#it took me like an hour to get off the leaf and every minute of it was awful

[does-not-have-milk]

I want everyone to know that I did not look at a single reference photo for any of these characters so don't yell at me about Jay's hair. I don't even know what a Beninjamin is

[breadandblankets]

so i took out the trash today like the good house husband i am not, leaving behind the rank smell of long forgotten noodles and the regrets of two people with memory issues

i, like any good tumblr citizen, remember the tales of the person who put two cups of vanilla extract in their oven so i did the sensible thing to get out two Caps of extract

just then, inspiration struck. a bolt of lightning straight from the muses themselves, if i could use vanilla extract.... who's to say i couldn't use other extracts?

i scoured the cabinets, i knew my partner had secreted away some illicit non-vanilla type extracts for baking, and i found it.

hidden in the back of the cabinet was a lone bottle of mint extract

i emptied my two caps with abandon into an (oven safe) glass dish and gleefully set the oven for 300 for an hour

all that was left now was to wait for the sins of the mind to be purged by the mighty mint leaf

ten minutes in... starting to smell kinda like a thin mint

fifteen minutes in, i take a nice deep breath of lovely scented air and i am greeted by searing burning minty pain

i launch myself towards the kitchen, every step closer to mint hell, every orifice on my face burning with the freezing righteous flame of menthol

im fumbling for the oven mitt to rid my home of this foul demon, i pry the oven open and am hit with a blast unlike anything else

i feel what that vine kid taking shots of mouthwash feels, i was seared raw, my tits were blown clean off, and it was just me and that devilish beguiling minty fresh taste

quickly dumping the rest into the sink i ran towards the door, begging for the sweet sweet smell of un-minted air

learning nothing from this encounter, i dare to try once more, with the tumblr-approved extract this time

wish me luck

[solarmorrigan]

Leaf Me Alone

For the @steddie-spooktober day 22 prompt: Leaves Rated: T | Words: 797 | CW: None | Tags: pre-relationship, Eddie Munson is a menace, Steve Harrington has a crush on Eddie Munson, fluff Divider credit: @steddiecameraroll-graphics

Steve has roughly one second of warning, coming in the form of a whoop of laughter, before the pile of leaves in front of him explodes.

“What the fuck–” He jumps back, rake held in two hands like a weapon, poised to strike at whatever threat has materialized in his front yard, only to find when the rain of dead leaves settles that it’s just– “Eddie!”

Heedless of the dangerous level of irritation in Steve’s tone, Eddie only grins back from where he lies in the middle of what had been a neatly raked pile of leaves.

“Sorry,�� he says, though he doesn’t particularly sound it. “But have you seen the size of this pile? I couldn’t resist.”

“Yeah, I’ve seen the size of the pile, because I just raked it up. Dick.” Steve kicks one foot out, sending another flutter of leaves up in Eddie’s direction; Eddie bats them away with an unrepentant grin. “Do you even know how long this took me?”

“Oh, at least an hour, I’d imagine,” Eddie says airily, beginning to sweep his arms and legs out like he’s making a snow angel (a leaf angel? Whatever; it’s going to be the imprint of his dead body if he doesn’t get the hell up soon).

“Longer,” Steve snaps. “And you’re gonna help me rake it back up.”

Living on the edge of the woods has its pros and cons. On the one hand, the leaves are pretty in the fall; on the other hand, they’re an absolute pain in the ass to rake up once they drop off the trees. Steve tries not to sound like a spoiled rich kid these days, but why can’t his parents just hire someone to do this? Or, better yet, they could just let the leaves lie; Robin says that’s better for the environment, anyway.

“Okay, okay,” Eddie says, his grin fading into something more contrite. “I’m sorry. Help me up, and I’ll fix the pile, alright?”

Steve sighs, casting the rake aside so he can stand over Eddie and offer him a hand. He realizes a moment too late that he probably should have held onto the tool, however, because when Eddie takes his hand, he doesn’t use it to lever himself up off the ground, but to pull Steve down and tackle him onto the leaf pile.

Steve’s breath whuffs out of his chest as he lands on the carpet of leaves, and it gives Eddie just enough time to straddle him, pinning him down with a triumphant “ha-HA!”, before he grabs two fistfuls of leaves and starts raining them down over Steve.

“Oh, you’re so dead!” Steve declares, grabbing his own handful and tossing it at Eddie’s face, using the momentary distraction to hook a leg over one of Eddie’s and roll them over.

Eddie goes down laughing, and somehow, Steve finds himself joining in, grabbing more leaves to rain down over him.

“See how you like it, huh?” Steve manages on the breathless edge of actual giggles.

When his hands are empty, he pauses to see if Eddie’s had enough of this game, which is when Eddie’s hands snake out and shove up under Steve’s shirt.

“Wait – wait, no, that’s cheating!” Steve shrieks, but any other protest is lost to laughter as Eddie unerringly finds every ticklish spot Steve has.

Steve dives to the side in an attempt to escape and Eddie follows, grinning in a way that could only be described as maniacal.

They spend the next few minutes rolling around on Steve’s front lawn, completely destroying the pile of leaves as they wrestle through it and continue to throw handfuls of them at each other. Steve is pretty sure he’s got leaves in his pants, and there are so many caught in Eddie’s hair that he could pass for a tree.

Still, as Steve falls onto his back, trying to catch his breath, and Eddie leans over him, trying to do the same, there’s something captivating about him. His eyes are bright, his cheeks are flushed, and his smile has softened out into something like delight. As the late afternoon sunshine catches on the curls of his wild hair, Steve realizes – he’s beautiful.

“Steve,” Eddie says, voice gone low as he leans in.

“Yeah?” Steve answers, now feeling breathless in a different way.

They’re nearly chest to chest, and Eddie is so close that Steve can almost taste his smile.

“I need to tell you something.”

Steve makes a questioning sound, eyes flicking between Eddie’s eyes and his lips.

Eddie leans an inch closer, eyes lidded as he murmurs, “I think I swallowed a leaf.”

With a huff, Steve plants his hand on Eddie’s face and shoves him away. Eddie goes, laughing again.

Unfortunately, it’s still a beautiful sound.

[alasse-earfalas]

Some ideas I have about some of the Links and their brains.

This will not include all of the boys, as most of them (Time, Wind, Twilight, Four, and Hyrule) I see as being in the same basic camp when it comes to smarts and stuff, so there's nothing really for me to address there. I'm just going to point out some interesting quirks I've noticed / hc with the other four.

Warriors

It's easy to jump to the conclusion that Wars is the stupidest Link, since his game has no puzzles. I disagree. While yes, he is laughably terrible with puzzles, he is a strategic and tactical genius with a powerhouse, rapid-fire brain that can parse out an entire battle's worth of information in an instant and come to a decision in a flash. Traditional puzzles may not be his thing, sure, but that is not where his genius lies. His brain thrives on cutting through chaos with decisive action, and that is where he shines.

Sky

Has ADHD (inattentive type). Like, really, really bad inattention. Constantly spaces out and forgets things. There's a reason Fi pops up like, every half-second to remind him what he's supposed to be doing. Hylia knew what she was dealing with and planned accordingly. He is the most space-cadety of space-cadets. He'll be going along like a normal person with a normal train of thought and then he'll see a leaf floating by and completely forget what he's doing because the leaf is pretty and isn't it interesting how it moves with the wind like that and I wonder where it's going hey wait get back here—

But. Sky's mental superpower is that he is the fastest dang learner in the entire Chain. Not just with weapons or items or music like the rest of 'em, but everything. Wild's unable to cook but has all the ingredients for something he's made before? Sky watched how he did it once while helping him dice the veggies, so he'll just throw that meal together real quick. Wild let him flip through the "Ingredients" section of the compendium once, and now Sky can identify all the edible plants it listed by sight. He learned how to carve by watching Jakamar repair a couple of wooden structures one day. Sky may be a space cadet, but he's also the most potently absorbent practical-knowledge and information sponge you ever did meet.

Wild

Also has ADHD (combined type). There are literal "ooo shiny" mechanics in the freaking game. Koroks? ooo shiny. Shrine quests? ooo shiny. Every single item that Wild can pick up in the game literally sparkles. Everything about the Sheikah Slate is designed to account for this: scope pins, map stamps, inventory organization, Hyrule Compendium, Sheikah Sensor, photo album, a journal which he uses to take fastidious detailed notes of all the crap he needs to remember because he knows he'll forget all of it otherwise. He struggles to sit still for extended periods unless he is asleep or gazing into a pretty fire.

Wild is also the creative genius out of the bunch. He has the most robust understanding of fundamental physics out of the entire Chain. His visual thinking and creative problem-solving skills are off the charts. The rest of the Chain may be able to navigate with maps and compasses, but Wild can navigate foreign terrain using nothing but the environment itself. Present him with a problem and he'll think of fifty different ways to address it and all of them will usually work. He is an all-around genius problem solver and astoundingly creative thinker.

Legend

Mind like a freaking. Steel. Trap. Nothing slips past his awareness or gets forgotten. Ever. Journals are pointless because his brain is an information vault. Oh, and any puzzle he's handed better say goodby to its loved ones and make sure its will is in order because this lad will solve it before it has a chance to defend itself.

Let me just, give you an example. Just one. You see this here?

How long do you think you could remember this random character vomit without writing it down? A few minutes, maybe? Maybe a couple hours, or a day or two if you took the time to memorize it?

Try an entire journey to another country after hearing it only once.

Oh, but that's not even the most impressive part! You see, Legend didn't just hang onto one of these memorization nightmares for an entire extended trip to another land, oh no—he remembered several of them. Perfectly. As if that wasn't enough, y'all remember the item swap quests? Yeah, without notes of any kind, this Link remembered who needed what in every single one of those convoluted trading chains. All while he was busy saving the world.

The downside is that Legend's thinking is not very flexible. He operates best when there is a single correct solution to a given problem. He much prefers having concrete information to work with, rather than a vague scenario with a shrug and a, "idk, figure something out". Being dropped into a massive open world with no information other than, "alright here ya go, here's some basic abilities and a light dusting of backstory, now get out there and save the Princess!" would be an overwhelming, anxiety-riddled nightmare for this dude.

[nylwnder]

lake house

a/n: HELLO SWEETIES!!!!! welcome to my first 2024 fic n series! i started it off with ryan cause if you know me, you know he was everything to me for the 4 months we had him. also, HUGE SHOUTOUT to @shoot-the-puck for in a way co-writing this and the others with me i love you so much scoob thank you for being my asylum roomie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! anyways, enjoy and dont forget to tune in to the other drops <3 mwah!

pairing: ryan o’reilly x fem!reader

warnings: SMUT, its giving soft sex (unprotected), lowkey body worship, lowkey exhibitionism, cockwarming, childhood friends to lovers, use of “snook”, and ryan being such husband material. gawdamn.

word count: 1.9k

taglist: @11livpangburn , @domi-max , @boqvistsbabe , @sweetiet , @p1tstop , @occasionallyaurora , @laurenairay, @fallinallincurls

series masterpost

the drive to the lake house was as calming as ever. although it was a couple hours, it was a trip you knew all too well. one you were dying to take every june the minute the last bell rang for summer break.

sometimes it was just you, your parents and your brother. most times, it was you and the o’reilly family. a lot of kids shared between two vans, snacking on chips and freezies from the coolers at the back of the cars.

the tradition never stopped when the lot grew older. you escaped to the house every time your winter term ended, then after your internship finished, and then when you could use up all your saved vacation time from your new job. ryan always followed when his nhl duties came to an end. both respective families coming in to stay in between.

that being said, this was the first time you drove to the lake house with ryan in the driver's seat and with you in the passenger's seat. it was the first summer since he came back home to toronto. but more so, to you. officially.

he was sick of waiting until your usual shared break, and you were very much sick of coming home to a cold bed.

before any headline could find you, ryan called you that night. and it was as if the 100 ton weight was being lifted off of your desperate shoulders. because it was. after ten years of long and needy facetimes, one-night lustful visits, and the best stanley cup celebration you two could possibly have imagined, you were going to have him, at your full disposal, “whenever you fucking want” as ryan had told you.

ryan put the car in park and you couldn’t help but smile about the fact that this would be the first time you’d be stepping into that house, as a proud pair. the “finally” ’s already shed by your parents who were following in behind the two of you.

—

the first night was spent with take out, laughs, pjs and movies and it always makes you grateful for growing up with a group with such a tight knit bond. your heart was full when you heard inside jokes from circa. 2006 running through the house — which are still ever so applicable, presently.

the next day, you didn’t wake until you heard the cars drive off in the late afternoon. it had been a while since you had the time to sleep in, so it seemed your body pranced at the chance. after heading to the bathroom, you couldn’t find ryan in the rooms or common areas. he always made sure you get as much sleep as you need, not only because he knows how grumpy you get if you don’t, but also because he always wants the best for you.

as you made your way to the kitchen, you looked out the windows casing the large lake. you saw the large figure of the man sitting at the edge of the dock and didn’t do anything else but make the walk over to him.

you sat beside him as he turned to face you with a toothless smile. you smiled at it, you always told him he looked cute like that, and he started listening to you. “sleep good, sweetheart?” he asks as he looks down to cut the leaf caps off the pack of strawberries between his legs. “wonderful” you emphasised before you reached for the strawberry he handed you. “i’m glad. you deserve it.”

you took a bite out of the soft strawberry, the juices from the flesh spilling into your mouth. you couldn’t help but let out a little innocent moan. the first time you tried these, they were immediately the best strawberries you have ever had in your entire life. and they just so happen to be locally farmed near the lakehouse.

ryan giggled, “had to stop by the market and buy you a few packs during my run. wouldn’t be a lake house summer without these guys right here.”

“this is why i love you. thank you.”

he only responded by handing you the bigger piece between the two in his hand. you put your head on his shoulder as you two looked out in front of you. the sun was bright but not exhausting, as the wind from the water dismissed the heat.

“the folks went to gather some things for this week's meal plan.”

you hummed a response. but it got you thinking. and so you didn't waste time.

you turned yourself around in order to lay your upper body on ryan’s lap. he placed the knife and strawberries safely aside as he smiled. you gave him a small smile before shutting your eyes for a bit.

you reached for ryan’s hands from his sides. you played with his big and thick fingers for a bit, before taking his hand and placing it on top of your shirt. then you moved his hand under the hem. as you began to move it further up, the material of your shirt wrinkled with your movements and began to expose your skin.

ryan kept his hand in your grip and his eyes firm on you. you kept moving it up, reaching the curves of your boobs. “take it off” you mumbled as he obliged. taking off the tshirt and throwing it on top of the other items he had set aside.

you didn't reach for his hands again. he knows what to do. he always knows, ever since your first kiss.

the sun shined on your supple flesh. his calloused hands moved back to your curves. pushing down your pants a tad, in order to squeeze your love handles. later, his fingers lightly trace up the soft line marks found upon your hips, and the ones on the sides of your breasts.

your cheeks begin to mimic the berry blush as you open your eyes to look at ryan. you loved how comfortable you are to be vulnerable around him. you always felt adored, and safe.

he pulled you up swiftly, allowing your legs to straddle him. your arms naturally wrap around his broad shoulders. you look into his gentle eyes, “i love you, snook.” you lean in for a tender kiss but his hands push your body tight into his. “i love you more, sweetness.” his lips finally meet yours and he envelopes you perfectly. “always have. always will.” he whispers.

his lips meet your cheek as he leaves wet kisses on your jaw and neck. you let soft moans escape your parted lips, your body melting into his figure. ryan often joked that his body was made for you specifically, with the way you fit against him so perfectly.

“gorgeous.” he whispers into your ear as his beard scrapes against you. you bite your lip at his words. one he's been telling you since you grew butterflies in your stomach every time you saw him. “want you snook” you plead, your pussy twitching as his hands squeeze your bust. you grind down on him, and he huffs outs. “just had you yesterday morning, honey.”

“dont play with me, ry. you know i always need you.”

he hums in response. “thats true. i can never say no to my girl.”

he lifts you once again, getting to lay you down on the thin throw ryan had brought out with him. your eyes close again as the sun hits your face, but you feel kisses pressed all over your skin. ryan’s lips trace from your lips to your cheeks down along your jaw, and onto your neck once more. he sheds a few soft nips while he makes sure your panties and shorts are discarded.

its not long before he nips on your nipples, noises escaping your exposed body. your fingers pull down his own shorts and you feel his cock against your skin.

two digits slip smoothly into your damp cunt as ryan cups your face. you bite up a cry. but before you know it, he’s lined up at your entrance and you're pleading for him to move.

you let out a lewd moan as he pushes in. ryan followed with a low groan and you clenched around him immediately, “that’s my sweet girl. so divine.” he says as he gives kisses on the edges of your collarbone.

his thrusts are a blend of slow, long and quick, hard movements. his hands held your hips as he didn't let his lips leave your body. his hair tickles your chin as he gives your breasts some love once again. you felt yourself reaching the goal closer and closer. the all too familiar feeling of your wet walls stretching around ryan’s thick length driving him crazy.

your effect on him was always so strong. right from when you both were young. the minute you got hurt, it broke ryan to see you cry. it was his dire mission to help clean you up or provide you with the necessary pick me up. oftentimes that was bringing you your favourite snack or sometimes a kiss on your cheek was all you needed. when you laughed, ryan laughed. and even when it seemed like ryan and your brother were picking on you, he always made sure to give you a hug later on. he would never hurt you. and he'd never let anyone hurt you. that was for sure.

you were pleased that there were laughs, screams and talk from the surrounding residents that can help drown out your shared sounds. at the same time you couldn't possibly care if they heard either. your mind was far too fuzzy.

“make me cum snook. make me cum all over your cock” you were desperate and needy, i think that was already established. ry smiled at your words, pulling your body up into him once again.

your arms were so tight around him, you stuck to his body like gum on a shoe. he pumped into you as you also began riding his length. the way your body swayed with your hips helped bring ryan even closer to his climax.

your head fell back as you felt the wave of pleasure overcome you. ryan continued your movements for you until your whines dyed down. once you both finished you kept yourself on his lap “don't move, ry. still need you there.” you mumbled.

“till they come back?”

“please.”

a smile appeared on both of your faces. droplets of sweat trickled down his chest and you crushed them with your finger as your head laid on his shoulder. his hands rubbed the sides of your body as his face was cuddled on top of your head. his nose tucked into your thick hair. your smell, your weight, your breathing and your warmth calmed him. his mind never wandered off. he was the most present, the most grounded with you, like this.

“why is it that every time we have sex you’re so quiet?” you asked ryan as you looked up at him. it was a thought you had often so you figured you’d ask. “sometimes you used to make me feel as if i did something wrong…” you said with a little titter.

it was a stupid idea to think about, you knew ryan loved you so much.

he scoffed, “no honey, you could never.” you smiled. “you just take the breath out of my lungs”

you both start laughing. “you’re a pro hockey player and i’m the one who can kill you? i’ll take it.”

ryan lets out a chuckle again. “all i know is words cannot express how i feel when i’m with you, but i want to experience it till my dying days.”

your heart warmed. you grab his face and eagerly kiss him. “and so you will.”

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[dreamwritesimagines]

Garden of Secrets [13] - Sundews

A.N: Thank you so much for your wonderful feedback and support my loves, it made my whole week, you’re amazing!❤ I hope you’ll like this chapter as well, and please don’t forget to tell me what you think, thank you! ❤

Thanks so much to @theskytraveler​ for helping me with the chapter!

Summary: Meeting the family can be quite challenging.

Warnings: Regency era society and social rules, some gender specific language and terms, mentions of sex.

Word Count: 4400

Series Masterlist

You had to admit, planning a wedding that was caused by a scandal was already quite difficult as you knew it would be, but pretending to be in love and having to convince others around you of your excitement for the said wedding was more difficult than you had assumed it would be.

And the fact that you were having your wedding gown made by your future husband’s former mistress was not even in the top ten reasons why this was so damn stressful. 

The wedding was in a week, and your nightmares had come back with their full force, waking you up gasping every night.

At least everyone else was excited though.

Your uncle was in his study, no doubt going over some papers, and Teddy was in one of the rooms, studying math with his tutor. You had left your aunt in the drawing room going over the list of the last-minute guests to the wedding breakfast an hour ago. To be honest, you weren’t even sure she noticed your absence considering how stressed she was about the wedding.

Well, you were more stressed out about what would happen after the wedding.

You shook your head slightly, forcing yourself to push the thoughts away. Snipping what seemed to be a wilting leaf of the rose in front of you, you huffed out a breath and leaned in to look at the stem closer in case you were missing anything, but then you heard your aunt clear her throat behind you.

“Auntie, I swear I do not care who comes to the wedding breakfast,” you said, your whole attention still on the rose. “You can invite whoever you want. Every guest will attend that thing for you or the Bridgertons anyway, not me.”

“Eh,” a familiar voice said. “Not every guest.”

Your head shot up and you dropped the shears, then jumped on your feet and whirled around, a breath leaving your lips. She looked exactly as you remembered her, as if it had been merely three days instead of over three years.

“Josie?” you whispered and she leaned on her hip.

“I look away for one moment and you fall in love?”

“Oh my God!” you exclaimed, flinging yourself to her and she took a step back as soon as your body collided with hers but she hugged you tight, a small laugh escaping from her lips.

“I missed you too Clover.”

“You’re here?” you asked, still holding her tight and your aunt clapped her hands together.

“Oh this is so wonderful! Josie my dear, why did you not tell us you were coming?”

“I wanted it to be a surprise,” she said as she pulled back, then cupped your cheek to see you better. “You look amazing.”

“Don’t go anywhere, I’ll get Teddy!” your aunt said and rushed back into the house while you clasped Josie’s hand with yours.

“Are you here for the wedding?”

She grinned at you. “And afterwards,” she said. “I suppose you could say that I’m back, permanently.”

You pulled back slightly. “Josie what about—”

“Don’t worry,” she cut you off. “I can handle mother and father if they dare step wherever I am. Let’s not talk about them now.”

You couldn’t help but pull her into another hug, your eyes burning as she placed a kiss into your hair.

“Besides, my little sister is getting married,” she said. “I will kind of have to keep an eye on you.”

You let out a teary chuckle, then pulled back and nodded. “I am.”

“I have millions of questions.”

“All in due time. Where are Bess and Andrew?”

“They’re dealing with the houses.”

You frowned. “Houses?”

“Yes well, Andrew inherited a house down the street where we’ll live, and Bess’ late husband had a house here as well, she owns it now,” she said. “They’ll hire the staff and everything, they will join us later on. They both missed you.”

“I missed them too!” you said. “And is everything alright?”

“More than alright,” she said. “Everything has been amazing lately, aside from you giving me a heart attack. What kind of a letter was that?”

“Well how was I supposed to—” you started but stopped talking when you saw your aunt enter the garden with Teddy and Josie followed your gaze, then turned around.

Teddy looked a bit shy as he approached you two, still holding your aunt’s hand, his other hand by his mouth so that he could bite at his nail. Josie gasped, her jaw dropping as Teddy and your aunt reached you, and she let go of his hand, gently nudging him forward.

“Go on,” she said in a soft voice and Teddy cleared his throat, then looked up at Josie.

“Hello, I’m Teddy.”

A small sob climbed up Josie’s throat and she sniffled, her eyes fixed on him. She opened her mouth but no voice came out, so she took a deep breath and tried again.

“Hello Teddy,” she said. “Do you remember me?”

Teddy thought for a moment, then shook his head.

“But I know you’re Josie,” he added in a haste. “You sent me letters. Y/N read them to me.”

“Dear God you grew up so much…” Josie whispered as she crouched down to get to his level. “You were a baby when I last saw you.”

Teddy looked at you as if asking for your help with how to answer that, and you motioned at him to come over. He rushed to you, half hiding behind your skirt and you fixed his hair.

“See, I told you she would come back,” you said softly and Teddy tilted his head.

“Will you stay?” he asked her and Josie wiped at her eyes, then smiled.

“I will.”

“Here?”

“Very close to here,” she said. “And you can come and stay with me whenever you want.”

Teddy stole a look at you again, waiting for your permission and you nodded fervently.

“Should be fun, no?” you asked him. “This way you will have three rooms Teddy. Here, my house and Josie’s house.”

Teddy bit inside his cheek. “Can I put my toys there too?”

“Well yes, but if you want we can buy you new toys as well,” Josie said, making him smile wide.

“Really?”

“Oh yes. Different toys for different houses, it only makes sense.”

Your aunt let out a laugh at the sight of pure excitement on Teddy’s face and you ruffled his hair. Teddy paused for a moment, then shifted his weight.

“Is it okay if I don’t really remember you though?”

Josie took a deep breath, then nodded.

“It’s alright,” she said. “It just means we will make new memories, hm?”

Teddy grinned and hugged your legs sideways. “Uh huh. Can Y/N come to your house too?”

“We’ll see,” Josie winked at you, making your jaw drop.

“Oh I see how it is,” you said with a laugh. “I knew you were lying when you said you missed me.”

“I did miss you but Teddy is much cuter than you.”

“She’s cute too!” Teddy protested, still hugging you tight and you leaned down to press a kiss on top of his head.

“She’s joking Teddy,” you said. “Of course I’ll be there.”

Your aunt fanned her face with her hand. “Oh dear God, I feel emotional…” she said, sniffling. “All of you together and happy, just as it was always supposed to be.”  

“Took us long enough,” Josie said, still smiling and you heaved a sigh.

“It really did.”

Your aunt clapped her hands together.

“Josie, come with me,” she said. “Your uncle will lose his mind when he sees you!”

                                            *

It felt almost surreal that Josie was here with you after years, and that she would stay. You were so happy that you couldn’t even sit still and by the time she was done talking to your uncle and aunt and sent Teddy to his tutor so that he could continue his lesson, you were almost buzzing with anticipation.

“So,” she said as she came to plop down on the bench next to you. “It is very clear that I have much to hear.”

“So do I,” you said. “How are Bess and Andrew?”

“They’re as you left them but you are not,” she said. “Clover. Come on, tell me.”

You cleared your throat and sat up straighter. “I’m getting married.”

“I know,” she said. “What I’m wondering is how it came to be.”

“Fate.”

“Y/N.”

Heaving a sigh, you leaned back on the bench, resting your elbows on the marble as you looked up at the sky with narrowed eyes, enjoying the warm sunlight on your skin.

“Is he forcing you?”

You turned to her and shook your head. “Of course not.”

In a way it was true. Benedict wasn’t forcing you into anything, he was being forced into this as much as you were.

But you couldn’t tell her that. She had just returned to the country and you didn’t want her to be worried about you or your upcoming marriage. You knew her, she would stop at nothing if she so much as heard an implication that you did not want this wedding.

“Benedict is not like that,” you added in a haste and she tilted her head.

“Is it love then?”

And this right there was where it got tricky.

Josie was the one person who knew you the best, and she would see right through you if you tried to lie to her. It had been that way since you were little, and just a couple years apart didn’t change that, so instead of outright lying to her, you were going to have to bend the truth a little by telling her only a part of it.

“It’s something,” you ended up saying and she scoffed a laugh.

“Come on,” she insisted. “You can tell me whatever it is, you know I would never say anything to anyone. And if you happened to fall in love—”

“I’m too smart to fall in love,” you cut her off and she raised her brows.

“Alright,” she said with an amused smile on her face. “What is it?”

“Not love,” you said, “Out of question.”

“Fine, then what?” she insisted. “Why are you marrying him? Letter after letter you wrote how he annoyed you, how you couldn’t stand him and all of a sudden you woke up a changed woman—”

“It’s not the emotional aspect,” you cut her off. “It’s physical.”

Which wasn’t a lie at all.

You did not believe in love for yourself at least, but you knew very well that desire existed. That fire that burned through you when he had kissed you, the way your fingers almost twitched to at least touch him whenever he was around you, it all signaled the same thing. You weren’t blind, you were aware of just how attractive he was and that he was quite…skilled in matters of intimacy if his kiss was anything to go by.

Josie pulled back slightly to see you better. “Pardon?”

You rolled your eyes at her. “Don’t pretend you do not know what I speak of—”

“I know very well what you speak of,” she tried to suppress a smirk. “What did you two do?”

You shot her a light hearted glare. “Not that.”

“But whatever it was, it was enough for you to accept his proposal?” she asked and took a deep breath. “Clover I’m glad you enjoyed what took place but you cannot build a life on desire alone—”

“It’s not just that,” the words left your mouth before you had a chance to stop them. “Besides, I’ve made my decision. I’m not going to change my mind no matter what you say.”

She held up her hands, gesturing surrender.

“Just answer me this,” she said. “Do you only enjoy his presence when it’s a moment of desire?”

You pulled your brows together.

“I um…” you trailed off. “I like his presence in other times as well, not just then.”

She tilted her head, watching you in silence as you sat up straighter, fixing your hair.

“Benedict is interesting,” you ended up saying. “I do not get bored at all when he is around, and being around him makes me feel—”

Happy.

Being around him made you feel happy. It was almost easy to slip into that warm, fuzzy comfort and finding yourself smiling even if you tried your hardest to focus on what could happen at any moment.

But it just meant that desire you felt for him was clouding your judgement, and you knew you couldn’t let that happen.

“I want him to be around me,” you said and Josie’s lips pulled into a sly smile.

“I see,” she said after a beat. “And when do I get to meet this infamous betrothed of yours?”

“Whenever you want,” you said. “Lottie said they’re all going to have a picnic by the park so we can go as well if you’d like?”

“Lottie?”

“My best friend.”

“You’ve made a friend?” Josie asked and your jaw dropped.

“Why do you sound so shocked?”

“You’re not very friendly.”

“And you are?”

Josie shrugged her shoulders. “No but I can hide it,” she said. “Unlike you.”

“Fair,” you said. “She was Benedict’s friend first by the way. Then she decided we would be friends and I kind of followed her lead.”

She let out a laugh and stood up, then pulled you up by the hand and threw an arm over your shoulder.

“Come on then,” she said. “Let’s go meet Bess and Andrew first, then we can all go by the park.”

                                           *

Even though it had been years since you had last talked to Bess and Andrew, it still felt like yesterday. You had always liked them, and Andrew’s marriage to Josie was the perfect arrangement for all parties involved. Bess was Andrew’s cousin and the love of Josie’s life, and Andrew only desired gentlemen and not ladies, so the marriage was a formality that worked out for all of them.

You were sure the ton would be clueless to the reality behind closed doors.

It had taken you almost two hours to catch up with what had happened while they were in Spain, and after that you all had decided to go by the park. As Lottie said, she and her family were there and though there was no sign of Bridgertons yet, Lottie had told you they would be there soon.

It came as a surprise to no one that about five minutes after they had met Lottie, they were all smitten by her. Even Josie who was always politely distant with everyone seemed to love her and had assured her that she wasn’t even interested in being a bridesmaid let alone the maid of honor. Soon enough though, her mother had called her to keep an eye on her siblings so she had to leave you four there, promising she would be back soon.

“You know, I have to admit I did miss here a bit,” Andrew said as he laid on his back, looking up at the sky with his hands neatly folded over his stomach. “Spain is nice and all, but there’s no place like home.”  

Bess tilted her head.

“You hate the ton.”

“Don’t we all?” he asked and you held up your hand.

“I’m right with you on that.”

“Thank you, my dear sister-in-law,” Andrew said with a smile. “You’re getting married at a perfect time by the way. I needed to get away from my former lover.”

“Was it that bad?” you asked and Josie scoffed.

“It was very explosive.”

“No it wasn’t!”

“Yes it was!” Josie and Bess said at the same time and Andrew rolled his eyes.

“You challenge someone to a duel one time during a lovers’ quarrel and all of a sudden your whole liaison is explosive, unbelievable…” he grumbled as he sat up and Bess repressed a laugh.

“How about you Y/N?” she asked. “What of your betrothal? Tell us more about him, we barely know anything!”

“Oh he’s—” you started but as soon as the sight of Benedict caught your eye, you stopped talking. “That’s him.”

Andrew and Bess followed your line of sight while Josie looked over her shoulder and turned around, and Andrew raised his brows as if he was impressed.

“There is the answer to your question Jo,” he told Josie. “You were wondering why Clover changed her mind about marriage right? It’s because he looks like that.”

You gently kicked at his foot. “Shut it.”

“He looks like that and he’s an artist?” Bess asked and you nodded, trying to ignore the warmth of pride in your chest.

“Mm hm.”

“Well done,” Andrew winked at you and Josie clicked her tongue.

“Now our earlier conversation makes sense,” she said. “You really are a cliché.”

“Josie!” Bess scolded her lightheartedly. “Don’t listen to her, please. We’re all very happy for you!”

“I’ll uh—I’ll get him here,” you said as you stood up, then made your way to Benedict who was talking with Colin while Anthony made his way to Charlotte to greet her.

“Y/N,” Benedict said, a smile warming his handsome face and you cleared your throat.

“Hello,” you said. “I need to borrow you for a moment.”

“Sure, why?”

“To meet my family,” you said and motioned between you. “Since, well—since we’re getting married, it’s kind of necessary.”

Benedict tilted his head. “I already met your family?”

“Some of them yes,” you said, snapping your fingers. “But my sister is back.”

Benedict’s eyes widened. “Oh? Of course, I’d love to meet her.”

“She’s over there with her husband and her…best friend,” you pointed back with your thumb and both Benedict and Colin followed your line of sight to see Andrew waving at them while Josie narrowed her eyes into a glare.

“Is she nice or is she more like you?” Colin asked and you gasped in a rather exaggerated manner.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“Colin,” Benedict warned through his teeth and he shrugged.

“What?” he asked and motioned at you. “We’re going to be family, should I lie to family?”

You curled your lips. “Now that you mention it, I have always been the nice one between the two of us.”

Benedict gawked at you in silence for a couple of seconds, then took a deep breath.

“Oh this is how I die then,” he said and turned to Colin. “Promise me you will make sure people see my paintings after my death.”

“Sure but I’ll put my name under those paintings.”

“Do you want to join us?” you asked Colin and he shook his head.

“As much as I’d love to watch this, I promised Pen I would find her,” he said and slapped Benedict on the back. “You’ve had a good life brother.”

“And apparently a very short one,” Benedict deadpanned as Colin walked away and you shot him a lighthearted glare, trying to repress your laugh.

“I’ll make sure Colin doesn’t write his name under your works if you do die,” you pointed out and Benedict nodded his head.

“Much obliged—you were jesting, were you not?” he asked. “About you being the nice one?”

“Not at all,” you said. “Josie can seem a bit intimidating sometimes.”

“Does she have a knife as well?”

“Yes, the knife is hereditary.”

He tilted his head to the side. “You realize that in order for you to be a widow we have to be married first?”

You pursed your lips, still trying to control the laughter threatening to climb up your throat.

“I thought artists liked suffering,” you said. “Everyone keeps saying that makes your art better."

“I wouldn’t call myself a fully artist yet.”

“I would,” you said and a small smile warmed his face before he cleared his throat.

“Do you have any tips on how to charm her to get her approval?”

“Her approval barely makes any difference, we’re already engaged,” you said. “Besides you could charm a goddamn rock apparently, you’ll be fine.”

He repressed a proud grin.

“Well it’s still important,” he said, stealing another look at her. “Especially since it looks like she doesn’t like me already.”

“What, a glare? That’s nothing,” you said with a scoff. “Trust me, you’ll know if she doesn’t like you.”

He let out a noise of disagreement. “I won’t if she’s anything like you.”

You pulled your brows together. “I think people can tell whether I like them or not.”

“Not at all,” he said. “Half of the time I can’t tell whether you want to kiss me or kill me.”

Your heart skipped a beat but you forced yourself to roll your eyes, then started walking in Josie’s direction. He caught up with you almost effortlessly and you tried to ignore how your face was burning.

“See?”

“Shut up.”

“This is exactly what I was talking about—”

“She doesn’t know by the way,” you cut him off, desperate to change the subject. “The details of our…engagement.”

He raised his brows. “You didn’t tell her?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because if I did, Josie would certainly find a way to stop that wedding,” you pointed out. “And I’m not going to put my aunt and uncle through that.”

Benedict looked like he wanted to say something but you had already reached the tree under which Josie, Andrew and Bess were sitting under and they all stood up when you got there

“Everyone, this is Benedict Bridgerton; my betrothed,” you told them. “Benedict, this is Josie; my sister. Lord Andrew Walcott, her husband and that’s Bess Hadfield, Andrew’s cousin and Josie’s best friend.”

“I’m honored.”

“It’s lovely to meet you,” Bess said and Andrew elbowed Josie so that she could stop glaring at Benedict before offering his hand, and Benedict shook it.

“Call me Andrew,” Andrew told him. “So you’re the man who made the impossible happen and got Y/N to fall in love?”

Benedict smiled softly and nodded. “It was a surprise for me too.”

“Me as well,” you deadpanned and Josie clicked her tongue.

“I’ve heard you’re an artist, Mr. Bridgerton.”

“Oh I wouldn’t call myself an actual artist yet—”

“People call you that,” Josie tilted her head. “Are they dishonest or are you just being humble?”

“Josie,” you said warningly and she shrugged her shoulders.

“What? I’m trying to get to know my future brother-in-law.”

“We will have all the time in the world to do it after the wedding,” Bess said in a haste before you could retort. “I can’t wait. So, have you two decided on where you will go on your honeymoon? Josie and Andrew went to France and I—they liked it a lot.”

“France is a great option.”

“We’ll stay here,” you and Benedict said at the same time and Andrew pulled his brows together. Josie crossed her arms, her whole focus on you and you felt your heart dropping to your stomach before you cleared your throat.

“We actually haven’t talked about it because of the excitement of the wedding, excuse us for just one moment,” you said and grabbed Benedict by the arm, then led him away from them even though you could feel their -and other people’s- eyes following your every move so you remembered to smile up at him.

“You want to stay here?” Benedict asked and you nodded.

“Uh huh.”

“You don’t want to go to France? Italy? Anywhere?”

You scoffed and shook your head. “I’d rather if we didn’t leave the country.”

“The countryside then?” Benedict suggested. “And that way you’d see the house as well, I can just write a letter to the staff there—”

“No,” the word left your lips as you felt the fear churning your stomach at the idea of being in a remote place with him alone. You knew he had promised you that nothing you didn’t want would take place in your wedding night or honeymoon but you still—

You still didn’t know whether he would change his mind or not.

“It’s just that I promised Teddy I wouldn’t disappear after the wedding just like Josie did,” you said in a haste. “And the season has just begun and it’s my first one so I’d like to see it through. Besides I’m pretty sure Duke Hastings will propose to Daphne soon so we cannot miss that, she’s your sister so it’s not like you can ride into sunset either. We should stay.”

Benedict’s brows furrowed.

“Oh,” he said. “London then?”

You shrugged your shoulders. “I mean it’s not like we will see each other that often in the house either,” you said. “So it’s really not going to make any difference if we’re here or anywhere else.”

A sad light crossed Benedict’s gaze but it was gone as soon as it came.

“…Right,” he said. “I guess not.”

“And then you know, once the dust is settled you can visit France or Italy or wherever it is that you want,” you added quickly. “I’d still convince people that we’re in love, no worries.”

“Or you could come with me?” he offered. “Once the dust is settled?”

The idea felt tempting only for a moment before the fear hit you again, so you shook your head.

“I don’t think so,” you said and snapped your fingers. “But you could take Madame Delacroix with you? Or anyone else who you…have an arrangement with. I wouldn’t mind as long as it’s kept a secret from the ton.”

To be completely honest, even the thought of it was enough to bother you. Though you were quite certain you didn’t want to be alone with him in case he changed his mind about how your marriage would go, that bitter taste at the back of your throat was back upon imagining him with Madame Delacroix or anyone else for that matter.

Him kissing her, or—

No.

You were not going to do that to yourself.

A painful smile curled Benedict’s lips at your suggestion and he took a deep breath, then swallowed thickly.

“Yeah, who knows?” he said. “Let’s just get through this first, right? The wedding is next week and I’m sure your family has a lot of questions.”

Next week.

Right.

You nibbled on your lip, a nervous lump growing bigger and bigger in your throat but you managed to smile.

“Yeah,” you said and clicked your tongue. “Let’s pretend to be lovesick then.”

Chapter 14

[sunsetsandsunshine]

~ 𝙹𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝! ~

·̩̩̥͙＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚𝚃𝙸𝙲𝙺𝙻𝙴𝚃𝙾𝙱𝙴𝚁 𝙳𝙰𝚈 𝟾-𝟿: 𝚁𝙴𝚂𝚃 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝚁𝙴𝙲𝙾𝚅𝙴𝚁𝚈˚*• ̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*＊·̩̩̥͙

𝙶𝚎𝚗𝚛𝚎: 𝙵𝚕𝚞𝚏𝚏

𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜: 𝟷,𝟾𝟿𝟹

𝙻𝚎𝚎: 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚒𝚎 💛

𝙻𝚎𝚛: 𝚂𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 🩷

𝚂𝚞𝚖𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚢: 𝙼𝚊𝚝𝚑 𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚘𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐…𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚜𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚊𝚊𝚊𝚊𝚢 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚘𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝙼𝚊𝚝𝚑 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚎…

(𝙰/𝙽: 𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚢: 𝙳𝚘𝚗’𝚝 𝚋𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚐𝚞𝚢! 𝙸*𝚌𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙺𝚒𝚗𝚔/𝙽𝚂𝙵𝚆 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚐𝚜 𝙳𝙽𝙸!!!)

𝚆𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜: 𝙲𝚞𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚖𝚖𝚖𝚖 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝’𝚜 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚢 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚒𝚝 𝚕𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚕

＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚𝚁𝙰𝙰𝙷��𝙷𝙷𝙷 𝙸 𝙻𝙾𝚅𝙴 𝚃𝙷𝙴𝚂𝙴 𝚃𝚆𝙾 𝚂𝙼 𝙰𝙷𝙷𝙷𝙷𝙷˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊·̩̩̥͙

Math.

Charlie Brown always hated Math.

Well…that was an understatement.

To be frank, it was in fact a very large understatement. 

Charlie Brown despised Math; he absolutely loathed it.

The darn subject’s homework took him about an hour to do every night. 

Not fifteen minutes.

Not thirty.

A whole. freaking. hour.

It was already 12:30 and the honey brown eyed preteen was still up doing homework at his desk…

…Next year he should protest for Math to be cut off from every single school system.

No one would miss it, really! 

Well…no one would miss it besides Linus.

Charlie harshly erased the entire first half of the page, crumbling up the paper in frustration and throwing it to the pile of discombobulated loose leaf papers he used waaaaaaaay earlier in the night.

The yellow cladded preteen groaned loudly, massaging his head as he glared down at the new piece of paper in front of him.

If only he could throw away his problems as simply as he could crumble up paper… 

“Big brother…what are you doing up so late?” A small familar blonde girl said in Charlie Brown’s bedroom doorway. 

“AUGH!! Sally…God, don’t scare me like that…” Charlie said as he clutched his chest where his heart was, hopping down from his bed as he put his notebooks on his dresser. “What are you doing up…? Your bedtime is 8:30, remember?” 

“I asked you first!” Sally said loudly. 

“And I asked you second; two is more than one.” The honey brown eyed preteen snickered as he crossed his arms smugly. 

“That’s not how that works!” The younger screeched. 

“Is to.” The elder huffed. 

“Is not!”

“Is to.”

“Is not!”

“Is to.”

“Is not!”

Charlie rolled his eyes at the back and forth nonsense, biting back a smile as he decided to mess with his little sister a bit, “…Is not.”

“Is to…!” The blue eyed preteen screeched before realizing what she just said, “…Wait…what?! H-How did you—”

“Glad you agree.” The older hummed in triumph, getting flashcards from inside of his backpack and starting to study them, “Go to sleep, Sally. You have school in the morning.”

“So do you!!!” The other screeched.

“I’m aware of that…” Charlie Brown said, “But unlike you, Sal, I don’t just stay up to stay up— I’m studying! So in retrospect, I need to stay awake to know I’m 101% ready for this Math quiz tomorrow!”

“…I thought it was a test?”

“So in retrospect, I need to stay awake to know I’m 101% ready for this Math test!” The boy corrected, putting his flashcards down and putting his hand on his little sister’s shoulder comfortingly, “I’ll be fine,Sally…but I won’t be fine supporting the action of you forcing yourself to stay awake because I’mstaying awake…”

The girl in pink pajamas crossed her arms in frustration, “But you pulled an all-nighter the night before! And the night before that! And the night before that! And the night before that! And the night before—“

“Okay, okay! I get it!” The older preteen said as he cut his sister off, “I’ll go to bed aaaaat…11.” 

“Big brother…” The younger blonde grumbled warningly. 

“10:50?” Charlie asked, trying to negotiate. 

Sally just glared.

“10:30?” 

Sally raised a single brow, her frown still evident. 

“…10:15 but that’s my final offer.” The elder sighed as the baby blue eyed girl sat on his bed. She pat the spot right next to her, lying down as she stared at the ceiling, “But what if you just went to sleep now?“

“I dunno…” The elder said as he scratched the back of his head nervously, “I really need to study, Sal…” 

And he has! Charlie Brown had been studying all week!

All day...

…And all morning…

…And all evening…

…And all night….

What if there was some material he missed?

Or what if he forgot to study a page or two?!

…Isn’t it crazy how one assignment causes a kid so much stress and at the end of all of it he just gets a piece of paper like it’ll make up for it…

'Diploma' this and 'diploma' that. At this point just give him the 1756 looking ass scroll already!!! 

“Pleeeeeeeaase???” Sally said, sticking out her lip as she wobbled it slightly. Charlie Brown face-palmed, looking away as he grumbled to himself. 

He didn’t want to go to bed…he really really didn’t…

The hazel brown eyed preteen has only been studying all week! 

…Which, now that he thought about it…that is a lot of time looking over notes, making flashcards and reviewing homework’s…

“I’m gonna worry all night thinking about you, big brother!” The younger whined as she sneakingly switched her tactics into making the other go to sleep, “Do you really want me staying up all nightworrying??? I’ll get grey/gray hairs before I turn ten—”

“Okay, okay!!” Charlie Brown said as he cut her off, “I’ll go to bed...yeesh.”

The girl’s eyes narrowed, “You mean you’ll go to sleep?”

The elder sighed loudly, “Yes, Ally…I’ll go to sleep.”

Sally’s eyes softened at the nickname, a small smile spreading to her face but her expression still remaining firm, “Promise?”

He nodded, “I promise.”

“…Pinky promise?”

“Pinky promise.” 

“Pinky promise with whipped cream and sprinkles with a cherry on top?” 

The older preteen blinked in confusion but just shook his head fondly, chuckling lightly, “I pinky promise with whipped cream and sprinkles with a cherry on top.” 

The younger blonde raised a brow, “I don’t trust you…I should keep an eye on you to make sure you fall asleep.” She said as she went underneath the other’s covers, getting comfortable. 

Charlie Brown laughed, going in his bed and going underneath the covers as he snuggled into the pillow, “Whatever you say, Al-Al.” 

A comfortable silence loomed over the two as Sally went and turned off the lights, the only light luminating around the room being a night light. 

The baby blue eyed girl swiftly got closer to her elder brother, lying down next to him as he wrapped her in a hug as she buried her face in his chest. 

“You’re warm…” The girl in pink pajamas mumbled. 

“Thank you..?” The honey brown eyed kid said, letting out a quiet squeak as his sibling nuzzled her face in the side of his neck. “S-Sahahally!” 

“Hm?” The other hummed absentmindedly.  

“Gehehet o-ohout!!” 

“But your waaaaarm…!” She whined as she nuzzled harder.

“AHAH— snrt! W-Wait! Sally n-noho wahahait!!” Charlie giggled as he turned around, curling in on himself as his little sister tickled his sides. “Sahall Sahahall!! PlahaHEASE! I-I thohought hic yohou wanted hic meehee tahahoo hic gohoh to SLEEHEEP!” 

“I do! Go to sleep.” 

“Ihihi’m TRYIHING!” The boy giggled, flapping his hands against the other’s arms. “S-Stahap ihiHAT! Gohoh awahay!” 

“Stop~? Stop whaaaat~?” The girl giggled, her soft smile becoming mostly snarky now. 

“Yohour’e— hic! Yohohou’re— squeal! Nahaha stAHAP!!” Charlie squeaked.

“But why~?” The younger blonde teased as she kneaded her older brother’s hips, “Is it 'cuz you’re tickle tickle ticklish~?”

“NOHOH!!” The taller preteen denied loudly as a small blush slowly spread across his cheekbones, “SahaHALLY cohome OHAN whyhyhy?!?” 

The shorter one just shrugged, “'Cuz I wanna!”

“Thehen dohohon’t!” The boy in yellow and black said as he sat up, grabbing his sister’s wrists as they made eye contact, “Ihihit ihis tehen o’clohock, Sahal…”

“So?” 

“Wehee hic hahave schooHOOL ihin the snrt mohohorning!!”

“Well, then you should’ve listened to me in the first plaaaaace~!” The younger sing-songed as she dug her fingers into Charlie’s underarms. “ShiHIT! SHIHIHAT!! Noho— hic nahahat THEHERE!” He cried, kicking his legs on the mattress. “GEHET ahaHOUT!! I-I cahahan’t!”

The younger blonde just giggled in amusement, trying her absolute best to keep herself composed and not lightly poke fun at the other’s helpless hysterics, “You caaaaan’t~? Can’t whaaaaaat~?”

“M-Myhy GAHASH SAHAHALLY gehet ohoFF!” The elder cried.

“And why should I?” The light blue eyed preteen questioned, getting her hands out from her big brother’s underarm’s and pinning his arms up with one hand, letting the other teasingly wiggle over his stomach. 

Charlie’s eyes widened, nervous yet giddy cackles pouring out of his mouth, “WAHAHAIT!! SAHAL hic NAHA— snrt!! SIHIHIS PLAHAHEASE NAHAT THEHEHERE!!” 

“But why~?” The girl asked again.

“YOHOU snrt KNOHOW WHYHYHY!!”

“I don’t think I do~!” Sally hummed, tickling the other’s stomach mercilessly with one hand, “Care to explain, big bro~?”  

The yellow cladded boy’s eyes shot out of his sockets, his laugh duplicating in volume as his sister almost (almost) retracted from the sudden shriek, “D'aww…that tickle, Char-Bar?”

“WIHIHILL YOHOHOU SNRT SHUHUHUSH?!” The elder said as he flailed his arms around. “Nah, I’m good.” The shorter preteen smiled as she blew raspberries on the taller’s tummy.

The honey brown eyed kid threw his head back, happy tears starting to run down his face as he kicked his legs in the air desperately, “PLAHAHAHEASE!!!”

The older preteen layed limp on the bed as his hands flailed in the air, not being able to do anything else but just laugh his head off, “SAHAHALLY IHI— SNRT!! I-IHIHAH!!! IHI’M SNRT SNRT GEHEHETTING YOHOU SNRT BAHACK FOHOHOR HIC THIHIS!!” 

“Oh will you now~?” The younger said as she unpredictably switched from raspberries to nibbles in a matter of seconds. 

“GOOHOOD HIC GREHEHEIF!! SNRT AHAHAHALLY!!!”

The shorter preteen nibbled the other’s sides, using her free hand to tickle at the other’s ribs, “That’s my name~! Don’t wear it out~!”

“IHIHAT’S SAHAHA SNRT SOHO— SQUEAL!!”

“So whaaaaaat~?”

“SAHAHALLY!!!” The elder hiccuped, lightly hitting her arms. 

The younger blonde’s grin turned to a small genuine smile as her usually sad and closed off sibling turned to a giggly loud giggler(e) in a matter on seconds. 

Good ol Charlie Brown…

“AHAH— HIC!! IHI GAHAHIVE!! IHI HIC GIHIVE!!!” Charlie shouted, “NOHAH!!! NOHOHO SNRT SNRT MOHOHORE!!!” 

Sally just shrugged, going back to nibbling her older brother’s tummy as she lightly traced around his navel…

…Talk about ruthless.

“OKAY OKAY OKAHAHAY!!! ALRIGHT SNRT MHYHY GOHOD! J-JUHUHUST STHAHAP!!!” The elder sibling cried, “IHIHI’LL DO AHAHANYTHIHIHING!!”

“Aaaaaannyyyyythiiiiing~?”

“YEHEHES!! YES SNRT SNRT YEHES SNRT YEHES SNRT ANYTHING!!!” 

“Go to bed.” Sally said simply. 

“THAHAHAT’S WHAHAT I WAHAHAAS TRYING TO DO IHIN THEHEE FIRST PLACE!!!” The honey brown eyed preteen howled.

“Well, why didn’t you just say so?” The baby blue eyed girl sweetly mused, stopping her vicious and un-called for attack as she layed back down next to her sibling, “Communication is key when it comes to a relationship, Char-Char.”

“Dihihid Luhucy snrt give snrt yohohou thahat snrt advice?” Charlie Brown asked curiously. 

“Nah— you did. You can be pretty wise when you want to.” The girl exclaimed as she yawned, stretching slightly, “Well…sometimes…kinda…like 20% of the time.”

“Yeesh…what a way to build a guy up and then bring him down.” The older huffed, crossing his arms as he hugged his sister once again. Sally melted into the touch, resting her head on her big brother’s chest as she listened to his heartbeat, “Oh puh-lease. Y’know I love you.” She giggled. 

“Love you too, Sal…goodnight.” The taller mumbled sleepily.

“Goodnight!”

.   .   .

“Charlie are there infinite words?” The pink pajama girl randomly questioned, disturbing her brother’s peace and quiet (also called 'a good night’s sleep). 

“No, Ally…but there are infinite numbers!” The boy explained. 

“Well, if there is a word for every number, then there must be infinite words.” 

Oh good grief…

·̩̩̥͙＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚𝙵𝙸𝙽˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊·̩̩̥͙ 

(𝙿.𝚂.: 𝙸𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚎𝚗𝚓𝚘𝚢𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚒𝚌, 𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚐!!!)

[staygoldfics]

They See Right Through Me

Summary: Darry's only sixteen when his parents die, and after two years in the foster care system he makes it his goal in life to bring both of his brother's home. But what happens when Sodapop has spent his time in the system on the west side? And what happens when Ponyboy spent his time in the system in New York?

Chapter One: I Remember It All Too Well

Warnings: Very lightly mentioned hitting/abuse, lightly mentioned bruises and cuts. If I forgot anything, please let me know.

You can also find this on AO3

Taglist

Darry hasn’t known much since the night his parents died, his life since has been a whirlwind of nothingness, a vacuum in space pulling him in and suffocating him. He’s only had one goal in mind since his sixteenth birthday, get his brothers home, keep his family together.

People told him he was lucky after they died, lucky because a kind couple in Tulsa had heard the news of his parents passing and wanted to take him in for the next two years, let him finish high school in the same place he’d grown up. They couldn’t take in his brothers, could hardly even care for him, not that they really tried. Their home was safe and warm, but they never cared much for him, only his grades, football and him keeping out of trouble. They said he was lucky when Sodapop got a placement on the west side, close enough to see each other at school and when Darry wasn’t busy working and Soda’s foster parents weren't parading him around town to show off what a good deed, they were doing by taking him in. They were lucky cause Soda’s foster father only hit him occasionally, lucky because he still had food on his plate and a place to sleep at night.

People tell Darry he’s lucky because he’s smart, a good football player, because once he turns eighteen, he has an out if he’s smart enough to take it. College waits for him, or at least that’s what Sodapop says when they sit in the lot together, looking up at the sky. There’s dirt covering the light blue polo shirt Sodapop wears, Darry has to walk him to the border between the east and west side to keep him from getting jumped, and then have Paul walk Soda back to his foster parents. Soda doesn’t look like a greaser anymore but he sure as hell ain’t a soc, he’s not safe on either side of town anymore.

Darry doesn’t feel lucky when he applies for colleges to keep everyone off his back and then throws away his acceptance letters. Doesn’t feel lucky when he visits his parents grave alone and wonders how the hell, he’s supposed to fill shoes that could never be his size. Doesn’t feel lucky when he patches up Sodapop’s bruises and cuts and holds his brother as he sobs.

Darry remembers the day the state separated them like it was yesterday, has nightmares almost every night of the feeling of his baby brothers being pulled out of his arms. Sodapop at only 12 had been screaming, he was always the most emotional, always the loudest.

“Get away from me!” Soda had yelled, fists flying into their social worker, Miss.Cowell's arms. Darry was the only one not crying, his eyes were trained solely on Ponyboy, the ten-year-old was shaking like a leaf in his arms, silent tears rolling down his cheeks. “Darry! Stop! Let go!” Sodapop had been the first to be pulled away from their childhood home.

Darry hadn’t been willing to let go when a different social worker, Mr.Fisher had stepped forward. “Come on Ponyboy, say goodbye, it’s time to go.” Pony had his arms wrapped so tightly around Darry’s middle the oldest could hardly breathe. He’d cried silently into Darry’s shoulder, and after only a minute of silence Fisher had stepped forward, wrapping his arms around Ponyboy’s middle, trying forcefully to take him out of Darry’s arms. It was a silent struggle besides Fisher’s repeated “Let go now boys.”

Darry swears it took at least twenty minutes for them to rip Ponyboy out of his arms, the struggle had felt like it lasted hours. As Ponyboy was dragged away, sobbing so hard Darry wondered how the boy was even breathing, he dropped his favorite bunny plushie, Boots. For years it was the only piece Darry and Sodapop had left of their baby brother. Darry didn’t cry until late that night, alone in a room that would never be his.

Darry spent the next two years going to school and working as much as he possibly could, saving every cent with a promise to get both of his brothers home the moment he turned eighteen. On his eighteenth birthday, only two months before graduation, he moved back into his childhood home, saved by the state and his parents life insurance. He hadn’t shed a single tear as he cleaned the thick layer of dust off everything in the home, as he avoided looking up at the pictures hung loosely on the walls, as he set Boots down carefully on Sodapop’s old bed. Darry got a full-time job roofing houses, graduated early and three weeks later he started the process of bringing his brother’s home.

It was time consuming to say the least, the constant home visits and paperwork, not to mention the cost of the court visits. The most ridiculous part in his opinion were the two months of supervised visits and overnight stays he’d had with Sodapop. As if they didn’t spend every spare moment they could together. But that was the deal, the state wanted him to get Sodapop home first, to make sure he could handle the responsibility before he could bring Ponyboy home.

Sodapop is halfway to 15 when Darry finally brings him home, bruised and tired but still wearing a smile brighter than the sun. On Soda’s 16th birthday Darry isn’t able to give him much, but what he can give is a small party with the gang, Steve, Two-bit and Johnny. Darry makes chocolate cake that is devoured in seconds, and carefully wraps a gold chain from their mother’s jewelry box in an old newspaper.

Sodapop already has tears in his eyes, hands carefully holding the gold chain, when Darry delivers the news, his biggest present. “Ponyboy is coming home Soda.”

There’s a pause, everyone’s eyes on Sodapop, and then suddenly Soda is slamming into Darry, arms wrapped tightly around his older brother, his shoulders shaking with quiet sobs. Darry holds his baby brother just as tight, running his fingers through Soda’s greased hair as he continues. “We’re skipping the supervised visits, since Pony’s placement is so far away, they're letting us go straight to weekend stays. Miss.Cowel says if all goes well then it should only be a month before he gets to come home permanently.”

Darry and Soda spend the next two weeks getting the house ready for their brother to come home. Which leads them to now. Darry doesn’t know much, hasn’t since his parents died. But he knows the 13-year-old kid in front of him is not his kid brother. This boy's eyes are too cold, gray storm clouds glare at him underneath bangs that are a little too long and covered in a thick layer of grease. The kid has his hands shoved deep into the pockets of an oversized leather jacket, there’s bruises blooming along the boy’s jawline, his left eye is red and surrounded by black and blue. The kid's shoulders are hunched, his jaw clenched, he looks ready for a fight.

There’s an awkward silence as Darry, Soda, Miss.Cowel and Ponyboy all stand on the Curtis front porch on a sunny Friday afternoon. Darry isn’t sure what he was expecting to happen when he finally saw his kid brother again, but tense silence hadn’t been something he prepared for. Miss.Cowel, never one for wasting time, hands over a trash bag that doesn’t even look half full. Darry feels like throwing up when he realizes this bag is Ponyboy’s things. “I’ll be back to pick him up on Sunday.” She says and then without another word she leaves the brothers alone, Darry watches as her car disappears down the street and wonders how anyone could ever think he was lucky.

Sodapop is the first to speak and Darry doesn’t need to look at his brother to know he’s on the verge of tears. “Pony?” Soda steps closer, reaching out for their baby brother. Darry’s fist tightens around the trash bag when he looks back at his kid brother just in time to watch as Ponyboy flinches away. Sodapop’s hand freezes between them and then drops lamely to his side, the kids’ hands are shaking. “Baby what happened to you?” Soda tries again voice hardly above a whisper.

Darry’s suspicion that this is absolutely not his brother is confirmed when the boy rolls his eyes and in a thick New York accent he responds. “I ain’t a baby.”

[puckbunny34]

just came back from the easter seals skate, and i’m gonna tell you my experience

i was on a waitlist for a year

finally was able to participate this year

spent $400 to participate

spent hours and hours trying to learn how to skate

had half of my leg all purple from falling so much while learning how to skate

landed on my elbow and hurt it so bad i couldn’t use my arm for days (had to miss work)

spent $60 for skating lessons at a rink an hour away because there were no rinks close to me accepting teenagers/youth

had these lessons at 8pm on a tuesday after working at a high stress job all day

had to take a day off work to go to this thing

only for me to get an email two days ago saying that you will only see half of the team and it’s not guaranteed which players you’ll see

(i did all of this to meet matthews and just get a picture with him, i wanted to meet the other players too but matthews was my main attraction)

i got all ready and dolled up, put my jersey on, my skates that i spent $100 on, my helmet that was $50, and stepped onto the ice. it was about 10 minutes until the players started coming out. minten, mccabe, robertson, etc etc. and guess what

no auston matthews

i was disappointed and upset but i still skated (very slowly) around and got pictures and autographs since i was determined to get a picture and an autograph from every player there

my rink had marner, nylander, and reilly for their popular players. and i really like marner and nylander so i was happy

i went to the leafs that didn’t have many people and getting their autographs and pictures since i was holding onto the boards and they were the closest to where i was

woll came out and i lined up and the line was moving so slowly. it was 1:10, everything started at 12:30 and was going to end at 1:30. i was determined to meet woll, marner, and nylander in 20 minutes.

once i got to woll it was 1:20, i then skated over to nylander and the guy said that they aren’t letting anymore people line up. okay, a real fucking bummer. then i skated over to marner and the guy over there said the same thing. there was 10 minutes left of the event but there wasn’t anything more for me to do so i just left

i mean for the amount of money i paid and the time and effort i put into this whole thing JUST to see auston matthews. and i didn’t see him

i’m poor! 😭 $400 is a good amount of money, i’d have to work days to make that much

i understand why it was run like that (players wanting to be there for a short amount of time, organizers don’t want people to choose a rink for a particular player) but i feel everyone is entitled to have at least one picture and one autograph with whoever they desire. like there was a finite amount of people, 200 people? okay, 200 selfies.

and the lines were long and took long for marner and nylander because people kept going multiple times for them to sign multiple things. it was so bad that there was even one guy giving jerseys to someone on the ice so they can get multiple signed jerseys and sell it on ebay.

as disappointing as it is, at least my money went to a good cause (supporting children with disabilities) and now i have a funny story

i also got a shitty $700 blanket that turns into a bag

i will make another post talking about the players i met and how they are

[sidsthekid]

sid was on this episode of 32 thoughts as part of the player media tour! his interview starts at 33:55.

here's a script under the 'keep reading' if you want to check it out! sorry beforehand for any typos, i used premiere pro to transcribe this and tried to do my best at proofreading.

my personal favorite tidbit from sid:

"...So it's, you know, it's just constantly learning. So I've always had that mentality, and I think that's an important one. And, you know, when you have the passion for it, when you love it, that comes pretty easy."

Jeff Marek: Sidney Crosby. It was the summer of the Pittsburgh Penguins. It was the summer of Kyle Dubas. It was a summer of Erik Karlsson and all eyes are on your team to kick off the season. How do you feel about that?

Sidney Crosby: I'm okay. It's for a different reason than maybe other years. I mean, you know, there's been a lot of turnover, like you said, and coming off the last year where we just let it slip there late. It was disappointing, but we should be a motivated group because of that and then because of all the changes like you mentioned.

Elliott Friedman: So I'm curious the the night you flew in, I guess, to meet with Dubas, is that- is that is that not true then?

Sidney Crosby: No. So what happened was, is he was coming to visit and I had just got back from vacation and it just happened that I was coming back into town for a day or two that said that he was, you know, going to the practice rink. So I just happened to be there at the same time and had the opportunity to meet him. But it wasn't like some- it was really last minute.

Elliott Friedman: You've rolled your eyes a lot at me over the years. That was a good one.

Sidney Crosby: Yeah, I didn't- I didn't fly in like it was actually the way it worked out. It was perfect. I was literally home for, like, an hour. He had me go to the practice rink, so it worked out well. I could go, you know, meet him and say hi. And at that point, nothing was for sure. I think he was just trying to check things out, get a lay of the land and take a look.

So it wasn't- it was far from, you know, being permanent and it just worked out well. It was nice to get a chance to talk to him. And, you know, I didn't know at that point, but I was glad I had the opportunity to meet him.

Elliott Friedman: What was the most interesting thing he either asked you or said to you?

Sidney Crosby: It's hard to pick one. I think he was just trying to see where I was at, just as what I thought, you know, with the season, you know, it was pretty fresh at that point. And I think, you know, as people in hockey, everyone has their own opinions and you're not there, you're not in it. But I think he just wanted to see how I felt and where I thought, you know, the team was at.

And I think coming off the season that we did, obviously it was- it was so disappointing. And I still felt like we were pretty competitive. And for the most part, we pretty good. We struggled in our division against, you know, the Islanders and Carolina. I think we lost every game against those two teams. But you take those games away and, you know, we were right there and once you get anything can happen.

You saw Florida. So as tough as it was, I was still pretty optimistic about our group and thought we weren't far off. So I don't know how he took that, but he seemed pretty encouraged, too, and seemed to see see the same same way.

Jeff Marek: How do you see Kyle Dubas as your general manager? You've had a number of general managers. When you started there Craig Patrick, who was the general manager Ray Shero, Jim Rutherford, etc., how would you compare Dubas to all the other managers you've had?

Sidney Crosby: I'd say he's probably like the most new age when you when you think of a GM and just with all the analytics and all the development stuff that goes into organization. You know, obviously being a part of the Leafs, there's lots of opportunity to add to staff. And you know, you look at there, you know, every staff really and training staff and medical and development, everyone that's there it's a huge organization and they really had every opportunity to kind of build that.

And he was a big part of that. So it's just cool. Like for me, I've seen hockey evolve. You know, you go from one strength coach 2 to 3 and, you know, all the sports science and all the development roles and player development and everything that goes into that. So I think he's somebody who is constantly trying to add to that and be ahead of the curve.

And I think he's brought that approach, not that the other guys didn't, but I think that's been something that's really been his specialty from, you know, from coming from there.

Jeff Marek: We always focus so much on what's different, what's different. This is change is to change. This is- this is different. The one I broke in. But from your point of view, like what is the one constant in your hockey life, whether it's training, whether it's whatever it is. Is there one thing that, you know, going back to my first game in Rimouski to you know, last year at the end of the season, this is non-negotiable. I always do this. This is the same.

Sidney Crosby: Yeah, I think you just got to learn. I mean, you got to learn, you got to evolve. So that's that's how I look at it. I mean, there's things that, you know, I believe in that helped me when I was younger player that I feel like I still need to do and and then there's other things where, you know, you have to find a way to evolve and and learn from, you know. Whether it's things you've done well in previous years or not done so well.

And as you age, managing, you know, your energy a little bit and, you know, trying to find that balance. So it's, you know, it's just constantly learning. So I've always had that mentality, and I think that's an important one. And, you know, when you have the passion for it, when you love it, that comes pretty easy.

Elliott Friedman: I reached out to just some of your teammates that are going to be talking today, and one of them said, I don't know if I've ever seen him as pissed off as he was at the end of last season. What pissed off Sidney Crosby last year?

Sidney Crosby: How it was just such a struggle for us to find consistency. You know, at one point I think we won seven in a row, then we lost seven in a row. As a guy that's been in different situations to get into the playoffs, I mean, I've been the situation where you're first all year and you just ride that into the playoffs and then, you know, the year that we won in 16, it was like we were out of the playoffs and then went on a great run and had momentum going in and just caught fire.

This was a new a new situation for us. We were kind of chasing it right from early on, but we had put ourselves in a spot to get it, you know, like it wasn't like, you know, it was a miracle. We needed- I mean, we needed to win our last two games and, you know, to get to go through all that, all the ups and downs and to be in a position to, you know, to get in and not be able to find a way.

That's something we had done in years past. And we didn't do it this time. So that was frustrating. And there's nothing better than playing the playoffs. I mean, at this point that's the most exciting thing. I mean, you get up for the matchups throughout the regular season and you have that motivation. But playoff hockey is just that's why you play.

You just crave that, you crave that atmosphere, that environment and the opportunity to win the Stanley Cup.

Elliott Friedman: Last one for me. There's someone who said to me that they really think that what the NHL needs is you and Connor McDavid on the same team playing for Team Canada. That's what this sport badly needs. I want to ask you what you thought about that.

Sidney Crosby: Yeah, I mean, any opportunity we can get to play for Canada and you know, he's mentioned a ton of times the best on best seeing, you know, seeing that, seeing all the other countries. You know, you look at their their lineups. I mean, it's pretty tight. I mean, there's no real favored team. I mean, it's easy to say Canada because we've had success, the Olympics and and that sort of thing.

But I mean, the hockey is incredible. And from my experience, it doesn't really get any better than that. When you're looking at the lineups and you're looking the players that are assembled and, you know, any opportunity I can get and it's too bad it hasn't worked out for a while here, but it's looking like that could change. So, you know, that'd be awesome.

Elliott Friedman: Who moves to the wing?

Sidney Crosby: I'll go there, haha.

Elliott Friedman: No, you're supposed to say he goes there! No, he goes there, you're supposed to say he goes there!

Sidney Crosby: Haha. Listen, I’ve skated with him. And I've played both. I think I'm good either way with playing center wing. Whatever he wants to do, he can carry the mail. I'll just. I'll find the find the open- the open spots.

Jeff Marek: That's right. Let me wrap this up by asking a question about a big picture question here. One of the great things about hockey is it can be kind of vague. It's not really black and white. I am curious now that you've been in the game for so long, have an expanded vision about it. What confuses players is what confuses you about the game, What confuses your teammates about the game?

Sidney Crosby: I would say maybe just suspensions. I think that, you know, maybe, you know, penalties are always going to be like that. We're always going to question, you know, what we saw. It's so easy with replay. We can, you know, dissect it. But I would say, you know, it's it's still something where you see a highlight, you see a clip and you don't know the range of a suspension.

You don't know whether it's going to be a suspension or not. That's that's how I feel. I know it's not an easy job for anybody, but yeah, I still feel like there's a bit of a gray area there. And, you know, I don't think anyone's ever going to agree on length or, you know, that sort of thing or what the intentions were on a play.

That's always going to be debatable. But I'd like to think that we can get a little bit closer to what it is exactly. And and maybe what the what the punishment is.

Jeff Marek: Great player, a great thinker of the game. Sidney, thanks as always for stopping by.

Sidney Crosby: All right. Thanks for having me.

[just-a-wholesome-writer]

Steady Hands

Cw: fluff, needles.

Summary: Y/n tries and fails to inject themselves with HRT, but YB is there to help. (sfw)

You weren't usually afraid of needles. It was something you took pride in, actually.

You were never one to make a fuss at the doctor's office, always the first in line for spending blood, with veins the nurses could never help but compliment.

But things were different when you were the one holding the needle.

You'd gotten it explained to you thrice, watched tons of tutorials of it on YouTube and even had one playing in the background now, and still you couldn't bring the thing anywhere near your leg without shaking like a leaf.

A mix of excitement, anxiety and a good portion of overthinking. It's a shame gel didn't work for you.

They'd put you on pills, first. But those didn't sit well with you, and you didn't feel like throwing up with every meal, so you quickly looked for alternatives.

Then there were those itchy patches that ripped off whenever you put your clothes on a little too quickly. You later found out that the itching was caused by an allergy against something in the adhesive used to stick them on.

Gel didn't work for a similar reason. And since your skin didn't want to cooperate with you, injections were your only other option.

And you were so grateful, you told yourself, so so grateful to be able to afford this.

As if that would make it any less scary. Sighing, you put the syringe down and did what you'd done for the last 20 minutes.

Take your phone, rewatch the person in the video inject themselves again, then pace around your room while flapping your hands to hopefully get enough energy out of your system that you could keep them still for a couple seconds.

"Okay. Okay, okay, okay. You got this. You got this!" you clapped, plopping down on your bed and taking the syringe back in your hand, snapping against the needle to get any air out.

Holding it a mere millimeter over your thigh, you closed your eyes and counted out loud.

"...One...two.....t-two....aaand thre-"

"Darling?"

"Shit!" you threw the needle next to you on the bed, eyes snapping open to glare at the door where your boyfriend had been standing for who knows how long.

"What?!" you snapped, already regretting your tone when you saw his expression turn into one of silent apology.

"Are you okay?" he asked, slowly stepping closer as if trying not to spook you. You sighed.

"Yeah...yeah. I'm just..." you gestured to the still running video, "it looks so easy! And yet I've been trying for half an hour now and I still can't-"

You cut yourself off to look up at him, "sorry for snapping at you."

But he just kissed your head, taking the needle from the bed to sit down next to you.

"It's okay, I understand."

There was a moment of silence between you two, just basking in each other's presence, your frustration melting into nothing as his arm wrapped around you.

Eventually he spoke up, "Would you like me to help?"

"With...the injection?"

"Yeah."

He glanced at the video and then back at the needle, observing the sharpness of it. You considered his offer for a moment.

You knew he wasn't squeamish, proven by his love of horror movies and, well, other things you'd rather just forget.

"Did you do this kind of thing before?" you asked as you watched him disinfect the needle, taking your of a no as approval.

"Well, no," he admitted, "but it seems easy enough and I've got pretty steady hands."

Nodding, you offered your leg to him, deciding that even if he wasn't a professional it was still better than doing it yourself.

"Okay, I trust you."

And you could see how much that meant to him by the way he straightened up, eyebrows scrunching in concentration as he traced his finger over your thigh, trying to see where exactly the needle would penetrate.

"Do you want me to count?"

His voice was so gentle now, his other hand laying on top of yours in an attempt to soothe your nerves. A successful one.

"Please.."

And once again, it was "one...two-"

"Done."

It was so quick you didn't even realize when it was out of your skin again. You couldn't even feel the sting, the only thing proving that he'd really done it being the tiny red dot left in his wake.

Though still, he was quick to fetch a bandaid. Placing it over the mark, before leaning down to kiss it.

Laughing, you kissed him as well, thanking him for the help and immediately accepting when he offered to make this a regular occurrence.

[sunny-mercya]

In your arms, till the end

Edmund Pevensie x Male Reader

Fandom -> Chronicles of Narnia

Masterlist | Song for the mood

It is just the beginning of October, leafs losing their brightly shades of green and turning into the various colours of yellow, orange and brown. The occasionally gusts of chilly autumn winds felt icy—like spiking winter, without frostbites—heavily filled with the latest moisture of downpour and nibbles on inches of free skin, leaving a redish—rosy like—hue behind.

Edmund juggled and fumbles with his keys, trying to open the apartment door without dropping his bags, pushing open the door with his shoulder—stepping inside and closing it with his foot afterwards.

Taking a glance at the tambour clock on the dresser in the foyer, Edmund saw that he was punctual right on time, with a few minutes of buffer—which Edmund didn't thought he would be. Not with how overfilled the bakery was today, then again it was Sunday and Sundays are always the busiest.

Whilst Edmund walked into the kitchen, about to empty out and put away the two paper-bags—filled with pastries and bread, having brought a bit more than he intended—he heard the slight crackles of the tv from the living-room.

You probably have, Edmund was sure of it—as it had been a sort of sunday ritual—already set up the tea—Earl Grey with milk and honey—and waiting on the Sofa for him. Edmund was right once you called for him.

«Ed! Are you coming? Pride and Prejudice is about to start any minute»

«In a minute, love. Just let me take off my coat and get the pastries ready» replied Edmund back, doing like he said and laid out the various goods onto a plate.

Walking into the living-room and putting the plate down onto the coffee-table, Edmund took a seat next to you on the Sofa—pulling you into his arms, cuddling against each other and cosy blanket over the two of you, as Edmund leaned back—getting comfortable.

Pride and Prejudice, besides Winnie-the-Pooh tales and a few others, was one of your favourite book. You have read it a thousand times over and over again, till the copy you owned has been getting so shabby and worn over battered—that the pages has begun to fall out.

Edmund has gifted you a new copy, last christmas. Has been constantly working overtime and double shifts, just to afford it. Though your overjoyed gleeful expression, so full of adoration and gratefulness, was worth it all.

Ever since the Pride and Prejudice film came out—years ago—and bbc has begun to broadcast it every second sunday—along with various other movies like for example; Gone with the Wind, Rebecca or a opera—it has come to an arrangement, early on in your and Edmunds relationship—when the two of you could finally afford to live together in the apartment and Ed going to college—to watch these movies together.

Just the two of you, enjoying the company of each other and basking in those small moments of love and wholesomeness togetherness.

~~~

Edmund run his hand through your (colour) hair, admiring your peaceful sleeping face. He had been the first one to wake up from the nap. Sometimes, when it's getting way too cosy, the both of you would fall asleep during the middle or near the end of the movies.

The television, turning off itself, was only showing the static and it's low whispering like crackles. Sunset has already begun, the last few rays peeking through the heavy curtains and illuminating the room just enough to know that a lamp should be turned on soon.

You murmured in your sleep, moving a bit in his arms, stretching yourself and open your eyes.

«....what's time...?» your voice was still riddled with sleep, heavy and mumbling. Eyes dropping every so often once more. Your question sounded more like a philosophical one and Edmund smiled, pecking your lips.

«A little after six. If you're still up to, Rebecca starts in around an hour or,» Edmund paused, leaning his head down to kiss you on the lips once more. A long deepening kiss, moving his lips towards your neck and trailing kisses up and down.

«Or we could do a repeat of last night» whispers Edmund in your ear, adding another kiss to your skin.

Your lips stretching into a smile—last night was magnificent, they always are when you two share a moment of absolute closeness and pure love making—more awaken now since Edmunds tickling kisses onto your skin. Moving out from your boyfriends arms, stretching again your body and muscles, you returned his kiss before standing up.

«A tempting offer my dear, but Rebecca wins this round and I gotta have to make us some dinner»

«My prince leaving me is a disappointment for this heart. Oh! How cruel can you be» sighed Edmund out, hanging over the backside of the Sofa and faking a frown—pleading eyes and pouting lips.

«Now now, don't be so dramatic my dear. Even a King like you have to be patience» you shook your head, laughing as you walked into the kitchen. Sometimes Edmund could be so dramatic and sappy, but that's one of the many things you loved about your Boyfriend.

A playful groan left Edmunds lips, mumbling a hearable dinner wish out and getting up from the Sofa as well.

«Oh! Before I forgot, Lucy has wrote a letter» you told him form the Kitchen, starting to rummage through the cabinets and cupboards.

«She did? What did she wrote about?» asked Edmund, starting to clean up the coffee-table—stacking the empty Tea cups and plates and joined you in the kitchen, starting to do the dishes.

«Yeah, about various and many things like, Peter being overprotective stupid again, how beautiful the countryside still is and the various flowers she has now. You know how Lucy can fill pages after pages»

Edmund hummed, knowing exactly what you mean. His sister could write a whole three pages letter, just about flowers and their meanings.

«Anything else, a bit more interesting?» he dried his hands on a towel, standing next to you and helping you with the dinner preparations.

«yes, Lucy and Peter coming for a visit tomorrow and will stay over for two days»

«Did she state a reasons for their visit?»

«No? Can't they just visit us for fun, like do they need a reason?» you nudged Edmund, swatting away his grabby hand from the frizzling bacons.

«I suppose not,» he mused out, successfully getting a bacon stripe from the pan.

~~~

Edmund didn't knew the exact reason, couldn't tell what have woken him up this night at all. It must have been something, anything as he was more of the heavier deeper sleeper—the ones which would get grumpy and moody of woken too early and rudely—and so causal, natural waking up is a rare occasion for Edmund.

Removing your arms from him, whispering to you to continue your sleep—when you begun to stir, murmuring under your breath—Edmund got out of bed. Feets touching the cold and hard floorboards, ignoring to slip on the slippers and going out of the room.

The low volumes of the radio, which you always leave on during the night—a habit of yours as you didn't like the silence in the night—was the first sound he came to be aware off.

Then, once in the foyer, his ears picked up other sounds. Sounds which were strange, out of place even. Loud crackling as if a chimney was near and screaming—clear to hear to where he stood now.

Maybe a bulgar or a drunken neighbour doing some ruckus on the corridors. That's what Edmund told himself as he unlocks and opens the front door.

Edmund closed the door instantly again. The up-roaring fire outside on the corridors, was enormous and it wouldn't be long till his and yours little home would be engulfed into the death trapping flames. Edmund hurried back towards the bedroom, setting the radio on the highest volume—Hallelujah was being played—waking you up while doing so.

There wasn't any escape from the flames nor from death. He learned from his times in Narnia to accept whatever fate is coming—it is meant as it meant to be.

«Ed? 'erthing 'right?»

Edmund didn't answer you, not right away, as he crawled back into bed. Taking you into his arms and pulling you close to him. Showering you with kisses and whispering sweet promising nothing into your ear.

«It's gonna be fine, [Name]. Everything is gonna be alright, love. I promise.»

«You making me worried......» you trailed off, noticing a bright light from the corner of your eyes and when you notice the first licking flames in your bedroom, Edmund pulled you even more closer.

«Remember when I told you about Narnia? It's a wondrous world, you will love it there»

«I think, i'm scared Ed.....I'm not ready for death....»

«I know love, I know. I've got you, it's gonna be alright, I promise»

Whilst Edmund reassured you again and again, with words and kisses, the flames comes near and nearer till they—like they had with everything else—engulfed you two fully as the hauntingly chorus of Hallelujah faded into the crackling and screams.

~~~

And if Susan had been a bit kinder—to Edmund and you back then, when the both of you had announced the relationship to her, Peter and Lucy—and still had believed in Narnia and its wonders, than perhaps—perhaps—she might have could been reunited with her family, she thought and believed to have lost forever to the grips of death and cruel like fate, once again.

If Susan only had, but she didn't and now she has to face the consequences and her grieving all on her own.

[liminalmemories21]

still looking for prompts Lim? How about ‘I missed you’ 👀

Andrew is six weeks old when he goes back to work. It's physically painful to leave the house that morning, and the stream of text messages and pictures that TK sends him throughout the day make it both bearable and unbearable to be at work and not at home with them.

But when he finally gets out of work that evening he finds himself turning left instead of right towards the loft. He isn't really conscious of what he's doing or where he's going until he turns into the entrance the cemetery where his father is buried.

There's a cherry tree that was planted the year after his father died and he's watched it grow year by year as he comes to visit on birthdays and anniversarys. It's taller than he is now, and in a few weeks it will bloom and drop a fragrant blanket across his father's grave. But it's still only barely in bud now, and the ground is chilly and damp when he sits down.

He pulls a few stray bits of mown grass off the grave stone, letting his fingers linger and trace his father's name. He knows his mother comes every week, spends 30 minutes or an hour catching his father up on the family gossip and news about Carlos and his sisters. Ana comes with her sometimes, and Luisa comes every time she's in town. He's never gotten comfortable being here though, always feels awkward talking to his father's grave.

He glances around, but he's the only person here in the almost dusk. "I don't know if Mom told you, but we adopted a baby." He laughs to himself. "Of course Mom told you. Mom has told everyone." He leans in a little like he's whispering a secret. "Mom is cashing in on every baby shower she's ever been to. We aren't going to need to buy Andrew a piece of clothing until he's three."

He leans back, taking a beat. "He's beautiful, Dad. He's beautiful and perfect and I love him so much, more than I ever thought was possible." He brushes a damp leaf off the edge of the grave stone, studying his father's name - Gabriel Xavier Reyes, beloved husband and father. "It took a long time for me to admit to myself that I wanted to be a father, longer to believe that maybe I could be good at it. TK's always believed in me, but it took me longer to get there."

He smiles. "TK is so good with him. I always knew he would be, but he's so much more than I could ever have imagined. Even when he hasn't slept in two days and we don't have any clean clothes left in the house the way he looks at Andrew is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."

He wonders if he'd ever have been able to say something like that to his father if he was still alive, if with another decade of time together they'd have found a way to talk to each other like this, or if it's only possible because one of them isn't really here anymore.

"I miss you," he says, and it isn't as hard to say now as it used to be, doesn't feel as bitter, as freighted with lost chances. "I wish you were here to teach me how to make Andrew feel safe after a nightmare, teach me what days I should play hooky from work to take him out for ice cream. I wish you were here so we could talk about how not to have that change, how not to forget those moments."

His phone dings with a message and he glances at it. It's a picture of Andrew, eyes screwed shut in concentration as he drinks his bottle. He only feels a little foolish when he holds it up to show his father. "I need to get home. TK's been alone all day." Pauses and then says without shame, "And I miss Andrew, it's been ten hours and I swear he looks like he's grown." He pushes himself up and stops to brush his hand against the top of the gravestone. "When he's a little older and the weather's warmer I'll bring him to meet you. I think you're going to really like him."

He texts TK just before he gets in the car. / on my way home / . . . / had to stop to talk to someone /

[eyeofnewtblog]

Things that happen at home:

Me, to my dad: So, how is being department head going?

Dad, very clearly Frazzled TM: Who’s that kid your younger cousin keeps showing up with? The step kid obsessed with dinosaurs?

Mom, calmly: Ty, he’s eight.

Dad: Yeah, Ty. When I was his age, I wanted to be a firefighter. And dreams really do come true, because now, all I do, every SINGLE fUcKiNg DAY, is put out fires.

Me:…do you still get to teach? Do you miss teaching in general?

Dad: I miss the ever living fuck out of teaching. I spent all of Covid recording lectures so that now, the three classes I’m actually a professor on, two of them are completely online and I’ve got my Ph. D. students doing the grading, and the third is two masters students, one to put slides and content together that I spend ten minutes reviewing, and another to do grading. I get to dictate the class content without actually getting to think about how I’m going to make the material stick with my students, I don’t get to bond with them at all. And my Asian students STILL keep bringing me tea! I don’t even know them anymore! I’ve always considered myself a man of the west, bringing me tea does literally nothing, at least the statues they used to bring I could put up on the mantle and I could SEE how many lives I’ve touched, with the tea I actually have to think about which female relative I last pawned a giant tin off on! It’s tea! All of the women I know like tea, it’s just that none of you like it so much you drink TWO PINTS WORTH OF LOOSE LEAF BULLSHIT. (He specifically means the dry loose leaves that come in tins that are about two pint glasses worth…so actually several gallons worth of tea…)

Me:…do you want a hug?

Mom: my older sister just got an ice tea machine and has been…experimenting. We could just. Give her all the tea.

The specific aunt in question, who is actually present for this rant: I’ll take all the tea. I mean, I’m particularly enjoying the spilled tea right now, but yes, I would like more tea to experiment with.

Dad: You can fucking TAKE it. I’d rather you have it than look at the space its taking up every day because I don’t have the heart to throw it out. I really miss the days when all my students would put a can of Mountain Dew on my desk as they finished their finals. I miss being able to relate to my students with tv shows that I know they watched because I was watching those shows with my daughters. I’m in a position now, where I don’t have the luxury of connecting and while I like being challenged in a new way, I miss the individual connections.

A/N this a summary of the actual conversation (the quotes from the females in this story are spot on, but realistically it took two solid hours of getting a read and then asking actual direct questions to get my dad’s dialogue…it’s easier for me to just let him monologue on page, even if that’s something he would absolutely never do in real life…)

[deasbanker]

Weekend treat: climb Mt. Takao（599m）for the first time in my life and immerse myself in a lot of nature from 8 to 15!

23/11/2024（Labor Thanksgiving Day）

When it was still dark enough to see the stars, mom and I set out for Mt. Takao, which is located in Hachioji, Tokyo, and changed trains. The beginning of this trip was my pure curiosity of climbing/hiking on the mountain trail because I had never done before, although I was being in my mid-20s.

Since some articles on the Internet said that it was always packed with a lot of people on Mt. Takao during the autumn leaf season in November, we needed to leave so earlier as to arrive at the station before 8 and avoid the crowds as much as possible.

On arriving at Takaosanguchi Station, I got excited about how cold it was by seeing my breath. Thanks to this cold and crisp autumn air at the foot of the mountain, I could enjoy observing such nature as trees or moss well even before climbing. As we anticipated, there were already so many hikers（including dogs!）gathering and setting off to the peak.

First, I took to the ambience brought out by traditional Japanese-style housings at the skirts like Kyoto, which made me feel like I was exactly in a tourist spot in a good way. Then, we finally entered the sacred mountain. For my very first time of climbing a mountain, I went for the easiest way to the peak. As we proceeded, mom and I encountered a bunch of unique nature, such as a huge hole under tree roots（this reminded me of the whomping willow in Harry Potter）or orange moss; I appreciated such uniqueness, diversity and the mysteries of nature from the bottom of my heart. Also, I found that most fantasy stories all over the world are related to forests because nature can give us opportunities to spark our imagination, indeed.

Half an hour later, my excitement and energy were totally gone due to really steep slopes, which I didn't expect at heart. Although I can usually walk a long distance without fatigue, my feet refused to move at that time. I think that I was the slowest hiker there, but I had to keep moving as I would never have tried to proceed again if I paused.

After that, we arrived at a mountainside where some stalls or diners are. That helped me out of fatigue to some extent and let me start chatting with mom again. Nonetheless, such doesn't mean that we were almost at the peak; on the contrary, we needed to continue hiking on bumpy trails and lots of steps. I was being impressed by most of the elderly people there in terms that they didn't seam tired nor to slow their pace at all even halfway. By the way, I was pleased to see the renowned sacred tree named Takosugi（the octopus shaped cedar tree）.

Finally, we reached the top and managed to admire the view from the peak of Mt. Takao. Half of the mountain was colored by autumn leaves, which brought out the fall atmosphere. As I mentioned first, there were so many people having lunch sitting on the ground side by side at the top, too. Therefore, there was no space to chill out there, and we decided to go back and stop by a stall for a certain sweet treat.

This is "tengu", a legendary creature found in Shinto belief, shaped version of taiyaki（a Japanese sweet treat consists of red bean paste and pancake-like crust）. She waited in line for about 30 minutes to get it. Everyone including her ended up eating this sweets merrily.

Around 14:00, we descended the mountain by taking a chairlift, having a refreshing time overlooking Tokyo as well as adjacent mountains from the lift. Yet, it suddenly stopped on the way, and we were made to wait for a while; then I recalled the thriller film called Frozen（2010）.

Overall, it was absolutely satisfying in an every way, and I totally enjoyed the day with mom there. Besides, I was glad to know that I wasn't cut out for steep slopes through this experience. Everything is an experience.

[sophierunsfrombears]

My Username Came True

It’s a Monday afternoon. It’s 90something degrees out in Sierra City. Vibes and I decide to wait till 6pm to start a 4,000ft climb, but since we couldn’t get a hitch back to trail for an hour, we hiked the mile and a half up the road, then started the switchbacks. A few switchbacks up, I realize I’d left my Garmin InReach($400 satellite communication/ PLD) in town, so back down I went. At around 8:30 I was finally making my way back to trail, and I was in high spirits from everyone back in town getting a good laugh out of my misfortune. At least I found the inreach! I’ve never night hiked by myself before, and honestly I am afraid of the dark. There, I said it! So getting into the dense forested switchbacks with nothing but a headlamp to see the narrow path ahead did give me the creeps, but barring a few quick look’s behind me to ensure no one had followed me up from town I felt relatively good about the whole ordeal. Hours pass, and I’ve now entered the ridge walk portion of the climb, it’s mostly open with about hip to chest high shrubs scattered about periodically, and lots of loose dirt and shale to trip over. But again, feeling pretty good about how far I’ve come! With about 8 miles in my pocket, I stop to filter water, turning off my headlamp to feel the weight of the stars above me. After some chugging of cold stream water I keep going with the idea that I’d meet Vibes at the dirt road at the top of the climb. About 1.3 miles away from the agreed tent site, zoned in on the path in front of me, (my headlamp has dimmed significantly and was about to die) when the bush I’ve just grazed with my shoulder erupts in commotion. I can see nothing but movement and dark shadows, but the heavy lumbering footsteps tell me that a bear had been mere inches from me with his head in the bush and is now running down the trail ahead of me. I freeze, barely breathing, as about 100ft down trail I see two reflective eyes staring back at me. My headlamp is so dim I can only see the two eyes, no outline of any sort. We stare at each other for a few minutes, and the bear starts walking towards me, holding my stare. I start shouting “Hey Bear!” and clicking my sticks together, but he continues to walk forward a few more steps. Again, he stops and stares at me for a few moments. I’m terrified my noise won’t work, but then the eyes disappear. I have no way of knowing which direction he’s gone off to, so I wait at least 10 minutes before slooowly walking forward, yelling the whole time. Without the reflective eyes I have absolutely no way of knowing where he went, so I’m constantly looking ahead, behind, below, and above me. On one of my twirlings I catch him, maybe 15 feet above me on the ridge, staring down. It looked like if he took one step forward off the ledge he could’ve landed right on top of me. I’m making an obscene amount of noise this entire time, but I do know that I’m not supposed to actually run from black bears, as it supposedly could trigger a predatory chase instinct. So I’m now making all this noise while walking backwards along this slippery trail to keep the bear in my line of sight. When I round the corner though, I take off running. And I don’t stop for 1.3 miles. Every few feet I do a look around to make sure I’m not being followed, but I run the entire rest of the way up the climb to the dirt road. I fear each leaf crunch, twig snap, and shadow is the bear. I’m soaked in sweat as I hit the tent site and the last dregs of adrenaline dissapear. I let out a good exhausted sob then watch Howls Moving Castle to calm myself down before absolutely passing out. Needless to say, unless I’m accompanied by a friend, I will no longer be night hiking through bear country.

I do want to shoutout Tooth and Claw, the animal attack podcast I listen to that taught me things about bears!!! I do feel so much more confident after actually seeing the behaviors I have learned actually do make black bears stay away. It is important to note that if you’re ever in grizzly country there is a different set of rules for those guys.