#my allergies are finally starting to ease up

[ikkyfics]

Dave Lizewski taking care of sick reader? 🤭

With You

Dave Lizewski x fem!reader

Summary: “You’re good at this, you know?” “Good at what?” He asked, one eyebrow raised. “Taking care of me. Being sweet.”

Warnings: none - just fluffy

A/N: this is my FIRST request from Dave, so yeah, maybe I'm a little emotional - anon, hope you enjoy reading <333

Masterlist

Dave found the day strangely quiet without you. He couldn’t tell what was worse: the growing worry ever since you stopped replying to his messages or the odd silence from the other side of the door when he knocked for the third time. The phone was still open to the last message you had sent earlier: “Allergic reaction hit, I’m wiped out. I’m going to sleep, love you <333.” But since then, absolute silence.

“Please, let her just be passed out from sleep…” He muttered to himself as he finally heard a sound coming from inside.

The door opened slowly, creaking with that dramatic sound that he would have found funny under any other circumstances. And then he saw you: standing, with a limp posture and a lost look, as if you had just snapped out of a trance. Your hair was all messy, your eyes swollen, and your nose slightly red, making you look even more adorable despite the clearly exhausted expression.

“Dave…?” your voice came out in a dragged murmur, your mouth opening into a silly smile that brightened your tired face a little.

You looked relieved, even though you were holding onto the doorknob to avoid toppling over. The allergy meds had clearly left you out of it.

Dave furrowed his brow, stepping forward quickly. The stuffed bear he was holding wobbled awkwardly.

“My God, look at you! You’re all…” He stopped, as if searching for the right word, but gave up. “…limp. You’re super limp. And not in a good way.”

You let out a hoarse little laugh, the sound too light for his liking.

“I am limp. The meds are strong, Dave…” you tried to point at him, as if revealing some secret, but the movement was so slow it looked like it was in slow motion.

He didn’t hesitate anymore; he kicked the door open with his foot, entering as if the house was his. With the other hand, he dropped his bag full of junk onto the living room floor before looking at you again. Dave looked like the very definition of a worried boyfriend, staring at you with wide eyes and a distressed expression.

“Okay, you shouldn’t be standing. You know what? Come here.”

“What? Dave, I’m—”

Before you could protest, he stepped closer and, with careful movement, slid one arm firmly under your knees and the other across your back, lifting you off the floor with ease. You let out a surprised sound, almost a squeak.

“Dave!”

“What? You clearly can’t walk on your own. Don’t complain, you like being pampered.” He said with a little smile, but his eyes still held that worried gleam.

Your body went limp against his, tired from the meds and sleep. The warmth from him and the comfortable smell of his sweatshirt (some mix of fabric softener and his perfume) were practically an invitation to close your eyes and rest. But instead, you glanced at his arm, your brows furrowing slightly in confusion.

“You… working out?”

Dave, who had been focused on getting you to the couch with the utmost gentleness, almost tripped over his own leg. He looked at you, his cheeks starting to redden.

“Huh?”

“Your arms…” Your voice sounded a little drunk from the exhaustion and meds, and you let your hand rest on his bicep, lightly feeling it as if it was an important discovery, “…they’re so strong.”

His face instantly turned bright red. Dave tried to keep his composure, but a nervous laugh escaped, his voice a little high from surprise.

“You’re saying I’m strong? Holy crap, write this down, ‘cause I’m gonna remember it.”

“Hmm, working out secretly…” you murmured, your eyes almost closing from sleep while your hand stayed resting on his arm. “My boyfriend turned into Hercules…”

“Okay, no more delirium. That’s the meds talking, not you.” He chuckled softly, finally reaching the couch and placing you down with such care, as if you were made of glass.

You sank into the cushions, letting out a sigh of relief. Dave knelt in front of you, his eyes scanning your face as if looking for any sign of deterioration. His hand reached up to brush a strand of hair from your cheek.

“Seriously, you really worried me. Don’t disappear like that again, okay? I almost lost it.”

You blinked slowly, your voice coming out quieter now.

“Sorry. I just… passed out. Allergy meds are my kryptonite.”

He nodded, still with that tense, worried look on his face. His hands rested on your knees, warming your skin through the thin fabric of your pajamas.

“It’s okay. I’m here now.”

The simple phrase made your chest warm in a way that had nothing to do with the allergy or the meds. Dave stayed close enough for you to feel his breath, his soft, tender blue eyes watching you. That look of his, full of affection, made you forget any discomfort or unease.

You smiled, your head leaning slightly against the back of the couch.

“You’re good at this, you know?”

“Good at what?” He asked, one eyebrow raised.

“Taking care of me. Being sweet.”

His smile widened, even though he tried to seem nonchalant.

“It’s because I’m the best boyfriend in the world. This is just the basics, babe.”

Before you could reply, he started adjusting all the “tools of war” — as he called the bag full of tissues, medicine, and the teddy bear. Slowly, you started to close your eyes on the couch. He turned just in time to see your head tilt, your face still tired but relaxed. For a moment, he hesitated to make any noise, almost as if he was standing next to one of those cartoon bombs that exploded at the slightest sound. But then you let out a soft groan, your unfocused gaze opening again.

“Why are you standing there… looking at me?” Your voice came out slow and soft, a silly smile playing at the corner of your lips.

Dave chuckled softly, crossing his arms and tilting his head.

“I’m trying to figure out if you’re going to sleep or pass out. There’s a difference, you know?”

You let out something like a laugh, but quickly coughed lightly after. He frowned immediately, his worried look back in full force.

“Okay, that’s enough. You need to eat something.”

“I’m not hungry.”

“You’re always hungry.”

The truth hit you like an uncomfortable reminder, but you didn’t have time to respond before he was already in the kitchen, opening and closing cabinets. The noise echoed through the house, much louder than usual, and you slowly turned your head to follow the chaos happening in front of you.

“Dave…” you called softly.

“Stay there and relax. I’m making something nutritious for you.”

The dramatic tchan-tchan-tchan sound of the fridge opening made you bite your lip to keep from laughing. He looked so determined, as if he was about to save the world instead of, probably, causing a disaster. You let your head fall back onto the pillow, watching the show.

In the first few minutes, Dave seemed pretty confident. He even hummed something softly as he put a pot on the stove. But then came the sound of something popping too loudly — followed by a muffled curse.

“Everything okay over there…?” you asked, lifting your neck to peek into the kitchen.

“All under control! Just… Just didn’t know rice could stick so fast.”

“Dave…”

“I told you, it’s all under control!”

The smoke began rising slowly, and you had to bite your tongue to keep from laughing as he ran to the sink, holding the pot like it was a ticking time bomb. The sound of water hitting the hot metal was followed by another worrying sizzle, and he jumped back.

“Okay! No rice. Nobody needs rice.”

“Give it up, I’m not even hungry…”

“No way!” He shouted back, regaining his composure. “Cooking is overrated anyway. Want to know what? Chicken broth counts as soup. You’re drinking this, and you won’t complain.”

He raised the chicken broth box as if it was the definitive solution to all the world’s problems. You laughed again, feeling your cheeks burn from the effort.

“My hero…” you murmured, letting the laughter die down as another yawn took over.

Dave sat down beside you on the couch, placing the steaming bowl on the coffee table, his expression still stubborn but his eyes soft as they watched you closely. He reached out to brush another strand of hair from your face, letting his fingers rest there for a moment near your cheek.

“I tried, okay? I swear I tried.”

“I know.”

The warmth of his hand was comforting, as was the feeling of knowing he was there, trying — even if clumsily — to take care of you.

And the broth wasn’t that bad, I mean, it was a little bland, but it was drinkable — a few spoonfuls.

You let out a light sound, closing your eyes and letting your head fall against his shoulder. Dave relaxed, slowly wrapping an arm around your back to pull you closer.

“It’s okay. I like your disaster.”

He chuckled softly, pressing a quick kiss to the top of your head.

“I like you too, even doped up and laughing at me.”

“I’m having fun…”

“And I’m happy you’re laughing.”

The silence came gradually, comfortable and warm. You could feel the steady rhythm of his breath next to you, his arm still firmly holding you close. You were fine. Because he was there.

The comfortable silence of the couch was only interrupted by the soft sound of the TV, where some random movie — hastily chosen by Dave — played without much importance. He had insisted on putting on some light comedy, arguing that “this always helps when people are sick.” You, still a little doped up and sleepy, didn’t have the strength to question it. Now, sitting next to him, your head resting on his shoulder and your legs stretched out across the couch, you felt completely at ease.

Dave looked at the screen every now and then, but the truth was, he spent much more time looking at you. Your lips slightly parted, your nose a little red from exhaustion, and the way you breathed slowly, almost in sync with the ambient music of the movie… He couldn’t help but smile.

“Are you comfortable there?” he asked softly, even though you weren’t exactly awake enough to answer.

Your only reaction was to murmur something unintelligible, snuggling even closer against his shoulder. Dave swallowed hard, frozen, as if any movement might break the delicate moment. Gently, he stretched his arm around you, pulling one of the blankets he brought and draping it lightly over you.

“Done. Now you’re officially a human burrito. Best medicine there is.”

You responded with a muffled grunt, the words drawn out, barely audible:

“Mm… you talk a lot.”

He chuckled softly, shaking his head.

“Sorry. I’ll let you sleep.”

For a few minutes, Dave made every possible effort to focus on the movie, trying to ignore the comfortable weight of your head on his shoulder and the soft sound of your breathing. But then, in the middle of the silence, you began murmuring again, your voice trembling and almost childlike.

“Dave… you’re so handsome…”

His eyes widened. He froze in place, his gaze shifting away from you as if the comment had hit him straight in the heart.

“What?”

“Your hair… so fluffy…” You murmured, your voice fading at the end of the sentence. Then came another silence, and he thought you had fallen asleep again. But then: “And your muscles… you’re strong, huh? I could lick your abs if I wasn’t like this, you know?”

Dave’s eyes widened even more, his face turning as red as a tomato.

“What? I— You would…” He whispered desperately, as if he could have a conversation with you in your lethargic state. But you just smiled sleepily, still with your eyes closed, your fingers awkwardly trailing up his arm, giving soft taps on his bicep.

“And that’s all mine…”

“My God…” He murmured to himself, completely stunned. The smile that escaped his lips was inevitable, small and affectionate, as he lowered his eyes to you with an almost silly look.

And then came the silence. This time, definitive. Your chest rose and fell in a calm rhythm, and Dave realized you had, in fact, fallen asleep. He stayed there for a moment, motionless, just absorbing the scene. The movie was still playing on the TV, but he could hear nothing but your peaceful breathing.

Carefully—very carefully—he took his arm from behind you, slowly getting up.

“Okay, time to take you to bed. Better than sleeping all crooked on the couch.”

You didn’t respond, obviously. But when he crouched down to lift you, the gesture was so gentle that you barely moved. Dave held you as if you were the most precious thing in the world, one arm around your back, the other under your knees.

“My God, how do you manage to be both cute and heavy at the same time?” he murmured, as if you could answer.

You just snuggled further into his arms, resting your head on his chest. He smiled, feeling his heart beat fast under the weight of your presence.

When he reached your room, Dave kicked the door open with his foot and walked over to the bed, gently laying you down on the soft mattress. He bent down, pulling the blanket up to your shoulders and adjusting the pillow under your head. For a moment, he just stayed there, watching you sleep. Your relaxed face, your lips curled into an almost imperceptible smile.

“You don’t even know how beautiful you are, do you?” he whispered, more to himself than to you.

When he got up, turning to leave, you murmured again, your voice almost inaudible:

“Stay…”

Dave stopped mid-step, his heart leaping in his chest as he heard the word escape your lips in a trembling whisper. He turned slowly, unsure if he had heard it right. Your face was still buried in the pillow, but he could see the corner of your mouth forming a soft pout, your eyes half-closed as if you were making a monumental effort to fight off sleep.

“What?” he asked quietly, leaning forward.

“Stay…” you repeated, in a slightly whiny tone, your fingers clutching the blanket he had arranged over you.

Dave stood there for a second, completely unsure of what to do. His mind screamed that he should leave, let you rest, but… how could he? How could anyone resist you, with your drawn-out voice and eyes still shining even under the weight of the medication?

“Okay,” he finally answered with a sigh of surrender. “I’ll stay.”

He lay down beside you, settling on the bed and leaving some space between you, but soon you used the last of your strength to pull him closer, your hands softly clutching his shirt. He lay down with you, not resisting, and as soon as he was lying on his side, you curled up against him like a lazy cat, your head going straight to his chest.

“Mm… best pillow…” you murmured, your voice muffled against the fabric of his shirt.

Dave chuckled softly, shaking his head.

“You’re completely drugged, you know? Tomorrow, you won’t remember any of this.”

“I will.”

“Aha.”

“I remember you’re cute. That you take care of me.”

He opened his mouth to respond, but the words didn’t come out. Instead, he looked away to hide the goofy smile that grew on his lips. His fingers started to drum on his arm, as if they were thinking of something, until they gently went up, once again squeezing his bicep like before.

“Nice…” you commented again, now with a sleepy smile that made Dave snort with amusement.

“I think I should stop coming here when you’re sick. This antihistamine is messing with your brain.”

“No, it’s not,” you retorted, dragging the words out. Your eyes finally opened a bit more, meeting his. “I speak the truth. You’re the best boyfriend in the world.”

Dave turned red to the roots of his hair. He opened his mouth, closed it, and opened it again like a fish out of water, until he managed to murmur:

“Do you say that because I’m taking care of you?”

“No.” You pulled the blanket with your hands, turning your face to the side as if pouting, but your soft voice still sounded like pure sweetness. “I say that because it’s true.”

Dave felt his chest tighten in a way he couldn’t explain. Carefully, he adjusted himself in bed until he was lying next to you, finding the position that made you most comfortable. Your body automatically curled up against his, your head finding a perfect spot against his chest.

“Best pillow,” you murmured again, a satisfied smile playing on your lips.

“Okay, okay, I got it. I’ll put this on my resume: ‘Boyfriend who doubles as a pillow.’”

The muffled laugh that escaped from you warmed his heart more than he expected. For a few seconds, the room was silent, except for the soft sound of your breathing and the calm beating of his heart. Then, with a slightly softer, almost shy voice, you murmured:

“Thanks for taking care of me, Dave.”

He looked down at you, where your face rested against his chest, your eyes almost closed again. One of his hands moved up, gently caressing your hair, his fingers running through the strands with absurd care.

“You don’t need to thank me, silly. It’s kind of my job, right? To be the best boyfriend in the world.”

You smiled, your eyes opening just enough to look at him.

“If I wasn’t sick, I’d die from kissing you so much right now.”

Dave let out a surprised laugh, his expression melting with both love and amusement at the same time. He tilted his head a little to look at you more clearly.

“Well, then you’d better get better soon. I’m counting on it.”

You laughed softly, closing your eyes again while snuggling closer to him.

“I’ll get better. For you.”

Dave felt his heart tighten in his chest once again, the goofy smile on his lips refusing to go away. He continued stroking your hair, his movements slow and careful, as if he wanted to make you fall asleep faster.

“If you keep saying these things, it’ll be you who kills me, you know? Because I won’t be able to handle it.”

“I’m just telling the truth…” you whispered, your voice already fading into sleep.

Dave stayed there for a while longer, listening to the soft sound of your breathing as he watched your relaxed face against his chest. He knew he’d have to leave at some point, but… not now. Not while you needed him.

And, if he were honest, he needed you just as much as you needed him.

“Sleep well, okay?” he murmured softly, pulling his arms around you gently. “I’m here.”

And, for the first time that afternoon, you fell into a deep sleep, knowing that he was really there.

[xtarmanderx]

Another snippet of another WIP! (I swear I will actually post something soon, I’ve just been drained from work all week. Looking forward to a small vacation this weekend!)

~

In hindsight, Tommy thinks he should have known better than to tempt fate. He and Evan have had half a dozen talks about how to respond if either of them gets hurt on a call. They have each other as emergency contacts now, medicine allergies memorized, and have promised to follow protocol on the scene if they ever end up on a call together and one of them is put in a life or death situation. Neither of them are afraid of hospitals, but they’re both afraid to leave the other alone.

Tommy’s injury doesn’t happen on a call. He supposes it’s a small blessing in disguise. What is not a blessing is the fact that he’s currently pinned in his car and waiting for help to arrive on scene. The other driver is just a scared teenage girl, bleeding profusely from her head and holding her arm at an awkward angle as she sobs out her apologies to Tommy. A witness is with them, trying to guide her to the curb once sirens can be heard, but she’s insistent on not leaving Tommy.

He prays the engine isn’t the 118, but apparently his genie is on vacation. He sees Eddie is the first to stop as he takes in the scene, no doubt recognizing Tommy’s truck. Evan is next, his eyes widening and the jaws nearly falling from his hands. “Tommy!” He starts forward and Eddie puts a hard hand against his chest, stopping him abruptly. No doubt the man is making sure Evan can remain professional on the scene. When Evan nods, Eddie releases him and the pair make their way over.

“Hey, guys.” Tommy greets cheerfully. “Carrie’s brakes gave out on her car and she banged her head pretty hard on the steering wheel and then her window. Possible grade 2 concussion. Broken arm, too.”

“I’m so-so sorry.” Carrie starts to sob again.

“I’m fine. Why don’t you go over there with the nice paramedic?” He suggests, softening his voice and tilting his head toward Henrietta Wilson.

“You know the drill, Tommy.” Eddie tells him. And he does. With a resigned sigh, he straightens his head back out and tries to make peace with the situation. He waits for Chimney to arrive, smiling tightly at the man.

“Damn, Kinard.” Chimney lets out a low whistle. “Couldn’t even go a couple of hours without seeing your boy?”

“He’s just too handsome.” Tommy turns his head just enough to wink. Evan makes a wounded noise in the back of his throat. “I can feel all of my limbs. I can wiggle my toes. Feel the bruising across my ribs. I can turn my head, too.” He says as Chimney begins his examination.

“You didn’t hit your head at all?” Chimney asks him.

“Managed not to. I don’t need a collar, but you’re the trained one. You’ve got the final say.” Tommy says.

“I do. Buck, get him out of there.” Chimney slaps a hand against the roof of Tommy’s truck and steps back. His boyfriend wordlessly springs into action, jaw clenched so tight that Tommy thinks it could break glass. He doesn’t comment, knowing Evan is a second away from falling apart, and waits for the door to be pried open.

“Here, let me help you.” Eddie says. He eases down Tommy’s seat so that he can slowly turn, moving his legs from the car until he’s parallel to the ground. When he steps out, Evan reaches out to steady him and keeps him upright.

“The 133 is sending another ambulance to arrive on scene for transport.” Chimney tells him, offering an apologetic smile.

“I’ll be fine. Carrie needs to get seen first.” Tommy assures.

“You remember what happened?” Eddie asks him.

“She was coming down that hill at a normal speed. I was halfway through my turn when I realized she wasn’t stopping. I managed to pull a little farther into the road so we didn’t hit another car, but she tried to correct and not hit me. Ended up clipping the front and then dragging down the side of my truck.”

“Your airbags didn’t go off.” Evan finally speaks, a trace of anger in his voice.

[snnprins-ya]

Sneeze experiment pt. 1

Julie tests her allergy’s with Jake’s help.

MINIRS DNI! DO NOT REBLOG TO NON KINK BLOGS

Jake stood in my kitchen, his eyes wide as he stared at the assortment of sneezing-inducing objects I had laid out. I could tell he was flustered, maybe even more nervous than I was. His cheeks were a shade of pink, and he kept swallowing like he wasn’t sure if he could get through this. To be fair, I had sort of sprung it on him with that urgent text, but… this was all in the name of science, right?

And okay, maybe I was a little curious about what exactly made him tick.

He cleared his throat. “Julie, are you sure about this?” His voice shook slightly, which only made me grin. He had that boyish nervousness about him whenever it came to sneezing. After he told me about his… particular attraction, I couldn’t help but want to know more. And what better way than to put it to the test?

I nodded enthusiastically, trying to keep a straight face. “Absolutely. I’ve been sneezing my whole life, I just never knew which allergen was the culprit for the worst of it. And besides…” I paused, smirking a little as I grabbed the sleeping mask and held it up. “You’re the perfect person to help with the experiment.”

Jake swallowed thickly, his eyes darting between me and the objects on the counter. I could almost see his thoughts racing as he hesitated, but eventually, he gave me a shaky nod. “O-okay. If you’re sure.”

I could tell he was trying to keep his cool, but there was that familiar blush creeping up his neck. It only made this more fun. I slipped on the sleeping mask, feeling the soft material cover my eyes and leaving me in complete darkness. “Alright, scientist. I’m ready when you are.”

I sat down on the stool, my hands resting in my lap as I waited, my heartbeat quickening a little. Even though I couldn’t see, I could hear Jake moving around the kitchen, probably trying to figure out what to start with. The anticipation was killing me, and I had to bite back a laugh. What would he choose first?

Finally, I felt something light brush against my face. My nostrils twitched at the sensation, a soft tickling just under my nose. The feather, I realized. It had to be the feather from that old winter coat. I felt him sweep it across my nostrils again, and immediately my nose reacted, my nostrils flaring against the tickle. The itch was immediate, spreading through my sinuses like wildfire.

“Hhh… hehh…” My breath started to hitch, and I fanned my hand in front of my face, though I knew it wouldn’t help. The tickle was too much, too deep. The feather kept brushing, teasing the sensitive skin of my nose, and I could feel my chest rising and falling as I tried to hold it back.

“J-Jake… it’s—” I started to speak, but the growing itch cut me off. “Hehh… hahh…”

And then, I couldn’t hold it back anymore.

“Haatd’chew! Hih-htchew! Ahhihchiew!” The sneezes came rapid and sharp, my body jolting forward with each one, as the tickle deep in my sinuses refused to ease. My nose felt like it was on fire, and I gasped for breath between each sneeze, my chest rising with each desperate intake of air.

“Hgn’ktch! Aht… Hhhih-tchew!”

I felt Jake flinch slightly next to me, probably as red as a tomato by now. “Bless you,” he muttered softly, his voice shaking. I could practically feel the heat radiating off him, even though I couldn’t see his face. I knew this was affecting him as much as it was affecting me.

My nose twitched again, the tickle lingering even though the feather had been removed. I sniffled, trying to compose myself. “How… how was that?” I asked, my voice still thick with the sneezing fit. My hand hovered near my nose, but I resisted rubbing it, knowing that would probably just make it worse.

Jake hesitated. “Uh… s-six sneezes. Pretty intense,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper. “Are… are you okay?”

I smiled beneath the mask, fanning my nose a little as the itch slowly subsided. “Perfect,” I said. “Let’s keep going.”

I could hear Jake’s sharp intake of breath, and I knew he wasn’t ready for what was coming next. This was only the beginning of my little experiment, and I couldn’t wait to see how he’d react as things got more… intense.

“What’s next, Jake?” I teased, a smirk playing on my lips.

There was a long pause before he cleared his throat. “R-right. Uh… next,” he muttered, moving to the counter.

I sat there, blindfolded, the remnants of the feather’s tickle still buzzing faintly in my nose. I could hear Jake moving again, this time slower, more deliberate. He was trying to be careful, but I could feel the tension in the air. This was testing both of us, though I had to admit, it was kind of fun watching him squirm.

“Alright,” Jake said, his voice still shaky. “This one might be… a little strong.”

I raised my eyebrows, curious. “What is it?”

“You’ll see,” he said, though I could hear the nervous smile in his voice.

I could feel him leaning closer to me, and then I heard the faint psst of a spray bottle. The scent hit me immediately—a sharp, floral perfume that was unmistakably strong. I felt him lightly brush his finger under my nose, guiding the scent toward my nostrils.

“Sniff,” he instructed.

I hesitated, but only for a second. I took a tentative breath, letting the scent invade my nose.

The effect was instant. The perfume’s intensity shot straight to my sinuses, like tiny needles prickling the inside of my nose. My nostrils flared, and I scrunched my nose instinctively, trying to fight off the tickle, but it was no use. The itch spread quickly, burrowing deeper, making my eyes water beneath the mask.

“Hihh… hehh—” My breath hitched, my chest rising with each shaky inhale. The perfume was relentless, the smell overpowering and sharp, like it was designed to make me sneeze.

I felt the tickle growing, impossible to ignore. My nostrils twitched and flared, desperately trying to expel the irritant. My hand hovered in front of my face, but it was useless. The sneeze was inevitable.

“Hahh… hihh—Ah’tchh! Hiih-tchew! Hah-hah’tchiew!” The sneezes burst out of me, forceful and high-pitched, my body jerking forward with each one. The itch was relentless, not satisfied with just a few sneezes. It clawed at my nose, making me gasp for breath between each fit.

“Haaht’choo! Hiih-TCHIEW!”

I could feel Jake tense beside me, probably blushing furiously as he whispered, “Bless you.”

But I wasn’t done. The perfume’s scent still lingered, crawling deeper into my sinuses. “I-Ihh… hehh—HaTCHew! Ahh-Hihh’tchiew!” My hands fumbled for something to steady myself, but all I could do was ride out the sneezing fit, my nose twitching and flaring uncontrollably.

I sniffled, my nose running slightly as I tried to catch my breath. I could hear Jake shuffling nervously beside me, his breathing uneven. “Julie… are you okay?” His voice was soft, almost strained.

I nodded weakly, though my nose was still buzzing with leftover irritation. “Y-yeah, just… sniff… the perfume’s really strong. Sniffle.”

Jake let out a shaky breath. “I, uh, didn’t realize it would make you sneeze that much.”

I smiled beneath the mask, though my nose still twitched. “Well… sniff… now you know.”

He chuckled softly, though I could tell he was still flustered. I sniffled again, rubbing at my nose, which was now tingling with that post-sneeze sensitivity. The itch wasn’t as intense, but it lingered, teasing the back of my nostrils.

“How… how many was that?” I asked, my voice still thick with congestion.

“Seven,” Jake said, his voice quieter now. “And… um, they were… intense.”

I smirked, despite the tickle still dancing in my sinuses. “Good. That’s the point, right?”

Jake cleared his throat, and I could hear the nervousness in his voice again. “Yeah… right.”

I took a deep breath, feeling the perfume’s scent still clinging to the air. My nose twitched again, and I quickly raised my hand to stifle another sneeze. “Hah… heh-hh… Hgnxtchh!”

I let out a soft groan, sniffing and rubbing my nose again. “This perfume is brutal. Sniffle.”

I could hear Jake shifting beside me, and though I couldn’t see his face, I knew he was watching me intently. His breathing was heavier now, and I could practically feel the tension radiating off of him.

I waited, still blindfolded, trying to calm my breathing as Jake moved around the kitchen. My nose was still tingling from the perfume, the itch fading slowly, but I could feel my sinuses on high alert. Whatever he picked next was going to push me over the edge again, and honestly, I was kind of excited to see what would happen.

There was a soft rustling sound, like plastic being opened. I tilted my head slightly. “What’s that?”

“You’ll see,” Jake replied, though his voice sounded less confident, a little more… hesitant.

I felt him move closer, then a sharp, citrusy smell hit my nose—lemon. The fresh, sharp scent of cleaning wipes. My nose twitched immediately, the strong aroma prickling the insides of my nostrils.

Jake held the wipe close to my face, hovering it just beneath my nose. “Sniff.”

I hesitated, already knowing this was going to be trouble. But I obliged, taking a cautious breath. The scent flooded my senses, the intense lemon smell overpowering, hitting me right in the back of my nose.

Instantly, the itch flared up again, strong and sharp. I scrunched my nose, feeling the tickle grow quickly, my nostrils flaring wildly in response. It was like the lemon scent was burrowing deep into my sinuses, triggering an uncontrollable reaction.

“Hahh… hehh—” My breath hitched almost immediately. The tickle was fast, and I could feel the sneezes building rapidly, no time to fight them off.

“Haaht’choo! Hih… hihh’tchew!”

The sneezes were quick and sharp, forcing my head forward. The lemon scent was relentless, making my nose burn with irritation. I coughed softly afterward, the strong scent making my throat itch as well. My hand flew up to my nose, rubbing it furiously as I tried to clear the tickle, but it only seemed to get worse.

“Sniff, sniff… Ugh, Jake, this is awful…” I mumbled, my voice muffled by my hand. My nose was starting to run, and I sniffled repeatedly, trying to keep it at bay, but the lemon scent clung to the air, refusing to let me go.

Jake stood frozen next to me, watching as I fumbled with the growing irritation in my nose. “Sorry,” he murmured, though there was a slight tremor in his voice. “Bless you.”

I sniffled again, rubbing at my nose, which now felt like it was on fire. “T-thanks… sniff… God, this is brutal.”

My nose continued to twitch, the itch not fading as quickly this time. I sniffled repeatedly, trying to clear it, but the irritation clung stubbornly to my sinuses. I could feel the tickle still there, lingering, teasing me, threatening to build into another sneeze.

I coughed softly again, trying to clear my throat, but the scent of the lemon wipes was still thick in the air, making my eyes water beneath the mask. “Sniff… my nose is running like crazy,” I complained, my voice thick with congestion.

“I can see that,” Jake said, though he sounded both concerned and… something else. I couldn’t quite place it.

I sniffled hard, wiping my nose with the back of my hand. “I should’ve known the lemon wipes would be bad… sniff… they always do this to me.”

Jake chuckled nervously. “Y-yeah, I kind of figured.”

I took another deep breath, the scent still lingering around me, making me cough lightly once more. My nose was still running, and I sniffled again, feeling the itch slowly retreat, though my sinuses were definitely not happy.

“So,” I said, sniffling as I tried to regain my composure. “What’s next?”

Jake hesitated, and I could hear him swallowing hard before he answered. “Uh… are you sure you want to keep going?”

I grinned beneath the mask, wiping my nose once more. “Absolutely. Sniff… Let’s see what else you’ve got.”

…

[readychilledwine]

Little Bat, Big Dreams

A/N- *tv static noise and announcer voice* we now interrupt your regularly scheduled smut for an adorable Nyx piece to satisfy Readychilledwine's pregnant brain. I present to you all a Kaylee (the previously introduced archeron oc) and toddler Nyx piece. Hopefully, you all enjoy this little family dinner piece as much as my brain enjoyed writing it, and hopefully, it helps ease any ill feelings on if Kaylee is okay at the end of Bound by Fate. 💜 Happy 5th day of "Here's to 100"

Summary - Of the four Archeron sisters, Kaylee had always had the easiest time with children due to her work in the healing house. Now, those skills are being tested by her own nephew as he takes on his worst known enemy, vegetables.

Warnings - food aversion, food allergy reactions are briefly mentioned but not described (no use of the phrase "water bowels" here, sorry Sarah.)

Feyre and Kaylee shared a look as Nyx pouted about the vegetables his family was trying to force him to eat. This was the third attempt today in making the little heir eat a well-rounded meal. This time, they had tried drowning the vegetables in cheese and withholding any other food until he ate those first.

Kaylee sighed, finally breaking the tense silence at the table, "So, you don't like veggies ooooorrr?"

Rhysand chuckled as Nyx looked up at his favorite aunt. His little blue eyes were soft with admiration for her despite Azriel's joking, yet not, warnings that she was spoken for. Her perfectly arched brow was raised at her nephew. "They're gross," he answered softly. "I hate them."

"Hate is a strong word," Nesta said from next to the boy. "It requires previous emotions like love." She wiggled her shoulder at Nyx, causing him to start dramatically gagging at the idea of romance and adult feelings.

"Auntie Kay-Kay isn't eating vegetables. If she doesn't have to. I don't neither." All heads at the table turned to her as she and Feyre made eye contact.

Before becoming fae, Kaylee had always had issues eating dairy products. Cheese, ice creams, chocolates, and milk had all tended to make her very sick. She had not bothered trying to eat them after being made. Not worth the risk, she had told Rhysand quietly one night as she explained what happened to her.

She held her plate silently to her mate, and Azriel tugged the bond gently. Are you sure? Rhysand came into her mind softly. I really appreciate you doing this, but you do not have to.

The youngest Archeron continued her stare off as Azriel put a small serving of the vegetables on her plate. I'm sure. Just buy me something pretty if this makes me sick in return. Rhysand chuckled softly as the toddler and his aunt both leaned forward, maintaining eye contact.

"Oh shit, it's getting serious," Cassian leaned back in his chair, tapping Lucien's shoulder to get the other male's attention. The Autumn male and Elain instantly looked over, laughing at the two youngest beings at the table.

"If I eat all of these, you have to eat all of yours. Once you eat all of yours, Uncle Az will take you flying today and go to the bakery we all love with you. If you don't finish them, though, he's taking me instead. Deal?"

They all watched as Nyx weighed his options. The gross vegetables covered in his favorite cheese, or not getting to fly with Uncle Az and losing out on the oh so famous triple chocolate fudge brownies the bakery had, "Deal." Kaylee and Nyx maintained eye contact as they picked up the first bite. A silent game took place between the little bat and the auntie.

Nyx put the cheesy greens in his mouth at the same time as her, eyes going wide as he chewed. He broke the game, looking down at his plate in wonder before picking up a bigger bite and eating it. And then another and another. Kaylee shook her head, looking at Feyre and Rhysand, Works every time. She kept her end of the deal, eating her serving of veggies as Rhys and Azriel watched with concern.

Nyx finished his first, smiling at his empty plate. "Not bad, huh?" She smiled at him as he held his hand out for her fork. "Evidently not." She handed Nyx her fork, allowing him the last bite of cheese and broccoli, and watched him with a soft smile. "Was it as gross as you thought, little bat?"

The Illyrians chuckled at the nickname as Nyx shook his head. "They were yummy." Kaylee nodded. "Why weren't you going to eat them if you knew they were yummy?"

"You remember how mommy and your aunties were made and not born fae, right?" Nyx nodded at her. "When I was human, milk made me really sick, and I haven't tried to eat it since."

Nyx looked up at her, his eyes wide as his lower lip began to tremble. "So, you'll get sick because of me?"

Kaylee chuckled softly. "No, buddy, if I get sick, I'm going to get sick because of the cheese. Not because of you. You needed encouragement because you were scared, right?"

Nyx nodded. "They're just gross looking. Like little mutant trees."

"But now you like them? So we never have to do that again?" The Little bat nodded at his smiling aunt. "Then, if i feel icky later, me having an unhappy tummy for a few hours is worth every second since you'll eat your vegetables now and grow big and strong."

"Like Uncle Cassie?!"

Kaylee nodded as Azriel's hand found hers under the table. "Exactly like Uncle Cassie."

Nyx held his plate out to Azriel who took it with a smile, adding another serving of veggies to his plate and setting it back down in front of him. "I'm going to beat up Uncle Cassian some day," Nyx began to eat his second serving of vegetables with determination, his eyes glancing towards Cassian with a slight glare every so often.

Wonderful. Any ideas on how to get him to eat meat other than chicken strips? Rhysand smiled.

I have a few. Kaylee leaned her head on Azriel's shoulder. The two mates were silently communicating. Kaylee's bright blue eyes flickered towards Cassian, cutting his steak and then back to Nyx. She rose both of her brows at Azriel quickly, and the male discretely nodded. Rhysand smiled lightly, shaking his head. The two of them had quickly developed their own language, and it was something the High Lord both envied and adored for his brother.

They all were now watching as Nyx and Cassian had a stare off. Cassian continued to eat his steak with a small smirk. He knew his nephew was still sad over the small battle the two of them had just hours ago. "You know Nyx," Azriel started slowly. "Part of why Uncle Cass is so big is due to him eating a variety of food. Different foods help our bodies with different things. That steak he's eating helps his muscles stay big and strong. Maybe we should try that sometime too, huh?"

Nyx glared at Cassian. The goal of beating him in a fight someday was the only thing driving him after losing in their wooden sword fight, and Azriel knew that. Cassian rose his brows in challenge, staring at Nyx as he took another bite of his steak. Nyx glared harder before turning to his father, "Cut me a steak, daddy."

[kitthepurplepotato]

Chapter 4 - It’s OK to say NO. (18+)

Summary: … this is not how you two wanted the morning to go, but oh well.

Please, look at the bright 18+. If you are underage or not comfortable with the sexual content, feel free to skip this chapter as the next one starts with a brief summary anyway so you won’t miss anything if you don’t read this one. Cheers <3

Warnings: (Almost) sexual content, swear words, insecurities

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The sun abuses your sensitive eyes as they flutter open around 8AM; the smell of burnt sugar eases the tension that suddenly appears in your chest.

Everything is fine. you are safe. You are alive and well. Yeah. It’s all good.

“Stop wiggling around.” Katsuki murmurs while he snuggles into your hair to hide from the sun. His arms snake around your middle, pulling you closer and your heart makes a somersault in your chest.

Katsuki is beautiful in the morning; the sun makes his hair almost white, his usual frown forgotten in his sleepy daze; he’s absolutely stunning. You bite your lips while your heart rate goes quicker as Katsuki leaves tiny kisses on your neck, still half asleep. It’s hot and wet, lazy but weirdly passionate as he maps out your left side with his mouth without opening his eyes. His hand starts to wander on your belly and slowly crawls underneath your T-shirt leaving hot trails all over your body with every caress; he travels further and further until his hands touch the underside of your breasts and he suddenly tenses; slowly, Katsuki’s mind wakes up as his finger touches the soft skin for only a second before he retreats and looks up at you.

“Sorry, I wasn’t thinking. Also, you are allergic to me, did you know that?” He mumbles, back to his half-dead state after hiding his face in your hair again. Wow, sleepy boyfriend Katsuki is the most compliant creature you’ve ever seen, what the fuck. You didn’t think Katsuki is a morning snuggler but fuck, he really is and it’s absolutely adorable.

“What do you mean?” You giggle while your fingers mindlessly play with his sleep mussed hair.

“Your heart started to act up when I kissed you. Mine does that too and it feels really shitty when it does.” He murmurs and leaves another kiss in the crook of your neck; your heart acts up again, beating rapidly in your chest, fire spreading in your veins like poison. You can’t help the awkward giggle rumbling through your chest.

“That’s not an allergy, you dumb fuck.” Ahh, this man is hilarious. “It’s a common reaction. It means you like what the other person is doing… it’s adrenaline. Ahh, I don’t know how to describe it, fuck. It means I have the hots for you. And I want you. Or something. I fucking don’t know, but it’s definitely not allergies, it’s more like the opposite. It means I can’t get enough of you.” Your face flushes, fully ashamed. You basically just told him you are horny. Right in his face. Just like that. Great. This is great. You should have used other words, talk about love and butterflies but no, you had to talk about your inner desire to fornicate with him in his parents house, while his mom is probably busy making breakfast in the kitchen.

“Hm…” Katsuki hums while he helps himself up on his elbow to look down at you. His other hand caresses your hair, his fingers sliding down your sensitive neck and your breath hitches from the father-light movement. “I’ve never felt like this with anyone before though. It wasn’t hard to breathe and there was no squeezy feeling in my chest before… Why?” he murmurs as his hand finds it’s final destination; your chest. He listens to your frantic heartbeat with a soft gaze, his eyes wondering up and down your face and body.

“Can I ask you a question, Katsuki?” You mumble, your hands still in his hair. You fingers slowly trail down to his ear and his neck; you put your hands on his chest and listen to his quickening heartbeat as your body burst into invisible flames.

“I asked first.” He mumbles back, but there is no edge to his words; his eyes are cloudy and he’s not focusing anymore.

“It’s connected to my answer.” You retort, your fingers slowly moving down to his collarbone, tracing the dip of the skin with the tip of your fingers. Katsuki visibly shakes at that and it goes straight down to your… yeah. That. Katsuki doesn’t say anything just moves up to tower over you; the silence is gold so you continue without an actual answer. “Did you care about the person who touched you this way?” You whisper; your fingers move to his shoulders, caressing his skin on his arms back and forth.

“No.” The answer is simple.

“Did you enjoy being touched by them?” You move back to his collarbone then to the middle of his chest; your finger slowly trails down between his pecs as your other hand finds his hips and grabs the skin heavily. Katsuki’s hips twitch forward; it would go unnoticed if you wouldn’t be staring at him like a hawk, analyzing every single movement to prove your point.

Fuck, it’s really hot in here.

“Fuck, no.” Katsuki heaves and your hand moves down his belly and stops at the trail of hair disappearing in his underwear. He takes a deep breath and looks at you hungrily, his whole body shaking from the tension. Your finger finds the hem of his underwear, tugging on the fabric once then let it go with a tiny snap. Katsuki forgets how to breathe.

“Do you like it when I touch you, Katsuki?” Your finger slide over the hem of his underwear until you reach his side; your hand slides up on his sides, palms shamelessly grabbing on the muscled skin, mapping out every single crevice and scar on the way.

“Yes.” The answer comes easily between two heavy pants.

“Do you care about me?” You smile at him, already knowing the answer.

“Yeah, I fucking do.” Katsuki whispers, his mind blown by the sudden revelation. “Fuck.”

Things happen really quickly, the same way they always do then Katsuki feels too full of new, strange emotions; he surges forward and kisses you fiercely, the motion heavy and hot; he tugs and bites right away, a weak, shaky moan leaving your lips from the sudden sensation. The sound only urges him on; he moves to your neck and leaves hot kisses all over it, his tongue moves up to your ears, leaving a trail of quickly cooling saliva in it’s wake then nibbles on your ear lobe before he changes his mind and comes back to your mouth, absently trying to force you to make that sweet sound again and again. Your hands wonder up his pecs absently, the feeling of his nipple under your palms leaves you a breathless, stuttering mess; he makes a tiny gasp at the feeling, trying his best to not make too much noise but failing miserably. Katsuki finds your mouth again, his kisses frantic and unpredictable; he licks into your mouth and joins your tongue in a sensual dance while his hips jerk forward for any kind of friction. A broken whine leaves your lips when you feel Katsuki’s hardness through his underwear as he dips down and moves his hips into you; while the tension is heavy in the air the friction is feather light and tentative, but it leaves nothing but fire in his wake; you try to chase the feeling, pulling yourself up to find him halfway and a high pitched moan leaves Katsuki’s mouth, way too loud in the silence of the early morning; the sound goes right between your legs, your body on fire as Katsuki makes the same motion over and over again while he devours your lips and neck hungrily.

“Let me touch you.” You whisper, your hands already on the hem of his underwear but Katsuki jerks away.

“Wait, I… I can’t.” For your surprise, Katsuki looks like a hurt puppy, confused and shaking as he looks down at himself.

Your breath hitches and you feel like you’ve done something terrible, but it doesn’t make sense, he was clearly into it and you just wanted to urge him on, let him know you want it too, but you’ve clearly missed something in the heat of the moment, maybe he didn’t want this at all…

Fuck, you are spiraling.

Fuck, it’s so hard to breathe.

~•💥•~

“Wait, I… I can’t.”

Katsuki is a mess. An aroused and confused mess. He has no idea what had happened in the last few minutes if he’s completely honest; one moment he was flustered by Y/N’s light touches, then… then he almost creamed his pants after a few minutes of friction. He might have an explosive quirk but he’s never felt so much heat in his body before; it felt like every single part of his body was on fire, flames licking up his chest and his belly as he panted on top of Y/N, his mind foggy from lust.

Bakugou Katsuki, 25 years old, has never felt flames growing in his belly, he’s never felt so weak and vulnerable as he does right now, ready to go down on his knees and beg Y/N to let him finish this, because he knows the feeling would be amazing and he’s so close, and it was so good, nothing like anything he has felt before, not even alone in the shower and definitely nothing like the times he messed around with random women to ease the tension.

Katsuki is utterly confused by his body right now, because for the first time in his life, it actually worked properly.

“Did I do something wrong? Did I go too far? I’m so sorry Katsuki… please, say something, anything, yell at me, call me names, I don’t fucking care just say something!” Y/N looks at him with teary eyes and something breaks in him; he didn’t mean to make her cry, he really fucking didn’t.

“Fuck, it’s not your fault, give me a second. Please.” Katsuki takes a few deep breaths and thinks.

There are a few revelations here he need to get his head around.

First of all, he’d just realized he’s demisexual… or something. He has no idea about sexualities and he never bothered to Google them. He did hear about this from Sero though; it makes so much fucking sense now it hurts his brain. He will need to apologize to Sero for calling it “bullshit”; who is he kidding, he will never actually do that.

He never liked porn or anything sexual. No woman nor man could satisfy him in any way, he could never make it until the end before giving up and leaving the situation, because it’s really hard to do stuff when his member isn’t interested. His one night stands usually ended up with him satisfying the other person in other ways and leaving like this was what he wanted to do in the first place. No one asked questions and no one ever cared as long as they were left satisfied and happy. He haven’t had too many of them, to be honest; 3 or 4 maximum, and they were all terrible so Katsuki just accepted that he is not into sex at all. Then motherfucking Menace came into his life and all the shit he was sure of crumbled in front of him, leaving nothing but questionmarks all over the place as his body betrayed him and reacted to Y/N’s fleeting touches. He caught himself staring at her more than once, daydreaming about touching her and it only left him more and more confused about himself; why does he care now? Why is this different?

And here comes the second revelation of the day; Katsuki only just realized how deep his feelings really are. The fire in his body from Y/N’s caress is one thing, but the way he turns into a mush when Y/N looks at him with those beautiful eyes, looking deep into his soul, and how Katsuki looks up from his paperwork every time she makes the tiniest of noises, worried she might pass out again like that one time ages ago, how Katsuki wants to be around her 24/7 to keep her safe and how much he can’t get enough of her fiery touches and sweet giggles, fuck, he even loves when Y/N yells at him for being an absolute asshole to a fucking extra. When she kicks his ass out of spite he wants to say thank you.

Fuck’s sake, he really is head over heels for this fucking woman. It’s not just “love” and “adoration”. It’s an actual fucking obsession at this point.

… but.

Being interested in this way is great but that doesn’t mean he’s not overwhelmed and terrified to do something wrong.

What if he goes all the way and fails? What if he’s not good enough; fuck, the only time he had actual sex was when one of the ladies got impatient and tried to “help herself” which ended with him going limp in 2 fucking minutes because he didn’t like it at all. It was really awkward.

Deep inside, he knows this wouldn’t be the case with Y/N. The throb in his pants is enough of an evidence, but fuck, he’s terrified.

“I’m not a virgin, but… I’ve never… fuck’s sake.” Katsuki swears and puts his head on Y/N’s shoulders to take a deep breath filled with her cotton candy scent to calm down. “I need more time. I’m new to this and it’s too much. Too good. So fucking good, Y/N.” He looks up finally, right into her teary eyes. She needs to know he’s saying the truth and this is the only thing he could think of.

Y/N smiles, but it’s broken, sad around the edges; Katsuki fucked up.

“I understand and I’m sorry.” She murmurs, while her fingers play with Katsuki’s ruffled bangs.

“The fuck are you sorry for? I initiated all of this. Not you.” He retorts with anger in his tone. He takes a few deep breaths and continues. He can’t fuck this up more, can he? “The only thing you can be sorry for is to wanting to go further in my parents house, because that’s weird and nasty.” Katsuki teases, moving back into Y/N’s personal space with a cheeky grin. Finally, Y/N chuckles and Katsuki leaves tiny kisses on her neck; he would do anything to make Y/N smile at this moment. This is another new feeling Katsuki needs to get used to; this urge to please his other half, like being himself is not enough anymore, he needs to be better, kinder, stronger for his partner, for Y/N, being “okay” is not enough anymore, he needs to be the best… ahh fuck this whole love thing, this is fucking ridiculous. A warm puff of air leaves Katsuki’s mouth and Y/N shivers underneath him; he might be in the middle of a hate-speech in his head but the can’t lie, he absolutely loves the way Y/N reacts to his touches. It’s so fucking addicting. Y/N pushes him away gently, forcing the blonde to look into her eyes; the smile falters and changes into a serious gaze, one full off worry and love.

“Katsuki… I want to say something. Will you listen to me?”

Well, fuck. He really doesn’t want to, but he doesn’t have a choice. He’s so fucking ready to have a meltdown in the bathroom.

“Spill.” Katsuki rolls his eyes, trying his best to act like everything is okay and this conversation is absolutely unnecessary, even though he knows it’s not.

“I know you hate to feel weak and vulnerable and you probably can’t wait to run away and never come close again, but I want you to know that this… this was okay. It’s okay to say no. It’s not a fucking weakness.” Ahh, here it goes. The fucking pity he hates so much. “And if you say no next week or next month or even after that, it will be okay. If you don’t want to go further at all, that’s also okay. I don’t care, Katsuki. The only thing I care about is you being here with me, supporting me and liking me. I’m more than happy to live without sex for the rest of my life if it means you’ll stay by my side. So… just talk to me, okay?” Katsuki is not sure if he wants to run away, cry on Y/N’s shoulder or just marry her in the nearest register office. What the fuck did Katsuki do to deserve such an understanding, beautiful fucking girlfriend who can keep up with him even in the worst days? How?!

“Stop saying cheesy shit, I hate it.” Katsuki mumbles, his cheeks red as a tomato. “It’s stupid anyway. Thanks, though.”

Well, that sentence definitely did not convey a single thing he wanted to, but Katsuki isn’t good with words. Or deeds. Or with anything emotional. He didn’t even know he had them until last month.

“I know you hate this, but it’s a part of being in a relationship. I want you to tell me about this later, when you feel comfortable. I want to know everything about you. Even if it’s something stupid.” Y/N smiles and fuck, Katsuki really wants to make this Menace the happiest fucking woman on Earth.

“I want to make you happy.” Katsuki grumbles, his hands slowly crawling up on Y/N’s thighs until he gets to the edge of her panties. He can feel his blood pumping aggressively inside him, leaving trails of burning fire in their wake. Y/N scrunches her face for a few seconds and takes a deep breath; she slowly removes his hands from her body with a disappointed frown on her face.

Well, Mr. Katsuki definitely sucks at this.

“Kats, did you even listen to me?”

“I did…” he mumbles with a guilty expression in his eyes.

“I want to wait until you are ready, and I want to do this together. Now move your fucking ass and let me calm down.” She sighs, and Katsuki hates it.

Katsuki might be a changed man but he still hates a lot of things. Clearly.

“I suck at this shit.” Katsuki grumbles after he moves away from his girlfriend.

“You really do but it’s kind of sexy to be honest.” Y/N gives him a seductive look which makes Katsuki’s little friend twitch and that’s when Katsuki decides he’d had enough of the Menace’s shenanigans for one day and leaves the room. He can only hope his mother is not doing laundry right now, because if he has to face her while looking like this, he’ll catapult himself out of the window and move to Mars.

Katsuki needs a cold shower. Or two. Or three.

Fuck, being in a relationship is a real fucking challenge; thank god he’s a hot headed, challenge-loving bastard who absolutely can’t wait to see what kind of obstacles he’ll need to overcome in the future, plus fucking ultra and all that shit.

He’ll fucking win at this relationship-thing, because he always fucking wins.

… Next Chapter!

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Potato ramble:

- Be like Katsuki. If you are not comfortable with something, say it. If the other person loves you they’ll understand. If not, they are not the one. There is also no such thing as being to old to be a virgin. Do stuff when you are ready.

Sorry for the random advice but I would have killed to have someone telling me that when I was young, so I had to do it.

TL: @sixxze @iwannahaveaprettyaesthetic @hanatsuki-hime @cloroxisadelectabletreat @cheesenmax @coffeent @smolsleepybat @therealpotatobish

[natsuki208]

The Almost Cat-astrophe! 🐾

The story of how Sebastian discovered baby Ciel’s developed cat allergies.

———

It’s bitter cold outside but inside of the Phantomhive manor is cozy warm. Perfect timing for the growing heir’s first birthday.

Everyone of the servants are gathered within the main room; preparing food for the dinner later, and listening in on the baby’s tiny laughter. His new father, Sebastian Michaelis, is the one who cannot stop smiling - for the past six months have been warming him up to this very moment more than the fireplace.

It’s also probably because he’s ready to give his own present to his child, for the more presents the baby receives, the more impatient Sebastian subtly gets (even though he suggested to save the best for last). After one new pair of unfitting footwear, it’s finally Sebastian’s turn even though the little one sitting on his leg begins to tilt sleepily.

“Now don’t fall asleep yet, Ciel.” He speaks softly. “Papa still has something special for you.”

The man gently places his child on the sofa and stands up to get his gift; no longer being in his father’s arms widens his eyes immediately. It doesn’t take long for Sebastian to turn back around holding a box twice the size of Ciel, this grabs everyone else’s attention as their temporal master slowly takes off the lid with a smile.

Inch by inch, the box begins to move. The sight of fur becomes very clear to the others in the room, along with sky blue eyes peering out, the color of light and dark grey stripes pop out and the tiniest sound ever heard spills out:

Meww.

A kitten. A four week old kitten the size of a full-grown hand peaks its head over the top to look at the baby in front. Ciel spreads a little smile as soon as he sees it, clapping his hands as to pet it himself. Both little ones take a liking to one another already with one purring and the other patting repeatedly while giggling. Sebastian though feels much happier than the two combined and Tanaka, the butler standing next to him, can read him like an open book.

“I’m not too sure whom the kitten is suppose to please here.” He jokingly comments, keeping his laughter to himself.

Sebastian of course notices this. “Really. Well you can’t blame me for how precious they are.”

Little Ciel starts whimpering when his father pulls the kitten back towards him for a moment to get a better look at all the features.

“Look at her. Those innocent eyes, the softness to her fur, how plump her paw pads are and her elegant sounds that’s enough to put my child at ease. She’s perfect.”

Suddenly the whimpering gets a little louder, accompanied by the tugging on his sleeve, which is enough to bring Sebastian’s focus back onto Ciel. The realisation dawns on him and gently picks him up with his free arm.

“Oh. Of course I cannot forget you, bluebird.” The smile grows bigger by looking at those big, sapphire eyes again. Having both a tiny kitten and the only tolerable human to him close manages to bring HIM to ease, which use to be very rare in mundane scenarios such as today. “I’m sure you and Lady will go swell together.”

Oh yeah. He gave her such a sophisticated name for such a small feline (he was gonna go for Lilith or Lamia but it was too on the nose for him).

Tanaka gives another smile after hearing such amusing words coming from usually a calm and collected person (but is well aware how his behaviour can change around the little one) and he continues to view them with pride.

“If you say so, sir. Ho, ho.”

-

A few days have gone by and they felt like a dream to the normally practical demon like Sebastian. Who can blame him for now looking after two adorable pint-size creatures in his new life? Whenever they are around for asleep in his arms, it puts him in a mellow mood - dare he say it’s as pleasant as most worthless human souls.

His mind cannot focus on anything else right now but those cuties, not even whilst he’s suppose to go over some paperwork sent to him by the Queen herself. Such bothering work does not entertain him in the slightest, he’ll gladly admit it’s not the thing he signed up for when becoming Ciel’s new father but it must be done nonetheless.

“How tiresome.” Sebastian sighs, plopping the papers on the old desk.

The need for entertainment rises as he grows ever more unmotivated to finish it swiftly, and just from looking at it too. Then it pins to him, of course he’s gonna pay a quick visit to the nursery to see the precious pair again - it may be during Ciel’s nap time but still.

Sebastian slowly opens the office door and glances around for any witnesses, gladly nobody is present which releases a soft breath from the demon. He’s now standing outside the nursery and is just about to grab the handle when… he hears crying.

This is definitely not good. It sounds more chesty than usual which makes it worse. Sebastian hurries in fast and immediately sees what’s wrong; the wailing baby in the crib is coughing between cries, a runny nose and has small red spots planted on his cheeks. He cannot open his eyes due to tears but does his little grabby hands for whoever he thinks is in the room. The demon doesn’t hesitate to answer his gesture and picks him up, this gives him the chance to better check the sudden aching changes.

“Goodness, Ciel! What happened?!” The baby continues crying breathily. He is worried, actually worried. How rare for him to feel yet another common and strong emotion, especially towards a human.

Is it a cold? No it can’t be. Ciel never grew red spots like this before. He looks at every corner of the nursery to find some form of evidence for this calamity. That’s when he hears it; the small adoring sound from near his foot:

Meww.

Little Lady is innocently pawing at her favourite toy, jumping at it every time it got away from her, even if it’s cute it raises questions. She couldn’t have scratched him on accident, did she?… No! There’s no possible way that Lady can be possible for such a horrendous deed, nor does Sebastian ever want to suspect her either.

Suddenly, a knock at the door pipes up. Who else but Tanaka is currently standing by politely, and he immediately notices something is not right while seeing Sebastian’s troubled expression.

“Whatever is the matter in here, sir?” He asks. “Shouldn’t you be working?”

“I… was indeed working until…” This is no time to give away that he grew bored of the assignments, the sick Ciel is whom he cares for right now. “Something is wrong with Ciel and it doesn’t appear to be yet another cold.”

It must be serious if even Tanaka grows cautious of what has happened to the young heir. The butler requests if he can call over a doctor for assistance, Sebastian agrees and off both men head for downstairs; Lady is obviously taking down with them too because Sebastian.

-

It didn’t take long for a doctor to get here; but sadly Angelina aka Madame Red was the only one available at this hour. It took even longer to persuade Sebastian to lend Ciel over to her for examination, luckily Lady can calm him down during this dreadful situation. As he sits alone (minus Tanaka nearby) he gently plays with the tabby kitten and her tiny meows are like music to his ears, not to mention her soft nature while purring and rolling over on his lap just lifts his mood a teensy bit.

But it isn’t enough to bring his mind out of this current state of worry he’s trapped in. Sure, there were moments in his past contracts over the centuries when he felt some form of concern for his masters, but it only lasted temporarily and he never gave it a good thinking. Today however actually got to him; he’s already grown really attached to his new son so it shouldn’t be a surprise… but it is.

A few more minutes pass by until there’s a knock on the door, Sebastian tells Tanaka to answer it for him which he kindly does. Words of knowledge are shared, heads nod and a silent glare peeked over at Sebastian in the distance. Once that was taking care of, the butler proceeds to spread the information to him with a relieved smile.

“Good news, Sebastian - it’s nothing serious.”

Just a few words relaxes Sebastian firmly. “Well, that’s quite a relief. Would you mind telling me what it was then?”

Tanaka clears his throat before answering, losing that smile and looking down at Lady in Sebastian’s hands (not really a good sign).

“I’m afraid… it turns out Ciel has developed a allergy… towards cats.”

Sebastian’s eyes widen in genuine surprise. Not with the fact that Lady really was responsible, but due to the fact he doesn’t have full knowledge on something like allergies. He has heard of the word before and knows it mainly applies with certain foods, but animals as well? He honestly had no idea.

“Do tell, Tanaka. I don’t quite follow.”

“It simply means the fur is harmful and can cause one to gain a rash as we’ve seen on his skin. But don’t fret, the boy received some medicine and is sound asleep, so he’ll recover very soon indeed.”

While good news, Sebastian can’t help but sadden at the fact that is pointed out next.

“But I apologise for this dearly when I say we’ve been informed to keep felines out of the mansion.”

There it is. As it does break Sebastian to see his child sick AND to now give away such a cute little kitten which was a gift to said child, he eventually accepts what must be done and silently agrees, keeping those feelings to himself.

“If it’s what must be done to keep him safe… I’ll allow you to find a more suitable home for Lady. Be sure that it’s a sensible one as well.” He informs regrettably.

“Yes. Of course, sir.”

Whilst Tanaka takes away the now sorrowful kitten, squeakily meowing non-stop, Sebastian is allowed to check up on the sleepy Ciel in the bedroom. Thank satan that the rashes have toned down along with the redness, although he occasionally sneezed during his slumber (but it didn’t wake him up) and all Sebastian can do is gaze down at him, stroking his hair softly. It’s a shame the young Lady couldn’t stay around as he had hoped, but human nature can be torturing, and as long as Ciel is safe once more he’ll eventually move on and wish luck for her.

Even after the unfortunate event has cleared up, it was still an intriguing experience in its own way.

[imaginedreamwrite]

A momentary scare — A Permanent Claim drabble

A/N: I have never been through anaphylaxis and I’m not allergic to anything so my medical knowledge might not be completely accurate

Behave, Mousey. I’ll know if you aren’t, and I’m not afraid to dole out some punishments — Curtis

“He’s still worried? He needs to relax a little, its dinner not a strip club.” Park side-eyes Nat and gives her a little smirk, the two women communicating silently while you sit around a table.

“Its Mousey,” Nat teases affectionately, “the only people Curtis is more protective over is Theo & James.”

“We’re not…” you lean forward and rest your forearms against the edge of the table. “…going to a strip club are we?”

“Not now, hun.” Nat reaches over to squeeze your hand, her smile meeting her eyes. “We’ll let you get a little more used to the club business before we throw naked men at you.”

“Or at least try to throw naked men at her. If Curtis doesn’t throw her over his shoulder first.” Pari and Nat’s teasing comes with ease, and you don’t feel dismayed by their comments.

The idea of Curtis becoming so jealous of you going to a strip club that he throws you over his shoulder was another thing altogether.

“She’s thinking of it.” Nat continued, lifting her glass to her lips. “Let that imagination run wild, its not even close to what Curtis is capable with you.”

“Oh! No, I mean I’m not…” you felt warmth pool in your belly, desire quick to follow when you think of all 6ft+ of him tossing you around.

“Ladies,” the waiter had come back to the table, first setting your drinks down, “your order will be out shortly. Another few minutes.”

“Seafood free, right? I hate to be anal but…”

“Allergies.” The waiter had nodded his head, an astute yet kind of distance in his gaze. “Everything’s taken care of.”

The waiter is quick to leave, and the three of you fall into a comfortable conversation. You drink and talk for the few minutes until your food comes, and then you add your final bits of dialogue before you start eating.

It doesn’t hit you at first, the sense that somethings wrong. Its subtle, almost as if it wasn’t there to begin with and then you feel it. You chew and swallow before you feel it becoming harder to breathe, your hands clutch the table as you recognize what’s happening.

“Y/N, sweetheart…” Natasha reaches for your hand, turning your wrist over to feel the drop in your pulse. “Call an ambulance!”

“They said it was taken care of!” Pari stands so abruptly, the chair toppled over and she’s immediately at your side, giving you support.

You feel like gasping for air yet your throw keeps growing tighter. You don’t know whether its the anxiety of going into anaphylactic shock or the idea that someone could have messed with your food that has you unable to comprehend the chaos.

“Call Curtis! Get him to meet us at the hospital!” Natasha stays behind, Pari is already leading you out toward the door.

A manager, the general manager or someone with absolute dread on their face, is coming toward you both. Your eyes burn, your skin feels hot and the urgent need to throw up is hitting you with the weight of train.

It could’ve been minutes, hours or days. You don’t recollect time between being in the restaurant to being strapped to an ambulance board. You don’t know how you managed not to completely collapse as the paramedics talk to you with muffled voices.

You feel accosted by the lights of the ambulance, you feel detrimentally conscious and aggravated with yourself for not having your EpiPen.

Everything hurts, everything is grating to your body. Your eyes begin to close as rest finds you.

“…i’m sorry…” you whisper to the person next to you, the back of an ambulance traded for a hospital bed. “…I screwed up…”

“No,” a handle yet rough hand brushes your hair back, his bright eyes linger on you, “you didn’t do anything, Mousey.”

“I didn’t know, Curtis. I told them over and over…” you felt weak still, but the oxygen mask you were given by the doctors and nurses helps enough.

“Someone fucked with your food. The cooks adhered but somewhere between it leaving the kitchen and being given to you, it was fucked with.” He leans in and brushes his lips against your forehead, kissing you softly.

“I should’ve had my EpiPen.” You whined, turning your head in embarrassment for being foolish. “I should’ve…been more careful.”

“You’re okay, you’re going to be okay.” He astutely gentle, keeping a rather level head now that he’s here though you know he likely gave someone hell.

“Theo & James..?”

“They’re taken care of. Steve’s girls’ got them.” Curtis answered you and slowly inched you over so he could lay beside you, and then he wrapped an arm around you.

“I told you not to get into trouble.” His grip on you was protective and firm, he was careful not to squeeze. “This is never happening again, Mousey.”

“Curtis-“ he stopped you before you could stop, pressing a finger to your lips.

“We’re getting you an allergy protection dog. That’s not a question, its happening. And you’re going to start carrying your EpiPen.” Curtis spoke with finality, you couldn’t have argued with him if you wanted to.

“I’m sorry,” you apologized again, feeling emotional and anxious.

“I can’t fucking lose you, baby. I won’t lose you, I can’t.” Curtis closed his eyes and breathed in deep. “I would never recover.”

[giggly-squiggily]

Still You Under The Surface (Moriarty The Patriot)

I hadn't intended this to get sappy but here we are 👀

Heyo everyone! I finally finished the Lee!Albert fic I was making! Darling man- I love Albert so much! He and his brothers deserve all the love in the world, and so this fic has been created! I hope you like it!

Shoutout to the wonderful @thatbigbisexual29 for the idea that Albert's neck is ticklish- I hope it's okay I've included it in this fic- it was too cute to pass up! Check her out, she's fantastic!

Summary: Albert had crafted the perfect persona for the world, for the various nobles he entertained, and for the Lord Of Crimes. However, it had little to no effect on his brothers. When the cracks start appearing in his mask, William and Louis are there for him.

Albert James Moriarty was unreadable.

The eldest of the Moriarty brothers, you’d be damned to find him without his signature smile. Coy, with a touch of amusement in those green eyes as if he found everything around him enchanting. He was a picture of elegance, gracefully handling any situation thrown his way with poise and charm. Some believed he’d never faced a worry in his life with how at ease he seemed, while others believed he simply dripped with confidence, too secure in himself to let anything petty bother him.

It was an illusion he held like a shield, his thin layer of protection to prevent the cracks from shining through. And it worked.

However…

“You seemed stressed.” William spoke up one morning upon seeing his brother. Ruby red eyes peered up at him from his newspaper, the slightest furrow in his brow upon meeting Albert’s gaze. “Is everything alright?”

“Oh? No, I’m fine.” Albert smiled, taking a seat as he collected the tea Louis made. It was a touch too strong, but he drank it regardless. “Things for our plans are going smoothly. Nothing to be concerned about.”

“That’s good to hear, but I wasn’t asking about our plans.” Folding the paper, William turned his full attention to Albert. “I was asking about you.”

“Will-”

“Albert, I watched you practice that smile until it became natural.” The blonde’s tone snapped his lips shut, making him pause. “That’s the smile you wear when you’re playing the Lord of Crimes. When you have to charm some aristocrats into sharing details or entertain a room as part of your noble stature. It’s an effective tool, but not one designed to hide things from us.” Willam’s voice softened some, concern taking away the edge. “Please tell me, as you-what’s wrong?”

Albert was quiet, stunned by how effective William saw past his illusion. It was true, he had practiced it many times with everyone; slowly molding his new persona into a well fitting mask he sometimes struggled to remove. When he did, it scared him- this person floating beneath the surface of his new role. It was so easy to forget who he was when he wasn’t helping bring London’s current system to its knees; when it was just him and his brothers.

“Albert?” Louis' voice cut through the smog of thoughts, something in his voice he found alarming. When he looked up, he found both brothers staring at him in surprise. Only when he blinked did he realize he’d been crying. “Oh, Albert…”

“Oh dear… how’d that happen?” Albert laughed softly, wiping his face with a shaking hand. “Apologies, gents, didn’t mean to scare anyone.”

“Nevermind that.” Louis scoffed, closing the distance and kneeling before his older brother, trying to catch his eye. “You never cry. Did something happen? Who did it? I’ll find them-”

“Louis.” William’s soft voice stopped his rambling, the other man sitting on the arm of Albert’s seat, his hand squeezing his shoulder. “It’s okay. You don’t have to now, but when you feel ready, we’re here to listen.”

“Really, I’m fine.” Albert choked out, struggling to clear his throat of the stubborn lump residing there. “You mustn't worry about me. I’ll be fine. Must be all the-the dust. Yes, that’s it. It’s dusty in here; my allergies are acting up.”

Louis and William shared a look, conversing with their eyes. Then Louis smiled, a touch sad as he gently patted Albert’s knees. “You know- Brother and I always did that too. We’d get overwhelmed with everything that happened and blame it on dust or grime from the slums, or We’d say we’d accidentally poked ourselves in the eye.”

“Terrible excuses, no? Of course, you never believed them for a second.” William nodded in agreement, his thumb rubbing soothing circles into Albert’s shoulder as he reflected on the memory. “You’d tell us it’s a big brother’s job to help his younger ones when they cry, no matter what the reason.”

“Cause it’s true-” Albert cut in.

“And it’s the job of the younger siblings to make sure they help their eldest brother when he’s in tears.” Louis leaned his arms against his knees, resting his chin in them as he gave Albert a small but encouraging smile. “Even if they have the gall to say the room’s dusty after I’ve cleaned it.”

The brunette let out a wet laugh, the sound making the other two grin. Shaking his head, Albert let out a breath before clearing his throat, finally starting to calm. “Apologies. I dislike crying- it makes me feel so…vulnerable.” He sighed, reaching out to gently run his fingers through Louis’ hair, his other hand coming out to pat William’s hand. “I guess it’s not so bad with you two, though.”

“You guess?” William tsked in mock offense, sharing another look with his brother before the hand on Albert’s shoulder began to slide, creeping across his upper back. “How rude. All these years later and you only guess it’s okay to be yourself around us?”

“You know what I me-eeh!” Albert straightened when the hand found his neck, curling against his nape. “Will, don’t you dare.”

“Dare what? We’re only sitting here.” Louis defended, the arms resting on Albert’s lap stretching so he could grasp each knee, something playful entering his expression. “Why so tense, brother?”

“You know whhiihihhiy! Will!” Albert yelped with a giggle when the hand at his neck wiggled, making him scrunch some. “Dohoohon’t!”

“My, you’re awfully fidgety today, Albert.” William teased, two fingers continuing to scratch at his brother’s neck while the rest of them pressed gently, sending little pulses of ticklishness across his nerve endings. “What’s the matter? Have to use the restroom?”

“Ants in your trousers?” Louis teased, his own hands squeezing Albert’s knees in a similar fashion, making him squirm. “Tickly ones?”

“Oh, I’ve heard of those. Devious little things.” William nodded solemnly, smirking when Albert blushed, a hand swatting at him. “No? What’s wrong then?”

“Wihihihihilliam! Lohohoohuis! SThaahahahp ihhiihit!” Albert broke into a fit of laughter, curling in on himself as William brought his second hand in, wiggling it gently against the back of his ribs. “Geahhahahaa! Thhiihihis isn’t fhahahhahair!”

“I disagree. I think this is quite fair.” Louis giggled, clearly enjoying himself. With his weight against Albert’s legs, he leaned up some to give his brother’s waist a squeeze, laughing when the brunette hooted. “You always tickled us when we were upset. It’s about time we return the favor. Right, brother?”

“Absolutely, Louis.” William nodded, one hand carrying on squeezing Albert’s neck while the other reached for his armpit, knowing how bad a spot that was for his brother growing up. “Come to think of it- I can’t recall the last time Albert properly laughed for us, can you?”

“Not at all. Such a travesty.” Louis tsked, yelping when Albert’s hand found his chin. “Ahhehhehe! Nohohohoo!”

“Yehehehhehehs!” Albert giggled back, his other hand latching onto William’s thigh and squeezing, nearly sending the other blonde flying off his seat. If they were gonna tickle him, he’d at least get a few back. “Thhiihihihs is whahahhat you gehe-AH!”

Well- so much for that idea.

“Ohoohoho? Is this still a bahhad spot?” William grinned when Albert arched away, arms shooting back to his chest when he wiggled both hands into his armpits from behind. Loud, beautiful laughter boomed from their brother’s lips; deep belly laughs that were so recognizable he tried to fight down on a daily basis. “There it is!”

“AH! Ahehahahhhahahahhaa! Whihiihihihihll, plehehehhahahhahahahse!” Albert cackled, sinking in his chair as he tried to fight off the hands. William simply changed positions, going from the front to carry on his playful assault. “Dhohoohohoohohn’t tihihihihihickle meehhehhee thehehehheheherhe!”

“Why not? It’s proving rather effective.” Willam laughed, yelping once more when Albert tried grabbing his waist. “Nohoohpe! No, absolutely nohoht! Louis hehehelp!”

“On it!” Bailing on Albert’s legs, he grabbed his brother’s wrists; pulling them up so William could properly tickle him. “There we are- finally smiling for real now.”

“GEHAHHAHHA, YOOOHOHOU TWOHOHOHOHO! STAHHAHHAHAP!” Albert squealed, all but falling out of his seat as his worst spot was attacked. It didn’t help Louis had begun running his thumbs against the outskirts of his palms, a tickle spot even he had little knowledge about prior to today. “I’M CHEhEHEHHERRED UP ENOOOHOOHOHUGH NOW PLEHHHAHAHHASE!”

“Hmm…do you think he really is, brother?” Louis asked, unable to fight down a giggle at the pig snorts breaking up Albert’s laughter.

“Seems that way to me, Louis. Very well.” William stopped, pulling his hands back as he watched Albert gasp for air. “Look at you- red faced and giggly. One’d think you had too much wine again, Al.”

“Yoohohou two…are gonna be the dehahhath of me.” Albert groaned, pulling himself back into his seat with Louis’ help. “Whahas that really necessary?”

“Yes.” The blondes said in unison.

Albert laughed, running a hand through his hair, his entire body tingling from the tickles. When he opened his eyes, he found the pair watching him fondly, sharing a small smile to themselves.

Without much warning, he grabbed them both, yanking them into the chair with him.

“Ah! Albert, this isn’t that big of a chair!” William yelped, letting out a small ‘oof’ when Louis unceremoniously crashed into him.

“We’re not children anymore- we all can’t fit in one seat like then!” Louis tried to argue, nodding apologetically to his brother after his elbow went into his gut.

“Oh please, you two are so dramatic.” Albert laughed, one arm around each of them as he hugged them close. Tight quarters aside, it was nice having them near. “Don’t worry- I don’t plan on getting vengeance. Yet.” He gave them both a light squeeze to their sides, earning a huff of giggles. “But truly…thank you.”

“For crushing you?” William asked, brows raised. “I suppose some enjoy that.”

“Hush.” Albert rolled his eyes, nudging him some. “You know what I mean. I’ve….been feeling off lately. It’s like you said; this whole ordeal we’ve found ourselves in…it can become overwhelming. Sometimes I’m scared that I’ll lose who I am. Not my status or anything like that but…me. Albert.” He closed his eyes, letting his head rest against the back of the chair as he looked for the words. “I suppose that’s why I’m so grateful for you two. If I didn’t have you…who knows what I’d be. Or who’d I be.” That lump was coming back. Why was he so weepy today? “So yes…thank you.”

The pair were quiet as he spoke, still even when he finished. For a scary moment, Albert was concerned he spoke too much. Before he could try to remedy that, something reached up to flick him lightly between the brow.

“Such a sap.” William teased gently, even if his voice sounded a little thick. Albert crinkled his face at him, earning a laugh. “You’ll never have to worry about that with us, though. No matter what happens, or what the world has in store, you’ll still be Albert to us.”

“That’s right. Our eldest brother.” Louis nodded in agreement, reaching out and squeezing his hand. “You’ll always be you, under the surface. Nothing will change that.”

Albert didn’t trust his voice. Instead, he only hugged them to him, letting the feeling of much needed assurance wash over him like a gentle wave.

He was so truly grateful for them. His brothers.

Thanks for reading!

[sol-draws-sometimes]

Disc World bookclub thoughts- Monstrous Regiment

Pages 12-20

Okay @anna-neko … and all the other people that found me(tho I’ll be writing to Anna here)

Buckle up cause I actually read more, so there’s A LOT more text!

Before I start, I'm fully aware that the book's premise is that the whole regiment turns out to be women in disguised(except one being trans??? That happens at the end so I won't bring that up till I get there). But for ease of talking, I will he/him everyone until they've been she/her-ed. Plus, there are other characters, so I could accidentally she/her a man thinking they would be one of the undercover women. So yah, following the pronouns corresponding to where I am in the book.

I wrote everything on a notes app while listening/reading, and then organized it. So my "knowledge" will flip flop since different parts were written at different points of reading. Also I’m playing around with the best way to show quotes. Okay here are my thoughts loosely organized:

—Critiques—

Some critiques. I want to start of with them so that we can end on a high note. At first it was hard for me to get that there were scene changes happening. Most books usually leave large space b/w the paragraphs, but at least in this digital book, it just looks like a normal paragraph spacing. And the audio book doesn't indicate that there's a scene shift, so there were a couple of times that I got lost because I didn't realize there was a new scene. Though I think I finally got it down how he switches from scenes, so I should be fine.

Also while I do like that he just says stuff, for example, him introducing Polly’s guy name by writing, "At least, Polly climbed out of the window, but it was Oliver’s feet that landed lightly on the ground," instead of saying, "she decided to call herself Oliver Perks.” At times I do need a bit more guidance. I can pick up stuff with context, but, sometimes it threw me off. For example, with the igor, while I would've gotten it eventually, I just decided to google it, because I was too distracted being confused to actually pay attention to the dialogue if that makes sense???? So I mostly like how he seamlessly intergrates new info, but sometimes I do feel like I'm going in blind, or suffering for not knowing about the previous books. Tho I will say the vampire lore was intergrated well. It's nothing so bad that it ruins the book for me since it's mostly executed well.

Side tangent, but I actually started the book by listening to it, so I actually didn’t catch the Olly name until I got to this line, “…but Polly was known to all the ferrymen by sight and the guard would want to see her permit to travel, which Oliver Perks certainly didn’t have.” I like this line! I mostly like when he does it, but yah, I get confused sometimes.

Okay on to stuff my other thoughts!

Short quippy stuff

Hee hee foreshadowing!

There was no question of anyone getting undressed.

I love that her nickname is Ozzer

Don't cry challenge(impossible)

AAAAH SHE GOT CAUGHT.

Nothing quippy, just a funny line:

Ugh. I hate strappi I hate Strappi I hate Strappi. Me and the boys hate Strappi.

You said these books are very pop-cultury. I'll say these aged well because I don't think I've caught any pop culture reference(or maybe I have without realizing) and I still find the book funny and it makes sense to me. So uh yah, go Terry Pratchett I guess.

—Longer thoughts—

Am I viewing everything as an American, or is this a reference to don't ask, don't tell??? I don't think so cause nothing else about it is queer coded and also Terry Pratchett is British, so there would be no reason for him to talk about that. My brain just short-circuited because it's a military book and I'm American 🙃

Thoughts on Maladict—

Maladict carries around silver-gilt coffee engine (which icon behavior) so idk how allergic he is to silver. Is he lying about the silver allergy or does he just suck it up for some coffee (cause if he does, again King behavior). I think my fav soldier rn is Maladict (can you tell???). Polly think's she's cool, but he's the actually cool one. Love his whole "even though I'm sobre from humans, it doesn't mean I can't/won't seriously fuck you up." I love when writers explore ethical vampires/vampires blending in with humans (I really should read vampire books).

I think the whole black ribbon thing is cool! I think there's a book that follows a vampire??? If you're down(and it makes sense), I'd love to read one of the vampire books since I'm already so intrigued by vampire society! Obviously after I'm done with this book

Thoughts I wrote about Jackrum—

Damn Jackrum has to keep telling Strappi to ease on the racism.

I like how Sargent Jackrum asked Polly if she was fine with fighting Strappi. I knew that his whole "stop being racist" is more of a "WE NEED MEN" than him actually caring about fantasy racism™️, or that's how I saw it at first at least. But now, I think there's a genuine side of kindness to him. So I'm excited to see more of that (be it, seeing more of his softer side or being proven wrong).

ALSO WHILE WRITING IN POLLY’S SECTION, I REALIZED THAT JACKRUM PROBABLY KNOW SHE'S A WOMEN!!!! Oh shit, maybe corpol too???? Definitely Jackrum I think!

"What's that?" said the corporal. "My signature," said Polly… "You can read and write, too?" said the sergeant, glancing up at them and then back to her.

THEY GOT SURPRISED THAT SHE KNEW HOW TO READ AND WRITE (an abomination for women). Also... I might have gotten slightly spoiled trying to draw Jackrum. I didn't read anything but I saw girl fanart of him???? I mean, I guess he's also part of the troop, I thought it was just the soldiers. HE MIGHT BE MYSTERY PERSON!!!! Anyways, this is for future me to figure out… So that's probably why he's nice to her. NOW I'M EXCITED TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT HIM. Before I got to the scene where Polly fights, I drew this cause I thought it was funny, while being slightly out of character. But now, I think this not that out of character (I'll have to see). Anyways have this shitty little doodle.

Thoughts on Polly—

I was very slow to realize that Polly's from Borogravia. As for why Polly joined, Polly definitely doesn't believe the propaganda, so my best guess is that she's going to try and find Paul. Reading about her missing Paul absolutely broke my heart. Though it's very interesting how also she was raised.

Also I got so scared when she got caught even tho I knew it would happen eventually, just didn't think it would happen THIS early in the book! I knew the moment mysterious person gave Polly the sock. I find it funny how Polly was like, “damn I thought I was cool mysterious kid". Her inner monologue is pretty funny.

I didn't ask you for one, Polly thought, quite annoyed at being taken for being a frightened young lad when she was sure she'd come over as quite a cool, non-ruffled young lad.

Also I'm pretty sure mystery person is a girl, cause I know the permis of the book so it makes this line funny

"Why, is this the escutcheon of Her Grace the Duchess I see in front of me?" said the whisperer. "Well, it won't be in front of me for long. Beat it ... boy."

Wrote this section on mystery person before the realization 🧍🧍🧍. Now I don't know. AAAAAAAAH.

Also, I'm glad that Polly gave Strappi a taste of his own medicine. Tho Private Parts is kinda funny 🏃🏃🏃. Insert: "that's a good joke, a great joke even, but I'm gonna have to ask you to stop,” audio. Seriously tho, it's pretty cool how Polly's experiences from her childhood with her dad and the other soldiers has helped her to blend in at this point. She was funny when she was like:

"I'll try not to hurt him either, Sarge," said Polly, and then cursed herself for the idiot bravado. It must have been the socks talking.

I read it twice and listened to it a 3rd time, since I had to write this and I laughed each time. I can't believe I find this dick joke so funny, I'm truly an immature child. Also fuck man. The way Polly saw people die, or just the discussions of how wars fucks people up. I have nothing insightful to say. Just, man, war's rough (<- biggest understatement of the century).

Other Book thoughts—

One thing I wasn't expecting, was for the crew to be made up of so many fantasy™️ creatures. But that one is fully on me since the book is called monstrous regiment. I guess I was so focused on what I've heard about the book, that I just completely glazed pass that. I see that there is some fantasy racism™️, so hopefully that's done well. I'm not saying it's always bad, but a lot of time people try to do metaphors, but it falls apart (ex: monster=racism allegory, when one of the characters is literally Mexican (and is brown). I'm not naming the name of the show on purpose). I do think it can be done well when you take the more, "prejudice is a thing, this is how it would play out with these creatures," and you don't make it a one-to-one with any particular minority. I feel like that's a more productive criticism of bigotry that can be applied to minority groups. I mean, I think there can be some one-to-one allegories that make sense, but it needs to be done carefully. I hope I'm making sense. But so far, I don’t see anything that bothers me. Just have my guard up a bit.

—✨Deeper✨ Thoughts on the book—

I kinda alluded to this in the previous review but yah, it's very interesting how Terry Prachet writes about war. I mean, I'm only 18, so I won't pretend to know much about the world, but I think this book has very strong themes about the dangers of nationalism and what not. And obviously he exaggerates it in the book, but it can be applied to a lot of modern situations. Side tangent, but I'm not really a patriotic person. I'm glad that my country has provided me better opportunities than my parent’s country, but I've always seen being so patriotic to a fault very weird. Also, this is clearly a criticism of the monarchy. "God save the duchess" like, come on. Down to this religious fervor they treat the duchess with, that they pray to it. I feel weird commenting too much, since I'm not as connected/involved/know too much about the politics of the monarchy (I mean technically the US is an ex-British colony, but rn relationship b/w the US and the UK is way better than other countries with the UK). All I'll say is that I don't care how nice she was, she was a colonizer and the monarchy has and continues to harm people to this day. Also back to nationalism, I've always hated the whole "people from this country suck". Like maybe the government sucks but you can never ascribe what the country does to the people of said place.

Honestly I feel weird commenting on this book in general, because I have barely any religious experience, haven't been too exposed to war, nor am I British (I mean this more in respect of the whole monarchy thing). Also, even though I'm a woman, I haven't felt much sexism. Like no cat-calling, most of the people respect me. Besides, "normal sexism," aka unconscious bias stuff like, "strong men help me pick the heavy stuff,” I don't think I have had any notable experiences of sexism or have seriously felt it in my life. So I feel like I can't give any deep observation about sexism or religion besides, yup that sounds right! Same with any the politics about war than, yup nationalism bad! I'm really aware that I'm just an 18 yr old who doesn't know much cause young people think they know everything (I mean that gets thrown a lot to invalidate young activists but there is a kernel of truth of: less experience=less knowledge of the world). Basically, I am noticing deeper themes in the book, but don’t expect me to talk about these parts if the book too much, because I don’t think I have anything productive to add. I just feel super unqualified to comment on much of this, and like I could be wrong about 100 different things I just said.

Umm… with that being said,

—Some quotes that I thought were interesting but I can't articulate why rn—

"At Paul's insistence, she'd read the whole of 'From the Mothers of Borogravia!!' to him, including the bits about heroes and there being no greater good than to die for your country. She wished, now, she hadn't done that. Paul did what he was told. Unfortunately, he believed what he was told, too."

"Several copies of the pamphlet seemed to have reached every home, even so. It was very patriotic. That is, it talked about killing"

"She'd learned to read and write after a fashion because the inn was big and it was a business and things had to be tallied and recorded. Her mother had taught her to read, which was acceptable to Nuggan, and her father made sure that she learned how to write, which was not. A woman who could write was an Abomination Unto Nuggan, according to Father Jupe; anything she wrote would by definition be a lie."

"She'd be funny just as long as she was useless, and safe as long as she was funny." Ugh yah, some men get really threaten by women being better than them

Misc—

Thank goodness for the audio book. I love when authors write in the accents, I think it creates character and it's very creative... but I'm terrible at trying to understand what they're saying. I've been doing a mixture of audio book only, audio book plus text, and just reading text. Anyways, I was reading a line Strappi said where he was mocking Maladict and I literally couldn't understand it until I listened to that part later when I could use my headphones again.

"Private Bloodfnucker hnas a fnord, Fnargeant," he said accusingly.

This was the line btw. All hail audiobooks everyone 🧎🧎🧎

Also damn digital books and audio books help me actually pick up the book and it makes it a lot less intimidating. I like reading but, sometimes my brain views it as a chore. Like I used to start books, LIKE THEM, and then proceed to NOT finish them. I have been using audiobooks in the past but it was while reading the book, and almost never just the audiobook (unless I had didn't finish a chapter in time for class). But man, actually leaning into how my brain works makes it easier. Who would've thought! (Like I always forget how useful hearing the text it, even though I have been using this tip for years). So yah, even though I think I prefer the experience of physical books, I need to just let myself read the easiest ways to me. Audiobook only, has been nice since it takes the least amount energy, but it is the hardest for me to understand, especially if it gets too flowery/lore-y. So warning, I’ll miss small details because of this. I usually go back and skim the parts I did audio only, but I’ll still miss stuff.

Also, I'm using hoopla(and when the 21 days are up, my libby ver of the text should be available), but tip! If you like to annotate, download books on PDFs and annotate using the comments. Honestly, great with research papers too! I love to highlight with different colors and then you filter the annotations, amazing really. Obviously you can do this in irl books but I like that I can write more in the comment section thingy than in the margin of books.

But yah! I'm liking the book so far. I like how Terry Pratchett writes and I like Polly as a mc.

I will add alt text some other date cause I don't have the mental energy rn. If someone besides Anna find it and wants them, just @ me in the comment and I'll @ you when I finish this Also gonna add links to the previous and next review for better organization.

First | <-Previous | Next->

[jodilin65]

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2005 The last few days have been busy yet fun. I hope I can remember to update all that’s gone on.

Got another email from the Court TV Clean Getaway sweeps asking why I hadn’t sent the affidavit in and I replied saying I already signed and mailed it, and that when I asked last week why I hadn’t gotten my prize yet, I was told that a lot of the prizes were returned for postage due and mine was one of them and it was to be re-sent to me. I also told them I wasn’t going to send in another affy and that if they can’t manage their own sweeps, including incoming affies, and put enough postage on the prizes, then why bother? I’m not going to do their job for them. It’s their job to take care of the affies they receive and their job to mail the prizes with the proper postage!

In the end, I got an email back saying they’d send it. We’ll see.

It’ll also be interesting to see if these iPod people really are scammers or not. They finally let me have all my points and they say the iPod, which is just a small one that could hold only about 100 songs, will be sent in 4-6 weeks.

I got a surprise win yesterday from Showtime’s Master of Horror sweeps. When I saw the DHL van pull up, I thought it was something from Zazzle, like maybe they decided to let me have my Barbie shirt after all. It was the same lady too, who gave me the rat stamps and shirt. However, when I opened the box, out came a backpack with a $50 PC game, a couple of CDs, and a woman and a man’s shirt. The CDs are of heavy metal music and they suck, but Tom likes the game. The shirts fit us nicely and so today we’re going to be twins.

I also won an Eric Clapton DVD which Tom would like, but being a DVD, I don’t expect to get it.

I hope to get lots of my own win notices next month, as well as everyone else’s, of course.

I’m still hanging down around 122 pounds, and my ear, believe it or not, just might be on the mend after all. I don’t want to get my hopes up, but I’m having spells where it’s not bothering me. Now I just have to hope they get more frequent and don’t end up being replaced with a whole new problem.

We were going to screw yesterday. I figured that since it’d be painful because it’s been so long, it’d be nice to have irritation down there which would hopefully take the attention from my ear for a while. Then my allergies ended up going off so we didn’t bother. I’m still having such mixed emotions about it. I feel unwanted if we don’t, yet I don’t want to go back to the same old boring, predictable sex that simply doesn’t excite me anymore. That’s fine that he’s content with not cumming, but it’s been hard for me since I’ve started having a hard time doing that myself. He chooses not to cum, so that’s different than someone who simply can’t get excited enough to cum. So is it really worth it just to “feel good” but not good enough to cum? Hell, if I just wanted to feel good, he can simply give me a back or foot massage. I also said I was sick of the stopping and starting.

Good news about the house next door. We figured they were getting ready to put it on the market again because we’ve seen lights on at night. Tom said the alarm had been going off for days. He obviously could hear it as he walked by, but I didn’t hear a thing in here. It’s now for rent rather than for sale, and according to what we read online, no pets are allowed! That really eases the stress from me big time. That way, if people move in before we move out, the worst we’ll get is screaming kids, but I’d rather that than barking dogs because the kids won’t be out as often. The owners sure are greedy as hell. They want a ridiculous $800! It may have sufficient space and a big yard, but the house itself is not that nice. I’m sure it’s nicer than this, but not by much. It’s still pretty old.

There’s another house near here for the same amount, but it’s a nice house that’s well worth the price. I wish we could talk one of them down to $650, but I also don’t want to end up in the same predicament we were in before where he loses his job, we go on unemployment and that keeps us comfy for a while, then he starts all over again at minimum wage and we end up homeless because we can’t afford the higher rent.

While I still want a nicer place and we need more space badly, I’m almost afraid to move since things have gone so well here and it is so cheap and easy to heat. The worst we could get, besides noisy kids, is someone with a loud stereo moving in next door, in which case I would be so unbelievably tempted to smash it with a hammer! Really, I don’t know if I could restrain myself!

Tom is really having doubts about this pending trip to Beaverton which is up by Portland. It’d be a 5-hour drive. He’s hesitant to go because the parts they’re going to get could be mailed to him easily enough, and because we’d lose money. He may have to be the one to shell out the money for a motel and all for nothing. So he’s got quite a dilemma ahead of him. Does he put his foot down and risk being fired? Or does he let them use and abuse him at will as BOA did so we can have money?

It’s snowing like crazy now, but it sure keeps things quiet out there. Honestly, I don’t know which is worse; being warm and cozy while having to listen to people’s antics night and day, or freezing my ass off in a peaceful place. The more I think about it, the more I think that unless one of us wins a large sum of money or he gets a huge raise or partnership, our best bet might be to stay here and freeze while we save up enough money for a down payment on a house in rural Sacramento. I’d rather we move to where we want to be, and not where a measly two grand says we have to be, which could only be the heart of Sacramento and that would be like returning to Phoenix.

Two mornings ago we went to Fred Meyer. It was dark when we left for the bus stop downtown. It was raining lightly and in the 40s. We had so much fun shopping and could take our time doing it because at 7 AM the store was dead. When we were done we killed time waiting for the bus in Carl’s Jr.

I only ended up not getting a couple of things on my list. I didn’t get new pillows because that’d be a bit hard to carry on the bus, and I didn’t get a new robe because they were all so damn long. If I were Kate’s height, I could wear them, but not at this height. I looked for children’s robes but couldn’t find any.

I ended up getting new silverware, 4 plastic cups with a floral design, a can opener, an iron, a kitchen pail, Emeraude cologne, more lip gloss, two dolls and an outfit. The outfit is a dress with metallic shades of fuchsia, purple and green. One doll is a holiday doll in maroon and white with silver glitter and is absolutely gorgeous, and another is of a Hawaiian theme.

Tom got a new camera as the last of the guitar payment, and it’s way nicer than the old one. I’ve been having all kinds of fun with it!

Lastly, that fabric glue is fantastic! It’s so easy to use and it works so well.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2005 Tom’s been handicapping most of the day. We took a walk to the store earlier. It was my first time out since my appointment. It wasn’t as cold, snowy and icy as the day I had my appointment, but it was still cold enough in the high 30s, and damp, too.

Unfortunately, he does have to work tomorrow. They want him to do inventory which he says is stupid because it only takes a few minutes.

Wednesday we’re going to go to Fred Myers early in the morning to escape the worst of the after-Christmas-sale rush, and Thursday we’re going to go to a bookstore so I can get more books.

Later we’re going to hem my two new pairs of pants with that glue. We tested it on a strip of material I cut off from the ends and it seems like it should work really well.

My Angelina doll made it into Portland this morning and will be here tomorrow. I still can’t believe my Tonner collection will be doubled tomorrow, all in the space of just a few months. I also can’t believe that at the end of next month, I’ll be raiding the boutique for just about everything I want.

I can’t believe I have to drop all the way down to 1000-1200 calories a day just to maintain my weight! If I’d have had 1000-2000 cals a day in my 20s for the few weeks that I’ve been having that amount, I’d be down to 110 pounds by now, maybe lower. I just never would’ve thought my metabolism would get this slow, but it happens to the best of us. I’d hate to think of how slow it’ll be in another 10 years from now! I’ll have to have just 800 to stay 20 pounds overweight. I may drop to 800 calories for a few weeks just to see if my weight still holds in the low 120s or not. On Claritin, I think I could do it. Just not for a long time.

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 25, 2005 Got a card from Paula yesterday addressed to us both from her and Justin. That was nice of her.

The mailman knocked on the door so he could sign for my Yves package, and again I slept through it. I don’t get it. I sleep through people knocking not even a foot from my head, but I can’t sleep through people’s stereos!

Tom accidentally bumped and broke my bronze ballerina which is really made of wood. Bits of her lower leg chipped off and she lost a finger, too. It seems they always lose their pinkies when they break.

Wow, 1550 sweeps are expiring at the end of the year! I should definitely win something. I just hope it’s not the usual small prize.

Later…

Tom’s doing laundry now. He had heard that the owners were Jehovah’s Witnesses and I guess one of their silly rules is not to close their businesses on Christmas.

What is this chick doing next door? She took off about 10 minutes ago and I thought she was going somewhere for the day, but she returned 5 minutes later. Now she just took off again, and I’m wondering if she’s going to come and go all day or what? She must not have family around here which might explain why she rarely has company.

It’s going to be such a tough decision as to whether or not we should stay or go if he doesn’t get a huge salary or a partnership. Even if they came out and told him they’d never pay him any more than what he’s making now and that he wouldn’t be getting any more overtime, would it be wise to throw that away, leave a place with such a low cost of living, and hope for the best in Sacramento? What if he could never make good money again? Tom pointed out, however, that in 7 years we’ll have the AMEX money, so that’d help supplement a lower-paying job. This is true. I just don’t want to be poor again! I just want to go “home.” I’m sick of moving around. Fortunately, I definitely don’t see us here till he retires. That’d be a hell of a long time to deal with the winters and to be uninsured. On the other hand, I wouldn’t go to a doctor unless I was desperate. I’d love to get this ear fixed, but I won’t. It’s just too damn expensive. Besides, God didn’t give me this problem just to turn around and fix it. I truly believe that and that we’re given things for a reason and we shouldn’t try to fight it. God wouldn’t have given me this problem if He didn’t want me to have to deal with it. I don’t understand why He’d be so mean to me and why He always wants me to have one problem after another, but that’s just the way it is and if I did get it fixed, he’d just do something else to me for going against Him. It’s not fair that I be punished for what they did in Boston when I was 10 years old and without any say in the matter, and it’s not fair that I be punished for trying to help myself 10 years ago but I am, like it or not.

As much as I hate to admit it, this place does have its good points. There are no gangs and you could walk around in the middle of the night and know you’d be safe. It’s mostly white folks up here and the drinking water doesn’t taste like bleach. The summers are still gorgeous, too. The only thing I don’t like about it is all the religious bigots. All those nice people Tom works with are deceptive. This means that those who helped us move, gave us the dressers and computers, and gave him a raise, would probably turn against him in a heartbeat if they suddenly knew I was bi. It’s no wonder some folks stay in the closet. Me? I’d rather tell the truth and have no friends than tell them what they want to hear just so I could have so-called “friends” because that’s just how I am. I tell it like it is, I don’t kiss ass, and I don’t put on acts to please others.

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2005 Yesterday we got another customized T-shirt from Zazzle with a rat on it, plus matching stamps. I’m going to send a self-addressed envelope with Paula’s package with one of the stamps on it and tell her to use it to let me know she got the package. I not only want to know that but to see what they look like canceled out.

Tom only got a $50 Fred Meyer certificate, yet says it still doesn’t mean he won’t get a huge raise or a partnership, but we’ll see. I still think we’ll be poor most of our lives and that something up there just wants to tease us with the possibility of riches to come. That’s why I’m enjoying every minute that we do have money.

He may have to go up to Beaverton for a couple of days with another employee, but it’s not definite yet. I hope he won’t have to. I’d be lonely and I’d miss him. God only knows how I survived 9 years on my own!

The Elektra Barbie and the White Shoulders gift set came yesterday. Love that smell!

He needed new underwear and I needed new socks, so we ordered those from Walmart and I got another cheap fairy Barbie.

I now have to decide whether or not to just accept the fact that OLS is no longer open at night, or switch to Sweepstakes Advantage, even if they don’t have all the features I like. At least they’re a free site and there’s no limit to the number of sweeps you can store in ‘my sweeps.’ The least these assholes at OLS could’ve done was to let people know if they didn’t want to be a 24-hour site anymore. If I was always on days I wouldn’t care that they closed at night, but I’m not always on days. Tom thinks that they got a huge virus and have just been trying to fix things little by little, but still, how much longer is this going to go on?

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2005 Damn that OLS! They are really driving me nuts! They waited till 2 AM to go offline this morning rather than 1:00, and I had to wait and hour and a half to finish up with my last 6 pages. Then when I got back it said I had 49 pages of dailies when I really have 33. The pages beyond page 33 were blank, though. I did a backup of ‘My Sweeps’ because in the forums one of the people managing the site said he was sorry if anyone lost anything in ‘My Sweeps’ and that they’d had something that went corrupt on them. Whatever it is, I’m sick of this shit! Totally sick of it. And they’re out again now, too. I sent in my second complaint and said hey, when I became an OLS member I was under the understanding that I’d have full 24-hour access to the site.

I intend to complain each and every night that this happens, but hopefully they’ll get enough complaints about the late-night shut-downs that they’ll quit fucking around with things. I’d hate to have to join some other sweep site.

In better news, I’m going to get those 2 free samples they left out of my order after all. I sent them a message letting them know their scents and service were great and that there was just one small glitch with my order. After I explained it to them, they sent a reply apologizing and said they’d get them right out to me. That’s way cool of them. Bendejo wouldn’t do that when I’d inform him of the scents he’d gyp me out of.

I was reading an article about how husbands change over the years but come to think of it, I see very little change in Tom. He may have a few more gray hairs and his low appetite may’ve dropped to zero, but he’s still the same. If anything he’s greatly improved as far as making false promises and procrastinating goes. Other than that, he’s still the same old Tom. Still mellow overall, still rarely swears, still a slob, and still seems obsessed with being the opposite of me. I don’t know what’s bugged me more in life; those that go out of their way to be different than me, those that try to get me to be just like them as Andy would, or those that try to be like me as Nervous would.

After today he’s on vacation, and if he even thinks of initiating sex, the answer’s no! I’m not going to be his “vacation screw.” He won’t, though, I’m sure of it. We’ve had the bed for over a month now. You don’t wait that long if you truly have the desire to screw, and that’s only half the issue. The other half is that I myself have no desire and so I simply see no need for us to have a few screws every year or two just for old-time’s sake.

Later…

I hope Tom is okay. I was sitting here at the computer when he left for work. A minute later I heard him fall down the icy steps. I got up and saw him kneeling in the walkway. Although he stood up very shakily and slowly, he assured me he was ok and limped off to work. That’s the third time he’s fallen that I know of. He better be more careful before he really hurts himself!

Just when I was about convinced that the package curse was off, we learned that one of the Barbies was shipped to Illinois. When they realized that was a mistake, they pulled one from a warehouse in Washington, so it oughta be here soon. At least it’s only a few days’ delay.

I’m still having loads of fun sampling my new scents. I’ve sampled about 40 so far and have 51 more to go. There are only 6 I can’t stand so far. Who’d have thought hazelnut and honey could smell so bad? Yet their Hazelnut, Nut Medley, Nutmeg, Honey, Hollyberry and a couple of the perfumes are just horrible! They’ve definitely earned a trip to Paula.

From what I’ve read, both Tom and I agree that making my own lotion should be easy. You just add an ounce of oil per pound of lotion bass.

Tom should be home around lunchtime today to begin his holiday vacation. Fortunately, I’ll be up most of the day to receive any packages that may come. Some fucking cock woke me up real early in the evening with its stereo, though I did fall back asleep. I wish I could always be on days! I not only sleep better at night but then I could be awake to receive packages, especially the ones I have to sign for. I could also dodge the late-night OLS outages unless they decide to start fucking things up during the daytime, too. Tom thinks they’re trying to recover from a hard drive failure a little at a time. Yeah, well, I just wish they’d quit doing it on my time!

We still have tons of stuff to look forward to package-wise, both from purchases and wins. It’s so weird yet wonderful! I’m enjoying every minute of it because I know nothing lasts forever.

If someone had told me just a few months ago that at the end of January I’d be able to swipe just about all the outfits I want from the Tonner boutique I never would’ve believed it! It’ll cost around $400, but that month Tom expects to get a lot of overtime.

Today should be a good sign as to whether or not a partnership or a huge salary raise is in the near future just by what type of bonus he gets. He said that although he expects a $50 gift certificate, he says he may get a $100 certificate for being a manager. And I’m hoping for more than that because that’d surely be a good sign!

Unless it’s pure wishful thinking, my vibes say we won’t leave this state till he’s 52. That’s 4 years from now, so if I’m right, then something really good has to happen in order for me to suffer through that many more winters!

I hope to be up this New Year’s Eve. I think part of the reason I may’ve done a lousy job with the year’s predictions last year was that I slept through it while Beverly annoyed Tom with an hour’s worth of music. It’s amazing how shitty the year started off as opposed to how it’s ending! There’s simply no comparison. I was so bummed out at this time last year, so sure we’d be broke forever, knowing we had a long way to go before we could move into a house, etc.

Well, since I am up to date on my sweeps and new sweeps aren’t coming in very fast, I guess I’ll go do something I don’t do too often these days – work on my story.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2005 I am so, so pissed at OLS! I’m sick of their little late-night outages! It used to be they’d shut down for a few minutes, but now they’re down for hours. I sent a complaint before they went down again at 1 AM just like yesterday, explaining that I sometimes sweep late at night and to please stop shutting down. They were down for at least 10 hours yesterday which I know of. Unless something up there is trying to keep me from winning big, they’re fucking around with testing at night or something and it’s getting old!

My latest wins are a book and CD, as well as season 9 of an old series. The thing about it is that this is from the same people who never sent me season 2 of a different series I won, so I don’t expect to receive it. It seems DVDs just aren’t too easy to get.

Tom got the racing jacket and it’s not what I expected it to be. I thought it’d be a leather jacket, but it’s just a red and black windbreaker. It’s nicer than his old tan windbreaker, but who do they think they’re kidding by saying the thing is worth $200? I never heard FedEx knock when they delivered it. I guess I was just too beat after being up for 21 hours.

My ear is driving me nuts on and off, but the best news is that I got my oils! I’m having fun sampling them. Just one small glitch with the order, though it’s nothing compared to Bendejo’s regular fuck-ups. They gypped me out of 2 of the 4 free samples. Ah, but they doubled me on my favorite – Pink Sugar.

Gotta get back to work before OLS goes offline again.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2005 I’m still 123 pounds and I think it’s safe to say that this is as low as I’ll go what with how little I shit when I’m down here. It’s okay. I can get around quite comfortably at this weight as opposed to the 130s, and the main thing is that my curbed appetite will save us a lot of money in the end. I’d have to cut down to around 800 calories to lose more weight and I’m not about to do that. My latest win is a tooth-whitening spray. These banana yellows could really stand to be turned into pearly whites! I may not smoke, but coffee and tea stains them enough.

Tom got the shirt I custom-designed for him as a surprise. He thinks it’s way cool. Yes, they did do a good job.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2005 Just when I thought the lack of hunger might not be connected to the Claritin after all, I’m back to being how I usually am since I started taking it; not that hungry. I’ve only had about 5 hungry days since starting the stuff 2 weeks ago which isn’t too bad. I’m still 123 pounds, and as is always the case since getting older, my body tries to defend itself against weight loss by not shitting as much, so I don’t expect to lose much more. Just save us money.

Amazingly, it got up to 53º the other day. It hadn’t gotten much above freezing in weeks. We’ve had snow sitting out there for weeks, too. For the first time in weeks, I could sleep with my heater on low and not have it run continuously. Before I had to have it on medium and running all the time.

For the last couple of days, the water was barely lukewarm. Tom went out and found a pipe had burst, so he got a clamp and fixed it. It only costs $2. If it cost $10 or more I’d want to deduct it from the rent since it’s not our water tank.

Sometimes my oil would boil to the point where it would splatter all over the place. I think I figured out why and that’s that if I water it down too much, it becomes thinner since water is thinner than oil. This means it can get hotter and so it boils over.

I started having what may be visions of wherever we’re moving to which I strongly sense will be here in Oregon. That’s something I certainly have mixed emotions about. I may not hate Oregon as much as I used to, but it still gets mighty cold and snowy here, and any place that does that has an automatic spot on my hate list. I see a dark green house with shingles. I can’t tell where it is, how big it is or what’s around it. I do get the feeling it’s not as choked by other yards and driveways, though, so that’s good unless it’s just pure wishful thinking. I’m not sure if it has white or black shutters because the vision kept flickering back and forth between the two, but some of the windows could have cross panes. The numbers 5, 2 & 3 come to mind. The driveway is to the right and there’s a separate structure that may be dark red towards the back left side. I don’t know if it’s a shed, a garage or a barn. I can’t tell if there’s a cellar, but there may be a screened back porch.

It’s funny when I consider that while I may live in a tilted shoebox of a dump in the city, my life is the best it’s ever been.

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2005 My palm tree, which now I’m not so sure is going to die, is now taller than me!

I’ve been winning like crazy with Zazzle between 3 different e-mail addresses. They wouldn’t do the shirt I made up for myself with Barbie on it which is strange. I took that picture myself. Even Webshots lets you post Barbie pictures. You can’t do celebrities, though. We got the first sheet of stamps we won, and Tom’s shirt is on its way. I’m going to surprise him with it. He knows it’s coming, but doesn’t know what’s on it. I put Blondie’s picture on front of a light blue shirt and wrote: To My Loving Husband, Love You Always, Jodi. On the back, I put a cute mouse picture. Last night both my email addresses won, so I made stamps and a pink T-shirt for me with a rat close-up. I have ideas for more shirts and stamps if I won again, and at the rate I’m going, I’d say I will for sure!

I still haven’t gotten any lotions, books or DVDs I won, but I got the ugly King Kong poster.

We got tons of stuff on Friday and still have tons more coming. I stood up for 18 hours till UPS came on Friday with a game for his X-box. Tom told me not to worry about it, but I’d have hated to see him have to walk a couple of miles in this cold to pick it up himself at the UPS station. Just 4 hours into my sleep the regular mailman knocked me awake with my pants. The pants are a good fit, but long. Since I’m not great at sewing and can’t seem to make my stitches nearly as tight as I’d like to without it taking forever, we’re ordering hemming glue. Also to arrive were the stamps and the Jewelia doll, though if they knocked, I was too beat to hear it.

This fairy doll is so cute. Instead of her mold being of the typical solid flesh tone, it’s of clear glitter. She has lights in her to make her legs and body light up. I think I’ll get the one in pink, too. This one’s in blue. I have about 5 Barbies currently on my list, 6 Tonners, and lots of other odds and ends, both big and small.

We got the ASL CD. They use animated illustrations and I wouldn’t recommend it for beginners because the animations aren’t great on some of the signs. It’s still cool to have. As an experienced signer, it’ll keep me up to date easily enough. It’s a good refresher CD, you could say, though I find I keep my signs up if I think the signs every now and then to lyrics when I’m listening to music.

I also got my lip glosses and a pen that must be associated somehow with the sweeps or something I signed up for.

The things we’re still expecting are the oils, another Tonner doll (basic Angelina), the White Shoulders gift set, the Elektra Barbie doll, stuff from Zazzle, plus my Yves order. I just hope they didn’t fuck up the oil order, the one I look most forward to!

It has been so cold. Like in the single digits. I hate it! The pipes have been freezing at times and we have a hard time getting the water overly hot because the tank is outside in the utility with no insulation.

Just when I thought I’d be stuck at 39 views forever, I got my 40th view from the little boogers I used to go to school with, though they never request pictures or anything like that. That’s because I don’t think there are any gold members in this thing.

It bothers me that I’m not bothered by my lack of desire to have sex with Tom, but I suppose I should be glad. I mean, what would be the point of desiring someone I couldn’t have? Then again, I could probably have him, but I’d practically have to get down on my knees and beg the guy to do me, and he’d probably only do it only once every year or two, and I wouldn’t want to want someone like that; that didn’t desire me.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2005 I have 9 things on their way to me right now, not counting any wins they may feel like sending me. Two dolls, two pairs of pants, 7 lip glosses, perfume, oils, a CD and Yves.

My ear wasn’t so bad yesterday, but today has been so far, even though I’ve only been up a few hours. I’m sure I’ll have to live with this for a very long time to come, if not forever, but it’s okay. Maybe it’ll keep me from getting other problems and I’ll score more points with whatever’s up there that insists I suffer on a daily basis. At least now I know what it is.

While I’m certainly glad to know what it is, it seems the biggest thing this doctor’s done for me is show me that there really is a way to lose weight without going insane from hunger. Except for yesterday, the Claritin has really suppressed my appetite. Yesterday, though, I woke up murderously hungry and down to 123 pounds. And of course my body thinks it’s starving. Even so, I didn’t go much over 1000 calories yesterday. Today I’m back to how I’ve been most of the time over the last week. Claritin is safe enough for a two-year-old, they say, and can be taken every day forever.

I’ve been using the oil burner when I’m up and burning sticks as I’m falling asleep or waking up with coffee, and I’d say I definitely won’t miss sticks. It can sometimes be a pain in the ass to get the water level adjusted, but it’s way better than sticks. No ashes, no residue, no mess. If anything the oil does a better job of having the smell permeated throughout the place and it lingers longer too, after the candle burns out.

What a wonderful world we live in. Thousands of people, including celebrities, were protesting the lethal injection of a gang-founding murderer, yet no one cared to protest my case. Just why is it that Joan Baez didn’t set up a makeshift platform to sing Swing Low, Sweet Chariot outside Estrella when they threw me in there for half a year over a fictitious letter?

Well, I considered setting up a Ford Motor Company-bashing site for a while there. Some religious bigots wrote them saying they were getting a little too gay-friendly by advertising in gay publications, so Ford quit doing so. Of course, the right thing to do would’ve been to tell the bigots, “It’s none of your business who we’re friendly with, and secondly, we can still be friendly to you while being friendly to others.” However, just as I was seriously contemplating setting up the site, they resumed advertisements in gay publications, so that’s cool. My God, I just don’t get this world! If they absolutely have to hate people that bad, why don’t they hate the groups that actually cause trouble and that are deserving of hatred, discrimination and public humiliation?!?!

What Tom gets for a bonus this year will be a good hint as to whether or not things will go our way. He says they’re going great so far. They just sent out a huge order. If the people are happy with it, they should do more orders, each one bigger than the last. The company could easily become a million-dollar company at the rate he says things are going. He says he’d more than likely get a huge raise which would put him on a salary before he either got a partnership or at least a sales percentage.

I don’t not only hope for this because of how it could secure us in the present but in the future as well, giving us more options as to where we settle down if settling down is ever in our cards. When you’re younger you tend to only think of the present, but when you get older, lose a house, lose a piece of land and end up in motels, you start wanting to secure the future as well as the present.

It may not be economically smart to own a house now, but in a few years, it will be. However, we may be able to save money faster than we could build up equity at the rate we’re going. Perhaps then, if we didn’t get a house on a farm or the beach, we could just hold out till he’s 55 and just go straight to a retirement community. There’s just no way to know for sure yet. All I do know is that I want to get settled someplace quiet and stay there for a decade or more! Yet I’m sure that if I were meant to do that then I wouldn’t have moved around so much and lived in as many noisy places as I have for the last 20 years.

My ear isn’t much better, but I didn’t expect it to be. Tom’s so sure it will get better, but it seems obvious to me that it won’t, and I’ll be damned if I’ll spend hundreds of dollars on that any more than I will with a dentist if I can help it.

The rat is getting fat. I hope she gets fat enough to go in the other cage soon because she’s such a pest in this cage, rattling the door to be let out and entertained when I’m trying to work!

MONDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2005 In the midst of my usual daily aches and pains which appear more and more obvious I’ll have to live with forever, I ordered stuff with the visa I won. They were out of one of the dolls I originally planned to get so I got another one, and because she was cheaper, I could load up on a handful of flavored lip glosses.

God’s chosen pain of the moment for me is in my gums sort of near where the lost tooth is that’s now just a discolored stub. What’s He going to do, make us spend a fortune on dentists next by having it get infected? I don’t think so! I’m sick of this shit, really sick of it! Why can’t I have a day in my life without pain? I just don’t understand why He would want me to suffer regularly, but I guess He has His reasons that are somehow good for me.

I want to rent the house next door sooooo bad! If I have to be stuck in the city indefinitely, then it’d sure be the ideal house to do it in. We just may leave a note on the door once we get closer to when our lease is up and make an offer, assuming the place hasn’t sold by then. No one’s put another sign up yet. I know it’s a silly waste of time, though. We may’ve temporarily broken our money curse, but the living-so-close-to-others curse has a ways to go yet, from what I sense. I would so love to have a place where if someone asked what we would consider the highlights of it, the answer wouldn’t have to be, “Our rat that loves to run around the place, and well, the neighbors, of course.” But if this is anywhere in our near future, then I fail to see it. Meanwhile, I’m tired of being wedged in between others even if this place is still a million times quieter than the duplex.

As Tom said, we could probably find a place with land around it for $750, but that would mean licensing the truck.

We also ordered a sign language program on CD-ROM because it was free. All we had to pay was $6 to ship it. It oughta be really cool to see people do the signs. I wish I had learned that way instead of from tricky illustrations in a book.

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2005 My ear still bothers me at times, but not as much. The medication still has my appetite stifled quite a bit too, but that’s just fine with me. It’ll save us a lot of money if I eat closer to 1000 calories a day rather than 2000.

Tom still hasn’t initiated sex with me since getting the bed (and I know he never will) and again it brings such mixed emotions to mind. I’m glad he hasn’t because I’ve simply no desire myself, but it still hurts to know I’m not desired.

I have 3 new wins to report. The best one is the $100 shopping spree at selected stores that I won in an instant! In the daytime, too. They call it a virtual visa card. I’ll be getting two Barbies, two pairs of black and orchid fleece pants, and a 4-piece gift set of White Shoulders, one of my favorite perfumes. It contains perfume, cologne, body wash and lotion.

What’s cool about this sweep is that you can keep playing till it expires. Most sites will deem you ineligible for 6 months after a win, but not this one. It’s like the lotion site (I now have won 7 bottles) and this other really cool site. I think I’ll win another visa card as well as hit another win at Zazzle’s.

Zazzle has hourly contests. They mostly have stamps, posters and shirts. Each hour they have 4 items and the winner chooses the one they want. I’ve been entering both Tom and I and his entry won late last night. I chose the custom stamps which are way cool. That’s 20 stamps with the new postage rate. They don’t let you change the design, which is a drawing of figure skaters on this particular sheet, but they let you pick border colors and fonts for adding text. I added our names in a script font and chose a magenta border with a lavender edge. I’ll be up late tonight, so hopefully I’ll win something else, too!

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2005 My Esme doll came today. She’s not quite as nice as she looked online, but still very nice nonetheless. Cool hair color, though I don’t know that I’d call her eyes violet. They look more like blue. The last Tyler doll I got doesn’t appear to have green eyes either. They look light brown.

We ordered from Yves as well as made that huge oil order I’ve been looking so forward to, and next Friday I’ll order Angelina, one of Tyler’s newest friends. To think that I had just 3 Tonners for the longest time and now they’ve suddenly tripled is mind-boggling!

They have this cool hourly sweep that’s to go on through the end of the year, and they say you have a better chance of winning at night. However, it’s not an instant. Your chances are better then because most people are sleeping then. They randomly draw names each hour and the winner gets to choose 1 of the 4 prizes, which are usually T-shirts or posters. When Tom’s home, he’s going to enter at times when I’m asleep.

The end of the month may be a big time for sweeps to expire, but the end of the year will be amazing! About 27 of my 40 pages of dailies will expire then. I’ll bet there’ll be well over 200 new sweeps on New Year’s Day.

Got a couple more boring small wins. Ugly stationery and address labels, and a coupon for a free 24-pack of Poland Spring water. The water would’ve been good in Arizona, but the water’s plenty drinkable up here.

A guy came to the house wanting to know if he could buy just the camper shell from the truck. Tom had just gotten in at that moment and so they discussed it. He decided in the end that while he could’ve sold it for $50 - $75, it would detract value from the truck itself, so we’re going to wait. He feels that if I’m right about California not being the next stop, then it’d be worth re-licensing the truck to move us to a better house, though as we both agree, it wouldn’t be good at all to move to California with. We’ll probably just drive a U-Haul down there and buy something when we get there, whenever that time comes. There are still no guarantees that he’ll get a huge raise or a partnership. For all we know, they could close their doors forever tomorrow, and while we’d have enough cash and decent unemployment checks till he found a new job, we could return to being poor and stay that way forever.

My ear is doing better, though it still has its moments of pressure and popping. When this occurs I pinch my nose and blow it open, but I have to do it several times before it stays open.

This rat is getting fat. She likes to eat, that’s for sure! She has so much Blondie in her that it makes me wonder. I can’t believe how clingy and affectionate she is! She hates to be alone. She spends a lot of time out and about. If I don’t see her for a while, I know she fell asleep somewhere, usually in Tom’s closet. When she’s awake, she almost always comes to me when I call her.

I’m down to 124 pounds. That’s what I was when we moved in here. I was getting pretty carried away there for a while and ate myself up to 132. I’m definitely more comfortable where I’m at now. I’ve upped my exercise and dropped my calories. I usually crunch, jog and bounce for variety. I’m not walking as much these days because it’s too damn cold.

I was hungrier today than I have been since I started the medication, but still considerably less hungry than normal. The only negative since I’ve been taking the meds is that I wake up a few hours into my sleep and can’t get back to sleep for an hour or two when I do.

I found what might be the Jessica I knew listed in Agawam. I don’t believe I ever knew her middle name, so I don’t know if it’s the Jessie I used to know, but I sent a letter to her anyway. It was very brief since I don’t know that she’ll get it. I last knew her to be in West Springfield, but that’s close enough to Agawam. A part of me sort of regrets sending the letter. Do I really need another long-distance friend? I don’t even need any local friends! Besides, she doesn’t strike me as the type to do email much less write letters by hand. I also remember her once making a remark about it being a sin to be gay and condemning gays who adopt after she first appeared to be accepting and telling me she was proud that I admitted to liking women. Well, we’ll see if I even hear from her. A part of me hopes I do. She was a good friend to me overall.

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2005 Tinkerbell let me work for a while today without bugging me. Sometimes miracles really do happen!

The canal dog’s been going crazy all day and no one will pay any attention to it. It’s just being left to freeze its ass off 24/7, the poor thing. It’s a wonder no one calls the Humane Society. At least it doesn’t take my turning the stereo up full blast to drown it out.

Today I was able to pop my ear by blowing with my nose pinched. I can’t do it all the time, but it’s a start. I still have some popping, but no pressure. I hope the medication continues to help it. I don’t know if there’s a connection or not to the medication, but amazingly I haven’t been hungry all day. I just baked a couple of chicken legs if only to eat them before they went bad, and had a fruit cup. I wish I could be like this every day. I’d save us a ton of money!

I won my 6th bottle of lotion. After nearly a week without wins, I was beginning to wonder what was going on.

I trimmed an inch from my hair. Tom was going to do it on my birthday, but we forgot. I just parted it in two, held it out to the side, and trimmed the ends. Then I let it fall back, reached up behind me, and trimmed the stragglers. I know it’s not perfectly even, but because it’s so curly and I often wear it in a braid, it doesn’t matter. It’s a few inches from the crack of my ass.

The greedy post office is hiking stamps up to 39¢ on January 8th. I’ll just use whatever we don’t use between now and then on postcards.

As we know, sometimes I get sudden vibes or visions. Well, I hope this is a good thing because today it hit me that California’s not the next stop. As much as I miss warm climates, despite how noisy they are, if I’m right, then it has to mean we are sitting on a good sum of money. He says he should know sometime in January, in which case I would start getting vibes now. I just can’t see where we’re going. I don’t even know if we’re moving in March when the lease is up. I don’t see us getting run out by any trouble from neighbors, so that’s good.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2005 I’ve been so busy (oh, it’s so good to have a life!) that I haven’t had time to update yesterday’s appointment. Well, Tom thought it was just a case of it needing to be cleaned and I thought it was infected. It turned out, however, that we were both wrong. The good news is that it’s no big deal, though I don’t know that it’ll be easy enough to cure. It’s a bit complicated, but I’ll try my best to explain it. It’s actually a common problem that anyone can have, even those with normal ears. When he first looked at it he could see right away that it was actually quite clean and was not infected at all. Then, after I described my symptoms of crackling, popping and pressure, a knowing look came over his face and he then looked at it with a microscope and saw the problem. Recognition overtook Tom’s features as soon as the doctor explained what the problem was. There are tiny tubes that run from the back of the ear to the throat and apparently, my tubes are clogged. This may explain why my nose runs a lot. The clogged tubes are creating a vacuum effect and the eardrum is more or less being sucked back against the opening of the tube because the pressure isn’t equalized. The doctor explained that with normal ears, they just insert a tube that pops the eardrum to release the pressure but doesn’t know how much space was left behind the drum when Nielsen created it (I gave him my Boston and Phoenix ear history). He had me blow my nose with me pinching it. Nothing moved.

He recommended we buy some over-the-counter Claritin. I’ll be taking one pill a day. This is a decongestant that’s supposed to be better than Benadryl. It doesn’t make me drowsy like Benadryl does, that’s for sure. He also gave me some samples of the same snot spray I used to take in Arizona. Maybe my quitting the stuff wasn’t such a good idea after all.

He said that if this doesn’t help to come back in February at which time they’ll do CAT scans to see how much space is behind the drum. He doesn’t want to risk cutting the facial nerve and having my face droop forever. This was when we hit upon the subject of insurance and discussed how fucked up Oregon is with that and how they have no HMOs here. He asked what brought me here. Stupidity, I told him. It’s ridiculous how I can’t be insured through Tom without losing $4 an hour, nor can he drop their insurance to buy insurance and insure us both through a private insurance company. Therefore, I’ve decided to just live with it if this medicine doesn’t help, though Tom’s pretty sure it will. He’s had the same problem! When we left the office, pleased to see it only cost $151 and not $200 or more, he said, “You know that thing you laugh at me for?”

That “thing” is where he opens his mouth sort of wide as he swallows. He does this because one of his tubes is smaller than the other and it gets clogged so he does it to pop it open. I’ve tried it, but can’t seem to do it. Tom said he’s had his eardrums burst several times and that it’s not painful.

To wake up today knowing what the problem is and knowing it’s not something that can get worse and worse, was a great feeling. I’m glad I went after all. I hope it gets better, but I’ll live with it if it doesn’t. It seemed to be better today, but that could be because of knowing what it is. Now if only I could get my teeth fixed for just $151. But that’ll take close to a grand and I’m not sure it’s worth it.

The worst part of the day was the weather. It was unbelievably cold! God, it was awful! I’d have preferred it to be 110º! It didn’t even make it up to 20º and there were tons of snow, ice and even fog. It was weird being able to see something clearly right in front of you one minute, then have it be fogged out completely the next. The pine trees are all coated with icy frost that looks like newly fallen snow. Even some of my wind chimes are coated with the shit.

The buses were late because they had to pick that day of all days to string up Christmas decorations downtown. As we were waiting at the stop across the street from the house, we laughed at how our house was the only one on the street with no snow on its roof. Obviously, no one else keeps their place as warm as we do! Tom wouldn’t keep it this warm if he were by himself. It’s me that likes it this way. It was so damn cold last night that I had to prop the portable heater in the bedroom up on a box so it would blow on the bed. I’m at the point now where I don’t know what’s worse, cold places that are quieter, or warm places that are noisy. If he doesn’t get a partnership or a lot more money, we’re going to have a very tough decision to make as far as where we go!

We met the mailman as we were waiting for the bus and he gave us our mail then which was nice of him.

After waiting forever in the waiting room, then waiting forever for the doctor in an examination room, we left the medical building and went to Burger King. There we ran into Eddie and his wife. We didn’t speak to the wife who tended to their order, but Eddie came over and said hello. He let Tom know things fell apart at work that day since he wasn’t there, which will hopefully help the owners see just how valuable Tom is to them!

In order to avoid being stuck on the bus for nearly an hour while it looped around the city much in the screwy way that it did in Norwich, we got off downtown. What’s normally a quick walk from there to the house was so long and so damn cold!

Can you believe they’re just now emailing me to tell me my Disney Barbie has been shipped? Yet I got it days ago. It’s cute. One doll and two outfits for just a $5 shipping charge is not a bad deal.

I haven’t heard from Mary since before I wrote and told her about losing Blondie just over a month ago. If she’s stewing over my not sending Adam the shirt I wouldn’t have sent even if we had it, then tough shit! It’s amazing how someone can be so rude and selfish at the same time they’re compassionate and generous. She asks me for all kinds of things and doesn’t even have the decency to send a letter offering her condolences over losing Blondie and she can’t even acknowledge my birthday. What kind of friend is that?

The kind of rat this Tinkerbell is is a downright pest! I still love her dearly, but she’s so damn needy of attention. She really clings to me and smothers the hell out of Tom, too. Sometimes it gets so bad that I have to put her in the traveling cage in the bedroom just to get my work done.

My Esme doll traveled from Arkansas to Missouri and then left Illinois at 10:00 this morning. There have been no updates since. It wouldn’t surprise me if she came early too, on Friday instead of next Monday. Well, as I’ve learned, I know any package of ours is here if it says it left Roseburg, Oregon at 3-something in the morning.

I got the trivia game. Of course I did. I don’t want it. If Mary doesn’t buy it from me for someone she knows in the form of stamps, then we’ll sell it either on eBay or a tag sale.

I have big shopping plans for the month. This Friday we’re doing that huge oil order, as well as ordering from Yves so I can use my free $20 product voucher. Then I’ll save my money the next Friday and the Friday after that, at which time I’ll order another Tonner doll (basic Angelina with long straight black hair in a hot pink teddy trimmed with black lace), as well as a Barbie I’ve had my eyes on for a while now in a gorgeous gown of magenta and violet.

Meanwhile, on the last Friday of each month, I will put my money in a container to be used for our spring shopping spree at Walmart which we’ll do in the middle of the night to avoid the crowds when the truck is up and running again.

Anyway, after I’ve saved up enough for Walmart, I’ll put money away on the last Friday of each month to save up for Nikita. She’ll be between $250 - $300.

January’s Tonner boutique month for sure! I’ve been dying to dive into that boutique and get some more outfits.

It’s strange but cool to have had 3 Tonners for so long and now they’re about to double!

The canal dog just went off. Can dogs ever do just one or two barks and not go on multi-minute barking sprees every single fucking time they have to bark? God, I hate dogs! And more so, I hate the people who are cruel enough to leave them out 24/7, not to mention who are very rude to their neighbors.

A white car came in next door as I was peeing this afternoon and I heard doors and voices for a minute, then it pulled back out. By then I was in the living room and could see what appeared to be the chick leaving with some other chick.

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2005 It’s been a relaxing birthday so far. I’ve heard most women say that their 40th birthday was a rather depressing day for them, but I still feel the same. I may not like my slower metabolism, blurrier vision and drier skin, but I like the wisdom and maturity that comes with age. This birthday sure beats my 30th. My 30th sucked! I was more depressed then because this was back in the days when I wanted a kid. I just never would’ve thought my 40th birthday would take place in Oregon of all places!

Well, it took 40 years to do it, but this was my first birthday I didn’t get any cards other than the e-card from Tom, but that’s okay. He’s all that matters to me. He brought me back some treats from Circle K after he did the laundry, too.

It’s hard to believe I’ll be considered old in 20 years since anything under 29 is considered young, while 30-59 is middle age, and anything over that is old.

My first thought was that the platform was too low once we got it fully assembled and so we discussed the idea of me getting an additional platform with drawers to raise it. However, I realized that’d make it too high and my head would be practically on the shelves, so I decided against it. I’d rather be too low than too high.

It’s funny because when I look at the shit of a plastic shelf that’s in this room holding some of the dolls, I think that I should have better than that at 40 years old, but then I see the bed set up and I know I’m improving little by little. I just hope we don’t ever lose it or end up forced to sell it!

Last night I sewed another dress for the Tonners using the material from the comforter’s matching pillow shams. It was a tough job because the material is so thin, but it came out alright. I made a tube dress.

I had to laugh at the thought of Art and Doe thinking of me today. When I asked them how it felt to have their youngest turn 30 a decade ago, they said it made them feel kind of old. Then I can only imagine what antiques they must feel like with their youngest turning 40!

I’m up to 39 views. I just can’t imagine what idiots could possibly be interested in checking up on me. I know it may sound conceited of me to say this, but I always looked down my nose at most of my classmates. I just thought most of them were little jerks, but I guess most of us are when we’re kids. Still, I always felt superior to them, even if I had the mother from hell and envied some of those whose moms were cool or at least not abusive in any way. They just seemed so silly most of the time and I remember finding myself embarrassed for them and even ashamed of them quite often. Most of their jokes were in bad taste or just so corny. Then again, we were kids, and everything’s hilarious to a kid. Perhaps this is partly why Kate Jackson and 70’s music remained so special for me. I had to deal with stupid kids doing stupid things and a negative, domineering mother who only cared about herself, but I had my records and my Charlie’s Angels scrapbook.

This rat is like a two-year-old. She gets into everything and anything she can. She got on Tom’s desk while he was in here showing me something and walked on his keyboard, fucking up his TV program. He still can’t figure out what she did to mess it up, so he’ll have to reinstall it.

I really hope to hell the doctor can help me end this ear problem tomorrow! I’m so sick of the pressure and popping that I’m ready to swap this problem in for a new one if that’s what it’ll take. And I don’t care that God will be pissed at me for seeking help with it like I know He will be. He will be because He wouldn’t have had me born this way if He didn’t want me to suffer.

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2005 I didn’t even get so much as a card (since tomorrow’s Sunday) from either Mary or Paula. Some friends, huh? I know Paula didn’t forget, though, because she mentioned it on the phone. She just shouldn’t say she’s going to send things she knows she’s not going to send. As for Mary, anything could’ve come up with her.

For two reasons, there’s a part of me that’s just a tiny bit surprised the queen didn’t send a card, although it would have to get forwarded here. The first reason is to – in their minds – insult me with a check they know I couldn’t cash. The second would be to make me think they might not have gotten my ‘fuck you’ letter, thus depriving me of the satisfaction of knowing I told them off. I would know better, though. I’m not that dumb. I know they got the letter and that they discussed it with not only the police, but everyone they know that would listen. That’s just what people do. Especially those people.

Although cold and slippery, we went to the Chinese place to get me a seafood and vegetable dish I’ve been wanting to try. The same little girl of around 10 was there, and I thought I had a good memory! She remembered not only that we’d been there before, but she remembered what I ordered and that we had Safeway grocery bags with us. Tom pointed out that she was a lot like me – good with memory and languages, but lousy with numbers. Her parents were trying to teach her how to use the register and she had a hard time with it just like I always did when I had jobs that handled money.

We also went and got 3 medium-sized bamboo plants for $5 and 15 incense sticks for more variety. I’m glad they only cost a buck cuz they all suck except for the Jasmine, though even that’s not that great. It’s like it all smells the same; too smoky. We also got vitamins for the plants. All they need is one drop per month.

Tom worked today and raked in an extra $100, so we’re always glad about that. I just hope the doctor doesn’t cost too much!

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2005 Tinkerbell’s been out all morning so far, except for when she gets temporarily punished for being in places I don’t want her to be, such as on Jade’s lap. Right now the pest is asleep behind its cage. Good! I hope it stays that way for more than 5 minutes. She’s a lot of work, I’ll tell you.

Meanwhile, I’ve ordered another Tonner doll! A basic Esme who’s black and done up with violet eyes and sable hair. She’ll come wearing a violet teddy with matching strappy sandals.

Next Friday I’ll be making a $40 Yves order so I can use my voucher for that free $20 item while still qualifying for free shipping and some freebies as well. Even better will be that $150 oil order!

Later…

What a surprise! The platform came today instead of Monday. I thought it was weird that it said it left Roseburg at 3:30 this morning. That’s the very last stop before it hits here a few hours later, then is sent out for delivery. The guy nearly died carrying it in (it was the same guy who brought the headboard) because it was so heavy at 111 pounds.

I put together half of it and understood all of the instructions except for one thing that’s got me stumped, so I’m going to leave the rest to Tom. I just worry that it may be a little low. The platform’s only 10” and the mattress is 6”, but it can’t be as bad as sleeping on the floor. That’s gotten really old over the last year and a half, and I won’t miss it!

Have we been in the mood to do anything? Of course not, and I’m sure we never will.

There’s still a lot of snow out there from when we had that big snowstorm a few days back. I knew this winter would be snowier and colder. Last winter’s highs were usually in the 40s, but this winter they’re in the 30s. Even so, I’m going to brave the cold tomorrow and go to that Asian store for two more small Lucky Bamboo plants for each bedroom. Hopefully, it will help with the partnership as much as I hate this climate!

Then I’ll brave the cold again on Monday to see the ear doctor that I hope to hell can help me. Tom got out a huge chunk of dead skin this morning and we thought that alone would make a big difference, but it hasn’t.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2005 A couple of evenings ago the chick next door knocked on the door wanting to borrow our shovel because her car got stuck at the edge of the driveway, which Tom found amusing. I slept through it all, fortunately, but I hope the bitch isn’t going to come begging for our shovel every time it snows. It’s funny because as rude as she is, she’s the best neighbor we’ve had since we’ve known each other. Still, she can get her own damn shovel!

Got a couple of additional small wins; a DVD and a wedding book.

We got the headboard assembled. It’s so nice to have! Now all I need is the platform on the 5th to complete the whole thing. It’ll be nice to have a normal bed setup once again. I just hope nothing ever forces us to either lose it or sell it. We’ve already agreed that we’re either going to stay here and get rich or bail out of this state in a handful of months. He’ll know at the beginning of the year if there’s a chance for a partnership. If there is, we’ll move to a nicer place when the lease is up in March and I’ll suffer through a few more of these miserable winters that he thinks are so cool. If not, we’ll cut our spending way back and tough this place out till we can save up enough to go to California. I just hope next door stays empty for however long we are here!

I’ll feel better once the lease is up. We may be able to walk out the door anytime we want, but still, I don’t like being told we have to be here till a set time. That’s too jail-like.

I saw that I’m no longer listed as a junior sweeper but as a sweeper. Yet this chick who joined a few months after I did is listed as a senior sweeper. So perhaps the levels don’t have to do with how much time you’ve been a member, but are based on your wins?

I know without a doubt that the iPod people are scammers. I’ve earned all the points needed for an iPod yet they won’t let me have them. The iPod is just a ploy to get people to their sites and I don’t see why anyone hasn’t shut them down yet.

I just got a surprise win. It’s just a CD by some religious singer.

[clown-demon]

GETTING TO KNOW YOUR MOOTS BETTER ! Fill out the info sheet below & tag your friends to do the same ! Repost , don’t reblog !

Name / Pen-name : Ti

Pronouns : They/Them! But honestly.. any works for me!

Country / Region : United States!

Timezone : PST!

Age / Age group : 29

Favourite colours : Purple, red, blue, black!

Favourite foods : Cheese....

Non - RP Hobbies ? : Watching BSD, reading, drawing, daydreaming. I used to sew but I haven't in a while, but that was a hobby for a while! I also just enjoy writing, I used to work on a few books but they're unfinished and collecting dust.. But probably my main hobby outside of RPing is drawing.

Favourite animal : OWLS! I love owls thanks to the book series Guardians of Ga'Hoole. It was my comfort series growing up so I just really love owls!

Any allergies ? : Pollen, dust... Uh I'm allergic to this medication but I forget what it's called. I'm also allergic to these seed pods that grow on certain trees. I'll swell up bad.

Favourite Season : Probably Fall! I like the change of leaves and the cooler weather!

Scents you like : Various Yankee Candle shit.. I really like this one called Midnight I think it's called? It smells so good..

Coffee / tea / hot cocoa : Hot cocoa.. I do NOT like tea at all (Fyodor questions how I hate tea.) And I don't like straight up coffee. But I DO enjoy mocha.

How long have you been in your current fandom ? : Uuh I'm kinda in various fandoms, but I'll go with my main, BSD. I have been in the fandom for about six months now. I started it really late but I had a dream about it so I HAD to start it. Then I fell in love. And I've made some AMAZING friends too. Even a best friend.

Do you prefer to ‘ wing ’ your threads or discuss plots with your partner during or ahead of time ? : I honestly prefer to wing it. But if you have ideas, I'm all ears! I'm pretty much a go with the flow type of person. But I also am not good with plotting unless I know the other person. I am really self concious of my ideas so I don't share them a lot.. Despite people loving my ideas.. Idk, I'm weird. OTL

Are you okay with getting to know your RP partners outside of writing / becoming good online friends or even offline friends ? : I LOVE to make friends with people I RP with! Honestly when I make a friend with someone, RPing with them becomes SO much more fun and easier! My problem is that I SUCK at talking! I can take a LONG time to reply to a message! It's not that I hate you or don't wanna talk, I just... don't do well with talking. I have social phobia and just talking is SUCH a struggle with me. Some people I can talk to with ease! Some days it's easier to talk with someone! But talking is such a big problem with me. A lot of the time I choke up and struggle. It's something I try working on, but I don't seem to get anywhere.. But I HAVE been doing a few things that I am proud of myself for when it comes to talking.

Finally , what are your favourite genres of RP ?: Hmm, I honestly love fluff and soft stuff.. I also love slice of life.. I also love threads that have a lot of character development.. I honestly love all kinds of genres. The only ones I don't really like are angst just for the sake of angst (meaning there's no reason for it.. there's no development.. you just want angst to be angsty.. There's no reason for it and it evolves into nothing else..) I also don't really like fighting threads.. but that's cuz a LOT of folks don't know how to do a fighting thread and I have so many instances where the other person godmods / auto hits etc...

Tagged by : @strayslost (I stole it!)

Tagging : YOU! Just tag me saying I tagged you!

[adamgant]

Friday Faves 11.17

Friday Faves 11.17 https://ift.tt/bgEUtsB Hi friends! Happy Friday! How are you? I hope you’ve enjoyed the week. I feel like it was our first *real* week back in the world. I started to ease my way back into workouts, the girls were back at school, and we got to celebrate my birthday with the fam. I just wanted to get together for brunch, so we had a lovely brunch at First Watch with our small party of 15 🙂 We had the BEST gluten-free funfetti cake from Lovin’ Spoonfuls with buttercream frosting: (fun inside scoop: I went to high school with their pastry chef and we order the cake from her every year. I also look forward to it all year! My favorite cake in the world.) And the rest of the day was perfect and low-key. I read a book, we had a Pilot-cooked dinner here at home, and watched Home Alone. The rest of the week has flown by in a blur and I’m looking forward to the weekend! Liv has a birthday party and one of her friends is sleeping over, I’m getting a much-needed mani pedi, we’re going out to dinner, and decorating for Christmas. Since we’re traveling next week, my favorite grinch gave the green light to decorate early. Usually he’s the captain of team “Honor the Bird” but he’s making an exception this year. Flashback to our enormous tree! Frida is too big to move her now. 😉 I’d love to hear what you have going on! It’s time for the weekly Friday Faves party. This is where I share some of my favorite finds from the week and around the web. I always love to hear about your faves, too, so please shout out something you’re loving in the comments section  below. Friday Faves 11.17 Fitness, health, and good eats: SO many Black Friday deals are happening early. Here are some of my faves so far: – You can use XOGINAH for 25% off Sakara. I LOVE their meal delivery – it’s something I do to treat myself once a month – and their snacks and supplements. The meals are fresh, vibrant, energizing, and beautiful. I highly recommend giving it a try — this is their best sale of the whole year. – FITNESSISTA20 will get you 20% off at HigherDOSE. (My regular code is FITNESSISTA15 for 15%.) I use their sauna blanket, PEMF Go Mat, Red Light Face Mask, and Red Light Neck enhancer on a regular basis. I’ve notice a huge difference in my energy, mood, skin, and sleep since I’ve started implementing their amazing products. Check it out here and you can read a roundup of my favorite HigherDOSE products in this post. – My favorite rower is on sale for the only time this year. If you’ve been wanting to upgrade your home gym, I highly recommend Aviron. It stores vertically and is the best quality rower I’ve used. You can stream Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, and play games while you row. I’m totally going to row and watch some Friends episodes this weekend. (If you’re curious about the rower and have questions, send me an Instagram DM. I’d love to help! My full blog post review is here, too.) – If you have anything in your cart from EquiLife, wait until Monday! Same goes for Organifi. 😉 Read, watch, listen: I started Fourth Wing to see if it lives up to the hype, and while fantasy usually isn’t my go-to genre, I’m completely sucked in. The writing is excellent and it’s super intense so far! The only problem is that I read it before bed and have weird dragon dreams lol. Check out this week’s podcast episode here! We’re chatting about immune system tips and food allergies. What holiday coupons would your kids love? FINALLY. Sheesh. Fashion + beauty: I have to admit that Nap Dresses 100% live up to their reputation. (They’re 30% off right now!) It’s super flattering and comfortable and now I want every color. (I’m trying to decide if I like this style or the Somerset more) Wore this slip dress this week with a cardigan and GG low-tops. The quality is excellent and they have so many colors. Happy Friday, friends! Did you decorate already or are you waiting until after Thanksgiving? xo Gina The post Friday Faves 11.17 appeared first on The Fitnessista. via The Fitnessista https://ift.tt/SxsXZeq November 17, 2023 at 10:03AM

[aewinning]

Hey you!!! Long time no chatting (uni is still kicking my ass, possibly harder than last time) it's me, the anon who begged for the scara/tighnari maintenance fic (tbh i still brag about that, it was an AMAZING fic). I just read "A Certain Dreamlike Quality"!!! Fucking chef's kiss. Very very nice. Lovely concept as usual. And Kavetham felt even more in character than ever. I really really liked the comment about Kaveh treating Alhaitham's granny's journals with care, it was very sweet. And i also started thinking about that whole porn trade in Port Osmos. Like yeah it makes sense, Teyvat SHOULD have pornography. Probably not what u wanted the reader to focus on but it did seem like a nice subtle world-building element. Either way, really good work!!! Also ur gonna get Baizhu soon!! I think i remember u being excited about him finally being playable. If im mistaken then sorry lol. Im saving up for kaveh. Anyways have a nice day!!! Looking forward to more delicious writing!! 🤗

Hello hello! Welcome back and I hope university eases up on you soon! Thank you for the kind comment and I'm glad you enjoyed the fic, it was so much fun to write. I do hope to do more for them at some point especially after Kaveh's profile/lore drops, but right now I'm working on getting out the third fic in my Baizhu/Childe/Zhongli series haha.

I did spend a lot of time figuring out where Alhaitham would go for sex research of the places we've been, lol. I probably thought about it TOO much, to be honest. My thoughts:

Mondstadt probably has plenty of naughty content, being as open as it is, likely in poem or novel form for the most part? Liyue probably has more traditional erotic paintings and a few instruction manuals, often in less savory sales stalls off the main street (like under the docks).

Same for Inazuma, though it may not be an art form that's flourished while Inazuma was in the grip of so many decrees. I bet it's about to undergo a renaissance though, with the loosening of restrictions and resumption of imports. And Sumeru...the Akademiya probably has some dry old books on sex from people that have never had it, focusing on anatomy, but I imagine Port Ormos the party town probably had quite the fun knowledge capsules when the Akasha was functioning, haha.

Fontaine is probably about 5 years out from filming the first adult movie. idk about Natlan's current status due to the game's allergy to giving us Natlan lore, but Snezhnayans probably pass dirty mags around the barracks and give each other handies to keep warm. And you KNOW there are a lot of pinups that look suspiciously like the Harbingers, lmao.

You are also correct that I am hella looking forward to Baizhu! He's who I've most looked forward to ever since I met him when I started playing in 1.3. Two years of waiting! I have about 360 wishes saved for next patch and unfortunately I want Nahida, Nilou, Baizhu, AND Kaveh, but the good news is that I'm 40ish into pity on a guarantee right now. I may decide to skip Nilou in favor of going for Baizhu's weapon, we'll see. I refuse to go below 180 pulls before his banner, he WILL come home one way or another.

Good luck on your own Kaveh pulls when the time comes! He looks like a really fun unit and I'm planning on triple crowning him myself b/c babygirl deserves to be treated just as well as Alhaitham even if he's not a 5 star. (Which will make...4 dendro guys triple crowned for me. Send help, I have an addiction.)

[verfound]

FIC: We’re a Chance Left Untaken: 18/31 (MLB, Lukanette)

Notes: *would be screaming incoherently if she actually had the strength/voice for it*  Life doesn’t want this fic done on time 😩😩😩

  Ch 1 | Ch 2 | Ch 3 | Ch 4 | Ch 5 | Ch 6 | Ch 7 | Ch 8 | Ch 9 | Ch 10 | Ch 11 | Ch 12 | Ch 13 | Ch 14 | Ch 15 | Ch 16 | Ch 17

We’re a Chance Left Untaken (And We’ll Probably Always Be)

August 18: Bridge/Secret Garden

The ice cream was gone by the time they reached the bridge.

“It wasn’t bad,” he said, tossing the end of the cone into a bush they were passing.  She was more stable now, and he enjoyed the roll of her eyes a little more than he probably should have.  He was half-expecting her to comment on his littering, though the cups André served his infamous ice cream in were edible. If some creature didn’t gobble it up first, it would decompose soon enough.  “I’ve had better, though,”

“You realize you just brought us back to the river, right?” she asked instead of answering, looking around.  She turned back to him with a frown.  “I thought we were going home, Luka.”

“We will,” he said, reaching out for her hand. She hesitated, and when her hand fisted at her side he sighed and shoved his back in his pockets.  “I wanted to show you something first.”

[raes-writing-space]

Tadashi Hamada x GN!Reader Headcanons

A/N: I had to do a little bit of research but I hope I did this request decently!! I’m a massive foodie, so a lot of my knowledge is just based on my love for food. “You” pronouns used and no body specified. Thank you so much for requesting!

Warnings: Food mentions, uhhh nothing else that I know of.

Word Count: 859

You and Tadashi actually meet at the Lucky Cat Cafe! You had heard of how good the cafe was from regulars around San Fransokyo, as well as other friends and family members!

So of course you had to stop by and see what all the fuss was about! You happened to see an attractive guy talking to another customer about what they would recommend on the menu, and thought that he could be pretty knowledgeable for some questions you had!

You of course asked for some recommendations, how much flavoring was in each item, and what ingredients were used.

He answered them with ease, thinking that maybe you had some kind of food allergy and just wanted to be careful.

You grabbed your seat, and when he brought you your things, you couldn’t help but ask him if he had some time to answer a couple more questions you had. He did, as you happened to ask him what the food culture was like in this area, what the cost of rent was like for this space, and how much they usually spent on different expenses.

“Are you a food critic, or are you just really curious?” He had joked with you, and of course you had to explain.

“Sorry! I don’t mean to pry, I’m actually just trying to get a good idea of how this area is influenced by the food industry compared to other parts of San Fransokyo. I’m hoping to open up my own restaurant one day, and just trying to do some research.”

Well, then I feel like I can’t tell you any of that information if you’re thinking of opening a Cafe. This is my Aunt’s place after all.” He joked with a kind smile.

“Aw, what’s wrong with a little healthy competition?” You joked in return, going with the moment, “I’m not looking to open up a Cafe specifically… Besides, from what I’ve heard, your Aunt’s cafe is one of the best here.” You added.

“Well, try it for yourself and tell me what you think.” He gently pushed your food and drink towards you, before he made his way back towards the front counter.

You tried it, and immediately realized why everyone was so fond of it. It could have tasted like every other stereotypical cafe, but there was something unique about it that was different than the rest. Dare you say, it actually had flavor, and not just the same basic ingredients that anyone could pull together.

You gave your compliments to them, as you became a regular to the establishment. You and Tadashi had happened to hit it off really well after that, and saw him regularly. He even snuck you little treats from time to time when he could without getting caught.

In return, you asked to make dinner for them, and Aunt Cass was rather excited to not have to cook dinner for once, but was hoping that your skills were as good as Tadashi insisted they were (despite him not actually trying your cooking for himself. That’s how much faith he had in you.)

You were so excited when they loved your cooking, and Aunt Cass was begging for a recipe, only for you to ask for some of her recipes in return. Since both yours and hers were a secret, it seemed to be a tie for how desperate you two needed to fix a craving without the other coming over to cook/bake for the other.

After that though, Aunt Cass helps you with trying to keep in mind all that is needed to open a restaurant, she’s very encouraging! If she could support you in any way that she can she would, if only just to taste some of your food again.

When you and Tadashi officially start dating, Aunt Cass keeps begging you to come cook for them again, and when you say that you’re going out to a different restaurant, she gets a little bummed out. She adores you!! She was even the one to tell Tadashi to finally make a move. If you don’t become her in-law somehow, she’s just going to have to sign adoption papers to keep you around.

Tadashi loves to cook with you and try different things with you! He isn’t much of a picky eater, and is willing to try different things and tell you his honest opinion of them! He’ll even recommend what others in the area seem to like, to help you plan for your restaurant accordingly!

You two are fully supportive in each other despite the fact that you two study two different subjects entirely. He believes in you, and your restaurant dream and of course, you believe in him too, and when he introduces you to Baymax, you’re just as excited as he is!

All in all, whether it’s trying to convince him to not eat week old pizza that was left in his lab after burning the midnight oil, or him trying to get you to taste something that you think could be a really gross combination, you two care for each other in your own ways, and it shows!

[rendy-a]

I seriously love your continuation of Aurora’s Pet AU and you got the feel down pat!💕✨

I’m wondering how the Pomefiore Trio would deal with a sweet, unassuming master having a two-faced S/O that acts like an angel in front of them (offering treats and inviting the pets to dates) yet make passive agressive remarks whenever their master isn’t there and it comes to the point they overhear the S/O pull their master aside to make them choose between the S/O and the pet. Would they be appalled and burst in or respect their master’s decision, which ever it may be. For context, the pets have been adopted long before their master and the S/O even dated.

I’m so glad you are enjoying my take on the Pet AU.  Here is your request, enjoy!

An Ultimatum with Pomefiore

When you met your S/O, you thought you were just the luckiest person in all of Twisted Wonderland.  They showered you with affection and treated your pet like a part of the family, just like you did.  You liked to tease your S/O that you’d need to be careful or soon your pet would have a new favorite human!  That is why it was so shocking to you when your S/O tearfully told you they felt like an outsider in the family.  That your bond with your pet was keeping you from loving them fully.  If you want to be a real family, you have to put them first!  It is time to make your S/O a priority and get rid of your pet so you can be a proper couple!  Your S/O was shouting so loudly, you wondered if your pet had heard…

Vil is too proud to admit that he has heard your fight and is worried about the outcome.  That day you chose him at the menagerie over Neige all the other trophy pets was one of the best moments of his life.  Now he is waiting to find out if you’ll still choose him.  If you don’t…well he just can’t think of what he’ll do.

How does Vil behave in the days following?  He is stressfully waiting for you to make your decision but also trying to pretend not to know about it.  That doesn’t mean that he is keeping silent though.  Conversation is a trophy pet’s weapon.   You seem to have many enlightening little chats with Vil over your morning make-up routines or afternoon tea.  Maybe next summer we should all take a vacation at a health spa.  I’m sure S/O won’t mind, they are always saying how much they care about our health.  Not that you’d know that from the way they keep forgetting about your allergy.  I’m sure that isn’t because they don’t care enough to remember the little things about you, right master?  Is he being as catty as a teenage girl in a high school drama?  Yes.  Does Vil care?  Absolutely not.

At the end of the week, a moving company arrives and starts packing up your S/O’s things; your Ex never sets foot in the house again.  You say nothing to Vil about it but you both know what happened.  After a week of stress, Vil is finally able to relax again and you can visibly see the tension ease out of his shoulders.

That evening you have a movie marathon; its one of your shared hobbies to watch movies and critique the acting, sets and costumes.  Today, Vil has chosen an assortment of movies featuring loyal pets; not a hint of romance at all.   During the happy scenes where a pet reunites with their beloved master, Vil reaches over to pat your hand as though to say, Thank you for choosing me master.

Rook is another one that isn’t going to act emotionally.  He will quietly observe your reaction to see how you decide to react (your conflicted expression is tres bien!)  Unless you specifically ask him about it, he will keep himself from interfering.  If you do ask him about your S/O, he will give you surprisingly detailed data.

See, Rook has been very suspicious of your SO from the beginning.  He knows what a sweet naïve master he has and thinks of himself as a bit of a protector to you.  After that first questionable comment your S/O made while you were gone, Rook has been collecting observations on your S/O.  And by collecting observations I mean spying on them in a major way; video, audio recordings, interviews with former classmates, dental records…everything. 

When your former S/O comes to pick up their things, they will be escorted out by a smiling Rook.  He takes the time to let them know just how much information he has dug up on them and suggests they consider not bothering you in the future if they don’t want those unpleasant details to become public knowledge.  Depriving your S/O of their prey was a satisfying game indeed, one Rook was amused to play.

Was Rook concerned you might not have chosen him?  No, he knew you’d choose him.  After all, you were the kind of odd person to go to a pound and adopt a strange pet like him in the first place.  You and I master, make a perfect pair.  Our bond is beaute 100%!

As soon as he hears their ultimatum, Epel bursts in and starts yelling at S/O.  What do you mean he is in the way of your family?  Didn’t S/O always say Epel was like a family member?  Was all that a lie?  There is no need for you to say anything, Epel will yell every question you could have asked and then some.

Does he keep it to shouting?  Only if you are lucky.  You better be prepared to hold Epel back like a tiny worked-up chihuahua.  He is fully ready to throw down with your S/O!  Don’t think he will let S/O get away with saying such hurtful things!

When your S/O starts yelling back at Epel, you get into protective pet-parent mode.  Now both you and Epel are shouting at S/O in your countrified speech.  Listen here you poor excuse for a horse apple, you ain’t got nothing under your hat but hair if you think I’m getting rid of my sweet Epel!  You think we can’t see you lyin’ like a rug, you varmint?  Congratulations, your former S/O now thinks you are crazy and will gladly never speak to you again.

Afterwards, expect to need to comfort Epel.  He just gets so worried about you leaving him someday; no one understands him like you.  He isn’t crying, you’re crying!  Give him some hugs and head pats.  When he is fully calm, he is going to want to know more about where you get your insults from (and can you teach him some?)  Hey master, I guess we just go together like peas and carrots, huh?