#museum tickets are being discussed | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

selarina · 6 months ago

Text

Bleeding Heart Dove (Part 3)

-> Nanami Kento x Reader

Summary: After acquiring two tickets for a play by the docks, you and Nanami get ready with anticipation.

Tags: angst, slow burn, marriage au, hurt/comfort, miscommunication, unresolved tension (they need to fuck nasty), smoking (discussion of quitting)

Word Count: 2.5k words

Read on AO3 | Part 1 | Part 2

Light seeps through the thin curtains of your hotel room window, stirring you awake. It’s a weak light, but it’s insistent, and you turn away. But the curtains are wide open—no doubt a result of Nanami being out on the balcony.

He was always an early riser, which prompted you to do better in that regard.

Your hand brushed against the cold sheets beside you as you shifted in bed. Slowly, you got up and headed to the bathroom, knowing that bathing right now would be your only chance today. The day was busy. Markets, museums, restaurants—exciting, but a little daunting.

Emerging from the steamy bathroom, the cold air pricked at your damp skin. Pulling your bathrobe tighter around you, you grabbed your lying pack of cigarettes and an obscenely bright yellow lighter, making your way out to the balcony.

You leaned your forearms on the railing, and as you turned, there he was— just as you expected. Nanami was sat on the jute chair, reading glasses perched on his nose, eyes fixed on his lap.

He had been there for a while, wrestling with a pesky crossword puzzle.

He looked up as you joined him, his eyes catching the wetness of your hair and the flimsy towel loosely perched atop your head. You slipped a cigarette between your dry lips and flicked the lighter.

The first drag was deep, the smoke accompanying the two of you this morning.

“Filthy habit,” he tutted, his voice a gentle chiding.

You turned, a soft smirk playing on your lips as you exhaled a thin stream of smoke. “Good morning to you too,” you murmured.

“Morning,” he says. “There’s some orange juice,” he points to the table with half a jar of orange.

“Yes, yes—Gimme!” you said, sitting down and pouring some into the empty glass beside it. Freshly squeezed orange juice after a smoke. Perhaps life wasn’t half as bad as you made it out to be.

Nanami watched you again, the cigarette between your lips, the smoke swirling around you as you took another drag.

“I wish you’d quit,” he said aloud. He’s disapproved of your smoking for a while. – a filthy habit you picked up two years ago when you got prompted and the workload tickled into your stress. He had tutted and thrown away countless packs, yet never before had he asked you to quit outright.

“You want me to quit?” you asked.

He nodded. He knew you wouldn’t see it, but this was the first time he had directly asked you to stop. He wasn’t sure what effect it would hold.

“I guess I can,” you said, taking another puff. “I’ll quit.”

“You’re serious?”

“I mean, if it bothers you— plus, it is the healthy thing to do, no?” You chuckled.

“You’re quitting because I asked?”

You turn around, smiling reassuringly. “Yeah, Kento.”

He wonders if you would’ve quit earlier if he just asked. He wonders if it’s the same way with other things. I wish you’d take some day off, you deserve it. I wish you’d be there beside me when I go to bed. I wish you’d fire that arrogant assistant of yours, he stares at you at you in ways I don’t like.

“Thank you,” he says simply.

You turned to him. “Can’t promise you this will be my last cigarette. But here goes—last puff for a while.” You took one final drag, the smoke filling your lungs before you stubbed the cigarette out. “Oh,” you said suddenly. “Hold on—”

You disappeared inside, returning moments later with something in your hand. “Here,” you said, dropping two slender, golden-striped papers into his lap.

He glanced down at the papers lying still on his open crossword book. He picked them up, holding them aloft and adjusting his glasses for a better view. “What are they?”

“Tickets.”

“What for?”

You take one from his hand, turning it to reveal bold, black lettering. “For a play. It’s tomorrow evening.”

His eyebrows lift in surprise. “Oh,” is all he murmurs.

Upon that, you elaborate. “It’s in the auditorium by the dock”

The Rose Auditorium was known for its top-notch productions—musicals, plays, and even orchestra and choir performances. The venue’s proximity to the beach made it a costly affair.

He wonders how much you spent on these, but most importantly, he wonders more about why he hadn’t thought to arrange this himself.

Observing his muted reaction and ensuing silence, you grow a bit uncertain on your feet. Shifting your weight, you speak up. “I should have asked though. We didn’t have anything planned for the evening, so I thought—”

“Yes,” he says at once, a warm, appreciative smile twitching on his lips. “I’d love to go with you. I was just thinking I don’t have anything appropriate to wear.”

At that, you laugh aloud. “Now, I know that’s a lie. You practically live in suits. We’ll find something fitting.”

He simply smiles back at you. He knows, he simply didn’t want his own wife to feel like she needed to ask permission to book something for the two of them. That would be absurd. That would be rock bottom.

Your eyes flit down to his lap where the tickets flicker against the book, and you notice the familiar crossword book. “Having trouble?” you ask.

“Huh—” He follows your eyeline, back down to his lap. “Yeah,” he says, as he watches you walk closer, moving his arm so you can plop yourself down on the arm of his chair. “7 letters.”

You lean closer, “What’s the clue?” you ask as you peer down at the crossword book nestled in his lap.

He moves the tickets, holding them in his right hand as he wonders what he should do with his left. Usually, it would rest on your waist, your thighs, or in your hand, but now it feels awkward. You no longer plop yourself freely into his lap, and he can’t help but leave his hand cold against his thigh.

"Something about a bird," he murmurs. "A tropical bird with colorful feathers. The middle letter is ‘c’”

You think for a moment, then grin, as you bend down to pick up the pencil, and you write down the word.

"Macaw?" he asks.

You hum, “It fits.”

He’s immensely better than you at this, but you always had a talent for picking it up when he can’t. Just one of those things.

“Guess it does,” he says with a smile.

—

Nanami sits on the edge of the bed, adjusting his cufflinks with his practiced steady hand, his feet tapping away profusely against the carpeted floor.

As soon as he hears the door unlock, he’s lifting his chin and drinking up the image of you stepping into the room. You’re wearing a dark olive dress, with a black lace bodice cover. The material looks satin, silk-like, and it flares out from your hips, where it’s girded by a dark black satin belt, cinching the dress where his hands have so often rested. He hasn’t seen this one before. It must be new.

“Help me with the necklace?” you ask, as you bring your hand up to show him a thin chain with a drop pendant.

He simply takes it from you, and the two of you move back into the bathroom.

His eyes flit down to the marble countertop, a myriad of makeup products and jewelry spread out. He should help you clean up before you two leave, he notes silently.

Standing in front of the mirror, you move your hair to the side, exposing your neck and back to him.

He steps closer, his hand brushing against your back. You draw in a breath.

"Cold," you murmur.

He hums in acknowledgment. His hand reaches in front to draw the necklace around, pulling it up until it rests neatly against your chest. Pretty, he thinks as he bends down, the lack of glasses making it harder for him to find the clasp, but after a few moments, he succeeds.

He looks up, meeting your gaze in the mirror. You’re watching him intently, curiously. He sees your lips, plump and lathered up in some shade of pink.

He straightens up, before bending down— his eyes still locked with yours as he presses a soft kiss to the bare skin of your back.

“You look beautiful,” he murmurs.

“Thank you,” you swallow, your shoulders rolling back. You break eye contact, turning to reach for a black clutch as you speak up. “We should leave soon.”

—

Nanami’s starting to wonder if he’s the biggest idiot in the world. Why couldn’t he think of this first? You loved this — the theatre, the whole ceremony of greeting and entering. Why didn’t he think of bringing you here? He had even seen a poster on one of your walks in the city yesterday.

This place—it's overwhelming in its opulence. Nanami was quite familiar with how metallic luxury tasted, a remnant from his early twenties, but even he could not help but feel somewhat dwarfed by the grandeur and extravagance of the architecture surrounding him.

He turns towards you, his smile somewhat wistful. He can tell you seem just as impressed as he is, even if your reaction is restrained and taut — a simple pursing of your lips indicates enough to him.

He sees beyond you, noticing how the ceilings are adorned with glass chandeliers that seem to drip gold, a place fitting for a woman of your stature, he can admit as much.

You smile back at him, as your hands come to encircle his bicep as you two move.

You produce two tickets from your clutch and offer them to one of the many attendants. Nanami watches as a smile brightens the attendant's face.

“Thank you,” he says. “Please turn right at the door and meet the usher at the elevator. From there, someone will escort you to your seats.” He hands you a program sheet and points to the right as the two of you make your way in.

Nanami murmurs a “Thank you” to the man and then you feel his hand on the small of your back, warm, guiding you towards the red ropes.

“Not too bad,” you say as you make yourself comfortable, smoothing down your dress in the seat next to him. Well, technically, it’s one seat. One long red seat for two, so there are no barriers between the two of you, apart from the ones you’ve built by placing your clutch and program sheet.

“How do you feel?” you ask.

“Yes.” His elbow brushes your forearm, as you turn to find that he’s already looking at you, wearing a fond expression. One you haven’t seen in ages. “I should have thought of this.”

Ah, you think. That’s what this is about. “Next time,” is all you say, with a warm reassuring smile, knowing that this is his battle.

“So, you never even told me what this play was about,” he says.

You perk up. “Oh, right. It’s about romance, marriage, heartbreak, war… you know the gist.”

He nods, not particularly interested in hearing more, and you know as much because you don’t seek to elaborate. He always believed it best to go into these things blind. The most effective experience.

The seats below and around you continue to flood with people as it nears seven, and by the time it’s fifteen the show begins, as was announced by a man in a silly tophat on stage. It was brimming full of people.

“I guess it’s about to—” He says, as he turns to find that your face glistening with red. “You’re bleeding,” he says, as he immediately gets up.

“Nanami, it’s about to start,” you protested softly.

“You’re bleeding,” he repeats, sternly this time. His hand grabs yours as the two of you dash out. You manage to trail behind him, grasping onto your clutch, as you tilt your head back, relying on his touch to guide you.

You hear him converse with who you assume is one of the attendees, asking for a bathroom.

You see the pristine white floor, and you’re so nervous — you don’t want to stain it red.

He points to the marble countertop. "Up," he commands, pointing to the marble countertop. You hop onto it, spreading your knees to make room for him as he situates himself between them.

Gently, he dabs at your nose with a tissue, getting rid of the excess blood dripping down to your nose.

“You haven’t had nosebleeds in a while,” he notes with quiet concern. “Are you feeling okay?”

You nod slightly, trying to smile despite the inconvenience, trying to steady yourself. "I’m fine. I think it's just the dry air."

You feel a bit embarrassed by it all. You’re grateful you didn’t see any of the onlookers’ faces.

“Here, let’s get this under control,” he says, handing you thinly molded tissues.

You carefully insert them into your nose, hoping to stop the bleeding.

"I'll get you some water," he says, and you nod, as you’re left to stew on the countertop, feeling somewhat foolish with tissues up your nose. Not at all how you expected the night to go.

He returns with a bottle of water, and you uncap it to take a sip. Even the water here tastes luxurious.

You take a breath in, removing the tissues wadded up your nostrils. “I ruined the night,” you say, with a frown.

"It's barely started. We can still go back in," he assures you.

"I don't want to," you sigh. Tired. "I just—"

He hums, squeezing your thigh gently in reassurance, urging you to continue.

"I want to go back."

"Are you sure?" he asks.

You nod, blinking in reassurance. “Unless you want to watch the play.”

"No," he says softly. "Let's go back.”

—

It is not often you walk away from commitments. Not work, not hangouts, not meetings, not runs. And especially not paid events.

You must be very tired, he thinks.

“Chicken and rice?” you asked, as the two of you made your way back.

Nanami’s blazer is draped over your shoulders. The night isn’t too cold, and you watch his white shirt flutter against the muscles underneath. You feel loopy.

“Chicken and rice,” he affirmed, his tone steady.

“Some dessert?”

“Tiramisu?”

“Eh,” you reply, disinterested, the idea of sweetness somehow too much, too indulgent.

“I want some,” he says, a bit insistent, like a child.

You smile. “Then we should get you some.”

Back in your hotel room, your heels and stockings are discarded onto the floor as the two of have finished eating.

“That was good,” you say, you’re seated on the couch, your hand resting on your full stomach as you stare back up at the ceiling.

He hummed beside you, his glasses abandoned as he stared at you. He lifted a hand to run by the bridge of his nose. “You look beautiful,” he says.

“You’ve said that today,” you say, turning back to look at him.

He hums, again.

At that, you turn back to the ceiling, not particularly certain what you can do with that response.

“We should do this again,” you say, still affixed on the bland off-white ceiling. You felt heavy and light all at once.

“A date?” he asks.

You turn back to him now, smiling. “Oh, was this a date?”

“I would assume so,” he says, matter of factly.

"I guess so," you said airly as you got up, turning back as you said. “Just attend things together. I miss it.”

Nanami smiles with a nod as he watches you walk into the bathroom. He misses you too.

#jjk drabbles #nanami fluff #nanami x reader #nanami x you #jjk x reader #jjk angst #nanami kento x reader #nanami kento x y/n #nanami kento x reader fluff #jujutsu kaisen x reader #jujutsu kaisen x reader fluff #nanami kento x reader angst #jujutsu kaisen x reader angst

83 notes · View notes

theitgirlnetwork · 1 year ago

Text

Better

Ch. 7: 772 Miles

Note: I'm lateeee but I'm here nonetheless! Thank you all so much for all of the love and support. I love all of the likes, reblogs, comments, notes! I hope you all enjoy this one. We're making some headway and I hope to have more out soon. Some people have asked me about a taglist, which I'm gonna be real, I don't know how to do, but I will learn and then I will add whoever wants to be added to it! There is an awkward entry to a little explicitness in here so MDNI fr. Feel free to skip that part if you are an adult and just don't want it, anything important that is discussed during it will be brought up again! Once again, thank you so much <3

Picture Lip Took of Charlotte at the museum:

“You know, I’m starting to get a little offended by how you’re not excited Kev and I scraped together the rest of the money to get you home.” V says, pushing into Charlotte’s bedroom, plopping onto the bed next to a pink suitcase. “Did you get a lock for this?”

Charlotte pulls her white top over her head, careful not to let her makeup smear onto her outfit and smooths her hair again. “I’m very grateful, V, I’m just gonna miss you and Kev.”

“Bullshit, me and Kev.” the woman grumbles, helping smooth out the back of her cousin’s shirt. “It’ll be good for you two to spend a couple of weeks apart, cool off a little.”

The younger woman sighs, slinging her bag over her shoulder and stopping briefly to look at her cousin. “I’ve got to go. You’ll have shipped me off to Virginia and away from Phillip by tomorrow, okay?”

V softens at the look on Charlotte’s face. The girl had been so excited to be going home for Christmas when she and Kev surprised her with the other half of the money. She hadn’t even minded buying a one way ticket, considering she’d be going for a couple of weeks. But as the date of her departure pushed closer, the excitement turned into sadness and worry.

She would hear her and Lip in the room throughout the week, on the nights he slept over, mumbling reassurances, arguing in hushed tones, exchanging promises. V doesn’t like raining on her baby cousin’s parade, but if she doesn’t ground her, who will? Charlotte’s always been a dreamer, her parents treated her like a little princess, and for good reason. V would only see her when her mother would take her to Virginia, her auntie and uncle refusing to let Charlotte come to Chicago. They kept her sheltered from the rest of their family, even watching closely how she and V played together. So Charlotte was not very…experienced. She didn’t think twice about people asking favors of her, borrowing money, leering at her. She lives in fairytale land, expecting everyone to be kind, accept apologies, have good intentions. And V watches her cousin be absolutely devastated when the world proves her wrong.

Now that Charlotte was getting older, it was important that Charlotte learned to care for herself, it was necessary that she learned how to live in the real world. V loves her cousin, so she volunteered to take on that project. It was never part of her plan to throw her into the deep-end that is Lip Gallagher. V feels personally responsible for the inevitable fallout that would come from this relationship. All she can hope for is that these next few weeks will let the two young adults fizzle out, and clear their heads.

“I’m not against you, Lottie.” V says. Charlotte turns at that, going over and pulling the other woman into a familiar hug. One that reminds them both of being little girls, seeing each other for the first time in a year.

“I know, V.” she whispers.

“It’s only a couple of weeks, babe.” The older cousin soothes, rubbing her hand over Charlotte’s hair. The two of them hear the front door open, and Kev’s voice starts filling the living room.

“Not a scratch on my baby.” They find Kev in the living room, towering over Lip, who’s simply looking forward, clearly spacing out and ignoring what the older man is saying. “Or Charlotte. And get her to the airport on time.”

“Got it. Total the car and make sure Charlotte misses her flight.” Lip jokes, standing and reaching for the keys, sighing when Kev pulls them away. “Alright, man, I’m kidding. Thank you for this.”

Charlotte saddles up next to him, throwing her arms around Kev, hugging him tightly. “Thanks, Kev. I’ll miss you! I’ll be back soon.”

Kev looks down at her, brows softening and sighing as he makes eye contact with V. “Sure, kid.” He says, ruffling her hair. “Get goin’, traffic.”

Lip and Charlotte make their way outside, V and Kev watch from their porch as Lip opens the passenger door, boosting Charlotte in before nodding at them and going around to the driver’s side. As the car pulls off the couple looks over to the porch next door, finding Fiona sipping a beer, shaking her head before nodding them over.

“Are you excited?” Charlotte damn near bounces next to Lip as he studies the map at the front of the museum, determined to map out a route that will keep them away from the exhibits he had deemed not worthy of their time. He drags his finger along the line he intends to follow, his other hand clasped in Charlotte’s.

“Uh, yeah.” he says, deep in focus. Charlotte just smiles as she watches him mumble to himself about the most time effective way to get them through everything. Yeah, he is, she thinks to herself, letting him guide her to the first stop.

This whole thing is not really Charlotte’s style. Most of the exhibits are focused around science and that had never been her thing. She had been more of a social studies and reading girl herself, those subjects told more stories than required her ability to understand formulas. But she was so fucking happy she’d bought these tickets. Even though his expression is schooled into a nonchalant, moderately interested look most of the time, she could tell from how Lip’s eyes light up.

He’s been looking at her differently since that day in the park. At first she’d thought it was the tickets. Then she’d thought it was the fact that she was leaving for a while, but neither seemed to describe how those bright blue eyes study her. Whatever it is, Charlotte wants to keep causing that look.

So she leans against his chest and listens as he points out the different parts of the submarine exhibit, attempting to describe the mechanics of putting together something he’d apparently researched in his own time. She asks, she’ll admit, stupid questions when he tries to explain the physics behind one of the displays, just sticking her tongue out at him when he looks away, snorting before composing himself and actually answering her.

She gives him space as he observes the portraits of different scientists of all areas, reading the little bios. Charlotte wanders to the side, finding a picture she finds a little interesting and stopping to read the little paragraph on the plaque beside it. The sound of a camera phone clicking makes her turn around and look at him. “Did you just take a picture of me?”

“You look pretty.” he smiles, stepping forward and pulling her into his arms. “Gotta add to my collection, have somethin’ to look at when you’re gone.”

Charlotte looks up at him smiling crookedly, “You have a collection of pictures of me on your phone? What’re you obsessed with me or somethin’?”

“Nah, you just won’t fuck me and I gotta do somethin’ to help me and my hand along-ow!” he laughs when she punches his chest, wincing at his muscle against her hand. Lip wraps his arm around her shoulders, bringing her in for a kiss. “Yeah, I’m obsessed with you or somethin’.”

The tenderness of the moment makes the ache that formed in Charlotte’s chest as soon as she’d purchased the ticket throb. She sighs, scrubbing her hand along her watering eyes. “I’m gonna miss you.”

Lip groans, running a hand through his hair before cupping her cheeks, thumbs sweeping across her cheeks. “Stop, bunny, we said we weren’t doing that anymore. Because if you cry, I’m going to say something you won’t like, and then we’ll start fighting and shit and I don’t wanna fight right before I drop you off.”

“I can’t help it!” she whines.

“Don’t go.” he replies.

“Stop saying that!”

“Stop crying-” Lip glances around at the other patrons of the museum retreating toward the front, the speaker letting them know it was closing soon and Charlotte silently sobs dropping her face to his chest. “Bunny.”

“Excuse me, sir, we’re closing soon, you all should start making your way to the exit.” A security guard says, approaching.

“Yeah, okay just gimme a second.” Lip sighs, rubbing Charlotte’s back.

“And now I have to go to the airport.” she cries into his shirt. “And you’re gonna leave me there.”

“Sir-”

“Alright man, give me a fucking second.” The blond yells at the guard, who was still grumbling about them holding up the museum closing up. “Charlotte,” he says softly, pushing her away lightly, looking at her large, teary eyes. “Hey, hey, we’ll talk right? I call you, you’ll call me. And it’s only a couple of weeks right? You promised you’d come back in a couple of weeks.”

“I am.”

“Okay, then we’ll be fine.” Lip relaxes a little as the girl slowly stops crying. He wipes away the remainder of the tear tracks on her face. “Right?”

“Right.” Charlotte sniffles. “Okay, I’m ready.”

The car ride to the airport is a quiet one. Both afraid to upset the other, they sit silently as music plays lowly on the radio. Lip’s hand rests on Charlotte’s thigh, squeezing reassuringly every couple of minutes. One of her hands is on top of his, playing with his fingers as the large airport pulls into their sight and the sound of planes taking off fills their ears.

Lip pulls into the drop off area and puts the hazards on, facing forward and watching other poor fuckers wave a somber goodbye to their loved ones and is embarrassed to say that this is about to be him. He never envisioned himself to be the ‘drive you to the airport, kiss you all over your face, call me when you land no matter what time it is’ type. But here he was, murmuring those exact words into Charlotte’s ear after doing the first two things. He takes a deep breath after releasing her from his embrace and letting her walk a little ways away before shouting in front of the rest of the travelers, staff, and his fellow sad fuckers,

“Aye, Charlotte, tell that pilot to fly safe, alright? My fuckin’ girlfriend’s gonna be on that plane.”

He laughs as the girl pauses for a second before shoving her suitcase into one of the employee’s hands and running toward Lip, slamming into him so hard his back hits the car as she kisses him. Onlookers aww at their display, causing Lip to turn a little red as Charlotte continues to kiss him before finally letting him take a breath. She leans in, nuzzling her nose against his, sing-songing “Boyfriend~” and kissing him again.

Charlotte fully pulls away a second later, Lip lets her literally slip through his fingers as she backs away toward the terminal, laughing when she calls back, “No take-backs, Gallagher! You’re mine now! Better still want me when we’re not a couple of miles apart!” she jokes.

Lip’s bright blue eyes follow her as far as they can until she disappears into the building. “772 miles. A couple.” he snorts despite himself, climbing back into the car and pulling off, cursing when he realizes he’s gonna have to face the exit traffic by himself.

The next morning Fiona’s few hours of sleep is interrupted by the sound of pots and pans clattering. At first she’d sleepily rolled over, assuming that it was Charlotte starting breakfast for the kids. She shoots up when she remembers that Lip had dropped her off the night before at the airport so it couldn’t be her.

Creeping along the hallway so as to not wake her siblings she grabs the bat, holding it up, ready to strike in case it’s an intruder. Or Frank. When she sees a bunch of random drawers pulled out, and the pillows for the couch on the floor, she grips the bat, preparing to swing when she sees a man’s form, sifting through the drawers. “Get the hell outta my house, motherfucker-!” she yells while swinging, stopping just short of Lip’s face.

“Shit, Fiona!” he yells back, catching the end of the bat in his hand and lowering it. “What the fuck?”

“Jesus.” she sighs, dropping the weapon altogether and running a hand through her hair. Fiona pushes past her brother, starting a coffee pot before turning around to look at him. “What the hell are you doing creepin’ around the house?”

“Lookin’ for the money for phone minutes. I need to use it on mine.”

“Sorry.” Fiona says, pouring a mug and passing it to her brother and repeating the process for herself. “That became the acid fund when Monica and Frank stole it last month. You already out of minutes?”

Lip curses his parents under breath, shaking his head as he gulps down the coffee, slamming the mug down when he’s done. “Awesome. Well, when was the last time you heard from uh, Steve? Think he’ll have some work for me I can do like, today?”

“Really? You think work from Steve is a good idea?” Fiona asks, pulling out the frozen waffles and plugging in Kev and V’s toaster. “I don’t want you mixed up in his shit, I’ve told you that before. Anyway, no, sorry, haven’t heard from him.” Her brother scratches his hair irritably, pulling a cigarette from his pocket and putting it between his lips, leaning forward when his sister produces a lighter for him. “You didn’t come home last night. You go out after droppin’ Charlotte off?”

“Drove around for a little bit, dropped the truck off and uh, went on a walk.” he blows out the smoke, working his jaw. “Fuckin’ road the bus up to the college to talk to Youens, trying to see if I could get an advance on the next few weeks and all the fucker wanted to do was lecture me about finding another internship. Wouldn’t front me the money.”

“Well, what do you need the money for?”

“Don’t worry about it.”

Fiona observes her brother, watching the stress rolling off of him, tense shoulders, chain smoking, eye doing that twitchy thing it does when he’s upset. There was no question of what was bothering him either. He’s checked his phone at least three times since this conversation started. “She’s comin’ back.” She puts her arms around her little brother’s shoulders. “She call to tell you she landed?”

“Yeah the flight is only 2 hours and 7 minutes, she called me 3 minutes after that. And again once she got to the house.” He sighs, scrubbing a hand down his face.

“Little much, huh?”

“Uh,” Lip shrugs, embarrassed to admit that he felt the opposite, mumbling “Not really. I just uh, need some money to put more minutes on my phone, for the next few weeks. You know?”

Oh. Fiona thinks. She sees how miserable her brother looks and realizes she hadn’t really considered that he might be taking this seriously since this whole Charlotte debacle started. She and the rest of the kids are used to Lip getting himself wrapped up into semi-serious relationships, either thinking he’s in love or making someone else fall in love with him every couple of months. Each time something ruins it, whether it be his crippling commitment issues, nasty habit of cheating, unaddressed rage and on and off alcoholism, you name it. Or the occasional husband that the woman of the month has. It was shocking to think he’s run into that situation twice while he’s still so young, but Fiona couldn’t judge.

She’s not sure what the nail in the coffin will be for Charlotte and Lip, and she still thinks that they’re a bad idea. But something about how upset the kid is makes her go into the coat closet, reaching up onto the top shelf and grabbing one of her old socks. She reaches in and produces a small wad of cash, dropping it into Lip’s hand. “It’s not much and I was gonna use it to get a jump on the heat bill for next month, so it’s just a loan.”

Lip looks down at the money before looking at his sister. “Yeah, okay, thanks.” He stands and gives Fiona a side hug, pressing a kiss into her hair. “Seriously, uh, thank you. I’ll pay you back.” He smiles to himself as he pulls his coat on, going to the door immediately to go to the store, pausing to look back. “I asked her to be my girlfriend by the way.”

As the door closes and she goes back to making food for her other siblings, Fiona wonders to herself what this go round will mean for her brother. And prays to whatever god that will listen that it’ll be something he can make it back from.

“And um, Kev and V are thinking about trying for kids soon. So that’s cool.” Charlotte shifts in her seat, trying to get comfortable. Her father doesn’t even bother to look up from his menu, his glasses low on his nose as he scans the booklet. Her mother offers her a small smile, putting up a finger and gesturing for her to wait.

“That’s very good honey, just give us a second while we figure out what we’re getting.”

The young woman nods, taking a sip of her water and looking around the restaurant. She hums quietly along to the instrumentals they were playing in the background. She’d told her parents that she didn’t need to go to a fancy dinner when she got home, that she’d prefer eating something at home with them, but they’d insisted saying they ‘didn’t know what type of nutrition she’d been getting in SouthSide with Kevin and Veronica’.

“So you got a job?” Her dad finally asks as he snaps the menu closed, lifting his hand and summoning the waiter over with his finger. Charlotte hates when he does that. “Where?”

“Um, a restaurant, it’s actually pretty fun working there, Daddy, I like it-”

“He’ll have the filet mignon medium rare with the baked potato, none of the dressings, really, he has a cholesterol issue, don’t let them drown it in butter. I’ll have the snapper with a salad, we’ll share it, Charlotte, and she’ll have tomato soup with sliced broiled chicken and again…no butter.” Her mother cuts in.

“Um, Mom-”

Her mother’s eyebrows shoot up, her eyes fixing on her. “What? Did you not want that?”

Charlotte wilts under the downturn of her mother’s lips, biting her own and shaking her head. Before the waiter can finish writing the orders her father is collecting the menus and shoving them into his hands. Both of her parents turn to her, who is mouthing a ‘thank you’ to the retreating waiter.

“So Veronica is pregnant? And by that boyfriend of hers? Jesus, Carol what have you been doing?” her father groans, shaking his head in disappointment.

“They got married, Daddy.”

“I don’t remember going to any weddings. Or receiving any pictures of them in a church. Or hell, a courthouse. Veronica could be doing so much better. She’s such a beautiful, smart girl, always has been. Guess she inherited my sister’s habit of giving up opportunities to chase behind men from that shithole-”

“Victor.” Her mom mumbles, putting her hand over her husband’s arm. “Please, Veronica is doing us a favor helping out Charlotte, keeping an eye on her. Besides, she’s only in her twenties. She’s still got time. Now, Lottie, baby, what else have you done? Made any friends?”

Charlotte takes another gulp of her water, squeezing her phone in her lap as she thinks about how to approach this topic. “I um, the girls at work are really nice most of the time, so we talk. And V’s friends are great, like Fiona and her siblings. She has this brother Ian who’s really great and I have fun with him-”

“Not too much fun.”

She sighs, smoothing her hand over her hair she has slicked into a bun. “No, Ian is gay, Mom. He has a boyfriend. Mickey. Who is also…nice” Sorta.

“Good.” her mom chirps.

Taking a breath, Charlotte’s mouth opens and closes as she fights with herself internally. She missed her parents so much. She was reunited with them after being apart for the longest time, and she doesn’t want to ruin it. But she knows what they’ll say if she tells them about Lip. How they’ll act. What they might do. But then she reminds herself of the whole point of her moving to Chicago. She was supposed to be growing the fuck up, and that included telling her parents she was was in a relationship. “And I’m, now I’ve-”

“Have you found a doctor out there yet?” Her father’s question takes all of the wind out of Charlotte’s sails. She immediately deflates, looking down at the table and huffing out a breath in irritation. “Baby, it’s important. I’ll look up some names and give them to you before you go back in a couple weeks. Don’t let me forget okay?”

“Okay, Daddy.”

“Good. Now, I wonder how long it’s gonna take for us to get some damn food.”

Charlotte hears her mother head out for the day, the front door closing and immediately dives for her phone. Her dad had gone to work early that morning and for the first time in the two and a half weeks she’s been home, she hasn’t been home alone.

It was cute at first. Watching movies with her dad, baking sweets with her mom. Going to the mall together, church, the country club that she’d always hated because they were just barely rich enough to go and her parents always felt the need to overcompensate. It was embarrassing to say the least. And Charlotte was tired.

But most of all, she missed her boyfriend.

So she runs up the stairs to her childhood room, closes the door and flops on the bed, dialing her new favorite number.

Lip picks up on the second ring, and a smile spreads across her face as soon as she hears the familiar, “Hi, baby.”

“Hello, boyfriend, you busy?”

“Uh…” On Lip’s end he’s balancing the phone between his cheek and his shoulder, his hands busy with hurriedly unscrewing the rims from an expensive car that someone made the arrogant choice of parking too close to the line where SouthSide begins. “No.”

“You sure? What’re you doing?”

Lip grunts as he loads the rims into Mickey’s trunk before closing it, slamming it closed and patting the back, letting him know he was good to pull off. “Just got finished stealin’ the rims off a car.”

Charlotte sits up abruptly, eyes widening. “Really? Phillip-”

“‘M kiddin’ bunny. I’m just headin’ home, how have you been?”

“Since we last talked this morning? Missed you, got my nails done with my mom, had lunch with some girls I used to cheer with, missed you some more, called.” she shrugs.

Lip smiles at that, keys jangling in his hands as he pushes into his house, mouthing a ‘hi’ to Debbie and taking Liam from her arms. “Yeah? Your other boyfriend not keepin’ you entertained?”

“Now, if I play along, you know it’s like you pissed yourself off right?” Charlotte says.

Liam’s head lifts at her voice and he starts trying to take the phone. “Who’s that? Who’s that, buddy? Baby, say hi to Liam.”

“Hi, Liam!” she says sweetly. “I miss you!” making kissing sounds into the phone.

“Lottie!” the little boy giggles, blowing a kiss back.

Lip places his brother in his playpen and rubs his head before walking up the steps. “Okay, enough of that, you wanna keep talkin’ to Liam, you better call his phone. Or better yet, come home.”

“I’m working on it. I talked to my Dad today about some return flights earlier this morning, so we’re making progress. Before, he wouldn’t even let me work it into conversation.”

“Yeah, I guess that’s somethin’.” Lip sighs, closing his room door behind him and sitting on his own bed. He’s been trying to be as patient as possible, especially since he didn’t know them, but Charlotte’s parents were doing exactly what he’d thought they’d do, drag their feet on sending her back. Hell, it’s what he would do. It took every ounce of selflessness he had, which was not much, combined with the fear of what V would do if her money was wasted, for him not to purposefully make her miss her flight out there. He’d understand them never wanting her to come back. But it’d fucking suck for him.

Charlotte hears the other side of the phone go quiet and knows Lip is worrying about the same thing she was last week. What if her parents changed their minds? What if they decided they didn’t want her moving away, regardless of whether V was checking on her or not. “Careful, Gallagher, I might think you miss me or something.”

“You’re funny.” he scoffs, staring at his ceiling. “And I do.”

“Well, how’s that photo collection working for you?”

“It’s uh, a lot more effective when my bed smelled like you, but the pictures are pretty fuckin’ hot, so, s’working pretty well.”

Charlotte feels her cheeks heat up and rolls her eyes as if he can see her. “They’re mostly candid shots of me walkin’ around your house or mine, they can’t be that hot.”

“They’re of you.” Lip says matter of factly. As if it wasn’t something to be discussed. Just a fact..

The woman shifts again, playing with the strings of her hoodie absently as she mutes the phone briefly, Lip’s quiet breathing on speaker in her room as she sorts out what she’s gonna say next. Taking the phone off of mute she takes a breath, gathering her courage. “So, does that mean you don’t need any…help?”

She sits, staring at her phone nervously as she waits for his reply. There’s a beat of silence that makes her stomach twist uncomfortably until it dissipates at the sound of Lip’s laughter filling her room.

“Are…are you trying to initiate phone sex with me?” he wheezes, cackling into the phone. Charlotte yelps, taking the phone off of speaker and putting it to her ear.

“Fuck you, not anymore!”

Lip smirks to himself on the opposite end, trying to choke down his laughter. He wasn’t laughing at her per se. Well, actually, he was a little. But aside from that, the fact that she was nervous was what made him laugh. The irony of it all. Lip had been all but begging her for a crumb of pussy since he’d met her. Once they had gotten to that weird limbo of pretending to be just friends, she’d opened the door to making out and heavy petting, but Lip was letting her take the lead. Even now, he never wants to push, he’s always pushed, but now, he was happy with what they were doing. Well, not actually, but he was willing to wait for her.

The fact that she’d be hesitant, or think they live in some kind of alternate universe where Lip might not want it, was hilarious. Either, she doesn’t know him very well, or his girl doesn’t know how sexy she is. Both options seem ridiculous.

“No, I’m sorry, come on, set the mood, bunny, m’ready.”

“No,” she whines, “I already don’t know how and now you’ve laughed at me. You fuckin’ do it.”

He chuckles lowly again as he pushes off of his bed to lock the door. “Well, I really miss you. I miss seeing you. Touching you. Waking up to you in the morning, being on top of you.” Lip listens for the change in Charlotte’s breathing, trying to focus on the task at hand and not let this end almost immediately because he’s envisioning what she’s going to be doing on the other end of the phone. “Take your pants off for me, bunny?”

“Already did.” she breathes. “And if you laugh, I’ll hang up.”

Lip starts undoing the buttons on his own pants, nodding as if she could see him. “Nothin’ to laugh at. Good job, baby.” A sound on the other side of the phone makes his brows go up as he spits into his hand. “Yeah? You like me tellin’ you how good you are? Gotta talk to me, sweetheart.”

“I miss you too, how you take care of me,” Lip bites his lip and takes himself out of his boxers as she whimpers into his ear. “Kissin’ you.”

“Fuck.” Lip groans quietly, rubbing his hand along his dick, smoothing his thumb over the tip, sweeping over the precum forming there. He hears every lilt in Charlotte’s voice as he feels himself already building. He keeps trying to remind himself to talk to her, trying not to be too dirty because he doesn’t know her style yet and not just moan into the mic. He grits out praises lowly. ‘Good girl’ ‘C’mon baby’ ‘So fuckin good, so fuckin’ sexy’.

But he keeps being distracted by the sounds that she’s making, the sound of his name. He’s never been so thankful to Monica and Frank for naming him Phillip because the sound of that name rolling off of his girlfriend’s tongue could make any man nut.

He hears her voice pitch even higher and he knows that she’s close. That delicious pressure is building in his lower stomach and sinks his teeth into his lower lip. “K-keep talkin’ baby, a little more, let me hear you bunny. You takin’ care of yourself over there”

“Yes, fuck Phillip, m’gonna cum.”

Shit does he want that. He’s never wanted anything more. But then that goddamn number starts floating around in his head. 772 goddamned fucking miles. Fucking two weeks. No, don’t think about this now. Focus. He begs his own mind not to piss him off. Sweat slides down his temple as he tightens his grip on himself and lets her whimpers ring in his ears. Lip groans, pleading with himself not to miss this opportunity. Something is fucking missing. This isn’t fuckin’ enough. I need…I fucking-

Lip puts his phone on speaker, Charlotte’s cries fill the room and he literally edges himself as his fingers fumble with his phone in his free hand. Blue eyes light up as they find what they’re looking for. “Okay, come on baby, cum with me.” he grunts.

Lip’s abs clench as he comes into his hand, trying to contain the mess as much as possible and muffle his moans so his siblings can’t hear what he’s doing. He settles into a groan of Charlotte’s name, biting back following it with three words that have been rattling around in his brain for a while now. He tries to commit the sounds Charlotte is making to memory, feeling pride in his chest at knowing he caused it, and a paired feeling of emptiness knowing he couldn’t pull her to him now that they’re done.

Sitting up, he reaches on the ground, grabbing a discarded t-shirt, wiping his hands off on it and putting it back on the floor.

“Phillip?” a small voice calls out. His attention is brought back to his phone, briefly smiling at the picture he’d left open on it before frowning again as he hears something strange in Charlotte’s voice. “Are you still here?”

“Yeah, m’still here, bunny.” The weakness of her voice forces a softness into his own.

“Can we talk a little now?”

“Yeah, yeah, I can talk to you.” Lips says, furrowing his brows at the sound of Charlotte’s voice. There’s a meekness that makes his stomach drop as he scoots up on his bed, suddenly feeling the need to both cover himself and rob someone for the little bit of money to buy a ticket to fuck ass Virginia. “You okay, baby?”

A shaky breath is released on the other line and there is silence for a moment, the blond pulls the phone from his ear to check to see if the call disconnected, hurriedly placing it back when he hears her again. “M’fine. I…um, like that you call me that. I like bunny too.”

Lip releases his own breath as he hears her voice become a little more normal, letting himself smile again as he lights a joint. “I know you do.”

“So fucking full of yourself.” she giggles, the sound making Lip feel like the sun shining directly into his room.

“Aye, watch your mouth. You must have some bad influences out there, what happened to my sweetheart?” he says, trying to light the blunt quietly.

“You curse every other word.” she hums. “But, I was thinking.”

“Interesting.”

“Phillip.”

“Okay, sorry, Charlotte, go.” He snickers, reaching for his ashtray on his nightstand, flicking ash and relighting the blunt. Lip grunts, pushing off of the bed, unlocking the door and peaking out to listen to hear if Liam was crying, satisfied to close it again when he isn’t.

“You need a nickname,” Charlotte says, the sound of her rustling around in her own bed making its way through the phone. “I’ve got like five. Baby, sweetheart, bunny, sweet thing, and the mean one-”

“Woah, what do I call you that’s mean?”

“Um, brat?” she snarks.

Lip rolls his blue eyes, settling back on his bed, unable to contain the smile on his face. “That’s not one of your nicknames, that’s more like an uh, assessment of your behavior.”

“Regardless! I wanna give you a nickname. How about Lippy?”

His lips curl in disgust, the actual shock at the name making him cough on the smoke, breathing it out through his nose. “Yeah, I will not fuckin’ answer to that.”

She laughs again mumbling a, ‘yes you would’ and Lip is irritated by the fact that despite fucking hating it, he would answer to whatever she called him as long as she kept calling. “Pookie? Pooh Bear?”

“Am I Liam?”

“Bubba, or bubs, or bub! For short!”

“What happened to boyfriend, huh? You liked that?” he groans.

“Boyfriend isn’t going away.” Charlotte says, and Lip can basically picture the smug smile on her face she always makes when she’s about to get her way. “He’s just gonna be joined by bubba.”

The blond is humiliated by what he’s become. Cringing to himself he prays to any god that will listen that Ian and Mickey never manage to hear Charlotte chirp out his newfound pet name and mourns the version of himself that would never let a girl call him anything but Lip. “Bubba, that’s what you like?”

“And babe. Mostly bubba and boyfriend. What’d you think I was gonna call you? Daddy?” she says in a playful seductive voice. Unaware that on the other side of the line her boyfriend was adjusting himself.

“Not unless you’re down to go again.”

“Hmm, unfortunately my mom should be home soon.” Charlotte sighs. Lip immediately feels that ache in his chest again, never really thinking about the lows of her hanging up that come with the highs of their phone calls. “I miss you, bubba.”

He nods as if she can see him, mouth opening and closing, he wills down the want to beg her to stay on the phone. “Miss you too, princess. You forgot one.”

“That one’s Mickey’s.” she laughs.

“Nah,” Lip says softly into the phone. “They’re all mine.”

The couple reluctantly hangs up and Lip’s head is racing. Full of thoughts of Charlotte, distance and new territory. He’s never been here before. He doesn’t know how to navigate being the type of boyfriend Charlotte deserves. He doesn’t think he’s ever been a boyfriend before, and now he was going to have to be a long distance one? He couldn’t do this. He needed her to come home. Charlotte needs to come home.

He’s shaken from his thoughts by the sound of his phone vibrating again. And because he’s fuckin’ whipped now, a smile immediately spreads across his face as he grabs it without looking, happy that Charlotte missed him enough to call back so fast. “Missed me already, bunny?”

“Oh..um, is this a bad time, Phillip?”

Lip pauses, unable to register what’s happening as he holds the phone against his ear as the only other woman he’s ever let call him Phillip waits for him to say something. Anything.

“Phillip?”

“Helene?”

#oc #fiona gallagher #ian gallagher #lip gallagher #kevin ball #lip gallagher x oc #lip gallagher x reader #shameless #veronica fisher #gallagher #love #charlotte fisher

102 notes · View notes

deardarlingdevil · 1 month ago

Text

Sova Relationship Headcanons

NSFW under the cut, CW for BDSM, bondage mention, spanking mention and CNC mention (everything is safe sane and consensual dw it's just a discussion about his limits)

Loves to call you milaya/milyy as a pet name

A subdued golden retriever bf- less boisterous puppy, more loyal guard.

He is reserved and won't be into overt PDA, but he will make sure everyone knows you're together through small gestures when appropriate, e.g. placing a hand on your lower back during down time or dates, calling you his girlfriend/boyfriend/partner (whichever you prefer) when someone gets too cozy with you, etc.

Love language? All of them. He is a very thoughtful man and a green flag overall.

A bit of a cornball with how he verbalizes his love for you (just listen to his "I love you all!" voice line) but that's what makes him Sova.

Very observant of your interests and preferences- nothing escapes him. You mention something about your favorite painter? He's already booking museum tickets for your next date. Need coffee? He memorized just how you like it. Going on a mission? He'll help you maintain your weapons and ensures it fires smoothly.

His babushka drilled him with old-school Russian dating customs- he's very courteous and gentlemanly. On a date, he will pay for everything, fix your shoe if it comes loose, hold your bag, and bring you flowers (odd-numbered, of course). You just have to show up and be yourself.

Just like in the field, he's a calm, grounding presence. You are safe and protected and his.

Soft dom, inside and outside the bedroom.

NSFW

I love cinnamon roll Sova HCs but I need a little bit more 🔥 spice 🔥.

Big on consent. Takes verbal and non-verbal cues well. That being said, he won't be opposed to stuff like bondage, spanking, or even CNC IF AND ONLY IF you negotiated the terms to be absolutely clear beforehand. He knows you're not made of glass, but he still makes your safety his top priority. Anything that could seriously hurt you physically and emotionally is his hard limit. He's not comfortable with too much verbal degradation too.

Service switch, but prefers to top.

Favorite position: anything that lets him penetrate you deeply and see your face contorting in pleasure. Also, mirror sex. He just loves looking at you.

I'd like to think he's a visual type- he wants to see what's going on, so you rarely have sex in complete darkness.

Praise kink. Giving and receiving.

Hunter/prey roleplay 👁️👁️

Some of his voice lines that has him antagonizing Cypher or reprimanding agents that are too brash or impulsive makes me want to think he lowkey enjoys taming a bratty sub. He won't go easy on you. This man will teach you patience.

He's a very considerate lover but he also knows what he wants and will tell you what to do.

This man is raised by his babushka to be polite and sweet but give him head and he will whisper filthy praise under his breath. Bonus points when he starts switching to Russian because of how good you are being.

He is gentle... For as long as you want him to be. Give him permission to abandon his inhibitions and this man has a feral streak.

Pull his hair while he's going down on you or deep inside of you, I fucking dare you.

Scratches, bruises, hickeys- he will mark you like a wild animal claiming its territory.

A+ aftercare. Will feed you, give you water, ice your bruises and soothe any bumps and cuts, and cuddle with you under the blankets, whispering praise and sweet nothings.

He definitely needs emotional aftercare especially after more intense sessions of him domming. Play with his hair and tell him how good he is being to you. He needs that praise. Please.

#sova #sova Valorant #valorant #hcs #headcanons #headcanon

16 notes · View notes

squishosaur · 1 year ago

Text

um outline for my event but do not look too closely for i will eventually rework it AGAIN.

PART 1:

1: A Thrilling Invitation

Azul, Jade, and Floyd receive invitations to see a performance of the Royal Choir's annual concert back at home in the Coral Sea, each being able to "bring a friend or two!"

2: A Chilling Realization

The three merfolk wonder who to take with them and Azul dreads having to go back, much less choosing to bring someone to see him in his miserable state (being an octopus).

3: Unusually Bothered

Azul goes to Alchemy with Jamil, who is startled by his change in character. Azul tells him about how he doesn't want anyone to see him in his merform, and Jamil cautiously offers to go with him, saying that Azul's already seen him at his lowest (referring to overblotting), so he has no place to judge him. Begrudgingly, Azul agrees. After a moment, he asks Jamil if he'd switch dorms if he only pouted in his direction more often, and Jamil jokingly says he can still retract his offer.

4: To Explore Underwater

At Lunch, Floyd is grumbling about who to invite when he sees Yuu, Grim, and Silver, who he decides to invite on an impulse so he does not have to put any thought into it. Silver remarks that it would be an honor to go see the Coral Sea because he'd finally have a place to tell his father about that he hadn't been yet (Everyone else is like "Wow, Silver!! Your dad is so cool!!") Yuu has a dialogue option to either say "I'm SOOOO down for that!!", "After last time...?", or "I thought you said 'one or two'?" Any of these will prompt him to say that he can totally get more tickets so that all three of them can go because 1) he has cash from the lounge, 2) Azul probably will refuse to take anybody, and 3) if that doesn't cover it his parents' business is always booming (laughs evilly at this part). Silver and Yuu look at one another confusedly and Grim mutters "These fishy guys are way too creepy..."

5: What's on the Menu?

Jade has been invited to help out with the science club because they are going out and identifying different mushrooms around the school and what conditions they live in. He's excited and says that it's too bad there aren't any back at home and then WOEFULLY rambles about going home. Of course, Trey and Rook are curious and ask about his home, and Trey specifically asks what they eat. Jade looks him dead in the eye for a moment and says "Fish, of course. 😊" While Trey is thrown for a loop and mildly disturbed, Rook asks why Jade is going home, and he explains the situation and then extends an invitation to both of them. They politely accept, with Trey asking if he could get Riddle to tag along because she has been so stressed and could probably use a break (this is ok-ed because Jade also believes Azul will not take anybody), they both say they look forward to seeing the culture and where Jade came from.

6: A Royal Venue

Azul, Jamil, Floyd, Silver, Grim, Yuu, Jade, Rook, Trey, and Riddle all get together (the twins are shocked that Azul picked anyone at all, especially Jamil and tease him about it), and Azul complains that the twins both brought too many people and it was like they *wanted* them all to stare at him. They deny this and then begin discussing the plan for the weekend. They'd go Friday night and see the sights. On Saturday, Jade would take Rook and Trey to museums to learn about the science underwater and the cultural history, Floyd would take Grim, Yuu, and Silver (he asked for Riddle and she exclaimed "NO" so loudly that everyone jumped back) around to do Whatever He Wanted because he was not making plans, and Azul would take Jamil and Riddle to where they grew up and the surrounding area on the first day, then they'd meet up after lunch and see the rehearsal, before hanging out and then then going to the actual show the next day. Jade tells them Prince Rielle, their former classmate, is going to be a soloist in the show and that it will be held at the castle. Everyone is shocked because they failed to mention it was a royal affair.

7: In for a Spin

Floyd ignores their shock and says they can't go looking like that because they'd all get stared at more than Azul used to be (Azul is upset by this) and tosses them all potions to turn them into merpeople, saying that it wasn't weird that they had potions that go from human to merfolk if they had merfolk to human ones. They all take the potion and head down into the Coral Sea.

8: Flippin' Your Fins

They are underwater now and we do that thing in events where they show off all of the new outfit sprites so that takes a sec. Also, the humans cannot maneuver well in water at first and get frustrated because That's what NRC students do. Azul has shrunk back behind a rock somewhere and Jamil bumbles his way over to him to get him to come out, but the conversation is cut off as they hear someone shouting.

9: Dress Rehearsal Disaster

A redheaded merperson darts past the group, followed by a smaller blue-haired one, and then finally a crabby merfolk scrambles across the sand, shouting for the two of them to get back to rehearsal. Jade offers to chase them down for him. (INSERT TWISTUNE!! where the three Octavinelle students are swimming after them, holding the others by the hand bc they still have no sense of direction).

10: Just Swim Faster!!

They cannot keep up with the redhead but do catch up with the little guy, Cas (Short for Caspian), who explains that he and Rielle (humans + grim collectively gasp, "THAT'S RIELLE?") were trying to get out of rehearsal to see the shore.

11: A Dream of the Shore

Cas explains that Rielle has been visiting the shore to look for someone up there who he's in love with and that he says he'd rather be up there than in the ocean and had been trying to tell his parents that, but never found a good time, but thought that they should be allowed to be together like the princess from the legends.

12: Wishing for More

Rielle returns and swoons, saying that he "saw her again, the dreamiest person in the world..." Cas tries to explain that he's not always like this and the group all tries to head back when suddenly royal guards arrive, shouting at them to give the prince back. There is a twistune to outswim the guards, but Rielle is taken and Caspian takes the group to a secret cave to escape no matter what the outcome is.

PART 2 BEGINS HERE:

13: A Hidden Cove

The group is shocked by what happened and Cas tells them that they've been really hard on Rielle lately because this is his last year in the youth choir and they want to make sure its perfect, because chances are that Rielle will refuse to join the adult choir when that time comes. He also tells them that they are near the former treasure trove of the legendary princess and that he can take them back to explore later, but he needed to find Rielle. The NRC kids decide to go rest and get ready for the next day.

14: The Treasure Trove

The next day, they split up into groups, and Floyd and his group go with Cas to see the treasure trove, where they find that most things are gone, but some random junk remains in corners and crevices. Silver and Grim find a spoon and ask about it (Yuu is given the dialogue option of it's a... Dinglehopper OR fork, and choosing dinglehopper will prompt Floyd to say, "Nice, Shrimpy! Guess someone's been paying attention in Trein's class!"), Floyd and Cas tell them more about the princess. The entire time, Cas is intimidated because Floyd jokes about eating him, and Grim says he is hungry and they go out to eat.

15: Love on Land

While they're over there, Jade, Trey, and Rook are at a museum, where Jade is telling them about all of the trinkets in it. They're in a section on land and Jade lets them guess what each thing is (normal stuff like dishes and the like), and then explaining what they were called and the assumed use. He also explained how love between humans and merfolk was seen as taboo, but that it was getting more accepted by people, especially for those who choose to live on land. He also says that he's not sure if he wants to come back to the sea or live on land in the future, Rook assures him that he has plenty of time to decide and so much to explore still, so he doesn't have to decide yet. Jade agrees, and the three of them go to the next section of the museum, all teasing one another the entire time.

16: A Walk in the Sand

Azul has taken Riddle and Jamil to a shipwreck because merfolk tend to avoid them and it would be quiet. Riddle and Jamil are trying to assure him that he doesn't need to be so self conscious, but he ignores them, saying that he ISN'T. Jamil says he's never seen Azul lose his cool like this and, despite constantly telling himself he wished someone would knock Azul off his high horse, he doesn't actually feel good seeing Azul upset. Riddle agrees, and they try to talk to Azul again. Azul is so wrapped up in his own head that he does not notice his surroundings and accidentally leads them towards a shark. We have a battle to scare the shark off. ALSO AT SOME POINT IN OR AROUND THIS CHAPTER AZUL REVEALS THAT HE HAS A YOUNGER SISTER WHO LIVES WITH HIS FATHER BECAUSE I DID WANT TO INCLUDE A MORGANA BASED OC BUT FEEL LIKE AZUL’S BACKSTORY WORKS BETTER AS AN ONLY CHILD

17: Role Reversal

Riddle chases off the shark, especially mad that it underestimated her as being the weakest because she was the smallest member of the group. Jamil turns to Azul and they have a heart to heart that ends with Jamil awkwardly praising Azul, who says "Now I know how you feel when you say you dislike flattery..." to which Jamil argues that he was genuinely complimenting him. They fall silent until Riddle gets back, which confuses her, so she asks if Jamil had scolded Azul. Jamil says yes and that he is "worse than Kalim sometimes..." Azul feigns hurt and quietly thanks him.

18: Another Rehearsal

The time rolls around for them to meet up at the rehearsal and everyone is in awe of the instruments and such. This whole chapter is a reference to Under the Sea in its dialogue. They hear the same crabman arguing exhaustedly like before with Rielle.

19: Act Like a Fish

The crab is formally introduced as Stephan, the royal conductor. He is complaining that Rielle keeps disappearing and that he will have to tell his father if he has his head up in the clouds and out of the water. Rielle is clearly unhappy after being scolded again.

20: The Prince's Wish

Silver approaches Rielle, understanding his issue, explaining that he too has gotten in trouble for being mindless sometimes when he genuinely cannot help it. Rielle sighs and explains that he's really jealous that Azul, Jade, and Floyd got to see the land and had so many adventures and probably met cute girls up there too... He says he'd give anything, even his voice, to go to the shore. Silver says that he also understands what it's like to want to give anything for someone, and they connect over that, going on to exchange fun anecdotes about their fathers and siblings (Silver talks about Malleus and Sebek here).

21: The Perfect Protégé

The rehearsal starts and everyone watches excitedly, but it all goes down badly when Rielle doesn't know any of the cues because he wasn't in it. Frustratedly, Stephan walks off, saying that he wants to take five, saying he doesn't care what they do until then. Rook curiously grabs the baton and tries to direct them himself, and his liveliness makes the singers and band more energetic. Stephan overhears this and comes back immediately, saying that Rook is a natural and inviting the other NRC kids to join the chorus. There is a Twistune here.

22: I Just Can't Stay

Azul feels his former classmates watching and recognizing him. He panics as he hears this and dashes out of the rehearsal. Everyone is shocked and begins searching for him. Um this one is more dramatic than my 3 setence overview.

PART 3 BEGINS HERE

23: Going Home

Azul goes home and is met by both his worried mother and the Leeches parents. He tells them that he hates this form and he wishes he were back on land where he feels like himself in the right body. Transcoded moment. His mom offers her hand in consolation and he begins to ugly cry.

24: Leave Me Alone!

The twins determine that the only place Azul could be is at home and lead everyone there. They meet the Leech parents who fawn over them and thank them for being kind to their little babies, especially Jade, who is a little troublemaker sometimes. The NRC kids are shocked that Floyd isn't considered the problem child, but their parents say that Floyd has always been a nice kid, but he's just a little shy and quiet. They turn to the twins who just smile. They tell them where Azul is, and everyone goes to check on him, but he refuses to come out and face them.

25: A Slippery Situation

Unable to reach Azul, they sit in defeat, wondering what to do. They then turn to his mom, who suggests that they all cook for him together in order to brighten his mood. We get another Twistune with everyone making a plate of fruits de mer with Trey and Jamil being the main actual cooks alongside Azul’s mom. The cutscene in the middle involves the Leech parents demonstrating their knife skills to Riddle who jumps back into Floyd’s arms (which he laughs at and Riddle complains about).

26: A Delectable Creation

They tell Azul they cooked and they all eat together with everyone telling Azul that in either form, they still see him as himself, and that if anyone bothers him, they’ll kick their asses because that’s just how they do it at NRC. He tells them if they really want to help, they should start working at the Mostro Lounge when they get back to school. Everyone laughs, glad that he’s back to normal.

27: Something to Lose

With that sorted out, they go back towards the concert hall to find Stephan to apologize for interrupting, but run into Rielle first, who apologizes for the others making Azul uncomfortable and for setting the rehearsal back a bunch himself. He says he will put aside what he wants for the sake of the show.

28: Who I Choose…

Rielle offers to take everyone to see Stephan, but Jamil grabs Azul, saying he wanted to talk to him first. He tells him that he’s very grateful that he got to go on this trip because he finally feels free from all of the responsibilities he has on land, and that he understands what Azul is feeling underwater because it is what he feels on the surface– resentment. He says he wants to get to know the real Azul, and he wants Azul to get to know him too. Jamil extends his hand and Azul takes it as they swim off to join the group.

29: Helpful and Nice!

When Jamil and Azul rejoin, everyone is helping to organize for the event the next morning. Riddle is barking directions like a stage manager, Trey is telling people where to go, Floyd and Jade have both joined the band section, Silver is helping Rielle and Cas with organizing the seats and marking off the reserved ones, Rook is assisting the conductor, and Yuu and Grim are just helping out with everybody where needed. Jamil remarks that it's surprising to see everyone on the same page, but Azul says it must be the spirit of benevolence going around.

30: I Need Your Advice

Rielle pulls Azul aside and says that he’s noticed that he seems very close to Jamil and mistakes their relationship for a romantic one, asking how he chose between his connections on land and his life in the sea. Azul says he has no idea what he’s talking about, but he thinks that he should follow his own aspirations and dreams. Someone interjects, and they both turn…

31: Conductor's Help

IT IS ROOK! And Yuu! Wow! Rook suggests that Rielle tells his father after the concert and that it may be hard when it feels like you’re letting down your parents, but eventually you have to decide to live your life, instead of the one they set out for you. Yuu agrees, inwardly worrying about how their parents would feel if they were stuck here, or worse, if they Voluntarily Chose to stay…

32: Being Yourself

Rielle agrees to tell his parents that he wants to go to the shore after the concert and goes off to find Cas. Rook then turns to Yuu and tells them that that applies to them too, and that he hopes they find happiness in their future as well in a 4th-wall breaking pep talk to not only Yuu, but also the player. They have the option to either say thank you or stay silent, resulting in either “Du rien!” or “... Take your time, okay?” respectively.

33: The Grand Performance

The actual performance happens! Twistune babyyyy!! I don’t have to write anythingggg

34: The Prince’s Announcements

The show is met with lots of applause and the NRC gang all cheers together. They turn to tell Rielle that he did a good job, but he has gone off to speak with his parents. We do not hear what they say to one another but they nod and hug, thanking him for trusting them instead of running off. In the meantime, we see Azul’s sister actually and they seem to have some sort of rivalry, but there is a fondness to their interaction.

35: The One I Love…

After the concert, the NRC gang goes out to eat and explore with Cas and Rielle, and Trey asks about the girl he was seeing on the shore. Rielle admits that they’ve never actually spoken and he doesn’t know her name. Everyone is confused as to how he knows he’s in love with her, and keep asking questions and we learn what this person looks like and how she carries herself… Most everyone from NRC looks at each other because they recognize this description…

36: FREAKING. UGHHHHH (working title)

Everyone shouts “ROLLO FLAMM??” and Rielle, blissfully ignorant, is like, “Oh do you know her?” They all stare at each other. Grim is the one to exclaim he’s a guy and not actually cute or nice by any standards. Rielle seems completely unfazed by this revelation #bisexual moment �� They continue their conversation and Rielle says that he is going to visit the shore during their next break and hopes to visit NRC at some point.

37: Resurfacing

The Octatrio say goodbye to their parents and everyone else, who also exchange their sentiments towards their friends. Riddle remarks under her breath that she would be too afraid to go to a Leech family reunion and they all laugh and smile like “Oh? How come? 😊” and she is completely freaked out and hides behind Trey and Silver, who both thank them for their hospitality. Stephan give Rook his baton and says to continue his search of beauty through the arts. Silver talks to Rielle and we pan to Grim, Yuu, and Cas saying that there’s something similar about the two of them (Disney Princess energy perhaps). Azul’s mother thanks Jamil for taking care of her baby and says she hopes he’ll continue to do so “in perpetuity.” Azul grumbles that she’s being embarrassing, but Jamil says he’ll consider the proposition, amused at how both Azul and his mother used business terms in describing their relationship. Before they leave, she gives Azul a nice, decorated box to open on the shore. Azul’s sister waves goodbye as well. They finally do leave and everyone is delighted to breathe air and have feet again. Jamil curiously asks Azul what was in the box, and he reveals that it was empty.

38: Junk Repurposing

Back at NRC, our group of travellers goes back to the Mostro Lounge, excitedly sharing details about their journey and recounting the things they did. Azul is staring at this box, wondering what to do with it. Jamil suggests that they make fruit de la mer (the chocolate this time) and fill the container with that. We have JUST ONE final Twistune where they make chocolate together in the Mostro Lounge’s kitchen.

39: Part of Your World

Azul and Jamil almost share a kiss, but are interrupted by the twins saying that they were looking for them (reference to the end of Kiss the Girl). They share the chocolate they made together with the rest of the group and decide to serve it as a surprise special at the Lounge for the next week. Azul remarks that they make a pretty good team, and Jamil agrees. After a moment, Azul tries his luck asking Jamil to join Octavinelle again. Jamil responds, “In your dreams… But I guess I wouldn’t mind helping out around here from time to time.” Azul is okay with this, and they sit in a happy, comfortable silence as they take in the chatter and other sounds of the Lounge together.

#chatter #wips #I'M NOT MAIN TAGGING THIS I'M EMBARRASSING & ALSO A LOSER #really really long post omg

36 notes · View notes

jewel9887 · 2 months ago

Text

Day 4: experiment

Part 3 to other day prompts. To read them on ao3 or you can just read this one

Logan excitedly walks to the museum where Remus texted to meet up for their date. He still can't believe he had the courage to ask Remus on a date, for some reason being around Remus just made him speak his mind without second guessing himself. Looking up he notices Remus and Roman. Even from a distance, it's easy to tell they're twins especially since they decided to dress alike; Remus is wearing a green shirt under a leather jacket and black ripped pants while Roman is wearing a red shirt under a gold jacket and white pants. It's easy to see how he got them mixed up at first but seeing them together he notices all the differences.

Roman notices him first and waves, jumping up and down, "LOGAN, LOGAN OVER HERE! Oof," Roman stumbles.

Logan watches Remus and Roman start shoving each other as he walks up the steps.

"I thought this was a date with romantic intent?" Logan questions.

"It is and Roman was just leaving" Remus replies glaring at his brother.

"Remus is right. I have a project for my art history class, so I bribed Remus to bring me along but I'll be in a different part of the museum. Remus will text me when the date is over," Roman explained. "I'll see you guys in a few hours or whenever."

Logan doesn't have time to respond before Roman walks inside leaving him and Remus alone.

"You look extra nerdy hot today, Lo," Remus says.

"Thanks," Logan says blushing looking down at his blue constellation tie. "So which exhibit are we here for?"

"Well, a little frog and spider told me you enjoy science and puzzles," Remus responds holding open the door. "They opened a new exhibit where you can do experiments hands-on and there's another exhibit that goes through the history of detective stories and how poisons discussed in the stories realistically work. The best part is this museum won't ban me because they said and I quote "You are a walking disaster" so it lets them know how to make things safer for the kids as long as I don't intentionally hurt anyone which I would never do."

"There are so many things to address in that statement. Firstly, how much have Virgil and Patton talked about? Secondly, I heard about the new exhibit but have not had time to come to see it, and am greatly looking forward to doing so with you. Lastly, you keep mentioning bans; how many places have you been banned from and why?" Logan asks.

"I think you're their third favorite person after Roman and I. Glad I picked a great first date idea and you got to wait a few more dates before I disclose that information." Remus rapidly replies winking.

Remus goes to the desk and pays for their tickets, letting Logan know he can pay for the next one.

Together they head to the science lab room where they don the safety equipment, which are safety glasses, gloves, and a stained lab coat. Most of the experiments are made for kids although Logan manages to rig a bunch together to create a cascade of rainbow foam, somehow barely making a mess. Meanwhile, Remus creates a Rube Goldberg machine with all the random objects lying around. It goes all the way around and through the room with its ending being a picture of him and Logan captured using a polaroid camera creating a big mess and somehow activating the elephant foam which wasn’t part of his machine.

Next, they head to the detective/puzzle room where Remus learns that Oedipus Rex is categorized as detective fiction. Logan takes his time reading all plaques for each era, story, and author for the history part; pointing out any extra interesting facts or ones he thinks Remus would enjoy.”

Once Logan declares he is finished, Remus pulls him to the other side of the room where there are three puzzles set up. One, a murder case to be solved, another a puzzle using different codes to decode a three letters, and lastly a bunch of different puzzle locks. Remus goes straight to the puzzle locks and Logan tries the code and decodes all three letters in no time, then together they easily solve the murder mystery.

"See it's not always the maid or butler," Remus jokes laughing.

"True but in no story has it ever been the cat who poured the poison in the tea and with no human intervention," Logan argues.

"You're just upset I solved it right before you could," Remus says as he grabs Logan's hand to lead him back towards the front.

"Let me text Roman to tell him to wrap up whatever he's doing," Remus tells Logan pulling out his phone but not letting go of Logan's hand.

"This was the best date I've been. I'm glad I lost the bet and let you pick where," Logan happily says.

"You're one of the first to say that and I am glad. Does this mean a second date is in the future?" Remus asks.

"Definitely, though it is my turn to pick when and where we go next," Logan responds.

"You guys are a mess but sounds like it all went well. Remus didn't scare you off." Roman ask Logan walking up to them.

"Not at all. I enjoyed his company and look forward to spending more time with him," Logan answers smiling at Remus. "Ok, gross," Roman jokes.

"Dad texted saying that he has to leave soon and we need to get home to Virgil and Patton," Roman tells Remus.

"Gotcha," Remus says.

”Do you need us to drop you off, Logan?" Remus asks.

”Nope, I drove here and just parked farther away. I will be needing my hand back," Logan laughs holding up his hand in Remus' and then tugging Remus to him for a hug.

Remus lets go and returns the hug. Logan steps away and says bye, leaving a speechless blushing Remus and laughing Roman.

@intrulogicalweek

#Intrulogical Week 2024 #intrulogical #logan sanders #remus sanders

12 notes · View notes

moonshine999 · 1 year ago

Note

Ok literally so sorry to bother butttt🫣🫣🫣 i was wondering if you had any hcs for modern Nyra/alicent with their husband/bestie Cole and their gaggle of children??

Totally ignore my lmao if you don’t!!! I literally love your modern takes on them and honestly just anything about them that you post!!!💓💓💓💓

You’re never a bother love, thank you for this ask (srsly means so much coming from you)

I’m going to assume that these will be taking place in the old money AU

🍸 Rhaenyra loves to spoil Alicent and their children so much

When they first started dating and an argument would break out, it was almost guaranteed that a bouquet of flowers would be at Ali’s doorstep the next morning. It grew to chocolates and tickets to concerts and museum tours on valentines and pendants, earrings and watches on anniversaries. And then on their 5th anniversary, Nyra pulled out a box after Alicent gave her a portrait that she made of them together. Ali scoffed and made a joke that Rhaenyra doesn’t remember because she was too busy staring at her dearest’s eyes. She chuckled. And then got down on one knee. The rest is history now.

Aegon being the first born in the family, he was one of, if not the most, spoiled. He accompanied his parents on all their pretentious dates, he got showered with kisses from Alicent and Criston, and got the fanciest of birthday presents when he wasn’t even able to walk.

“Rhaenyra.” “Yes love?” “You realise you can’t give a 1 year old a Rolex, right?”

Basically, no she doesn’t. They talked it out though when the other children came along.

(P.s, this is part of the reason why he turned to his “habits” as he did and also the reason he inherited this need to spoil his own family)

🍸Aegon and Helaena’s wedding

When Aegon and Helaena were going to get married, Alicent wanted to take her dress shopping but Rhaenyra insisted that they should try to have the dress custom made.

“There’s a certain experience in dress shopping, dear.” “There can be a certain “experience” in having it custom made too, dear.”

(Yes both of them are speaking from experience. No their mothers are not dead. Why? Because I said so.)

Helaena just sits between them, comically darting wide eyes from one mother to the other until Criston comes to the rescue (with Aegon giggling like a maniac behind him) and reminds the couple that they have a company to run.

They glance at each other, sigh and walk out of the room. The ,still, giggling Aegon immediately crashes into his fiancée, leaving them both in fits of laughter. Criston just shakes his head with a smile on his face.

Some side points :

Criston walks Hel down the aisle

Daeron cheers the loudest when they kiss

Alicent is elegantly wiping tears while Nyra is full on sobbing with her face in her hands

Aegon can barely say “I do” because he’s crying so much

Helaena’s fine.

Aemond is the most reluctant to dance at the reception but gives in when teased/encouraged (means the same thing in this family) by the newly weds

Oh and some Helaegon wedding vibes :

Just some other small hcs :

🍸 Alicent and Criston love art museums. While Ali is a painter herself and goes there for inspiration, Criston is more interested in the history of it all. So when Rhaenyra is too busy to come with them, both of them go off to a museum and spend hours there together.

🍸 Rhaenyra and Aemond have a tradition where they go apple picking in the fall and discuss all things books and writing. During one of these ventures, Aemond accidentally lets it slip that he has been publishing his works under a pen name. Rhaenyra is a bit taken aback at first but she just breaks out into a smile and hugs her son. (Bonus points if the pen name is a new author that she is a fan of)

🍸 Daeron often looks to Helaena and Aegon for guidance. The youngest is someone who is not a fan of being in the company, he wants to explore, travel and break the bounds of what the media always perceives him to be. He told this to Hel and Aeg once when he was babysitting the twins. They gave him guidance and assured him that all would be good and their mothers are the most understanding people they know. He hums, smiles softly and goes back to the twins.

these are all that I can piece together rn. You have literally opened a whole new can of worms and I won’t be surprised if I do a part 2 of this. Again thank you for the ask (I really enjoyed it) and your sweet words.

#fatherforgivethem #asks #helaena targaryen #alicent hightower #aegon ii targaryen #aemond targaryen #daeron targaryen #criston cole #ser criston cole #old money : AU #old money #AU #helaena x aegon ii #helaegon #team green #team green hcs

31 notes · View notes

no6secretsanta · 13 days ago

Text

From: @sci-fangirl

For: @skiesinlove

Happy holidays!

The sounds of supplies being scrambled into bags and students beginning to chit chat filled the room as the professor called out his last minute reminder.

“Remember, two full pages analyzing Aristotle’s ‘On Slavery’ due next class!”

Shion zipped his backpack closed and turned to Nezumi, a compulsive smile spreading across Shion’s face. Nezumi had packed up an hour ago. He’d popped ‘Macbeth’ open as soon as Aristotle entered the lecture.

“How’s the King of Scots?” Shion asked, rising to meet Nezumi.

“Murder crazy, as always.” Nezumi tucked the book away and the two walked out of the classroom. “Still not as bad as Titus Andromedus though.”

Shion wrinkled his nose a little and his smile turned to a smirk. “I know college is the time to be pretentious, but do you ever worry you’re going overboard?”

Nezumi scowled, taking a deep breath before letting it out in one ranting breath.

“At least I don’t force people to read Aristotle. Seriously, the man was a classist, racist, misogynist who never got anything right. He’s better forgotten if you ask me. Socrates, Plato, or Diogenes would be both more informative not to mention more fun to talk about.”

“Which one was Diogenes again?”

“He’s the one who heard a man defined as a featherless biped and responded by bringing a plucked chicken to the next discussion.”

“‘Behold a man.’” Shion remembered, adding a little drama to his voice.

“That’s the one.”

Shion hummed. “Wasn’t everyone in Athens a classist, racist, misogynist back then? According to this class, anyway.”

Nezumi rolled his eyes. “There have always been people who stood against the problematic status quo, this teacher just doesn’t seem interested in talking about them. And regardless, Aristotle was an idiot who happened to have been taught by a decent thinker and had no filter. He wasn’t even a fun menace!”

“He’s a philosophic nepo baby?” Shion suggested.

“He’s a philosophic nepo baby!” Nezumi grinned back at Shion, bringing a little pink to Shion’s cheeks.

“At least the term’s almost over.” Shion laughed. “After this class you can stay far away from ancient Greece for a while.”

He fished his bus pass out from his bag. Nezumi continued grumbling as he did the same. They found seats at the back of the bus, legs pressed together so they could keep talking.

“You’re closing tonight, right?” Nezumi asked.

Shion nodded.

“I’ll walk you there.”

“You don’t have to.”

“Of course I don’t. but if I have to write about Aristotle I’ll need the caffeine. Might as well use the employee discount.”

Shion leaned against him a little, smiling softly. Nezumi had a tendency to make excuses for spending time together. They lived, worked, and took the occasional class together because it was “more convenient”. “The restaurant had a discount for couples”, Shion would “make an interesting museum guide”, he’d “accidently bought a second ticket for a movie and didn’t want it to go to waste”. The fact that the restaurant was Shion’s favorite, or that the museum had a new exhibit Shion had been excited about was all pure coincidence.

He’d gotten better about it recently, but if Nezumi felt like he was being too clingy he’d slip back into making excuses. Walking Shion to work just because he wanted to when they’d already spent most of their day together was overbearing, another reason had to be logged. Shion didn’t really mind. Nezumi was an excellent liar, but his excuses for spending time with Shion had always been flimsy at best. They stopped by their apartment to drop their school things before heading to the coffee shop they worked at.

Shion waved at Inukashi as they entered. They started to wave back from their place behind the counter only to stop and glare when they spotted Nezumi. “What’re you doin’ here? Shion, you’re not stickin’ poor Safu with this bastard are you?”

“Goodness Inukashi, imagine if your manager heard you talking about a customer like that.” Nezumi smirked.

“Like you count!”

Shion slipped behind the counter, calling over his shoulder to Nezumi, “Just give me a minute to clock in and I can make you a drink, okay?”

“Thank you. I wouldn’t trust your dear coworker not to spit in it.”

“You–!” The door to the backroom swung shut, muffling Inukashi’s response.

Most other stores had had their Christmas decorations up as soon as Halloween was over, but the owner of this shop insisted on waiting until December first. Whoever closed the first night of the month had to stay late to decorate. This year Shion and Safu were scheduled for decoration duty.

Shion liked closing with Safu. She was the most efficient when closing out the registers and never found it weird that Shion actually enjoyed mopping. Deciding who would decorate what also came easily. Shion pulled out a step stool so he could tape the shiny, silver strands of garlands around the top of the room. Safu crouched to tape snowman cut outs and paper snowflakes to the front of the counter. There would be a tree by the window too, but that would be the morning crew’s problem when the owner brought that in tomorrow.

Shion was about halfway done with the garlands when Safu stood, stretching her legs and taking a last glance at her work. “I’ll go bring in the patio stuff.”

“Want help?”

She shook her head. “I’ve got it.”

Their routine for the night was pretty locked in at this point. Clean the floor and counters, bring in the patio furniture, lock the doors, put away dishes, lights out, go home. With Safu as his closing partner, Shion could tell you the exact minute to minute schedule. Tonight their routine was thrown off, but they were doing their best to help each other out and finish quickly. As Safu brought in the last of the chairs, Shion knocked his roll of tape to the floor. Safu spotted it, scooping it up and handing it off as a man came into the shop.

“Sorry, we’re closed.” Shion said, stepping off his stool, toward the man..

The man pulled a knife out of his pocket and pointed it at them. “Empty out the registers and leave the money on the counter. No one has to get hurt.”

Shion glanced towards Safu who had nervously shuffled back a few steps. “There’s nothing in the registers right now.”

“Where’s the money then? Get it and hand it over.” The man snapped.

Safu took another step towards the back.

“The fuck are you doing? Stay there!”

“Sir, all of the money is in the back.” Shion tried to keep his voice calm.

Safu nodded. “Please, there’s no need to escalate things, we’ll cooperate.”

The man looked skeptical, eyes shifting between them. “All three of us are going then. Stay where I can see you.”

He herded them through the door, knife out and ready to strike. When Safu started for the safe he snarled, “You stay put. Boyo’s gonna get it out.” She swallowed, stilling.

Shion opened the safe revealing the tills readied for the morning and the small deposit bags Shion hesitantly reached into the safe, grabbing the deposit bags and looking back, afraid of setting this man off. The robber suddenly lunged at Safu, knife first. Safu let out a small screech as she shrunk mostly out of the way. Shion dropped the money and jumped on the man.

A sharp, burning pain bounced along his rib before jumping to his forearm. Shion pushed hard, hoping to get more space to swing a punch. The man took advantage of the space first, landing a kick to the newly burning place on Shion’s side. The robber scrambled away and bolted for the door, money forgotten.

“Shion!” Safu knelt next to him. “You’re– I’m calling an ambulance.”

Shion pressed a hand to his side. A cut ran parallel to his ribs, shallow but about six or so inches long. Another, deeper cut sliced about an inch of his forearm. More a stab than a cut really he thought to himself as he attempted to put pressure on both wounds.

“I’m okay.” He scanned Safu for injury. Her sweater had a cut near the shoulder, blood staining the sleeve. “You’re bleeding too.”

She frowned. “He just nicked me.”

“I’ll go to the hospital if you do.”

Safu gave a little huff. “I’ll call the owner first.”

~ Safu and Shion ended up in the hospital thanks to the shop’s owner. He arrived quickly to the coffee shop, insisting that they both get checked out while he submitted a police report. Safu was fine, the nick on her arm probably could have been taken care of with the first aid kit they’d had in the shop. Shion, on the other hand, needed stitches.

Nezumi was relegated to the waiting room, fingers tapping on the arm of the plastic chairs. He leapt to his feet when he spotted Shion, lurching forward to meet him.

“I’m okay.” Shion said quickly. His fingers trembled as he gripped Nezumi’s sleeve. “Can we please just go home?”

Nezumi pulled Shion’s hand off and laced their fingers instead. “Okay.”

They didn’t talk on the way home, but Nezumi refused to let go just in case Shion was weak from blood loss, he explained. Shion leaned against him and focussed on not falling asleep. Nezumi finally released Shion when they were in their apartment with the door locked. Restless, Nezumi swept into the kitchen. “Hot cocoa?”

Shion gingerly perched on the couch. “Sounds good.”

“Laying down would be more comfortable.”

Shion slowly lowered himself onto the cushions. It was quiet again, save for the sounds of mugs clinking and the fridge door opening and closing. Shion’s eyes slid closed, the painkillers he’d been given at the hospital making his eyelids heavy. Shion tried to focus on the sounds from the kitchen, so he could make room for Nezumi when he came back. The noises faded to quiet, though Shion couldn’t get his eyes to open. A hand ran through his hair, gentle and slow, pulling him closer to sleep.

“Wake up, Your Majesty.” Nezumi crooned.

Shion whined softly, eyes still sealed shut.

“Just for a minute, then you can sleep again.” Nezumi reassured.

Shion managed to peel his eyes open.

Nezumi was leaning over him. “There you are. Come on, I’ll help you to bed.”

Shion nodded and shoved himself upright. A small flare of pain radiated from his arm and woke him up a bit more. “Weren’t you makin’ cocoa?” Shion mumbled.

Nezumi wrapped his arm around the sleepy boy’s waist, gently urging Shion to lean on him. “We can have cocoa tomorrow, it’s bedtime.”

Shion nodded as they stumbled to his bedroom. Nezumi helped Shion change into pajamas before tucking him in.

Shion grabbed Nezumi’s wrist. “You work tomorrow?”

“I’m supposed to.”

Shion tightened his hold, a stab of worry waking him further. “Call out?”

Nezumi gave a dramatic sigh and sank onto the bed next to him. “As it pleases, Your Highness.”

Shion smiled a little and shifted closer. “Stay with me?”

Nezumi pressed a kiss to Shion’s hair. Nezumi slipped into bed behind him, arms wrapping carefully around Shion.

“Go to sleep, Shion. It’s alright.”

Shion pressed his thumb against Nezmi’s wrist feeling his pulse as he finally, truly dropped into sleep.

#sci-fangirl #skiesinlove #nezumi #shion #no.6 #no6 #no 6 #no. 6 #safu #nezushi

4 notes · View notes

deathmetalunicorn1 · 2 years ago

Note

Hello, hehehehe, maybe this is something strange. My request is for Hercules. The protagonist is an archaeologist who was helping to restore and excavate a temple in Greece, and found a strange vessel in a part of the temple that, according to the recovered written records, should not exist.

When one of his superiors reported it, he began to behave strangely, as it turns out that inside the sealed vase there was what was left of Neso's blood (intended by some magic inside the vase, but it is still fragile), a centaur who tried to kidnap Princess Deyanira (Hercules' third wife) and that Hercules killed and with his last breath the centaur, wanting to take revenge, told the princess that her blood was a powerful love potion. Well that was a lie, the blood of a centaur is toxic to the level of being a free ticket to the land of the dead. After her painful death because of that princess's jealousy (she gave a tunic soaked in centaur blood to our poor muscle baby), Hercules was promoted to Olympus.

Returning to the archaeologist, she found out that her boss wanted to sell the contents of the vase to the black market, so she decided to escape with the vase and find a new place so that it would never be found. But the smugglers found her and threatened her, but as a last attempt to stop these people who were also planning to loot the rest of the temple and kill her, she threw the vase very high and broke it with a stone or perhaps a gun that she took from one of them. the men. The result was that they were all bathed in blood and began to die in terrible pain. And the woman sees a red-haired man with red marks on his skin approaching them before falling unconscious from the pain the poison causes. (I have nothing else on my mind, <(￣▽￣)ブ )

-You couldn’t believe the discovery, a sealed vase of blood, only enough to fill a teacup, had been found deep within ruins of an Ancient Greek building.

-The blood was still liquefied, which was a discovery in itself, your professor, the man you were mentoring under, was ecstatic to have such a discovery, praising you for finding it.

-You were quick to assist him in deciphering the text on the vase and you were both stunned to learn that this blood belonged to the centaur Nessus, who’s poisoned blood, caused from Hercules’ hydra poisoned arrow to save his wife, Deyanira, killed Hercules, after tricking his wife that his blood, a centaur’s blood, was a powerful love potion that would keep him loyal to her, so she gifted Hercules a tunic soaked in the blood, which then killed him.

-Your mentor was cautious with this discovery, taking a small sample of the blood, which immediately ate through the syringe, the blood hitting the floor and started to burn a hole into stone, like it was acid, releasing dangerous fumes that you both had to quickly get away from.

-You were freaked out, as this discovery, although amazing, was so dangerous, while your mentor had a thoughtful look on his face, one that you couldn’t read.

-The following day, eight men showed up, wearing black suits, looking more like mob men then museum officials, as your mentor told you he was calling the museum you both worked for, to come and get this vase.

-To your horror, you learned that your mentor had been stealing artifacts from various dig sites and selling them on the black market, rather than giving it to the museum, and this vase of blood was going to make him so rich, as this buyer was offering a fortune for this blood, to make into a weapon.

-The men looked at you, his young female archeology student, questioning if you were going to keep quiet and your mentor just laughed, “Of course she will, if she knows what’s good for her, right Y/N?” your breath hitched in fear as they looked at you.

-You could see their weapons as they spoke around a table, discussing the price of the vase as you were sitting on your cot nearby, having been told to stay there, or else.

-The vase was sitting on a stone slab, just in case the vase leaked, which wasn’t likely as it had survived centuries, but no chances were going to be taken.

-The sound of a heavy vehicle filled the air, and the men were quick to go and investigate, seeing another mob family, the leader quickly turned on your teacher, “You double dipping?!” he tried to plead his case, saying that he called that other family first, then this one, as he wanted to do business with them, to save face.

-You yelped as you heard gunfire, dropping down off your cot, covering your head, your breathing becoming harsher as loud shouting was heard.

-You were scared, you never thought you would be in a gang war over a vase of blood that was trying to be sent to the black market, you just wanted to study ancient Greece!!

-You swallowed, seeing the vase and you took the chance, quickly scrambling over and you grabbed the vase, turning tail and run while the men were distracted, taking off into the ruins, with the hopes of getting out and getting to the authorities.

-You bit your bottom lip to stifle a scream as a bullet was shot off, only barely missing you as you heard, “She’s running! She’s got the fucking vase!!”

-Your now ex-mentor shouted out your name, furious that you were running away with his retirement fund.

-You nearly slipped, dashing around a corner, but you kept upright, feeling your ankle scream out as you twisted it, a hiss escaping you as you tried to find a place to hide, with the hopes that you could lay low and then sneak out later.

-You shrieked as a bullet hit your shoulder, nearly sending you to the ground before you heard, “IDIOT! Don’t shoot her! She could drop the vase! Just catch her!”

-You wobbled, barely staying upright, pain blinding you, adrenaline being the only thing keeping you going as you rounded another corner, your eyes widening as your heart nearly stopped, finding yourself at a dead end, trapped.

-You moved to the wall, to face the men who found you leaning heavily against the wall, clutching the vase to your chest, bleeding and panting heavily.

-Your mentor scowled at you, calling you stupid for running, the two mob family members, a total of eleven men there, those who were still alive, were quick to agree with him, thinking you were foolish.

-You glared harshly, holding the vase up like you were going to toss it and instantly they all froze, holding their hands out, one of them panicking, “Whoa there, let’s not be rash here.” And your mentor was nearly beside himself, “Y/N you saw what just a few drops did! If you do that you’ll kill us all!! Don’t be stupid!”

-You inhaled deeply, glaring at him, as you knew their plans if they got their hands on this vase, “I’d rather kill us all then let this become a weapon that will kill thousands!!”

-And with your brave declaration you threw the vase, shattering it at their feet.

-Instantly the screams filled the ruins as the blood began to eat away at their skin, the poisonous fumes filling the air, choking everyone out.

-Your hands came to your mouth as you finally fell to your knees, trying to curl up and away from the fumes, harsh coughs racking your body.

-You heard footsteps and through teary, hazy eyes, you looked up, seeing a massive man walking through the fumes, stepping over the bodies of the fallen men, towards you, with the only thing you could comprehend was that he had red hair and dark markings, tattoos, over his right shoulder, stretching down his body.

-Your breath hitched in your throat as he reached out to you, and everything quickly went dark.

-You’re not sure what happened, you felt weak and really tired, but you could feel that you were on a soft bed, covered by a light blanket.

-You shifted, a soft hiss of pain leaving you, you could feel that both your ankle and your shoulder had been tended to, wrapped up.

-Your eyes slid open before you snapped them shut, your vision swirling, making you nauseous, a soft groan leaving your lips.

-You heard heavy footsteps before the bed next to you dipped down and a massive hand cupped your cheek, “Maiden? Are you with me?”

-Your eyes slid open again, and while not spinning this time, it was still blurry, and you quickly realized that tears were swimming in your eyes.

-This man’s thumb brushed the first tear that slipped down your cheek, your vision slowly clearing, and you gazed up to meet the warm eyes of a huge man, with long red hair, bright blue eyes, and a massive tattoo that stretched down the right side of his body.

-You recognized this man as the man you saw in the ruins right before you passed out.

-Your eyes widened, and he relaxed, tension leaving his shoulders as he smiled, seeing you becoming more coherent.

-His thumb brushed against your cheek again as you spoke, your throat a bit weak, groggy sounding, “What- what happened?”

-He leaned back from leaning over you, his hand moving to take one of your hands, giving it a small squeeze, “You were very brave in those ruins, young maiden. I- we all saw your bravery and I received my father’s blessings to bring you here.”

-You looked around, a bit confused, “Here? Where is-” he stroked the back of your hand with his thumb, making you look back at him.

-You were stunned to learn that you had died, the poison taking you easily, and when you had seen him you had already passed on.

-You were silent for a few long moments, he felt your hand squeezing his, just slightly and only for a moment before you looked back up at him, waiting for him to continue.

-For your actions, killing those men with the dangerous vase of blood, you saved hundreds of thousands of people, at the cost of your own life, made you a hero in the eyes of the gods, and you were brought to Valhalla.

-You were silent for a few long moments, silently questioning if you were being punked, not fully believing this man, before you spoke, “Who are you?”

-He started before a bright grin took over his face, beaming at you, he looked like the sun, “Sorry about that- I forgot to introduce myself, I am Hercules!”

-You deadpanned at him, staring at him with blank eyes which made him laugh lightly, not at all upset that you didn’t believe him before you spoke, “I’m Y/N.”

-You did learn that he had been telling you the truth, you had died, and you were in Valhalla, and he really was Hercules.

-He was amused by your starry eyes when you finally realized this and you began to rapid fire questions at him, asking about his history in Ancient Greece; he was patient and happy to answer your questions, as he knew that you were studying archeology.

-You were a bit embarrassed to learn that the bed you were in was his own, as he was taken by your bravery and actions, having nursed you back to health with the help of the valkyrie nurses, as you had came to Valhalla with the bullet in your shoulder and your sprained ankle.

-Hercules wasn’t bothered, as he wanted you to be near him, as you had saved so many from suffering the same painful death he had fought against so long ago when he was still a human.

-You felt a bit shy, as relationships hadn’t been on your mind for the past few years, as you wanted to finish school, get your degree, and get to exploring ruins, which now you felt a bit disheartened about, as you had worked so hard, but now being here with Hercules, as well as other gods and notable figures of history, you had plenty to learn.

-Hercules could see you were a bit shy with his soft affections, holding your hand, brushing your hair behind your ear, holding your cheeks in his massive hands, but you didn’t push him away, growing to like this giant man who had a heart of gold, reminding you of a puppy at times with his cheerful nature.

-When you were finally back to perfect health, Hercules invited you to remain in his home, to stay with him, growing attached to you.

-You had agreed and that was the beginning of your slow building relationship with Hercules, who didn’t mind waiting, he, and now you, had all the time in the world for your relationship to bloom.

#record of ragnarok #ror x reader #ror heracles

74 notes · View notes

gwenpoolsaesthetic · 9 months ago

Text

Lucia Stern

American, 1895-1987

Dual Personality, ca. 1945

Mixed media

29 1/2 x 21 1/2 in

90.10.2

Gift of Mrs. Grace Vogel Aldworth

Collection of the Haggerty Museum of Art, Marquette University

Parasocial relationships are one-sided relationships, usually occurring between an individual and a person or persona that they are a fan of. Parasocial relationships are often derided as being unhealthy and isolating—critics argue that they distract and prevent individuals from forming healthy “real life” relationships. However, while that may be true of parasocial relationships taken to an extreme, it would be rare to find someone today who didn’t have parasocial relationships. Stalking a celebrity or spending an entire year’s paycheck on concert tickets are examples of parasocial relationships, but so too are crying over the death of an actor or character and joining a fan club. Benefits of parasocial relationships include finding community though fandom, modeling positive behaviors, and finding validation and inspiration through the success of people we see as being “like us.”

Fanworks do not need to consider the theme that fine-art pieces will be used to discuss; they only need to be inspired by or responding to one piece of art and anything you are a fan of. This fanwork makes me think of Good Omens—the light and the dark overlapping to create a more complete picture. If I were creating a fanwork for this piece, I think I would create a fan edit of Aziraphale and Crowley set to Ben Platt’s “In Case You Don’t Live Forever.”

For more information, to see the rest of the inspirational art pieces, and to sign up for show reminders, visit https://tinyurl.com/y5t2ape7

#fandom #fan event #all fandoms #call for submissions #fan art #fanfic #fic #fanwork #good omens #ineffable husbands #dissertation #phd life

8 notes · View notes

enterpris · 11 months ago

Text

An Education in Attraction, Chapter 16

Pairing: Reader x Gojo

Summary: It's spring when you start your Master's degree. As the flowers and leaves unfold, so too do your feeling for Gojo

Warnings: soft Gojo, first date, tooth rotting fluff

Previous Chapters: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Ao3: PlaidSparrow

Throughout the remainder of the week, you divide your attention between your academic responsibilities and thinking about your upcoming date. There’s enough room in your attention to complete the next set of readings, take detailed notes in class, and prepare for your shift at the Eikaiwa school after some of the tension dissolved from the heart-to-heart with Gojo.

Summer vacation is still at the top of your mind, so you work with your class to discuss more advanced vocabulary around hobbies, pastimes, and activities. The new words pair well with the lessons in future tense and goals you had done earlier in the year. While more practical words and lessons are important for future usability, you don’t want classes to be all work and no play, why would the students continue their studies if that were the case?

Classes the second week pass without incident. Apparently your conversation in the gardens has also sated Satoru for now, as he doesn’t stare or sit with you again. Once or twice after class you’ll catch his eye, share a smile, but he gives you the space to plan things without pressure.

In Japan, it’s common for dates to last hours or the whole day, rather than be quick meetups, so it’s not just a dinner you’re planning, but an entire evening. It’s also customary for prospective couples to formally confess their feelings and intent, which you suppose you did when you asked him out last week.

His humor, intelligence, and care for education have all captured your interest, and you hope he’ll continue being open enough with you to learn the other parts of himself as well. You’ve got to create the right atmosphere.

Halfway through the week you decide to set the date for the upcoming Sunday- it seems to be an auspicious day between all the cafe study dates and Satoru’s apology- and ask him to meet you at your dorm in the afternoon. Leaving the activities as a surprise, you feel the flutter of nerves as you send the message.

Gojo’s double-texted reply is quick and positive, which eases some of your worry, but it’s hard not to overthink.

Sunday comes again, and you wake up with anticipation rolling in your belly. Instead of the choking anxiety that you had felt at the symposium though, these nerves are the warm kiss of possibilities of your relationship with Gojo.

Satoru meets you outside your dorm, and you walk to the metro station together. The first stop isn’t far from campus, but the day is bright and warm and you’d rather not work up a sweat walking there. Gojo’s height makes it easy to track him through the crowd, the people part around him on the path to the train car.

He looks as put together as ever- you’re not sure if he owns anything besides polished button downs and seemingly infinite pairs of sunglasses. You can tell he’s gotten a haircut though, and as you find a pair of seats on the train you get a whiff of his cologne, deeper and more sultry than what he had worn before.

It’s a short ride to your stop, and you pass the time with light conversation on a safe topic- the two classes you’re in. Before long, you’re exiting the train and walking out into the sun together.

The first stop of the day is the National Museum of Nature and Science.

You're sure he's been there before (all schoolchildren go on field trips after all), and perhaps it's cheating a bit since you're both in education.

But walking through the museum and chatting will be a relaxed start to your date, and you're hoping the shared field of interest will give you plenty to talk about.

You scan the ticket you’d bought in advance and head up to the third floor of the museum, where the natural history exhibits are housed. As you walk through the displays that outline the formation of Japan’s islands and fossils, you turn conversation towards him.

“So your schedule has calmed down?”

“Yeah, there’s not as many conferences in the fall and winter.”

Your eyes trace the shape of the bones between the outlines of other museum-goers. It would be nice to have Gojo around more often, spending more days like this one together, working together in the library, maybe staying cozy together around a kotatsu.

“Do you like presenting?”

“Oh yeah, I love it.”

Satoru might posture like he didn’t like the attention, but he certainly didn’t seem to mind the attention. Besides, you’re not exactly sure how he spends his time outside of writing papers and presenting on them.

“What do you like to do then? You spend all your time jetsetting and doing homework?”

“Well I am a pretty good speaker,” you can hear the grin in his voice. “I keep busy. Plenty of things to do,” he looks back into the diorama.

The two of you slowly make your way to the lower floors, talking mostly about the exhibits. Gojo seems pleased to talk to you, if not with the actual exhibitions themselves, before concluding your visit walking through the Theatre 360. The room is completely round, covered on all sides by screens that project the educational film created by the museum.

Walking across the suspended bridge in the middle of the sphere, you’re engulfed in outer space. The screens filter through HQ clips of the most remote parts of the universe- the cosmic dust, galaxies, and stars spiraling endlessly.

It would be easy to feel alone, insignificant when confronted with the grandeur of all existence, and for a moment you’re nearly lost in it. Then Satoru’s hand brushes against yours and the contact from his body brings you down to Earth.

You walk out of the theater, a bit awed and fragile, but Gojo seems more invigorated than ever. His steps are energetic and you imagine his eyes bright and impassioned behind the glasses.

“Didn’t I tell you Physics shouldn’t be boring? Think if you could have that in the classroom.”

“I think that’d be a little overwhelming in a classroom,” you laugh and lead him out of the museum and towards the restaurant for dinner.

You had chosen a quiet restaurant a few blocks from the museum, a local shabu-shabu place.

You’ve never been there before, but the reviews online are good and they have an extensive dessert menu. Cooking the hotpot ingredients will give you something to do together, and the pictures online make the interior seem nice but low key, so you can focus on each other. The small restaurant should also be less busy than the Izakaya bars, even on the weekend.

After thinking long and hard about what Gojo seems to like, it felt like a good fit. He’s clearly paid attention to what you’ve told him, and you think he’ll appreciate the consideration.

Afternoon has leaked its way into evening, and it’s dim enough by the time you arrive at the restaurant that Satoru takes his glasses off. He tucks them into the top of his shirt and walks you into the restaurant. When his arm brushes yours, you have to repress a shiver, he radiates heat even through the layers of clothes.

You’re taken to an intimate table along one of the walls. There’s no candles on the table, but the low light and sparse tables creates an ambiance that’s

The warm lighting inside the restaurant suits him, as does the smile on his face. Even on a first date, he's perpetually unperturbed.

The waiter introduces themselves and takes your order. You order yourself a little liquid courage, but Gojo sticks with water.

The meals arrive shortly after, the vegetables and meat are tender and flavorful, and the dipping sauces are savory. For the first time, conversation veers in a deeper direction.

“You didn’t answer earlier. About what you like to do outside of school.”

“I don’t have a lot of free time, honestly. It’s nice to be out today though,” it’s nearly frustrating how charming Satoru can be when he’d like.

“Really? There’s so much to do here, I don’t think I could see it all if I live the rest of my life in Tokyo.” You sigh. “It really isn’t easy to make time with the academic schedule though.”

“You like the museums in town?” He asks.

You nod. “I know you’ve probably been to the Natural History one before, but it’s one of my favorites.

“I haven’t been recently.” He looks at you slyly, “it’s been a while since someone’s asked me out.”

“I guess you’re lucky you didn’t scare me off,” you tease. It had been a rather bumpy start.

“Hey, you won me over.” He shrugs. “If you want to convince me further, I saw they have anmitsu and dorayaki on the menu.”

With the array of plates still in front of you, you’re not sure how he’ll have any room for dessert, but you’re not above bribing him with something sweet.

“To think that’s all it would’ve taken in April. I’ll bring all my partners sweets in the future.”

“What can I say, I’m easy to please!”

You end up splitting both dessert dishes, leaving you pleasantly full and satisfied. Even though he’d joked about you picking up the tab, when you walk to the front of the restaurant to pay, he trades his card for yours.

“Let's at least split it,” you say. That's what's most common in Japan anyway.

“I've got it. You can treat next time.”

The fact that he wants there to be a next time is enough to make your face hot.

“Soooo,” you lead out of the restaurant, “I thought that next we could walk along Sumida River. The lights from the bridges in the water are supposed to be very beautiful in the evening.”

“Sure, it's nice out,” he glances around the temperate night before turning back to you. “My apartment isn’t too far from here though, if you’d rather.” His voice is still light, but his eyes are dark.

#gojo x reader #light academia #jjk x reader #reader insert #first date with Gojo #EiA #this chapter and tomorrow's post will be separate there but 1 chapter on ao3

7 notes · View notes

luninosity · 9 months ago

Note

Not a friend/follower/mutual and I haven't lived in Tartu in years but I spent my youth there and adore the town!

I used to spend all my time at Ruunipizza (restaurant), which is very close to the town hall and university and used to be decent, cheap and have plenty vegetarian options. But that was years ago and very much a place for students to go and hang out at, so Idk if that's something

Me and my American friends also liked La Dolce Vita for pizza back then. There's also a great place for cake opposite the university called Werner and the Gunpowder Cellar is a pretty cool pub.

In my opinion, the most important attraction in Tartu is the giant wooden swing (külakiik) in Supilinn but that might be personal preference. I am also a big fan of the AHAA keskus (science exhibition with planetarium) and I believe the museum of toys (mänguasjamuuseum) is a hidden gem if you have some time to spare. There is also a botanical garden in Tartu that I liked to hang out at. Sometimes they even have special activities; I remember building a bird house for winter there once :)

Definitely try to catch some folk music and/or dancing performance while you're in Estonia, they're really special!

I am taking notes about food recommendations! Cake is always good! And the Gunpowder Cellar looks fascinating! (Who wouldn't want to have a drink in, well, an ancient gunpowder cellar? Sign this history nerd up :D :D )

We have managed to get ballet tickets, as well! I am hoping I will have some time around conference panels to go exploring; the weather should be nice enough in May, right? Not too cold? Awesome Husband will probably also do some exploring without me, too. (He likes sci-fi, but he is not an academic - an engineer, instead! - so being in a room full of scholars Loudly Discussing the scholarship of science fiction is not entirely his thing, at least not for four days worth! He'll come to my panel though.)

For anyone wondering, we shall be in Tartu, Estonia in early May - around the 7th-11th! For the International Science Fiction Research Association Conference, at the university.

We've never been to Estonia, so we are excited! We're actually flying into Helsinki a day (and a night) early and spending a day in Finland, because we have also not been there, and then taking the ferry over. :D :D

#estonia #travel #yay friends!#if you're nearby come say hi!#finland #science fiction #sfra

6 notes · View notes

thisislizheather · 2 years ago

Text

Museum of Failure in NYC

“Museum of Failure is a collection of failed products and services from around the world. The majority of all innovation projects fail and the museum showcases these failures to provide visitors a fascinating learning experience. Innovation and progress require an acceptance of failure. The museum aims to stimulate productive discussion about failure and inspire us to take meaningful risks.”

God, I love a fun museum. There’s absolutely nothing better. I went to the Museum of Failure when it opened a few weeks ago in Brooklyn and I can’t recommend it enough. The space it’s displayed in is a bit of a failure in itself (on purpose maybe?), but once you get past that it’s a great way to spend an hour. Some highlights below!

As soon as you enter, there’s the Share Your Failure wall that visitors can contribute to. Best ones I read: not getting divorced, not kissing him, not wearing sunscreen when I was young.

Above Photo: Share Your Failure wall at the Museum of Failure, NYC

Above Photo: If this doesn’t remind you of the Toronto Science Center in the mid 90s, I don’t know what to tell you

Okay, Orbitz was not actually a good drink, but it completely paved the way for bubble tea to take off.

Above Photo: Diet candy AYDS, 1937-1980s

“Why take diet pills when you can enjoy AYDS?" HOW WAS THIS REAL? And how on earth was it successful for decades?? This appetite-suppressant candy was successful with the help of Hollywood celebrities and its popularity peaked in the 1970s. Obviously when the AIDS epidemic emerged in the 1980s the weight-loss product was doomed.

Above Photo: Atari ET Game & Console, 1982-1983

This is basically known as the worst video game of all time and Atari reported a $536 million loss in 1983 because of it. There’s a great documentary about it called Atari: Game Over about the urban legend that unsold copies were buried.

Above Photo: Low blow, museum. Low blow.

Is it funny that there’s a Titanic reference? Absolutely. Horrid, but funny.

Above Photo: Pinky Gloves, 2021

Oh no, these came out in 2021. A male trio of German inventors created gloves to wear when taking out tampons so that women wouldn’t get blood on their hands and have a “discrete way to dispose of the used product.” WOW.

Above Photo: Little Miss No Name, 1965

Firstly, I apologize for introducing this image into your subconscious. I really am. The brand Hasbro designed this unusual doll to be an alternative to the hugely popular Barbie. “In keeping with the climate of the mid-sixties, they wanted to teach little girls compassion and the realities of life for homeless people.”

Above Photo: Trump SECTION at the Museum of Failure, NYC

There’s a whole Trump wing in the museum, which is just *chef’s kiss*.

Above Photo: Spray On Condom, 2006-2008

This German product was supposed to be the solution to the problem of condoms being either too small or too big. Its instructions: “Simply insert penis into an apparatus to coat with melted latex and then wait 3 minutes for the latex to dry.” It failed because the idea of inserting one's penis into the apparatus scared men and the three-minute hardening time proved too long to wait.

Above Photo: Shared Girlfriend, 2017

Developed by Chinese company Taqu Ltd., the Shared Girlfriend service rented sex dolls for $45 a day. They were made of high-quality silicon and dolls were ordered with a smartphone app then delivered to your door. “After each rental, the dolls were disinfected, and the more heavily used and damaged parts were replaced.” ICK. Amazingly, the service was suspended only four days after its launch due to public outrage.

There were so many other incredible pieces on display (grass skis, the hula chair, the Elon Musk wall), you really should make an afternoon of it and see for yourself. I showed a few videos of the exhibit over on my spring ‘23 highlights on Instagram, if you’re interested in seeing even more. Such a fun time. Tickets available over here.

Now I beg you, world: bring back Pepsi Blue.

#this is liz heather #Liz Heather #Pepsi Blue #museum of failure #Best of NYC #nyc #museum NYC #Best museum NYC #things to do spring NYC #things to do spring NYC 2023 #NYC SPRING 2023 #things to do NYC #museum of failure nyc

11 notes · View notes

mt180 · 1 year ago

Text

this is a really cool real life story i have to tell to the part of the world's biosphere which is being attentive toward the internet page which houses the afforementioned story and is run by myself, it goes like:

so like the other day i went to the ampitheatre where they do really long plays (you know the one) and they did a really long play that had a title that was really long-- something along the lines of "the great undertaking underfolds when in the hands of a man who believes that it shall not do that which has been predisposed to those who are and are not aware of the exhibit at the glassworkers' academy museum's staff lair's staff lounge division"-- which was pretty good but i can't help but be a little bit mad they forgot to include the short (~52 minute) dialogue section where the main character discusses the legality and feasibility of hiking a mountain that is 15 times taller than the person who is planning to take on this task using only the outermost toes and knowledge of special relativity with his forensics analysis officer coworker because it's my favorite part, scratch that, everyone's favorite part which was later realized by the performers shortly after the show as evidenced by their claim that they will "do better next time" and provide each person who was displeased by this mistake with a free ticket to an upcoming show where the missing part will be acted 99 times in a row, followed by a final reenactment by members of the crowd who were particularly displeased this part was missing in the initial show, all of which is, i think, an acceptable response to this mishap, so long as the organizers and performers stay true to their word.

#ripdream wormscape #national tragedy #oops

4 notes · View notes

thetravellingvagrant · 1 year ago

Text

Day 3: In Which I Am Awed By Tentacles

To no one's surprise greater than my own, I was up early and raring to go, sticking - in what must be some kind of record - to my own rules re: leaving the house before 10:30 for more than one day in a row. So early, I was up, in fact, that I even had time for a fairly leisurely breakfast, made from the supplies I had purchased yesterday and mercifully not out of hot dogs and some old wraps; the former of which had all been eaten and the latter developing a nasty, crinkly texture.

I had, instead, purchased some cream cheese in anticipation of a couple of lovely slabs of morning toast. Upon returning to the hostel that night, I realized that the kitchen did not come equipped with a toaster, but that was fine, a lovely…open face cream cheese sandwich would suffice, I thought. I cracked everything open, salivating uncontrollably as I did and…nope. That was not cream cheese. I don't know what sort of cheese it actually was - my best Google suggests it may have been queso fresco - but it was crumbly and aggressively bland and did not spread well at all. Why the fuck can't I get any nice food, here? It must exist.

I choked down the first of two sandwiches I had made opting to quietly discard the second in the bin before begrudgingly making two more sandwiches for my lunch - this time with some salami which would, I hoped,though was entirely wrong, would mask the taste of the cheese and heading out into Lisbon once more.

My plans for the day were to take a little train just outside of the city to a town called Algés which housed the Vasco Da Gama aquarium. An aquarium for which every entry in TripAdvisor read “actually much better than the big, proper aquarium of Lisbon, actually” in what was either a real push to emphasize how good it was or, more likely, a half-inflated effort to convince themselves that the time taken to visit wouldn't have been better spent in a far superior fish-zoo. I hoped it was the former - pretty sure it was the latter.

Regardless, I had read on their website that they had an in-tact, embalmed giant squid on display - an incredibly rare creature with which I am mildly obsessed and one which I have never even heard of there being an in-tact specimen of, in a museum, let alone seen for myself - so to be honest, I didn't care if the aquarium was on fire or, worse, in Cumbernauld; I was going.

After a thirty five minute walk up and down and up about three hundred and fifty different hills, I found myself at the appropriate train station and effortlessly - to an almost suspicious degree - had purchased a ticket, passed the barriers and found myself pootling along the tracks to my destination, within minutes. Lisbon's infrastructure is very intuitive and really makes a converted effort to stop any self-conscious travellers having to embarrass themselves or speak to anyone. It is thoroughly appreciated. I hate both of those things.

On the other end of the trip, I walked for around ten minutes a long the edge of a ring-road, thereby legitimizing this vagrancy, and found myself in front of the big, intimidating, closed doors of the aquarium. Remembering my resolution, I steeled myself and headed towards them, like the very brave little soldier I am, ready, in the event they didn't open, to just turn away like “I was only looking at the nice signage anyway, actually” to any bemused onlookers, of which, there were none.

The doors did not stay shut, however, and instead whooshed open in a flurry of glorious victory. I'm just going to walk into every closed set of automatic doors I see from now on. So drunk on the power of entering a public building I was that I didn't even mind that the reception desk was manned by three big blokey men, all having a conversation about tits or something. I waded into their in depth discussion about areolas and loudly proclaimed “I want to see some ruddy fish!”. Cowed by my presence, poise and power, the weakest of the three men was left with no choice but to take my money and issue me with a ticket and safe passage to the exhibits within. God it's good being alpha.

Once inside and once my heavy breathing had abated (a tactic I often employ to intimidate weaker men), I started to have a poke around. The Vasco Da Gama aquarium is actually only half aquarium and half museum; a feature which I did not mind at all. I like getting to look at living animals as well as their badly stuffed counterparts and being able to do both in the same building represented a wild thrill for me, on par with killing a man or doing a really big Frisbee throw.

There were interesting elements to the museum, as well as a couple of choice examples of bad taxidermy

What the fuck are you supposed to be?

Though, on the whole, I found the experience a bit lacking. The exhibits and their descriptions were all a bit dull and dry and around 80% of read along the lines of “I tell you what, this Portuguese king really loved his boat!” Which, while delightful, isn't especially interesting on the third, fourth or subsequent reads.

The aquarium, sadly, also felt a bit sparse with very little variety in their fairly small collection. I sometimes take quick notes on my phone while I'm walking around for ease of blogging later. My single note for the aquarium read ‘...it's just some fish”. Which I know is the point of an aquarium, but I bet you know what I mean.

It didn't take me too long to look around and while I was quite enjoying the thrill of being the only person in an entire aquarium, and there were, admittedly, some pretty cool prawns to look at

Look at them lil legs go!

it just wasn't really doing it for me. All told, I didn't spend more than two hours in the Vasco Da Gama, even including the time spent to do a proper good colouring in with shading and everything on the interactive touch screen panel designed entirely for the use of bored or belligerent children

...Yes, a member of staff /did/ catch me doing this.

And so, after a genuinely really exciting and far longer than I'd care to admit gawp at the giant squid, which was admittedly really fucking cool and probably the most fascinating and great thing I've ever seen in any museum including the animatronic velociraptors in London’s natural history museum

Pictured: The most incredible thing you've ever seen

I was away.

I sat in the courtyard of the museum watching their collection of koi fish (which, squid excluded, were the most interesting thing about the place and the only ones which I could have seen for free) while I ate one of the two sandwiches I had prepared for the day's lunch, discreetly discarding the other in a nearby bin. The salami did nothing to dull the taste, or lack thereof, of the cheese. I'd really like to eat something nice, please.

I decided to undertake the forty five or so minute walk to the amusingly named St. Jeronimo’s cathedral which I had erroneously assumed was up a right big hill, though in reality was in perhaps the flattest portion of the city imaginable, winding past the Belém tower as I went.

The tower was really neat and really very photogenic

Pictured: Not the most incredible thing you've ever seen.

Though was absolutely lousy with tourists, selfie sticks and, probably, pickpockets, so after taking my pictures - with the correct phone orientation; a castle still counts as a landscape - I quickly moved along, with my hand planted firmly over my wallet as I went.

After not too long at all, I found myself outside of Jeronimo's, which my feet were delighted and my eyes dismayed to learn wasn't up a massive big hill. The cathedral was also neat and photogenic, though short of paying the substantial entry fee to go inside, the idea of which dismayed both my feet and my brain, offered little more to me than a brief photo opportunity.

Pictured: Eh...

By this point my feet were aching and I was all tired and thirsty. I had been out for close to six hours with only a single, awful sandwich for sustenance and so I opted to hop on the train back the Lisbon proper, with only another…thirty five minute walk separating me from a nice bed. Great.

With more than 45,000 steps on my pedometer over the previous two days, I made as brief a job of the walk back as my broken trotters would allow, dropping into a nearby lidl on the way to buy what I thought was Herby cream cheese but actually ended up being Herby laughing cow, instead - what the fuck is it with this country and food? - before I was finally home. A nap and a cry later, I hobbled through to the communal kitchen and had a weirdly spirited conversation about the weather with the receptionist who kept calling me “Mister Lawrence” two days prior which ended incredibly abruptly as I microwaved, what I must admit was quite a pleasant dinner: some traditional Portuguese dish made of all pork and beans and that. I forget it's name, but it was basically quite nice.

Basically quite nice dinner consumed and my reserves of energy running dangerously close to less than zero, I decided to turn in for the night, in preparation for a fairly early bus ride to Faro in the morning, having seen a nice giant squid today and I want everyone to know that.

#travelling #vagrant #travel #photography #lisbon #portugal #museum #vasco da gama #aquarium #fish #wildlife #prawns #fokken pronz #koi #crap cheese

2 notes · View notes