#its actually colder inside the house than it is outside

[awildwriter]

i wanted to have already had my agathario fic posted because I’m about to see wicked

gotta brace for that to consume me for a hot minute

[harus-simp]

Wearing their clothes (maknae line)

Shen Ricky, Kim Gyuvin, Park Gunwook, Han Yujin

Genre: fluffy fluff

Warning: none

Word count: 1.1 K

Author's note: Here's part 2 hope you enjoy it <3

Hyung line

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How would your amazing boyfriend possibly react when he sees their partner wearing his clothes?

Ricky

♡~♡~♡~♡~♡~♡~♡~♡~♡

Another day with ricky another day were you were being spoiled by your boyfriend. He specially loved to invite you to dinner dates, seeing you all dressed up for him made his heart race, you looked like a beautiful doll, and he couldn't believe you were his.

You were coming back from a new restaurant near your house so you went there walking and you were returning like that as well. However, it was now much colder than it was before, so you were fighting against the freezing wind.

Luckily for you, ricky noticed this and offered you his jacket, saying that he is felt hot (he was obviously lying).

As you got home you plopped yourself on the sofa still with the jacket on and without the intention of taking it off at all.

"I see you like my jacket babe"

"Yeah, it's really comfy"

He laughed at your slightly tipsy tone, the champagne you had drank making a little bit of effect.

"I'll get you one so we can match"

You looked at him panicking.

"Noooo, I want yours"

"Why?"he asked smirking curiously

"Cause it smells like youuuu"

That made his smirk disappear completely and be replaced with a shy little smile, his cheeks turning red as well.

The way you literally had his heart and whole being at your mercy was driving him completely crazy. He wrapped his arms around your waist and carried you to your shared room.

"You don't know how much I love you babe"

"Mhmm love you too"you said after kissing his cheek

"Alright, let's get you to bed"

Gyuvin

☆~☆~☆~☆~☆~☆~☆~☆~☆

After lots of bickering from your tall ass and lazy baby you finally got him to go out with you to the cinema as a movie you had been waiting for had came out recently, and there was no way you weren't going.

So you decided to bring gyuvin with you to watch it together.

You got to the venue were the cinema was located at and now was waiting for him to not be late or else you would kill him because you really wanted to see that film.

You had picked your outfit really blindly without paying that much attention, so you grabbed a hoodie that was laying on your chair.

You recognised it as one of gyuvin's hoodies, actually one of his most used ones. But that wouldn't stop you from using. On the contrary, that impulsed you to wear it even more.

Ten minutes before the movie started you finally watched him running towards you at full speed because he obviously was late.

"I'm so sorry baby I lost track of time, let's get going"

You nodded and grabbed his hand pulling him inside the place.

The movie finished and you got out quite happy with the end of the plot and so did gyu.

But suddenly your boyfriend looked at you with a shocked expression.

"Hey, that's my hoodie, give it back!"

"But I'm your partner gyu, you should give it to me"

"No it's mine, you hoodie stealer"he said tickling playfully your side to make you break

"Nooooo"you started bickering back

But all jokes aside (we know how playful he can be) he actually lived for that sight before him, he felt enchanted by you and wanted to keep this beautiful memory forever.

Gunwook

♡~♡~♡~♡~♡~♡~♡~♡~♡

It had been a long and hard week of school and the least you wanted to do at the moment was to go outside. But you had already made the promise to gunwook to have a stroll at the park and you didn't want to make your pookie sad.

So that's were you were right now, resting a bit on a little bench to see families with their children and people with their beloved pets.

"The weather's nice huh?"he said

"I wouldn't talk too early pookie, it can change at any moment"

And just as you predicted the air suddenly became colder making you shiver from its spontaneity, hugging yourself in the process.

"See I told you to watch your words wookie!"you playfully hit him

You kept hugging yourself not expecting gunwook to notice, so it came as a surprise when he suddenly stopped walking and asked you about it.

"Are you cold baby?"

"Oh, yeah a little bit"you responded giggling at his shocked face

"And where's your jacket?"

"I might have left it in class"

At this he instantly took off his own jacket and helped you put it on, folding the sleeves so it didn't cover you entirely.

"Thanks wookie"you said smiling at him

His immediate response was to grab your cheeks and squish them lovingly looking at you with heart eyes.

"Are you always this cute?"

"No, only for you"

That was it, he couldn't stand how cute you were, how everyone could see this side of you and only him.

"I'm tired let's head to your house and cuddle"

Yujin

☆~☆~☆~☆~☆~☆~☆~☆~☆

On a random and boring day of summer you and yujin were lazily laying on his bed without anything to do other than show each other memes that were on your phones. But nothing that interesting to be honest.

And you were starting to get quite irritated from not doing anything productive in itself, it was such a waste of your time and your holidays.

However, you just got the best idea ever, you'd be trying some clothes from yujin knowing damn well that, despite his soft and delicate looks was a tough and muscular figure.

At last, curiosity got the best of you,so while he was distracted enough you went through his closet in search of something to try on, and as you got back with something good you picked his interest turning all his attention on you.

"What are you doing y/nnie?"

"Got bored so I'm trying your clothes, do I look like you?"you asked posing like you were on a runway show

"Pffff, not at all, you look tiny. You are so small"he said laughing

"Not my problem you are an early developed teen!"you shot back sticking your tongue out.

You knew he was teasing you, of course you knew it. But looking at how red his ears had turned you figured out he thought the opposite of what he actually said.

And you were right, the way he blushed as he saw how his hoodie was draping down to your knees made his mind go crazy.

But what can we say? Young kids in love <3

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Taglist: @zumblrnet

[asunsetgrace16]

✧ 𝗖𝗨𝗧𝗢𝗙𝗙𝗦 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗧𝗔𝗡𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗘𝗦⎥𝗕𝗖92

Pairing: Brandt Clarke x fem!reader

Summary: It is a good thing that Canadians find California warm enough for shorts and swimsuits for the majority of the year because Brandt likes nothing better than to come home to find you in a bikini top and cutoff shorts.

Warnings: none. Just a flirty, hopelessly in love Brandt Clarke

Notes: Headcanon: "thanks the L.A. weather for getting to see you in bikini tops and shorts for most of the year"

masterlist⎥ navigation

Word Count: 1k

70 degrees and sunny in the middle of March. A far cry from growing up in Northern Ontario. Y/N and Ines Kopitar, who has taken Y/N under her wing as Brandt gets more and more games with the Kings, are lounging by the pool at Ines’ house. 

“God, I can’t believe it is this nice out. I keep expecting a blizzard any time. I can definitely get used to this.” Y/N says, eyes shaded by sunglasses.

“Yeah, I’d imagine Northern Ontario is much colder this time of year.” Ines replies, a smile gracing her face. 

“But I am not one to complain.” They clink their glasses of margarita, share a laugh, and the conversation flows on. Before long, however, Y/N gets a text from Brandt, saying that they are on their way back from practice.

“The boys are on their way back.” She announces. Ines checks her watch.

“It is that time. You two will stay for supper?” She asks. They gather their towels and books, making their way inside.

“Of course. What were you planning?”

“I was thinking fish tacos, something light. The boys can snack on something before if they need.”

“I can make a dip, if you like. They can bend the nutrition plan rules a little.” Y/N offers, pushing her sunglasses up on her head as they step inside.

“That would be great, actually. I’ve got the recipe down pat, so I can get it going fast. We should be ready to eat an hour after the boys get back.” Ines directs Y/N to the fridge, and they start gathering all the ingredients and supplies to make dinner. Y/N pulls out a saucepan and tosses thinly sliced onions in with butter to caramelize. Ines pulls mangoes, red onion, jalapenos, cilantro, lime juice, and red pepper to make a salsa. While the onions cook down, Y/N blends an avocado, some jalapeno, and lime to make a sauce, before mixing together the base for the dip. The fish is battered and frying when the Anze calls out their arrival.

“In, we’re home. It smells fantastic in here.” He and Brandt stop short in the doorway. They wear identical looks on their faces, as both Y/N and Ines simply pulled on a pair of cutoff denim shorts after the afternoon in the sun, leaving their bikini tops on. He swings around to the stove and captures Ines for a kiss, “What creation are you making tonight?”

“Fish tacos and Y/N is making a dip.” Ines answers, flipping a piece of fish.

Brandt goes over to Y/N, mimicking Anze. He kisses her neck. With warm hands on her hips he says in his ever playful manner, “You look even better than the food does, baby. Is that french onion dip?”

Y/N laughs, her head is back resting on his shoulder and teases, “Yes it is. Not even five minutes and you are already thinking about food?”

“Hey, you can’t blame a guy, no one makes it better than you do.” Brandt swipes some of the dip, “Besides,” he whispers in Y/N’s ear, “It would be rude to leave early, as much as I want to.”

A shiver runs down her spine at the silent promise. She swats him with the towel draped over her shoulder and sets him and Anze to making the mango salsa for the tacos. Somewhere, Brandt procures a speaker and starts a random playlist playing. A playful energy fills the kitchen, and a towel war breaks out. The group eats standing around the kitchen island, the conversation never ceasing. As the saying goes, many hands make light work as the dishes are washed and put away, leftovers tucked safely in the fridge for tomorrow’s lunch. 

Anze lights a fire outside when the sun begins its descent. They move outside with hoodies on and quilts bundled in their arms. Almost as an afterthought, Anze sprints back inside and grabs marshmallows, chocolate, and graham crackers to make s’mores. Both Y/N and Ines crack a  yawn. The night is dark and a chill is settling in before Brandt and Y/N notice the time. 

“I guess it’s time to head out.” Brandt says, “Nice that we have an off-day tomorrow.”

“Yeah, it’s later than I thought. Thank you for dinner, as always. And the company. It was wonderful.” Y/N follows up, folding her borrowed blanket as she stands. Stretching, she yawns once again. 

“Oh any time. We like you guys. You restore some youthful energy.” Anze jokes.

“You’re not that old yet. You can still skate circles around half the league.” Brandt comments as they make their way inside. Goodbyes are said and Brandt’s hockey bag is loaded into the back of their vehicle. The late hour makes the drive home faster than usual. Y/N dozes off not long after buckling up. The moonlight streaming through the window throws shadows over her face, silvery highlights make her look so peaceful. It makes Brandt’s breath catch in his throat. He is so in love it hurts.

“C’mon sweetheart, we’re home.” Brandt murmurs, reaching over Y/N to unbuckle her seatbelt. She climbs out of the car and leans into him. The walk to their apartment is short.

“I think I could fall asleep standing up at this point,” She mumbles, face tucked into his shoulder as the door to their apartment is unlocked.

“Me too. I vote we get ready for bed as fast as we can, and then we can just fall into bed.”

Sounds like a plan.” They move quickly through their nighttime routines. Brushing teeth, washing faces, grabbing pajamas. He flicks off the big light and turns on the bedside lamps. Y/N tosses her hoodie out the open bathroom door and changes into more comfortable shorts. Denim is cute, but not all that comfortable to sleep in and certainly not her choice of sleepwear.

“Babe, can you come untie me? There’s a knot now and I can’t quite get it undone.” Y/N calls. He comes back into the bathroom and gets the knot out of her bikini top.

“You’ve got some tan lines, baby.” He kisses her shoulder.

“Hmmm. You can appreciate them tomorrow.”

[erabundus]

❝  ...  you  wouldn't  know  it's such  an  ISSUE from the outside looking in,  but  people actually  get  topographic  and  topological  confused  more  often  than  you  think.  ❞

❝ i see.  ❞

❝  you  get  it!  you're  sooo  smart,  ren  —  of  course  you  do!  but  this  government  lady  who  hired  us  had  no  idea  what  she  was  talking  about.  there  was  this  one  time ...  ❞

the  streamer  drowns  out  the  rest  of  his  words  until  they  become  little  more  than  an  indistinct  blur.  (  white  noise,  humming  along  in  the  background.  )  he  traces  the  edge  of  his  glass  with  one  painted  nail.  the  drink  inside  is  a  dark  shade  of  red  like  pooled  blood  —  it  tastes  like  SOUR  CHERRIES  and  makes  his  mouth  go  a  bit  numb.  not  bad,  but  not  nearly  enough  to  give  him  the  buzz  he's  looking  for,  even  after  two  of  them.  it's  been  ages  since  ren  last  went  to  THE ABYSS;  long  enough  that  the  cocktail menu  is  entirely  different.  he  wishes  he  could  remember  what  his  usual  order  was  called,  but  he's  fairly  certain  the  name  has  been  changed  to  something  unrecognizably  pretentious ... assuming it hasn't been scrapped entirely.

ren  raises  the  glass  to  his  lips  and  takes  a  shallow  sip.  this  was  a  bad  idea;  he  wants  to  go  HOME.

it's  a  bit  funny  how  difficult  that  word  is  to  define  these  days.  is  home  niwa's  house  —  and  the  guest  room  he's  so  selfishly  set  his  roots  in?  is  home  the  apartment,  hollow  and  lonely  like  the  tomb  he  spent  his  childhood  languishing  about?  if  home  is  some  fantastical  thing  that  could  be  found  within  ANOTHER  PERSON,  he  thinks  he's  probably  been  evicted.  it  was  only  a  matter  of  time  —  and  that  house  turned  out  to  be  a  great  deal  colder  than  its  inviting  exterior  made  it  out  to  be.  the  ceiling  leaked  when  it  rained  and  the  hot  water  ran  out  too  quickly,  but  it's  hard  to  say  whether  it's  worse  than  being  stuck  out  on  the  streets.  (  alone  and  shivering.  )  perhaps  he  was  simply  so  enamored  with  the  idea  of  having  a  roof  over  his  head  that  he  was  willing  to  take  ANYTHING.  he  isn't  sure.  he  isn't  going  to  try  to  pretend  he's  been  close  to  perfect  —  but  he  doesn't  think  the  lion's  share  of  the  blame  rests  on  his  shoulders ...  for  once.

it's  around  that  time  the  streamer  realizes  the  background  chatter  has  come  to  an  abrupt  stop.  cartographer  guy  (  because  he  still  REFUSES  to  learn  his  name  )  is  looking  at  him  expectantly,  and  ren  slowly lowers  his  glass  in  response.  ❝  um.  what?  ❞

❝  oh!  i'm  sorry,  did  you  not  hear  me?  ❞  ugh.  why  is  he  so  fucking  nice.  it's  nauseating.   ❝  so  far,  i've  been  the one doing  all  the  chatting ...  but  i  invited  you  out  to  catch  up!  ❞   he  flashes  an  awkward  little  smile  that  the streamer  does  not  reciprocate.  ❝  how  have  you  been?  ❞

... oh.  perfect.  talking  about  himself.  as  if  this  entire  conversation  wasn't  miserable  enough  already.   ❝  great.  ❞  he  replies  tersely.  ❝  just  great. doing fine.  ❞

❝  yikes ...  that  badly,  huh?  ❞  the  glare  ren  shoots  his  way  has  him  holding  up  both  hands  in  faux-surrender.  ❝  sorry,  sorry!  geez,  if  looks  could  kill ...  ❞   words  trail  off  with  a  faint  laugh.   ❝  um ...  listen,  i  know  we  barely  know  each  other,  but  even  i  could  tell  there  was  something  STRANGE  about  how  quickly  you  agreed  to  this.  don't  get  me  wrong  —  i'm  thrilled  to  be  here!  ❞  the  streamer  arches  a  skeptical  brow.  ❝  really.  and  i'm also  sorry  if  i'm  crossing  a  line  by  saying  this,  but  —  !  ❞

❝ you are.  ❞

❝  but!  ❞  he  raises  a  finger.  ❝  it  seems  to  me  like  maybe  you're  just  looking  for  a  DISTRACTION.  ❞   and  something  about  the  look  on  ren's  (  traitorously  expressive  )  face  must  CONFIRM  that  theory,  because  it  gives  the  cartographer  the  confidence  to  continue.  ❝  if  something  is  bothering  you,  i'm  willing  to  shut  up  and  listen.  i've  heard  it  can  be  pretty  cathartic  —  you  know,  venting?  ❞

venting.  the  streamer's  gaze  flicks  down  to  his  drink.  he  tilts  it  to  and  fro,  watching  the  single  cherry  swimming  around  its  crimson  contents  sway  from  the  movement.   ❝  you  really  don't  want  to.  ❞  he  says  flatly.  ❝  i'm  a little above  your  pay  grade.  ❞

❝  aw,  c'mon!  i  might  surprise  you!  ❞  a  disbelieving  sigh.  ❝  okay,  well.  how  often  do  we  actually  meet  face  to  face  like  this?  or  talk  —  at  all?  ❞   that  much  is  at  least  enough  to  have  ren  look  back  up  again.  ❝  see?  this  is  basically  as  close  as  completely  anonymous  as  you're  going  to  get.  nooo  strings  attached.  ❞   he  wiggles  his  fingers  as  if  to  EMPHASIZE  the  absence  of  these  imaginary  strings. ❝ i can't promise i'll be able to dispense some sagely advice in return, but it has to be better than keeping everything BOTTLED UP inside! right? ... no pun intended.  ❞ 

he  swallows  back  the  compulsion  to  ask  what  the  aforementioned  pun  actually  is.  ❝  if  you  tell  anyone,  i'll  kill  you.  ❞

❝ sure!  ❞ ... disgustingly chipper.

❝  ...  ❞  ren  stares  into  his  drink  for  a  moment,  expression  wrought  with  indecision.  he's  reluctant  to  open  up  to  anyone  —  even  the  few  he  finds  himself  feeling  particularly  CLOSE  with.  much  less  a  stranger  with  an  apparent  propensity  for  meddling  in  matters  far  beyond  what  he  has  any  right  to.  nosy  bastard,  the  streamer  thinks,  brow  furrowing  in  wordless  disdain.  at  the  same  time,  he  would  have  SHOT  DOWN  the  offer  long  ago  if  it  wasn't  tempting.  at  least,  tempting  enough  to  warrant  serious  consideration.  his  thoughts  are  a  tangled  mess  and  his  emotions  ugly  and  obscure  enough  to  confuse  even  ren  himself.  he  doesn't  want  to  subject  anyone  in  their  ragtag  social  circle  to  what  poison  steeps  in  the  depths  of  his  consciousness.  frankly,  if  the streamer  could  exit  his  own  head  as  easily  as  he  could  a  car,  he knows he  would  do  so  in  an  INSTANT.  ❝  ... fine.  ❞  fine.  against  his  better  judgement.  he  downs  the  rest  of  his  drink  in  one  go  to  the  sound  of  an  impressed  hum.

❝ ... but buy me something STRONGER than this — i'm going to need it.  ❞

[mrbexwrites]

Writing Whispers

Accepting @sarahlizziewrites open tag for this, as an excuse to dive into the archives and see how far I've come.

Rules: find a few paragraphs of writing from as long ago as you can. Re-write them how you would now.

Gently tagging @words-after-midnight @queen-tashie @deanwax @cee-grice and offering up an open invite to balance out the one I took! ;)

I actually have a good comparison project from my very first attempt at writing (and finishing) a novel!) It's from an old high fantasy project that I never did quite get round to finishing, but did attempt to re-write one NaNo a few years back.

2003

From where she crouched on her vantage point, Ylarae could survey the entire grounds of the townhouse she now perched upon. Hidden in the shadows of the stone gargoyles that stood as silent protectors against evil, she watched the Numen Warriors make their rounds as guests at the party stepped outside and mingled with one another, quickly heading back indoors when the colder weather forced them back.  Gaining entry to the townhouse had been surprising easy, despite the many guards that patrolled the perimeter. She had, with ease, scaled the wall that lead into a voluptuous rose garden, a skeletal twining of branches in the dead of winter. Keeping to the shadows, she had slipped silently past two of the Numen guards who stood shivering in their boots, trying to pull their thick woolen cloaks tighter about them. Once past the guards, she grabbed hold of the iron cast gutters and used them to scale the thick grey stone walls of the house.  Inside the house, she could hear the soft cadence of the music intermingled with laughter as it filtered through the open windows. The lady of the house was holding a party and Ylarae was using the distraction of the multitude of guests as a disguise to hide her presence within the grounds. Her footprints in the snow were lost within the steps of the partygoers as some sought nightly congress with masked strangers. The suspicion of who stole the necklace would fall on one of the guests, rather than looking outside.  Ylarae smiled despite herself; this was easier than she thought. All she had to do was break in, steal the necklace and then leave it in the hollow of the Hanging Tree in Byre’s Wood where she would find her fee. Ylarae disliked being used in such a menial task and had asked why Gristle could not do it himself. Each time, he merely laughed, a sound almost akin to a bear’s, and told her that she was the one to retrieve it. Despite her loathing of being used as a common thief, Ylarae found it impossible to refuse Gristle’s orders. Just thinking of the necklace caused her to shift with impatience, longing to get her hands on it, and have this menial task completed.   Shifting her weight to ease the cramp on her legs, Ylarae’s crossbow dug into her back. This once again ignited her ire at being used as a mere burglar. She was a highly skilled assassin, one of the best. She was trained in the shadow arts and the secrets of covert killing. But her most valuable abilities she had inherited from her mother.

2021

Her fingers tingled as she knelt atop one of the stone gargoyles that protected the perimeter wall. Carved out of granite, the stonemasons had imbued the stone with magic to ward off evil and protect those who lived inside.  It was an old magic, and ironic that these sentinels were being used to guard the very people who had scorched the earth and were trying to wipe magic from it.  Ylarae ran a gloved hand over the glyph-marks that had been etched into the creature’s head, rendering it nothing more than stone; the magic dissipated.  “What a shame,” she whispered to herself. “You would have stopped me, there is no doubt.”  She slid to a crouch beside the stone beast, hidden in its shadow as she watched the guards make another loop of the skeletal rose garden. In the summer, it would be a sight to behold; a manicured lawn with knee-height hedge mazes, flower beds and the roses that climbed to reach one another across the gravel path, forming an arch.  Light spilled out of the manor house, casting long shadows across the garden. Laughter, music and the sounds of glasses clinking filled the night air.  Gristle had told her to expect a heavily fortified home, given who lived here, but the party had been unexpected. Normally, she would have slunk back into the shadows, and returned later, but an urge, a need, pushed her onwards.  She surveyed the garden once more; she could balance her way along the wall and climb up into the house, but risk being seen by one of the guards. Or she could loop round the garden, which appeared to be the safer option, despite losing her vantage point.  A few guests would come out of the manor to mingle, have a quick stroll or to seek a quiet corner for congress in the shadows. But they never stayed out long, the cold pulling them back inside the house. A light dusting of snow covered the garden, but with wandering couples and the patrolling guards, any footsteps she left behind would be quickly lost amongst others.  As the guards passed once more, she tried to still her heart that was racing in her chest. Her hands trembled at the urgency to get going. Normally on a night like this, when she would be hunting, a placid calm fell upon her, but not tonight; tonight she was filled with electricity and need.  She dropped from the wall, landing silently on the lawn, only a few snowflakes drifting down behind her. On cat-like reflexes, she ran in a low crouch along the perimeter wall, staying to the shadows.  The shutters that hung from the wall, along with the iron-cast gutters made a simple ladder she used to scale the building.  Balancing on a third floor window ledge, she drew one of her twin blades that she kept in her sleeves, and popped the latch open. Her fingertips burned as she wriggled them under the window frame and slid it open enough for her to climb inside.  The third floor of the manor  was dark, and most likely off limits to the guests downstairs.  She stepped hastily away from the window, pressing her back against the wall; the last thing she wanted was to be outlined in the moonlight and easily visible. She knelt behind a dresser and waited for her eyes to adjust. She slipped off her gloves, feeling her heart pound. A cold sweat formed on her brow, which she wiped away, frowning at the perspiration.  The burning sensation in her fingers traveled further up towards her hands, and she balled them into fists trying to stop the feeling. 

[nakedanddismayed]

i'm writing this entire day down bc one year later it's fresh in my brain, but i never want to forget any of the details.

i wake up at 6a, still jetlagged from getting to the u.s. just days ago. it's still dark, but light floods into my room from the bathroom. i slept with its light on. there was energy in the house that didn't belong to any of us. i get up and tiptoe downstairs as to not wake my friends, but the old house creaked with any weight i placed on it. i go to sit on the couch downstairs, but lantern flies have already taken the vacancy. i try for too long to unlock the glass door to outside, and the chill kisses me immediately. it's quiet except for the birds who have already started their day and the lake sprinkler that never slept. ceremony seats are already poised down the hill. the sun has started her rise. it's cloudy, but no sight of rain. that's all i can ask.

i walk barefoot across the cold road to grab a pen from my car. i grab my tea from yesterday, now colder than ever from spending overnight outside. i climb the winding stairs back to the bedroom, and turn on my fireplace with a push of a button. i put my airpods in and play the song I'll hear when I walk down the aisle. turning page. i transcribe my vows from phone to paper. i close my eyes. time passes. i feel completely at peace. and then my favorite people in the world wake.

i order breakfast for us and we pile into the van my parents have lent me to pick up our food. i run a redlight. we laugh loudly. we are later than i wanted to be, so i instruct 2 of my friends to jump out and grab our waiting food. minutes pass, and melanie and i go inside to see what's going on. no sign of our food. staff complains about being understaffed, but have our food before too long. but coffee has to be skipped. that's okay. we head back. my mua is unpacking her car, my coordinator asks for the keys to mine. we head inside, and my mua asks who is going first, and while i expect it to be me, it wasn't. I go towards the end. so what's one to do other than complete the coffee run. side quest. i realize i don't have access to my car, so for the first time, brooke drives me. we laugh loudly in the car. i feel honored for the relationship to have grown how it did while i was so far away. it's in a grocery store. oh no. i dont have my phone which is also my wallet bc it was playing music for the house. oh no. brooke offers to pay, i hate that. it's okay because she gets stars. except its a grocery store- they offer no stars. oh no. she is totally okay with it, but i still feel bad. we wait and we talk. her nose ring falls onto the grocery store floor. disaster. but we laugh. i carry four coffees on my lap as we head back safely. getting ready goes by in a flash, but the highlights:

brooke yelling from upstairs: "NO WAY. NO FUCKING WAY." against all odds, she found the ball to her nose ring in her bed.

morgan looking at herself in the mirror: "I've never looked like this before."

the flowers getting dropped off silently. we all look at each other and laugh. the flowers are beautiful. i was worried white would be too plain - i switched from red & red to just white weeks ago. the decision has paid off.

checking Shawn's location, no movement. he was definitely still asleep. luckily i told him i wanted him there one hour than i actually did.

my mom coming in, looking the most beautiful she ever has. i was worried she'd be obsessive over this day. she has a tendency to overcorrect, especially when I'm stressed. but she's not overbearing. she doesn't ask too many questions. she said she felt the energy as soon as she walked in: we were all just happy to be there.

s and his friends play football on the property, while my friends do a walkthrough of the ceremony. i'm unable to join lest s sees me. blue sky is peeking out behind clouds. it could turn out to be a beautiful day.

i open my gift from s. a tiffany necklace of a knot. it couldnt be more perfect. i'm unable to contain my emotions.

s & i do our first look and we are so excited to see each other. pictures feel natural. i'm lucky to be with someone who understands and appreciates pictures. my heels sink in the grass, so s carries me from place to place. our friends join us and it's easy.

it won't be long now.

we wait in our seperate quarters. my brother sit at the piano, and asks what we want to hear by taylor swift. my girls and i sing love story. it feels like an actual dream. i fix a curl. my dad pulls a slipper stuck in my veil and we laugh about if i got to the altar, slipper in tow. minutes later we realized a second slipper was still hidden in the fabric.

everyone lines up. my dad and i stay behind. he says when we approach the top of the stairs, wait and take it all in. he's in the middle of a monologue about how proud he is of me, when i hear the song S picked out: home.

everyone is out there. and then my descent song starts. it's crowded with people, but i can't take my eyes off s. with each step, my veil gets stuck on the last, but i keep my head as high as i can. i don't trip, but i'm shaking. i probably have all of my weight on my dad.

we get to the front and i stand in front of shawn. he has cried.

do we hold hands? we didnt discuss this. we stand feet apart. just smiling. the pastor doesn't say what I asked him to, but at least he doesn't dive into a religious tangent like he did to us days ago. s and i read our vows. time stands still. and then in an instant it was over. my parents talk about my vows, and say it sounds like i could write them professionally. but i just had way too much time on my hands on my drives in korea.

after family pictures, everyone gives us time alone. shawn's sister brings us snacks and alcohol. s and i sit in the white chairs and talk and laugh and eat and drink. we catch up. we quote our favorite show in the words of "patinkin," signaling it's time to go be social.

and the rest of the night is a blur.

talking to hundreds of people. my high school friends telling me they had a group chat to all arrive at the same time. dancing with my friends. sitting by the fire for just a minute before it went out. eating desserts. smiling until my face hurt. the perfect day. no issues. my favorite people in the entire world.

[pokemonlunarregion]

Lunar forms of the base starters in the region. However unlike other regions in this one the starters are offered by the main characters mom, who may or may not be more involved in someway in everything than one may think, then she gifts a pokedex claiming to have gotten it from a friend awhile ago but that the main character will probably have more use in it than she will.

The rival is the main character’s sister who gets the other starter with the mom keeping the last remaining starter.

The starters have hardly ever been seen as very few of it or even its evolutions are owned in this region, none that the main character will battle or find out has one.

Top is normal and bottom is shiny. 

Evolutions will be drawn up later. For right now I am starting with the base forms. 

Region: A region of eternal night as scientists created plants that could grow in moonlight, though there is some places that try to create artificial lights for the plants that couldn’t grow in the moonlight. The moon still changing to different fullness percents with times there is no moon visible.

Region name: Lunar region.

Type: Chikorita fire. Fennekin water. Piplup grass.

Ability: Chikorita blaze. Fennekin torrent. Piplup overgrow.

Description: Chikorita is a fire type pokemon that constantly has its fire blazing and if the blaze is low it usually an indication that something is wrong, such as being really sick. This pokemon is able to walk across hot coals and in fact will even enjoy laying on hot coals for a bed if available. It can shot ember like fire balls from its mouth, mostly as a defense mechanism, though is known to not be able to shoot out a full blast of flames. It prefers warm or even hot food over any sort of cold food and will even turn away food that is visibly very wet, which it is believed that this is because took much wetness can harm it due to its internal parts tending to be on the warmer side. It does stick by a trainer that has gained its trust, which can actually be quite easy with this pokemon, and even keep it warm with its flame if the trainer is cold. 

Fennekin is a water type pokemon that is built for colder water temperatures. It has extra fluff in order to keep itself warm during even ice cold swims without any issues. It’s ears are on the larger side and is able to pick up sounds underwater from across the distance of an entire lake. It has a transparent second eyelid that it can shift to cover its eyes to allow it to see underwater without issue. It mostly swims using its paws to paddle around easily, though if it needs to increase its speed then it will spin its tails around like a propeller to shoot itself forward; the speeds it can reach when using its tails is actually measured to be 298KM/H with the fastest Fennekin being clocked in as moving 321KM/H which is a record no other Fennekin has managed to beat... But this Fennekin passed away after living a full life with its beloved trainer so a statue was placed outside of a racetrack stadium in remembrance. It is the most sought after for the record one made, though anyone who owns one is very picky about anyone they breed one for to not make this pokemon just one to push to try to beat a record. It will stick by its trainer though will wander the house also liking its own alone time. It prefers land to water though is able to hold its breath for two hours underwater. It can even float effortlessly usually to relaxingly paddle around the surface for a relaxing small swim. 

Piplup is a grass type pokemon who is known to make its own beds out of leaves it can find. It creates birdhouse like nests for itself with these leaves and only will let its trainer even so much as peek inside. It will also make leaf wraps for other pokemon the trainer owns if that pokemon so much as shivers. It does this as since it cares for its trainer than anything else that the trainer owns or cares about is seen as important to this pokemon. It will even try to defend its trainers home from anyone who steps onto the property line if it feels that person is a threat. It enjoys laying in areas of simulated sunshine especially by a window that it can look outside of at any point without having to get up. Its head leaf will raise three centimeters at most when in strong simulated sunlight. It also really enjoys being lightly watered with anything that matches with the flow of a watering can. 

   Lore: Chikorita in the past was overhunted as its fire power to be drained to warm homes. To the point that in the present there are not very many remain, alternative measures of warming up homes have since been made as technology advanced so these pokemon were no longer hunted for this. Its overhunting became stories to help teach people on how to avoid hunting pokemon to extinction. It is highly protected though a few people have one to teach children about the wrongs of the past to harness its power, by forcing it to spit up fire until it no longer could, thus becoming used more as a program pokemon than a battle pokemon. It is thus seen as not really a threat in a fight and so its power tends to be underestimated whenever it is sent into battle; which isn’t often due to being seen more as a program pokemon. However due to it being overhunted to help warm homes thus caused the belief that if a house went up in flames, from the heating system failing, people would claim that it is because it is the vengeful spirit of the pokemon that were used to make it instead of it being faulty equipment. 

Fennekin used to be believed to not be a water type pokemon when it was first discovered. It used to be believed that reports of its activity in the water were pushed aside as if anyone that claimed it were liars. With any water attacks it can do, mainly bubble beam, were seen as just a move it is able to learn like other pokemon who can learn moves not of its type. A lot of people believed that this pokemon was actually flying until finally its water activities were finally proven to people strongly enough for them to accept it. They used to be only found in colder locations in the past though it become more widespread across the land. Until its numbers went down during a time when low water levels hit across the region for two years, only three and a half years before the eternal night hit the land, where these pokemon were put into basically slavery along with other water type pokemon that don’t need to live in water to cool people down. This caused its numbers to go down a lot as many got neglected to be squeeze money from people to take advantage of the situation at hand. Now it is only owned by those who are more willing to take care of it and are picky about who they send any spare ones from breeding to. It has become seen as a pokemon that should only be owned by those who are willing to go the extra mile to show the care it deserves from the hardship that the species suffered years ago. 

Piplup was first discovered by some adventurers who when they reported their sightings were believed to be mistaking some new plant for a pokemon. It wasn’t until a live specimen was caught that people found out it was real. It is a very cautious pokemon that blends into forest like surroundings easily. It prefers to hide and try to blend in to not be found if it doesn’t trust someone. It is rumored to even have first started life as an icy tundra kind of pokemon that went to look for a place with more food, thus changing into the grass pokemon that is known today, despite that there isn’t any proof of such a theory being true. It became used in the past to create nests for pokemon of those who are willing to pay plenty of money for it. It was thus only owned by those who are business people with money so its numbers remained on the lower side. It is seen as masters of building high quality nests hence its high status in the past, before more options for pokemon to rest in at their own homes became more widespread. Its nests are still sold at high prices as an even more luxurious nest for a pokemon to rest in compared to the past. It is the inspiration behind the designs of pokemon beds that are sold as it is believed to be the best of the best designs. 

Design inspiration: Chikorita: Quilava design, fire type pokemon that have fluff on them, and general fire type pokemon colors.

Fennekin: Tails from Sonic, Vaporeon (it may not seem like it but while doing Fennekin’s design I kept thinking of this pokemon), Buizel line, and Warrior cat fan designs with fluffy neck fur.

Piplup: Chikorita’s leaf on its head, Chikorita’s evolutions with leaves/flower around its neck, and general penguin look.

For all: Good shiny versions of pokemon like shiny pokemon with blue flames or even fan versions of Leafeon shiny version based on autumn colors.

Lunar region is a region that I have thought about making. I will be making more Pokémon and variants for this region.

[rogerperron]

From Roger Perron: Awesome August Homeowner Tips

Hello,

August has some beautiful sunny days and sunsets.  The sunshine can actually improve our health, so be sure to spend some time outside this month.

Here are some great August homeowner tips. A great time to prep your furnace for the winter

One good tip would be to get your furnace inspected, tuned and cleaned as needed during the summer by a reputable HVAC company (HVAC stands for “heating, ventilation and air conditioning.”)

That way, when you turn your heating on for the first time in the colder months, it will be working reliably and smoothly. Get it prepped and tuned now to ensure your coziness and safety when the cooler weather arrives. Give the refrigerator door gasket a cleaning and check for leaks

The refrigerator door gasket is a flexible elastic strip attached to the outer edge of a refrigerator. The freezer compartment also has one. The gasket is designed to form an air-tight seal that serves as a barrier between the cooler air inside the frig and the warmer environment outside.

Cleaning the door gaskets enables you to check for cracks or tears that can let the cold air escape. If you see any, replace the gasket. Check smoke detectors

To test your smoke detectors or carbon monoxide detectors, press and hold the test button on the detector. It can take a few seconds to begin, but a loud, ear-piercing siren should come from the smoke detector while the button is pressed.

If the sound is weak or absent, replace your batteries. If after changing the batteries it still doesn’t work, replace the detector. Batteries should also be regularly replaced once a year. Block dirt from entering in the front door

Doormats are a lifesaver when it comes to blocking dirt from coming into your home. Keep the summer dirt or sand out by using two or more doormats. For outdoor mats, use weather-resistant, durable materials like woven seagrass or waterproof coconut fibers. An outdoor mat should have textured surfaces.

Indoor mats are best made from plants that create stiff fibers like cactus or cloth fabrics, since they stand up better inside than outside. These won’t scrape off all the dirt but will catch any uncaught debris. All mats should have non-slip backings. Tips for your home exterior

⦁ Keep small animals out of the house by sealing your chimney when its not in use. Also take a look around the attic area and block any vents that are accessible to animals. ⦁ Inspect the siding of your house and take steps to clean any mold or mildew if its growing there. ⦁ Check your driveway, sidewalk and other concrete areas and repair any cracks. ⦁ Inspect your window locks, door locks and garage door locks to make sure all are working properly.

August is a great month for keeping your home safe and in good condition.

Happy Homeownering!

Roger Perron Design and Construction www.RogerPerron.com (323) 664-7001, Ext. 1

[jasminebutintaiwansojiemin]

July 17th, 2024 星期二 - Leaning about Taiwanese Indigenous peoples, Fulbright center, bar-crawl

Woke up at a decent time for once and went to eat brekky around 9am. After eating for a bit and FaceTiming my boyfriend, I met with the rest of my group and we headed to the Fulbright center in Ximen. After the long walk to get there, we were greeted with a poster welcoming UF at the door of the building. We headed up the steep stairs to a classroom style activity room where we were met with several of the Fulbright staff.

We listened to several interesting lectures about the program and its impact before taking a small break to taste different Taiwanese drinks. Surprisingly, the asparagus juice was not that bad. It definitely smelled like asparagus but it tasted like something else I couldn’t quite put my finger on. Aside from that, I also tried a mint tea drink that I hated and a Taiwanese root beer that I did in fact like quite a bit. It tasted almost like candy.

After the break, we went back to the presentations where we played a game to win prizes of Taiwanese snacks. I won the second level so I got oyster flavored chips that I have yet to try. At the end of the presentations, we watched a video celebrating the twenty years of the program in Yilan, before being treated with bento-style lunch boxes. I actually really like the seasoning on the chicken and the rice was definitely interesting.

After we finished at the Fulbright center, we headed to the museum of Taiwanese Aboriginal peoples. The bus ride to the museum was……memorable, to say the least. It was most definitely about 95 degrees because the AC was broken. For my first ride in a Taiwanese bus, it did not leave a good impression as I was melting into my seat. Eventually we did get to our drop off stop and it was quite literally cooler outside than inside the bus….. Besides that, it was honestly very cool to see all the different artifacts and cultural objects, as my father is also Indigenous.

After exploring the four floors of beautiful treasures, we headed to the in-house movie theater to watch a film. Now if you ask me what it was about…….couldn’t tell you. It was completely in Mandarin with Mandarin subtitles but I did get the gist of what was going on (I think but please don’t ask me because I still couldn’t tell you). After the museum, we rode another colder bus back to Shilin metro station, where our tour guide bought us all boba :) He showed us how complicated it is to order boba here haha. We hung out there for a while drinking our tea and taking photos before heading back on the MRT to the hotel.

As soon as I got to the hotel, I gathered my laundry to attempt to wash it for the second time. We eventually found the laundromat and had to Google translate some stuff to figure out how to use the machines. After a bit we figured it out and started washing out clothes. Then while it washed we went and got pasta from a nearby Japanese pasta spot. It was actually pretty good (I got a shrimp pasta thingy). I went to go switch over the clothes while my classmate stayed to get the food. It took me a little while to figure out how to change the $100 into $10 coins, but when I did, I successfully put the clothes to dry. I did then realize, however, that we cannot eat in the laundromat, so we opted to sit on the corner outside.

After we finished laundry, we rushed back to the hotel to speed-get ready for a bar-crawl with our other classmates. The bar-crawl itself was very very very mid, but the last stop was a club that was surprisingly jumping for a Wednesday night. Unfortunately, the club did get raided halfway through, so we kinda awkwardly stood around for about 20-30 minutes. HOWEVER, afterwards the club was even MORE jumping than before. We ended up going home around 3am where I successfully took out my contacts and knocked out face first in my bed.

Academic Reflection

As previously mentioned, I have studied quite a bit on Taiwan, so I did already know some about the indigenous Taiwanese people. Off the top of my head, I can say that 1) Travel writers from Mainland China (I think around the time of the Ming dynasty) visited the island and wrote some not so good things about it. They complained a lot about the weather and high mosquito population (that often carried a lot of illness that mainlanders were not biologically accustomed to), and had some very nasty things to say about the so-called “barbarian” “uncivilized” “savages” they encountered. Something specific that seemed to really bother travel writers who visited Taiwan was the freedoms women enjoyed and behaviors they participated in that were almost opposite of Confucian bound women in Mainland China. Later, when many transients from the Southeastern Chinese provinces moved to the island, the island was broken up into three zones of “savageness” levels. At the more coastal and developed areas, the natives were deemed somewhat acceptable and rather civilized compared to those in other areas. These peoples usually lived in close proximity to the Chinese and traded with them often. In the next zone were those labelled with a medium level of “savageness”, therefore although they had room to grow (and by grow I mean become more “civilized” and “virtuous” in the traditional Confucian sense) contact was limited. The very last zone was usually that of the higher mountains, where native populations were very hostile to the Chinese and were thus painted to be the most “savage”.

*Whew* that was a lot for a quick brain dump.

Today’s readings talked about the discriminations faced by Taiwanese indigenous groups and policies that restrict or support them. Related to what I mentioned earlier about the three levels of “savageness”, the text talked about Cooked Barbarians vs. Plaines Indigenes, and how the former was thought to have the potential to become civilized Chinese citizens while the latter was not. The reading also mentions how per Chinese historically proven fashion, ethnic minorities are incorporated into Chinese civilization via strict assimilation. This was also the case in Taiwan. At the museum, our tour guide mentioned that until rather recently, one couldn’t interact with the public sphere (get an ID card, etc.) without having a Chinese name. For people who are not ethnically Chinese, this meant that people would give their kids Chinese names over names from their mother tongues. Our tour guide also mentioned that even though the ban on non-Chinese names has been long lifted, only few Indigenous peoples have returned to using non-Chinese names.

[percontaion-points]

Delicious Monsters chapters 21 & 22

Today's review might be difficult for some; reader discretion is advised

Click to see the rest of the snark & image descriptions

Click here for the rest of the series!

Chapter 21

I slammed her door shut and rushed to get ready. There was no premade lunch waiting in the fridge, which wasn’t surprising. It was always like this. There would be promises to make life different, and then something would shift, something I couldn’t see that she could, and suddenly it would be over.

This literally lasted a day.

And you wonder why it is that Daisy is so messed up. 

Instead, I found the goat. 

There wasn’t much else to do but stare. It was quiet. No more bleating. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and texted Mom to not let the guests into the greenhouse. 

[...]

I had zero desire to discuss the goat.

I mean, you can guess what happened. 

But actually telling the readers what happened is for fucking squares, I guess. 

I wished that I had Megan’s version of a bad day. A colder-than-usual shower and messy hair. That would be nice.

Chapter 21 summary: Daisy wakes up the next morning to the sound of the goat screaming, and the sound of the birds flapping their wings really hard. The sound of the birds is really triggering to her, because of what happened a week earlier. She finds that the window blind is open, despite the fact that she closed it last night. And her headphones are out, which she’d never do. But she isn’t too worried about the dead, since they’re all attracted to whatever’s in the main house. 

She tries to get Grace to take her across the lake again, but her mum’s motivation to be a good parent has already ended. Daisy is disappointed but not surprised; how can she when it’s like this every couple of months for the two of them? 

As she starts to walk over to where King lives, she sees that there’s already frost on the greenhouse glass, so she goes inside to turn the heater on. Instead, she finds the goat with its throat slashed (the fact of which we don’t discover until the end of the chapter). 

King meets her outside, and they walk over to his house. After Daisy gets into the car, King’s mum comes over and tells Daisy that she’s welcome at their house anytime. Daisy is pretty sure that she won’t take them up on their offer. 

Her school day is glossed over. After school, King has to do grocery shopping for his family, so Daisy decides that if Grace has stopped being a parent, then she’s going to need stuff for lunch every day. As she’s walking around, she runs into one of her classmates, the most bubbly girl that Daisy could find. This was because the happy classmates keep the ghosts away; not because Daisy wanted to be friends. After chatting with Mackenzie a bit, Daisy continues on and sees Katie. She thinks about how different lives that Katie and Grace ended up leaving… But randomly paints Katie as a loser simply because she chose a different path than Grace did. (Yet Katie is the one with the stable job, in a stable marriage, probably not moving from home to home every few months.) 

As they go to check out, Daisy asks King for his phone, and uses it to stalk Noah’s new girlfriend. He immediately identifies Noah as her ex, and then goes on to say that he can get reads on people. But for some reason, not Daisy or Grace. He picked up a bit of info when she was thrashing around in the thornbush, but that’s about it. Daisy tells him to stop being so fucking creepy, and to mind his own goddamned business. Which is kind of fair, NGL.

Chapter 22

I thought about bringing it up with Mom but didn’t. It would just go down like mentioning the worm had.

Pretty sure Daisy could wake up missing an entire arm and Grace would say “It’s all in your head.” 

I got the distinct feeling that little by little, day by day, Mom’s plan was falling apart.

I can’t even pretend to be surprised about this. It’s like she was expecting easy money, and instead, she’s probably pulling back whatever sort of TRAUMA the house caused her 17 years ago. 

“Why did we buy a goat?” I asked. 

Mom’s expression deflated. “Can you just stay on topic and celebrate with me?” 

I pressed my lips into a line. 

“Goat’s milk is good for you.” Mom got her information from a variety of sources, none of which she could accurately cite.

There is literally no way that the ownership and maintenance of a goat (plus the cost of properly pasturing the milk so that you don’t get sick) is somehow less than the cost of going and getting a jug of goat milk from the store. 

But I’m going to file this under “suspicious shit Grace will not stop doing” and move on. 

There was no way the dead in that house wouldn’t eventually create problems. Not to mention, the house must be drawing them in for a reason, and I didn’t think I was wrong to assume that it wasn’t something innocent.

Daisy has already told us that the dead are drawn to misery. Something terrible happened in that house… And judging by Brittany’s chapters, the worst is yet to come. 

She pushed her sunglasses onto the top of her head. “Here we go.”

Chapter 22 summary: Helga and Joe came over and butchered the goat for them. Later, when Daisy tries to ask Grace why she even got a goat, her mom is like “Goat milk is good for you!” without further explanation. I said what I said. Grace is more focused on how popular that the Airbnb is getting than over literally anything else. 

However, as her mum goes to leave, Daisy has a sinking feeling that things aren’t half as good as Grace is making them seem. She knows that no matter what happens, Grace is going to blame her for all of this. 

After Grace leaves for her MYSTERY ERRANDS, Daisy meets up with King and Ivy so that they can go into the main house. In there, Daisy has to move away to avoid being touched by a ghost, and King asks her about it. He also asks about his great aunt who died nearby. But Daisy says that only those unsatisfied in life would linger for so long. But even those would eventually pass over. 

King explains to her that the house, when working correctly, is supposed to attract, trap, and release all of the nearby spirits. His great aunt was drawn to the area, and made a blood pact with the land in order to help keep this running. However, they need the homeowner’s permission to do a “factory reset” on the house. Which they really need to do, since the house is currently only trapping the dead, but not sending them on to the afterlife. 

The three of them start to look around the house after that. King refuses to split up, calling it, and I quote, “White people bullshit.” He’s not wrong. 

[beeseverywhen]

People talk a lot about how our houses are designed to keep heat in here and to an extent yes they are right however I must say, I feel like there's a real untouched market in the fact that there definitely are types of British homes that are particularly good at staying cool. (Well better than the rest).

Which tbh is saying something considering how shit most houses are at actually keeping in heat as they are actually supposed to. (Had a really interesting conversation with a Scandinavian woman who was saying how intolerable English winters are for her because our houses are so poorly insulated that it's a lot harder to keep her home here warm vs the house she had before in a much colder country.)

Anyway I hate estate agents with a passion but I really do think they are missing a trick with their advertising here because in my experience there's a subsection of UK housing that does do a lot better in the heat and they tend to be properties that aren't very desirable for other reasons. So like typically English flats, built in non residential areas in small blocks? Are always so much cooler. Especially those on ground floors/ basement levels, with not many windows. The heat just doesn't reach them. The older ones tend to have thick walls too which really helps and they tend to face in to internal communal hallways, also without many windows, which function like cool boxes.

Keeping my house warm in the winter is nigh impossible but as long as I keep the curtains drawn in the summer it stays consistently cool in here and I think i largely have the lack of windows, few outside walls, the building being overshadowed by the nearby communal buildings to thank for that. During a heatwave it's always the ppl i know in houses like mine that are more comfortable in their houses and its always the ones that keep the windows and curtains closed rather than open (ppl say you should have them open in the day for airflow, those ppl are wrong. It's too humid here for daytime air to make your house any cooler than just keeping the hot air out. These ppl get stuck in a cycle. Once the hot airs in you need to open the windows. If you don't let it in the air inside stays dry and cooler than outdoors.)

[villageandcottage]

How To Insulate an Old Cottage

Living in a quaint old cottage is all well and good until winter rolls around and you realise they can be pretty cold. This is primarily due to their age and building techniques, but it’s possible to do something about it.

In this article, we’ll look at how to insulate an old cottage. Before we get onto that, let’s go over why old cottages are actually cold.

Are Old Cottages Cold?

Old cottages can get pretty cold in autumn and winter. However, they can also remain fairly cool in warmer months, which is an advantage.

That said, insulating a stone cottage will keep it cool in the summer but will help it stay warm in the winter.

Can you Insulate an Old Cottage?

If you were looking to insulate your old cottage the good news is that you can. There are a couple of important points to consider here, which will also impact how you insulate the cottage.

Construction Technique

First, we must think about construction technique. Old cottages, particularly stone, generally, only have a single wall.

It can be fairly thick and have rendering on both sides, but it’s still only one wall between the outside and inside.

Another thing we must consider – although it’s a less important factor – is the potential age of an old cottage. Older buildings are more likely to have gaps in their rendering or small holes due to poorer construction techniques.

Any hole is a bad thing when it comes to retaining heat, and a lot of porous rendering between stones won’t help either.

This means that heat can transfer quite easily, resulting in the stone house being cold in the winter.

Insulation vs. Thermal Mass

Stone is a poor insulator because it doesn’t prevent heat from passing through it. Typically, a good insulator will have a way of trapping heat, such as air pockets or its atomic structure doesn’t allow for the transfer of energy.

However, stone has high thermal mass, which is a different concept from insulation. In short, thermal mass is a material’s ability to absorb, store and radiate heat.

This is different from insulation because the latter involves trapping and/or preventing the transfer of heat energy.

Thermal mass is essentially all about the transfer of heat, focusing on how much a material can absorb and how quickly it then radiates the stored heat energy. It works like this:

1. The stone wall has the sun shine on it. This causes it to absorb heat energy.

2. Stone is dense, meaning the heat energy transfers through the material at a very slow rate.

3. By evening, it’s likely made its way into the building, and the process will start again tomorrow.

But why does this difference matter?

Essentially, thermal transfer works both ways, so in the winter, you’ll be constantly losing heat from inside your home due to the colder outside temperatures. Not only is this inefficient for your heating system, it also means your house will be cold.

Stone isn’t a good insulator on its own. Its thermal transfer properties can be helpful in the summer or between rooms (i.e., when using a log burner), but it’s not super useful in the winter.

Stone has very little air trapped inside it (because it’s dense) and so it has no way of preventing the heat energy from escaping outside.

Why are Old Cottages Colder?

Older houses are colder than modern mainly due to the way they’re built. Older cottages are made from stone. Stone and brick have very similar thermal mass values, although brick is a marginally better insulator because it’s less dense than stone.

However, the more important difference is the use of cavity walls. As you may already know, a cavity wall is an outer wall of brick and an inner wall of something like breeze blocks.

Between them is an air gap – the cavity.

Cavity walls were introduced in the UK in the 19th century and had become the norm by the 1920s. Their original purpose was to act as a rain barrier, as bricks are porous and easily let rain in.

Without the gap, rain would cause humidity within the building, which could lead to problems with damp.

But cavity walls are also useful for insulation. Air is a very poor conductor of heat (in turn making it a good insulator).

The cavity essentially makes heat transfer much slower, rather than preventing it from happening. However, air can transmit heat through convection, so it helps to fill the cavity with an insulation material.

The best examples are things like fibreglass, rockwool or blown insulation. It’s seen as such a successful way to improve insulation that the UK government offers grants to get it done for free.

But the point is that old cottages are typically single skin (one wall), meaning there’s no air cavity or any other gap between the inside and outside. So, while the materials have similar thermal mass values, a single wall of anything will pretty much always be colder than a twin wall of materials.

Can You Insulate an Old Cottage From The Inside?

Provided you use the right insulation products and correct method then you can insulate an old cottage from the inside. We’re going to show below how to use certain techniques on insulating the inside of your old cottage and options for improving it.

Before thinking about insulation options, it’s vital that you consider your home’s breathability. It might sound like something made up, but materials such as stone are porous.

This means water vapour (created by cooking, breathing, etc.) can escape through the walls.

Some insulation techniques will make stone walls impermeable, resulting in a build-up of moisture inside. In turn, this creates damp and mould, which you obviously don’t want.

The easiest way to control damp is by maintaining airflow. Combine this with proper internal heating, and you shouldn’t have much problem with moisture.

1. Curtains

Curtains might be an obvious place to start, but they can be incredibly useful for keeping your old cottage warm. You’ve probably already got curtains over your windows, which is good because glass is an even worse insulator than stone.

But consider hanging curtains in front of doors and at the bottom of the stairwell. The aim is to reduce drafts and add extra insulation to thinner areas in the home.

Of course, if you want a quick option for insulating walls, you can hang curtains over them, too.

Use the thickest curtains you can find. At the very least, they should be lined. Velvet curtains are one of the best types for insulation, simply because they’re so thick.

Open them during the day to let heat in from sunlight and then close them as soon as the sun goes down.

2. Framing

Framing walls involves putting up a timber structure inside rooms, behind which you can hide insulation materials. You’d then cover the frame with plasterboard or a similar material.

The benefit of using framing is that there’s more space for insulation. Some of the best insulation materials for this option are:

·  Fibreglass boards

·  Rockwool

·  Blown insulation

·  Recycled fabric (either boards or loose)

·  Hemp board

As you can probably guess, this does mean losing quite a bit of space in your rooms. However, it’s a good option for retaining breathability, as none of these materials is fully impermeable.

And, they’re all dedicated insulation materials, so they’ll offer the best results.

Another thing to bear in mind is that you might not be able to make such drastic structural changes. It’s not the most invasive job in the world, but you’ll struggle to get approval if you live in a listed building.

So, check with an architect and your local planning office before you give this method a go.

3. Loft Insulation

We can’t overlook the roof as a source of heat loss, particularly as it can account for up to 25% of it. Plus, comparatively speaking, lofts are very easy to insulate.

The materials you’d use aren’t any different to those suggested above. However, installation should be much simpler because you’re working with a large open space.

You can also insulate thatched roofs, but it’ll be worth calling in an expert for advice. There shouldn’t be any issues with listed buildings, as loft insulation is fairly non-invasive and the government is a big fan of it.

4. Improving Windows

Ideally, your home should have double glazing. But if it’s an old and/or listed building, this might not be the case.

Single-glazed windows are awful for heat loss and, although they’re not the main topic of this article, they’re worth mentioning.

You’re bound to lose more heat through even the smallest single-glazed windows than you will through a stone wall. As such, it’s worth doing something about it.

The most obvious solution is to replace them with double-glazed windows, but this might not be possible if your home is listed. Instead, try insulating film. It essentially replicates the idea of double-glazing but it’s temporary.

While you’re sorting out the windows, consider installing some weather stripping. It’s thin foam tape that seals gaps around windows, which can be caused by buildings shifting. You can use it around door frames, too.

5. Insulating Directly onto Stone Walls

If framing isn’t an option, you can install insulation directly onto stone walls. You’ll still lose space in the room but it won’t be as much. However, the flipside of this is that the results won’t be as good.

The most obvious product to use is calcium silicate board. It’s a popular type of insulation board that comes in a range of thicknesses, giving you flexibility over how much space you lose.

You’ll want to combine it with a vapour-permeable adhesive so the walls can still breathe. The board itself is permeable, but most adhesives aren’t. Also, you can plaster over the board, giving you the same wall finish you’d find elsewhere.

Another option that’s proving to be increasingly popular in old cottages is insulating lime plaster. Listed buildings might even be restricted in what type of plaster they can use due to breathability of walls, so this should meet those needs.

It’s basically normal lime plaster that contains hollow beads, usually made from glass. These create air pockets, slowing down heat loss through the wall. For best results, you’ll need between 50 and 80mm of plaster applied in several layers.

6. Put Down Rugs

In particularly old buildings, there’s every chance you don’t have a foundation under the floors. It’s not uncommon for them to be laid on packed earth, which can result in a lot of heat loss.

Short of digging up the floor, the next best option is to put down rugs. While this won’t have the same kind of results as wall insulation, it’ll at least make floors feel warmer. A bare hard floor can feel like it’s sucking the heat out of the room, so laying down rugs will address this problem.

7. Aerogel Blanket

Aerogel is touted as the world’s lightest solid materials – it consists of up to 99.98% air. As we’ve established, air is a useful insulator because it doesn’t conduct heat well.

In fact, most insulation materials work well because they create air pockets. And what could be better than a product that’s nearly 100% air?

To use aerogel, you’ll first need to instal something like steel mesh. This will basically act as the frame onto which you fit the aerogel, as it’ll need a suitable surface to adhere to. You can then apply plaster as normal over the top.

The main benefit compared to other options is that it’ll only add an extra 25mm per wall, making it much thinner than the other options. Plus, you can easily use it on curved surfaces, which are pretty much all walls in old buildings!

Final Thoughts on Insulating an Old Cottage

Insulating an old cottage can take a bit of work, but it’s definitely possible. Similarly, it’ll seem like an expensive investment depending on what method you use. However, after a few years, you should notice something of a return on your investment.

Of course, if you’re unsure of how to proceed, make sure you speak to an insulation expert for specific advice regarding your old cottage.

source https://villageandcottage.com/cottages/how-to-insulate-an-old-cottage/

[imperialaluminium]

5 Amazing Benefits of Installing Double-Glazed Windows and Doors At Home

It goes without saying that windows and doors play a crucial role in a home's design. They add a sense of connection to the outside world, bring in the fresh air and natural light, and enhance the beauty of the space. The more economical basic single-glazed windows and doors are preferred by many households. This blog covers the 5 amazing benefits of choosing double-glazed windows and doors for your home.

What is Double-Glazing?

Two glass panes are joined together with a spacer and split by a gap of 6 to 20 mm in double-glazed windows and doors.

Argon is pumped into the gap and hermetically sealed to offer an additional layer of insulation. To maximise performance, toned or low-E glass should be used in double-glazed windows and doors.

The key structural distinction between single-glazed and double glazed windows and doors is the space between these divided panes. The actual distinction, however, is in the special benefits of double glazing.

Let us look at some advantages of having installed double-glazed windows and doors at home.

Reduced Power Bills

For almost the past ten years, energy prices in Australia have increased by over 50%. Staying cool in the summer and warm in the winter is more expensive than ever since heating and cooling equipment consumes half of the energy consumed in Australian homes.

Australian families spend two to three times as much energy as homes in the United States.

The great news is that one of the best methods to create a home more energy-efficient is to put double-glazed windows and doors.

Double glazing might lessen your requirement for electrical temperature management since it is such a powerful insulator. When compared to single windows, this design element may save your energy costs by more than 20% while also being environmentally friendly.

Appropriate for Both Hot and Cold Climates

Colder climes like Victoria and Tasmania are known for their double-glazed windows and doors.

They are an extremely energy-efficient option for all Australian climates, but many people are unaware of this.

Quality aluminium double glazing windows and doors are distinct from other energy-efficient technologies that can only ineffectively minimise heat intake or loss—or both.

By regulating the movement of hot or cold air between both panes, its special insulation capabilities help keep the house warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer. Not only does this keep the house pleasant all year round, but it also lessens the need for conventional heating and cooling.

Decreased Condensation

When the humid air within your house comes into contact with a colder surface, such as a single-glazed window, condensation happens.

Condensation can be a serious issue for your house even if it typically merely causes inconvenience.

By eliminating condensation's primary source, a chilly window, double-glazing windows and doors lessen the chance of condensation. Your danger of condensation is decreased since the inside glass pane is kept near ambient temperature.

Helps in the Noise Reduction

Compared to single-glazing doors or windows, double-glazing ones can cut external noise from people, animals, trucks, aircraft, trains, as well as other sources by up to 60%.

According to research by the World Health Organization, continuous noise exposure might worsen heart disease, stress, sleep and cognitive issues.

Due to the space between the glass panes, double-glazed windows and doors retain more sound energy than conventional single-glazed products. The efficiency of double glazing is increased by using acoustic glass.

Enjoy Comfort All Year Long

The energy efficiency of your home is greatly influenced by the windows and glass doors in it.

Windows and doors are thought to contribute to roughly 50% of all winter heat loss and over 90% of summer heat gain.

When compared to single-glazed windows and doors, double-glazed products protect from heat and cold up to four times more efficiently.

Your home and the outside world are separated thermally by the gap between the two panes of glass. It keeps the temperature constant and protects you from the consequences of climatic extremes by preventing warm or chilly air from leaving.

Conclusion

As you can see, selecting double glazed windows and doors for your house has a number of advantages.

Is it worthwhile to invest in double glazed windows? Consider that you want decreased energy costs, year-round comfort, and noise reduction. Windows with double glazing are a good investment in that situation.

At Imperial Aluminium, our expert consultants are ready to go over your options with you, answer any questions you may have, and offer an estimate based on a variety of products. If you are interested in installing double-glazed windows and doors in your house, get in touch with us!

[college-girl199328]

Snowstorm live: Most snowfall warnings change to arctic outflow warnings | Chaos at YVR with 'mass cancellations'

People across B.C. woke up to heavy snow and extremely cold temperatures as a massive arctic system moved across the province. Accumulations of 10 to 15 centimeters were expected through Tuesday afternoon, with up to 20 cm expected for the southern half of Vancouver Island and the Southern Gulf Islands, but much more fell in many places.

By early afternoon, most snowfall warnings had ended, but arctic outflow warnings remained in place across much of B.C., including Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley.

Drivers should brace for difficult driving conditions with snow-covered, icy roads all over the south coast and island. Environment Canada has revised most of its public weather alerts for British Columbia, from snowfall warnings to arctic outflow warnings.

Most of the snow forecast to fall has already fallen in Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley, but the massive arctic system will linger, making for very cold temperatures and even colder wind chills.

Accumulations of 10 to 15 centimeters were expected through Tuesday afternoon and as much as 20 cm for the southern half of Vancouver Island and the Southern Gulf Islands. Actual snowfall amounts in most areas were even greater than those estimates, especially on the island.

As Tuesday dawned, there were special weather warnings in effect for 41 of the remaining geographic regions. These warnings are issued for extreme cold, snowfall, arctic outflow (winds), and winter storms.

Haida Gwaii and the northern tip of Vancouver Island were the only coastal areas with no warnings in place. The Fraser Valley, including Hope, Chilliwack and Abbotsford, is under an arctic outflow warning, causing wind chills between –20ºC and –25ºC. Temperatures in the region will be at least five to ten degrees below seasonal norms through Thursday before rising sharply to around plus-5 to plus-7 degrees Celsius. 

Those with pets or outdoor animals are advised to provide proper shelter during the cold snap. YVR temporarily suspended many flights, both arriving and departing the airport, Tuesday morning due to the fierce snowstorm.

The airport authority said mid-morning on Tuesday that the current winter storm, including severe snowfall, has had an unprecedented impact on flights, affecting operations at YVR with mass cancellations overnight.

“Travel continues to be significantly impacted this morning, and we anticipate cancellations and delays to continue through the day and the week ahead,” said spokesperson Megan Sutton in a statement.

She added there were currently no flights departing YVR as it worked to “safely get passengers off aircraft and clear the airfield and aircraft of snow and ice to get planes and people moving again.”

Several passengers took to Twitter early Tuesday to say they were stuck on planes that had been due to leave the day before. Abbotsford airport is also dealing with delays and cancellations Tuesday. The airport says crews are working hard to clear snow and get flights back on track.

The heavy snowfall and freezing temperatures created harsh conditions for people living outside, prompting outreach workers in Metro Vancouver and Greater Victoria to convince people to come inside to get warm.

The City of Vancouver opened 88 extra warming beds last night at the Directions Youth Services Centre, Cascades Church, the Bud Osborn Center on West Hastings Street, the Salvation Army Belkin House on Homer Street, and the Langara YMCA.

Union Gospel Mission had 97 people sheltering inside overnight, said spokesperson Nicole Mucci. Outreach workers were out all day Monday making sure people knew where they could go to keep warm and offering them rides if needed.

"We were a little over capacity last night, but we made space for people," she said. B.C. Ferries canceled most round-trip routes on Tuesday morning as it dealt with snow conditions on roads and at terminals, including main routes like Tsawwassen-Swartz Bay, Tsawwassen-Duke Point, and Horseshoe Bay-Departure Bay.

The Coastal Inspiration and Coastal Renaissance resumed service with a 10:15 a.m. sailing out of Tsawwassen and a 10:15 a.m. trip leaving Duke Point near Nanaimo.

Heavy snow is causing "considerable delays," particularly on the bus network, TransLink said early Tuesday. Commuters are advised to avoid travel if possible. The transit agency says "minimal bus services are available in some areas, particularly parts of Vancouver, the North Shore, and Burnaby."

Customers are advised to consult TransLink’s Trip Planner, sign up for transit alerts, and follow on Twitter. All three SkyTrain lines are in service and are being manually staffed to keep the trains from stopping due to snow, but there will be gaps in service. HandyDART is prioritizing those with medical appointments.

B.C. Transit says operations have been suspended throughout the Central Fraser Valley system, including Chilliwack, Hope, and Agassiz-Harrison. Go to bctransit.com for updates.

Most major routes had travel advisories in place Tuesday due to snowfall, including Highway 1, Highway 99, Highway 17, and Highway 15. Multiple spun-out vehicles were reported by Drive BC early Tuesday on a section of Highway 15.

The Coquihalla Highway closed around 10:30 a.m. between the start of the highway and Exit 183 Othello Road because of a vehicle incident, and lengthy delays are expected.

Drive B.C. says its website has had issues since Tuesday morning, and technicians are working on them. The service appeared to be back in operation late this morning.

The Ministry of Transportation encourages drivers in the Lower Mainland and southern and central Vancouver Island to avoid non-essential travel Tuesday. It said the amount of snow was higher than forecast, with at least 25 centimeters in the Greater Vancouver area and 30 cm on the Malahat and other areas of the island. Environment Canada is forecasting still more snow in the next several hours.

Due to blowing snow, Tuesday's visibility on the Coquihalla is "extremely limited," and caution is advised. Reduced speed limits are in effect.

About 6,000 people in Metro Vancouver lost power Tuesday morning, mostly on the North Shore. But most of those customers already had their power restored by early afternoon, with only a few hundred still affected.

Most of the outages are due to trees falling on wires, according to B.C. Hydro. Thousands of customers on Vancouver Island also lost electricity because of the storm.

If you are due to get any tests done at LifeLabs today, take note: The company says its locations in the Lower Mainland and on Vancouver Island are closed due to winter conditions. If you require urgent assistance, the company says you can call 1-800-431-7206.

On southern Vancouver Island, up to 30 centimeters of snow fell overnight, leaving thousands without power, suspending transit, and closing schools. Environment Canada is forecasting another five to 10 cm Tuesday into Wednesday.

Victoria International Airport remains open and, as of 5 a.m., advised passengers to anticipate delays and cancellations throughout the day. Passengers are told to check with their airline before flying and allow extra time to get to the airport.

B.C. Transit suspended service in Victoria, the Cowichan Valley, and the central Fraser Valley. HandyDART, which provides transit for people with mobility issues, is running an essential service only for people with medical appointments. HandyDART will contact customers, and their drivers will use shovels to get as close to driveways as possible.

Snow-packed tree branches fell onto power lines in several areas of Greater Victoria, leaving nearly 8,000 BC Hydro customers without power in Victoria, Sooke, and Metchosin. There were still about half that number waiting for the lights to come back on in the early afternoon.

In Greater Victoria, the University of Victoria, Camosun College, and Royal Roads University are closed, as is Vancouver Island University in Nanaimo.

The B.C. legislature is closed to visitors, and public services such as the dining room, gift shop, and tours are not available.

[cosmal]

-ˏˋ PAPER RINGS ; james potter

summary :: two times james potter kisses you. and the third where it’s actually because everything goes to plan.

tags/warnings :: she/her pronouns used, modern!marauders, drunk!reader, little bit of violence, moments with blood, misogyny, drunken perv, slut shaming

words :: 8.8k

inspired by the chorus to paper rings by taylor swift

THE MOON WAS HIGH LIKE YOUR FRIENDS WERE THE NIGHT THAT WE FIRST MET.

You think you deserve a medal after being convinced into attending one of Sirius’s parties. Especially a New Year's one. You then think you deserve a smack up the back of the head, as you stand at his front door, heart racing just as fast as the music that's spewing from the tiny crack in the door.

You toe at the doormat, hands wrapped around your torso in some pathetic way of shielding yourself from the loud commotion and cheers that you can hear if you calm your breathing just enough. You think that maybe just a little bit more pacing across the landing and you'll work up the courage to go inside.

You're not sure why you're like this. Always think the worst before entering a social situation. Like someone's going to open the door and look at you and think, who invited her? Or expect them to say that they didn't actually think you'd show up. The invite was a joke.

Before you can think too much on the subject, the door is being swung open. You're met with a happy Sirius almost pulling the door off its hinges.

"Y/N!" He cheers, beer swinging between his fingers as he raises his hands in the air. He clambers down the stairs with the grace of a newborn giraffe and you have the throw your hands out to make sure he doesn't fall flat to his face. "You're late, but that's okay, night's still young!"

He doesn't question what you've been doing standing on his front steps and you're thankful. "Sorry," You mumble, dusting your hands down his jacket as he straightens himself back up, "Long walk."

"You walked?" He seems drunk as he gawks. It's likely, it is his party and you know how they go down all too well. But when you scan his face a little harder, you think maybe he's high too. You can't figure out which one, but wouldn't be surprised if it was both. "You're crazy, get inside."

He ushers you back inside away from his front landing, the door closing behind you with a shush, the last remnants of the night air flowing past you with a ruffle of your skirt. It was cold. Colder than usual for New Years. You're only reminded of this when you realise a bigger jacket would've been a good idea when you're too far from your flat to grab one.

It's the first time you've ever been to Sirius's house. It's quite how you expected, homey and littered with little pieces of him everywhere. Picture frames and polaroids cover every wall. Most of which were of either him and his friends, him and his boyfriend, or just his boyfriend. There's a scattering of more posters and such when you walk past the front hallway and out into the kitchen.

But your attention is quickly pulled from your snooping when you're met with the crowd of people congregated throughout his open-floor home. Mostly grouped in either the sitting room or flowing out into the back garden. Either sitting and talking or laughing loudly at something. You have to bite your tongue to hold back your grimace at how intimidating the whole situation felt to you. Most of the time it took you a while to acclimatise to parties, but once you did you always found yourself having a good time.

You turn after realising you've been staring at his pictures for too long and realise you've lost Sirius. Something that would scare you so early into the night, but doesn't as you hear his name being called from outside.

You follow the noise out into the back garden, squeezing past warm bodies stacked between the wall and sliding glass door just to step on his back verandah.

"Sirius, get down!" You hear a stranger yell and you follow his gaze to see Sirius in the backyard on someone's shoulders. That someone you recognise to be Remus, his boyfriend, after seeing him a few times at work.

"No!" Sirius laughs boyishly, gripping probably too hard into Remus's hair, which earns a frown from the poor boy.

You stand next to the stranger, one you recognise from the photos in the hallway and cross your arms with a laugh. You garner his attention, his face worried, eyes blown and eyebrows furrowed.

"He's going to fall and split his head open." You muse a little too calmly which has him frowning even more, confused. You watch as both boys sway a little, getting slightly too close to the picket fence surrounding Sirius's home.

"I leave them alone for two minutes." He scolds, albeit with no actual heat. He does seem a little amused but his smile quickly falters as it looks like Remus is about to collapse under Sirius. He looked like he could hold his own, he was tall and lean, but he also seemed drunk. "Will you help me? Everyone else here seems to not care."

"Sirius, get down, you'll hurt yourself." You try to reason with him, hands outstretched in front of you. You're not sure why, if he were to fall there's no way you could catch him.

"It's fun up here," He argues with his lips around his beer bottle.

"Cmon, I think someone ordered pizza!"

At this, both boys' faces light up and Remus is quick to get his boyfriend off his shoulders, spilling his drink all over the lawn.

"Shit," He mumbles under his breath, slurping the rest of the contents of the bottle down.

"Come on big guy, let's go get you another drink." Their friend wraps his arms around Remus's shoulders and you grab ahold of Sirius to usher their stumbling bodies inside the house.

You both settle them down into one of the leather couches as they lean into each other, giggling about something Sirius had said under his breath.

"Pray tell, how much have they had to drink?" You question their friend and turn away from them.

"They've had like four beers each, but I'm not sure how much weed they smoked." He laughs, gazing at them over his shoulder.

"Clearly they handle it really well."

"Clearly," He laughs with you, fizzling out into a sigh, "Hey, I'm James by the way."

"Y/N." You smile and it's now that you actually have a moment to look at him. His dark skin and mop of dark curls to match, atop his head, a pair of wiry glasses settled on his hawk nose that's splattered with freckles. He's tall and well built, something that you might attribute to a sport he may play. You think he's one of the prettiest boys you've ever seen.

"Y/N." He repeats, more to himself, "You work with Sirius, right? It's hard to forget a pretty name like that." He smiles, white teeth shining under the downlight.

The compliment doesn't miss you, face warming slightly at his charm, "Yeah I do."

"Well, since the host is half-cut on his lounge. I think it's my duty as his best friend and apparent babysitter, to offer you a drink." He grabs your hand which you smile warmly at and leads you through the small crowd of party-goers and into the kitchen.

He throws himself atop the kitchen counter, very gracefully you might add, legs swinging out underneath him. Outstretching his arm to show the lovely array of drinks littering the tabletop.

"What's your poison?" He asks with a smile. He smiles a lot you notice, but you're not one to complain, he has a beautiful smile. One they'd write about in a novel.

You lean across him and pretend to read the labels. Despite working in a bar, you were pretty simple when it came to alcohol. Pimms and pink gins were what you would normally go with, but that seemed to be too simple when you glanced at the table.

"What are you drinking?" You muse with a grin, too intimidated by your options.

"Well, I was going to have a beer," He pauses when you outwardly grimace, which you quickly regret when he laughs at you, "but I was going to say you don't seem like the type of person to drink beer."

"I don't?" You chuckle, "What type of person do I seem like?"

"A gorgeous one." He grins boyishly, "One who doesn't deserve the taste of wretched beer."

You shy at his compliment, though don't think too much of it, it seems as though it's a regular occurrence for him. Casual flirting.

"You drink it, no?" You decide to play along, though more demure to his smugness. He nods, pushing his glasses back up his face, "I thought it was undeserved of gorgeous people?"

He laughs. A loud and hearty sound. It has you giggling too, but much more reserved. He was clearly in his element, you obviously not so much. "Oh, she flirts too."

"Being a bartender, you learn a thing or two." You smile as he turns to grab two plastic cups. You press into his knee subconsciously as a group of people push past. He seems not to mind, so you decide to stay there, more out of the way of people.

He fills the cups with ice and then a liquor that you’re assuming is vodka, quite clearly measuring the amount with his heart, and then filling them halfway with a juice that's on its last dregs. He offers you one of the cups with a smile, sipping on his own.

You fall into a comfortable conversation like you've known each other forever. It was actually a little scary at how naturally it came to the both of you. You found out he had been friends with Sirius and Remus since they were kids, going to the same school. He also played for the rugby team at the university you all attended. You said you may have watched him play once or twice but couldn't remember.

The crowd in the kitchen had slowly begun to grow bigger and it was because of that you glanced up at the clock. 23:58. Two minutes until the new year. James got down from the bench and swapped positions with you, using his body to shield you from the growing crowd. He could obviously see the visible discomfort on your face being swallowed by the people around you. You were pretty sure everyone who had shown up had all piled into the kitchen.

With your body pressed into the cold linoleum bench, his body pressed into yours, you were surprised at how it didn't make you uncomfortable to have him there instead of someone else in the room.

"10. 9. 8..."

Everyone began to count down, the two of you included. When it finally got to one, everyone was screaming Happy New Year! You watched as most found someone to kiss if they knew them or not. You suddenly felt a sudden obligation like you and James should've been kissing or you had stopped him from kissing someone he wanted to. It was a little stupid to be thinking, you felt.

But he was smiling like he was happy with where he was, it was contagious, his smile. But they were quickly disturbed when whoever was behind James bumped into him quite roughly, causing him to surge forward and spill his drink all over your top.

You gasped. Not in offence, though his drink was extremely cold. You flicked pieces of ice off your chest and glanced up at James's shocked face.

"Shit! I am so sorry!" He cursed, throwing his empty cup into the sink, "Fuck." He eyed your white top down that was now stained a bright red. Thank you cranberry juice mixer.

"It's fine, don't worry." You grin, wiping the excess drink off your skin. "It wasn't your fault."

"Come on, let's go get you cleaned up." He grabs your hand a second time that night and you think that you don't have a single problem with it. Which mostly shocks you. How you would ever let a stranger hold your hand was beyond you. It was very uncharacteristic.

He leads you around the corner into what you're assuming is Sirius's room. It's littered with more pictures, and posters of Bowie. Smelt of cedar and clean linen, and beer from a pile of dirty work aprons in a pile in the corner.

He opens the door to his ensuite like he's been in here a million times before. Probably has, they are best mates. He paces around the room looking for something and you think he seems genuinely upset at accidentally spilling his drink on you.

"James, it's okay." You say as you take a hand towel from him, running it under some warm water.

He grimaces as you wipe the sticky remnants from your chest, blotching at the skin around your collar bones, "Was thinking I was doing really well for a second there." He chuckles under his breath, "I was like, hey I'm making this really pretty girl laugh and then suddenly I can't stand on my feet when someone half my size knocks into me and I'm spilling my drink all over her pretty top."

He was rambling absentmindedly, moving to rummage through Sirius's dresser, his voice was a little muffled with his head halfway in his cupboard, but you could hear him enough.

He comes back to the bathroom, a grey top in hand and a sad look on his face when he notices the red stain has only seeped further and grown across the material. He offers you the t-shirt and says sorry for what feels to be the thousandth time.

"Sirus won't mind?" You ask as you take the top from his grasp.

"Sirius won't even notice. He's got hundreds of clothes."

He stands there for a moment, still looking guilty and you swear you can hear the cogs turning in his head. "I'll let you change." He shuts the door and you change into the shirt he gave you. It's a grey top that reads Live Aid across the front it faded letters. It's not too big on you but it does envelop your skirt a little too awkwardly.

You hear a knock at the door, followed by James's voice, "You decent?"

You don't answer, instead opening the door for him. He looks you up and down for a split second and chuckles, "How do you pull that off? I gave you the oldest shirt he had."

You twirl dramatically under the bright white light of the ensuite, laughing as the shirt flares around your torso, "I think it's better than what I came in."

"Almost." He grins, though then it falters like he's remembering what he did, "I really am sorry for ruining your shirt."

"It's one hundred percent fine." You give him your most reassuring smile, teeth bared and eyes lightly creased.

"It's not how you wanted to spend your new year's, I’m sure." He laughs, crossing his arms as he leans against the doorframe, "Didn't even get your New Years kiss."

"I wasn't planning on one." You huff from your nose, a small laugh though embarrassed, "Were you?"

"Not really," He shakes his head and a small curl falls across his forehead above his glasses, you bite your tongue at the urge to brush it away, "I was too busy embarrassing myself."

You lean forward to stand on your tiptoes, planting a kiss on his cheek, a small and quick peck. "There we go. Now the night has gone better for the both of us."

He places his hand to where you'd kissed him, fingers pressing into his warming skin. You had made him blush. "So much better."

Your moment is abruptly ended when you hear a crashing noise come from what you're assuming to be the kitchen. James groans, knowing he was supposed to be watching everyone seeing as Sirius had gotten a little too high to do it himself. But when you enter the sitting room, you're both surprised to see Sirius was the cause of the sound.

A hand held to his other, blood seeping from which one you weren't sure. You and James both look terrified, moving towards him to assess the situation.

"What the fuck did you do?" James gruffs, moving to take off the shirt he had on over another, wrapping it around his bloodied hand to slow the bleeding.

"Dropped my bottle." He grimaces as James applies pressure to the cut, "And then tried to catch it."

"You're an idiot. Where's Remus?" James looks around, the boy nowhere to be found.

"Bathroom I think." Sirius groans through his teeth, "Hey, that's my shirt." He points at you standing off beside James, frowning at his injury.

"Yeah, I spilt my drink on her," James replies.

"Ah, that old trick huh?" Sirius laughs, "Spill your drink on her top so she has to take it off- Ah fuck!" Sirius's laugh is quickly cut off with a sharp groan, James applying more pressure to his hand. You laugh at this which Sirius detests with a glare.

"You want my help or not, tough guy?" James grunts, letting his hand fall to his side. "Go get in the car, you need to go to A&E." James pushes him with no actual force, turning to you.

"I'm gonna take him to the hospital, you okay?" He smiles sadly.

"Yeah, go. I'll be fine." You smile reassuringly.

"I'll see you again?"

"Definitely."

You watch as he ushers Sirius and Remus out the door and hoped that tonight wasn't going to be the only time you'd ever see him.

-

KISS ME ONCE CAUSE YOU KNOW I’VE HAD A LONG NIGHT.

James thinks he’s an idiot. He finally had a chance to talk to Sirius's pretty coworker he had been telling him about for weeks. After telling him how well he thought they'd get along, he goes and stuffs up that badly.

He really did like you, though. Thought you were great. And lucky for him, you asked Sirius to give him your number after he went back to work with his stitched-up hand. So, he was sure he didn't mess it up that much if you still wanted to talk to him.

After typing and retyping an opening message to you for at least ten minutes, he finally presses send.

Hey! It's James. How R U? From the party, if U don't remember

james!!! im great x im getting ready for mary's party :D u coming?

James smiles at your eagerness. Which puts his nervousness at ease. He wasn't sure why he was so anxious to message you, he genuinely thought he might have upset you.

I’m not, I promised Mum I'd stay home this weekend

damn i was hoping i'd see you 2nite :(

Another time! I'm sure Sirius will have another party soon

hopefully

Stay safe sweetheart x

James remembers you telling him that parties were definitely not your scene, and he's surprised you're even going to this one. He then remembers that you barely know each other, and he's way out of his league worrying about you. You could definitely hold your own without a boy you barely knew. You had Sirius and Remus, anyways.

James had finally settled into his bed, after dinner with his family. Euphemia telling him he should visit home more often. When his phone is ringing, surprised to see your name flash across the screen. He's quick to answer.

"Y/N?" He speaks into his phone. All he can hear is some shuffling, your voice a distant murmur in the background. He thinks maybe you've pocked dialled him and he strangely finds himself sad at this thought. He'd actually hoped you wanted to talk to him.

He goes to hang up before he hears your voice grow louder. Words quivering through a hiccup.

"What have I done? Shit." You sniffle.

"Y/N?" He repeats, hoping you'd hear him.

"James?" Your voice is clear now and he thinks he can hear you crying.

"You okay, sweetheart?"

"I don't remember calling you." You hiccup and he swears that one sound has his heart shrinking.

"I think it might have been an accident." He reassures. "Everything okay?"

"I don't know. Where are you?"

"At home,"

“Thas’ right. It’s boring without you here.”

James has to fight the smile on his face when he remembers that you’re drunk and crying on the phone to him.

“I’m a little drunk. Kinda wanna go home.” You mumble, “Might have to walk, it’s not far I don’t think.”

“Hey, don’t do that. I’ll come get you, yeah?”

You sniffle a little more and now he's sitting up in his bed, reaching for his keys on his bedside table. He's not sure what he's going to do, but he thinks he should go see if you're okay. It’s probably a little much, but when you're whimpering a little more, muttering expletives to yourself under your breath, he knows that he can't do much over the phone.

"Where's Sirius?" He asks, throwing on a jumper over his pyjama shirt, phone wedged between his cheek and shoulder. He goes to leave and then doubles back to put his glasses on.

"The bathroom? I don't kno-."

He gets in his car and looks at his phone to see Call Disconnected. He groans, throwing it to the passenger seat.

It’s not long before he’s pulling up outside Mary Macdonald’s house, it being only a fifteen minute drive from his parents’ house. He’s slamming his door shut, walking up the garden path of her house, careful not to trip on discarded ping pong balls and empty cups in the dark.

He lets himself in, thankful that Sirius is sitting on the two-seater in the front room when he walks in.

“Mate!” Sirius cheers, eyes brightening at his friend's arrival.

“Hey, you seen, Y/N?” James cuts to the chase, still standing in the entrance.

“Here to see your girl?” He questions, arms thrown behind him on the back of the lounge.

“She’s not my girl.” He groans, “She called me.”

“I saw her in the kitchen.” He replies.

James doesn’t reply and heads to the kitchen straight away. He sees you sitting on a stool at the breakfast bar, chin pulled to your chest and legs dangling over the edge. He can feel his heart wither in its cage at your appearance.

He walks up to you slowly, careful not to scare you with your gaze averted to the floor, placing a gentle hand to your back.

“Y/N?”

You look up, eyes a little glassy and you wipe at them with little care, smudging your makeup lightly. “James?”

“You okay?” He rubs circles into your shirt, moving his hand into the space between shoulder blades. You sit up against his hand and straighten out your skirt underneath you.

“Yeah, I just think I drank a bit much.” You hiccup, blinking slowly. A great show of how drunk you were “What are you doing here?”

“You sounded upset on the phone, thought I’d come check up.” He cringes at his explanation. It really did seem like a good idea on his way over. Though his second-guessing fizzes away when you’re wrapping your fingers through his woollen jumper, a warm thankful smile on your lips.

“Why you all upset, hmm?” James hums, moving to cup your face and wipe the drying tears across the dark semi-circles under your eyes. This close he can smell the vodka on your breath.

“I don’t know it happens sometimes when I drink a lot.” You sigh, leaning your head underneath his chin against his chest. He sways backwards at your sudden weight transfer and chuckles. “I ripped my dress.” You sigh and deflate against him.

He looks down and can see a little tear above the hem of the skirt of you dress. He takes it in his hand, careful not to lift too high as he tuts, “You always ruin your clothes at parties?” He snorts, examining the hole in the material.

“Well, normally it’s not my fault.” You chuckle, lifting your head from his chest to look him in the eye, a small grin on your lips, “But, I do stupid things when I’m drunk.”

“How’d you do that?”

“It got stuck in the fridge.”

James chuckles and quickly stops when you pout. “Hey, it’ll be okay, we get can it fixed.”

“I hope so,” You sniffle. “God, I really do hate parties.”

“What are you doing here, then?” He tucks a stray piece of hair behind your ear and can feel you shiver under his touch. He grins.

“I thought you’d be here.” You admit sheepishly. “And then you told me you weren’t coming but I still said I’d come and I didn’t want to disappoint Mary. But then I drank too much and…” You choke out a breath, catching up on your rambling words. You close your eyes to compose yourself, pointing your head to the floor.

“Hey, it’s okay.” James brushes the hair away from your face and tilts your head up to face him. Your eyes open, wrinkling your nose and pouting. Something James can’t help but selfishly find adorable. He kisses you firmly on the forehead, something he hopes is soothing. He doesn’t think before he does it, but it felt right.

You smile, “You’re very nice to me, James.” You sigh, blinking slowly and taking the hem of his shirt into your fingers.

“It’s the least I can do.” He grins.

“You nice to everyone you’ve only just met?”

“Only the pretty ones.”

You tilt your head back and laugh. A sound James wants to savour and have on repeat in his mind forever. He’s determined to pull plenty more laughs from you in the future. “I must be very drunk, it sounds like you might be flirting with me.”

“I might be,” He laughs and helps you down from the bar when you wordlessly ask him, “Is that okay?”

“You’re in your pyjamas.” You miss the question completely as you eye him up and down. He’s in a pair of red plaid pyjama bottoms, his gold and maroon rugby jumper on top.

“You’re very observant when you’re drunk.”

You hiccup, “You look warm.”

“I am.” He hooks his arm through yours before he says, “You wanna go home?”

You nod as you try to find your footing. Legs a little shaky but James would never let you fall. With his strong arm under yours, his other ready to brace you if you do. “Alrighty, let’s go then.”

You pause and James turns like you’re about to go down, but you don’t. You straighten your back and look at him with your big eyes, droopy with drunkenness, but still pretty all the same, “I’m hungry.”

“Hungry?” He laughs, “Well, we can stop at McDonald's on the way, yeah? Sound good?”

“Sounds amazing. You’re the best.”

-

KISS ME TWICE CAUSE IT’S GONNA BE ALRIGHT.

It was busy at work. Busy for a Thursday night, and you were understaffed. Sirius was off so you were stuck with serving drinks all by yourself. Which was okay, it was manageable but you were strung tight to serve everyone at once with quick timing. You were good, but you didn’t have four hands.

“What can I get you?” You were wiping your hands, not really paying attention to who you were serving. Just another customer.

“What do you suggest?”

“Depends on wh- oh James!” You smile when you look up, happy to see him. Happier than you’d probably admit.

“Hey, sweetheart.” He smiles, eyes bright as he pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose. He watches as you deflate, pleased to see a familiar face. You seemed very stressed. Hair a little messy, a strand falling over your eyes, your apron dirtied by alcohol and food. You walked across the bar, frame stiff and your face pulled into a frustrated look.

“What are you doing here?” You ask, putting the towel down to lean over the bar.

“Here with Sirius and Rem. They’re around somewhere.” He waves over his shoulder, leaning against the bar to get closer to you. “But most importantly, to see you.”

“I’m glad you’re here,” You smile, wiping over some glasses to look busy, “It’s very busy.”

“You seem stressed.” He frowns. He wanted to smooth away the crease between your eyebrows. Press his thumbs into the backs of your shoulders to soothe you in some way.

“It’d be helpful if I had some help.” You gruff as Sirius walks up behind James, loud enough so he’d hear.

“Sorry babes, rostered day off.” He smiles, hand clasped to James' shoulder. “Had to see James, you’ve been stealing him from me.”

You decide to ignore the second comment, too tired to entertain his teasing, “You don’t seem sorry. You seem very relaxed.”

“Thought you’d be happy to see me!” He feigns shock, moving his hand to his chest.

“No, I am. Sorry, 'M tired.” You pout.

“Okay, we’ll make it quick then. Just three Guinesses please, love.” James smiles, moving to pull his wallet from his pocket.

“I thought gorgeous people were above beer?” You laugh, pulling the taps, the glasses clinking against the metal tray as they settle. James laughs knowingly.

“You think I’m beautiful?” Sirius laughs, grinning beatifically.

“Of course, I do.” You smile, handing off the boys their beers. Sirius thanks you and moves off to find Remus.

James goes to hand you money from his wallet but you detest, “On me. For picking me up the other night.”

“I can’t let you do that.” James frowns, pushing the note towards you, “I was just helping you out,”

“It’s no big deal. I’ll use my staff discount anyways.” You smile, pushing the money back, “I really do appreciate what you did, though.”

“It was nothing. You can call me whenever you need help,” He says, frowning even more as he crumples the money in his hand.

Your moment is broken by a cracking sound at the end of the bar. A regular you know too well, tapping his empty on the bar with a grimace, “Stop flirting, Y/N and grab me another round, babe.” He gruffs. A lovely man, you think.

James scolds, “Are all your regulars this pleasant?”

“Only the best ones.”

James gives you a sad, knowing look, picking up his beer. But not before throwing his money in your tip jar. To which you only scold, frowning but it quickly turns into a smile. Much demure.

“Make sure Sirius doesn’t end up with that.” He laughs, walking off to find the others.

It’s later in the night, James visiting you at the bar just to talk, more times than he’d like to admit. He’d walk up there just to ask for a water if it meant he could make you laugh. He was more drunk off that stupidly cute smile of yours than he was from any pint of draught beer. Not, that he was drunk. He was being reasonable just so he didn’t embarrass himself in front of you. He’d done enough of that already.

It’s a little later in the night and the crowd had died down to just the group of regulars that littered the bar every night. Nothing you weren’t used to. You’d had enough time to relax for a moment in between the slower amounts of customers. You’d heard the boys laughing at something so you’d decided to go over and grab their empty glasses as an excuse to talk to them.

You walked behind Sirius, leaning over him to grab the glasses, “You boys drink enough so I can kick you out, yet?” You laugh.

“Remus is bordering hammered.” Sirius snickers, pinching his thigh, “If he asks for tequila, do not give it to him.” Remus sits next to Sirius, leaning into his side. Fiddling with the rings around Sirius’s hand. He was slightly drunk, but not enough to warrant you sending him home.

“Can do.” You grin, pressing the cold glasses into James’s shoulder, against his neck. He shivers under the glass as you lean down, “How about you? You too drunk yet?”

“Sober as a judge,” He chuckles, hand to his chest, “I’m better than you were last week, that’s for sure.”

“Alright, yeah yeah.” You giggle, taking the glasses from his shoulder to start to walk away, “We get it. I’m a lightweight.”

“Babe, it’s horrendous how little it takes to blow you over.” Sirius chuckles, sipping on the last remnants of his beer. You take his glass from him with a scowl. "My nan could drink you under the table."

“Yeah, okay.”

You go to leave, not wanting to be the victim of Sirius’s relentless teasing anymore, but before you can even turn around, there’s someone behind you, bumping into your back. You huff, a wave of air being forced from your lungs.

“Y/N, you do anything else but flirt for cheap tips around here?” It was Mike, the regular from earlier, trying his best to irritate you like normal.

He was one of your worse usual customers. He was harmless, most of the time. But get a few whiskies into the man, and he’s saying disgusting and perverted things to you just to rile you up. It was nothing different, a lot of the men around here were like that. Most of the time it was either Sirius or your boss Sean telling him to back off or he’d have to be kicked out. Which happened quite regularly. He was probably on his last warning before he was banned. So, tonight, you really weren’t going to put up with it.

“You right, Mike?” You question, trying to get him away from the boys before he says something stupid or embarrassing. But he doesn’t move. You bite your tongue, stopping yourself from saying what you really wanted to say. Something like, I don’t have time for this. Just fucking leave. Go home to your wife and kids who hate you.

“You gonna get back behind the bar, huh?” He slurs, sculling the last drops of his whisky. He places, more like slams, the empty lowball glass to the table in front of you. A splattered ring of condensation left in its loud wake. “Pour me another, babe. Only thing you’re good for and you’re not even that great.”

“I think you’ve had enough.” You say through gritted teeth. You so wanted to just tell him to fuck off. But you were much more respectable than that, despite what he had to say.

“Don’t think so.”

His raised tone has him grabbing James and Sirius’s attention. They both turn their heads, looking on as you stand in front of Mike who’s leaning over you. His intimidating stance has the boys standing from their seats. Remus decides to stay seated, definitely too tipsy to stand.

“Let’s give it a rest tonight, Mike. Alright?” Sirius says as he claps him on the back, nothing but patronising, “Leave Y/N alone for once.”

“I’ll leave her alone when she gets me another drink.” He laughs, a deep, hideous noise that has you grimacing, “Or is she too busy trying to get into your pants?” He points at James with a wobbly finger, “She’s good at that, I know that for sure.”

“Is he serious?” James laughs, stepping closer to Mike and you move to the side, now a little nervous. An argument tonight was not how you wanted to end your shift.

You grab onto his arm, trying to get him to leave it alone, “James.” You murmur. He looks at you and then to Sirius. A look you don’t understand.

You knew you should’ve said something, maybe ask him to leave by now. But you never were good at telling the problem customers what to do. You’d always rely on Sirius to do that. Which was why you’d leave it to him again. He wasn’t drunk, he could handle it probably better than you could.

“How much he give you, huh?” Mike now looks at you, motioning to James, “Whatever it was, I’ll give you double and you come home with me tonight, instead.”

You cringe, gripping onto the glasses in your hand. You now thought it was a good time to go find your boss. But before you can leave, James is speaking up again.

“Okay, time for you to leave, mate.” He laughs. Though with zero humour.

Him and Sirius move to lead him out the door, but before they can even move in between you and Mike, he’s pushing James at his chest. He stumbles backwards, bumping into you and you drop the empty glasses to the tiled bar floor.

You yelp, the crashing noise piercing your ears as you jump back. James turns and looks at you with his eyes widened, hands raised in the air.

“Shit, I’m so sorry.” He apologises, moving to step towards you. Funnily enough, you want to move closer to him as well. Let him sweep you away from the drunken man and away from the broken glass. But you can’t.

“Stop,” You raise your hand out to him. “Don’t step in it. I’m going to get Sean.”

You go and find your boss to let him know what’s going on. He was a tall, stocky bald man. Quite the intimidation, you could say. When you were a drunken, perverted man causing trouble, he was the last thing you’d want to see. With one glimpse of him walking from the back room, it has Mike raising his hands in defeat, letting Sirius push him the rest of the way out the front door.

He stumbles out not before Sean adds, “Don’t come back, Mike! You’re barred!”

You move to grab a broom and dustpan, standing above the mess of glass. Broken in large shards and smaller pieces reflecting the light like gemstones. You look down at them, not yet moving to actually clean the mess. A little shaken up. You were horrible with confrontation which you’d think would be ironic working behind a bar.

You grasp the broom firm in your hand, a distracting grip with white knuckles, gnawing on your bottom lip. You don’t notice when James walks up behind you. Not until he places a hand around yours that’s holding the broom.

“Here, let me clean it up.” He offers, trying to pry the plastic handle from your grip. Though you shake your head.

You crouch down to sweep it into the dustpan, hands shaking a little as you brush up the pieces of glass with little effort, pieces sliding across the tiles and missing the pan.

When you try to sweep around James' feet, he crouches down with you, "Cmon, it was my fault, let me do it." He offers, voice sweet and calm it almost soothes your shaking hands.

"James, it's fine."

"Y/N, you're shak-"

"I've got it." You deter, cutting him off. You go to pick up a larger piece and place it in the pan, but you wince and drop it back to the floor when it slices your finger open. A short but deep cut, that has rivulets of blood seeping from it almost instantly. "Shit,"

"Fuck, you're bleeding." James curses, taking your hand into his immediately. He prods at your palm, examining the cut. Despite the injury, with your hand in his, the shaking almost subsides completely. His touch grounding.

"Much observant, James." You chuckle through gritted teeth, holding your free hand to your wrist.

"All right, leave the mess to me." Sean tuts as he walks over to the two of you, hands settled on his hips, "Go clean yourself up and I'll close up for you."

Sirius follows behind you, a staggering Remus in tow. "This one can't handle is alcohol, clearly." He grabs onto Remus's arm, pulling him to his side. Remus just giggles, mumbling something about Sirius's height. "So, I'm going to take him home. You okay, Y/N?"

"Yeah, thanks, Sirius." You lean up to peck his cheek through a soft smile, "My knight in shining armour." You faux swoon, clean hand to your forehead, laughing an airy giggle.

"Yeah, alright. Go clean yourself up before you bleed out." He swats your arm, moving you into Jame's side, "I don't know CPR."

"I'm sure he does." You nod to James over your shoulder with a grin.

"I do!" He calls.

"You make me sick." He laughs, tugging Remus towards the door.

"Bye Remus!" You both wave.

You move towards the first aid cabinet in the break room, one-handedly pulling out an array of things you thought you needed. Gauze, some bandaids and a half-empty bottle of hydrogen peroxide. James sets himself to work, trying his best to find a bowl and fill it with warm water in the kitchenette sink, grabbing a clean towel from under it.

You sit down at the break table, settling your things atop the wood. James sits in front of you, knees pressing into each other. He watches as you struggle to open the plastic packaging on the gauze, blood rolling down your palm and circling your wrist.

"Y/N, stop. Here," He takes it from your grasp and sits it back down, dipping the hand towel in the bowl. You sigh defeatedly and place your hand palm up on the table.

He wipes the excess blood that's pooled across your palm and then moves around to gently prod at the actual source of injury. Mumbling a series of shit's and sorry's when you flinch under his touch. You look up at him through your eyelashes, watching as he focuses on cleaning you up. Tongue poking out slightly between his lips, eyebrows creased and eyes hard, pinballing across your hand.

You watch him have such utmost care as he wipes over your finger and you feel yourself melt a little on the inside. His gentle touches and fragile handling, fingers delicate when he cleans the last remnants of blood. His palm presses into yours when he's sure that it's clean enough. He's too nervous to hurt you any further as he hesitates to dab the peroxide-soaked cloth to your cut, his hair flopping over his eyes and he huffs air out the corner of his mouth to blow it away.

You move to tuck the lock of hair behind his ear, scratching the skin there gently. He looks up at you momentarily but his gaze flickers back down when fresh blood starts to seep again.

You brush your knuckle across his warming cheek, "Thank you, James."

He hums and presses the cloth to your finger and you hiss. He frowns, bottom lip jutted out, dabbing gently. When he moves to wrap a large bandaid across the cut, pressing the sticky cotton firm against your skin, he finally smiles again. Grimace long gone, looking up at you, grinning proudly at his work.

"I'm sorry." He pouts, finger running across the fabric of the plaster.

"James, I swear to god," You frown, though there's a giggle to pair along with the faux scolding face, "Stop, apologising to me."

"Well, I keep stuffing up. I keep trying to get to know you and stupid things keep fucking happening." He seems genuinely angry with himself and you grasp his hand in your own, ignoring the pressure in your finger when it bends.

"It's okay," You smile, hopefully reassuringly, "Even if stupid things do keep happening, you always fix it."

"There shouldn't be anything to fix." He huffs, "We need to start fresh. No spilt drinks. No bloody fingers."

"I can do that."

James hesitates slightly before he straightens in his seat, hand stretched outwardly, "I'm James, nice to meet you."

You giggle and shake his hand. His grip is light against you, careful not to crease your finger, "Y/N."

"What happened to your finger there, Y/N?" He flips your hand over, inspecting it like he hadn't just spent the last ten minutes staring at it.

"Bear attack." You muse, "Only just escaped before he took my whole arm."

"You're one lucky girl." He entertains, a faux shock horror across his features, "Could've been much worse."

"It won't have to be amputated, will it Doc?"

"Don't think so,"

"You sure?"

He leans down to place a chaste kiss against your throbbing finger, "There. Much better."

You swoon inwardly and struggle to not show it, "You're good at what you do."

He smiles, and you do too. It's contagious like always. He looks at you momentarily and the air suddenly feels thick. Like, as cliche as it sounds, he was the only person in the entire bar. He was probably the first person to ever look at you like that and it had a lump forming in your throat. When his eyes go droopy for a split second and he's chuckling, teeth bared and eyes creasing, you know from that moment onwards you're a dead woman. Done for. Completely doomed when it came to James Potter.

"Hey, wanna go grab dinner?"

"I'd love to."

THREE TIMES CAUSE I'VE WAITED MY WHOLE LIFE

The leather of the old booth cracks underneath your legs as you shift in your seat, waiting for James to return with your food. You'd found an old diner, the only thing open this late on a Thursday night, ran by an old family who looked like they hadn't had a day off in twenty years.

James comes back, hands full with a tray topped with greasy fried foods that glisten under the crackling yellow LED lights. He sits down with a huff, the milkshake glass almost toppling over. He doesn’t sit across from you though, he sits next to you. You find this a strange move though you don’t question it when you feel the heat radiating from his body, his shoulder turned and positioned behind yours.

You smile thankfully when he slides a red basket of chips across the matching red bench, a strawberry milkshake to go with it in all its glory. A tall glass with flower indents, filled to its brim with a light pink liquid. It's topped with whipped cream and one large strawberry settled atop the pillowy dairy dessert. Then, you see two straws sticking from the impressive drink

Your eyes widen with glee and you laugh, "Holy shit."

"I asked them for their best drink." James laughs knowingly, his eyes mirroring your own.

"It's amazing."

"It is."

You start to pick through your own basket of chips, eating the best ones first. The short, crunchy ones that look like they're more oil than they are potato. You look over to see James doing the same thing, shuffling the basket to reach the ones at the bottom. You laugh when a handful of them fall out onto the table. He curses and picks them up into a napkin.

"The crunchy ones are always at the bottom." You say knowingly.

"It's a hassle."

James takes one of his chips and dips it into the milkshake, curling it up towards his mouth before any of the drink slides off onto his shirt. You grimace as he smiles wickedly, mouth full of drink and chip.

“You’re disgusting.” You laugh.

“What?” He mumbles.

“You just dipped your chip in a milkshake.” You wrinkle your nose.

“It’s good!” He defends, picking up another chip, “Here, try it!” He dips another in the drink, holding it out in front of your face.

“No!” You giggle, moving your head away from the now pink chip.

“Cmon,” He urges, “Do it for me. It’s good, I promise.”

You hesitate for a moment, and when he looks at you with his stupidly pretty eyes, you realise you couldn’t say no to him. You open your mouth to oblige, allowing him the pleasure of feeding you the chip.

You chew on it, face blank to not yet allow him any show of emotion on how you were feeling. You wouldn’t lie, it did taste good. The smile you were fighting now making its way across your features.

“I was right, wasn’t I?” He smiles.

You nod your head, “Yeah, it was actually good.”

James hums, dipping another.

You take the glass in front of you, your hand wet when it comes in contact with the streaks of condensation running down its sides. You take a long sip, cheeks slightly hollowed and your eyes closing.

You pass it over to James and he makes no effort to discern which straw should be his, wrapping his lips around the one you had used. A deconstructed kiss, you think when you notice specks of glitter from your lip gloss transferring over to his lips. It's this that has you suddenly thinking about how badly you've wanted to kiss him ever since you met him on New Year's.

You reach across and smear the silver glitter off of his lips, hand ghosting over the cold skin a little too long than you'd ever confidently allow it, if James Potter didn't make you so comfortable just with his presence.

"You look good with lip gloss," You smile and slowly move your hand from his face, but he catches it before it falls in your lap, “Might have to let you borrow mine.”

James only hums, eyes glassy when they hold your gaze longer than you’d like without admitting the way it made you feel. A twisting feeling erupts in your stomach. God, was he always this close? Was his shoulder always digging into yours, his thigh warm where it pressed into your own?

Now realising how close he was to you, you could smell his shampoo. It smelt of lavender, you discern. Or patchouli. Mixing in with the heady scent of his cologne. Something strong like sandalwood and tangerine. Whatever it was, you realise if you smelt it somewhere other than here, it would only remind you of him.

James uses his free hand to tug on your bottom lip with his thumb and you swear you stop breathing. “Or,” He stops, smearing the gloss with the pad of his finger, “I could wear whatever’s on your lips right now.”

You hum, a small sound that you’re surprised he can actually hear when he mirrors your nod. “Please.” You don’t think before you say it and you realise how slightly desperate you sound.

He leans in and a kiss ensues. It’s slow at first, tentative as if he’s testing the waters. But when you let out a sound that sounds like a small hiccup, all his inhibitions are thrown away. Your lips part and he’s pressing into you. Teeth clashing and skin slipping as you both seemingly melt into each other. He tastes of stout and chips and strawberry syrup. Something you’d find a little gross if you had it in you to mind.

His hand finds its way around your back, in between your shoulders blades. The other still gripped around your wrist in between your bodies, fingers flexing around your skin. He kisses you so intently he feels like he’s almost swallowing you whole as he presses your shoulder against the cold leather of the old booth. You almost wished he would.

You pull away, panting. Noticing a new sheen of your gloss over the swell of his lips and across his cupid’s bow. You kiss him once more on the corner of his mouth, leaning on your hand in between the tiny gap of both your thighs.

You laugh when you realise why James had sat next to you and not across from you. He had been anticipating a kiss this entire time. Smug bastard.

“Does it look good?” He asks.

“What?” You ask, a little dazed and airy. Seemingly dizzy from him.

“The lipgloss? It suits me?” He chuckles.

“Kind of.” You murmur, “You might want to kiss me again, just so I’m sure.”

James doesn’t need to be asked twice. He’d be a fool if he was. He leans in again to kiss you and this time it’s not because you’re upset or you’ve cut your finger open. It’s because you want him to. No, you need him to. And with the sound of the open sign buzzing next to him, a cold breeze blowing in when a customer strolls in, causing you to shiver and press closer in towards him, seeking his warmth. He thinks there are no better circumstances.

[astra90x]

Flufftober Day 13 - Secret Family Recipe

@flufftober

Fandom: Stardew Valley

Pairing: Sebastian x Reader

Word Count: 967

Reader Pronouns: She/Her

This is one chapter of an entire linear story! It can be read separately but is better when read as a whole. Enjoy!

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You knew that spending all of your time outside in the increasingly colder weather couldn’t have been a good idea, which is more than confirmed when you end up in bed with a horrible case of sniffles and a throat that feels like sandpaper. It’s been ages since you’ve gotten sick and you feel like your body is compensating for all the missed years by trying its best to destroy your very spirits right now. Everything hurts and life is miserable. 

You dread to think of what will happen to your farm while you’re bedridden, but Marnie has agreed to stop by and care for your animals, and your sprinklers should handle the crops well enough for the few days that you’re sick. Even though you would love nothing more than to get out of bed and back to work, you fear what more strain would do to your already weak body, so you resign yourself to your bedroom and pour your energy into getting better.

Being in bed is boring, though. Elliott came by to visit once, but he didn’t stay for long so that only occupied thirty minutes of your two days being ill. Otherwise, it’s just been a whole lot of browsing your phone and staring at the ceiling. 

On the third day, however, you get a knock on the door that you weren’t expecting. It’s 12:30, so too early for Elliott to visit since he usually likes to come by in the evenings. It isn’t Marnie either as she’s usually finished up with the animals by 10:00. 

“Come in,” you croak. The hoarseness of your voice surprises you, but to be fair, you’ve barely spoken at all in the past few days, and your cough hasn’t helped. Luckily though, you managed to get your voice loud enough, and the door creaks open. It’s Sebastian. 

“Hello,” he says simply. He seems reluctant to actually step into your house, so instead, he stands just outside, leaning forward enough for his head to peer around the corner. 

“You’re allowed to come in, you know,” you tease. 

“Right, sorry.” Sebastian awkwardly steps inside and shuts the door behind him, and now that you can see his full body, you realize he’s holding onto a glass container, filled with something that looks like soup. He continues through your living room and enters the bedroom, but doesn’t go far past the door. “I, um, heard you were sick, so I thought I could stop by and see how you’re doing.”

“I’m doing alright, aside from the fact that I can hardly breathe,” you laugh. “It’s hard to be stuck in bed, though. I don’t like leaving the farm.”

“It looks good out there if that makes you feel any better,” Sebastian says. “And, um, I brought you something. Maybe this can make you feel better too.” He finally steps forward and holds out the glass container to you. “I know it’s a cliche to bring a sick person soup, but it seemed like it might be nice, especially since you don’t have anyone here to cook for you.” 

You lean forward out of bed enough to take the container from Sebastian, and when you bring it closer to your face, the delicious scent of pumpkin fills your nose. 

“Did you make this?” you ask. You’ve hardly seen Sebastian eat anything on his own aside from poptarts and Ritz crackers, it seems hard to believe that he would cook something on his own, especially something for you. 

“I did, yeah,” Sebastian says bashfully, his hands clasped together in front of him as he fiddles with his fingers. “It’s mom’s recipe, technically, but I am the one who made it.”

“You didn’t have to do that for me.” As much as you appreciate the gesture, you can’t help but feel a little bad. He didn’t have to take time out of his day to cook for you, though it is incredibly sweet that he did. 

“Well, I want you to get better,” Sebastian replies. “Plus, as I said, you don’t have anyone here to cook for you. I couldn’t have you starving.”

It is true, you haven’t had the energy to make food for yourself so you’ve been living off toast and saltines for the past few days. That just makes the aroma of the soup even more inviting. 

“Thank you, then. This means a lot,” you admit. “Do you think you could do me one more favour, though?”

“Yeah, of course.”

“Get me a spoon?”

Sebastian laughs. “Of course.”

“They’re in the drawer next to the fridge.” He flashes a thumbs-up and backs out of the room, and you can hear him rummaging around in the kitchen for a moment. Twenty seconds later, he’s back, and he hands you a spoon. “My knight in shining armour.”

“Just glad I could help.” 

You pry the lid off the glass container of soup, and immediately, the smell gets mouth-watering. You lower the spoon into the liquid and then lift it to your lips, taking a small sip just in case it burns. However, it’s the perfect temperature for consuming, and your eyes light up at the wonderful flavour. 

“I’ll assume that you like it,” says Sebastian, his expression amused as he watches you take another spoonful. You nod eagerly. 

“It’s amazing,” you confirm. “Thank you so much.” 

“Hey, I just want you to get better.” Sebastian tilts his head back to the door, his lips pursed a little. “I should probably get out of your hair, though. Leave you to recover properly.”

“Right.” You can’t help but be a little disappointed that Sebastian is leaving, but you understand that he probably has other places to be. “I’ll see you soon, okay?”

“Okay. Just be sure to get better by Friday so I can whoop your ass in pool.” He smirks playfully, then gives a trademarked one-flick wave and leaves your house. You take another sip of the soup, and you can’t tell if it’s the food or the company that’s got you feeling better. 

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