#i’m gonna go get a white hot chocolate with vanilla and lavender and i’m gonna enjoy it!!!

[navysealt4t]

there is actually so much love and beauty in every single thing in this life i’m gonna explode

[sakiyo]

━ # HAIKYUU BOYS AS YOUR COLLEGE ROOMATES PT. 1

+ pairings: atsumu miya/reader

+ tags: atsumu bring a messy dude </3, platonic-ish relationship, uni!au

+ warnings: very brief mentions of sex, weed and alcohol, partying

+ word count: a lot probably idk they’re headcanons

+ note: this is gonna be a series but atsumu’s was wayyy too long!! the rest will probably be much shorter [i was too attached to these hcs to shorten them so enjoy]. thank you @kiyoomae for helping me with these mwah ily beaut <3

© all content from this blog belongs to ushigushi 2020. do not repost, modify, or plagiarize.

ATSUMU MIYA

girl...RUN

he’s a great person sure

but he’s not the BEST roommate

not even osamu wants to room with him, but honestly he just wants cheap rent [like every other student alive]

so when he sees a ‘roommate wanted’ poster on campus, he basically believes that this a sign from god that he should go to your interview

one thing about atsumu:

HES A CATFISH!

he knows that first impressions are one of the most important things in life [mostly because of volleyball and what not]

so naturally he’s going to act the way you want him to !! toxic trait: subtle manipulation i’m telling you

and so when he shows up at your place, hes pretty much perfect. he looks put together and his fit is immaculate okay?

usually, you aren’t one to judge a book by its cover, but when it comes down to roommates….better safe than sorry babe

and the second atsumu mentions his gravitation towards volleyball and sports, you feel like you’ve won the lottery.

a clean and well put roommate who ALSO spends most of their time away from the apartment? what more could you ask for?

and as a quick bonus: HES HOT!! [so you can definitely brag to your friends about the attractive roommate you scored]

you’re quick to say yes, and as soon as you know it he’s added to the contract with your landlord!

atsumu keeps up his facade for another two weeks or so; washing dishes, keeping clean, never being too noisy and giving you your personal space

but when he finally shows his true colours?

you’re not sure if you want to strangle him or rip out your hair strand by strand

whew....he is messy.

atsumu [osamu too] is a momma’s boy, he’s never really had to do dishes or anything like that unless he has to

he never does his dishes. you ALWAYS end up washing them because you prefer a tidy kitchen

dont get me started on the cups

he uses YOUR cups and leaves them littered around the apartment like they’re easter eggs for you to hunt. one time, you found your favourite mug under a couch???

his room is no different either

you prefer to stay away from it, but you had caught a glimpse of it through his partially open bedroom door

....it’s a lot to process.

there are plates on his desk, disposable cups and crushed soda cans on his nightstand, clean laundry in different corners of the room and you swear you see a half full bottle of vodka that had gone missing from your own alcohol cabinet

but for some reason his room still manages to smell like lavender. and you hate that fact.

he NEVER has his house keys on him

he pretty much has you on speed dial because the amount of times this man has forgotten his keys inside the house is WILD

him: hey roomie...it’s me again...

you: atsumu it’s 11 pm and i’m out with friends, i’m not driving back just to open the door for you

him: then what am i going to do??

you: sit there and starve.

so he sits against your apartment door, playing games on his phone and texting his friends

he’s also getting clowned in the gc by suna and osamu PLS ATSUMU GO HOME [oh wait-]

when one of your neighbours pass by or see him sitting there he just gives that rlly awkward white person smile that’s like 😐

HIS PHONE DIES TOO FROM USING IT SO MUCH TOO RKDKGKJ

so basically he’s sitting there, hungry and bored.

when you come back, he’s almost asleep, a little bit of drool hanging on at the side of his mouth

“wake up, i brought you food.”

atsumu might be an annoying roomie, but you’re not heartless.

he 100% gets hair dye all over the bathroom, and he NEVER washes it out

so you’re not too happy when you have to replace your rug because there was a massive bleach stain on it

he uses your shampoo and conditioner, GENEROUSLY TOO

like atsumu...sir 🤣🤚 that shits like 20 dollars! stop using globs of it at once

istg you could buy a new bottle of shampoo/body wash and it’s already halfway through after a week or so

he promises that he’ll stop, but it just gets worse

NEVER let this man go grocery shopping for you by himself, you’ll get everything BUT what you asked for

okay, he does get you what you asked for, but not really

you ask for wheat bread and he gets white bread. you ask for vanilla ice cream and he gets you chocolate

why??

“i think it’s better than what you originally put down.”

you want a new roommate.

but as time passes by, you deduce that he has some redeeming qualities: like how fun he is when drunk, or how he can keep you entertained for hours about his surprisingly interesting days

you’ve met his friends too! they all love you

but they’re also quite sorry for you for having to put up with atsumu

sometimes, you’ll even join them with them when they’re all hanging in your living room

you never miss the small blush that creeps onto tsumus face whenever his old teammates tell you about the stories he deliberately left out to make himself look cooler [pls give this man love he needs it]

suna: wait i have a video of him getting pummeled in the face with a volleyball-

atsumu: ALRIGHT ITS TIME FOR YOU GUYS TO GO!!

atsumu: y/n has a test tomorrow!!

you: tomorrow’s saturday-

if you two have roommate rules, he definitely breaks some of them

no parties without you knowing??? like hell he’s following that

atsumu likes to party! he doesn’t mind hosting one or two every now and then

so he picks a day that he knows you’ll be out for the night, most likely studying because you won’t be back home until around 1 am

so the apartment is a mess and it’s partially trashed, there’s a lingering scent of weed and alcohol, someone probably vomited in your sink, and it’s loud.

so loud that you can hear it from the elevator.

you had decided to come home early and surprise atsumu with his favourite takeout, but you’re already met with tipsy and wasted bodies littered along the corridors, and it doesn’t take very long for you to put two and two together and realize it’s atsumu’s doing

long story short, you and atsumu have to go around the apartment to deliver personal apologies to your neighbours [this definitely isn’t your first or last warning]

in terms of hookups?

atsumu doesn’t care too much for sexual relationships, since his priority lies in volleyball and actually graduating, but he’ll have someone over every now and then

usually, it’s meant to be a time when you’re not around, because the walls are thin as fuck

but atsumu doesn’t really care in the heat of the moment

so yeah, you definitely want to neuter him when you hear incoherent moans and a headboard creaking

the morning after, you immediately chase his one night stand out of the apartment and go off on him for a second

after a few months, atsumu doesn’t get on your nerves as much

you could go as far as to call him a friend

during exam and midterm weeks, you both study together and even order takeout— which leads to the two of you passing out in your living room due to pure exhaustion

YOU HELP HIM DYE HIS HAIR

atsumu sometimes doesn’t get all of his spots because he can only do so much by himself

so after you hear his frustrated groans, you’re willing to help him dye his hair.

and from there it basically becomes a routine

you were also the one who introduced  him to TONER!!

he swears that you changed his life

he also walks around in nothing but his boxers because it’s comfortable but gets flustered and ‘mad’ when you wear nothing but an old t-shirt

forces you to come to him games to cheer loudly for him

this man- he asks you to cheer for him when he does his serve routine and when you do his head gets so big

but he denies it when his teammates tease him about you

half of his clothes have made its way into your closet! but honestly, he does not mind

his cute roommate is wearing his sweats and a hoodie with his name at the back of it, why would he be mad?

you’ve hooked up with him at least twice.

[jimlingss]

Sugar and Coffee [16]

Chapter 15 - Chapter 16 - Chapter 17

➜ Words: 3k

➜ Genres: 99.5% Fluff, 0.5% Angst, Pâtisserie school!AU

➜ Summary: It isn't hard to be a pâtisserie chef, but it's not a piece of cake either. It seems like for you in particular, life keeps throwing in one wrench after another. It always finds ways to make your sweets bitter. The cherry on top is Jeon Jungkook — a rival with a sensitive sweet tooth who always finds ways to complain about you.

cr.

On Wednesday, you begin to bake, cut, and fill.   The ingredients are pulled from the borrowed kitchen — eggs, butter, buttermilk, vegetable oil, sugar, flour, baking powder, unsweetened cocoa powder, and vanilla. The oven is preheated to three hundred degrees fahrenheit and the round pans are greased. The four of you measure and mix together the dry ingredients, and then the wet ingredients.    Once it’s all ready, it’s baked while the ganache filling is worked on. Heavy cream, butter, chocolate, and a pinch of kosher salt are melted together with two tablespoons of brewed coffee to deepen the flavour. It cools and thickens, a fluffy texture that melts against your palate.    And when the moist cake is out of the oven, it cools too before being cut and filled.   “Alright, folks.” Namjoon dusts his hands off, shutting the fridge door. “Now on Friday, we just cover, dowel, and stack. Since the wedding is on Saturday, we want it to sleep overnight.”   “We’re going to have to prepare decorations tomorrow,” Sejeong says. If there was anyone’s cake that she wanted to perfect, it was her own sister’s. “Crumb coat the cakes and smooth the frosting, colour the fondants, make the flowers. Just so we can get it prepared in time and not be rushing on the last day.”    “Okay.” You offer a smile. “Are we still going with lavender?”   “That’s the plan. But we can worry about that tomorrow. How have you two been? Any problems?”   You glance at Jungkook, meeting his eye, but you divert hastily. “N-No, we’re fine. We’ve been enjoying ourselves. Thank you for bringing us along.”   “That’s not a problem.” Namjoon laughs heartily, practically glowing with a healthy tan. “We’re happy to have two more sets of hands. God knows the wedding is hectic and stressful enough, right, honey?”   “Chungha is having it tougher.” His wife sighs. “We’re just glad to get this done and over with.”   In between family feuds and relatives duking it out, you don’t need to tell them that you and Jungkook are incidentally sharing the same room over a mistake in booking. They have enough on their plates as it is.   But just because you don’t talk about your issues doesn’t mean that they’ve magically vanished.   Even if you wish that were the case.   “Morni—”   The moment you open your sleepy eyes, Jeon Jungkook has manifested in the mirror. You choke on your toothpaste, toothbrush sucked into your throat like a vacuum, lodged in. You choke it out and sputter.    Jungkook’s shocked awake, eyes widened as he pats your back.   You cough and rinse your mouth. “Oh my god. You scared me to death!”   “All I said was good morning!” He shoots you a look, leaning in too close with his still sleepy demeanour, fluffed hair and swollen face. “Are you alright?”   “Obviously not! I almost died!”   You’re not okay. Very far from any semblance of ‘okay’.   For one, you can’t look the bastard in the eye. You can’t stop yourself from perspiring. It’s as if your best friend is someone worthy to be fearful of…   No. It’s not that you’ve become afraid of Jungkook. You’re nervous.   “I’m going to shower.”   “Sounds good.”   It shouldn’t be surprising. He even warned you. But the moment Jungkook starts to strip off his shirt, you’re caught off guard at how he didn’t wait for you to leave ⁠— how comfortable he is with you. You have half a mind left to sprint out of the bathroom. Nearly falling over. Barely catching your stumble.    Jungkook watches with his brows raised incredulously.   The bathroom door eventually shuts and you change as quick as you can, and run out of the room without a word. Like you’re being chased by loan sharks.   “Hey, Y/N.” After ten minutes, Jungkook comes out topless, having forgotten to grab a shirt. But he pays no mind, toweling off his head. “We should get room servi—…...Y/N?”   The doe-eyed boy looks around, realizing that you’re gone.   You’ve headed across the resort to the restaurant for breakfast. Finally, you’re able to have a meal in peace without having to lift your head to see a big nose and brown, doe eyes.    You grab a healthy serving of eggs, toast and cereal. And you pick a good table to look out and enjoy the view.   But fifteen minutes into your meal, someone suddenly plops down across from you.   You’re startled to death again.   “I can’t believe you ditched me.”   “S-Sorry…” You look away. “I was too hungry to wait.”   “Could’ve told me at least. I would’ve hurried up.” He spreads cream cheese on his bagel, ruffled mop of hair flopping as he moves. He’s dressed like a true tourist again, this time with a hawaiian shirt that’s bright orange with blue florals all over it.   Jungkook’s eyes are round and buggy as he bites down and he hums in satisfaction at the taste. “So what are our plans for today? It’s the only full day we have left before we have to work on the cake.”   “I don’t know.” You stand up. “I finished. Should go back to the room. I have a stomach ache.”   “Really?” His left cheek is puffed out with food stored inside. “But I just got here.”   “Nature calls.” You run off, leaving your best friend in the dust.   It’s horrible being stuck on an island with Jeon Jungkook.    No matter where you run or how you hide, he’s always there.   “How was the—”   You scream.   “—bathroom trip.” Jungkook looks at you, brows furrowed deep.   “You scared me!” You put your hand over your heart where it’s pounding hard, threatening to jump out of your chest.   “But I didn’t do anything,” he defends, mouth drawing open as he gestures around, perplexed at how you could be frightened in broad daylight, in the middle of the day, with this many people around. “Are you sure you’re okay?”   “I’m fine. H-how’d you even find me?!”   “I don’t know, I was just heading back to the room. The resort isn’t that big.” He shrugs and finally is able to get a good look at you. Jungkook slowly smiles at your one-piece swimsuit. “Are you going in for a dip? I can join.”   The thought of Jungkook ripping off his shirt, jumping into the pool and getting all wet with you has your knees weak. It’s not a healthy idea.    “No. Changed my mind. It’s kind of….cold out for a swim. I’m probably going to go back inside to change.”   “Y/N. It’s hot. It’s like a hundred degrees out here.”   You muster stiff laughter. “Well I’m feeling a bit chilly. Gonna go back and change. See ya!”   You sprint off again, in a completely disoriented manner. Jungkook shouts your name when you nearly slip on a puddle of water by the poolside and almost crack your head open. But luckily, you catch yourself and throw him a half-hearted smile and an exaggerated wave goodbye.    Part of you wishes you would’ve just fallen into the pool or hit your head. Maybe it would finally knock some sense into your brain.   There’s no reason for you to be so nervous around him. This is Jeon Jungkook you’re talking about — IU fanboy, the biggest nerd of the universe, officially the worst flirt on this planet.   There’s absolutely no reason for your stomach to flip. For you to be unable to retain eye contact with your friend. For you to suddenly be so self-aware and conscious of him that you feel nervous when he’s around and nervous when he’s not. There’s no reason whatsoever…   “You need to get your head straight.”   You’re muttering to yourself as you walk. You probably look crazy, but need to hear it out loud. If no one’s going to help you by saying it, then you’ll say it yourself. “Focus, Y/N. Focus—”   A blood-curdling shriek tears from your stomach when there’s suddenly knocking. You turn to see Jeon Jungkook beside you, separated by a window, but laughing hysterically at your reaction. His nose is scrunched, mouth drawn up into that boyish smile of his.   He’s inside the fitness center in a white tank top, sweating enough to make his hair damp, and the dark stands are pushed back against his head. That little shit is scaring you on purpose now.   “Are you shitting me, Jeon Jungkook?!” Your fist pounds against the glass and you fail to notice how everyone else in the gym is whirling their heads around at the noise.   The resort attendant runs up on you.   “Ma’am, please don’t bang on the glass.”   “S-sorry.”   Jungkook is in bigger hysterics now, bent over and grabbing his stomach, laughing loud enough for you to hear through the window. His smile is excited, eyes lit up.   Everywhere. Every corner you turn to. Every path you take. Some way or another — whether you’re talking to Namjoon or Chungha, hanging at the bar, around the pool, on the beach to watch the waves — no matter how hard you try to evade him, Jungkook is always there.   You didn’t know it would be so hard to avoid him. He’s truly like the plague.   Or maybe a curse.    Better yet, it would be more fitting to call Jeon Jungkook the year-round Christmas grinch. He’s here to ruin your life, ruin your holiday, and make your head filled with him and only him.   “You’re not avoiding me, are you?”   He finally asks after crawling into bed beside you that night. His hands are folded on top of his midsection and he’s staring up at the ceiling even if he can’t see when the entire room is drowned in a comfortable darkness.   You muster some laughter. “Don’t be ridiculous.”   The sheets shift and from the little light coming through the terrace glass doors, you can see him looking at you. And you can feel his body warmth with the small distance. “I would hate it if you were a hypocrite since you don’t like when others ghost you.”   “I said I’m not,” you whine. The lie gives a tickle of guilt in your gut. “You shouldn’t accuse people after they’ve already defended themselves.”   “Okay.” The corners of his lips quirk. “Just making sure. I don’t want to scare you off.”   You scoff, eyes adjusting enough to be able to look at him. It’s quiet, with him beside you underneath the covers, too close but too far. Yet somehow, in spite of the silence of your room, it’s still very noisy inside your head. “You really think you’re going to get rid of me that easily?”   “No. And I’m glad for that. I wouldn’t want to lose you.” Jungkook grins and he teases, “You’re not a coward, Y/N. Right?”   “Psh. Go to bed, Jeon.”   “Hmm, I’m not tired, but I do know an activity we can do together that’ll tire me right out.”   “Yeah, my fist meeting your face.”   He laughs and you roll over, tugging the covers up to your chin.   You don’t say out loud, don’t admit it, but you are a coward.    One big coward who pretends to face the truth with courage, but actually learnt to run and hide in the face of trouble. A coward who can’t face the music, who’s actually wide awake like he is, but won’t say it. Whose heart is stuttering too loud to try to slip underneath the seduction of slumber.    You won’t admit the funny feeling you get when your gaze sets upon Jungkook. You won’t acknowledge it even when it’s screaming into your ear drums and drumming against your rib cage. You won’t confess that the nervousness you feel is far from platonic.   It’s hard not to feel stuck on Jungkook. These days, the last person you see before you sleep is him and he’s the first person you see when you wake up. He’s both the beginning and the end.   “Hey, Y/N.” You’re stirred away by a soft voice calling to you. “Wake up.”   When your lids peel back, you see him. The strands of his black hair nearly tickle the skin of your cheeks and he smiles tenderly at you. “We have a long day. Come on.”   You’re a coward and you have been for some time now.   //   Friday is the busiest day of the week. It’s the eve of the wedding and where you’re in the kitchen for hours on end.   Between the four of you, the lilac-coloured fondant is rolled out to cover the chocolate cake and ganache frosting. The dowel rods are inserted and the cake is stacked. Once it’s to Sejeong’s satisfaction, the decorating process begins. The sugar lavender that you made yesterday is used, placed delicately in the correct positions and you work on tracing a lace pattern on the bottom most layer.   Hours later, with muscles sore and eyes stinging, she’s finally satisfied.   It ends up looking magnificent. All the effort is presented in front of you — the cake is a soft purple colour, lavender flowers made from gum paste and real lilacs edible.   “It’s too pretty to eat.”   “It always is.” Sejeong smiles. “But when we do, it’ll be delicious.”   Namjoon stretches his arms over his head, making noises as his bones crack. “I’m starving. What time is it?” He checks his watch. “I think the snack bar is still open. We should go eat now since we have to wake up bright and early tomorrow.”   “I forgot how much work it was to be a bridesmaid.” Sejeong sighs lightly. “Let’s just get the cake in the fridge for now.”   Jungkook and Namjoon carefully move the cake into the refrigerator area, a whole cold storage, and you take your aprons off, washing your hands. Sejeong turns to you and Jungkook. “Are you guys hungry too? You probably are since we’ve been working so late.”   You exchange a look with him. “N-No. We’re fine.”   “Are you sure?” Namjoon asks, brows raised.   “Yeah, I’m sure. I’m more tired than hungry. I’ll probably call it a night.”   “Same here.” Jungkook offers a smile, following your lead.   “Well alright, I’ll see you both bright and early then! Good job, you two.” Namjoon smiles and both he and his wife leave the kitchen, talking to one another until their voices fade away.   Jungkook then turns to you with his brow raised. “Are you really not hungry?”   You look down at your stomach and it rumbles. You wonder if he can hear it too. “I thought I’d give them alone time since we’ve been busy all day….”   An extended sigh pulls from the man’s lungs.   Jungkook smiles and as he passes by you, he ruffles your hair. “You’re so unnecessarily thoughtful sometimes….”   You turn around, trailing after him. Jungkook opens the fridge and hums, eyes searching.    “What are you doing?” you ask curiously.   “Looking for ingredients since a little someone said they weren’t hungry and now we can’t go to the only place still open.” He grins easily. “So unless you want to go back to the hotel room and wait half an hour for room service, I’ll cook.”   Jungkook sounds so self-assured that you comply, finding your place on a stool as he begins to pull out mushrooms, shallots, parmesan cheese, butter, and starts digging around the cupboards. “You can cook?”   “’Course I can. I’m a master of the kitchen.” His eyes flicker up and the little shit mocks you. “Why? Can’t you?”   “The pan always burns,” you mutter.   “Is that why you can’t melt chocolate over the stove?” he questions with a glint of mischief.   “For the record, I’m getting better. It’s not like I do it intentionally anyway. But are we even allowed to use these ingredients, Jungkook? Won’t we get into trouble?” It’s not your kitchen after all — just a small space the resort was willing to let you use.   He merely shrugs. “We have to live a little.”   You sit on the other side of the island, watching him closely.    Jungkook finds a can of chicken stock and heats it over the stove in a small saucepan. Then he moves to chop shallots and mushrooms, sleeves pulled up to his elbows, forearms revealed as he works the knife in a constant motion that’s therapeutic to listen to. Jungkook fries the shallots and mushrooms over the hot oil and butter in a skillet, tossing and flipping them as they sizzle.   He works fluidly, in a rhythm without needing to stop and think twice. It’s fun to watch.   “What are you making?”   “Mushroom risotto.”   “Sounds fancy.”   “It is,” he lies.    In your ignorance, you’re unaware that it’s actually an easy recipe. You’re also oblivious to the fact that Jungkook is secretly beaming with gratitude that his dad taught him this recipe years ago. His dad was right that he needed to learn how to cook basic dishes to one day impress.   Jungkook adds the rice, coating it in the butter before adding a cup of white wine he found in the cupboards. Once it’s fully absorbed, he puts in the chicken stock and adds salt to taste. All the while, he’s watching you from the corner of his eye. He can read you like a book and your amazed expression feeds directly into his ego.   When Jungkook turns around to throw something in the sink, he lets his enormous smile slip.   “If we ever have the time, I’ll make you shrimp or chicken risotto.”   “You can make that?”   “Of course, cooking isn’t hard.”   “Pft. You really know how to do everything, don’t you, Jeon?”   “You said it, not me.”   He serves it on a big plate, even taking the extra step to clean the edges up with a napkin. You’re amazed and when he arrogantly urges you to take a bite, you can’t even tell him off. It’s delicious.   And once you say so, he can't deny how happy he is.   Jungkook is over the fucking moon. He would cook for you for the rest of his life if you’d let him.

[givemestories-givemelife]

Blueberries, Lavender & Hot Matcha Tea  (Part 2)

A SasuHina ficlet

PART 1| Part 2

AN: THANK YOU SO MUCH TO THOSE WHO COMMENTED, OR RE-BLOGGED, OR LIKED THE FIRST PART TO THIS FIC. It truly means more than I can say. Helped a lot with motivation and it’s super cool to know that people are reading the things I write. I hope the follow up chapter doesn’t disappoint <3

Summary: Hinata has a run in with a familiar face.

Warnings: Brief mentions of grief and anxiety (because Hinata’s a nervous butterfly) but nothing remotely heavy. Also there’s alcohol consumption.

Word count: 6167

                                   __________________________

Lavender

Hinata knows that she needs to start putting herself out there. She can’t stay holed up comfortably in her room while years of her life pass on by, listening to cigarettes after sex under the safe warmth of her white fluffy blanket that still smells like her late mothers perfume, and sniffing essential oils like they’re some kind of soft-core drug to distract her spiralling thoughts from every embarrassingly mortifying predicament she’s ever found herself in.

She’s been trying really hard not to think about spilling her extra hot matcha latte all over this potentially handsome stranger a few days ago. She thinks - potentially - because she did not have the courage to look at the man's face after maiming him and probably ruining his expensive suit!

Hinata’s sure she must have ruined his entire morning, which must have ruined his whole day, and now he probably hates her. Oh goodness, Hinata strongly dislikes the thought of people out there in this world walking around hating her.  

Wow, these thoughts are entirely useless, she really needs to stop her brain from going down these awful paths.  

Today Hinata has decided to try really hard not to wallow in the comfort of all her numbing guilty pleasures.  

So, when Sakura Haruno, the loud and outgoing girl with pretty pink hair, who always smells like strawberries and vanilla from her photography course asked if she wanted to hangout and work on their portfolio’s after class; Hinata was thankful for the distraction.

They had spent that afternoon drinking green tea at the kitchen table in Sakura’s little homey apartment, showing each other their favourite pieces and sharing feedback.

“You have to include this one, it’s so cute” Sakura gushes, pointing at a print of children finger painting; a mischievous little boy is smearing bold red paint all over the face of a girl whose expression is twisted in pure terror.

“You have a real talent for capturing the essence of people.” She continues in a dreamy tone, “it’s like you’re able to capture the moment they’re most alive, even if it’s just the little moments, y’know?”  

Hinata blushes at the complement, “th-thank you Sakura.”

“It's kind of ironic that people are your main muse considering how afraid of them you are.” She teases.

“I’m not sca-AhyH!”

Of course, that’s the moment a woman with a giant blond ponytail barges through the door brandishing a bouquet of peonies making Hinata squeal. “Sakura I swear to god if you ate the last of the ice-cream again, I’m gonna- Oh! hello there.” The crazy flower lady stops mid-threat noticing a stranger in her apartment.

“Ino this is Hinata from class, Hinata this is my roommate Ino.” Sakura introduces, failing to constrain her laughter.

Ino’s demeanor does a 180 as she gently rests the flowers on her lacquered kitchen counter and approaches Hinata in a trance like state. “Your hair is so long and gorgeous, it totally reminds me of the violets we have at the flower shop -- you have to let me braid it.” She breathes and Hinata’s eyes are as wide as the sky outside.

“Ino, tone it down you’re going to scare her.” Sakura chides, rolling her eyes, not at all surprised by her roommate's antics. “Do you always have to act like such a spazz?”

“I am but a simple girl who is a slave to all things beautiful.” Ino proudly counters running her fingers through blue strands and Hinata mentally notes that she smells like a garden.

Sakura’s phone vibrates on the kitchen table, “it’s Naruto,” she says glancing at the screen. “Wondering when we’ll be coming over.”

“I don’t know, an hour or two? Tell him we’re bringing Hinata!” Ino adds excitedly and starts to braid blue hair without permission. “You should come out tonight with Sakura and I, meet the rest of the gang.”

“Oh.” In high school Hinata was never able to make friends with girls, and spent most of her time in the photography club’s black room developing pictures. Her introverted nature made it difficult to connect with people, but in this moment, the prospect of meeting Sakura’s friends, and the inclusive enthusiasm from these girls is making Hinata a little emotional. “I-I don’t know.”  

“Hinata, you don’t have to come if you don’t want to, but I think it could be good for you,” Sakura encourages.

“Carpe diem bitch,” is Ino’s convincing addition.

Hinata giggles, absent mindedly sniffing her wrist searching for the comforting sweet scent of the fragrance she’s wearing today, “yeah, okay.”

Ino makes a pleased sound and saunters over to a kitchen drawer to snatch a pair of scissors and clips the head off of one the peonies, then ties it into the base of Hinata’s braid. “You really have no idea how cute you are Hinata,” she coos observing her work in admiration and Hinata feels warm all over.

Hinata likes the rapport between Ino and Sakura, there’s something about their friendship that she finds inspiring.  

When they split what’s left of the chocolate ice-cream and start getting ready for a night out, Hinata can’t help pulling out her camera and snapping shots of Ino with her shades of purple and Sakura’s vibes in red. Hinata feels outshined in her usual high waisted mom jean and oversized grey patterned sweater.  

But that’s okay, she still feels like one of the girls.

~~~

Ino had made a strong case for wanting to get her steps in for the day, (since her fitbit said she had only reached 8243 so far) convincing the girls to walk to Naruto’s apartment instead of taking the bus. On their stroll Sakura and Ino began giving Hinata character profiles of everyone she was going to meet and Hinata found them to be quite amusing.

Ino playfully starts with, “Shikamaru’s like, my best bro. I’ve known him forever, smartest guy I know but a total stoner and he doesn’t give a fuck about anything.

“Choji gives the best hugs and he loves giving them, so if he looks like he’s going in for one - just let it happen - you’ll hurt his feelings if you don’t.”

“Naruto and Kiba are basically the same person and are the biggest loudest dorks on the planet,” Sakura chimes in, “but they’re also super friendly and kinda funny if you can get over their lack of brain cells.”

“Then there’s Sasuke,” Ino says, and hearing that name strikes a familiar chord with Hinata, triggering flashes of fond memories. “He’s really hot, but kind of a dick,” Ino hugs herself smiling at a distant memory, “basically, we all know each other from going to the same high school -”

“Ino and I had the hugest rivalry back then because we both wanted him.”  

“What happened?” Hinata really wanted to ask if they were talking about Sasuke Uchiha, but didn’t want to interrupt the momentum of their story.

“We were so stupid causing all sorts of drama in our little social circle nearly tearing it apart, and Sasuke wasn’t having any of it, one day he told us to grow the fuck up and to leave him alone.” That did kind of sound like something Sasuke would say, but that would just be too big of a coincidence, wouldn’t it?

“We both cried.” Sakura snickers sheepishly.

“Eventually we finally realized that friendships should be forever-”

“And boyfriends are whatever.” Both girls enthusiastically finish the rehearsed line making silly faces at each other.

Hinata giggles at that, whishing she had taken a picture, “awe, that’s so cute.”

“And now he’s one of our good friends, but I just want to warn you that he can be cold and he can be mean and if he says something dickish, please don’t take it personally.”

Hinata hums, only half listening to Ino. Was it possible that when Hinata arrives at this apartment she was going to be face to face with the childhood friend she hasn’t seen in over a decade?  

Guess she’ll just have to wait and see.

~~~

When Hinata enters the apartment, her senses are immediately overstimulated; it smells salty like ramen and sour with beer which clashes with how clean and pristine the space actually is. It’s decorated with blacks, whites and a few splashes of colors, but overall has a very minimalist feel.

Hinata barely has time to kick her shoes off before she’s surrounded by strangers, and can’t stop the heat from suffusing her face from the disorienting barrage of unwanted attention.  

“Hey bitches!” Ino yells at the group, “we’re here! We know you missed us!”

“This is the beautiful Hinata,” Sakura adds, and Hinata really wants to hide under a rock somewhere. “Be nice okay, she’s really shy.”

“Hey I’m Naruto.” A blond man appears beaming at her, outstretching his hand. “I have never seen eyes that look like your eyes before!”

“Oh.” Hinata went to shake his hand but was interrupted by another hand grabbing hers and kissing it, which is so uncalled for.

“And I’m Kiba, don’t listen to that guy, he’s a complete moron.” He says with a wolfish grin and Hinata has no idea what’s going on anymore.

When she tries to turn away, she’s met with the kind face of a stout man in a green Zelda t-shirt with his arms wide open for an inviting hug. She decides to accept her fate by awkwardly stepping forward wearing a confused pout, and lets the arms of a stranger wrap around her in what is surprisingly one of the best hugs she has ever received. He smells nice, Hinata thinks. Savoury and warm like a thanksgiving dinner. For a moment she actually feels safe, like a veil has been thrown over the sudden wave of chaos, giving her a quiet moment for her heartbeat to settle, “I’m Choji, it’s really nice to meet you Hinata, try not to worry so much, everyone here is harmless, I promise.” He says, rubbing gentle circles on her back.

When Choji pulls away, he sends her one last reassuring smile before padding off towards the ponytailed man currently dying of laughter, and joining him on a leather couch. Choji grabs a handful of potato chips from a bowl on the marble coffee table and starts earnestly snacking.

Snacks! Snacks sound really nice right now! Tasting tasty things can sometimes be a good distraction when Hinata is overwhelmed. She self-consciously shuffles forward towards the provisions, drawn towards the colorful array of fresh fruits, grabbing a small handful of blueberries and popping one of them in her mouth. She tries to ignore the pair legs in her periphery... she needs a moment before making another introduction.

Hinata jumps feeling a presence directly behind her, she twirls around to see Naruto pulling back appearing extremely guilty.

What was he doing?  Was he pointing at her hair?

“Hehehe, sorry about that,” he says, smiling sheepishly, and scratches the back of his head, “I was just pointing out to my friend here, how beautiful your hair is, what a wonderful shade of blue,” he made a weird face directed at someone over her head, “are you enjoying those, blueberries?”

Okay.

Hinata hears more laughter coming from ponytail boy on the couch.

Weird.

Hinata turns to see who Naruto is looking at and-

Oh.

Sasuke?

Sasuke was here.  

It was her Sasuke!

She instantly looks away, eyes wide, staring down at the hardwood floors.

Well, not her Sasuke. But an older version of the one she knew as a child. The one she met that one summer years ago and spent nearly every day with him before her mother fell ill and her family moved away in the wake of tragedy.

And he was... Glaring at her? No, he was glaring at Naruto? He kind of looked like he recognized her, but why would he be glaring?

“This is fucking stupid,” Sasuke seethes and takes off towards the kitchen, where Kiba and Ino are talking and drinking.

Ouch.

Sakura approaches Hinata with a glass in hand, Hinata stares at the ice clinking as she offers it, “vodka soda, with lime?”

Well, one drink couldn’t hurt, Hinata thinks.

She glances over at a brooding Sasuke leaning on the kitchen island sipping his beer.

She might need it.

~~~

It’s nearly an hour later and Hinata feels the dread sinking deep into the pit of her stomach. She desperately wishes she could conjure up some courage, approach Sasuke, and see how he’s been after all these years, but he still hasn’t left from his spot in the kitchen.  

She’s starting to believe that maybe he doesn’t recognize her, which is a rather sad thought.

Hinata also appears to be at the butt end of some sort of mean inside joke that she doesn’t understand, ponytail bo- Shikamaru and Naruto joined Sasuke in the kitchen and kept making not-so-subtle glances her way -- but whatever -- she’s a big girl, she’s not going to cry about it even if she wants to.

Currently she’s sitting on the puffy leather couch between Choji and Sakura, Sakura is sharing the memes she’s saved onto her phone this month with Ino and Kiba while Hinata stares down at the melting ice in her drink and Choji attempts to calm her with platitudes.

Hinata doesn’t regret coming tonight despite feeling like the biggest fool in existence.

After all, tonight she actually has the opportunity to reconnect with someone she still thinks about, even after all these years.

She has always wondered what had happened to that bratty boy she met that one summer.

The sinking feeling grows deeper and Hinata feels her heart beating in the drums of her ears.

She takes one last tentative sip before downing the rest of her drink and summons every ounce of bravery she didn’t know she had to strengthen her resolve.

She stands from the couch with shaky determination ignoring Choji’s concerned inquiry, then forces one foot in front of the other strait towards the guiding bright lights of the kitchen.

The easy conversation awkwardly dies down when she arrives beside Naruto and Sasuke. She feels both their gazes land on her, and Hinata spots an ugly orange magnet on the stainless-steel fridge Sasuke is leaning on that has the phrase - believe it! - stamped on it and chooses to direct most of her focus on the positive affirmation.

“Uh, hey Hinata, you doing okay?” Naruto asks, slightly taken aback. Hinata nods still focusing on the magnet, face heating up as the beginning of a buzz tingles in the corners of her mind. “Can I get you another drink?”

She looks down at the empty glass she grips and nods again, muttering a quiet thank you, and handing it over. He takes it and moves further down the island to chat with Shikamaru and starts making her another.

“Hi Sasuke,” she forces passed her chapped lips.

“Hello Hinata.” Sasuke says, sounding about as uncomfortable as she feels and she looks up, hopeful, to meet his burning gaze and quickly looks back at that stupid orange magnet.

“So, you do remember me?” She asks, confused as to why he’s been ignoring her since her arrival.

“I remember how two days ago you ran into me quite rudely, burning me with tea.”

Hinata’s brain short-circuits.  

“Wait what!?-”

No! No no no no no. Impossible. No.

“-That- that was you? oh my god, oh no! I am so sorry about that, I really wasn’t looking where I was going, I-I can’t believe this, I swear you just came out of nowhere though, oh my goodness, I can’t believe that was-”  

“Please just stop before you give yourself an aneurysm.” Sasuke lifts his hands in a placating manner and Hinata snaps her mouth shut. “So that’s not how you seem to know me?” He asks, further rankling as the conversation drags on.

“So you don’t remember me.” She says mostly to herself, completely humiliated by this entire exchange, every time she opens her mouth it’s like falling down a flight of stairs -- Hinata seriously wishes she would reach the bottom already.

“Remember you from... where?”  

“I-I mean I guess it’s not that surprising, we were only nine or ten at the time and it-it was only one summer... over a decade ago... You-you never really did call me by my name either.” Hinata says focusing on her twiddling fingers, her voice barely above a whisper, a pensive smile framing her lips at the memory.

There’s a long drawn out silence before Sasuke slowly asks, “...Tomato face?”  

Hinata feels her face burn red at the old moniker, nodding. “Yeah...”

“Hyuuga, Hinata. Shit. Yeah. I do remember.”

The culminating tension finally releases from the moment and Hinata smiles at the black and white tiles breathing just a little bit easier.

He remembers.

“Wait... Did I hear you call her a tomato?” Naruto returns with a mildly amused Shikamaru in tow, handing Hinata her drink, and looks between the pair completely intrigued.

~~~

It didn’t take long for the word to spread that Hinata and Sasuke were childhood friends and everyone congregated into the small-ish kitchen asking curious questions.

It also didn’t take long for everyone to lose interest when Naruto nudged Hinata and started grilling her for embarrassing details of what a prepubescent Sasuke was like, earning him a surly glare. Hinata shyly shrugged saying, “I-I don’t really remember, it was a long time ago.”  

Safe to say -- Naruto didn’t buy it, but surprisingly didn’t press further, and the group dispersed, leaving them to reacquaint.

The conversation between them after that was unfortunately still quite awkward, thankfully, Hinata wasn’t entirely to blame.

They exchanged small talk, Hinata mentions that she actually works at Heaven’s Little Corner and was just coming off her shift early when she ran into him the other day, and Sasuke talks about going to school and getting a Bachelor's degree in Business and how he focused on E-commerce after graduation. Overall, their -- re-connecting -- consisted of the typical pleasantries involved in catching up, and Hinata couldn’t distinguish if she was disappointed or relieved when their conversation came to a lull and she couldn’t think of anymore pointless verbiage to drag it along.

What she really wanted was to reminisce over hot days on the beach, collecting tiny crabs to occupy the sandcastles they built, and how Hinata had found sand in her hair days after the event. She wanted to talk about ice-cream and food fights and sneaking out to gaze at the stars in the night sky way past their bedtime, and how they pondered if aliens exist.

“I think the universe is too big for there not to be something out there somewhere.”  

She remembers Sasuke saying, thoughtfully looking up.

“I-I think you’re an alien.”

She said back, earning her an indignant huff.  

“Whatever tomato face.”

She wanted to talk about how simple everything was when they were kids, how she misses that naivety and how scary the world had revealed itself to be over the years.

Hinata was never good at making friends, even as a child, but she could still look back and she knew that Sasuke was one. He had been the last mark on her childhood that had made it a good one, the last moments she had to truly be a kid before she lost her mother, the truest love she had ever felt, forcing her to grow up.

Instead silence overtakes the kitchen and they both stare at their drinks unsure of what to say.

Sasuke isn’t how she remembers him at all. Yeah, he has the same face, just matured, and the same haughtiness, but the spark for life that had once inspired her seemed to be gone.

Which is an unfair thought to have, she admits, but she can’t stop herself from thinking it.

“Well I think it’s time to go on an adventure,” Naruto awkwardly offers.  

“An adventure?”  Hinata repeats, eyes growing wide.

“Naruto’s idea of an adventure is leaving the house and walking around the block.” Sasuke says rolling his eyes.

“Hey anything can be an adventure if you let it!”

~~~

It smells like damp grass and Hinata nearly jumps out of her skin as Naruto’s roar of triumph echo's off the surrounding buildings, catching the glow in the dark frisbee Kiba threw him. Sakura and Ino had joined them in their late-night excursion and Hinata can’t suppress the giddy giggles from watching them stumble about attempting athleticism when they are clearly four or five drinks deep.

She snaps a few photos and decides that she likes Naruto’s philosophy of approaching even the mundane aspects of life as an adventure.

This whole day certainly has felt like one.

Hinata puts her camera away, feels the chill in the October air, and pulls her scarf tighter. She casts a glance over at the park bench where Shikamaru was smoking a joint to see that he’s now casually chatting about... string theory? -- to Choji, who continues to nod his head like he understands.  

Her trailing gaze then lands on Sasuke and-  

Hinata immediately looks back towards the glowing air bound frisbee.  

He was watching her - he looked suspicious - Hinata doesn’t know of what.

“Hey Sakura,” Hinata tries to call out, voice wavering, “it’s getting late, I think I-I should start heading home.”

That seems to put a halt on the physical activity for a moment, she’s then hugged by every frisbee player.

“It was nice meeting you Hinata.”

“Come back any time.”

“Yes please! We need more girls in our group, Sakura and I are severely outnumbered.”  

“Are you sure you don’t want us to walk you?” Sakura slurs slightly, pulling away from the tight embrace.

“I’ll be fine, thank you Sakura,” Hinata smiles at her newest friend and turns to leave but stops at the bench to wave goodbye at Choji and Shikamaru, earning her a warm smile and a lazy nod. She looks at Sasuke’s arms proudly crossed over his broad chest and says, “it was nice seeing you again Sasuke.” And makes her way down the busy street, casting one last glance behind her just in time to see Sakura jump on Ino piggyback style to catch the frisbee in an impressive display of drunken camaraderie.

She smiles wider to herself. Wow. Today was a good day. An Adventure! Even if seeing Sasuke again was really weird and awkward and not at all how she wished it could have gone, she still met a lot of new people – Sakura's friends are so nice! They made her feel right at home and didn’t make her feel too weird about being shy and -

“Hey, Hinata.”

Hinata startles, hearing the sound of her name accompanied by footsteps catching up and her breath hitches when she turns to see Sasuke slowing down next to her.

“S-Sasuke? What are you-”

“I’m going to walk you home,” he snorts like it’s obvious, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his black jacket, “it’s late.”

“Oh,” Hinata hugs herself, suddenly feeling extremely self-conscious and maybe even a little nauseous as they walk in silence, their steps in sync.  

She can feel the heat of his gaze on her and Hinata makes a point to stare at the crispy autumn leaves on the pavement – yeah – Hinata has no idea what to make of this.

“You know it finally makes sense now, why I couldn’t stop thinking about you.”  

Hinata trips over nothing, “you what?”  

Leaves. Look at the leaves. The beautiful burnt orange leaves. Just. Keep. Looking.

“At the coffee shop, there was something about you, I couldn’t get you out of my mind. Guess I thought you were familiar somehow.” Sasuke shrugs, with an air of nonchalance as they cross the street.

“Oh,” Hinata’s starting to feel warm, she doesn’t know if it’s from their quickening pace, the two drinks she’s had or how Sasuke is close enough for their shoulders to brush.

“It’s kind of crazy that we’d run into each other like this, after all these years.”  

Hinata stops walking and Sasuke mirrors her. There’s something in his tone that catches Hinata off guard, something almost fond? Hinata looks back in the direction of his friends, they’re about five blocks away now.  

Sasuke seemed... different than how he’s been all night -- more open somehow. Maybe he feels weird about their earlier interactions too, but didn’t feel comfortable acting this way in front of his friends? Sasuke’s always been a very private person, even as a child.

“Yeah it is,” Hinata bites her lip and throws him a timid fleeting smile, silently wishing she knew what was going through his mind.

“So, why did you come back to Konoha.”  

“I-uh-” Hinata starts playing with the hem of her sweater and reminds herself it’s good to open up, “-wanted to figure out this life thing for myself – be independent - if my dad had his way, I’d never leave home or do anything that wasn’t part of his plan-” she tapers off, distracted by the approaching sound of music, a dumb smile spreads across her face when she sees an old skinny man on a sparkly bicycle riding past them on the road blaring ‘Dancing Queen’ from an oversized speaker he probably installed himself -- he seemed so – in the moment, like all that existed was him and the music filling the streets that he owned – Hinata silently mourns the missed opportunity of capturing that moment forever in a-

“You were saying,” Sasuke pokes her shoulder harder than necessary, bursting her from her reverie, and starts leading her down concrete stairs away from the bustling main road of the city, towards the waterfront.

“Right,” Hinata continues feeling energized from the random encounter and embarrassed from being caught drifting away in a daydream when they were in the middle of a conversation, “it was – uh - hard to leave my sister, but she encouraged me to go, that I should at least attempt to do the dream chasing thing.” Hinata pats her shoulder bag in reference to her camera. “I saved up some money and here I am, making it up as I go.”

“Hm, you always were snapping pictures everywhere you went.”  

Their steps slow to a stop once they reach the cold metal railing where tourists gather during the day overlooking the docks, but it’s mostly quiet at this time of night.

It smells cold from the breeze and salty from the ocean. The lampposts must need changing because the only light is from the half-moon in the cloudless sky, casting them in dark shades of blue.

Hinata takes a deep breath observing the skyline and the colorful lights reflecting in the undulating ocean waves, then asks the question that’s been bothering her since their seemingly kismet reunion. “What do you remember after all this time?”

“I remember...” He trails off, Hinata doesn’t miss the sly edge in his tone. “That I had told you I’d marry you one day,” his voice is deep, almost gravely when he takes a slow playful step closer and Hinata swears her heart skips several beats noticing their breaths mixing in the cold air between them. “And that... you were technically my first kiss.” He says with a sarcastic snort, stepping back, and gesticulates somewhere behind them. “You can’t tell them about it though. Especially Naruto, the idiot would never let me live it down.”

Hinata blushes at the memory and attempts to mask her frown with an indignant pout, trying not to take the jeer personally.

Sasuke always did like to mess with her.

“You were my only kiss.” Hinata then whispers without thinking and regrets it. She immediately hates the implications -- like she’s some inexperienced-love-sick-twenty-something, who’s never gotten over her childhood crush.

Hinata sighs, briefly drowning in her own self-deprecating thoughts, gripping at the railing, eyes a passing ship, and pretends she can’t feel him studying her, surprised by the admission.

“What do you remember?” He asks back, finally breaking the silence.

She bites her lip, thinking, a rush of memories flashing one by one, settling on their goodbye -- her sobbing because she had to move away to a new city thousands of miles away that had special doctors who could treat her mother, how Sasuke was speechless and could only squeeze her tight in the first and only hug they had ever shared.  

She remembers how he always told her she should stand up for herself, even against him, and she remembers how sometimes when she was around, he’d bite his tongue, holding back petulant sneers.

There’s a small quirk to her lips when she softly says, “Looking back, I-I always thought that we brought out the best in each other.”

There’s another long silence and Hinata once again feels the heavy weight of his gaze examining her, he reaches out and she stiffens when he gently grips the base of her braid touching the bright pink flower there.

“Did Ino do this?” He quietly asks, and there something hidden in his voice that shifts the mood of their conversation, and he’s close again, close enough for their visible breaths to once again mix, his fingers trail down towards the tail end of her braid.

“Uh huh.” Hinata breathes, watching his fingers play with the tip of her strands.

“Why can’t you…” he starts to ask, unsure, but curious, “never mind.” He let’s go of the braid, huffing lightly in frustration and leans on the railing, looking out towards the roaring waves.

Hinata’s stunned by his sudden apprehension. "Why can’t I what?”

“I said never mind.”

“But… I- I want to know.”

“Why can’t you look at me?”  

“Oh.”  

Sasuke sighs, “you don’t have to answer.”

Hinata bites her lip hard, internally wincing. “I-it’s not just you it’s most people really.” She starts, racking her brain for the right words “- It’s -it’s embarrassing… Well everything is embarrassing but, I get anxious about nothing all the time? And looking at people. I don’t know. I get paranoid that they can hear my thoughts or something? Not that I’m thinking about anything weird, well sometimes I am… it’s easier when they’re not looking back at me... Anyways... I guess it’s just become a bad habit now…” she sighs and smiles bitterly at the mess that just flew out of her mouth. “So, to summarize, looking at people kind of sometimes really freaks me out?”

“I see,” Sasuke says, Hinata glances at his mouth, he’s smiling a little, it’s almost warm in an amused sort of way, which completely disarms her.  

Hinata’s tongue feels dry, “uhm, do-do you ever feel anxious?”  

“Never. I get annoyed or frustrated with people very easily though, which can be problematic, not that I care”

“I guess some things never change then.” Hinata teases gently.

Sasuke smirks, he seems ready to retort with a quip but retreats and opts for something entirely different, “are there things that help you with your anxiety?”

There’s something about the question that makes Hinata feel warm all over, she never really gets to talk about these kinds of things without it feeling like it would dampen the mood, but there’s surprisingly no judgement in his tone, he seems genuinely curious, which encourages her to open up some more, "I find different scents to be calming, so I wear whatever my current favorite essential oil is on my wrist every day and whenever I feel too overwhelmed,” Hinata begins to explain in a rush pulling her sleeve up to demonstrate and presents Sasuke her wrist, “I close my eyes, count down from ten and-” Hinata’s breath catches in her throat and her eyes fly open when Sasuke gently pulls her forward by the wrist and she feels the softness of his lips brush over her pulse, then draws in a slow breath to scent the fragrance she chose to wear that day, “...and... sniff.”

Oh goodness, is it getting hot out here? Because Hinata’s face feels like it’s about to burst into flames. Hinata debates pulling her arm back but is currently enraptured by the softest look she’s seen on the Uchiha’s face this evening.  

This feels way too intimate, and Hinata thinks she likes it. Hinata thinks that maybe this is what’s been missing in her life. The feeling of being close to someone in more ways than just proximity. Is it possible she’s been physically and emotionally touch starved for years without realizing it?

That’s a thought that petrifies her. How sleeping on your basest human needs can become a habit, and you find yourself going through the trivial motions of existence, not bothering to search for more, for something that makes your heart sing, twist, and turn into itself the way that muscle pumping blood through her circulatory system at a quickening pace is doing right now.

“Lavender,” Sasuke murmurs against her wrist and his breath feels hot on her skin, Hinata struggles for breath when the sensation brings her back to the present moment and she realizes that she’s been staring directly into his darkened obsidian eyes, boring into hers and she finds herself unable to look away. A subtle look of achievement flashes through them when he softly asks, “you okay there?”

Is she dead? Is she imagining this? This whole situation with the soft touches coinciding with depressing epiphanies triggered by Sasuke smelling her suddenly seems completely absurd, and Hinata’s not sure she’ll be able to form a coherent sentence any time soon.

“I uh, uhm.” There’s definitely something wrong with Hinata’s voice when she attempts to speak.

“I think that...” Sasuke smoothly adjusts their hands to interlock their fingers and his hand feels so warm in hers, “you should go out with me.”

What is happening?

“No.”

Hinata kinda meant to say yes, but sure, no works too?

“What?”

“I mean, I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Hinata winces slightly. Gosh what is she even saying? Is this some sort of weird defense mechanism because she’s afraid of getting hurt?  

Sasuke nods slowly, narrowing his eyes, “why not.”

Don’t you have to risk getting hurt to get anywhere in life that’s worth while?

“I-I don’t know.”

“Hn.” Sasuke breaks eye contact and lets their holding hands fall. Hinata reels at the loss of warmth. He turns away from her and crosses his arms over the railing and looks out towards the dark rhythmic waves of the ocean. Hinata worries her bottom lip between her teeth as she studies the man before her. The moonlight is hitting the sharp angles of his face just perfect, and Hinata’s in awe. He’s all grown up now, and by default that means Hinata is too. Yet, here they are, the oldest they’ve been, and still the youngest they will ever be.  

Nostalgia floods through Hinata’s system, deciding to grab the moment instead of letting it pass. She’s not sure when she pulled the camera out of her bag, but the flash went off before she understood that she was taking a picture.

Sasuke jumps slightly at the flash and is pulled from his brooding thoughts, shooting her a puzzled glare.

“Sorry, that was kind of weird of me. I just – I just thought you-you looked erm... nice in the moonlight?”  

A bewildered look flashes across Sasuke’s face before a small smile begins to form and he laughs! He actually, genuinely laughs while shaking his head in what appears to be disbelief.  

The only thing Hinata can do is smile sheepishly distracted by how handsome he looks when he lets go of his composure, the light in his eyes makes him look younger, like the Sasuke she knew all those years ago.  

Hinata wonders if any of his friends get to see him like this.

He looks down at the pavement, shoulders still shaking, smile still present and pinches the bridge of his nose while taking in a slow breath and on his exhale, he reaches into his pocket, pulls out his phone, unlocks it, hands it over and says, “give me your number.”

Hinata tentatively obliges, pulling open the add new contact page, filling in the blanks then handing it back. Sasuke starts typing something in his phone and asks. “Do you work Sunday?”  

“Uhm, yes?”  

Hinata’s phone buzzes, when retrieving it from her bag she sees a text from an unknown number.

>> I’m going to come by after your shift and I'm taking you out. Don’t even bother using your mouth to respond.

Hinata feels her fingers tingling and tries to open her mouth to speak, closes it, bites her lip to try and stifle her giggles and resists the urge to slap herself in the face for acting like a complete airhead.

She pushes her fears aside one more time tonight...

And takes the damn dive.

<< Okay <3

                __________________________

AN2:  Wow, okay. A month later and I have the second part to this little story. This is the first time that I’m posting something I didn’t just throw together in one sitting. I’ve also never posted anything that was longer than 1200 words and it’s unexpectedly a little nerve-wracking??? OKAY SO, I guess there’s going to be one last chapter and it’s going to be like 90% SasuHina interactions? And spoiler alert they’re finally going to make-out. I have this SasuHina headcannon where they’re both private people who generally keep to themselves -- so people think they’re a boring couple, but when they’re alone together it’s like they’re in their own little world, and that’s the dynamic I’m looking forward to exploring in the final part.  I’m not sure when it’s going to be up since I have a bunch of other stuff I need to work on so it depends on how the inspo hits me, but I do have plenty of fun ideas!

[ruthoakenshield]

The Lady in the Black Leather (Ch 21)

Catch up here [chapter 20]

Aiden x Scarlett, Graham McTavish, Reader

You, Aiden & Scarlett visit for a while, then Graham shows up with a pretty bouquet of brightly colored daisies and mums with a big sunflower in the middle of it, and a tray with two coffee cups and a brown paper bag in the other hand. He had a ‘get well’ balloon also for you, which was tied to the vase of flowers.

You giggle and thank him for them. He grins and sets the flowers and balloon down on the windowsill next to the ones from Aiden and Scarlett.

He comes and gives you a little hug and kisses your forehead. “How’s my girl doin?” he asks.

You grin, “Don’t let Rich hear you say that!” you tease.

He grins, “Well, me and Gwen laid claim to ya before Rich did, so he’ll have to just deal with it.” He says cheekily, making you giggle. “So, how are ya doin?” he asks.

You shrug. “Tired, my leg hurts, and I’m hungry.” you reply and grin when he sets a bag on the table and hands you a french vanilla cappuccino from the tray.

“Well, breakfast is here now, so at least ya won’t be hungry anymore.” He chuckles. “Don’t they have ya on pain meds?” he asks you.

“Yeah, but I told the nurse I didn’t want them till I had some breakfast in me. I’ll get them in a bit.” You tell Graham.

Grinning, you dig into the bag, seeing pastries like what Todd has delivered each morning. You look up at Graham. “Where did you get these from? They look like the ones Todd has delivered each morning at the shop!” you ask.

He grins. “I got them from the pastry shop that he gets his from. They asked why his shop was closed and then saw the note Rich left on the door this morning. They said to tell ye and Todd that they wish ye both a speedy recovery!” he says with a smile

You grin and take a bite of a strawberry scone and let out a happy little groan. “I love these ones! These and the doughnuts with the icing and the strawberry or cherry fillings! OOOooohhh they are the BEST!” you giggle.

There’s a knock at the door and a young lady is standing at the door with two big bouquets of flowers. “Excuse me Miss, but are you Harley?” she asks.

You nod. “Yes.”

She comes in and tells you, “These are for you. Where would you like them?” She asks.

Your jaw drops. One bouquet is two dozen red and pink roses with baby’s breath and purple lavender filler. The other is a bouquet of 6 yellow roses, brightly colored fuji mums and daisies that were colored brightly with food coloring.

Scarlett gets up and takes the bouquet of red and pink roses. She sets it down on the table and looks for a card. “Aaahhh! Here it is!” she says and hands you the card.

You open it up and see it’s from Richard. “For the love of my life. You mean the world to me, Sweetheart. I hope these brighten your day. I’m thinking about you & know I love you more than anything in the universe! Xoxo – Rich”

You grin and show it to Graham, Aiden & Scarlett. They all smile, and Scarlett puts the card back on the plastic stand and Graham takes the bouquet and puts it on the windowsill next to the other ones.

The delivery gal hands Scarlett the other big bouquet and then heads out to do more deliveries after you thank her for bringing them up.

Scarlett digs around in the bouquet and finds another card. She hands it to you, and you open it up to see it is from the Police Department that Alex, Todd and Jack worked for. It said, “Heard what happened, wishing you a speedy recovery! Our thoughts and prayers are with you! – Inspector Kathleen Walsh & your friends at the NYPD 19th Precinct.”

You look at Graham and Scarlett in surprise. “The police department sent me flowers?” Graham chuckles. “Apparently so Sweetheart!”

You shake your head in disbelief. “Well, that was nice!” you state.

They all nod. Graham takes the flowers and puts them on the windowsill as well. “You’re getting quite the collection, Sweetie!” Scarlett teases you.

You grin. “They’re making my room smell nice, that’s for sure!” you say, grinning.

Your doctor knocks on the door casing and then steps in. He talks with you for a bit and checks the wounds on your leg after shooing everyone out into the hall.

He asks you about all the scars on your legs and you explain they go all the way up onto your crotch. You tell him that the ones on your legs were from your last three boyfriends you had before meeting Richard. And you tell him the ones on your crotch were from the ex-boyfriend, Ben, who shot you. You ask him to make a note of you telling him that to put in your medical file. That you don’t want anyone thinking it was Richard who gave you them. You explain you never had reported the abuse from your ex boyfriends because of fear since the ex-boyfriends had all threatened you that if you told they’d go after you and your family. He nods in understanding and makes a note of it in your file.

He tells you that he doesn’t want you walking on the leg for a few days, and that you may use the crutches ONLY to get from your bed to the restroom in your room and then back to your bed for now. You nod. He asks if you need any stronger pain meds and you shake your head.

“I’m due for them when the nurse comes back with them. I told her I wanted to wait to take them till I had some breakfast in me first.” You reply.

He nods and tells you he will check in with you tomorrow morning then and tells you to have a good day.

Your friends come back in after the Doctor leaves and they have another two bouquets. You roll your eyes and giggle. “Now who are these from?” you ask.

Graham sets a small oblong flowerpot on the table with Hyacinths, tulips, daffodils and crocuses on the table in front of you. You grin and take a deep breath. “Oooohhh! Those smell wonderful!!!” you pull the card off the flower pick and read it. It’s from Captain Angel L. Figueroa Jr. & the NYPD 1st precinct and says: “Wishing you a speedy recovery, Harley! Our thoughts and prayers are with you as you recover!”

“Awwww! That’s sweet!” you say and put the card back on the flower pick.

Scarlett takes the planter and puts in on the shelf by the sink so you can smell them when people open the door to enter and exit.

The other bouquet is pink and white stargazer lilies and hot pink roses and lighter pink carnations with some greens. You look at the card and see it’s from Lee Pace. It reads: “Wishing you a speedy recovery and hope you and Phantom are doing well.”

“Oh! Those smell lovely too! It’s gonna smell like a flower shop in here!’ you giggle.

Graham and Aiden chuckle and Graham adds the flowers to your collection on the windowsill.

Scarlett looks at the time and nudges Aiden, who glances up at the clock and sees they need to get going to the studios. “We gotta get going, Harley. I gotta film some scenes this afternoon, and Scarlett’s gonna go check on the shop for you and Todd.” He tells you.

They both give you a hug and tell you they will see you later on. You wave goodbye and they head out.

The nurse comes in with your pain meds. “Are you ready for your meds, Harley?”

You nod and she gives them to you. You down them with your water and she makes a note in your chart on the hospital’s computer. Then she heads out after seeing if you needed anything.

You look at Graham and say, “Now what do we do?”

He chuckles. “Well, what would you like to do?”

You shrug. “I don’t know. Graham, can you tell me about your family? I don’t even know their names, you said your wife told you to tell me ‘welcome to the family’.” You said. “You must’ve been telling her about me.”

He chuckled. “Aye, Lass, I told her ‘bout you. How I met you, and how I was tryin’ to hook ya up with Rich. She wanted to see what ya looked like, so I sent her the pics I took.” He explained. “Didn’t want her worrying if the Papparazzi snuck photos of us when we all do stuff together.

Scarlet told me your parents died a few years ago and I mentioned it to Gwen… It was her idea, actually, to ‘adopt’ you, so to speak.” He giggled. Gwen is my wife. Our two daughters are Hope and Honor.” He tells you, “Honor was born in 2006 and Hope was born in 2012.” He says beaming with pride. “I’ll show you pics of them later.” He says. “They live in New Zealand where we have a house.” He tells you.

You look at him surprised. “I thought you were from Scotland, though?” you ask.

He chuckles. “I am, Lass, but I’ve lived all over the world. We decided to settle in New Zealand, though, after living there while we filmed The Hobbit.” He explained.

“Oh! I saw a lot of the bonus features on my Extended Edition DVD’s of the Hobbit. It looks absolutely wonderful! It’s on my bucket list of places to visit someday.” You tell him with a big grin.

He chuckles, “Well, Lass. I’m sure Rich wouldn’t bat an eye taking you to come visit us there. He loved it there as much as we did and considered buying property there, but he’s so busy with filming and such, he said he’d rather wait till he got older and started to slow down with work.” Graham tells you.

“Graham?” you ask.

“Yeah, Sweetheart?” he replies.

“I want to do something special for Rich, but I don’t know what to do. He doesn’t like to talk about himself, so trying to find out what kinds of things he likes, I’m finding is rather difficult. Do you think you could help me?” you ask. “I know he likes chocolate ice cream, wine, legos and reading. But that’s about it.”

Graham chuckles. “Yeah, he is an introvert and shy, so whenever people ask him personal questions, he tends to shy away from them.” He tells you. He gives you a few ideas of things Richard would like and suggests to just be observant, “You’ll learn more about him from just observing and listening, than from anything else, Lass.

He’s moody and grumpy sometimes, but don’t let it get to you. It’s just how he gets into characters he portrays. He’ll often take them home with him and struggle to let ‘em go. Maybe having you around will help ‘im with that, Lass.” Graham tells you.

“There’s so much I don’t know about the film industry.” You sigh. “I’ve never seen how one is made from start to finish. He asked if I’d come with him when he travels for the promotional stuff for the film too. I’ve never traveled very much tho. He said something about finding out the details for taking Phantom with too, so I’d feel safe.” You tell Graham.

Graham grins. “It would be nice for him to have ye with, Lass. I know I’d enjoy having you with us. My wife and kids don’t travel much with me. It’s such a long flight from New Zealand to the US and Europe that they don’t make it very often to join me for premieres. It’s a whirlwind of a time, and is exhausting, but it’s a lot of fun too. You get to meet a lot of people and just sit back, relax and talk about the film with interviewers. If you do come with, we’ll be sure ya are well taken care of.” He tells you.

You giggle and grin. “Graham, did you get my dress from Aiden’s? Don’t let Rich know anything about the dress. I don’t want him to see it or see me in it until he picks me up for the event! I want it to be a surprise!” you tell him.

He gives you a positively evil smirk and says, “Your wish, is my command, Sweetie. And yes, I picked it up from Aiden’s last night before I headed home. It’s in my closet in my bedroom, which he won’t dare go into. Scarlett said I should hang it up so it wouldn’t crease the velvet.” He tells you. “I’ll take ye to go have it altered to fit ye when they let ye outta here.” He says.

You grin and happily clap your hands. “I can’t wait!

Graham chuckles and rubs his beard, thinking.

“Graham, do you ever do Skype or Zoom or FaceTime your family? You’re always saying I remind you of your daughters.” You tell him. “I thought it would be nice to say hi to them and talk with them and your wife, if it was okay with you. I don’t know how the time differences work between there and here though.” You mention to him.

He glances up at the clock and you can see him working out the time differences in his head.

“Well, Lass, it’s about 1am there right now. Well, if ya can wait till around 3 or 4 pm our time this afternoon which should be able to give them time to get up and get ready, then we can give them a zoom call, we’ll say “Hi” and I’ll introduce ya to them!” he tells you.

“For now, though, what do ya want to do?” he asks. Phantom comes over and sniffs all the flowers on the windowsill and ‘wuffs’ at them.

“What? Don’t you like all my pretty flowers, Phantom?” you ask. He chuffs and comes walking over to your bedside. Graham smiles and gives him a good scratch. “Do ya need to go outside, Boy?” he asks.

Phantom gives a short yip and Graham stands up. “I’ll go take him out to do his business, then we’ll be right back, Sweetheart. Did someone take him out last night or this morning?” he asked.

“I don’t know. Maybe the officer had one of the nurses take Phantom out. You’d have to ask him.” You tell Graham.

He nods and clips the leash on Phantom after he adjusts the service jacket. They head out and Graham stops to talk with the officer. The officer tells him he had one of the nurses take Phantom outside when he needed to go to the bathroom, and she brought him right back up. He did say they played with the rope toy for a bit having a tug of war.

Graham chuckled. “All right. Well, we’ll be back in a bit.” He tells the officer.

If you wish to be added / deleted from the tag list let me know:

Tagging:  @fizzyxcustard​​​​​​​  @thorinthehottytotty​​​​​ @dumbassunderthemountain​​​​​@deepestfirefun​​​​​​​ @thetherianthropydaily​​​​​​​ @daisy-picking-lady​​​ @spookybunny-blog​​​​​​​ @dabisburntnut​​​​​​​ @emrfangirl​​​​​​​ @midnight-reader-morning-sleeper​​​​ @hilary456​​​  @criminaly-supernatural​​​​​​

[willow-salix]

I was tagged by @hodgehegposts

Here we go!

🍫Favourite Comfort Food: if I need a quick fix I reach for the chocolate, if its a meal I'm in need of it's Spag Bol or pizza. It reminds me of my childhood when all my friends would pile round my house for my dad's famous Spag Bol. 

☕Favourite alcoholic/ hot drink: Coffee is my drink of choice, my favourite soft drink is cherry coke and my favourite alcoholic drink is a nice fruity cider. 

🛀 Favourite relaxing activity : I love a nice hot bath, reading a book. It's the only time I get any peace and I can stay in there for hours. 

🐺 Favourite fluffy/feel good fic : Anything from the WereVirgil au by @soniabigcheese

They are generally always good for a laugh and some squishy bro moments. 

🌺Favourite calming scent : I have a few of those, fresh cut grass, fresh baked cookies, vanilla anything and lavender. 

🎶 Favourite calming/uplifting songs : my calming songs is anything by Pink Floyd, I'm never not in the mood for Floyd. My favourite uplifting for me is "I'm a believer" by the Monkees. 

🎶Favourite white noise : I don't like the white noise machines of a fan or a droning sound, but I like ambient sounds like rain storms or the sea. My favourite to listen to when I'm writing or trying to sleep is one I mixed for me and a friend, its called "At Home on Tracy Island" and you can listen to it here.

📙 Favourite book I can get lost in: The Harry Potter series is always great for that. But I can read my favourite book "The Devil Rides Out" over and over again. It was my Grandads favourite too and he gave it to me years ago. I even have a tattoo of it on my ankle, a bookworm sitting on top of it as a tribute to him. 

📺 Favourite TV show to chill out to: Friends is always the one I can watch mindlessly and not have to pay attention to as its so ingrained in my mind. Otherwise its always Thunderbirds TOS and TAG, or the Muppets. 

🦉 Best advice ever given: There are two I live by. One from my Nan who told me that to have good friends you have to first be a good friend. And my other is from Scott Tracy in 'Trapped in the Sky' where he says "Make a completely normal approach, and keep your head." That is always in my mind in every situation be it hard, stressful, sad, whatever. I will always be myself, I'll always stride in with confidence and I'll always keep calm. 

I'm gonna tag @hedwigstalons and @onereyofstarlight if they haven't done it already.

[ittybittypbandj]

The Internship - Chapter 1

Trying my hand at a multi-chapter Bittyparse fic! 5 chapters, weekly updates. Also on ao3. <3

Summary:

Eric Bittle arrived in New York two weeks ago, newly single and ready for a fresh start. This internship was just what he needed to jumpstart his life.

Kent Parson loved his life in New York. He was at the peak of his NHL career. He had friends, the world's greatest cat, and everything he thought he needed.

He never expected a small Southern blonde to burst into his life and turn everything on its head.

Bitty frowned hard at the red bowtie. He twisted away from the mirror, tugging it off as he reached for the lavender one. Lordy, lavender was just as bad. How had all his favorite ties had become gauche overnight?

His mama had reassured him over Skype last night, "Don't worry, Dicky. You'll do great. You'll charm the socks off 'em. Before you know it, they'll be movin' you over to that food magazine you love so much." And he was gonna prove her right. He just needed to put in a little time, show them what he could do.

But how could he do it in a tie that screamed I don't know what I'm doing and by the way I’m bad with animals?

Okay fine, maybe it wasn't the tie's fault. If this were Jack’s first game of the season, Bitty would be reminding him to breathe right about now. He would be alright. He was Eric Richard Bittle. He could land a double Axel with his eyes closed and bake a flourless chocolate cake in Georgia in July. He could do this.

Bitty had moved to Brooklyn two weeks ago, eager to start his new internship in Manhattan. For the next three months he would be a Social Media Associate for Fancy Feline cat food. The job paid a stipend - not much, but enough to finance his matchbook-sized bedroom and name-brand butter - and there was a possibility at the end to extend his contract. It wasn't exactly his dream job, but what was a boy supposed to do? A year out of college, a degree in American Studies, and no experience? Employers weren't exactly banging down his door with offers.

A year ago, Bitty thought Jack was his future. At graduation, he had plans of moving in with Jack, finding a job in Providence, and settling down into their shared life.

After Bitty moved to Providence, he’d sent resume after resume to employers but couldn’t find a job. Jack was out of town frequently and Bitty didn’t have any local friends – Lardo and Shitty and Holster and Ransom were all in Boston, which was just far enough away to be logistically difficult – and he found himself more isolated than he expected.

Bitty also realized that he’d only experienced Jack’s intensity and anxiety through the rosy lens of infatuation. They both struggled with the shift in their living situation, lord knows it was as hard on Jack as it was on him. In April when Jack’s playoff run ended abruptly from a wrist injury and an eight-week recovery, Bitty’d been ready to poke out his own eye rather than face another day of both of them at home, dancing around the fact that this just wasn’t working.

And so, after they’d finally talked and cried and shared a joint session with Jack’s therapist, Bitty and Jack called it quits and Bitty tearfully phoned Lardo to break the news. He’d stayed on her and Shitty’s lumpy couch in Boston for two months while Shitty called in a family favor and helped him land this internship.

Even after everything, Bitty was feeling hopeful. All he needed was a few months' experience and a job on his resume more substantial than ‘running a baking vlog’. He took a deep breath and released it, checked his hair one last time, queued up Queen Bey on his headphones, and headed for the subway.

_/_/_/ \_\_\_

Bitty’s first day at the office was a whirlwind of new faces and information. Meesha, Bitty’s fellow intern and apparently the person in charge, led him on a brisk tour through the office and he practically skip-jogged to keep up with her. While they walked, she peppered him with information about the department.

"You’ll coordinate the images and story for all the social media platforms, and you’ll directly manage the endorsement relationships." Meesha glanced over her shoulder to check that he was keeping up. "I do all the site and ad placement, and Tito runs the admin side. We're all a hot mess this week prepping for Kit, but don’t worry - we'll get you settled in just fine."

"Kit?" Bitty asked.

"Oh yeah, Kit Purrson. She's launching as the face of Fancy Feline in, like, three weeks. Totes adorbs and has a crazy-ass following. We've got, like, a zillion things to do to get ready. I'm sure you'll jump right in. You've used Visio, right?"

By lunch, Bitty’s head was swirling with acronyms and spreadsheets. It felt a little like in figure skating when he’d come out of a scratch spin too fast - the world was wobbly and the colors were spinning, but he was confident it would right itself if he grinned and skated through it.

"Heeeey, how's our new boy doin'?" someone yelled as they passed his and Meesha’s cubicle. Bitty spied styled black hair over the cubicle wall.

"Hey Tito!” Meesha called back. “He's great!"

Tito appeared from around the corner, eight coffees in two to-go containers balanced masterfully on one arm. He read the lids and carefully passed one to Meesha. "You guys ready for our guest today? I’m totally having him sign something.”

Meesha rolled her eyes as she inhaled the fragrant coffee. “You are seriously the lamest. Sports are a consumerist construct and the guy is basically, like, Kit’s chaperone. She’s the real star.”

Tito laughed and offered a cup to Bitty, “Hey Eric, I wasn’t sure what to get you. How’s a vanilla sugar oat milk latte? It’s the special across the street.”

Bitty grinned. “Thanks, hon!” His first day was turning out pretty great.

Meesha steered Bitty into a large conference room. Tito ran to his desk for a hat and marker before joining the people assembling around the conference table. Lordy, he hadn’t been lying about an autograph. Who was this guy?

A dozen folks chatted quietly around the table. Their guest was apparently running late, and Meesha took the opportunity to fill Bitty in on launch plans. As she was explaining the finer points of multi-platform synchronization, Bitty heard a man’s laughter down the hall. His ears perked up. Did he know that voice? Surely it couldn’t be –

Bitty’s head jerked up as an effortlessly well-dressed man in a royal blue snapback stepped into the room. Their eyes locked.

Oh lord. Kent Parson.

_/_/_/ \_\_\_

Kent scowled at Kit, his chin resting on his hands on the cold hardwood.

“C’mon, baby, you’ve got to eat it.”

Kit sniffed the dish daintily, nonplussed.

“I know, princess,” he wheedled, “but daddy’s going to make you the most famous li’l furbaby on the internet. You’ll pass grumpy cat like he forgot how to frown. All you have to do is eat the gross food.”

Kit mrowled in disapproval and Kent rearranged his awkward limbs. So this is what his adulthood had come to, he mused. Two condos, three sports cars, a slew of hockey awards, and apparently a cat too picky to eat the goddamn food she was paid a shitload of money to represent.

Tonight’s standoff had lasted an hour, and Kent would be damned if he let Kit win again.

He scratched his nose. He probably should be doing the prep work the Fancy Feline team needed before Kit’s photo shoot. At the meeting today, they’d given him a to-do list that rivaled his off-season training goals. He was supposed to check with Eric Bittle if he had any questions.

Speaking of which, why had Eric Blast-from-the-Past Bittle even been there today? Kent would have appreciated a goddamn heads-up, that’s for sure.

Eric looked good, he thought. A little taller and sharper than he remembered. His hair game was on point. Kent had only seen him a couple times in the four years since the Samwell party where they first met, and of course Eric had grown up, but seriously – he was hot now.

But why the hell was he in New York City? And was this related to the charming, old-man text messages Jack had started to send Kent out of the blue a month ago?

Kent debated texting Jack to ask, but it was a horrible idea. Either Jack and Eric were still together and Jack would send awkward Canadian nonsense about how great Eric was, or they weren’t together and Jack would get pissed and shut Kent out of his life again.

Kent sighed and climbed to his feet, heading to the refrigerator for Kit’s specialty wet food and a glass of white wine to wash down the bitter taste of defeat. He would fight the cat food battle another day. As Kit scarfed down hand-seared filet mignon, Kent sipped his wine and fiddled with his phone.

Kent: hey dude what’s up? I saw your boy today.

Jack: Hey Kent.

Jack: What?

Well shitballs, this was already turning out to be a terrible idea. No turning back now, Kent reasoned.

Kent: Eric was at a business meeting today. all suited up and shit.

Kent: what’s he doing in NYC? u guys ok?

Jack: Oh.

Jack: We broke up in April.

Kent: shit Zimms, that really blows. he seemed like a cool guy

Jack: Yeah.

Kent: sometimes it just doesn’t work out, y’know? i’m sure you’ll find somebody great

Jack: How was the meeting?

Kent: oh

Kent: it was good. boring as watching ice melt but productive I guess

Kent: eric looks good, I mean not in a weird creepy way but he looks like he’s doing ok?

[Jack is typing…]

[Last message received 8:54pm]

Kent: hey, did you see the new netflix show where ordinary people recreate fancy cakes and that crazy lady yells at everybody?

Kent: it’s the tits

Jack: No, but I’ll check it out.

Kent: dooo iiit

Jack: What’s the name?

Kent: fuck if I know. it’s the one with the previews of nasty looking cakes and ppl getting screamed at. you can’t miss it. it’s a goddamn gem.

Jack: Sounds like it.

Jack: And, thanks Parse. I’m glad he’s doing OK.

Kent: no problem man

Kent: any time

_/_/_/ \_\_\_

Bitty paced all eight feet of his bedroom, back and forth, back and forth.

He was supposed to be starting a new life! In a city of eight million people, how had he stumbled upon the one person connected to his life with Jack? And how was he supposed to be professional and work with said person, when everyone (well, maybe just Bitty) knew that he was secretly a manipulative asshole?

Good gracious, he might be freaking out just a little. He needed reassurance. Who could he talk to that knew the situation and would be supportive and not weird?

Bitty: LARDOOOOO

Lardo: BITTTYYYY

Lardo: Why the yelling, Bits?

Bitty: I am coordinating a photo shoot at Kent Parson’s house next week. KENT PARSON’S HOUSE

Lardo: That’s sick bro.

Lardo: They’re giving you a lot of responsibility right away. Nice.

Bitty: -_-;

Bitty: I think you’re missing the point

Bitty: KENT PARSON KENT PARSON KENT PARSON

Lardo: Lol Bitty cool your jets. He’s been pretty chill lately, hasn’t he?

Bitty: If you mean ‘not making my boyfriend have any more panic attacks’, then yes he’s been chill

Bitty: But I’d say that’s a VERY low bar to hurdle

Lardo: Have you met him yet? How was it?

Lardo: Does he know you and Jack broke up?

Bitty: I’m pretty sure he didn’t know who I WAS

Bitty: Period.

Lardo: No way, dude. You’ve meet him multiple times, right?

Bitty: twice, 3 times if you count the disaster at the Haus

Lardo: He totally remembers you, dude. You’re unforgettable.

Lardo: You’re like a delightful minor superhero.

Lardo: You’re Antman.

Bitty: Ugggghhh this is the worst

Bitty: and Antman, seriously? We are SO gonna talk about that later

Lardo: Bitty, bro of my heart, it’s truth time. You sitting down?

Bitty: *sits*

Lardo: Good.

Lardo: Here’s the thing. Kent Parson is just a dude. A dude with some fucked-up history respective to one JLZ, but still just a dude.

Bitty: I know, but…

Lardo: Hush, Padawan.

Bitty: -_- *hushes*

Lardo: He’s probs not an evil person. You’ve only ever seen him in relation to J, and they went thru some messed up shit as kids. When he’s not dealing with that, he’s probably a boring-ass adult with a job and a cat. You can’t judge him forever based on the 3 times you’ve met.

Lardo: Was he awful the other times?

Bitty: Well no, mostly just at Epikegster

Bitty: But he was Really Bad that time

Lardo: I get it Bits, but if that’s his only awful moment, then the dude already has like a 67% not-awful rate.

Bitty: So you’re saying I’m all worked up over nothin?

Lardo: Maybe? Give him a chance.

Lardo: You don’t have to be BFFs. Just be professional and friendly until he gives you a reason not to be. If it turns out he’s a dickhead, you have my blessing to fuck up his shit.

Bitty: Thanks Lards. Mind if I snap you outfit choices later?

Lardo: Do it. Matching polish?

Bitty: Yes’m but toes only. I miss your help with fingers. It gets all smudgy when I do it

Lardo: I miss you, bro.

Bitty: You too :-*

_/_/_/ \_\_\_

Kent pressed the center button on his phone again…8:51am. This was officially the longest morning in the history of time.

So far he’d gone for a run, made a smoothie, showered, arranged the throw pillows, hidden the dopey photo of him and his sis at Disneyland, brushed Kit. Now he was sitting on the couch, running shoes bouncing on the marble coffee table as he waited for the Fancy Feline team to arrive. Maybe he should make coffee? He hopped up, re-fluffed the pillows, and headed to the kitchen.

The crew arrived promptly at nine, accepting the hot mugs of coffee Kent passed around. Eric shook his hand and started up a pleasant and professional stream of small talk as the photographer set up tripods and the assistant unfolded white umbrellas.

Unfortunately, Kit decided this was her party and she could hide if she wanted to. She spent the first hour perched on the bookcase, refusing to budge for treats or catnip.

Kent couldn’t blame her. Usually it was just her and him in the apartment, and even when he had people over, she generally ignored them and slept in the bedroom on the Monsieur Taco pillow he won her at Coney Island. Having a half-dozen strangers in her space, hovering over her with cameras and lights? He’d probably peace out too, if he were her.

After thirty minutes and no success, Kent relinquished the catnip to the assistant and excused himself to start a fresh pot of coffee. From the kitchen counter, he found himself watching Eric.

Eric was frowning as the drama unfolded, his lean torso hunched in concentration. His right foot tapped impatiently on the rug. It wasn’t Eric’s job to get Kit to participate. Eric had explained this to Kent while they were setting up, that his role today was to make sure they got all the shots they needed for the campaign.

As Kent watched him now, Eric nodded to himself like he’d made a decision and marched over to the bookcase. He began talking animatedly with the photographer and gesturing rapidly, taking charge of the situation like a tiny major general. Kent was impressed. Hell, even Kit watched him with interest.

Kent felt a little like a jerk – he’d always thought Eric was childish and annoying, based on their past brief interactions and Eric’s animated Twitter feed (not that he’d internet stalked him, pssh). But maybe Kent had it wrong. This version of Eric seemed full-to-bursting with charisma and natural leadership. Hell, even Queen Kit respected it.

As Eric directed the strategy to coax Kit off her perch and over to the windowsill, Kent couldn’t help but stare. Eric glowed warm and golden, like Southern sunlight was radiating from his pores. He looked good in control.

Kent’s stomach did a pleasant swoop as he thought about Eric taking control in other ways. Or what it would take to convince Eric to give up that control, to go soft and pliant and let Kent – or someone, whatever – do the controlling.

His chest tingled warmly. This probably wasn’t the best train of thought for a professional gathering; nothing like sporting a quarter chub at ten a.m. with people here to photograph your cat. He sighed, rearranged his junk, and headed back into the living room with the coffee pot.

The rest of the shoot ran smoothly. Kit, once she felt comfortable, totally hammed it up for the camera. Eric took behind-the-scenes videos and sent the best ones to Kent. They all shared high-fives when a video Kent tweeted of himself ineptly juggling cat toys got retweeted by George Takei. In celebration of their good social media fortune, Kent poured everyone mimosas.

Before Kent knew it, it was late afternoon and the photographer’s assistant started to disassemble the equipment. Eric herded everyone to the sofa where he handed out packets of instructions and debriefed them on next steps, and then the crew shook hands and headed out one by one.

As Kent shut the door after the last person, he wandered into the kitchen to find Eric still in the apartment, loading the dishwasher.

“Dude, you really don’t need to do that. I can do it after you go.”

“Kent Parson,” Eric scolded, “my mama would never forgive me if I left a host with a mess to clean up. It’s nothin’, really.”

“Thanks, man,” Kent replied. It was cool of Eric to offer and, if Kent was being honest, he probably would have left it a mess until his housecleaner came tomorrow. He started to consolidate cardboard containers of Chinese food.

They worked in silence in the spacious kitchen, making quick work of the cleanup. Kent caught Eric humming to himself. He recognized the tune – All For You by Janet Jackson – and sang along to Eric’s humming.

Eric let out a surprised huff, his cheeks pink. “Oh lordy! Was I singing that out loud?”

Kent just laughed and pulled out his phone, and one of his favorite pop mixes began playing from hidden speakers. Eric bopped his head to Janelle Monae as he dried the glasses. Kent lip-synced into a bottle of soy sauce like it was a microphone.

As Kent reached around Eric’s shoulder to place the wine glasses on a high shelf, their eyes met and Kent winked. He’d enjoyed a few mimosas and Eric was cute, so sue him. He just thought it’d be fun to make Eric blush, and his efforts were thoroughly rewarded. Eric’s blush spread from his face down his neck, reddening the soft skin at the base of his throat.

Kent felt the warm tingly feelings in his chest again. Shit, Eric was cute.

Abruptly, Eric turned and said, “I really should get going. We’ve got the kitchen under control and I need to upload these videos before tomorrow.”

Kent felt oddly deflated, although of course Eric was going to leave when they finished cleaning. He should probably apologize in case his wink had made Eric uncomfortable. Kent spent his days around gross hockey players, maybe he’d just committed some corporate sexual harassment shit and he didn’t even know it. Kent fished around for something to say that didn’t make him sound like a creeper.

He smiled and tried, “Kit really enjoyed having you here today. You’re good with cats.”

“Ha, thanks.” Bitty twisted the dishtowel in his hands. “I’m not really a cat person, but Kit’s great. Y’all’ve got a really special bond.”

“Maybe you could come over and get some more candid shots sometime?” Kent made a face. For Christ’s sake, he sounded ridiculous. “I mean, the ones today were really good.”

Eric’s face did something complicated. Kent watched him bite his bottom lip.

“Thanks,” Eric replied finally, “but no. I should go.”

“Oh,” Kent exhaled, “Yeah, of course. Sure thing, man.”

Kent helped Eric retrieve his things and walked him to the entryway. As Kent shut the door behind him, he rolled his eyes to the ceiling.

He was so fucked.

[gatorfruit-moved]

200, 192, 189, 174, 171, all in the believe in category, 154, 149, 146, 145, 142, 141, 138, 131, all in the here's what i think about category, 86, 84, 76, 66, 60, 54, 49, 44, 22, 18, 15, 11, 6, 2 Only answer the ones you want - there's a lot...Sorry lmao. I'm just curious

I love when I can go on and on about questions, thank you

200 My crush’s name is:I have two and people irl have my tumblr and one of them has a tumblr so :x they’re both a K name. 192 I am allergic to:Cats which does not stop me, all kinds of pollen, and lavender. 189 Last book you read:I’m currently working on When The Moon Was Ours174 Do you have any siblings?Not biologically but my friends may as well be my brothers, we say we are. 171 Do you play an instrument?I’ve been on flute since late third grade and I’m learning both guitar and bass. Do you believe in169 Love at first sight:Mmmmm not really? I dunno. 168 Luck:In a way to just describe entropy yeah. 167 Fate:Again not really but I like to use it in a poetic sense. 166 Yourself:Pfffft not really165 Aliens:HELL YEAH164 Heaven:Nope163 Hell:Nah162 God:Nada161 Horoscopes:No but I think they’re neat160 Soul mates:It’d be cool but no159 Ghosts:No but I like supernatural shit like that158 Gay Marriage:OH YEAH BABEYYY157 War:No but I don’t really like involving myself in that discussion, i don’t know jack about psychology or sociology. 156 Orbs:In the supernatural sense no but I do believe in my friend’s cat we call Orb. He deserves all the love. 155 Magic:No but another thing I think is cool. 154 Hugs or Kisses:I love bear hugs so much but I’ve also never been kissed. Cheek and forehead kisses are good but I’m going with hugs. 149 Hot or cold:Cold but with warm sun146 Chocolate or vanilla:Vanilla! Swirl is the best though145 Night or Day:Night but like just as the sun is starting to set. 142 McDonalds or Burger King:mcnaldos. I was gonna italicize it but mobile sucks. 141 White Chocolate or Milk Chocolate:Milk unless it’s cookies and cream which reminds me of the summer, when Uzii and Abbas bought out the whole stock at the general store on Kelley’s Island. 138 Ugly and rich OR sweet and poor:I mean I’m ugly and poor lmao. If we’re talking personality, sweet and poor. If it’s appearance, i don’t care ab looks sooooo ugly and rich. 131 Small town or Big city:This is so hard for me because I live for Pittsburgh but Kelley’s Island was so perfect. Here’s what I think about122 War:Like I said in the do I believe one, I don’t know enough to say anything. It’s a complicated issue but for the most part I hate it121 George Bush:I have no idea120 Gay Marriage:I may be gay married one day lmao119 The presidential election:I mean this past one gave us some top notch SNL. It’s a shame though that the first on I kept track of was this shitshow. 118 Abortion:I’m very pro choice117 MySpace:Idk116 Reality TV:I love me some drag and cooking competitions but not things like the bachelor. 115 Parents:Mine? I’m fine with. Our relationship is a little weird. Plus I was raised by grandparents so it’s a complicated thing. I can go more in depth if you want. 114 Back stabbers:Rot in hell Alexa. Sorry just a vent. 113 Ebay:I dunno really112 Facebook:I barely use it but it was good to come out on lmao111 Work:I need it110 My Neighbors:I don’t talk to them but my old ones were creeps109 Gas Prices:I don’t drive so 🤷🏼‍♂️108 Designer Clothes:Hate it when they steal my culture 🔪🔪🔪 but other than that idc. There’s some stuff that is ridiculously priced but others, it’s just people making money doing something they love so power to them107 College:Let me in106 Sports:I bleed black and gold. I’m such a pittsburgher. 105 My family:Strange. I love em but they’re weird. Like I’ve got Opa’s side in Detroit which is all 6’+ and fairly well off, although we did lose the matriarch. There’s Oma’s in the Netherlands that I don’t know anything about. Papaw’s who are also well off, Aunt Martha outbid a college for her house but other than that I don’t really know them. Grandma’s Mexican yinzer family I love. We get petty over refried beans and guacamole. There’s some issues with me and coming out though. 104 The future:I’m kinda of afraid but there are days where I’m not and those are the best. 86 The thing that I’m looking forward to the most:Testosterone tbh84 People call me:Scottie, Scooter, Scoots, Major, two people are trying to push Scrotum and Scootums, along with various things like faggot and dumbass lmao. By friends, it’s not in an insulting way. 76 Right now I am talking to:Mack and attempting to get tumblr to let me talk to @kairoth although answering all these did take time66 People that make you happy:This list would be bigger if I talked to some people more and others didn’t betray me but the big ones are Mack and Kennedy60 I lose all respect for people who:Oof I can’t remember any of the big ones but if I heard them I’d remember. Deadnaming and misgendering is the biggest tho. 54 The worst pain I was ever in was:I can’t remember what it felt like when I got the fishhook through my shoulder but it left a scar. Granted falling in the parking lot during practice did too which didn’t hurt a lot. The one I can remember though is waking up in the middle of the night not able to move my knee, and so my leg, at all. It stills hurts from time to time and it’s got a mysterious bump that’s stressing me out. 49 Do you want children:Yeah, I feel like I’d be a good dad. I have dreams about it sometimes. I had one where I had a little tan freckles blonde haired daughter was teaching how to box. Another with a little brown haired brown eyed son, tying his tie, talking to him about how if he likes a girl, not to be mean but to treat her like a princess. If he ever makes a mistake, to buy her and her mother flowers, maybe even her sisters. I dunno. It’s nice to think about. 44 One person that you wish you could see right now:Carson so I can have a serious talk with him. Opa because got i miss him, and Great Grandma Laney. Dad, although I saw him recent enough that I’m not desperate. And the two crushes, not gonna name names. Favorites22 Animal:I love hyenas with all of my heart18 Sport to play:Hockey. Not only am I good at the actual game and get so much enjoyment out of it, but there’s nothing like a solid shoulder check. I threw a kid way bigger than me into the wall in middle school. 15 Day of the week:I used to really like Tuesday for some reason but now it’s probably Friday, especially if I go out and do stuff with friends right after school. 11 Food:Wedding soup I guess? It’s a comfort food. 6 Flower:I really like snapdragons, bleeding hearts, and warm colored roses. I’m also a huge fan of daffodils, tulips, hydrangeas, snowball bushes, and pansies for nostalgic reasons. I just really like flowers. 2 Dog breed:Oh man that’s tough. I really like big dogs, not quite in size but like stature if that makes any sense??? Things like bulldogs and pitties. Xolo dogs are great too

Thank you again!

[maddybunny]

My bro-dan, boughdan ( @thisisnotgeneric ) tagged me!:

Let’s go girls

What’s your favourite song[s] to sing/hum?

 SO MANY? This isn’t a fair question

What are your favourite flower/tree/plant [all 3 or whatever you have an answer to]?

Ahh!! Lavender, lilac, violets, tulips, pansies, mums, roses, lilies, I love everything!!!

Favourite colour[s]?

PURPLE OBVS. I also really love black, white, blue, green, silver, and red~

What do you always doodle [if you ever do]? 

I don’t really doodle anymore but when I did I would typically draw my fave anime characters, my own characters (usually my main sonic oc, Magenta) or I’d just draw myself in different ways (anime,furry,etc.) because I’m a vain bitch

How do you take your coffee/tea? If you don’t like those what’s your fav warm drink?

Any tea with lots of sugar/honey and maybe milk! I also love hot chocolate!

Favourite candle scent?

Similar to flowers, I LOVE the scent of lavender and lilac. I also love sugar/vanilla/anything like that!

Sunrise or sunset? 

ACTUALLY HARD FOR ME TO PICK BECAUSE I LOVE BOTH FOR THEIR OWN REASONS??? I guess I’ll pick sunset. It’s a little bittersweet to me, I guess- the feeling of looking out at one after a long, good day and thinking on it.

What perfume do you wear if any?

I actually have a billion perfumes but currently I wear a body spray from bath and body works OR a lavender + vanilla body spray I got for xmas .w.

What’s your go to dance move when you’re alone? 

I can’t dance, but when I do randomly break out in dance, it’s always some hilariously bad white people dance

Favourite quote? 

GOD I don’t know, I actually have so many. One I’ve always liked is the beginning quote from Jigoku Shoujo/Hell Girl though. “It's said life's encounters are governed by fate. Within the tangled threads of destiny, cursed flowers bloom. Pitiful, and frail... Lost in their anger.. their sorrow.. their tears... Beyond the midnight's veil is a revenge you could not exact alone.”

Favourite self care thing[s] or routine[s]?

Washing my face with my Lush shit after taking my makeup off, getting into pjs, brushing my hair, exfoliating, and trying to eat like, at least one healthy thing a day if I can LOL

What’s your eye colour?

Poop

What’s your favourite eye colour on others? 

I’ve always been a sucker for green eyes, but in recent years I’ve come to love really hazel eyes! They’re so cool because they’re basically yellow.

Favourite season? Why? 

Winter! Because snow is beautiful, bitch. I love that shit. I also prefer the cold over the heat. I have cute winter clothes!

Cheek, neck or nose kisses? 

Cheek :) Maybe nose sometimes?

What does your happy place look like?

My bed lol //generic answer. If we’re talking (somewhat) fantasy though? A place with a fuckload of butterflies.. and other animals. Yeah. I like conservatories a lot.

Favourite breed of dog? 

All?? I think some of my faves though are the chow chow, shiba inu, saint bernard, samoyed, huskies, border collie, and dalmatian :) 

Do you ever want to be married? If so what colours would you pick for your wedding theme? 

It would be nice I think, but it’s not necessary. I’d like to have our favourite colours for the wedding though. So purple and whatever they love.. because purple goes with anything, ho. If it’s a wedding with my current bf, it’ll likely be purple and green! Which is cool because that’s one of my fave colour combos too.

Silk or lace?

I love both but lace!

Favourite weather?

Cool, but not too cold. Sunny~ or snowing!

I’m gonna tag @lord-vain and @whitemistrose if you guys are interested at all <3

[trail-horse]

Get to Know the Blogger

Tagged by @pancakehorse ! Thanks! 1) Name: Autumn 2) Nicknames: online, people call me Ake. Otherwise A.U.B., stage daddy, and “fire kitty” 3) Height: 5′1" 4) Orientation: Lesbian as hell 5) Nationality: American & white 6) Favorite fruit: Pomegranates 😍😍 7) Favorite season: Summer, but winter is a close second 8) Favorite flower: Tigerlillies 9) Favorite scent: cinnamon, horses, vanilla, lavender, new puppies, fresh rain, celery 10) Favorite color: maroon (surprise surprise lmao) 11) Favorite animals: horses, reindeer, mules, dogs, big cats especially tigers, foxes, rats, raccoons 12) Coffee, tea, or hot chocolate: coffee for sure. I love a pumpkin spice flavored Keurig drink 13) Average hours of sleep: 6-8 14) Dog or cat person: Dog person 15) Favorite fictional character: Carmilla Karnstein from the Carmilla webseries, who I am utterly in love with (natasha negovanlis if you’re reading this please marry me) 16) Number of blankets you sleep with: one comforter/duvet. I hate sheets 17) Dream Trip: Oh god I have no idea. I want to go everywhere. But a trip to France’s beaches would be awesome. 18) Blog created: 2015! Jesus, that’s 3 years. My main @akeolo is like 6 years old. 19) Number of followers: 709 and I love all of you 20) Random fact: I’m trying to go to the University of Guelph in Canada for zoology next year! I’m very excited and hope I get in!

Uhhhh I’m gonna tag @shecallsmewildling @clickercake and @spanishequestrian ❤️

[littleblondesoprano]

Can you tell me stuff that makes you happy? I've had a rough day and am feeling pretty down. -🍒

Oh gosh! I’m so sorry! Of course! 

(I’m not gonna lie, this is gonna be a pretty long list!) 

What makes me Happy: 

Fluffy

Tom Hiddleston (and ANY of the characters he acts as–especially Loki)

Loki

Writing and singing!

Writing a paper for class and completely demolishing it!

Singing for people who have never heard me sing before and making them cry/feel something. 

Mythology (namely Greek and Norse) 

Getting new books!

My friends! 

Disney!

Going to the airport, that rush of adrenaline that you get knowing you’re travelling and you’re gonna have an awesome time and gain new experiences! 

Autumn and Spring!

Flowers! (Namely roses, baby’s breath, and white daises) 

History in general! But what I love is the time of the Vikings (so like…8th-9th century beginning) and the Victorian-Edwardian era of Europe!  

Crystals! (Citrine, Silver and Rainbow Moonstone, Emeralds, Rose Quartz, Clear Quartz, and there’s one that I absolutely love, but I don’t know the name of! It’s a black stone, but in it, it looks like captured stars!)

Shiny rings and necklaces! I like shiny stuff.

Really, really old books–like, the kind where the pages are turning orange and the cover is worn out and cracking; it shows that someone really loved that book enough to hold onto it and read it again and again! 

Peppermint vanilla mocha!

Milk chocolate ANYTHING

Macaroons and brownies and cheesecake, oh my! 

Marble–usually white marble with grey veins–but I absolutely adore it and I want it everywhere in my future home!

Big windows letting in bunches of natural light!

Hot showers after a really long day, getting out and feeling clean and ready for bed!

Alternatively, cold showers after working out, getting out and feeling refreshed!

The beach!! Laying out on the beach!! Sharks teeth on the beach!! The little shops at the beach!! 

Crystal shops! (Good ones) 

Organizing my little areas and checking off all of my responsibilities for the day. 

Swimming to the bottom of my pool and those few moments when I’m just suspended in water, completely engulfed, and I see little bubbles involuntarily escape my lips or my nose!

Swimming in the later afternoons, when the sun is low through the trees and creates little broken waves in the water and I come up for air in a little pool of light! It’s almost like the sun is winking! 

Looking through old pictures in giant bins we have (we’ve got like, four or five–plus or minus a few books–and they’re huge) because mom loved buying the disposable cameras when I was little! Going through them and remembering those moments–or being told stories of those moments. 

Decorating for Halloween!! I would literally beg mom and dad in September to put up the Halloween decorations, and like, second week in they would always agree! I love setting it all up and then sitting down that night and watching the entire living room glow orange from the tree and the big, glowing pumpkins we have up! 

Going for walks when it’s chilly outside and bundling up!

Blanket scarves! 

Cinnamon-Sugar baked Pumpkin seeds! 

Picking out the pumpkins after going on a hayride and trying to find the biggest one! (Or the biggest one that I can carry)

Learning about the Baroque composers and listening to their music ( J.S. Bach, Vivaldi, Handel, Telemann, Monteverdi, Albinoni, etc.) 

 Ivy climbing over older Victorian houses! 

Chicken Salad! (Not with grapes in it–that yucky.)

Crab, Lobster, shrimp, salmon, flounder–and I feel guilty about this, but I’ve eaten mako shark before and it was good. 

I love seeing squirrels, cats, hawks, deer, foxes out in nature! 

People being nice to other people

Reading back over my own writing and rediscovering how good I was/am at it–not to be vain–but just like: “I wrote that?! What?! That’s too good!”

Harry Potter before everyone died. 

Game of Thrones! (In this house, we are TARGARYENS. And, well, we also root for the Starks, buT THE TARGARYENS.)

Little day trips with my friends to the mall or out to eat somewhere!

Similarly, sleepovers with my friends where we stay up late and do fun stuff! 

NEW YORRRRKK! And definitely Broadway and Times Square! Those bulbs and the buzz of activity and huge cool stores and new experiences always jazz me up! 

Sherlock Holmes! And classic literature like Wuthering Heights, The Scarlet Letter, Emma, Candide, literally all of Shakespeare’s stuff (especially Antony and Cleopatra!) Frankenstein, Les Miserables, Phantom of the Opera, Dracula, The Journals of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde! Literally everything except for Mr. Dickens–he’s too sad for moi. 

When it starts to snow and we go for a walk while the little flurries flutter down from the clouds! 

Sitting down at night in the living room (and Fluffy sitting in my recliner with me–mostly because I steal her favorite blanket and put it on the end of the ledge…thingie…and she sits on it!) at night and watching our favorite shows–be that Forged in Fire, Last Chance U, The Defiant Ones, Game of Thrones, Alone, Broadchurch, or any other silly show we find ourselves watching! We have the warm glow light bulbs and we strung some Christmas lights over our ‘logs’ in the fireplace and turn that on too, so the whole room is just washed in this beautiful, warm, golden bath and it’s so, so cozy. 

Going to little antique stores and finding something you’d never thought you would find–or never expected to find. 

Really, really cold Diet Pepsi Cherry.

The fountain drinks from Sheetz that you can add Cherry and Vanilla to! I usually add a lot of both to it–usually to Diet coke–and get the bigger drinks!

Tater tots in a bucket from Sheetz! 

Brewing spiced tea in a teapot

Bottling and organizing spices in the kitchen!

My William Shakespeare bust at my desk (he yells at me when I don’t write enough)

Finally laying down at night and daydreaming to fall asleep!

Eating little snacks–like some hoop cheese and an apple–for snack! 

Going to my Grandma Bonnie’s house and then going out to lunch with her at the Graham Soda Shoppe and getting two hot dogs all the way and splitting a basket of onion rings with her! Then, hitting Tasty Bakery right next door and getting some yummy treats! 

The hot chocolate at this one specific bakery on I-70; it’s the greatest I’ve ever had, I swear it! Nothing can top it! 

During winter break last year, I was performing with a group of other girls and I got that hot chocolate before rehearsal, and then we sat and watched the few acts before us perform–the house was beautifully lit golden and it just made me feel at home. 

France and England! 

Taking bunches of pictures during the day, on outings, and then at night looking over them and laughing!

Hotels that serve warm cookies at night! 

Peppermint sticks! 

Dipping slices of warm hoop cheese in ranch–I always did it at my Pawpaw’s house when we’d have these big lunches, and then we’d all go swimming in his pool or lay around the living room–that always reminds me of those times. 

Pineapple pizza! (No ham tho)

Going to the movies late at night and seeing an awesome one, then going to McDonalds and getting a M&M McFlurry! 

Getting my nails done!! 

Always having something yummy to eat at home

Mattress foam flip flops and my awesome swimsuit! (Er–it flatters my figure) 

Shark Week!!! 

Getting my makeup On Point. 

Nerding out with other theatre/musical nerds in person and singing duets with them (because none of my other friends will sing with me). There was this one guy in my chorus I sang “All I Ask of You” with and it was SO GOOD; we loved it! Every time we saw each other I would be like: “Saaaay yoouu love me every waaaakeeeinngg mommennntt–” we were awesome and I really miss that.

Going to the theatre and seeing musicals with my mom–that’s always fun! Last time, we got these huge cupcakes since my blood sugar was low–I think we saw Matilda (it was okay).

Ironing my dad’s shirts for my mom so she doesn’t have to after she gets home from work. 

The smell of sage burning

The smell of coffee being made–like, Tim Hortons and Harry & David’s coffee! 

Doughnuts with chocolate icing on top and vanilla icing inside! (We call that the manager’s special) 

Chick-fil-a sandwiches and fries! 

Vanilla cupcake cookie goldfish! 

Trying on an outfit for the first time (that you planned in your head the night before) and it looking even better than what you imagined it to be!

Lavender! 

Those purple vines/flowers that bloom in the Spring and hang from trees!

Golden sunsets! 

Cats doing funny stuff–or cute stuff–or just being cats in general!

Mother of Pearl inlays, pearls, and white fire opals! 

People getting me flowers! (It’s only happened once, and they were given to all the Seniors, so I don’t know if it counts, but…I really loved it!) 

Burgundy/wine red shirts!

Yellow/mustard shirts and dresses! 

Velvet! 

Red and gold stage curtains on a dark stage with remnants of ten different types of colored duck tape. 

Crisp sheet music–clean lined and dark inked! 

Alternatively, used sheet music–faded out a little, written on with pencil and once accidentally with pen, crinkled pages dog earred and maybe a staple or two barely hanging on. 

The absolute applause after you know you just kicked ass on that song! 

The confidence and the way my voice swells so powerfully when I perform! 

Gold plated–or gold–anything. 

Rocco/Baroque style decorating, clothing, anything! 

Watching the clouds drift by when floating on the surface of the pool. 

The trees finally turning color in the fall! 

Riding around in the Impala (just make sure to put on some sunscreen!) 

Downloading new songs to my phone and then really listening to them that night when I’m laying in bed daydreaming. 

Ghost tours in old towns! (We’ve done Charleston, South Carolina; Wilmington, North Carolina; Savannah, Georgia; Charlotte, North Carolina; St. Augustine, Florida!) 

Taking showers while the sun is still out and it’s kinda daytime! 

Staying out all day with my friends and coming home when it’s kinda dark outside/driving home with my friends when it’s sunset. 

Visiting/going to old castles and mansions! (Biltmore has been the best thus far!) 

Curling up in bed on a really cold day outside, and feeling warm on the inside! 

Making cookies/baking pastries in the oven and them turning out wonderfully! 

That’s all I can think of right now–and my gosh–I know there’s more! I’m just so tired from all that travelling! I hope you feel better after this, my friend!! I wish you all happiness!! 

Oh!! I forgot one!! My car, Pumpkin, and all other little minis make me happy!!

[evilsnootlord]

tagged by @kumikko aaaaa it's been a long time since ive been tagged in one of these things thank you friendo!! Rules: Answer the questions and tag 20 followers you’d like to get to know better. NAME: Jei NICKNAME: I have a shit ton including but not limited to Blue Jei, Blue Meanie, ZODIAC SIGN: scorpio HOGWARTS HOUSE: it frequently switches between Slytherin and Ravenclaw HEIGHT: 5'3" >:[ SEXUAL ORIENTATION: honestly idk at this point people are pretty and I get mini crushes on anybody who's attractive and is nice to me more than once ETHNICITY: a lot of white and then like. 13% Peruvian. But I'm def white passing so yeah FAVORITE FRUIT: bananas bc i don't really like strongly flavored foods... which most fruits are so yeh FAVORITE SEASON: autumn!! I love leaves and wearing whatever the hell I want whether it's shorts or sweaters or whatever FAVORITE BOOK SERIES: oh Christ idk I haven't read much in a long time bc Depression™ and inability to focus anymore but as a kid I used to be obsessed with Maximum Ride, tho they kinda ruined it with the last book? I actually haven't read the last book but they spent all this time marketing Nevermore as the final book but then fuckign James Patterson wrote another book where he killed everybody else off and teen pregnancy and gross???? Anyways idk FAVORITE FICTIONAL CHARACTER: uhhhhh oh my god I have no idea. I love so many characters,,,,, uhhhh,,, lately im really a Lance stan tho lmao FAVORITE FLOWER: ooooo I'm not sure!! I like a lot of flowers and they're pretty and aaaaaaaaa!! I used to hate flowers bc I thought boys couldn't like flowers and since I thought I was a trans boy I had to emulate toxic masculinity, and even when I figured out that I was nb I was still like that for awhile but!!! I learned fuck that hyper-masculinity bullshit and flowers, dresses, skirts, etc are good too FAVORITE SCENT: I rly like vanilla!! Tho there are plenty of good sniffs FAVORITE COLOR: teal and lavender FAVORITE ANIMAL: aaaaa idk, dogs? dragons? reptiles in general? birds? cats? there are too many good animals... FAVORITE BAND: lately I'm really into Tally Hall but I don't really have a favorite!! COFFEE, TEA, OR HOT CHOCOLATE: tea!!! then hot chocolate!!! then coffee!!! (coffees for the nights/days i really need to be awake for) AVERAGE HOURS OF SLEEP: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ NUMBER OF BLANKETS: DREAM TRIP: uhhhh Japan??? Space??? Idk there's a lot of places I'd like to go to tbh LAST THING I GOOGLED: middle school paper thing... I was trying to figure out what those things were called... they're just paper fortune tellers I guess lmao BLOG CREATED: I think March 2014? HOW MANY BLOGS DO I FOLLOW? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ NUMBER OF FOLLOWERS: 712 but like. I keep losing followers WHAT I USUALLY POST ABOUT: a sporadic array of nonsense. i used to post my own content but not much anymore DO I GET ASKS REGULARLY?: nah but I'd love to!! I'm really bad at keeping up w/ my internet friends tho... :'( aaaaand im not gonna tag anybody bc idk who I should tag but like. If you see this and you wanna do it feel free!!

[ditzyblonde-e]

Tagged

Rules: Answer 20 questions and tag 20 awesome followers to get to know better

I was tagged by @cartoonish-popplio​

Name: Emelia Nickname: Whatever anyone wants to call me, but generally my nickname is something like “Em” or “Ems” Zodiac sign: Taurus Height: 5′3″ Orientation: Asexual Ethnicity: White Favourite Fruit: Clementines and Blood Oranges are some of my favorites, and I do like Apples too.  Favourite Season: Fall, no contest Favourite Book: Those would probably be the stories I grew up reading, but one of my favorite books that I have is a book filled with old fairy tales. Favourite Flower: I do like roses, specifically pink ones, but other than that I don’t have many flower preferences.  Favourite Scent: Caramel, vanilla, lavender, those candles called “fresh linen”, that kinda stuff Favourite Colour: That would be light blue or purple Favourite Animal: That changes all the time, but aside from domestic animals, elephants are definitely one of my all time favorites. Hot Chocolate, Tea, or Coffee: TEA! Average Hours of Sleep: I always wake up at the same time every morning no matter what, but to function properly I need 8 hours of sleep. Favourite Fictional Character: A ton. I can’t even hone in on a single one because there are just too many of them. Really I’d have to make an entire paragraph of names.  Cat or Dog Person: Why not both? Ideal Number Of Blankets You Sleep With: Right now, one since it’s hot, but when it gets colder, like two or three. Ideal Trip: I’d really love to visit Europe and maybe Japan, but Europe is probably more feasible. I’d love to go around, see sights and stick around for a week or so. That would be fun, just taking it easy and walking around.

I’m not gonna tag anyone, but feel free to do it if you wanna

[kipperlillycopperkettle]

tagged by :  @politepupil

rules : answer the 20 questions and tag 20 amazing followers you would like to get to know better.

name : beth anne? i guess?

nicknames :  um. i have a friend who calls me bae and it’s super cute! also cece calls me bean sometimes and that’s adorable and i love it 10/10 you guys

zodiac sign : aquarius. also cancer moon and leo rising. i think. 

height :  5′4″

orientation : sapphic and grey-ace??? who knows man not me 

ethnicity :  white

favorite fruit : i love plums so much okay

favorite season : summer or late spring probably!

favorite book : okay like. listen. do you really want to ask me this. here we go man. i adore the newsflesh trilogy but the first one is my favorite, and ask the passengers was the first book that made me go “oh shit i could be gay” so that will always have a very very special place in my heart and also sharp objects by gillian flynn is such a good book omg it’s way better than gone girl which was super overhyped and also six of crows is amazing (so is crooked kingdom but like. six of crows is so good man) and also i love the raven cycle except for the last one but my favorite of those is the dream thieves, and i’m gonna stop now bc this is already too long.

favorite flower : poppies are so pretty i love them

favorite scent :  i love the scent of lavender and rosemary they’re both so pretty. also vanilla is nice

favorite color : pretty much every shade of purple and which shade varies? im feeling lavender lately tho

favorite animal : cats, foxes, and owls probably

coffee, tea, or hot chocolate? :  i only drink coffee if it’s a cappuccino mixed with hot chocolate so probably tea or hot chocolate at different times

cat or dog person? : cats. like i love dogs too but cats. 

favorite fictonal character(s) : here’s a pretty solid list -  rose lalonde, willow rosenberg, hermione granger, winifred burkle, neptune, idk there’s probably more

number of blankets you sleep with : too many like 3 maybe? plus a comforter

ideal trip :  idk probably renting a nice cabin in the woods somewhere and just hanging out. going to europe would be really cool too (especially greece)

blog created : may of 2015? maybe? idk man

tag 20 people : do this if you want idc i’ll tag @evieoftheisle, @anangrybi and @demigayness

[artbybutterflykisses]

Rules: answer the 20 questions, and tag 20 amazing followers that you’d like to get to know better.

Name: Alora

Nicknames: Butterfly  

Zodiac sign: Pisces

Height: 5″3

Orientation: Asexual

Ethnicity: White (?).....I’m British, and Irish, don’t know what percent of either though (with other stuff mixed in I’m not 100% sure about, since I only know my birth mothers’ side of the family.)

Favourite Fruit: Cherries, Granny Smith Apples, Peaches

Favourite Season: Spring

Favourite Book Series: I don’t really read actual books anymore, but my favorite as a kid was A Series of Unfortunate Events  

Favorite Flower: I like pretty much all flowers, but I had a really pretty rose bush in my backyard growing up, so I’d have to say Rose (of all colors, but I like pink and red the best)

Favorite Scent: Lavender and Sandalwood (the combination of the two, and them separately), roses, vanilla, cocoa butter, sugar cookies, sugar plum

Favorite Colour: Pastel Pink (Well, all pastels, really....but pink is my favorite color, and pastel is my favorite shade of pink)

Favorite Animal: Cat

Coffee, Tea, or Hot Cocoa: I don’t really drink any of these very much. I mostly just stick to soda or fruit juice....but if I have to pick one, probably Hot Cocoa (but it’d have to be Dark Chocolate, since I don’t like Milk Chocolate very much......too sweet for me.)

Average Sleep Hours: Uhh.....2am-5am to 11am-1pm? (Horrible I know, but I have a hard time falling asleep most nights no matter when I go to bed.)

Favorite Fictional Characters: Ken Ichijouji (Digimon Adventure 02), Adrien Agreste (Miraculous Ladybug), Yuri Plisetsky (Yuri!!! on Ice).....among others.

Number of Blankets You Sleep With: Two. One covering all of me, the other on top of that one, but just on my lower half to keep my feet warm. (I have perpetually cold feet, they’re like ice sometimes).

Dream Trip: Either France, England or Japan

Blog Created: Mid 2015

Number of Followers: 30

Tagging: Uh, I don't really know any of you well enough to know if you’d be ok with being put on the spot like that...so I’m just gonna let those of you that see this decide for yourselves.....if that's ok?

[angeloftheeasterngate]

All of the coffee/chocolate drink questions

WOAH OKAY FRIEND GIMME A MINUTE

Vanilla Chai Latte : Are you in love?

Nope, not at the moment ^^

Flat White : Coffee or Tea?

I don’t have strong opinions either way because I like both on different moments and in different moods, but if I HAD to choose, tea.

Cappuccino : What’s your middle name?

I have two! Rowena Caitlin!

Mocha : Dream Job?

I got my degree for management assistant last June :)

Pumpkin Spice : Dream car?

I like Fiat’s aesthetics and they seem to be affordable so one of those?

Jasmine Tea : If you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?

I think the Grand Canyon looks really cool so I’d like to see that in real life sometime!

Old English : You’re stranded on an island, who do you bring with you?

UH. Someone who knows what they’re doing, I guess? I don’t have anyone in particular in mind.

Iced Chocolate : Do you have a crush on someone?

Nope!

Caramel Frappe : Favorite video game?

Oh geez, uhhhhh, I’ve been replaying The World Ends With You recently.

Iced Lemon Tea : Favorite song/band?

oh geez might as well ask me which is my favourite limb. Uh.

Favourite song: How Far We’ve Come by Matchbox Twenty.Favourite band: I really like the aesthetics of Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox??? That or Fall Out Boy

Iced Cafe Mocha : Favorite thing to do on rainy days?

Curl up on the couch with a hot drink and read.

Hot Chocolate : Are you an affectionate person?

In my own way? I don’t usually seem affectionate in real life I think because I am bad at passing for neurotypical but I grow very attached to people and I’ll typically make sure people eat and take breaks and keep track of what they mention they’re doing.

Caramel Macchiato : You’re travelling the entire world but you can only take one person with you. Who do you take?

Hmmmmm. I think I’d probably take my mom because she’s better at this planning thing.

Green Tea : How tall are you?

Tall! I’m 6′2″.

Early Grey Tea : The inevitable Zombie Apocalypse is upon us! What’s your plan of action?

Die horribly because I don’t have a plan. xD

Mint Tea : How do you relax?

Watch Let’s Play videos usually.

Vanilla Latte : Board games or drinking games?

I don’t like alcohol so gonna go with board games. ^^

Iced Coffee : Do you like reading? If so, what’s your favorite book?

I do! Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett!

Italian Soda : Describe your dream date

A day at the aquarium followed by dinner at a quiet cheap place. ^^

Sparkling Water : Describe what qualities you look for in a person

Honesty, loyalty and friendliness.

Orange Juice : Have you ever had a valentine?

Not a for-real one but I usually try to get my family something nice. :)

Rose Hip Tea : Describe your first kiss

I’ll uh. Get back to you on that when I get one

Herbal Tea : You’re at a candle shop, what scented candle do you buy?

Lavender is nice!