#mostly because she only wants her girlfriend to see her body hence why she wears a full black ensemble

[abimee]

the obnoxious streaker is trying to speak to me

[hecohansen31]

Not The Right Time

The Story of How She Found Out:

Ivar+Reader (Modern! AU)

(Chapter 1: The Story of How We Ended Up There)

(Chapter 2: The Story of How He Found Out)

(A/N): Hello there, lovelies!

I hope you’ll like this chapter!

I haven’t been feeling the best lately mentally for various reasons, so youd feedback would mean the world to me.

I also wanted to say that like with ‘To Kill A King’ this was supposed to end in a much different (and longer note) but I just felt like it was better to cute it and analyse more in the following chapters.

As always: your feedback motivates me to write faster, so if you leave anything, such as an heart, a reblog or a comment you’ll have my heart for ever and ever!

Have a nice day and reading!

SUMMARY: You are slowly learning to trust Ivar, when he is brought apart by some interesting news and a difficult choice: revealing the truth or continue on lying?

WORDS: 8, 5 K

WARNINGS: Pregnancy, Unexpected Pregnancy, Pregnancy at a Young Age, Mention of Abortion (and Being Harsh About it), Heartbreak and General Angst, Abandonement Issues and Being A Single Mom, Mention of Infertility, Talk about Custody Battles and Custody, Fighting and Angst, Use of The Word Cripple.

He remembered the day he had decided that he had wanted to be something more than simply friends with you.

You had been best friends since you were nothing more than children: you had always been the only one who had softly interacted with him, the only child of a couple who had just transferred in the small city, and not many people seemed open enough to start friendship.

Hence you had been pushed together and had seen each other grow, till the day Ivar had looked at you differently.

He remembered perfectly the way you had dressed, because it had been the first time you had shown yourself at school with a skirt.

It had been the first day of the third year of high school, it was hot enough to make everyone wary of coming back to school and of wearing anything that went below the knee, hence you had solved the problem wearing a simple straight skirt.

Light blue with a checkered fantasy, matched with a blue blouse in the perfect ‘schoolgirl’ style, nothing extremely seductive or surprising, hadn’t you worn hoodies and graphic t-shirt for all your life, till that day.

And Ivar had realized that you weren’t a simple friend anymore, you were a girl.

You had seemed uncomfortable in the entire ensemble, even more when Hvitserk had joked with you, asking you ‘when had you suddenly grown tits?’.

You had just tried to cover you up for the rest of the day, even going as far as to ask Ivar if it was too much.

And part of him thought it was too much, because he didn’t want guys to see those ‘naked’ long legs exposed, transformed from the gangly ones always covered with bruises from your clumsy behavior he was used to.

And even those curves as dangerous as a nightly road.

‘… I mean…’ he hadn’t been able to mumble something more than ‘… you look nice’.

And the fact that you still tortured him in his dreams with that smile you had given him after, was a further proof of how much he had felt for you, back then.

And how much you still had an impact on him like that.

He woke up, suddenly, sweating cold as he turned onto one side, sensing a body near him and he couldn’t help but think that it was you.

It had to be you.

Before anything sexual had happened, you had started sleeping together as soon as you could.

As a restless sleeper you were more comfortable tucked under Ivar’s arms, whereas he felt like there was a wonderful intimacy between you two, much better than anything sexual his brothers told him they did with their girlfriends.

And there was something inherently sensual in your soft voice in the morning, the hazed movements and the soft caresses, such as your nose brushing against his neck, or his hands around your hips, bringing you closer.

He was so lost in the entire dream that he didn’t realize immediately that the person beside him hadn’t your hair color, neither your face and your sweet smile.

It was Freydis, not you.

And he shouldn’t have been that disappointed.

He raised his body into an upright position, pain already shooting through his legs, signaling him that he wouldn’t have an easy day, even worsened by the fact that Freydis seemed to immediately understand his discomfort, waking up quickly after.

‘You shouldn’t wear the braces and you should use the wheelchair’ she always suggested on these days, even more if it was on the weekend, insisting they should have just laid in bed, peacefully.

But he just had this constant need to push and prove himself, to the point that rest wasn’t ever his priority even more when Freydis tended to him in that childish way that reminded him of his mother’s overbearing attentions.

Were you also that way with Eric?

From what he had seen the child had a large margin of freedom, maybe even more than he would have allowed, worried about the fact that he might end up hurt.

But wasn’t that the same reason he was chastising Freydis’ behavior?

Heahmund would have said he was a hypocrite.

About Heahmund, he should have spoken to him mostly to talk with him about the small progress he had made and ask for some tips on what to do next, although he knew that his future… was simply in your hands.

“I can bring you breakfast in bed” suggested Freydis, as she got up in her small white babydoll, the incarnation of naïve sensuality and still Ivar couldn’t feel as any man would have felt with such a woman.

“Thank you, sweetheart” he spoke, thankful for the absence of Freydis so he could talk with Heahmund and could reason on what to do about Eric and Freydis.

As much as he wanted nothing more than to keep the two worlds separated, he didn’t want to continue on lying to his fiancé, even more when she was undergoing expensive treatments to have his child.

But he thought he could push it back further, after the previous night you might not want to see him again and he might be forced to back off, as much as he hated the thought of it.

Even more now that he knew Eric.

The sweetness of that boy was a welcome change to the personality he had expected of a spoiled annoyed child, as he had been at his age, broken in by the exclusion and rejection of his fellow ‘friends’.

He hadn’t asked many questions to Eric about his life, not knowing if it was allowed and knowing that you wouldn’t have liked him snooping on your life, but he made a mental point to talk to him about it, if he ever met him again.

“Somebody is full of thoughts today” surprised him Freydis as she set down the breakfast tray onto the bed, between her and Ivar, taking the man’s hand softly “… something troubling you, my love?”.

“Just some things at the company” he replied, feeling bad for lying to her, but he didn’t know what he could say.

‘Hey babe, you know how I can’t get an erection for you? Well when I was in high school I could… and I got somebody pregnant’.

The worst thing ever was the fact that he knew how Freydis would have felt, like there was something wrong in her… and he knew all too well the feeling, so he didn’t want her to feel that way.

“You should ask them for some free time, they overwork you” suggested Freydis, kissing his hands.

Another reason why he loved Freydis so much was her continuous silent support, the way she would know how to make herself useful without getting on his nerves.

“… but then how would I be able to take care of you?” he smirked softly, a hand drifting onto her flat stomach “… and of our growing family?”.

Another flash of memory pushed your face on Freydis’ one as he imagined you with a full belly, the proof of your pregnancy shown as the bright smile of happiness on your face.

You definitely looked beautiful with a pregnant belly.

And so, would have Freydis.

“… want to relax helping me with some stuff for the wedding?” she suggested, a bright smile on her face, making one appear on Ivar’s, your face and your pregnant belly almost forgotten.

“… of course, sweetie”.

And as his eyes turned onto Freydis as she came in with invitation samples, a message from you came onto his phone.

Yeah, you were almost forgotten.

Almost.

---

Being a single mother could be extremely hectic, even more on the mornings when you had to juggle a job and your son had to go to school, a friend’s parent coming to pick him up on certain days since they had to take the same road to arrive to school.

What helped you was getting everything ready before ‘the beast’ woke up.

Your mother grabbed her coffee and her own breakfast, hiding in her room, a sign that she wasn’t ready to talk with you after what she had done the previous night.

You, yourself, didn’t know if you had to be thankful for what she had done or hate her for straight up disobeying the sole rule you had set up with her.

It was something that you would decide after the little chat that you were planning to have with Eric.

“Eric Luther (L/N) move your butt!” you screamed from the kitchen, hearing a matching giggle from the boy’s room, as you felt the familiar sound of your boy fumbling with his braces.

The doctor you had been seeing since Eric’s birth had suggested that you let your child do whatever he wanted to do on his own, trying to make him as autonomous as possible, as much as you could do that for a five-year-old.

As he came in the kitchen, stumbling and half asleep, rubbing on his eyes softly, you quickly moved to him, to tighten the braces as he leaned on comfortably against the furniture, till his crutch.

“… good morning, Flash” you joked softly, as you messed up your son’s sever bedhead, before kissing his nose, till he pushed you away, faking disgust, but you knew all too well that he was bashing in your affection “… slept well?”.

“Yeah” he spoke, although by his silence you were well aware, he wasn’t in the best mood, his legs probably hurting him “… can I have orange juice for breakfast?”.

“Of course, sweetie” you explained softly, moving back to the kitchen counter to fill a glass with orange juice as you offered him a plate with his favorite treat, adding some extra Nutella in his croissant “… can I get you anything else, my prince?”.

“Can I not go to school?” insisted the boy, with a way that was telling you he was taking advantage of the entire situation.

“Well… then also no soccer practice?” he immediately shook his head, promising that he was already feeling better “… can you sit, sweetie? I’d like to talk with you about something”.

“Of course, mommy” he quickly got up on the chair, using the crutch to keep himself up as he adjusted himself comfortably on the chair beside you, who had finished her own breakfast and was already in work clothes “… is it about your friend, Ivar?”.

“Yes” you almost hated that Eric had inherited Ivar’s skills for observing people “… did you… did you have fun with him?”.

You felt your palms growing sweaty as your breath came slower in your lungs, but you tried not to show anything.

“Yes!” happiness oozed from all his pores as he clapped his hands together “… we played Avengers and he told me more mythical stories! Did you know that once Thor dressed up as a bride to get his hammer back?!”.

The excitement in Eric’s eyes was contagious and you couldn’t help but smirk softly at him, daring a hand further to him to caress his face.

For a moment you almost wondered if his life would have been better if you had told Ivar you were expecting a child of his.

Maybe Eric would have smiled that sweetly each day.

“… would you…” your voice trembled lightly, and you tightened the grip on your hand on your thighs “… would you like to see him again?”.

“Yes yes yes!” screamed the boy, beating his fists against your kitchen table, making you laugh lightly to choke back tears as you made the boy rush back to dressing himself up to have a minute with yourself, collecting your body before you faced again your child.

Had it been truly a good choice to keep Ivar out of your child’s life?

Then you remembered the heartbreak he had put you through and thought about what it would feel for Eric to go through a similar ache, when he had already had so so many painful moments in his short life.

That’s why, no matter how good of an impression Ivar had done on your child, you couldn’t simply forgive him like that and made him come back in his life.

And you also had to take your time before you admitted to him that he was Ivar’s child.

Before you, yourself, started also thinking that way.

As Eric rushed out, saluting you shortly, your mother got out of her self-imposed exile, appearing on the doorway of your small kitchen as you rushed to make yourself busy.

“… you know that this doesn’t make you a bad mother” she commented setting herself on one chair, distractedly but searching your gaze.

“And what does that make you?” you couldn’t hold your tongue back anymore, a bit emotional about the entire admission of Eric and currently fighting with yourself about your own decision “… you sold me to the enemy”.

“I just realized before you that you can’t go on acting like you can do everything on your own” and as you were ready to reply to her, she shot you down with a quick look “… and don’t say that you have me, because as you have seen, I can’t always be there for you, one day…”.

“Do we seriously have to talk about it?!” you protested, tears now streaming freely on your face “… mom… I can’t…”.

“I know that you find it difficult to trust anybody but me, Eric or yourself, and I don’t blame you for that… after everything you have gone through… Ivar and your father… I know that it isn’t easy, but… you can’t simply destroy your health because of this” she reached for your hand, gripping tightly as you turned to face her “… you have to learn to let others in”.

“I am just scared that… maybe I did the wrong thing: Eric liked him… maybe I shouldn’t have ever ever hidden him” you set yourself down on the table the closest to your mother, leaning your head onto her shoulder “… maybe I just ruined his life…”.

“Sweetie calm down” she replied softly, pushing a hand through your hair “… us mothers do things on instinct which is something that always works, and we should never ever apologize for that! You did what you knew was right, which was pushing yourself away from the boy who had broken your heart”.

She softly pushed your hair away from your face, to look at you in your shared eyes.

“… now what has changed?” you asked, trembling.

“He isn’t a boy anymore, he is trying to make amend for what he broke and although what he broke might never become … whole again… you should allow him to help you, when you need it”.

“I don’t know…”.

“One step at the time” she spoke softly, before kissing the soft crown of your hair “… everything will be alright”.

You hoped so.

---

Ivar couldn’t help but be completely surprised by the fact that he was willingly coming to a doctor’s appointment, but you had asked him to come with you for a monthly check up, since he had wanted to be more present in his child’s life.

You and Eric hadn’t come yet, but he had also to admit that he had arrived early.

Still the knowledge of it hadn’t made him less nervous about it all.

And the fact that he hated waiting rooms at doctor’s office didn’t help.

He didn’t mind the doctors’ studios and hospitals, but waiting rooms made people look at him weirdly, as he shifted his braces against the ground in an attempt to calm himself.

To distract himself, he went through the plan you had elaborated with him to explain his presence to Eric: you had told him that since Ivar was a ‘senior’ at osteogenesis imperfecta might help the doctors with the right treatment for him.

He had also told Freydis to avoid calling him in the afternoon, having a big conference and being completely focused on it, since on it would depend the entire future of an important project.

The worst thing was that he hadn’t felt bad in the slightest to lie to her, being just happy of seeing again Eric.

He wouldn’t have chosen this doctor, but mostly because she focused onto pediatric medicine, but he could see where you came from, and what you could afford and couldn’t.

That’s why he had also decided to set up a deal for you about a financial help.

He knew you would be too stubborn to accept it, but you had a weak point: Eric.

He knew that the true reason why you were allowing him to see Eric was because he had been the one to insist with you to see Ivar again, and he couldn’t be happier.

You came in as Ivar was thinking that you would be late, just of a single minute before the start of the appointment, Eric stumbling happily on his crutches towards him, as you trailed behind him, with his jacket in your hands.

You were wearing jeans again, but a black skinny pair, and inserted in them was a white blouse with a jacket over it, in a casual elegance that stole his breath away.

Unlike Eric who literally smashed against him in a quick hug (he would have a quick talk with you about making Eric more wary of strangers), you simply smiled lightly at him, evidently at unease.

“Hey buddy!” he muttered as he ruffled the child’s hair and you sat down a chair away from him “… it’s nice to see you again”.

“You can tell me more stories!” squeaked Eric, gaining a look of reprimand from an old lady, to who Ivar glared enough to shut her up, before turning to his son, who was trying to sit on the chair.

“Hey… wait… I can help you” he insisted, worried about the way he moved, as a child he would have already broken a bone with such sudden gestures.

“No no, there is no need to” he spoke with confidence, finally settling himself onto the chair “… mom says that I am big enough to do it on my own!”.

“The doctor has told me that it is better for him to get used on doing things on his own” you explained, softly, as you set his jacket in his ‘Flash’ themed backpack.

He needed to watch that TV series, ASAP.

“… oh… I am just not used to it” although he was against it, he tried his best not to show any contrast to you as Heahmund had suggested.

But he couldn’t help but feel like it was just a tad irresponsible.

Aslaugh, his mother, would have never allowed it.

But his mother’s education had overprotected him to the point that it had smothered him and seeing the way Eric was so happy and hopeful he had to admit that maybe… maybe your parenting techniques weren’t bad.

He wasn’t allowed to think much more, because an Afro-American woman came out of the small ambulatory, with a medical jacket on her outfit and a smile on her face as Eric stood up, immediately greeting her.

“Auntie Caryn!” he ran to her, stumbling on his feet and hugged her, although he barely came to her waist, making the woman smirk as her gaze moved to you with a familiar smirk, moving then to Ivar.

And then shock and surprise was written on it.

He didn’t know what to say, suddenly a bit uncomfortable by the entire situation.

“Hello there, doc” you mumbled softly, taking back the child to calm him down, before turning to Ivar “… he is a friend of mine, the one… I talked about”.

He was worried about what you two had talked about but tried to be on his best behavior, smiling charmingly at the woman, who ushered you inside, simply mumbling a ‘oh this is new’.

Once inside she told Eric to get on the medical chair and wait for her, as you set up in a more private office, and you passed Caryn the medical records meanwhile Ivar sat down.

“He has been saying that his bones’ strength has been intensifying, but I don’t fully understand if he is saying it just to play soccer or…”.

“He plays soccer?” asked confused Ivar, feeling like he was basically a stranger in Eric’s life.

You turned to him annoyed, but still answered him.

“… yeah, he does, he is a goalie” and then turned towards the doctor “… today he woke up feeling pain, but it wasn’t enough to stop him or make him feel tired, still it hadn’t happened in three months”.

“That is a good sign” spoke softly the doctor, as she sat down examining exams after exams “… the level of pain endurance is always important to be kept under check in order for it not to worsen, unluckily it isn’t a proof of any bones strengthening”.

Your face immediately turned in a grimace, but you nodded lightly.

Ivar couldn’t help but notice how tense you were being, almost wanting to try to reach out for you, hadn’t he known that you would have rejected him, and such an open and heartfelt rejection would have pained him much harder than his legs.

“… and you must be the father” the words sounded uttered with a skepticism that brought Ivar back from his thoughts, and again it was you, who nodded.

Caryn had maintained her voice low, probably not to be heard by Eric.

“You share a similar pathology with Eric?” she continued, informing herself about his family history and his own treatment, which Ivar explained pretty quickly, getting the woman to nod along, meanwhile your grip onto the chair you hadn’t sat on tightened.

You definitely didn’t like doctor’s appointments, and he could understand why.

Aslaugh hadn’t either, but whereas you seemed to be more anxious, his mother had always and constantly been angry, with the doctor, with herself, with his father… her rage had always a great amount of varieties.

“… interesting” finished mumbling Caryn, before she dropped the papers and moved to her ambulatory, where Eric had ditched his pants and braces, and was now playing with the small action figures of Captain America.

“Ok, superhero, now go and lay down so that I can check your legs” told him the doctor and although Ivar was used to seeing his legs, he couldn’t help but be surprised by Eric’s, the same knocked and small bones he owned, lightly crooked in some places, in a way that seemed and was painful “… anything to tell me? Saved somebody lately?”.

“Just old ladies on cats on trees… you know… the old stuff” he joked, brightening the atmosphere “… I became a goalie in the soccer squad!”.

“Oh, that’s amazing!” complimented him the doctor, crouching down to the boy’s height as he sat himself in an upright position “… now let’s see how these pretty legs work”.

She did a quick check up, the child completely relaxing himself as she distracted him with some small talk, processing to touch up his legs and test his pain and strength.

Ivar moved his eyes from the check-up, only to check up onto you finding you nervous and tense, biting on your lips, as you tightened the grip on your hand, digging your colorful nails in your hands.

It was more natural then he had thought, but he reached out one hand out to you, uncaring of the rejection he had always feared so much.

But you gripped it back, giving it a light squeeze as your eyes focused themselves on Eric and Caryn, till the check-up came to a end  and you almost freed ashamed your hand from his grip.

“... everything alright” commented Caryn “… I do think that the treatment is working, but I can’t be sure till a bone break which is something that I hope you’ll avoid young man”.

Eric beamed, promising to avoid ‘anything dangerous’, but the smart smirk on his face said the exact contrary.

She then left him to dress up with the promise of a lollipop in her office, scribbling something in his medical papers, as Ivar asked a few questions.

But Caryn asked the most important one.

“… am I going to see you, again?” she said with something that might have seemed spiteful, hadn’t he seen the way she had taken care of Eric and the way she smiled at you: she had been there when you had no one to turn to.

“I hope to stick around” he was a bit annoyed by the implication that he wouldn’t stick around.

But he could also see where she came from, having seen a single mom raising a child by her own.

He still wanted to explain to her that it wasn’t exactly his fault, but…

… he thought it was better not to.

You were trying to trust him and had even let him onto a physical level, but he couldn’t simply think that everything was now settled.

“… am I allowed to take part in the Sunday match?” asked Eric, once he was again on his feet and crutch “… it’s going to be my first real match!”.

“Of course, sweetie” commented the doctor, finishing writing and rummaging through a drawer before getting out a colorful lollipop, that basically made the biggest smile appear on Eric’s face “… see you next month, Eric”.

And then she turned to accompany you out, greeting you and Ivar as you already had the Eric’s jacket in your hands, trying to convince the child to wear it.

“… it was nice meeting you, Mr. Lothbrock, hope to see you next time”.

He tried not to grimace at the sarcasm dripping from her voice.

“Mom can I eat the lollipop?” asked immediately Eric, as you smirked at him, having adjusted the jacket on his shoulder.

“Hey sweetie, I don’t think that would be a proper meal, for your afternoon break, but you can…”.

“What if we get ice cream?” suggested Ivar, knowing it was a low blow as you turned to glare annoyedly at him, but he wanted to spend time with his son, even if he had to use cheap tricks and childish ideas, because that’s all he had, against your big big brain and grunge against him.

“Yes yes yes!” and then he turned to you, although you had no chance “… can we please get ice cream, mom?”.

“I don’t think that my ‘no’ will stop you two” you mumbled, shooting an annoyed look at Ivar “… there is one near a park, so that we could talk”.

Well, that was troubling.

---

You cleaned Eric’s face, dabbing it with a small paper tissue, before sending the boy off to play, having to talk with Ivar, who was playing around with his own ice cream cup, messing his face the same way Eric did.

He had always been a messy eater, which was something that you didn’t mind since you, yourself, weren’t a polite one, but it brought you back to the old time when you were together and you would be sharing a plate of fries, after an hard session of studying.

“… did I do alright?” he commented, surprising you as he kept his eyes onto his meal “… maybe I exaggerated with the… ice cream…”.

“Eric seems to like you” you silenced him quietly, playing with Eric’s half-finished ice cream “… and as long as that keeps happening… you are alright”.

“Then maybe I could tell him” he suggested, his eyes shining brightly.

And like that you moved forward to look at him in the eyes, your grudge against him showing in your own eyes.

“Ivar, you broke my heart and I won’t let you do the same with my child” your tone was damnably serious, although you didn’t raise your voice “… so till I feel like I can trust you, you are simply a friend of mine”.

“Am I?” he raised an eyebrow with a smirk that had never failed to get on your nerve.

“I hope you can be” you breathed out softly, trying to gain the courage to speak with him again “… running away with Eric wasn’t the best idea, but I won’t apologize for doing what I thought was the best. I am still wary about your presence in my family, but it would be simply heartless to keep you out of it…”.

Ivar was now looking at you with surprise written all over in his face.

“… and unlike you I am not heartless” you delivered the finishing line and Ivar’s eyes veiled with sadness “… I hope you can understand where my distrust come from and respect it”.

“I don’t have a problem, as long as I can interact with Eric” although he seemed a bit hurt by your tongue-lashing “… he is a brilliant boy”.

“That he is” you spoke softening your tone at the mention of your boy, a you turned to see him trying to crawl up onto the small wooden castle in the park “… he is just gone through too much pain to also have his heart broken, again”.

“I’ll keep that in mind” he promised you and although Ivar might be a cunning little shit, you knew perfectly well that he would for ever ever hold the word he gave “… now… can I ask a few things about my child?”.

“I have photos for that”.

---

Although he knew that he hadn’t still won you over, as Ivar came back home he was the happiest man alive.

Eric was fine and although begrudgingly you had accepted his financial help, as long as you got to repay him, which he hoped would never happen, but you were too stubborn and honest.

He had always loved that about you.

Had he just said ‘love’?

He was halfway through looking at the photos you had shared with him, when he felt two pair of arms being pushed around his waist, gently hugging him from behind as Freydis pushed her head onto his shoulder.

“Ahh, it’s so nice to know that you aren’t dead” she commented, her tone as always soft, but he couldn’t help but notice something rotten in her tone, almost sarcasm.

“Sorry, sweetheart, just work… it’s been hectic” he confessed softly, turning around to kiss her softly on her forehead, his good mood unflinching even though she seemed a bit angry.

“… well you’ll have to take a bit off” her tone, again although gentle, didn’t allow any reply “… I have got some interesting news from the clinic”.

Which completely destroyed his good mood.

Because they either wanted him to undergo more therapy to strengthen his seed or they straight up wanted his seed, and he didn’t know which option was less interesting.

And more humiliating.

“I am all ears” he tried to muster a smile, thinking about the small video of Eric moving his first step, the braces on his legs so small that he had wanted to cry out “… is everyth…”.

“I am pregnant”.

Oh.

Oh.

Oh.

“Ivar, is everything alright?” her voice came to him as if it was too distant, far away and away “… it’s happy news, isn’t it”.

Of course.

They had been searching for that baby since they had become engaged and their wedding would be happening in three months, so he shouldn’t have felt that empty and apathetic towards that news.

Even more when he had the best time of his life with Eric.

He thought it was simply the shock and again mustered up a small smile on his face, hugging Freydis tight who had started crying on his chest, something that made the entire situation even more awkward.

“… I am just surprised sweetie, I didn’t think… hadn’t they said that the last sample of seed was too weak?” he asked.

Although he tried to leave the entire fertility clinic part at Freydis, since it was an entire new thing for him, whereas Freydis working in that climate, having a nurse degree, and being determinate about this, he still tried to keep track of it.

And the last time they had talked about it, Freydis had told him that the specialist had said that his seed was too weak to impregnate her, and the last two tries had gone badly.

There was something that wasn’t convincing him, but Freydis’ joy was so natural and sweet, and he just couldn’t call her a liar, and alongside that she rushed to the bathroom to retrieve the pregnancy test, showing itself as positive.

And in the end he couldn’t help but think that maybe his skepticism was a way to hide his guilt for having met Eric and you, ignoring Freydis, who would be his soon-to-be-wife and mother of the child she had worked so hard on having.

And maybe another part of his uneasiness about the subject was the fact that he hadn’t had a proper role in all this, but at the same time, again… that was partly his fault.

So, he just smiled through his teeth and gently tightened his grip on her waist, showing more enthusiasm in his smile, as she immediately matched him, kissing him softly on his lips as he smirked against them.

“Ahh beloved that is wonderful news!”

She moved to softly pepper his face with kisses, as she whispered about how lucky she had been and how beautiful it would all be.

‘It’ll just bring us together, even more!’ she cheered, as they sat down on the sofa, the pregnancy test forgotten onto their glass table ‘… that’s perfect timing’.

Ivar wasn’t so sure about it, but he faked a smile.

“We should celebrate it!” he proposed, feeling like the house was closing onto him “… our favorite restaurant, at 8 p.m.?”.

“Ahhh… I actually already did something…” she spoke softly, a slight blush gracing her beautiful face “… we had that dinner with Torvi and Ubbe… I thought it would be a perfect dinner to tell them the good news”.

And Ivar just swallowed his spiteful opinion and smiled.

“That’d be perfect sweetie”.

---

You kept on replaying the big smile that had been on Ivar’s face when you had showed him the first pictures of Eric.

At first you had been low key wary of showing something so intimate to him.

That was the main reason why you ditched social medias, but at the same time you felt like the journey you were on with Ivar, needed you both to take steps towards the other for the wellbeing of Eric.

Ivar had sacrificed his free time and had accepted to avoid admitting that he was Eric’s father, so you could show him a few silly pictures.

He had smirked brightly at the one of Eric overcoming the limits that his sickness had pushed him in, and you didn’t understand if he was happy for the child to have the chance he hadn’t had or if he was proud of your child.

Who was also his.

Either way, his smile haunted you as you crashed your head on the sofa, after you had managed to get Eric to start his ‘bedtime routine’, with your mother graciously taking care of the dishes as an apology of sorts for reaching out to Ivar without asking you.

You couldn’t help but feel fifteen again, having Ivar by your side, with that cute dorky smile of his, hidden with everyone but with you, as you smirked for a shared joke or when you caught him looking at you, concealing a smile that would make you blush.

But that was a dangerous road.

Because any memory about Ivar would bring you back to your ‘break-up’ story.

Although five years had passed, five years in which you had tried to desperately not think about Ivar, you still didn’t know why he had decided to break up with you.

The entire thing had just been too sudden and abrupt and you couldn’t help but think that the entire excuse of ‘having lost any feeling for you’ was the stupidest you had heard, and although you knew people had used some even more idiotic ideas.

But still… it had made no sense.

Ivar had never seemed the guy who was into it for simply the sex, unlike his brothers.

And maybe this was just an attempt to shift the focus from you, that you had been the problem.

Because it would have hurt you too much.

You were slowly spiraling down, when your phone started vibrating, signaling an incoming call, which either meant that Ivar wanted to schedule another appointment or you were being asked for another turn at the diner.

Both the ideas didn’t excite you particularly, but the number on the screen wasn’t known to you, and you thought it was maybe some publicity agency, so you were even more wary when answering it.

“… hello?” you mumbled, hearing a confused background till a familiar voice answered.

“Hey, (Y/N)?” you immediately recognized the voice of the owner of the gallery you had tried to get an internship in “It’s Tina from the gallery, am I bothering you?”.

‘No, I am just having a panic attack at the prospect of being pushed out of the best job I have had in a while’ you mentally thought but answered that it wasn’t a problem.

“I know it is late, but we have just finished a quick reunion and found ourselves to be very interested in working with you, the try-out was amazing…” you still didn’t understand how you had worked through it because you had felt like shit for the entire night, worried of having left Eric with Ivar “… so we thought about continuing on working with you, if you are still interested”.

“Oh” that was the best news ever “… of course! I’d like to work with you”.

“Then you start next week, a week trial, and then you are officially hired, I am sending to your email the timetable for this week”.

“Ahh yeah, thank you for the chance” you were honestly on the verge of tears “… see you on Monday”.

“See you on Monday” repeated softly Tina, before closing the call and you felt two pair of eyes on you, your mother having raised her face from the dishes and Eric who had listened onto the conversation.

And you couldn’t help but childishly reply:

“I got the job”.

“Then we have something to celebrate!” giggled your mother as Eric hugged you tight.

Maybe your life wasn’t going so badly…

---

He couldn’t help but feel like he just had to learn to be more discreet since the reveal of Freydis’ pregnancy, even more after his brothers had mentioned their meeting with (Y/N) at the diner.

‘Oh, Ivar hadn’t told me about it’ he had had a ‘Gone Girl’ flashback at Freydis’ voice and he had forced out a smile, replying with a simple:

‘It must have passed my mind’.

But Freydis had kept an eye out for him, hence the sole time he had had free from her he had spent it looking through Eric’s photos.

And he was desperately looking forward to Sunday morning since ‘Eric had wanted to invite him to his first soccer match’.

‘He is very excited’ you had mumbled over the phone, as he had basically locked himself on the bathroom at work to speak with you calmly ‘… it would mean a lot to me, my dad used to come before he…’.

Before he ran away.

He had worked some researches on your family after you had left your old city, which meant that he had heard the gossip his mother’s friends had for him.

‘Oh, Ivar you are such a sweet boy! It’s so nice of you to call him’ they had all mumbled and it hadn’t taken him much to discover the truth.

Your father had left you and your mother, running away with another woman and he found himself unable to stop the anger against that man from growing.

He had always thought that your father would have been one of the good ones: he was strict but not enough to have stopped you from hanging out with Ivar, outside of home, and he had been the one who had taken in Ivar although begrudgingly.

And from what he had seen and heard, he had loved your mother truly.

Had he also been dared by his friend to leave you and your mother?

Because he had then been as idiotic as Ivar.

And he could understand why you didn’t want Ivar back in your life.

“… so, let me know if you want to come” you had ended the call not giving him even a single moment to reply, as embarrassment was heard in your tone, clearly wanting to close this entire conversation early.

But he had the perfect timing, since Saturday Freydis had programmed an outing with her friends to let them know about the good news.

It was all Freydis had done, showing off the good news to everyone who would listen, receiving mixed reaction: polite smiles to her face and mutters under their breaths.

Their brothers had later cornered him after dinner to ask him if he really wanted this.

‘This is all moving too fast, Ivar, don’t you realize it?’ had uttered Ubbe.

Which he agreed on, but he would be damned if he admitted he was wrong and didn’t have everything under control.

‘… it might be a scam Ivar’ had uttered Sigurd and that was then when he had lost it.

‘Just because my life is going perfectly already and yours is shitty as hell doesn’t mean that mine is an illusion’ he had replied, harshly quitting any protests ‘… this is beautiful news and we should celebrate it’.

But he had been still nervous to utter it to his mother, mostly because she had been already angered by Ubbe’s quick eloping, which hadn’t lasted even more to prove her words, so he was trying to avoid doing the same.

And he also knew that he had to come clear with Freydis about Eric, because although he might have another child on the way, he wouldn’t simply abandon his previous one.

He just couldn’t do it to him.

And to you.

So, he had issued another reunion with Heahmund and Oleg, his business partner, about the entire problem, in order to get a second opinion on this entire mess, no matter how much he hated asking for help.

“We need to talk about a situation”.

“The one we talked about last Saturday after you barged  ‘on my date’? “mumbled Heahmund, with a raised eyebrow.

“What situation?” asked annoyed Oleg, as he played around with some papers on the desk, trying to adjust them till they were perfectly set up, showing all his perfectionist nature.

“…. Ivar over here has a child, out of wedlock and from a high school sweetheart” quickly summarized “… and Freydis know no shit about it”.

“Ok that is interesting enough” mumbled Oleg, focusing his gaze onto Ivar “… do you need to make them disappear? I know people…”.

Both Heahmund and Ivar regarded him with a deep gaze of ‘what the fuck’, and he shook his head, mumbling about how ‘it was just an idea’.

“No, I… I actually want a relationship with my child and I am slowly reaching it” he muttered, explaining softly how you were slowly letting him in, although you refused to admit to Eric he was his father “… the problem is that… Freydis is pregnant”.

“Do you need me to make her disappear” again the glares told Oleg to shut up and Ivar wondered why he had asked him for help “… ok no disappearing, but …”.

“Dumbass you haven’t told her yet about the baby?” replied Heahmund, basically glaring at Ivar.

“I didn’t… I literally didn’t have the time” he mumbled, blushing furiously “… it all seemed so sudden, so I just had to come to your idiotic asses to get advise on when and how to tell Freydis about all this shit”.

“… well… I don’t think that there is a good way to do this” mumbled Oleg, nervously “… I’d say you just rip off the band aid”.

“… and risk your entire life” added Heahmund with a sarcastic drip in his voice, which made Ivar huff, because it was everything he had been thinking about.

Although Freydis hadn’t ever been jealous, she hadn’t had exactly much competition, he couldn’t imagine how painful it would have been for her to discover that Ivar had a previous child and that he intended contact, probably the most painful thing.

But still he couldn’t see an outcome of this in which Freydis would stop him from actually seeing you and Eric: she had always had this maternal instinct to her that he hoped wouldn’t have clashed with you and Eric.

But he couldn’t be sure till he asked.

And maybe he shouldn’t have.

Because when Freydis found out, accidentally, that Friday night, he couldn’t help but feel like all hell had broken loose.

He had meant to tell her on Sunday, maybe after he got her favorite breakfast and the new jewelry set, she had seen her admiring in her favorite store, in order for the truth to be sweetened.

To make it clear that as much as he might continue on seeing you because of Eric, it would never ever make him forget of her, the mother of his future child.

His soon-to-be-wife.

But everything had been destroyed that Friday night when he had come back to find Freydis on the sofa with the face of somebody who had discovered something she hadn’t meant to.

He still had tried his best to appear polite and nice.

“Hey sweetie, is everything alright?” he had tried to ask, but she had just sent him an annoyed look, before her small voice had uttered.

‘… maybe you could start with talking of your happy family’ she had replied, and he had known that she had caught him.

“It isn’t what you think” he had mumbled the most recriminating thing ever.

“Then explain to me why the hell Kristen caught you talking with a woman that wasn’t me” she had raised up, almost as if she had intended to challenge him, effectively getting him to move slightly away nervous.

He couldn’t help but feel that although he knew he was at fault here, Freydis was exaggerating the entire thing: he might have been simply speaking to a colleague.

“… and as if it wasn’t already enough, a child… WITH LEG BRACES!”.

He stumbled more and lost hold on his legs as he fell on his butt, hitting it soundly a terrible sickening sound of broken bones overcoming Freydis’ shout.

But what he found even more terrifying was that she didn’t move further, to try to help him or check on him, she just pierced him with her eyes as he tried to push himself back, failing miserably due to the pain coursing through his bones.

“… Freydis… I haven’t cheated on you”.

“That’s what all cheaters say”.

His hands weren’t able to grip, the pain was too much, so he reached in the pockets of his coat to retrieve some painkiller, swallowing a few pills dry, meanwhile Freydis went on a tirade on ‘how stupid she had been’ and ‘how horrible he was’.

“I seriously didn’t cheat on you, Freydis!” he shouted angrily, maybe more than he should have but he was in so much pain that he couldn’t simply put his usual filter on his words “… fuck Freydis, can’t you just shut up and let me at least explain?”.

She did, her eyes showing fear and he took a deep breath, checking his legs till he found the lump, and checked whether he had simply broken or bruised a bone, thankful when it resulted only very very badly bruised.

“… she is an old school girlfriend of mine…” he explained calmly, lowering softly his gaze “… we had sex once… and she got pregnant, I have only recently discovered of her and the child and I have been trying to \reconnect with him”.

“You…” Freydis looked like the one who was going to pass out from pain, as she stumbled back till the sofa where she sat gracefully, her gazed unfocused “… you had sex with her”.

“It’s the only time we did it, I… was never able again…”.

“So… you could have sex” she covered her mouth with a hand quickly “… you had sex… but you can’t with me…”.

And he understood that this had more repercussions that he might have realized.

“… Freydis I don’t know… I love you much much more than her… you know it… my prick is just…”.

“… and you had a child with her” she continued “… you are involved in this, you want to recognize him”.

“Of course, I want to! He is my child!” the words were natural to him as if her accusations were hurting him.

“… and what about my child?” she replied, her voice more a whisper before he spoke “… the one I worked so so hard for! Undergoing so many shitty therapies, just for you to recognize as your own a bastard child!”.

And that’s when he completely broke down.

“He is my fucking child, Freydis!” and before she could retort he finally managed to push himself on his own feet “… he isn’t a bastard or any less of the one in your womb and if you aren’t able to accept it, the door is there”.

And he shot out an arm to where the door was set up.

Looking back at it he wouldn’t have believed the threat he had sent to Freydis, powered by his anger and his pain, even for his usual anger it had been too much, but her accusation… how she had called Eric, his child, a ‘bastard’… had hit him in the face.

It had almost been a personal insult.

That’s why he also didn’t move in to stop her as she collected a few of her clothes in a small bag and pushed the coat onto her shoulder, barely looking back at Ivar who had managed to set himself onto the sofa again, not giving her a single drop of attention.

He couldn’t help but be pained with the way the door sounded once she closed it behind her, a light sniffling following her outside the room, as more sobs followed it.

But he felt almost cold and insensitive as a rock.

And he wouldn’t ask forgiveness for defending his son.

Even if he fell asleep alone at night.

Had he done the right choice?

---

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[grimoire-of-thirst]

Wildberries and cuddles

Request: Could you write a Mereoleona x fem!reader one shot where reader is having a bad day and Mereoleona tries to cheer up? Fluff would be perfect, thank you!

Genre&Warnings: Fluff

Tags: none

✩:✩:✩

Mereoleona was the most powerful, the quirkiest, and the most feared woman alive in the Clover Kingdom. She was fierce -in strength only a few surpassed her- and on top of that she was an observant despite her carefree personality. She could easily tell when someone has potential, and she could easily read the state of a person’s emotions. Hence, it was fairly easy -and definitely not a surprise- that she was one of the first people that noticed the gloomy aura surrounding you. Seeing you walking away, probably into your shared room, all worn out and with a perpetual frown on your face, left her feeling uneasy and concerned.

The low, tired ‘hey’ you addressed her not even three minutes ago was enough to send off a red flag into her head, signaling that something was definitely wrong with you. It was well-known among almost everyone that you are an all-smile type of person, and it didn’t matter the circumstance you’d always bring positivity in whichever room you stepped in. You were far more approachable than Mereoleona, this was also a part of your go-with-the-flow personality, which everyone in the Crimson Lion got quickly accustomed to. But now, your usually cheeky smile, the one you’d always give her whenever crossing paths with her, got replaced by a frown. A frown that Mereoleona considered to not suit your pretty face at all. However, that same frown was enough to make her understand that your day didn’t go as you had planned that morning. You said you’d train a little with some other fellow comrades, and then you’d go on a short mission to gather another star, or at least that’s what you had told her when getting dressed. Your slouched form was also another sign that reinforced her thoughts, and either your day had been tiring, or it went terribly bad. But either way, she was planning on fixing it.

But that was the problem.

Mereoleona, despite being one of the most capable and passionate people on earth, she was quite… unexperienced when it came to the romantic department. She never got interested enough into romantic stuff, and most of her childhood along with her adulthood where spent training, living in the wild, and fighting dangerous animals. She never had a boyfriend or a girlfriend before you, and now, this lack of knowledge was painfully showing.

Since she got into this relationship with you, handling it was fairly easy, mostly because you were the one leading it, despite Mereoleona’s leadership skills. You always made sure that the relationship won’t burden her - being a captain was already stressful enough- and you wanted to make her life a little bit easier. Usually, you’d be the one cheering others up, and -despite being your girlfriend for the past two years- Mereoleona had never seen you looking so tired and sad. For her, it was the first time seeing a frown on your face outside the battlefield. Now that she thought about it, she had never seen you sad, not even when fights withing the two of you would happen.

She stood in the middle of the corridor not knowing what exactly she should do. Training the fuck out of your body to take your mind off of the things that were bothering you seemed like a good idea to her -because that’s what she’d do if she were in your shoes- but considering how you were, and how you liked handling negativity, maybe tiring you even more than you already were wasn’t going to cheer you up in the slightest.

Based on the past interactions, and as far as she knew you, cuddles were the safest way to actually get rid of your gloominess, but Mereoleona thought that just cuddles won’t be enough -despite telling her endless times that simple, small things were the ones that mattered-, thus, she went ahead and began planning a cute evening that could possibly lift your mood. However, she had no idea what to do or how to do it.

She then heard some voices coming closer to where she was standing, and after turning to look at who were those people, she felt somehow lucky. There, laughing and joking around were Leopold, Gareth, and Ruben. All three men stopped as soon as they locked eyes with the lioness, bodies trembling under her fierce glare.

“TELL ME YOUR IDEA OF A CUTE DATE! NOW!” she growled, pointing her finger at Leo, making him flinch at her sudden loud voice. He swallowed loudly, taking in a deep breath before shouting back a “TRAINING UNTIL EXHAUSTION!”

Mereoleona narrowed her eyes, disappointment clearly readable on her face. Her right eye twitched, annoyed that her little brother had her same original idea and used her paw to kick him in the wall.  

“USELESS! NEXT!” Gareth too flinched, formally saluting her while straightening his back. He was confused by the sudden request, and the general idea that out of all the people Mereoleona wanted to know how to put up a cute date was… unexpected to say the least. However, he was taking too long to answer, and Mereoleona was slowly losing her patience, while her eyes kept on narrowing as her irritation grew. Gareth swallowed, a bead of sweat rolling down his temple while trying to find a decent idea.

“FOOD?!”

Mereoleona deadpanned. She knew for a fact that you already ate, and Gareth probably did too, but he was so scared he just wanted to be done with it and go to sleep. She was intimidating, and he could feel his hands shaking under her murderous eyes.

“YOU’RE A FOOL! NEXT!” she growled, sending him too into the wall. Then, her eyes locked with Ruben’s ones, expecting him to have at least a decent idea.

“Maybe a frie-“ but before he could end the sentence, Mereoleona kicked him too, stomping away while muttering how useless men could be, all the while the three poor, unfortunate souls watched her walking away, feeling their bodies ache due to her previous harsh punches.

✩:✩:✩

After coming to the conclusion that none in the squad could help her out with a decent idea, she settled for something that was far from what she originally wanted. However, it ended up looking pretty decent, and dare to say, somewhat romantic. She was quite satisfied with the outcome and hoped that you’d like it too. It wasn’t anything over the top, it was simple just like you liked, but she couldn’t help but anticipate your reaction.

You looked back at Mereoleona, trying to understand why exactly she was leading -more like dragging- you into the depths of the forest in the middle of the night. It was cold, and you were only wearing a simple long gown, barely providing your body with any warmth, and on top of that, you were tired. You wanted nothing more than to lay in bed and sleep.

“Where are we going?” you asked groggily. You were sleeping when she barged into the room, and without saying anything she took hold of your body with her flame paw and dragged you outside. It was so sudden that even now your eyes were half-closed, consciousness barely there to actually understand what was going on. Mereoleona grinned; eyes still focused on the road ahead.

“You’ll see” was all she said. You shrugged, letting her do whatever she wanted, mostly because you were too tired to ask some more questions, and besides, you trusted her. But you just needed to know one tiny thing-

“We’re not going to spar… are we?” you inquired, hopeful that it wasn’t the case -although if she really wanted to do that it won’t be much of a surprise, it wasn’t the first time Mereoleona would wake you up at an ungodly hour to train- however, you were now way too exhausted to move a single muscle, let alone fight.

She briefly looked at you, smiling at your cute frown “No, you can barely stand on your feet, you’ll just pass out before I can even start anything” she pointed out, eyes focusing on your slouched shoulders. You sighed, relieved that she wasn’t going to beat the life out of you, yet more curious about where she was taking you. If it wasn’t for a fight, then why was she dragging you into the forest?

More minutes passed in silence, Mereoleona was still walking, and you were slowly falling asleep once again, eyes closing while your body went completely limp, letting yourself fall into slumber as she kept dragging you around. However, not even after five minutes of you napping, Mereoleona ungracefully threw you on the ground.

You groaned at the harsh land, sitting up while both hands went to rub your tired eyes, trying to gain some focus and understand were she brought you. At first, you noticed the large field you were in, which made you understand that you were both outside of the capital and probably on a hill. Then, after looking up, you gaped at all the stars that littered the dark sky, but only when Mereoleona sat down did you finally notice the blanket you were on. In the middle of it, there was a bowl full of wild berries and a bottle of water. Your eyes shifted on her, and then back on the bowl, all the while a quiet giggle bubbled inside your throat which soon turned into a full loud laugh.

“Is this your idea of a picnic?” you asked, cheeky grin gracing your lips while your tone held nothing but tease. Mereoleona felt her cheeks on fire, blood rushing at the tips of her ears and down her neck. She knew it wasn’t anything fancy, she wasn’t that fond of cooking, and she barely knew how to prepare anything at all. During the time she spent in the wild, she learned the most basic things about cooking, and back at her house she never felt interested enough to learn that certain skill. She had debated about asking the chefs to prepare something, but when she finally made up her mind, it was already way too late. All the chefs were sleeping and in the fridge of the kitchen, there was nothing but raw ingredients that needed to be cooked in the morning. Thus, she went out in the forest and picked all the berries she could find, thinking that it was an acceptable solution. At first, she was sure it would work, but know, she was slightly embarrassed.

“Yeah, what about it?” she inquired, thankful that the poor lightning won’t make you able to fully see her glowing red cheeks. You smiled, taking a raspberry into your mouth.

“It’s… different from what most would do, but I like it!” you said, taking now a blueberry and handing it to her. Mereoleona grinned, happy that at least you were now smiling and no trace of the previous frown was present on your face. As you enjoyed the berries and calm atmosphere, Mereoleona was quick to notice how your body was slightly shivering, probably from the cold of the night. She grabbed the back of your nightgown and pulled you onto her lap, small flames littering around as she too laid down on the blanket. Her arms tightened around your waist, providing you with more warmth while you let your head rest on her chest, eating the few berries that were left in the bowl.

“That one is the Canis Major” you suddenly said, stretching your arm in the air while your index finger pointed at a certain star. Mereoleona hummed, eyes shifting above her searching for what you were talking about. That was another thing she had never been interested before, but after learning about your passion for constellations she began to pay more attention to the stars, sometimes even recognizing some of them. “Which one?” she asked, trying to find the one you were talking about, but there were so many stars that it was hard to find it, especially for her, that knew almost nothing about astrology.

“The big bright one. Right in the middle of those three smaller stars.” You said, still pointing at it. Again, Mereoleona looked up, and this time she was able to find it.

“That big one is called Sirius, and if you go a little bit down, there’s Mirzam. Across that one there’s Adhara, the one that is almost the same size as Sirius but slightly smaller, do you see it?” you asked, drawing some abstract lines with your fingers. Mereoleona followed the imaginary lines, and now that you pointed them out, she could make out the pattern you were making. Mereoleona hummed, telling you that yes, she could see it.

“A little above that one there’s Wezen and then-“ yet Mereoleona’s attention was quick to shift on your face instead. A small smile bloomed on her lips as she watched you talking about the constellation, explaining to her the meaning behind and other pieces of information that weren’t of any use to her. It was endearing, watching you so focused and passionate about something despite being exhausted. She could see your lips moving, tired eyes glimmering with interest while your index finger was still pointing at certain stars. Your voice was like nice, calm background music, to which she always wanted to listen to, and now it was no different, even if it was soaked in tiredness.

She could see that you were forcing yourself to stay awake, probably because you wanted to spend more time with her. Both, hers and your schedules were always busy, nights being the only times when you could spend some quality time together since she became captain. Mereoleona knew that you missed her, and she missed you too, but for now, she couldn’t do anything about it. Her hand went up in your hair, pads slowly massaging your scalp and applying a little bit of pressure, just enough to distract you from your speech.

The gentle touch was making it harder for you to stay awake, and your eyes were slowly becoming heavier and heavier while the words that were still coming out of your mouth made no sense anymore. Soon, you were asleep, curled into Mereoleona’s arms while she began to stroke your head, placing a feathery-like kiss on the top of your head. You were still mumbling words related to constellations, they made absolutely no sense, and it made her laugh -your desire to explain to her things about stars despite being out of consciousness was another aspect of your personality that she absolutely loved.

She tightened her hold on you while making sure that her flames were still providing you with warmth. The last thing she wanted was for you to catch a cold. She nuzzled against the top of your head, mumbling a small “Idiot” before she too closed her eyes, allowing herself to finally rest all the while listening to your steady breaths which lulled her into a peaceful slumber.

✩:✩:✩

A/N: Just noticed that I forgot to allow anonymous asks,,, sorry about that! Anyhow, this is my first shot for Mereoleona, Black Clover in general actually, and I hope I got her personality right! 

Thank you for taking the time to read it and have a wonderful day/night! 

[p-jiminaa]

Couple Game. (Part 2)

Jeon Jeongguk and  You

Summary: The game between you and him officially start.

Genre: Fluffy!!!!!!

Gif is not mine. Credit to the owner.

Masterlist

| Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 |  Part 7 |  Part 8 |  Part 9 | Part 10  | Part 11 |  Part 12 | Part 13 |  Part 14 | Part 15 | 

A ferrero chocolate bouquet placed in the middle of the dining table and when you walked towards the table, you spotted a small rose pink coloured envelope sat beside the bouquet but then you realized that the envelope was already open, meaning someone had read the content and that someone is none other than your mother.

Letting out a long breath you pick up the items before you heard her from behind. “My girl finally found a boyfriend.” She says cheerfully.

“Good Morning Mother.” You said it sternly before walking past her towards your bedroom. Really, one thing you asked your mother since day one you moved back with her is giving you your own privacy but then seems like unless you moved out again, you will never have your own privacy. 

“Don’t forget to introduce him to me.” You heard her as you were about to close the door. No, I would never introduce him to you. 

Putting the bouquet on your desk and picking up one of the chocolate and unwrapped it before you eat it, you took out the card from the small envelope. 

Can my baby bring me lunch today?

You rolled your eyes reading his short message that he wrote on the card. As if you could not sense that he’s planning something for you so that why he asked you to come to his company. 

***

Knocking on the door but open it nevertheless as you heard the blaring music from outside. You regrets your decision though. One because they just finished practicing their mic drop dance then suddenly they got into their formation where they turn their back towards you and when the music start, that when you regret your decision of coming earlier than usual. Two is because this song will mostly include the ‘hip thrust’ and you watched their dance practice on youtube and witness how hot your bestfriend are! Oh God, please save my heart today!

The moment the music start and when they turn to face the front, Jeongguk eyes laid on you and immediately let out a smirk. Oh God! He caught you. He must now can read your mind as he realized your uncomfortable facial expression and WHY out of the other day, he’s wearing the same outfits that he wore for the dance practice video.

You put the food on the desk situated at the back before the staff call you to sit with them which is in front of them. Why would they put a chair in front. How they are going to check their dance step or whatever mistake they made from the mirror. But you keep this question to yourself as you didn’t want to be rude to ask a question in the middle of the staff observing the members dance step. 

Never ever you thought that a three minutes song took a very long time to finish. Jeongguk eyes never left yours nevertheless especially during the ‘hip thrust’ part. That when he observed your expression the most. You were actually fine if he’s dancing this song without any expression on his face but then when he smirk or intentionally looking at you with a smug or lick his lips that when you can’t take it any longer other than moving your gaze to other members while blushing really hard. And when you think that the ‘hip thrust’ is the movement that going to give you a heart attack, guess you were wrong. During Yoongi and RM part where the members were supposed to be waiting or dancing beside them, Jeongguk intentionally walked to you and took that few seconds moment to tease you by dancing in front of you. Your heart really can’t take this and you kept your head down most of the time.

When the song ended, you stood up and stride towards the door and immediately went to the toilet. You need a water to cool you down. Hence the moment you open the tap, you splashed a water onto your face to cool you down. You look at yourself to the mirror. Oh Y/n! That was only a dance practice! But that made you go crazy. You pulled out a tissue and wipe out the water from your face. Thank God you wear waterproof makeup today and speaking of makeup! Since when did you even started to doll yourself up since all this time you would not really care about your appearance when you’re meeting him. Guess you really took this challenge seriously. Well its disneyland ticket. Who wouldn’t want that?

When you were exiting the loo, you almost jump when his voice startles you. “I think I almost got your heart.” Instantly, you turn towards the source of the voice and there he is standing beside the door with a devilish grin plastered on his face. 

“You wish.” You said it casually, trying to camouflage your true feelings. 

He scooted closer to you slowly while his eyes stayed on you. When he’s standing an inch closer, he stop and slowly lean down to your level. He wrapped his arms around your body. Surprised by his action you put up both of your hand on his chest, trying to push him away but then his grip was tight on your lower waist when you try to push him. He is definitely entertained by your reaction as you see his lips tuck upwards. 

“Baby...” His said it with deep voice. Did he just call you Baby? The sudden used of pet name caused your heart bounced at your chest and you just love the way it rolled his tongue. There was a long stretch of silence and just when you’re about to imagine something romantic going to happen, he spoilt it by saying “On your next visit, prepare a towel for me. That what a girlfriend should do.” He smile when he witness you flustered expression and he let you go and walk back towards the dance practice room again. You saw his satisfied smile when he saw your flustered expression. God Y/n! You really need to mask your feeling and not to let it shown easily. 

You let out a long breath before entering the dance practice studio again. You saw Jeongguk already took out the food that you brought earlier. When he realized you’re walking towards him he turn. “Thank you for the food Noona.” He says as he took a sit on the chair. He acted as if he did not just made your heart flutter earlier.

“Y/n... Come sit here.” Taehyung call you and invited you to sit beside him just across Jeongguk. You don’t even know if his members know about the ‘couple game’ between you and him but seeing his members look when you entered earlier, yes they knew about it. 

Jeongguk happily eat the food that you bought and when he realized your eyes on him, he look up at you and wink his eyes before continuing to eat his food again. Fine! You’re going to play it like this. Then I hope you’re ready for your fate.

***

Baby, I miss you.

It’s only been five hours since the last time you saw him which is during the lunch time earlier.

I am coming, any minutes from now. 

You press on the lock button before walking towards the entrance of their apartment. This was actually supposed to be a surprise visit but then guess you’re unable to hide it anymore since he texted you when you’re about to get out from your car. Not like you have to tell him about your arrival but then logically thinking, he’s unable to prepare anything now.

“Kookie...” You called him the moment you open his door but you shut your eyes tightly when your eyes laid on Jeongguk who is only wrapped with towel and still with wet hairs. “What the... Jeongguk Why are you naked!” You blurted out. He’s not even naked! Guess you were just startles seeing him only with his towel or his body to be exact! You heard his soft chuckles. Did he intentionally did this? But how? It’s not like he has time to prepare... ah whatever.

“Cute.” He mumbles and you felt him moving closer to you so you put one hand up to stop him. “Wear your shirt or I’ll shout.” Your word doesn’t even make sense right now. It’s not like your shout would actually change anything. Well since the members knew about this game so your shout would not make them run to Jeongguk room right away. 

“Can you like... do it faster.” You says to him as you heard some sound which you assumed he’s trying to put on his shirt or pant? You just don’t want to know about it as long as he covered himself.

“You can open your eyes now Y/n. I am presentable.” You open your right eye first, and when you see him wearing his white t-shirt and black puma sport pant you then open your left eyes. You close the door behind you and he took a sit on the edge of the bed.

“I hate you.” You blurted out while taking a sit on the chair in front of his laptop.

“I thought girl love to see my abs.” You turn your head to face him with raised eyebrows and give him a look. “I mean is everytime I pull up my shirt during the fake love song, army go crazy.” He says it proudly. You rolled your eyes to this. “Guess that does not applicable to you which is kind of surprising. Are you perhaps not straight Y/n?”

“Are you seriously asking me that?” You asked him as if you dare him to say no.

“I am.” He answered you back.

You let out a smirk and without thinking much about it, you immediately stride towards him and without giving him a warning, you placed a kiss on his lips. He was of course shock as he did not expect your move and you witness his eyes widened as your lips touched him and before he's able to reciprocate the kiss, you pull yourself from him.

“Did that answer your question?” You asked him with a small smile plastered on your face. His eyes blink few times, as if he could not just believe that happens moment ago. You then realized his reddening cheek and sensing that you realized that he’s in fact surprise by your action, he stood up and went outside the room. You burst into a fit of laugh as you could not believe at what you just witness. Did he just get flustered from the kiss? And he’s the one that wanted to do this game.

You heard the door open and Jeongguk blocked your view from watching the TV. “What you have done earlier was unfair!” He says while crossing his arms. 

“Since when did you play fairly?” You retorted. As if showing his ‘hip thrust’ earlier was a fair play. 

He rolled his eyes. He’s sulking, again!

You patted the space beside you but you know how stubborn he is, he stayed there until you throw one of his pillow and that when he moves and sat beside you on the bed while back resting on the headrest. He then placed his head on your shoulder and intertwined your hand with him. This really make it look like you were both a couple.

“But Baby, we agreed not to fuc* each other.” You wanted to laugh when he say the F*** word but you resist your laugh because you have a better idea to make him regret his doing earlier. 

“It’s just a kiss Kookie.” You glanced down towards your hand. You’re now unable to concentrate to the movie you’re watching.

He then whispers to your ear. “But Baby, what if I can’t control myself and that happens.” You were of course surprised by his statement but then remembering what he did earlier today, you smirked devilishly. He thought he’s winning as you did not respond to his statement as he turned his to you but you leaned in and whisper back to him in the most romantic voice you could use.

“Let it happen then.” His eyes widened, his face is red as potato  and you see him biting his lower lip when you utter that. Not only that, you go on with another action by giving him a peck of kiss on his lips and pull yourself from him.

“Dream about it tonight.” Again you said it in whisper but you make sure he’s able to hear it. You stood up, leaving him still frozen in his place.

“Y/n... you’re not suppose to win this!” You heard his shout when you’re about to close the door. You shook your head in disbelief that the action you did earlier made his heart beat so fast. Did you actually successfully made his heart flutter today. Can’t really believe that it so easy to make him flutter.

PS: Anyone who wanted to feel ‘the oc hardship’ or wanted to scream watching Jk ‘hip thrust’, his facial expression, how Jungkook go from cute Kookie to Hot Jungkook in general, you are invited to search Baepsae dance practice. 

[maryofone]

Cherish

Cherish can sound like a somewhat cloying word, especially when someone is named Cherish (strippers and teacup Yorkies, mostly), but the word itself is interesting. I’m always interested in words that might possibly bridge the cavernous void of understanding between men and women, and I think cherish might be one of them.

Women often get criticized by men for how quickly we want commitment in a relationship. That’s because a lot of women can get pretty urgent about making things official; locking something down; knowing “if this is going anywhere.” Guys can have these concerns too but if we’re talking about averages here, the average girl is much quicker to shift her mindset to Relationship Mode than the guy is. This freaks a lot of guys out, and I bet it wouldn’t freak them out so much if they really understood where this urge to get wifed up is coming from.

Women make people in our bodies. We make fucking people. The male can always ghost on his responsibilities, so only the female is really built with the biological goal to nurture this person she created. Hence, women have more nurturing instincts than men. Fucking duh. But this is where the word cherish comes in. Think about what it means to cherish something or someone. To treat that thing or person as the most valued thing in your life; one that you must protect at all costs. Women are biologically engineered to cherish another human as if it were more precious than gold, so it’s not super surprising that this instinct crosses over into our love lives.

Once I realize that I have feelings for a guy, this cherishing instinct kicks in. I don’t just like him. I want to care for him. I want to protect him. I want to keep him warm. My logical brain still understands that he may be a guy I’ve only just recently met, but as soon as the instinct kicks in, all I want to know is if I get to keep cherishing him. 

I don’t think women want commitment as much as we often say we do. Or at least, I don’t think we know why we want it. Instead of really seeing potential in a guy as a compatible life partner, I think a lot of us are just responding to this fucking ancient instinct to cherish something. And, in the case of millions of relationships everywhere, that feeling eventually wears off and then no one cherishes anyone. So it’s not necessarily an instinct we should always respond to.

I feel like men AND women would be better off if we all had a better understanding of a woman’s drive to cherish someone. A guy might be less terrified when his girlfriend starts talking about marriage, if he understood that marriage fantasies are just like cherish porn for her and she’s not really expecting a ring anytime soon. And maybe fewer girls would race into ill-advised relationships if they knew that their instinct to cradle him like a fragile bird is eventually going to wear off.

I don’t necessarily resent this innate drive to cherish something and shower it with love and affection every day. I just wish I could take it down a notch. Right now my dog gets 100% of the cherishing and even he’s like, whoa lady.

[r0guewrites]

Amnesia [Ch. 2]

I wanted this to come out waaaaaaaay sooner than it did but I got caught up with personal life and the ChiKanan token Event. Here you go though finally chapter 2.

Thank you to both @youriko-is-my-jam and @Mega_Honk on twitter for proof reading!

[Chapter 1] If you haven’t read it

The first thing Yoshiko registers is a throbbing pain in her head. Her eyes slowly open to reveal a light pink ceiling above her. She can feel a comfy mattress beneath her and some very cozy pajamas on her body. Slowly she sits up and looks around the room.

Her eyes are immediately drawn to the only source of light in the room, a curtain that hasn’t been closed properly so that it lets a slit of sunlight into the room. To the right of a window is a wooden desk that seems to have some papers strewn about it, a chair is nearby but just left at an angle nearby. A framed picture of a painted landscape seems to be on the wall above it. A closet is positioned next to the desk. A small table seems to be situated in the middle of the room and a lamp is located at the end of the bed, next to the door. It is a small room, but it seems to be cared for.

Yoshiko looks down and it finally hits her that these aren’t her clothes. Where are they? Why am I in these? Where is this? A sharp pain shoots through her head. And she reaches a hand up to rub her forehead. I guess I should go and investigate. She pulls the covers from her body and stands up.

She is about to open the door to leave the room when she starts hearing shouting from the other side of the door. It isn’t possible to make out what is being said straight away but it quickly becomes clearer.

“-be for a short while!”

“That is what you said last time and it was three am when you came back!”

“I just lost track of time!”

“That is what you say every time!”

“Because it is true!”

“Can’t you just spend one night with me, your girlfriend?”

“Of course I can! Just not tonight!”

The slamming of a door could be heard after the last statement. Yoshiko could hear something being said in response, but it was too quiet for her to pick up the words. The sound of someone collapsing onto something could be heard shortly after. Should I… go out there now… or wait? Despite asking herself this, she takes a deep breath and opens the door.

The door opened out to a small apartment. There was a kitchen area in one corner with a small table with 4 chairs crammed around it. Most of the room was filled with a large, at least for the apartment it was in couch and a couple chairs upon which sits a figure that Yoshiko recognizes. Her face was buried in her hands, but the dark red color of her hair is the exact same as the girl who was next to Yoshiko at the bar last night.

The sound of the door being opened makes the figure look immediately at a different door, which by its location and design seems to be the main exit to the apartment and the door that the other voice had left through, before sighing and looking around the room, their eyes finally resting upon Yoshiko with open eyes.

Yoshiko stands there, not sure what she should say and just fidgeting with the bottom of her pajama top, this doesn’t last for long however as the girl jumps up from the couch. “Oh! You’re awake!”

“Y-Yeah,” Yoshiko’s voice is rather horse as it leaves her lips. “Is now a bad time?”

“Oh… you heard that…” She lets out a small sigh before her lips curve into a smile, “You don’t need to worry yourself about that, besides, you are probably wondering where you are and what is going on?” Yoshiko just nods in response. “Well, after you passed out last night, we decided to not just leave you there. Since I live close by, I offered to let you stay in the spare room for a bit.” She points at the door behind Yoshiko. “Oh silly me, I should introduce myself. My name is Riko.”

“Well um… thanks… and my name is Yoshiko.” She slowly looks around the place once more. I should feel very lucky that someone as nice as her was around.

“Yoshiko… that is a nice name. I hope it wasn’t the argument that woke you up… or… um… the other thing…” A blush starts to creep onto her face as she says the last part and her voice trails off. When Yoshiko, once again, shakes her head, she seems to brighten up again. “Can I get you anything?”

“Something to drink would be lovely.” Yoshiko feels a little bad asking something else from the girl, but the way she seems to walk over to the kitchen area makes her reconsider. “Oh, and um… what happened to my clothes?”

“Oh yes, how silly of me.” Riko grabs a pint glass, rinses it and fills it with water. Bringing it over to Yoshiko. “Here… as for the clothes, I thought they looked too dirty to wear, so I put them in the wash… they are still rather ripped though.”

“Oh okay, thank you again.” Yoshiko takes a sip of the drink and immediately another. “Yeah, they are all I have with me at the moment though.”

“Hmm…” Riko seems to eye Yoshiko up a little as she says this. ��Follow me.” She leads her through a door and into a small, and very cramped, room.

Somehow there was a double bed in here, which seems to take up a good half the room. The bedsheets are all messed up and there seems to be a lot of clothes strewn about the floor. Riko expertly dodges them all as she makes her way to the closet that is in the far corner from the bed itself. “We’re around the same size, so you can have one of my outfits.”

Yoshiko looks at her, her mouth open. “I can’t possibly accept that, you have already done so much for me.”

“I mean it, I can’t just leave you like that, especially if the only thing you can have is that.” She walks back over and takes Yoshiko’s hand in her own. “At least see what I have first.”

Reluctantly, Yoshiko lets herself be dragged over by, a very soft, hand. She finishes her drink and sets it down somewhere. “I can really have something?”

Riko nods and lets out a giggle. “Yes, you can have whatever you want. I am going to take this back and leave you to try whatever you want on.” She picks the glass up as she says this. “Feel free to take as long as you need.” The door shuts behind her as she leaves, leaving Yoshiko alone in the room.

*                           *                           *

Yoshiko spends a while looking through the clothes that are available, Riko’s fashion follows a clear trend. There are a lot of light pinks and blues and then some darker things to contrast with them, but most of the clothes are tops and skirts with a few dresses thrown in there as well.

Yoshiko decides on a white, loose-fitting, top that is decorated with different colored flowers and a short skirt that came to her mid thighs but had a slightly darker color pallet, being mostly dark pink. There wasn’t any form of a mirror in the room, so she had to judge by eye, but it didn’t look horrible, at least in her opinion.

When Yoshiko leaves the bedroom, she sees Riko in the kitchen, her back to the counter and her head looking down at her phone. Her eyes look up when she hears the door opening and she quickly sets the phone down. “You look so much better; those clothes really suit you.”

“Thanks, it means a lot that you would do all this for someone you don’t know anything about.” Yoshiko goes over to Riko as she says this.

“Anytime, I mean it.” Riko’s face lights up as she hears Yoshiko being so thankful. “I was just letting Mari, the bartender, know you are okay. She will be here soon. In the meantime, why don’t we fix the whole don’t know anything about you situation?”

Yoshiko feels her mind stop, she had been so caught up in just how nice that Riko was being that she forgot all about her situation. What do I tell her? I can’t just deny her after everything she has done… can I? But how would she react if I did tell her? She slowly takes a deep breath. “Um… I… I don’t know myself.”

Riko’s face shifts from a smile to a frown. “What do you mean?”

“Well um… yesterday… before I arrived at the bar… I found myself lying in an alley, with the clothes and stuff I had on me… but I don’t know how I got there and I don’t remember anything about who I am or where I live.” Yoshiko looks at her hands as she says this, fidgeting with the bottom of her top, as she had done earlier.

Riko was silent. She was staring at Yoshiko, her mouth open. “S-So… you have some form of amnesia?” A nod in response. “That sounds horrible, I can’t imagine what you are dealing with.” She stares off into the distance. “Well… assuming you can put up with living with a couple… that room is yours.”

“You… would actually do that?” Yoshiko was the one to have her mouth open now. “I um… I don’t know how I could accept that, after everything you have done.”

“I will not take no for an answer, that room used to be Chika’s, the other girl who I wa-” She cuts herself off mid sentence. “…my girlfriend. But we kind of moved into the same room when we got together, hence the double bed. So now that room is free.”

Yoshiko wanted to say no, Riko had done way too much for her, but what other option did she have? “I guess… I don’t have another choice.”

[get-dunked-on-18]

Scandalous

Pairing: Sans x Toriel Rated: A hard T 1550 words

“Honestly Sans, a basket of folded laundry?”

Toriel sighed, crossing the room to the white basket set beside the skeleton’s dresser. They rarely visited his room while they were together, and the state of disarray was largely the reason why. At least he had finally taken down the trash tornado, exchanging it for a small waste bin(which had trash items scattered near it, with fewer actually in it).

“Button-ups get hung-up,” she told him. Sans gave her a confused look for a moment before shrugging. He wasn’t used to having a closet, or the concept that wrinkled was not the natural state of clothing. Toriel handed him a few more button-ups and a sweater so he made his way to the closet. Toriel grabbed the balled white socks and opened the top drawer to put them away but the drawer was mostly taken up by three shoeboxes. She squinted in confusion. She set the white socks with another lone pair of white sock in the remaining space of the dresser drawer and stared at the three relatively plain shoeboxes. Curiosity drove her to thoughtlessly grab the lid before pausing.

What might be in there? Oh no. She knew what she kept buried in her sock drawer and it wasn’t anything she wanted anyone else to see. Well, maybe Sans, since they had used the item during their alone time on a few occasions…but still, this was kind of invading his personal space, wasn’t it? Although she was incredibly curious to know the number of items he might have to need three boxes, if that indeed was when he kept in there. But, Sans hadn’t seemed hesitant in the slightest when she started to put his laundry away, so perhaps that was not what they were?

Toriel bit her lip, slowly lifting the lid to reveal…

More socks?

Not the standard white with grey heels, but colorful, patterned socks. These socks were mostly patterened in dark blues and purples, seeming to get bluuer nearer the left side of the box.

“oh yeah, try not ta’ move those. i got ‘em organized how i want them,” he said, buttoning the last shirt onto a hanger.

“What are..? Sans?” this man never organized a thing in his life, Toriel thought.

“my sock collection,” he clarified. Toriel blinked at him.

“You mean Papyrus was serious about this?”

“eh? yeah, why wouldn’t he be?” Sans slid the door closed.

“Oh, I just did not think he was…getting the right impression of it. If one simply has very many spare socks, some might say they have a collection, but in reality they just rarely make it to the laundry, hence the spares…why do you collect socks of all things?” Toriel tilted her head to examine the skeleton’s face in moderate confusion.

“why not?” he returned simply. “some people collect rocks. at least socks have some value.” Said the guy who’d finally gotten around to feeding his pet rock regularly.

“Are…are these all women’s socks?”

Sans’ grin twitched and a hand came up to rub the back or his cervical vertebrae.

“well, i mean yeah. men’s socks only come in black and white. so if you want blue socks, or fuzzy socks or uh…” he paused, noticing that his girlfriend had gone to lifting the lid of another box. He started to sweat. There was nothing but socks in that drawer, but some of the socks he had were a little…upon consideration…

“Skull and crossbones! How funny,” Toriel laughed lightly, selecting the pair from the collection. ’Oh’ she thought. These weren’t quite the typical pair of socks. Scandalous. She put the thigh highs back in with the others and closed the lids to the boxes with a warmth in her face she felt rather silly for. They were just socks.

“uh, yeah, so uh i don’t actually wear those because they’d look ridiculous on me but it’s always an impulse buy. i know they’d look much better on a woman, or uh, someone with flesh on them but–not that i really care too much how i look but uh…” he saw Tori’s mouth twitch into a smile and felt a bit more magic than needed tinting his cheekbones.

Tori thankfully shut the drawer then and allowed him to move on from that conversation.

…

It was about a week later that he landed himself at Toriel’s kitchen table for breakfast. He wasn’t normally up that early but Papyrus had gone overboard with de-bugging the house that morning after finding the dog had fleas again, and Sans wasn’t entirely sure the toxic fumes wouldn’t kill him, so Papyrus was hanging with Undyne and he had been sent over here until the house was habitable again.

He mussed up Frisk’s hair as he sipped his third cup of coffee. Frisk sent a glare and fixed their hair before they ran out to meet up with MK to go Christmas shopping. Eleven was a fun age. Lots of glaring.

“still gonna give them that rc plane?” Sans asked as Toriel came up behind him, watching Frisk and MK chat as they walked down the street.

“Of course. They have had…a bit of an attitude lately, but I think they just are not having an easy time adjusting to their new school. I wish I could teach secondary school, but I am needed at the primary.”

“eh. maybe.” Sans tipped back his coffee cup. Toriel didn’t normally drink coffee, so Sans knew that was especially for him when Papyrus had dumped his sleeping body at her doorstep at 7am. He was going to drink the entire pot to make it worthwhile. He was so caffeinated as it was now that there was no way he was going to sleep until the inevitable crash around 5pm tonight. He looked up at Toriel to make some sort of joke about the caffeine high, but he noticed her clothes were different from earlier. Her long blue dress was now a shorter purple one, the skirt ending at her knee, black tights underneath, always a little on the modest side.

“you going somewhere today?” he asked. She normally wouldn’t wear tights unless it got cold and she was going out somewhere. She only owned one pair of shoes, which she hated wearing, being very large men’s rainboots in the largest size she could find.

“I have a bit of grocery shopping, but that can wait until the afternoon, when the roads are clearer.” Ah, yeah. Ice. She was a nervous driver, unlike his brother.

“you changed into tights, i thought you might be headed out right away,” he commented, standing to refill his coffee mug. He tipped his coffee cup up again, noticing the curious expression of hers over the rim of the mug.

“what?” he asked, setting the cup back on the counter.

“You know, Sans, you and I have something else in common.” She smiled.

Sans sent her a questioning gaze. She giggled, touching her hand to her mouth.

“Well, you know,” she grabbed onto the middle of her skirt.

“I do not actually own any tights.” At this, Sans’ expression became more confused, before his eyelights dropped down to the hand clutched in her skirt.

“We both have an affinity for certain articles of clothing.” She lifted the hem slowly up her legs, and Sans felt magic collecting around his face once again. He looked back to her face for a second before he caught the contrast of white fur slowly revealed over the black. What she was wearing, were, in fact, a pair of socks. Tall, black thigh highs with a delicate pattern of black lace at the top. Set against her short white fur, he could see all the detailing in the lace, brushing against her thighs. Damn. They did look good on fleshy monsters.

“Tell me, do I rock these socks?” She asked, reminding him of his collectable rocks example. He hadn’t even realized he’d taken a step forward until she spoke. He gulped audibly, an interesting feat for a skeleton.

“hell yeah, tori. you rock my world.”

“Sans,” she started, her tone dripping with implications, “do you wish to knock my socks off–”

She was almost interrupted by his sudden outburst of “no!”

“l-leave ‘em on,” he stuttered. She raised an eyebrow. His face burned brighter.

“e-everything else can c-come off, but could you keep the socks on?” Toriel blinked once before a smirk settled onto her face. He was trembling. Or was that the shakes from too much caffeine?

“That doesn’t sound like a problem.” She dropped her skirt back down and grabbed his hand.

“fuck yeah,” she heard him mutter as she lead him out of the kitchen.

“hey tori, y-you think you could wear my crossbones ones the next time?” Her replying laugher was kind and soft.

“Of course,” she gave with a wry smirk.

…

_______________________________________

…

But really, who doesn’t wanna do the deed with someone wearing a pair of thigh highs? Either partner (or both) wearing them.

First UT drabble:/ .

[fionaharnett]

FULL PRESENTATION SCRIPT PHILOSOPHY AS RESEARCH METHOD:

PHILOSOPHY AS A RESEARCH METHOD

 Abril Sigle 

Giulia Procopio 

Venus

 Fiona Harnett

Our group has been looking at philosophy as a research method

Why philosophy? Philosophy is an attempt to express the infinity of the universe in terms of the limitations of language.

ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER "All willing arises from want, therefore from deficiency

That having been said, atheism does seem to be a clear implication of Schopenhauer’s system: for given that this world is essentially blind eternal will to life, there does not seem to be any need for an intelligent and good God who creates this world.Schopenhauer’s discovery that the underlying “essence” of life is will is not a happy one. For, as the second of the Buddha’s “Four Noble Truths” tells us, to will is to suffer. What follows, as the first of the “Truths” tells us, is that life is suffering, from which Schopenhauer concludes that “it would be better for us not to exist”. He offers two main arguments in support of the claim that to will is (mostly) to suffer, the first of which I shall call the “competition argument” and the second the “stress-or-boredom argument”.In a manner reminiscent of traditional Buddhism, he recognizes that life is filled with unavoidable frustration, and acknowledges that the suffering caused by this frustration can itself be reduced by minimizing one’s desires.

The World as the Will:

●The Will is the actual and ultimate reality of the world and ourselves 

●It is “the-thing-in-itself” 

●We cannot know the Will itself but we every individual is a manifestation of the Will 

●The Will can be seen in every action of the body and impression on the body (emotions, ect)

●The Will is violent 

●Every act (manifestation of the Will) is either an act of procreation or destruction ●The mind is “self-deceiving” of the Will

ULTIMATE REALITY

●There is no hope in life

●Happiness is unattainable

●Any arts, morals, or sciences are only distortions of the will

•Seen as good, but are actually the manifestation of the Will

●Suicide may seem like the perfect escape, being the last act if the Will

BYUNG-CHUL HAN

 Much of Han's writing is characterised by an underlying concern with the situation encountered by human subjects in the fast-paced, technologically-driven state of late capitalism. The situation is explored in its various facets through his books: sexuality, mental health (particularly burnout, depression, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), violence, freedom, technology, and popular culture. Han also uses his Eastern roots in his philosophical thinking. Back in 2002, when he was still an unknown, he published a book called The Philosophy of Zen-Buddhism. In this book, he illustrates that the Buddhist concept of ‘nothingness’—as the absence of an exclusive subjectivity—is what makes Buddhism pacifistic and non-violent, because there is no essence where power can be concentrated. Also, the concept of ‘emptiness’ is the reason why narcissism is something very un-Buddhist. There is no unchangeable ‘me’ in the mirror; rather, I am being formed by life.

“The acceleration of contemporary life also plays a role in this lack of being. The society of laboring and achievement is not a free society. It generates new constraints. Ultimately, the dialectic of master and slave does not yield a society where everyone is free and capable of leisure, too. Rather, it leads to a society of work in which the master himself has become a laboring slave. In this society of compulsion, everyone carries a work camp inside. This labor camp is defined by the fact that one is simultaneously prisoner and guard, victim and perpetrator. One exploits oneself. It means that exploitation is possible even without domination.” ― Byung-Chul Han, The Burnout Society Self exploitation. 

In Han’s opinion, society’s attitude has moved from “we have to do it” to “we can do it.” “We live with the anguish of not always doing what we are able to do.” “Today a person exploits themselves believing they are fulfilling themselves. It is the wicked logic of neoliberalism that culminates in the syndrome of the burned-out worker.” This has a very damaging effect. “There is no one the revolution can attack, repression does not come from other people.” It is the “alienation of one’s self” that can manifest as anorexia, overeating or the over-consumption of consumer or leisure products.

“There is only one inborn error, and that is the notion that we exist in order to be happy... So long as we persist in this inborn error... the world seems to us full of contradictions. For at every step, in things great and small, we are bound to experience that the world and life are certainly not arranged for the purpose of maintaining a happy existence... hence the countenances of almost all elderly persons wear the expression of what is called disappointment.”

― Arthur Schopenhauer

JOSEPH CAMPBELL 

“We're so engaged in doing things to achieve purposes of outer value that we forget the inner value, the rapture that is associated with being alive, is what it is all about.” ― Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth

The divine manifestation is ubiquitous, Only our eyes are not open to it. Awe is what moves us forward.

Live from your own center. The divine lives within you. The separateness apparent in the world is secondary. Beyond the world of opposites is an unseen, but experienced, unity and identity in us all.

Today the planet is the only proper “in group.” Participate joyfully in the sorrows of the world. We cannot cure the world of sorrows, but we can choose to live in joy. ~Joseph Campbell

“You must have a room, or a certain hour or so a day, where you don’t know what was in the newspapers that morning, you don’t know who your friends are, you don’t know what you owe anybody, you don’t know what anybody owes to you. This is a place where you can simply experience and bring forth what you are and what you might be. This is the place of creative incubation. At first you may find that nothing happens there. But if you have a sacred place and use it, something eventually will happen.” ― Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth

RINKO KAWAUCHI 

The first photographer that I am going to share with you is Rinko Kawauchi, she’s someone whose work I am sure that you are all familiar with.

Her art is rooted in Shinto the ethnic Religion of the people of Japan. According to Shinto, all things on earth have a spirit, hence no subject is too small or mundane for her work; she also photographs "small events glimpsed in passing," conveying a sense of transience, for example this chick hatching from an egg.

She encourages the viewer to use their imagination to interpret her images. This series on murmuration epitomises notions of transience.

The philosopher Schopenhauer believed that art ( and that moment when engaging with great beauty takes us out of ourselves) was the only means to escape, however fleetingly, what he called the “will to live”. The purity of Kawauchi’s work can also be seen as an escape - moments of existence captured, never to be repeated.

She says that thinking too much is boring, not good. It stops the surprising from coming through. When a picture happens, she says thank you and moves on. It is only afterwards that she becomes the editor and imposes meaning on the work.

Schopenhauer interprets death as the aim and purpose of life and the origin of all philosophy. He maintains that to live is to suffer, that the triumph of death is inevitable, and that existence is a constant dying. So what happens when an artist finds out they have a life threatening illness.

GREG GILBERT

Greg Gilbert was the lead singer of an indie band - The Delays. On a UK tour back in 2014, he was having the time of his life, he’d just become a father and had settled with his girlfriend. But he found himself in constant extreme pain and was diagnosed with cancer. At the moment doctors told him there was nothing they could do he says he felt an interconnectedness between everything.

https://www.itv.com/news/meridian/2017-09-08/convalescence-art-and-politics-greg-gilbert-on-living-with-cancer/ Here’s an interview where he talks about his creativity has been shaped by his diagnosis

https://www.itv.com/news/meridian/2017-09-08/the-tyranny-of-positivity-musician-greg-gilbert-on-his-battle-with-cancer/ Greg Gilbert on the tyranny of positivity: What he said in the video...If video doesn’t work :(

As the father of two young children it is particularly cruel, the odds of recovery, slim. Whilst he believes in positivity…..he finds the “everything will be alright attitude” wearing. The thing that helps him most is ploughing his energy into his creative work; writing, drawing, reading.

The images are surreal in content, and while there’s no clear narrative expressed by them, they reflect some of the darkness Gilbert experienced as he underwent his first bout of chemotherapy.

He used one of the drawings from this sequence on the cover for a pamphlet of poems entitled Love Makes A Mess of Dying.Which brings me to: Jo Spence...

JO SPENCE

I recently wrestled with my own feelings about seeing the Jo Spence exhibition. I think Schopenhauer would say my fear of cancer is an inevitable part of my miserable existence and being able to view her work only through my narrative of fear, is a sign that I am being driven by my ego.

Here is a picture from the Final Project, in 1990 where she has been diagnosed with terminal cancer. During her second illness , photo therapy proved emotionally difficult, so a more story telling approach evolved. At the bottom she has written ‘What 1991 felt like, and in brackets most of the time.

“All the gods, all the heavens, all the hells, are within you.” ― Joseph Campbell

Conclusion

THE END

[hecohansen31]

I lowkey want (who am I kidding lol I seriously want it) another Fallon x Reader x Duncan. maybe like ... duncan's away and reader's being bad, so Fallon has to punish her like if Duncan were there, hmmm.... ANYWAY, your writing's amazingggg and I'm obsessed

(A/N): Hello there, lovely!

So thank you for saying that and I hope you’ll enjoy this!

Have a nice day!

I am also tagging @wickedlangdon and @melodylangdon because I know they tend to like this kind of stuff!

WARNINGS: Female-Female Action, Oral Sex (Female Receiving) And Fingering, Polyrelationship.

Fallon Carrington had too many problems, in her life: her father was slowly sinking the company which might have to pass onto her shoulder, once he was dead (which might happen sooner than later if he kept up this attitude).

Her newest evil stepmother was fighting with her sociopath of a brother, creating an atmosphere in their home that wasn’t in the slightest easy or breezy.

And lately, her girlfriend/lover had been moping around their shared apartment, being the most ridiculous brat in the universe, not to talk about a drama queen that would put to shame Sam.

And this was all due to their shared lover having delayed his return: the night before Duncan had said that some awful things had been going down at the Shepherd Foundation, in Washington and he had to stay there for a few more days.

“… but the event…?” (Y/N) had asked, her eyes shining, sadness sparkling in them, at the sole thought of Duncan missing the important event she had been organizing for an entire month for the Shepherd Foundation branch in Atlanta.

Fallon knew she had been working hard not wanting to disappoint Duncan, and the knowledge that Duncan wouldn’t be attending was rather heartbreaking.

Fallon knew it all too well.

But this didn’t excuse her horrible behavior: she didn’t seem to even care in the slightest anymore for the entire event, and if she wasn’t sleeping and moping she would be ordering around the poor maids, and worst of all…teasing Fallon, meanwhile she was at work.

Like that morning.

She had been busy in a rather important reunion, wrestling with Kirby for ‘Femperial’, when she had opened the message to reveal it to be a rather provocative nude picture of (Y/N), more importantly done in her lingerie, and not the old one she would never use… but the good stuff… the one she had recently bought.

She just couldn’t deal with all this treatment any further.

On her way home, since she couldn’t focus on anything that weren’t those nudes and the desire they had created in her, she had called Duncan, mostly because he might suggest her something to do in this case.

Unlike Duncan, due to the fact that they hadn’t known each other for much time, she was rather sweet and attentive with (Y/N).

She was almost afraid that any gesture might break her, bringing her away from Fallon.

And she couldn’t allow that.

So, many people in her life had left her: Alexis, Liam, Steven…

She couldn’t help but feel like it was some problem people had with her and her behavior, hence she had tried to soften it with Duncan and even more with (Y/N).

Although she hid a tougher personality, she was pretty shy and her relationship with Fallon, although went to an older date, wasn’t as smooth as Fallon’s with Duncan, who spoke business in and out of the bed and understood each other.

It still took a bit of nerves for Fallon to approach (Y/N), but she was getting better and she didn’t want this to make her back up in the entire process.

Duncan picked up the phone at the second try and seemed to already know the entire situation, which simplified Fallon’s mission, who straight up went to explain (Y/N)’s behavior, alongside the problematics of it on both her work and at home life.

“… I know that you can’t be back, but she is honestly going crazy, and she is crazy pissed with you” she mumbled, meanwhile she parked the car in the underground garage of their ‘little’ apartment, the one they shared whenever they were all in town.

“I’ll buy her a new pair of Louboutin” he mumbled, meanwhile Fallon exited her car, just to gently sit onto the front of it, not wanting to have this conversation in front of (Y/N).

She knew Duncan was joking and wasn’t taking lightly his absence, but at the same time she knew that a new pair of expensive shoes wouldn’t save him from (Y/N)’s anger.

“… that won’t be enough and that wouldn’t help me” mumbled Fallon “… I just… she is been intractable: a true fucking brat”.

“Then you know what brats deserve” spoke as if it was natural, Duncan “… they deserve to be punished, if you don’t want them to bother you anymore”.

“I am not like you Duncan!” she screamed, frustration coursing through her veins “… between me and (Y/N) there is no relationship like you and her… we… have a backstory different from yours and…”.

“Fallon” his voice focused all her attention on it, immediately and she huffed, calming finally her quickening breath “… do you actually believe that she loves you less?”.

“We don’t have the same happy relationship as you, two, do…” she huffed out definitely annoyed tht Duncan didn’t get her fear “… I was horrible to her in high school, I tormented her… and I am sure that she…”.

“… you think she hasn’t forgiven you?” Duncan’s voice was truly shocked that she hadn’t thought about it “… Fallon, she never was angry at you from the start! She might have been pretty vengeful with you but… she loves you, not more or less than me, she loves you exactly like me!”.

Although she knew all the obviousness Duncan was talking about was true, it didn’t settle in til he spoke about it and she could swear he was smirking at her silence.

“Ok, caught it boss… although I am pretty sure she loves me more, I am the one who got her that ‘La Perla’ lingerie set, last week” she tried to raise from the emotional outburst she had just had, trying to distract Duncan from it.

And he let her distract him indeed.

“… wait till I come back with my new Louboutin” he replied slyly, meanwhile she got up from the car, her ass having frozen there “… but seriously, Fallon, she won’t hate you, she is doing this to get a raise out of you; she hasn’t been receiving the same amount of attention since my trip started and she is just trying to regain it, through very bad manners”.

“Ok, I got it” she mumbled, biting her lips, meanwhile she adjusted her outfit, as she moved into the elevator to get to the penthouse “… wish me luck”.

“Tame that brat for me, sweetheart, and I’ll make you come so much next time we see each other that you’ll never know whether you are begging me to stop or keep going”.

It was useless to say that when she faced the porter, she was red as a tomato.

Fallon found (Y/N) waiting in her room.

Although (Y/N) had a shared room with the biggest bed she had found, she still needed some private room for herrself, which was either Fallon’s office or in (Y/N)’s case, her own design project, since she quite liked decorating it with the small things she found.

Not only their penthouse was stylish, but it held some kind of familiarity to it.

(Y/N) was quite proud of that effect and both Duncan and Fallon appreciated it.

But it was strange to find the other in some room that didn’t belong to them, but Fallon could see why she wouldn’t want to hang out in their shared bedroom: it was probably making her remember of Duncan’s absence.

But she wasn’t only in her room, she was also wearing Fallon’s expensive robe, treating it as if it was merely a rag, meanwhile she looked through her dresses.

And she would have found it adorable, had she asked to try out the outfit.

(She still found her adorable, but… she was pissed).

“What the heck are you doing here?” she called out (Y/N)’s attention who was rather surprised by her appearance but didn’t let it stop her from snooping even more in Fallon’s luxurious clothes, grabbing a miniskirt by Fendi as if she was in some sweatshop.

“… just grabbing some options for the event of tomorrow” she mumbled, although embarrassment was true on her face and in her tone, evidently realizing that what she had done wasn’t exactly… proper.

“Well, you know that if you want to do such thing you have to ask me before, little girl” she tried not to sound too angry with her, focusing her tone on stern, meanwhile she set down in her ‘mommy’ persona, seeing (Y/N)’s body immediately reacting at her.

“… I didn’t think you would mind it honestly” and then your voice held some kind of cutting tone to it “… it isn’t like you seem to be caring about what I did, lately”.

She then turned around, discarding Fallon’s robe away from her body, revealing the rather racy lingerie she had been wearing and in which she had taken the pictures that had teased Fallon with, during that reunion, and tried quickly the gown, adjusting it with her fingers.

But Fallon had had enough and, with no care for that gown (she had never liked it truly) she discarded it onto the floor, from her body, without a second thought, hearing (Y/N) squealing under her rough ministrations.

“… this doesn’t authorize you to act like a brat” she said, meanwhile she spread (Y/N)’s legs apart, teasing her over the silky panties, moving the little pearls that were set in the middle as a decoration over her most tender skin, avoiding her clit.

Fallon felt (Y/N) nervously tremble under her, already excited by the ministrations and he kept them up, with the barest of touches.

“… to act like a brat, to forget your place and your duties and more importantly…” and she let her tongue glide onto your panties, moving those little pearls onto the (Y/N)’s clit, who moaned loudly, but was immediately shocked when Fallon slapped lightly her thighs, taking her back from the pleasured state she was “… to fucking tease your mommy when she is busy”.

An unamused expression appeared on (Y/N)’s face, and she just tried to roll her eyes at her, but Fallon wasn’t having any of that.

She immediately raised up on her feet and grabbed tightly her face in her hands, pushing it up so that she could be at eye-level with her, which definitely stopped a bit that brattish attitude.

Although attentively, Fallon lightly pushed her onto the bed, where she fell definitely ungracefully, making her smirk softly, but she didn’t keep that attitude up as Fallon came back with lace ropes, although she still managed to send her an annoyed look.

“…oh, are you going to also get the blindfold out?” she tried her, pushing her buttons and Fallon tried not to give in.

“No, I love seeing your eyes rolling back in your head in pleasure, but because you are being a brat… I might get a gag, if you keep on speaking back at my, little girl” she mumbled, meanwhile she tied her arms over her head, into the bedframe, and then proceeded to block each legs open, securing each of them to the opposite footboard.

She immediately shut up, at the mention of the ‘gag’, making Fallon coo at her teasingly, meanwhile she pushed her clothed body onto hers, pushing her hair away from her face, as she pushed her hand down her body, till it cupped her sex in her hands, making (Y/N) moan lightly, shushed by Fallon’s lips.

She continued the teasing till her fingers finally slipped beyond the elastic band of the silky panties, as Fallon’s hand raised up to her breasts, gently kneading them, over the fabric, as (Y/N) pleaded with Fallon for something more, for more skin to skin contact.

And Fallon didn’t make her beg for it much more…

…yet

She gently lazed her hands over her wet folds, using it as a lubricating to softly let her fingers in her deepest secrets, making her huff a bit at the sudden penetration.

“…are you enjoying it, sweetie?” she teased her, raising her hand to reach her chin to tilt it softly so (Y/N) could look at her face “… because this is your punishment”.

Fallon knew that, from the way (Y/N) smirked at her, she had thought she had won, that Fallon was just going to give her the attention she been begging.

But wait till she discovered that Fallon’s plans were pretty different from hers.

Fallon continued teasing her, with her fingers, meanwhile her thumb went over her little pearl teasing it softly, before she intensified the thrusting of his finger and the movement onto her clit, decidedly making her reach that ecstasy…

… that she stole from her, interrupting any action that she was delivering on her pinky nest.

“… you wanted attention, well now you have all my attention” smirked Fallon, before she lowered between her legs, delving exploratively her tongue between her folds, meanwhile she screamed, the oversensitivity between her legs definitely coming handy for this punishment “… now don’t mind mommy’s teasing, I just want to make sure that your amusement doesn’t end up too quickly”.

And it certainly didn’t.

Now you would finally know better than to act up like a brat.

… maybe.

[gashinamoon]

Stuck With Each Other - an Olicity AU

Rating: T

Words: 4421

Prompt: It’s late, everything in the airport is closed, and our flight just got cancelled. I have never met you before but I guess we’re stuck together until the next flight. (thanks to @otpisms for the prompt!) 

Notes: Another title, another song lyric. Does anyone else still jam out to the song Stuck With Each Other by Shontelle whilst thinking about Olicity? Just me? Okay.

It felt right to title this fic after that song because they kind of literally are stuck with each other.This was the original fic I started for Camp NaNoWriMo but 5k words in I started to struggle. I've actually started the next (and final) chapter so hopefully it won't be too long before I finish and post it! I was hoping posting the first part would motivate me to finish it... so yeah. I hope you like this! 

Thanks to @bokayjunkie here for always letting me muse and for reading through this and encouraging me to keep writing even when I feel like everything I write just sucks. I super appreciate it <3

This is un-beta'd so all mistakes are mine. I'm always looking for a beta if anyone wants to volunteer though! I would really appreciate the help more than I can express. Feel free to send me a message on here or on Twitter if you're interested :)

Read on AO3

“Was that your boyfriend?”

Felicity looked up, startled. Was this guy speaking to her?

“Excuse me?”

She took a stab in the dark and guessed that yes, he was speaking to her. Given that he was now smiling at her.

“On the phone. Was that your boyfriend?”

Felicity frowned. Why was he asking her that? Why were guys so hell bent on asking girls about their boyfriends before even asking them about themselves?

“No, my girlfriend actually. I date girls,” she grinned, enjoying the shocked expression that he tried to conceal by nodding his head and looking away quickly. “I'm kidding. Not that there's anything wrong with dating girls, I just… don't bend that way. And anyway, regardless of who I am or am not dating, don't you know it's rude to eavesdrop on someone’s conversation, a complete stranger’s can I just add, and then ask them who they were talking to? Don't you have manners?”

This time he looked apologetic. A little uncomfortable too, but mostly just sorry. For himself probably, for ending up stuck talking to a babble-mouth like her. Then again, he started the conversation. Somewhat rudely she might add. So on his head be it. It's not like there was anyone else who looked even remotely interesting to talk to anyway. And besides, he was cute. A tired and bedraggled kind of cute, like he hadn't slept for more than a few hours last night, but cute all the same. So she’d put aside his rudeness of eavesdropping on her conversation as long as she could keep looking at him. He definitely reminded her of someone but she couldn't remember who. Probably some model on the front of a magazine somewhere. He had the jawline for it. And the eyes. And the perfectly groomed facial hair. And definitely the shoulders. And probably also the - anyway, where was she? Right, insulting a cute, model-like stranger.

“I'm sorry. I get a little… chatty when I'm stressed.” Felicity offered, smiling apologetically at him.

“And insulting?” He grinned.

She could tell he was joking but she still felt bad. Damn this cute, model-like stranger for making her feel bad when he was the one who had been rude in the first place.

“Sorry about that. It comes with the chattiness. I'm honestly not a mean person by nature, it's just… anxiety,” She blushed, shaking her head, effectively dismissing herself automatically before she went into over sharing mode and ran her fingers through her hair.

Phew, why had it suddenly got so hot in here?!

He laughed softly, clearly sensing her discomfort. “Don't worry, I was kidding. I'm the one who should apologise. Because you're right. It is rude to listen to people’s conversations and it is rude to assume they’re talking to their boyfriend and it is rude to then confirm or deny your own suspicions by asking them who they were talking to. I guess I get a little… nosy when I’m stressed.”

Felicity laughed too. Funny and cute? Maybe he wasn't a model after all. Weren't models supposed to be boring? She internally rolled her eyes at herself at that thought. Just because people were pretty, didn't automatically mean they were boring, that's just what she’d told herself several times a day when her self confidence had been at an all time low during college. She wasn't supposed to be so bitter anymore. She’d left that part of her behind in the garbage sack with her dark makeup and jet black, box hair-dye. Well, for the most part anyway.

“You strike me as the kind of guy who would have asked a girl that question even if you hadn't been stressed.”

He held his hands up in innocence and shrugged.

“I'll just be over here pretending that didn't hurt my feelings,” he grinned.

Felicity blushed again. She probably shouldn't have said that to a complete stranger. But it was 2am and she’d been in this airport for almost 12 hours straight and if she’d had any control over her brain to mouth filter before, it was definitely wearing thin by now. She knew he was joking about it having hurt his feelings but she felt bad all the same. It wasn't really fair of her to assume this guy was like every other guy she’d ever known.

The storm that had been threatening to arrive all weekend had finally arrived on the day she was supposed to be flying home and every single news channel in the country was reporting about it. It was bad, probably one of the worst storms in the last few years, and it was causing chaos all over the state. All over a few states, actually. Airports and train stations had been on lockdown for hours now due to conditions being way too treacherous to travel in. Felicity had been almost grateful that her flight had been delayed to begin with because she wasn't the best flyer anyway, let alone flying in bad weather conditions, but 12 hours later she was starting to consider blackmailing someone into letting her fly a plane herself. It couldn't be that hard, right? She was a quick learner and god, she needed a shower and her bed. She also didn't like thinking about having to miss work, given that had she taken her flight when she was supposed to, she’d have been setting her alarm right about now, ready to get up to go in just five hours time. Even if her plane took off now, she still wouldn't make it back in time for work. And where most people would delight in the possibility of having time off work, for Felicity, it was just another thing to worry about. She’d only have twice as much to do whenever she did make it in and a miserable and insatiable boss who would never let her forget it.

She picked at her nail polish, not knowing what else to say to the cute guy who had somehow ended up in her life. She could probably leave it now, that's usually how random encounters with strangers in airports tended to go; you chat briefly about directions or the time or the weather and then you go on with your life as you were before. But if she was going to be stuck here for the foreseeable future, it would be nice to have someone to talk to. She’d been worrying herself into a ball of tension all day because she’d had no one to talk to and all her stuff was checked in so she had nothing to do. The battery on her tablet had died hours ago and her phone was fast heading the same way and the only book she had in her carry-on was one she’d already read, one she’d thrown into her bag without paying attention to in her rush from her hotel to the airport. Her rush that was completely and absolutely pointless given that her flight was now delayed by six hours. The stores and restaurants had closed a couple of hours ago and so she’d been sitting in the same metallic chair for the last four hours, not daring to stray too far from the flight gate just in case the delays suddenly cleared and she could be the first in the queue for boarding, only standing up every half an hour or so to stretch her back and legs. Sitting gave her way too much time to think. And thinking was something Felicity was all too good at. Or bad at, depending on which way she looked at it. She could think her way out of any situation, her brain was impossibly brilliant sometimes, but that same brain often worked in overdrive even when there was no situation that needed working out of, meaning she thought about things she’d really rather not think about. Like being stuck in this airport for the rest of her life. Like dying right here on this stupidly uncomfortable bench. Like her mom finding out that she hadn't bothered wearing makeup or a cute dress that day when she was called to identify her body. Hence the ball of tension she had become over the last few hours. So it would be nice to maybe have someone to talk to, even if they only slightly distracted Felicity from her overactive imagination.

Not to mention that this guy was definitely the only person around her age at this gate, and not that there was anything wrong with middle-aged and old people but if she had to talk to someone, she’d rather it be someone who could actually remember being a teenager because it wasn't that long ago, as opposed to someone who only remembered it because they talked about “the good old days” so much. And okay, mostly she just wanted to keep talking to him because he was by far one of the most attractive people she’d seen in a long time, and she’d just spent the weekend in Vegas which was the second or third home of the ridiculously beautiful. So go figure.

“It wasn't my boyfriend, by the way.”

“Hmm?”

“On the phone. It wasn't my boyfriend because I don't have a boyfriend. It was my mom. She gets kinda sad when I leave. She doesn't see me often enough, she says. So she was just calling to see if I'm alright, you know with the flight delays and stuff. She knows I panic and stress myself out when things like this happen. But I'm sure she would have called even if my flight wasn't delayed. She calls a lot, especially right after I leave her. She wanted me to go back to her place and stay another night, pay for another flight and fly home tomorrow once the storm has passed but I don't think I could take another night here. The heat drives me crazy. Amongst other things about this place that also drive me crazy. At least when I'm sitting here in the airport, it feels like I'm actually leaving.”

He smiled, softly.

“Sounds like your mom cares about you a lot.”

“She does. In her own way. But she also happens to be one of the other things that drives me crazy about this place,” Felicity laughed.

“Is there a parent on this planet who doesn't drive their kid crazy?”

“I guess not. But my mum is just… she's my mom. That's all there is to it.”

She wasn't about to try and explain her mother to a complete stranger. She couldn't even explain her mother to someone who knew her.

“So. Where are you headed? After this storm passes I mean,” Oliver asked, smiling.

“Star City. What about you?”

“Me too. What a small world,”

Felicity laughed. “More like what a small coincidence given that the gate for the flight to Star City is right there.”

“Even so. Not many people want to go to Star City anymore. It's not exactly tourist hotspot of the year,”

“I'm not a tourist, I live there, and you can't help where you live. Or, well, you can, I guess. I could move if I wanted to. But I don't think I want to. I like the rain and how it's hardly ever above 15 degrees Celsius. And okay, I get that literally everyone thinks it's a dangerous place to live given the rise in criminal activity over the last few years but honestly, when you actually live there yourself it's almost as if it's not as bad as people think. You don't notice the bad stuff as much after awhile. Yeah, you don't really walk down the street alone at night unless you absolutely have to but isn't that the same everywhere when you're a woman? Then again, maybe I'm just making excuses because the alternative to living in Star City would be moving back in with my mom here. And it took way too long for me to get out of here to give up and move back just because of a few dumb criminals.”

He laughed softly.

“You sound like you've thought about this a lot,”

“I have. I think about everything a lot. And then I talk about it. A lot…”

This time when he laughed again, it was loudly and genuinely, and it made Felicity feel warm inside. She didn't even really mind that he was laughing at her.

“So what about you? You live there or are you just visiting the crime capital of the country to do some good?” She grinned.

“I live there, just like you. But I also like to think I can do some good too,”

“Do you also like living in Star City just like me? Or do you only live there because the rent is cheaper on your typical 2 bedroomed apartment due to said rise in criminal activity?”

“No, I love it there too. Everything and everyone I know and love is there since I grew up there. I kind of can't imagine living anywhere else. It’s just home. Simple as that,”

Felicity smiled. She could tell it wasn't just "simple as that" and that there was way more to what he was saying than he was actually saying but she wasn't about to push it. This guy made her so curious and she wasn't sure whether that was a good or bad thing. He was one of those people she imagined you could know forever and still never know everything about them.

“And I guess the crime thing is easier to ignore for me,” he continued. “Given that I'm a guy,”

“Finally! A guy who acknowledges how easy life is for them!” Felicity laughed, making him laugh too.

Once he stopped laughing, he held out his hand and smiled.

“I'm Oliver, by the way.”

“Felicity.”

Oliver. The name suited him. And now she could finally stop referring to him as “cute guy” inside her head.

He laughed again and raised his eyebrows.

“What's funny about my name?” She asked.

“Nothing. I like your name. I'm just laughing about the part where you said you’ve been referring to me as ‘cute guy’ inside your head,”

Felicity’s eyed widened and she felt herself blush hard. “I said that part out loud?”

Oliver chuckled. “Unfortunately so.”

She groaned and hid her face in her palms.

“I'm so sorry. Please just ignore everything that comes out of my mouth. I can't really remember the last time I slept or ate or breathed fresh air and I'm seriously not in control of anything that comes out right now.”

“Don't be sorry. I'll take a compliment wherever I can get it. Delirious and sleep deprived or otherwise.”

“I'm sure you get plenty of compliments. Don't try to make me feel sorry for you,”

Oliver snorted. “Not as many as you might think,” he said, almost thoughtfully.

“It sounds like there's a story behind that,”

“Not one you'd like to hear.”

She tilted her head in question but Oliver looked away, obviously not wanting to talk anymore about it, and so she let it go. She couldn't possibly imagine a world in any universe where this man wouldn't be showered with infinite compliments but if he didn't want to talk about it then so be it.

For a panicked second she wondered if she’d said that out loud too but a quick glance in his direction confirmed that thankfully, she hadn't. He was just sitting thoughtfully, a neutral expression on his face, one he definitely wouldn't be wearing if she had accidentally said out loud the part about him being showered with compliments in every single universe. For the millionth time in her life, she thanked the google gods that most people couldn't read minds. Then again, knowing her luck, she’d probably end up sitting next to someone in the 1% of the population who could. How I Ended Up Sitting Next To A Telepathic Stranger almost sounded like the title of a really embarrassing memoir she could write one day.

“So, Oliver, what do you do when you're not sitting around in airports talking to blonde nerds like me?” She asked, changing the subject and deciding that this guy couldn't actually read her mind even if her brain was insisting that maybe he could.

He smiled at that. “What I do is boring and exactly why I get on planes to random cities every weekend just to escape.”

“Every weekend?”

“Well, almost every weekend. Minus, you know, Christmas and stuff.”

“Wow. That sounds pretty pricey,”

“If I told you what I did, you wouldn't think it was much of a price to pay,”

“But you're not going to tell me what you do? Because it's boring, right?”

“Right.”

“But it's not so boring that you can't afford to fly across the country every weekend though,”

“I said it was boring. I didn't say it didn't pay well.”

Felicity snorted. She appreciated bluntness and this guy was turning out to be exactly that. And whilst he was blunt, he was also mysterious and guarded. She liked that too. She liked having something to figure out.

“Touché,” she smiled, laughing softly.

He smiled back. “So, Felicity, what do you do when you're not sitting in airports talking to ‘cute guys’ like me?” he asked, winking at her.

She blushed and had the urge to elbow him in the ribs but she didn't because hello? This guy was still stranger and she really wasn't about to cross over into his personal space any more than sharing the armrest with him.

“I actually don't usually speak to cute guys in airports. Or guys in general. Or anyone really. Hence why what I do is sit in an office by myself fixing and programming computers for a boss who probably doesn't even remember my name. I like it that way. I like to just show up to work knowing that I probably won't have to speak to anyone for the entire day. Myself being the exception. Talking to myself actually helps me concentrate. But that's the only social interaction I like to participate in. Minimal social interaction means less chance to embarrass myself. Like I’m doing right now by giving you a stupidly long winded answer to a question that only needed a 4 or 5 word reply. And I'm going to shut up now since you're clearly not going to stop me,”

Holy frack, she needed a nap. She really needed a nap. She wasn't ever going to shut up otherwise. She'd known this guy precisely 5 minutes and already given him a one way ticket to thinking she was a complete freak. Way to go, Felicity.

She glanced over at him from behind her hair to find him smiling softly at her though, and not staring at her in complete bewilderment like she’d expected. Like people usually stared at her after she rambled about something.

“Sorry… did I mention that I get chatty when I'm stressed?” She laughed, almost uncomfortably, feeling slightly awkward under his gaze.

He laughed. “You did. And it's fine. You don't have to apologise. It's kind of endearing actually,”

That made her laugh out loud. “Endearing? That's a new one. I'll remember that amongst the string of weird and freaky and annoying and irritating,” she deadpanned, rolling her eyes.

An almost pensive look crossed his face then, but before she could question it too much he pushed it aside and smiled at her. “So you work in IT? It sounds complicated. My sister tried to teach me basic code once and I was completely hopeless.”

“It's actually kind of fun once you know what you're doing. But I get that it's not for everyone. It definitely takes a certain amount of patience and brain focus to get it. Plus, staring at a screen for 12 hours a day does jacked up things to your eyes after awhile.” She gestured quickly to her face. “Hence the glasses that I now have to wear permanently as opposed to just for reading and writing like when I was a kid. And when you're a stubborn perfectionist like I am, a 12 hour day soon turns into a 15 or 16 hour day and then all of a sudden you can't really remember the last time you slept.”

Oliver chuckled. “Yeah, I get that.”

She smiled back. He really did look like he understood. What did this man do that he felt was so boring? Maybe it wasn't boring. Maybe that was just a cover up. Maybe it was embarrassing or a sacred secret thing. Maybe he wasn't a model, but a male escort or something? He had the looks for that too. And if he was used to working 16 hour days, she was sure he must have the stamina for it as well. Holy frack, what was she even thinking?

Before she could dwell too much on what she was thinking, Felicity caught wind of her favourite smell in the entire world and it stopped every single train of thought in her mind.

“Oh my god, do you smell that?!” She asked no one in particular.

Oliver looked confused. “Smell what?”

“That. Coffee!”

Oliver looked at her then like maybe she was insane for yelling about warm, caffeinated drinks in the middle of an airport but holy frack, it smelled like the greatest cup of coffee ever and she just couldn't help herself. And okay, it probably wasn't the greatest cup of coffee because this was an airport and airport coffee tended to be so overpriced that it took away some of the taste but it was gone 2 in the morning and the last time she’d had a cup of coffee was hours ago.

“Felicity, I really can't smell anything,”

“How can you not smell that?! I can hardly remember the last time I even looked at a cup of coffee. Do you think someone has a thermostat with pre-made coffee in? Or do you think there's maybe one store open that sells it?! I thought everything was closed!”

“You should probably ask that guy over there,” Oliver said, laughing somewhat awkwardly, and gesturing to his left where a man was standing with a steaming styrofoam cup. “That is, if he hasn't already heard you yelling about it…”

Felicity ignored his sarcastic remark and didn't even think twice about leaving her bag and walking just slow enough to not look like she was running over to the man. She tapped him on the shoulder.

“Excuse me? Is that coffee yours? Wait, I mean, obviously it's yours, you're the one drinking it, duh. What I meant was, did you bring it or is there a coffee shop open somewhere? Only I looked around earlier but I couldn't see anywhere that was open given how late it is, or early I guess, and it would honestly just be the best thing ever if you knew where I could get some? I’m really hoping you do know because if you’re smart and just brought your own coffee rather than buying it somewhere here then I'm probably going to start crying and-”

“Felicity?” She felt a hand on her arm and quickly registered in her suddenly desperately coffee-starved state that it belonged to Oliver.

He had nice hands. Why hadn't she noticed that yet? Warm and firm hands that were soft at the same time.

“Is she okay?” She heard the man with the coffee ask.

“She's just tired. And I think what she was trying to ask is if you know where we can get some coffee, please?” Oliver replied, smiling humorously, like he was trying to hold back a laugh.

Great, he was laughing at her again. Why did her brain hate her so much that she continuously made an idiot out of herself? She smiled up at the man, embarrassed.

“I'm sorry. And he's right. That’s exactly what I was trying to ask. I know it probably didn't sound like it but, alas, it was. I was getting to it. Eventually,” she shrugged, wishing the ground would swallow her whole.

“There's a cafe a couple of minutes away, down that way, by the lost and found counter. They close soon but yeah, they have coffee. It's crappy but for 2am, it's almost not bad at the same time,” he laughed, pointing behind them.

The hole Felicity was imagining falling into evaporated instantly. Being swallowed by the earth could wait for now. There was plenty of time for it later. After she’d finally got her damn cup of crappy airport coffee.

“Oh my god, thank you so much!” She exclaimed, only just managing to fight back the urge to reach up and hug this man.

“Um, you're welcome? Enjoy,” he replied, turning back to look out of the window again, but she barely heard him. All she could think about was that crappy cup of airport coffee.

“Do you want one too?” She asked Oliver, practically bouncing with anticipation.

“Sure. I'm not sure I'm quite as excited about it as you are, but I could drink a coffee right now,”

He handed her over her bag, the bag she’d just completely forgotten about and left on the floor when she’d ran over to talk to that guy. It was sweet, in a way. He didn't have to care what happened to her stuff if she left it abandoned in an airport, he didn't even know her, but he’d made sure nothing happened to it all the same. She smiled and took it from him, slipping the strap over her shoulder.

“Thanks. I guess I probably shouldn't leave this lying around. In an airport of all places. I promise I'm not a terrorist. Which I guess is something a terrorist would say. But I'm serious! I don't have any bombs on me. Oh god, I can't believe I just said the B word in an airport, I'm going to-”

“Felicity? Relax. I know you're not a terrorist. You look like the kind of person who would pick up snails from the pavement and put into the grass so they wouldn't get trampled on, not the kind of person who would blow up an airport.” She chuckled at that because he was so right. She was the least terrorising person she could think of. “You were just excited. Easy mistake to make,” he laughed. “Anyway, coffee?”

Ah, that six letter word. Her favourite six letter word in the entire world.

If you want to be tagged in my fics/chapter updates, feel free to let me know! :)

(Also, let me know if there’s anything you don’t want to be tagged in! i.e. fics that aren’t strictly Olicity/Arrow, I’m more than happy to remove tags!)

@geniewithwifi @scu11y22 @dandeelies @ghostfoxlovely @bellemmie @youngfolksoldsoul @keytoflowers2509 @relativelyobsessedfangirl @obliviouschickwithagun @oliverfel4 @hope-for-olicity @lemonlime799 @stygian-omada-fan  

[imogenbennettblogsdp]

Moving image and Semiotics - Session 4

Todays session was focused on the moving image and semiotics within it, at first the word semiotic scares me, mostly because it is a word I am not familiar with. so how do we conquar that issue? well we learn the word.

Semiotics (noun) - the study of signs and symbols and their use or interpretation. 

so what does that mean? well I think it means, what the viewer takes away from the image (eg, what they think the message is). I did some digging on the web and found this website (which pretty much confirms what I suspected the word means). “the relationship between a sign, an object, and a meaning. The sign represents the object, or referent, in the mind of an interpreter. “Interpretant” refers to a sign that serves as the representation of an object.”  

Moving on from that, I was presented with this image:

instantly I think of Authority and western cowboys, because the American police force wear badges and they are massively represented in film and tv (more than UK police) you will probably recognise this phrase “hand in your gun and badge” for police getting fired more than you'll recognise “your fired fellow policeman, hand in your baton”. (well I do anyway). and cowboys are from America which leads me to think of America when I see this image. 

I found this little task interesting, it made me notice how much thought I can generate from looking at one image. and that the power of what films can do as well and how I can study them. This links to Metonymic meaning (a psychological approach to studying screen).

Synecdoche (another big scary word) which is a figure of speech that relates to a whole thing (eg, If I was to say “gimme a slice” you would auto-magically think of pizza, and would hopefully give me that slice) and this is important for film. (as described in the slide) we can use it to determine on screen characters, I use this in “Joker”(2019,Philips) 

as when he has the faceprint on we can say its a mask/ trying to make people happy - using semiotics that what we see when we see clowns 

From this image alone I can see that joker is wearing clown makeup which makes me think that his character is using a mask to hide who he really is and to put a ‘face’ on that he feels other people will like, this gives me the feeling that his traits are venerable and sad. He is using Clown makeup to make people laugh/ happy, using Semiotics its what we relate Clowns to (or use to). Clowns are made to make people laugh and happy which is what joker is portraying. (if I was to go deeper into this I would relate laughter to madness and so forth but this isn't an essay... although I did enjoy this little break down). 

This is all pretty similar to what I explored in session (blog) 3. connotation and denotation with looking at images and exploring the messages behind them, only difference is in this session i’m looking at moving images. (I did touch on semiotics but it wasn't my main focus of that blog - hence why I go into more detail in this one). 

Stuart Hall & Encoding and Decoding. This is slightly related to Synecdoche and semiotics in terms of interpretation but this has a twist, it's more of an active spectatorship. My summary - when your presented with messages from tv or film you will interpret it depending on your experiences/ background etc, its quite interesting as its a more risky approach to decoding. Risky as in someone can take total offence in something or they might not react to it at all. Risky. 

Then I was shown a video Close Reading - Jennine Lanouette’s Visuals and Action on an analysis of a scene from ‘Mad Max’. I paid a lot of attention to this video essay and found it really helpful to see the theories I've been looking at in action. (I like to analyse scenes/ films and she had some really good points). I like her decoding of the bad guy:

She touched on the fact that the viewer sees an dirty/ intimidating car with a skull mounted on the front and those images register in our unconscious and we know the car is not friendly. (she plays on the viewers interpretation) and inside we see a man whose face is covered with a mask and sunglasses - which we instantly don't trust as we cannot see his eyes (my words - which is the window to the souls and his is blocked... prompting the idea ‘does he have a soul?’) I liked her technique of watching the scene first all the way than going in detail through each frame/shot looking at each detail (which is good at gathering detail but thinking of it that can be very time consuming, so perhaps every other shot). 

This leads me to my next task... Decoding in groups. We were given scenes from different films. Okay so in the class I did the ‘Phoney’ scene from Grease but I didn't really enjoy it personally (not my type of film, which I know is very unproductive and silly as all film analysis is analysis. looking back I wish I gave it more of a chance but I couldn't decode much). So for my analysis here I am going to talk about ‘Garden party’ scene from Get Out. as I saw a lot of potential in this film and picked out quite a bit. 

Now for this analysis I will be giving away spoilers... as I have already watch this film (and loved it) so to reference Stuart Hall theory my interpretation will be different as from experience I know the plots. 

starting off we see Chris (protagonist) and his girlfriend introducing him to a couple, Rose is wearing red which represents danger whereas it contrasts with Chris’s blue (blue = calm like water) shirt. so on the first bat we register that there is some type of danger emitted from rose, making us not fully trust her. 

The couple that Rose and Chris talk to are ironically wearing black which makes us think of a funeral attire, relating to death. but what has died? is it psychical or mentally? or are they simply dressing for the future?. and with my dramatic irony knowledge the “black is in fashion” line the man says is quite cynical as these people will take the bodies of the people who are of different colour to them. so saying that a body is in fashion makes me not trust these characters and also dislike them too. 

Chris holding this camera makes me think of him as an observant character, he is constantly taking stuff and ‘has a good eye’, from my knowledge he ‘may’ be the one to escape (no spoiler there). But notice how everyone else is watching him, like he is a piece of art... or more relatable to the situation, a piece of meat (or a pair of trainers) it makes the viewer uncomfortable and almost want to shout to Chris “Its behind you!!” (from personal experience it won't make a difference, he can't hear us).  The background is also interesting, the dense forest makes us feel like we're trapped and isolated “middle of nowhere” springs to mind. (the lady in the back is also wearing red to represent danger).

I will also like to talk about this interaction “Good to see another brother around here” I find this scene to be most intriguing when you have seen the film, only because it adds to the dramatic irony of the scene. Andre (I had to research his name as the woman doesn't introduce him, which is interesting in itself to make me think she doesn't see him as a person more of an accessory, referencing back to the line “black is in fashion”) his body language is off, he is acting like an old man (no offence to old men) from being slightly hunched over and the way he holds his drink, His costume design also points me in that direction of old man (again no offence) the sun hat to blazer with a sandy colour. it is a big contrast to Chris who supposedly is around his age (psychically).

I found this task interesting, its nice to dive into a scene and focus on detail and using decoding to... decode it. This experience was different to how it was in class where I was working in a team which is a 50/50 for me as I didn't have the freedom to dive deep and develop my ideas as much as I did right now, alone. And in that particular team discussion we weren't really productive, I wanted to focus on the task but I could sense that wasn't the same for the rest of the team. Whereas it can be productive, you see things you didn't see before, and relating to the Stuart Hall theory, they would have different experiences to me which means a variation. 

Next task in teams we looked at fairytale writing, Going against type and changing an already well known character/story. Being the classic teenagers we chose to focus on Jack in the beanstalk but instead of beans...its drugs. (so “jack and the drugs” has more of a ring to it if you ask me. Part one of the task was to think of the details, location - Bristol (because Bristol is apparently the capital city of cocaine, and myself being from Bristol I don't agree with this but I find it funny to take the mick out of where I live...who doesn't) but I found this fun and essentially the best part of story witting. setting up the scene or painting the canvas, picking out the legos before you use them.

Then as a group started to write the story using the Pixar prompt story structure  by Ken Adams. 

it is a bit messy but to admit to you we were having a little bit too fun with it and focused a little too hard on task one. But reflecting on this if I did this task alone I most likely would of struggled to think of what to do as I do find it difficult to pin an idea down and stick to it whereas in the team I had the opinions and help  from my team to focus and develop an single idea. I also had fun doing this which isn't it the whole point? to have fun and enjoy it. 

[akcampbellandsons]

How To Buy An Engagement Ring – A Full Guide For Him And Her

Hi there and welcome to our guide for how to buy an engagement ring.

First of all, we do suggest to buy engagement rings together.   This is a really beautiful experience to share together and it means that you get the engagement ring that your partner wants.

However, if you want it to be a surprise and propose whilst on a sun kissed, island beach somewhere, you need to do a bit of detective work to make sure you buy the right one!

This means looking at their jewellery box, asking friends and family or you can give us a call or pop in anytime to our shop on Kirkcaldy High Street.

We really do suggest to do this together as if you buy the style you like and it isn't what is wanted, it isn't a great start!!

However, we're across from the old cinema in Kirkcaldy and Richard or Jackie will be happy to point you in the right direction regarding cut, styles and carats and let you see our selection of beautiful engagement rings from classic and contemporary to antique and vintage and everything in between up to modern day.

Our number is 01592 264305.

You can have a look at just some of the different styles and designs we have available on our main engagement rings page over on our Kirkcaldy website here.

We won't go into the 4 C's of Cut, Clarity , as you can read our "4 C's" guide here and did we mention we have a code on that page for 10% off?

We will go into the 5th "C" which is price and the myth started by the jewellery company De Beers (who more or less own the diamond industry) and said that the engagement ring should be 1 to 2 months wages.  See what they're trying to do there haha!

We say whatever you are comfortable spending. End of.

So, onto the main meat and potatoes of the guide...

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How to buy an engagement ring

"1: Buying from a jeweller There are alternatives to buying an engagement ring from a jeweller. You could, perhaps, consider buying an antique ring from a shop or auction, but if you want a new ring it is best to visit as many jewellers as possible to gauge what is available on the market. It is worth remembering that major high-street jewellers are inevitably pricier than London's jewellery centre at Hatton Garden, so if you can visit there - many different shops, all in one street - so much the better. Consider, too, that jewellers are busiest in the run-up to Christmas and before Valentine's Day. August is traditionally their slowest month, so it may be the best time to ask for a better deal. Make sure you run this checklist through your head every time you visit a shop: · Does the store have a long-standing and solid local reputation? · Do the staff evidently possess a sound gemmological knowledge? Watch out for gratuitous and unexplained jargon. · Is the shop willing to sell you diamonds with a well-known gemmological certificate? If so, make sure you keep the original rather than a copy. · Is the shop a member of a trade association? If so, which one? · Will the shop present a detailed receipt with your purchase? This is key to any possible insurance claim or future repair. · Does the shop appear to have a busy repairs service? (A good indication of customer trust.) · Exactly which warranties and guarantees does the shop offer? Read them closely. · Will the salesperson let you examine the diamond through a loupe and on a white background? If diamonds are viewed on a black background, the eye's perception of colour is hindered. 2: On the web Buying diamond rings via the internet is not recommended because you should view the diamonds in person so that you can cover all of the above details. If you do choose to do so, only buy cert stones and pay special attention to the delivery terms and possible tax and duty charges if buying from a foreign-based site. But the internet does offer you a chance to do your homework."

See more from the original source here...

We don't suggest buying something that is going to be so precious as an engagement ring online as you really can't tell from the images what it's like or have a really good look at it before you buy.  You also need to  ask the questions above to the the jeweller personally to gauge trust.

Picking the Perfect Diamond Shape for Her Finger

"When it comes to engagement ring preferences, most women are particular about one crucial element: the shape of her diamond. There are ten basic cut shapes for diamonds: round, emerald, princess, cushion, asscher, heart, marquise, oval, radiant, and pear. The challenge lies in choosing the right one. You may have heard a few tips from your bride-to-be’s girlfriends about her ring shape preferences, but in the end, the right decision is up to you. (No pressure or anything.) If either of you are unsure about what shape to go with, however, we have the perfect solution! Choose the shape that best flatters her hand. Similar to picking clothes that look best for your body type, certain diamond cuts looks best on different hand sizes and shapes. So before you go hunting for that rock, take a look at your future fiancé’s hand. Take a really, really good look. Then keep this in mind:

For Short Hand Shapes

If she has square-shaped palms with short fingers, go for a smaller sized diamond. A shorter, tiny hand looks best with a smaller-sized gem because then everything appears to be delightfully proportioned. Don’t worry; this doesn’t mean her diamond will be dinky. Smaller sized diamonds look bigger on short hand shapes than they do on long, wide, or thin hand shapes, so the diamond will look appropriately large on her hand. Don’t pick bulkier cuts for her little finger. Keeping the carat size on the smaller side means you have more room in your budget to focus on the colour and clarity of her diamond; the spellbinding sparkle of the rock that makes her friends go “ooh” and “ahh.” Shapes to Wear:

Small Round

Asscher

Marquise

Princess

Oval

Pear

Shapes to Avoid:

Large Round

Emerald

Heart

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For Long Hand Shapes

A bride with rectangular palms and long fingers has many options, because long fingers accommodate many different diamond shapes. Round and princess diamonds tend to be the most popular choices, but if she is a little less traditional, an emerald could be the one. Long fingers also allow you to explore options that are off the beaten track, like an asymmetrical-set oval cut diamond. Shapes to Wear:

Round

Emerald

Cushion

Princess

Oval

Asscher

Shapes to Avoid:

Marquise

Radiant

Pear

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For Wide Hand Shapes

A woman with broad palms and wide fingers has more room for a heftier diamond. If she fits this hand type, it’s best to find the cut that allows for minimal skin to show on both sides of the rock because this will slenderize the finger. Don’t pick dainty shapes that will appear too frail for her strong hand. A cluster of diamonds makes a wide finger look slim! Ladies with wider fingers have more room to play with, which can be fun. She can pull off a larger than average carat size, a rock cluster, or something a little bolder. Shapes to Wear:

Round diamond with cluster

Radiant

Marquise (Set on the horizontal!)

Princess

Oval

Pear

Shapes to Avoid:

Marquise (Traditional)

Emerald

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For Thin Hand Shapes

Trying to determine which rings flatter a woman with oval palms and narrow fingers is like trying to see which clothes looks good on Gisele Bundchen, pretty much everything works! Because of this, focus your choice of shape based on her sense of style and fashion preferences. Is she classic? Go for a round or princess cut? Is she edgy? Try the emerald cut. Also note that many people make the mistake of buying too many carats for a slender finger. You don’t want to give her premature arthritis, so think about proportion. Shapes to Wear:

Round

Emerald

Cushion

Princess

Oval

Pear

Shapes to Avoid:

Radiant

Heart

Ultimately, the diamond most flattering for her finger will be the diamond that is given with love. When you put your heart and soul into picking the perfect diamond shape, she’ll know, and be proud to show off the diamond you picked just for her."

See more from the original source here...

10 Different Diamond Cuts

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"The round cut diamond is the most popular cut since 1919. Roughly 75% of all diamonds sold are of this variety. Round diamonds usually costs 25-35% more than other cuts because of two reasons; One, the demand is very high and two, the yield is very low. This means that a lot of the stone has to be removed to make this shape.  Due to its proportion and symmetry, they utilize the reflection of light equally, thus giving out its maximum brightness. The princess cut diamond was first created in 1980 and is the most popular fancy cut available. It is usually used for engagement rings and works with any style of rings, making it a popular choice. It’s a bit less expensive than round diamonds because a princess cut diamond can be made with a half of a whole diamond. Cushion cut diamonds are a square cut with rounded corners. It has been around for 200 years and is popular for people who prefer the classic look. Refinements in the cutting process have recently made this cut more popular. Emerald cut diamonds are most probably the most unique cut available. Only 3% of diamonds in the world are emerald cut. They have a very vintage and distinct look. It has a very subtle sparkle and it has a tendency to look larger due to the nature of its cut. This is known as the hall of mirrors effect. The cut creates flashes of light that contrasts the dark planes of the cut. Emerald cut diamonds costs 15-25% less than round cut diamonds. The Asscher cut diamond is very similar to the emerald cut. It was created back in 1902 by the Asscher Brothers, hence the name. Asscher cut diamonds were very popular back in the 1920’s, that’s why they are mostly seen in antique shops. Recently, they have made modifications with the Asscher cut that gave it more brilliance, making this cut more popular. Radiant cut diamonds were more popular back in the 1980’s. It is a bridge between the princess cut and the cushion cut. It is a square cut diamond with brilliant-cut surface pattern, which makes it really beautiful. It has a very modern look, combining the brilliance of round diamonds and the elegance of emerald cut diamonds, making really popular nowadays. Oval diamonds were first created back in the 1960’s. It is a brilliant cut diamond, like round diamonds, but it gives the illusion of a larger size. It has the same brilliance with the round diamond, making this popular with those who want a more unique look. The shape also gives the wearer the illusion of more slender fingers. Marquise diamonds are very distinct due its football-shaped appearance. It was created for King Louis XIV, who wanted a stone carved into the shape of what he described as “the perfect mouth”. It has a elongated shape, maximising the entire surface of the diamond and tends to give off the illusion of greater size. The pear diamond is a combination of the round and marquise cut diamond. It has a conical point on one end and gives the wearer the illusion of elongated fingers. It typically possesses a very good symmetry, but most can only appreciate its beauty in larger sizes. Heart cut diamonds are obviously made to represent love. It's a modified brilliant-cut diamond and is popular for pendants and rings. To fully appreciate the design, the diamond should be more than .50 carats. So, those are the most popular diamond cuts. When choosing a diamond, make sure to know what you really like. Do you prefer the vintage look? Or the more brilliant type? But, above all the criteria stated, what’s really important when buying a diamond is the memory. Despite the particular diamond cut you choose, they are forever so make sure you love it."

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These days non-diamond rings are getting popular.  So, if you're looking for something a little bit more "jazzy", here's a few different ideas for stones.

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"Gemstone Engagement Rings Non-diamond engagement rings are becoming almost as popular as traditional diamond engagement rings. Below are links to colourful a la mode gemstones which are suitable for eye-catching engagement rings. Coloured Diamond Engagement Rings Are you searching for traditional classic diamond engagement rings, or exquisite coloured diamond engagement rings? Use our helpful links below to find out more about the different types of coloured diamonds and diamond engagement ring styles. Black Diamond Engagement Rings For a unique engagement ring that makes a statement. Yellow Diamond Engagement Rings As one of the most popular types of fancy diamond engagement rings, yellow diamond engagement rings come in a wide range of beautiful soft to intense yellow shades. Blue Diamond Engagement Rings From cool icy tones to rich warm summer blues, blue diamond engagement rings are famous for their depth, flash and fire. Pink Diamond Engagement Rings Made with one of the rarest types of diamonds in shades of subtle coral to vivid rose, pink diamond engagement rings definitely make a romantic statement."

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Even if you're on a budget, there are plenty of engagement ring options available in our shop on the High Street in Kirkcaldy near the old cinema. Pop in any time between between 10am and 4pm Tuesday to Saturday or give Richard or Jackie a call on 01592 264305 We will be honoured to help you choose a beautiful ring which is both affordable and will stand the test of time. Here's a map with directions and our address below. We hope this has helped,  thanks for reading and we hope to see you soon!

How To Buy An Engagement Ring – A Full Guide For Him And Her is courtesy of A.K. Campbell and Sons