#i want to give her a cute little flock of chickens

[silima]

les blorbeaux

[ridiasfangirlings]

The s4 members except Munakata get turned into chickens. They can't talk but they're still themselves and are trying to do their jobs even in their condition. This last for a while and others are wondering why there are a bunch of chickens running around in the office. Homra sees them later and wonders why Munakata is surrounded by well-behaved chickens. Will Kusanagi still love Awashima if she were a chicken? Yata would have to feed Fushimi since chicken Fushimi wouldn't eat worms and grains.

…I love this ask so much I want to frame it and hang it on my wall XD Just imagine Munakata happily walking through an office full of chickens, praising their hard work as the chickens dutifully peck away at their computers. Munakata doesn’t even find out about this until he gets an uncharacteristically panicked call from Awashima that cuts off abruptly. He decides to go himself to check on the situation, accompanied by only Zenjoh. They follow Awashima’s phone locator to her last known location and as soon as they approach a bunch of chickens come running up to Munakata, clucking in a panic. A very well endowed hen is leading them and seems to be trying to keep them calm, one scrawny chicken is hanging out away from the flock making a cluck that sounds like a tongue click. Zenjoh suddenly turns and draws his sword, he manages to knock down the fleeing Strain but not quite quickly enough and now there’s a one-winged rooster hanging out at Munakata’s back. 

Munakata learns that the ‘Turns People Into Chickens’ Strain has been causing chaos all around the city, the good news is now he’s captured but the bad news is the only way for his power to wear off is for it do so naturally, the Strain can’t even control it. This means that Awashima, Fushimi, Zenjoh and the Special Forces squad are now all stuck as chickens for the time being, they have their all their regular memories and stuff it’s just they’re chickens now. As such Munakata doesn’t intend to give them any leeway (chicken Doumyouji ruffles his feathers and looks all bummed, like really we’re chickens and we still have to do paperwork), he hopes they can all continue to do their jobs properly. 

He takes them all back to S4, Yayoi gets to watch Zenjoh and he probably has a calm time hanging out in the records room, though unfortunately they have to lock Kuro out for the time being for safety reasons. The rest of the squad settle in to work and do their best. Awashima is very popular with the women of S4, like look what an elegant chicken Lieutenant makes, they probably give her a cute little bow and Awashima is secretly very proud of it. Doumyouji learns to hold crayons with his claws and feels very pleased while Kamo finds out he can still even do some cooking he just needs help with things like holding knives. Hidaka keeps having mild freakouts every time he looks in a mirror while imagine Gotou just sleeping on top of his cursed chicken god statue every night and being very chill. Fushimi is extra gloomy and snaps at any alphabet boy (alphabet chicken?) who gets too close to him. Akiyama is a little distressed that he can’t even make Fushimi coffee in the current situation. 

At some point Homra realizes that S4 has been very silent lately and is something wrong. Kusanagi has been trying to contact Awashima but she doesn’t respond, Yata reports that Saruhiko hasn’t been answering his texts either. They decide to stop by S4 and imagine them walking into the building and running right into Munakata who’s walking by with a bag of chicken feed, smiling and telling them they’re just in time. Kusanagi and Yata exchange glances and follow Munakata into an office full of chickens. As Yata’s about to ask if the Blue King has finally lost it he’s suddenly pecked in the ankle by an angry chicken. Munakata chides ‘Fushimi-kun’ and Yata’s like wait you named the chicken after Saruhiko. Kusanagi finds himself face to face with a hen that has blue eyes and a cold stare and sighs like don’t tell me. 

Munakata asks Yata to assist with the feeding, Fushimi is very picky about what he’ll eat and Yata may be helpful in this area. Yata can’t take it anymore and starts laughing, like seriously you guys all got turned into chickens. His laughter immediately turns into a yell of pain as Fushimi pecks him again, Yata’s like what the hell Saruhiko stop it. Yata tries to feed Fushimi some grain because this skinny chicken definitely needs some meat on his bones (Fushimi pecks him again and Yata’s like I didn’t mean it that way I’m not gonna eat you), Fushimi tastes a little and then pointedly spits it out. Yata ends up in S4’s kitchen making a personalized meal for the grumpy chicken hanging out at his feet and he has no idea how he got dragged into this. Meanwhile Kusanagi is trying to get a grasp of the situation from Munakata while Awashima just sits in his lap looking very on guard and businesslike and it’s kinda eerie, seeing Awashima’s normal expression on a chicken. 

[unusual-uraniidae]

Hey how was your wedding? Hope it was fun and you had good food. I wanted to give you an update on the chicken I was having problems with. I wont mince words, you saved her life. I honestly didn't think she would pull through but that medicine you suggested really did the trick. Here's a pic of her just chilling in the backyard with a wild rabbit.

Do you have any good advice about how to deal with bully chickens tho? If I put her back with the flock she'll just get attacked again. Im thinking about trying chicken blinders.

Oh my gosh, I'm so so happy she pulled through!!! 😍 That Poultry Cel is a miracle worker; I had a chicken with a respiratory issue a couple of weeks ago and with some Amoxicillin and Poultry Cel, she went from gasping for air with a dark purple comb to being her cute little perky self with a bright red comb again in no time ❤️ but she's adorable and what an awesome picture! 🥰 We have rabbits that hang around our barn but I've never seen a wild rabbit just sploot like that out in the open; that's so awesome!!! They're just loving that spring sun 🌞

My wedding isn't actually for 3 more weeks, so unfortunately I still have to be anxious for a bit longer but it's really coming together and I'm also very excited! It's on Star Wars day, May 4th, so we're going all in on space and star wars themed decor, and we're still trying to settle on food but I'm hoping everybody's gonna like it 😅

As far as the bully chicken goes, what I did when I reintroduced the hen that had surgery was I took the chicken that was really going after her and put her in the quarantine pen (I kept just a little bit of the old bedding for this) for a couple of days so she'd get used to the scent of the "new" chicken, plus it also disrupted the pecking order a bit and confused the flock and therefore kept them fairly peaceful towards each other. The other girls did a little bit of reestablishing but none of them were anywhere near as aggressive as my dominant hen. Some pecking is fine and normal, of course, but if you have girls jumping on or at her and really viciously attacking then that quickly becomes a very dangerous situation, as I'm sure you're all too familiar with. Anyway, after a couple of days I put her back in and all was well 🤷🏼‍♀️ chicken blinders would be a good idea, especially if you have multiple bully hens; I'd honestly never heard of them!

Thank you so much for the update; I'm so very very glad I could help and that you get more time with your sweet little fluffbutt ❤️ I wish you the best of luck in reintroducing her to the flock!!

Edit: forgot to mention the aggressive hen I removed was head of the pecking order, and since I don't have roosters she is the main protector of the flock which doesn't help with the aggression. That's also why the pecking order was disrupted; without a leader the other girls didn't really have a clue what was going on and I think the confusion led to a more peaceful transition. I think I kept her in the quarantine pen for 2-3 days, so she was still head honcho when she got back, lol! I believe I have a bigger flock (around 50, give or take), though, so I don't know how that would translate to a smaller flock.

[neyla9]

Fair on the nightmare fuel, but I don’t know if I would describe his fairytales as “cute fairytales”. While they’re not as dark as the Brothers Grimm, his fairytales are known for either being satires/parodies of the upperclass, or horrifying tragedies with a lot of dark subject matter.

I’ll skip stories like The Little Mermaid and The Little Matchstick Girl, as most people already know about them, but here are some other stories:

The Tinder-Box: A soldier is asked by an elderly witch to fetch her dead sister’s tinder-box from a chamber hidden inside a tree, as the witch is too old and frail to get it herself. In exchange, she gives him the means to get to the three treasure chests also hidden in there, containing copper, silver, and gold coins each, telling the soldier that he can have as many coins as he can carry as payment. The soldier does so, filling his pockets, boots, and even his hat with coins before grabbing the tinder-box. Once out, he demands to know why the witch wants the tinder-box before handing it to her; the witch refuses to answer, so the soldier chops off her head. This is only the start of the soldier’s misdeeds, as his romance with the princess consists of him repeatedly kidnapping her while she’s asleep, and threatening to have his giant dogs eat the princess’ parents unless he and princess gets married.

The Girl Who Stepped on the Loaf: A poor girl gets adopted from her poor family into a rich family, and quickly becomes a spoiled brat. Her new family one day sends her off to visit her old family, along with a loaf of bread to give them as a gift. On the way there, the girl has to go through a boggy area and, not wanting her new shoes to get dirty, she dumps the loaf to use it as a stepping stone. Upon stepping on the loaf, she falls down, straight to hell, where she is then frozen in place, forced to remain still for years, as toads, snakes and the like crawl all around her body, while also receiving visions of how her story has become a cautionary tale parents tell their kids; with everyone agreeing that she deserved what happened to her. That is except one little girl, who does express sympathy for her, but she still stays in hell until that little girl is an old woman laying on her dead bed, whose final wish is that God will forgive the girl that stepped on the loaf. And upon seeing that, the girl apologizes to God and she is finally freed from hell and allowed to go to heaven.

The Ugly Duckling: While being mostly told as an optimistic story, the actual fairytale is a story about how trauma and abuse makes people suffer; the titular ugly duckling is bullied by its siblings, pecked at by the chickens, and kicked at by the farmhand, all of them calling him ugly and beastly, until even the ugly duckling’s mother, who at first defended him, starts to wish he wasn’t there. So the ugly duckling runs away from home; from that moment onward, no one ever again rejects the duckling for being ugly, but the duckling still assumes that every bad thing that happens to him, is because he is so ugly, until it reaches a point where he decides he would rather die than continue living; the only reason why he changes his mind is because he realizes that he is a swan and he gets accepted by a swan flock.

And finally

The Red Shoes: The story about a girl whose punishment for wearing red dancing shoes to church, is that they begin to force her to dance until she dies of exhaustion. The only way to stop them, was for her to get an executioner to chop off her feet, but even then, the shoes keep dancing on their own, with her feet still stuck inside them.

Hans Christian Andersen is best known for his cute fairytales but he also wrote some nightmare fuel.

The Shadow is about a young man who jokingly tells his shadow to sneak into a room only for it to actually disappear. It spends a few years getting rich by spying on people from the shadows, seeing them do horrible unspeakable things and blackmailing them, then returning to it’s former master and forcing him to become it’s shadow.

[dearlazerbunny]

I Made This For You (i hope you like it)

Pairings: Apprentice/Muriel, Apprentice & Asra

Chapters: 4 of ?

Summary: You're back from the dead, but all Muriel can think about is all the things that died with you. Maybe finding you all over again is exactly what he needs.

(Non-canon compliant in that Apprentice/Muriel's relationship is established before their death. Apprentice is gender neutral).

~

You slip through the forest, early morning light just beginning to filter through the trees and birdsong echoing off each other. There’s a satchel on your back, packed full of surprised, and a lightness in your step that would be clear for anyone to see if they were around. You’re headed somewhere special with tricks up your sleeve, and even if the weather wasn’t cooperating; if the day were somehow delayed or you caught a chill on the walk between there and the shop- nothing was going to ruin this day. You swore it to yourself.

You grin and shake your head a little as you practically skip through the forest, dodging roots and loping around trees like a perfectly memorized dance. You’d know the way to Muriel’s hut blindfolded, backwards, and deaf. When you tell him that, he just rolls his eyes and asks if you still have your protective charm on you, the worrywart.

Muriel is already up, which you expected. Something about seeing him standing in the middle of his little flock, shoulders relaxed, spreading grain on the ground so precisely so everyone gets their share… it makes you smile. This man has your whole heart, right down to the chickens.

You set your bag down off your shoulder, then try to to walk on the balls of your feet so you make as little sound as possible on the forest floor… closer, closer…. With a squeal you take a running jump and leap onto Muriel’s back, wrapping your legs around his waist and burying your face into the crook of his neck, giving him little kisses wherever you can reach. “SURPRISE!”

His hand goes up to your arm to stabilize you- or so you think. With a shift and a bubble of surprise dropping from your lips, he manages to swing you around so you’re facing him instead, ankles locked around his lower back and hands around his neck. His cheeks are so red they may as well be sunburnt, and it’s so cute you have to kiss those too. “I think you scared the chickens.”

You giggle from your perch as you watch the chickens squawk and scramble away from the sudden noise. “Do you think they’ll ever forgive me?”

“Unsure. They’re a vindictive bunch. No eggs for a month.” You almost, almost think he’s serious until the twinkle in his eye gives him away. You run a hand through his hair, purposefully mussing it in the way he pretends not to like. “To what do I owe the surprise?”

“What, I can’t just surprise my favorite person because I want to?”

He glances up towards the sky. “Not when it’s this early. Asra still asleep?”

“Please, you know him. He’ll sleep past noon if you let him.” You give him one more kiss before hopping down and retrieving your bag. “Come on, I’ve got something to show you.”

You duck inside the hut while Muriel gathers the remainder of the morning’s eggs. Inanna is still asleep by a smoldering fire, one eye open and curious about the commotion- but not curious enough to greet you, as she immediately flops the other way and goes back to snoring. You ruffle her ears before sitting on the bed and beginning to unpack your satchel.

He finally joins you after adding more wood to the fire and stoking it to something more comfortable. “What’s all this?”

“This-” you pull out a piece of wrapped pumpkin bread from your favorite baker and hand it to him, then one for you. “Is a makeshift birthday cake, because I figured you’d like bread better than cake anyways.” Muriel’s eyes widen, a little stunned, and you take the initiative to clink your two wrapped slices together as a cheers. “Happy birthday, Muriel.”

He doesn’t say anything for a long time, just sits with his bread wrapped in wax paper, and for a moment you think you’ve wildly miscalculated until his features soften into something a little wistful. “Asra told you?”

“I don’t think he meant to, to be fair. He was telling me stories about when you two were kids, and how at some point you picked your own birthdays since you didn’t know your real ones. And then I realized the date you picked was this week.” You give him a little bit of a lopsided smile. “I know you probably don’t much care about things like birthdays, but… well. You deserve to.”

Paper crinkles as it’s pulled away from the crust, and he smells the bread like it’s a fine wine rather than something you pick up from the baker three days a week. There’s a smile on his face, lighthearted and easy, and it makes you glow on the inside. “You’re right. I don’t.”

“Well luckily for you I do.” You gesture to your bag. “I’ve got a few things… if you’d like to see them?”

After laying out the more mundane things for him to appraise and admire- a rock the color of his eyes you’d found in the forest one afternoon; an old knife of his you’d nicked when he wasn’t looking, now returned to him sharpened meticulously by the best blacksmith in town; a few new charms to add to the collection surrounding his house- you pause at a little velvet pouch, catching your lower lip with your teeth. This was the one you weren’t sure about. “And this is… a little different.” You let the pouch spill into your hand, revealing dozens of beautifully hammered bronze beads. They glint in the light, not shiny like gold or silver but muted and warm like embers and rich wood in sunlight. They’d reminded you of Muriel the instant you saw them. “Everyone should dress up a little for their birthday.” He looks at the beads in your palm, tracing his finger through them and letting them swirl around. “Could I braid your hair?”

He blinks at you. “My hair?”

“Mhm. Just to have it out of your face, I always love when I can see your eyes, and I thought the bronze suited you… maybe it’s stupid.” At most, he’ll tie back his hair with a scrap piece of leather or thread when he’s chopping wood, but that’s it. You blush. “I think you’d look pretty is all.”

“…pretty.” You shrug, embarrassed, but without an ounce of insincerity. He picks up a bead and inspects it- it isn’t hammered perfectly smooth but has little indents and imperfections on its face. A little rough, a little raw. You have to look close to see the beauty. Ever so slowly, he situates himself so that he’s facing away from you, head tiled back as an invitation.

Grinning, you run your fingers through his hair, scratching lightly as you comb out tangles and start at the crown of his head. Bronze gets woven in from his temples to the back of his head and tied off with a simple piece of cord. Not tight enough to pull, but enough so that he can’t hide the pink creeping across his cheekbones at your touch. The braid isn’t anything fancy, and you have to tuck away loose strands you didn’t get on your first pass, but ultimately- “Wow.” You step away to admire your handiwork. “I was right.”

Muriel raises an eyebrow, and in a rare moment of levity shifts from side to side so you can more easily take him in. You laugh, smoothing the lines on his forehead and tracing his browbone. “King of the Forest. Beautiful.”

“Hardly.”

“Mmmmmnope.” Both hands come to cup the sides of his face, tilting it up so you can look him in the eyes. “Beautiful. Stunning. Ethereal. Gorgeous. Sublime.” You punctuate each adjective with a kiss to his nose, his cheeks, his forehead. “I’m never wrong, Muri, remember?”

He reaches up and stills your hands, covering them with his, and pulls you down into a kiss far more heated than the light teasing you’ve been lavishing his face with. A little moan escapes you before its swallowed by a light bite to your bottom lip and his hands moving to your hips, pulling you forward until you’re curled into his lap. He’s steady and warm and you can feel your heart rate ratcheting up as you’re overwhelmed by the feeling of him all around you, the heat of him and his hands wandering and your fingers tangled in the hair at the nape of his neck. It’s a moment frozen in time, just the two of you, nothing for miles to break the threads spun between you.

When he leans back, it’s only by an inch, so you can still feel his lips ghosting over yours, and he can taste your smile. His eyes are bright. “Happy birthday,” you whisper, and instead of answering he simply pulls you back in.

~

[creampuffqueen]

thinking about sashannarcy with a lil farm...

idk what au or what timeline or whatever, just sashannarcy on a farm

maybe anne joked about wanting to move to the country one too many times and sasha and marcy knew she wasn't actually joking anymore. marcy likes the cottagecore aesthetic, and sasha says 'i'd be a great cowboy' and suddenly they're moving into an old run down farmhouse that they spend months fixing up themselves. anna and sasha still have their day jobs, and sure it's a bit more of a commute to go to the city every day for work but they love their jobs. but they also love their itty bitty farm, which includes but is not limited to:

a vegetable garden that is anne's pride and joy. sasha and marcy are starting to think she loves the tomatoes more than them (she doesn't, but the tomatoes are a close second)

a large flock of laying hens for marcy, who becomes a crazy chicken lady without a second thought

a sweet little milk cow and her sweet little baby

a few chaotic milk goats because goats are the spice of life

sasha getting to live out her repressed horse girl dreams

a small herd of pigs that wreaks havoc but are too cute to get mad at

sasha getting weirdly into the fiber animal scene, which means a tiny herd of fiber sheep, goats, and alpacas, and a little flock of angora rabbits (anne and marcy cry when she gives them the first pair of socks made totally with fiber from their farm animals)

an asshole goose that was literally handraised by marcy but is still a giant asshole

sashannarcy baking bread in their little farm kitchen

soft slice of life shit but it's country and with 12x more animals bc i said so

[feathers-scales-and-tails]

My ‘unhealthy’ chickens

My blog has a lot of cute chicken photos on it, and sometimes I get comments such as “wow I want a chicken like that!” Which is lovely! I’m glad to spread the chicken love! However I want to take a second to address this. Just like with dogs, there are many breeds of chicken which are unhealthy and have health consequences because of this. I have a couple of birds like this. I just want to make people aware that if they seriously want a bird like this, to take into account what health issues may come with them.

Sooty - Frizzle feathers

Sooty is a fan favourite, and one of my favourites too. I do admit that I love the frizzle feather gene, it just looks so cool! However frizzle feathering causes some issues and I didn’t intentionally get a frizzle, Sooty hatched from a mystery egg. Her Dad was the only frizzle in the flock, with 13 other roosters, so she was a surprise to say the least!

Weather intolerance: Due to the feathers sticking out like that, birds can’t warm up in the cold since their feathers don’t provide a protective barrier and body heat escapes. This also means they have no natural shelter from rain and wind. Sooty doesn’t have to worry about any of this, it’s never cold where I live and she lives inside. She really struggles in the heat, however that’s likely due to her leg and foot feathering which I’ll discuss later, rather than the frizzle feathering.

Flight: Birds can’t fly well, since their primary wing feathers are curled or brittle. This puts them at risk of leg and spinal injuries if they try to fly from too large a height. Sooty did severe nervous damage to her spine when she was 8 weeks old, causing her to become paralysed in the legs for 3 months. Thankfully, she fully recovered after 5 months of physiotherapy.

Sooty’s wings look like this. Not all frizzle feathered birds have flights this poor, however it is a potential consequence of the feather type.

Communication: Another issue frizzle feathers cause is communication within a flock. Sooty used to get pecked a lot by her top hen Kath, because Kath thinks Sooty is always challenging her to fight! Chickens use their neck feathers, called hackle feathers, to communicate a whole bunch of things. From fear, to aggression, to even asking another flock member to clean their feathers. Since frizzle feathers stick out like that, the bird struggles to move them into the positions used for communication so can’t talk to their flock very well. Sooty’s curled hackle feathers make it look like she’s always challenging another hen to a fight

You can see how those raised hackles kinda look like Sooty’s ‘mane’ of curled neck feathers! Thankfully, Sooty is second in command and her head hen, Kath, seems to have learnt that Sooty just looks like that! So she doesn’t get attacked very frequently anymore.

Unethical breeding: The gene which causes frizzle feathers in homozygous form (two copies of the gene) also causes serious issues. These birds are called Frazzles or ‘over frizzled’ and their feathers are very weak, often falling out and leaving the bird naked. It can be painful for them, and if they’re left outside, they certainly wouldn’t survive. Therefore frizzles should never be bred together. To breed frizzles you should use a frizzle feathered bird with a smooth feathered bird. However, this means you hatch only 50% frizzles, so some unethical breeders breed frizzle x frizzle to reduce the amount of smooth feathered birds they get.

A Frazzle chicken

Heart failure: These feathers have also been linked with enlarged hearts, increasing risk of heart failure. Since the feathers cause loss of body heat, it causes an increase in metabolism and other physiological functions to keep the body temperature at the appropriate level. This means the heart has to work harder, increasing its size and putting more strain on it. Sooty tires out easier, and when she used to be out ranging she’d frequently come inside to sleep on the couch while her flock was still outside having fun. I could see this putting them more at risk of predation, since if they’re already tired they don’t have the same stamina of another bird to flee a predator.

Solo - Heavy foot/leg feathering

Not the most flattering photo of her but the best one I have to show her foot feathering! As you can see she was quite cranky with me! She’s a Silkie X Pekin, which are both breeds known to have heavily feathered legs. There are many breeds with healthy foot feathering, such as Langshans

But some like the show-type Pekin bantam, have a number of issues associated with their foot feathering. Here’s a Pekin in comparison to the Langshan above

As you can see the feathering is much much heavier!

Mobility: Very heavy leg and foot feathering significantly reduces mobility. The large feathers make it harder to move toes, making perching more difficult, and are a tripping hazard. Solo is always tripping over, stumbling, and ‘shuffling’ when she walks since her feet impair her movement a significant amount. I’m probably going to cut her foot feathers off so she can move about easier. They’d never hindered her movement until now, this molt they grew in humongous for some reason. Obviously having a built in tripping hazard isn’t a good idea, since it predisposes the bird to a higher risk of leg injuries.

Thermotegulation: As mentioned above, legs and feet are very important in helping a bird regulate their temperature. Lightly feathered legs like the Langshan has don’t have this issue, since the bird has majority of its foot free to cool down with. Heavily feathered legs like the pekin provide little surface area to cool down with, so the birds can really struggle in hot weather. Solo is one of our least heat tolerant birds, and she thankfully has wattles and a comb unlike poor Silkies!

Cleanliness: Heavily feathered feet get disgusting! They’re more prone to getting dirty and are harder for the birds to keep clean. Solo always has poop, sticks, food, mud, and all sorts of other gunk crusted into her foot feathering. I have to clean them quite frequently so that she doesn’t get bacterial build up.

Other health ailments: In my experience, heavily feathered feet tend to be a beacon for related leg and foot health issues. We don’t have to worry about this where I live, but foot feathers can get wet in snow and heighten frostbite risk for toes. Although I don’t have to worry about the cold, sadly these foot feathers also have heat related issues! I live in a sub-tropical environment, so humidity levels get pretty high here. Bacteria loves humidity. Solo has had a bad case of Bumblefoot which was really hard to treat due to this humidity. Sweep, another bird with heavy foot feathering, has had 2 cases of bumblefoot now. I’ve never had a clean-legged bird get bumblefoot, so it’s definitely linked to trapping bacteria and humidity. I haven’t had to deal with this parasite myself, but apparently feather-legged breeds are more prone to Scaly-leg mite too.

Cujo - Heavy layer breeds

Cujo is a Hamburg, sometimes referrred to as ‘Everlayers’ since they have a reputation for reliably laying an egg every day. They rarely go broody, and if they do are very easy to dissuade. I am very against production breeds if they’re not within an agricultural industry, where they have a purpose, since it tragically shortens their lives so much. The Hamburgs lay on average 200 eggs annually, which isn’t too bad and makes them a healthier layer breed, but it’s certainly heavier laying than most of the other breeds I have. Cujo is actually very healthy, I took great care in picking a breeder to get her from and most of his birds are lighter layers than they ‘should’ be. Cujo was laying 3-4 eggs a week before her current molt, much better than the 5-7 her breed has a reputation for.

Heart failure: One of the most frequent ends to laying birds is heart failure. Their bodies are under so much stress to make an egg every day that their bodies eventually just give up, usually from heart failure.

They don’t go broody: A lot of people don’t like broody hens, since they stop laying and sit on their nest all day, however I really like them. A broody hen gets a much needed break from laying eggs! Some breeds continue to lay eggs over winter, and some birds don’t stop laying when they molt if it’s a light one. So broodies give the bird a choice to stop laying and sit on eggs when she wants, if she didn’t get a break over winter or molt. Breeding this behaviour out of production breeds contributes to their issues, since they can’t take that break.

Shortened life span: Due to the strain mass egg production puts on their bodies, average lifespan is 3-4 years compared to the 6-10+ of healthy heritage breeds. I had a utility leghorn as a pet many years ago, her heart tragically gave out on her one day while I wasn’t home. She was dirtbathing in her favourite spot when it happened, so I hope to think it was a peaceful end. She was only 2 years old.

Reproductive complications: Heavy layer breeds are more prone to experiencing issues with their reproductive tract. This includes cancers, tumours, prolapses, egg binding, and egg yolk peritonitis (infection). They’re also more prone to nutrient deficiencies, especially with calcium, since it takes so much out of them to lay eggs. This is easily preventable with a balanced diet, however if calcium deficiency does occur the hen can suffer from brittle bones.

Sweep - Aggressive breeds

Now Sweep isn’t nearly as bad as this title frames her to be, but it’s still worth a mention. We can only guess what her parentage is since she came from mystery eggs, but we think Sweep is an Old English Game cross Pekin. In Australia, Old English Game are a hyper aggressive breed. They were bred for the cruel sport of cockfighting, where two roosters are forced to fight to the death. Thankfully this sport is now criminalised, but nobody bred the aggressiveness out of this breed.

Injury risk: hyper aggressive breeds pose a greater risk of injury mainly to other flock mates, but also to themselves. These birds often antagonise others despite there not really being a reason to, resulting in more fighting, disharmony, and injury within a flock. If another bird is stronger than them and gets sick of their shit, they themselves could be seriously hurt since they often don’t know when to back down from a fight like non-aggressive birds do. Sweep has to be housed separate from my main flock with her mother, Solo for company. She has tried many times to outrank birds in my main flock but her fighting is very brutal compared to the normal pecking order fights. She aims for the eyes, and came close to blinding a bird once before, I can’t risk that sort of injury.

Mortality risk: continuing on from that first point, some individuals will take their aggressiveness too far and kill fellow flock mates. What might start out as a simple pecking order fight can turn very bloody and very brutal with these breeds fast. Roosters can kill hens and hens can kill hens. This obviously should never happen in well bred, good tempered birds. I do not say this jokingly when I say that Sweep and Sooty would kill each other if I let them. They’re both Pekin X Old English, and although Sooty is good with other birds, she’s terrible with Sweep. I’m hoping Sweep will mellow with age (she’s currently 2) and I can integrate her and Solo as part of Blossom’s flock.

Social interaction: I think this is something a lot of people don’t seem to consider, but having hyper aggressive birds which have to be housed seperate will obviously hugely impact upon their social needs. It doesn’t matter how aggressive the bird is, a chicken is, and always will be, a social animal. They need companionship, and while this can be provided by us, it’s easiest to provide it with other chickens. Keeping a social animal by itself, never letting it interact with others, and not providing that companionship yourself is incredibly inhumane in my opinion. It doesn’t matter if that bird is incapable of interacting without trying to kill the others, the fact is that this animal is still hardwired to live in a social group. By breeding such aggressive animals, it’s very cruel since it deprives them of such a basic need.

Now this post isn’t to say people can’t get a breed if they like it but it has health consequences, because something like those heavy foot feathers don’t cause the bird any harm or pain in itself, it’s just a consequence of poor management. So if you’re willing to do the work to ensure those features don’t hinder the animals quality of life, then excellent! Go ahead and get those basketball-shaped Pekin lads! This post was merely a reminder to think critically and research any animal/breed before you get them, and to make sure you’re prepared for any future consequences or adjustments for that animal/breed. Sooty and Solo need fans set up on their pens during the Summer, Sweep needs a seperate coop, and all three need adjusted perches and weekly foot health checks because of their heavily feathered feet. Once again, the importance of you screening for ethical, responsible breeders is crucial when deciding to bring a new family member home.

Thanks for reading!

[hanniiesuckle17]

Milk

A/n: This was not requested but I hope you feel better piper <3 I love you! This is for you :) (This is not thoroughly edited like always)

Tag List: @distrikt9​ @mini-meanhoe​ @leggomylino​ @hanstagrams​ @desertofdessert​ @hoes4hoseok​ @yangomangos​ @jeonqqin​ @geminirules​ @crscendoforsung​ @mrsunshine999​ @jisungsjheekies​ @hannie-squirrel00​ @cotccotc​ @kodzu-ken​ @skzwriternet​

Warnings: just fluffy shy seungmin

Word Count: 2.7k

Summary: After moving into a apartment building, Y/n finds a new friend in the stray cat in the alley behind her. She doesn’t realize someone has been admiring her kindness to the animal from afar. Sometimes a small act of kindness leads to a happiness that can last a life time. 

Genre: fluff, romance, strangers to lovers, neighbor!au, fem reader

⋇

Living in a tiny rundown apartment building was not my first choice. Nor was it my second or third or fourth or fifth or two hundredth. But being a struggling student living on my own for the first time didn’t leave me with many other options. The room was cheap and had all the amenities I needed. There was a bus line to the college only a short walk away. An added bonus was the fried chicken place just a few blocks away from the building. 

But, the heating often cut out. My landlord was less than kind. The couple living above me procreated like rabbits and the ceiling did nothing to muffle the noise. The neighbors next door were quiet for the most part. I had yet to meet the tenants in the rooms on either side. 

With the spring semester just around the corner, students flocked to the class registers. Spots filled up quickly leaving me with early morning classes. What a bummer. I was not the biggest morning person. I preferred to stay up at night and sleep until I physically couldn't anymore. 

Sleepily pulling my shoes on, I grabbed my backpack and walked out the door. The sun had just risen and a still orange pink glow was cast over the small cramped street. A small sound had me turning my head towards the alley next to my apartment building. 

Having a few minutes to spare before my bus arrived, I peeked around the corner searching for the sound. Just as I was about to turn around, a cat peeked its head out from behind the building’s dumpster. It slinked around the metal container, its thin body shifting from side to side as it walked. 

“Hi, there little guy!”

Slowly and carefully I approached the stray. It had spotted gray and white fur practically clinging onto its bones. It watched me with fear in its dull blue eyes. The small creature flinched as I reached out my hand for it to smell. It eyed me for a few moments before backing away and hiding under the dumpster. 

“Okay bud...that’s okay. When I come back I’ll bring you a little treat!”

As I was walking away, a sound from above made me jump. Looking up I saw a window on my story close, long slender fingers pulling it in. Thinking nothing of it I turned around and made my way to the bus stop. In my mind I made a mental note to pick something up to give to the little cat in the alley. 

⋇

The shop bell rang as I exited the establishment. It was already beginning to get dark and the streetlights were casting a yellow golden glow in circles on the cramped street. Plastic bag in hand I walked back towards home, the scent of fresh fried chicken floating up to my nose. 

As I approached the building instead of going in I walked passed and turned down into the alley. The street lamp cast a small glow allowing me to see through some of the dark shadows. 

“Here kitty kitty! Tsk, tsk, tsk,” Hearing a can roll across the pavement I saw the thin feline emerge from under the trash container. Its ears twitched and its nose rose in the air smelling the fried food I carried. Crouching to its level I stayed in the lightest part of the alley and pulled out a piece of the fried chicken I had picked up only a few minutes ago. 

Intriguided by the food, the cat slowly inched its way to the oustretched snack. It sniffed the chicken before it’s pale pink nose brushed over my finger taking in my scent. Staying perfectly still I let it nibble on the chicken for a moment. “You’re too cute.” Seeing the cat begin to struggle with the food, I pulled it back and starting tearing it into pieces for him. 

“What should I call you little guy?” 

The cat’s fear of me seemed to have disappeared as he snacked on the chicken. Hesitantly, I reached out and stroked his head only receiving a tiny flinch from the animal. “You’re quite small aren’t you?” The cat continued to eat the chicken with vigor. Grabbing a bottle of water and a paper plate from the restaurant, I poured some for the cat to drink. “How about Makki?” 

The gray cat already looked much happier than when I had first seen him this morning. As I reached out to stroke his fur, he did not flinch away. “Do you like chicken Makki?” He let out a gravely meow before turning back to his grand meal. 

My fingers felt the grooves of his ribs as I pet his side. I smiled feeling Makki’s rough tongue over my other hand. My attention was dragged away from the cat when I heard the scuff of a shoe not far away. At the entrance of the alley looked a boy maybe my age. His body faced the building but his eyes stayed trained on me over the black mask he wore. 

His shaggy brown hair had a golden glint under the street light. His hands were tucked firmly in his jean pockets giving him a cold sort of look. Lifting my hand from Makki’s back I shyly waved to the boy. As if he came out of a trance, the boy walked away from the alley on his resumed path. 

Choosing to ignore the awkward encounter (I admit that it would be weird to see a girl just sitting in an alley with a cat), I watched Makki finish off the pieces I tore. He rubbed up against my legs and let me scratched his ears. 

“Okay, Makki! I’ve got an essay to write. I’ll bring you some breakfast tomorrow, okay buddy?” With a sad meow, he tried to follow me out of the alley but sat at the entrance and watched me walk into the building.  I watched him list his head from the alley and gave him a little wave goodbye before going in for the night.

⋇

After a few months of taking care of him, Makki was basically my own. Every morning and every night without fail I would stop by and spend time with Makki. When I could afford it, I brought him chicken. He seemed to always love that. 

As finals inched closer, I couldn’t see him as much as I wanted to. Studying took up most of my nights and I was forced inside my tiny apartment, headphones only half blocking out the noise from the faulty pipes and my upstairs neighbors. 

One night I glanced over at the clock seeing it was only 10:00 pm. “I have some left overs I’m sure Makki would like.” Aware that I needed a break, I got up and stretched before heating up some leftover dinner for my little cat. Slowly he had gotten to a healthy size and I could no longer see his ribs under his spotted gray and white coat. I didn’t have to keep feeding him, but Makki seemed like my only friend as of late. 

Grabbing a bowl and filling it with water I ventured downstairs and into the lobby. A slightly familiar face was entering the building doors, keys in hand. He looked up, our eyes meeting. Those dark, almost black, eyes looked familiar, reminding me of a puppy. The brunette’s eyes widened in recognition seeing me. The boy from the street. He had a handsome face, the light locks highlighting the angles and tone of his features. In all honesty he was more than likely the most handsome man I had ever seen. 

He looked me up and down before his soft eyes fell onto the dishes in my hand. When his eyes returned he gave me a small smile and a hesitant wave. Without another word he walked past me up the stairs. 

Using my shoulder to open the door, the cool spring night air greeted me. My shoes scraped against the downhill pavement as I turned the corner into the alley. To my surprise, Makki sat in the middle of the backstreet, drinking from a saucer full of milk. Beside the bowl was a plate with little pieces of fried food. Inching closer, I saw it was fish. 

Someone had already fed him.

“Hey, buddy!” Makki greeted me with a friendly meow brushing up against my legs. “Looks like someone already fed you, huh?” I asked in confusion. No one had ever shown interest in him before. Why had they started to take care of Makki now?

Pursing my lips, I set down the dishes and watched Makki eat and drink, petting him occasionally. “Their supper is a little but better than mine, huh?” He only responded my digging in more to the fish. “I’ll bring you chicken next time, Makki.” I watched him eat the food before the slender cat climbed into my lap, begging for me to pet him. 

It was getting late and Makki was practically falling asleep in my lap. I had already asked my landlord if I could bring him inside, but Mr. Kwon hated pets. Carefully putting Makki on the makeshift bed I had made him out of a thrown out chair, I brushed myself off before looking at the mostly clean dishes on the ground. 

Logically, whoever fed Makki would have to come back for the dishes. Finding a semi clean piece of paper and grabbing the pen in my pocket I wrote a little note to the kind soul who helped out my little cat. ‘Thank you for taking care of Makki! It means a lot. - Apt.306B’. Placing the note in the dry milk saucer, I left the alley to go back to my essay. 

⋇

For the next few nights every time I went down to fed Makki, a bowl of milk and usually a small plate of food was already there. Curiosity eating me up, I decided to catch Makki’s mystery feeder. 

The next night, forgoing my term paper, I parked myself at my window overlooking the alley. Finally the sun went down and I watched from my slightly air conditioned perch for the kind soul feeding my feline child. Just as I was losing hope a head of light brown hair rounded the corned into the back alley, a bowl of milk in hand. 

“I GOT HIM! YES!” I cheered. “I got you! I got you!” I sang dancing around. Rushing out the door, I took the stairs two at a time just to burst out the lobby doors onto the street. Out of breath but with a smile I rounded the corner, hand holding me steady on the brick wall of the building. 

“So it was you!” I said happily, scaring the boy crouched down next to Makki. Those same dark puppy like eyes looked up at me in surprise. He seemed at a loss for words, frozen, long slender fingers over over the cat’s head. “I never would have guessed! I mean that day in the lobby, maybe, but it just didn’t cross my mind.” 

The boy continued to stare at me, less in shock now, but the expression I could not decipher. “Um...I’m from apartment 306.” I smiled seeing Maki next to the boy drinking the white treat. Giving him a kind smile, I reached out my hand for him to shake. 

Shyly, he took my hand and shook it. “Yeah...I know.” Under the yellow glow of the street light I looked over his handsome features once more. “I’m...uh...I’m 304.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. After all this time, this was how I met my next door neighbor. “Finally I get to meet you. I’ve been wondering who was living next door.” The boy seemed to relax, letting out a small laugh. “What’s your name?” 

He seemed surprised as I moved to sit down next to him. Makki climbed into my lap and on instinct I started scratching his ears. “Seungmin, Kim Seungmin. And you?”

“Y/n L/n.” 

I laughed as he awkwardly moved to shake my hand again. “He’s really a good cat.” Seungmin said petting Makki’s gray fur. I nodded and turned to see Seungmin already looking at me. 

“Why did you start feeding him by the way?”

The handsome boy shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck. “This is going to sound way creepy. I swear it was a coincidence.” Urging him to continue with a smile, I continued stroking Makki’s head. Occasionally my arm brushed up against Seungmin’s as it moved. “I actually saw you from my window. Then we ran into each other on the street that night.”

“That still doesn’t answer my question Seungmin.” I would be lying if I said that his smile didn’t make my heart skip a beat. It melted even more seeing him pet the almost sleeping cat in my lap.

“Yeah about that.” His long finger reached up and scratched his brow before returning to Makki’s ears. “That night I just thought you were really, really pretty. I liked seeing how kind you were to the cat and watching you play with him.” His hand accidentally brushed mine and his cheeks reddened. They darkened even more when I didn’t pull away.

“Go on,”

“One day you stopped coming. I figured something came up because you cared about the cat so much. So, I just tried feeding him. I got scratched more than a few times in the beginning.” Seungmin laughed, instinctively rubbing his arms where Makki must have nicked him. “Eventually he warmed up to me and I saw why you loved him so much. Then you left me that note. It was by far the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.”

“Well you certainly are not what I expected to find when I wanted to search for Makki’s secret milk source.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever bought so much milk.”

The two of us laughed and continued to sit and talk in the alleyway. “Thank you again, for feeding him while I had term stuff.” Seungmin shrugged and looked over at me. 

“It was nothing.” It was hard to stifle the laugh at his attempt of being nonchalant. “You know, I could talk to Mr. Kwon about letting you bring Makki into the building...” 

My eyes widened and I instinctively hugged my cat to my chest. “Really! You would do that? Wait- how would you even do that. That man has zero soul. Like no soul at all. Completely soulless.”

He chuckled at my joke, brown hair blowing gently in the night breeze. “I have my ways. If I do...would you do something for me?” His bright smile lit up the night watching me nod excitedly. “Would you like to have dinner with me tomorrow?”

Seungmin seemed to hold his breath waiting for my answer. “Are you asking me or are you saying that is your condition for talking to Mr. Kwon?” Seungming squinted his eyes and looked off into the distance for a moment in thought.

“Oh.....you’re right.......You will have dinner with me tomorrow.”

“Woah, slow down there, buddy. I barely know you!” 

“Arrrrghhh,” Seungmin groaned covering his face and lying on the cement in frustration. I couldn’t help but laugh at his vexation. “Why is asking you out so hard?”

“I’m just teasing. Of course I’ll get dinner with you.” With a sigh of relief, Seungmin sat up with a smile. “With a face like that who spends that much milk money on someone else’s cat, how could I not want to go out with you?” Seungmin helped me up from the ground, holding onto my hand even when I was standing. 

“Good. Cause I was very nervous you’d say no.”

“Look at me. I’ve fallen for the milk man,” Seungmin groaned at my terrible joke but kept out hands intertwined as we walked back into the building with Makki under my arm. I had never been filled with more joy than in that moment. 

⋇

Masterlist

[maribabyart]

Do you have any Demon Martha headcanons? How do you think her reunion with Mrs. Mayberry (The teacher who paid for her assassination) in hell would go?

 OK YES I HAVE HEADCANONS FOR THIS HERE WE GO --

MARTHA HEADCANONS <3

So, I’m gonna start with her before she died so I can fully get into why every part of her is the way she is as a demon.

Martha is light skinned Latina woman with family coming from Venezuela. Her mother has a much darker skin tone than her, but her father is far more light-skinned, where she gets her complexion from. While she was raised in America, her parents were immigrants. She was born at home, and she didn’t get a birth certificate until she was four, the year before she started schooling.

She has three older brothers. They were very rambunctious with Martha as a child, pulling pranks on her/with her, taking her hunting, etc.

She was raised out on a farm in the middle of a forested area in Kentucky. They raised cattle, sheep, chickens, and horses. Martha’s main job on the farm was to groom/ride horses and feed chickens.

She learned her sharp-shooter skills in a more intense version of something like 4H unique to her area. She was fantastic with a bow and arrow, and even better with her firearms.

Cannibalism was normalized in Martha’s life from a young age. She knew that it must be kept secret from the outside world, and that it wasn’t accepted. However, it wasn’t something she found to be horrid.

Her family -- and their close friends -- came from a long lineage of Satanic cultists that practiced cannibalism to purge any bit of, “soul” remaining in the corpses of their sacrifices. Due to this, Martha had evolved to be able to be immune to the ill side effects of cannibalism, along with the ability to not feel repulsed by the idea of eating human meat.

Her favorite part of the body growing up was the brain, and it still is to this day. She loves the frontal lobe slathered in spices and hot sauce.

She began her cultish killings at age fourteen, when she officially joined the cult of her family’s descent -- Compañerismo de la Fruta Prohibida (Fellowship of the Forbidden Fruit, a refrence to their following of Lucifer)

Martha didn’t love Raphael Peterson, or, “Ralphie”. She was married of to him at age sixteen, when she became a, “Woman” in the cult’s eyes. They were both meant to appear as an ideal couple so that people wouldn’t suspect them, as their parents before them have.

Ralph and Martha always saw each other as friends with benefits.

They moved to Dayton, Tennessee to start their family when they turned eighteen.

In Nashville, Martha started singing to music her husband played in Taverns. Think Dolly Parton style music. She sounded a lot like that.

Their first child was born when Martha was eighteen: Their daughter, Jolene Peterson. Two years later, they had their son, Beau Peterson.

Martha was always really involved with her kids’ school activities, and she was always volunteering to work events, and her kids were in every activity they could be.

She used her physical attractiveness to seduce and kill men.

While sex favorable, Martha is on the aspec -- greysexual (sexual pleasure is irrelevant to her, and she only engages in it to appease her partner generally. She only finds sexual attraction in people while in the act.) Because of this fact, Martha only has affairs for the sake of gaining trust to bring the men home so they can be killed and eaten.

When Martha was shot, the community villainized Mrs. Mayberry because the town darling, Martha Jane Nunez Robles-Peterson, would NEVER cheat, right? The situation was misread: Martha was just talking to Jarold Mayberry that night about t-ball-related things, right? He WAS the the little league captain for her 6-year-old-son’s league, wasn’t he?

Martha was gifted millions by the community, and people were insanely supportive of her. They wanted the sweet Martha they, “knew” to get better soon. They loved her so -- such a darling woman!

Her music became more well known, and soon, Martha was all over TV. Her big musical break came from when she auditioned for American Idol and made it. Her sob-story propelled her, and she eventually won.

Martha was a hero to everyone around her -- surviving a traumatic event that was uncalled for, while also being so damn chipper and kind.

Hell, did you guys see the background in one of those scenes?! Martha was canonly proclaimed a SAINT! People loved her that much.

She used the public trust to lure in more victims and never be suspected.

Martha was 28 when she died. Ralphie was 28 as well. Jolene was 10, and Beau was 8.

Ralphie managed to survive the explosion, albeit he was completely paralyzed, and the two children went to heaven. Ralphie repented during his last month alive, and confessed to his crimes. He was sent to heaven as well.

Martha and the children were declared to have died in a bear attack, as Compañerismo de la Fruta Prohibida covered up their true demise with ease.

People were heart broken -- Martha’s music was used in sad collages on Youtube, Tik Toks had Martha’s face in them for memorials.

No one ever realized her crimes.

Now! As a demon....

In hell, Martha picked up the alias Hero -- it’s what she was in life, right? I’ll be calling her Hero from now on.

Hero is both different and similar to how she was when she was alive. She’s still the got her kind-hearted, southern mama vibe going for her: She tends to be able to fit into any demonic crowd well, either by attractiveness or by sheer, overwhelming allure -- she’s a very magnetic personality.

As far as powers go, Hero’s are mostly related to firearms. She’s acquired these powers through deal making and soul dealing, as most demons do. Her charming aura very quickly lure people into thinking she’s naive or really just being honest with them.

Her nails can peel back to allow her to shoot from, “finger guns”. Each finger is a different gun, besides her middle and index fingers. They are both shotguns. Together, they make a double barrel shotgun.

When in full demonic form, Hero’s bandages become sentient. They peel away from her wound, revealing a minigun like weapon in the hole in her head. This can rapid fire while the bandages can grab onto things or hoist Hero up. She can make this last for five minutes -- ten at the longest -- before she gives out to sheer exhaustion and needs to eat demon meat to replenish herself.

Within her first week in hell, she was known to be powerful. Not quite an overlord, but powerful enough to hang around overlords. 

She hit overlord status three months later, during the terf war seen in Hazbin Hotel’s pilot: She took several areas of land, and was seen to have several lesser demons flocking to be on her good side.

Hero used her land to build up a bar and grill that serves strictly demon meat and blood, where demons can play music and dance. It’s like a fucked up country dinner. It’s an insanely popular addition to Cannibal Colony, where she lives.

The place is called La Cocina de la Calle Kuru (The Kuru Street Kitchen)

Hero REALLY wants to get her hands on exterminator tools, but she’s not really a fan of black market deals -- it’s too “trashy” for her.

Hero knows Alastor pretty well, as he’s came in for meat and to watch the music. They’ve had pretty decent conversations while she was on break, seeing as they were both influential  southern, cannibalistic serial killers. It’s a running gag between them where they jokingly talk about who was more iconic -- “I bet I took out more belles in a lifetime than you could in your entire afterlife!” “Well hon, at least I could eat the brains without gettin’ Kuru!”

She talks to Rosie a lot about business, and has met Niffty and Mimzy before. (Al hooked a bitch up with some friends lmao)

She REALLY likes Mimzy. She reminds her of Ralphie, and they became super fast friends. 

Vox and Hero have a confusing sort of friendship, as neither really wants to be seen with the other -- In his case, because she’s much lower on the overlord spectrum than him, and in her case, because she’s no stranger to Alastor and Vox’s hatred for one another. However, she often finds herself consoling Vox on sleepless nights after closing up the bar, trying to convince him that Valentino is NOT worth his time. Beyond that and him occasionally paying her back in tech at random hours of the morning, they don’t talk often.

Hero LOVES dancing! Like, a lot.

She’s seen Charlie’s ad for the Happy Hotel. Her and Mimzy watched it, and they both thought it was the stupidest damn thing they’d ever seen. However, Hero said she was happy Charlie got up there, because she was just, “Cute as a button, that lil’ sweatpea was!”

Hero’s best friends are Mimzy and an unnamed demon who specializes in black market, extermination tool selling (the one seen in in Addict -- Cherri Bomb’s former lover).

These two people, and these two people alone, can call her “Martha”

Hero cooks whenever she’s stressed. She also adores sewing and binging soap operas and reality shows on Voxflix.

Hero’s Instagram would be, “HeroicMelodies” in reference to her music career and name.

Hero gets hit on A LOT, and she despises it. She doesn’t need to seduce people anymore to get away with murder, and she doesn’t want to. She dresses the way she does because she LIKES that clothing. People can fuck off.

The reason Hero is white and pink is to show how innocent she looks. Her pitch-black eyes show her dark soul.

Hero sings in Spanish to herself when cleaning up.

Sometimes, Hero and Rosie spend holidays going around with ground demon meat to throw to the hell crows and other critters. They find it peaceful.

Hero, shockingly, holds no hatred for I.M.P., and commonly jokes about how the I.M.P.’s, “Did her a favor” by sending her somewhere she can actually be her. She has no idea who called for the hit, though. 

Hero finds Blitzo’s Instagram posts being poorly spelled to be, “Damn near precious”.

She thinks he’s a teenager, and probably would think it less adorable if she knew he was a grown man with a grown kid.

Hero doesn’t care about Mrs. Mayberry at all. Like, at all. She honestly assumes the woman is in heaven. She knew Mayberry wasn’t bad -- she probably wouldn’t care if she was in hell, though. Oh well. Sucks to suck, bitch.

Husk frequents La Cocina de la Calle Kuru to drink and engage in the gambling scene. Hero finds him trashy, but can’t say she hates him. She finds him funny as hell, and enjoys the business. Just not someone she’d personally hang out with.

[georgescatcafe]

vermillion — 1

rating: t warning/s: period-typical homophobia pairing/s: georgenap genres/tags: cowboy x city boy au, rancher sapnap, rich george, coming of age, slow burn word count: 3,152 summary: When Sapnap gets sent into the city to get quick cash for his family’s struggling ranch, he’s not expecting much from the experience—lights aren't very blinding when held up to the Sun, and he's not exactly there to play around. But then he meets George, a boy built on money, who quickly sweeps in not just paying customers but also Sapnap, leading him into what any ruddy country boy would call the mouth of the Devil: high society. Cue a summer spent by each other’s side while feelings run unbidden, uncaring of deadlines and restraints.

It should be enough for the pair—and for awhile, it is, right up until it isn’t.

+ao3 +masterpost

;;

PART I

1994

Going to the city alone isn’t too different from going with his Pa. The drive there is mild, skies blue, sunny, fields on both sides of his muddied pickup stretching out endless and golden, ready to be cut down. Nick is sixteen now, old enough to head to the market on his own, license shiny and new, brain bright and sharp. He’s been preparing for this, and now it’s time for him to show off what he knows.

He had thought the 80s were bad, his dad cursing some figurative Big Man (Nick’s pretty sure he just meant the government) and constantly pushing hard on the ranch to make ends meet. They aren’t farmers, their neighbors having it way harder than they could, but it was rough, and it’s still rough—everything is so expensive, so now Nick is their last hope, Pa working the ranch, son sent off to the city to try and get some immediate cash. It’s hard to deny freshly cut steaks.

They’ve got horses too, pretty ones, some sold to be racers, but mostly pretty ones. Nick’s been planning to propose they start some summer thing, parents bringing their kids to the ranch to ride the horses, get the wind in their hair from something other than a car with its windows down. Not this year, though. (The highway sign tells him his exit is in two miles. Nick focuses back on the road.) This year, he’s busy.

;;

Pulling into the market’s parking lot, Nick doesn’t feel blinded. Really, opening the truck door finds him with a lungful of stink, and his thoughts are drowned out by the honking of horns and shouting of pedestrians. He thinks he hears a bell tower in the distance—does this city have a college?—but he can’t be sure.

It’s nothing glamorous.

Rounding his truck, he gets the coolers out the back, gets the papers too, lists of cows they’ve got, some horses, sheep, goats. Pa wants to get rid of them, but Ma likes to make sweaters. The sheep can be costly, but sweaters cost others, so Nick guesses it all balances out. They’re not getting rid of any chickens this year, but Nick’s two coolers definitely have some plucked birds. He blinks, remembering the eggs. He’s got some of those to sell too, and they don’t even need to be refrigerated. He’ll get them later.

Finding his shop is easy. The signs pointing out where everything is are all done in a looping, confusing cursive, so Nick forgoes reading them to just follow the sight of flannel and the smell of smoking meat. And there it is. A booth, the sign above it not in cursive (thank God) and declaring the name of their ranch in bold. Once Nick’s got all his things in place, he comes to stand proudly at it. PAPPAS RANCH above, Nick Pappas below.

Things go a lot slower after that. People don’t really flock to him, people don’t even come up to him. If anyone does, it’s at a meandering pace, like the wind might’ve pushed them more than them deciding to look. It’s a little humiliating, but Nick does his best to sell what he can. He’s not really concerned about the meat, and the animals are all still alive and fine on the ranch, but he is concerned about cash, and he knows they need it. Customers are vital. There just… aren’t any.

He leans back on his heels, surveying the marketplace. It’s quaint, kind of cute. Not as rugged and rough as the one in town, more proper-looking. To be expected. He people-watches. The people are people. No one is particularly interesting. Another customer is blown towards him. Nick sells them a couple twelve-ounce filets. He pays a little more attention after that.

Still, that’s the only big purchase he gets, and he tries not to let it sit on his mind too heavily when he heads back to his truck, coolers and folder and cash in hand. The night is warm, and he’s grateful for it when he settles in the bed of his pickup. In hope of saving some money, he’d turned down his parents’ offers of a hotel, the reluctance of giving up cash clear on his dad’s face anyway, so now Nick is left to sleep in his truck bed, surrounded by coolers and tarp and blankets. When he rolls over, he winces. He’d put the cash in a little safe then tucked that little safe under his makeshift bed. It sticks out uncomfortably underneath him. Oh well. He literally made his bed. Now he’s lying in it.

;;

Morning comes before he’s ready for it, and he finds himself glaring at the Sun as it creeps over the horizon, taunting him with cotton candy skies and sweet birdsong. The night wasn’t much better, with the safe in his back, with the city still awake long after the market closed. Despite his exhaustion from the drive, from standing, sleep did not come easily, and Nick feels the effects of that as he sets up shop all over again, goes to the market’s little bathroom installed down the way to change clothes, to splash water on his face. He groans when he remembers his toothbrush, still in his truck. He goes to get it anyway.

So, his start is a little slow, so what? Nick ties his bandana tighter around his head when he reaches his booth, double-checking his inventory before smiling at the woman who runs the booth across from his. She tips her hat at him in return.

There’s more people coming around today, which is good, and it makes sense. It’s a Thursday, which, while it isn’t the weekend, it’s getting there, and Nick eagerly anticipates it.

He makes a deal for one of their cows, sells some filets, some chicken thighs and veal—it’s a better day. He’s hesitant to call it good.

;;

Like the day before, Friday comes bright and early, uncomfortably so. He climbs out of his truck, gets his things—the whole rinse, wash, repeat. And then he’s back at his booth, saying hello to the woman across, again she tips her hat, and he’s drumming his fingers on the tabletop.

Nothing.

Nick takes a breath, holds it, lets it out. Things are fine. He’s fine. Rome wasn’t built in a day; Pappas Ranch doesn’t sell their entire inventory in two. It’s fine.

It’s still early, a whole day ahead, and though Nick braces himself for disappointment, he tries not to let it show, still standing tall beneath the sign above his booth. He just needs to be approachable, smile, be the charming boy his Pa raised him to be.

It works when two women walk by, mother and daughter, probably, arms linked, the two of them chatting only to stop at Nick’s booth, the mother smiling politely at him and daughter waving. “We’re having guests over tonight,” the mother says.

“How many?” Nick asks. And the deal goes through.

And it works with an older man, eating only for himself, but wanting to stock up for the weekend. A full guys’ thing. But it’s just him. Nick tells him he gets it, and he’s a few chickens shorter, a rack of lamb ribs gone.

It’s around lunch that things slow down, leaving Nick mildly surprised, but not entirely annoyed, as he uses his own pocket change to get some fruit from a farmer in another section, and an elderly woman three booths down gives him a little bit of smoked pork free of charge. It’s a meager, but good lunch. He’s leaning up against the wall, apple in hand, surveying the business still going on, when he spies someone who looks his age, hair a dark brown, eyes the same, dressed a bit more upscale for a market, even if this market is in the city. Nick pushes himself off the wall when the boy makes his way over to him. It’s a very deliberate walk, and Nick stands straighter for it, not showing off or anything, more like sizing up the competition—the competition for or on what, only Nick’s subconscious knows.

“Pappas Ranch,” the boy reads, and Nick almost laughs at the accent coloring his words. “Are you Papa?”

And the question is so reasonable yet so absurd, spun wonky with the accent, that it makes Nick laugh and reply with a name not quite right either: “Nah, I’m Sapnap.”

It’s such an… outdated name, given to him as a kid by an enthusiastic pen pal and then latched onto by his parents, fading out of fashion the moment he hit double-digits, when he started working his way up the ranch. The name is dumb too, zero sense without context, still stupid even with it, and he feels every bit of its stupidity when the boy studies him, unamused.

“Sapnap?” The word comes slow off his tongue, and Nick resists the urge to flush a bright red.

“Yeah, what about it?” He plants his feet firmer in the ground, wanting to shift from foot to foot but refusing. Refuses to take back the name too.

“Sounds dumb.”

Nick stutters out some excuse that falls flat before straightening. “What’s your name then, hotshot?”

“George,” and oh, isn’t that hilarious? Talk about outdated.

“My name might be stupid, but at least it isn’t lame as hell!”

George, of course, doesn’t like that, and that fact makes Nick grin, eyes growing wild when George grips the edge of the table between them to lean forward. “Fuck off.” Their noses nearly touch.

“This is my booth,” Nick replies.

“My city,” George shoots back, and Nick stops himself from rolling his eyes.

“It’s a city.” Nick raises a brow when George merely huffs, leaning against the booth. He spies the apple in Nick’s hand, and Nick fights back the urge to hide it, possessive. “What?” It’s his lunch. What about it? Workers eat too. Not that someone like George would know that. Nick gives him a cursory once over that George ignores, still focused on the fruit.

“Where’d you get that?” George asks. “It looks fresh.”   

“It is,” Nick points towards the booth he got it from, “over there. Everything here is fresh, dumbass.”

“What time is it?”

“Noon, I reckon.”

George studies him, still leaning against the booth, head coming closer and closer to Nick’s the longer he stares. “Your lunch?” Both of his hands now press down on the table between them, fingers splayed. His nails are short but nice. Nick’s have dirt under them. He holds his apple tighter.

“Yeah. What about it?”

“Come with me,” George says, and Nick frowns as George moves away from the booth to nod his head towards the main road. “You can take a break.”

“Not really,” Nick wants to reply (break? Lunch was his break. He’s got to work!), but then George pivots and starts walking away, and he can’t have that, so he follows. “My stuff—”

“Will be safe, chill out,” George tells him. He glances behind and meets Nick’s eyes. Nick wonders if the other will crash into any of the various obstacles around them, booths, pedestrians, goods, fucking rocks in the walkway or something, but he doesn’t, just keeps walking. Part of Nick hopes he crashes. Wants to see him trip, fall, ruin his pants—they’re fancy, clean with those pressed lines down the middle. In the middle of the market, however upscale, they look stupid as hell. To see the knees covered in dust, caked in dirt, it’d make Nick pretty happy. He smiles at the image, and George, though brows end up quirked in confusion, offers a smile back.

Nick stumbles, a direct opposite to his imagination, but it’s because it’s not the city that’s blinding—it’s George’s smile. He blinks, glances behind himself; does George have a particularly white smile? Artificial, does George reap the benefits of being rich? Does the sun glint off those bleached teeth? But the Sun is still high overhead. And George’s teeth were white, but not white enough to be fake. Nick shakes his head, not wanting to get caught up in the thoughts, merely following after the other still. They’re out past the market now, heading deeper into the city. Delicatessens, bakeries, designer shops, and corner stores line the road, and Nick stares into the windows of them all with rapt attention. Sapnap, that’s what he told George his name was, and maybe here he is: Sapnap, someone else, someone new, someone who could walk by George’s side like it’s where he’s been his whole life, like the city is all he knows.

Looking at the elite walking by, Nick knows it wouldn’t be sustainable, not for him, but just for a bit, he can pretend. He glances over at George, who walks on ahead, easy, unassuming if not for the sun in his hair, spinning it into gold, unassuming if not for the set of his shoulders, the quiet confidence with which he carries himself. Carefully, he attempts to imitate the other.

They walk for another few minutes, and Nick is starting to worry about his things, about whether he’ll make it back in time for the after-school rush, the dinner rush, the weekend—when George finally stops and pushes open the door of a restaurant named something Nick can’t pronounce.

“Is that French?” he asks George.

“Yeah,” George replies, “I can’t pronounce it, though.”

“I thought all rich people knew French,” Nick says.

“Next state over,” George tells him. “Or in the east maybe. I’m taking Spanish.”

“My cousin knows Creole.” George hums before smiling at the host and asking for a table for two. The fancy atmosphere, however much a consequence of location and George’s upbringing, the host’s look over George’s shoulder at Nick, table for two—all of it sends Nick’s skeleton rattling, bones shaking and shivering under layers of skin and muscle, his brain easily equating these things to a date. But George isn’t like that. He’s just fancy. And Nick isn’t like that either. This is just what rich people do in the city. What everyone does in the city. They get lunch.

When they’re seated, Nick tugs at his collar. He’s not hot, but God, has he grown uncomfortable. He’s got dirt behind his knees he’s sure, and when he speaks it’s not that smooth, sweet voice George has got, and the slight beard he’s finally started to get only makes him all the scruffier. He’s a fish out of water, and he’s growing more and more certain it shows.

“Sapnap,” George says, “are you alright?”

And oh. Right. He’s not Nick. To George, he’s Sapnap, and George is taking Sapnap to lunch, which means he thinks Sapnap is able to be seen in a place like this, if not alone then with George, so it’s fine. Nick’s hand falls from his shirt to the table, where it curls around napkin-wrapped cutlery. “Yeah,” he replies, “I’m fine. Uh. Can you read this menu?”

“It’s in English, Sapnap.” George’s tone is dry, but it’s a joke, and his eyes squint with his smile. Nick smiles back.

;;

Despite their smiles, despite sharing a meal, they don’t get along. Nick wants to help provide for lunch, but he also can’t, not really, so they argue over that, and they argued over what to get too, because Nick is a firm believer in trying everything so let’s just split stuff, George, but George is apparently a possessive little bitch, so his idea was continually shot down, but then when a waitress came by, George ordered what Nick had suggested, so they argued over that, and when they left, George argued for a treat and Nick argued that he had to get back to work.

Nick won that one, but George stuck by his side as they traced their steps to the market.

Despite their inability to get along, they become what Nick thinks might just be friends.

“If I lost all my shit ‘cause of you,” Nick starts, but George just rolls his eyes. And when they reach his booth, it’s fine, like George had said it’d be, but Nick does lament the lost customers in the time spent out. He still has an afternoon ahead, but he still took off way more time than he’d have liked.

“It’s fine,” George tells him, hopping up onto the front little ledge of the booth. “I’ll help you sell it, or something.”

“You don’t have anywhere to be?” Nick asks him, checking his inventory one more time, just to make certain nothing’s been stolen.

George shakes his head, kicking his feet slightly, not stopping even when it makes the booth begin to sway. Nick steadies it with a careful hand, and George sends him a grateful look, though he still kicks his feet. “It’s summer.” He watches as Nick pulls out a chunk of meat, chuck, drops it onto the proper counter set up behind the pretty covering the booth makes, and sets about cutting it into pieces. “Nothing to do.”

“For you,” Nick says.

“For me,” George agrees.

Nick fixes up the beef, thinking about the restaurant, the roast he saw somewhere on the menu—that’s what people’ll use this meat for, he’s getting creative—and leans back, fingers curling around the countertop. “So what exactly are you proposing?”

George shrugs. “I can get you good food; I can advertise good food. You can cut what will one day be good food and keep the cash.”

“You’d do this for no pay?” Nick asks.

George tilts his head back, exposing the long column of his throat. Nick watches as sunlight catches his skin; George hadn’t seemed to sweat much, but now Nick sees where it’s damp on his skin, the light making it shimmer. Nick looks away. It didn’t look gross. George finally lowers his head. He doesn’t look gross. “I don’t need it,” George says. “And I’m not stupid. My dad works with some people from the city stockyard. You need the cash, don’t you?”

Nick fights back the urge to make a face. “Yeah. Did you remember that before or after you made me get lunch with you?”

George at least looks a little guilty. Nick takes what he can get. “Look,” George finally says, “I’m not terrible at marketing. And I know what people here want. Can you really say no?”

He can. Nick could say no and tell George to leave. Could say no and thanks, but lunch actually sucked (it didn’t). He could say a number of things that would get rid of George’s company.

He doesn’t.

“Just don’t get in my way, okay?” He and George lock eyes. George nods. Nick tightens his grip on the counter, surveys the steadily crowding market. “So who’re you going to reel in first, hotshot?”

;;

next

[little-red-rabbit]

So, I'm gonna hit you back with this. What hobbies and such do your fanwalkers like to do?

First of all thank you for throwing this ask back to me, I so rarely get asks about my oc's and it always makes my day when I do.

Marcel enjoys dancing and is very good at it, from the proper waltzes of a masquerade to a group dances of the Fey Queen's Fest. He has a pleasant singing voice and can carrier a toon. Growing up a peasant Marcel was taught to sew by his mother, and it has always been something Marcel enjoyed doing to keep his hands busy. Though it has evolved from simply maintaining his clothing, to Marcel altering his own outfits to be more astatically pleasing. He has also dose embordering and like adding little personal touches to his outfits.

He is a avid baker and enjoys trying to make sweets and breads he encounters in his travels. Though his go to comfort dish is a simple peasants blackberry cobbler, it is never as good as his mothers though.

Marcel also has a passion of poetry and love reading the works of poets from other planes. He even tries his hand at it, though he is to embarrassed to share it with anyone, mostly because they tend to be about his crush of the day.

Niphorbis is an anthropologist of sorts who has filled libraries on the study of indigenous magical cultures. He loves stargazing and learning about the night sky and constellations of other worlds. Being a sphinx Niphorbis loves to tell riddles and do puzzles in his spare time. Though his favorite hobby is to find a nice sunny roof to lay on and just people watch.

Not much of a shock but my music themed half orc is in fact a very talented musician. Nivel plays the violin, flute and the piano. He is also a composer, writing symphonies in the way a wizard would craft his spells. Being from Hyverta Nivel makes practices many different forms of art, from impressionistic painting to sculpting. He is also a armature alchemist.

Shepherd response would be making love as my demon ram is a man whore of a hippy and believe is free love and affection for everyone who want it. My response would be that before he joined the flock of Liesa he was a blacksmith, and he still practices occasionally. Forging weapons' but as well as rings and other trinkets that get give to those he caries about.

Mollycap is still far to new the the universe to have really picked up any real hobbies, though her quick trip to Golgarthum unlocked a talent for cooking. My girl makes a mean chicken noodle soup!

Serrabeth enjoys knitting and has even before she was brought back as eventually a grandmother in a power suit. She is also a avid collator of unique weapons', coins, armor and knickknacks' she find on other planes. Many of which have found their way from her collection in influence Crusabella after her death. Such as the enchanted stain glass of Benalia.

Baba Yule is a avid gardener and what ever cottage she has set up in some planar backwoods often has a cute little flower patch right next to it. Many of the flower are used in her hobby of brewing herbal tinctures. She enjoys cooking, as well as whittling small animal totems. She also likes to make up fairy tales that tend to find their way into nearby villages , most of which are "Stay out of the woods children it not safe for you."

When Dillon was just a shepherd boy in the hills around the great loch of Ta'mor, he favorite pastime was daydreaming. He now lives in the daydream of of others Win, win in his book.

Like I mentioned in another post, Sagara keeps a private garden of the rare and dangerous man eating flowers found in the rainforests of Jungala. He is also a patron of the arts and architecture, enjoys philosophical debates and plays the sitar.

Shari is a competitive man and enjoys competing with others in all manner of activates. His top favorers being hunting and wrestling. He enjoys working out and training with new weapons' the more exotic the better. He also enjoy patriating in traditional dances.

[captainjanegay]

Where I’m Meant to Be | Stucky | Meet-Cute, Slow Burn, Friends to Lovers, Kid Fic, No powers AU | Chapters 3/? | 12k words | Ao3

Summary: Bucky is a single dad coming back from a work trip with a very bored, very whiney 7-year-old girl. A mysterious stranger with a kind heart and a notebook full of doodles comes to the rescue.

A/N: I was pondering whether I should leave the dance recital for later or just go with it and I decided that I had no idea how else could this third chapter go, so here it is! I hope you'll like it and as always I wanted to thank you so so much for all the love and kind words :') They all make my heart melt and make me actually excited (even though still anxious) about posting next chapters :') Thank you so much to everyone who has read, commented, liked or reblogged this fic, it means the world to me ♥

I was worried this one is going to be shorter but I've added some last minute Natasha content because who doesn't love Natasha content? I certainly do. Enjoy and see you all next time ♥

.

Chapter 3 

(4.4k words)

Bucky is nervous. It feels almost as if he is the one who’s going to dance in front of all those people in less than an hour. Although he thinks it would be less anxiety-inducing than watching Alex's performance. It’s not like he doesn’t believe in her. If there’s one thing that Bucky is sure of, it’s that his daughter is talented and brilliant and that she’s going to be amazing. He just knows how important it is to her, so he wants everything to go perfectly. Which is why in the last two minutes he has sent at least four messages to Clint to make sure he won't be late. 

Each time Clint told him to fuck off and not be a dick. There’s still over thirty minutes left before the recital starts and objectively Bucky knows Clint would never miss something that’s so important to Alex. It doesn’t stop him from worrying, though.

With a sigh, he slides his phone into his back pocket and looks around the lobby. Not that many people are around yet and Bucky is not that surprised. Besides the parents, there are rarely any other people coming to those things. Sometimes not even all the parents do. Alex probably has the biggest support group even on the smallest events. And Bucky doesn’t even need to drag anyone forcefully. They’re just lucky enough to have plenty of supportive friends in their life and thinking about it makes Bucky really emotional sometimes.

The door opens and Bucky’s eyes skip that way automatically. The man that walks in is tall and blond-haired, dressed in an old-school brown leather jacket and a scarf wrapped haphazardly around his neck. He hovers by the door for a few moments and looks a bit lost, scanning the lobby.

“Steve?” Bucky says and the man’s head turns towards him quickly.

When Steve's eyes land on Bucky, a big smile blooms on his face.

“Bucky, hi!” Steve says, walking over to him.

“You came.” Bucky points out with a smile. Steve made it clear on a few occasions that he will, but actually seeing him here is still a bit of a surprise.

“Of course. Didn’t want to let Alex down. Or you, but mostly her,” the sincerity in his voice warms Bucky’s heart. Steve rubs at his neck in a nervous gesture and reaches to his messenger bag. “I’ve actually— You’ve said how important to her it was so I— I’ve made a little something for her, I hope that’s OK?”

Surprised, Bucky looks down and sees that Steve is holding an open folder. Inside, there’s a drawing made with coloured pencils and when Bucky sees it his breath catches.

It shows Alexandra in full ballerina gear, with a big fluffy tutu and a little tiara on her head. There’s a huge smile on her face and her eyes are sparkling in the spotlights. She’s caught mid-pirouette. Even though it’s just a drawing, it’s so dynamic Bucky half expects her to start twirling across the page. Around her there is a confetti of musical notes and roses being thrown her way, some of them scattered on the stage in front of her. It’s so beautiful Bucky’s fingers twitch forward to touch the drawing but he quickly catches himself.

“God, Steve—” he starts but he has no idea what to say next.

“I just— I don’t know, I wanted to have a little gift for her? The dancers are given flowers after their performances, but I— I don’t know, I can just—,” Steve mumbles.

When Bucky finally tears his eyes away from the drawing, he notices that Steve has an honest to God blush on his cheeks and he’s still rubbing his neck in that nervous gesture. A sudden urge to wrap this amazing, kind man in a hug overwhelms Bucky. He manages to stop himself. Instead, he puts his hand on Steve’s bicep and squeezes lightly.

“It’s beautiful. I can’t even— My god, it’s amazing. Alex will go crazy when she sees it. I bet she’s gonna make me hang it somewhere,” Bucky lets out a chuckle. “And I’ll gladly do that, it’s really wonderful.”

A shy smile appears on Steve’s face as he closes the folder and carefully tucks it into his bag. “It’s nothing, just a little drawing.”

“Maybe for you but she’s gonna be over the moon. And I can’t believe that you really came and did this drawing and— You’re amazing, Steve.”

The blush on Steve’s cheeks only deepens. He looks down, refusing to look into Bucky’s eyes and he opens his mouth to say something.

But before he gets the chance, there’s some commotion on the other side of the lobby. When Bucky looks that way, he sees Clint and Scott arguing about something, the former holding a phone in front of his face. Walking calmly behind them are Hope and Cassie, both with similar tired yet fond expressions on their faces.

“Hi guys, you’ve made it!” Bucky greets them with a smile.

“We did! Clint kept rushing us cause apparently you’ve been bugging him for the last hour not to be late,” Hope says giving Bucky an one-armed hug. 

“I—,” Bucky stutters. “It wasn’t an hour. Besides I wouldn’t if I knew he was picking you up.”

“Of course it was an hour and of course you would, Barnes. Don’t lie and pretend you're not a crazy person,” Clint says, looking up from the phone. 

Clint’s eyes skip from Bucky to Steve, who moved half a step back and is watching the commotion with a polite smile on his face. When Clint looks back at Bucky, he wiggles his eyebrows with an awful smile. 

Bucky never wanted to smack him so badly. 

“You won’t introduce us?” Clint asks.

Sending him one last hateful look, Bucky glances at Steve, giving him an apologetic smile.

“Sorry. Here’s Scott, his fiancee Hope and his daughter Cassie. And this idiot is Clint, sorry about him. Guys, this is Steve, a… friend, we’ve met recently.”

“It’s nice to meet you all,” Steve says with a smile.

“Wait, what Steve? How is James making friends, I didn’t know he could do that?” comes a voice from Clint’s phone, making Bucky groan.

“We’re just as surprised, Nat.”

Clint turns his phone around, showing the screen with Natasha’s slightly glitchy face on it. She quickly scans the new surroundings and her eyebrows shoot up when she notices Steve.

“Oh hello,” she greets with a signature Natasha smile, kind but slightly wolfish and possibly intimidating to strangers. "I'm Natasha."

“Um.” Steve sends a confused glance Bucky’s way, but says. “Nice to meet you too, Natasha. I’m Steve, the new friend. Apparently that's an achievement for Bucky.”

If Bucky felt sympathetic for Steve for being ambushed by his friends, he’s not anymore. Instead, he groans again and ignores the small smirk that Steve sends him and Natasha’s “I like this one!”.

“Can you all just shut up and proceed to the hall, please?” Bucky gestures towards the door across the room. “Since we’re all here already and the show is going to start soon we can as well take our seats already.”

When they don't move, Bucky ushers them forward, waving his arms as if they were a flock of chickens. Sometimes it feels like they are. Eventually, they do move and Bucky sends a small smile towards Steve who hangs back waiting for him.

"So, um—," Steve starts, looking at the small group in front of them before glancing back at Bucky. "Your wife couldn't come?"

Steve's voice is conversational so he seems surprised when Bucky halts to a stop.

"I'm—” Bucky furrows his brows in confusion. "I don't have a wife."

"Oh." Steve looks both confused and embarrassed now. "I'm sorry, I didn't— I just assumed, since Alex mentioned her mum a lot and— sorry."

"Oh no, Bucky's single," Scott says, apparently hearing the little exchange.

"And desperately ready to mingle," Clint prompts helpfully, throwing a grin over his shoulder.

It feels like Bucky has been doing nothing but groaning in distress during the past few minutes. "I'm not desperate—"

"I'm the mum!" comes Natasha's chipper voice from Clint's video call and he kindly turns the phone around. "Not the wife, though. James's too insufferable as anything but a friend. And likes men too much for that."

"Tasha, for fuck's sake," Bucky says loudly, getting a dirty look from some random mum who overhears him.

He pointedly doesn't look at Steve throughout this whole exchange. Why do his friends hate him so much? He doesn't deserve to be treated like this.

"Can we just—" Bucky takes a deep breath, pinching the bridge of his nose, "not talk about this and to the performance, please. It's starting soon."

It's Hope who stops this madness and decides not to ignore Bucky's obvious discomfort. With a smile directed at both Steve and Bucky, she takes Scott by his elbow and turns him around, pushing Clint slightly towards the hall. They don't object. Bucky has never been more grateful for her.

It's not until a few minutes later when they are all seated in the hall, surrounded by the quiet murmur of different conversations before the show, when Steve leans closer from his seat next to Bucky's.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable," Steve says quietly.

Bucky chances a look at him. The lightning is dim but the distance between them is small enough for Bucky to make out the dark blush dusting Steve's cheeks.

"It's not your fault my friends are idiots," Bucky jokes to lighten the mood. "Should've worn ya' before I've invited you."

Steve laughs at that. "Still, though. Shouldn't have just assumed things."

"It was a perfectly normal assumption to make." Bucky points out. "Really, don't stress about it. It's all good."

For a moment, Steve doesn't look convinced but eventually he nods and smiles. Bucky reciprocates the gesture. For a moment they just look at each other but their attention is soon drawn towards the front of the room. Some more lights above the stage appear when the owner of the studio walks in with a smile, asking everyone to take a seat. Her introductions are pretty standard and she keeps them short. Soon enough, the main show begins.

It’s really entertaining, even considering the fact that the age of the performers varies between 4 and 12 years old. They’re dancing in many configurations, the smallest dancers mostly in big groups and Bucky smiles the whole time, watching their — sometimes still clumsy but oh so cheery — dancing. Two of the oldest kids perform an amazing pas de deux to the music from Sleeping Beauty. They dance to a lot of contemporary music and loads of Disney songs, to Steve’s great delight. Bucky only shakes his head with a disbelieving smile when he hears Steve singing along to A Whole New World under his breath. Feeling Bucky’s eyes on him, Steve only shrugs and laughs quietly.

Alex is in two group dances and she has her own solo performance. She’s brilliant in all of them. And it’s not just Bucky’s biased opinions, because the hall erupts in loud applause when she finishes her solo with a bow and a huge smile on her face. Watching the concentration on her face, mixed with the absolute joy of dancing makes Bucky teary-eyed and by the end of her last performance he doesn’t even try to stop the tears. All the pride he feels, threatens to tear him apart. He would be the proudest even if she sucked but the fact that she manages to awe everyone in the room makes it all so much better.

After the recital is over, some of the guests leave to wait in the lobby but Bucky and his friends stick around in the hall, moving closer to the stage. Soon enough, Alex bolts from backstage, still in her dress and everything and launches herself into Bucky’s arms.

“You were incredible, my love!" Bucky says, hugging her tight and kissing the side of her face. “I’m so proud of you! You made me cry real tears, you were so beautiful.”

“Thanks, papa,” Alex laughs, leaning away a bit to look at him, her eyes sparkling with joy.

Soon enough, she gets whipped away from Bucky’s embrace by Clint who starts spinning her around the room, both of them shrieking loudly. They earn some disapproving looks by doing that, but they couldn’t care less. Bucky only watches them with a fond smile, laughing and getting emotional again when Alexandra notices the huge bouquet they’ve bought just for her. She talks briefly with Natasha - the video conference was on during the whole performance so even though Nat couldn’t be here in person, she could still watch the whole thing. Natasha apologises for not being there but promises to make it to the next recital that is supposed to happen around New Year’s Eve and she points out how proud she is every two words.

Bucky lets everybody congratulate his little girl and shower her with the love she deserves. He’ll have plenty of time to do that at home. So he takes a step back and stands next to Steve.

Steve, who waits politely, probably not wanting to interrupt as he just watches it all with a smile on his face. But when Alex’s eyes finally land on him, matching big smiles bloom on both of their faces.

“Steve! You came!” Alex exclaims, bouncing closer to where Steve and Bucky are standing.

“Of course I did,” Steve says and he crouches to be on Alex’s eye level. “You were incredible! Thank you so much for inviting me, it was so worth it. And I have a little gift for you.”

Hearing that, Alex starts bouncing on the balls of her feet in excitement and she watches as Steve retrieves the drawing. The moment her eyes land on it, she lets out a small gasp. Just like Bucky did before, she moves her hand as if she wants to touch it but stops, afraid to ruin it. When she looks up at Steve, her eyes seem a little watery.

“It’s for me?” she asks and when Steve nods, she carefully takes it from his hands. “I love it! Thank you so much, Steve!”

With that, she wraps her small arms around Steve’s neck. The movement catches Steve off guard, almost enough to make him lose his balance and Bucky laughs at the surprised look Steve sends him.

“You’re so welcome, Alexandra,” Steve says eventually, rubbing her back. “I’m happy you like it. Thank you again for inviting me.”

“Papa, look!” Alex yells, moving away from Steve and proudly showing Bucky the drawing. “It’s me!”

“It is!” Bucky agrees, hugging her close one more time. “It's my wonderful little ballerina!"

***

After the performance, they all decide to go to a restaurant for a celebratory dinner. Steve tries to flee but both Clint and Hope — which comes out as a bit of surprise to Bucky — nag him to join them. He sends a look at Bucky, probably hoping Bucky's gonna back him up.

He doesn't. Instead, both he and Alex send Steve their best puppy dog eyes saying that they'll love if Steve came along. Steve is not able to resist such power.

Bucky's not sure why he insists so hard on Steve coming with them, not really knowing what to expect. It turns out he had nothing to worry about. Steve fits right in with their little group. The evening is very nice and they all feel comfortable in each other's company. Bucky's a bit afraid at the beginning, when Clint starts asking some pretty nosy questions and is being his horrible self. Everyone except Steve has gotten used to it and they know that Clint is the best friend one can have but for some reason, he sometimes hides it quite well. But Steve doesn’t seem to be judging or getting annoyed in any way. Quite the opposite. It also turns out that under all of Steve’s gold-heartedness hides a little asshole with witty comebacks and good-natured jabs at whoever tries to mess with him. He can totally keep up with whatever Clint’s up to at any given moment.

It's enough to say that Clint absolutely loves it.

They don’t stay at the restaurant for too long. They can’t since Alex is tired after all of today’s excitement. She tries very hard to hide it, though. Fortunately for her, Bucky knows her better and he saves her from crossing the line between happy and miserably exhausted. No matter how nice the evening is going so far, they should go. So for the sake of Alex’s pride, Bucky says he’s getting tired and the two of them are probably going to head home. It's not even a lie. Considering he's only 29 and it's not even 10 p.m. it's kind of sad that he really does feel a bit sleepy. Alex tries to protest but it’s weak, which only proves Bucky’s assessment of her energy levels was correct. Of course, everyone else jumps to their feet almost immediately. They exchange hugs and thank-you’s and more congratulations for Alexandra and finally some goodbye’s as they all go in different directions. 

The short walk home wakes Alex up a bit. And because it's still her big night, Bucky lets her stay up for a little longer than usually when they finally get home. They cuddle on the couch and watch How to Train Your Dragon together, while sharing a bowl of ice cream. Of course their private little celebrations can’t start until the drawing from Steve is safely put away in Alex's room with promises that Bucky will hang it tomorrow.

About halfway through the movie Alex drifts off to sleep, curled safely on Bucky's lap. He takes a few extra minutes stroking her hair, trying not to think too much about how big she's getting or that soon she won't be so happy about cuddling with her papa anymore. Eventually, Bucky picks her up gently and carries her to her room. He finishes the movie and gets himself an extra scoop of ice cream before he heads to bed.

The next morning Alex almost drags him out of bed, rushes him through breakfast and almost pushes him out of the door. All that because he promised they're gonna shop for things they need to put the portrait from Steve on the wall. Bucky is not even mad. It is a gorgeous piece of art and he's really happy that Alex is so thrilled with it.

A few hours, some drilling and vacuuming tons of dust later, he snaps a picture of the drawing hanging proudly on the wall above the chest of drawers in Alex's bed. He attaches it to a message.

To: Steve Guess who got bullied into an IKEA trip at 10 in the morning on a Saturday just to buy a frame? Saturday, 12:30 A.M.

From: Steve Sorry? :) Saturday, 12:31 A.M.

From: Steve I'm honoured she likes it so much, though. Saturday, 12:32 A.M.

To: Steve I bet you're not sorry at all, you jump out of buildings for fun, you can't be trusted. Saturday, 12:37 A.M.

From: Steve I did NOT jump out of a building, stop saying that! And what happened to "you're amazing, Steve"? Saturday, 12:40 A.M.

To: Steve ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Saturday, 12:41 A.M.

***

After all the emotions from yesterday, Saturday passes in a nice yet uneventful way. Alex falls asleep on her feet at barely half past seven, but it’s no surprise that the tiredness has finally caught up to her. She doesn’t even try to argue when Bucky suggests she should head to bed earlier. After tucking her in, he lays down on the couch for a second, promising himself that he’ll do the dishes before heading to bed. Suddenly, it’s past 10 P.M. and he’s mindlessly watching some late-night reruns of Say Yes to The Dress. He’s not even surprised at this turn of events.

The noise his phone makes blasts in the quiet of the living room, making Bucky jump. He’s in such a rush to turn off the ringing that he drops the phone on his face, accidentally answering the incoming video call.

“Hi, dimwit. Did you just drop your phone on your face again?” He hears Natasha’s amused voice.

“I’ve never dropped a phone on my face in my life, I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Bucky answers as he rubs his aching nose that has taken most of the impact.

Natasha only rolls her eyes at that. “My girl already asleep?”

“Yeah, went to bed before 8 p.m. and i bet she’ll sleep in tomorrow. She was positively exhausted today.”

“I’m not even surprised. She deserves some rest though, she was so brilliant last night,” Natasha says with a sad smile. “I hate that I couldn’t be there.”

“Don’t do this to yourself, Tasha. She understands,” Bucky tries to convince her. “Besides you’re gonna be here for Christmas, right?”

Natasha is not reassured. She thinks she hides it well enough for Bucky not to notice, but he’s known her for too long. She sighs but then answers with a small smile. “Yeah, I will be home for most of December. I’ll need to go to Cali for a bit, as always, but I should be back for Christmas.”

“That’s great,” Bucky smiles. “We miss you here and you’ll be just in time to see Alex in the Nutcracker, you know that one’s even more important to her.”

“Can’t wait. She’s gonna outmatch me sooner than I’ve expected.”

“She will and I don’t even feel sorry for you. She’s just so incredible. Like with your skills and my brains and also my good looks she’s destined for great things. I feel kind of bad for other kids,” Bucky chuckles but he only half-jokes.

In response he gets a raised eyebrow from Natasha. “I think you’ve meant my skills, my brains and my good looks and your—,” she waves her hand towards him dismissively. “I mean, I’m sure there’s something, we’ll figure it out at some point. Maybe it’s your love for Say Yes to the Dress, who knows.

“I’m—,” Bucky tries to defend himself but the grin on Natasha’s face tells him it’s a lost fight. He didn’t expect Natasha to recognise the background noise of his TV but then — it’s Natasha, so he should have. “You’re so full of shit, Romanoff.”

“I’m not. You are though,” Natasha says and when Bucky sends her a questioning look, she explains with a cheeky smirk. “I can’t believe you haven’t told me you’ve found yourself a new, smoking hot friend!”

“You know what, I don’t have to put up with this, I’m gonna go to bed,” Bucky sighs, but he makes no move to actually hang up.

Natasha only laughs triumphantly. “Oh my, why are you so defensive all of sudden? I didn’t say anything bad, did I?”

“You’re something bad in general, so I’m always prepared. Why are you all so obsessed with Steve? I have to put up with Clint already, so please, leave me alone.”

“We just care about you! And since you’ve been stuck with just us for ages, we’re excited there’s someone new, kind and handsome in your life!” the grin on her face makes Bucky groan out loud. “He seems nice and I hope you’ll be able to get to know him better. In a lot of ways.”

“See? This is exactly what I meant. I can’t believe I’ve been friends with you for so long.”

Another laugh escapes her mouth but her eyes soften when she looks back at him a moment later. “Really, though. You can’t be alone your whole life. And don’t bullshit me saying that you have Alex, you know that’s not my point. You’re just a huge softie who needs someone to make heart eyes at, it’s basically in your blood.”

Bucky chuckles in disbelief, not sure how this conversation got to this point. “What are you even talking about? I’ve known Steve for way too little for you to say all this. I’ve seen him in person twice. Twice, Natasha.”

“I’m not saying it has to be Steve, I know you’ve just met him. It was just a side note, completely unrelated to Steve. If anyone’s making a connection here, it’s you. So maybe you should think about that.” Natasha looks at him pointedly and when Bucky tries to chime in, she doesn’t let him. “Also on a completely unrelated note, Steve seems like a good guy, if you think about dating. And if you think about casual, he’s also smoking hot.”

“You’ve already mentioned that,” Bucky points out. “And you’ve only seen him via video chat.”

“Well, he is and it was clear even through Clint’s shitty camera.”

It’s hard to disagree with that. Even though Natasha is insane and he is not going to date anyone in the near future, let alone Steve whom he barely knows. He can objectively agree that Steve is unfairly attractive, though.

“Before you go all defensive and mean again — I just want you to be happy, James,” Natasha says. “And maybe having around someone who’s not Clint would be good for you.”

Bucky shakes his head with a chuckle. “You might have a point. But dating is not really on my priority list and I don’t think it’s a good time to change that now.”

“Ugh, whatever,” Natasha groans. “I really hope it won’t turn out that our daughter actually inherited your brains, because you’re an idiot.” She takes a deep sigh and changes the topic. “But let’s get to the important things now — is it just me or the dresses he shows this Caroline chick are getting uglier and uglier?”

“Oh God, I know, right? I don’t think I can handle another one of those monstrosities.”

taglist: @steverrogers​ @till-the-end-of-the-line-punk​ (@ anyone else - let me know if you want to be tagged ♥

[hanawrites404]

Wynne's Diary - Nature with Muriel

"Muriel?"

"Hmm?"

"Can we go outside for a bit? I miss seeing nature from close" I requested him as I played with his raven hair, his head resting on my lap.

"Sure..........you can go out if you want to" He leaned onto my touch and shyly kissed my hand.

"I said 'we', Muriel. It means both of us. Along with our pets of course" I looked at him.

"I-I mean.......yes absolutely.........It surely has been a while since.........we visited the forest before we......you know" he blushed a slight pink.

"Before we got married, had a nice and long honeymoon and came back home being exhausted yet satisfied as fuck" I completed his sentence.

"Y-Yes" he blushed even more.

"So when is a better time than right now? The downpour must have ended so now we can enjoy the forest even more. A wet and misty atmosphere is something I really enjoy you know" I rubbed his bare chest.

"Yes....even I wanted to spend some time with you outside.........Inanna too wants to visit" Muriel told me.

"And so does Ichi" I eyed my turtle who was peacefully sleeping on Inanna at the corner.

"So what are we waiting for? Let's go. I'm really anticipating to see the new flowers and baby plants which recently came up" I told him.

Muriel nodded and sat straight up from my lap. I stretched my legs a bit and got off the bed.

"Ichi come on, let's make you soak some sunlight" I picked him up and kept him on my head as usual.

"Inanna you too come with us. You could use a nice walk" I petted her and she happily obliged with me, licking my hand.

I chuckled and scratched her neck.

"Good girl. Go to Papa now, I'll join you soon"

Inanna obeyed me and went away. I then quickly wear my shoes.

Muriel was standing near the door waiting for me. As soon as I came close to him, he blushed, and then offered me his hand to hold onto while turning his head away from me.

My lips curved into a smile and I cupped his face with my hand and turned it towards me. His cheeks were dusted pink and he still wasn't looking at me.

I shook my head with a chuckle.

"Ichi, lift me up please"

Ichigo does so and he makes me float in the air. I then used this to my advantage and I flew up to Muriel's height and kissed his lips passionately.

I felt him gasp but then he moaned in the kiss and pulled me closer by my waist and head, kissing me back.

I then pulled away while panting softly. Muriel's cheeks were now red and he looked so goddamn cute from close that I couldn't help but peck his lips once more.

"Ready to go, Big Boy?" I teased him.

"D-Don't call me that" He blushed more and pouted.

"Alright fine" I got down and opened the door to welcome the nature outside with open arms.

I led out a sigh of relief when I felt some leftover raindrops falling on my skin and the sun shining above, showering its sunlight through the canopy of the forest.

The weather was pleasant and cosy. I was having fun outside walking on the wet ground, the earthy smell along with the scent of wet leaves hitting my nose.

"You like it here Ichi? The weather is quite nice today" I rubbed his head with my finger and I felt him licking it.

"I'm glad that you feel the same way. And actually thinking about you, the strawberry plant I grew nearby must have ripened its fruits. So why not check on them soon?"

Ichigo squeaked with delight and I giggled.

"Then we shall go and pick some of the juicy strawberries for our dear Ichigo" I rubbed his head once more.

"Oh my? Where is Muriel?" I had realised that I had forgotten about him as soon as I placed my foot outside the house. I turned to look for him and fortunately he was not that far. He was just feeding his chickens as usual.

I then noticed that one of the baby chicks separated itself from the flock and came running to me with its tiny feet, tweeting at me cutely.

I blushed at its adorable nature and picked it up in my hand. The chick made itself comfy in my hands and chirped again.

God this fluffy baby bird was already making my heart melt......

I petted its head gently carefully as to not squish its head with my fingers. The chick settled down on my hand and enjoyed the affection, a small smile forming on my lips.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Muriel staring at me. But as soon as our eyes met, he averted his gaze and coughed awkwardly.

I chuckled and shook my head. I then approached him with the chick and crouched down with him in front of the chickens.

"They sure have grown in number. I'm happy to have so many of them. The more, the merrier"

"Yeah" He replied.

"The baby chicks which recently hatched up are so so adorable. Each of them are little balls of sunshine" I beamed.

"They sure are" he too smiled a bit as he petted one of them.

"And talking about little balls of sunshine, I was thinking about something lately" I started.

I really wanted to talk to him about this but never got the courage to. Now was definitely not the best time but I really wanted to get it off my chest.

"What is it?" Muriel asked me back.

"W-What if......You know......I......Oh god how do I say this?" I placed my hand on my forehead from frustration.

"It's ok. Take your time Wynne. Don't rush yourself" Muriel assured and I smiled weakly at him.

"Thanks......" I sighed.

Maybe I was finally ready to tell him now.

"You see.....I........I was thinking about our children"

Muriel tensed up a bit and I was actually expecting him to be. Being a parent was no joke after all.

"O-Our children..........what about them?" He asked me, concern in his tone.

"I......I am scared a bit. I think I will mess up again like I did before" I was dissapointed in myself.

"W-What are you talking about? Sonia was born as a healthy child" Muriel defended.

"Nothing was wrong with Sonia. The fault was on me instead. You do remember how I passed out in the middle of the delivery right? Sonia was really lucky to come out safely otherwise she was going to die even if she had a good health condition" I explained.

"I-I see.......yes.....I.....I do remember you getting unconscious while you were giving birth. Not going to lie but......I was really worried about you at that time" Muriel replied.

"Yeah........... Which is why I'm concerned about the future. The fact that they are twins this time would make the situation even more difficult than the previous one. What if.......what if they die because of me?.........Both of them?" I got paranoid and felt my stomach drop from the anxiety.

"H-Hey! D-Don't...... Don't think of it like that. You are a strong woman. You will be able to handle this" he cupped my face and locked his emerald eyes with mine. Concern and worry reflecting in his gaze.

"I......I don't know Muriel. I am not so sure about myself"

"But I am"

"What?.......Why?" I looked up at him. How can he have so much faith on a weak and hopeless person like me?

"It's because I......I have seen you handle many tangled situations with ease...........You..........protected the city and..........saved the people with your immense bravery and strength.........It's the thing I really........admire in you"

He then placed his hand on my stomach.

The pain of giving birth is something which I might never be able to understand.........but I know that it must have been difficult for you because it was your first time...........so give yourself some time to relax and.......take a break if you want to and..........and everything will turn out to be fine............."

"And what if it does not work fine?" I asked him curiously.

"Then I will comfort you as best as I cam.......and also take care of you if anything wrong happens...............I promise you that I would always protect you Wynne because I..............I love you..........I love you very much".

It was my cheeks' turn to heat up from his confession as I replied.

"I.........I love you too Muriel. Thank you for reassuring me. I feel much better now" I sighed from relief and smiled at him.

He blushed a deep red and rubbed his neck while looking away.

"Of course. Don't mention it" he replied.

I then smiled wider and hugged him tight, burying my head in his chest. I felt his body tensing up a bit but soon he relaxed under my hug and wrapped his arms around me, returning the embrace.

He kept kissing my head and playing with my stands of hair which made me giggle everytime. He really liked running his thick fingers through my hair, you see. One of the reasons why I prefer his hair massaging a lot.

We stayed like this for a couple of minutes, until Muriel asked me something.

"U-Ummmm.....Wynne?"

"Yeah?"

"I.......I wanted to take you somewhere......D-Do you mind coming with me?" He asked timidly.

"Oh of course I would love to join you. Lead the way Muriel" I took his hand.

He flushed pink once more but started walking without saying anything else. Inanna stayed behind to look after the chickens and so did Ichigo as he slipped off my head and joined Inanna.

I was already bubbling with curiosity the whole time. Where was he really going to take me? If I remember correctly, I knew the major areas of the forest, so what place was he talking about which I haven't seen yet and never knew of?

We did not take much time to arrive as Muriel stopped after a couple of minutes walking, but for some reason he didn't let me look at the place as he placed his big hand over my eyes, shutting them close.

"Don't look......!!" He ordered me.

I was confused as to why was he doing so but then I shrugged and let him cover my eyes.

He then takes hold of both of my hands and guides me forward. The aura of this place was surely different from what I usually sensed when I visited the forest. It felt more magical, heavenly and utopian. In simple words it felt very unrealistic however was present right in front of my eyes.

Muriel uncovered my eyes after settling me down on a rock and dipping my feet into the cool water after removing my shoes. I shivered from the feeling of pleasantly cold water wetting my warm feet which made me open my eyes.

I was amazed to see a small pond filled with crystal blue gleaming water. Many types of herbs and shrubs growing along its borders. It was similar to the enchanted lake I used to read about in stories.

"Muriel I.......This is beauteous. Where did you find this place??" I asked him, tugging onto his pants desperately like an excited child.

"I found this place by myself when I was looking for herbs.........and I thought that you would like it so.............I had saved it for showing this to you after our honeymoon........" He told me.

"Oh God, Muriel you are such a sweetheart" I cupped his face and kissed him passionately. I could literally feel his cheeks burning but I kept kissing him affectionately, expressing all my love for him in the form of kisses.

Slowly I pulled away and kissed his forehead, then his nose and then his lips. I then looked at my work and found out that Muriel had literally turned into a bright red apple.

I chuckled at his cute expression and leaned my forehead onto his.

"I love you so much Muriel. I truly do" I pecked his lips one more time.

"Gods I.......I.......I love you too Wynne.......Please be by my side always.............I cannot live without you" He took both of my hands which were cupping his face and kissed them.

"Don't worry......I will always be with you. No matter whatever happens to me" I then embraced him close to my chest as I ran my fingers through his raven black hair.

The butterflies of different kinds surrounded both of us as we held one another close, feeling each other's warmth and succumbing into the comfort and relief.......

Nature surely was blessing both of us today.......Is it because she missed me? Or is she welcoming the future generation residing in my womb?...........

Or Maybe both? But only God knows that.

The end..........

[ericsonclan]

A Gekkering Mess

Summary: Renata and Minnie go to a toy store where something interesting happens.

Word Count: 2605

Read on AO3:

It was a beautiful day in the town of Richmond. The sky was a bright, clear blue, the white clouds were rolling lazily by and the air had a freshness that made the huldra’s tail curl into a question mark. Renata’s tail twitched this way and that as she felt a cool breeze blow and tickle the opening in her back. Her brown eyes caught sight of a small flock of birds that flew through the sky. Her animal instincts kicked in and she wanted to run after them and see what would happen. But she quickly shook that urge away with a feeling that was much stronger. There was a different bird that she was really excited to see. A tall, cool, redhead harpy that had flown in and stolen her heart. The way Minnie made her feel was exhilarating and made her heart all warm and fuzzy each time she saw her. Renata was practically counting down the seconds it took her to get to the harpy’s house as she ran forward. The fur on her tail blew through the wind as her shoes whacked against the pavement. She couldn’t help but sprint towards her house, ignoring all the strange and horrified looks she got because of her monster features as she made her way down the street.

Once she saw the house in the near distance she skidded to a halt and began to walk casually forward, a little bounce in her steps as her excitement bubbled over. Any second now she’d get to see her girlfriend. The huldra walked to the front door, gave it a friendly knock and waited as patiently as she could for the door to be answered. Her body swayed back and forth as she waited until she noticed that the doorknob was turning. Her eyes grew large as she waited to see Minnie’s warm smile. Instead her head tilted to the side when she saw no one there at first. It only took the huldra a second to get what was happening.

“Hey, Tenn,” Renata’s fangs poked out with her friendly smile as the ghost boy slipped out of the door and formed into his usual fairly transparent appearance.

“Hey, Renata,” Tenn returned the smile with a shy expression and began to fidget with his fingers. “Minnie should be ready any minute now, but you’re welcome to come inside.”

“Thanks!” Renata strolled forward and heard frantic chirping and other sounds coming from the second floor. After a few minutes the soft clicking of talons could be heard coming down the stairs and Renata’s face immediately brightened when she saw it was Minnie.

“Hey, Ren,” Minnie jogged down the last few steps and stopped in front of her girlfriend. “Sorry, I hope I didn’t make you wait too long,” An apologetic twitter left her lips as she looked at the huldra.

“Nope! Not at all.” Renata leaned forward, getting on her tippy toes and placing a soft kiss on Minnie’s cheek. That made the harpy’s face turn a bright red. The huldra smiled proudly at that; she loved whenever she flustered Minnie. Minnie cleared her throat “Ready to go?”

“Yep!” Renata’s smile grew when she felt Minnie’s hand slip into hers, her fingers intertwining with Renata’s as they headed towards the door.

“We’re heading out. Make sure to not let Sophie eat all the chocolate chip bug cookies.” Minnie looked back at her brother who gave a nod in understanding. There had been far too many times that Sophie had gotten overwhelmed by the deliciousness of a snack and eaten all of it in minutes.

With that the couple was off, walking down the sidewalk slowly as they made their way towards the location of their date: A monster-friendly toy store run by a human the different monsters around Richmond swore was one of the most welcoming and friendly in the whole town. Still, on the way there there would still be humans that would give odd looks and whispered comments, but neither of the monsters seemed to mind. Minnie and Renata were happy in each other’s presence, enjoying the casual conversation and knowing it was a short walk to Swellington’s Toy Emporium.

“So have you ever been to the store before?” Minnie looked over at her girlfriend with a soft expression.

“Hmm, nope! But I’m happy to have my first time at the toy store be with you!” Renata’s tail curled around and brushed Minnie’s feathers. Minnie’s feathers puffed up for a second due to the sudden touch but she quickly gave a smile and continued on.

“Me too. I’ve never been but I’ve heard from Brody that they have really high-quality, soft plushies.”

That caused an excited smile to appear on the huldra’s face, her fangs poking out as she moved a bit faster. “Ooo, now I definitely can’t wait to get to the store!” Renata hummed happily as the two continued down the street. After a twenty minute walk they had reached the store. It was bright and colorful with a big sign. A train display was slowly making its way around the front of the store’s window causing a curious tweet to leave Minnie’s lips. The couple moved forward and opened the door. They were immediately greeted by a lady with brown hair pulled back into a ponytail. Fuzzy toy animal ears were on her head and she was showing them off to some kids who seemed in awe of them.

“Welcome to Swellington’s Toy Emporium,” She gave a friendly wave. “My name’s Edith. If you have any questions just let me know.”

“Thanks, we will,” Minnie gave a friendly smile and was surprised for a moment that for the most part everyone in this store seemed fine with them being there. Without having to worry about that fear, the two monsters wandered around the store. Their eyes admired all the different types of toys and exhibits on display. Renata’s tail was constantly curled in the shape of a question mark and her eyes were bright and shiny.

“Ooo! Ooo!” Renata’s soft hand gripped onto Minnie’s tighter as she pulled her forward. “I found the stuffed animal display!” The huldra and harpy stood before a display that towered over them. All types of creatures stood before them. Dragons, chickens, cats, bears, if there was a stuffed animal you wanted it seemed like this store had it.

Minnie’s eyes searched the different options. Excited, happy chirps left her lips as she saw the array of choices before her. Her hands immediately went to a fox plushie. Its orange fur reminded Minnie of Renata’s tail and the happy yet slightly mischievous look in its eyes was spot on. The harpy shook her head; maybe she was just reading too much into the fox plushie. She placed it down and decided to give herself time to consider purchasing it or not when suddenly a throaty sound appeared beside her.

The harpy glanced over and was alarmed to see Renata’s teeth bared and her tail slightly puffed. A high pitched sound emitted from her throat as her eyes were glued to the fox plushie. She began to slowly move towards it and continue the sound, the hole in her back vibrating from the volume of her gekkering until she caught sight of Minnie’s surprised face. Renata felt her tail go limp and she awkwardly scratched the back of her head.

“Oops, guess my animal instinct kicked in and all. Again,” She awkwardly picked up a rabbit plushie that she had chewed on. Her fangs had bits of fluff on them from the innards of the plushie. The poor thing looked rather sad now. “I’m gonna go pay for this and apologize. I’ll be right back,” Renata jogged over and gave Minnie a quick kiss on the check then scampered off towards Edith.

The harpy watched as the huldra apologized again and again. Edith simply waved her hand and put it on Renata’s shoulder which surprised the huldra. She gave some kind words with a soft smile and Renata handed over some money. Minnie turned her attention back onto the fox plushie. She wondered what gave Renata such a strong reaction. Was she jealous of a plushie? If so that was actually kind of cute. The harpy smiled and picked up the fox plushie; now she felt like she had to get it. Sneaking over to the cashier she purchased the plushie, tucking it away safely in the bag given to her. Suddenly she felt arms wrap around her waist. The harpy let out a surprised yet happy twitter and looked back at her girlfriend who gave a warm smile. “Hey, everything go alright?” The harpy’s question made the huldra nod her head.

“Yep! Wanna check out some more plushies? Ooo, or I saw this really cool display over by that corner over there.”

“Let’s check out the display,” Minnie’s words caused the huldra’s eyes to sparkle more which made the harpy’s heart flutter. Minnie leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on Renata’s cheek. The sudden romantic gesture had Renata’s eyes flickering with surprise before the playfulness returned to them. Her tail brushed against Minnie’s feathers and she grabbed her girlfriend’s hand, guiding her over to the display.

The two continued to explore the wonders of the toy shop, both of them getting overwhelmed by the sheer amount of cool stuff they saw. Minnie ended up buying a Lego set and Renata bought a yo yo that supposedly lit up whenever you spun it. Happy with their purchases, the couple walked out of there hand in hand and back to Minnie’s house. When they had reached the destination and said their goodbyes, Renata snuck in one final kiss, capturing Minnie’s lips and making her feathers bristle in happy alarment. With a playful smile, Renata began to walk backwards. “I’ll see you soon,” The huldra had a happy, casual smile on her face that Minnie matched as she waved goodbye.

“Can’t wait,” The harpy watched her girlfriend for a moment longer then closed the door. Her hand immediately got out the small fox plushie, a giddy twitter slipping from her lips as she ran up the stairs, her talons whacking against the wood until she couldn’t wait any longer and flew the rest of the way. “Come on, Foxy, I got the perfect spot in mind for you.”

------

“So what do you want to do today, Ren? Bug eating contest? Go Fish? Want me to fly you over the neighborhood again?” Sophie leaned forward in her bed, her talons tucked comfily away in her little nest.

Renata sat on the floor and tilted her head to the side. “Hmm, those all sound great… Let’s do them all!” Her fangs poked out with her smile when she saw that her best friend was clearly just as excited.

“Awesome! Let me just grab some stuff and we can start with the fly over the neighborhood.” Sophie fluttered her wings and got out of her nest. The harpy went over to the desk to grab something when suddenly she heard a throaty, high pitched growling sound. Alarmed, Sophie spun around to see her best friend slowly moving towards Minnie’s bed. There, tucked away in the nest was a small fox plushie with a cute smile. Sophie was confused for a second until she remembered Renata had mentioned before that foxes gekker when they see a rival. Which meant that Renata was jealous and competitive of a small, soft fox plushie. Renata’s tail was puffy and her teeth were bared as she lunged forward.

“Renata, no!” Sophie ran forward but it was too late. Renata’s teeth were already tearing apart the fox plushie, her eyes holding nothing but jealousy and anger for this innocent toy. The harpy flew up and wrapped her talons around the huldra’s arms. As she began to try to pull Renata away, a familiar voice called out.

“I’m home!” Minnie’s talons clicked up the stairs. “Hey, do we have any more grub ravi-” Minnie froze when she saw the scene before her. “Oli…”

Renata’s eyes grew large and her tail went limp as she spit out the toy.She looked into Minnie’s eyes for a moment then tried to speak but nothing came out. An awkward silence filled the room before the huldra spoke once more. ‘I’m really sorry,” She ran past Minnie and down the stairs.

“Ren, wait!” Minnie called out but the front door slammed shut and the twins were left alone, confused and with a torn up toy. Minnie took a spot on her bed and held the toy. She really didn’t think that this would happen. Her pale blue eyes wandered over to the open door. She just hoped Renata wouldn’t kick herself too much over this.

-----

The next day Minnie was surprised when she heard a knock on the door. She flew down to open it, hoping to see her girlfriend’s playful smile and bright eyes. But instead no one was there. The harpy’s eyes traveled down to the ground. There lay a dozen fox plushies and a big apology card with the words I’m sorry I got jealous over a plushie. Minnie picked up the card and was immediately hit with the familiar, comforting scent of cinnamon. Renata had definitely left this. The harpy stared at the collection of plushies for a moment before scooping them up and plopping them inside the house by the door. She didn’t want Renata to feel guilty over this silly thing. “I’m heading out for a bit!” Minnie didn’t wait for a response and sprinted out the door, pulling her hoodie over her feathered arms as she made her way to act out her brilliant idea.

-----

Renata lay on her bed. Her poorly resewn bunny plushie from Swellington’s was on her desk next to a pile of homework she hadn’t done yet. She hugged her pillow close to her chest. She hoped Minnie liked the apology gift. Her mind continued to focus on that until she heard a knock at her door. Curious, the huldra walked forward and opened the door to be surprised to find Minnie who was out of breath. A big yellow bird plushie was wrapped in her arms.

“Hey, Ren, I thought...” Minnie took a moment to catch her breath, “Since you gave me a bunch of plushies that remind me of you I’d get you one that hopefully reminds you of me.” The harpy's arms shot out, red feathers falling to the ground as she held forth the big plushie. Renata’s tail twitched this way and that as she accepted it.

“It's a big bird because, y’know, I’m a big bird,” Minnie gave a nervous smile.

Renata hugged the plushie close to her before she set it down and tackled Minnie with a hug.

“I love it!” The huldra peppered the harpy with kisses.

Minnie laughed and wrapped her arms around Renata, embracing her warmth. “I’m glad.”

The pair cherished that hug for a moment longer before Renata pulled back. “So, you're not mad at me?” “Mad? Nah, I think your gekkering is pretty cute.” Minnie’s smile grew when she saw that she had flustered Renata for a moment. “But just between you and me, those plushies have got nothing on you.”

Those words made Renata beam as she pulled Minnie into another hug. The harpy looked down at her girlfriend and laughed. Yep, there was no one like Renata. The huldra who had snuck her way into Minnie’s heart. The harpy hoped she stayed there for a really long time.

[in-the-name-of-the-manga]

Burning Bridges, Building Confidence Chapter 1: A New-Old Face

Special thanks to @bigcheeseyboi for being my beta reader on this!

Also AO3 link if you want to follow it there.

A few days later, Marinette moved up the stairs of the school, far before anyone else had even arrived. Dark bags were barely concealed by second day foundation as she walked into the classroom, taking her seat in the far back. She felt Tikki roll in her sleep inside her purse; it had been a hard night for both of them, a stubborn akuma combined with Chat’s constant flirting caused them to spend the entire night fighting the akuma. They got back just in time for a twenty minute power nap before they had to get ready.

The Chinese-French girl yawned, curling up on the bench for an attempt to get a few more minutes of sleep, using the pushed in bench to get some dark and quiet space. She hoped that no one would mess with her, she’d even taken to putting locks on her bags, hiding the keys on a piece of twine in her purse next to Tikki. Less chance for Lila to steal something and/or plant evidence to frame her because the designer wouldn’t put it past that vile liar to do just that.

Marinette wasn’t sure when she drifted off, but either way she awoke to a large amount of noise and someone gently tapping on her shoulder. She turned over on the bench to see someone leaning over her.

“It is time to wake up, the class will start soon.” The person was speaking in awkwardly pronounced French, with a twangy hint and strong ‘r’ sound that Marinette remembered was an American accent. She rubbed her eyes and sat up, somehow missing the desktop. With her vision clearing, she turned to the new person.

She was easily taller than most of the class, save for maybe Ivan, with skin that was slightly tanned, likely by the sun. Her hair was a caramel colored mess that obscured her right side of her face, leaving her vivid green left eye to peek out. Marinette blinked for a second before breaking into a smile.

“Right.” She sat up, scooting over and patting the bench on her right side. The girl sat down, pulling out a notebook and pencil from a cool looking backpack. She then pulled a cord from the side and wrapping it around, snapping a lock shut once it was wrapped securely around the backpack. Marinette rubbed her eyes again and stole a glance around the room, noting her classmates crowding around Lila, throwing glares and stares at the two girls every once in a while.

Her phone vibrated in her pocket, alerting Marinette to a message. She pulled the phone, now with a tough case and screen protector, and unlocked it. There was a Discord message.

Cat-with-a-Bat.jpeg : u ok?

She turned to the girl next to her, eyebrows in a ‘really?’ face before turning back to her phone.

Stitches-and-Swatches : v little sleep

Cat-with-a-Bat.jpeg : want sum o my coffee?

Marinette nodded wearily, the girl slid a tall travel mug over to her. The heroine sighed in relief and took a huge swig of the warm liquid. The caffeine rushed through her system and within a few moments she was more alert.

Stitches-and-Swatches : thank u

Cat-with-a-Bat.jpeg : np. surprised 2 c me?

Stitches-and-Swatches : maybeso.gif

Cat-with-a-Bat.jpeg : i was planning on picking u up and walking here together but ur mom said you left early :(

Before Marinette could reply, Mme. Bustier walked in. She placed her stack of papers on the desk before surveying the class, noting the two distinct groups. Most of the class around Lila, while the two girls up top and Chloé were the other group.

“Class, time to start,” Mme. Bustier announced. The class wandered to their seats. “In case you haven’t noticed, we have a new student. Please introduce yourself.”

The girl next to Marinette, surveyed the class with a bored glare. “My name is Collette Sullivan.”

Mme. Bustier’s mouth set in a frown, “Won’t you tell the class a little about yourself? Are you sure you’ll be alright back there? You had mentioned your ”

“There is not much to tell. I am from America. I hate nicknames from strangers. That is all.”

Mme Bustier sighed before starting the lecture, this one on Shakespearean play Hamlet . About halfway through, Collette perked up. She nudged Marinette, who had begun to doze off again.

“She knows she’s recalling Othello, right?” Collette said in english. Marinette paused for a moment before nodding.

“I stopped listening once she mentioned Gertrude being in love with Claudius and called ‘Romeo and Juliet’ a love story.”

“Marinette, Collette,” Mme Bustier called. “Do you have something you’d like to share with the class?”

Collette glared back. “Yes. You do realize that you have been quoting Othello for the past fifteen minutes right? And Hamlet isn’t simply crazy, there’s been centuries of debate on that. I think you need to fix your notes a bit, you must’ve mixed something up.”

Mme Bustier blinked for a few moments, as did the rest of the class. No one had ever spoken to her or any teacher like that.

“So it seems I have,” Mme. Bustier noted, looking at her notes. “Well, give me a few minutes class while I go get a full copy from the library.” The teacher spun on her feet and walked out of the room.

In an instant all eyes were on the new girl.

“What?” She asked as deadpan as can be, giving each of them a bored gaze.

“You can’t just talk to teachers like that!” Alya exclaimed.

“She asked if I had something to share so I did. Got a problem with that?” Instantly there was an uproar, Rose and Mylene were wondering how she could be so mean and insult Romeo and Juliet like that; Lila was lying (something about meeting a student who she had to save after talking back to the teacher or something stupid like that); Max was reiterating the statistics of how likely she was to get in trouble for talking back like that and Kim and Ivan were simply glaring at her. Nino was saying how much of a buzzkill she was while Alya began yelling again.

Cole noticed that the only ones who weren’t crowding around her were a blonde girl a few seats over with earbuds and music playing, a boy with red hair in his face, and a blond down in front. So complacency with the latter two, great.

Mme. Bustier came in a few moments later with a proper copy of Hamlet and a relieved smile across her face, which quickly turned to a frown when she saw her class ganging up on the new girl and said new girl moments away from murder.

“Back in your seats class,” her voice held all the class needed to return to their seats, giving one last glare to the new girl. Class went on as well as it could have until the lunch bell rang. As she strode down with Marinette close behind her, Cole leveled a glare at each student, stepping over Kim’s purposefully outstretched leg and signalling Marinette that it was there.

They weren’t anything but sheep, and what was a herd of sheep to a human being?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chloé wasn’t sure what to think of the new girl. When she walked into the class and gave zero indication of anyone else in the class, even her, Chloé was intrigued.

If the new girl’s tousled hair, vivid green eye, cropped jacket, fingerless gloves, multiple ear piercings and ripped jeans set her cheeks alight, then it was no one else’s business but hers.

As she watched Dupain-Cheng, no Marinette , lead Collette around, Chloé followed at a distance. Sabrina had long since ditched her for Lila’s flock of sheep, so she had no one to worry about following her.

"No way Nettie," The new girl teased in english. The duo ran past the rest of the class who, like the sheep they’d become, surrounded Lila to hear her garbage fire of lies. Chloé ignored the arrogant Italian and followed the two girls.

“I’m telling you Lettie,” Marinette replied. They passed the glaring sheep and went out the door. Marinette had long since stopped staying at school for lunch, opting to go home for lunch instead. “There’s this really cute cafe two streets over, you’ll love it!”

Cole’s laugh, twangy and loud, echoed down the hall. Chloé easily caught sight of the new girl’s backpack, with a wrap around cord and a lock surrounding it, it was a dull gray and black contrasted by her cropped leather jacket, brightly colored bandana, silver earrings (with an ear cuff that just kept distracting Chloé during class), or the mess of hair that was likely styled to be a bit sharper and oh no she’s rambling .

“Really?”

“Yeah, they have that spicy chicken you like,” Marinette gave a cheeky grin to the girl. “Even if it pales in comparison to a nice pastry.”

The taller girl gives her an edgeless glare, before giving a theatrical laugh. “As if! Your sweet and flaky pastries are weak against the fires of my spicy chicken! Does your friend back there want to come?”

Chloé jolted as she realized she’d been caught. She steps out from behind the pilliar she’d ducked behind.

“Chloé?” Marinette asks. “I thought you’d be in the cafeteria already.”

Chloé tsks and and looks affronted. “And be assaulted by the lowering IQ of our class and the attention whore that is Rossi? No thank you.”

“I wholeheartedly agree,” Cole replied, her French no longer stilted and formal. “It takes all I have to not just toss her out the window into the dumpster where she belongs. Oh where are my manners,” she holds out a hand. “The name’s Collette Sullivan.”

“Chloé Bourgeois,” The blonde replies, shaking the taller girl’s hand. They shook briefly before Marinette spoke again.

“Chloé, do you want to join us for lunch?”

“If you’re extending the invitation, sure.” Cole smiled as the three walked out. To Marinette’s surprise, Chloé didn’t call for her car, opting to just walk with them.

They found there way to the cafe about seven minutes later, the hostess seating them kindly. They ordered their drinks, latte for Chloé, cherry soda for Marinette, and water for Cole. As they sipped their beverages, Cole pulled out a notebook, writing things down as her left arm bumping against the wall of the booth.

“You’ve got guts Collette, I’ll give you that.” Chloé said out of the blue. “No one would ever talk to Bustier like that, let alone call her out, even if she’s wrong.”

Cole looked up from her notebook, and ran a hand through her bangs. “Thanks I guess. I just really like Shakespeare and I hate when people don’t give it the thought it deserves. Especially the Romeo and Juliet thing. It always drove me up the wall.”

Marinette smiled, looking to Chloé. “She takes her Shakespeare very seriously.” She turned to Cole. “Didn’t you play Hamlet at one point?”

“I memorized his soliloquy, yes,” Cole took a big sip of her water. “Shame the only time I can remember performing it was in class standing on a rolling chair and wearing a recycling bin on my head.” Chloé let out an unladylike snort of laughter, the two other girls looked to her.

“Do you happen to have video of that,” Chloé laughed. “I’d love to see it.”

For a moment Marinette feared that Chloé was reverting to her old ways, but Cole lit up, pulling out her phone and unlocking it at lighting speed. It was a few taps later that Cole passed Chloé the phone, offering her the earbuds. After a few moments Chloé began to snicker. She burst out laughing a few minutes later. She put the phone down and took a few moments to collect herself.

“That’s...amazing,” Chloé gasped out, still recovering from her laughter. “You definitely put a lot of work into that.”

“Thanks.” The waitress came back and the three girls ordered their food. “I was running on about two hours of sleep when I did that, I’m surprised that I got it right.”

“Just as Shakespeare intended,” Marinette joked. Cole nodded and laughed aloud.

“Shakespeare was crazy,” the brunette replied. “And you can add so many spins to the stories when you’re performing.”

The waitress came back in near record time, dropping off Cole’s spicy chicken, Marinette’s croissant sandwich, and Chloé’s sushi. The three girls began to eat their lunch when Chloé asked a question,

“I’ve been meaning to ask, Mme Bustier mentioned a vision problem you had, but you refused to move up front. Why?”

Cole looked uncomfortable for a moment before replying. “It’s nothing that affects how I see out of this eye,” She pointed to the visible green eye, before pulling back her bangs and clipping them back. “This eye however is a bit...MIA I should say.”

“Whoa,” Chloé gasped. She took a moment to look at the eyepatch that covered Cole’s eye socket. It was black, with embroidered begonias, rhododendron, and mint leaves on it, while beneath it, some medical gauze and padding peeked out from behind it.

“How does the eyepatch fit?” Marinette asked. “Does it hurt?”

“The eyepatch is fine Mari,” Cole replied. She put a hand on Marinette’s shoulder. “Thanks for embroidering it for me. You’re the best cousin ever.”

“Wait,” Chloé interrupted. “You two are related? No wonder you got along so quickly.”

The two cousins nodded in unison, before bursting out laughing. Cole added, “Yeah, my mom and her dad are siblings. But I lived in America for a long while. I’m glad to be here though, I missed being with my family.”

Chloé looked between the two, the resemblance was there, faintly. The same freckles, same ears, similar noses too. And from what she remembered of Gina Dupain, her eyes matched her granddaughter’s, the hairstyle and clothing was also an indicator.

“Well I hope you have a good time in Paris,” Chloé replied. “And if you ever want to hang out, well, you know where to find me.”

“I’d be glad to hang out with you if you want. And Chloé?”

“Yes?”

“You can call me Cole if you want to.” Chloé nodded, feeling quite warm inside. She remembered Cole’s introduction earlier that day ‘I hate nicknames from strangers.’ Chloé must not be a stranger anymore then. Marinette’s smile seemed to confirm it.

They paid for their lunch and began to walk back to the school. As they got there, they heard a commotion from the cafeteria.

“MARINETTE!” Alya’s screech rang out. The blogger came storming down the stairs and right up to the designer. “How dare you! Bullying Lila when she went to the bathroom! Threatening to take away her friends! How could you be so selfish!? And you!” She spun to Cole. “Lila knows what you did! She heard about you faking a vision problem to try and get attention! You should be ashamed!”

Before Marinette could say anything, Alya was backpedalling, followed closely by Cole, whose aura had changed to be downright threatening.

“I’m sorry,” Cole’s voice was as sharp as a knife, sending chills up the spine of all three other girls, and the students hiding in the doorway. “I don’t recall asking the opinions of sheep and shower scum. If you just want to bitch, go somewhere else. But when you have a quality source, come talk to me. Because even with a vision problem, I can see this situation clearer than you could ever hope to. Now run along, you sheep. We have class to get to.”

Chloé and Marinette quickly followed the taller girl, who used her height and threatening aura to part the crowd like the Red Sea. She sent Mylene scampering behind Ivan, while Rose and Juleka peered around his other side. Kim gave her a glare, only to back pedal when she leveled her glare on him. As she passed Lila, clinging to Adrien like a lame sloth, she stated,

“And Rossi, if you have problems with someone with an actual disability, maybe you should shut your mouth. After all, you seem to stick your foot in it every time you open it.”

She leveled a glare at the Italian, who seemed genuinely scared, but more infuriated than scared. What a fool.

“You’re just mad I outed you.”

“Foot, meet mouth.” She pulled her cousin along, Chloé following not far behind. The three girls walked by and went to the classroom with little struggle, settling in the back. Chloé sat down, she noticed Cole tapping away on her phone before pocketing said device, turning to her cousin with a wink.

Class passed by with a tense air, whenever Cole spoke in class, Lila began to put on a show of waterworks. The rest of the class, sans Marinette and Chloé, would glare at her. As class was dismissed, the trio made plans to walk home together, she heard M. Damocles call out her name.

“Great,” She turned to Chloé and Marinette. “You guys go on ahead. Head wherever, just text me when you get home safe.” She handed Chloé a folded piece of paper, which when unfolded, had a phone number on it. “I’ll see ya later.” She headed up the stairs to the principal’s office. The two girls waved goodbye to the third. As she disappeared, Chloé turned to Marinette.

“We should get going, I don’t know about you, but I’m losing IQ points just standing here.”

“Sure,” Marinette replied. They made it down the stairs before anyone else could catch up to them, and as they walked into the bakery Sabine looked up from the counter.

“Hello sweetie, hello Chloé,” Sabine smiled. Marinette had told her how much progress Chloé had made since she decided to be a better person. It made the woman proud. “How’d you like your surprise at school Marinette?”

Marinette smiled sweetly. “I loved it! I’m so glad Lettie is here. It’s been so long since I’ve seen her. Is Nonna coming by anytime soon? They haven’t seen each other in years. ”

“She mentioned during her last phone call that she’d be back from Spain in a few days,” Sabine replied. “Why don’t you two girls head up? And take some snacks with you.”

“As much as I’d love to,” Chloé replied. “I have to go, my mother is headed out on a business trip and I want to see her off.”

Sabine and Marinette looked sadly at the girl. Despite accepting that she’d never get it, Chloé still held a bit of hope for her mother’s approval.

“Alright, but take these for the road,” Sabine replied, handing the blonde a box of honey and lemon flavored treats. “And text let us know when you get home safe.”

“I will, bye Ms Cheng, bye Marinette!” She waved to the two Chinese women as she gladly took the box and left the bakery.

“She’s come a long way these past few months,” Sabine observed.

“Yeah, even if she still has her moments,” Marinette replied, she joined her mother behind the counter, hugging her. Her mom smelled like the bakery, warm baked pastries and hints of butter and fruit.

“How did class go for you and Cole today?” Marinette frowned, even as she felt Tikki nudge her in her purse.

“It was decent,” She admitted. “Lettie didn’t make a good impression with the class, but I don’t think she cares.”

“She never was one to care, what was that thing she used to say?”

“‘Those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind’,” Marinette recited. Sabine hugged her daughter again. After a truly rough day, Marinette had admitted how her classmates were changing, and it wasn’t for the better. Sabine had been livid, and her daughter just managed to calm her down. She trusted her daughter to come to her if there was anything she could do, and Marinette admitted she had one idea. Transfer classes at the beginning of the next school year.

“Are you alright though?” Sabine asked, looking her daughter in the eye. “I know you used to really care about the class.”

“I still do to an extent,” Marinette admitted, tracing patterns in the flour on the counter. “But I’ve been wronged so much by them these past few months, that I don’t think I can ever return to the way things used to be.”

“And I’m glad you’ve come to that decision,” Sabine pressed a kiss to her daughter’s forehead. “You’ve listened to your emotions, and made the decision for yourself. I’m so proud of you.”

Marinette wanted to cry. She loved her mom so much, Sabine had been a lot like Marinette when she was younger, a people-pleaser, overworking herself, changing herself to fit others’ demands, it was when she met Tom that she finally began to work past those issues. Sabine knew a little bit of what Marinette was feeling, but Marinette wished she could tell her more. About Ladybug.

“I know Mom,” Marinette replied. She broke the hug reluctantly. “I’ve got to go get my homework out of the way.”

“Alright sweetie,” Sabine handed her a plate of croissants and cookies to eat. “Don’t forget to take a break or two.”

“Okay Mom.” she took the plate and went upstairs to her room.

As she climbed up to her room, Tikki flew out of her purse. “Cole seems nice.”

“Yeah Tikki, I really missed her. I haven’t seen her in years.” The teen dumped her bag at her desk and sat in the chair. “I just wish she didn’t get a first hand look at Lila’s lies on her first day.”

“It was inevitable Marinette,” Tikki replied. “The longer Lila keeps lying, the more the class will turn against you. Since Cole is related to you, even if they don’t know it, Lila must consider her a threat.”

“She is,” Marinette replied. She typed out a message to her cousin on their discord chat. “We’ve been told we’re a lot alike, except I got most of the sweetness. She’s very good at planning. I think she’s more of a threat to Lila than I am.”

Suddenly there was a crash heard throughout Paris. Marinette looked up, seeing a cloud of dust rising from the ground and hearing the yells of panicked civilians.

“Of course,” She sighed. “Let’s hope Chat actually does something this time. Tikki, spots on!”

[katedoesfics]

Lacuna | Chapter 8

It took a few hours, but after popping a few pills and falling back asleep, Kahli was feeling a little better by the late morning. She managed to pull herself together enough to trudge up to the tree farm, but to her surprise, someone had already set up the waterwheel. All that was left was to connect the water to the sprinkler system in the farm.

She stared at the set up by the lake for a moment until Dawa approached her.

“Looks like you’re almost done,” he said happily.

Kahli turned to him. “Who did this?”

Dawa raised a brow. “Uh. You did?”

Kahli shook her head.

Dawa shrugged. “I dunno,” he said. “I’m just getting up here, now. I thought you were working on it all morning.”

Kahli turned back to the wheel, examining it. She couldn’t think of anyone who would have the ability to get this much work done. And it looked to be in working order. All she had to do was connect the engine and get it started. She decided not to question it and chalked it up to  little builder fairies that decided to give her a break, and she spent the rest of the afternoon finishing the job. By the evening, the irrigation system was complete and the sprinklers gave the trees much needed water.

The following day, Kahli found herself a rare moment to herself. But instead of sniffing around the Commerce Guild for more work, she decided to take advantage of the day, making her way to the ranch to visit Emily for a change. She was chasing after some baby chicks when Kahli walked over, and she blew her hair out of her face in exasperation. She put her hands on her hips and grinned.

“Look who made it to our neck of the woods.”

“You look like you need a hand,” Kahli said.

Emily’s shoulders slumped. “Yeah. Kinda. Gotta gather up these little guys and bring ‘em back into their coop.”

Kahli watched one of the chicks hop over to her, and she bent down and picked it up carefully.

“That was hard,” Kahli said with a smirk. She brought the chick up to her face and scratched it’s little head with her finger. It chirped loudly until she brought it back to the cage with its friends.

“Oh, sure, you make it look so easy,” Emily said. She rolled her eyes. “Come on, Chicken Lady, gimme a hand.”

With Kahli’s help, they had gathered the rest of the escaped chicks and brought them back to the coop where they pecked eagerly at the ground with the mother hens.

“And you thought you were getting a day off,” Emily said.

“Ah, I don’t mind,” Kahli said. “They’re pretty cute.”

“So, how was yesterday? Were you as sick as I was?” Emily laughed.

“I didn’t even remember coming home.”

Emily nudged her with her elbow. “Did you wake up with a certain someone in bed?”

“What’s wrong with you?”

“Alright, alright,” Emily said. “I’m done with the Arlo bit. I’ll leave you alone. I think you got it bad enough the other night, anyway.”

“I think you should go back to Antoine and Dr. Xu.”

Emily nodded. “Oh, I’m sure we will.” To Kahli’s relief, she changed the subject. “So. You want a couple of chicks? I could spare a couple as payment for helping me, if you want.”

“I don’t know how to take care of chickens,” Kahli said.

“They’re easy,” Emily explained. “Throw ‘em some grain and make sure they have water. Wait for ‘em to pop out some eggs, and voila, breakfast!”

“Really?”

“Really, really,” Emily nodded. “And I’ll even help ya build a coop.”

Within the hour, there were a dozen chicks and six ducklings running around Kahli’s yard, and she and Emily were staring at a pile of wood, hammers in their hands.

“Have you built a coop before?” Kahli asked.

“Well, no,” Emily started. “But, I mean, come on, it’s just like, a box, right? How hard can it be? You built a damn bridge, I think you can handle a coop. It’s just gotta not fall apart.”

“Oh, of course,” Kahli rolled her eyes. “I thought we could just leave it as a pile of wood.”

“You’re lucky I like you,” Emily said. “Your snark level is at max today.”

Kahli grinned. “Alright,” she started. “We should start with the walls. Put a couple boards together like this, right?” She lined a few boards side by side. “And we can hold ‘em together with this longer board, like this.”

“Obviously,” Emily said. “You do a side and I’ll do a side.”

They set to work, each building a side, and when the sides were completed, they worked on the back piece. They fit the three sides together, then closed it in with a fourth wall with a square doorway. Emily fastened a ramp leading out of the doorway, and Kahli enclosed the coop area, giving the flock an outdoor space. By evening, the coop was complete and Kahli’s new flock was pecking happily at their grain.

Emily brushed her hands together as they admired their work.

“Well, whadda ya know,” she said. “Maybe I can be a builder, too!”

“You’d probably do better than me,” Kahli said.

“Okay, enough of the pity party. You’ve done a hell of a lot in the three weeks you’ve been here, so shut up.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Emily grinned. “Good. Drinks?”

Kahli followed her into town where a crowd had gathered. It was Sunday night, and she had completely forgotten about the weekly meetings that Mayor Gale held in the plaza. He was just beginning to speak when they joined.

“We are aware of some thefts this week,” Gale said. “These actions will not be tolerated in our town! We will investigate this to the end and capture the perpetrator.”

“Must be Huss and Tuss again,” Martha said with a roll of her eyes.

“Those idiots never give up,” Higgins muttered, and the rest of the town broke out into murmurs of complaints.

“We’ll get to the bottom of this as soon as possible,” Mayor Gale assured them. “Arlo will be spearheading this investigation, so you folks can rest assured!”

“Great,” Kahli muttered. “And I don’t think my doors lock.”

“Good to know,” Emily said.

“Jokes on you. I have no possessions. I barely have a pillow.”

Emily laughed. “Maybe I should break in and leave you something, then.”

“Can it be a million gols?”

“Maybe two.”

The crowd dispersed, and to no surprise, most of them headed for the Round Table for the evening. Kahli and Emily joined them, sitting at the bar beside Antoine. Sonia was behind the counter and served them drinks as soon as they sat. Kahli looked around the room quickly.

“Ya boy’s not here,” Sonia said.

Kahli blushed and drank quickly. “I’m not - no - shut up.”

Sonia grinned and left them alone at the bar to tend to the other patrons.

“But Dr. Xu is,” Antoine said dreamily. He turned in his seat and drank, looking over his glass to where the town doctor sat.

“Stop being a creeper,” Emily said.

Antoine shrugged. “So I appreciate good looking men. Kahli and I both do.”

“Oh, so now you’re on the Arlo train, too?” Emily moaned.

“There’s no train,” Kahli muttered, but no one was listening.

“I know a good looking guy when I see one,” Antoine said with a shrug. “But the brave, rugged, adventurous thing isn’t my type. He’s all Kahli’s.”

“Guess I’m getting shitfaced again,” Kahli said to her drink.

“In my defense,” Emily started, “I didn’t bring it up. I was trying to give Antoine shit.”

Antoine offered Kahli an apologetic smile. “So, what fun projects they’ve got you working on?” Antoint said.

“Uh.” Kahli hesitated. “I built a chicken coop.”

“Yup,” Emily confirmed. “All by herself.”

“I heard you were able to help Dawa and Aadit a few times.”

Kahli nodded. “Yup.”

“Well, you’re exciting,” Antoine muttered.

Kahli sighed and swirled the liquid in her glass. “Aren’t I?” She blew her bangs out of her face. “I should have run off to be some adventurer or something, too.”

“Apparently it runs in the family,” Emily said.

“Why would you want to do that when you can be here drinking with us? An added bonus is that it’s much safer than the rest of the world. Some people like not dying.”

“Or they live for the thrill of the risk,” Emily said. She put her chin in her palm and sighed. “Seeing all kinds of crazy new things. Never knowing what the next day will be like.”

Kahli and Antoine blinked at her and she met their gaze.

“What?”

Kahli grinned and sipped from her drink. “Daydreaming of being an adventurer?”

“That’s new,” Antoine muttered.

“Eh.” Emily drank. “I dunno. Maybe. I guess I kinda wanted to live that life, you know, when I was younger. But Granny needed me here.”

“I did not know this about you,” Antoine said. “Maybe you should get with Arlo instead and you guys can go adventuring together.”

Emily scoffed. “Please. I can’t take Kahli’s man from her like that.”

“He’s not my man!” she barked loudly, then shrank in her seat and finished her drink. “You people don’t let things go, do you?”

Emily sighed. “I need to get laid.”

“You and me both,” Antoine muttered.

“Oh, hell,” Kahli said. “Me too.”