#me irl but i drink matcha

[suddencolds]

~

[solitary-traveler]

From Sugar to Salt

Episode 4. First impressions

masterlist • previous • next

"Are you going to keep staring at me like a creep, or are you going to give me your order? Because I swear, I can call security on you right now."

You snap out of it and quickly blurt out, "Matcha milkshake, please!"

Scaramouche rolls his eyes but starts preparing the order. "Matcha, huh? Never would have guessed. Are you that unimaginative?"

"Hey, matcha is a classic," you retort. "And classics never go out of style."

Before he can reply with more sarcasm, you immediately add your friends' orders too. "And royal milk tea, blueberry fruit tea, tiramisu frappe, and apple lemon fruit tea."

Scara jots it all down. "Alright," he taps the small notepad in his hands with his pen. "You can go back to where you came from now."

-------------------------------------------

You manage to return to your seat without embarrassing yourself in front of the angel you met. Thank goodness you didn't trip on a pebble or a bunched-up part of the carpeted floor. You sat back on your chair, bury your face on the table and waited for it to open it's mouth and swallow you whole.

"He's here"

Everyone turns their attention towards you. A beat or two later, it all simultaneously clicked in their brains.

"Wait, no shit?" Lumine asks, surprised.

Hu Tao scans the area withoit delay, looking around and before her she spots the barista. "Oh damn, he's uglier in person. Your art glorifies him more than it should."

Everyone soon follows Hu Tao's gaze.

Aether scrunches up his face, "That's him?"

Kazuha follows the blonde's reaction. "And here I thought you had taste."

Lumine holds up a piece of paper in her hands. It's a sketch of Scara she nabbed from your sketchbook. She compares the two, flickering back between the drawing and the real life reference.

"Look, his eyes look more dead irl—"

You swiftly grab the sketch out of her hands. "Like yours are any better!"

But to your horror, you hear the familiar sound of a throat clearing. Within a second, the sketch is stolen from your hands once again, but this time by the subject himself.

Scara is holding the tray of drinks in one hand as he examines the drawing. After a few moments of silence and anticipated starimh from your friends, Scara finally looks at you.

"...Weirdo."

Notes: double update cause why not

Taglist: @aruatsu, @loserkize, @lovelypadisarah, @state-of-grac3, @exhaustedcommunist,

@missshydoesartent, @annieayuu, @lloovvv, @xionri, @animeobsessed56,

@kinanahana, @vxcmx, @pruthiveeakaearthly, @basicsofdying

[misc-obeyme]

sometimes i think about the fact that barbatos is always inviting mc over to try new tea or always brews some when they have business at the castle

and then i think about the fact that I don't like tea irl... just agua de jamaica if that counts, and sweet tea mixed with lemonade 🤣

I wonder if it'd make him more eager to find one that you do like, or if he'd try to accommodate you if you really don't like it and serve something else.

Honestly, the way I am, I might've sucked it up for him and drank it anyway to not be rude ajsjdk. Like for example, I can't eat strawberries because the seeds throw me off texture wise, but my coworker/friend made me chocolate covered strawberries for Valentine's, and you best believe I managed to eat 2/4 because I wasn't about to turn down a gift LMAO

- ✨ anon

Yo of course agua de jamaica counts! As does the sweet tea mixed with lemonade (also known as an Arnold Palmer and also is good spiked with vodka~).

I have opinions on this lol. I make my own agua de jamaica, but it's kind of just whatever I thought sounded good so it's not exactly authentic. But the base is hibiscus tea. That is still very much tea. I cold brew mine with loose petals, a stick of cinnamon and a whole piece of star anise... and of course a ton of sugar and a lil bit of honey. But if you look it up, the recipes can vary greatly, but they all have hibiscus tea!

Sweet tea is the same thing - it's just black tea with a butt load of sugar.

I love them both and while I prefer the cold brew method, most traditional recipes call for brewing the tea hot first. And then chilling it in the fridge or with ice. Which is basically the exact same thing as regular tea - it's leaves that are steeped in boiling water. That part's the same!

The thing you might be liking about these two cold varieties is the sugar. Both of them have a high sugar content! So if you don't like drinking hot tea straight (as is often the method in the US), you might like it more if it was made into a tea latte or just had milk and sugar added to it.

I think Barbatos would probably start by trying different things. He might make you a matcha tea latte, which is also quite a different flavor. He might just make you some milk tea. I absolutely headcanon that Barbatos makes his own boba so you know he could just whip you up a bubble tea with boba at any time. Taro is my favorite flavor, but there are so many to choose from!

He might try just making you regular tea with milk and sugar added to it. He might try different blends - regular black tea is pretty boring, but add some cinnamon and cardamom (and other spices) to some Darjeeling and now you've got chai instead, which is delicious. Maybe he makes you a London Fog which is an Earl Grey latte. Maybe he goes with the green tea, which has a more subtle flavor. If you like agua de jamaica, you might like floral teas. Perhaps he gives you some jasmine green tea or some rose or lavender teas. These are all human world variants (because that is what I know... and yeah I know a lot about it lol), so he'd probably also try some Devildom types as well.

If you really don't like any of his offerings, I think he would make something different just for you. Barbatos cares a lot about MC's enjoyment of what he makes. So I don't think he'd want you to just power through something you don't like out of politeness. He would notice right away and call you out on it and then make you something else.

I think Barbatos might be able to find some other teas that you enjoy, but even if he never manages it, I think he would accept that.

He would just be sure to always have a batch of agua de jamaica or sweet tea and lemonade ready for when you come over.

[sleepy-vix]

journal/braindump 26/3/24

i hope life gets better soon. school is so miserable and weird and i just constantly feel like my physical shape is blurred and i'm but a a faceless entity drifting through the crowded and sweaty halls. when i speak to people it feels like i have to physically force myself to and i'm always so conscious of the fact that i would really love it if i were alone and not speaking to anybody at all.

i don't feel confident in myself and i feel like this year has passed by way too fast and i feel like just attempting to live feels like a bunch of cold sand is piled in my hands, and like sand does, it slips easily through my fingers and all i can do is watch. i feel so stupid and so naive all the damn time

for a while i had believed that everything would be okay, and then for a while after that i believed that i should kill myself. i'm okay now, i still feel very unsettled and it's like i'm not really me but i feel fine enough to function and i feel fine enough to live and wish to keep on living

i wish to keep on living

tomorrow i will wake up early and i will make myself coffee and i will sit down and read (i've had reading block for 2 days- which seems short but its annoying for me bc i really really want to read but i feel too restless and distracted to). i'll try to be nice to myself and protect my peace really hard and go on walks or something

i find that watching youtube videos where people just sit and talk, or rearrange their house and books, is really calming to me. i can't wait to just sit in front of the tv with a cup of matcha and a box of chocolates and just watching people talk, or watch all the movies ive been meaning to watch for sooo long

autumn is rolling around, and i'm infinitely greatful that it is because i always feel so inspired during this season. autumn makes me want to read, it makes me want to watch more films and eat more food and drink warm drinks that make me feel okay inside.

i also hope to pick up journalling again, but i'm not sure if i will because i don't have my own printer for images and idk what to journal but i have recently tried to just draw pictures- ive recently written journal pages on what i want to read, and also an "about me" page, and hand drew pictures. it's nice, but it doesn't give the same effect as full out journalling (with stickers, images, tape, etc... sigh.). i hope i journal more this holiday nonetheless.

i also hope to read without feeling so much pressure. i usually have no problem with reading whatever i want to read, as i like to think of myself as somebody who isnt easily influenced by other people's views (eg. if someone told me i have to read a certain book, i will consider it but i wont read it unless i want to) , but lately i've been thinking of all the books i want to read this holiday (for me i have autumn break in one week- and autumn break lasts for 2 weeks) and as u can imagine, it is very stressful bc ive somehow fallen into the mindset that i must read ALL of those books before next term or else.

fyi the books comprise of

- the complete collection of jane austen

- the complete collection of sherlock holmes

- the poppy war

- the iliad

- hamlet

- the metamorphosis

soo yeah... especially the first two points are stressing me out haha... im starting the poppy war now but im a little nervous bc ppl keep saying that its VERY gory??? and i usually dont care abt such things but lately my nerves and emotions have been such a wreck that i dont trust myself to read it in a calm manner

i'll try to break free of this toxic reader mindset tho! it would be nice if i could talk to people abt books, so it feels like im engaging with my hobby while not actually having to do the hobby, but nobody ik irl will want to talk abt books as i do

MAN i so badly want to rant abt booktok (ok actually i wont expand on this bc its a very sore point for me in the sense that i might get worked up over it and then feel shit afterwards for displaying sm emotion)

anywaysss next topic

ummm i get my maths result back on thursday and im so fucking scared bc i know i messed up bad for a few questions but im not sure if it was enough to drop me down to a b... idk i REALLY REALLY WANT AN A. like istg my whole self esteem for until the next exams roll around is goijg to be based off my maths result.. fuck im so emotionally immature its laughable

ummm also i have literature class tmr and i love lit class but we have to watch fucking "shes the man" and im sorry but i hate that movie so so much (ive never watched it before but we watched half of it last lesson and it was soo annoying). ughh why is my eng teacher making us watch this 😭😭

also my eng teacher is very blunt and therefore very interesting to talk to so ive been wanting to ask him abt books hes read lately but i CANT bc we have to watch thats tupid fucking movie and also he has to mark papers :( but also like hes the only intellectually stimulating person ik irl so what am i meant to do with all of my buzzing book thoughts ughh (rhetorical question. pls dont answer) :(

hmm what else is there to say

oh yeah last night i had a dream tjat i got a B+ for english and that was... it was like a nightmare im not even kidding. it was such a vivid dream too- everybody else got an A meanwhile i got a B+ (very close to an A) and i was just absolutely shocked and i desperately begged my teacher to give me some extra credit work so i can bump it up to an A-... yeah...

oh but also back to me wanting to have a better life- i think i'll take myself to the thrift more and go out with my friend (yes, singular. theres only one friend that i like hanging out with outside of school 💀) atleast once this holiday... thats what teen girls my age do, right??? haha...

also i want to watch ladybird and the perks of being a wallflower and rewatch little women and dead poets society !

i also might reread solitaire but aghh that makes me stressed out abt reading again... fuck. maybe i should just take a break from reading omfg

i cant wait to wake up early tomorrow and drink coffee though! :)

also i will make more spotify playlists (it makes me rlly happy to) and MAYBE even try cooking????????????? man idfk im desperate okay? feeling suicidal is not fun and i dont want to feel like that again this year. i cant afford thay bc im meant to be an academic weapon :( (lol who am i kidding? im more like an academic victim)

also maybe i will just text my friends more in general. it stresses me out and makes me feel icky but the other day, i had a nice and fun and lighthearted texting convo with one of my class friends and it made me realise that i should probably text people more ...

lol

anyways i think thats all? i think ive gotten everything off my chest for now. i liked doing this actually. maybe i'll do it more often idk 💀💀

hope u guys have a good day 🙏 i dont actually expect anyone to read this but if you did, i hope you have a good day TIMES TWO!

no refunds :}

[blue-disco-lights]

Tag ✨ Game ✨ Tuesday

Thank you so much @look-i-love-u, @shinygalaxyperson, @tanktopgallavich, @deedala, @michellemisfit, @energievie, @sirrudo, @m4ndysk4nkovich and @scurvgirl for tagging me in!

name:  Julia

age: what is time?

favorite color: that shade of darker blue/green that’s not quite turquoise yet. 

beverage of choice: is it too basic to say an extra hot latte? Oat milk or matcha. 

do you have push notifications turned on for tumblr? I do for Galladrabbles ❤️ because I want to read all of your stories, and for Gallavich Meta because I love all the headcanons

opinion on fireworks? They are very pretty, and they are also very loud and I’m sooo much more sensitive to noise nowadays (see below for pet peeves)

favorite childhood toy? I had this old Atari gaming console attached to my Zenith TV back in the day (see age up top)

the store you shop at the most: Amazon - but also Safeway & Trader Joe’s (groceries) 

do you swear a lot? A fair amount irl and also when I'm writing Mickey dialog

favorite trope: i don't even know how to name this properly - but it’s gotta be a really slow burn / enemies-to-lovers / hurt-comfort and they gotta work thru all the angst for their happy ending. Should I just make up my own tag for that? (this makes me sound way more intense than I actually am)

an album with no skips: ABBA Gold? Paul’s Boutique by the Beastie Boys? Tranceport by Paul Oakenfold?

if you could play any instrument, what would you choose? Piano or guitar (easily one of my biggest regrets that I didn't commit to an instrument as a kid)

your biggest pet peeve: When I used to commute on the bus to work that was the only time I had real reading time (esp with toddlers at home), so when people would call their relatives for long catchups or people would take work conference calls right behind me, it made me real 🤬 inside.

favorite time of day: early evening like 5/6pm - log off work, start my evening and unwind

and finally, did you drink water today? Incredibly… i did! I think it’s because I kept reading all your answers to this question.

Should you choose to accept this challenge, I invite: @sweetbee78 @palepinkgoat @divine-gallavich @gallawitchxx @jadepetals @creepkinginc @tsuga-of-mars @bawlbrayker @silvanshadow @ms-moonlight-inn@lingy910y @francesrose3 @crossmydna @heymrspatel @notherenewjersey@suzy-queued @ian-galagher @squidyyy23 @lupeloto @callivich @celestialmickey @stocious @grumble-fish @depressedstressedlemonzest @starcrossedsoulmates84 @harrowhark-a-vagrant @thepupperino and anyone else who'd like to play ✨✨✨

[azaracyy]

Ask Game: List 5 things that make you happy, then put this in the askbox for the last 10 people who reblogged something from you! get to know your mutuals and followers (>w<) <3

adfslsjdf thank you for sending this, ein! here are the 5 things that currently spark joy for me the most: 1) my otps: haikaveh (genshin impact) and ratiorine (honkai star rail) when i'm tired or bored i automatically go and look at their fanart... if i'm in the mood to read, i go for threadfics or ao3 fics to heal haha 2) sleeping (?) maybe it's a defense mechanism but whenever i feel like crap, i try to get some sleep. it ranges from 10-minute, timed power nap to accidental 2-hour nap that turns my world upside down when i'm awake. but i like sleeping, it makes me forget my problems even if just for a moment o(-( 3) matcha i like tea in general. matcha (latte) though is a drink i'd get to treat myself once in a while. the bitter, the better - i don't like when my drink is overly sweet;; 4) video game music i listen to this way more than typical pop songs to the point it gets awkward when (normie) friends and acquaintances ask me about favorite songs... i listen to vgm a lot when i draw and unknowingly exert more energy during the process by singing along even when it's just instrumental music. currently crazy about hsr, genshin, and nier osts i just shuffle between these playlists... 5) romance (the genre, the concept of, in fiction - typically when characters i like are involved) self-explanatory i hope? i'm weak to even the dumbest and cheesiest tropes. y'all please brace yourselves if i ever come up with anything romance related one day ok, i might be insufferable to some. the reason i emphasized "in fiction" is because i'm basically a moyai statue irl when faced with anything remotely romantic. maybe i'll change someday; maybe i won't. for now i only like romance as delulu because trululu romance feels more like something you'd get your hopes up for then get disappointed with.

[stxrryclusterthinks]

oi mate....i offer boba in return from the boba you once gave me

its homemade too ^^!!

thats my irl @mjrodmor06 we were chillin for the holidays :3

its matcha and brown sugar boba bubbles...the drink itself was aight but the bubbles are very strong. it was really fun to make tho

WOAH BOBA

Yippee !! Thank you for sharing <33

ALSO, YOUR GUYS OUTFITS ??? THOSE ARE SO CUTE ?????

I'm glad it was fun to make tho ! Jfnch boba is sooo good

[autisticempathydaemon]

For the Redacted Audio match-ups

I feel like I've just shown my entire soul here. Wow.

I get fixated on a different song like every-other-day so I'm not sure... Maybe the line "Please give me the strength to be able to believe until the end, even if it is a lie" from "Itoshi kimi yo" (To the one I love) by Moriyama Naotaro. This song NEVER FAILS to make me cry.

97% Enneagram Type 6 (maybe 6w5)

I used to love watching like hour-long YT documentaries but my attention-span has severely gone downhill since the panorama... but I enjoy Bernadette Banner's analyses of historical clothing, Implictly Pretentious' deepdives into the psyches of comicbook movie characters, and NativLang's video essays on various languages and their histories and characteristics.

I never had an imaginary friend as a child (excluding the man-thing that runs alongside the car). Although for a time (in my teens) I had a vampire that would sit by my bedside and protect me as I slept (NO, I was NOT a twilight fan! I was a Vampire Knight fan)

My go-to way to fall asleep is listening to redacted audio. Basically any playlist, any audio (excluding inversion, yandere!ivan)

I don't/hate my name. I just don't associate with it beyond it being what people call me irl. I would change it to either Teigan or Ruri (the former was a cute name I found (and have claimed it in my family should I ever adopt a child) and the latter being the Japanese for the stone lapis lazuli, which I like very much)

...If I was forced to pick only one redacted audio... it'd have to be... Comforted and Cared for By Your Incubus Boyfriend it hits ALL the feels and literally sounds like one big hug that goes straight to my heart.

(Honourable mentions have to go to basically the entire playlists of Vincent, Gavin and Avior; they are my comfort bois despite the various angst in their stories)

I understand but don't personally get the appeal for Lasko. Like we'd get on as friends, but /I need to be the submissive, nerdy, soft one, y'know.

Aside from a number of redacted audios, I tend to not read/watch things multiple times apart from maybe Avengers or Iron Man 1. Those were my comfort movies for a while.

Platonically, I'm attracted to Damien. I am also a perfectionist with a strong sense of justice so I feel we'd get pretty well. Also he's a sarcastic mf-er too and no one can tell me otherwise.

Hmm my go-to ramble topic when tired... I ramble about various things. I wish I was someone who had a singular topic. I'll talk your ear off about Language, Japan, various anime/manga, The Mortal Instruments, Animal Crossing, Pokémon, F1, nail art. I'm that scene from The Avengers [Maria Hill : When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics? Tony Stark : Last night.] I'm a walking encyclopedia of useless (to other people) information and I enjoy info-dumping on people, but I try to not do that so much, so when I do I tend to go overboard...

Go-to gas station snack and drink combo: I don't frequent pretrol stations, they're expensive... I'd probably choose crunchy m&ms and a non-carbonated drink that isn't too sweet. (Unrelated but related, my st*rb*cks drink of choice is a match frappuccino, extra matcha, no syrup)

Favourite Redacted playlist: Vincent (I can talk along with about half of his audios at this point)

Favourite music playlist: I don't really make playlists, I either just listen to everything on one big shuffle or I listen to an album in order on-repeat.

My media choices change depending on my mood, my most "guilty" pleasure media at the moment would have to be NA fiction. If there's no spice or morally grey MMC, I don' want it.

Whatever else you think tells me about who you are.

MBTI type: INFP-T.

I'm a chronic procrastinator.

I have RBF but crack into a smile at the tiniest joke, I have no poker face (but won the only game of poker I ever played).

I'm the older sibling, the 2nd oldest grandchild and often am the "Parent-friend", but I actually act like the youngest and teamed with my (lack of) height, people often mistake me for much younger than I am.

Thanks for reading my ramblings... 😶

Oh, this was easy-peasy. You know what a Type Six parent friend could really use? A stable, secure, Alpha- the wolf equivalent of a dad friend.

I don’t know who started it, but there’s this delightful headcanon of a bookish, reader Angel that I can imagine for you. It’d be so cute, him stealing your book and holding it out of your reach, asking who the fuck is “Grim” and what is his deal with the chocolate. He’s the type of partner who would make fun of your possible book hoarding but still buys you everything you touch at the local Barnes & Noble with that good, good Shaw Security money.

Also, he’d- lovingly, adoringly but so meanly- give you hell about your imaginary vampire friend watching you sleep. You’ll so regret telling David that every time he asks if you can make do with a werewolf or if you’d rather him call one of the Solaires.

Song:

Hey, boy, where do you get it from?/ Hey, boy, where did you go?/ I learned my passion/ In the good old-fashioned/ School of loverboys

Everything about David is very old-fashioned, old-school romantic to me, down to his pet name, his proposal, and his music tastes. He likes the classics, music Gabe would play on their drives up to the campsite, and he’d like playing it while he cooks for you.

Runner-Ups:

I like pairing parent friends with parent friends; it just makes sense. James gives me bossy, dad friend vibes, the kind of partner who knows you procrastinates and plans accordingly. Sam, I like because he is the protective vampire boyfriend who’d watch over you while you sleep, and that’s adorable.

Notes: I hope that reference isn’t too niche you’ll have to forgive me I’ve watched no joke ten hours of video essay about Lightlark by Alex Aster in the past three days

Read this post and send me an ask if you’d like a match-up of your own! 💌

[rotomblr-item-bank]

Item list post + Templates!

for random withdrawals, ask: "🎲 [blog @ if youre on anon]" and add more dice emojis for the more random items! u can also request not to get certain things, like pokemon or eggs!

with withdrawing, ask: "withdraw [x amount] [y item] [z blog @ if youre on anon]" u can also add a comment if u want

when depositing, ask: "deposit [x amount] [y item]" with the option to add ur name, blog url, and/or a lil message at the end

also important note: for withdrawing u need a blog @ to send it to if youre on anon. we cant send things to anons. if you arent on anon, its fine. also u can still deposit stuffs when anon its just sending thats an issue..

🍒 - - Food, Berries + Medicine - - 💊

Cheri, Chesto, Pecha, Rawst, Aspear berries, X22 each from Barry F. Arem - “Someone sent these to me as a prank please take them off my hands.”

Herba Mystica, X2 of each type from Director Clavell (minus sour!)  - “We still have a surplus of these after the Naranja-Uva Summer Sandwich Scramble, and I would like to avoid any more Maushold getting their hands on them! Please, take them if you wish!”

Oran Berry X16 from Anonymous - “you hunger”

Pecha and Mago Berries X2, Nanab Berries X5 from Ryu Anthizo - (no message provided)

Instant Coffee Palette X3 from koffing-time - “please lock this away. I trust your vault can hold this?”

Pecha-Pinap Berry Jam X8 from Anonymous - “Good harvest outta the greenhouse. One pint at a time.”

DX Gummy X8 from ifbench - “A sweet treat, and guaranteed to give you a rare quality!”

Chorizo X85 from Anonymous - “Keep stored cold. I overestimated how many i’d need for shiny hunting.”

Packing Peanut X49 from Anonymous - (no message provided)

Purple mug of mint tea, (hopefully) steaming, 3 sugars! X3 from theo! - “i need to share tea with the world!!! also i have some mugs i never use!!! i don’t know how the item bank works but i’m pretty sure there’s some magic involved and maaaaybe that magic will keep this tea warm!”

Three days worth of rations X46 from Anonymous - “Do the rations taste good? Not really. But it’s three days you don’t have to worry about, if you’re in a pinch.”

PP up from Anonymous - “( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)”

Potions with Encouraging Messages wrapped around them X2 from theo!!! - “the messages don’t make the potions heal any more damage, but they’re nice, at least!”

Half Empty Booster Energy Capsule from Trace Sawyer - “don’t drink it it’s Bad”

Nomel Berries from Fuuka Yamagishi x7 - “Lemons!?”

5 of each nature mint (unsure if this is meant to be given out individually?) from Kohaku - “feels like i’ve been taking a lot, so figured i’d give some stuff in exchange :)”

A box full of 11 fruit juice boxes x1 from Anonymous - “no war, only peace.”

Perfect Apple X8 from ifbench - “They really are delicious.”

Basket of lemons x 15 “hands you a basket of”

2 (two) pokepuffs from bandidodododo

x5 baskets of Poképuffs (A dozen in each basket) from Auberi Bellerose - “I’ve been… stress baking and ended up with way more of these than I know what to do with. Two are all strawberry, two are all chocolate, and one is all matcha.“

Box of Great Value Blueberries X100 from @alamos-garden-lover - “I have no idea where these came from, all I know is that I cannot possibly eat all of them before they go bad.”

Ojama Berry X50 from Anonymous - “a berry from my region that slows pokémon down. Apparently they aren’t found outside here so thought I’d share!”

5 foot long lemons from anonymous -when life gives you... lemons? make lemonade!

Drums full of honey 5X from a beekeeper of the flowroma combee and bug type association (not the apiary robot) - "Recently the honey storage here in flowroma's apiaries gotten a bit too full so we are donating some for free."

Jar of honey x20 from Apiary - "enjoy everyone!"

1x box of candy from blackthorn-legion-irl - "this is common for me but maybe it's rare for you?"

30 random pokéblocks, stored improperly, causing them to stick together into one big pokécasserole x1 from caprassecrethideout

A basket of assorted berries (Figy, Wiki, Iapapa, Aguav, and Mago) from Anonymous - “Hopefully still fresh by the time it's claimed~“

one spice jar with "DRUGZ" painted on it from Anonymous - “I thought it was funny but my mom didnt :(“

One pound ziptop bags of hot peppers x10 from Ellisa @adventures-on-foster-island -"I grew way too many. A healthy assortment of Jalapeños, Serranos, Cayenne, and Poblanos. Use at your own risk."

25 and a half assorted poke puffs because I really need to stop snacking on them.

can of Irn-Bru (Scottish version) 10x from blackthorn-legion-irl - Message: hey anyone in galar do you got an equivalent to this? crown tundra especially. i'll do you a trade

9x bowls of mushroom soup with bowtie noodles and meatballs from painfully-average-landa - My mushroom soup giveaway never happened. Now I have too much soup - They won't go bad for a while thanks to an invention of my dad's that he's attached.

Petlil leaves x2 from anonymous - "My Petlil shed them and I heard somewhere they have medicinal properties, so have these, if you’d like."

Casteliacones 408x From thisusernameisridiculous - my life savings:)

Gem Apple x25 from Magolor (@magolor-pkmnirl) - I would appreciate it if you only distribute the Gem Apples in bundles of 5! Additionally, each bundle should include a note with the current location of my shop - that'd be on Melemele Island's Route 2.

a really fucking long lemon. like we're talking 20 feet long. x1 from anonymous - go ahead. make lemonade.

Carton of Chansey eggs. x20 from @prettyskitty973 - for an extra bit of tlc.

💡 - - Items + Tools - - 🛠️

Slightly used pair of kids tennis shoes x 1 “Kids and their growth spurts, right? They’re used ofc but now they’re free. The “thrift” store got sniffy with me about the scuffs.“

11 Leaf Stones

7 Fire Stones

Various graphic T-shirts, all women’s size medium. (x13)

Hairbrush x 19 “She bought more. I know it’s spite, but I think I’m just gonna sic our mom on her about “What were you even hoping to achieve with that? How did you win something out of this?“bc I sure as hell don’t know!”

Several unused embroidery kits (x5)

Gun X29 + Safety manual X29 from Hatsune Miku and Anonymous - “people don’t seem to buy gun held items so I’m giving them out!” “I support mikus efforts. git gud.”

Beginner’s Gardening Kit X1 from Lavender - “Seeds, plants, fertilizer and other gardening supplies available at @pokegarden-center-owner! Inquire about our selection”

Mega Stones (1X of each, minus Altaria, Banette, Garchomp, Gallade and Sableye) and a Key Stone for each from Millen - “I had some extras! Please give 1 mega stone and 1 key stone at a time :)”

Self-Care Kits X27 [consisting of Pokémon coloring books with colored pencils, some Tapu Cocoa mix, journals with daily writing prompts, some shelf-stable Poképuff mix, and a few Poké Toys] from Vanilla Cress - “I make some of these for clients, but I’ve come across an excess of them, so hopefully some people can make use of these!”

Feather X61 from Steve - (no message provided)

Sturdy Outdoor Camping Set (includes small tent, sleeping bag, pot, cord, water bottle and filter, and firestarter) X13 from Anonymous - “For whoever needs it”

Ribbons/Bows (Amaranth red, Apricot colored, Auburn red, Blood red, Candy Apple red, Cinbar colored, Coral colored, Crimson red, Fuschia, Salmon colored, Mahogony colored, Rose red, Ruby colored, Scarlett red, Sunset colored, Safety cone colored, Marigold yellow, Mint green, Chartruse, Neon green, Cyan, Sea green, Aqua, Azure, Navy blue, Cobalt blue, Cornflower blue, Turquoise, Ice blue, Periwinkle, Sky blue, Ultramarine, Lavender, Plum, Violet, Royal purple, Hot pink) X6, (Holographic foil, Copper, Silver, Rose gold) X60, (Gold) X6000 from Anonymous - “More bows than anyone could possibly need (to be given in bundles of 6 (except the gold. all at once. I wanna see someone get it))”

Ten inch cast iron skilets and Twelve inch cast iron skillets, X1 of each from Anonymous - “One of each in a set.”

Type-Themed Crystal Necklace X10 (X1 per type, minus Dragon, Ground, Normal, ghost, fairy, water, dark, fire and steel) from Anonymous - “Put it on, and you’ll transform into a Pokémon of the associated type. I no longer need all of them.”

 Another full set of type-transformation crystals. x 15 (every type except normal, electric, ghost and dragon) “ I don’t even- just take them. They’re not needed”

Tera Shards (Ghost X98, Rock X99) from grace - “please take them”

25x Pokémon TCG Booster Packs - TCG Island Anon

Stardust X4989, Star Shard X38, from ifsobblewereafairytype - (no message provided)

Poison Barb X94 from Kenneth - “I’m running out of room to put these and Marty said I can’t keep leaving them at their lab U⁠^⁠ｪ⁠^⁠U feel free to keep one if you want!”

Blank Wonder Orb Template X50 from ifbench - “For all your orb-crafting needs!”

Emera Powder Canister X48 from ifbench - “This rainbow powder is brimming with energy.”

Wands (Switcher, Slow, Guiding, Surround, Health-Swap, Confuse, Two-Edged, Petrify, Stayaway, Slumber, Pounce, Tunnel, and Warp) X5 of each from ifbench - (no message provided)

Connection Orb X5 from ifbench - “Talk to the people you know without being together in person!”

Rescue Team badges (Rookie, Standard, Gold, X1 of each), Exploration Team badges (Standard, Gold, Guildmaster, X1 of each), HAPPI Team badge X3, Expedition Team badge X3 from ifbench - (no message provided)

Delta Pokemon Creator (Bug X6, Fairy X11, Fire X12) from Professor Sequoia Tree - “Apply to egg and it will be the desired type when it hatches. If a Pokemon is multi-typed it will replace the secondary typing. If Mono-typed it will replace the primary typing.”

Scatterbang X9 from trace - “never ended up using these lol”

White, Unisex T-shirts with a sparkly pink Barbie logo in a variety of sizes X48 from championbarbie-swimmerken - (no message provided)

Winter Coat X6 from Anonymous - “warm.”

particularly Stealthy Rocks X7 from intern - “doing arceus’s work”

Safety Pin X995 from Anonymous - “This is like, a thing people never realize they need until they need one, right?”

Hairbrush X3 from Anonymous - “I don’t even know why my sister bought so many… It’s not like she’s constantly breaking them (Note: They’ve been in the back of the closet for a month and this isn’t all of them. She will not notice. And if she does, I’m declaring that she has a problem)”

Small Pikachu Plushies, each wearing a blue jacket and shades X42 from Anonymous - “uhhh don’t tell my boss I rescued them lol. some promotion?? thing?? happened locally?? semi locally at least. and they didn’t sell for shit, so it was this or to the bins with them.”

 Ragon / [Unidentifiable pokemon plush] (shows up in system as teru-sama) / “Trading an item back, it’s a Kōnya shaped one!” x 1

Time Gears X4 from ifbench - “They can only be taken out one at a time. They only stabilize time, not destabilize it, so it should be ok!”

Piles of Stealth Rocks x9 from Intern - “get fucked lmao”

Cake Lure Base. Each contain: 5x of each: Cake Lure, Springy Mushroom, Dazzling Honey, Plump Bean, Hearty Grain 5x from Anonymous - “go ham. only give out one at a time”

Heavy-duty boots x7 from Anonymous - “Prepare for trouble! And make it double! to protect the world from hazard-setting!”

Ball capsule each with a coresponding set of seals (make sure to give a seal set and a ball capsule together!) x23 from Anonymous - “I’ve heard that ball capsules and seals are hardly used at all outside of Sinnoh, which I think is an absolute shame! As such, I decided it would be a great idea to share some! I hope everyone has fun with them! <3”

Dynamax band X16 from Anonymous - “go raise hell:)”

Ex-Champion Blake’s Rare League Card X23 from Klara! 💖☠️ - “Teehee~! It’s been a minute since I’ve messed with my “favorite” little rival <3 I know just how embarrassed they get over this dorky old photo! Sorry (not really) in advance Blake-y! Enjoy, league card collectors! P.S I still pull off the pink hair better”

Pikachu Face Guitar Pick X0 from Guitarist Helena - “Rock on”

A Stack of Wood Planks X3 from Anonymous - “The site had gotten more than what was ordered”

3 (three) magician sets! (basically just your typical magician stuff like a deck of cards, one of ose tophats. you can hide stuff in, fake handcuffs, usual magician stuff. can only be obtained randomly because ✨magic✨) from bandidodododo

3 photos of Intern's eevee, Ruth, laying on his back. to be distributed one at a time.

Not Very Stealth Rocks (pointed rocks painted in neon green): 5 sets from Anonymous - “colon three”

Piece of paper, reminiscent of a permit X2 from Anonymous. it says: "please do not sword"

Bow X1 from Anonymous

Arrow X30 from Anonymous

Lopunny suit (NOT AN ACTUAL LOPUNNY) X1 from Anonymous - “heheh ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°”

Scale models of Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, Alola, Galar, Paldea, and Orre. Fully modeled, down to the tiniest details. X1 from anonymous -(no message provided)

Everstones X1 from anonymous -(no message provided

Golden dabloons X99 from swordsman -Im trying to reduce my hoard

Books about corviknight x4 from Ben(@me-and-my-6-corviknights) - Nearly everyone I know bought me the same book for my birthday and I already had a copy so here you go! Hope I can ignite someone else's interest in corviknight!

Pool noodles ×35 from anonymous - Wife said to pick up noodles from the store... didn't say which kind.

Blog revival token ×1 from anonymous -simply eat it to revive your blog.

3ft rubber ducks X1 from anonymous -"Never let me binge buy ever again !!"

Antidote (Weezing, Gengar, Revavroom),Antidote (Bug Types [Beedrill, Venomoth, Scolipede and the likes]),Antidote (Grass Types[Vileplume, Victreebel, Amoongus, Roesrade]), X10 Antidote (Toxicroak, Toxtricity),Antidote (Tentacruel, Quilfish, Toxapex),Antidote (Dragalge, Clodsire),Antidote (Arbok, Seviper),Antidote (Garbodor, Muk) X20 of each type of anodite (except for the bug type anodites) from Tix- "Be careful around poison types :)"

A set of type transformation bracelets except for ghost from anonymous

9 boxes of nevermelt ice (each box has 50 Nevermelt ice) from Safrina Shards

Lesbian-flag, Gay-flag, Bi-flag, Pan-flag Trans-flag, (Ace-flag X9) Aro-flag, and (Genderfluid-flag X9) patterned bandannas X10 each from Local Queer Kobold - “Bandannas are cute, queer and LGBT+ folks all deserve to be cute, here you go!”

x49 bags of sand and x49 bricks from @skrub-dubs - "I'm sorry but Justy keeps throwing these at me. I can't keep ALL of this sand logically."

Bugium Z X10 from Anonymous - "I, uh, "borrowed" some from Guzma and now I have to hide what I "borrowed"

6 sided dice x9 from Anonymous

Squirtle keychain x2 from Anonymous

37 packs of double a batterys from @iheartnimbassacity - “i dont really need these anymore, and they are taking up space. they are all brand new, 50 batterys to a pack.”

Box of Dice x0 from Anonymous - "Hello! Gotta give these away accordin' to me mum so I won't play Dungeons and Druddigons with my friends an'more :(. Please take care of them." NOTE : "Rayquaza set was drenched in Max Ooze last time it was played with. Please wash before use."

Totally not stolen bracelet X1 from Shadow-but-pokemon

Crumpled piece of paper X1 from Shadow-but-pokemon

Various Horse Pokémon tack and food (x3 bridles, x3 saddles, x3 saddle pads, x3 breastplates, x3 sets of leg wraps, x5 bags of nutritional hay pellets, x5 boxes of green heart-shaped cookies) from Paisley (@pokehorsegirl) -"For any other riders out there cause I know equestrian stuff can be expensive! 💚 Sorry I only have Galarian tack :( The cookies are for horse ‘mons by the way, not people! I mean, you can eat them if you want, but they probably don’t taste very good! 😅"

Drake stone x35 from @axisiaprofessorgum - "They don't seem to have these in other regions. I wonder if any pokemon outside of Axisia evolve with these?"

19x copies of Honedge-Line Care Guide with poorly drawn Aegislash on it. From: Riv ( @aegislash-logs ) -" I trust like half of this site with these sword pokemon."

Gay flag x4; trans flag X0; nonbinary flag X4; genderfluid flag X5; genderqueer flag X5; agender flag X5; intersex flag X5 from anonymous -"woe, gender be upon ye!"

148 life-size Steelix plushies. From anonymous

L XL Jigglypuff plush! 0X from anonymous "They accidentally delivered one too many. It's very huggable!"

3 coupons for 3 free Gem Apples each*, to be distributed separately.(Each coupon is handwritten and drawn, with the following extra message on them: "Come visit my market stand! Route 1, Melemele Island, Alola -"I also sell my wares online! magolor-pkmnirl on Rotomblr *approximate value of 300 pokedollars - 100 per apple")"

1x keychain of kirby with a life ring from blackthorn-legion-irl - "got this boi twice before getting waddle dee, sharing the love"

198x USB drives, each containing 1x .mp3 file of Banana Man by Tally Hall and 1x .mp4 file of the Banana Man official video by Tally Hall from adventerousclownery - "figured since this world doesn't call 'em bananas y'all wouldn't have this song, so I wanted to share it around :3"

Porygon Halloween skins X3 from @i-can-haz-catmons -"Note: just install them on your Porygon and bam instant Halloween costume"

Pack Of Socks (7 pairs) 2x from galactic-grubbin - no (applicable) message

pair of heelies (size S) 1x from anonymous - "have a wheely good time!"

pair of heelies size L. 9x from anonymous - "don't worry i needed to ah. offload some of these anyway :) the item bank can't be traced by the IRS, right?"

Luigi Body Pillow 1x from anonymous

HF Blade Replica 1x from anonymous - "it's definitely not real, I promise"

347 life sized Wailord plushies. from that steelix plush anon

5 life-size shiny Wailord plushies from The same person who submitted the life size Steelix and normal Wailord plushies. - “I made all these myself :3”

A single box of steel wool from Store Manager - “It seems we over-stocked on these”

x16 rotom motors from Anonymous - Hope y'all like making a few RCs with these!

Five Dimensional Tickets. To use, think of the person you most wish to see, and you will be transported to their location. Dimensional Tickets are only intended to be utilized to teleport to beings that are alive in your dimension at your point in the timeline.

9998x life size joltik plushs from Anonymous

Pictures of Articuno 34× from anonymous "why do I have these"

galarian fire badge x28 from badge thief (aka gym-badge-collector) - "uwu"

400x Reshiram feathers from Blake - "he sheds like crazy 😭😭😭"

Rose Incense 420x from anonymous "blaze it"

Flaffy Wool Coats x5 from @prettyskitty973 - great for thunderstorms.

5000 Glimmet Crystals from Anonymous

🔴 - - Pokéballs - - ⚪️

Friend, Lure, Dusk, Heal, Heavy Balls, X10 each from friendball-irl - (no message provided)

Heal Ball X97 from plasmaapologist - “just… dont ask.”

Love Ball X17 from Anonymous - “Love is in the air? WRONG. Get in the ball.”

Poké, Great, Ultra balls, X1987 each from Anonymous - “catchin time”

Premier balls X20 from witheld - (no message provided)

Luxury balls X9 from Kohaku - “feels like i’ve been taking a lot, so figured i’d give some stuff in exchange :)”

Hisuian* Pokéballs X970 from Anonymous - “Oops. Give them out in batches of 10.”

Plasma Ball X1 from Anonymous

Pokéball X10 from Witness - <[Bzzt! I believe these will now be better suited to someone else. Thank you in advance!]>

🐶 - - Pokémon - - 🐱

Growlithe (Shiny, Newly Hatched) x0 from Anonymous - “i dont know if i can deposit pokemon here, but i cant take care of this guy.

Frakenstuffel X20 from Laplace’s Demon - “:)”

Spinarak (Premier Ball) X137 from Gorge Henry - “I finally got my shiny you can have the extras”

Heracross (Friend Ball) X1 from Toby - “For my fellow bug type trainers out there!”

Nacli from a guy who had a few of these Lil dudes - "Depositing a nacil in the bank hopefully someone will take the little salty guy out here."

Delta/δ Psychic Treecko from Anonymous - "how did this happen"

Pidove (Normal X3, Shiny X2) from @shadow-but-pokemon - “My Litten keeps bringing these home and then frees them in my room”

Scatterbug X3 from Anonymous

shiny starly (normal pokeball) x10 from @skittyentropy - "Please for love of arceus just take them"

Joltik x1 from @roguerunawaytrainer - Had the little guy snacking on my electricity for a bit, thought maybe someone else may want him more than I

roaring moon x1 from Anonymous - going in area zero was the worst decision of my life

🥚 - - Eggs - - 🐣

Skarmory Egg X14 from Fulgora - “give these to those trustworthy or good with steel types”

Phione Egg X2 from A - “I AM RUNNING FOR MY LIFE TAKE THESE OFF OF ME PLEASE.”

Goomy Egg X13 from Amy Goop and Anonymous - “since ur making that surprise item withdrawl, I just thought it’d be fun to send some of the goomy eggs I have :D” “I’m depositing the goomy egg because I’m stuck in a hailstorm and I don’t want the egg to crack from the hail”

Zorua (Hisui* Breed) Egg X6 from Devi - “I am trying to get rid of the 27 zorua eggs and this is a good start, probably”

Jirachi, and Diancie eggs (1X each, All identical) from cc - “uh… could you have it so people cant purposefully withdraw them? it has to be by chance. also only give them out one at a time or something..?”

Regular Egg X100 from Anonymous - “regular eggs to give to people :D (each one is actually a separate ditto)”

Vulpix Egg X110 from Anonymous - “So, apparently getting startled and thusly falling off the fucking cliff, away from your very active picnic, leaving you to crawl your way back over several days…. I am not greatly impressed with 2/6 of my pokemon right now. I’d say mad, but… this is not the first time I’ve fallen off a cliff. Wasn’t even the first this week. Rights to be worried over were revoked well before this.”

Tatsugiri Eggs X10 from Anonymous - “tatsugiri be upon ye” “woe, even more Tatsugiri for the world”

Buizel, and Pawmi egg x3 (each) from Florence - “Still have some eggs left over that I need to find good homes for. Please make sure these end up in safe hands.”

Greavard Egg x2 from Florence - “Still have some eggs left over that I need to find good homes for. Please make sure these end up in safe hands.”

Smeargle Egg X3 from Kohaku - “feels like i’ve been taking a lot, so figured i’d give some stuff in exchange :)”

Void Shadow egg X5 from ifbench - “Like a Ditto, but much, much more terrifying!”

Dreepy egg X5 from historianofgalar - "because I keep finding them"

Eevee Egg X1 - (parents are a female Leafeon and either a male Jolteon, a male off colored Cyndaquil, or a male Sprigatito) from alex-and-pokemams “I don't know what to do with this... someone can have it and give it a good home!”

Hatenna eggs X1 from based-trainer-ace "my hatterene turned out to be a HARLOT /lh"

Growlithe eggs X7 from @dragoneyejewellery -you know that arcanine and Inteleon share an egg group? because I sure fucking didn’t

Scatterbug Egg X12 from Anonymous - “those damm Vivillon got at my berry trees again”

Sinistea egg, x1 from Truce - It's a long story, but I don't need this.

💿 - - TMs + HMs - - 📀

A stack of unlabeled TMs (x50)

TM92 Trick Room x39 from pastmyprimeape - “Stocked up because they were on sale, and now I have stacks of discs, thank you for your help.”

X12 of various bug type tms from Item Maker Alpha - “too many resources and now we got too many bug TMs to hold or make use of”

- - Other - -

treasure chests x 48. “A surprise in a surprise!”

N/A from Anonymous x-1 - “there is an item here i swear! the item is n/a :3 no idea what effects it has but hey! maybe someone wants an item that doesn’t technically exist!”

Exclamation points!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! X525495 from Rosie!!! @oh-shinx - “I have plenty more!!!!!!!!!!! So here are some of my spares!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

A very detailed painting of a Mankey and Incredible muscle pain 1x from Anonymous - “Because my life is hell.”

Odd Keystone + one (1) malevolent spirit + master ball from Anonymous - “to be given out together”

A 2 bedroom 1 bathroom house from N/A - “does anyone want a house. lol”

Sadnesses and worries (x96) from anonymous -"I'm finally free!"

Closet filled of Pokemon costumes (costume amount is not specified)

george X1 from george

Pokèdollar X5,000,000 from N/A - “haiii :3 I’m laundering this can you hold it for me for a few months ^^”

x49 Sand attacks. Just sprays the withdrawer with sand as soon as they withdraw it from Anonymous - "FUCK YOU FOR NO REASON IN PARTICULAR"

x49 moves recover. It'll heal the person as soon as they withdraw it from Anonymous - "i love you for no reason in particular! :3"

Glunch X01 from anonymous -"It's the glunch man it's pretty self explanatory."

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ x1

200 stealth rock piles from _Intern from @poke-irs-real - note: Been working on this for a while.

ERROR, ITEM NOT FOUND. X1

(*another name for Ancient Sinnoh)

[yyunari]

random tmi of the day ?

fav food / drink ?

fav subject / topic ?

fav aesthetic ?

any celeb or irl crushes ?

fav book / quote / literature ?

fav song u listened to today ?

fav time of day ?

intro/extro/ambivert ?

ever dreamt of idols ?

10 QUESTIONS FOR U <3

here to spread some joy in the mundane !!!!

omg hii i love asks like these tysm <3

1. im going to buy a cactus and name it choki because of nagi from blue lock 🙏

2. iced strawberry matcha !!

3. how people want more complex characters but they couldn’t even handle rachel berry 🤨🤨 #rachelberrydefender4life

4. my friends tell me i give coquette/fairycore vibes so that🎀

5. no irl crushes bc college but celebrity wise i luv charlie bushnell😻

6. oo this is hard i think my favorite book is wuthering heights though !!

7. wait for me reprise from hadestown or easy by lesserafim 😘😘

8. night time because that’s when me and my bff talk abt gojo😻 @muhwaa

9. def ambivert

10. bruh i had a dream that i went backstage and met enhypen but they were rly mean in the dream LMFAOOOO

[leaderwonim]

random tmi of the day ?

fav food / drink ?

fav subject / topic ?

fav aesthetic ?

any celeb or irl crushes ?

fav book / quote / literature ?

fav song u listened to today ?

fav time of day ?

intro/extro/ambivert ?

ever dreamt of idols ?

10 QUESTIONS FOR U <3

here to spread some joy in the mundane !!!!

send to ur fave blogs to show luv + some fun Qs

HI LMFAOO i saw the tmi of the day in my inbox and i was like ?? am i an idol now LOL

1. i ate taiwanese cucumbers and had some really good ass dumplings for dinner that made my toes CURLLLL

2. my favorite food atm is probably korean bbq fried chicken from wingstop and favorite drink has to be a matcha latte with vanilla foam or some type of foam

3. my favorite subject is either english or history, fw history more though

4. aesthetic is probably like this is gonna sound weird but soobin aesthetic ish? he gives off very white calm aesthetic, like this:

5. i dooo have a crush irl, him and i are friends and he’s very introverted and sweet 😭 very smart too, he got into a prestigious uni i believe

6. favorite book or books i should say is Harry Potter, the book 나는 어른이 되어서도 가끔 울었다 is good too, i def recommend reading, the title is already so guilt wrenching 🥹

7. fave song i listened to today was back to the basics? i think the song was called

8. fave time of day is 8-10am on weekends specifically, 6-7pm on weekdays

9. i think i’m both but some of my friends say im extrovert, some say im introvert. my mbti used to be intj but now im an entj

10. i had a dream riki punched me in the stomach for grabbing popcorn and then we saw soobin and yeonjun walk in the movies and separate us and then riki apologized to me after i left in anger 😭😭

[humanitys-strongest-bamf]

✨ Give you and your writing a compliment. Go on now. You know you deserve it. 😉

🎶 Do you listen to music while you write? What song have you been playing on loop lately?

🛠What tools/programs/apps do you use to write?

⛔ Do you have a fic you started, but scrapped?

🙋‍♀️ Do any irl people know you write fanfic?

🍦 What's the sweetest fic you've created so far?

🍷 Do you drink and write?

🍆 Do you write the spicy stuffs? If so, what's your most popular nsfw fic?

🌞 Do you have a preferred time of day to write?

💖 What made you start writing?

💌 How do you feel about comments and feedback?

💲 Would you ever open commissions?

🎨 How do you feel about fan art of your stories?

🦅 Do you outline fics or fly by the seat of your pants?

🤗 What advice would you give to new fanfic writers that are just getting started?

😬 Which of your fics would you be most horrified for friends, family, or coworkers to stumble upon?

📚 Would you ever want to turn writing into a career?

⌛ How long does it take you to write a fic, or a chapter?

🤯 What's a genre you struggle with as a writer (ex. romance, action, etc.)?

💔 Is there a fic of yours that broke your heart?

💥 How do you feel about criticism?

🤭 Do you have a favorite tag to use when posting your works?

🥰 How do you feel about reader interaction? Are you open to receiving questions about your fics?

sorry about all of them dszjhgaier you don't have to answer all of 'em!

KDJFKSDJFKDJ WHY LMAO

decided to single-handedly complete this ask game 😭

💖🏆🦅 have been answered here!

i'd link the "send me more asks" thing but i think all the questions have now been answered ksjdflsdkjf

✨ give you and your writing a compliment. go on now. you know you deserve it 😉

ehhhhhh i can write emotions well?? mostly with angst i think, like the chaotic thoughts and physical sensations that happen during angsty scenes IDK I'M NOT GOOD AT AFFIRMING MYSELF ;-;

🎶 do you listen to music while you write? what song have you been playing on loop lately?

depends on my focus level! for a while i had @chaotic-on-main generate a fluff playlist for me as i was writing the cuter parts of matcha. sometimes if i'm angsty i'll listen to music. a recent listen has been this:

🛠 what tools/programs/apps do you use to write?

i used zenwriter for a while! but now i've just moved onto using google docs because adhd makes it so that i can't get myself to write if i dedicate my night to writing, but i can get myself to start writing if i'm doing it while gaming 👁️👄👁️

⛔ do you have a fic you started, but scrapped?

SO MANY MY GOD i have a canonverse one for aot that was the first thing i wrote, but i scrapped it because i was eh about the story and characterization. i published some excerpts but the actual fic is just kinda sitting in my folder all lonely

🙋‍♀️ do any irl people know you write fanfic?

some do! i've kinda realized that fanfic is like the Thing™ that i do. what do i do on weekends when i'm letting off steam? i write. it's like the one area where i dont rly feel like an imposter if that makes sense??? anyways i say i like writing and if they ask i will say fanfiction lol. there are definitely some irls i'm more willing to share to than others though

🍦 what's the sweetest fic you've created so far?

hmmm including unpublished? honestly probably still matcha because it's like a modern au and isn't surrounded by death and angst like most of my fics are skdjfksjdf

🍷 do you drink and write?

hmmm i dont think i've written after drinking, but definitely after smoking!

🍆 do you write the spicy stuffs? if so, what's your most popular nsfw fic?

OH YOU BET, although reminder of the fun fact that i did NOT intend to publish smut at ALL when i first revived this blog and now look where i am dkflsdkjf i have a bunch of short drabbles that have gained traction because we're all horny with short attention spans djjksjfks if we're strictly talking about oneshots, i think it would be this one if we're including longer drabbles, i'd say this one

🌞 do you have a preferred time of day to write?

ehhh, writing at night is most convenient? i'll do it whenever the writing juices hit tho. i do like writing late into the night (like 12am-3am) because i can focus the best, but i can't stay up that late most nights u.u

💌 how do you feel about comments and feedback?

i love comments! feedback less so. do not provide unless i ask. any improvements in writing style will come from me. providing unsolicited feedback is one of the fastest way to getting blocked. i'm already disengaging from conversations regarding word count or use of y/n, so this entire topic makes me all skdfjkdsjf even if it doesn't directly involve my writing

💲 would you ever open commissions?

ehhhh if people are ever willing to pay? i feel like fanfic is just so available everywhere that people aren't really willing to pay for it? i've opened up tips a few years ago and nothing happened so i'm just eh about it

🎨 how do you feel about fan art of your stories?

I WOULD LOVE IT but do not expect it lol

🤗 what advice would you give to new fanfic writers that are just getting started?

write to your heart's content and if anyone shames you for being cringey, having a mary sue oc/reader, writing ooc or whatever, i would gladly unkindly tell them to fuck off for you 💕 but honestly, just write! you'll form your own style and process and it's the most organic way to begin writing. it'll teach you to write and pour your soul into it for YOU and not because you're trying to live up to anyone's expectations

😬 which of your fics would you be most horrified for friends, family, or coworkers to stumble upon?

OH MY GOD i wrote a mini-fic for WoW and it's literally in a folder in my google docs titled "things we can forget that exist"

📚 would you ever want to turn writing into a career?

eh. publishing it means opening it up for critique and having tangible expectations. so probably not.

⌛ how long does it take you to write a fic, or a chapter?

depends on the adhd gremlin. can range from 1-2 hours all the way up to like 3 weeks or a few months for the oneshots i keep forgetting about ksdjfksdjf

🤯 what's a genre you struggle with as a writer (ex. romance, action, etc)?

hmm...maybe action? i love writing battle scenes, but idk if they're written well enough for someone that's freshly reading to know what the fuck is going on lol

💔 is there a fic of yours that broke your heart?

anything on my angst list makes me want to cry or resulted from me crying LMAO there is a hurt/comfort one that i wrote on a topic i struggle with a lot and will occasionally summon the feels when i reread it but it ends happy sooooo

💥 how do you feel about criticism?

refer back to what i said about getting feedback. do not provide unless i ask. if i know you, i'll ask you to stop. if i do not know you, then you will be blocked.

🤭 do you have a favorite tag to use when posting your works?

i think i use "pls i need him so bad" a lot LMAO because anything i produce quickly is motivated by me desperately needing the affection of levi ackerman and his cock

🥰 how do you feel about reader interaction? Are you open to receiving questions about your fics?

i love questions! i love it when people are screaming in the comments over cliffhangers! or even some that DM me with reactions and i'm just like 🤭 the entire time

[neon-moon-beam]

I hope you enjoy the dlc! I liked it a lot, and as someone who just likes your opinions, i'm looking forward to seeing what your thoughts are.

Spinarak is adorable!

Spoilers ahead.

Pros:

The story felt a lot stronger than the mainline game for the most part. Maybe it was because it was shorter but Arven and Nemona's storylines really felt like too little too late.

The plot twists were interesting enough, and I'm interested to see where the cliffhanger goes.

I liked that it starts off looking like Carmine is going to be a bully and a problem, but it turns out she's actually rather complex and shows her true personality really quickly. And whereas you think Kieran is going to grow in a different way (like standing up to Carmine), he instead turns out a bit worse off (which is also nicely complex characterization!) Both of them also seem to have some kind of issues going on the background, so I'm curious to see if the second DLC covers it.

It's nice to see some Pokemon that had stayed Dexit'd for a while. Yes, some were in BDSP, but BDSP is a top down game and it doesn't feel like it's happening in...let's just say a more organic space. There's also no way to interact with you Pokemon in BDSP other than just talking to them if they're walking with you.

I liked getting new clothes and hairstyles with the Teal card. I changed into one of the new hairstyles.

Poltchageist and Sinistcha are nice. They make me want to drink matcha more.

It was nice to get a new area to explore. Part of the reason I stopped really playing Violet at all post-game was Paldea felt very empty with nothing to do.

Mossui really does feel like a rural Japanese town.

Ogrepon is cute.

Cons: Not a lot of new music. The main theme plays nearly everywhere and after 20 mins or so it gets very boring.

Not happy about the PLA stuff at all. I don't want an Adaman descendant, I don't want Hisuian variants, I don't want an event similar to PLA with music remixed from it. I don't want any PLA. The game caused too much damage.

Kieran feeling betrayed seemed a bit forced? Like, the player is just honoring his grandfather's wish to not share the story with him yet due to his age and he goes from feeling betrayed to practically resenting the player when he cannot defeat them. Him comparing himself to Ogrepon when Carmine and the player left him out of the loop (again, honoring what Carmine and Kieran's grandfather asked) felt overdramatic and...not comparable at all? (But then again kids just do that kind of thing) Also he expected Ogrepon to just go with him when he hadn't bonded with it at all. Carmine even says that Ogrepon's feelings are also important but he just ignores it. He's got a lot to learn, and I hope we see him learn it.

The glitchy backgrounds are still happening. My Eelektross breaks the ground revealing the massive ocean that is responsible for a lot of glitches (the ocean is literally too big for the game), and the walls sometimes do that jiggly thing that makes some people feel queasy when they see it.

The festival stalls are disappointing. At first I was excited to see what new foods they have. I mean yeah, it's annoying that most shops in SV just open up a menu and make you feel like Paldea favors cooking over everything else, but sometimes it's nice to see the worldbuilding with the food. However there are only 8 stalls, one of which you can't even interact with, and 4 of them are the same! There's two candied fruit stalls and two shaved ice stalls! They really couldn't just make two more new stalls, or at least change the menus on two of them? I've been to carnivals and festivals IRL and yeah, there are often repeat stalls (though usually at bigger events), but there are also stalls that sell similar things but are made by different brands.

I was hoping for a bigger variety of jinbei and masks. I really don't want Pikachu and Eevee things again. I'm very much over those two. And while I liked being able to switch from the uniform to the jinbei, I still don't like that I'm forced to wear between a handful of pre-created outfits that clash horribly with most of the accessories.

The landscape feels old fast, and empty like Paldea. A lot of it is the same kind of landforms, just arranged differently. The only unique thing was the Infernal Pass.

[mitsuyeaah]

22,23,24 :)

22. what type of person are you?

a very shy one!!!!! if any of you met me irl, i will simply not initiate a conversation unless you come to me 😭 i try my very best to do so but i’m just shy!! i’m very introverted which makes people think i’m intimidating (cause of my rbf) but other than that i am literally just silly old me 😔

23. how do you feel about chilly weather?

ahhh i LOVE winter so much! i love the snow, the cold and just the whole season in general!! i love chilly weather because it makes me so relaxed and calm and i love it when i drink hot matcha latte to warm myself up <3

24. if we were together on a rooftop, what would we be doing?

oh my gosh stargazing!!! i have learned a few things from a stargazing tour guide and i would not hesitate to teach you! i always do this to friends whenever i’m out at night 😭 like “hey, do you see the southern cross up there?” and then i’d do a whole demonstration because i’m SO into astronomy

thank you for sending this ask, zara!! 🫶🏼

— ask me a question!

[socialdegenerate]

Fanfic: Don’t Go Sharing Your Devotion

SO I was googling the irl restaurant that they copied for Joe’s restaurant, and it turns out that it’s one of those places that doesn’t have a menu because the chef makes a specific set of dishes that changes everyday. I love stupid details so of course I immediately stole that (and their opening days/hours) for my own fic.

SK8 the Infinity Kaoru Sakurayashiki x Kojiro Nanjo | Matcha Blossom | JoeCherry SFW 9,154 words

Kojiro didn’t particularly like it when people got absolutely plastered in his restaurant.

Fine wine was meant to be savoured, especially when he put so much time into choosing the right pairings for his food, and tipping it back as quickly as possible should have been saved for convenience store sake. Not to mention, drunks often didn’t appreciate that his restaurant closed at eleven and not a minute later, because Kojiro often had things to do that didn’t involve herding sloshed patrons around like rowdy cats.

But, like always, he made an exception for Kaoru. Sure, Kaoru was smug and annoying and liked running up his electricity bill and never attempted to pay the tab that Kojiro wasn’t actually keeping, but he was also Kojiro’s oldest friend and someone who was never, ever boring. 

Plus it was nice to see him actually walking again and not sneaking out of hospital against every-fucking-body’s advice.

“You’re such a lightweight,” Kojiro said as he snagged a glass from the bar and walked out from behind the counter, settling in the stool next to Kaoru’s. Kaoru was slumped against the polished wood, his glasses sitting skewed on his face, but he still managed to pin Kojiro with an unsteady glare.

“I’m normal. S’not my fault you’re a gorilla.”

Kojiro laughed, filling his wine glass with the bottle Kaoru was steadily working his way through — his second — and tipping the last of it into Kaoru’s empty glass. “Bottoms up, Cherry.”

Kaoru hissed something probably entirely unflattering but his hand shot out and reclaimed his wine anyway, half the glass disappearing in a matter of moments. Kojiro raised his eyebrows, sipping from his own glass like a reasonable person, and wondered if Kaoru was drunk enough to want to talk about what was driving him to drink like they were twenty again.

“You know drinking isn’t a competition, right?”

“You only say that ‘cause you’re losing,” Kaoru slurred, lifting his glass again. This time, Kojiro placed a firm hand over his wrist, keeping Kaoru from skolling the last of the wine; Kaoru glared at him and tried to break Kojiro’s grip, but he didn’t stand a chance and so had to return the glass to the countertop. 

“What’s got you this drunk on a Wednesday?” It was always a risk to ask Kaoru questions straight out instead of poking at him until he angrily threw out the information Kojiro wanted, but it was getting late and Kaoru didn’t look like he was going to be awake for that much longer.

Thankfully, luck was on Kojiro’s side this time. “I’m mourning, leave me alone.”

“Mourning?” Kojiro asked, a little startled. Kaoru wasn’t acting like someone had died, but his poker face was undeniably good.

“Yes, shut up,” Kaoru said. Rubbing his hands down his face and groaning, he went for his glass again and this time, Kojiro let him. “I’m mourning my wasted teenage years.”

Ah. Kojiro should have guessed that it would have something to do with that bastard, who was going to be damn lucky if he didn’t find himself getting suplexed through a table at his next nationally-televised press conference.

Letting himself bask in a brief revenge fantasy, Kojiro knocked his foot into Kaoru’s leg. “C’mon, we had a lot of fun, didn’t we? It wasn’t a waste, even if he’s a dick now.”

“Not the skating,” Kaoru said, the duh unspoken but heavily implied. “I wasted my first love on a guy who hit me in the face with a skateboard.”

“Oh,” Joe said, the admission hitting him harder than he would ever admit — even if he’d suspected it all along. “It happens?”

“Does it?”

“I mean—”

“I didn’t even know,” Kaoru groaned, finishing off his wine. Kojiro hesitated for a second and then pushed his own glass over, Kaoru accepting it gratefully. “I guess I thought he was cool and handsome but I didn’t even realise I’d liked him until he—”

Kaoru clicked his tongue and mimed Ainosuke swinging his skateboard, almost scattering glasses and bottles as he went. Kojiro leaned back to avoid Kaoru’s flailing arms, wondering if he really wanted to ask his next question, but he supposed that there was still plenty of wine out the back if he didn’t like the answer.

“And are you still in love with him?”

“Who said anything about love?” Kaoru snapped, Kojiro deciding not to point out that Kaoru had. “As if I would be, I think I got over him years ago.”

“So you’re upset because…?”

“Idiot,” Kaoru muttered with absolutely no heat behind it. “I liked a guy, and I never got to do anything about it because I didn’t even know I liked him until like fifteen years later, and now he hates me and I hate him and if I see him again I’m going to run him over and if you try to stop me I’ll run you over too.”

“I see,” said Kojiro, who didn’t actually see at all.

“More wine,” Kaoru demanded suddenly, slapping his hand onto the counter and almost knocking over the glass he’d just finished. 

“Uh, I don’t think so.” Gathering the two empty wine bottles and two empty glasses, Kojiro stood up and took them through to the kitchen, placing the bottles in the recycling crate with the other empties and quickly washing off the glasses. He’d already finished cleaning up the rest of the kitchen while Kaoru had been steadily demolishing his first bottle of wine, and so thankfully all he had left to do was turn off the lights and lock up. 

By the time he got back to the dining room, Kaoru was sprawled out on the counter and snoring loudly, his hair a complete mess and his mouth hanging open in a way that might have been unattractive to anyone else. To Kojiro, though, he was an unfairly untouchable beauty, even drunk off his ass and utterly dishevelled; or maybe he was beautiful because he looked so unlike either of his usual personas. 

“I should get you home,” Kojiro said, although he made no move to do so. He wasn’t angry at Kaoru, of course, but it still hurt to know that Kaoru’s first love had been — frustrated sigh — Ainosuke. Despite all the effort Kojiro had put into getting Kaoru to notice that he wanted to be more than friends, Ainosuke had skated in with his stupid talent and his prestigious family name and his sexy mysterious vibes and had effortlessly captured Kaoru’s attention. 

Maybe Kaoru hadn’t noticed what his own feelings had been until now, but Kojiro had guessed all along. He’d never felt like a third wheel, exactly, but he’d always known that it could have been a matter of time until he was. And then Ainosuke had left, and Kaoru had gone quiet(er) for several weeks, and Kojiro had irritated him until he’d come back to his usual self. Seeing how badly Kaoru took the whole thing had been enough for Kojiro to decide that he was never going to forgive Ainosuke; he’d never been entirely sure of Kaoru’s thoughts on the matter, though.

But even after Ainosuke had returned, Kaoru had never again reacted to him the way he had in their youth. Ainosuke had come back almost like a different person entirely, and he’d certainly never shown any interest in picking up where he’d left off with the people he’d left behind. At the very least, it was reassuring to know that Kaoru wasn’t still hoping that Ainosuke was going to turn around and be the kid they’d known years ago.

...Even if it might have taken a skateboard to the face for him to get there.

Wincing at the memory, Kojiro decided that it was probably time to get Kaoru into a real bed before he aggravated any remaining injuries by sleeping on the counter. Flicking off all the lights except for one, he unplugged Carla from the wall and let the power cord retract back into the board. He never really liked handling such an expensive piece of equipment, especially considering that Kaoru would castrate him if he ever damaged his precious skateboard, but there was really nothing for it.

Tucking the board under one arm, Kojiro shook Kaoru awake and lifted him to his feet, ignoring Kaoru’s incoherent mumbling and marching him to the door. Thankfully he lived close to the restaurant, certainly closer than Kaoru did, and he managed to close up the restaurant and get them all home without Kaoru throwing up on him or anything else. 

Herding Kaoru into the shower felt like it was going to be more effort than dealing with Kaoru’s bitching in the morning when he woke up feeling grotty, though, and so Kojiro only helped him to kick off his zori before taking him straight to the bedroom and dumping him on the bed. Carla was placed up against the wall, right where Kaoru would see it in the morning, and Joe left a bottle of water on the bedside table to help with Kaoru’s inevitable hangover. 

The couch wasn’t exactly comfortable to sleep on, but Kojiro figured that Kaoru deserved the bed for once. He’d gotten drunk enough to loosen his tongue with only a little prompting, after all, and he was obviously upset about the whole thing. It was going to be a long, restless night of trying to sleep and thinking about what Kaoru had told him, but if there was anyone that Kojiro would put up with that for, it was the man drunkenly passed out in his bed.

——————————————————

Kojiro didn’t bother sticking his head out of the kitchen when he heard the restaurant’s front door unlock and open. There was only one other person who had a key to the place, Kojiro having given it to him when he got sick of having to stop what he was doing to let Kaoru in on the nights he stopped by. Listening to the familiar sounds of Kaoru fussing about in his dining room, rearranging the flowers and stealing his electricity and whatever else he liked doing when Kojiro wasn’t watching, Kojiro was looking forward to being able to relax after a busy dinner service.

“The city’ll shut me down if they find out I’ve got pests in my dining room,” Kojiro drawled after he finished up in the kitchen, walking out behind the counter. “Do I need to call an exterminator?”

Kaoru didn’t look up from his phone. “I think the animal that escaped from the zoo who has taken up residence in your kitchen is a bigger concern.”

“I’m the animal? What about you, huh, getting piss-ass drunk on someone else’s booze last week and not even thanking him?”

“Mm-hmm,” Kaoru hummed distractedly, clearly not paying attention anymore. That was probably more annoying than anything he could have said, and so Kojiro leaned over the bar and plucked Kaoru’s custom phone from his hand, slapping his free hand over Kaoru’s mouth so that he couldn’t verbally instruct his AI to lock the device. 

“What are you even doing?” Looking down at the screen, Kojiro was surprised to see what was very obviously a dating app open on Kaoru’s screen. “Really?”

Scooting his stool back far enough to escape from Kojiro’s grip, Kaoru glared but obviously resigned himself to the fact that there was no way he was getting that phone back anytime soon. Still, he didn’t verbally instruct Carla to self destruct it or anything, and so Kojiro figured he was in the clear. “If a walking steroid like you can have so many women hanging off you, it shouldn’t be surprising that I might be popular too.”

“Uh, if this is the pick of the bunch, I’d rather not be popular at all,” Kojiro laughed, quickly swiping left past three disappointing profiles in a row. “Although I guess our standards might be a little different.”

“Carla, phone lock,” Kaoru snapped and Kojiro let out a disappointed aw when the screen went black. He tossed the phone back to Kaoru, feeling smug when it was promptly tucked away and he finally had Kaoru’s full attention.

“Why are you online dating anyway? I thought you had a spot.” He’d accompanied Kaoru to his favourite bar a couple of times, mostly when they’d barely been old enough to get in the door and Kaoru had still been intimidated by the idea of going to gay bars, and that had been enough to show him that Kaoru had absolutely no trouble finding men who liked him. 

(It had hurt quite a lot the first few times, but he’d quickly come to realise that Kaoru had a bad little habit of never calling them back. That had taken the sting out of knowing that Kaoru was apparently looking at everyone except him.)

“I’m not online dating, idiot,” Kaoru said with a roll of his eyes. “I’m...window shopping.”

“Okay, why are you window shopping? Pretentious bastard.”

Kaoru looked conflicted for a moment, clearly wondering if he was too sober for this conversation, but then he flipped his hair over his shoulder and sighed heavily. “I’m stuck in a rut.”

Kojiro made an encouraging noise, deciding it probably wasn’t the right moment to needle Kaoru like he usually did.

“I don’t know what I want anymore.”

“Does anyone? That’s why I don’t bother trying to choose.”

“I can hardly stand around with four men hanging off my arms like you do, you stupid overgrown gorilla,” Kaoru said, but his heart clearly wasn’t in it. 

“Not with those skinny arms, you couldn’t.” Kojiro meant to lean over the bar and lightly smack said skinny arm, but he somehow found himself putting a reassuring hand on Kaoru’s shoulder instead. “We’re still young and pretty, Kaoru. We don’t have to have it all figured out yet.”

Squeezing Kaoru’s shoulder, Kojiro reluctantly pulled his hand back. “Anyway, is this about him again?”

“No,” Kaoru said immediately, but they both knew he was lying. “I just...I was content with the occasional hookup, but now that I’m aware of the absence of something that I didn’t even know I had in the first place, it doesn’t seem like enough anymore.”

“And your answer to that is online dating?”

“I thought it was worth a shot,” Kaoru said, and then he laughed. “You were right about the quality, though; I’d rather date you than any of those men.”

Kojiro hoped his answering laugh didn’t sound too hollow. Even if it did, though, he doubted that Kaoru would notice it any more than he had anything else that had been right in front of him for years. “That’s alright, I’ll spare you from falling in love with me after one of my famous date nights.”

“Infamous, more likely.” 

“With all this wit and charm, it’s astounding that men aren’t literally lining up to marry you already.”

“Who says they aren’t? Some of us just have discerning taste.”

If Kojiro were actually interested in genuinely hurting Kaoru, he might have made a joke about Ainosuke being proof of the opposite in response. But for all their poking and prodding and bickering, they were both well aware of where the line was and were sure not to cross it; and so he reached out and messed up Kaoru’s hair.

“C’mon, Cherry, all this teen angst is stinking up my restaurant. Let’s go skate.”

“The old folks will call the police if you go rattling down the road in front of their houses this late at night.” But Kaoru was already standing up and retrieving Carla from the power point, and he had begun to straighten up the dining room when Kojiro ducked into the back to change out of his chef’s uniform.

They hadn’t had a chance to just skate lately, between the stupid tournament and Kaoru’s injury and their real lives, and Kojiro was glad to see the hint of a smile on Kaoru’s face as he skated underneath a streetlight. They didn’t go anywhere in particular, simply enjoying the rush of the night air going past them as they flew down the quiet streets, and Kojiro could already feel the stress of the week melting off him.

Aware that Kaoru wasn’t quite back at 100 percent, Kojiro eventually headed towards a park that he knew didn’t lock its gates, flagging Kaoru down and herding him towards a bench sitting off the paved path they were skating down. 

“Ah, that felt good,” Kojiro groaned, dropping onto the bench and hooking his elbows over the back. Kaoru was far more proper when he sat down, his back straight and his hands neatly folded, and of course that made Kojiro want to tease him.

“You don’t have to be such a priss when it’s only me around, you know.”

“And you don’t have to be such a slob, but that hasn’t managed to stop you yet.”

“Be nice or else I’ll post the pictures I took of you passed out on my bar like the drunk tanuki you are,” Kojiro threatened. He was fairly sure that Kaoru knew there weren’t actually any pictures, and also that Kaoru could probably hack into his phone to find out regardless, but he’d never let the truth get in the way of a good jab.

“Try it and your restaurant will have so many one-star reviews that you’ll be closed within a week.”

“Oh, yeah?” Kojiro shot back, rocking sideways into Kaoru and nearly knocking him straight off the bench. When Kaoru tried it back, Kojiro didn’t shift at all, and he laughed too loudly until Kaoru jabbed his bony fingers right under his ribs. 

“You bitch,” Kojiro growled, and it felt like they were sixteen again when Kaoru tossed his hair and jumped onto his skateboard. 

“Better a bitch than a stupid gorilla,” Kaoru shot back before skating away, Carla’s lights beginning to fade into the distance. Kojiro wasn’t far behind though, a wide grin on his face as he shot through the park in hot pursuit of his friend.

If nothing else, at least he could help take Kaoru’s anxious mind off his troubles for a while longer.

——————————————————

Kojiro had never really considered himself to be a jealous person. Sometimes things hurt, for sure, but he’d never really gone any further than that.

And yet, that knowledge wasn’t making him feel any less irritated every time the young foreign man sitting next to Kaoru touched his arm and said something in a too-loud voice, making Kaoru tip back his head and laugh softly.

It was hardly the first time that Kaoru had brought someone along to his restaurant; in fact, Kojiro took pride in the knowledge that his place was where Kaoru chose when he needed to impress a potential business partner. But those were usually older guys who were too dazzled by a pretty smile to notice that Kaoru’s interest was solely in their money and not their...sparkling personalities.

This time, though, Kaoru was clearly laying it on a little too thick, and it was making Kojiro’s hands shake enough that he was worried about nicking his fingers with the sharp knife he was trying to use. Usually he would never assume that Kaoru, of all people, was out on a date, but his weirdly flirtatious behaviour combined with the conversation the two of them had had the other night meant that Kojiro didn’t think it was a normal business meeting.

And he hated that.

He’d had himself under control for so long. He’d been so happy to get to skate with Kaoru and talk with Kaoru and fight with Kaoru and drink with Kaoru; but the last few weeks had shown him that his teenage feelings had been buried but not forgotten. If he really thought about it, he could probably trace it back to lifting Kaoru’s injured body off the ground and cradling him to protect him from getting jolted around as they drove to the hospital. 

Apparently seeing Kaoru get so hurt had awakened something in him, and now Kojiro didn’t know if he could go back again.

But he was a professional, and like always he’d put a lot of thought into choosing his menu for the day, and dammit he was going to go out there and put these plates in front of Kaoru and his noisy foreign date and he was going to smile and pretend that he was happy about it. 

Putting the final touches on the two plates, Kojiro stepped out of the kitchen and walked up to Kaoru’s usual spot. As always, he’d offered Kaoru a table, but Kaoru had walked right past him and taken the empty counter instead; now he was sitting there alone, and Kojiro glanced outside to see that guy pacing in front of the restaurant with his phone held to his ear.

“Finally,” Kaoru said when Kojiro placed their plates down, twisting in his stool to shoot Kojiro an annoyed look. “I thought I would die of old age before you got yourself sorted out.”

Kojiro really, really wasn’t in the mood. He wasn’t mad at Kaoru for doing what made him happy, but he was mad at himself for not being able to be happy for Kaoru, and he wasn’t sure if he could trust himself to walk up to their unspoken line and not trample all over it.

“Enjoy,” he said simply, walking away and not looking back when he heard Kaoru say his name. Thankfully his weekend part-timer was around to collect plates and run bills, because Kojiro was content to busy himself with the kitchen and not go anywhere near the counter until he was sure that Kaoru was gone. 

The clock ticking towards eleven felt like it was taking days instead of hours, even after Kojiro personally washed all the dishes, planned his menus further in advance than he ever had, and began prep for the next day. He sent his worker home at ten because the dining room was empty, Kaoru having left at some point before then, and proceeded to shut up shop early. 

This time, it was his turn to grab a bottle of wine and a spare plate from the kitchen and slump down in one of his chairs. He had to admit, today’s menu had been a real good one and he was actually glad that Kaoru had been around to try it; the circumstances weren’t ideal, but he liked impressing Kaoru even after all these years.

He was most of the way through his plate when he heard the door lock turn, looking up to see Kaoru quietly letting himself in. Despite everything, or maybe because of the couple of glasses of wine running through his system, it made him smile.

Tipping his head towards the bar to encourage Kaoru to grab his own glass, Kojiro quickly finished off his food and sat the plate to the side as Kaoru joined him, filling Kaoru’s glass and topping his own off as well. “If you get drunk, I’m leaving your ugly ass in the alley.”

“You’re back to your usual stupid self, then?” 

“Long day, I guess. Not that you’d know, considering you seem to spend half your work days socialising.” It was the closest thing to an apology that Kaoru would accept, and he smiled faintly.

“A gorilla with no social skills probably can’t understand, but it’s a lot of work pretending to be interested in handsy foreigners to separate them from their money.”

“Oh? Didn’t seem like you were pretending too hard. He was better looking than the usual ones.”

“Ugh, so loud,” Kaoru complained, and Kojiro couldn’t help but laugh. “And no understanding of subtlety at all, if I didn’t audibly laugh at his awful jokes he would tell them again.”

“Huh,” Kojiro said, taking a sip of wine and wondering how foolish he was feeling today now that a crushing weight felt like it had been lifted from his shoulders. “Here I thought you actually liked him; but I guess you’re just a sneaky tanuki after all.”

Kaoru stared at him, his head slowly tilting to the side. “I’m stuck in a rut, not hopelessly desperate. Like I said, I’d rather date you than some foolish investor who can’t keep his hands to himself for a single dinner.”

“Keep saying that and I’ll think you mean it,” Kojiro said before he could stop himself.

“I don’t date zoo animals,” Kaoru shot back, a familiar glint in his eye.

“You don’t date anyone, last time I checked. Just admit you’re scared that I’d ruin you for any other guy.”

“Why? Because it would be so bad that I would decide to be straight instead?”

“Oh, the women don’t deserve that,” Kojiro said. His heart was beating like he was about to do an S run, and he was leaning towards Kaoru over the table before he realised he was doing it. “You’re curious, admit it.”

“I’d prefer not to spend my evening spotting you at the gym or whatever it is you make those poor women do.”

“Please, I’ve seen the way you look at me.”

It was a bluff, but Kojiro nearly choked on his spit when Kaoru flushed pink and looked away. Suddenly flustered, he busied himself with his wine glass, glad when Kaoru did the same and they could both pretend it hadn’t happened.

Kaoru was the one to break the unsettled stalemate they’d fallen into, still not quite able to meet Kojiro’s eyes again. “Well, are you paying?”

“Dude, did you not just sell a bunch of your weird shit to another investor?”

“I should have known you’d be a stingy date.”

“So now you want to go on a date with me?” Kojiro asked, not entirely sure how they’d ended up here. He wasn’t complaining, he supposed, but this certainly wasn’t how he’d predicted that this conversation would pan out. 

Kaoru shrugged, kicking his foot against the leg of Kojiro’s chair. “I want a free meal that wasn’t cooked by a carbo-loading chef with muscles for brains.”

Kojiro sighed heavily, trying not to sound as excited as he felt. “Well, I can’t have anyone saying that I don’t treat my dates right. Guess I’ll waste my day off with you.”

“Please, it’s an honour.”

“Honour my ass, I’ll be lucky if my good reputation isn’t shattered after people see me with you.”

“What good reputation?” Kaoru drawled, looking so utterly pleased with himself, and Kojiro cracked.

Starting to laugh, he picked up his glass and held it out towards Kaoru, quietly pleased when Kaoru lifted his glass as well. “I’ll pick you up on Tuesday at seven?”

“If you must.” Despite his tone, though, Kaoru tapped his glass against Kojiro’s and drank deeply, watching Kojiro over the top of the glass. “Do you have any desserts left? I didn’t get any earlier because I wanted it to be over.”

“You know where everything is,” Kojiro said, and once Kaoru was out of sight he dropped his head into his hands. He was happy and confused and nervous and—

What the fuck was he doing?

Well, that was a problem for future Kojiro to deal with, he supposed.

——————————————————

Now that future Kojiro was present Kojiro, he still didn’t know what the fuck he was doing and he was rather irritated with past Kojiro. Pacing in a small park area near Kaoru’s studio, he wasn’t sure what on Earth he was going to do about the night ahead of them and it was sending him into a bit of a tailspin.

If he played it seriously, he risked sending Kaoru running the way he did from basically everyone who tried to get close to him. If he played it as a joke, it would more or less be closing the door on Kaoru ever believing that Kojiro actually liked him. At this point, he wasn’t sure which would be worse...or better.

And now he was late, which Kaoru hated.

Kojiro ended up jogging over to Kaoru’s studio, only to find Kaoru leaning against the outside of the building with an unimpressed look on his face. “Did you forget how to tell time?”

“Didn’t realise you were so eager to go out with me,” Kojiro replied, trying to fix his hair without looking like he was fixing his hair. “But you’ve got me all night, so what’s a few minutes here or there?”

The wink was probably overdoing it, and the look on Kaoru’s face showed that he agreed. “Well I hope you made reservations for dinner, because if I have to wait I’m going home.”

Kojiro had actually called in a favour from another restaurant owner he knew, but there was no way he could admit that to Kaoru and keep his self-respect intact. He had his usual spots that he took the women he casually dated, but whether or not this was actually a real date, he wanted it to be a little different than his normal evenings off. 

Kaoru had always been an exception for him, and it didn’t look like things were going to change anytime soon.

“Yeah, yeah,” Kojiro said instead of vocalising any of that, and he jerked his thumb over his shoulder. “C’mon, the restaurant’s nearby.”

It was nice to walk along with Kaoru at his side, their usual bickering giving way to brief snatches of conversation as they dodged the after-work foot traffic clogging up the streets. The pair of them drew plenty of attention, as always seemed to happen between Kojiro’s size and Kaoru’s striking hair, but for once Kojiro resisted the urge to throw out his usual flirtatious winks and smiles to the women he caught looking at him. 

Now that he was actually with Kaoru, he was becoming less and less willing to play the whole thing off as a joke. He wished he could say he hadn’t expected that, but frankly he would have been lying.

The restaurant they were walking to was a small place that always had a line out the front, and usually even Kojiro would have had to have joined the queue; but he’d helped the owner, an old friend of his, revamp his menu a few months earlier and he’d figured that tonight was as good a time as any to call in the favour. 

Kaoru was clearly confused when Kojiro led him into a dead-end alleyway with no shopfronts in sight. Due to the line at the front door, though, Kojiro had been told to let himself in through the side door to avoid pissing off the regular patrons of the place; the chef barely glanced up when the door opened into the kitchen, waving his knife in the direction of the dining room.

“Second table up on the left, Nanjo.”

“Legend,” Kojiro replied gratefully, and he glanced over his shoulder to grin at Kaoru. “VIP entrance and no wait: I pulled out all the stops for you.”

“Hm,” was all Kaoru had to say, but he did seem quietly pleased when they walked out of the kitchen to their table and he neatly folded himself into his chair. Or maybe that was wishful thinking on Kojiro’s part. In either case, Kaoru at least wasn’t looking for the exit to make a quick escape so Kojiro would consider that a win.

Unlike Kojiro’s restaurant, this place actually had a set menu and so Kojiro was free to watch Kaoru as he pored over the choices in front of him. Kojiro nearly choked on his water when he realised that he was thinking about how cute Kaoru looked when he was concentrating; he thought he’d left that behind with his teenage years, but apparently not. 

A smarter man might have wondered if he’d gotten himself in too deep.

Kojiro was trying very hard not to be a smarter man.

He hadn’t even opened his own menu when their server came by to take their order, but at least he was able to play that off with minimal problems. He was well-acquainted with Kaoru’s tastes by now, considering that Kaoru had never been shy about his opinions on Kojiro’s food, and so he simply seconded whatever it was that Kaoru ordered. That earned him a raised eyebrow from Kaoru, but Kojiro smiled innocently back at him.

“You seem distracted,” Kaoru stated. “Or has your little brain overheated?”

Not wanting to cause a scene in his friend’s restaurant, Kojiro let that roll off his back and shrugged. “Always a good idea to show that you think your date has good taste.”

“You’re an idiot,” Kaoru said, but he looked a little flustered as he took a sip from his water glass and cleared his throat.

It was hardly the first time they’d gone out to dinner together but the atmosphere felt strangely awkward while they waited for their food to come. Kojiro didn’t want to pick a fight, but there was no way that Kaoru would take his usual date conversation as anything other than Kojiro making fun of him. Even if he actually meant it, his usual flirtations would only get Kaoru’s hackles up and keep him from actually enjoying the meal Kojiro had arranged for him. 

Kaoru didn’t seem particularly interested in starting the conversation either, and so it was a relief when their food came and Kojiro could concern himself more with what was going into his mouth than what was coming out of it. The first bite proved that the food was just as delicious as it ever was, and the awkward tension melted when Kaoru’s eyes lit up from the first taste.

“Good, right?” Kojiro said. 

“You might not know much, but you do know food,” Kaoru replied. It was as much of a compliment as Kaoru ever gave him, but it hit doubly hard knowing how picky Kaoru was about what he ate and how much pride Kojiro had in his work. 

“Keep sweet talking me like that and you might get a second date,” Kojiro said. He busied himself with his own plate instead of watching Kaoru’s reaction to that, not wanting to bring back the awkwardness due to his inability to bite his tongue. The lack of a foot kicking him in the shin was good enough for him, and the rest of the meal passed in relative silence as they savoured the food.

As usual, Kojiro was the first to finish; Kaoru tended to take his time with everything except skateboarding, and Kojiro had to try not to stare too much as Kaoru clearly enjoyed himself. He’d always been beautiful when he was happy, but it was affecting Kojiro so much more after having seen Kaoru look so broken in his hospital bed. The thought had Kojiro swallowing down his familiar anger at Ainosuke, his hand clenching at the thought of what he would have done had Kaoru not needed attention right away, and it was only the feeling of a foot tapping against his own that cleared the fog from his brain.

Kaoru opened his mouth, clearly about to say something about Kojiro’s sudden change of mood, but then he hesitated and slid the dessert menu across to Kojiro instead. “Do you want dessert?”

“Of course I do,” Kojiro said, forcing a smile. It felt less fake by the end, and this time he took the liberty of ordering for the both of them. For all Kaoru’s bluster about making Kojiro treat him, he was too economical to actually let himself splurge even on someone else’s yen; but Kojiro had no such problem, and Kaoru deserved to be treated. An expensive, luxurious dessert was the least of what Kojiro wanted to give him, but it was a start.

After all, he had to prove that Kojiro Nanjo could never be called a stingy date.

——————————————————

Kaoru’s mood seemed to have visibly lifted when they left the restaurant and walked over to the bar Kojiro had picked for after-dinner drinks, to the point where Kojiro actually thought he wasn’t going to run away at the slightest irritation. 

That was a win in his book, really.

The bar was quieter than the restaurant had been, with a few small groups dotted around the place and the music at a low enough level to hold a proper conversation, and Kojiro was glad to note that Kaoru actually seemed comfortable there. He’d never really liked the kinds of bars that Kojiro tended to end up in, considering them to be below his standards once they’d aged out of the pursuit of getting as drunk as possible for as cheap as possible, but Kojiro thought Kaoru should understand that sometimes the point was to get out of the bar as quickly as possible (with company, of course). 

In any case, this was the kind of place you brought someone you wanted to impress, and Kaoru’s continuing good mood hopefully indicated that Kojiro had made the right choice. It was probably the longest they’d gone without arguing in years, even if they never really meant it, and it was actually kind of nice to hold a regular conversation. 

Not that Kojiro would want to give up their usual dynamic, but it helped the night feel like it was actually, well, a real date. It was a dangerous trap to fall into, and dammit Kojiro wasn’t going to be able to help himself if Kaoru kept actually smiling at his jokes.

Eventually they fell into a silence again, but this time it felt more like their usual comfortable atmosphere than the awkwardness of the early evening. When Kojiro excused himself to grab the next round from the bar, he didn’t feel the need to look back over his shoulder to see if Kaoru was sneaking out without him, and he was in a positively good mood when he set their glasses down on the small table between them.

Of course, that was when Kaoru had to go and ruin it.

“Those women were watching you,” Kaoru said, wrapping his long fingers around his glass. Kojiro would like to say that he hadn’t noticed them at all, that he would never be checking other people out while on a date, but he’d registered the table of well-dressed women when he and Kaoru had walked in the door. He wasn’t surprised that they were watching him, considering that he (and Kaoru, even if he didn’t want it) tended to draw attention wherever he went, and yet he wasn’t entirely sure why Kaoru was bringing it up.

“Of course they were,” Kojiro said, intentionally not looking away from Kaoru. Kaoru didn’t meet his eyes, looking down into his glass instead.

“You can go and join them, I won’t keep you here.”

“What?” Joe said, his laugh trailing off when he realised that Kaoru was serious. “Abandoning my date for someone else would be pretty low, Kaoru.”

“Yes, but this isn’t,” Kaoru paused, frustratedly waving his hand between them, “real. You can go, I don’t care.”

And here Kojiro thought they’d actually been having fun. “I don’t want to.”

Kaoru frowned, his index finger tapping erratically against his glass. “You don’t need to pretend for my sake.”

“Kaoru—”

“I know I’m fussy and boring and that you’d much rather be spending your night off with a pretty girl or two hanging off your arms. If you go now, it won’t be a total waste.”

“Okay, now it feels like you’re trying to get rid of me. If you wanna call it a night, let’s just call it a night.”

Kaoru sighed, and Kojiro hated how different this felt to their usual arguments. Normally they’d poke and prod and lose their tempers but it was all in good fun; this felt like there was something more going on below the surface, and Kojiro didn’t like not knowing the rules of the game. He had his suspicions about what had brought this on, of course, but he was hardly going to grill Kaoru about that in the middle of a public bar.

“Don’t worry about it,” Kaoru said, and as if Kojiro could.

“Kaoru—”

“Don’t, Kojiro,” Kaoru said firmly. 

Taking the hint, because he wasn’t a total idiot despite what Kaoru liked saying, Kojiro turned the conversation to the new trick he was trying out and Kaoru’s latest technological breakthroughs. That brought Kaoru back out of his shell a little, but he kept glancing over in the direction of the table of women, which made Kojiro frown.

It was obvious that their night, which had been going so well, was quickly coming to an untriumphant end. Kaoru wasn’t biting back with even semi-clever comments despite the obvious openings Kojiro was making for him, and when their drinks were empty Kojiro didn’t bother going back for any more. From the look on his face it was obvious that Kaoru was no longer having fun and so Kojiro wouldn’t further compound his misery.

“You ready to go? I’ll walk you home,” Kojiro said, Kaoru just nodding in reply. This was usually the point where Kojiro would place his hand on the small of his date’s back to lead them out of the bar and into the endless possibilities of the night, hoping that the outcome would be pleasurable for both of them, but Kaoru had withdrawn from him so much that all Kojiro could do was hope to not make it worse.

Kojiro didn’t even spare a glance at the other table when they left the bar, whether or not Kaoru actually noticed. It was true that he actually didn’t care about them, not when he had Kaoru in front of him; but he wasn’t actually surprised that Kaoru didn’t believe him about that. He’d created a certain reputation for himself, after all, and he couldn’t fault Kaoru for believing it.

Kojiro had to wonder why he was even bothering to walk Kaoru back to his house, considering that Kaoru didn’t want to talk to him or even look at him as they made their way back through the darkened streets. But maybe he would figure out some way to wipe that sad look out of Kaoru’s eyes if he thought hard enough, because he didn’t want to be the one to make Kaoru upset.

But nothing was coming to mind, and he could see Kaoru’s house in the distance, and Kaoru seemed to be speeding up with every step.

“Hey, listen,” Kojiro said once they were in front of Kaoru’s house, knowing that this was his last chance to rescue the evening. Kaoru was already going for his keys, barely pausing when Kojiro tried to talk to him. “I had a good night.”

“Hm,” Kaoru said, unlocking the door.

“We should do it again sometime,” he tried, starting to feel a little desperate. Kaoru still wasn’t looking at him, and he would have reached over to hold the door shut if he didn’t think Kaoru would break his kneecap for it.

“I’m tired, Kojiro.”

“Come over for dinner tomorrow?” It wasn’t an invitation that Kaoru actually needed, but it was a clear olive branch that he was extending. Unfortunately, Kaoru didn’t seem inclined to take it. 

Glancing back over his shoulder, Kaoru looked worn down. “I don’t know if I’ll have time.”

By then the door was open, and Kaoru was stepping inside. “Goodnight, Kojiro.”

“...Night,” Kojiro said reluctantly, nothing coming to mind that would keep Kaoru out there with him without irritating him further.

And then the door closed in his face, and that was that. 

——————————————————

Kojiro made it to the end of the block before he turned on his heel and sprinted back to the door that had just been closed on him. He couldn’t leave things like this, not when Kaoru had been through too many physical and emotional injuries already.

He was fully prepared to knock until Kaoru came out to knock on him, but thankfully Kaoru opened the door before Kojiro had time to irritate the entire neighbourhood with the noise. 

“Did you forget something?” Kaoru asked, his face carefully blank.

“I...yeah, I guess I did,” Kojiro asked, rubbing a hand through his hair and trying to sound more confident than he felt. “Look, can I come in?”

Kaoru didn’t answer, but he did open the door wide enough for Kojiro to slip through. He didn’t move beyond the entrance, though, and so Kojiro took the hint to stay by the door and not even bother taking off his shoes. He was inside, at least, so he’d take what he could get and be happy with it.

“What do you—”

“Kaoru, look—”

Talking over each other and then uncomfortably going silent, Kojiro wondered what the fuck it was about Kaoru that made him so damn awkward. It was probably the fact that Kojiro had been on-and-off (mostly on) in love with him since high school, but he’d never struggled so much to just talk to someone. 

So if he was going to fuck it all up anyway, he figured that he might as well go for broke. 

“Kaoru, you know that Ainosuke was wrong, right?”

Kaoru flinched like he’d been hit (again), but Kojiro pushed forward before he could lose his nerve or start to worry about destroying their friendship like he had so many times before. 

“You’re an amazing skater. No one else can do what you do, and you’ve never once been boring. I’d skate with you every day if we had the time, just like we used to do when we were young and dumb.”

“Kojiro—”

“Shh, listen. I know you think I wanted to ditch you for those women tonight, but have I ever done that to you?”

Kaoru narrowed his eyes, clearly not having to think too hard. “Well, there was that time in France…”

“Okay, maybe that once, but—”

“And then the time when we went to that party in Tokyo…”

“Alright, we’re gonna stop this little game right here, it’s not the point.” Kaoru looked slightly less sad than he had when the door had closed between them, though, and so Kojiro couldn’t consider it too much of a slip-up. “I was having fun with you, and I didn’t want the night to end.”

His mouth suddenly dry, Kojiro swallowed hard and shook his hands out. “I always have fun with you so I hate seeing you be so hard on yourself. He’s a dick and you can’t let him throw you off your game, ‘cause you’re better than that. No matter what he said, I...think you’re really great.”

“This is beginning to sound like when you tried to confess to that girl when we were fourteen,” Kaoru laughed a little bitterly, but whatever he saw on Kojiro’s face stopped him in his tracks. “Oh no, this is exactly like that, isn’t it.”

Kojiro winced, and Kaoru slapped his hands over his face. “Oh my god, I’m an idiot.”

“Uh…”

“How do I keep missing these things?” Kaoru said, although it seemed almost like it was more to himself than to Kojiro. “You took me on a date and treated me so well and I hated it because I thought you were trying to tease me!”

“Well, I kind of was. A little bit. I didn’t want you to know because you were always so interested in— uh, well, I’m hot as hell but you never gave me a second look so I kind of let it go,” Kojiro admitted.

“Go back,” Kaoru said, and around his fingers Kojiro could see that his face had gone bright red. “You knew I was in lo— had an interest in Ainosuke?”

“...It was kinda obvious, Kaoru. You stared at him like he was the most stunning thing you’d ever seen.”

Kaoru let out a mortified moan, and Kojiro had to take pity on him. “But I only noticed because I was busy staring at you like you were the most stunning thing I’d ever seen. If it makes you feel any better, he probably never noticed because his head was always too far up his own ass.”

“It doesn’t, thank you.” Finally pulling his hands away from his face, Kaoru looked so tired. “My apparent inability to determine the emotions of myself and everyone around me aside, why are you telling me this now? If it’s pity, I don’t need it.”

“It’s not,” Kojiro blurted out so quickly that Kaoru’s eyebrows shot up. “I liked you so much when we were at school and I figured I was mostly over it by now. But then when you were laying in that hospital bed, right after I would have snapped Ainosuke’s neck for hurting you had you not needed help first, I realised that I was still willing to do anything to make you happy. And then you were online dating and flirting with hot, rich investors in front of me and I guess I got a bit stupid.”

“You brainless gorilla,” Kaoru said, but it was faint and muted. 

“If we’re gonna be pointing fingers, you agreed to go out with me tonight and I know you enjoyed it,” Kojiro said. Taking a step forward, he cleared his throat and straightened his shoulders. “So...you’ve heard my story. What’s yours?”

“I don’t know!” Kaoru exploded, but he quickly gathered himself together again with a deep voice. “I don’t know.”

“Ah, I forgot I was dealing with the man who takes fifteen years to figure out his own feelings,” Kojiro said in a light voice, earning himself a glare that didn’t seem entirely angry. “C’mon, let me ask you some questions.”

Reaching out, he took Kaoru’s hands in his own lightly enough that he could escape with minimal effort; after a moment of stiffness, though, Kaoru’s hands relaxed into his own without pulling away. “Did you have fun with me tonight?”

“If you’re trying to feel for my pulse to detect any lies, you should know that those tests don’t actually work,” Kaoru said instead of answering the question. Kojiro raised an eyebrow, but told himself that if he’d wanted things to be easy, he wouldn’t have fallen in love with Kaoru.

When Kojiro failed to take the bait, Kaoru groaned. “Yes, I had fun. With you.”

“Would you do it again?”

“...Maybe.”

That was good enough for Kojiro and he grinned, a new wind pushing him to keep going despite Kaoru’s typical prickliness. The fact that he hadn’t been shoved out into the street was all the answer he needed, really, but this exercise was more for Kaoru than himself anyway. “Do you like skating with me?”

“I miss when we used to skate together all day, every day,” Kaoru admitted, his hands twitching in Kojiro’s. “I suppose it could be worse, skating with you.”

“And if you could wake up every morning next to this face,” Kojiro slapped on his most charming grin and winked, “would you?”

“I—” Kaoru stammered, pulling his hands away from Kojiro and crossing his arms defensively over his chest. “I—”

“You don’t have to answer that one.” Kojiro tucked his hands into his pockets, rocking on his heels and feeling rather proud of himself. The point of the exercise wasn’t necessarily to get Kaoru to admit it out loud, but to get him to admit it to himself. He would have had no issue telling Kojiro that he wasn’t interested, after all, so his hesitation spoke volumes.

“I reckon you’ve got some stuff to think about now, so I’m going to leave you to it,” Kojiro said, not wanting to push Kaoru any further than he already had. As they’d already discovered, Kaoru wasn’t exactly comfortable with emotions, especially if they were his own. “But if you want to come by the restaurant tomorrow, I’m doing a carbonara menu.”

“I...might have time,” Kaoru said. It was as good as a yes, especially compared to Kaoru’s previous answer, and so Kojiro didn’t particularly mind that he was going to have to rework his entire menu to accommodate his sudden decision to play to Kaoru’s favourites. 

Kaoru didn’t need to know that, though.

“Well, I only have one more question for you,” Kojiro said, feeling uncharacteristically nervous. He was hardly a blushing virgin type, but this was Kaoru. The forbidden fruit that was suddenly feeling a whole lot less forbidden.

“And?” Kaoru prodded, his posture shifting to something a little less defensive.

Kojiro licked his dry lips, forcing his face into a solemn expression. “It’s the most important one.”

“If you don’t hurry up—”

“And you have to answer honestly, okay?”

“Is that the question?”

“What?” Kojiro asked, and if he wasn’t feeling so warm inside he might have been irritated by how easily Kaoru was tugging control away from him. “No, that’s not the question, smartass.”

Taking another step forward, right up to the edge of the entrance where Kaoru was standing on the slightly raised floor of the actual house, Kojiro tilted his chin up in challenge. “Can I kiss you?”

“Oh, you irritating fuck—” Kaoru snapped, and then his hands were slipping into Kojiro’s hair to bring their lips together for the first time.

Kojiro’s hands gravitated towards Kaoru’s slim waist and he kept them there, despite wanting to take the chance to touch Kaoru all over. Kaoru was more assertive than Kojiro had thought (fantasised) that he would be, and he didn’t hesitate when Kojiro’s tongue slipped into his mouth.

Kissing Kaoru made Kojiro feel like he could never go back again, and yet that just made him want it more. But he wanted to make Kaoru really engage with his own feelings without confusing the whole thing with anything more physical than kissing, and so Kojiro managed to eventually pull back, planting a few quick pecks on Kaoru’s lips before stepping away entirely.

“As much as I’d love to see where this is going, I think we should call it a night.”

“I agree,” Kaoru said, sounding vaguely winded. “I...need to think.”

“Like I said, you should swing by for dinner tomorrow. If you’re not ready to talk, I won’t push.” Kojiro figured he as good as had the answer to his horrifically mangled confession already, but the last thing he wanted to do was make Kaoru uncomfortable at this late stage of the game.

Turning around to open the front door, Kojiro looked back over his shoulder at the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen, his heart pounding when Kaoru met his grin with a smaller one of his own. “Have a good night, Kaoru.”

Kaoru nodded and turned away, walking further into the house as Kojiro left. Right before he closed the door behind himself, though, Kojiro heard Kaoru’s voice calling back to him.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Kojiro.”

[ermine-57047]

THICKETY MUTUAL NUMBER 1 I WANT TO ASK EVERY QUESTION ABOUT YOUR BLORBO BUT THERES SO MUCH IDK IF YOU CAN ANSWER THEM ALL

JUST DO ALL THE PEOPLE QUESTIONS

i will answer all that i can!

this is probably going to get really of long so i will add a cut here!

here's the link to their MC skin- it'll help with this answer!

EYE- Rose's eyes are a dark-ish turquoise! And yes, their eyes do have significant importance. On their face, they only have one real eye, the right one. Their left eye, however, is made of glass. Due to some magic stuff, they can still sort-of see out of it. Another eye-associated thing, however, are the eyes under their hat. On the left, right, and back of their head, they have eyes of the void, or 'incarnates''. The eyes on the side of their head are smaller, about the size of a fist. The eyes are bordered in violet, the sclera of the eye is completely black, and the pupils are fuchsia. The one on the back of their head is the biggest eye, about the size of an open hand. The border/lash of the eye is the same violet as the others, but the entire eye is the same color as an ender pearl.

LYING- Rose is a fairly honest person, however, he is pretty good at lying, I'd say.

COLLISION- Rose has trouble dealing with feelings of distress.

CRYING- She cries pretty seldom, but when she does, she tries to suppress it. Things that make her cry are often sensory-related. She can get sensory overload easily if the incarnates start being sensitive, or, she's tired and she doesn't deal with emotions when tired very well.

PUNCH- Rose is not quick to violence when unnecessary, but if it firmly believes it is in danger, then it will fight till the end.

ANGER- Rose has a habit of doing the bare minimum to get by-- subsistence farming, if you will.

FAMILY- They don't really have any family, per se, but one of the servers they frequent has some players that are essentially family to him.

FEARFUL- A combination of flight and freeze.

SLEEPING- It can take a little bit to fall asleep for Rose and a potion of weakness can help him sleep because it dulls the extra sensory input of the incarnates.

PANCAKE- Scrambled eggs. Rose is v good at specifically making scrambled eggs.

BIRTHDAY CAKE- (Qube i know i answered this differently for you but i wasn't sure at the time) Rose's birthday is November fifteenth! And Rose does not know what a birthday is or when they were 'born'. It's November 15th tho.

DONUT- A blend of frozen sweet berries, cream, and a pinch of sugar. It's like. Fruit ice cream. (you can do this irl actually you should try it)

HOT BEVERAGE- They like drinks cold, but warm drinks are also readily enjoyed!

STRAWBERRY- Rose does not really like eating plamts, fae likes m e a t. Fae also likes carrots. Cromch!!!

CAKE SLICE- Ei likes matcha cake!

BOUQUET- Rose, lily of the valley, blue orchid. Rose, because, for better or worse, a rose is the reason why they even exist as the are today. The orchids and lilies are just their fav flowers.

VOLCANO- It depends on the day, honestly. Most of the time, she gets frustrated easily, but full on anger, rage? When you see this side of her you're pretty much f*cked. Doesn't happen too often.

MAPLE LEAF- He likes early fall :3.

SUN- He isn't a morning person. Quite the opposite, actually!

CLOVER- Not exactly, but they subconsciously think they have not the best luck.

MILKY WAY- I wanted to separate my MC username from my deadname so boom that's how KMRose was created and it just went from there.

SWIMMING- Swimming good. Swimming fun.

MEGAPHONE- They're pretty loud when excited! Their voice claim is me. It's- it's my voice.

MOUSE TRAP- Loved ones being threatened. They can be manipulated like soft clay if someone they care about is in danger.

KNIFE- Empathetic, but that is empathy not easily expressed. It affects them a lot, and they do what they can to help.

PENCIL- "When he sees the light leaving your eyes" - The Nowhere King, Centaurworld OST.

MUSIC NOTE- Rose's playlist is angsty, a few songs I heavily associate with her is 'Amnesia Was Her Name' by Lemon demon, 'Ruler of Everything' by Tally Hall, and 'My Time' by Bo En.

MICROPHONE- Fog loves singing, and fog's voice is pretty good. Fog's go-to song is 'Stranded Lullaby' by Miracle Musical.

JEANS- The outfit their skin portrays. A somewhat baggy, dark teal shirt that has sleeves that reach about halfway down their forearms. Periwinkle purple leggings that reach down to just below their knees, with black foam flip-flops with magenta-orange straps, and of course, the iconic hat.

PAPERCLIP- He has littol antlers on him head <3.

PACKAGE- KMRose is most likely to fall out of a tree. KMRose is most likely to be caught up in a barfight. KMRose is most likely to align with reeses puffs side of the misery+cpr+reeses puffs meme. KMRose is most likely to evade taxes.

SPARKLE- Their hat. It helps them not get sensory overload by covering the incarnates. Also a comfort item(?).

LIGHTNING- She loves lightning! Some of her fav weather.

DROPLET- KMRose has shattered memories of her life before her 'Rose' incident. Everything is blurry, a fragment of vision paired with a scent, a sound, a feeling, a touch, and it sometimes torments them that she doesn't know anything about her past and where she came from.

CLOUD- Rose enjoys baking/making things for its loved ones.

GLOWING STAR- They enjoy looking at the stars. It's a visual stim for them. However, when stargazing, they feel some sort of loss weigh on their chest, but when they try to figure out why, the reason always escapes them.

RED HEART- Physical touch and gift giving, I'd say

GREEN HEART- Warm fluffy stuff! Blankets, comfy clothes, hugs, cuddles.