#its BBQ time

[lulublack90]

Prompt 31 - Age

@jegulus-microfic July 31, Word count 994

This is the final part of the Apple Core series

Previous part First part

James had been worried that Regulus would struggle to furnish his new flat and had offered to buy him what he needed, no strings attached. But Regulus had been smart. After he’d watched what happened to his brother, left penniless and with nothing but the clothes on his back, he made a contingency plan. Every pound he made went into a separate bank account to which only he had access and now had a healthy little nest egg, albeit a slightly smaller one after their shopping spree. 

James had sweet-talked the assistant in the furniture shop into giving Regulus a nice discount on the pieces he’d picked out. Everything was loaded up onto the truck as Regulus paid and was being unloaded by the time they’d walked the short distance back to the flat. 

“Did you buy the whole shop or something?” Sirius snorted as he waited on the street. 

“Something like that,” Regulus grinned. 

Sirius insisted on helping take the heavy items upstairs. So James suggested that Regulus wait on the street and keep an eye on his things.

It took an age to get everything upstairs. Sirius left them to unpack while he went to help Remus with the café.

“Wow, this sofa’s comfortable,” James said as he bounced up and down on it a few times, settling in.

“Hey, you can sit later, come and help me put the bed together,” Regulus ordered. James didn’t argue. He hopped up and followed Regulus into the bedroom. It was a bit of a squeeze putting it all together but eventually, there was a bed. 

“Now for the best bit,” James waggled his eyebrows suggestively at Regulus. Regulus jumped up and put his hands over the wriggling brows. “I meant unrolling the mattress. Gees Regulus get your head out of the gutter.” That earned him a few huffs and light smacks to his chest. He hauled the heavy box in and upturned it, letting the compressed mattress slowly slide out. “Want to do the honours?” He asked, holding up the little bag opener that came with the mattress. Regulus took it, and with his tongue poking out between his lips as he concentrated, he drew a long straight line down the plastic and watched as the squashy mattress expanded out of its casing. They both flopped onto it side by side. 

“I think I picked the right mattress. Regulus groaned as the memory foam cradled his body.

“I could get used to this,” James sighed, reaching his arms further up the bed until they brushed against the wooden headboard. 

“Oi, you two, if you’re shagging, stop and get down here, it’s barbecue time!” Sirius shouted up the stairs to them. With big sighs, James and Regulus reluctantly left the bed and trudged down the stairs. 

Sirius and Remus lived around the corner in a sweet little ground-floor flat that came with a garden. It was a lot bigger and a lot nicer than the one Regulus now lived in, but they’d put a lot of effort into making it that way. 

James walked straight through and started getting the barbecue set up. Sirius and Remus were useless when it came to getting the thing going and James quite enjoyed watching the fire light. Regulus came up behind him and watched as he piled the coals just right and added the firelighters. He stuck the long lighter in and clicked the button until the flame lit and held it near the firelighters. It didn’t take much and then heat blasted out of the base. 

“Want the tour?” He asked, waving at the flat. 

“Yeah, okay,” Regulus gave a half smile, but followed James back into the flat. He started in the living room. 

“They’ve got a very soft sofa as well,” James grinned, bouncing on it the same way he had on Regulus’s earlier. 

“If you break it, Potter, you’re paying for another one. Remember last time?” Remus poked his head out of the kitchen and raised his brow. James flushed as he remembered their old sofa that had broken in half when he’d had one too many and tried to wrestle it. 

“Er, yeah, sorry, Moony,”

“You broke a sofa?!” Regulus whispered unbelievably to him when Remus was out of sight. 

“Yeah, but it was old and buggered before I tried to put it in a headlock.” He tried to explain. Regulus shook his head in disbelief. 

“Right show me the rest of this flat then,” 

James showed him the bathroom, and they poked their heads into the bedroom. Regulus didn’t linger once he saw what was on the bedside table. They finally went to look in the kitchen. It was tiny but Sirius and Remus had made good use of the small space. Every scrap of counter, however, was full of dishes for their meal. 

“Right start taking this stuff out,” Sirius ordered as he finished mixing some sort of salad dressing. 

James and Remus cooked while Sirius handed out beers, and they sat down in the warm sun to eat. James was stuffed but still had room for a few toasted marshmallows. He looked over at Regulus and Sirius scrolling through TicTok together, laughing at the videos. He felt incredibly happy and lucky and all over a dropped apple core. They might just be starting out, but he could already see the mending relationship between the two brothers, so even if they didn’t work out, he’d always be glad Regulus had that, he’d make sure of it. 

“WHAT THE ACTUAL!!!” Sirius yelled at the phone in his hands. He began furiously scrolling through videos, getting redder and redder. James peeked over his shoulder and paled. Sirius had stumbled onto Wormtail’s account. James grabbed Regulus’s hand and whispered in his ear.

“Scarper?!” The other man nodded. James blew a kiss to Remus and then raced out of the place, Sirius’s ranting following them down the street as they headed back to Regulus's flat. 

Second part of the series (Wolfstar)

[entering--hyperspace]

Cannot imagine whatever is going on through Mr Leonard Echowatcher's head. You spend your life yearning for a world where you lived differently, where the day wasnt soaked in war, blood, and battle. Where you could envision a future where you have a partner and a family with friends to live gracefully with. But then you are given such opportunities only to find you were never taught to be gentle, you have a gentle, empathetic nature and yet the physicality of it is a stranger to you. You are expected to raise a child with gentle hands so that she saves the world, What does that even mean? How can you accept your growing love for your friend when you were never taught how to love, that intimate love is a luxury best left forgotten, there are no need for such things in war. He has to learn to become the things he wanted bc he grew too old to develop it naturally. He becomes a father to taimi fumbling his way into learning how to care and parent, he is defensive of Aurene bc he is from a culture where they arent expected to raise their own young and yet has to do so with a dragon. It feels like a test, He has to prove both to others and to himself he is capable of being a father, of nuturing, that calloused, stained hands can still be gentle. He has to accept that love is a terrifying leap of faith in vulnerability in order to gain a partnership that is considered a rarity. I love the idea that he spent 30 years yearning for things he thought he would never have and when he is actually given those opportunities (albeit admittedly through unusual circumstances) he has to learn how to actually live in them, becuase they were always just Concepts until now. Ohhhh my god Mr. Leo you are my everything

[3416]

highkey forgot tyler bertuzzi was an astrology aficionado.... he is so confounding

[mxwhore]

everytime the thought "oh living here isnt that bad" crosses my mind the universe is like "ehhh"

[avoiltaire]

wanshi/pgr - super old lightning/colours practice i did a month ago 😭

[killjoy-prince]

my brother has been dating this girl for almost 7 months now and we've yet to be properly introduced and tbh i kinda wanna keep it that way just to see how long i can go

[jacqcrisis]

Walking through crowds in 90% humidity downtown, compelled by the most powerful force on earth: bbq pork on a stick

[kirstielol]

This tent is so big omfg 😍 we have two cots set up inside, a 6 foot folding table, and there's still so much room. And I love the full screen walls!! This is the coziest ever I'm so happy right now 😌🏕️

[bookwormcosplays]

Continuing the tradition of having food poisoning on July 4th

[copper-dragon-in-disguise]

I would very much like to know who thought it was a good idea to have a school wide bbq, outside, during a heatwave

[hearty-an0n]

i do think its bedtime. i will eat scrambled eggs and a slice of my blueberry lemon loaf for breakfast tomorrow

[lulublack90]

Prompt 18 - Gymnastics

@wolfstarmicrofic August 18, word count 986

Previous part First Jegulus part

Sirius led everyone back to his and Remus’s flat. He was so excited about the BBQ. But what he was most excited about was the big bag of marshmallows he’d bought to toast over the fire. He dragged Remus by his hand to the front door and unlocked it. He inhaled deeply when they walked in. He loved his home so much. They hadn’t been here long, but it already held so many happy memories for him. 

James strode through the flat and straight out the French windows into the garden. Regulus stood a bit out of place near the front door until he followed James outside and watched him build up the fire. Sirius and Remus were terrible at starting the BBQ. Even with the easy light bags, somehow they never took. Sirius shrugged and went into the kitchen to get the food out of the fridge, ready to be cooked. 

He could hear James talking in the living room, something about the sofa being soft. Remus darted past him and poked his head around the door.

“If you break it, Potter, you’re paying for another one. Remember last time?” Sirius had to bury his face in the crook of his arm to stop them hearing his laughter. 

“Er, yeah, sorry, Moony,” James said sheepishly. Sirius could hear Regulus whispering excitedly and James’s deep voice rumbling out his excuse for breaking their sofa. They got up and Sirius couldn’t hear them any more. 

He began mixing together his secret salad dressing. It was simple but brought the otherwise bitter leaves to life. It was a recipe that Effie had given him, passed down from her mother and stolen from some friend of her mother. James wouldn’t have any other kind of dressing and was known to sneak a small bottle of it into restaurants and use that instead of whatever they had. 

He checked the steaks he’d been marinating overnight. They smelled divine, peppery and herby. They had sausages and chicken wings as well, plus loads of sides. There was no way they were going to eat it all, but Sirius didn’t mind eating the rest tomorrow. 

“Darling, did you leave you know what on the bedside table?” Remus asked matter-of-factly. Sirius paled.

“Yup,” He swallowed, but he could already hear James and Regulus coming back from that direction, so it was pointless trying to dive and roll around them with all of his teenage gymnastics skills to stop them from seeing what he’d forgotten to put away. Regulus appeared in the doorway beside James and flushed brightly when they made eye contact. “Right start taking this stuff out,” He ordered, trying to get Regulus away from him. He spun to check the dressing again and by the time he’d picked up his own plates to take outside, both Regulus and James were gone. 

“Don’t worry, my love. It could have been worse,” Remus said, stealing a kiss before he followed the others outside. 

He was so full. He could see his stomach protruding over his jeans. He wished he’d changed into his leggings, but now he didn’t want to move. He popped another toasted marshmallow into his mouth and groaned as the sweet gooey mess spread inside his mouth after he broke through the toasted skin. He pulled out his phone and started scrolling through tictok.

He was just popping another marshmallow into his mouth when his thumb froze. He was in a video. 

“WHAT THE ACTUAL!!!” He yelled at his phone as it played a video of him berating Regulus in the café from the other day. He clicked on the creator’s profile, Wormtail was their name and scrolled through. There were a lot of different people losing it in public, but the ones with the most views were of him in the café. “Who the fuck does this guy think he is?!” He cried angrily at his phone. That’s when he noticed the logo, a fat grey rat. The rat phone case man! He was going to kill him. “And I gave you an extra almond croissant you little shit! That's it he’d banned!” 

Remus’s hands found his shoulders and began pushing him into the flat. He looked around for his brother and James, but they’d gone. He had no idea when they’d disappeared, but he was more concerned with the next video that came up of Wormtail going into the back of the café to film him ranting at the toastie machines when he’d burnt his hand on one. That was crossing the line. “Remus,” He said, calmer than before, and held up the phone for Remus to see. 

“What the!” Remus was outraged now. “It clearly says, Staff Only, No Entry, Private, on the door!” His brow was furrowed in anger as he scrolled through a few more of the videos. “It’s not the first time either, look,” Sirius peered at the screen and saw himself rocking back and forth chanting. “Be nice, be nice,” The camera suddenly turned to the ceiling and bounced into the store cupboard before cutting off. “That’s right when you came and got me,” Sirius whispered. He’d been feeling so vulnerable in that moment and some guy he didn’t even know had recorded it and posted it online for likes. “Fuck,” He sobbed. Remus’s arms wrapped him in a tight warm hug.

“I’ve got you, I’ve got you,” He murmured into Sirius’s hair. 

Remus led Sirius to the bedroom, wrapping him in the duvet before going to run a bath. He took Sirius’s phone away from him and Sirius was grateful. He’d only spend the entire night watching the videos over and over, making himself feel worse. At least he had tomorrow to sort himself out. 

“Remus?” His voice was croaky and muffled from the duvet. 

“Yes, sweetheart,” Remus came back in from the bathroom and stroked his hair. 

“Can we go see Mum tomorrow?” 

Next part

[revasserium]

if you had to eat one singular meal for the rest of your life, what would it be?

ask.revival 2024

tossup between like... kaiseki/sushi OR korean bbq

bc here is the logic right -- you get all ur food groups: protein, carbs, fiber, in one go. and it's usually pretty healthy!

[velvetineblue]

lynnie mentioned a "tseng family barbecue" and i'm so obsessed with the image of that akjhjkaj it's an incredible picture in my mind everyone is having a good time. tai's dad is grilling premium kobe beef steaks like 'who wants some MEAT', looking super sexy and dilf-like at the grill ... meanwhile tai is in the corner like

i hate you i hate you i hate you, i'm crushing you with my MIND

[mxwhore]

[headphonemouse]

Nothing in my life has ever tasted as good as how I imagine cartoon meat that looks like this tastes