#if i have to do a stress test and it exhausts me then the mall will have to wait

[naomiknight-17]

I have to see the cardiologist tomorrow and they're gonna stick a bunch of sensors to me and do several tests, including an ultrasound of my heart

I am gonna be so covered in adhesive and goo... not looking forward to it

Gonna try to shave the sides and back of my hair really short tonight so hopefully it will at least be easier to clean out the adhesive that will surely get in my hair. Maybe

[seroothincs]

What’re some headcanons you have for Dan Gillick?

Dan! Oh, I miss that cute little guy. I absolutely hate how they changed him from a legit accountant for the mob to a stupid ear piercing clerk at the mall, makes no fucking sense so In my personal words, I say he still works for the mob. Course I have some headcanons for him! - The fact the mafia literally had to hire an accountant makes me think that they most DEFINITELY just hired Dan because they needed a second intelligent person in the mob to do their math work for them. They couldn't keep on pushing that responsibility onto Legs who already has his hands full. - Dan has an IQ of 142, ranking him as being above average. - I feel like he and Legs are good friends even after Dan threatened to cut his hand off. - Guy likes to listen to the beatles after long and stressful days. Just to help him calm down.

Something tells me that Dan really wanted to become a math professor but due to his endless nights of studying and abusing his own health just to pass the needed tests, he became more exhausted and burned out than ever. Forcing him to adapt to becoming an accountant.

- He's a very organized dude, a bit too much of organized if anything. His apartment is spot-clean, he keeps track of all his files and even remembers the smallest of insignificant things.

His favorite dish is Grilled Cheese

Despite being seen and known as "just an accountant" the wiseguys treat him more like family. So much so that they even invite him to their annual karaoke nights after work. Just Him stuck in between the madness with Legs and Tommy "The Face-shooter" while Louie, Sonny - Go along and Frankie put their heart and soul into their performances.

Those are not many headcanons, I know. But Dan is the least one of the mob I make personal thoughts about, I love him don't get me wrong but I don't have many opinions on him as a character other than--- you know, being WAAYY too underrated.

[wanderinstar]

Apologies for a delayed reply; school got a little over my head this week!

The majority of what I know about the Eagles, I know from connections with other artists like Dan Fogelberg, because while I like their music, sometimes their drama in their band history is too much. I don’t expect bands to be drama free, but it’s refreshing to see the ones with a lot of love between the members and only minor incidents that they all sort of forgave each other for. And the ones that fight near nonstop are exhausting! I think the only reason I’m not a huge Fleetwood Mac fan is because their infighting gets to be too much.

It really is hard to try and work with people who just don’t want to be somewhere. I wonder if that’s why you got noted for good teaching performance, even if it didn’t really feel like it, in that maybe they recognized what you were up against and that you were trying, possibly harder than some other teachers in your place might have? If that is the case, I’m glad they did, because it helps to have superiors who recognize the situations where you can only do so much, rather than evaluating strictly by grade performance. I think that’s part of the issue here, is that majority of grade school is no longer taught to learn, but rather, to pass standardized tests, and teaching to the test just limits how much can be done to actually make things interesting, too.

As far as events go that I don’t have in my hometown, it’s hard to come up with one, specifically. Maybe more events downtown along with the Illumination Parade in general would be fun, although hopefully ones that don’t involve blocking off traffic, because that creates a domino effect through the city. Even though I’ve never done it, I wish they’d bring back the ice skating rink that used to get set up by the mall downtown during the holiday season. So many family fun events never came back after the Covid lockdowns, and I feel bad for children these days who don’t have nearly as many things to look forward to. The mall that hosted it is closed down, now, but I’m sure some other business downtown could pick it up. Another thing that could be fun, and I don’t think would be taboo, considering the surrounding cities in my area have had mud-run races and city paintball competitions, would be like a city-wide snowball fight you could sign up to be in. We don’t often get snow in my hometown, but they make artificial snowballs now out of yarn and stuff, and just seeing how wild it gets in big family gatherings, I can just imagine hundreds of people signing up to do it, and it could be a hilarious, and potentially stress-relieving event for the public. Winter holidays wouldn’t be an odd time to do it, either.

Out of curiosity, since you teach, do you get a break around the holidays in Brazil? If so, is there anything you’re looking forward to do with the extra time? I’ve got half a week left at school now, with my final on Wednesday, and I’m so excited to go home to my family and my cats.

✈️

No need to worry at all!

Ohhh I'm the same about bands that fight all the time, I also think it's exhausting. I try not to research too much about the artists and bands I enjoy because I know I'm probably going to find out about something that's gonna bother me. btw I've just listened to Souvenirs, it's so soothing to hear and also dynamic. I enjoyed it a lot!

OMG I couldn't agree more about grade school not being taught to learn, that's unfortunately so true! In the end that's all that ends up being important: the grades; it's what the students care about because that's what they're taught is important. It's such a sad reality, even more so when the ones that can't get good grades (most of them in some public schools) just give up.

The ice skating rink is such a good idea! I'm sorry it's not happening anymore, let's hope it will eventually. In December of 2021 they set up one in the mall of the city where I live, and I had the chance to go with some of my friends. We had so much fun! I wish they would bring it back too. Now that snowball fight would be something I'd definitely sign up for. I've never touched snow, as I live in Brazil and have never been abroad, but just by picturing it in my mind I'm like. Gosh that would be so much fun!!

I do get a break around the holidays, but I'm still teaching this saturday because there's a class that started later in the language school I teach, so they're the only one still having classes. But after this saturday I'm free to go to my hometown to see my parents and my dog ♡ I also teach online; as it's online they don't give us a lot of time for our break, but precisely because it's online I'll be able to teach from my parents' house when their break is over. I'm looking forward to cooking with my mom when I'm there, I even prepared a menu this year (first time I've done that, I got excited haha!).

Good luck with your final! btw how many cats do you have? I can understand your excitement to see them, I can't wait to see my doggy Darth Vader (aka Vadinho) again, I'm missing him a lot

[deus-ex-mona]

the week just ✨flew by✨

[realcube]

sleepy haikyuu headcanons 💤

pairings: nishinoya x reader, tendō x reader, kageyama x reader

tw// swearing, violence(?), she//her reader, angst, overthinking, fluff 

Yū Nishinoya

midnight pillow fights with Noya 💓

i could leave at that but i shall elaborate 

whenever you sleepover at his house (or vice versa), every time y’all say that you are gonna pull an all-nighter and have chaotic fun

but it never works because being chaotic requires a lot of energy, so you both end up falling asleep at like 2AM-ish 🥱

the closest that y’all have gotten to an all-nighter is 5AM

anyway, it’s not a tradition - more like something that just ends up happening every time Noya is over, perhaps a curse lol

but at some time of night, you’ll say something to irk Noya and he’ll throw/hit you with a pillow 

not to intentionally start shit but just as playful ‘shut up’ sorta thing

but something about the sharp impact of the pillow just pisses you off and you instinctively launch a pillow right back at him and it’s always a bit harder than you meant for it to be  

thus, a pillow fight ensues  

Noya had always envisioned a pillow fight with a female as a playful, sensual experience 

but there was absolutely nothing playful or sensual about the way you powerbombed him and then proceeded to suffocate him with your pillow 

you would both be feistily beating each other with the pillow, the room filling with your battle cries and screams ╰（‵□′）╯

and this would only end once both of your harsh, quick hits turned sloppy and tired 

eventually, you’d both just drop unconscious during the fight and wake up in the weirdest positions 

Satori Tendō

he is the self-certified ‘worst cuddler’ (ಥ _ ಥ)

not only is he extremely sensitive to temperature, he’s also filled with too much energy to just stay in the same position with you for god knows how long 

it’s not that he didn’t like to cuddle, though. 🥺 i mean, nothing made him feel more safe than you in his arms but he was just unable to stop himself from getting restless when he did it for too long 

but there were some nights that he wasn’t as fidgety, though

most of the time, it was after a big volleyball game or a hard day at practise and he was absolutely exhausted (_　_)。゜zｚＺ

he’d literally just detours to your house to catch up like he usually does but his demeanour clearly isn’t the same when he’s worn out so you invite him in for a few minutes and he’d gladly (and gratefully) accepts 

he’d just flop down on the couch beside you, his arms just automatically finding your waist and thoughtlessly pulling you against his chest as he laid back, staring at the ceiling

he found himself muttering random things about his day when you asked him, but nothing he said seemed to be in chronological order - unless he brushed his teeth during volleyball practise, which - now that you think about it - doesn’t sound too out of character for him.

his hand found it’s way into your hair and started caressing your scalp, slowly drifting off as the little tune you hummed into his shoulder sent relaxing vibration throughout his body (￣o￣) . z Z

and this wasn’t a one-time thing either, whenever he comes to your house drained from practise, a similar chain of events always end up happening 

the only difference being that sometimes it was in your bed rather than on the couch 

Tobio Kageyama 

i feel like bb has nightmares, like frequently 🥺

i mean, if i was him i’d have nightmares too; he has so much important shit riding on his performance - it’s a miracle that this man can even sleep with how much stress he must be under 

like, he’s kinda failing school/ he doesn’t have the best grades and if he doesn’t do well on tests then his opportunity to go to camps and train volleyball could be taken 

speaking of volleyball, he probably is so stressed from being a part of a team and having people rely on him - not the mention that he clearly isn’t very good at processing his feelings considering that he expresses most negative emotion he feels towards Hinata in the form of anger   

then there is the pressure of keeping his relationships and not naturally distancing himself from the people he loves

like you, for example

he goes to bed with all these horrible thoughts in his head and whenever he tries to think positive, it  always backfires

he’ll be like ‘i’m the worst person to be around, it’s clear nobody likes me.’

then he kinda shakes it off like, ‘wait, no. don’t think that. i know that (Y/N) loves me and i love her back.’

but his mind never leaves him alone, ‘am i even sure she loves me? i mean, i act so stand-offish towards her - yeah, she probably barely tolerates me. and she was talking about hinata’s spike yesterday, she’s probably going to dump me for him.’

it was a heart-wrenching thought but what could kageyama do? 

for now, he’d just lie down beside you on your bed as you scrolled away on your phone, completely unaware that he just mentally rehearsed how he was going to react when you broke up with him

“goodnight, kags. love you.” you hummed, turning around to place a kiss on his cheeks like you always do when he sleeps over

kageyama nodded, trying to act cool and collected despite the fact he was internally nervous as hell, “night, (y/n).” he paused, trying his best to lift the corners of his lips into a kind - rather than intimidating - smile, “love you too.”

‘look, i called her by her first name - i’m so romantic.’ that was probably the nicest thing he’s thought to himself all day

with that, you both try to get some rest 

aaaannnndddddd cue the part when he wakes up in a cold sweat, shivering slightly as he looks over to you with wide eyes to reassure himself that your not gone 

his heavy breathing alerts you that he is awake so you pry one eye open to look at him, “not again, tobio.” you said wearily, forcing yourself to sit up and attempt to wrap him in a hug but he just jerked away from your touch

you sighed, “what happened?”

kageyama blinked rapidly, darting his gaze around the room before it finally landed back on you

“i- the walls- and you were almost d-” he began coughing, resulting in you immediately reaching over to your nightstand and handing him the bottle of water you had lying there

he took a few gulps before letting out a refreshed ‘ah’, his stare glued to your lips the whole time

eventually, he was able to grumble “it was nothing.” (⊙_⊙;)

upon hearing his evidently fake answer, you shoved out your bottom lip and whined, “shut up, tobio. i was obviously something; why won’t you tell me?”

“because it was nothing.” he said without missing a beat, then he proceeded to lay down so he could fall back asleep - as if this time it’d go better for him

“Kageyama!” you barked, resulting his eyes jolting back open, “You always have nightmares at my house; I’m starting to wonder if you’re scared of me or something.” 

kageyama shook his head before nonchalantly responding, “it’s the cherry blossom air freshener - maybe use vanilla or something next time.” he joked, unable to resist a smile as you playfully punched his shoulder.

you sighed, clearly not going to get an answer out of like every other time you’ve tired, so you just decided to  try fall back asleep and try reclaim the little bit of sanity you had left

“(y/n).” kageyama grumbled, wanting to make it seem like he was half-asleep but he was far from it as he pulse was still going crazy as that nightmare shook his to the core. “are you going to dump me? because if you are, now would be a good time.” 

he spoke, praying to every deity he could think of that you wouldn’t say yes - but if you did, now would be a good time as he could storm out and since it was dark outside, the streets would be deserted meaning that nobody would be there to witness the tears streaming down his cheeks as he sprinted through the night 

you rolled your eyes, “is that what this is about?” you didn’t mean for it to come off so harsh as you actually felt a great amount of sympathy for kageyama but just unable to express it in the way you desired

“stop crying.” you hissed, making kageyama quirk an eyebrow.

“I’m not crying-” he replied until suddenly, he realised that your comment was directed at yourself as you hastily buried your head into his chest and he felt something soak through the fabric of his shirt. 

“I’m not going to break up with you kageyama, you stupid moron idiot!” you snapped against his shirt.

don’t ask why that nickname made kageyama’s heart flutter

“get those crazy ideas out of your head or i’ll have to take them out for you 🔪--” you could barely even finish your sentence before both you and kageyama burst out laughing

it was probably just the ambience of being cozy under a blanket with each other in a freezing cold room that reeked of cherry blossom but some how you both some how fell even harder for one another

although what you said wasn’t the most moving or motivating, your intention was clear and from then on, kageyama was a lot more upfront with you💕 

he’d tell you if he ever felt uncomfortable or if he was ever worried and you’d either make him feel better or make him laugh and then insist that he goes to talk to suga or daichi

also after that night, (and once you ditched the air freshener and started burning vanilla essence) he only had ‘sweet dreams’ whenever he stayed over at yours 

(or at least that is what he said whenever you asked him. in reality, his dreams were about volleyball and tsukishima chasing him through the mall on a velociraptor but whatever, it was a step up from the nightmares anyway. 🏃‍♂️ 🦖 )

[ixqritsu]

hmmm for fluff hcs: C, X, W and K for rei-chan?? (sbjssbndhshfss i've had a really really rough week,, school is just so draining :((( im pretty sure i failed a math test and my grades/hrs of sleep are going📉📉📉 while my stress/exhaustion/stuff i need to do goes 📈📈📈)

aaaaa im sorry to hear !! its super stressful for me too— pls remember grades/school don’t define you/your intelligence !! my dms r always open, but here’s some rei prompts to hopefully cheer you up ^__^

C omfort - How would they help their s/o when they feel down/have a panic attack etc.?

    Rei would be super cautious when it comes to cheering his s/o up— he doesn’t want to be too forward in case they need some space right now, or if they wanted him to be there to comfort and reassure them. He’d cook something for you, just in case you hadn’t had anything to eat that day and ask you what’s wrong. Rei’s a great listener and he tries his best to understand where you’re coming from. He’d spend the whole day with you, doing all your favorite things or just taking a day off. It breaks his heart to see the one he loves so much hurting and just wants to see their smile again.

X OXO - Are they very affectionate? Do they love to kiss and cuddle?

    Rei loves being affectionate with you!!! Some days, he can’t keep his hands off you and refuses to let you out of his arms. His love language is a mix between physical touch and quality time, so for better or worse, he is very high-maintenance and requires a lot of attention. Expect short cuddle sessions that he drags you into randomly, and small kisses constantly to bug you throughout the day. Rei isn’t afraid of showing his emotions, and often expresses his love in rather dramatic ways. 

W ild Card - A random Fluff Headcanon.

    Rei loves taking you shopping for anything— clothes, groceries, etc. He tells you to get whatever you want since he does like spoiling you quite a lot. He likes taking you to the mall and watching you pick out clothes you think would look good on him and forcing him to try them on. Even if he ends up holding all the bags and waiting in line for a bit longer than he’d like, he still enjoys spending time with you. He also finds it super cute when you sneak food or snacks into the shopping cart while grocery shopping. 

K iss - Are they a good kisser? What was the first kiss like?

     Rei’s kisses can be very polarizing— they’re either short and sweet pecks or long, drawn-out, passionate ones. He’s a surprisingly good kisser and he seems to know all the right things to do. He nibbles at your bottom lip when he feels a bit more ambitious. He’s generally bolder with things like physical affection and initiated the first kiss. “It caught you by surprise” is an understatement— he made fun of you for a whole day over how red you turned.

[mkkhaikyuu]

Autumn Skies: Chapter 4

 previous | chapter 4 | next |  masterlist

Horizons

Warnings: none (?) except for angst

wc: 3k 

Coffee. You desperately needed coffee. And lunch, too, you decided, your eyes flickering to the wall clock across from you to look at the time. 

You sat deflated in your seat at Miss Yukino’s office. You had just finished taking an English language assessment test for your Yale admissions that lasted around two and a half hours. It’s not that you had a hard time. You were confident that you’d managed to at least get a decent score on it. But you stayed up late last night, combing through your brain for the words to write in your college essays. 

You vaguely recall 02:46 AM glowing green on the digital clock on your nightstand when you finally plopped down into your bed last night. And at 5:15 AM, the same clock had woken you up for morning club practice. 

Practice had gone on normally that morning, which actually was quite unfortunate for you. Not only did you not get enough sleep, but you had to toss balls to each of the volleyball players for their spiking practice and had to clean up the gym afterwards. You barely had any energy left when you had your morning class.

It was the week before your final exams for the term so some classes were free so that students could get some of their own studying done. So after your first class that ended at 9:30AM, you were free for the rest of the morning. You then went straight to Miss Yukino’s office for the language assessment test. By the first hour of the exam, you were already beat. 

Stifling a yawn, you looked over at the clock again. 12:03PM. You waited as Miss Yukino typed away into her laptop, shuffled through the papers on her desk, then typed away into her laptop again.

You decided to fish your phone out of your bag and found that Kenma had texted you.

Kenma (11:58am): y/n, where are you?

You (12:03pm): I’m at the guidance counselor’s office. I’m almost done here and I’m gonna go grab lunch right after. Why?

Kenma (12:04pm): what are you doing there? did you get into trouble?

You (12:04pm): No! What do you take me for? I’m here for my uni admissions. You know, that kind of stuff.

Kenma (12:05pm): what? I thought you were going to the university of Tokyo with Kuro. he doesn’t seem to be busy preparing for all that stuff right now unlike you.

Kenma (12:05pm): y/n... is there something you’re not telling me?

You grimaced at Kenma’s text. If he were here right now, he would have pinned you down with his calculating gaze. The guy was just too observant. It was hard to let anything get past him. Sighing, you typed in a reply.

You (12:07pm): oh yeah about that...There’s a possibility that I might not be attending Tokyo uni. Nothing’s set in stone yet though so I’d rather not talk about it for now. Please don’t tell anyone?

Kenma (12:07pm): okay, sure. but you know you can tell me about anything anytime, right?

You (12:07pm): yeah, I know :) 

Kenma (12:09pm): anyway. can you come down to the clubroom once you’re done there? we can eat lunch together. i’ll buy you food. my treat :)

You (12:11pm): oh??? why’s that? but sure! thanks Kenma! You’re the best <333  

Kenma (12:11pm): you’ll see when you get there.

You frowned in curiosity at his message. Kenma was not the type to initiate something like this. You wonder what was up. Exhaustion momentarily forgotten, you couldn’t wait to get yourself to the clubroom. Just as you put back your phone back into your bag, Miss Yukino calls your attention. 

“Y/n, the testing center said that your results will be available next week. In the meantime, I suggest you work on your essays.” 

“Oh, right,” you nodded.

“The deadline’s coming up. Don’t hesitate to drop by anytime if you need any help. The sooner we can comply with all the requirements, the better,” she grinned, raising an index finger. 

You sighed in relief and stood up, smoothing down your skirt. “Thank you, Miss Yukino. I mean it.” 

She waved you off, laughing softly, “I’m just doing my job. Don’t worry too much, okay? Now get out of here and have lunch. Catch up on some sleep tonight, too! You look like you need it.”

You grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of your head. “Yeah, I will. Thanks again! Enjoy your lunch!” 

You gave her a quick bow then left.

Once out of the office, you headed straight to the clubroom where Kenma asked you to meet him, jogging on the way. You were half worried that something was wrong and half relieved that you could finally take a break from the wave of draining activities you’d had since you stepped foot into the school this morning. 

Reaching the clubroom, you reached out to grip the door handle and slid the door open slowly, hesitatingly, as if you were afraid of what you’d find on the other side. Peeking through the small gap, you see Yaku and Kenma staring back at you owlishly. They were seated at the table in the clubroom, Kenma holding his console and Yaku opening his lunch.

“Come in,” Yaku tells you, eyebrows raised at the way you hovered at the entrance.

“Is something up?” you asked them as you strode in and sat beside Kenma. You noted the takeout food and iced coffee that sat on the table. 

“Eat first, talk later,” Yaku announces. He gestured to the food on the table. You wonder what was making him uncharacteristically serious but at the moment you were too hungry to care. 

Right. Eat first, talk later.

“Here,” Kenma says, taking out the food he had delivered from the paper bag it came in and setting it in front of you. Your eyes glossed over when you realized that it’s katsudon from that pricey restaurant at the mall. 

“The coffee’s yours, too,” he tells you simply. 

“What the hell, Kenma? When you said it was your treat, I thought you meant food from the cafeteria! Not-” you gestured to the food he laid out in front of you, “THIS!” 

You were not a crybaby. But maybe it was the built up stress you had been feeling from dealing with your feelings for Kuroo, managing the volleyball club, and working on your Yale admissions that had tears welling up in the corners of your eyes. You pouted at Kenma, touched by his gesture. 

“Why are you doing this?” you eyed him warily. 

“You looked like you needed some cheering up this morning,” he shrugs. 

Humming, you run your gaze suspiciously between Yaku and Kenma. “Right... Well, in any case, I can’t accept this for free so I’m going to have to pay you back later.” 

“You can try but I won’t accept your payment either,” Kenma answers. 

“Can you two just eat already?” Yaku huffs as he chewed on his food.

You pouted at Kenma but he only stares blankly at you until you finally decide to relent. Sighing, you reached out to poke his cheek. 

“Thanks, Kenma,” you told him with a soft smile before digging into your food.

---

Now that you’re done with eating, the food containers sat neatly arranged on the table, ready to be disposed. You sat back on the chair and sipped on your coffee, finally feeling alive for the first time that day. 

“So, why did you ask me to come here?” you asked. Maybe they wanted to talk about the Christmas party you were going to have on Saturday. Were they planning a surprise or something?

Yaku met Kenma’s eyes briefly before he looked back to you.

“We need to talk. The talk. This is an overdue discussion,” Yaku tells you seriously, his arms crossed over his chest.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” you said and raised an eyebrow at him. You turned to Kenma for some answers.

“Just so you know, this was his idea,” Kenma shrugs. 

Yaku clears his throat before asking, “Okay, I’m not going to beat around the bush. Y/n, do you like Kuroo?” 

You almost spit your drink. Being asked that question was the last thing you expected. “What? Like, as a friend? Of course, I do.” you say matter-of-factly. You have an inkling that that was not what Yaku meant but you were not going to give it to him so easily.

“You know what I mean. Do you have feelings for Kuroo? Romantically?” 

Yaku leans back on his seat, a softer look appearing on his face. 

“And if I do?” you challenge, raising an eyebrow at him. The libero’s face lit up at the revelation.

“I knew it! You like Kuroo!” he yells shortly before frowning at Kenma and muttering, “Wait. Don’t tell me you already knew all this and didn’t bother to tell us.” 

You tell them to keep it down, quickly looking around in case someone was around who might overhear.

“It’s not my story to tell,” Kenma retorts.

“Okay, okay,” you quickly interrupt the two, tapping a hand on the table twice. “What’s with all the sudden interest about me liking Kuroo?” 

At that, Yaku reveals that they’ve always thought that you and Kuroo had a thing for each other before Hana came into the picture. How the team thought you were secretly dating, and how it was only a matter of time before the two of you would announce it to the team. 

“I’ve noticed how you two don’t joke around like you used to before. You two don’t talk as much. You both were so inseparable -- practically attached at the hip -- before. It’s so weird seeing you two be so distant with each other now,” he continues. 

Kenma listened as he played with his console, occasionally agreeing with and adding to Yaku’s points. You allowed the two of them to speak up, preferring to listen instead. A few more moments of Yaku rambling passed before he quiets down.

A whisper of a frown was etched on his face. “We’re just concerned about you, you know. Ever since you showed up late that one time to practice and when you didn’t join the celebration dinner after the spring interhigh tournament on Kuroo’s birthday, the team is starting to wonder if something’s wrong. Not only that, I noticed how you’re often spacing out and acting distracted during practice these days, which is so unlike you.”

Kenma looked up from his game and turned to you. “Yeah. You always seem so tired these days. I know you’re stressing about your studies so you could maintain your grades and graduate at the top of the class, but I know you wouldn’t stress about it to that extent. I know you well enough to know that there’s something else that’s stressing you out. At practice earlier, you didn’t even look like you had a wink of sleep last night. That’s the reason why I bought you coffee.”

The two of them look at you expectantly, making you shake your head with a snort.

“I honestly don’t know where to begin,” you said, laughing wryly while running a hand through your hair.

“I was just as surprised as you, really. Kuroo never talked about Hana to me before. They just started hanging out after class one day, and since then he’s been spending less time with me and more with Hana.”

“Kenma already knows about my feelings for Kuroo, though,” you said, meeting Kenma’s eyes.

You paused, looking up at the ceiling, trying to find the right words.

Kenma nods in agreement. “He never talked about Hana with me either so we never saw it coming. The three of us were walking home after practice a few months ago when Kuroo saw Hana and told Y/n and I to go home without him. And weeks later, we found out that they’re dating.” He shrugs and goes back to his game.

“And how do you feel about them?” Yaku asks.

Your eyes scanned the room, as if the answers were written in the walls somewhere. “Hmm, I don’t know. I mean, at the beginning, I moped about it for a few weeks.” 

You thought back on all the sleepless nights and the pints of ice cream and the junk food you binged on while you wallowed in your pain and sadness. If Kuroo had seen all that, he would have thrown a fit at the unhealthy lifestyle you had adopted. But of course, he hadn’t. And so it went on like that for days.

You remember your tearstained pillows, the bad score you had on a test for the first time in a long time, and all the acting like you were fine when deep down you felt like an open wound. And Kuroo and Hana were the salt on the wound that halted your healing process each time you saw them. 

But maybe the worst of it all were the questions and the what-if’s that started to haunt you. 

What does Kuroo see in her that he doesn’t see in you? What did all the flirting, the soft looks he gave you, the lingering touches when your fingers or arms brushed mean? 

Was it really all in your head? Was everything one-sided? Did he not feel the same pull that you felt towards him? Not even a little bit? 

What if you confessed to him before it was too late?

You inhaled sharply. It felt weird to lay your feelings out in the open like this. “I was crazy to think he felt the same towards me, you know. I guess I led myself on. I actually thought I was special.” You laughed humorlessly. “But I realized that’s just how he is to the people close to him. I see it in the way he acts around, Kenma.”

“What?! No, no,” Yaku interrupts. “Like I said, we all thought you had a thing for each other. We were so sure Kuroo had feelings for you. It’s different from how he is around Kenma. There was something more,��� - he paused and met Kenma’s eyes - “At least we thought there was.” 

The room was silent for a brief moment as the two quickly shared a look as if they realized that they said something they shouldn’t have.

“Well, in the rare times that Kuroo acts like an idiot, he does make sure he’s a big one,” Kenma says.

The room fell silent once more but this time, the air was buzzing with some sort of giddy energy. The three of you shared a knowing look. 

And then --

“Pfft!” Yaku snorted, unable to hold in his amusement any longer. And just like that, the three of you burst into laughter, although Kenma’s was more of a snicker. 

You don’t really know what the look they shared just now or what Kenma’s words implied, you just found it funny.

It was a few moments later when the laughter finally died down into a comfortable silence. 

“It’s been a while since I laughed that hard,” you said breathlessly, leaning back on your seat and clutching at your stomach that began to hurt just a little at how much you were laughing. 

Yaku and Kenma looked over at you with fond smiles, happy to see you happy. 

“So, are you going to be okay?” Yaku asks softly.

“Yeah, I think I’m doing better these days. I’m slowly learning to accept it. I know can’t force someone to love me. And I’m not the type to beg and chase after someone. So...” you shrugged. “That’s that. I’ll get over it eventually.” You really hoped so. You know fully well that some things were just not meant for you and you just had to be okay with that. 

“Are you sure? You didn’t seem okay this morning.”

“I’m fine! Really!” you reassured them, waving your hands off at Yaku. 

Sighing, you said, “Okay, okay. So, I didn’t really want to bring this up just yet but there’s a possibility that I won’t be staying in Tokyo for college.”

Yaku’s eyes widened in interest. “Oh? Where are you going then?” 

You grinned. “I don’t want to speak too soon since it isn’t final yet. I’ll let you know once I’m sure. So yeah, I’ve been busy preparing for my admissions these days. I stayed up late last night trying to write my essays. And then we had morning practice, which is why I probably looked like shit at practice this morning.” 

“For real? Good luck then!” Yaku beams, giving you a thumbs up. “We’re here for you, alright? Just come to us if you need anything.” 

Kenma wordlessly nods in agreement. Suddenly, the school bell rings, signaling that it was time to go back to class.

“You guys, thank you for today,” you gave them a warm, genuine smile. “I feel so much better now that I was able to talk about things with you.”

You opened your arms, inviting them in for a hug, to which they accepted. After giving them a quick hug, you reached up to ruffle their hair, much to Kenma’s displeasure. But he’d put up with it because it was you he’s used to it. Grinning, you let go and started cleaning up the table. 

With the possibility of going to Yale on the horizon, you couldn’t help but be hopeful. Maybe some distance from Kuroo is what you needed to get over him. Maybe you were just meant to be friends and nothing more. If you can’t have him the way you want him, then you’ll learn to accept that being his best friend is enough.

Baby steps. You remind yourself. One day it won’t hurt to look at him anymore.

You smiled to yourself, feeling so much lighter for the first time in a long while.

You picked up your bag from the chair as you were about to head out of the clubroom when something catches your eye. On the shelf was a nekoma volleyball club jacket with the letters KT written in permanent marker on the lining. Was it Kuroo’s? He never leaves his jacket behind.

You gave it a second look, debating whether to take it with you so you could give it to him but ultimately decided not to.

previous | chapter 4 | next |  masterlist

-

A/N: Hello! I know it’s been a while since I updated. I hope my readers are still around. Kuroo isn’t here but he will appear in the next chapter. I’ll be able to post the next chapter sooner since I already have it mapped out.

I apologize for being away for so long. Apart from being busy with studies, I also had a hard time mapping out the direction of the story. 

You see Kuroo and Hana weren’t meant to be a couple LOL. Kuroo was just meant to like her but I was too excited to post the first chapter that I completely overlooked it so I had to think of a way to blend that into my original plan for the story hahahaha. Also, I had a bit of a writer’s block for a while and wasn’t so satisfied with my writing. But i’m back! Let me know what you think of this chapter! :)

(I was going to post this as a bonus chapter but I decided that this is important to the development of the story.)

See you in the next chapter of Autumn Skies!

Brace yourselves for more angst!

taglist is still open!

Disclaimer: Kuroo Tetsurou, Haikyu!! and other Haikyu!! characters belong to Haruichi Furudate.

💖:  @elianetsantana​ @literaleftist​  @yeehawslap​ @starry-magicshop @atsunflower​ @saturnfarie @sakurahoshizora​ @kellyyween​ @donica95​ @kyomihann​  @roseestuosity​ @brattyshirabuismybff @rirk-ke @-doublezero @yafriendlyfangirl @kagebunshiin @julie-ackerman @acsycharm @fmwaifu​ @piii-chan​ @melodyofroses​

[damnedparker]

velvet and sunshine

pairing: obi-wan x reader (gender neutral, no y/n)

warnings: food mentions, reader is sad, very mild general hurt/comfort

summary: college au. little to no sleep and awful professors have given you quite the day, and you need a nap. preferably in obi-wan's bed.

also posted on ao3

more self-indulgent fluff from me! i’m a one-trick pony! but i was yearning and stressed over college and i’ve screwed up my sleep schedule again so yknow here we are. i hope some of you enjoy my too sweet fluff. i would definitely write a cute little au series of this concept if i had the time <3

Oh, college. The ultimate vehicle of stress.

Your first of two classes you had on Fridays had went absolutely horrid, all on top of the fact you had gotten maybe an hour of sleep the night prior to get the homework due today done. You knew you needed to be better about procrastination, you really knew, but there's only so much blame you can put on your past self before you run out of time to catch up on the work that was stressing you out enough to put it off in the first place.

Your one, single hour of sleep had been at the cost of you having enough time to properly wake up and get ready as usual, so on top of being exhausted, you also had to deal with being around people when you felt more insecure than usual, feeling like a slob and like everyone was judging you for not having your usual makeup or outfit on. It did nothing to help your already miserable mental state.

In your first class, there was a discussion on the work due today, and the professor had taken every shot he could at putting down your contributions and opinions in the assignment. The rest of the class was completely silent as well, not knowing what to say. It was humiliating, and had gone on for around fifteen minutes, which ended up feeling like hours. After finally getting out of that class, you just wanted to curl up in a ditch and cease to exist for a while. But you had another class in around half an hour.

You sighed as you got in line at the campus market, clutching your meager excuse for lunch—some potato chips—in your arms like it was a precious treasure. It wasn’t the most fulfilling lunch, but the campus up-charged on-campus food like crazy, so you didn’t feel like wasting too much of your money on mediocre food. You would just eat later after your next class.

Just as you were imagining the lecture you’d receive from him for your poor nutritional choices, your phone buzzed with a message from your favorite person—Obi-Wan. He had sent you a simple little meme, one of those with a cat surrounded by heart emojis, accompanied with a simple “thinking about you :-).” You smiled and almost felt like crying at how sweet it was, despite this being a daily occurrence from him. That man loved his wholesome memes, and sent them regularly, and you were so thankful. It always made your day better.

But after today? The little spark of happiness didn’t last long.

After paying for your sad excuse of sustenance, you trudged out of the university center, walking slow as can be in the general direction of your next class. You really did not want to go; you could feel the exhaustion creeping up on you and you could tell you’d doze off in class, which was a nightmare waiting to happen. Although you had your best friend, Anakin, to cover for you, since he sat right next to you in that class, you just didn’t feel like dealing with any of it today. None of it.

And with that, you simply turned and started walking towards the edge of campus, toward your safe haven: Obi-Wan and Anakin’s apartment. You lived quite the ways away from campus, much too far to walk, but Obi-Wan and Anakin’s little home was just a block over. Your boyfriend had class for another hour or two, but you really just wanted a place to nap, and you didn’t trust yourself to drive all the way home. You would’ve almost certainly been hanging out with Obi-Wan later tonight anyway, so you figured he wouldn’t mind. You could have him bring you to get your car sometime later.

After some delirious walking, you finally reached the apartment complex, heaving out a sigh once you stepped in the elevator, leaning against the wall as it made its way to the second floor. Your brain was absolutely fried from the lack of sleep, stress, and emotional day you had, and you could feel yourself struggling to hold back tears from the overwhelming mood beginning to take your mind once you arrived and managed a small knock at the door.

“Oh no, is it raining?” Anakin’s brows furrowed once he let you in, figuring you were there to drive him. That’s what you always did when it was raining outside, mostly just so you didn’t have to hear him complain about his clothes being wet during class.

“No, I just- I can’t deal with another class today,” You sighed, setting your bag down by the couch and toeing off your shoes.  “Obi’s not working today, right?”

“No, he should be home after class,” Anakin watched as you rounded the kitchen counter, helping yourself to a glass of water. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, I’m just having a day,” you could feel your shoulders hanging, your posture reflecting your mood. “I just need some sleep. I can’t do class the rest of today, sorry to leave you to deal with Windu alone today.” You scrunched your nose in apology, referring to your strict, and often frustrating political science professor. The man was wonderful at lecturing, but absolutely frustrating when it came to assignments and tests. He often liked to pick on Anakin for discussions, and usually you came in to save him when no one else in the class felt like talking.

“Don’t worry about it, I can handle him on my own,” your friend nodded, reaching over to squeeze your arm affectionately. “Enjoy your nap,” he collected his bag and put in an earbud, preparing for the walk to campus. “But do not eat all my snacks like last time. Obi-Wan hates Cheetos, so I know it was you.” He gave you one last playful glare before grinning and shutting the door behind him. You looked down at the counter, now alone in the quiet apartment. You felt safe here, comforted by your best friend and boyfriend’s belongings laying about. It was clear what was Anakin’s and what was Obi-Wan’s, the difference very clearly seen between objects that were tidily tucked in their places, while others were strewn about in random places. You had witnessed many fights between the two adopted brothers over things like this, and sometimes it was a wonder they were able to live alone together at all. Not to say that Anakin hadn’t insinuated you should move in with them multiple times lately, very pointedly looking at Obi-Wan while he did so. Of course you would say yes in a second, but you didn’t want to pressure your boyfriend, who was very careful about big decisions in your relationship. The two of you had been dating for almost a year now, and were practically inseparable, and he was secure in the fact that you both believed there would never be anyone else you could love as much as each other. However, you knew Obi-Wan was a very particular man, and could be somewhat traditional in his courting. You thought it was sweet. Anakin, who was already daydreaming to you about proposing to his own partner, thought it was stupid, saying you already practically live here anyway! He wasn’t totally wrong. At this point, unless Obi-Wan was at yours or you were somewhere with him, you were probably going to be found at their place.

You sighed to yourself, feeling your eyes getting heavy. You were beginning to crash from your many cups of coffee last night. You headed straight for Obi-Wan’s room after locking the front door. His room was always impressively neat, never any clothes on the floor or anything out of place, except momentarily when you had forgotten to put something away or the two of you were in the middle of something. Painted a deep blue, and decorated with various framed posters or art, along with a few framed photos, his room was very simple. It was just the right size for it to be cozy without being suffocating.

You made a pitstop at his closet, pulling a sweater off the very top of his laundry basket, the one he’d worn the day before, along with some pajama shorts you kept in his dresser for impromptu sleepovers. You changed quickly, not keen to sleep in jeans, and also wanting desperately to lay down. You crawled into his bed, snuggling under the sheets and breathing in the scent of him all around you. Sleep came not long after you settled into the blankets.

---

Obi-Wan hummed softly under his breath, a song that you had showed him a few days ago and had subsequently gotten stuck in his head. He smiled to himself as he remembered the overjoyed look on your face when he had told you how much he liked it, fumbling to get his keys out of his pocket and get in his apartment. He paused while he was hanging his jacket up, noting your bag next to the couch, along with the glass on the counter. He furrowed his brows, knowing you had class, and although you certainly had before, you rarely skipped since your professors counted absences against your grade. He dropped his bag next to yours and made his way into his room, shoulders drooping as the weight of worry escaped them. You were curled up in his bed, wearing one of his sweaters, fast asleep. It was an adorable sight, you clutching onto the stuffed bearded dragon you had won out of a claw machine at the mall on your last trip together, whom you had gleefully named Boga as you passed the gift into his arms, insisting it was for him.

Obi-Wan shucked off his pants, leaving him in a t-shirt and his boxers, before sliding in next to you. He watched your eyelashes flutter slightly; clearly you were dreaming. You mumbled something in your sleep, followed by a happy sigh, and another mumble of something that vaguely resembled his name. He could’ve collapsed in on himself from adoration purely aimed at you.Carefully, he reached over to brush a stray hair out of your face, before beginning to press kisses to your skin, first at your jaw, then cheek, forehead, nose. You began to stir at his affections, sleepily blinking open your eyes to your boyfriend smiling at you. He trailed his hand down your arm, intertwining your fingers together as you began to wake up more.

“Hi, Obi.”

“Hello, my love,” he murmured, keeping his voice soft. “Not that I don’t enjoy coming home to you in my bed, but don’t you have class right now?” Your peaceful state from just waking up seemed to crack at his words, and a lump came back to your throat at the return of your sour mood from earlier. His eyebrows furrowed at your immediate change in mood, knowing something was wrong.

“I really couldn’t handle another class today,” you rolled onto your back, moving your joined hands to lay on your stomach. Obi-Wan scooted closer to you, resting his head against his hand, propped up on his elbow as he studied your face. “Sorry, I should’ve texted you to let you know I was going to be here.”

“No apology needed, darling, you’re always welcome here,” he untangled his fingers from yours, beginning to play with your hair as you talked. You could feel tears springing to your eyes from the gentle affection, the simple relief of being around the person you loved most, and his immediate recognition of your need for comfort. Obi-Wan could read your moods almost scarily well, and he almost always knew what you needed from him to make it better. “If you want to talk about what’s made you sad, I’m here to listen. Or we can just have a cuddle and listen to music.” You managed a small smile at his offer. Always so sweet.

“Can I have all of the above?” You turned your head to pout up at him, earning a happy grin and chuckle from your boyfriend.

“Anything for my sweetheart,” he pressed a chaste kiss to your lips, rolling off the bed to retrieve his phone from where he’d set it on his dresser. He shuffled the playlist you had made together one late night on Spotify when you couldn’t sleep, full of relaxing songs that the both of you often drifted off listening to together, since the both of you couldn’t sleep in complete silence. “Now, come here.” He almost jumped back into the bed, immediately pulling you on top of him. Your head fell into its usual spot at his neck, forehead pressed to his pulse point, which was steady and comforting. Obi-Wan wrapped you up in his arms, gentle hands sliding under your— his— sweater, rubbing comforting shapes into your lower back. You hummed contentedly.

“I might fall asleep like this instead.”

“That’s okay, honey,” he murmured, pressing a kiss to your head. You let out a soft chuckle as his scruff tickled your forehead. “Now, tell me everything that’s wrong so I can make it better.”

As you began to detail everything that had led you to seek refuge in his bed, Obi-Wan listened patiently, humming affirmations every so often and continuing to trace lines across your back, his sweater now partially pushed up to expose your lower back. The contrast between the slight chill of the open air and his hands was pure heaven. You didn’t know how you were still talking so clearly; half your attention was busy focusing on the slight callouses of his fingertips against your skin. Everything was warm and gentle, swallowing you up in velvet and sunshine. It was an absolute miracle that you didn’t doze off by the time you finished venting, the heavy feeling dragging you down having been lifted just the slightest bit, both by letting it out and by Obi-Wan’s hold.

“That is quite the horrid day, my dear,” he affirmed. “But you made it through, and it’s over now. You’re here and you’re safe, and we can spend the rest of the night doing whatever you like. You can relax.” His arms fully circled your waist then, squeezing you to him affectionately in a hug. “Everything will be better now.”

“Yeah,” you murmured, lifting your head and slightly sitting up from your comfortable position against his chest. Your boyfriend gave you a small smile when your gazes met, leaning into your hand that was now resting against his cheek. “You’re too good for me, Obi.”

“Oh no, I’m afraid it’s the other way around,” he grinned, a bit of pink settling on his cheeks. Crow’s feet became evident around his eyes and you were absolutely crushed by how lucky you are, how much you loved this man. “It’s a privilege just to be able to make you feel better after the awful day you’ve had.” His words were completely genuine, gaze absolutely soft as he looked at you. You could have cried. You don’t know how you didn’t. Obi-Wan seemed to gather this from your long silence, and the slight shift of expression on his face. “Everything alright, angel?”

“Yeah,” you said after a moment, pressing a short, chaste kiss to his lips. He found your hand next to his head, intertwining his fingers with yours. He squeezed your hand and tilted his head in a silent are you sure?  “Everything’s perfect.”

[feral-creep]

1, 17, 25, 34?

aw hell yeah how u doin?? tyty for askin’!

1. From one to five stars, how would you rate your writing? (No downplaying yourself!) dammit, ask game! i’ll give myself whatever assessment i fuckin want! i’d give myself three and a half stars. like a solid B average.

17. A trope you’ll never, ever write for. If someone requested it I guess I’d give it a shot, but I suspect i would be very very bad at writing college/high school AUs. it’s been like, 10 years since I was last in a classroom?? my experience of higher education would be very much distorted by my age here lmao (”and then he made you a mix CD”)

idk if i could even get myself into the mindset of someone who is stressed out by a math test or something, someone who has like hope? and energy? 

[[semi-related story but i can read as younger than i am depending on how my hair looks/my outfit, and a few years ago i was approached by a truant officer at the mall at like 11am, asking me why i wasn’t at school. i had no fucking idea what he was talking about until it finally clicked that he thought i was in high school and had to explain that i was a few months shy of 30]]

also I VERY MUCH AGREE with Heroine Fixes The Bad Villain. even when i read a lot of DBZ fanfic the best version wasvegeta going “lol bulma no, i'm not keeping you and your family alive because i've changed. you feed me, and i like fucking you, and also i’m an alien and i don’t know what a ‘job’ is”

25. Have you ever daydreamed about side adventures/spin-offs from your fic? Tell us about them! oh absolutely. i frequently want to just do side chapters where we just follow a day in the life of Kurogiri and Toga. Or Kurogiri meets Hawks’ exhausted assistant Amanda. (I also owe you that side story you were excited about)

34. Copy and paste an excerpt you’re particularly fond of. It’s probably 4:30 in the morning. The first blush of the sunrise is just over the horizon, black turning purple, then pink. The air is still and beautiful; it feels full of quiet potential, like you could break it if you spoke. A hushed dawn.

ASK GAME

[natrashafierce]

My husband made a scared little whimper in his sleep. I said, “It’s okay,” and reached over to gently stroke his hand, but it startled him. I cooed that I was sorry, and he’s okay.

“In the rat box!” he explained.

“Well, get out of there. It’ll be okay,” I assured him,

“Gotta get in the rat box and watch a movie.” This sounded oddly derisive.

“Oh,” I said. “After the movie, then.”

“Cow’s pissed I took his parking spot.” Then he fell back asleep.

His dreams always sound like cartoons. He’s hanging out with anthropomorphic animals in there, or something. I can’t decide if that’s more fun than my dreams or not.

Mine are usually complicated, long, make 80% sense, and it’s not uncommon that I have a revelation that’s helpful to my real life either materially or emotionally. BUT the time dilation can be nuts, they’re intense, and I’m always trying to figure everything out which is an absolute bitch in a DREAM. It feels like I’m stuck in an entire episode or season of some HBO drama. Maybe I’d rather be in the rat box watching a movie.

I would love to have my biggest dream problem be that I took a cow’s parking space instead of having to psychoanalyze the guards in a woman’s mental institution to figure out how to sneak people out. I’m being all careful to map the building without being seen, meanwhile in my husband’s mind he doesn’t even think to be conscientious toward a cartoon cow. In real life he’s very conscientious, but fuck that cow’s parking spot. Who does that cow think he is, anyway?

That must be so freeing. I’ll kill violent people in my dreams, but otherwise I’m as careful to avoid unnecessary conflict with difficult dream people as I am in real life, so I’m constantly gauging whether they crossed a line such that conflict is necessary. Then sometimes I have to give them conflict. Juggling that is exhausting! Then you wake up and most of the people don’t even exist! If you wake up and the rat box doesn’t exist, that’s just a good feeling, probably. You’re just glad your time in the rat box wasn’t real, but my dossiers on dream motherfuckers feel like real time that was wasted.

But maybe it’s not so great, because his dreams seem to scare him often — which I guess makes sense because he doesn’t have much conscious control in them. It’s really hard to scare me in a dream or in real life. I’ll get angry or frustrated or sad in dreams, but I usually don’t feel like they just happen to me, I almost always feel like I can do something.

Wait, I just realized… is he scared of the cow? I woke him up because he was scared. I assumed the rat box was scary, but he did not intend to leave it. This cow’s got him on edge, I think. Because he took his parking space. It’s unresolved while he’s watching the movie in the rat box, maybe.

That would actually be typical of him. It is very important to him to be good, and if he does bad things in dreams he expects to be punished. I think his more conscious mind is a step behind his actions in a dream, so he watches himself do things he doesn’t approve of. Then the idea he should be punished arises, and it steers the dream in that direction. He also dreams of messing up things he normally wouldn’t and letting people down, too.

I’m pretty conscious in my dreams and making alert decisions, so my dreams rarely make me feel bad about anything. I have my same principles. The rare times I start to go against my principles I end up stopping and having some revelation, and sometimes realize I’m dreaming.

It’s been a long time since I had a helpless “oh my god I can’t believe I just did that, why did I just do that?” dream. Those seem to freak people out a lot, and they freaked me out back when I had them. But for probably a decade now, I always accept that I did whatever I did and process it. When I have those dreams that I’m back in school and didn’t go to any of my classes and now I’m going to fail the semester, I just show up to class open and nonchalant with the teacher about how I didn’t put forth any effort and I won’t start now, and then I leave without bothering to take the test and have an entirely different storyline in the same dream world. One time I just went and sat in the food court of a futuristic mall feeling peaceful I got to be there in the middle of a weekday when there weren’t a lot of people.

Instead, most of my stress in dreams is from needing to help people in some kind of immediate danger, especially if I have to fight an armed person or animal. Once I had to go through an air vent to this uncharted grey swamp dimension with a crew of people, got separated from them, and had to fight a crocodile that almost ate a kid. That was in the 2000s and it was so vivid I still remember it. Another one from that same decade had some guy going Texas Chainsaw Massacre in some sci-fi building with floating platforms, and I knew I wasn’t going to win that one but had to do it anyway. I woke up because I died. They almost never scare me because there’s no time to be scared, but I never get easy fights in my dreams. They’re always really frustrating and exhausting, because that dream shit where you can feel your real life sleep paralysis kicks in where everything seems slow and ineffectual. Any bullets I shoot go in slow motion, or if I’m stabbing someone, it’s the bluntest blade ever. I usually wake up from frustration or from dying. I rarely get to just win and continue the dream. I don’t think my husband deals with stuff like that.

Our dreams are very on-brand with regard to our respective childhoods. I had to witness domestic violence when I was young so my dream stress is just like, ah great, I must put this maniac in his place before he kills someone. I have to save all the people who are trapped. I never actually fought my dad because he was not violent toward me, I just dressed him down once I was old enough and it would shame him into submission. But when I was a little kid I wondered if it was my responsibility to kill him, or if there was anything I could do to outwit him, or if there was some other solution I hadn’t thought of. Every angle matters when you’re powerless. My dreams have involved me trying to figure everything out since before I started school. I just quit feeling powerless the older I got, and the compulsive digging and plotting still drives the dreams.

Whereas my husband was mortified by having to stand in the corner for time out, had to take on a lot of responsibility his mom heaped on him, and had to diligently regulate his emotions in response to her being impossible and insane. He gets stressed in dreams because he dropped the ball in some way — he betrayed his principles, or neglected a responsibility, or should have kept his cool.

I wonder if the rat box was punishment for stealing the cow’s parking space? He’s like me, he wouldn’t dodge the punishment, he’d just get it over with.

If I find out what the rat box was, I will update this if it’s not too personal. But he forgets most of his dreams, so who knows.

[youarejesting]

Limited Edition.3 Burger

[FULL MASTERLIST] [Limited Edition Master list]

Beta: N/A Rating: All audiences Genre: Fantasy, Comedy, Fluffy Fluff, Adventure. Pairing: Bts x Friend!Reader Words: 1.3K

Summary: It is your first time buying proper merchandise, there are new chibi figurines and the first person to order will recieve a limited edition set. But what happens when BTS have gone missing without a trace and a few days later you receive your package. The box says congratulations, you open to find your limited edition figures, they look so lifelike. OH WAIT! it’s cause they are.

"Anything else?" You asked them, holding in a bright smile and suppressing several squeals. They were just so adorable they could fit on your palm. You had to remain somewhat serious while these tiny men, they were still adults.

So you made sure to discuss their order with the utmost professionalism. Each agreeing to eat one burger between themselves and share a small sprite on Hoseok’s insistence.

Taking the phone you added something for yourself and hurriedly placed the order. You knew you could eat their leftovers and save yourself money, but you weren’t that close yet and thought it too intimate. “It will be here in fifteen minutes, in the meantime. I have to make a grocery list.”

You pulled out a pen and paper and started writing down your usual things like milk, bread, meat, cereal but you froze. Would they get sick with the sudden change of diet, what was their usual meals in Korea. 

“What do you boys want to eat?” They thought for a brief moment before shouting out some suggestions.

“Kimchi fried rice”

“Samgyeopsal”

“Seolleongtang”

Freezing in place, you didn’t know how to make any of these things. As you wrote them down, Seokjin must have noticed your confusion and touched Jungkook’s shoulder. He gave the younger boys a look trying to calm their enthusiasm.

“We would be happy with whatever you make, we can’t expect you to know how to cook all these things” The eldest assured you, the boys all deflated looking embarrassed.

“I like spaghetti” Jungkook looked up hopeful and you wrote it down with a smile. That you definitely knew how to make.

“Steak” Namjoon grinned then held out his small hands in defense “Only If it is not too expensive”

While you waited for your food to arrive, you began thinking about where they would sleep and what they needed to live. They would have to go to the toilet and shower and so much more. You didn't know how this would work. Wanting to give them independence and privacy whilst also wanting to protect them from harm. Heaven forbid any of them, got hurt, or drowned in the toilet.

The food arrived, breaking you out of your thoughts. Everyone all gathered around, You unwrapped their burger and sat watching them while enjoying your own meal. Taehyung excitedly ripped open a ketchup sachet and proceeded to splatter sauce everywhere.

They all froze mouths hanging open in shock, the ketchup splashed across the bench. Pressing your lips shut tight you tried to hold yourself together. They turned to you as a collective trying to gauge your reaction, but you turned away unable to hide the shaking of your shoulders.

“Are you upset?” Taehyung’s voice a feeble sound, as he placed his hand on your elbow. You could feel the tears rolling down your cheeks.

“We will clean it up” Jimin called and they tried to grab a napkin from the bag, Seokjin and Jungkook grabbed the napkin at the same time and Jungkook ended up pulling too hard and Seokjin ended up tackling Jungkook.

You couldn’t hold it in. Laughing hysterically the tears flowing, you walked away with your hands on your sides. “I don’t think she was mad” Hoseok giggled taking a bite of the burger and pointing. “She has a cute laugh though.”

After lunch shenanigans, you were lost in thought once more. How could you bring up such an issue, like toileting and showering they were not only celebrities but they were boys.

"What do I do about your toilet and shower habits, I don't mean to be weird.” You blushed, “it's just, I don't want you getting hurt falling into the toilet or basin or anything"

They blushed "Oh, we will figure it out. Please do not worry."

"I might be able to make something" you hummed and began brainstorming. “Can you hold on for a little while while I make you some toileting facilities?”

“Actually I have to pee?” Hoseok blushed, you wondered how you would go about this, when they all nervously admitted they needed to go as well.

“We can just go outside we are boys” Namjoon assured you, scooping them up, you carried them outside. Turning around to giving them privacy in the grass. You were humiliated for them but what else could you do?

“I am so sorry, I will make something work”

“Please do not stress we are boys and human just like anyone else”

“Except now really tiny” They looked at each other and you bit your lip snorting, “Sorry I have been holding it in but, you are all so cute, anyone this small would be”

They seemed to relax watching you slowly grow comfortable enough to talk more freely. Giving them your iPad you sat them on your bed with a plate of the few leftover snacks from your pantry. They were quick to open Netflix and argue over movies. 

“Watch this one.” You selected one at random “Not only does me choosing the show stop you arguing, but I also want to watch it, so you have to report to me if it is any good. I will be back as quick as I can be, please don't get hurt”

Racing to the mall you went into a multitude of shops. The first was the most important a toy shop, where you bought a dollhouse one that had working lights. At the craft warehouse, you bought a bunch of fabric, foam, and elastic. From the town’s hardware store you purchased a large length of thin black hose, silicone, thin metal, and some thin balsa wood. After that you quickly walked the grocery store, before you driving home exhausted but excited.

You had never been so creative in your life but there were so many videos and tutorials only, especially for mini cooking so when you got home, you immediately got to work. You began by modifying the dollhouse bathroom adding tiny black hoses as piping. You added little pipes to a few water bottles you had outside of the house the bottles would act as little water tanks.

Once the bathroom was done you began on making their beds taking the simple bed frames and painted them. You got up stretching your back, neck, and shoulders before heading out to make a small amount of dinner which was some cheap ramen. Making sure to test the dollhouse lights, it was a success but the rooms were so old fashioned. 

The cupboards attached to the walls had working drawers and each had a few clothes hangers inside. You removed all the dolls and moveable furniture and began making mattresses out of foam and covering them in some fabric. You were so thankful for the sewing machine you had inherited from your grandmother and the few pillowcases you had made in home economics back in school.

In no time you had made enough beds for the seven and with the leftover foam two long couches. You used the extra fabric to make curtains and yawned checking the time. It was midnight and the boys were asleep on your bed. You pressed on, you needed this to be complete for them, they were real adult people despite their size and wouldn’t enjoy being treated like babies.

You took the time following a tutorial and eventually made a working stove that worked with a tea light candle you had fished out from your emergency kit. Looking over the house you knew you couldn’t get everything done before morning so you decided to make everything look pretty. 

You took different paints and painted the rooms soft colors, made the beds, and with a few popsicle sticks and string you made them tiny pictures for above their beds. Happy, that they came with clothes so they would have enough to wear without you making more things. You weren’t ready to make clothes that small.

Setting the dollhouse securely on your large computer desk, it was three am and you were covered in wood chips, paint, and glue. Deciding it was best if you had a shower before bed. Taking a hot shower to work the aches and pains from your neck, you could have almost fallen asleep under the all-encompassing stream of hot water.

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[callmearcturus]

I’m back.

I’m trying to figure out how to even talk about the emotion I’m feeling.

(Covid Talk under the cut)

A year ago, for my gran’s 76th birthday, we went to the Gulf Coast and saw a murder mystery trainride show, and went to an upscale shopping mall to walk around and do some very selective shopping, and explored a nice city.

This year... we found the least covid-infested county in Florida in driving distance and got a hotel room there and just.............. got out of the absolute hellhole that is the South Florida Covid Hotspot for two days. Bc the hospitality crash happening right now, we were able to afford the kind of hotel room poor folks like us usually can’t dream of. It has FOUR ROOMS. It had a BALCONY. It had a soaker bathtub.

Which was nice, genuinely. But also... that was the extent of the birthday. We had a nice hotel room, space to move around and sit on the balcony, but also... no shows, no places to go, and all our meals were VERY socially distanced. Multiple times, I scoped out a place to ensure it had outdoor seating and wasn’t too crowded, and we left multiple places that didn’t meet our standards.

It’s funny because we were up in this new place... and seeing the locals not as bone-deep terrified was wild. Like, a week ago, I was in publix with grandma, and some fucking woman TOOK OFF HER MASK to talk on her phone while there were people around her! Elderly people! ONE OF THEM WAS IN A WHEELCHAIR!

I literally grabbed the shopping cart and my grandmother and removed us from the vicinity because...

I know all of us are scared of covid. But if you don’t live in a hotspot, then you don’t know the-- the exhaustion of the constant vigilance you have. You look at every person around you and you notice if they are masked and you notice what kind of mask they are wearing, is that a two-layer at least? Wait, did that person just cough? Fuck, that one has it under their fucking nose, give them a wide berth.

And being up in a place with, no joke, less than 5% of the cases of home and a dramatically lower positivity rate, and seeing people not scared for their lives, was like being a fucking space alien. For an astounding two days, I didn’t have that feeling.

(Or, that’s untrue. I was still scared, bc I don’t really know how to turn that off, but my family relaxed.)

That’s all we could give my grandmother on her 77th birthday. Just a nice dinner and a little less fear and a short escape from our small apartment.

On the drive back home, this deep, bone-deep desperate dread hit me as we reached our home area again. I had to wipe my face on my shirt bc I started crying, as the FEAR flooded back in. Back to the constant terror. Back to panicking at anyone starting to cough, back to hiding in our small apartment, trying to just remember to be kind to each other bc we’re all so fucking stressed, back to this.

The night before we left, Mum got a call from her job. Someone tested positive for covid. This person, who Mum only avoided contact with because we all had the privilege and cruel audacity to have a two-day vacation during a pandemic. 

I’m sitting here and trying to figure out the final pirouette of this post, the point I’m trying to make. I don’t know what it is. Except if you’re out there and if you’re in a similar situation, if you know this Fear that has made itself a member of my household, then I’m sorry, and I’m with you, and fuck this, fuck everything, it shouldn’t have to be like this. We shouldn’t have to live in fear of this thing. We shouldn’t have to carry the guilt for taking a breath from it.

Wait I think my final note for this post is: I hope hell exists solely so Ron DeSantis can burn there for all eternity. That’s it, that’s the finale.

[ghostspideys-moved]

All For The Best

Chapter Seven

A/N: This one took me longer to write and figure out, but here it is just in time!

Word Count: 2.5k

Pairings: Steve Harrington x OC, Nancy Wheeler x Jonathan Byers x OC

Summary: After spending the night in the elevator, River discovers a new power she had no clue she even had.

With climbing no longer a viable option, they were officially trapped in the elevator. There was no way to tell what time it was, but the kids clearly needed some rest, so they let Dustin and Erica sleep while they stayed up in the hopes of finding some way. It wasn’t going much better than before, so they gave up for a while. 

Sitting amidst the piles of boxes wasn’t exactly comfortable, but nothing about this situation was. River leaned against a stack of them, mentally exhausted. They still had no clue how to escape, nor did they have a way to contact anyone else.

“Can’t you, like, use your powers to - I don’t know - tell someone we’re down here?” Steve asked. He’d been fiddling with the controls, but it was still getting him nowhere.

River shook her head. “Not from this far. I’ve never done that before,” she said. “Besides, I’d probably just exhaust myself trying.”

“I feel like I’m missing something here,” Robin chimed in. She was sitting against a wall nearby, and she looked just as tired. “People don’t actually have powers.”

Annie shifted from her spot next to Robin. “Maybe it’s possible, though.”

River sighed. She hadn’t really considered that not everyone here was in the loop, but they were probably the best people to know.

“You know the lab out in the woods?” she asked. They nodded. “My brother and I escaped from there a few years ago. They were doing experiments and shit on a bunch of kids with powers.”

Robin looked like she wasn’t totally following, or that she totally believed it, but Annie seemed horrified. After today, she was sure this wouldn’t be the weirdest thing they’d hear or experience, though.

“Well, then it really looks like we’re trapped here,” Steve sighed. He plopped down next to her. He didn’t look much better than the rest of them, and she couldn’t help frowning at the way his shoulders slumped tiredly.

“We’ll figure something out,” she assured him. “There has to be something we can do.”

There was no way they could come up with a plan in this state, though. They were all so exhausted, and in no state to properly think of a solution.

Steve nodded. “Yeah. Get some sleep. I’ll keep watch for now.”

River wanted to protest. He looked like he needed it more than any of them, but he was stubborn, and she could already tell he wasn’t going to give in. 

Sleeping in an elevator wasn’t very comfortable by any means, but she managed to sleep for a while anyways. By the time she was up again, her body ached from the uncomfortable position she’d been in. She felt better, though. Her eyes felt less heavy, and she didn’t feel as groggy. 

Now, they were back to square one of coming up with a plan. Once again, it wasn’t going too well. 

Annie tried to give it a shot while they regrouped and tried to find a plan B. River helped out where she could, but she didn’t know where to start. Just as she was sure they should give up for now, Annie’s eyes lit up as she got an idea. 

River watched as she channeled a slight amount of electricity, to her amazement, but all she ended up doing was shocking herself. It didn’t work. She wasn’t the only one with powers, though, from the looks of it.

“You okay?” she asked.

Annie nodded. “You saw that?”

“Yeah. I didn’t think you had powers, too.” River kept her voice low. She probably wouldn’t appreciate the others finding out just yet.

“Yeah, well. I’m still figuring them out. I’m terrible with them,” she admitted. 

River shrugged. “It was worth a shot. Better than the rest of us have done so far.”

She leaned against the door, sighing. The thought of rotting down here wasn’t very appealing, and it kind of stressed her out. If only the could get this stupid thing open. She was deep in thought when she lost her footing and fell backwards. Right through the door. 

Dustin was still trying to get a message to someone on his walkie-talkie. His efforts were commendable, but still getting them nowhere. And Steve was already in a mood, not that she blamed him. 

Even as Robin took over trying to open the door, River felt like they weren’t getting anywhere on their own. What if they never got out?

River looked around, realizing she was on the other side. “Holy shit.” She didn’t even know she could do that.

“River?” She could hear Robin’s voice from the other side. “Are you okay?”

Physically, she was fine. She was just freaking out a little. “I’m fine. You saw that too, right?”

“Yeah. Can you do it again?”

That she wasn’t sure of. It was worth a try, though. River stood and brushed herself off before facing the door again. She placed her hand on the door and tried to focus on going through it again. To her amazement, she phased right through the door and stepped back into the elevator. 

Robin and Annie looked at her with wide eyes. “How did you do that?” Annie asked.

“I don’t know.” She’d never done that before, but maybe now she could help them out somehow. 

“Can you do that to get us out of here?” Dustin asked.

Seeing as she just figured all of this out about ten seconds ago, River wasn’t really sure she felt confident in her ability to test that out. Not right now, in the middle of a dire situation. “Maybe? But I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”

“Do you smell that?”

Before she could argue with Dustin, Robin hurried them up to the top of the elevator. “We’ve got company.”

There was no time for debate. It was hard staying quiet with six of them, but they waited at the top as the door opened. River could make out two voices, clearly speaking Russian, for just a moment.

“What?”

“Piss.”

For just a moment, River thought Steve might have inadvertently blown their cover just because he couldn’t hold it in for a few more minutes. Thankfully, though, it seemed like both men passed it off as nothing and continued on.

Everyone stayed as quiet and still as they possibly could. They waited for a few seconds before jumping back down. They had to be quick with the door closing. Steve had taken one of the containers full of green liquid from Erica and stuck it between the door and the floor. He rushed everything through the opening, the kids going first.

With just their luck, Steve was the last one left when the door crushed the container, leaving him still inside the elevator.

“Great. Just great.” River could hear Steve give an aggravated sigh from the other side.

River was starting to realize this might be where she came in useful. The rest of them were on the other side trying to help him out, but it was no use. She had to try something that might not even work.

Bracing herself, she stepped through the door again. 

“Steve, take my hand.” River held her hand out to him as soon as she was inside, but he just stared at her like she was crazy.

“What?”

“Take my hand. You’re just gonna have to trust me on this one.”

Steve glanced between her and the door. “You mean...you’re taking us through the door?”

“Yeah, no shit. Do you want me to leave you in here or not?” Despite her words, she wouldn’t dare do that purposely. It was clear he was just as worried whether this would work, but Steve eventually gave in and took hold of her hand.

There was no telling what would happen if she screwed this up, but River pushed her worries aside and concentrated as she led him through the door. To her surprise, and everyone else’s the two of them made it through just fine. 

Relieved, and maybe even proud, Steve let the tension leave his body and pulled her into a hug. It only lasted a moment before the two of them realized and broke apart.

Steve cleared his throat. “Thanks.”

River laughed at how embarrassed he looked and nodded. “Any time, Harrington.”

Now that everyone was safe again, Dustin brought their attention to the tunnel that stretched for what seemed like miles. 

“Hope you guys are in shape,” Steve said, starting down the tunnel.

River sighed and followed, already knowing she was going to hate every second of this. The tunnel felt even longer than it looked. And even though she walked everywhere on a normal basis, she was so exhausted that she wasn’t sure how she was even managing to stand.

For the most part, River was on autopilot while she listened to them go back and forth. 

“You think they built this whole mall just so they could transport that green poison?”

Dustin shook his head. “I very seriously doubt it’s something as boring as poison. It’s gotta be much more valuable, like promethium or something.”

“What the hell is promethium?”

“It’s what Victor Stone’s dad used to make Cyborg’s bionic and cybernetic components,” Robin explained.

“You’re all so nerdy, it makes me physically ill.”

“No no no, don’t lump me in with them,” Steve insisted. “I’m not a nerd, alright?”

River raised an eyebrow. “What’s wrong with being a nerd, Harrington?”

Steve struggled to answer without looking like an idiot. “I’m just saying, I don’t know jack shit about Prometheus.”

There he was, doing that thing again. He always managed to say something stupid, but the frustrating part was that River knew better. Steve was much smarter than he liked to make himself sound. 

While Robin was distracted rambling to Annie and Erica, wondering why Hawkins was the Russian’s set up, Dustin turned to River and Steve.

“Do you think the Russians know?”

“About the-”

“They could.”

“So it’s connected?”

“Maybe.”

“I don’t know, but it’s possible.”

Steve turned to River, a curious look on his face. “Do you know if there’s any connection between all of this?”

She hadn’t heard anything, not that she’d been trying, so there was no way for her to know for sure. “Unfortunately, no. I could try digging around in some of their heads, but I can’t promise I’ll find anything,” River said. 

“I’m sorry, is there something, you two would like to share with the class?”

They finally turned back to find Robin waiting for them. She certainly looked annoyed and curious, and Annie just looked confused. Just as they were all debating whether to share, the walkie-talkie went off in Erica’s backpack. It was the same code Dustin picked up. They paused as she pulled it out.

It dawned on River that this might be their chance to get help, and the others seemed to be on the same page.

“Wherever that broadcast is coming from-” Dustin started.

“It’s close,” Robin agreed. “And if there’s one thing we know about that signal?”

“It can reach the surface.”

That was all the hope they needed. It was decided then and there that they would have to try getting a hold of the radio. Not what they were much closer to the end of the tunnel, there was a lot more sneaking involved. In theory, it seemed easy enough. In practice? It was much harder. River wasn’t sure how they were succeeding. She almost expected to be caught a few times.

“Okay, clear.” Steve gestured for them to follow as he stepped out from their hiding spot. 

“That was close.”

“Too close.”

Steve didn’t seem as worried. “Relax. No one saw.” He paused as he turned a corner. Just feet away from them was a whole room full of scientists, all clearly determined and very busy. Worst of all, there were guards posted everywhere. 

Now aware of how easily they could be spotted, they ducked and found cover again. River could feel a surge of adrenaline, but she wasn’t really a fan of it right now. There were so many ways this could go horribly wrong.

Erica finally seemed to have an epiphany. “I saw it,” she whispered. “First floor, northwest.”

“Saw what?” Steve asked.

“The comms room.”

River could hardly believe what she was hearing, but it gave her some sense of relief. Even if they weren’t totally sure it was the right room. It was a risk they had to take, though Steve was hesitant to give in.

“Alright. We’re gonna move fast, we’re gonna stay low,” he insisted. “Okay?”

Everyone was thankfully on the same page, and Steve led them away from their hiding spot. It was too late to back out now. River followed at the back of the group, keeping low and playing as the lookout. The last thing they needed was to get caught so close to the comms room.

Steve stopped them just a few feet away from the door, just out of view from anyone nearby. Once the coast was clear, he led them inside the room, quietly hurrying them in as he held the door open.

For just a moment, this felt like a big victory for them. Something was going right. Until they turned and spotted a man sitting at the controls. River couldn’t help feeling this was where it all went downhill.

The man threw off his headphones and stood, ready to stop them. Robin tried to stall by reciting the code, and her attempt was certainly admirable. It wasn’t going anywhere, but before River could step in to help, Steve rushed at him, screaming.

It all happened so fast that it was hard to keep up with them. Steve was doing better than she would have hoped. He managed to knock out the Russian, which was a whole step up from his fight with Billy last year.

“Dude, you did it!” Dustin exclaimed, all too excited to see Steve win. “You won a fight!”

River couldn’t deny that she was greatly impressed. “Holy shit.” Steve looked all too proud of himself, if not a bit surprised. 

Dustin grabbed the keycard, their best bet in getting anywhere in this hellhole. River tuned out his arguing with Erica, sharing a look of exasperation with Annie. She decided to let the two of them go at it when Annie turned to Robin, who’d wandered off. Curiously, River turned to see what was going on as Robin rushed back over. 

“Guys! There’s something up there.”

At the end of a flight of steps, there was a door that looked innocent enough if you didn’t count all the eerie flashing. They quietly made it past the door and looked through the glass.

River couldn’t believe what she was seeing with her own two eyes. Scientists were gathered around control panels, and there were others beyond the control room dressed in radiation suits of some sort. Most impressive of all was the machine spewing what must have been a very high powered laser. It was being fueled by the green liquid they found in the elevator. The worst part was how quickly she realized the machine was firing at what looked like the gate to the Upside Down. Just their luck. But now they knew for certain that everything was connected in some twisted way.

//

Taglist: @charmedtenderness​ @nxncywheeler​ @koibecomedragons​

[queenraikichi94]

She’s a survivor, just like you

This is a one shot for @apharine​ , inspired by the prompt she wrote of Raikichi and Piers. Hope you enjoy!

Warnings: A bit angst cause is going to be related to baby health and stress as well.

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

Two months had passed since Runa was born. Raikichi’s pregnancy was interrupted abruptly at the eight month due medical complications that lead her and her unborn baby to be on a high risk of death, but both mother and daughter survived. But things wouldn’t be easy; for the next two weeks, both Raikichi and Runa stayed at the hospital, and those two weeks turned very long for the World Champion since her little daughter had to stay in a incubator. Runa’s health was fragile, and Raikichi knew that, even if she was also medical monotorized, she always found her way to the room where her daughter was. Raikichi had been told about how risky would be her pregnancy specially after recieving that second Poison Jab on her belly when the furtives attacked her uncle’s house, but she had to think in other things for her baby.

Two months after Runa’s birth, both mother and daughter were at home. The little baby had improved pretty well since she got out of the hospital and accepted very well the milk her mother gave to her when she breastfeeded her; sometimes she needed Piers’ help when Runa started to fuss and to cry when it was feeding time, but also, Piers had work to do; as he sang for his daughter, he had to bottlefeed Zephyr, the female Alolan Meowth that Nanu gave to Runa when she got out of the incubator, so both parents had double work.

That day, Raikichi had got really exhausted. Runa fussed, cried and kicked when it was her feeding time, and not to speak when she needed to get her diaper changed. Luckyly, Kana was with her. She knew her for a while when Kabu presented her as her partner, and Raikichi was happy for both of them, and she started to tease more her uncle every time she saw him smiling like he used to do with her when she started to date Piers. Maybe Kana was younger than Kabu, but it was a great friend that was agree to help Raikichi with little Runa.

“Tell me that she is finally asleep” Kana said as both girls sat down in the sofa

“Yeah, finally...I had to put the recording of the lullaby Piers composed for her...” Raikichi replied with a heavy sigh. Kana could noticed the dark bags under her friend’s eyes, and how tired her voice sounded. Since Runa had a fragile health, every single move or thing that the baby made put both Raikichi and Piers in alert, specially Raikichi, who was thinking that she was going to loose her baby.

“How many hours did you sleep lately?”

“Honestly? I don’t know...These last days Runa had some health issues and I didn’t want to have Piers in alert like me...He also needs sleep since he told me that he spent more hours awake these days...”

“You know that me, Kabu, and even our friends are here to help both of you” Kana said putting a hand on Raikichi’s shoulder “You should take things more easy, Raikichi. You need to stay strong for your daughter and get yourself exhausted won’t help”

“I know but...Every time Runa’s having a health issue I remember the days she spent in the incubator and...” the young mother said, stopping when she felt the tears trying to stir from her eyes “At least she will be sleeping some hours and...”

But before she could finish that sentence, a painful cry that both Kana and Raikichi could hear through the baby speaker made Raikichi jump and run to her room, where Runa was. Araminta, the female Indeedee, was trying to calm Runa down, using Psychic to move softly the crib, but the baby kept crying even louder. Morgrem was watching was well, trying to calm down Zephyr.

“Araminta, what’s wrong?” Raikichi asked and Araminta pointed at Runa and when the young mother touched her daughter’s forehead, her world started to shake. She was burning up, and a lot, and all the fears she always tried to keep away returned even stronger. “Kana, can you give me the thermometre?”

“Sure” Kana said and then, she gave the thermomethre to Raikichi “Here, take it”

“Thank you” she said, using the thermothere twice in order to confirm her worst fears “She has a very high fever and she’s sweating a lot” Raikichi said putting the thermomethre on the night stand and picking her daughter on her arms. Runa was still crying but...She didn’t kick or fuss. And that made Raikichi had even more fear. “Hush, baby, I’m here, my sweetheart...Please, don’t cry, don’t cry...Oh, Arceus, what can I do...”

“I can help you preparing a bag with the things you need and then, we should rush quickly to the hospital” Kana said “We should also call Piers and Kabu and telling them that we’re heading to the hospital”

“R-Right...Here, pick Runa as I prepare her bag” Raikichi said and then, Runa cried even louder when she felt that she wasn’t on her mother’s arms “Please, Runa, don’t cry...”

“I can manage this. Prepare the bag and don’t worry, ‘kay? Remember, keep calm and everything will be alright”

Raikichi nodded nervously as Araminta helped her with Runa’s bag. Archer, the male Indeedee, helped as well but with a small bag for Raikichi in case she needed to stay in the hospital if Runa had to stay in the hospital. While Kana tried to calm down Runa, who chocked twice with her sobs, Raikichi finished preparing both bags, just in time to pick her daughter in her arms when she spitted out the milk she drank hours before. “Hush, hush, my little one” Raikichi said, nervous on her voice as her trembling hands cleaned her baby. Tears poured from her eyes as the young mother put clean clothes on her baby. “Araminta, bring me Runa’s warm blanket”

The female Indeedee nodded and brought the blanket that Raikichi used to wrap Runa once she got her clothes changed as Kana called Piers and Kabu. “Kabu said they will go to the hospital right before they get out of the mall” Kana said picking the bags with her “C’mon, we should hurry”

Raikichi nodded again and once both girls were ready, they exited the house, with Glaceon and Archer with them. Araminta stayed at home cause she had to take care of baby Meowth. The hospital was near the house, so they didn’t need to call for transport, but since Runa’s life was now in danger, both girls ended running on their way to the hospital. Once there, they were attended by the doctors that were there and told them to wait on the waiting room. Raikichi sat down on the chairs, and when Runa started to grab her shirt, as she always did when she was hungry, she managed to got her right breast free in order to breastfeed her daughter, but Runa fussed and cried. “Runa, please...” Raikichi said, tireness on her voice, but she wasn’t ready to give up; she would do everything for her daughter. She tried again to breastfeed her, by her baby rejected it. “Why...Am I doing something wrong?” she murmured to herself as she put her bra and shirt back again on her and swinged her baby softly on her arms, ignoring the tears that were pouring again from her eyes.

“Raikichi, listen, you’re doing well” Kana said, a hand on Raikichi’s shoulder making a firm grip “Maybe she did that move by instinct but if she doesn’t want to eat now, is because her body is fighting againts the illness that is attacking her”

“I don’t want to loose her, Kana...I just...”

“I know, but remember you’re not alone on this, Raikichi” Kana said smiling “Remember that the doctors said that babies use to have delicate health during their first months and it’s normal that thet get sick”

“But Runa’s health is more fragile than normal babies’ health...”

“I know, I know, but everytime she got sick, she managed to go through it and recover, right?” she said and when the young mother nodded, Kana smiled. Raikichi smiled as well and then, for the surprise and shake of both girls, Runa stop crying and coughed a bit, opening her big hazel eyes and looking at her mother “See? You’ve calmed down and she has calmed down too. Remember, she’s a survivor, just like you”

“True...” Raikichi said and then, she started to hum the lullaby her husband made for their daughter as she let her baby grab her finger with her little hand “I’m here, my child...I’m here...”

Runa cooed a bit and then, the doctor called them just in time when Piers and Kabu entered in the hospital. Kana greeted Kabu with a kiss as Piers embraced gently his wife and his daughter. “Sorry, we tried to come as soon as possible after Kana called us”

“Don’t worry, babe. Kana stayed with me all the time” she said as the four of them entered into the medical consultation.

The doctors examinated Runa under the worried gaze of Raikichi, who was being embrace by Piers, his arm around her shoulders. Kana and Kabu stayed at their side as well, watching how the doctors worked and made medical tests on the baby.

After two hours, cause they had to wait for the analytics the doctors made of Runa, the baby finally accepted to be breastfeed by her mother, who sighed in relief as she saw her baby frinking the milk she needed the most. “This time didn’t fuss a lot” Piers commented, removing some hair from Raikichi’s face. “Babe, you should sleep more...”

“I know but I couldn’t leave Runa with her health issues” Raikichi said

“Don’t worry for that, I will make sure Raikichi stay in bed the enough to recover the hours she need of sleep” Kana said chuckling a bit

“You’re not the only one that would do that” Raikichi said with a chuckle and then, she let Piers made Runa burp as she put her bra and shirt back again on her and once the baby let out a big burp, Raikichi smiled as Piers sang to thheir daughter. 

Then, the doctors came with the results. Runa had got a very big cold but it was something they could heal with soft medicines and warm baths when she got hersel sweating. After that, they went back home. Once there, Piers and Raikichi got Runa on her sleeping baby clothes and once they gave her the medicines, Piers took Runa to her crib to give Raikichi some rest. 

“Here, take this” Kabu said, giving Raikichi a warm tea “You’ll need it to sleep well”

“Thanks, uncle...And thanks to you too, Kana, really” Raikichi said 

“We’re friends, afterall, and friends are to help each otherl, right?”

Raikichi said nodding. Kana was right, she wasn’t alone anymore, and thanks to her friends, taking care of Runa would be a bit more easy.

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

I hope you like it!

[fruit-teeth]

MADD FRIEND MADD FRIEND hope you don't mind if i ask a bunch of questions ^^" 1, 4, 5, 9, 15, 26, 30, 32, 38, 41, 42, 48? hope it's not too many, I'm really curious. I don't know many other MD'ers

Aaa thank you!! I don’t mind at all, I’ll do my best to answer them! I’m just now starting to be more open about my daydreaming, since I’m learning more about it and trying to understand myself better, so knowing other people who experience this is really helpful!!

1. For me the repetitive motion is pacing/running, though I pace most of the time. It’s possible for me to daydream without doing those things, although the daydreams I have when I’m sitting still or lying down are more low key and calm compared to the ones I have while moving around (most of the time, anyway).

4. Honestly, the perspective depends on what type of daydream I’m having or what’s going on. It tends to be third-person perspective, like I’m watching the events take place the same way I would watch a movie, but then other times (and what usually ends up happening) I take on the role of a character within the daydream, but it’s someone who isn’t actually me. Since a lot of my daydreams are TF2 related, the characters I tend to sort of gravitate towards and assume the roles of in daydreams are almost always Sniper, Medic, Scout, Spy, or Miss Pauling (I can take on roles of other characters, but these are the ones I daydream as the most). I guess you could say these are my avatars, but they change depending on what scenario I’m daydreaming about. However, I can interact with my paras as myself and not as someone else, but that usually happens if I’m stressed, anxious or bored.

In my non-TF2 daydreams, my avatar is a fictionalized version of myself called ‘Sapphire’, and Sapphire is basically me just with less anxiety over things. They’re everything I would like to be in real life, like the dress the way I would want to dress and they speak the way I wish I could speak, and usually I’m them in daydreams where I’m internet-famous in some way or where I do something really great.

5. I don’t really have linear daydreams?? They’re more like...episodic adventures that don’t really connect to each other. I mean they can, and they have before, but I get bored or certain plots quickly or they can sometimes get violent in ways I really don’t want them to, so I quickly abandon them to start a new, more comforting one.

9. Honestly...before I knew anything about maladaptive daydreaming, I was really ashamed of it. I mean, it was fun and I enjoyed it, and I always loved that it gave me ideas for stories (I have always loved writing), but my parents thought it was weird and they let me know they thought it was weird pretty much from the very beginning. They also tried to get me to stop doing it more than once, and didn’t understand that it was something out of my control. So for a long time I was super embarrassed by it and I thought there was something wrong with me, but it wasn’t until very recently that I discovered it and found out it was something lots of other people did.

15. Almost all of my paras are adopted from fiction, and they always have been, ever since I was a very small child. I only have a small handful of paras that are versions of real people in my life, and these include my girlfriend, a few friends I’ve had over the years, my old youth leaders from Sunday school, and also a few celebrities (although I don’t daydream about the celebrities much anymore).

26. I do actually! I act out my daydreams when I’m alone, mostly, or in the shower. But sometimes I can’t control it and I do things or make facial expressions that correlate with whatever’s happening in the daydream, and I have been caught doing this on more than one occasion, and it’s always weird to have to justify it to someone who doesn’t get it. I also do speak to my paras out loud, or for them, when things get either really intense or really funny (I have laughed out loud or quoted random vines SO many times because of daydreaming scenarios, but literally everyone in my life is used to it by now), and also I sing sometimes.

30. I don’t need music to daydream, but I like to have it because it adds a lot to the experience. I wear headphones, but I don’t always pay attention to how loud the music can get, and I do worry a lot about accidentally damaging my hearing through doing this but my hearing is fine according to hearing tests I’ve done, so at the moment I’m good.

32. It’s very energizing to me! Especially when I think of a good plot, it actually wakes me up a little. However pacing for a long time makes me very tired, and when that happens I have to pause my daydreams to do something else for a while. But like an hour or so later, I go right back to doing it.

38. I talk with my real-person paras whenever I’m daydreaming a conversation I’d like to have with them, but with my fictional paras, I tend to get into discussions with them when I’m stressed or upset. They give me advice if I need it and they’ll also let me vent, but most of the time they do something to distract me from what’s going on, like holding my hand or telling me a story about themselves.

41. My very first experience with maladaptive daydreaming happened when I was in first grade. My teacher had yelled at me about something I did, and she punished me by making me sit out in the hallway away from everyone else. I remember I was sitting there sobbing and wishing I could go home, when I suddenly just started imagining Team Rocket from Pokémon (I was a HUGE fan of Pokémon, and I loved Team Rocket) coming in and taking me out of school with them to go to the mall and watch movies at the theatre. It was very comforting, and for about a year or so I would daydream stories about hanging out with Team Rocket. They were my first paras, I guess you could say, and I actually really miss them sometimes.

42. I didn’t really know it was different until my parents started asking about it. I think they thought at first that I just had a really active imagination, but when I got older and I kept doing it, they started wondering if something was wrong with me. When I was first diagnosed with autism, my mother asked the psychologist about my pacing and my daydreams, and the psychologist essentially was like ‘it’s harmful and it needs to stop’. I remember being asked, “Are you going to keep pacing when you’re in college? When you’re married? Do you really want to keep doing this? You have to stop sometime,” jokes on that psychologist, because it’s been over a decade since she said that and I am in college now and I STILL do this! In all seriousness fuck that bitch

48. Oh yeah, I’ve had to edit my daydreams more than once. Usually if something gets too weird or fucked up or violent, I’ve had to sort of slam the brakes and backtrack to try again. Sometimes it’s hard to get out of those scenarios, though, and it can get really scary or sad sometimes, and afterwards I feel really exhausted and upset. That doesn’t happen a lot, though, thankfully, but when it does happen it’s really unpleasant.

[purplesurveys]

649

Are you attracted to the last person that kissed you? Yeah, of course. What did you do yesterday? I spent the morning hungover because I drank the night before, but I had to be in class by 10 AM so I had no choice but to drive to school. My classes were thankfully pretty chill, and the most random thing that happened was my prof making us take a speed typing test in the middle of our class lol. Otherwise, it was a normal school day. Something you really want right now? More moneyyyy. I blew most of it last Wednesday when me and my girlfriend had drinks up in Marco Polo. Hotels obviously jack up their prices on everything, and alcohol is no exception so what I’d pay for a cocktail in my school’s area got quadrupled in Marco Polo. But I had a loooot of fun that night, so I can’t say I regret it even though I lost most of my allowance. If you could seek revenge on someone would you? [continued from yesterday because I just had suuuch a hectic week] Like I’ve said, the idea of revenge is something I daydream about just to feel internally satisfied, but I never feel the need to act on it. How long have you liked the person you like? Six, maybe even seven years.

Are you happy with the way things are going? For the most part. I could go with less worry/anxiety, but I mean I can’t say I’m miserable. Would you ever get a tattoo? Only if I feel like the time is right, which is a FAR cry from “get tattoos of all the things you love”-era Robyn lmao. Do you think you will be in a relationship 3 months from now? Yes. April is my birth month, and I’d hate to be single by then lol. What plans do you have for tomorrow? I finally have my rest day tomorrow, which I’m fuuuucking stoked about. It’s been such a busy busy week and I’m just so relieved that all I have to do tomorrow is sit and lounge around. Has a friendship ended recently that you wish had not? Not really. I kinda cut off friendships with two guys because they annoyed me over some issue, but the thing is they’re part of our high school group so I can’t avoid them forever – I see them when we have reunions, but I don’t mingle with them. What are you listening to right now? I can hear the electric fan whirring in front of me but in my head Simmer by Hayley Williams is playing as loud as ever. Do you and your last ex hate each other? No. What are you afraid of? I hate uncertainty the most, but some other things I’m afraid of are failing in general, videos that make me stressed like footage of collapsing/fainting people or racist people making tirades on public transport, flying cockroaches, sharp objects, and fire. When was the last time you were sick? Some time last year, I got a fever for like two hours but I was totally fine after. But the last time I was SICK sick was sometime in 2017 – but even that was only an overnight thing. I don’t remember the last time I was sick for over a day. Do you tend to waste a lot of money? LMAOOO don’t even remind me. I literally have a single P50 bill left in my wallet – that’s less than a dollar to ya. Do you have trust issues? No, not at all. Do you think this year will be better than last? I’m genuinely unsure, and I’d rather not guess or mull over it. 2020 is going to be a year of so much change – graduating college, getting my first job, maybe moving out for the first time?, not knowing if my girlfriend is going to pursue a master’s abroad, what that means for us, etc. Big things are waiting, and I HATE the uncertainty of it all. I take surveys to forget, so please don’t remind me of things I go here to forget, haha. Have you ever regretted kissing someone? No. Are you a jealous person? I can be, but like I’m not obsessed with being jealous. When was the last time you got a haircut? 2018. I desperately need a dramatic haircut. Do you know anyone that smokes weed? Yeah I know people who’ve told me about it, but I’m sure there are more people I know that haven’t told me they do weed. Who is the last person you rode in a car with? I was with Luisa and Hannah and for the first time in a long time, I wasn’t the one driving! Do you look more like your mom or your dad? I ask people this and they always tell me I’m a perfect mix. Apparently the top half of my face looks like my dad, and the bottom half is all my mom. Are there any stressful situations in your life? Yep a little bit yep yep yep. If you were caught cheating would you fess up? If I was already caught, I’d be incredibly stupid to still deny it so yeah, I’d confess. The last time you honestly felt broken? Maybe Monday? Idk, I cried pretty hard that day, harder than I normally would. What do you really want right now? I want this stupid internet speed to be faster because I need to send emails ASAP, and I need some good fucking food. I am not the happiest camper right now lmao. Best thing about the last person you chatted on facebook? He’s literally the most reliable dude ever. I can always depend on him to help me out no matter how last-minute it is. Best thing about the last person you talked to in person? She’s generous. When was the last time you shaved your legs? Yesterday. Is there someone you wish you were closer to? At this point, not really. I’m happy with my circle and there haven’t been new people who entered my life recently. Have any addictions? Nope. Are you anything like your siblings? We’re all reserved, but then again out of all the three of us I’m still the biggest extrovert and I’m also probably the one who finds it easy to blend in with most groups. But yeah, we all definitely have a layer of extreme shyness in us. We’re also never upfront about our feelings, so when we cry we do it in the privacy of our own rooms, or if we’re upset we rant about it to our own friends. Have you ever had a stalker? I don’t think so. Have you ever received an injury from a hook up? LOL what? No I haven’t. That sounds wild though. What did you last eat? A brownie and a sip of coffee. What was the best concert you have been to? PARAMORE. UGH. THEY HAVE THE BEST CONCERTS. I’ve seen them twice and I plan to see them three, four, and the next bajillion times. Paramore forever <3 Who is the last person you hugged? I’m not 100% sure. Maybe Laurice. Do you have any good friends of the opposite sex? I have a couple, yeah. Are you keeping anything from your best friend(s) now? This survey is a big secret for one, lmao. Where do you get your clothes? It depends. I shop everywhere so I get my clothes from a variety of places. They’re mostly from independent shops/stalls that pop up once in a while at malls, though. Do you have a secret you've never told anyone? [continued YET AGAIN from last night because I am just one big exhausted bean] Again, this Tumblr is a pretty big secret. Is there one person in your life that can always make you smile? There are several people who meet this category. Would you rather sleep alone or with someone? I like sleeping with someone only if they’re my significant other. Otherwise, I like my own space when I sleep. Have you ever lived with a girlfriend/boyfriend? No, I haven’t. When was the last time something bothered you? I am bothered at this moment, hence the survey-taking haha. Who was the first male you talked to today? My dog. But if he doesn’t count, it was Andrew. Are you completely over your past relationships? I’ve only been with one person. Do you get attached to people easily? No, it only ever happens with select people. But when I get attached, it happens hard. Are you currently looking forward to anything? Uhhhh sure. I’m dreading most of this week but my high school’s annual school fair is happening this Friday and Saturday and that’s the only thing I’m excited for. Do you believe in love? Yes. Let's be honest, have you ever been played by someone? Can’t say I have. Have you ever played someone? Yes, this I’ve done. I still feel bad about it occasionally but I’m sure the person has long gotten past it. What is currently on your mind? How sad I am and that I have to focus on this survey so I can be distracted. Would it hurt seeing the last person you kissed, kissing someone else? Of course. How many piercings have you had in your life? Just two. Who else is in the room with you? I’m the only one in the dining room but my brother is also here downstairs. Have you ever been beside someone while they were throwing up? [It’s 12 hours later. This is the absolute slowest I’ve ever worked on a survey lmao] No, it was always the other way around HAHAHA Did you eat breakfast today? I haven’t yet but I’m not feeling hungry so I might just settle for a cup of coffee. When was the last time you cried? A few minutes ago watching a clip from an NBA game having a moment of silence for Kobe Bryant. I was never into basketball but we DID have a copy of NBA Live 2003, and whenever I played it I always used the Lakers team so that I got to play as either Shaq or Kobe, so I’m sad and shocked, to say the least. Do you like tea? Just sugary iced tea. None of that herbal stuff. When was the last time you took a nap? Yesterday afternoon. What song is stuck in your head? Simmer, by Hayley Williams. As has been the case in the last four days. Do you have a TV in your room? I used to, but my brother would always be the one using it to play his video games so I eventually just gave it to him. Have you ever broken a bone? Nope. And I’m always extra careful so that I never have to go through such an injury. Have you ever had stitches? ^ Same answer. Are you wearing a sweatshirt? No...it’s starting to get warmer for sweatshirts now :( Have you taken a shower in the last 24 hours? Yes. Are there things in your life that you'll never be able to get over? Of course. There’s been a fair share of deaths, betrayals, abusive family shit that I’ve had to go through and that aren’t easy to forget. Can you remember who you liked this time last year? Yes. What's one physical flaw you'd like to fix about yourself? Straightening my teeth. What do you do when you're feeling extremely nervous? Uh it depends on whatever helps me at that time. I’d pace around, fiddle with my eyebrows, breathe deeply, shake my hands rapidly, bite my nails, etc. Do you have a hard time letting go? Yes. Do you think someone is thinking about you right now? I doubt it. What do you plan on doing now? Making my cup of coffee and taking another survey to make up for the embarassment that is taking three days of finishing this one lmao.