AN ACTUAL SLAVIC NATIVE SPEAKER, the difference is immediately obvious and so its quite comical when people assume theyre related languages. So i thought the reverse would be kinda funny to Ermal too.

“I can be anything the teacher wants me to be. A good student, a naughty student, whatever floats his boat…” He asked sultrily before winking at the man across of him whose higher brain functions seemed to have ceased at once and just gaped at him like a fish.

boys whole brain got fried when the sexiest man in italy started flirting with him. issokay, he was just shocked. fabrizio has never been flirty with him before, he’ll get used to it.

“I was just trying to give you the best date that I could.“At those words, the Roman frowned however."Wait, this was a date?!”

im just an asshole honestly

They giggled as they finally closed the gap between them going for a slow and deep kiss.

i just love them being all SOFT and in LOVE

“Erm, I- I have an instore tomorrow, I better be well rested.”His counterpart just huffed and raised an eyebrow.“So were you planning on staying up all night, huh?”

Fabs horn dog brain definitively went HmmmmMmm this is nice:) ..could get even nicer:) but no fuck, i have work to do tomorrow

“Love how you immediately forget about a good night’s sleep once you have a tongue in your mouth.”“Fuck off.”

He just got carried away as if u were complaining ermal smh

"I bet on everything I have that your password is 'liberoanita1’ so yes, I actually can.”

Parents culture is just using ur children’s names as all your passwords and we all know Fabri is that kinda parent.

All in All, i also wanna talk about how the epilogue mirrors the first chapter, but in a more successful light.

Fabrizio dresses for Ermal - Ermal dresses for Fabrizio

fancy place - more casual place

They take the car - they walk

Fabrizio takes Ermals hand on the open for everyone to see - Ermal takes Fabrizios hand under the table, in private

They eat their dessert seperately - they eat theri dessert together

they fall out - they become closer, kiss

they dont talk - they plan the next date

anyway thanks for reading and thank uuuuuu for this ask julchen

#my fics

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kazlifeadventures · 6 years ago

Text

Bucharest 30 and 31 May

Another interesting Romanian fact is once Russian rule ceased car ownership ballooned to approximately 1.4 million cars, as it's seen as a status to own a car, and it was so severely limited for so long the people went a bit nuts.

The afternoon that we arrived (30th), we dropped our bags off to the hotel then set out with a local guide to have a driving tour of the city. Peak hour traffic is full on (I was thinking that all 1.4 million cars were on the road when we were 😂). Anyway, there was alot of areas closed off in preparation for Papas visit (The Romanians refer to him as Papa). Bucharest doesn't have a defined 'city centre', it does have an old town area of narrow cobblestoned streets that have a few of the historic buildings located within its area. Other important buildings are in different locations. Lucky for us a nice police officer allowed us to stop to take photos of the ‘palace of parliament’. The palace of parliament is a magnificent structure with a height of 84 metres (276 ft), a floor area of 365,000 square metres (3,930,000 sq ft) and a volume of 2,550,000 cubic metres (90,000,000 cu ft). It took a team of 700 architects to design and then 13 years to build (1984 - 1997), and is seen as a monument to ‘totalitarian kitsch’ style of architecture. The ‘palace’ currently houses the two Houses of Parliament as well as multiple museums. It is known as one of the biggest buildings in the world (not the biggest, but somewhere in the top 5). Unlucky for us, the sun was in just the wrong place for said photos, but hey, Samsung, and some help from our tour leader that I will begrudgingly admit to...

All too soon we were back at the hotel for our included dinner (yum), and then an early - oops nope, not early night! Somehow (I blame Jamie) we ended up at a Karaoke bar, yes Karaoke bar in Romania. Oh wow those locals could sing too!! Suffice to say there is video footage of myself and Megs rocking Shania’s classic hit, ‘man I feel like a woman’ (I am not sure who chose it, I just got up when I was told to...) I can now add that to my every growing list of awesome stuff I’ve done around the world. Had a ball, late night though and tomorrow I’d signed up for the full day of optionals, here’s hoping its all quiet with Papas visit and I make it through!!

31 May.

Some time in Dimitrie Gusti National Village Museum was just what I needed. A lovely stroll through the gardens and the history of Romania. There were some wonderful examples of buildings from the different eras and locations in Romania, replete with (in one case) an angry lady minding the building. In the lady’s defence I may have been a little loud, not sure what she said to me, but pretty sure I was in trouble and I may have set back Aus - Romanian relations... It was a great morning, and we realised it was more than likely not too busy due to the Papal visit. Also it seemed not alot of the houses onsite had their Romanian lady, so they were closed, this too could have been due to the papal visit. ..

The popes visit helped us get from the outdoor museum to our lunch location in the old town area inn record town, there were no cars on the road, and we were waved through multiple traffic lights with little to no stops all the way (may or may not have waved out the window at the people lining the streets to acknowledge them taking the time to come out and see us...) Again thank you your holiness for making our day easier! Because we were so early we got some time to go for a wander down the cobblestones in the old town before turning up to one of the oldest businesses in Bucharest for our lunch - Caru’ cu bere. A stunning old building (completed June 1899), with a gorgeous restaurant serving traditional Romanian food for over 130 years. Can anyone say huge portions, way too much food, and omg delicious!

Our afternoon was spent with our local Romanian guide at Pasarea Monastery

This was one of those amazing, you couldn’t expect it, experiences. When we were exploring the church, a lovely old nun came up and through our guide gave us details about the monastery, as well details of how she ended up there. At 84, she had been there for 74 years after being sent there when she was sick as a child. I had to ask if she had been sent by her parents to become a nun, but no, she had stayed of her own volition as she loved the life she had in the church. Somehow our guide then found a wonderful young nun who took it upon herself to not just show us where they (the nuns), make clothes for the priests, where they create the silver icons (hammering), as well as where they create the priests hats. She also showed us where she lived taking us to her garden, and out to the lake behind it. She then insisted we have some fresh cherries and strawberries from her garden, serving us cake as well (we had just had a huge lunch remember!) We then went for a wander through one of my favourite spots in a church, the cemetery, before it was time to head back to the hotel to get ready for our final dinnner together at a local Brewery restaurant. The lovely nun wasn’t finished with us yet though, she delivered two bottles of her home made wine, one for our drivers and one for us for us to take back to our hotel. A lovely thought, can’t say it was the nicest wine, but lovely due to its source.

Well, the tour is over, and I have all the feels. An amazing series of experiences in places I never thought I’d ever get to. It’s going to take some time to reflect on this one - probably one of the most amazing tours I’ve done to date. I think the like minded tour companions helped, as well as the amazing itinerary. Being a ‘guinea pig’ for a new tour was a new but awesome experience. I’m what you would call an adhoc traveller at the best of times and embrace change, so loved the fact that nothing was set in stone. Our feedback will go to making this tour even better than it was so that when they run it for the first bunch of customers next year they are going to have a blast. I'm off to Crete for some R&R wandering around by myself for the next almost 3 weeks, then Frankurt for a couple of nights before heading to Azerbaijan for my next tour (so excited for this one too!!)

More Bucharest photos to come!

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