#i should be allowed to have a spray water bottle

[meanderfall]

i wish customers understood what a joke actually was.

if your "joke" gets in the way of me doing my job, then i'm not going to find it funny. if your "messing around" just confuses me on what you actually want then it's not actually a joke. you're just annoying.

[woso-dreamzzz]

Nena II

Barcelona Femení x Child!Reader

Summary: Just another day at your sister's work

You giggled as Asisat lifted from her shoulders and swung you around. Your tummy went all fluttery in a good way as she kept going before releasing you to stumble about.

She caught you when you lost your footing, putting you upright again and smothering a laugh when you fell right back onto the floor.

"Again?" She asked.

You got up immediately, nodding. "Uh-huh!"

"I think we should take a break," Sandra said as she approached," Or the little miss might throw up her breakfast."

"Ingrid's Mapi made pancakes!" You said excitedly," And Ingrid let me have syrup with it!"

"Wow!" Sandra said to you before turning to Asisat," It'll be a pain to clean if she pukes that all up and then you'll have to explain to Ingrid why we've got her kid sister throwing up her food."

"Alright." Asisat ruffled your hair. "Maybe later then."

"Later!" You agreed before allowing Sandra to take your hand and lead you to a shady area.

You had fallen into an easy routine in the past few weeks you've spent in Barcelona. Ingrid and her Mapi would get you ready for the day where one of their teammates (usually Frido or Keira) would take you out onto the field where you would sit in the shady area where the goalkeepers practiced.

Today, though, you were joined by familiar faces.

"Jana! Bruna! Look, I made pictures!"

The two girls, cleared from medical enough to lightly train but not enough to do the extremely complicated drills that were currently going on, hung out with you.

"That is very good, y/n," Jana complimented," You're the best colourer."

"I am very good." You knew that already because Ingrid and her Mapi told you often but, still, it was nice to be recognised for your talent. "You colour."

You tore a sheet out of your book and gave it to Jana along with a purple pencil.

You did the same for Bruna before deciding, after watching her for a moment, that she wasn't doing well so you sat on her lap and helped her.

"In the lines," You told her, parroting the words your Papa used to say to you," So it's not messy anymore. Don't worry. You'll get better when you practice more."

"Gracias, y/n," Bruna said," I'm sure with an expert like you, I will get it in no time."

You nodded and grabbed another sheet. "Mama says you have to practice to get better. She says that's why Ingrid's so good at the ball game so you have to practice your colouring, Bruna. So you can get better."

The warm Spanish sun beat down upon you and your friends as the other girls trained. When it get even hotter, Jana and Bruna gave you two bottles of water and sent you on your way with them.

"Gemma! Cata!" You said as you approached," Here!"

"Our hero!" Cata said as she unscrewed the lid and drained it. "Thanks, kiddo! Gemma, thank her."

Gemma sprayed water at Cata. "I was going to before you interrupted." She leaned down to hug you before allowing you to chug from her drink. "Thanks for the drink, little buddy. Why don't you head on back to Jana and Bruna and do some more colouring? It's nearly time for lunch."

Gemma was right because no sooner had you completed your third picture, did Marta and Caro come to collect you.

Your hand fit easily into Caro's hand and you took Marta's too - just because you could. Together, they swung you into the air every few steps and you giggled ecstatically every time.

Marta laughed with you while Caro settled for just a smile. You beamed at them both - especially when Caro decided to make a pitstop to get you a chocolate bar from the vending machine.

Marta ended up making your plate for lunch and no matter how much you begged and begged, she stuck to the list of approved food your sister had given her.

"Go on, nena," She said, directing you to a very full table," Can I trust you girls to look after her?" The occupants of said table all nodded and she gave them a fierce look before relenting.

Lucy stopped you from sitting down, grabbing her jacket to pile it onto the empty seat. She nudged Keira. "Pass it over." Once Keira surrendered her own jacket as well as Ona, Salma and Esmee, Lucy used them all to create a makeshift booster seat for you before plonking you onto it and pushing your food closer.

"I heard you had a fun weekend, nena," Ona said with a smile, glancing around before pushing part of her nice food onto your plate.

You nodded. "Uh-huh, Ingrid took me to the park and her Mapi let me take Bagheera on a walk."

Esmee rolled her eyes with a huff of a laugh. "She spoils that cat."

"Bagheera's my best boy," You replied to her, cramming food into your mouth," He naps in sunspots and sleeps in my bed with me."

"Really?" Keira asked before glaring daggers at Lucy," Sounds just like Narla."

You cocked your head to the side. "Tia Alexia's dog sleeps in her bed?"

"She means my dog," Lucy said as she ruffled your hair," I have a dog called Narla too."

You made a face. "That's mean, Lucy," You said," You shouldn't name your dog after Tia's Nala. She could get bullied."

Salma, on your other side, laughed. "I don't think dogs get bullied, nena."

"Cats get bullied," You said," Ingrid's Mapi said that's why Bagheera isn't allowed out without her - because the neighbourhood cats bully him. The other dogs could bully Lucy's Narla."

Salma chuckled as she ruffled your hair and shovelled food into your mouth. "Never change, nena. You're adorable."

You made a face at that but didn't argue, allowing Salma to feed you to rest of your meal.

You got restless halfway through lunch and slipped off your seat to tug on Irene's sleeve. You bounced up and down urgently. "Toilet," You said to her because she was Mateo's mama and your mama told you that every mama in the world recognised the potty dance.

Thankfully, your mama was right because Irene excused herself from her conversation and took your hand, leading you to the bathroom.

You did your business quickly but had to be lifted up to reach the sink and then again to use the hand dryer - bursting into hysterical giggles when Irene poked you in the stomach when your top rode up.

By the time you got out of the toilet, lunch had finished and Mariona joined the two of you on your walk to the gym.

"Looking cool in your shoes, nena," She said.

You grinned at her proudly. "They're my most favourite!" Yet again, you had chosen to wear your new light-up shoes. You had been wearing them a lot recently so now Ingrid didn't get worried your feet would start aching because they had finally been broken in.

"Well, they're my most favourite too!" Mariona replied.

"Good!" You said firmly, patting her side in approval with a smiling face. Mariona was pretty cool most of the time when she wasn't running around like a headless chicken and she was doubly cool when she talked to you about your new shoes.

"Are we talking about super cool light-up shoes because..." Patri stamped her feet and the bottom of her shoes lit up into a rainbow.

You gasped and jumped, showing that your shoes could do the same.

"I told you I'd find them, nena! Look at us, we're matching!"

"We are!"

Patri took your hands from Irene and jumped up and down with you, both of your shoes lighting up in sync. You giggled hysterically as the colours bounced.

Over her shoulder, you spied another recognisable face.

"Claudia! Claudia!" You exclaimed," Look! Look! We match!"

You and Patri jumped again to prove your point and Claudia gasped. She glanced around like she had a secret before beckoning you closer.

"You know what?" She asked.

"What?"

"All three of us match!"

She stamped her feet and her shoes lit up too.

You gasped.

"Wow! So cool!"

You looked around the room, holding onto Patri and Claudia and dragging them over to the corner of the gym.

"Aitana! Aitana! Aitana! We match!"

The three of you stamped your feet, causing the rainbow lights to appear again.

Aitana, as she lifted weights, smiled at you. "That's really cool, nena."

You looked down at Aitana's sad, boring shoes and sighed. You released Claudia and Patri to pat Aitana on the leg consolingly.

"It's okay," You told her," If you ask very nicely Claudia and Patri can take you to get matching shoes too."

She let out a chuckle. "Thanks, nena."

Before you could make any more suggestions though, you were pulled away from your friends by Frido, who promptly led you over to the opposite side of the gym which had been set up for your nap time.

You frowned. "Don't wanna nap," You complained.

Frido sighed. "I know. I don't want you to nap either but Ingrid says so."

You huffed. "Ingrid's not the boss of you."

Frido's eyebrows raised. "Somehow, I don't think Ingrid agrees with that. Come on, you, nap time. I'll get you some cake tomorrow if you nap now."

Your eyes narrowed. "With sprinkles?"

"With sprinkles."

"Okay. Naptime now."

Your nap went by very quickly and when you ended it, you still felt groggy.

Someone was touching you though and you squirmed around in their arms until your head was tucked into their neck. They were nice though, nice and warm even if they jostled you every time they took a step.

"You should take a picture for Olga," Your Ingrid's Mapi teased," It might get you one of these sooner rather than later."

"I'm quite content with this one." It was Tia Alexia's voice that spoke next and you realised that you were in her arms.

You blinked away your sleepiness and rubbed your eyes. "Hola, Tia," You said softly.

"Hola, nena," She replied," You slept a long while. I was getting worried you would sleep forever."

"Silly, Tia," You said," That's not possible."

"No?" She teased," Oh, silly me!" She bounced you. "It's nice to see you, nena. I was worried I wouldn't see you today."

"I always like seeing you, Tia," You replied.

"I like see you too."

You turned your head out of her neck and smiled softly at Ingrid's Mapi.

She smiled back at you, a small smile that was reserved only for you. "Hola, elskling," She said and her use of Ingrid's nickname for you made you feel all nice and fluttery inside. "We're heading home now. Ingrid's getting the car all nice and ready for us."

You nodded but didn't say anything else. You still felt kind of tired and sleepy so just soaked in Tia Alexia's warmth and the steady hum of talking between her and Ingrid's Mapi.

You didn't even notice when you moved from Tia Alexia's arms to your Ingrid's until you were placed in your car seat and strapped in.

Ingrid hovered over you as she wiped up the drool from your cheek. "Hi, elskling. Don't you look all nice and sleepy?"

"Frido made me nap," You replied, eyes drooping as she clipped in the last buckle," But I wasn't really sleepy."

"I bet you're sleepy now though, right?"

You nodded and yawned. "Little bit."

"That's alright, elskling," She said," You have a nice little nap in the car and then you can get up when we get home."

"Okay..." Your eyes drooped even lower. "Mapi?"

"Si, elskling?"

"Can we have cuddles with Bagheera on the sofa when I wake up?"

"Of course, elskling. I'm sure Bagheera would love to cuddle with you."

"And you."

"And me."

"And Ingrid."

"And Ingrid too."

[waytooobsessedwithmcyt]

Following @strawberri-animates's emptober idea, day one is normal but I didn't feel like writing an entire fanfic since I only remembered at 8:30 at night so just have some rambling about nature wives headcanons

Witches aren't allowed to marry humans because they're isolationist, but they took one look at Shelby and Katherine and went "these bitches gay, we can't stop them"

Katherine and Shelby's first kiss was in the Evermoore and the ghosts were just yelling "finally!" And bets were being cashed in

The witches are pretty "anything that isn't "normal" is bad" and so when Shelby looked through the library at Katherine's castle and found a book about the Emperors, she was absolutely thrilled to find a picture of High Wizard Gemini with a bi and a trans flag, she pretty much squealed about it excitedly the entire day

Katherine is naturally flirty, Shelby tries to flirt back but just devolves into incoherent muttering and blushing

Gem has literally sprayed Katherine with a water bottle because she wouldn't stop talking about how pretty Shelby was

How is any of this related to normal? This was originally meant to be domestic hcs but I'm ADHD and got sidetracked, also, no idea if I should tag the og creator of the Emptober calendar I'm following, don't know proper Tumblr protocol yet, sorry

[gregorygerwitz]

AITA for sending my best friend into a swarm of killer bees?

Short version of context: my best friend, E (33M), and I (33M) have been working together for about seven years, and we're firefighters. This happened when we were dealing with the 15 million killer bees that got out when the truck overturned? I'm sure a lot of people have heard about it, since it made national news.

We got called to a garden party where a couple thousand of the bees had gathered for this perfume release party. It was really pretty, actually, lots of flowers, it looked like? It was kind of destroyed by the time we got there. By the bees.

One of the women at the party had jumped into the pool to escape the swarm of bees, but they were waiting for her above the surface. She's fine, we got her out of there, and she's going to make a full recovery, before anyone worries too much. But we had to get the bees away from the pool before we could safely get her out without them immediately swarming her again. We just had to figure out how to do that, and I wasn't allowed to use smoke again. (we have a new boss, he sucks, but that's a different post entirely)

I was inside passing out water and doing basic first aid some of the other party guests when I found out what the party was for. I looked at all the scent notes and talked to the woman who developed the scent itself and it had floral notes and bananas! Which are bees' favorite things! So, we just needed to find a way to get their attention on the perfume again instead of the pool!

Anyway, I suggested dousing E in perfume because he's a faster runner than me.

We sprayed at least three or four bottles on him, like his turnouts were probably sticky, but we were trying to save a woman's life. And, besides, he really is a fast runner! He ran around the garden and pool for long enough to distract the bees while we saved someone's life! And then a local beekeeper safely collected the bees that were crawling all over E so that they wouldn't be harmed. That part was extra cool, I think. I'm glad none of the bees got hurt.

But now E keeps making comments about how I should take his dinner duty because I didn't have to run through a swarm of bees, and I think he's joking, but it's hard to tell. I know he's going through a lot lately, because of some stuff not worth getting into for this post, so maybe this was just too much for him to take on top of that. He was totally safe because of the gear we wear and everything, but I know I can never really know what's going on in someone else's head.

Am I the asshole for potentially putting him through more stress than he was prepared to take on?

[datsyuks]

"If You Want Anything All You Have To Do Is Ask"

(Hi everyone. I'm new around these parts. Please enjoy. Leave a like or reblog. If the formatting is weird please let know. i used dreaded notepad and it seems like it was more of a curse than a blessing. i should have more coming soon.)

Warnings: smut toward the end

"I'm going inside. I need a refill," you wave your empty can in the air, "you want anything?" you yell to your friend who was ankle deep in ocean water. "I'm good!" She yells back. You glance down the beach to see if your brother, Mitch, and his friend, Auston, would want a refill but they are down the beach chatting it up with two blondes. "Their loss," you mumble to yourself and hike it up the sand.

The cool air feels good on your skin as you open the freezer to get a popsicle. The sweet treat cooling you down even more. You walk upstairs to your shared bedroom. Clothes litter the ground as you make your way to your phone on the nightstand. You start to edit some pictures to post to Instagram when two hands grab at your waist and tugging your body backwards into something hard.

"Boo," he whispers into your ear, his stubble rubbing lightly on your jaw gives him away. Still, it makes you jump, enough for the phone to slip from your hands and onto the bed. "Auston!" you shout and turn around to push against his chest. He laughs as one hand leaves your waist and envelopes it over your hand on his chest, locking it in place. Warmth radiated from his chest. "How'd you know it was me?"

Of course you knew it was him. It became your first instinct now. Years and years of him coming around allowed you to memorize, every part of him. The way his hand ghosted the small of your back as he past behind you. The way he was somehow always there to reach the cup out of the highest shelf of the kitchen cabinet for you before you could even ask. How fast he volunteered himself to teach you how to play tennis, even after Mitch's relentless teasing. 'She's got potential.' He'd say giving you a smile and a wink.

"No, hold the racket like this," walking behind you, he wraps his arms around yours and held your hands over the tennis racket. His hands enveloped around yours so tightly you could only see bits of your neon colored nail polish. "That way when you swing, you have more control." "Uh huh, " you say suddenly very aware of his closeness. You were caged between his arms and you couldn't help yourself from staring at them. They glisened with sweat and sunscreen. Your eyes trail down to the veins popping out on his forearm from squeezing your hands against the racket.

"Why are you so sift?" He asks and wiggles your arms oblivious to you not listening to him at all. "Sorry, I-" you turn your head to look up at him. You are suddenly aware he is not wearing a shirt, your eyes drag up his chest, taking a pause at the small tattoo on his collarbone. Is that new? you think and look up to his face. He's smirking down at you. "Just loosen up."

He let's go of your hands and walks back to the bench. You gather your thoughts, "get it together, get it together." you chant in a whisper. You swing your arms around, do some stretches, and repeat your chant trying to get the feeling of him off you. "Get it together," you look back at Auston on the bench, he's squirting some water into his mouth before squirting some into his hair. "get it," he runs a hand through his hair and shakes his head, “together." your breathless now.

"Want some?" he offers the bottle toward you. You hold out your hands so he can throw the bottle. But he walks over to you, until he’s face to face, “open up.” He gestures to your mouth. His eyes never leave yours as he squirts some water into his mouth. Your eyes widen at his actions yet you still open your mouth, tilting your head up. Lifting the bottle to your mouth, he squirts some in before spraying it all over your face.

"Auston!" you snap out of your trance and charge at him, trying to grab for the bottle but he holds it out of your reach. "That," jump, "was", jump, "not nice!" With your hands on his shoulders, trying to use him as leverage you jump one last time but it's no use. He laughs even harder at your attempts.

"Ugh!" you stomp toward the bench, hastly grabbing a towel out of your bag. Sitting on the bench, you hear him next to you as he sets down the bottle and picks up his racket. "What? You thought I would squirt the water in my mouth into yours?" he asks, playfully. You choke your water down, "what? No." He raises his eyebrows, “you sure?" he smiles, unconvinced. God, you could melt, not trusting your voice you nod. He drops his smile and takes a few steps toward you. “Ok, if you want anything all you have to do is ask, ya know." Is this a dream? Does he even know what he's saying? He must know. He has to know how he affects you. He-' His body is right in front of you, he leans down so he's eye level.

His mouth opens as if he's going to say something, but nothing comes out. You noticably gulp and nervously shift your hands on your water bottle. "Now," he tries again. His eyes glance down to your mouth then back to your eyes. Your body tenses up when you feel his fingertips graze your bare knee. They leave a trail of fire until he slips them under the hem of your tennis skirt. Water droplets fall from his hair and onto your exposed leg. His eyes glance down again, his tounge wets his lips, and his breathing becomes slightly harder. Your still frozen in place when his eyes snap back up to yours.

"Let's play," he grabs the ball you put in your shorts pocket and turns around towards the other end of the court. You suck in a breath, quickly stand to your feet, and brush off the invisible dirt off your skirt. "Yeah, let's play."

You're brought back to reality when he squeezes your hand. "You okay?" His thumb brushes circles onto the back of your hand. Your eyes instincivitly go to his mouth then back to his eyes. You nod.

"Whatcha eating there?" nodding at your hand. Your eyes glance toward your other hand, now being covered by the melting treat. "A popsicle," your voice finally comes out in a whisper. This might be the only chance to spark something, anything, before he goes back to Toronto. Before he's gone away for months. Before, god forbid, he brings another girl to the lakehouse. Before he moves on and leaves you behind and you're stuck in a spirl of what could've happend.

"Do you want to try it?" you ask, almost as quietly as before. His eyes search yours to see if you're joking. In all his years of knowing you, he was always the one teasing.

You bring the treat in front of his mouth, "go ahead. I want you to have a bite." His hand leaves your hip and wraps over yours on the stick. His tongue licks a long strip up the popsicle. His plump lips wrap around the top breaking off a piece. He goes in for another lick going slower this time, teasing you. His lips are covered in the blue liquid. He goes in for another lick when you pull the stick from him and into your mouth. You close your eyes and let out a moan as you taste him and the blue raspberry.

Opening you eyes, you hold you the last piece toward him, "you want some more?" Eager, he leans in but you're quicker, pulling the rest of the popsicle in your mouth, "come and get it."

Dropping your hands and grabbing your hips slamming your body into his. His mouth in on yours, licking his way in. His hand glides up your back until the reach your neck holding you in place. He tastes like the popsicle and warm bud light.

Tossing the popsicle stick to the ground, your hands trail down to the waistband of his bathinsuit. He pulls away, out of breath. "get on the bed." He presses a small, gentle kiss to your lips before letting go. "sit onthe edge."

He spreads your legs apart and unties the little bows on sides of your bathing suit bottoms. The cold air makes you shiver and snaps you out of your fantasy. Does he really want to do this? What's going to happen after? How do you go back to being civil, especially if he sucks? “Auston," you say out of breath, "you don't have to do this. We can just-" You couldn't finish and let out a whimper as he lightly bites the inside of your thigh. "No talking." He flattens his togune against you and licks up.

A moan escapes your lips and your fingers tangle in his hair. “Oh my god, yes." He wraps his arms tighter around your legs as he continues lapping you up. He licks up and down slowly, dragging his tongue over every inch, before dipping inside to tease your clit. He goes around tugging, biting, licking getting lost in the way you taste. "Do you want me to keep going?" He swirls his tongue around your hole.

"Yes," you groan out, before he dives right in, until you are shaking aginst him, "keep going." Two of his fingers replace his tongue and you arch into his mouth. “That's right baby, just tell me what you want." His fingers speed up and you whimper, "i'm close." He pulls out his fingers before slamming them back in curling up just to find the right spot.

"That's it baby," he leans up and takes your nipple in his mouth. Another moan leaves you lips as your orgasm washes over you. Auston slows his fingers down before sliding them out and pops them into his mouth.

Trying to catch you breath, he kisses along your jaw before connecting your lips. "I'll repay you later?" "Don’t worry about it. You asked so nicely. I just had to give you what you want.”One more kiss and he stands back up. Stretching his arms. “We should get going before anyone else comes in." The reality sets in and your body becomes heavy. You snap out of it and shake your head, "Hey Aus-," but you couldn't even get his name out before you heard the back door slam shut.

[mistressoftheelderitchwhorehouse]

As I was taking down my braids I began to wonder how different BSD characters would react after seeing your natural hair. Can I ask for headcanons about that? IDC what characters as long as Dazai is there.

(Unrelated but kinda related but it makes me think of how there are so many things that are just commonplace in my culture that I wouldn't think twice about. But those who aren't of said culture who would find the things I do as new and intriguing. Humanity is very fascinating. Sorry for getting philosophical. I just like to think a lot)

Deadass the different culture things is always so fun. Like I explain things about my own curly hair to my white friends all the time, and when they tell me what is and isn't acceptable in their culture with their straight hair? It's interesting.

Anyway! Here we goooooo~~

______________________________

Hair and Coffee

Dazai flipped over in his futon, half expecting to flop onto another human being, only to feel cold blankets. He groaned and continued rolling until he was on the tatami mat instead of the futon. After almost six months of sleeping with another person, his futon felt strangely big when he was alone.

"Belladonna?"

"Kitchen, Dummy."

With some effort he stumbled to his feet, and went out to the kitchen. The coffee maker gurgled, but Dazai couldn't smell the tell tale dark roast that he kept on hand. Instead, he smelled something fruity and creamy. His thoughts immediately jumped to you, as he swore you always smelled like a sorbet stand.

"Down here."

Lo and behold there you were on the kitchen floor.

You were surrounded by different bottles that were slick with the left overs from your hands. Half your hair was clipped out of your face, while the rest was in your hands while you ran a wide tooth comb through it.

It wasn't often that Dazai got to see your hair outside of twists. You said it was a protective style, especially against the salt of the ocean that constantly beat against Yokohama.

How interesting.

Dazai leaned against the counter with a raised eyebrow. "Comfy?"

"Yes, actually." You tilted your head up to look at him. "Coffee's gonna be ready soon. Could you pour me some too?"

"I could."

"Dazai c'mon, please?"

"Well if you beg that nicely."

He moved around the counter, and knelt down to your level. You raised an eyebrow, and he could feel discomfort radiating off you. Even your work on your hair had stopped, and yet you gripped the comb so tight he could he the plastic creak.

He shook his head before he leaned forward and pressed a kiss to your lips. When he pulled back, that discomfort seemed to have melted a bit.

Good.

He stood up and went to grab the coffee mugs. "Sugar?"

"You know it."

Shower Me in Love

Chuuya twisted the water on, before holding his hand under the cascading water. When it no longer singed his hands, he began to strip out of his clothes.

"Shower's on!"

"Coming!"

By the time he heard you walk into the bathroom, Chuuya had already stripped and was standing under the showers spray. Suds went down the drain while he rinsed out his hair.

"Took you long enough. Was about to get in the bath."

"Sorry! I had to take down my hair."

You finally stepped into the shower beside him, and he was surprised to find your hair had become a puff of tight, black curls. Chuuya knew your hair naturally curled like that, but he rarely saw it outside your braids.

He grinned as you reached out for your hair product. "Wash day for you too?"

"Yes and it's the worst! My deep conditioner didn't ship, but I'm tired of having dirty hair. Knew I should have just gotten the other one."

"They couldn't express ship?"

"I mean yeah, but-"

"If it's expensive charge it to my card." Chuuya said. "Your hair's too pretty to fuck it up on shitty products."

Your eyes widened a bit, before you bumped him with your hip. "Hush!"

He allowed himself to sway from your "violence" as he snickered at your bashful expression. "So fucking pretty."

A New Side

Atsushi hurried up the steps two at a time, humming along to the song that had been playing at the supermarket. When he finally got to your door number, he straightened up a bit, and knocked on the door.

"It's open, Atsushi!"

He opened the door, and toed out off his shoes. "I'm back, Darling! They didn't have olive oil, but they did have the coconut oil."

He went to your living room, and found you in the same spot that you were in half an hour ago. Your legs were under you, bottles of colorful creams were on the coffee table, and you had a comb in hand.

Now, however, your many bantu knots had been taken down in exchange for the puffs of tight curls that you were combing.

You looked up from the show you were watching on your phone with a smile. "Thanks! Can you set it on the table for me? I'll need it in a bit."

He did as instructed, his gaze never quite leaving your hair. He had learned a lot about you in the past two months. He knew you needed caffeine in the morning, and that you hated washing dishes, amd that he should get you flowers if you cried after an argument between you both. However, this ritual was new to him.

As he watched your hair do things his couldn’t, he was once more reminded how different the two of you were.

"Does it hurt?"

"Hm?"

He gestured to his own hair. "When you pull on it like that, does it hurt?"

"It can if you're not careful."

He watched you continue the movement. Careful, calculated pull of the comb through thick curls. Every so often you would stop, and add one of the creams or coconut oil to your hair, before running the comb through your hair once more.

After almost an hour of that, you paused and rolled your wrists til they popped.

Atsushi reached out, and gently took your hand. You tilted your head, but he didn't answer as he brought your wrist to his lips. You sighed and leaned your head back, eyes shut and a smile on your face.

"You're so sweet, Stripes."

Atsushi kept his lips over your pulse. "You're the most beautiful person I've ever seen in my entire life. Thank you for showing me another side of you."

You smiled and kissed his temple. "Thank you for accepting me for me."

Fin

[geminiwritten]

a gift from god ; bones

fandom: star trek

pairing: bones x reader

summary: after a series of unfortunate events, you run into bones in the middle of the night completely naked, but he is more than happy to help

notes: another very sporadic post, this time star trek - don’t ask, i don’t know - but i hope it’s okay! i’m still struggling with tenses so i’m sorry if its crappy and slips in/out of past/present tense, but i really love feedback so please let me know what you think!

word count: 1888

The spray of water refused to change temperature. Your fingertips were beginning to numb as you held your hand beneath it, dancing from foot to foot in a feeble attempt to keep your naked body warm. “For fuck’s sake,” you muttered, before finally giving up and turning the shower off. It felt wrong to slip your jacket back on and wriggle into your tights; you could smell the aftereffects of your exhaustive workout with Nyota.

Cursing incoherently under your breath, you slung your towel over your arm and half-slipped back into your shoes to exit your living quarters. The bright white hallway was mostly empty, being the assigned ‘night-time’ hours, most of the crew were asleep while the ship operated on minimal personnel. Your feet began the familiar route toward your cousin’s quarters, and less than a minute later you were knocking impatiently on his door.

“What the hell do you want?” Scotty demanded once the door slid open. His hair stood out at odd angles and there were pink lines streaking his cheeks, marked by his sheets.

“Hello sunshine,” you plastered on your sweetest smile, “my hot water isn’t working.”

He huffed, “so? I’m sleeping, go tell an engineer on shift.”

“You were sleeping,” you pointed out, “and I don’t want you to fix it, I just want to use your shower.”

His brows squeezed even tighter into their frown, “why are you even awake, it’s almost the middle of the night?”

You shrugged, “couldn’t sleep, so Nyota and I trained some. Now, are you done with the third-degree? I smell.”

His hesitation was obvious, and you honestly wouldn’t have been surprised if he shut the door in your face, but after a dramatic sigh he stepped aside to allow you in. His living quarters were tidier than you expected and being the same layout as every crew member’s residence, you didn’t need to question where the bathroom was.

“Do you need a towel?” Scotty asked.

You shook your head, “I brought mine, but do you have a spare shirt and shorts? These clothes stink.”

He sighed again, “yeah, I’ll have a look and leave them on the dresser for you.”

“Thanks Scotty!” you grinned and blew him a kiss before shutting yourself in the bathroom.

The shower heated almost immediately, filling the small space with steam and delicious warmth as you shed your dirty clothes, but a knock on the door came before you could step under the hot water.

“I have to go to the laundry room for clean clothes,” Scotty called, “can you give me those dirty towels under the sink?”

You half wrapped your towel around your naked body and opened the door to kick the pile of dirty laundry out to him. “You don’t mind taking my clothes too? Thank you!” you asked, sealing the door once again before he could reply.

His huff was loud enough for you to hear before you stepped into the shower, the hot water soothing every inch of your sore and sweaty body. You spent longer than you should have in there, shampooing your hair twice and almost emptying Scotty’s bottle of fruit-scented bodywash. The only reason you finally decided to turn of the water was because of the tiredness pulling an excessive number of yawns from your mouth.

You dried your body and ruffled the towel through your hair before wrapping it tightly around your chest and opening the door. Steam escaped around you and filled the dark, empty room. Scotty still wasn’t back. You sighed and slumped on the bed, finding his communicator on his side table and opening it up before realising if it was here then it wasn’t with him.

“Ugh,” you stood again and approached his dresser to find some clothes. The first drawer was underwear, which you shut quickly, the second was full of red uniforms, and the third empty. “What the fuck, Scotty?”

You held your towel tighter and opened the main door, peaking your head out into the hallway. It was still empty and there were no footsteps coming in either direction; you could probably make it back to your own room without being seen.

The corridor floor was cold against your bare feet and goosebumps rose all over your back under the cool air drifting from the vents overhead. You padded quickly through the white tunnel toward your room, managing to get there without running into a single crew member. Though your relief was short lived when you realised you’d left your access key in the pocket of your jacket.

“Fuck,” you muttered, turning on your heel and hurrying back the way you’d come. This was going to be the fourth key you’ve put through the wash and the security team were going to kick your ass for it.

Your feet made little smacking sounds as you broke into a jog, murmuring curses as you rushed toward the elevator and mashed the button to summon it. Once inside you bounced from foot to foot, trying to stay warm and calm your nervous energy. The doors finally parted and you dashed out, not realising the elevator doors had caught your towel until you stood completely naked.

“Shit, shit, shit,” you gripped the towel and tried to yank it free, but the doors were sealed tight. You swallowed a scream as you whirled back around, searching frantically for something – anything – to cover yourself.

The first open door you found was a medical supply closet, offering nothing practical to help your situation, so you hurried along toward the laundry room. You could feel the goosebumps spreading all over your body and a shiver beginning to rattle up your spine.

You continued down the hall, haphazardly holding your chest and crotch as you tried to keep your footsteps as light and coordinated as possible. “Why am I such an-”

As you frantically rounded the corner, you slammed into something. Something bigger than you and kind of soft, and very warm. You looked up and squeaked.

“Holy shit,” a deep southern voice greeted you, and Bones absolutely could not control where his gaze travelled as he drank in your naked state.

“Hi, um-” your words caught in your throat. Blood rushed to your face, colouring your skin bright red from your chest to the tips of your ears and the low temperature was no longer the reason for your goosebumps.

The two of you stood in silence for longer than necessary, which caused your heartrate to rise with every shallow breath you took.

Bones cleared his throat, “s-sorry, Y/N, are you okay?”

You finally managed to blink and stutter, “uh, yeah, mostly. I just- it’s a long story.”

He chuckled, and when you finally looked up you could’ve sworn his cheeks were a darker shade of red than before. “Here, take this,” he said, tugging his sweater over his head.

You couldn’t help but revel in the sight of his shirt rising with the action. “Thank you,” you said, taking the garment and turning your back to him, “close your eyes.”

You knew it was futile, that he’d already seen just about everything, but it felt like the right thing to say as you pulled the sweater over your head. It smelled delicious, like peppermint and fresh laundry, and a hint of antiseptic. It was long enough to be modest, though the slight breeze between your legs still felt a little risqué.

You turned back to face him, finding the widest and cheekiest of smiles across his face. “You did close your eyes, right?”

He laughed again, “I am a gentleman.”

You couldn’t help your own grin, “have you seen Scotty?”

“About five minutes ago,” he replied, “he looked grumpy.”

“Yeah,” you toyed nervously with the too-long sleeves of his sweater, “I woke him up for a shower, m-my hot water wasn’t working.”

“Oh,” he struggled to control his gaze, his eyes continuously dropping to your bare legs.

“Well, um, I better get down to security to get an access key for my room,” you said, taking a small step sideways.

He chuckled again, “lost another one?”

You nodded as you started back toward the elevator, more than happy that he began to follow. “I can just let you in, you know?” he said as the doors opened in front of you.

“What?” you frowned.

“I have access to almost every room, medical emergencies and whatnot.”

“Oh,” you looked up at him again, your heartbeat thrumming in your ears, “that would actually be amazing.”

Your skin was suddenly overwhelmingly sensitive to the feeling of Bones’ sweater against it, and being alone in a small space with the man you’ve had a crush on for as long as you’ve been on the Enterprise was making you incredibly flustered. For once, the elevator was too quick in reaching the floor on which your quarters were located.

“I’m sorry,” you said as you stepped into the hallway, “about all this, it was so stupid.”

“This is nothing to apologise for,” he said, turning to you as you walked side by side, “this is a gift from God.”

His words stunned you silent and your cheeks felt impossibly hot as you stared at your bare feet, one after the other.

“This one, right?” he asked, stopping at the door to your room.

“Yeah,” you giggled, “how did you know?”

“I’m Chief Medical Officer,” he swiped his key and the door slid open, “I’m required to keep tabs on my clumsiest and most accident-prone crew members.”

You rolled your eyes but couldn’t help the laughter bubbling up your throat. “Thanks again,” you said, stepping inside, “I owe you.”

“Trust me,” he replied, “it was my pleasure.”

Your body ached with tiredness and you knew you should’ve just said goodnight and shut the door, but Bones was leaning in and you could feel yourself slipping toward him too.

“I’ll, um- I’ll wash this for you before I give it back,” you said, your voice lower than before.

“Don’t worry about,” he leaned closer, his lips right beside your ear, “by the way, nice bum.”

Your heart skipped a beat and your breath stopped in your throat, but before you could fully process what he’d said, he was back on the other side of the threshold. “Goodnight, Y/N.”

“Wait,” you grabbed his wrist, halting his steps.

“Yes?”

You bit your lip, considering your words carefully but stumbling over them nonetheless, “you could, um- I mean, I could just give it back to you now?”

His jaw dropped – he couldn’t help it – as you slowly removed the sweater and offered it to him. A beat passed, and for that moment you wondered if you’d made a terrible mistake. He closed his mouth and swallowed thickly, his eyes darting between you and the sweater.

“Holy shit,” he whispered, before pushing the sweater back toward you, pressing it against your chest and continuing to push you back inside the room. The door slid shut behind the two of you and he wrapped his arm around your waist just before you could stumble.

The back of your legs finally hit the bed but Bones kept you upright for a moment longer. “I hope you’re not tired, doll,” he said, before his lips crashed into yours, and suddenly, any trace of tiredness left your body.

END.

[axel-the-goat-guy-and-gal]

New member of the Alakazam Attraction!!!

I HAVE STOLEN- Er I mean "recruited" Juno here from my friend... Well, uhh... Juno-punk x3

WITH HIS PERMISION!!!

Some fun facts (that im totally not making up on the spot) about this here feline fellow: He's a musician and likes to play the drums and the guitar, has no mouth and must scream but can still talk, is extremely ✨GAY✨, is a total nerd, loves to rock out and jam with his friends, loves to skate, doesnt know where the bodies are hidden and you should really stop asking that buddy friend chum pal :), not allowed to smoke in the tents or else Al will spray him with the water bottle, totally DOESNT like pets and you SHOULDNT pet him or else you're a stupid idiot! (aka loves being pet but is embarassed), and uhh.... Yeah. :3

Some more pics I stole- I MEAN "Recruited" from my friend Juno (Who is a badass and you all should follow him he's really cool x3):

also @juno-punk you're contractually obligated to draw Juno and Al hanging out now x3 /j

[solar-sunnyside-up]

hiiii i figured you were the best blog to ask about this: is there anythjng i can do with a bunch of chopped up lime peels ??? i dont have a composting bin (yet) and it feels really wrong to just throw then away

Yeah I gotcha! Here's a few things you could do:

Homemade cleaner- Make your own simple surface cleaner with only vinegar, water, and lime. As you accumulate leftover rinds, store them in a jar in the refrigerator filled with vinegar. Let the mixture sit for at least two weeks once it’s full of rinds, shaking it daily. Remove the rinds and strain the infused vinegar to take out any stray particles. Pour the solution directly into a spray bottle, or create a 1:1 ratio mixture with water for a less potent cleaner. Use the spray to clean greasy kitchen counters, bathroom surfaces, etc., but take care to avoid using on marble or stone, as the acidity in the lemons can cause damage.

While this surface cleaner can be used to clean out the inside of a microwave, for a more immediate solution, fill a bowl with water and peels and microwave for about 5 minutes, or until the water is boiling. Allow the steam to fill the microwave for a few minutes before opening the door and wiping down the surfaces with a cloths

Make an essential oil - allow the peels to dry for a few hours, cut into small pieces (or grind them into a dry paste in a food processor, if you have one), and place in a jar with vodka. Shake the jar a few times a day for at least three days before straining the liquid, then leave the jaw uncovered to allow the alcohol to evaporate, which should take roughly 12 hours.

Making zest sugar- For every 1 Tbsp. of zest, use 1 cup of sugar. Simply mix the two ingredients in a bowl and massage with your hands until completely combined and the oil is released from the zest, creating that wet-sand-like texture you’re looking for. I use this in shortbread recipes and in tea as a sweetener!

There's a few ideas! But if you wanna do more of your own research, lime peels can be used for almost anything lemon or orange can!

[pyrrhia-times]

Chapter 4 - Swimming Upstream

They flew back over the open ocean. Croak flapped his wings fiercely to keep up with Slags impressive pace. They had just quickly stopped to investigate the area where the Prince’s body had been found. Finding nothing out of the ordinary.

“The dragon likely dumped the body here, hoping to hide the evidence of his crime.” Slag had murmured while taking notes, sitting on a sharp rock jutting out of the water.

Croak felt a calm envelop him as he spotted his house in the distance. He had been panicking slightly the entire flight back home. Anxiety rippled through his scales and his head buzzed loudly. Ahead of him, Slag started to slow into a glide, finally allowing Croak to fall in beside him. They both landed with a loud thump, startling the family of seagulls living on Croak’s roof. Slag torched one of the seagulls as it flew above them, and it fell charred on the ground in front of them, wings petrified mid flap.

“Want some? I hope you don’t mind your food being lightly charred?” He said with a chuckle.

Croak stared down at the seagull, images of a burnt SeaWing haunting him. Eventually his stomach won his internal battle, and he took a crunch of the bird.

“Thanks, I didn’t eat anything today.” Croak said around the mouthful of burnt seagull.

They quietly shared the meal together. Croak’s head still buzzed silently, his muscles aching for him to curl up and sleep. I need to forget this nightmare of a day.

“So, I was thinking. Next steps to our investigation. We should head to the Mud Kingdom and ask the locals if they’ve seen anything suspicious lately. We could start at the Diamond Spray Delta, then make our way to Queen Moorhen’s Palace.” Slag planned out loud, with a determined scrunch to his eyebrows.

Croak’s blanket of semi-calm was ripped off of him as he remembered that the Queen had hired Slag and him to do the investigation. “R-right. Sounds like a good plan.” There goes any hope of sleeping in my own bed for a long while. He thought longingly.

Croak took another bite of the seagull, and swallowed it before finishing to chew it properly, the charred piece of gull scratching his throat.

“Let me go get my things before we leave.” He said, holding back a cough.

Croak grabbed some blank scrolls, a bottle of his ink and some sun-dried tuna, and shoved it all in his bag. He looked around his house, wondering if he needed to bring anything else along. He spotted The Puddle that Dreamed of Becoming an Ocean on his bookshelf where he had placed it earlier. He approached the bookshelf and hoovered his talons over it, debating if it was really necessary to bring it along.

He looked behind him, and watched Slag sitting outside his house, trying to scratch a hard to reach spot on his back. He gripped the scroll in his talons briefly, then changed his mind and left it on the shelf. He didn’t need to have his nose stuck in a scroll, reading about another dragon’s adventure. It’s my turn to make my own story now.

“Alright, I’m ready to go now!” He called over his shoulder. No going back now.

Croak’s wings were on fire. Slag flew ahead of him at a breakneck pace and Croak thrashed his wings to keep up with him. He threw his voice ahead to get Slag’s attention.

Slag glanced over his shoulder, and angled his wings to catch more air, slowing himself down. “What’s up?” He called back. Croak breathed heavily, eagerly trying to catch his breath. “Oh spark, I’m flying too fast aren’t I?” Slag said, noticing his breathing.

“Mind if we swim for a bit? – I need to give – my wings a break.” Croak answered between breaths.

Slag nodded and followed Croak as he dove down into the water. The cool water soothed his sore muscles, he tucked his achy wings into his body and started propelling himself forwards lazily with his tail. He looked behind him to verify if Slag was following and let out a snort of bubbles into the water when he saw the red dragon clumsily pumping his arms and wings to keep up with him. He looks like a drowning cow. Feeling some sympathy he pointed to the surface and headed up.

“Keep your wings close to your body and stick behind me, you’ll have an easier time if you stay in my slipstream.” He told Slag when they had surfaced from the water.

His face turned an even darker shade of scarlet. “Right, slipstream...”

They continued to swim upstream into the Diamond Spray River, Croak gliding through the water, and Slag thankfully followed him much more easily now. The forest began to thin out as they came closer to the first small MudWing village along the river. Croak was feeling more confident then he ever had. He was leading the way to his first official investigation, and was traveling Pyrrhia with Slag just like his dreams.

His confidence splintered as a large ocher MudWing washing a basket of fruits by the river gave them a nasty leer. Slag raised a wing to wave at her, and she gathered up her fruits in a quick swoop and stomped away.

“Yikes,” Slag scrunched up his nose. “Haven’t gotten a reaction that bad in a while.”

Croak’s face flushed hot. “Do you want to take the lead now?” He asked Slag. He nodded with a kind smile, and slipped away to the shore. Croak hoisted himself onto the riverbank after him, and was immediately sprayed with a shower of water droplets as Slag shook himself dry. The water quickly rolled off his scales and dripped onto the ground.

Slag pressed his wing against Croak’s side. “Don’t let other dragons get to your head.” He said softly. “Some dragons just have a stick up their-” Croak let out a loud laugh, cutting him off. The tingling anxiety in his wingtips subsided a bit. I’m glad Slag is here. Croak thought. Slag was a shield of pure confidence that he could hide behind, quite literally.

“Come on, let’s go see what we can find here.” The warm press of his wing left as he muscled his way through a bush and headed towards the village. The bush mostly trampled after Slag was done with it, and Croak hopped over it to follow him.

Various small farms dotted the shore of the river. A group of cows watched them warily as they walked through the fields. One of Croak’s feet squelched into the soft soil and he grimaced, shaking the mud off his talons to only immediately step into some more mud. This is my life now I guess. He sighed and continued following Slag.

They broke out of the fields and onto a path of mostly dry earth. The path was well trodden and Croak was thankful for the mostly firm ground under his talons. He spotted a troop of MudWings walking down the path towards them, the biggest of their group in the lead. MudWing siblings hatched together, the first born helping their siblings out of their eggs and becoming their bigwings. The bigwing of the troop was their caretaker and leader.

“Do you have any siblings?” He asked Slag, curious about his family structure.

“No, was just a single egg.” He answered. “I’ve always wanted sibs though, guess that’s the MudWing in me talkin’.”

Croak felt a sad twinge in his chest. He would have been a great bigwings.

The troop was approaching them now, the sibs peering over the shoulder of their bigwing with puzzled expressions. The bigwing headed straight at them with his eyebrows pinched together. “Not from here are ya?” He called out as he got closer.

“Were here investigating the death of the SeaWing Prince Cerulean. Can I ask you and your sibs a few questions?” Slag asked the bigwing.

“SeaWing Prince, huh? Sure, ask away.” He said. “Not sure if we’ll be much of a help to you though.” He motioned to head to the bank of the road, clearing the path for other dragons to pass by.

“My name’s Mudslide, and this is Mahogany, Fawn, and Brook.” He pointed each of his sibs out with his tail.

Slag quickly dumped the contents of his bag onto the road, scooping up his bottle of ink and spreading out his scroll. “Have you seen anything out of the ordinary lately?” He asked the troop.

“No, can’t say I have. Not much happens ‘round here.” Mudslide answered.

“Was the Prince murdered?” The smallest, Fawn, asked from behind her bigwing.

“Yes, his body was found badly burned.” Slag explained to them.

Mudslide furrowed his brow, “you ain’t blaming us MudWings are ya?”

“MudWing talon prints were found on the scene of the crime. We aren’t accusing anyone, just wondering if you might have seen or heard about anything that can help us figure this out.” Slag told them.

Fawn moved from behind Mudslide. “I heard a MudWing was found drowned recently.” She shared. “Further down the river, near the ocean.”

Slag and Croak looked at each other in surprise. A drowned MudWing? Can’t they hold their breaths for an hour? “Do you know anything more?” Croak pipped in.

“No, but his sibs might know more.” She said. “Follow me, I’ll bring you to their hut.”

Fawn took the lead, with him and Slag following behind her, Mudslide and the rest of her sibs bringing up the rear. Croak noticed the pale spots dotting along her back and down to the tip of her tail as he followed, the occasional scale glinting orange in the sunlight. I stick out even among MudWings, he thought. They are so much more colourful than just brown.

Taking his eyes off of Fawns back, he noticed the MudWing from the riverside who had given them nasty looks approaching down the road with a troop holding spears behind her. He tapped Slag on the shoulder and pointed to her direction with his wing.

“Three moons, she went and got soldiers.” Slag hissed in his ear.

“Halt!” The soldier in the lead barked at them. Fawn turned to them with a puzzled look on her face.

“What are your intentions for visiting our village, SeaWing?” The soldier pointed to Croak with a jab of his claw.

His wings pressed into his sides. “I-I’m here i-investigating the death of Prince Cerulean.” He stammered out.

The soldier got in Croak’s face, Fawn getting pulled aside by her bigwing as he led his siblings away from the soldiers. “You’re accusing us of killing your Prince when you’ve drowned one of our innocent civilians.” He spat. “You have no right to be here.”

Slag put himself between them, pushing the soldier away from Croak. Air rushed into his lungs as Croak took a gulp of air. “Hey, don’t talk to my friend like that.” He rumbled deep in his chest. “We aren’t accusing anyone. We just want to get to the bottom of these crimes.”

The soldier pushed Slag back, making him bump into Croak from behind. “I’m not stupid, only a SeaWing could have drowned a MudWing. You aren’t welcome here.” He angled his spear towards them both, the rest of the soldiers following his lead. He and Slag stared each other down, Slag’s body frozen tense.

Slag was the first to break away with a huff. “Come on, let’s go.” He said softly to Croak. “We need to tell Queen Coral about what we found out here.”

“I’m sorry.” He whispered in a quiet voice.

“It’s not your fault. I don’t mind getting thrown into dungeons every once in a while, but I won’t put you in danger.”

They took off in the direction of the river, the soldiers sneering behind them.

<|>

Read it on Archives of Our Own

[fluvsie]

I think I should be allowed to have a spray bottle full of water at work so I can spray the customers when they're being assholes

[hoshibatake]

Sunflower Live - Chapter 6

Previous chapter

Park

<The next day, afternoon>

Subaru: Heeey, you guys! Yaho, yaho〜☆

Subaru: I thought I was the most fired up, but you’re all already here! Are you guys that excited about this?

Subaru: Me too! I couldn’t sleep at all last night because of how excited I was〜! I’m super high-strung right now, because I pulled an all-nighter…♪

Hokuto: You’re always high-strung. Fumu… I see you brought Daikichi with you today.

Subaru: Yup! I’m generally the one in charge of walking him during the summer holidays.

Subaru: I’ve been so busy lately that I’ve barely been able to spend any time with him〜 so I’ve gotta replenish my supply of Daikichi essence!

Hokuto: Fufu. He’s so rotund and cute.

Subaru: You can pet him if you want! He loves being petted!

Subaru: I’d pet him too if I could, but I’ve got my hands full right now.

Hokuto: Were you walking Daikichi without a leash? What if he charges at someone and they get hurt?

Hokuto: Though, I’m sure Daikichi would never do that. Still, keeping your dog on a leash is the correct thing to do as an owner.

Subaru: I only just got here. Why are you lecturing me already〜? Plus, I wasn’t walking him without a leash. I just took his leash off when we got to the park.

Subaru: This park functions as a dog park too, so it’s allowed to let your dog roam free.

Hokuto: Hmm. Is that so? I didn’t know that. Sorry for berating you, then.

Subaru: No worries! By the way, I brought ramune for all of us, so go ahead and have one! They were selling them near the park!

Subaru: Oh, but I want the marbles back☆

Hokuto: Pff, so you bought ramune because you wanted the marbles in the bottles? That’s typical.

Subaru: Of course! The marbles are so pretty and sparkly after all!

Subaru: But that’s not the only reason. I thought you guys might be thirsty, because it’s so hot outside. Heheh, aren’t I considerate?♪

Makoto: Yeah, I actually was thirsty, so this is just what I needed〜♪

Makoto: ...Gaaah!? The soda sprayed everywhere〜!

Subaru: Ahaha, that’s so funny! That’s the kind of line people only say in manga!

Hokuto: Don’t laugh, Akehoshi.

Hokuto: ...Still, Yuuki, you got it all over your face. That’ll probably be really sticky, so you should go wash your face at that faucet over there. You can borrow my handkerchief if you want.

Makoto: R-Right. Thanks. Urgh, even my glasses are all sticky. …Uhm, whereabouts is that faucet supposed to be?

Mao: Here, take my hand and I’ll lead you over to it.

Makoto: Thank you〜 Please lead the way, Isara-kun.

Subaru: Hmmm? I wonder why the contents of the bottle burst out like that, though.

Hokuto: When you saw us a moment ago, you started sprinting, remember? Maybe the bottles got all shaken up.

Subaru: Oh. That might be the reason. Now I feel bad for doing that to Ukki. I gotta apologize to him once he gets back.

Hokuto: You should. …There he is, now.

Makoto: I’m back〜 Hidaka-kun, thanks for lending me your handkerchief. I’ll wash it before giving it back, so I’ll take it with me for now.

Subaru: Ukki〜 I’m sorry!

Subaru: I should’ve made sure not to shake the bottles.

Makoto: It’s alright, don’t worry about it. Washing my face with cold water actually felt pretty refreshing.

Subaru: Huh, so the water at the park is cold? I worked up a sweat while walking Daikichi, so maybe I’ll go wash my face too.

Makoto: In that case, do you want to borrow this towel? It’s a neck towel, so it’s pretty long. You can wipe your face with it while it’s hanging around your neck♪

Subaru: Gimme, gimme! But why did you borrow Hokke’s handkerchief if you had that towel with you?

Makoto: Ahaha, well I couldn’t see where it was, because there was ramune in my eyes. By the way, I brought this towel because I thought it might be a good option for possible merchandise.

Mao: Oh, right. You and Subaru were in charge of thinking of merch ideas.

Mao: Towels are utility items and you often see them being sold at venues. I think it’s a good idea.

Makoto: I’m also thinking we should sell T-shirts.

Makoto: I learned from someone that towels and T-shirts are the typical items that are sold at summer festivals. I also obtained a list of possible fabrics from the prospective supplier.

Mao: Huh? Someone gave you advice?

Makoto: Yeah. I happened to run into Izumi-san…

Makoto: Oh, but it’s not like he did anything to me, so don’t worry. He gave me advice on various topics, so he was a great help, actually.

Makoto: Anyway, what do we think? I did some checking and it seems like T-shirts are usually the things being sold during summer festivals. I think it’s a good idea. Don’t you?

Hokuto: I agree. I think they’re both good ideas. Shall we decide on selling T-shirts and towels at our booth?

Subaru: Wait a minute! I put thought into this too, so hear me out〜!

Hokuto: Fumu… I was the one who suggested you think about it in the first place, so it’s only fair. Akehoshi, tell us about your ideas.

Subaru: Alright! How about we sell summer caps? They’re good protection against the sun, and they’re useful on a daily basis, right?

Mao: That might be a good one. Hats can help prevent heatstroke, and they’re useful in daily life just like towels and T-shirts are.

Hokuto: T-shirts, towels and caps, huh… They’re all good ideas, but if we consider the procurement costs, we can realistically only sell two types of products.

Makoto: Hmm〜 We might be able to keep the costs down when it comes to the T-shirts, though.

Makoto: I saw this technique on the internet called screen printing. As long as you have the proper supplies, you can apply custom prints to T-shirts with that technique.

Makoto: It’ll take some work, but we’d only have to pay for the supplies for the T-shirts that way.

Subaru: I wanna try, I wanna try! Making custom T-shirts with you guys sounds like so much fun…☆

Hokuto: Shall we try making the T-shirts ourselves? That would mean we can order the hats and towels from a professional supplier.

Hokuto: If we can make our own T-shirts, we might be able to make some other things that don’t cost a lot to make, and sell those too.

Subaru: That sounds great! I second that!

Mao: I don’t have any objections, either. If we’re gonna be doing this, let’s make some quality stuff♪

Makoto: But what kind of stuff do you propose we make?

Mao: Hmm〜 Maybe something that matches the vibe of the Sunflower Live?

Subaru: The Sunflower Live will be held at the coast, so why don’t we head to the beach? The weather’s great and there’s a breeze too, so I bet being at the beach will feel super nice right now!

Hokuto: Right… If we go to the beach, we might be able to get a feel for what would be suitable. No time like the present. Let’s head to the beach, everyone.

Next chapter

[nyxnightshade1332]

Expectations When Expecting (Prologue)

Chapter 10

Chapter 11:

Yuu sat in the nurse's office, awkwardly sipping on water while he inspected her. The nurse, named Ilyapa Mamani, was a glamorous man and was very purple. His gloved hands removed the thermometer from under her arm, and he went to check her pressure.

"Well? Is she alright, Nurse Mamani?" Crowley's voice rang from behind the makeshift curtain, concerned.

"Calm yourself, Crowley. I'm checking her blood pressure as we speak." The man stated before mumbling something. "Take a deep breath for me, alright?" He addressed her.

"Yes sir." She said, inhaling. She heard an amused chuckle from Nurse Mamani. "That's good." He listened to her breathing before checking her blood pressure.

The nurse sighed, satisfied with the results before smiling. "Alright, my dear. It seems that you're doing well. I'd urge you to avoid stress, considering that you're still in the first trimester. Your second trimester should begin soon." He gave her a reassuring smile, helping her down.

"Thank you, sir!" She stated, earning a chuckle from him. He gave her a nod.

"Of course. Make sure you keep yourself safe. I'll try to get you some prenatal vitamins, so make sure you come check in with me in about a week. Got it?" He stated, earning himself a nod from the pregnant young woman.

"Good girl!" He smiled. "Now, off you go." He waved her away, giving her one last smile before turning away from her.

She met up with the Headmage, who held out a bottled drink and a wrapped sandwich for her. "I've brought you lunch so that you wouldn't miss a meal. Oh, how gracious I am." He cooed, pleased with himself. She nodded thankfully, noticing Grim devouring what he'd gotten himself.

Yuu unwrapped a sandwich, stuffed with vegetables and a chunk of turkey. She smiled at Crowley.

"Thank you!" She took a bite.

Crowley nodded, before continuing. "I will tell you, however, that you still must serve your punishment. However, I'm allowing you to do only twenty five windows to avoid much strain."

Yuu nodded. "I'd still like to apologize. I wasn't able to stop the fight." She stated softly, tapping her foot on the ground to get Grim's attention that he'd need to follow. Crowley permitted her to walk alongside him despite her inability to stop the trouble.

"It's alright. However, as your headmage, I cannot simply turn a blind eye, therefore you must complete your punishment." Crowley informed her, his head held high. "I will personally walk you to your next task. I trust that you two and Mr. Trappola will be able to complete this without any issue?"

"I'll try my best. And I'll make sure Grim does his part this time." She eyes Grim who was waddling ahead. "Or I'll make it so that his bathtime is moved to today." She said loud enough for Grim to hear. His yelp was good confirmation.

"Yes, very good!" Crowley chirped, leading her down another hall before finally stopping at a door. She nudged her slightly forward, signaling that she was supposed to go in. "Here we are! The cafeteria. I wish you luck, my dear. And remember, you should not exert yourself."

"Yes sir. Thank you sir." Yuu gave him a slight bow before turning to look at what she would have to do. She stared at the windows lining the walls of the cafeteria. "Damn... That's way more than I thought there would be." She breathed out, before grabbing a few rags, a squeegee, and a bottle of cleaning supplies.

"Alright. Let's do this." She stated, quickly moving to spray the very large windows.

"Myah!" Came the frustrated grumble from the cat monster. "I'm already exhausted from a full day of cleanin'. I can't believe we still gotta wash a hundred windows!" He complained, grabbing into a rag.

"HA! A full day? If I remember correctly, you wiped down exactly one name plate." She teased playfully, enjoying the satisfying feeling of watching the liquid be wiped off. She paused before turning.

"Just... Try and learn from this experience. Okay?" She stated.

"Hmph. Fine." Grim groaned, using his hind paws to push against the floor, dragging the rag against the lower windows. "Ya know, what's buggin' me is, Ace ain't even here yet! To make us wait, after what he did..." Grim released a low, irate growl before continuing.

The pair cleaned in silence for a while, managing to get a little over fifty windows before Grim became impatient again.

Grim threw his rag down. "And now he's super late! I bet he up and bailed on us!" He bristled.

Yuu paused for a bit, considering something. "... If you can promise me that you won't cause anymore trouble, we can go look for him." She bargained.

"Me? Cause trouble? Never!" Grim denied, earning an eye roll from Yuu.

"Promise me that much and I'll personally drag him here by the ear." She stated, watching a small amused sparkle appear in Grim's sapphire eyes.

"... Fine. Ain't no way am I doin' his punishment for him! C'mon, Yuu, I don't care if we gotta drag him kickin' and screamin', he's washin' those windows!" Grim put his rag into the bucket before marching ahead of her.

.

.

.

"Hey! Ace! Get over here! Try to hide from me, will ya!"

Yuu cringed as she heard Grim's cocky tone echo through the empty classroom. "Huh... Maybe there's really no one here?" Grim turned to walk out when an odd voice erupted from the silence of the empty room.

"Oh, I wouldn't say that, I'm here."

Yuu jumped, and Grim turned, his fur standing on end.

"Bwaaah! That painting just talked!" He yelped, seeing the portrait. Grim scrambled behind Yuu, whose eyes were wide.

"Yes, and...? Is a talking painting really such an oddity at this school?" The man in the painting remarked, looking at the pair. Yuu shook her head in an attempt to drag her soul back to her body. He's got a point, but holy schist.

"The lady in the portrait on that wall talks too. As does the gentleman in the portrait on this one. As long as a painting has a mouth, why wouldn't it be able to talk? Is that really so strange?" The painting spoke in a tone that appeared to be insulted.

"Right... Sorry." Yuu, finally being able to snap herself out of it, finally made eye contact. "It's just that I'm not used to talking paintings."

"Ah? Is that so? Well then, it is a pleasure to meet you." The man in the painting gave her a slight smile.

"It's a pleasure sir." She chirped. "You certainly are amazing!" She complimented, awestruck at the existence of a talking painting.

"My, what a charming child you are! Now, you appear to be searching for someone." The man in the painting remarked, earning a nod from her.

"We're lookin' for this guy called Ace. He's got messy hair and a heart drawn on his face." Grim demanded almost snarkily.

"Grim..." She warned, asking the cat monster to tone it down. She watched him yelp.

"Ah, I know the one. He is a new student, I believe? Today was his first day at school. I think he went back to his dorm a while ago." The painting confirmed. It took all of Yuu's will not to let her anger show.

"Ah." Was what she mustered before taking a breath. Be rational. Don't wanna upset the baby.

"So it's true! He's tryin' to ditch us!" Grim snarled indignantly before turning his gaze back up to the painting. "Do you know which way he went?"

"The door to the dorms is in the eastern building." He informed the duo.

"Let's chase after him, Yuu!" Grim sprinted out of the classroom, practically smoking from the anger.

She hesitated for a moment. "Thank you very much for your help sir. We'll be on our way now!" She gave a quick bow before leaving behind Grim, shouting out one last, "It was a pleasure meeting you! I hope we'll meet again!"

"Likewise!" The man in the painting returned her words. She smiled slightly, feeling the light wind against her face, listening for the nasal complaints from the small dire beast and following the distinct smell of smoke.

I hope this won't end in disaster...

Chapter 12

[melanieph321]

Facundo Pellistri - Strike Again Chapter 2

Enjoy!

Pellistri attended one party that summer, however it did not go as planned.

During the days he spent long hours in the sun, mowing people's lawns. The idea was to make some extra money and perhaps get out of the house more. 

"It runs like a Ferrari dad, just like you said she would."  

Wherever he may be, Pellistri hoped that his dad listened when he spoke to him.

"But she needs the oil tanked changed, just like I said."

 They had spent the previous winter renovating their old lawn mower, but with his father's absence it had just been gathering dust in the garage.

"How much do I owe you dear?"

"Just ten pounds Mrs Willster."

"Only ten quid?"

"Well, I only did half the lawn." It was too hot to stay outside all day.

"At least let me bring you a bottle of water dear." 

"Thank you Mrs Willster."

She was an old lady who walked slowly because of her bad hip. One of his best customers. Pellistri usually ranked them by how hot their daughter's were. However, Mrs Willster's daughters were as old as his mother. She did have a granddaughter though, Lisa Willster.

"Hey, Pellistri!" 

It was she who brought him his water, not her grandmother. 

"Where have you been hiding? I haven't seen you all summer?" 

Lisa was fairly tall for a girl. She had a slim waist and not so much of a figure, but her face was the face of a model. He believed she had done that before, some modeling jobs for a few known brands, like H&M and Hollister.

"I've been around." He jumped off the lawn mower and leant his body against it. He hadn't been working out as much as he would've at football camp, but his lean body was still visible through his sweaty t-shirt.

"I'm sorry about your dad." She said, handing over his bottle of water.

"Thanks." He stepped away from the lawn mower. There was no point in trying to be cool when your dad was dead. What's so cool about that?

"How is your mother holding up?"

"You know," He shrugged, taking a sip of his water. "She cries a lot." 

"And how are you holding up?"

Pellistri flinched when Lisa's hand went to caress his arm, her touch generating goosebumps on his skin.

"You know how it is." 

Mrs Willster lost her husband last year, Lisa's grandfather. He thought she could relate to how he was feeling at least a little bit.

"Yes, but my grandad was old. He was bound to die sooner than later."

Pellistri held the aching laughter bubbling up in his stomach. He liked that she didn't seem to take the subject of death too seriously. During his time of mourning he had run into people afraid to look him in the eye or even address the fact that his father was crushed by a 600 kilo fridge. 

"It's still sad." He said.

Lisa popped the gum that she was chewing. "I guess. Are you coming to my party tonight?"

Lisa's parents were on holiday in Egypt. That's why she and her younger sister were staying with their grandmother. They took the opportunity of abandonment to throw parties at their parents house, all summer long.

"Maybe I'll stop by."

"Cool."

He got home, took a quick shower and threw on the only clean shirt he could find in the ocean of clothes that lay scattered on his bedroom floor. Usually he was good at keeping things tidy, but lately, since his mother didn't bother to clean up, why should he?

"Where are you going?"

Pellsitri came down the stairs smelling like three kinds of body spray.

"I'm just going to a friend's house."

"Which friend?" She questioned, leaning her body against the frame of the kitchen door. The bags underneath her eyes looked worse than before. She looked like a nurse coming off a night shift at the hospital.

"Lisa Willster."

"You're going back to the Willster's? Did you forget something?"

"No, Mama. I'm going to Lisa Willsters' house, not her grandmother's."

"Lisa Willster's house. Why? Is she your girlfriend?" Her arms folded.

Pellisitri sighed. "No, Mama. She's just a friend. I'm going to her house to hang out with my friends. Am I not allowed to do that?"

Her face softened. "No. Of course you are cariño. I just don't want you home so late."

"I won't be, I promise." He kissed her cheek on his way out.

He sometimes worried about his mother. Her work had given her a month off to mourn the loss of his father. It's been a month and a half. 

Arriving at Lisa Wilster's, Pellistri decided to let go of his worries for the night. It was summer after all, a teenager's dream.

"Pellistri you came!"

He was surprised to be greeted in the door with a kiss. Lisa's soft lips tasted of something sweet yet sour, perhaps a fruity cocktail.

"Come inside, there's a lot to drink."

Like Lisa he got drunk pretty fast. He didn't know many of her friends at the party so he clinged onto her side for the majority of the night. Although she threw up in the sink after giving him a sloppy blowjob in the upstairs bathroom. 

Pellistri decided to make his way home after that, taking a detour around her block. 

Lisa lived on Church Road so the cemetery wasn't too far from her house. The gates to cross through it were closed. He still made it over the fences somehow. It was too dark and his mind too cloudy to read the names on the hundred tombstones, but he did remember which aisle his father was buried in, the same aisle in which his local grocery store stacks his favorite  cornflakes, aisle number six.

"I know I shouldn't have lied about the bike when I was ten. Or the goldfish, which I flushed down the toilet by the way." He sat slumped down in front of his father's grave, warm tears running down his cheeks. "And I lied to you and Mama about wanting to move back to Uruguay once I've finished school. I want to stay here in Manchester and play football in the highest league someday."

One thing his father hated was being lied to. Although they weren't many, Pellistri had told a few lies in his life.

 "She's doing terrible by the way. I've never seen her cry this much. Even some neighbors complained. Oh Papa, please forgive me." Pellisrti cried like the lost child he was. The worst lie he has ever told his father was just days before he got crushed by the fridge. "I was just angry." He sniffed. "Your english is…or was fine. What I said, about you learning better English so that you could get a job that pays more, I shouldn't have said that. I was just angry that you and Mama wouldn't be able to buy me new cleats ahead of the summer. Please forgive me." 

"Who's there!"

A light flashed over his head. 

Pellistri shot up to his feet.

"You, stop there!" 

He picked up the pace and started running, stumbling over several flower arrangements.

"I said stop!" 

His legs felt like jelly beneath him, the alcohol in his blood was slowing him down. He plowed through the cemetery like a criminal on the run. He was unsure if he still had someone at his heels once he got back to the gates. He leaped over the fence but crashed down hard. A loud groan left his mouth as his feet hit the ground, but the painful sensation quickly left him because of the adrenaline rush that he was on. He hurried back to Church Road and Lisa Willster's house. But had no interest in joining the party again. He walked past the house until he got to the end of the road. His heart was in his throat, beating loudly from the little sprint he had just underwent. He sat down on the sidewalk inspecting the continuous throbbing in his left leg.

"Shit." He said, confirming that he had indeed sprained his ankle. There was also a sensation of nausea. Leaning  forward, vomit spilled out of his mouth, creating a stream that ran down the lit up street.

"Facundo?"

Someone called his name. A girl. His eyelids folded, struggling to stay open. He felt a set warm hand caress his cheeks and then it all went dark.

[morganski-19]

A Movie I’ve Seen Before

It was cold. The trees rustled behind Steve, the breeze making him shiver. Pinks and Oranges painted the sky as the sun started to set. It was peaceful, Steve felt peaceful. He doesn’t always quite remember what it’s like to be, so he closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, letting his feet dangle over the edge of the cliff.

“I don’t think that’s exactly safe, Harrington,” a voice teases from behind him. Steve can’t help but be confused as to who it is. Suddenly, there is a cold beer being placed in his hands and a person sitting down next to him. Legs adorned in black jeans join his over the cliff's edge. “I mean, wouldn't want you accidentally falling off now would we?”

Steve turns his head to find Eddie Munson taking a long sip from a beer bottle, something in him making him turn away fast. “If it’s so dangerous then why are you here sitting next to me?” he finds himself responding.

Eddie snorts as his face breaks out into a wide smile. “Maybe I like dangerous.” Steve can’t find himself disagreeing. He lets them fall back in silence, looking back out over the quarry, only hearing the soft clinking of Eddie’s rings on his beer bottle. “So,” Eddie starts slowly, “bring all your dates out here, Harrington?”

“Is this a date?” Steve looks back over at Eddie, his brows knitting together in confusion.

“Well, isn’t it?” There is a softness in Eddie’s eyes that Steve doesn’t think he’s ever seen before.

Steve finds himself staring at Eddie, thinking about the question. It does seem like a date, not one he’d choose for a girl, but maybe one he’d choose for Eddie. Seems like something he would enjoy. Nothing big or romantic, but small and thoughtful. Away from the noise of the town and the wandering eyes of gossip. Just the two of them, together, alone. Steve can’t find a reason as to why it wouldn’t be one, or why he actually quite likes the idea.

“Yeah,” Steve says while meeting Eddie’s eyes, a small smile forming on his face. “Yeah, I guess it is.”

Eddie matches Steve’s smile, bumping Steve’s shoulder as he adverts his eyes back to the water. He feels a small warmth build on his face. Steve takes a sip of his beer, the slightly bitter taste lingering on his tongue. Not much is said between them, neither of them wanting to break the peaceful bubble that surrounds them.

Soft rain starts to fall on Steve’s shoulder, but he can’t seem to care. He doesn’t want to move, doesn’t want to have this moment end. It might not be his decision to, as the soft rain picks up, and starts to turn into a downpour.

Eddie stands, reaching out his free hand down to Steve. “Probably should go, don’t want to get too soaked.”

“Probably.” Steve grabs Edddie’s hand, letting himself be pulled off the group. He leads Eddie over to his car when he feels a large splash on his lower legs. Turning around, he finds Eddie looking back at him with a wicked grin. Taking his opportunity, Steve kicks at the puddle forming at his feet, spraying the muddy water all over Eddie’s legs.

A bark comes out of Eddie at the contact. “Playing dirty, are we now, Stevie?”

Steve holds his hands up in defense. “Hey, you started it.”

“That may be true, but that doesn’t mean I won’t finish it.” Eddie bends down and swipes his hand through the puddle, spraying the water up higher at Steve. He responds by kicking at the puddle again, hitting Eddie’s chest this time.

They go back in forth like this for a while, letting the rain fall around them while they splash around like children. The weirdest thing about all of this is how Steve doesn’t want it to stop. He hasn’t had fun like this since he was a kid, barely even allowed to play in puddles then. But something about the way Eddie is laughing is electric, fueling him to keep going even if that means his car seats will get covered in mud. Steve thinks he’d do anything to hear Eddie laugh like this.

Somehow the two of them get close, breaking into uncontrollable laughter. Eddie rests his shoulder on Steve’s, holding onto him while he tries to catch his breath. Steve doesn’t know why, but he has the urge to pull him closer, but he doesn’t.

“Thank you for humoring me, Harrington. This was fun.” Eddie brings his head up to meet Steve’s eyes.

A small line of muddy water runs down Eddie’s cheek, Steve reaches out a hand to wipe it away, leaving it resting there. “It really was,”

It occurs to him how close they are standing, their faces only inches apart. For some reason, Steve finds himself leaning in, brushing his nose against Eddie’s. “Steve, you have to wake up.”

“What.” Steve pulls back confused.

“Steve, wake up.” The figure before him fades.

Continue on ao3

[whentherewerebicycles]

here’s the day…

before 10am

take IUI meds

teams check-in with CJ

ORDER VIAL DELIVERY

take out kitchen + upstairs trash

clean out car!!!! clear out backseat and trunk, collapse kennel, put seats up, vacuum

make decision on stitchfix clothes

pack returns and drop in mailbox

try on this other jumpsuit with shoes & blazer for the rehearsal dinner

start load of laundry

lounge 10-10:15

shower 10:15ish

after 10ish

call tailor at 10:30 (eek if the dress is not ready I will have to pivot very quickly…)

ORDER VIAL DELIVERY

pack long weekend clothes: jumpsuit + shoes, bridesmaid’s dress + shoes, comfy jumpsuit for when we’re getting ready sat, two comfy outfits for sun/mon plus two nicer outfits for sun/mon so I am ready for any activity, white tennis shoes, black tennis shoes, pajamas, sweatshirt for evenings, strapless bra and regular bras, socks/undies, I think that’s it??

pack other items: MEDS (regular meds + IUI), contacts and glasses, toiletries, razor and tweezers, brush and comb, sea salt spray, toothbrush/toothpaste, phone charger, small black purse, larger purse, water bottle, tampons and pads, book, I think that’s it…

pick up dress (god willing!!!!)

maybe pack a smaller bag of the stuff I need today so I can easily grab it & go?

hmm okay I want to arrive by 3:30ish… google maps says it’s under 2 hours right now but traffic will get progressively worse throughout the day so I think I should allow 3 hours to be safe. so I think I will plan to leave around 12:30 and pick up E&L on the way. or around 12 if I decide to drop off the dogs later. ok ok gonna get up now bc if I work fast I might have time to lounge a bit more before I shower lol