#just the other day i was standing in the laundry closet randomly musing about what might be on the other side of the wall

[theygender]

I'm being so serious with this. Recently I was watching an Elden Ring playthrough by this guy who's really good at the game and while he was reassuring his viewers that they could navigate some cave without getting turned around he recommended to keep a mental map of it in their head. And I was like. Oh wow. Making a mental map of a place in your head? That must be some real next level pro-gamer shit that's so impressive damn

But. Are you telling me that the ability to make a mental map of places I've been was just supposed to come free with my brain? And it DIDN'T??

Trying to look into what might be up with my directional/spatial issues and I just learned about a condition called developmental topographical disorientation which is apparently defined by patients getting lost bc they can't picture a "cognitive map" of familiar places in their head

.........Is that real??

Can y'all like. Picture a mental map of areas you're familiar with and then like. Use that map to figure out how to get to a place from where you are??

[onlysarah235678]

A Little Bit Part 2

Pairing: Billie Dean Howard x female reader

A/N:  Here’s part two!  Thanks to those who read the first part, or are just joining! Enjoy! I start work again this week, but I’ll do my best to keep writing ❤.

Warnings:  Slight kitten angst? Gay panic and very brief harassment.

You hear from Billie Dean exactly two days later.

You’re actually at home since you worked the weekend, but you are just hanging out with your dog when the phone buzzed from the coffee table. You had just finished lunch and you were about to fall asleep when Milo’s head jerked up at the annoying sound. You sigh before leaving the comfort of the couch to see who it is. Hopefully it isn’t someone who needs anything from you because you had your Monday planned out already. You were staying at home for the rest of the day trying to relax for once. You might take a long walk with Milo later, but you weren’t so sure.

All thoughts of where to hike left your mind as you grab your phone and see you have a text from an unknown number. You don’t really get out much and only talk to a few friends, but all of their numbers are in your phone. It doesn’t even occur to you that it might be Billie. You honestly just thought she was being nice to you since she’d been super late to her appointment.

Despite the flirting smiles and curious looks she’d shot you during the appointment, you hadn’t wanted to think too much into it. You’d hate to get your hopes up for nothing.

What you were hoping for, well you weren’t going to admit that yet.

Once you managed to find the courage to actually look at what the message said—beyond her name of course, you took a deep breath and sat back on the couch.

Hi Y/N, it’s Billie Dean. Are you busy, sweetheart?

There the nickname was again. You ignored how reading it and of course imagining her saying it made you feel and decided to focus on the question she asked. You looked around your living room where the television was paused on a scene from The Blair Witch Project, and where Milo sat on the couch next to you, his giant paws on your leg. You shook your head muttering something under your breath about being silly before you typed out a quick response.

Not at all.

You contemplated typing more because you supposed you should ask if she needed something. However, once you saw she was already typing a response you had to stop yourself from throwing your phone. You shouldn’t be this flustered. Not by the prospect of answering questions about kittens. That’s all this was going to be. Of course it was. You were just helping -possible helping – a client. A beautiful and charming client.

Don’t be silly.

Billie Dean Howard had worked hard to get where she was. Her career was somewhere she wouldn’t have even dared to imagine just 10 years ago. She was an accomplished woman who used her gift to help people. It wasn’t always easy of course, but as she traveled to random, remote places around the world trying to guide stubborn lost souls, she knew she wouldn’t change a thing. She loved what she did, and she liked to think that she was good at it.

Today, however, she was realizing that despite her best efforts, she may not be good at everything. Try as she might, she couldn’t get a hang of this kitten thing. They were a lot more work than she had anticipated. After leaving the vet’s office on Saturday, she’d gone to the pet store and spent a small fortune on food, toys, litter, and a bed. You had told her that the kittens wouldn’t be using litter for a while and she’d foolishly thought that meant they wouldn’t need to go. How idiotic.

As she found out the moment she got home, after the kittens had gotten a meal from Bit, they had all needed to go. She spent a good twenty minutes cleaning out the carrier and each kitten that had gotten themselves dirty. She had set everything up in the house, placed all of the clean kittens on their bed in a nice quiet room, only to have Bit take each one of them into a different room. The laundry room of all places. Billie had let her because she really didn’t want to fight with her, but she’d been constantly checking on them to make sure everything was okay.

She had to make sure they were all warm enough and that Bit was doing her job feeding and grooming them. It was exhausting and Billie was definitely reconsidering this whole fostering thing.

By the time Monday rolled around, she was already stressing about work. She had found someone in the neighborhood who agreed to watch the kittens while she left to do some promotional work for her show, but she quickly found she couldn’t focus. She rushed through work and was home by noon checking on the kittens again.

They all seemed fine at first glance, but then she recounted them and realized that one was missing. She did her best not to panic immediately. She moved Bit a little, earning a hiss of annoyance, to see if the last kitten was hiding underneath her.

No such luck.

Next, Billie looked around the laundry room before moving to the closest room to start a wider search. It wasn’t until she checked her bedroom that she found the kitten just sitting on the comforter. She cursed under her breath as she hurried to check on the little furball.

He, Billie had decided the runt was a boy, was cold to the touch and she panicked. She thought about her options before she ran back downstairs to where she’d abandoned her purse. She held the little kitten close as she found her phone.

When you responded to her first text, Billie considered sending another one, but decided against it. She ended up just calling you, and the urge to curse was strong, but instead you took a deep breath before answering.

“Hi Billie.”

“Hi, Y/N. I’m sorry to bother you. You’re not at work, are you?”

You smile at the concern in Billie’s voice until it occurs to you it may not be for the reasons you think. Still, you shook your head before explaining that you had the day off and that you were at home. She didn’t say anything immediately, but when Billie did speak up, you could tell she was a little stressed.

“Oh. I don’t mean to interrupt your day off, but I had a kitten question.”

So Billie tells you about what’s going on. That she found the kitten away from Bit and the others, cold and just randomly in her room. You ask a few questions, and Billie’s answers are more concerning than reassuring. You decide to focus on the matter at hand before asking anything else.

“Do you have an electric blanket or something you could use to warm him up?”

Billie nearly laughs at the thought, but she stops herself just in time. She simply shakes her head as she heads up the stairs to the linen closet.

“In LA? I’m afraid not.”

You nearly roll your eyes at your stupidity. You had forgotten the fact that it rarely reached freezing in this city. You had moved from a state of unpredictable weather where you needed to be prepared for ice storms and heat waves, and you sometimes forgot that wasn’t normal. You nodded in acknowledgment before you went to the next suggestion you had.

“Right. What about towels?”

You stay on the phone with Billie while she puts some towels in the dryer to warm them up. Surprisingly Bit and her other kittens don’t seem to care despite being right next to it. She then goes to her bedroom and grabs the first blanket she sees that coincidentally already has cat hair on it. She had forgotten about that part of having a pet.

“Be honest. Should I be worried?”

You hold back a sigh as you stand up and begin to wander aimlessly around the room. You don’t want to lie to Billie, but at the same time you remember how on Saturday she’d already claimed that the runt, the boy, they’d decided was her favorite. You would hate for her to be upset by his loss. That said, you couldn’t really give her an honest assessment over the phone.

“Has he been nursing today?

Billie shook her head at this as she put her phone on the bed so she can wrap the kitten in the blanket. She speaks a little louder as she works on making a kitten burrito.

“I’m not sure about today. I had someone watch them while I worked, but yesterday he seemed fine. Normal at least.”

You thought about this before considering your options. Billie had already told you that other than the fact that he was a little cold, he seemed fine. You decided to go with your gut on this one.

“He could get worse, but if you can just keep him warm today and see that he eats, he’ll improve. Let me know if anything else changes though.”

I’ll be back at work tomorrow.

You almost say this, but decide against it because you don’t want it to sound like you wouldn’t be willing to…No. Would you? Of course you would. It was your job. You couldn’t just not see a kitten who was sick. You could of course just tell her to go to work and see another doctor, but you secretly wanted to see her yourself.

Your musing is cut off by the sound of the blonde sighing in what you realize is relief. You smile slightly as she thanks you, but don’t really know what to say in response.

“Thank you so much, Y/N. I’ll let you get back to whatever you were doing before I freaked out on you.”

You laugh slightly as you shake your head and turn back toward where Milo was still sitting on the couch. He was waiting for you to return so you both could go back to the movie you’ve honestly seen too many times. You didn’t realize you’d said this until it was too late. Fortunately, you didn’t get time to cringe at your word vomit before you heard Billie laugh.

You weren’t sure you’d ever heard something sound quite so nice.

“Don’t worry about it. I was just watching the Blair Witch Project which I’ve already seen about a dozen times.”

“You like stories about the supernatural?”

You don’t answer immediately because you can’t help but feel like this is a trick question. You do in fact like a good ghost story, but the question seems to be more about whether or not you believe in them. At least that’s where you see this going. So you jump the gun a little with a small smile as you plop back down next to Milo.

“I definitely like them. Good ones at least, but do I believe in them? It depends.”

At this point, Billie was seated on her bed with the kitten that she definitely hadn’t named Mickey on her lap. She could practically see you shrugging and she couldn’t help but ask.

“Depends on what?”

You’re not sure what possesses you to answer the way you do, but you’re smirking and speaking before you can stop yourself.

“Maybe I’ll tell you sometime.”

You barely resist the frantic urge to start screaming at yourself for your out of character display of courage. You’re not usually the one to instigate things. You’ve been accused of being a wallflower in the past by many of your friends and a few people you’ve dated. However, there’s something inexplicably appealing about the idea of getting to see Billie Dean again.

It doesn’t occur to you until too late that your statement could be taken as flirting. Only after you hear her chuckle in amusement do you realize what you’ve done.

“Is that an invitation?”

Despite your initial hesitance about flirting with a client, you decide to throw caution to the wind and just see where this goes. The worst you could do was embarrass yourself, right? It’s not like you were at work now anyway. Not like last time.

“That depends. Would you be interested?”

You and Billie Dean agree to meet later that week. With both of your work schedules full until the weekend, you have a whole 4 days until you’ll see her again, but you’d manage. Somehow.

Well, she did agree to send you updates on the kittens, but that would most likely be by text. You wouldn’t get the perk of hearing her voice.

That thought made you pause. After hanging up the phone, you’d returned to your movie with Milo, but you paused it again before reaching for your computer. You tried not to feel like a creep as you opened your browser and searched Billie’s name.

You figured that you should know at least the basics about her and her show so you didn’t put your foot in your mouth when you saw her on Saturday. The first thing you see when you look is her award-winning smile, literally with some information written underneath it. You disregard the details about where to watch her show for now and go to her website.

For the next hour or so you read a lot about how she got started as a medium and what she’d been doing for the past ten years. You watched a few interviews and started an episode of her show when Milo reminded you of how late it was.

You decided to take a break from being too curious and take Milo on a walk like you’d originally planned. He jumped up at the word ‘walk’ and ran to grab his leash while you ran upstairs to change. On your way back down the stairs you grab your phone and keys before heading to the parking lot. You’re determined to enjoy your day off, so you follow Milo out to the car and do your best to ignore the growing anxiety associated with seeing Billie again. You’re excited of course, but you don’t know what to expect from the medium. Perhaps you just shouldn’t have any expectations for this…get together. You hadn’t called it anything in particular. You were just going to get lunch.

You still hadn’t convinced yourself not to worry by the time you got Milo buckled in the backseat.

Billie Dean hadn’t really given much thought to the idea of having children. Since her career had taken off, she’d convinced herself that she was too busy. She wouldn’t have the time for them and she honestly wasn’t sure she wanted them. She’d never really thought she’d be a good mother.

That said, if raising children was anything like taking care of kittens, then she was definitely right. This experience was very humbling.  

Since she’d hung up with you, she’d been multitasking like a pro. She’d been spending time with the kittens, and making sure that Mickey had nursed and was cuddled up to Bit like the rest of his siblings. Billie had noticed quickly that Bit didn’t pay as much attention to the runt of her litter as she did to everyone else. This observation made her worry and as a result, she spent a lot more time caring for him to make up for it. She was getting a hang of this, but it was exhausting.

Between going over the rest of her week with her assistant and responding to emails from her producer, she was checking on the cats to the point that Bit was probably annoyed.

She hadn’t decided what she was going to do with the cats once they were old enough to adopt out. She knew with her work she couldn’t keep them. Not without changing her schedule significantly. She didn’t want to keep them just to have them stay with other people.

Unfortunately, no one had responded to the found posters she’d had her assistant print out and post around her neighborhood. This made her think that Bit really had been a stray, or at the very least no one wanted her. She sighed as she looked down at her watch again. She’d been checking on them about every half hour which seemed excessive, but she’d found that if she waited any longer, she’d just get antsy and not get any work done. She put out her cigarette in an ash tray, she’d only been smoking when she was away from the cats, and headed upstairs.

When Billie arrived to the laundry room, she saw Bit getting situated again onto the bed with all of her kittens. Or at least 5 of them. She sighed in annoyance before she confirmed who was missing, and immediately left the room in search for him.

This was the third time the Bit had moved Mickey to her room. She found him exactly where he’d been last time, on her pillow. She moved to pick him up and he stirred slightly before making the cutest little noise. Billie smiled before taking him back to the laundry room where Bit was busy grooming herself. She put him back among the other kittens, and after checking on them she headed back downstairs.

It was only a few minutes later when she heard the sound of quiet footsteps upstairs. She listened carefully and waited until she heard Bit jump up onto something to go investigate. She reached the top of the stairs at the same time that Bit was leaving her room and darting back to the laundry room. She groaned loudly as she saw Mickey lying on her pillow again shifting and mewling from being jostled once again.

“For the love of…”

You were still hiking at one of your favorite spots when Billie was struggling to deal with her cats. It wasn’t too crowded at the park you’d chosen because it was the middle of the day on a Monday. That said, there were still plenty of people and dogs around to keep your mind from wandering too much to Billie.

You had to be a little careful with Milo when out in public. Not because he was aggressive, but because it was easy for him to get overwhelmed.  He was blind in one eye due to an injury he’d suffered when he was a puppy, and it was sometimes difficult for him to keep track of everything around him. That said, even though parts of this park were designated off-leash areas, Milo usually preferred to stay by your side. He could be a little anxious when surrounded, but he was getting a lot better from going to work with you every day.

For this reason, you weren’t too concerned when you saw a family with several children approaching you on the trail. Milo loved children.

After Milo got his fill of pets from the children, the two of you continued on your path toward the park. Your mind started to wander as Milo dragged you toward the wide-open space with at least a dozen dogs. The two of you were only half way through your walk, but you had a feeling you’d be stopping for a while to make friends.

At the end of the walk when you arrived back to your car, you realized that you had been without cell service for most of the walk. You had a couple of text messages from Billie Dean, one of which included a picture. That made you smile until you read the message that came with the picture of Mickey sleeping in Billie’s arms.

Why does Bit keep moving him out of bed and dumping him in my room?

You frowned at the thought of this happening, but before you could respond Milo barked and reminded you that you hadn’t opened the door for him. You sighed before getting him settled in the backseat before leaning against the car to type a quick response.

I’m not sure, but Bit may just not want to take care of him.

You consider how that might make Billie feel, but realize that you can’t really sugar coat it. Sometimes a mother abandoned their runts because she didn’t think they’d survive. You hoped that this wasn’t the case for Mickey, but hearing what Bit’s been doing doesn’t make you feel very optimistic. You realize that Billie had sent this message over an hour ago so you send another quick message before heading home.

Sorry I didn’t respond earlier. I’m out hiking with Milo.

The drive home takes a little longer than it usually would because you take a detour at the pet store. You made the mistake of making Milo wait too long in the backseat by himself and he’d chewed his leash in half out of spite. At least that’s what you told yourself. So you led him on a short leash into the pet store to find a replacement. You find one in a few minutes and are headed to the register when you hear someone behind you say your name.

“Dr. Y/L/N.”

You turn to see an employee that you had honestly hoped wasn’t working today. She wasn’t at the register like she’d been last time and you’d foolishly hoped that meant she wasn’t in. You tried not to sigh in annoyance as you turned around with a tight smile, waving the leash in your hand slightly.

“Hey. How are you?”

You ask as a courtesy because you honestly don’t want to spend any more time talking to this woman. You didn’t have anything against the brunette, except that she couldn’t take a hint. She was persistent to the point that it made you a little uncomfortable. The first time you were in here she’d asked you way too many personal questions, and since then you’d called the vet clinic here a few times and whenever she answered she’d flirt some more.

You hoped that this wouldn’t happen again, but when you noticed Claire’s smile you realized it was wishful thinking.

“Oh I’ve been fine. Just bored silly around here. You haven’t called much.”

You didn’t really know how to respond to this, so you shrugged before gesturing to Milo who seemed to remember the brunette. He tried to move forward to sniff her, but his leash wasn’t long enough.

“Well, I’m not at work today, as you can see. I just needed a new leash for Milo.”

Saying this was a mistake because Milo heard his name and his tail started wagging which was the only invitation Claire needed. She moved forward and knelt down to pet him making the same mistake a lot of people do. She reached for him on his blind side and he jerked back a little before turning his head so he could see the hand petting him. He panted happily once Claire took the hint before his tail resumed wagging. You tried not to glare at him for being a traitor. It wasn’t his fault.

“Aw did you eat your leash? Handsome boy.”

You were glad that at least Milo was having fun. You just nod before shifting slightly so you could look around you for an excuse to leave.

“Yeah, he wasn’t too happy with me.”

You pause as you spot the food aisle a little bit away before adding. “You’ll be lucky to get dinner after doing that, Milo.”

Your bluff had its intended effect and Milo pulled away from Claire and started pawing at you. You just rolled your eyes before leading him toward the end of the aisle. To your escape.

“Yeah, I know. Dinner time. We can go.”

Milo tugs you to toward the front door but you stop by the register first, not failing to notice that the brunette followed you. You went to the first open register and put the leash on the conveyor belt before shooting the person behind the counter a pleading look. She was on your side.

“Hi Emma.”

Help me.

The blonde looked between you and her coworker with a frown, quickly understanding what had happened. It wasn’t like Claire was subtle. She’d ask about you almost every day she was working in the clinic, not that she’d told you that.

“Hey, doc. What’s up?”

You offer the blonde a smile before you open your mouth to respond when you’re cut off. You watch Claire move so she’s standing right next to Emma, practically pushing her out of the way as she eyed you curiously.

“Yeah, if you’re not working you must be free tonight.”

There are a lot of different ways you’d like to respond to this, but you choose to do your best to hide how annoyed you are as you shake your head. You’re free as a bird tonight, but that doesn’t mean you’re going to tell her that.

The lie you come up with though isn’t one you had intended on using.

“Actually, I’m not. I’m going out with my girlfriend.”

Luckily it doesn’t seem like Claire’s prepared a response for this, and you just breathe a sigh of relief as Emma hands you your bag with a smile.

“Thanks. Good to see you two.”

You leave quickly and curse yourself the whole way to the car. What an idiot. Why would you say that?

You’re ticked at Claire for being so aggressive, again. You slammed the door shut behind Milo, without meaning to, and you hurried to get in the car to scratch him behind his ears. You shoot him an apologetic look before sighing in defeat. You hate that you’d lied and that your self-esteem took a hit as well, but what could you do? It’s not like you were going to agree to going anywhere with Claire.

“Sorry, buddy. Let’s get you home for some dinner, hmm? Then we can watch whatever you want.” 

Part 3

[lifeofroos]

1984 Gift Exchange Entry

Alright, I did something for the 1984-event by @th0ughtcriminal.The prompt was… strange to me, I have to say, being ‘1984 but Winston is Kermit the Frog.’ Yet, I tried my best. Also, sorry if there are weird mistakes in the spelling or the grammar or if I got some names wrong, my native language is Dutch and I read the book in Dutch as well. 

While pretending to look at his typewriter, Kermit scanned the other people in his department. He saw a few of his co-workers doing the same. He felt a little stint of fear whenever he and someone else accidently made eye-contact. Did they know something about him? Did the man in the back of the room know his secret? Did mister Nint know? He swiftly looked back at his typewriter with shaking green hands and whited out a part of the document he was working on. 

A few minutes later, he heard the people around him get up . They were whispering to each other. Oh, was it time for the Two Minutes Hate already? Kermit swiftly stood up and walked to the entrance of the room as quickly as his froggy feet allowed. While walking into the room of hate, he caught a glimpse of Her. His blood immediately started to boil in his veins.There was something about… Her. He quickly looked away. Yet, he could feel Her presence in the room, the way you could feel a threat looming around you. 

Goldstein begun speaking on the screen. One person started yelling. Three more joined in. Soon, the whole room was yelling, and Kermit couldn't help but join in as well. The pressure became too much every single time, no matter how hard he tried to stay quiet. He noticed that the woman next to him gave him a weird look. Kermit quieted down a bit under her gaze. He knew other people found his peculiar voice annoying. Of course, he couldn't do anything about it. Only the ministry could, if they decided croaking was against the party. 

He saw Her again when he walked out of the room. This time, She made eye contact with him. Out of panic, Kermit did not move his head away. She gave him a small wink, before walking down the hallway and disappearing out of sight. Kermit turned around on his heels, and ran back to his desk. He felt the blood rush to his head. He did not care that mister Foor gave him a very suspicious look. Mister Foor gave everyone suspicious looks, it probably meant nothing. 

After a long, exhaustion day of work, Kermit retired to his horrible home, if he could even call it that. It was more like a closet that he just happened to have all of his stuff and himself in. Including his most prized possession. Without even pausing to get something to eat (All the good food was gone anyway), he stepped behind his secret sound proof wall, which was just small enough to not be seen by the screen on the wall. There. There it was. His own, sacred banjo. He picked it up and felt a wave of happiness rising up in his chest. He strummed a few notes. He started to feel a stint of peace. He started playing his favourite melody. It was a melody that you could sing two songs on. One was a simple childrens’ tune, the other one was a protest song against the party. Kermit sometimes sang the children's song for his neighbours’ kids, but right now the lyrics of the patriotic song played in his head (he didn’t sing them out loud. Of course he did not sing them out loud). 

After a few minutes, he slowly put the banjo down. The fear became to much - he was never sure if someone could hear him, even though he knew the screen was almost completely soundproof. Slowly, he walked into his kitchen to eat some very depressing food. There was only three day old chicken and bad noodles left, plus some carrots with suspicious spots on them. Ugh. Gross. Kermit wondered if even dogs would like to eat it. Still, he threw it into a crock pot with some water. Better something than nothing, he concluded. 

While he was cooking his depressing stew, he suddenly thought of Her. She had winked at him. He wildly stirred his soup in order to drive the thoughts away. The smell of the dish hit his… nostrils… (He had never known what to call his frog nose, and now that language got poorer and poorer and thinner and thinner, it did not get easier), and the thoughts of Her disappeared out of his mind while he coughed.

When Kermit woke up the next day, he did not feel any better. All he had to look forward to was yet another depressing day of working in the ministry of truth. Wait, no. What was good for the party was supposed to make him happy, he thought, not depressed. He slowly got out of bed. He ate the leftovers of his so-called meal for breakfast and did some morning gymnastics along with the screen, before stepping outside. 

He was surprised. There was nobody in the hallway. Usually, Mister James was there waiting for him. Well, maybe the party had decided that being a blue muppet was illegal now, or he had said something that he really should not have. It was nothing Kermit had to keep thinking about. Slowly, on his own, he walked out of the apartment building. It was a weirdly freeing feeling. He felt like there was nobody looking over his shoulder. Yet, on the other hand, he knew it was just that - a feeling. Of course there was someone looking over his shoulder. There always was.

Yet, he noticed he wandered off. Instead of walking to the ministry of truth, he walked into town, where the regular folks lived. He looked around. The town was quiet so early in the morning. There were only a few women walking around doing some housework - laundry or grocery shopping. 

It might have made him a little overconfident. He was so amazed by the new place, without other people to keep him in line, he simply forgot that he was being watched. He felt something bubbling in his stomach. He felt like strumming on his banjo for hours, until he could capture this feeling with the music. He remembered that there was a word for that once. It started with an I, he remembered that too. But what exactly the word had been was completely lost to history. 

He took a left turn. He passed a few shops, which sold clothes. They were not very nice clothes, but to Kermit, they looked great (And he didn't even wear any clothes, he did not like the feel on his green skin). It felt like the day was getting better and better. 

He took a right turn. The happy feeling disappeared within seconds. He tried to look down. Too late. He had made eye-contact with Her. Kermit felt the blood rushing through his body. He did not know what it was. Was it… shock? Did that word still exist?

He wished he could turn around and act like nothing had happened. But She would give his name to the thought police, and that would be it. Walking away made no difference. He looked up. If this was going to be it, he wanted to look her in the eye. When he did, however, she did something unexpected. She pointed to the house on the corner, then put up three fingers, before scurrying away. 

Her appearance had broken the magic. Kermit was running through the street as fast as his feet could carry him, towards the ministry of truth. He knew there must be at least one person who saw him - but maybe not in the street with Her. Were there cameras there? Could it be that, just this once, nobody would have noticed that something had happened? 

Oh, no, That was too much to hope for. He reached the door of the ministry of truth just in time - man, he never even noticed how much Mister James talked and slowed them down along the way until he did not walk with him anymore. Kermit walked past his colleagues, until he reached his desk. There were a bunch of articles laying on the desk of which he could swear that he went through them just the day before. He sighed deeply. Well, the word Poor should be scrapped from all of them now, according to the note next to the documents. Kermit felt confused while he sat down on his chair. He felt something rise in his chest, and it was something different then what he had felt while walking through the streets. It felt like his body was refusing to write. Like he was… oh, he did not know. The word was scrapped years ago.

It was 2 O'clock and after the two minutes hate when he remembered what She had signed him. Three O´ clock. The house on the corner. Kermit stood up - his job was done for the day. Slowly, he walked out of the building. He acted like he went towards his home, but instead he took a few odd turns, so that he was back in the town. He did not know if there were many cameras around. If there were, he needed to trick them. So, he walked to a clothing store he had seen before. He randomly pulled something out of a rack and bought it, so that it seemed like he had been thinking about buying it the whole day. That was not illegal. He might even be able to spin it into a lie that he wanted to start wearing clothes now. That would not garner to much suspicion, would it? 

While trying to look as normal as he could, he walked to the house She had pointed at. He hesitated for a moment before knocking on the door. Slowly, the door opened about a centimetre. An older man looked at him. At that moment, Kermit felt like turning around and running for the hills. ´Eh…´

´Are you looking for Miss Piggy?´

´Um, Her, yeah…´

´Go upstairs.´ The man opened the door just wide enough for Kermit's small frog body to slip through. Kermit did not dare to look the man in the eye, but instead immediately scurried upstairs. 

Miss Piggy was standing by the top of the stairs. ´You actually came. You are even early.´

´…Yes, I came.´

´What were you doing in the street earlier this morning?´

Kermit felt panic rising in his body. How did he not see it? Now he was trapped. Did he not see Her standing next to an higher-up before? Oh, now he would be dragged to  the ministry of love…

´I always walk around in this neighbourhood to get a sense of peace. It was freer, is it not? Much better for a star like me, even if it is dirty…´ Miss Piggy mused. She flipped her blond hair over her shoulder. Kermit did not know what to answer. Who´s side was She on? 

´I… I felt that too. I felt like making music about it.´ Miss Piggy smiled. 

´That sounds so wonderful.´

Kermit slowly began to feel better the longer he talked to Miss Piggy. It felt like everything he had been thinking about the party was finally confirmed for him. After what felt like hours and hours of talking, he jumped up. ‘We must do something about it!’

Miss Piggy gave him an amused look. ‘What do you mean?’

‘We must do something against…’ his words trailed off. He had been hit by a wave of sudden determination, but now he could not say it. Not out loud. Too risky. Yet, miss Piggy understood. 

‘Yes, we need to do something. Yet, what then…’ she leaned a little closer. ‘Say, you were married before, right?’ 

Kermit suddenly felt a little weird. ‘Yes… but she is gone now.’ 

‘Really?’ 

‘Eh, yeah. Yet, the party…’

‘Did you get divorced?’

Kermit fell silent. No, they weren’t divorced, because they could not. He started to feel slightly… uncomfortable. He shrugged.

‘It does not matter.’ He reached for the piece of clothing he had bought. He suddenly saw Miss Piggy’s eyes narrow. ‘You bought a dress?’

For the first time, Kermit looked at the piece of clothing he had bought. Oh. Yes, he had bought a dress. A yellow one with pink flowers. ‘Eh… yeah.’ 

‘So… you are still married, then?’

‘No!’

Her expression changed from happy to thunder within a matter of seconds. ‘Maybe you should leave.’ Kermit picked up his dress. 

‘Yes, erm, maybe I should.’ That did not make Her feel better, he could see it.  She wrapped Her arms in front of Her chest. ‘Alright.’ Kermit quickly ran out of the room, with the dress.

The next day, he saw Her again. For some reason, She winked. Kermit quickly looked back at his typewriter. He felt confused, more than usual, even. He slowly started to dissociate from the situation. Hm… if only he could play something on his banjo now… He should try to capture that amazing feeling he had, the first time he walked through town… Before everything with Her...

[eirist]

Little Bits and Pieces of Heaven

DATING... IT’S THE PITS

One-shot #: 10

Disclaimer: One Piece (and its characters) belongs to Eiichiro Oda-sensei.

Reminder: I have no beta-reader. Any grammatical and spelling errors are solely mine.

Warning: OOC possible. One shot. AU.

Rating: T

Note: AU setting. College zeitgeist. Prompt #86: “I’ll walk you home.”

Summary: So does this mean I need your approval before I can date someone? 

The door of his apartment banged open followed by loud, stomping footsteps.

“Get up! Get dressed! You are coming with me!”

Nami issued the command the moment she entered his bedroom. Her warm brown orbs scanned the area, showing mild confusion when it didn’t see the green-haired man lounging on his bed, snoring himself to oblivion.

“I’m up. Not dressed. And definitely not coming with you.” Zoro responded unenthusiastically, watching her from the bathroom mirror. He returned to shaving his face (which he momentarily halted when he nearly nicked himself due to the sudden loud intrusion).

There was a movement in the mirror’s corner and he saw Nami’s reflection was closer now. She was standing just behind him with hands on her hips, an unamused expression plastered on her pretty face.

“You are coming with me,” she ordered.

He rolled his eye at her. “No.”

“Do not make me drag your ass out that door.”

“Try and die witch!”

She swiftly kicked him on the leg.

“Hey!” Zoro turned and glared at her. He motioned at razor on his hand. “Are you trying to make me completely blind?”

“Makes no difference to me,” Nami said with a shrug looking pointedly at the scar on his left eye.

“Warms my heart to know that you care.”

She ignored his comment and folded her arms across her luscious chest. “You’re already shaving your face Zoro! That means you are considering going out today.”

Zoro huffed as he returned to his task. “How about the stubbles are irritating me?”

“Don’t play that shit on me. If you are not planning to go out and drink later then you’d still be sprawled on your bed, dead to the world.”

“Tch!”

“Come on! I haven’t even said where we are going!”

“I’m not interested to know because I’m not coming with you.”

“ZORO!!!”

“Take Luffy.”

“He’s with his brothers!”

“Right. Then take swirly brows.”

“No!” She said defiantly before turning her back on him. She approached his closet, throwing its doors open. “Sheesh Zoro! Did you forget laundry day again? Everything here stinks! Ugh!” Despite her comment, she started rummaging inside for something decent for him to wear.

“Oi! Don’t go around poking your head in somebody else’s closet! You don’t know what you might see in there!”

Nami swiveled towards him with a raised eyebrow. “What will I see huh? Porn mags? Used condoms? Skimpy women’s underwear?” She smirked cockily when he did not answer.

Like it’s possible. There’s a bigger chance of finding dead rat bodies stuffed by Luffy inside his closet as prank than any of those items she just enumerated.

He stepped out of the bathroom glaring at her while drying his face with a towel. “Maybe,” he answered with a shrug.

“Oh gosh! Zoro keeps women’s underwear in his closet. What a pervert!” Nami drawled sarcastically. “When did you turn to old man Brook?”

“Shut up!”

“Like hell you would have one here,” the orange-haired girl snorted. “And if you possibly do, it’s more likely because you are gay instead of hooking up with someone.”

Zoro growled an obscenity at her which she dismissed with a wave of her hand.

“Anyway,” she faced him, throwing a clean shirt in his direction. “Get dressed!”

He caught it with one hand. “Oi, who said I’m coming with you?” He sneered at her before throwing the shirt back, hitting her straight on the face.

“You don’t have a choice!” Nami snarled, throwing the shirt back at him. “You still owe me in case you are forgetting!”

Zoro quirked an eyebrow at that. “Owe you? But I did not borrow any money from you!”

Nami pouted at him. “But I saved you from Chiaki yesterday. And the day before yesterday. And the day before that.”

Chiaki (who-cares-what-her-last-name-is) was a tall, curvy and slutty (in Nami’s opinion) senior, who’s in Zoro’s lit class. She constantly follows him around the campus, throwing herself at the ever-oblivious green-haired guy and much to Nami’s consternation… she sometimes shows up at Zoro’s apartment randomly under the guise of bringing him lecture notes. 

The tall lad snorted at that. “What are you saying? I don’t need any saving from Chiaki. How delusional can you get?”

“Oh you do you oaf!” Nami glared at him. “It’s not like you can push her off when she latches herself onto you.” Suddenly she was in front of him, clinging tightly on his arm. He can feel her soft breasts against him, sending tingling sensations all over his body.

“OI!!!”

“Oh Zoro-kun,” she purred, batting her eyelashes at him. “Let’s walk to our class together,” her voice hitting an irritating pitch as she imitated the way his classmate speaks. “I’ll make sure you don’t get lost. Then maybe we can grab some coffee later after class? Or hit the bar? Whichever you prefer?”

Zoro pulled his arm free from her grasp. “Nice Nami. Really nice.”

Nami made a face at him. “If you think I’m just gonna stand and watch her blatantly throw herself at you, you are mistaken mister. Kami knows how you and Luffy needs someone to take care of this kind of people!”

“I didn’t ask you to,” Zoro grumbled at her. “I can handle it just fine.”

“Ooooh right,” Nami nodded with a wry smile. “Because you can handle tact just fine. How are going to tell her you are not interested without breaking her heart, huh? Not that I care or anything.”

Zoro looked at her intently. “Who said I wasn’t?”

That stilled Nami. “What do you mean?” She managed to ask and prevent herself from sputtering the words out due to sheer astonishment.

“You heard me.”

“Is that so?” Nami questioned lowly, cocking a perfectly shaped eyebrow at him.

Zoro let out a ‘tch’ before speaking. “You’re always complaining about how you always have to look out for me. Well, Chiaki seems eager to take me off your hands. Let’s just let her.”

The temperature seemed to drop suddenly. Sure it was cheerily sunny outside and all. But inside his room…

It felt like hell just froze over.

“Why didn’t you tell me you wanted to date her?” Her gaze on him was ice cold, her tone even more so.

“Huh?” Zoro was taken aback by her reaction. He noted how her usually warm chocolate eyes suddenly lost the usual fire in them. “I… uh…”

She huffed. “Do what you want.” She pushed past him and made her way out of his apartment without another word.

“Congratulations Nami, you made yourself look like a fool,” Nami muttered under her breath as she trudged along the crowded avenue on her way to meet Usopp.

She was now regretting the way she acted earlier… losing her composure and storming out of Zoro’s apartment. She is usually good in keeping her emotions in check and under wraps.

But this time it got the better of her.

She was so shocked with Zoro’s revelation and it actually felt like someone had sucker punched her right in the gut.

In all honesty, she genuinely believed that he was not interested in that slutty classmate of his. He always seemed indifferent with the opposite sex that most of their friends have an ongoing bet as to when he’s gonna come out.

That’s why she never expected him to say that.

“Oi Namiiiii!!!”

Nami snapped out of her musings and spotted a figure waving enthusiastically near the entrance of the local bookstore.

She gave a small wave back as Usopp rushed over to meet her.

“Hey! Thank heavens. I thought you were gonna bail on me!” Usopp said, grinning.

Nami mirrored his grin… well tried, to be exact. “The thought actually crossed my mind…”

“Oi!” Usopp frowned at her.

And she laughed at his reaction. “Come on lover boy. Let’s go get your date!”

Usopp blushed at that, stuttering a retort. She only rolled her eyes at him, ignoring the gibberish coming out of his mouth. He always gets tongue tied when they teased him about Kaya and their relationship. And that makes it so much fun to do.

They started walking towards Kaya’s place.  

“Hey are you ok?” Usopp peered inquisitively at her after a few silent minutes. “You’re awfully quiet.”

Nami turned her head towards him. “Uh yeah. Sorry, I kinda got lost in my thoughts.”  

Usopp laughed. “Zoro must be rubbing off on you. Spending a lot of time with him is detrimental to your health.”

“I do not spend a lot of time with him,” she said with a frown.

“Uuuh… actually you kinda do?” Her dark-haired friend said in a matter-of-fact tone. “I’ve been seeing you two on the campus grounds together… a lot.”

Nami scowled at being called out. “Well someone has to make sure our idiot gets himself in and out of his classes without unnecessary detours.” She didn’t add the fact that she was also walking the green-haired lad to and from his classes to ensure that that harpy Chiaki wouldn’t be able to get her claws on him.

Zoro was too good of a man for a girl like her. She’s not gonna watch one of her best friends date a girl like that. No way. Nuh uh.

Usopp merely shrugged. “Well I honestly thought you’ll be roping him into coming with us tonight.”

“Well he’s busy.”

“Zoro’s never too busy for your whims coupled with your threats.” Usopp gazed at her disbelievingly. He’s friends with Nami and the others for a long time now that he was well-aware that she has the green-haired senior wrapped around her pinky.

“Well he is.”

He immediately sensed that something was up. “Uh, Nami…” he began to ask.

“Usopp,” Nami cut him off and gave him a smile that clearly states he’s gonna get it if he doesn’t shut up. “Let’s just go pick Kaya up.”

The curly-haired lad acquiesced. “Alright.” He glanced at his companion again with doubtful eyes. “Hey,” he decided to change the topic hoping to switch Nami’s mood. “Thanks for third wheeling,” he lightly nudged her with his shoulder. “I would’ve asked Vivi but she’s out of town for the weekend.”

This time Nami’s face brightened.  “I don’t mind third wheeling Usopp, since you’re gonna owe me for this big time!”

Usopp gulped. He can practically hear the sound of belis falling in the background. Good Kami! Nami’s planning to bankrupt him just for this favor!

“Hey maybe we can talk about it,” he suggested weakly. He knows from experience that it is not a good thing to owe favors from Nami. “You know how strict Merry-san can be. Give your poor friend a break!”

The girl narrowed her eyes at him. “A favor’s a favor Usopp.”

“Aaw. Come on. In the name of love!”

Nami choked on that. “Eeww.  You should stop hanging out with Sanji-kun!”

“You act like you don’t have a romantic bone in your body.”

“Damn right I don’t!”

“Yeah… but you do cry your eyes out when watching those sappy chick flicks.”

He got whacked for that comment. “I do not!” Nami cried out in horror.

“I have a damn credible source!”

“Who?!”

“It’s… a secret!”

Nami stopped walking and glared at her friend. “That better be not Luffy or Zoro!”

“Mmm… no.”

“What’s with the pause Usopp?! You’re lying!” She reached out to pinch his ear.

“Hey! Aww! Yeah it’s them!” Usopp admitted in the less than 5 seconds. He was never really that good with pain and damn, Nami does know how to inflict one.

“I’m gonna clobber those two,” she huffed as she released him.

“Just exclude me. Thank you.” Usopp said rubbing his ear. Nami mumbled something under her breath before she started walking again. Whatever it was, Usopp wasn’t able to catch it but he did notice the change in her demeanor.

He moved to catch up to her.  “What’s bothering you?” He asked, noting that Nami seemed to be shifting from one mood to another. He wanted to chalk it up to her time of the month but something tells him that that’s not the case.

Nami shook her head. “Nothing. Why?”

Usopp raised an eyebrow; did she actually forget that he knows when she is lying? “There is something wrong. I can tell with your aura!”

“Aura?”

“Yeah! Did Luffy do something? Or did Zoro?”

“Why would you think one of them has something to do with it?”

Usopp rolled his eyes at her. “Uh, because they are our resident troublemakers? And nothing, nothing puts you in a really bad mood than those two getting themselves in a deep shit, well aside from losing money on your betting games.”

She sighed exasperatedly. “No deep shits. Luffy’s with his brothers so whatever crazy stuff he pulls, Ace and Sabo can handle it.”

“Ok. And how about Zoro?”

There was silence. And Usopp frowned, brows furrowing as he watched Nami stare blankly ahead as the two of them continued walking. He opened his mouth to snap her back to reality but she spoke suddenly.

“Zoro wants to date Chiaki.”

Usopp blinked. Once. Twice. Did he hear it right?

“Uh… come again?”

“I said,” Nami pinned him with totally incensed glare. “Zoro wants to date Chiaki.” This time the words were coming out through gritted teeth. “That bitch!”

Usopp’s mouth opened and closed unable to form the right words.

“Oh shit.” Was the only thing he managed to blurt out after several seconds of trying.

“Uhh… you might wanna tone down with the throwing?” Usopp meekly suggested.

Nami scowled at him before flinging the ball in her hand. It landed inside the slanted bucket and bounced out, nearly hitting Usopp in the forehead.

They were in the street fair adjacent to the outdoor movie theater where him, his date Kaya and Nami spent the early part of the evening watching a good but old comedy flick (thank Kami, they decided not show anything romantic that might make Nami’s nerves explode).

Usopp and Nami were currently playing ball and bucket toss for the cute doughnut pillows while Kaya went to the ice cream stall to get them desserts.

“I can’t believe it,” Nami growled. “Why her of all people?!” She threw another ball, aiming at the bucket to her left. The ball bounced back towards them nearly hitting Usopp again.

“Hey watch it!”

“I wanna beat that idiot into a pulp!” Nami announced, gripping the ball tightly as if she was strangling someone’s neck. She threw the ball hastily and nearly hit the one managing the stall. They both apologized sheepishly as the man threatened to ban them from playing.

“Calm down Nami! Calm down!” Usopp grabbed her on the shoulders to stop her from rampaging. “Tch. I know this is going to happen.”

“YOU KNOW?!”

“Well… kind of…” Usopp swallowed the lump that suddenly appeared in his throat.

Nami’s gaze on him was so intense that he felt like he would melt on the spot from too much fear. “Why didn’t you tell me?!” She growled at him.

He stared at her as if she had grown two heads. “Tell you what? That you like him?”

“Eh?”

They stared at each other for a really, really long time. Both trying to comprehend what the other were saying.

Usopp scratched his head. “I thought this was the kind of thing you need to figure out yourself.”

Nami just continued to stare at him, seemingly frozen. “I thought you mean about Zoro and Chiaki.” She finally stated.

“Oh…” Clearly they were not on the same page as Usopp initially thought.

But the bomb has already been dropped. And there is no taking it back.

He watched as Nami swallowed and fiddled with the ball in her hand, looking lost.

Usopp patted her shoulder lightly. He’ll just let the realization of it all sink into his orange-haired friend for now. As much as Nami is smart, she’s also kind of dense when it comes to the romantic department and a bit slow when it comes to what she’s really feeling.

Even if it’s too damn obvious to practically everyone. Not to mention that almost half of their campus already believes that she and Zoro are dating.

Nami continued fiddling with the ball, taking in what Usopp had just said and what he made her realize.

She half-heartedly threw the ball she was holding. She likes Zoro?

And the ball miraculously went inside the bucket without bouncing out.

“Oh hey!” Usopp yelled, pumping a fist into the air.

“It went in!” Nami gasped in amazement.

How odd. It was like the universe just answered her question.

“Just one more and you get the doughnut.” The man behind the stall said, handing her another ball.

But luck wasn’t on her side and the ball bounced out of the bucket again.

“Seems like today is not a good day after all.” She murmured watching Usopp win the doughnut pillow for Kaya.

“What are you saying?” Usopp frowned at her.

Nami sighed. “It feels like I got sucker punched by unwanted revelations twice. And,” she poked at the pillow in Usopp’s arm. “I can’t fucking win this doughnut! I want one!” She complained poking it again. 

“Want me to win one for you?” Usopp sincerely offered. “It’s the least I can do since you did accompany me and Kaya today.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “Don’t think for a second you are off the hook Usopp. You still owe me for this favor. Winning me a doughnut is just barely scratching the surface.”

Usopp squeaked a protest weakly. You really can’t get away from Nami when it comes to favors and debts.

“Tch! Forget about winning this,” Nami threw her hands up in defeat. “I should just head back and mull over the fact that the guy I like, wants to date another girl.”

That didn’t escape Usopp’s sharp ears. “Sooo…” he intoned, letting the vowel drag for a few seconds. “You do admit that you like Zoro?”

Nami looked horrified. Oh Kami, she had said that out loud! Unconsciously and out loud!  

Usopp was looking at her expectantly.

There was no way she can lie her way out of this. Not when Usopp is the better liar and knows how to call her bluff.

“Shut your trap nose-kun,” Nami warned. “This is only between the two of us. If word comes out, I’ll have your hide.”

“Understood,” Usopp mock-saluted.

Nami turned her attention back to the game in front of her. Just one more and she’ll call it quits even if she hates giving up. She was desperately wishing to at least get something good before the day ends.

She threw the ball distractedly and with a bit more force than necessary.

It bounced out of the bucket again and flew past her. She let out a frustrated sigh.

“What a lame throw.”

Her head swiveled towards the voice. Zoro was standing a few feet behind her with the ball in his hand which he obviously caught.

A frown automatically appeared on her face as Usopp greeted the green-haired man.

“Zoro! Nice to see you here!” Usopp let out a rather fake laugh. How long has he been standing there? Kami, sometimes he hates how stealthy he can be. Hopefully he wasn’t able to hear what he and Nami were talking about.

Zoro nodded in response to his greeting.

“Why are you here?” Usopp mentally noted how Nami edged away from Zoro and from the look on the tall man’s face, he noticed it too.

“I thought you were busy?”

Zoro cocked his head towards Usopp in confusion and his lone grey eye shifted towards Nami with a frown. “Just looking for someone,” he finally answered flicking the ball at Usopp. His attention moved back to the orange-haired girl.

The ball bounced on Usopp’s hand thrice before he caught it. “Oh. Looking for your date?”

He could swear Nami’s stare burned through him like lasers.

“Huh?” Was Zoro’s lax reply.

Usopp inched away from Nami’s reach. “You said you were looking for someone? I thought…”

“Don’t be stupid,” Zoro scoffed at him. “I was looking for her.” He pointed at Nami who still has her back turned towards him. “Oi Nami!”

Nami did not even glance at his direction.

“The hell is her problem?” Zoro grumbled and Usopp shrugged.

“Dunno…”

Zoro’s gaze on him was piercing. And Usopp avoided looking in his eye lest he finds out that he’s covering Nami. The tall lad was perceptive than most give him credit for.

“Tch.”

Usopp placed a hand on his shoulder. “It’s probably best if you stay clear from her today. She’s in one of her moods.”

Zoro grunted something under his breath.

“Zoro?”

“It’s nothing Usopp,” he waved off Usopp’s concern with a hand. “Best to face the damn storm head on.”

Usopp sighed wearily. The man was asking for it. Maybe he does like getting beaten up by Nami. He should’ve known Zoro has a masochistic tendency.

“You know what, I better go and get Kaya. It’s getting late and you know how Merry-san is.” He then tapped Nami on shoulder wordlessly thanking her for accompanying him and high tailed it out of there in the blink of an eye.

“Hnn...” Zoro barely acknowledge his friend’s unusual haste.

Nami groaned inwardly. So much for loyalty. Usopp just left her to fend for herself. Alone. Against Zoro.

She signaled to the man in the stall to give her another ball and she hurled it towards the bucket along with all the frustrations of the day.

“Stop trying to throw like you want to kill it!” Zoro criticized, stepping up beside her.

“Shut up!” Nami snapped at him. “No one’s asking you! Leave me alone!”

“The hell is your problem Nami?”

“Nothing that concerns you Zoro.”

Zoro paused to keep his temper in check. She’s acting all sulky and childish and damn if her bratty way did not piss him off. “Nami,” he said, lowering his tone. “What is going on?”

He could see her stiffening. Nami knows that when he starts using that certain tone, she better straighten herself right away before he loses his temper.

There was a long silence that nearly drove his teetering patience over the edge.  

“You never told me you wanted to date her,” Nami finally admitted, chucking another ball towards the bucket.

Zoro raised an eyebrow. “Chiaki?”

Nami nodded. “Yeah if I had known then I would’ve—“

“You would’ve what?” Zoro asked, his tone sharp.

“I would’ve stopped hanging out with you!” Nami snarled at him.

Zoro was looking at her disbelievingly. “What are you talking about you stupid witch?”

Nami groaned. This is how romantically inept Zoro are. He can’t grasp the point of what she’s saying.

“I—”

“Hear me out first Nami,” Zoro cut her off, raising his voice a bit so that it can penetrate her rather thick skull. “I didn’t say I wanna date her. I just said if I’m too much of a burden for you then just hand the responsibility to Chiaki since she’s more than willing. I was only kidding. Then you suddenly went and cold shouldered me.”

Nami fought the urge to pull at her hair in frustration. “It’s because I don’t like her for you! She throws herself on you too much.”

Zoro seemed to be pondering about something as he watched her lamely throw the ball again.

“Will it help if I admit that I don’t like her?” He suddenly asked.

Nami’s eyes swiveled towards him to gaze at his face. Was he pulling her leg again?

But all she saw was a serious expression across his handsome face. His brows were furrowed as he stared at her… gauging her, studying her reaction. 

His hands were shoved in the pockets of his jacket.  She could make out the hard muscles of his chest and realized he wasn’t wearing any shirt underneath and most likely just haphazardly thrown it around him, zipped it up, and then went looking for her.

The thought made her face heat up and her heart flutter. 

Usopp was damn right. She likes him. A lot. She always has.

She turned away from him before answering. “Yeah,” she said quietly. “It does.” She tried to hide the smile tugging at the corners of her lips. It was nice to know that. Really nice. She breathed a sigh of relief.

Zoro’s lips quirked at her answer. “Are you jealous Nami?”

She blanched and turned red in a matter of seconds.  “What!? Why are you asking me that?!”

He smiled and shrugged. “It would be nice…”

And just when she thought she can’t get any redder, she was surprised to find out that she actually CAN.

Nami punched his arm to cover her embarrassment. She didn’t want to ask what he meant by that… even if it made her heart skip a beat.

He rubbed the abused part, even if she can’t really hurt him that much. Well… physically anyway.

“So are we good now?” He asked, trying to act nonchalant.

“No.”

“Why!?”

Nami glared at him and placed her hands on her hips. “You think you can get away with pissing me off easily Zoro?!”

He inwardly groaned. Look where he got his stupid self into. Again. Right back into Nami’s slave driver clutches. And he knows she will make him wait on her hand and foot until she’s satisfied.

And Nami never gets satisfied.  

But frankly… he really did not mind.

“What do you want me to do witch?”

The moment he asked her that question, the smile on her face rivaled the gleaming lights of the fair. “I want a doughnut pillow Zoro.”

“Huh?” Zoro raised an eyebrow at her.

“Win me a doughnut pillow,” she demanded, pointing at the game she was sorely losing earlier.

“I can’t believe you sometimes,” Zoro complained as he took a step towards the stall.

It took almost no effort for him to win her the pillow. Make that three pillows.

“Now are we good? Or do you want me to win all the doughnuts?” Zoro asked exasperatedly. He made a mental note never to piss Nami again. Making amends take too much out of him and his pockets.

Nami was beaming at him, while holding all the pillows in her arms. “We’re good,” she said chirpily. She glanced at the man managing the stall with pity. He looked really nervous upon realizing that Zoro can wipe his stall clean effortlessly.

Zoro stared at her before heaving a sigh. “Anything else you want me to do your highness?”

“Nothing so far slave.”

“Now let’s go. I’ll walk you home.”

“Don’t. You’ll only get lost,” Nami said snootily, shoving two of the pillows in his arms. “Walk me to your apartment.”

“Huh? Why?”

“Because I said so Zoro!” Nami pulled him towards the direction of his place.

“What? You wanna hang out or something?”

“Yeah.”

They were walking in a rather pleasant silence and pace, when Zoro suddenly laughed. “I can’t believe you got mad all because you thought I like and wanted to date Chiaki.”

Nami scowled at him. “Shut up marimo-head. Like I said, I don’t like her for you.”

He was still laughing, just realizing the absurdity of their ‘fight’. But unexpectedly, he was able to confirm something because of it.

“So does this mean I need your approval before I can date someone?” Zoro asked contemplatively.

Nami pursed her lips. It felt like a trick question and that she should consider her answer carefully. Because from the expression on Zoro’s face, it looks like he’s up to something and it looks like he knows something.  

“Not really. You can date anyone except Chiaki.”

Zoro stopped in his tracks. “Is that so?”

Nami mirrored his movement. “Yeah.”

His countenance remained amused as his gaze never left her face.

“Then date me Nami.”

[city-wandering-bitch]

JAMILTON FLUFF FOR DAYS!!!!!!!! (YA’LL DONE MADE ME DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Alright hey everyone it’s your friendly neighborhood trickster here with something to say. Lately, as I have been reading from AO3 it has come to my attention that in the Jamilton folder it has been getting abusive once again. It’s not everything but there has been a lot. So I am looking to change that and that’s where I need you to come in Tumbler!!! I am going to put a list of prompts down below and you send me the ones you would like me to write about featuring Thomas and Alex. If you don’t see one you like then please send me your own ideas and I will see what I can do. (Note: That this list will be very long.) Also if there is a specific world you would like me to write, please do so in your ask. Alright, That’s all I have to say the list is down below I hope you all have a blessed morning, noon, night, or whenever you read this.

Virtual X’s & O’s: Vixen

P.s. Please note that I do not write smut.

1. Outside the Window: What’s the weather outside your window doing right now? If that’s not inspiring, what’s the weather like somewhere you wish you could be?

2. The Unrequited love: How do you feel when you love someone who does not love you back?

3. The Vessel: Write about a vehicle that takes you somewhere different.

4. Dancing: Who’s dancing and why are they tapping those toes?

5. Food: What’s for breakfast? Dinner? Lunch? Or maybe you could write about that time you met a friend at a cafe.

6. Eye Contact: Write about two people seeing each other for the first time.

7. Hair Dye: Write about dying your hair or about someone else dying their hair. What hairstyle do they have? What color is it? What does it stand for?

8. Dream-catcher: Write something inspired by a recent dream you had.

9. Animals: Choose an animal. Write about it!

10. Friendship: Write about being friends with someone.

11. Motorcycle: Write about a motorcycle ride and how the characters feel about being on the motorcycle.

12. Greeting: Write about two people meeting. It can be for the first time or just seeing one another randomly or every day.

13. The Letter: Write a letter about someone you have strong feelings for and once you are done burn it.

14. Lost & Found: Write about losing something and how you got it back.

15. Eavesdropper: Create a short story or journal entry about a conversation you’ve overheard.

16. Addict: Everyone’s addicted to something in some shape or form. What are things you can’t go without?

17. Dictionary Definition: Open up a dictionary to a random word. Define what that word means to you.

18. Cleaning: Hey, even writers, and creative artists have to do housework sometimes. Write about doing laundry, dishes, and other cleaning activities.

19. Great Minds: Write about someone you admire and you thought to have had a beautiful mind.

20. Phone Call: Write about a phone call you have gotten from someone.

21. Foreclosure: Write a short story about someone who has lost or is about to lose their home.

22. Nicknames: Write about calling someone a nickname. Why do you call them that?

23. Sugar: Write about having a sweet tooth.

24. Numbers: Write a story about numbers that have special meaning to you.

25. Books: What’s your favorite type of book? Why do you like those types of books so much?

26. Fear: What scares you a little? What do you feel when scared? How do you react?

27. Closed Doors: What’s behind the door? Why is it closed?

28. Shadow: Imagine you are someone’s shadow for a day.

29. Good Vibes: What makes you smile? What makes you happy?

30. Shopping: Write about your shopping list and how you like to spend money.

31. Scary Movies: Write about someone watching a scary movie. What are their reactions? Are they scared or not? If they are scared what are they scared off?

32. Video Games: Write about playing any type of video game.

33. Jewelry: Write about a piece of jewelry. Who does it belong to?

34. Sounds: Write about your favorite sounds.

35. War and Peace: Write about a recent conflict.

36. Frame It: Write about a picture that you would love to put in a picture frame.

37. Puzzle: Write about pieces of puzzles.

38. Fire-starters: Write about someone who starts a fire in your heart.

39. Coffee & Tea: Surely you drink one or the other or know someone who does- write about it!

40. Car Keys: Write about not being able to find your car keys. What do you?

41. What You Don’t Know: Write about a secret you’ve kept from someone else or how you feel when you know someone is keeping a secret from you.

42. Warehouse: Write about being inside an old abandoned warehouse.

43. The Sound of Silence: Write about staying quiet when you feel like shouting.

44. Insult: Write about being insulted.

45. Mirror, Mirror: What if you mirror started talking to you?

46. Dirty: What’s dirty and why?

47. Light Switch: Write about coming out of the dark and seeing the light.

48. The Stars: Take inspiration from a night sky.

49. Joke: Write about a joke that didn’t quiet go as planned.

50. Just Say No: Write about the power you felt when you told someone no.

51: Sunrise/Sunset: Write about one or the other and what you are doing during this time.

52. Memory Lane: Write about your favorite memories and why those are your favorite memories.

53. Tear-Jerker: Watch a movie that makes you cry.

54. Dear Diary: Write a short story about a diary entry you’ve read or imagined.

55. Holding Hands: The first time you held someone’s hand.

56. Photograph: Write about taking pictures and why you are taking them.

57. Alarm Clock: Write about waking up.

58. Darkness: Write a short story about what happens in the dark.

59. Refreshed: Write about a time you really felt refreshed and renewed. Maybe it was a dip in a pool on a hot summer day, a drink of lemonade, or other situation that helped you relax and start again.

60. Handle With Care: Write about a very fragile or delicate object.

61. Drama: Write about a time when you got stuck in between two parties fighting with each other.

62. Slip Up: Write about making mistakes.

63. Spice: Write about flavors and tastes or a favorite spice of yours.

64. Sing a New Song: Take a popular song off the radio and write about what you do when you hear it.

65. Text: Write about a text you have gotten.

66. Name: Write about your favorite name.

67. Pillow Fort: Write about someone who makes a pillow fort. What’s their favorite thing about it? Why have they made it?

68. Pillow Fight: Write about people having a pillow fight.

69. Sports: Write about a sport any kind of sport.

70. Time: What time is it and why is this so important?

71. Strange As Fiction: Write about something that you never thought would happen and when it does you feel like you’re in the Twilight Zone.

72. Secret Admirer: Write about someone getting something from their secret admirer.

73. The Last Person, You Talked to: Write a quick little story about the last person you spoke with.

74. Caught Red-Handed: Write about being caught doing something embarrassing.

75. Interview: Write a list of questions you have for someone you would like to interview, real or fictional.

76. Missing You: Write about someone you miss dearly.

77. Swings: Write about swinging on a swing and why you are.

78. Random Song: Pick a song and use it to write a story. (Pick a song you like and I’ll write about that for Thomas and Alex.)

79. Hero: Write about being a superhero.

80. Stranger: Write about someone you feel is a stranger to you even though you have known them for a long time.

81. Snow: Write about having fun in the snow.

82. Flowers: Write about giving someone flowers. Why did you give them flowers? What do they mean? What type of flowers are they?

83. Magic: Imagine you have a touch of magic, and can make impossible things happen. What would you do?

84. Favorite Pen: Write about your favorite pen and why it’s your favorite.

85. A Day in the Life: Write about your daily habits and routine.

86. Your Muse: Write about your muse – what does he or she look like? What does your muse do to inspire you?

87. Convenience Store: Write about an experience you’ve had at a gas station or convenience store.

88. Natural Wonders of the World: Choose one of the natural wonders of the world. Write about it

89. Facebook or Twitter Status: Write a story using social media messages.

90. Green Thumb: Write about growing something.

91. Family Heirloom: Write about an object that’s been passed through the generations in your family.

92. Monsters: Write about being a monster hunter and having a talk with one of the monsters you hunt. What happens? What do you talk about?  Are they good or bad?

93. Potion: Write about a magic potion. What is it made of? What does it do? What is the antidote?

94. Treehouse: Write about hiding out in a treehouse. Are you alone or with someone? Why are you hiding out?

95. Blackout: Write about the lights going out and what happens during the time they are out.

96. Fairy Tales: Rewrite a fairy tale. Give it a new ending or make it modern.

97. Whispers: Write about someone who has to whisper a secret to someone else.

98. Smile: Write about the things that make you smile.

99. Bed: Write about sharing a bed and why you have to share it.

100. Normal: What does normal mean to you? Is it good or bad to be normal?

101. Swimming: Write about going swim.

102. Wardrobe: Write about a fashion model or what’s currently in your closet or drawers.

103. Camping: Write about going camping.

104. Vacation: Write about a vacation you took.

105. Heat: Write about being overheated and sweltering.

106. Spellbinding: Write a magic spell.

107. Hot Chocolate: Write about when the best time to drink hot chocolate is.

108. Taking Chances: Everyone takes a risk at some point in their life. Write about a time when you took a chance and what the result was.

109. Carnival: Write a story inspired by a carnival or street fair.

110. Symbols: Write about symbols that mean something to you or to others.

111: Questions: Write about questions you have for someone. Optional: include an answer key.

112. Rushing: Write about moving quickly and doing things fast.

113. Staircase: Write about something that happens on a staircase.

114. Neighbors: Make up a story about your next door neighbor.

115. Black and Blue: Write about a time you’ve been physically hurt.

116. Forest: Write about going into the woods.

117. Beach Inspired: What’s not to write about the beach?

118. Shoes: What kind of shoes do you wear? Where do they lead your feet?

119. The Ex: Write a story about your ex and what happens after you break up.

120. Hiking: Write about going on a hike.

121. Stray Animal: Write about finding a stray animal and taking them in.

122. Stop and Stare: Create a story about something you could watch forever.

123. Your Bed: Describe where you sleep each night.

124. Fireworks: Write about watching the fireworks.

125. Frozen: Write about a moment in your life you wish you could freeze and preserve.

126. Alone: Do you like to be alone or do you like having company?

127. Know-it-all: Write about something you are very knowledgeable about, for example, a favorite hobby or passion of yours.

128. The Promise: Write about a promise you’ve made to someone. Did you keep that promise?

129. Commotion: Write about being overstimulated by a lot of chaos.

130: Instrument: Write about you or someone else playing an instrument.