#make em take vitamins & wear reading glasses | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

collapsingintojupiter · 5 years

Text

Birthday Party

So before I begin, lemme just say--

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

It's @starbucks-remy 's birthday y'all, so please go and let them know how great they are!!

I asked them what they wanted to see and they mentioned Logince and Intrulogical, so I did my best to combine a little fluff and comedy with both! (Also I've already written a couple of fics with Logince fluff in them if you want to see 'em here and here). I wrote this kinda fast cause I really wanted to give it to @starbucks-remy on their birthday, so I’m sorry if it’s not as good? I tried I promise.

Anyways, without further ado:

Characters: Logan, Remus, Roman, Virgil, Remy, and Patton.

Relationships: Kind of a smash up but I tried to include some (mostly platonic) Intrulogical and Logince, as well as a little background Moxiety (also platonic).

Warnings: Uh, there’s like one curse? Food mention. Also Remus is in it, for those of you that are triggered by him. Please tell me if there’s something else I should add.

Logan sat on the front porch with a glass of water in one hand and a calculator in the other. A chemistry book was open on his lap, and he squinted against the bright sunlight overhead as he read the next question to himself and sipped at his water. Being hydrated, if he remembered correctly, would allow him to study more efficiently by improving his mood, focus, and concentration. The sunlight also provided valuable vitamin D. Speaking of which, maybe he could call Virgil, and they could--

"Logan!" A shout from down the road dragged his attention away from his studying and Logan looked up, surprised. Someone was approaching him at a rather unsteady run, almost as if they were injured. Remus…?

"Logan!" He called again. "LOGAN!"

Logan scrambled to his feet and threw the book aside, his heart pounding.

"What's wrong?" He shouted, running to Remus' side. "Are you hurt? Where's Roman? What happened? Is someone in danger?"

Remus stumbled to a stop and doubled over, gasping for breath. A black long-sleeved shirt hung loosely from his shoulders, matched by pants that were the most peculiar shade of green one had ever seen. Logan didn’t see any blood.

"It's…birthday… Roman...wanted...somethin' special…" Logan blinked at the other boy.

"Wait…what?" Remus grabbed his shoulders.

"Birthday!" He shouted in Logan's face. "Roman's birthday is today!" He coughed, sucked in a deep breath, and tried again.

"I need your car." Logan blinked.

"I…you've got to be kidding me!" He stumbled over his own words, but that didn't stop him. "I...I thought someone got...got hurt or something and you just need my car!? Where's your car? What…what about Roman? Where is he? I thought he was dead or something with all your shouting!"

"Well obviously I can't go shopping with him for his birthday present now can I?"

"And your car?" Logan tried to fight off the exasperation creeping into his voice.

"I got my license revoked." Remus grinned widely.

"You what?"

"Yeah. Apparently I'm a reckless driver or something--can we go?"

"I...I don't even know how you got a license…" Logan sighed and adjusted his glasses. "Okay, so let me get this straight--"

"--Logan, neither of us are straight." That earned Remus a sharp glare, to which he only grinned in response.

"--So it's Roman's birthday and you're trying to…?" That statement actually made Remus stop and think, which was quite worrying to see when you knew the kinds of things that happened when you let Remus think. He scrunched up his face and puffed up his cheeks, then exhaled loudly through his nose.

"Uh... birthday party…" he said finally. "Like...a surprise? For Roman?"

God help me.

Logan sighed. "You want to use my house don't you?" Remus' eyes lit up at that.

"See, I knew I could count on you!" He broke into a run towards the garage.

"Wait...I didn't…" Logan let his voice trail off and sighed again as he watched the other boy go. Then he started after Remus. Looks like I'm in charge of this now, he thought to himself. I’ll have to put off studying until tomorrow morning. There was absolutely no way Logan could let Remus create this surprise party unsupervised, as someone's house was liable to end up catching fire if he did (and yeah, he was saying that from experience).

Remus was already seated in the passenger side of the car as Logan climbed in.

"You need to contact Remy, Virgil, and Patton right now," he told Remus as he started the car. "And put your seatbelt on. Tell the others to meet us at my place in twenty minutes. You're lucky my parents aren't home, but if we're doing this at my house this means you're agreeing to clean up afterwards. Understand?" Remus nodded and quickly pulled his phone out.

"Good."

---

Three figures were standing on the front porch when Logan and Remus got back. One, dressed in a blue polo and wearing glasses, another with shades down and a frappe in one hand, and the third hunched over in a purple and black patch jacket.

Remus barreled out of the car and insisted on carrying all of the bags into the house by himself--Logan had decided to pick up everything on his parents' grocery list while they were at the grocery store, so there were quite a few stacked up in the trunk. Of course, that didn't stop Remus. His arms were covered in the white plastic handles and he’d even wrapped several around his neck, despite Logan’s protests.

"You're going to choke yourself…" Logan sighed as Remus marched up the steps without heeding him, nodding to Virgil and accepting a hug from Patton as he followed.

"How'd it go?" Remy asked with a smirk, glancing up from his phone.

"We almost got arrested."

"Again?" Virgil snickered. "What happened this time?"

"THEY CHARGE WAY TOO MUCH FOR THE DONUTS!" Remus shouted over his shoulder.

"How'd he try to steal them?" Patton asked. Logan slapped a hand over Remus' mouth before he could blurt out the answer.

“Don’t you dare,” he hissed. He looked up at Patton. "Creatively," was all he said. He stepped past Remus and unlocked the house, leading everyone inside. "So this is a very last minute project, but I believe that we can accomplish our goal if we’re efficient at our jobs and work together." He winced as Remus roughly dumped the bags onto the kitchen counter. "Remy, let’s put you and Virgil in charge of decorating. Patton--"

"Uh, actually…" Patton cleared his throat. "Remus helped me come up with a good gift idea earlier…" Logan listened as he explained, and found himself nodding.

"Alright, you want to go take care of that, then?" Patton nodded and rushed off. "Okay, so slight plan change. Virgil, you and Remus will be in charge of the cake. Remy, I will assist you with the decorations. Any questions?"

"Yeah. Can you kill me?"

"I'm sure you two will be fine, Virgil." Logan looked down at his watch. "We have three hours. Let's get going."

Virgil disappeared into the kitchen, muttering, and Remus pranced after him. Logan worried about it for a minute, but that was why he'd put Virgil in there with Remus. Surely he'd be able to handle him.

"Alright, so I've got some ideas. Ya think you can rig something up that'll drop confetti from overhead when you trigger it? Say, when someone opens the front door?" Remy looked back from where he was examining the walls, eyebrows raised. Logan thought about his suggestion for a moment, then nodded.

"I'll see what I can do," he answered. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to hang up steamers and make a sign that'll hang from…probably here," Remy motioned to the ceiling and set his coffee down on the kitchen counter.

Logan set about gathering the materials he'd need for Remy's suggested confetti drop, and he was in the middle of trying to figure out what kind of tape to use when pandemonium erupted from the kitchen.

"Remus, we're trying to hurry here!"

"Oh don't worry, I can mix it really fast!"

"REMUS NO!"

A high-pitched whirring sound came from the kitchen, and Logan and Remy burst into the room just as a cloud of flour and other ingredients exploded from the bowl. Instantly, everything within a twenty-foot radius was coated in white powder. Virgil shrieked and before Logan knew what was happening he was on top of the fridge, his hood pulled down over his face and his hands over his ears. Remus scrambled to stop the mixer, and ended up toppling the entire bowl of cake batter over onto the floor. The crash of breaking glass combined with the string of curses that came from Remus' mouth were enough to make anybody's ears ring, the mixer was still running, and how the hell did Virgil even get on top of the fridge?

Logan shook himself, then suddenly he was hurrying over towards Remus and the chaos he'd created, being careful not to step on any glass as he did so. He reached over and shut off the mixer, and the three exchanged glances over the now flour-coated kitchen.

"Huh," Remus said finally. " So that's why you're not supposed to do that." Logan sighed and ran a hand through his hair, causing a small avalanche of flour to join the rest of the disaster on the floor.

"Go get a broom, Remus, I'll start wiping off the counters. Remy, can you get Virgil down from the fridge?"

"Oh thanks, give me that job,” Remy muttered.

“Would you prefer wiping down the counters?”

“I would to getting bit by that bitch-ass vampire!” Logan sighed again and handed Remy the sponge.

“Here, take this then.” Remy took the sponge and he started over to where Virgil was still sitting on top of the fridge. His hands hadn’t come away from his ears yet. Logan reached up and gently nudged his knee with one hand.

“It stopped,” he said quietly.

“Hsssssssss…” Virgil opened his eyes and glowered down at Logan. “I’m not getting down and you can’t make me. Not with that...not with Remus in here!”

“He’s not in here right now.” The other glanced up at this and seemed to consider this, but he didn’t move.

“Look...I’ll trade with you,” Logan offered. “I’ll help Remus cook, and you can set up the confetti drop. That shouldn’t be too complicated and you won’t have to interact with him anymore, alright?” Virgil thought over the offer for a moment, then nodded slowly and slid off the top of the fridge.

“How did you even get up there?” Remy asked as he exited the kitchen.

“I have my ways.” The one in shades rolled his eyes and tossed the sponge to Logan, who only barely managed to catch it and got flour all over his shirt as a result.

“Have fun.” Then Remy was gone. Logan began wiping everything down with the sponge and Remus came in a few minutes later, having finally located a broom. Somehow they managed to clean up the mess without any further incidents, and moved on to making the cake...again. There’s a reason I bought at least three boxes of cake mix, after all, Logan thought to himself with a small sigh. Once all the ingredients were in the bowl Remus moved to turn the mixer on again, but Logan stopped him before he could.

“I don’t think so,” he grumbled. “Already had to get Virgil off the fridge once today.” “How’d he do that, by the way?”

“Who knows?” He started the mixer--slowly, this time, and soon enough they had a decent bowl full of cake batter.

“Remus, can you get me a glass pan?” He went in search of one while Logan went looking for the oil spray.

“Can I do it?” Remus asked when they met back at the kitchen counter. How much of a mess could he cause? Logan hesitantly handed it to Remus, who promptly sprayed the oil in his own face. Okay, a lot of a mess.

“Dammit!” Remus quietly cursed and turned the nozzle, and before he knew what was happening Logan’s glasses were coated in oil, along with the rest of his face.

“Remus!”

“SHIT!”

Logan fumbled with his glasses and tried to wipe the oil off with the corner of his shirt, but he only succeeded in smearing it all over the lenses.

“There, it’s in the pan!” Remus called. “How’d I do?”

“Remus, I can’t see.”

“Don’t worry! I can take care of--”

“--REMY!!”

“What’s happening? Who’s on fire...Logan?” He saw his sassy friend’s blurry form enter the room, and gestured helplessly towards the green and black blob on his right.

“Can you...stop him...get the cake in the oven...I gotta clean my glasses off now.” Logan stumbled over to the kitchen sink; Remus sounded outraged that Logan wasn’t trusting him with cake duty, and Remy was even more outraged at having been put in charge of the wildest, most chaotic human being that any of them had ever met.

“Okay it’s in, try not to burn the house down Remus...chow.” Logan heard Remy leave as he scrubbed at his glasses with dish soap, while Remus flopped down onto the floor to watch the cake bake. Well, he probably wasn’t actually watching it bake, but as long as the house wasn’t catching fire things were going pretty good as far as Logan was concerned. He finished getting the last of the oil off of his glasses, dried them, and breathed a sigh of relief as the world came back into focus around him. It always made him nervous to not be able to see, though he’d never admit it of course.

Soon the cake was ready and the decorations had been prepared for the surprise party. Patton came back, laughed at Virgil’s wild telling of the incident in the kitchen, told Remus he’d done well for trying, and helped Logan make the frosting for the cake while Remus disappeared in order to ‘take care of Roman’s present,’ as he’d said.

Whatever that meant.

“Got the pizza ordered?” Logan poked his head out of the kitchen once the cake was out and cooling off on the counter, directing his question at Remy.

“Hey, this bitch don’t mess around with pizza--of course I did.” Remy might’ve said more, but before he could continue Remus burst back into the house, holding a very oddly-wrapped something in his hands.

“THE SACRIFICE HAS BEEN PREPARED!” he shrieked. Virgil flinched away from the loud noise and shook his head, while Logan and Remy raised their eyebrows and exchanged slightly worried, slightly amused glances. Remus’ wrapping skills were tragic at best, and as Patton came out of the kitchen his eyes went wide at the sight.

“Do…do you...” he stopped himself and shook his head, retreating back into the kitchen. Logan glanced over at Remus.

“We’re putting all the gifts on the counter over there, go ahead and add yours,” he told the other boy. Remus nodded and hurried over, adding his gift to the others that had already been stacked there.

“You contact your brother?” Remus nodded quickly.

“Yup!” Logan nodded, checking the room around them to ensure that all was in order. The front entryway had been transformed by Remy and Virgil’s handiwork--the confetti drop was up and ready over the doorway, set to fall when the string which had been tied to the door handle was pulled. Streamers were hung up on the walls, balloons were scattered around the low ceiling, and a large sign that said “Happy Birthday Roman!” hung from the middle, done in Remy’s handwriting of course. Virgil’s handwriting was usually illegible, Logan’s looked more like chicken scratch than the work of an actual human, Remus couldn’t spell, and Patton’s cursive was impossible to decipher in even the best situations.

“The cake’s ready!” Patton came into the room, the cake balanced delicately in his hands. A blue, powdered sugar-coated apron hung from his shoulders and his hair was dusted white, as were his glasses. “Hey Logan--can you get the candles, please?”

“Certainly.” Logan retrieved the candles and lighter, arranging them on the cake in what he thought was a pleasing pattern. “Is Roman almost here?” he called to Remus. The other boy rushed to the window.

“He’s coming down the street right now!” he announced. “Light the candles!”

“What did you tell your brother, anyways?” Logan asked as he flicked the lighter on.

“I told him that you were texting him from my phone cause I got hurt and he needed to come over right away.” Patton’s eyes widened and he looked at Logan, who just shook his head.

“It’s definitely believable,” Remy said, sipping at his Starbucks.

“How have you still not finished your coffee?”

“I bring extra.” Logan would’ve continued his questioning (like, how does one bring extra coffee and where was Remy hiding it?), but then a knock sounded at the door. He strode forward and opened it a crack. Roman was standing there, and he looked awfully worried.

“Oh Lo, I’m so sorry about my idiot brother!” he burst out immediately, but before any more could be said Remus crashed into Logan, dragging the door open the rest of the way and yanking his brother into the house.

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY BROTHER!” He shouted as confetti rained down on them and Remy laughed his head off in the corner and Patton tried not to drop the cake. He came over with the dessert and they all started singing happy birthday to Roman--yes, even Logan did, though he’d never admit it later.

“Wait...wait...you’re not hurt! This was just a surprise…” Roman’s jaw dropped, and then he snapped his mouth shut. “Remus! I thought you’d killed yourself!” He dragged his brother into a hug. “You idiot! Come up with a better excuse next time, you nearly gave me a heart attack!”

“Sorry!” Remus said, though he was so excited that he didn’t sound sorry at all. “C’mon c’mon c’mon, we got you presents and everything!” Roman looked around at the decorations that had been put up for him, and once he was sure that his brother was okay and the anger from that had worn off he grinned like an idiot as he walked through the room. A rather illegally cute idiot as far as Logan was concerned, though of course he didn’t admit that as he ushered the others into the living room and brought in the packages.

“So the pizza should be here in a few minutes,” he said as the others sat down, “but we thought you’d like it if you could open your presents first.” Roman looked wide-eyed at the packages that had been set out in front of them, grinning from ear to ear. He reached first for a small, neatly packaged gift that had been wrapped in purple paper, and pulled it away to reveal a pair of red headphones. Virgil smiled awkwardly at his friend, who immediately reached across the room and pulled him into a hug.

“I hope you like it,” he said quietly.

“Like it? Like it? LIKE IT!? I love it!” Roman set the headphones down next to him, admiring them for a moment before reaching for a tiny silver package next.

“Now you can stop begging me to buy you coffee,” Remy grinned as Roman held up a Starbucks gift card.

“That’s awesome, thank you Remy!” Roman cast a confused look at the third package, which was wrapped in green, then looked at his brother. Remus looked like he was about to explode from sheer excitement and chaotic energy--it was a miracle he’d managed to stay quiet for as long as he had. He reached for it and pulled off the paper, holding up a large machete with a slightly-confused-but-excited expression.

“Remus…?” “I’ve been saving up to get us matching ones!” Remus burst out. “Now we can duel! Isn’t that gonna be awesome!?”

“Nice!” The two high-fived and Roman hugged his brother again. Patton looked at Remus and Logan and stood up.

“Just a minute,” he said quietly. He disappeared and came back a few minutes later, and Roman’s brow crinkled in confusion.

“A backpack? Why’s it...moving? Why does it look so heavy?” Roman reached for it as Patton gently handed it to him, and let out a squeal as he opened the top and a little golden puppy leaped out of the bag and started licking his face.

“Oh my gosh, a puppy!” He squealed. Patton and Remus both grinned, and Logan found himself smiling a little as well.

“Remus got permission from your parents, I got my dad’s help, and Logan picked the puppy out for you,” Patton explained. Roman reached for the little note that had been tied to the puppy’s collar, reading it out loud.

Dear Roman,

I hope you find this gift satisfactory, your brother mentioned that you had been wanting a dog for quite some time, so we thought that we would try to make your wish a reality. His name at the shelter was Tillie, but you may name him whatever you would like.

“You...amazing...nerd…” Roman slowly set the card down, then launched himself into Logan’s arms, hugging him tight. “Thank you so much!” They were suddenly joined by Remus, and out of the corner of his eye Logan saw Patton yell something and hug Virgil. The puppy wagged his little tail and tried to climb into Roman’s lap; he let go of Logan so that he could and then hugged the pup too. Remy watched them all from the couch, shaking his head and smirking.

“What should we name it?” Roman asked, looking around at the others.

“Shadow,” Virgil suggested. “Or maybe like, Killer, or Demon, or--”

“Chaos! Death! Destruction! Carrion! Carcass! Vulture! Decay!” Remus shouted, bouncing with every name idea.

“How about...Rose? Or Lily. Or Tulip. Or Dandelion. Or Daisy…” Patton tried, clearly trying to remember every flower name he’d ever heard.

“Frappe, Latte, Mocha, Capuchino, Coffee bean.” Remy yawned, pretending that he wasn’t interested in the conversation at all.

“The most popular dog names include Max, Buddy, Jack, Rocky, Bear, and Charlie,” Logan quoted.

“You googled most popular dog names?” Remy asked with a snort.

“I’m not good with names.” Logan shrugged. “But I figured I would do my best to contribute.”

“That’s so cute,” Patton gushed. “What do you think, Roman?” Roman held up the puppy, who wagged its tail and licked his face. He giggled.

“How about...Princess?” he said. “I like that name.”

“The dog is a male though,” Logan said, a little confused.

“Princess the Magnificent, then.” Roman laughed and set the puppy down.

“Princey for short,” Virgil said.

“I like that!” Roman nodded, then hugged the puppy to his chest again. “You’re so cute!” he told the puppy.

The doorbell rang.

“Pizza’s here,” Logan announced. Roman jumped up as he stood, then hugged him again.

“Thank you so much,” he whispered, “for making this the best birthday ever.”

#logan's bday #i did my best i hope you like it mate #you're amazing #fanfiction #sanders sides #roman sanders #remus sanders #remus #patton sanders #logan sanders #remy sanders #sleep sanders #virgil sanders #logince #intrulogical #moxiety

42 notes · View notes

inkskinned · 6 years

Text

literally just a dumb unorganized list of school tips

source: im a grad student. i’ve had a lot of school. also i’m adhd & mentally ill and require +8 organization. this is mostly directed @ college students, but maybe high school students can use it too, fuck, idk, it’s been forever since i was stuck in that hell hole

just say “professor” either ur using the correct title for a person (will make them feel good) or you’re giving them a bigger title on the assumption they deserve it (which will make them feel good) and also prevents having to ever i mean ever use their names

talk at least 1 time a week in each class, aim for 1 time a day. even lecture classes. i fucking hate talking in front of more than 5 people, so what i would do is prepare a question about the hw/etc (even if i didn’t need it answered) to ask the professor after class so they saw me and got used to me and saw i was invested in their class. about 89% of teachers - if they see you try, they will pass you. i mean it’s literally that easy. i know people who went from like a c- but because they legit tried, their grade got bumped up to a b-.

if u have to bring a laptop, pre-download the required material/screenshot it, and then turn off your wifi. it’s too easy to not listen.

physical writing will always give you more information recall over typing.

nobody cares about stupid shit anymore trust me they don’t remember that you were accidentally locked in a towel out of your room bc they have their own dumb shit that happened.... in college all the “cringe culture” turns into “god i wish that were me” culture ... wear ur onesie to a party trust me you make +800 friends and 799 of them will be girls telling you you’re adorable and they’d die for you

about locking urself out.... if ur like me and can breeze past post-it notes placed in obvious areas, don’t be a dumb bitch and rely on post-it-notes. while most schools offer 1 free lockout, dont rely on it - it once took 2 hours before someone could get to me. i was in a towel, which meant no phone. so like. anyway, what i do now is i put something on the handle of the door i have to open/unlock. i can’t just open the door w/out the thing falling down and making a loud “you dumb bitch unlock the door before u shower” sound.

this works for all important don’t-forget it things. other obstacles i’ve used to remind myself to do something include: putting a chair with my wholeass posterboard in front of the door, an entire printer with a single piece of paper that just read “for the love of god check to be sure you have that essay”, and a recycling bin i kept forgetting to empty. guess what bitch finally emptied the bin once it was between me and a swift exit!

no offense and like the whole “it’s the best years of your life!” thing is great but in reality everything goes better scholastically when you treat it as “i came here to win, not to make friends.” i still did make friends, went to parties every weekend, was popular enough i’d be invited to several on one night - but i came there to win. when i put my scholastic life and my mental health first, i went from a 2.0 to a 3.98. yes you can, bitch.

you’re spending the money. don’t squander it. trust me when i say i know plenty of people who breeze through, bc you often can. but like. don’t. challenge yourself bc like. talk about an investment.

if you hate your major, change it. don’t make your life something you can’t stand. on that note, do NOT agree 100% to a track until you have at least some experience in the field. i cannot tell u how many ppl i know who got their whole masters/phd program done, walked into their new profession, and were like, Oh Fuck, I Can’t Live Like This.

college literally offers so many free things and if you’re not taking advantage of them whenever possible i get it but like. try to take advantage of them. this is everything from your gym (which probably has free classes dude) to clubs to like. sober events. these sober events are so ... fuckin good dude i’ve made mason jars with little plants in em... bee aviaries... candles.... go to the free stuff

oh ps on free stuff i wanna say about 4 of 5 days there’s free food on campus just look for things like job fairs, presentations, or discussion groups. also while you’re there at the job fair like. u know, go to the job fair in earnest

i took off 2 years to work and also to just. recover from my bullshit. and it took me 6 years and 3 schools to get my bachelor’s. it wasn’t easy but bitch i lived. there’s no such thing as “too long” to graduate if that’s truly what you want to do.

if on the meal plan, eat as clean as you can the first week. then introduce each part of the cafeteria’s possibly-food-poisoning-creating foods one at a time. give @ least 2 days between each experiment so you know for sure if you get sick what caused it. i literally never eat meat at school but you can still get sick off of unwashed lettuce/salad dressing that hasn’t been refrigerated properly/weirdass things you won’t even think of. this prevents like. dying in a public bathroom.

white loaf bread can be gross & boring. discount bakery section for your slightly chewy artisianal bread needs. if overstale, either toast it or dunk it into water and microwave it (unless u got an oven. use the oven if u can)

steal as many apples from the dining hall/events/etc as physically possible just do it they keep FOREVER and @ some point you’ll be like. fUCK i need a nutrition. ps if you’re keeping them in ur backpack (i wouldn’t keep more than 2) make sure to wrap w/a few paper towels so if you drop your bag you don’t get apple mush

write it all down bitch. “i’ll remember it” no you won’t. unless you are capable of remembering every idea on this list and in order, you won’t remember it. in general, if you write something 3 times, you will recall it correctly at least 80% of the time. i also read it out loud to myself, bc, you know, auditory recall

DO NOT just put your assignment at the top of your notes, unless you’re 100% sure that will work for you. in most cases, it’s much better to have a planner/agenda/place you expect to look for assignments. +7 points if you lie to yourself about deadlines and move them all up.

like not to sound too much like a DARE ad but like. if you don’t like it/don’t want it, don’t fuckin do it. the idea that “there’s nothing to do if you don’t party” is such bullshit. like i promise if you’re like “i am a grouch and want to stay in and binge netflix” about 45 ppl will show up in pjs like “bitch fullscreen it, im a grouch too.” there’s also like. the chance to just.... not overindulge. on wednesdays i have “wine wednesdays” where we sit around and drink a glass of wine while we do our hw. it’s chill and friendly instead of like. drink until u vomit. don’t feel like you either gotta slam the breaks or the gas pedal, is what i mean.

PLEASE know the signs of alcohol poisoning/overdose. most schools have a “Safety Always Matters Most” policy, which means that you can call for help w/out getting into trouble. if you think someone is in danger, act. this also goes for making sure ppl get home safe even if they’re just incapacitated, not poisoned. step in, dudes.

also just. notice when ur starting to rely on stuff too much. i’m super easily addicted to things, so i keep a healthy distance from liquor. i don’t let myself “drink to feel better” bc that’s a scary, scary thing to link to feeling better. if you or somebody u know starts drinking all the time/gets anxious if they don’t drink/drinks in the daytime .... get help. schools have counselling services for a reason.

you’re gonna get a cold/flu of some sort in the first 2 months just brace for it. in the meantime, drink vitamin c, try not to touch too many handles, and when people say “there’s something going around” believe them.

watch kaplan nike just do it

if you can teach it, you know the material. a super good way of knowing if you studied the right way is to try and teach the material to a stuffed animal/imaginary class.

“i don’t know how to study” bitch me too the fuck. this is usually bc we’ve been taught that studying is just sitting down and staring @ ur notes. it’s not. it’s different for everyone, and you need to understand it’s 99% preventative care. if you don’t go to the class or do the homework, studying is going to fucking suck, bc you’re learning the material all at once for the first time. the place you should consider “studying” is “i’m confident in 70-90% of the material, but need to review.” do not let yourself fall behind .... just go to office hours and ask questions if ur not getting something. studying should feel like you’re remembering what you already knew but kinda forgot, not like you’ve been blindsided.

the whole “writing it down in ur own words” while u have been told this 700 times it really helps bc it means u gotta translate it through your own understanding. if you can’t, and it’s not bc the material seems too obvious to you to state in another way - ask yourself if you don’t understand the material. chances are u are missing a bit of info.

i know it’s like A Thing that Some People do but i never had the mental health points for it but i know some people just take 15 minutes after every class to review their notes. since i’m 100% early to every class ever, obnoxiously so, i try to do it before class. having the last class’s notes up in my head super helps. like. put down the phone i know you’re socially anxious me too but review those notes. chances are if u start flipping through pages other ppl will too. this is also fun bc as soon as you start this whole thing, at least one person will be like “is there a test?” no bitch there’s no test but im gonna be ready when there is!

literally so much of success is fucking posturing i could link about 800 peer-edited studies that show that when a student is expected to do well (and knows they are), they do well. like i literally didn’t change my appearance at all, never bothered to look nice (once winter hits i wear 67 layers all the time), but when i showed up after my 2 years off from school, i presented myself with the whole “i came here to win” vibe and people... really respected me? i mean in hs i remember ppl saying shit like “yeah, well, you aren’t gonna have the homework”. by the time i was in college i had an honest-to-god conversation which included someone being like “so tell me what you’re overachieving at right now” like they just expected it from me. wild.

i live by “bite off more than you can chew, and then CHEW IT” but it’s probably unhealthy. the truth is that i have a lot of energy all the time (lmao adhd!!!) and i used to get told i was “trying too hard” and for a long time (still???) i didn’t (i don’t?) know what that was, you know, bc i had a D average, clearly i wasn’t trying. it turns out i was just. putting all my energy into stuff that wasn’t making me happy like toxic friendships etc. when i decided “nope, all this energy is for me and my schoolwork”..... uhhhhh suddenly i was a golden child and everyone praised my try-hardness ... it’s a fuckt up system tbh

take at least 1 class just for fun. i try to do that every semester. it helps break up all the requirements. if you’re like an engineer and got no time or credits left to spend, try to audit your fun course.

make ur advisor love you i don’t care what it takes make them cupcakes show up to thank them i dONT CARE just do it

the library isn’t always the best place. if i start getting anxious bc i pavlovian train myself that library=work, i find a new place to go to do hw. try to go outside if you can!!! not like where i live bc like it’s snow all the time but try. a little green really really really helps depression.

if you’ve been in the same “Studying” place for 1 hour and haven’t done anything the chances are Something Isn’t Right. first, look @ ur body. are you not focusing bc of some pressing physical need? sometimes just taking a shower and coming back helps. are you uncomfy? are you too comfy and going to sleep? if body okay, look @ the material. do you not understand it? do you just need to switch to a new topic for a little bit? can you find a youtube video that will help you better understand it? make notes on what you don’t get so you can ask in the next class. if it’s not the material, it’s not ur bod, check the Actual Space. sometimes just getting up, going for a short walk to a new place, and trying it there actually? really works? if none of this is working.... try ur brain next. hardest to reset bc like, what, turn it on and off again? i use things like caffeine, a short workout, a nap, or a podcast all to just... give me a little boost.

don’t be afraid to leave. i mean this about class, friend groups, and the college ur at. just get up on outta there if ur not feelin it. i cannot recommend “drop the class” enough. even if it’s a required course see if u can switch the times if u hate the professor day 3 it’s not gonna get better just get the fuCK out

don’t nap in the same position u go to sleep in, nap upside down w/ur head away from ur pillow. don’t ask me why but it works to 1. fall asleep faster 2. make sure u sleep okay at night and 3. wake up less annoyed

on that note don’t ever do anything in ur bed in a sleeping position unless it’s genuinely sleeping in it. body will get confused. just sit up, lazybones.

when/if the library has those therapy dogs during finals week.... just go pet them make the time for it

ask before hugging people, but don’t expect a “yes”

get a backpack that fits and doesn’t hurt ur back u fuckin hippie idc how cool it is to wear ur backpack super low just don’t do it it’s not worth it

the tutoring center is a fucking goldmine.... free essay edits my dudes

bring a fan dorms are always hotter than u expect

switch dorms if u can if u realize ur in the wrong room/wrong roomate like just don’t bother with nonsense

when in doubt, follow preschool rules. tell ppl when they did something cool, just ask when u need help, and be confident even in your mistakes, because at least u tried

#anyway

6K notes · View notes

millennial94meets-world · 5 years

Text

A GENERATION: QUARANTINED.

Is it coming to you live if I’m just chilling in my apartment and taking my time blogging about the new way of life many generations are having to endure without a FaceTime selfie update? Maybe not. Who cares.

You do. That’s why you’re reading this. Because for many of you, this is day 9 or 15 of quarantine depending on where you are in the country, and you are SO bored that you ended up in a rabbit hole that led you here. Welcome. I could use some more followers just like you could use something to do for the next ten minutes.

For many millennials and introverts alike, nothing has changed. Nada. We are doing the same things we have been doing: avoiding human contact, jumping into rabbit holes out of boredom on social media platforms, eating take out from DoorDash, and binge watching our faves on popular platforms. So to the rest of the world...we send the warmest welcome.

The difference? Now we are being asked to do it.

It’s easier to stay home when you WANT to hide, but it’s a little different for some of us to stay home when you’re TOLD to hide, hence why many people are taking those cheap flights to anywhere without caution, putting bar nights on their social media stories without a care to rebel, and trying not to hit their heads against walls as they are stuck indoors with family they would otherwise optionally see occasionally. Praying for you.

Anyways. While everyone is stuck indoors and sharing their hourly updates of how nothing has changed, or how they are continuing to innovate their new, and hopefully temporary, “norms”, I thought I could also share a few tips on how to stay positive (oh God, no, not for COVID-19), be productive working at home, still be productive if you are temporarily/indefinitely laid off, or have trouble getting through that to-do list you have been making for 5 years (don’t be ashamed, we all have one).

Tip #1: Stay Positive.

I know, I know. That looks more like: StAy pOsITivE, but hear me out. Wake up every morning and set one positive intention; whether it’s limiting your social media scrolling, getting a nice long yoga practice in, getting through a few chapters of a good book, turning the garage into a real gym (no, that treadmill being weighted down by your air-drying laundry does NOT count, Becky), getting a good handle on your [new] online classes, or checking up on your grandparents because #quarantinecheck . Keeping a good positive mental attitude is good for the longevity of this quarantine. This isn’t going to last forever, and it helps to make sure that even if the Corona virus doesn’t infect your immune system, that you don’t let it infect your mental health. It’s also going to help you achieve the rest of this list.

Tip #2: Productively Working From Home.

Say good-bye to cubicles and awkward coffee breaks in the break room with that guy from IT that has a crush on you that you hardly know, and say hello to a much more hostile work environment depending on the adult and child population in your home. You’re about to find out just how much pressure you can take with that deadline. Breathe. I am not an expert on kids because I don’t have any, so I won’t pretend to be. If you’re looking on advice on how to wrangle those little devils, you’re in the wrong place, sis. For everyone else, get up like you would every morning, eh, maybe like an hour more of sleeping in, but get up, get dressed and put some concealer on or whatever. Make some coffee and find the dog/cat/rabbit/hamster leash you threw in the back of the coat closet because you and Fluffy are going for a productive brainstorming walk. Yep. You’re taking the dog, or the cat, or the rabbit, or the hamster (or whatever poor fluffy adorable creature that you never take for some productive exercise) to work from now until this sh*t is over. Make it a 10-15 minute walk (depending the type of pet) and set some productive work intentions. Make a list on your phone. When you come back, set up a creative desk area if you don’t already have one. I use one end of my dining room table by folding one of my favorite patterned scarves in half and laying down as a foundation for mental separation where the cats are NOT allowed to lay. Place some candles from your room or living room on your desk for some “office ambiance”, put up a standing picture frame if you like, notepad and pens, and maybe some cute paper weights? Whatever floats your boat. Start by checking your emails or whatever you would normally do to start the workday at the office, and just keep the ball rolling from there. Set a lunch break, and stay out of the kitchen until then (unless you, like, actually need to get a snack)! We all know what too many snacks lead to....(I’m not saying don’t eat what you want, by all means necessary, snack your PANTS OFF, but save them for after work because we are trying to get sh*t done, okay?)....anyways. If you start feeling overwhelmed by your to-do list, take a break and call your Nana or your mom or dad and chat to check in for like 15 minutes. Talk about your day with them, then get back to it. It helps to get some social interaction, especially because you would be getting that at work with your co-workers. Make sure that you set a solid time to end your “workday” and try to stick to it! You got this!

Tip #3: Being Productive “Working From Home”.

This one is for everyone who has been told that their places of employment have been shutdown temporarily or indefinitely by the government or city officials due to risk of exposure. Set an alarm for the morning for like 9 am or 10:30 am, and get drink some water (we know you had more than a glass of wine last night, and quite frankly...same). Make some coffee or tea to-go, and strap the pup/kitty/bunny up for a walk! We are all going to get some Vitamin D and fresh air ladies and gents. While on your walk, set some daily intentions to do some school work, start a blog (hehe..), take care of any adult-responsibilities that you have been putting off because you just haven’t had time during the week to do it (your banks are still doing drive-thru extended services, so no excuses), make a chore list, make a plan of invading your local grocery store [during business hours] in hopes of finding [not hoarding] lost treasures like toilet paper, conference calling your project buddies from class so you can knock out that B+ even in quarantine because we all know the policy in the syllabus doesn’t even protect you from a worldwide quarantine, or you can take the time you need to take care of your unemployment status! You can still do so many things under these trying times. Start something new for your self or cross off some serious adulting moves. Take this time to meditate, learn about the “joy” of meal-prepping (don’t do this one, it’s miserable), finish that weird painting you started with the girls during a poorly timed wine and paint night at your place (remember? There were snacks and more bottles than canvases and you guys got too drunk and a few brush strokes in you stopped and started to Instagram-stalk your exes and their current girlfriends?? Yeah. You remember), YouTube some yoga routines to start flowing for some MUCH needed positive stress-relief, clean the hell out of your kitchen AND closet (you know you need to donate the sh*t you don’t wear anymore. It’s just taking up space, Jen), or start doing some morning or evening runs with your dog. Take this quarantining time to start new and positive habits that you have been thinking about picking up lately but have been too busy to do so. YOU HAVE PLENTY OF TIME NOW.

Here’s mine, I started a self-care regiment of taking super reds and greens when I get up in morning and go to bed at night, and I started getting up earlier to take my dog out to play fetch while I drink my morning coffee (I don’t run for sh*t, f**k that). Start with something small like I did. If I can do it, you can do it.

Tip #4: Do Your “To-Dos”.

Seriously. Find that list. Make that list. Slap it on the dining room table and give it a good talking-to. Tell it about how you’re not taking anymore of its bullsh*t, and this ends this week. PROJECT YOUR FEELINGS. Then get to it. Maybe drink some coffee first? Idk. Whatever gets you going. Keep in mind a few things though:

1. It’s okay if you only do one thing today because you can take the rest of the week or the rest of the quarantine to finish it. Nobody is judging you, but you, sis (A good life mantra).

2. You are the boss of the list, not the other way around. Take charge, sis.

3. You don’t even have to go in order from top to bottom. Maybe start with the easiest and most convenient things to do at home, and then work your way out. Or alternate between easy and more challenging if you want to make it more fun. The point is: go at your own pace, this isn’t a race. You know what they say about things that rhyme *insert enthusiastic smile and eyebrow raise here*.

4. Do not, and I cannot stress this enough, do NOT judge yourself for how long any item has been on the list. What matters is today, and your motivation to take on these tasks. So pop some headphones in, and go get em’ tiger.

Remember, 2020 is NOT cancelled. It’s just postponed for some self-healing. I hope this helps, and that everyone who reads it can find something that they will take away and put into motion in the weeks to come. Speaking of weeks to come, I am now out of wine, so I have to add a trip to the store to my to-do list lol.

Happy Quarantining guys!!

1 note · View note

lousylark · 6 years

Text

blue lace

(part 6. Read the previous part here, read the first part here. This is a bite-sized part because halfway through is where I decided to switch the story from being in past-tense to present-tense, so sorry about that lol. But the chapter is really long anyway so breaking it into two parts should be fine.)

Spring 7th. Maurice’s Inn. Morning.

When Klaus stepped outside that morning, the world seemed noticeably lighter.

As he locked the door of his home behind him, he took a deep breath in through the nose. The air felt wet, though not in an unpleasant way; rather, it foretold the arrival of Spring — and not a moment too soon, seeing as a week had gone by since the dawn of the New Year.

On his walk to town, he was surprised to find that most of the snow had melted overnight. Perhaps the farmers would finally be able to plant — he’d heard grumblings around town of a possible slow-down in the local economy thanks to spring’s late arrival.

In fact, the weather was so nice that he didn’t even miss his heavier jacket. Since Minori had yet to return his winter coat, he’d been wearing a lighter jacket the past several days. Not, of course, that he minded too much. He had seen her wearing it two days ago while walking through town and hadn’t failed to notice the charming way she tucked her nose inside the collar to hide her face from the cold.

Such were dangerous thoughts, however, and he pushed them away, deep into the crevices of his heart, as he stepped into the lobby of Maurice’s Inn.

“Klaus!” Maurice greeted even before he had closed the door behind him. “What can I do for you, sir?”

Klaus tipped his hat. “I have a meeting with some of your guests, actually.”

“Ah, I see.” Maurice leaned on the counter on his elbows. “Can I get you anything? A glass of water?”

He started to take off his coat. “No, I —“ And then he paused. He was a little thirsty. “Actually, yes, thank you, Maurice.”

Maurice grinned. “Good man. I’ll be right back.”

He disappeared through a door behind the counter, which, Klaus assumed, led to his family’s personal living space.

Klaus took his time in taking off his coat and hanging it on the rack. He took a deep breath in through the nose. The Inn smelled of fresh flowers and cinnamon, with a dash of chai and green tea. He looked to the welcome desk: a vase of fresh daisies sat atop the wooden counter. He wondered who had managed to find such lovely flowers amidst the recent winter weather. He had always wanted to try a flower-and-chai scented perfume. Maybe the Inn would be his inspiration.

A loud pair of feet clunked down the stairs. He looked up to find Melanie, the younger of Maurice’s two daughters, clad in a rain jacket and boots.

Her eyes widened when she saw him. She froze on the stairwell, surprised. “Hi Mr. Shultz!”

He nodded at her. “Good morning, Melanie. How are you?”

Her grin could singlehandedly light up a theater — not unlike her father.

“Great!” she chirped, practically flying down the rest of the stairs until she was at the bottom step. She draped herself over the railing — strangely lavishly for her next words: “I’m going to hunt for worms with Lutz.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Worms?”

She nodded. “It’s the perfect weather to find them — all muddy. You know?”

“Indeed,” he said, “but why worms?”

“Otmar said he’d teach us to fish when the river thawed,” she explained hastily. “But we gotta find bait, first.”

“Ah. You’d best get to it, then. I hear worms are easiest to find in the morning.”

Her eyebrows practically rose to her hairline. “Really? I didn’t know that!”

She raced past him toward the door, swinging it open. A pleasantly warm breeze blew into the lobby.

Before she left, she looked up at him, still grinning, and said, “Thanks, Mr. Shultz. I owe you one!”

The door slammed behind her. Though he chuckled at her youthful excitement, Klaus couldn’t help but wonder when we’d gotten so old that the youngsters of the town had started calling him ‘Mr. Shultz” rather than Klaus. It was a thought he wasn’t exactly sure he wanted to ponder.

Thankfully, Maurice came back with a glass of water, providing him with a distraction.

“Here you go, Klaus,” he said, and Klaus approached to grab the water. “Sorry it’s a mug, not a glass. I haven’t had time to do the dishes the past few days.”

“Not a problem, Maurice,” he replied, raising the glass to his lips. “I’m less likely to spill with the handle, anyway.”

Maurice’s eyes sparkled. “You’re always findin’ that silver lining, aren’t you? Well, I’ll leave you to your meeting.” As Klaus started toward the staircase, he added, “Just yell if you need anything, alright?”

“Will do, Maurice,” he said. “Thank you.”

Raeger’s Restaurant. Morning.

After finishing her morning chores, Minori found herself once again sitting at the counter of Raeger’s restaurant. Her sketchbook was open to a blank page — well, blank, minus the drop of coffee she’d accidentally spilled in the corner.

She groaned, throwing her head against the book.

“Still stumped about White Day?” Raeger asked. He stood behind the counter, cleaning out a coffee pitcher with a wet dish towel.

“Yeah,” she said, but the sound was muffled by her sketchbook. “It’s like my mind is…totally blank. I have no idea how to throw a White Day festival without it seeming overly cheesy, and I don’t want it to be focused solely on romance. It has to attract families, too.”

Raeger scoffed. “Come on, you don’t usually admit defeat so easily. You’ve gotta have something up your sleeve.”

She finally lifted her head from the counter, leaning it on one hand. “Literally all I’ve got is “Under the Sea” and “White and Black” — you know, ‘cause it’s White Day?”

Raeger looked at her strangely — and then smiled lop-sidedly.

“Yeah, those really are kinda weak,” he jibed.

She picked her sketchbook up off the counter and whacked him with it. He only laughed in response.

“You’re so unhelpful,” she grumbled.

“Hey, come on, Nor,” he said, hopping up to sit on the counter next to her. “You’re usually full of ideas. What’s so different about this?”

She sighed. “I don’t know…”

“I don’t know,” he parroted — in a rather terrible impression of her voice, she thought. “It’s that crazy French lady that’s staying with Elise, isn’t it?”

She pouted. “No!” A pause. “Okay, maybe.” She threw her head against the sketchbook again. “I don’t know.”

Raeger put a hand on her shoulder. She lifted her head. For a moment, looking into his sweet, puppy-dog eyes, she realized it wasn’t any wonder Lillie was so terribly besotted with him.

“You’ve never let someone get in your way before, Nor,” he said, his tone significantly gentler. “Not your stubborn cows, or Giorgio, or even Elise. Why is Madame Dupont any different?”

She sighed, averting her gaze. “I don’t know.”

The door to the restaurant opened. Otmar hobbled in. He looked particularly put-together today, with a bright blue rain jacket and big brown boots.

“Hiya, kids,” he said through whistling dentures.

“Hey, Otmar,” Minori said — but she couldn’t keep the wistfulness out of her voice.

He tottered over to the counter, using his cane to propel himself onto one of the bar stools. “Why, what’s with the long face? Youngsters like you shouldn’t have any reason to look so sad.”

Minori managed a half-smile. “I have to throw together a brand new festival by the end of the day, or else our Business Mentor is gonna roast me over an open fire.”

He titled his head to one side like a Beagle asking for a treat. “You mean that slim lady with the high heels? And the…the hair?”

Minori nodded. “That’s the one.”

He whistled. “Her eyes are so icy I almost slipped and fell on my bum watchin’ her walk through town.”

Minori burst out laughing at that — she couldn’t help it.

Raeger hopped off the counter. “Hey, good work Otmar. That’s the first time she’s laughed this morning.”

“Always willing to help a friend in need,” Otmar said, flashing a toothy smile. “If anyone wants to help this friend in need, I can’t remember where I put my vitamins.”

“Did you check the drawer under the cash register?” Minori asked. “They were there last time.”

Otmar’s eyes lit up. “By golly, they were, weren’t they!”

She nodded — she didn’t know why, but her eyes had suddenly filled with tears. “U-Uh huh.”

Otmar somehow seemed to understand. He took a handkerchief out of his back pocket and handed it to her. It looked slightly used, but she didn’t really mind in the moment. Raeger kindly turned back to his dish washing as the first tear rolled down her cheek.

“Now don’t you let that scary woman get to you, little lady,” Otmar said over the sound of her nose-blowing. “You’re a right bit stronger than her, y’see? Now what’s this festival you have ta plan?”

“It’s for White Day,” she explained — or rather, hiccuped. She had a nasty habit of crying when she was even just a bit frustrated. “We have to come up with…some sort of celebration that’ll make money.”

Otmar’s eyes lit up. “White Day? Well why didn’t ya say so!”

Raeger paused in his dishwashing. Minori, too, put the handkerchief down.

“What?”

“Back in my youth,” Otmar explained, “this town’d have an annual White Day lunch auction.”

“A lunch auction?” Minori repeated.

He nodded. “A lunch auction.”

She thought he was going to say more, but he simply stared at the far wall, eyes full of nostalgia.

Raeger took over. “Uh, Otmar?” he asked gently. “What’s a lunch auction?”

Otmar shook his head. “What? What was that? Munch oxen?”

“A lunch auction,” Minori clarified.

“I haven’t been to a lunch auction in years!” he cried. His eyes glimmered with excitement. “A lunch auction is when all the little ladies anonymously make a lunch — but really they put ‘em in a pretty bag or tie ‘em up real special so their beaus know which lunch is theirs. And then they auction off the lunches. Whichever little lad is willing to pay the most gets to eat lunch with the lady who made it!”

Minori raised an eyebrow. “So it’s like…auctioning off a date?”

“You betcha,” he said, nodding. “It died down over the years ‘cause payin’ for a lady’s time became more…frowned upon, ya see.” He paused, clicking his teeth together. “But I bet’cha could tweak it and make it socially acceptable for the maidens and their misters here in town.”

The gears started turning in her mind. There were a lot of eligible bachelors and bachelorettes in town — and famous ones for that matter, like Elise and Raeger, whose participation would certainly draw a crowd, even from Norchester. And not only that, but the preparation on the board’s end would be minimal: all they had to do was arrange somewhere for the event to take place (the Trade Depot), find an auctioneer (Mistel would be perfect!), and advertise with flyers or a radio program (which Kassie had already offered to do as soon as she had the idea). Check, check, and —

“Minori?” Raeger asked, nudging her. “You alright?”

She grabbed her sketchbook and a pen. “Otmar, can you tell me more about this lunch auction? What kind of space did you use? What were the decorations like? The auctioning process? The entry guidelines?”

Otmar blinked. Raeger only laughed.

Maurice’s Inn — Licorice’s Room. Mid-morning.

Klaus waited patiently as Licorice and Kamil glanced over the journal.

They had been sitting there for several minutes, both quietly reading the pages he’d marked that covered what he believed to be the flower he was looking for, Mundavi Meum. He was getting nervous — his knee bounced, his eye twitched. He focused on another of Marian’s anti-dissociating tricks: name a food that starts with every letter of the alphabet.

Apple, Banana, Clementine. That was easy enough.

They kept reading. He put a hand on his knee to keep it from bouncing.

…Gourd, Honey…Jasmine? Did herbs count as food?

He glanced up. Both were still reading. Licorice smelled like daisies. He wondered if she’d been the one to put the vase of daisies on the counter downstairs.

…Milk. Which made him think of cows, which made him think of a farm, which made him think of —

Kamil hummed, pulling Klaus out of his mental whirlwind.

“Sorry, Klaus,” he said, sinking back into his chair with a resigned sigh. “I’ve never heard of this flower before.”

He felt his heart skip a beat in his chest, and then it sank deep to his stomach. So that was it, then.

Licorice, however, kept her eyes on the page. “I have,” she said, her voice soft even in the quiet room.

Klaus almost dropped his mug of water, the one Maurice had given him. As a precaution, he set it down on the floor before asking, “You have?” He really hadn’t been expecting this.

Licorice nodded. “Do you have a piece of paper? Something to write on?”

He fumbled with the button on the pocket of his sports coat, but managed to produce a receipt from Raeger’s restaurant and a pen. He handed them to Licorice.

She scratched a few notes on the piece of paper. The silence made his chest ache.

Finally, she said, “You’re missing a word. The Latin name of the flower is Mundavi Cor Meum — ‘Separate From My Heart’ is the literal translation.” She paused to return the receipt and the pen. “But it’s much more commonly referred to as ‘Blue Lace.’”

Klaus raised an eyebrow. He didn’t even glance at the paper — he was too fixated on every word she said. “Blue Lace?”

She nodded. “The name is based on its appearance. The petals are extremely delicate, and it’s rare for a flower to be royal blue.”

“Blue Lace,” he breathed. The name was like a benediction. “Incredible.”

Licorice nodded — but her eyes remained guarded. “It’s a wonder of nature, but I…I’m afraid I’ve never seen the flower in person, Klaus. It’s incredibly difficult to grow, as you’ll see from the instructions I wrote for you, and thus exceedingly rare. It also wilts exceptionally soon after harvesting.”

“But it exists,” he said. “Yes?”

She took a deep breath and held it, contemplating the answer. Then, her chest deflated, and she replied, “Yes. Technically. In very rare circumstances, and not often in the wild. It must be cultivated and cared for with the gentlest of hands.” She glanced at Kamil. “I’m not even sure either of us have the skill to plant it, let alone see it to harvest.”

“No matter,” he said, waving a hand. “I have faith.”

“Faith won’t water your flowers, Klaus,” Kamil pointed out, albeit gently. “If Licorice doesn’t think she can plant it, it’s a real long shot.”

Licorice’s cheeks turned pink at the subtle compliment. Nonetheless, she said, “Kamil’s right. It would be really, really difficult —“

“But what of its healing properties?” Klaus asked. He felt only a little guilty for so blatantly interrupting her. “Surely the turnout is worth the risk?”

Licorice tilted her head to one side. “Healing properties?”

Klaus stood from his chair. He was too restless; he needed to move.

“Mundavi — Blue Lace,” he corrected himself, pacing the room, “is known only in legend to chemists of my line of work. The scent of the flower is said to have…unimaginable healing properties,” he explained. “If I could harvest the flower and concoct a perfume from its aroma, I could —“

He stopped himself. Swallowed. Reeled himself back in.

“I could do a lot of good,” he finished. He looked back and forth between Licorice and Kamil. “You truly know nothing of the legend?”

Licorice shook her head. Kamil, too, looked at a loss.

Klaus collapsed back into his chair. He pinched his nose between two fingers.

“Very well,” he said, his voice soft. “We’ll start with this: do you know where I could find the seeds to grow this flower?”

Licorice shook her head. “That’s a question for Kamil, not me. I don’t have contacts like that.”

Klaus, thus, looked to Kamil. With his sweater vest and newsies cap, he reminded Klaus a little of his younger self. He hoped for Kamil’s sake, however, that this was not the case.

“I can see what I can do,” Kamil said. “But it might take days, even weeks, if I find anyone at all.”

Klaus nodded. “I understand. It’s taken me years to get even to this point.”

Licorice’s eyes widened. “Y-Years?”

“Years,” he affirmed.

He supposed that was the moment when the gravity of his search finally sunk in for Kamil and Licorice: their eyes darkened with sadness, though both looked at him with a new degree of understanding. Klaus wondered, briefly, if they were related, or even just a couple: their mannerisms were unorthodoxly similar. He sometimes saw Lillie and Raeger do the same thing. Perhaps it was the result of being friends since childhood.

“I’ll find the seeds for you, Klaus,” Kamil said, his voice low with sincerity. “I promise.”

Klaus chuckled dryly.

“When you get to be my age, you won’t believe in promises anymore,” he said, a hint of bitterness to his tone. His gaze softened, however. “But I do appreciate the sentiment.” He tucked Licorice’s notes into his journal to look at later. “Thank you, both of you, for your help. You have no idea what it means to me.”

Elise’s Manor. Lunch.

Nadi was oddly muscular for a landscaper.

Seeing as the weather had finally warmed up, Elise had decided to do some work on the porch instead of in her office. Occupying her favorite porch-swing — the one with the pink floral seat cushion — she had spent the majority of the morning balancing accounts and writing letters to her contacts in Norchester. Nadi had emerged from the mansion some ten minutes ago, claiming he was going to check the soil acidity and moisture now that the snow had melted.

She hadn’t been able to focus since then. Every time she tried to start a task, her gaze would be pulled back out to the field. She didn’t usually pay attention to Nadi’s work, but she found herself suddenly engaged by the way he would get on his hands and knees and stick his hands straight into the mud. Then, he would pull his hands out and wipe them on his shirt before writing some notes down on a nearby sheet of paper.

All the while, the fresh Spring sun shone down on his white hair. Today it was pulled back in an unruly ponytail; the strands that still clung to the base of his neck stood out like branches of birchwood against his dark skin.

And then there were the muscles. He donned a simple cream working tunic that tied with elastic around the waist. When he leaned over to check the soil, she could see the muscles in his back and shoulders through the thin material. She’d never noticed them before.

“Elise.”

She snapped her gaze away from Nadi. Madame stood in the front doorway some feet away.

Since the incident in the parlor, they had managed…cordiality. Nothing more, nothing less. Elise had not forgotten her resentment, and her knuckles were still bruised, but for now, she was biding her time until she could unravel whatever horrendous scheme Madame had in mind. Until then, she would wait patiently to strike.

“Bonjour Madame,” she said, shifting the papers in her lap so she could cross her legs in the porch swing. “Ça va?”

Madame moved from the doorway toward a chair opposite Elise. “Today is the third day since the meeting, and our Agricultural Representative has yet to present any ideas for a possible White Day festival.”

As Madame sat down, Elise let out a sigh. “Her name is Minori, Madame.”

“Minor details, p’tite,” she said, crossing her legs and looking out to the field. “Without a festival, we risk —“

She abruptly cut off. Elise tried to follow her gaze — she was staring at Nadi.

“Is something the matter, Madame?” she asked.

Madame scowled. “I’ve never seen any Prince of Silk Country playing in the dirt.”

Elise moved her hand delicately to her collarbone in a show of surprise. “Why, Madame! He has kindly asked to help my servants with landscaping this Spring. ’Tis not unheard of for the nobility to take up such hobbies.”

“I suppose you’re right. Did he bring that shirt with him?” Madame asked. “It would be terribly unflattering on anyone else, but it fits him well.” She crossed her arms. “A pity he’s from Silk Country, or I would dare say he’s a rather handsome young man.”

Fire smoldered in Elise’s belly. “Madame,” she hissed. “C’est impoli. Il est un prince!” She hesitated, then added, “And more so, he is a person. You should not say such things.”

Madame barked out a laugh. “Oh, Elise. T’es un enfant.”

Elise’s shook her head. “Skin color holds no weight in contests for beauty,” she argued, echoing her mother’s words from when she was young — but the next words were her own: “But how one perceives race does aid in assessing one’s capacity for hatred.”

Madame, however, seemed unperturbed by the insult. “Please, ma petite. You cannot tell me truly that you find our Prince Nadi becoming.”

Elise chewed on the inside of her cheek, remembering the way the sun lit up Nadi’s hair; the way his lips pursed when he was thinking hard; the muscles of his back when he got on his knees to check the soil —

A long pause. Madame’s lips curled into an eerie smile.

“Of course I do not,” Elise said quickly, attempting to deter her. “He is my guest — not eye candy.”

Madame leaned back into her chair with a satisfied sigh. “You see? ’Tis simply the way of things.”

Elise had at least seven cutting responses on the tip of her tongue, but they were interrupted by the front door opening.

Jenny, her servant, poked her head out onto the porch. “Excuse me, mistress. Would you care for some tea or cookies?”

Elise sighed. She supposed this was as good a distraction from the direction of their conversation as any. Jenny, as always, had good timing. Perhaps she should consider giving her a raise.

“Yes, Jenny. Thank you.”

“Hold the cookies,” Madame ordered, not even looking at Jenny.

Jenny glanced at Elise for approval. Elise sighed.

“No cookies,” she affirmed, trying desperately to suppress the blush crawling up to her cheeks.

Jenny nodded, and then disappeared back into the house.

“There, now,” Madame hummed once she was gone. “N’ayez pas peur. We will restore your figure within the season, p’tite.”

Elise didn’t respond. She returned her focus to the balance sheets in her lap, ignoring the shame boiling in the pit of her stomach. She would not let Madame hold this over her — not again, not after the years she’d spent undoing her curse.

Madame didn’t seem to be done with her yet, however. “I asked Cook if we might have broiled fish and asparagus for dinner this evening.” She crossed her legs as if her next words were just an observation of the weather. “I suppose I could ask him to add a dollop of butter to the cod, if you’ll really feel remiss without it.”

Elise snapped.

“Actually, I won’t be joining you for dinner this evening,” she said, gathering her papers and standing from the porch swing. “I have a social commitment I must attend.”

Madame raised an eyebrow. “Is that so? What social commitments could you possibly have in this tiny town?”

“A ladies’ gathering,” she replied, “with some of my dear friends. Once a season we meet to drink wine and eat cheese and —“ she took a tiny pause. What did girls her age talk about? “— discuss our favorite fashions, and such.”

Madame peered at her suspiciously. “I was under the impression you didn’t waste your time on such frivolous matters, p’tite.”

“Time spent schmoozing is never time wasted, Madame,” she countered. “Or wasn’t that what you always taught me?” She set her papers down on a little table nearby and started toward the porch steps.

Madame shook her head, smiling pointedly. “Only when the schmoozing actually benefits your political stance.”

Elise whirled around. “You have much to learn about Oak Tree Town politics, Madame. The girls I’ll be courting tonight carry a great deal of respect in this town.” She smiled thinly. “Perhaps you’d like to come? Iris is quite the fiction writer. You could commission her to whip up a little story to save your fashion enterprise. Imagine the headline: ‘Racist, Cold-Hearted Designer Nurses Small Town to Health.’” A pause so that she could bark a laugh. “Actually, I’m not even sure Iris’s skills could help you there.”

Madame’s mouth popped open. Elise was fairly sure that if she hadn’t been standing several feet, safely away, she would have gotten slapped.

But instead of an angry reprimanding, Madame just leaned back in her chair, her gaze sliding out to look where Nadi worked in the field.

“Perhaps I’ll call your father while you’re at this gathering,” Madame commented too-nonchalantly. “He and I have a great deal to talk about.”

Elise smiled with no mirth. “Do give him my warmest regards.”

And then she flounced into the house, teeth gritted and ready to stuff a hundred cookies down her throat out of spite.

#blue lace #part 5 #please reblog/leave a comment if u enjoy! <3 #klaus #minori #annie #elise #nadi #story of seasons #lousylarksings

16 notes · View notes

hashglam · 3 years

Text

Tips For Chapped LIps

Tips To Stop The Blankness The stylish way to stop chapped lips is to avoid the dry cold rainfall, but since heading off to a better climate is n’t veritably practical for utmost people, you can head off to your nearest drugstore or supermarket rather. Cover your lips with lip attar several times a day, especially when you're going outside. Remember to keep the lip attar with you at all times. Use A Sunscreen The sun can damage your lips ( especially the bottom one) the same way as it damages the rest of your skin, so use a lip attar that contains a sunscreen. You frequently see huntsmen using the veritably same product, especially in countries which have dangerous sun shafts due to the lack of ozone subcaste protection. Wear Camo – But perhaps not the men eh? Studies have shown that delicate powders in addition to a sunscreen will help soothe lips that are formerly chapped. The camo filters out the light, including dangerous shafts, so mess up and put on that camo – you ’ll look great too! Stop Infection The problem with sore lips is that they can fluently come infected. To help this passing, apply some antiseptic ointment which you can get from yourpharmacy.However, also use the antiseptic ointment at least twice a day – the morning and night time is the most important, If your lips are oppressively chapped. Use Vitamin B Occasionally nutritive deficiences can be to condemn, especially the lack of the vitamin B complex and iron, so take a multivitamin supplement to be on the side of caution. When taking supplements however, noway take further than the recommended cure. Drink Plenitude Of Fluids Do n’t let your lips and body as a whole come dehydrated, drink fresh fluids especially during the downtime. As we progress, the capability of our cells to retain humidity diminishments so our blankness problem may actually increase during the downtime time. Try to drink a glass of water every many hours. Do n’t Lick Your Lips! When you master your lips, you apply humidity which also evaporates and leaves your lips feeling indeed teetotaler than ahead. Licking chapped lips can in some cases beget dermatitis around the mouth, sobeware.However, just image that you ’ve had cow soil applied to them – the cow soil wo n’t cure your lips, but it'll sure stop you from licking em!! Suppose Zinc Some people drool in their sleep which can dry out your lips and make your chapped lips much worse, If you're tempted to master your lips. However, apply zinc oxide ointment every night before bed – this acts as a hedge to cover your lips and will stop this passing, If this is a problem. Use Natural Oil From Your Skin If you be to work outdoors and don’t have anything handy to use on your lips, then’s commodity that you can do ……. rub your cutlet along the side of your face and nose, this way you'll pick up some of the natural canvas which is produced from your skin. The canvas on your cutlet can also be applied to your lips in the normal way. As the day wears on, the skin on your nose and face will come more unctuous, so you ’ve always got a natural force – you can’t get a better home remedy than that! Thank you for reading this composition. I do hope it’s been helpful to you. Author John Moore – In my youngish days, I too suffered with chapped lips, so I'm speaking frrom experience .

0 notes

hope-for-olicity · 6 years

Link

Love this list!

-wear the lipstick you want to see in the world

-moisturize your fuckin’ neck

-instead of looking in the mirror and attacking yourself like one of those 90’s-era-child-bullies, be the Danny Tanner in your own life and reaffirm how fuckin’ flawless you are, Michelle! Find something you love about yourself every day. And remind yourself of that every day.

-order the exact thing you want on the menu. Don’t split it. Eat the damn mac&cheese and don’t beat yourself into a blood orange over it.

-treat yourself to one of those fancy coffees and sit down somewhere and read a book and savor the whole damn experience

-buy yourself super sexy panties and wear them on your bed while you binge on Netflix, ass out

-say NO to things you don’t want to do, like going out or getting brunch at 10am

-I know it’s winter but take some time out of your day to show some lovin’ to your feet

-move around a bit. Treat your beautiful body like the temple it is and let it wiggle

-instead of comparing yourself to somebody else, how about don’t -buy the 15 dollar bottle of wine for just you

-tell yourself you like your flaws until you start believing it

-all you gotta do is chop up a bunch of veggies and sautee ‘em with garlic and olive oil and then you can shut up about how much garbage you’re shoving into your maw

-take a minute to be alone and think about it

-just put the drink down and deal with your shit

-go to bed 30 minutes earlier than the time you usually say you’re going to bed, even though that means you’re going to sleep 2.5 hours earlier than normal

-stand up for yourself. When you hear some stupid-ass comment or some passive-aggressive junk, look that person in the eye and call them out on their shit.

-put the phone and the computer in another room for at least a little while

-clean up the space in your room so you don’t feel like you’re suffocating in the only place you can feel normal

-so you’re single SO FUCKING WHAT, this is what you need to tell yourself

-yo, girl, it’s okay if you’re not pooping normally take some vitamins and fix that. Take some vitamins!

-GO! Go get up right now and chug a glass of water like the Thor you are

-find out your bra size. Try on all different kinds of outfits and find the best shapes for yourself and wear those all the damn time

-do your laundry before it gets nuts Pompeii pile on you

-feed the friendships that make you feel immortal

-try not to put all the blame on you

-try not to put all the blame on yourself

-wash your face before you go to bed

-stop focusing on how you want to change your body. Being healthy is not about looking a certain way, it’s about feeling a certain way. So change the habits you find unhealthy and focus on living a bit longer, not looking a bit different.

-Remember it is okay to love yourself and work on doing that every day.

#self-care

11 notes · View notes

deeeelightfuldee · 3 years

Text

What’s the earliest you could go to bed at night and feel okay about?

in my best dreams id love to go to bed at like 745/8. but my brain doesnt shut down like that, and i tend to be very productive at night. Maybe one day tho

What is you favorite type of lunch meat?

uhhhhh turkey

What time of the year do you dislike the most?

summer heat.

Do you put ketchup on your scrambled eggs?

ew no.

What is your favorite color to wear?

so I have historically worn a lot of darker colors but I’m trying to be intentional about making my life romantic and I need to introduce more color.

Are you an overachiever?

in most respects, yes

What physical feature do you wish you had (i.e. freckles, curly hair)?

smaller size, sharper jawline, thicker hair (not a LOT thicker, just mildly)

What fictional character (i.e. Bambi, Scarlette O'Hara) would you marry?

mr. darcy omfggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg.

Did you ever go through a phase where you wrote bad poetry?

no. never

What is your favorite thing about your life?

that no matter what, God has always provided and had a better plan

Have you ever painted a picture of somebody?

as a kid, all the time.

Did you enjoy your past relationships?

in most respects. each of them was good for a time.

Name a comedy that you like.

four christmases

Could you wait until marriage for sex?

that was the plan

What was the last thing that impressed you?

ummm that the plumber was able to get the roots out of the drain as easily as he did.

When was the last time you were in a pet store?

last summer. We were going to get benny a little bro/sis but with covid everyone was adopting animals like crazy out here.. so the ones they had were on these enormous wait lists where you would go thru an interview, a HOME INSPECTION, and had to bring all your other animals in to meet said rescue. it was ridiculous.

What nationality is your last name?

dutch

What’s your favorite kind of chips and dip?

ems crack dip with uhhh the wavy lays

Who was the last boy that you saw cry?

uhh hm. hmmmmmmm... I honestly can’t recall

Does your mom know you do surveys?

I dunno, tbh

Have you ever had a serious injury?

I mean, somewhat. Not anything I discuss tho lol

What was the last thing you achieved?

surviving vid!

Would you enjoy being famous?

i doubt it. I’m pretty introverted and even though I get along very easily with people, my batteries charge best when im by myself or home. I would very much like the income though lol.

What’s under your bed?

I plan to go thru it soon! I’m trying to gather all my kile memories and I know I have like jewelry paperwork, cards from flowers, letters, etc. that need to be pulled. :(

Do you enjoy travelling?

Love it.

Have you ever belonged to a club? If so, what was it?

absolutely. thats a long, long list. lots of academic, Christian, honors, volunteer, and youth group types.

When was the last time you drank strawberry milk?

oh geez, maybeeeeeee 15 years?

Have you ever managed to collect all the fast food toys in a set?

no. that was never my thing.

Do you have a clock in your room?

No. My old cable box had the besttttttt time light. I miss having a small clock. I mentioned this to mom how we spent like forever looking for replacements after we changed cable providers. We didn’t want red or green, but the white. Now this makes me want to find one for my room. mom has a google device so shes set lol.

Did you have a good driver’s ED teacher?

I had the most phenomenal teacher. tho when it came to actual driving appointments (after the class periods) I often got paired with this older fella who constantly berated me over being homeschooled and telling me he was going to report me to the state. eventually I stood up to him, handed him the HSLDA contact card (home school legal defense association) and encouraged him to report me all he wanted. he stopped attacking me finally. it was awful. but the other gentleman was hilarious and fun.

Which of Britney Spears’ songs is your favorite?

ohhhhhh mer gersh i love so many of her songs. this answer would definitely change depending on the week but this week its a tie between gimme more and circus.

Does mind over matter work for you?

in most respects

Are you paranoid?

i can be at times.

What is the best thing about winter?

OOOOOoo good gravy this is a long list. I love the calm. I love the way the air is thick and cold and how quiet it becomes. I love hearing the sound of snow falling. I love the glitter haze it leaves. I love the way it feels like the house wraps you up in a warm hug when you come in from the cold. I love the way candles and a fire in the fireplace make everything so cozy. I love the glow of twinkling lights, white and colored, just casting the most beautiful and dreamy cast on the neighborhood. I love the food and drinks that make you feel full and ready for a deep sleep. I love the clothes and the bundling up, the scarves, the hats, the mittens. I love the music and the way no matter where you go, there are carols playing the sweetest love songs. I love the way decorations come up and people display their much-loved memories in the form of ornaments on their trees. I love seeing the elaborate wrapping styles of packages around the tree and filling up the stockings. I love seeing the snowmen and igloo designs displayed with pride in the front yards around town. I love the way the world gets dark so early, yet.. there is light reflecting off the mounds of snow. I love the way the early night allows for early comfy flannel pajamas and thick wool socks and sleep. I love the curling up under a giant mound of blankets and reading a book. I love thinking about the joy on other’s faces when they open gifts that were cultivated for their happiness. I love the rereading of the beloved passages of scripture where we recall the reason for the season. I just love it all.

Have you ever been truly in love?

yes. 2 times, how lucky I was.

Are you currently planning a trip?

I was not. I probably could stand to be home for a bit.

How many plants are in your home?

honestly, no clue at this point. I’ve been locked away coming up on a month. I dunno how many we have right now.

What is your favorite possession?

hmm. boy this is hard. It used to be my ring kile got me. I feel weird saying my favorite things are from him lately, so maybe my stained glass lamp.

Have you ever felt like you were too nice and way too often overlooked?

I am a nice person majority of the time and I would say I have been overlooked from time to time but I definitely do not behave nicely in order to be noticed.

What movies have tripped you out?

eh, I’m not entirely sure.

Did you rollerblade as a kid? Do you still rollerblade?

nope. I was so prone to breaking my ankles that it just absolutely was not for me. I tried a couple times, but couldn’t grasp the hang of it.

Would you ever settle into a relationship that wasn’t right for you? Do you know friends who are in relationships just so they have someone to sleep with at night?

no. this life is way too precious and too short to be spent laying next to someone who isn’t right for me. I have no intentions of settling. I do know of friends who have settled just to have someone near. It makes me so sad. The thought of settling like that just destroys me. Not to mention how unfair it is to the other person. Idk. Just sad sad sad.

Would you take a dirty picture of yourself for someone you are dating?

no nudity.

Do you use earplugs or a sleeping mask when you sleep?

no. I would be way too distracted by that. I also don’t like things touching my face.

What summertime treats do you love?

ummm watermelon. popsicles.

How picky are you when it comes to choosing who to kiss or not kiss?

oooo boy im so ridiculously picky about it. In fact, one guy i was seeing for a few dates... i was like unsure of him and he wanted to kiss so bad and I just avoided it everytime lol.

What do you hate most about moving?

I’ve only done a temporary move. I don’t know that it’s the same.

Do you feel that having sex anywhere but a bed is more exciting?

I think that I’d be down for it if I were married, but I think its most intimate when its in private lol

Do you drink 5 hour energy drinks or any other kinds of energy drinks?

Nope. It’s just not my thing. I’m never lacking that much energy.

Has anyone ever whistled at you?

yes.

Do you like scarves?

love them.

Is your father homophobic?

I’m not sure. I haven’t got a clue.

Do you take gummy vitamins?

sometimes. its my preferred method

Have you ever applied make-up on a guy, for any reason at all?

not that I can recall. ohhhhhh maybe when i was in theater and we needed to put like color on their faces to ensure they wouldn’t be washed out by the harsh lighting.

Who would you like to meet before you die?

no one. those who want to meet me, should meet me lol

If your dream was to be a model, and a big opportunity came up, but you had to be nude, would you take it?

nah.

What’s the most ridiculous conspiracy theory you’ve ever heard of?

oh there have been so many. I just ignore them. I don’t see sense in letting my mind be corrupted by that

If Heaven and Hell exists, where are you going when you die?

heaven!

Who is the person that you are afraid of losing, above everyone else?

mom!

What is one thing that pisses you off pretty much everyday?

the bathroom lol

Is there anyone you know that you feel should consider therapy?

everyone. everyone and anyone would benefit from therapy.

Do you like any of the songs on Twilight, or the actual movie/saga itself?

I’ve never seen it so I couldn’t tell ya.

How old was the first person you kissed?

at the time? I was 16 he was ...... 19

Will you be a strict parent one day?

strict? no. I’ll have rules and such but I’m a very loving caregiver... not to be cocky

Last person to stand up for you?

I wish i could tell you. I’ve never been the kind that requires someone else to protect me like that. but man, it has to feel good to know someone else is willing to go to those lengths.

Have you been to a baby shower?

many times.

Who were you with the last time you went to the movie theater?

My sister

What’s your favorite high school memory?

hmm, there are so many i loved.. probably the trips.

Do you like relationships, or do you prefer to be single?

i love being single, but miss the connection from a relationship

What is one adventurous thing you’d be willing to do?

hot air balloon.

What subject at school did you absolutely hate?

freakin math

Italian food or Chinese food?

Chinese. ugh, I’d kill for some if they had GF soy sauce options

Do you like to make flash cards when you study?

sometimes, it depends on what I’m using them for. often I’ll just write like Question Answer type patterns in my notebook and then use a coversheet. I hate losing notecards.

Has anyone ever told you that you’re a good singer?

yeah but I don’t sing like that anymore.

Do you ever watch TED talks, live or online?

I used to a lot,not anymore so much.

I dare you to write the name of a person you strongly dislike.

no thank you

Biggest trouble you’ve ever gotten into at school?

none really on my behalf. one girl completely plagiarized my work and that led to some drama, but beyond that nothing.

Do you own one of those “professional” DSLR cameras?

no, I’m not that sort of wealthy.

Does it bother you when you see a 6th grader with a bunch of gadgets?

I mean, part of me thinks that its just kinda sad for the kid to not have simple pleasures instead of needing all the finest gadgets,

Did you buy yearbooks every year in high school, or did you not bother?

n/a

Do you have Restless Legs Syndrome?

Jalapeños: yay or nay?

yay most of the time.

Did you ever play Minecraft?

uhhhh only when my nephews ask me to for like 5 mins lol

Did you ever have a Club Penguin account? Were you a member?

I didn’t.

Do you know anyone that seems to not have any common sense?

yes. some people just seem very... unaware.

What do you think is the biggest injustice that was ever done to you?

assault

What type of person angers you the most?

those who feel it is OK for them to assault another person in order to gain what they want or to release what they desire to release

If you could change your appearance, how would you alter it?

I’d want to be smaller. thicker hair. probably invisalign so I can correct my bite.

Describe your first relationship?

he was ... fascinating to me. He allowed me to have my guard down. He made me laugh, he made me blush, but he made me feel like I was constantly safe. He was wounded from his previous marriage but he was.. so worth mending. However, we were long distance and he just wasn’t able to do that. He needed more than I was able to offer him at the time.

Describe your last relationship?

OK so relationship is such a widely defined word. I’m going to describe the last person I was personally committed to. He was my other half. He was pretty vain and conceited when I first got to know him. Constantly concerned with his work and nothing but his work. However, along the years he developed into the most kind, generous, patient, extremely loving man. He changed all sorts of his former ways. He began investing in his character and taking the time to better himself. It was so incredible to watch. We created a bond where he was my world. I thought I was his. but we ended over him having a relationship for years that I knew nothing about. it’s weird, this quote from jane eyre reminds me of him...

“I have a strange feeling with regard to you. As if I had a string somewhere under my left ribs, tightly knotted to a similar string in you. And if you were to leave I'm afraid that cord of communion would snap. And I have a notion that I'd take to bleeding inwardly. As for you, you'd forget me.”

Can you honestly say that you always practice safe sex?

I didn’t get the option to do so when it was happening.

Why do you think your most favorite film touches you so deeply?

ps i love you just tears me to shreds over how effing painful it is to lose someone you love.

What do you want people you meet for the first time to think about you?

that I was kind and friendly, warm and inviting.

Do you feel protective over someone?

yes. my loved ones. my family members. my close friends.

What perfume/cologne do you wear?

ummm either very sexy night, or refuge.

What was the color of the bridesmaid dresses of the last wedding you went to?

a very deep, dark red/maroon. super lovely

What is your favorite way to eat chicken?

CHICKEN SANDWICH< preach

It is your birthday. You hope the cake is:

omg i crave regular birthday cake. gluten free cake so far has been quite disappointing.

What were you doing at 8pm last night?

nothing.

0 notes

labgrownsteaks · 4 years

Text

Chapter 2

The sun shined onto Cujo’s “fur” which was made of electical wires and hamster fluff. My eyes cracked open. Siri immediately noticed “Good morning sir!” (she now had a posh english accent) , “can I make you something for breakfast?” “Nah, I’m good” I said as I wandered to the bathroom which consisted of only a toilet and a shower head. The toilet was outfitted with a nutrient reader, which could read specifically what nutrients I was missing from my pee. After I zipped up I walked back into the big room. Siri continued “I’m noticing a vitamin D deficiency. Would you like to take care of this?” “Sure” I said as I poured some coffee into a filter. I had two of those electric burners that plugged into the wall, and I put a teapot on one to boil some water. I heard the food printer start up. “Siri, are you making something?” I asked kind of annoyed. “I’m preparing your vitamin for the day” she answered, continuing with the posh English accent. Ugh, it’s annoying how British say vitamin with a soft “i”. “Hey Siri, can you stop with the English accent please?” “No worries mate! You goin out in the bush today are ya?” Siri jokingly stated in an Australian accent. I didn’t even know what going out in the bush meant, there was no bush anywhere in the whole state of Borgognee. We were smack in the middle of a continental climate which meant we got hot summers and freezing winters. When the first settlers came they started planting some trees after the dust bowl, but when this was God’s country it was nothing but rolling plains and Buffalo. Come to think of it, I did want to go for a walk that day. “Hey siri, can you show me some places to go on a walk?” The wall suddenly turned into a display and all of the scrawling paintings on the wall vanished. Siri didn’t say anything, there was simply a list of different walking options, I could scroll through them by just moving my eyes. “Would you like some food for your trip. Perhaps a picnic?” Siri stated, now in an American accent. I thought to myself, what I really wanted was some mushrooms, that would be great. I had the whole day free. I muttered to myself sarcastically “yeah, make me some magic mushrooms” . To my surprise Siri answered “No problem sir, what variety do you prefer”. I thought in my head she probably didn’t know what magic mushrooms were, but kept up the game “Ummmm. Psilocybin?” “Psilocybe Cubensis” Siri asked. My eyes grew wide, I thought Siri better not be playing a joke on me. “Yes?!” I stated quizically even though I wanted to sound serious.

The food printer did its routine maintenance buzzing and fired into action. I kept my face an inch from the glass as I watched the printer slowly build a a beautiful huge mushroom. A blue white stalk appeared first, and then perched atop that was a lovely orange colored cap. “Praise the lord” I said, even though that wasn’t something I ever said. I popped open the window and took the giant mushroom into my hand, still warm from the printer. Cujo nestled up to my leg and looked up at me with their dumb big mouth open. “Well, buddy, you want to go for a walk today?” I said to Cujo. I thought that I should write Erin. She was my best friend. And no, there was nothing between us ever. Everyone thought there was, but we’ve always just been friends.

I hopped into my Mustang and drove over to Erin’s place. She was 3 years older than me, and lived in a beat up apartment building in the middle of an alleyway. It didn’t even make sense that an apartment would be located there. It was only a few blocks from my place. I stopped at a 711 and got some chips, granola bars, and blue Powerade. The mushroom was wrapped in a newspaper in my backpack in the back seat. I couldn’t wait to show Erin. I pulled up to her window, which was located on the bottom floor. You could drive right up to it. I revved the engine, and she stuck her hand out and flipped me off. In a few minutes she was outside. Her hair was pinned up and the purple was washed out of it. She was wearing a hoodie and jeans and gave me a look like she wanted to kill me as she walked towards the car.

“Chips! Yay! I’m so hungry!” she said as she sat down.

“Chomp em up!” I replied, putting the car into gear.

We drove down River Road towards Stromovka, which was a huge nature reserve about 20 miles outside of town. Erin was stuffing her face with chips and washing it down with blue Powerade. I told her to grab my bag out of the backseat and take a look inside. She did, and unwrapped the huge mushroom.

“What the fuck!” She said with excitement.

“My fucking printer, printed that! Siri just asked if I wanted something for a picnic, and I told her magic mushrooms! And then my TI CZ101 just spit it out!”

“What THE FUCK!” she exclaimed once again, her eyes lighting up.

“I know, it’s dope isn’t it?”

“You’ve got to make more!”

“Slow down there captain. Lets take it one day at a time. But for sure, I’m gonna be set!”

Erin was on her phone typing something in.

“Hey, don’t invite anyone else, I don’t want any weird people around if we’re tripping”

“I’m not writing anyone you weirdo. What’s the model of your food printer again?”

“Texas Instruments CZ101″

Erin stared into her phone and kind of scrunched her face up before a smile lit it up.

“Bruh, these were fucking recalled! They’ll print anything! You can’t even buy them on Ebay any more, but when you could they were selling for as much as $320,000!”

0 notes

amoristt · 7 years

Text

Alive | Rick x Reader

@dinodiegos asked: Can u gimme some sick fuckin rick just protect in ur sweet ass from some zoms pls and thank you love you

Hell Yeah you can owo

im dumb and accidentally made this more into action than romance so sorry abt that FHDJFS i wrote too much to just up and toss it out. hope you like it anyways and if u want one that’s Romance Specific hmu bc i love rick

reblogs + tags and replies will make my entire day as i put a lot of effort into this :)!

story continues beneath the read more. let me know if you can’t access it!

warning: mild language, gore

Alive

Any second now you felt like you were going to collapse against the concrete.

Your shoes, already worn down from wearing them so often, felt like they were going to fall apart and leave your heels scraping, but you didn’t stop sprinting for even a second. Garbled groans and incoherent cries of the dead sounded from everywhere, leaving your head spinning. You were surrounded.

The sun was starting to shift beneath the tree’s horizon, and it seemed what was supposed to be a short supply run quickly took a turn for absolute worst. If you weren’t so entirely focused on searching for a way out you’d be worrying about where they had all come from but right now the only thing on your mind were two things: run, find Rick.

And to think, your day with Rick originally hadn’t started out bad at all.

The first stop the two of you made wasn’t too shabby, and you found yourself with a new hoodie and a hat for when the colder temperatures would start to settle in. Rick found some baby clothes stuffed into a dresser (which neither of you thought too deeply about) and you fawned over how small the item was, telling him Judith would look adorable in the pink and red top. There was a medicine cabinet with a few leftover vitamin and motrin bottles, along with bandaids and what looked to be some sort of disinfectant. It wasn’t a whole lot, but it better than nothing. Plus you and him had rounded up some more things from your previous run two days ago, so for the moment Alexandria was good.

On the way home you felt pretty good about the day. Rick was playing Cd’s that he’d scrounged up from one place or another, and you had a hand out the window, enjoying the push of the wind against your palms. In between the front and passenger seat where yours and Rick’s hands, locked together casually. With all the years having gone by you’d learn to enjoy the good days when they came, even if the world around you was in shambles. Odd how an apocalypse can make a slightly warm temperature and no murder a ‘good day’.

Things became a little bumpier as the day progressed, however. You’d passed by a few walkers here and there, their haggled and rotting corpses trying to stumble towards the moving vehicle with no avail. Neither of you thought much of it- It was the end of the world. Not seeing any walkers for the duration of your run would have been odd. Eventually though those occasional solo walkers became more and more, their numbers growing with every mile it seemed. They hung out mostly along the sides of the road, bumping into one another by trees and ditches.

After another mile or two the numbers thinned out again, and your nerves started to die down like before. Four or five became two or three, and finally there was nothing once more.

“What do you think happened?” you’d asked, eyebrows knit in mild concern. The car was quite a distance away from Alexandria, so the walkers didn’t pose an (immediate) threat to everyone yet. However you were still worried- something must have brought them all here.

Rick sucked in a breath and shrugged, tilting his head. “Can’t say. They’re spread out, though. If somethin’ brought em’ here it was a while ago.”

“Yeah,” You leaned back and stared blankly out the windshield, trying to shake off the odd dread that was building in your gut. “Guess you’re right.”

Rick’s eyes left the road for a moment at the sound of your voice, and he took in your expression before turning back to the wheel. His hand squeezed yours lightly.

“Don’t worry much about it,” He started reassuringly, “They’re far out here.”

“I know, I just-...” You shook your head. “We don’t have the best luck when it comes to walkers, Rick.”

He nodded once. “I know that, but right now we gotta focus on this. When we get back I’ll have someone keep an eye out just incase, sound good?”

“That sounds… Good.” A small smile found it’s way to your lips, the corners tugging up as you looked back out the window.

After that the car ride was spent in another comfortable silence, and you replayed what Rick had told you over and over in your head. Despite how you tried to tell yourself it would be fine, something felt wrong. Something felt dangerous, and it left you sitting there in a state of apprehension that you kept entirely to yourself. Even if you talked to Rick about it you knew what he’d say- that there was nothing to be worried about and that even if the walkers found their way to Alexandria, there was more than enough gunpower and people to wipe them out before they even got close the gate. Still, even thought you knew he was entirely right, anxiety settled heavily in your gut.

Miles even farther away, a few businesses sat in a circle of road. It looked to be some sort of strip mall, all the signs mostly broken down and laying in piles of rubble on the cracked parking lot. There were multiple empty cars sitting idle in their spots, all of them covered in years worth of grime and rust. The car you and Rick pulled up in looked like a million dollars compared to the rest, even if it had it’s own fair share of weathering down.

“One last stop?” Rick asked you, and you bit your lip. One last stop couldn’t hurt.

You agreed, and to avoid getting trapped in the lot, Rick made the choice to pull off the main road and part in the grass a bit away. You should have listened to your dread-filled gut when he turned the car off and hopped out, you following his lead and shoving your hands into your pockets. The small strip mall didn’t look like too bad of a place to search. Clothing stores, mini groceries, pretty much a huge variety of very useful things that Alexandria could use.

It was too good of a chance to pass up, so when Rick gave you that look of his, you nodded and allowed him to lead the way with his gun drawn. At first things were quiet. Only the sound of your steps on concrete could be heard, and soon you and him split off and allowed a few cars in between. You had your own gun held tight in your hands, your mouth dry as tension on increased in your muscles. Any moment now… Things were going to go wrong.

When things didn’t, in fact, go wrong, you scolded yourself for being such a baby. Sure, you were in a life threatening situation, but there was no real reason in that very moment for you to be acting like a cautious cat. As Rick gestured that he was going to branch further away, you allowed him to and rolled your shoulders in an attempt to calm yourself down. The last thing you needed was to be spooked by a sound and accidentally fire your gun at nothing. Then you’d really be in some shit.

Thankfully something about shifting your muscles did seem to loosen you up just enough to glide past a few more cars, eyes peeled and finger flush against the trigger while you made your way closer to shop at the very end of the strip mall: a grocery outlet. Both of the glass doors were wide open and shattered, the windows spray painted with what looked like horribly drawn atomic bomb mushroom clouds. You laughed silently to yourself and shook your head before coming closer. You poked your head into the building, peering into the darkness, and a pin-dropping silence took over.

All at once everything fell apart.

A piercing siren cut through the air, destroying the jarring silence with its merciless screaming. You realized, with crushing horror, that it was your car alarm.

It wailed and wailed and wailed, the sound making you launch away from the doors and back out into the parking lot. Panicking, your fear only doubled over when you didn’t see Rick over the tops of the cars. You weren’t close enough to the road to see the car but you knew damn well that was it was- a walker must have heard you pull into the grass before turning it off and the stupid thing thought there was people inside. It had set the alarm off, and now you were alone and barely armed surrounded by a labyrinth of vehicles.

You knew all too well what was to come next, and low and behold, you were right as always.

The first walker that made way through the line up of broken down cars was a tall one missing it’s left arm. Initially it was following the noise, but when you halted to a sharp stop and gasped it took note of you in the corner of it’s eye and reached out with it’s one last hand. You grimaced and took a few steps back, aiming to turn around and dart towards where you assumed Rick was, but when you turned around your heart fell to your stomach. Walkers, nearly a dozen of them, were spilling around the end of the strip mall and making their way into the parking lot. If you hadn’t already been spotted by one you’d just shove yourself down under a truck or something, but it was hot on your heels and coming closer despite how easily it’s attention could be grabbed by the siren blaring.

Darting left and trying to hide yourself from all the walkers pooling, you cursed under your breath. Your gun didn’t have nearly enough ammo to take on this many, and shooting them could make things arguably worse. If you started shooting then Rick would start shooting and who knows how many more that could attract. Instead of opening fire you just continued trying to make your way to his side of the mall, but you were stopped dead in your tracks at the horrific sight ahead. Even more walkers. They were hobbling towards the car as well, slamming into dead cars on the way.

Along with the car alarm still howling, you could hear the disgusting moans of the dead starting to surround you. With them both behind you and in front of you, you were trapped, and you tried to wrack your mind for something to do. You didn’t have enough time to hit the dirt and slide under a car- not that it would work in the first place because you were being hunted by the walker with one arm. You couldn’t just up and scream for Rick either because then it would attract them all. The only option you could see was maybe trying to get into a shop, but if the door was locked you were entirely fucked. They’d see you make the run for it, and if you couldn’t get in right away they’d barrage you in seconds.

Heart thudding in your chest, you barely registered when a walker passed by the car you were hiding behind. It hadn’t seen you, too focused on the sound, but your jump-scared induced reaction surely caught the attention of a few more that cut across their path to find their way to you.

Not knowing what else to do, you ran.

From one car to the next you jumped over hoods, bounced off doors and hauled yourself in between them trying to get away from the ever-growing walkers compiling behind you. Everything was happening at once- it felt like you were going to pass out right then and there. Rick was still nowhere to be seen and immediately your brain started filling in imaginary blanks.

They’d gotten to him. He couldn’t make it out fast enough. He’s dead.

Moans of the dead grew closer once again and you pushed yourself even harder. Walkers still chased you like a game past the obstacles of cars, and even though it would mean heading straight for the walkers in front of you, you still tried to get close to the area where Rick had been. He was closer to the car than you were given you were on the other end of the parking lot, maybe he was trying to get inside of it to turn the ever blaring alarm off. Maybe he was hiding inside a shop like you’d considered.

Finding that dodging cars and moving around them was taking too much of your time, you opted to choosing an aisle and taking a straight sprint down the line. Cars passed by you in a blur, and you quickly found yourself at the other end of the parking lot. However, it wasn’t the right end you wanted to be on. You were still far from where Rick had parked, and you were still being chased.

You made the impulse choice to give into your natural instinct to hide, choosing a van to duck behind before moving to the truck next to it. Without a seconds hesitation you dropped to your knees then your belly, using the massive tire next to your body to help haul yourself underneath the truck. You hoped, prayed that they lost sight of you when you hid behind the van. Your heart slammed against your ribcage when you caught sight of their shuffling feet coming closer, their ripped up jeans and shoes visible as they stumbled around in search of you. Looking behind, the sight of feet surrounded you almost entirely.

Dulled out shoes of all color stepped around the truck, their actions much slower and less driven than before. You physically covered your mouth just incase you were giving off any sort of sound, and all you could think about was how easy it would be for one to drop down and grab you. In the case that one happened to see you, it would be over. You would be trapped. You would die.

The walkers continued to hang around, stepping menacingly by the perimeter of the truck. You could have cried when a few branched off and disappeared, their attention having been grabbed once again by the alarm still running. One by one pairs of feet shuffled away from you, some quicker than others, and eventually you found yourself alone in your hiding spot. All at once you released the heaving breath you had been holding, your hand coming to run through your hair. Every part of your skin was clammy, your entire body trembling with coursing adrenaline.

Unable to stand even another moment underneath the truck, you scooted your way to the side and picked yourself up on the ground. For just a moment it seemed like you’d avoided the storm of walkers, their disfigured bodies moving to swarm the vehicle quite a ways away. You allowed yourself to breath, leaning forward and holding your hands on your knees while your chest rose and fell rapidly. When you looked up, eyes frantically scanning over the tops of all the cars, you still couldn’t see Rick over the horde.

You tried to see past all the moving bodies, but something stopped you. A sharp movement right in the corner of your eye. With barely any time to react, you weren’t able to tear yourself away when a hand gripped tight to your forearm. You jumped and bit back a startled cry, and then you came face to face with that same damn walker from before. Up close it was even uglier than you could have imagined, it’s face rotted and it’s jaw hanging open awkwardly. It’s eyes were so sunken and horrid.

Instinctively your free hand came up to rip at the walkers fingers, trying to free yourself. When it didn’t let up you opted to just backing up and putting your weight into jerking away, but nothing was working. Suddenly you were more than thankful that the walker only had one arm- if he had both of them he could likely take an even better grip and keep you pinned in your spot. Your mind raced for something to do, some way to pry the walker away from you without setting off the gun in your hand. To try and stop him from taking a bite at your face, you used your other arm and pressed it to the walkers chest to keep those teeth away from your skin. It didn’t help that he was taller than you, somewhat towering over your figure with his broken jaw attempting to bite around nothing. The thought to hide returned and in one fell push, you lunged forward off your toes and managed to send the walker toppling backwards onto the ground. It thudded and squirmed, it’s one arm working to find purchase.

With the way your mind was desperately thinking about what to do, it was no surprise that your limbs couldn’t keep up with every thought that raced by. As the walker writhed on the ground you made a move to escape its view by running around to the other side of the truck, but in your absolute panic you overshot your turn and slammed harshly into the metal front. Unfortunately, the combination of your already shaking muscles mixed with just how hard you’d slammed into the truck made for a deadly turn. You fell harshly onto the pavement, hands not quote catching you in time to stop your chin from hitting the ground. Pain shot through your leg, what if you’d broken it? The walker behind you had rolled onto its stomach by now. You scrambled in your spot, bringing yourself up halfway before you were yanked back down. Fingers wrapped iron-tight around your ankle, broken nails digging tightly into the flesh barely exposed with your pants rising up your leg.

The threat of being scratched and infected became very apparent, and you made the stupid, fear fueled response to try and kick the walker's head. It barely affected the walker, not feeling the pain from the blunt hits, so it just continued trying to either pull you down or pull itself up to you instead. Your gun had clattered out of reach, resting underneath the truck where you’d once been hiding.

Fear rose like bile up to your chest. You continued kicking at it, praying that some part of it’s skull would give and allow you break free, but it never happened. Frantic, you tried to roll out of it’s grasp, but when you stopped on your back you gasped out at the sight of another walker B-lining it straight towards you. It was a few cars away but moving fast, and with your current position at being unable to stand, if that walker arrived… That would be it. You would die.

A million words screamed at you but this time they weren’t of escaping. They were of the potential aftermath- Rick finding your corpse. What little family you had left mourning for you.

One thought stuck out more than the rest. If this was how you were to die, it was going to fucking hurt. You were going to suffer immensely, and finally adrenaline rushed through you all over again. Like a rabid animal you fought, twisting, turning, sitting up to tear at the walkers fingers. In your fight the grip loosened and in that very second you ripped away your leg and sent a kick straight into the walkers face. It’s skull ruptured against your powerful kick and nothing in your entire life had felt more satisfying than the bone crushing. The walker went limp, it’s face hitting the concrete with a thud.

Free from your grip you rapidly rolled over onto your hands and knees, but you didn’t get too far. As if it were one thing after another, a shadow covered over your still immobile body. That walker was right up on you, standing merely a foot away with it’s eyes fixated it’s prey. Something about the sight of it so close while you felt so tiny stopped you. You froze. Every part of you screamed to move but you couldn’t, paralyzed in your spot even as it started to drop down to make its attack. There was nothing in it’s eyes. It’s teeth clipped together. It’s rotting fingers reached-

A shot rang out.

The walker fell like a pile of bricks right in front of you. Everything sounded like it was underwater, and you felt like you were moving in slow motion as you tried to bring yourself to your feet. When you almost fell back onto your knees thanks to your uncoordinated limbs, you were forced back into your right mind when yet another hand came to grab tight on your shoulder, the fingers sliding down to your forearm where they clasped and literally pulled you up onto your feet.

Fight kicked in once again and you turned on your heel, not taking a second look before you put your hands flat against the figure's chest before you shoved hard. It did not fall flat on it’s ass like you thought it would, but it did lose it’s grip. However, you stopped in your tracks at the sight of what it was.

Rick.

Blood spattered his shoulders and the front of his shirt, his eyes just as frantic and intense as yours probably were. At your outburst against him, he steadied himself and rose his hands to his chest, his gun held tight in his grip.

“Where were you?!” Without thinking your arms outreached, grabbing him tight by the cloth of his shirt, and you pulled him as close as you could. You thought for a time there that you’d lost him, all those horrible ‘what if’s playing tricks on your mind and sanity. But, he was right there, and he had saved your life like he always did.

“I was trying to get to you,” His arms came to wrap about you protectively, allowing you your moment of recollection, before he pushed you away and brought you down to crouch along the side of the truck. “Listen to me, listen to me. They’re gonna be coming here any minute now- we gotta find a way to get back around to the car.”

You tugged at your hair, eyes scanning over the ground as you debated what to do. “Why are there so many of them?”

“I don’t know. Somethin’ brought em here.”

“I knew something was going to go wrong-”

“Hey, hey,” He held your face in his hands to stop you from your spiralling. “I know, you were right. But right now we gotta get out of this.”

You swallowed thickly and nodded, sucking in a deep breath before taking a peek through the windows. Sure enough, the walkers were coming, but they hadn’t yet seen you. They aimlessly followed the area, growing closer but without much direction.

“Okay-” You tried to compose yourself by wiping over your face quickly. “Okay, they havn’t seen us yet.”

“But they know we're here,” Rick too took a glance through the musty glass windows. “Van,” He made a motion for you join him and you did, trying to follow his line of sight. “Right there. If we can cut across without being seen we can hide behind there. The walkers think we’re over here, where the sound was. They won’t know we left.”

You nodded and tried to not let the oncoming walkers psych you into acting too brashly again. “How do we get over there?”

“We run.”

You sent him a sharp glance. “Obviously, but how do we make sure they don’t see us?”

Rick took a moment to think, eyes narrowing at the stared at the van, then the walkers, then the van again. After a moment he nodded towards the walkers passing by the cars. “See that little gap?” You sprained your neck to see, and there it was. About a dozen of walkers stuck close together, and in between another handful there was a small gap that left a few cars left alone for a brief time. “When they split up, we cut across from that blue car to the red one. Now, if we stay low and move fast enough, we can make it to that van. They aren’t goin’ over there- they’ll go right by to get to here.”

Nodding, you swallowed again. This was so incredibly risky- even just one seeing you and him saunter from one vehicle to the next would be catastrophic. Still, you needed to get to your own car. It’s wailing was going to attract even more if you didn’t put a stop to it now. At your nod of understanding, Rick crouched back down again and brought you with him. His hand moved to grab yours, and even in that crucial moment, you stopped to take in his expression.

He was uncertain, fear coloring those blue eyes of his. You knew exactly what he was doing- in times like this he liked to have a ‘one last look’ of sorts should something happen. With a squeeze of assurance you nodded once more at him, mouthing the words, ‘It will be okay’. Quickly, he dipped in and kissed you once, twice. You kissed him right back, eyebrows furrowed in worry. You couldn’t lose him.

When he pulled away his eyes fixated on your hands momentarily before he plunged himself right back into his mind. In a second flat he let go of your hand and passed you, holding his hand up to tell you to stay sill behind him. Your stomach was in all sorts of knots, your legs shaking with all the movement and fear, but when he looked back at you before taking off you followed him with no regards. Instantly the two of you were behind another car, this one much smaller than the truck. Close behind Rick, he led you from one end to the other, and he stopped to peek over the hood of the car before once again darting across the opening before finding cover in another vehicle. Every single time you passed from car to car, those few seconds where you were bare it felt like you were going to either get grabbed or seen.

Eventually the horde was no longer coming right at you. They still hobbled towards where the gunshot rang out but you were on the side of them now, watching them go past. In the distance straight ahead you could see the van, it’s dirty white sticking out against the dimming daylight. Nausea settled deep within your gut as Rick stopped at the far end, waiting for the walkers to break up enough for him to make a break for it. This would be the hardest part. If you and him didn’t run at the exact right moment, if you took too long or went too early, you would be seen and chased. At that point, however, the two of you would be surrounded on either side.

You wished that you could’ve just stayed where you were, but the second half of the walkers were well on their way and unfortunately if you stayed you would be directly into their path. That van would be the only spot where you could hide without being in the way or being detected.

Still standing in front of you, hand up to keep you halted, Rick looked back at you. “Ready?” He mouthed, and even though fright had you by the throat you still nodded. Seconds dragged on like hours, your heart thudding harshly in your ears while you waited for him to make a move. The car siren only lightened your nerves up further. The waiting was agonizing; scenarios played out like movies in front of your eyes. So much could go wrong-

Rick took off. He kept low to the ground while he moved, his actions swift and precise. Everything in your mind went blank as you reacted on instinct, following his lead. Leaving the cover of the car made you feel naked, passing from car to car at such a crucial moment felt like it was taking forever. Step after step, you swore that something had seen you. The last step you made before joining Rick behind the van was much for forceful, your body nearly toppling over when you finally made it.

Rick fingers came to grab at your arms, tugging you close to him while he moved from the front of the van to the back, keeping sure to watch the walkers through the tinted glass windows. When he finally came to a stop, letting your arm fall back to your side, you held your breath.

“Did they see us?” You whispered, and when he didn’t answer right away you felt your stomach drop.

“No,” Rick shook his head and exhaled roughly. “No. They didn’t see.”

Your head fell for a moment, a breath of utter relief making its way out of your lips. They didn’t see.

Walkers passed by the van, the two of you on the other side of it watching them unknowingly pass you right by. They gathered around the dead body of the one Rick had shot, then all their eyes searched aimlessly for something to take sight of. Thankfully, you and him were gone.

As the last of them passed by to join the group, Rick nodded his head to motion for you to follow him as he made his way around the car, stopping at the trunk and taking a peek around the end before darting out of the cover. Now that the horde had been attracted to the other side of the parking lot, it was a race to get to your car before any others did. A straight shot past a couple dozen vehicles and you’d be there- and Rick knew that.

You followed close behind him, the two of you dead sprinting down the line. He was faster than you and more experienced in running but you managed to stay on his heels, legs aching when you realized you were in the final haul. Only a few more yards and you’d be there. The siren made your ears ring as you drew nearer but that didn’t stop you or him for even a second. If anything it motivated you, making your speed increase. Down the road you could see the blurry figures of walkers being attracted to the sound.

Being right next to the car made your head spin with the sound of the alarm, and you could hear Rick cursing as he shoved the key into the lock before swinging open his door and then forcing they key into into the ignition. All at once everything went quiet, the car starting up and the alarm turning off now that the key had been inserted. The very instant the doors unlocked you threw it open and jumped inside, not waiting to be properly in your seat before slamming the door shut. Rick, in a frenzy to leave the area entirely, pressed hard on the gas and made a rough U-turn back on the road. He didn’t waste a second in flooring it down the street and away from the horde. Growing closer to the walkers you’d seen earlier, he narrowly avoided running them over as he made the getaway. They watched the car barrel past thim with lagging minds, and seeing them disappear in the distance had you leaning back in your seat with a hand splayed over your eyes.

“Jesus christ,” you panted. “Jesus christ I thought that was gonna’ be it.”

“Hey,” Rick averted your attention to him, his hand coming to rest on your leg. “We made it. We’re out.” He was breathing heavy too, and you could see him checking the rearview mirror every few seconds just in case.

“Worst fucking luck ever.”

He looked at you for a moment before turning back to the road like he did earlier, but this time his features were so much harder. “We’re out.” He said, but you weren’t sure if he was saying that to help you down or he himself.

“I thought I lost you,” You whispered, resting your hand overtop his own. “I couldn’t find you, and I-” Within your chest nerves started to light up again, that feeling of fear returning. “I couldn’t see you anywhere and I really thought-”

“___,” Rick interrupted you, taking his eyes off the road to make sure you were looking at him. “I’m right here. It’s over, we’re going back home.”

“I know, I just-”

He shook his head. “You aren’t gonna’ lose me, no matter what. Stop thinking about it.”

Though you nodded at his words, you couldn’t stop. It was the only thing you could picture, the only thing you could feel. His hand squeezed you.

“Stop thinking about it. I’m right here.”

Looking up at him, you swallowed and nodded once more. “I know.”

“Good. I’m not goin’ anywhere, and neither are you. Okay?”

“Okay.” You answered, but this time you really meant it. The both of you were alive despite the terrifying run in, and now you were going home. You wiped at your eyes roughly and sucked in a sharp breath, trying to calm down. In the side view mirror, there were no walkers to be seen and there weren’t any ahead either. You’d made it out, even if your nerves were still having a hard time letting that sink in. You leaned back, eyes slipping shut and your hand once again coming to rest over Ricks. Tired, you mumbled, “Let’s not stop anywhere else.”

“Course not. We got some good stuff already. Sun’s going down- no point in goin’ out any further.”

You let out a sigh of a relief and watched the trees pass in a blur. “Sorry for making you use one of your bullets.”

“It worked out didn’t it? Gave us the chance to get back into here.” He paused to check the mirror again. “Not that it matters- I’d of used the whole clip if I had to.”

You watched him for a few seconds. Even though you expected an answer like that, hearing it still made the corners of your lips turn up in a smile. Your thumb rubbed over his knuckles, long since scarred by countless other fights. “Love you.”

From the corner of your eye you saw him look at you before turning back. After a moment of thoughtful silence, you heard him exhale into a smile. “I love you too.”

#txt #this was so weak HKJFDSFSD #rick grimes #the walking dead #twd #scenario #imagine #fanfic #x reader #imaginefictionals

37 notes · View notes