#my manager isn't in for like a week otherwise i would have gone to her and NOT had a meltdown

[panspaming]

0 days without crying at work smFH

[rileyglas]

The List ~Pt. 7.5 - Clarity~

Alastor (Hazbin Hotel) x Reader

Summary: Written from Alastor's POV, this chapter gives insight of what the Radio Demon is up to during Part 7. Feeling like you (Alastor) are going mad, you makes a visit to your dearest friend leading to a shocking confession to Husker.

Themes: The usual angst, mystery, sassiness, cursing, fluff, actual plot, Rosie is the sweetest, slow burn, poor Husker, and of course 18+

A/N: This part isn't necessarily needed to follow the story however it was fun to do something a little different. I tried writing in Alastor's voice and give a (small) glimpse into his side.

3.6k Words

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 7.A (You're on it!) Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12

**sentences in italics are internal thoughts of the reader/Alastor

This is maddening. You buried yourself in pointless work. Anything to refrain from having to leave your tower and see the others around the hotel, especially her. The foreign ache in your chest only throbbed more at the thought of seeing the hurt in her eyes. Reckless fool! How could I allow her to make me feel such emotions? Almost a hundred years of creating my image and some sinner has the ability to destroy me like this - no - of course not…she was never just some sinner…

Slumping over the scattered paperwork across the desk, you bury your head in your claws. Time was non-existent. Has it been hours? Weeks? Months? No, couldn’t have been that long since you watched her entire being shatter right in front of you. The pain was too much for it to have been that long. This was supposed to just be a partnership, a power grab…How did I end up like this? The radio tower has been your home since she left. You were far too prideful to go back to your room, too afraid of what would happen the moment you caught a whiff of her perfume that surely lingered in every grain of wood and every fiber of your sheets. 

A few soft taps at the door pull you from your tormented mind. Quickly standing from the desk, you straighten your shirt and throw on the same suit jacket you’ve worn for who knows how long. I must keep up appearances, no one can suspect anything otherwise. 

With a shake of your head, you plaster on the usual smile and open the door to see Charlie and Vaggie. “Hey Al! Just wanted to let you know we are about to head up to Heaven for a few hours. Mind keeping an eye on the hotel while we are gone?” Charlie beamed with an excitement that quite contrasted her partner's uncomfortable scowl. 

“Of course my dear! Your hotelier has everything covered.” you chime with a half-hearted bow. Vaggie steps forward, obviously annoyed, “Don’t set anything on fire, don’t destroy any more walls, and please for the hundredth time - keep Nifty out of our room. Last time she tried to throw out all my clothes!”  You hum in acknowledgement and follow a concerningly bouncy Charlie down to the lobby where, like clockwork, a portal to Heaven opens. “Common Vaggie! Bye everyone!” Charlie hops through the portal, dragging a less than amused Vaggie behind her. 

“Sheesh Smiles, you look like -” Angel starts to say before promptly shutting up and going back to his phone after seeing the glare you shoot towards him. Twirling your cane, you walk over to the bar where Husk tentatively pulls out a glass as if silently asking if you wanted a drink. You wave him off, “No need Husker. I have much to do today and need to be of a clear head.” Yeah right, like I’ve managed a clear head at all lately. “Though I am curious, where is our charming little friend? I heard she had fallen ill.”

Husk shrugs but Angel is quick to chime in, “Oh Charlie sent her to get some things from town and take them to Lucifer. She’ll probably be back soon…as long as Lucifer doesn’t take up too much of her time - if you know what I mean.” Angel mutters the last part seductively with a wink. A fiery rage burns through your veins. How dare he insinuate something so repulsive!? The urge to shred the sinner limb from limb boils over and your eyes flash to him, “It’d be wise to keep such vile comments to yourself spider.” you hiss through gritted teeth. A relaxed smile returns as you regain composure and walk away. Without her around, you figure you’ll have some time to freely move about the hotel, busying yourself with the usual to-dos.

You finish the last of your tasks and begin to head back to the tower when Vaggie and Charlie come flying back through a portal, landing harshly on their backs. Tears flood Charlie’s face. She pulls out her phone to make a call, “Dad, you were right. It was horrible!” she says before hanging up. Within seconds another portal opens within the lobby, this time Lucifer coming through. Of course he has to make a grand appearance. 

Your attention snaps back to Charlie in time to see her shove Vaggie away and bolt up the stairs. Now would be a good time to make quite an impression on the girl. You attempt to follow the princess but Lucifer drives his elbow into your side, forcing you into the railing. Every muscle in your face twists in annoyance at the pretentious little “King”. The urge to go after him is quickly snuffed by the feeling of eyes burning into your back. 

A glance over your shoulder makes your heart drop into your stomach. There she is, staring into you. Her eyes didn’t have their bright sparkle and she looked utterly exhausted even with all the makeup. Did she always put on so much? No, she hated caking it on. I really did a number on her didn’t I? Her usually bright smile is replaced with a grim look of…Anger? Concern? Pain? You don’t have enough time to read her before Lucifer makes his way back down the stairs. 

“She seems to need some time alone.” he announces as he makes his way back over to the shell of a woman standing before you. You watch as he pulls her flush with his body, greedy hands snaking up her sides. He mumbles something before placing his foul lips against her skin and disappearing into red ribbons. 

Her face mirrors your feelings of disgust at his touch. Did he force himself on her? I swear if he hurt - You catch yourself stepping towards her. Every ounce of your being longed to wrap her into your arms. Your heart begged to pour yourself into her, to remove every trace of Lucifer from her body. Her gaze meets yours again. You freeze. The pain behind the eyes that stared back at you made your knees nearly buckle. What is wrong with me… With a nod you slink into your shadow. I believe it’s time to visit someone who can help.

It was always a pleasure to be in Rosie’s presence. You can’t quite remember how you met but you knew she was easily your oldest, truest friend here in Hell. Usually you didn’t dally much about romance, her self-proclaimed specialty, but right now you could use any insight she could give. 

“Alastor! How I’ve missed seeing that dazzling smile of yours!” Rosie pulls you into her ever smothering hug,  “Come along, I was just getting some tea. Tell me, what do I owe the pleasure of such company?”

You remain quiet as you sit at the table to pour two cups of tea, smile faltering just enough to tell her something was very wrong. “Oh darlin’, what’s going on? I can’t recall a time you’ve looked so distressed.” It was strange hearing yourself try to explain these last few months. You’ve always made it a point to be very well spoken, years of broadcasting have ingrained it into your mind. But today you fumbled your words telling Rosie how you wound up in this position - with these…feelings.

“Oh my stars. I never thought this day would come.” She sits back in her chair in astonishment. Your ears perk up at her short response, “What do you mean dear?” Rosie leans back towards you, gently placing a hand atop yours, “Alastor darling, you’re in love!” 

An uneasy feeling washes over you. Your hand quickly retracts at the mention of that word. Love? What a ridiculous notion. It’s fruitless…unnecessary…weak…

Her face softens at your doubtful silence, “All of those moments, the desires, even the pain…it’s obvious you’ve fallen head over heels for that gal. She must be quite a charmer to get you this worked up!” she laughs giddily but you’re far from amused at this assumption. 

“Rosie dear, I’m not some hopeless romantic. I don't have the time nor the need for such frivolous things.” She frowns at your bitter denial. You can see she’s reeling, trying to find her next words. She stands up and begins pacing the room, still unable to conjure the right response. Your frustration grows as you try to reason with her, “Look, I just need to figure out how to be rid of this. I can’t eat, I can’t sleep, I can barely think without her somehow worming her way into my mind.”

Her dark eyes snap to you, “You admit you want more than just a mutual partnership?”

“Well yes -”

She steps closer to you, “And you crave her presence, her touch, her voice?”

“Always but - “

“Do you desire a future with her and only her?”

Irritated, you try to answer once again, “At one point yes howev-”

“Alastor, do not deny yourself love just because you don’t fully understand it! It is not a weakness - no sir - it’s quite the contrary.” 

“Enough!” The table jolts beneath your now balled up fists, “What does it matter!? She loathes me! I set fire to her and burned any trust or feelings she could possibly have for me! I ran her off - straight into that imbecile's arms!” you snarl with a heavy static filling the air. 

A gentle hand rests on your shoulder. You look up at Rosie like a remorseful child, “She’d never believe me even if I told her…” you say softly. She squeezes your shoulder before returning to her chair and taking a sip from her cup. “Words are cheap, but actions, they speak for the truth. Don’t allow your pride to get in the way of what you could have.” Her tone turns sharp and concise, “Now, I know you and I know you’re not one to hold onto what ‘could have been’ or fret over past mistakes. But I’m telling you from experience, if you don’t at least try with this girl, you will regret it.” The words drive into you like a hot knife.

A heavy silence falls between you two while a battle rages in your mind. She’s never steered me wrong before, but how can she be so sure? She hasn’t even met this girl and she can already make these incredibly bold assumptions. You finish your tea and stand from the table. Walking over to Rosie’s chair, you bend down to peck her cheek with a quiet, “Thank you.” before stepping into your shadow to return to the hotel. 

In the past you’d have a drink or two to celebrate a victory or to get Mimzy off your case about ‘the good old days’, but tonight you wanted to be numb. “Another.” you demand, slamming the glass against the hotel bar. 

Husk cautiously pours more into your cup, “Uh boss, you doin’ alright?” Before he can finish his question your glass is empty and pounds the bar again, “Another!” you repeat. Husk couldn’t figure out if he should be amused or scared about your sudden change in demeanor. He pours you more, not daring to say no to the demon who owned his soul so tightly. 

You weren’t keeping count of how many drinks you managed to take into your body. Truthfully you didn’t care. The liquor was supposed to make the thoughts stop and numb everything but you found it only amplified with each glass. “Husker…Did - did you see him?” your speech might have been perfect but your mind was definitely beginning to blur. 

“See who?” Husk asked nervously looking around, wondering what strange delusions you might be seeing. 

You hiccup and laugh at his oblivious reaction, “That King…putting his hands all over her. He’s trying to take what is rightfully mine. He has no business touching her in such ways!” you growl as another hiccup leaves your chest. 

“Oh - uh yeah I saw that. She didn’t seem too happy about it either -”

“You’re damn right she wasn’t!” you shout louder than intended.

“Right…” Husk trails off, unsure of how to handle you in this new state of drunken anger, “Look, you don’t have to tell me but you’re definitely drinkin’ to forget something.” he says, trying to tread lightly. 

You signal for another drink while shaking your head in response to his question, “My dear Husker I - I think I’ve developed…feelings - “ The sudden sound of a bottle shattering makes you jump out of your chair. Looking over the bar you see Husker frantically cleaning up the bottle he dropped out of pure shock. 

He looks up at you, eyes wide with bewilderment, “Fuck sorry, I just thought I heard - feelings? What kind of feelings are we talkin?”

You slam another drink back, “Seeing him with her did something to me. It…hurt…It felt like a knife plunged into my chest.” If you were paying closer attention, you’d hear his snarky retort, “If only it was a real knife….” but you’re too preoccupied inside your own mind. Husk finishes cleaning the floor and leans against the bar, grabbing a new bottle and pouring you another without asking.

Why am I even talking with him? I didn’t think liquor could affect me so much down here. Ignoring instinct, you happily down another without wasting any time. The burn washes over your body and a peculiar sense of clarity suddenly hits, “I love that girl.” you say plainly, without a shimmer of doubt. 

Another bottle shatters against the floor along with the glasses Husk was starting to carry to the sink. “Fucking get it together Husker! Do you need gloves or something?! You’re wasting perfectly good rye!!! They would have had your head back in my day for such careless actions!” you shout at the now completely stunned bartender. He stares at you, eyes wider than saucers. Annoyed with the sudden lack of conversation from the demon - It is quite rude of him to just keep staring, I mean really - you slink away into your tower to be left with your thoughts. While you climb the stairs, you don’t bother looking back to see Husk’s mortified face as he mumbles frantically to himself, “What…in the actual fuck…just happened…I need a drink, wait no, I need ten drinks...and where the hell is Angel when you need him!?”

Your buzz begins to fade as you pace your tower, somehow causing everything to hit you tenfold. Rosie was right, I can’t deny this any longer. What am I going to do…hell what can I do? Why is this so hard to -

Three loud knocks reverberate through the tower. You still, not daring to give the person on the other side any clues as to if you were there or not. Please just go away, I don’t have the patience or clear mind for anyone right now. Your shadow tugs violently at your pant leg, signally the urgency of answering the door. You warily turn the knob and focus your eyes on the dimly lit woman in front of you. All the air leaves your lungs.

F-fuck…

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[clarisse0o]

Camp Wiegman-Part 56

Lucy Bronze x Ona Batlle

Alternative Universe : Military School

Words : 6k

Masterlist

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Friday, February 19; 3:00 PM -Alps

"Mom," I sighed again. "Do I really have to argue with you about this?"

"Why wouldn't you want to come home as well? I really expected you to visit."

"How many times do I have to repeat myself?" I replied with a weary tone. "I have an interview on Tuesday. We would have come after that, but all my friends are staying here."

"Yes, but..."

She started her sentence but quickly stopped to sigh in turn. I had been struggling with her for nearly fifteen minutes about our possible return to Barcelona. I knew it would be difficult to tell her we weren't coming, but I didn't expect it to be this hard. She seemed really upset.

"I would have loved to see you again... Plus, I'm a bit worried about letting Joan travel alone."

"Oh come on, it won't hurt him to manage on his own, don't you think? And it's not like we're never coming back to Barcelona. It's just that the end of this vacation isn't convenient for us."

"Yes, I understand..."

I rolled my eyes as I turned to lean against the railing of our small balcony. I had stepped outside to get some space. I didn't need Lucy hearing our conversation. Who knows how it could have gone. Surprisingly, it was going more calmly than I had imagined. Especially for a disagreement. She had never acted this way with me before. It's the first time she's trying to see me, and maybe that's why I'm not being as harsh for once. From this new angle where I positioned myself, I could see inside our room. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to move. Lucy was gathering our things, offering me a perfect distraction. It's our last day today, and we're leaving in the next hour... Just thinking about it makes my stomach turn. I would have loved to extend this vacation.

"I took a few days off, you know," my mother continued, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"Are you trying to make me feel guilty?" I teased. "I can be stronger than you at this game, Mom. For instance, you've never taken a vacation for me before."

An awkward silence followed. I could almost feel her nervousness from here, and yet I hadn't even raised my voice this time. She knew I was right, and she must have been afraid that I would get angry. However, now that I think about it, I can't blame her. Our relationship was so shaky that she avoided taking vacations at the same time as me. It was better for everyone if we didn't want seven to fifteen days of door-slamming arguments.

"Alright, I get it," she sighed. "I give up, but do you think you could come back soon...?"

"I don't know. Probably. We'll make sure to come back over a weekend if you really want to see us. Has Lucy made such an impression on you or what?" I teased lightly.

"I love Lucy, but I'd also like to spend time with you."

I nervously bit my lip. Her words seemed sincere, but for some reason, I felt like there was something more behind them. She really insisted on my girlfriend's presence, which was very unsettling. My daydreaming was quickly interrupted by Lucy waving at me from inside to get my attention. It wasn't hard to understand that she was waiting for my help. I sighed as I ran my hand through my hair.

"Listen, Mom, we'll come back, for sure, but it won't be next week. Just get a ticket for Joan. The best would be for Wednesday," I said, repeating what Lucy and I had agreed on.

"Alright... I'll let you know the times. You fly this route often, do you know someone who could take care of himS?"

"Yeah," I said without even thinking. "Ask Shay to take care of her. She's young, probably Lucy's age, very nice. I don't know if she'll be on that flight, but you can try."

"Okay, I'll see. Did you have a good vacation otherwise?"

"Really great. I'd love to keep chatting with you, Mom, but I need to gather my things, you see. Lucy will come looking for me outside if this goes on," I chuckled softly.

"Oh," she replied, embarrassed. "Sorry for keeping you..."

"No, don't worry. I'll call you when we get back to tell you all about it, okay?"

This conversation was getting stranger by the minute. I don't know where these words were coming from, but I felt compelled to say them given how she was behaving. One thing is certain, it does nothing to ease our awkwardness.

"Alright," she responded uncertainly. "Be careful on your way back."

"Promise. See you soon."

"Safe travels."

"Thanks. Bye, Mom."

The words slipped out again. I had never said "bye" to her at the end of a phone call before. I quickly hung up to avoid prolonging this strange and unusual conversation. I took a deep breath before heading back into the room. The first thing I did was take off my jacket. Lucy was no longer visible, but I understood she was in the bathroom from the noise coming from there.

"Did everything go well?" she asked me.

"Mm-hmm," I replied nonchalantly. "I don't want to leave," I added to change the subject.

"Oh, come on. Don't act like a child."

I relaxed, relieved that she was playing along by responding to the second part of my sentence instead of asking questions about what I had been doing outside. So I quickly continued in that direction.

"It was way too short."

"Are you done? Help me finish packing our things instead of complaining."

"Blah, blah, blah," I mumbled with amusement.

I smiled as her head peeked out from the doorway to give me a threatening look.

"I'm not kidding. Your clothes are still in the closet, so make sure to pack your suitcase."

"Yeah, yeah."

I rolled my eyes before turning my back on her. Looking her in the face right now could be regrettable for me. At the same time, it really was a perfect stay. It's the first time I've had such a hard time leaving. Yet, I tend to be the kind of person who loves returning home to find my routine after a trip. But today, I have to admit it's the opposite. Lucy was right again. I'm going to be the one making us late if I keep delaying our departure. With these thoughts, I started packing my suitcase as Lucy had asked. Everything was folded, so packing was easy. Then I tackled the nightstand, dumping what was left on it into my bag. I sighed at the same time, which made Lucy laugh in the next room.

"Aren't you done yet? Are you going to mope too?"

"Yes! Completely."

"Well, I guess I'll leave you here then."

"Hey!" I protested. "You wouldn't do that."

"Why not? You just confirmed that you'd be depressed if you left here, so you could stay here, right? That would solve your problem."

"But no," I complained. "You don't get it. I'll be even more depressed if you leave me here alone."

"Really?" she murmured in my ear, making me jump.

She placed her hand on my hip. I didn't expect her to be behind me when just a few seconds ago, she was talking to me from the bathroom. I glanced over my shoulder to see her little charming smile. When I tried to turn around, she held me back to pull me closer to her.

"So, I'm more important than a place, huh?"

"You know very well you are," I whispered. "You understood perfectly when I said I wanted to stay here. It meant with you."

"I didn't understand it that way, though," she teased lightly.

I closed my eyes as she placed her lips on my neck. My God, how I loved her kisses. Anywhere, as long as she gave them to me. She's the only one who can drive me crazy to the point of letting her touch me like this. I still can't figure out how she managed to fit so easily into my life, but she did. And damn, do I love it.

"You should..." I finally whispered.

"And why is that?" she murmured against my neck.

- Because. I don't want to go anywhere without you anymore...

I pause for a moment after saying this. I don’t even recognize myself anymore. I was never someone clingy, and I definitely feel clingy saying this.

- I can't believe I just said that, I mutter out loud, making Lucy chuckle.

- But you did. It’s cute.

I take advantage of this moment to turn around and face her. She gives me a quick peck on the lips without adding any more comments that could make me uncomfortable.

- Alright, now that your little bout of depression is over, can we finish packing our things? I promise we’ll end our vacation just as well as we started it.

- I know, but it’ll be different. Not as... magical. We had our own little world here, you know?

- I can't argue with that... It’s true it will be different, but we have to return to the real world sooner or later.

I nod in agreement. It’s true, we’re really going back to reality. This last week of vacation will bring more work and responsibilities. It will start with the interview Lucy arranged for me, and then with my brother's arrival. I’m quite happy I won the battle against my mom. There was no way I was going to impose another long trip on us. Plus, after talking with the girls, I found out that Ale is staying in Manchester with Jenni, and Mapi already bought her ticket back for next weekend. Going back under those circumstances was out of the question. Having spent several weekends in Manchester before, this is the first time it’s happening. I can understand why my mom is worried about sending Joan, but he’ll only be traveling alone for one trip as we’ll make sure he returns with Mapi.

- Well, Lucy says, closing the suitcase. It’s time to head down. Are you done on your end?

- Yep.

I throw in the last of my things that I had in my hands before doing one last check. If there’s one thing I hate, it’s repacking when leaving. I always feel like I’m missing something. Fortunately, everything seems to be in order. I close my suitcase and join Lucy, who has already moved towards the door. I glance back one last time with a slight pang in my heart. I’m really going to miss this place. It was truly our little haven.

- Let’s go, Lucy murmurs.

I give her a sad smile and grab her hand. She shuts the door behind us, and we head downstairs. I’m surprised to see that we’re among the last to finish. I expected the others to take more time, considering this is the first time it’s happened. Usually, we’re among the first.

- I’ll go return the keys, Lucy tells me.

She steals a kiss before heading to the reception. I take the opportunity to join Alexia and Mapi, who seem to be having an animated conversation from where I’m standing. It looks like it’s the case, given how they greet me.

- There you are at last! Mapi calls out. We had an idea, Ale and I.

- Oh really?

- Yeah, she says proudly. Do you think Lucy will let you go for a night? We were thinking of having a girls’ night when we get back. Just the three of us, no girlfriends, nothing. Just us.

- Do you really think I would spoil the night by not wanting my presence, Mapi?

Once again, Lucy catches me off guard with her sudden appearance. The girls didn’t expect it either, judging by the looks on their faces. Since I told her what Mapi thought, this is the first time she’s made a remark that could suggest a reproach. Yet, I know they’ve talked. Neither of them wants to tell me what was said, but all I know is that things are better. They’ve settled their differences and know what they think of each other. I had pestered Lucy to be kind, and it seems she was. The most important thing is that their relationship has improved. It would be great if they didn’t take three steps back again. The comment had its effect on Mapi, as she gives me a disapproving look. She knows I told Lucy. At the same time, she should have known that was the case. A little cold sweat breaks out when she looks back at Lucy again. She almost seems embarrassed.

- It’s not that, it’s... Well-...

Her distress is evident in her eyes. Fortunately for her, Alexia comes to her rescue.

- We just wanted to have a night with friends, you see, Alexia interrupts. We’ve never had the chance to do one since we’re never together.

I bite my lip as I see Lucy raising her eyebrow seriously at Alexia’s intervention. Knowing her better now, I immediately relax. I was afraid she might react negatively, but I quickly realize she’s just teasing them. She often plays on her influence, and it’s very amusing to watch. I’ll never know how she manages to stay so serious every time. It’s something I could never do. Her serious expression slowly turns into a smile, making me burst out laughing.

- It’s fine, relax, Lucy finally laughs with me. Do you really think I’d stop her from going out? I’m not her mother, I’m her girlfriend, remember?

The girls’ faces are priceless. It’s funny that they always ask for Lucy’s permission. They still see her as my school chaperone. They haven’t yet understood that Lucy clearly distinguishes between the two relationships, and it will never be the case.

- But the night needs to be decided so we can plan, okay? Lucy adds while running her hand through my hair.

- Yes, Commander, I tease.

She rolls her eyes with a little smile.

- I’m going to Jenni’s, she finally says.

She kisses my cheek before heading off in her direction. I linger on her before turning back to the girls, who seem really uncomfortable.

- Forgive us, it’s just that we always feel like she’s the one calling the shots, Alexia apologizes first.

- I assure you, she lets me live my life fully, I giggle. If that wasn’t the case, I’d let her know.

- Okay, so when would be a good time for the girls’ night?

- Probably in the next few days. Joan is coming, so I’d rather avoid having him with us or leaving him with Lucy, I say with a shrug.

- Really? Joan is actually coming? You managed to call your mom?

- Just about. It was hard to convince her because she wanted us to come instead, but she finally agreed.

- That’s awesome! Alexia exclaims. So, you’re staying?

- Well, yeah, I laugh. We weren’t going to leave when you’re all here. Joan will probably come on Wednesday, but it would be best for us to have this girls' night over the weekend.

- We could do it tomorrow night. It’s Saturday. Saturday night is fun, right?

- Yeah, Alexia agrees. Jen told me she hasn’t done anything with Lucy in a while, so it’ll be a good opportunity for everyone to go out.

- We’ll check with them then, I say.

- Hey girls, are you coming? Beth calls out to us. It’s time to leave.

- It’s funny that it’s the latecomer calling us, Mapi jokes.

She nudges her playfully before they head off together, joining the others in laughter. It’s amazing how this trip has brought everyone closer. As for me, I’ve spent a lot of time with the four girls and Jenni. That girl is great, and I’ve learned some stories she shared about Lucy. It seems she was very protective of her and still will be if necessary. It’s good to know she’s surrounded like this, though I often wonder why. From what I know of Lucy, it’s hard to believe she needs it. Other than her, I’ve also talked a lot with Beth since she loves art, but also with Aitana during the evenings we spent together. Lucy was never far when one of her friends approached me, and I’m grateful for that. She has a good understanding of my anxiety, so I’m glad. Speaking of Aitana, she’s the last latecomer before we finally head out. We were very lucky with our cars. Since we barely used them these past few days, they were all covered in snow. Fortunately, the staff noticed and offered last night to clear them before our departure. Now that we’re in front of them, the result is really there. They’ve cleared everything, both on top and around. We decide to keep the same seating arrangements as on the way, which suits me perfectly.

- I’m still sad, I confess to Lucy while Jenni loads the car.

- We’ll come back, I promise, she chuckles.

- Hmm... But we might have to wait. Our next trip will be somewhere sunny.

- Are you going on vacation this summer? Alexia joins our conversation.

No. With the work at the gym, we won’t have time, Lucy replies. We’ll probably go to my parents' place during the next school holidays.

Lucy brought up this idea to me this week. I wasn’t particularly thrilled, but I couldn’t really say no. She had already met my mother, and she herself agreed to come back with me when I asked her. She admitted to visiting them twice a year: once during the end-of-year holidays and the second time during the summer vacation. Unfortunately, this year the second visit won’t be possible. Since she’s leaving her job to open her gym with Jenni, it goes without saying that they will have a lot of work on their plate this summer. When she told me about it, I expected her to say she wasn’t going. However, she promised them that she would come during the April holidays, so she can’t back out now. At first, I thought she just wanted to warn me about her departure, but in reality, I quickly realized that she wanted me to accompany her to introduce myself. I clearly panicked. It was sudden, and Lucy is older than me. Her parents must expect things different from mine. I don’t even know myself how we’re going to move forward after school, and I’m not in a hurry to find out, to be honest. All I want is to take my time. I was almost ready to say no to her, but she then explained that her parents have been worried since Keira’s death. Understanding Lucy’s desperate state, they had asked her to come back to Portugal, but Lucy categorically refused. She explained to me that she didn’t want to do that, that it would have been like taking ten steps back in her life. According to her, she had gained her independence by coming to Manchester and she had learned to love this city. It was because of this event that their project with Jenni truly came to life. If all this hadn’t happened, they would have waited before starting their own business. However, it was apparently the only thing that convinced Lucy’s parents to let her continue living in UK. Lucy managed to hide from them that she felt lonely and destroyed, and instead, she was determined to continue her new life. I felt bad hearing these revelations. I didn’t like knowing she was feeling so badly. Her solution to cope was Camp Wiegman. She confessed to me that it was her best way to heal. With this job, not only was she able to make money, but also, she managed to forgive herself for not being able to save Keira by helping other people in distress. It’s crazy that we could have met this way, but I’m so happy that her presence has been woven into my life.

- Yes, that’s exactly what I thought, that’s why I was asking, Ale continues with a smile. It’s cool if you can leave before! And where are you coming from then?

- From Portugal.

- You too? she wonders, knowing that I am too. Wow. Two Portuguese together, then, she giggles.

- Oh yes, Lucy laughs.

- It’s true that it’s a good idea to come back, Jenni says, closing the trunk. It’s been a long time since we did that with everything that’s happened.

- It was you who didn’t come back with me in December, Lucy replies. But if you want, you can come with us, Lucy offers. We will definitely leave the first week of the April holidays, but that remains to be confirmed.

- That would be cool! I agree. I would feel less alone, I joke.

- So yes. Know that Ona is really scared of meeting my parents, Lucy teases, making me blush.

I was panicking too. After what she told me, she never introduced someone after Keira. I can imagine that I would be the center of all their attention to ensure that I wouldn’t harm their daughter. In itself, I can’t blame them. I would have been the same and that’s what terrifies me.

- Well, at the same time, there’s a lot going on with Diane, Jenni laughs. Does she at least know that you have someone new in your life? It’s been a long time since you introduced someone to them.

- Since Keira, she murmurs. They don’t know about Ona yet, but I was planning to tell them over the phone in the next few days.

- I feel like you’re going to get a good scolding, she mocks. How long has it been since you called them? Knowing you, you’re still avoiding them like the plague, right ?

- Oh stop it. I avoid them much less than you avoid yours. I call them every weekend since... Well, every weekend except last weekend. She might have noticed that I’m hiding something from her, and I didn’t want to tell her about Ona right away. Anyway, did you know that your parents asked about you? she smiles amusingly at this news.

- Yeah, that doesn’t surprise me, she grimaces. But with all the organization and everything, I was pretty busy. That’s why I’m saying that maybe I should go back there, she giggles.

- You’d better call them more often, she scolds.

- You’re not in a position to preach to me. Start by telling her about Ona. You should know that the sooner the better. They’re just waiting for you to come back with someone.

- Hum, hum, she rolls her eyes.

- Hey guys, Aitana calls out to us, interrupting. Are we good to go?

Yeah, we’re good, Jenni confirms. Let’s get going before we get yelled at again, she tells us with a little laugh.

- That would be the height of irony since we were always the first this week.

We laugh as we get into the car. As on the way, we take off our jackets to be more comfortable, and Jenni hurries to turn on the heater. After Jenni checks the other cars, she opens the road as it’s still us who have the GPS. I look back with a slight pang, but I forget it very quickly the moment Lucy rests her hand on my thigh.

- Anyway, in all this, Ona, I confirm that you have reason to worry, she jokes. Diane will be relentless with you, believe me.

- Hey, Lucy replies upon seeing my face. She’s already quite panicked like that. Don’t make it worse. I would have preferred if you reassured her.

- Do you want to know the truth? she asks me.

- Because that wasn’t the truth?

- Yes, she laughs. But what you really need to know is that Lucy’s parents are adorable deep down. They’re just worried about her, so they’ll simply make sure that you deserve her. To do this, you’ll certainly have to go through a very thorough questionnaire, and they’ll definitely check your background—

- Jenni! Are you out of your mind?

- What? We both know they’d be capable of that, she snorts. No, seriously Ona, knowing you, they’ll adore you once they get to know you, believe me.

Lucy sighs before resting her hand again on my thigh. Looking at her now, I almost feel like she’s more stressed than me about this meeting. Maybe if she wants to take me right away, it’s to do it as quickly as possible like Jenni said earlier? I won’t hesitate to ask her. Anyway, I would follow her to the other side of the world if necessary. She has already done so much for me, so I wouldn’t hesitate to return the favor. However, it doesn’t change the fact that I’m totally panicked and if it were up to me, I would have gone back to Barcelona to spend my days studying for my exam.

- Everything will be fine, OK? she finally tells me. It will be the rest of the world against the two of us, in any circumstance.

This sentence may be cliché—and I hate it so much—but coming from Lucy, it's just adorable. I link my hand with hers and bring it to my lips to kiss the back of it.

- I know, I murmur before taking a deep breath. Anyway, you’re going to come with us too, right? So maybe they’ll have other distractions since it seems like Jenni hasn’t come back in a long time.

My subject change ended up easing the atmosphere. We laugh under the groans of the driver of the car.

- The worst is that she’s probably right.

I smile, staring outside. After all, it’s not really a bad idea this vacation. I’m going to have to face her parents sooner or later, and I’m happy to return to Portugal. It’s been a while since I last set foot there, me too. I miss my country. Maybe I’ll ask her to stop in my city as well...

Friday, February 19; 9:30 PM - Manchester.

I can’t take it anymore. I’m literally exhausted. In a good way, of course. Since it was mealtime upon our return, we all stopped at a pizzeria again to grab a bite. It’s been about an hour since we ate, and we’re now chatting. Most of our conversations are about our stay. Unlike in the Alps, there’s no more snow here, but it has been transformed by rain. Lucy told me she got used to this city, but I still wonder how. Maybe the weather will warm up now. I blink several times to stay awake. I try to follow what’s being said while being completely slumped over Lucy. A little more and I’m lying on her.

- Do you want to go home? she whispers to me.

- Hum, hum.

I shake my head, sinking into her neck. I don’t want to ruin the evening because of me. Everyone still seems to have their heads in the living room. We've done so many things that there's a lot to talk about. Lucy kisses the top of my head, holding me close.

- We’re going to go home.

No, I mumble.

- "Yes, let's go home," she giggles. "I don't exactly want to carry you all the way to my apartment."

- "I'm fine," I mumble. "I'm not that tired..."

I try to sit up, but she firmly keeps me against her.

- "You're allowed to be tired, babe. We've had a long week."

I smile at the thought. We definitely had a long week. Between parties, hikes, and activities, I don't know where my head's at anymore. Lucy had promised we'd go sledding, and that's what we did yesterday on our last day. Afterward, we stopped by a chalet for hot chocolate and ended the evening in the pool. It was the perfect way to unwind one last time. I didn’t expect to be this exhausted, though. There were nights when we didn’t get much sleep, but I should be used to short nights by now.

- "Alright, everyone," Lucy says to the others. "Any volunteers to drive us home?" she asks.

- "We’ll take you," Jenni teases. "We’re falling asleep too."

Eventually, everyone agrees to head back. I was surprised to find out it was already nearing ten o'clock. Suddenly, I didn’t mind going home. I thought it was much earlier. I struggle to get up, barely managing to stay on my feet, which seems to amuse Lucy.

- "It’s not funny," I mumble with a small smile.

- "Do you want me to carry you?" she teases.

- "No, and stop mocking me," I complain.

- "Oh, by the way, we didn’t get a chance to talk about the girls' night," Mapi says, approaching us.

- "You can talk about it tomorrow. She won't remember anything tonight," Lucy laughs.

I groan again, giving her a gentle push. Bad idea. Not only does she barely move, but I also stumble. Without another word, Lucy lifts me into her arms, making me let out a small cry of surprise. It was the last thing I expected her to do after joking about it. I smile as I relax against her, no longer finding the strength to protest. It takes just a few minutes for sleep to take me.

Saturday, February 20; 3:00 PM - Manchester Supermarket.

I sigh for what feels like the hundredth time as I push the cart. Whose idea was it to do the shopping the day after a vacation? Especially on a Saturday. It’s packed with people. This isn’t exactly how I imagined getting back to normal life. At least I got a good ten hours of sleep last night... I could’ve easily slept ten more.

- "I’m sore all over."

- "Are you done complaining? You've been doing that since you woke up," Lucy teases.

- "I’m sleep-deprived. I don’t really understand why you volunteered us to do the shopping. The others volunteered too. We could’ve spent the day on the couch!"

I’m starting to think it was a mistake to agree to this evening so soon. I should have known that with Mapi, everything would need to be meticulously organized, and that’s exactly what happened. This morning, during breakfast, she called me bright and early. Before her call, Lucy had confessed that she wanted to bring it up last night, but I fell asleep before she could. Mapi didn’t hesitate to remind me, teasing me about it. I laughed it off, so I can't really be mad at her. It’s something that’s never happened to me before. Then again, we didn’t get much rest during the vacation. We scheduled the girls’ night for tonight. I would have preferred to move it to tomorrow, but Lucy and her friends will be heading to The United while I’m out.

- "I’m starting to think I should have let you sleep in that restaurant last night instead of carrying you. And to think I said I wouldn’t do it."

I gasp, lightly hitting her arm.

- "It’s not my fault I was completely exhausted. You would’ve dared?"

- "Hmm... I would have if you were acting like you are now. You wanted this girls' night tonight, so own it."

- "Listening to you, it sounds like you're not too thrilled about it."

- "Don’t put words in my mouth," she sighs.

- "Then what? Are you going to say it’s my fault again? I consulted you, and we didn’t really have a choice since you’re also going out to your bar."

- "That’s not what’s bothering me right now."

- "Then what? Are you going to blame me for agreeing to a girls’ night? Did you not want me to?"

I ask, feeling a bit panicked. What if that’s it? I barely consulted her, but she said it was fine yesterday. At least, it seemed like tonight worked for everyone since she’ll be out with Jenni and Ingrid while I’m with the girls.

- "Of course not. It’s not about the night out. It’s you making a fuss about these groceries that’s irritating me. That’s all."

- "Well, the others could’ve handled it. Mapi and even Ale offered to help."

- "We needed some groceries anyway. Besides, Jenni’s going to start working solo on our room, so I owe her since she’s already doing a lot. And as for the other two, I don’t trust them with the shopping list. You know what I mean?"

I swallow the words I was about to throw at her. I’m such an idiot sometimes. I should know by now that most of her decisions are well thought out.

- "Sorry," I mumble. "I get it now, but I was just expecting we’d spend the day on the couch, so I’m frustrated."

- "It’s fine, I know. We’ll have time for that too. I promise, babe."

- "Yeah, well, I’m afraid we won’t have much time left, you know? Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve had a chance to relax?"

- "Are you going to tell me you regret last week?" she challenges, raising an eyebrow.

- "Of course not... Alright, have you finished contradicting me just to change my mind?"

Lucy laughs as she continues filling the cart that I’m pushing. Some of it’s for us, and the rest is for tonight, as she mentioned earlier. We’re staying at Jenni’s apartment, so we needed to buy stuff since she’s low on supplies too. We decided to make pizza, so we bought what we needed, as well as some drinks. In the end, I’m glad we’re taking care of it. At least I know what we’re buying, and if it helps the others out, then all the better.

- "Nope. It’s actually pretty funny," she teases with a small smile. "Anyway, how about we grab some things for a movie night tomorrow, hmm?"

I was about to pout, but Lucy knows just how to talk to me to avoid that, it seems. I nod enthusiastically.

- "That sounds tempting, for sure."

- "We can finally finish the Harry Potter series after all this time."

- "You’re the best."

- "Alright, let’s finish these groceries then. We’re almost done."

Now that I look into the cart, I realize that Lucy had already started picking up stuff for tomorrow. I smile, amazed at how she always manages to distract me. It’s incredible.

- "Hey, you’re not really mad at Mapi, right?"

- "Why do you ask? I thought everything was settled."

- "I thought so too. It was just a question based on your remark yesterday. She blamed me for talking to you," she giggles.

- "Oh. I was just joking. I thought you guys understood that."

- "I did. I just wanted to make sure now that we’re alone."

- "Mapi is your friend, Ona. Like I said before, we’ve settled our differences. As long as she stays honest with you, I’ll appreciate her."

- "Even if she makes me drink tonight?"

- "Well, I’d rather not talk about that."

I laugh, knowing exactly what she’s thinking. She really doesn’t like it when I drink. Keira must have really left a mark on her in that regard.

- "I’m kidding. I promise it won’t be a wild night. Alexia didn’t seem to want that, and with what you picked out, I doubt we’ll get drunk."

I say, glancing into the cart. There are mostly beers, two bottles of low-alcohol liquor, and some soft drinks. I don’t think we’re at risk of getting drunk with this.

"And what do you plan to do tonight? Do you have any plans yet? »

My smile widens. She just can’t help but be curious. Even though she told me this morning, and just repeated, that she didn’t want to know anything about tonight.

- "I have no idea. We’ll probably talk a lot. Anyway, you’ll be looking for me tonight, so there’s no risk of anything happening to me, right?"

- "Don’t be so sure. If I find you drunk, I’ll make you run beside the car on the way home to burn off the alcohol."

I burst out laughing. The craziest part is that she really would do it.

- "Well, we’ll try to avoid that, huh?"

- "It’s up to you to avoid it, sweetheart," she replies with a wink. "Come on, let’s check out. When we get home, we can prepare the room for your brother, get the snacks ready, and finally relax. I’m starting to get tired too."

- "It’s about time," I giggle.

- "What can I say? I guess I have more stamina than you," she teases.

- "Yeah, well, not all of us are as athletic as you," I retort with amusement.

- "True," she smiles. "But even the best can get tired."

- "What nonsense! I never said you were the best."

- "I don’t need you to say it. I know it myself, and that’s enough," she boasts.

I laugh, giving her shoulder a gentle push. Her smile widens, making mine grow too. She’s joking when she says that, but she probably doesn’t realize how true her words are. She’s such an amazing woman, and I feel like she doesn’t even see it. I can’t wait to get home and hibernate on the couch with her.

[edgeray]

Ray. Couples costume. You and Arlecchino.

Hi Anon!! This is so random but I suppose Halloween is coming up. Wasn't 100% sure what you're talking about but I'm assuming you're asking what dressing up in matching costumes would be like with reader and arlecchino? Gonna assume this is like Halloween costumes, I apologize if I'm assuming wrong. Feel free to send me another ask to correct me. To be honest, I haven't like... gone out for Halloween in a really long time, or even dressed up. Last time I dressed up was probably before the double digits, but let's see what I could whip up.

Anyways. Let's say it's modern au 'cuz I can't see how this would apply in the Genshin world. You'd of course have to be the first one to bring up the idea, as it's something she is against. (The Trio managed to convince her to dress up one time when they were younger, and she vowed to never submit again. It'd be something stupid, like a fairy. 💀)

It'd take a whole lot of convincing for you to get Arlecchino to dress up with you. Prepare your puppy eyes, and maybe have the children with you, because she will never dress up willingly. You and the children would have to pester for weeks on end for her to give in (or you have to trade something if. If she's trading her dignity, you better give something of equal value). She also has to accept and tolerate the costume beforehand.

In terms of matching costume designs, (I'm so unoriginal but I had to google 'couple costume ideas for this'). She'd be fine with anything that isn't cutesy or silly. Those are her hard limits. She doesn't like any full blown suits/one pieces, so if you're expecting her to get into those inflatable dinosaur costumes, I'm sorry to say this, but you can't turn Arlecchino into Arledino (Laugh 🫥.) She probably won't want to pull off anything that takes too much effort/time, like dying her hair or needing a bunch of makeup. Nothing that will make her stand out too much either, and she doesn't want to be deal with the inconvenience of prancing around in heavy/dense layers of fabric.

I feel like some matching costume would be Slasher characters. Ghostface or Jason Voorhees are some she'll be acceptable to-- masked characters, so she doesn't have to face anyone she knows in if that were to happen.

I don't know how I could be this stupid, but vampires should have been the first thing that came to my mind. She's perfect for a vampire. I don't need to explain more.

king/queen or prince/princess costumes are also something she can tolerate, though steer away from any disney-esque costumes. Though she'd hate the costume, she would never pass up the opportunity to roleplay and treat you like the queen/princess you are <3.

Masquerade ball costumes are also fine, as long as they're not too gaudy. She appreciates that there are masks and she can tolerate wearing a suit.

Anyways, those are my thoughts. Let me know if you think otherwise or have any ideas. Feel free to send me other random asks, even if they're not related to Genshin or Arlecchino <3.

Thank for the ask, anon!

[heartfullofleeches]

Cinnamon Cream

Yan Couple [F+M] + G.N Reader

A.N: The winning pair from a poll I ran to satisfy my craving for edible partners. The duo are heavily implied to made out of the foods they represent as a heads up

-

"Care for another roll, Hun? Can't send you home on an empty stomach."

This woman was trying to kill you. The tinge of cinnamon fresh on your tongue, you couldn't fathom the consequence of taking on another pastry when you've only sampled the first. Your stomach being empty was the last of your concerns with how big it was. Your free hand lie flat on the table and even it was off by a few inches. She claimed to have made this batch smaller so you could finish the full dozen before you left which you found quite impossible. Prying the fork from your teeth, you let the woman down as best you could - praying to be let off with the rest to take home.

"No thank you, Mrs. Cinnabar - I haven't finished the first."

Her jovial demeanor is not lost as she takes the utensil off your hands. "You can drop the formalities, Love. We're all friends here. You'll have to forgive me for everything else. Izzy worked so hard on his part and I would hate for it to melt before you become addicted to us both."

The smell hits you before you take the bite she offers. No matter the date in time, she always smelled like a bakery. Mrs. Cinnabar has been your neighbor for about a year now following the disappearance of the last tenant not even a week before she and her partner moved in. A friendly face to all, she had taken a special liking to you when your paths finally crossed. Being next door neighbors was one reason, but she also told you she took an immediate interest to you similar to the instant attraction she felt towards her husband. He wasn't in the picture often, and so your company patched up the hole his absence left. With the combination of her loneliness and the rewards of free meals - who were you to say no when she asked for you to visit? Today's dessert was meant to be special and now you knew why.

Cheeks stuffed with pastry, the sweet bread takes up a new texture as you manage to scarf it all down. Rich, velvety cream with just a hint of vanilla; the cold, ceremonious blend to an otherwise warm and sticky treat. As the taste settles on your tongue, you could piece together traces of the ice cream mixed directly into the icing of the cinnamon roll - the delicate flavor you had trouble putting your finger on before. It certainly lived up to the hype set for it by the woman at your side. The scent of cinnamon is almost overpowering as Cinnabar sweeps her thumb up the corner of your sugar crusted lips; smile as sweet as the roll on your plate.

"Well, don't keep me waiting. You like it - don't you, Hun?"

"I-it's great... Wish I could give my compliments to your spouse."

Cinnabar peaks up in her seat; a chill running down your spine at the extend of her grin. For a brief moment she looks behind you. "Who said you couldn't?"

Leaning back in your seat, you come to find that the source of your chattering teeth is not her smile, but the hands of the man gripping the back of your chair. His glare is as icy as the frost radiating off him, your breath visible as you exhale in surprise. Stoic as a brick wall, his eyes show signs of satisfaction drifting over the missing forkful of the now frozen dessert. Ever so slow, he cleans the remaining crumbs off your face before joining his wife's side of the table. Perching an arm over her shoulder, he slides a metal ring into her breast pocket as she takes his hand.

"Y/n, Izzy. Izzy..." Cinnabar rests her head on his wrist. "knows all about you already. Nosy thing has listened in on all of our conversations before now and I'd say he adores your company as much I as I."

"but... I thought you said he was gone most of the day?"

"Oh, he is, Hun. Up in his study. Not too good at speaking with other humans. Specially cuties like yourself, isn't that right, Dear."

Izzy nods his head with a grunt - pale face just shy of a flush under the kitchen lighting.

"We both care about you so much, Hun. Watching you has opened so many doors for us so it's only fair we open ours to you. We've thought hard about how to introduce you to life with us, but the best start was showing you have well we work together. How good all of us could be for each other. I'll keep you warm in the winter, Izzy can cool you down in the summer. You...can just be you. We know this is a lot to take in now, but soon you'll see things our way."

Cinnabar retrieves a set of keys from her pocket, twirling the familiar ring round her finger. "We can talk more about this after you finish your dessert."

[xaz-fr]

OKAY. Finally thought up a good one, my brain was broken there a second. Were you to choose from any of your dragons, who would you say is the most dangerous? Whether through actual physical prowess or something like connections to dangerous folks--anything goes!

At first I was like 'this is hard' because most of my dragons are like... nice. Then I thought for a second and OF COURSE

this motherfucker

This is Aiden a Bishop Prime Hunter. What's a Prime Hunter? Effectively it's a magic energy vampire. Magical energy during Dominance battles collects into solid forms and usually produces Progenitors spontaneously via magic. But if the magic ends up festering or going undeveloped it eventually 'mutates' into a Prime Hunter, a creature without true form. It is a collection of limbs and teeth and hungering mouths that can mimic the shape and sound of a dragon from afar. It is decidedly Not A Dragon and if you get too close the uncanny valley is so real. That is when the Prime Hunter attacks and devours its first meal. The Prime Hunter than takes up the guise of its meal. So in Aiden's case when he was born his first meal was a Skydancer so he looks like a Skydancer.

To continue to exist Prime Hunters need to stalk and kill/eat dragons that is the same breed as them. Doing so maintains their strength. While eating isn't required most Prime Hunters do. Really a Prime Hunter just needs to suck the magical energy out of the dragon and they can leave its corpse around. But over the centuries Prime Hunters have discovered that the best way to avoid suspicion is to just eat the whole thing. This can be done over days or weeks depending on the size of the dragon and the residual energy in its corpse can thus sustain the Prime Hunter until its gone and they must hunt again.

Aiden is the leader of a group of Prime Hunters, known as a Temptation (because they are. The easiest way to hunt dragons is to tempt/seduce/or otherwise charm them). But even among Temptation leaders Aiden is very powerful, a Bishop. Typically Bishops might oversee several Temptations and while Aiden did that for a while he doesn't anymore. He manages his single Temptation with his mate within a great crack in the ground of Dragonhome. His Temptation is large and quite powerful. Aiden himself is very dangerous. While Prime Hunters start out as a mockery of a Progenitor Aiden is old enough and has accumulated enough power to go toe to toe with a Progenitor, who are established (in my lore), the most powerful dragons to exist outside of godhood on Sorienth. His reputation as being utterly ruthless keeps most dragons from messing with his Temptation, or other Temptations from trying to pick fights with his or get in his turf.

I also have this girl and idk who or what she is but I know she is VERY dangerous and you should not even look in her direction.

[artzychic27]

Weird idea but what if we combine the ballad of Marinette dupain-Chang au I made with the favoritism au? Would that be fun or what?!

Is Nathaniel Kurtzberg my favorite character?… I think you know the answer to that

Anyway, I’m just imaging Sara Berry meets Carrie... Let's try that out. Gonna be a little hard since both stories are about prom and end in disaster, but whatever

Just to mess with her little fantasy world, Marc, Nathaniel, Lila, Chloé, and Félix run for King/Queen

Marinette doesn’t expect anything, but then Nathaniel starts catching up with Adrien in the polls

So, she actively threatens and sabotages them in private, but none of them are dropping out

Chloé and Félix rake in a ton of votes thanks to their connections

Especially Marc when Lila and Chloé give him a makeover

Lila: You look a lot prettier without all that black hair in your face.

Marc: Hey. I like black hair in my face.

*Cue 80s movie cliche where they take off his glasses, is super hot, and guys throw themselves at him*

Marinette is called in by Mme. Bustier, (You all know what she says if you’ve read Nerd’s Sara Berry au) and is now more determined to win

She orders her “friends” to get her more votes by any means necessary and demands nothing but perfection from Adrien so people will vote him King

Lila’s gym clothes are gone and participation in classes are mandatory to continue running? Chloé loans her a designer set that looks absolutely gorgeous on her

Getting Alya to snap embarrassing photos of Nathaniel? He. Can’t. Stop. Looking. Gorgeous!

Things only seem to go to hell when Lila is now tied with Marinette, and Marinette is just getting desperate

She berates her classmates for not being “good friends” and helping her win. But, little did she know, Aurore and Mireille were recording the interaction (From mentioning the sabotage to where and post it for everyone to see

Mme. Mendeleiev calls the Akuma Class in to discuss a proper punishment since M. Damocles is too lenient. So... M. D'Argencourt is gonna have them do an hour and a half of grueling physical education!... Otherwise, their prom tickets will be denied

Marinette isn't standing for this and urges them all to side with her, but none of them will, so she storms off in a huff while the others continue their punishment

However, some people are still loyal to her, so she uses that to her advantage. Cue Socqueline.

Nathaniel doesn't even care if this gets him more votes or not, he treats Marc to the best promposal ever, and he says yes.

Meanwhile... Marinette, Socqueline, and a few of her lackeys head to a paint store to pick up red paint because... Pigs are adorable and I refuse to kill one off, thank you, very much.

Look at this little baby! LOOK AT IT!

Done looking? Okay.

Prom is only a week away, and everyone is so busy prepping the venue that they don't notice Marinette and Socqueline sneaking up into the rafters with a mysterious bucket

Anyway... It's Prom Night! Yay! Marc, Nathaniel, Chloé, Lila, and Félix are looking gorgeous, taking selfies, dancing with each other, and again, looking gorgeous

Marinette and Socqueline sneak in through the back and hide behind the stage where the rope rigged to the bucket it set. Socqueline's lackeys mess with the ballot box and fill them full of fake cards with Marc and Lila's names checked off

The Akuma Class even apologize to the five of them, and while they don't entirely forgive them for siding with Marinette for so long, they leave it alone so they can enjoy the night

Finally, it's time to announce the King and Queen... It's Marc and Lila

Marc: Holy shit.

Lila: YEAH! Gimme that crown! *Runs onstage*

Félix: She's gonna sleep well tonight.

Everyone's clapping, all happy and stuff... Then Nathaniel notices something and heads backstage where he finds Marinette and Socqueline getting ready to pull a suspicious-looking rope.

He somehow manages to stop them with his noodle arms and pushes Marinette into the middle of the stage... Right when Socqueline pulled the rope.

Marinette is drenched in red paint, and it's only when people start pointing and laughing that she officially snaps. She storms out of the room to go find the fuse box, and cuts off the lights

Students begin to panic, others try to keep calm. Félix decides to treat himself to some punch to settle his nerves... Only to collapse on the floor as someone had poisoned the punch

Amidst the panic, Lila gets bashed on the head with a blunt object, a rock

Chloé's final words are, "Oh, fuck!" when her head is bashed against the wall several times

Nathaniel is found with his torso cut open and his remains were found splayed across the floor, left to marinate

When going to investigate, the teachers find Aurore had drowned when someone pushed her head in the decorative fountain in the corner of the room. No wonder she had been so quiet

And finally, Mireille's unattached body parts were found all over the room

And e's are for the easy ways in five minutes tops, Marc brought an n for end by calling the cops. (What a bitch)

... Well, that's what I got. Any ideas?

[avalentina]

Satellite: A Harry Styles Song Fic - Sneaky

A/N: made an actual post with the sneaky so I can link it on my masterlist! -Ava

"Darling, there are some perks to being a Baroness, although you are technically in line for the throne, as am I."

"Tell me you're not being serious right now, mother, I'm not a princess, I'm a lawyer who dabbles in songwriting with her boyfriend, just sang a song with him onstage at Coachella and lives a quietish life in Hampstead.

"Relax, you are not a princess, you're of royal blood, there's quite a difference. Believe it or not, there are a few hundred commoners in London who are of royal blood, most just are not aware. And it was my line that was of royal blood, so your father saw it as a way to increase his status. I was also not given a choice in my marriage, but unlike you I lacked the courage to do something about it for myself and if you are the result of that then I am very happy I went along with it."

"Thank you mother."

"Someday I hope to hear you call me mum once again, but until then I am just happy to speak to you."

"I would like that too, now for dinner next week, Wednesday or Thursday?" You reply and ask.

Let me speak with Lorraine and Fitzwilliam, and then I'll have a memo sent to you at your office, via your assistant, Amelia isn't it?"

"She prefers Mia, and she's not my assistant, but she is in my department. I don't keep an assistant, I prefer to manage it all myself."

"Well I will have it go to Mia then just to avoid violating the contact order."

"That won't be necessary, I'll have it fixed before the end of the day."

Over the next hour you asked your mother all the tough questions that you had been waiting years to ask and she answered every single one of them in detail, she told you more about Fitzwilliam, and how her and Lorraine are quite friendly. Having chosen to make light of the situation your father had put them both in. When you're getting ready to head out you pause to look at your mother, she too is standing and without letting your head convince you otherwise, you give her a quick, polite, appropriate hug.

"Thank you Mum, thank you for this, for everything we discussed today. I'll be waiting for your letter or call.” You say as the two of you walk out.

When you return home, H is waiting by the door to greet you like a lovesick puppy. The wet sloppy kiss you receive also reminds you of a puppy, of which you have two that are also begging for your attention and happy to have you home.

“I Can See You’re Lonely Down There”

It’s Thursday, the day you and Harry are having dinner with your mum, half-brother, and his mum. If all goes well H wants to do another dinner next week with the addition of his mum and his sister Gemma, maybe even invite his father.

Your nerves are starting to get the better of you, you know that you and H still have secrets between you, you especially, there are so many things that happened in your five years away from him that haunt you to this very day. Some of them you’re a little surprised he doesn’t seem to know about, but then again, your father had it buried in a snap of his fingers.

But tonight is about looking forward not dwelling in the past. Tonight is about the bond blood can create, reuniting as an albeit slightly dysfunctional family, but still a family. You’re going back to your roots and sharing them with the man you love.

“Morning Lovie,” H says as he brings you breakfast in bed this morning. He made pancakes, but not just any pancakes, these pancakes are stuffed with cheesecake, and are drizzled in chocolate and caramel sauce. You smile brightly at the gesture and the two of you spend the next hour cuddling and enjoying the delicious food. Once it’s gone you turn to H, just wanna change and then I’ll meet you down in the kitchen.

You knew this would take most of the day, you two have a lot to make, and cooking in the kitchen together with H is one of your favorite things to do. He wears skimpy shorts, no shirt, a pair of socks so he dance around the kitchen while cooking, and a damned claw clip holding back his messy curls. The damned clip gets you soaked every time but you wouldn’t change a thing, being horny and desperate just up the level of difficulty and amount of concentration needed to properly execute the recipe and you love the pressure just like you love a challenge, sides, H always fixes it. Today you decided to tease him a bit by wearing a y/f/c (your favorite color) bra and panty set, the set itself is basic and plain, but when you put on your white crochet mini over it you know it will drive him crazy, especially when you add the rose gold choker that has the letters ‘H⬪S’ in the middle. You also stick with socks only on your feet so you can dance around with H, knowing he’d pull you around regardless,

When you enter the kitchen, in addition to his standard cooking fit, he added the pink frilly apron you got him for his birthday the first year you were together. When you see how he also used a pink claw clip you can’t help but giggle which alerts Harry to your presence, not that he didn’t know you were there because he did, but he allowed himself to look at you after the giggle.

“Oh, fuck me,” he groaned seeing what you were wearing. “How am I supposed to cook when you look like that.” he adds, his eyes darkening with lust.

“Now you know how I feel watching you dance around the kitchen in skimpy shorts, sometimes just your briefs, without a shirt, a towel over your shoulder, and your hair in of those damned clips that make me fucking swoon, you dolt.” you counter and he just smirks.

“Ya know, it does feel like a brief kinda day,” he comments and slips his shorts off, right in front of you, slow and sensual. Man has your eyes glued to his gorgeous package.

“Is that the game we’re playing H?” you ask and even the score by removing your bra and panties, but leaving the cover on.

“Let’s start cooking before I end up fucking you on the cleaned and sanitized counters.” You bite back a moan and nod your head.

“Words, lovie.”

“Oh for fucks sake, just fuck me out of my misery H, please, we can re-clean them and still have enough time to do everything, plus have time for our oomph.” You are cut off by H melding his lips with yours and demanding access to your mouth. He pulls the tie on the front of the cover free and gives both of your ass cheeks a good slap before completely removing the cover.

“Open,” he demands, one you eagerly comply with, especially because you can tell he is feeling very much his dominant, alpha male self today. He spits directly onto your tongue, before resealing his lips with yours, his tongue spreading it all over the inside of your mouth. Pulling back just a bit, he smirks before running a single finger through your dripping folds, he brings it back up and smears it all over your lips before kissing them clean. Then he goes back for more, but this time he has you suck yourself off of his finger, repeating the last one again, only with two fingers and licking them clean himself. All while somehow keeping his eyes locked on yours, and yours locked on his, unable to look away even if you wanted to.

“S’ fucking delicious, baby, could eat you all fucking day for the rest of my entire fucking life and still not have enough.” You moan at his words and grip the sides of his apron to pull him flush against you. His hands return to your ass, then a bit lower where he slaps so you know to jump.

“Y’ve got me so fucking whipped I can’t even go 24 hours without fucking your tight, pretty little cunt.” his words are like pouring gasoline on a bonfire in the middle of a fucking forest, igniting every nerve in your body, to the point where it moves of its own volition, grinding your bare, drenched cunt against his brief covered cock, staining them with your arousal.

“Fucking drenching my cock and its not even out yet doll, fucks.” he says, his voice almost a moan.

“OH GOD, please H, please just split me in fucking half with your cock, can’t wait anymore.” You cry out, on the verge of an orgasm.

“Gonna come already baby, ‘ve barely touched your cunt.”

“DON”T FUCKING CARE H, JUST FUCK ME, WANNA COME SO BAD!” you whine and plead and beg. “PLEASE! FUCKING PLEASE H!” before your body even has time to register, his briefs are off and his cock is pressing at your entrance waiting for you to tip over that blissful edge before he slides in.

He knows your tight, you’re always fucking tight, but he also knows you like the initial bit of pain. He ruts once, twice, thrice, never entering you just rubbing against you and giving your ass cheeks a nice, rough pinch on each rut. That was all it took to tip the scales and send you tumbling over. Knowing he can build up a nice gush, he pinches at your clit before rubbing over your slit, left and right, only using two fingers, but moving them faster and faster. Just until he feels you stop pulsing with aftershocks from your orgasm and places his tip against you once again before finally slamming himself forward, giving you that rough first thrust which has you letting out a surprised yelp and a pleasured scream.

“YES! FUCK H!” you scream and pant, H never letting his pace or force falter. A quick glance to his face shows his gorgeous green irises gone, swallowed by his dark desire, and you know he’s chasing his own orgasm, still paying the slightest bit of attention to you, as he wants you to squirt all over his cock when he comes, he knows exactly how to get you there, and exactly how to time it with him, He knows your body better than he knows where the nearest Gucci store is. Better than he knows even his own fucking body. He can play yours like a fine tuned guitar, which string to pluck, when and where to strum, and what to press on when. So even though 99% of him is a primal, savage beast right now, there is always part of him focused completely on you. And when he slides against that spongey part inside you, over and over again, you know you’re done for, you know what’s going to happen, and he knows it too, knowing what he can do to you, how well he can play your body has his balls tightening, ready to explode, his thrusts falling out of rhythm, his movements becoming sloppier and more erratic, and as soon he feels that first bit of release, he pinches your clit again and takes you over with him. Gushing all over his cock, all over the counter and floor, turning the once clean kitchen into a sticky sexy mess. When you’ve both emerged from your orgasmic hazes, he can’t help but laugh and lick you clean as best as he can before grabbing a towel and helping you off the counter.

“Oopsies.” You say with your most innocent smile, which has him laughing again and the sound of his laughter is so contagious you can’t help but laugh with him.

“Don’t You Know That I Am Right Here”

After recleaning the entire kitchen(a deep, deep clean), changing out of your sticky clothes, and one last kiss, you and H actually get to work prepping dinner, he starts on the garlic bread, while you make the strawberry gelato so it can get into the freezer in time. Then you shift your focus to the alfredo sauce, and the baked chicken seasoned only with salt, pepper, a bit garlic, and a hint of onion.

When H finishes the garlic bread and gets it into the proofing drawer in your kitchen, he goes to town on the pasta. The two of you ended up deciding on linguine rather than fettuccine, you just like the way it cooks a little bit better. When the pasta is ready to cook he pulls the cheesy meatballs you prepped the previous day out of the fridge and rolls them in the seasoning you use, so they are ready for you to pan fry. Finally he turns his attention to hunting down some limoncello and one of his italian red wines that he thinks your mother will like. In addition to the sparkling white grape juice the two of you picked out for your half-brother.

With Loves

-Ava

[arizonaconservativegal]

Hi there. Californian desperately looking to flee this coming summer. Was once considering Arizona but I’m concerned that the election chaos of CA is in AZ too and now you have a Democrat governor. Is this still a place I can safely flee or is AZ lost like Cali now? Honestly asking. I don’t want to absorb the work and expense of relocating just to be in the same place.

I might give it a year and see how much Katie Hobbs is able to bypass or bully the legislature. I think they'll be able to keep her in check but they have an unfortunate habit of being certifiably insane so I hate to put all my hopes on them. In general, I don't expect the next four years to be super fun here but I wouldn't say the fight is over yet. Our state party doesn't know what the fuck it's doing but if they get their shit together, the state is very winnable. We may have had a big influx of Californians moving here since covid but this is still a slightly right of center state.

I'll give you my usual warnings about moving here:

If you're renting, you should know that housing prices in the cities / larger towns have shot up about 50% in about four years and show no signs of slowing. Be ready for that. I don't know offhand what the trend has been for the more rural areas, but I imagine it's gone up a fair bit too. Still much, much cheaper than California though.

If you're buying, you need to very thoroughly dig into the water rights where you buy or you might find yourself in a lot of expensive trouble very quickly. This is especially true if you are looking at a rural area but several unincorporated areas on the edges of Phoenix have learned the hard way recently that hiring water haulers isn't cheap.

In most of the state, illegal immigration tends to be more of a political issue than a daily life issue but for areas on the border and along major drug corridors, it is a very serious problem. Good luck getting into a hospital in Yuma - they're overflowing with illegal immigrants. I also personally know people who cannot go outside on their own property at night because the cartels use it to traffick all sorts of things and they will shoot you if they see you.

We did manage to hold on to the corporation commission, which regulates the power companies, so I'm not too worried about this unless the legislature does something dumb, but we do need a new power plant soon or we may be looking at rolling blackouts in the not super distant future... I think it'll be okay but it would have been good to have a Republican in the governor's office to smooth that process a bit.

We have a very low income tax and property taxes tend to be low for primary residences. People think this means we are a low tax state. What they forget is that we have a very high sales tax - nearly 10% in some areas. All said and done, we're fairly average for total tax rates when compared with other states. It's still a lot better than California, but I don't want you to be surprised.

You need a car to get around here. Public transportation exists but isn't very functional and nothing is close enough to walk. Make sure you get a new Arizona plate (you only need one) because otherwise everyone will see your Cali plates and automatically hate you.

And the last warning I have is that yes, it really does get fuck-off hot here in the summer. Expect temperatures to never fall below 100 for the entire month of July. If Phoenix doesn't get a straight week of 115+, that's a mild summer. If you're from LA, you probably know what to expect. Otherwise, make sure you have a good AC system - and you want AC, not a swamp cooler. Trust me.

All that said, it's really a great state to live in. It's raining today and that's a rare enough event that everyone gets excited for it. There really is nothing like a southern Arizona sunset. Jeans and a button down shirt count as formal attire in half the state, especially when paired with cowboy boots. Most of the population is from somewhere else so you can find restaurants with quality food from anywhere you like. In most of the state, you will literally never have to shovel snow or scrape ice off your windshield. We have all the major sports franchises so you can go to big games when you want and they don't totally suck but none of the teams are good enough that anyone really expects you to root for them over your home team. We have more biomes here than any other state in the country so whatever kind of environment you want, you can get. Natural disasters don't happen in most of the state - the worst thing is forest fires in the north which are usually manageable. We have a weirdly huge historic car community because our climate is so dry that the cars don't rust. People put Christmas lights on cacti. Haboobs look like the apocalypse is rolling in but are really just a funny word for the newscasters to say a lot. You will see people wearing a bolo tie unironically. I once saw a woman put a tumbleweed in the back of a minivan. I love it here.

[thevindicativevordan]

Comics this week?

Superman #3 - Williamson manages to land the plane. Livewire continues to be a delight, so much so that I want Williamson to give her an arc of her own ASAP. Complaints that Supes and Lex found a solution a little too easy - and nothing major was done with Parasite Superman - aren't illegitimate gripes, but this arc nailed the feeling of a DCAU episode that Williamson was aiming for. Currently doing a rewatch of the DCAU, and Supes/Bats always are able to whip up a quick solution with SCIENCE. I do wish this arc had gone an issue longer and we got more scenes with Parasite himself because he was barely in it. Williamson has said Parasite will keep showing up in upcoming issues just like Livewire, I want more character exploration of who Parasite is beyond "he wants to eat everything". This arc did do a good job of establishing him as a legit threat, just need Williamson to build more on that. Scene of Clark and Lois at the end dancing in mid-air was perfect, Bendis did that at the end of his run and I hope it becomes a reoccurring thing for those two.

Superboy: Man of Tomorrow #1 - Porter and Lindsay nailed the Dragon Ball influence they were going for. We get cocky Kon kicking ass with his TTK in outer space and it rules. Lindsay depicts Kon's TTK in a similar fashion to the ki attacks of Dragon Ball and it's awesome! The Dominator Kon is up against has Freeza's color scheme in case the influence went completely over your head, and he's even committing atrocities out of petty greed which is Freeza's pre-Goku MO. Painful to compare how enjoyable this is compared to what has been done with Jon. Bit disappointed that Miss Martian isn't a member of the Cosmoteers, was hoping she would be a secret member, but it's good to have Superboy on a team that isn't all legacies. If this is supposed to be Conner's "Freeza Saga" he better get his own equivalent to Super Saiyan by the end!

Nightwing #103 - Computer in hell being full of malware and popups because it's hell got a laugh from me. Otherwise I need to rant a bit. Why does Taylor constantly undercut his villains? He's chosen to do an arc with Neron as the big bad, he wants us to care about the fate of this girl and be afraid that Neron will get her soul and corrupt Nightwing... but he constantly makes Neron out to be a joke. Blaze mocks him to his face that he's letting kids make a fool out of him, and while yes he does deck her for it, she's still right! Why call attention to that? Clearly this is just filler to give Redondo a break, but there's no need to rub it in the reader's face that we're stuck reading a loser flail ineptly while Nightwing and friends effortlessly overcome everything he throws at them. Ending falls flat because there's not a chance in hell that Dick is even going to consider taking Neron's offer.

Batman/Superman: World's Finest #14 - First issue of the series that I didn't love. Not a huge Metamorpho fan, and any cliffhanger that ends with "Superman is exposed to Kryptonite!" just gets an eyeroll from me. Need Waid to spice this arc up with another twist the way Boy Thunder was, because this isn't gripping me.

Nightcrawlers #3 - Spurrier broke the hot streak of SoS finally piquing my interest in the final issues. Bunch of plot turns happen that should wow me, instead leave me mostly indifferent. Good luck to Gillen with wrapping this event up next week.

[rufusx2]

thinking more of my "autumn headspace" so to speak a thing that happens within me only during the autumn season typically end of august to mid october in which my mind is completely free of my material shackles and i become completely and totally convinced that i can become a different person overnight i am overcome with not only a want for life and a hope for the future but i actually do make changes and i feel things much more deeply than usual, but with an air of detachment from it as if i am not quite out of body but definitely not in it either. a sort of overlap between us both? i dont recall much but i remember crying at night but being so fervent during the day. jaw clenching and shaking and buzzing with that energy. in fact i would honestly describe it as more of a high energy phase than anything else- i would be genuinely unstoppable if i could trigger it on purpose, or choose to live like that permanently. it feels as if there is a haze of gold placed over my vision when i look back in my memories. and this with comes the burning need to walk and keep my body moving. during this time a coworker described be as a "busy body" and he was absolutely right. when i was a teenager this would manifest in me going on hours-long bike rides until i could taste blood in my mouth from moving so fast, and now i wander the nearby neighborhoods turning on random corners until i can't walk any more. i am like a shark compelling to swim and i just can't stop. and it is amazing. i think so many things and while i still think while i walk it's always a bit duller now. i remember walking out in the autumn not caring if i had work later and not adjusting my hair or bothering to check my posture. i would stare at myself in the shadow i left on the sidewalk only. of course i also at one point felt as if the blank walls of my bedroom were going to swallow me up but i have posters up now. i think up countless ideas, and can only try to match that intensity and continue my projects during the rest of the year. i rarely think of new ideas in spring summer or winter. and the thing about fall i think is not just the general "vibe" of it all. because i could easily replicate that by watching over the garden wall or listening to my Autumn bands or putting up my halloween stuff at different times of year. but i think the crispness of the air and the leaves falling off the trees and the relief of being over with summer fuels me. i go for walks in spring sure but the warmth and wetness of the air distracts me from falling into this. while it rains in autumn, it's dry whenever it isn't (which is why it's part of wildfire season). but going back to my detachment. i find it freeing. of course i am still plagued by daily anxieties, but it's more manageable i suppose? or at least, it doesn't happen as frequently. but the main thing that brings me artistic inspiration (or at least, HAS brought me artistic inspiration for this project specifically), is this idea of the Ideal self. how i can become a new person, and change who i am fundamentally. it's futile of course, but for the duration of this phase i really do do it. and i know i'm doing it because other people like me more. every job i have ever had, i got hired in autumn. i am calmer. i think differently. i do things that i cannot do otherwise. and i try so hard to keep this up but i just cant. again, not in my nature. but i feel as if i can change my nature during those few short months a year. and i feel less trapped by this body. and of course this can tip very quickly into self hatred which i have gone into before on this blog (it's what is meant by 'WWJD' and killing the old self to be reincarnated as the new self) but i still cannot help but wish i knew how to trigger it. what drugs can do this to you? i would trade this sober mind for her any day of the week.

[apatheticveil]

Here we go again...

I want to meet the person that decided to make a large change in their life, stuck to it first time and succeeded. Is this a thing? I'm not talking about those that needed to quickly otherwise their lives were on the line. I mean habits or lifestyle changes that were going to increase the quality of life (but not necessarily kill it if you didn't do it)

I won't lie and say that I've ever been good at taking care of myself. Any aspect of self-care seems to have a wavering success rate. Skin, weight, food, health, hair, mental stability, everything.

The want to change and improve has been there for years. The actual motivation hasn't. Many attempts have fallen through.

I think the straw that broke the camel's back was bursting into tears when a colleague that I barely knew passed away. I was at my heaviest weight with terrible skin, drinking copious amounts of alcohol every day and eating whatever I could get my hands on. I had mood swings like a motherfucker and seemed to be stressed after the smallest inconvenience. Not only that but every 2 weeks, I seemed to get sick.

What does that have to do with crying over someone dying?

I cried 2x while at work and even though it was a sad event, I seemed to have taken it super hard. Even though I didn't know him well or spent much time with him. Queue to 3 hours later when I burst into tears 2 more times over my employee review. It was positive with one minor thing I needed to watch out for. I even knew it was something I wasn't good at. But apparently it upset me beyond belief.

I came home that night, drunk, swollen from crying and feeling sick wondering why the fuck I had cried so much. I think this is where I had finally hit the last of my tolerance. Guess what. I had to call in sick the next day too as whatever happened caused my body not to cope.

Now you would think I would resolve to make a change then and there. But nope. Took me another 3 months afterward to actually make the first step. That day was just when I knew that I wasn't in a good space. Mentally or physically.

Over those 3 months, my attention, stamina and energy got lower and lower and all parts of my personal and professional life suffered. I turned into the surly girl who couldn't hold a conversation (because I simply stopped caring what was being said) I would forget almost everything. My empathy was completely gone. And I started getting sick more and more.

I had to wait 6 weeks to have my anxiety medication balance my chemicals again (of course, I just had forgotten to take it for nearly 6 months). This seemed to be the one thing that gave me enough focus to look into a resolution.

I joined the weight loss challenge at my work. Not because I thought I could win. But because I wanted the humiliation of people knowing my weight. And being forced every week to stand up and have people watch the number on the scales. I'm a manager at my work. The only manager participating. In fact, I'm in the competition against one of my employees. I needed that level of embarrassment to show that maybe something isn't right here.

I joined the gym. Only because a handful of people in my life wanted to as well and I needed them to keep me accountable. This is going to come up again later. Also the fact I would now have to spend $90 a month (in a shit ass economy) so the want to exercise will be balanced with the fact I don't wanna waste money right now.

I spoke with a close friend (shout out Jamie) who also wanted to make changes in her life. Just knowing someone else was looking into self improvement made the thought not so daunting. Being asked how my progress was going made the answer of "not well, haven't done anything" more motivating. I hate seeing those words.

We had all these goals and I had shared them with a couple of other people. And I tried believe me I did.

But this is where things began to change for the better. And trust me, this is going to sound incredibly stupid. After looking at my list, i realised that in order for me to achieve anything, I need to actually heal myself. I was nowhere close to be able to physically or mentally do it. I would fail constantly. I don't have it in me to make these big changes and that's okay. I need to work on being okay enough so I can.

Lose weight? Sure. But maybe getting up in the morning without feeling like death would be a better start. Work on skin routine so that I have a perfect complexion? Not insane. But maybe look into eating a decent meal that doesn't make me nauseas would be a little better. Work out 5x a week? Maybe not snapping at everyone because I don't care what they're talking about is a little more important.

That is what clicked in my head. I'm not going to achieve anything if I can't function like a basic human being. I need to get through a month without feeling sick. I need to wake up feeling okay. I need to eat a meal and feel my body actually accept instead of reject. I need to go into a day with a positive outlook, not instantly a negative one.

The shift mentally seemed to have opened up my eyes. And this shift was only able to happen with having the positivity of the people around me and being very strict with my anti-depressants.

So with this in mind, I took awhile to process. What can I do to achieve this. I need to be healthier. Just so I have the strength to change. Have I tried being healthier in the past? Sure, and it fucking failed. Why? And that's where all of this really changed.

Psychologically, how do I work? What things work for me? How do I respond? I'm stubborn. Stubborn as fuck. I can use the "salesperson" gift and talk and manipulate. I need to be told. I need rules and I need to be held accountable. Being a strong, independent woman with no sense of what is good for you has fucked me up big time.

So I talked to the doctor. These are my issues. Do I need to be concerned? From a medical stand point, i'm okay for now but heading down a bad path. Great! Tell me the truth. Make me scared.

Next, I searched for a nutritionist. I hate food. I hate cooking. I hate shopping for food and meals and everything. I hate it with every fibre. But this is how we survive as a species. Fuck it alright. Tell me in plain terms what I need to eat. Stay on my ass. Keep an eye on me. If you let me wander, I will. If you give me any slack, i'll take it. I'm undisciplined with a strong head. Give me an inch, i'll fucking make a gigantic valley. The nutritionist I found offered all of the above. A 12 week plan where I have to check in with her. Meal plans, recipes, tests. A fucking app where I can message her. An app where I have to upload a food diary and she reads it every week. That there is what works for me. I need someone to watch over my shoulder but for my own good. Now for someone to surview me this close mustn't be cheap. And you're right. Just for the consults alone, i'm looking at close the $1k. Thats not including supplements, extra testing and oh yeah....THE FOOD. But like the gym. I'm paying money i dont really have to spare for this to happen. I'm guilted into making this work.

She works with gut health. An issue I've had since 5 mins into my life. Constant tummy aches, nausea, bloating, vomiting, food intolerances. Everything. On and off for my entire life. This isn't about losing weight. This is about health. I need to feel okay to make a change.

And here we are. I've been working with her for a month now and already i'm way better. She listens so intently and creates a personalised plan. This means I know that all the effort is for things specific for me. Not for the masses. I'm working on gut health, heart health and skin. Luckily, these seem to be very cohesive with one another.

So now that we are at this point, I finally feel like I have the energy to start looking forward at goals. Realistic goals.

The next 30 days, i'm about to enter into a plan to address some of these health issues. I have SIBO. You should have seen me when I found out. I was so happy. Finally something to grasp onto. A strict eating plan and an in depth supplement regimen. It's going to be hard but I maybe able to finally feel okay. This is where it all turns around. I can feel it. I'm so positive that this is a turning point. I want this blog to show and reflect my life changing (for the better).

[special-interest-infodump]

Listen, I'm a sucker for hurt/comfort. It's well and truly my wheelhouse. Therefore:

Ronance hurt/comfort ideas

These may become fics at some point if I have the energy to write them (point 4 and the final point are strong contenders for fics, especially the last one).

When Nancy has nightmares about Barb or...everything that's happened in Hawkins, she always ends up hiding her face in Robin's neck, with Robin gently playing with her hair. It just makes her feel safe. Sometimes she wakes up and she doesn't immediately realise where she is or who she's with, and she'll scream and weakly hit at Robin as the redhead pulls her close. She always feels awful when she realises, but Robin just gently shushes her and tells her it's okay.

Robin has a nasty self-sacrificing problem (which she and Steve have in common) and she has an especially bad habit of throwing herself into danger without telling anyone. Nancy loses her shit with her after Robin shoves Max out of the way of a tentacle in the Upside Down during the final confrontation with Vecna, and is almost strangled by it before Eddie saves her.

Speaking of Max, they both take on pretty serious big sister rolls with her, especially after they finally beat Vecna. The first 2 weeks after it all, Max stays at the Wheelers with Nancy (and Robin, because Robin's staying over too) because she's terrified to be alone. They basically become for her what Steve and Eddie are for Dustin and the boys.

Both of them have serious paranoia issues, but Nancy's are definitely more prevalent on a day-to-day basis. Her worst trigger is when Robin (or anyone for that matter) is gone longer than they said they would be. Like, one night Robin was supposed to go to the Wheeler's after a shift and she was 2 hours late (she stayed for some overtime and got chatting to Eddie for 20 minutes) and when she got to Nancy's room, Nancy was curled in a corner having a panic attack. She was so afraid something had happened to Robin.

Robin's paranoia manifests more when she's feeling ill or otherwise 'weak.' She caught the flu at one point and Nancy had to all but pin her to the bed to get her to actually rest. In the 5 minutes Nancy was in the kitchen, Robin managed to work herself up into a panic because if anything came to hurt them, she wouldn't be able to help. Nancy gently ran a hand through her hair and quietly assured her that they were safe, Steve and Eddie were safe, the kids were safe, everyone was okay, just to get her to sleep.

Robin also gets worried that some day the pressure might just become too much for Nancy. Being gay in Hawkins isn't the best thing (because 80s rural America) and even when she knows she's being stupid, Robin worries that Nancy might decide to leave her just to avoid the judgement. Nancy couldn't give less of a shit what anyone thinks of her for dating Robin, so she always tries to assure Robin that that's never gonna happen.

Robin has a full blown meltdown after she gets diagnosed with autism. Not because of the diagnosis itself, but because people suddenly start listening to her. Suddenly, people don't make her do last minute stuff. They don't make her eat unsafe food. They don't make her wear uncomfortable clothes anymore. Nancy finds her in their apartment, just screaming and sobbing so hard she can't breathe properly. When she manages to get her to talk again, Robin just whimpers "None of it mattered, no one listened until a piece of paper told them they had to." Is this one projection? This one might be protection.

[cookinguptales]

i agree so much! i had hopes up until 4.09 that the writers were going somewhere with all of these (seemingly) loose threads they've been dangling. but now... it seems like we were just reading into things. i still like the show. but i've seen so many posts bending over backwards trying to convince ppl 4.09 was brilliant writing actually, that it wasn't supposed to be funny or make us laugh and that the lack of humor was by design and not rushed writing or editing. "i'm going to write an episode that is so humorless" said NO comedy writer ever! it failed to balance the dark with the comedy. but ppl defending it saying "that's the point!" give me big annie from community vibes like "the dean is a genius. he has to be. if he isn't i've given two weeks of my life to an idiot and that's unacceptable. therefore he's a genius and i will die protecting his vision!" like... it's ok to admit sometimes writers mess up or things get cut in editing or a subplot gets thrown out that makes things less satisfying that originally envisioned

Well... with the caveat that I haven't been reading the tag or other people's meta very much, nor have I seen much of Community...

I do agree that I just don't buy the theory that the episode wasn't supposed to be funny. They've brought up deep emotional turmoil and such before on this show, but always in a way that was funny. That's one of the greatest gifts that the writers usually have -- managing to pair serious topics with jokes that will make you just about cry laughing.

I feel like there would have been ways to actually signal that this wasn't supposed to be funny episode. Y'know, seeing Marwa's last moments. Getting hints that there might still be something in there left of her. Lingering more on the psychological trauma this might've done to Freddie, dick as he is. Seeing more lasting effects of any kind, honestly. Hell, even just engaging with some of the themes and characterization choices they've been making over the course of the season would have gone a long way in making this episode feel weightier.

But that doesn't happen. Plus, I mean... the jokes are there. They're all throughout the episode. They're just not particularly funny, nor do they distract from the very unfunny (but not serious, either?) shit that's going on. We don't really get any wham moments that aren't paired with jokes that just... don't really land.

I think the closest moments we get to things that feel purposefully not funny aren't in the writing at all, nor the framing, nor the direction. They're all Harvey, who decided he was going to play Guillermo's trauma as straight as humanly possible in an episode that otherwise treated the situation very lightheartedly.

Even that, I think, was probably supposed to be funny to a degree. Like they've tormented Guillermo tons of times before, made him cry, hurt him, almost killed him... and they usually manage to tell him he looks like wet undies at the same time. I think Guillermo's genuine emotions were kind of supposed to be a contrast to the silliness and they were supposed to heighten the humor. They just... didn't.

Like... Guillermo asking if they could turn the camera off hurt, but it's paired with the Freddies' silly Palatine Hill conversation. Guillermo lying in bed desolate hurt, but it's paired with Nandor's dumbass "and so he could have sex with him."

They are attempting to pair humor with these scenes, just like they always have. That humor just isn't funny enough to cut through the very real misery of it all.

To me, there was a surreal sort of disconnect while watching it, and it didn't feel purposeful. I didn't think "oh, they put this moment in for a record-scratch moment; they put this moment in to make us question this character, etc." I thought "oh... they don't realize that this is a topic that isn't funny to most of the viewer base."

Marwa was the biggest offender, obviously, and I really disagree with anyone who said that we were supposed to see her exit as horrifying. We did, obviously, but her treatment in the episode was such a fucking footnote that I think the writers saw her as a disposable plot device and assumed we would, too. But the implications of how they disposed of her were... a lot.

I'm thinking about what I think is probably the best use of "you were supposed to be laughing but you're not supposed to be laughing now" in any piece of media I've ever seen, and I think it was probably Disney's animated Mulan? Where they're singing a lighthearted song about war only to be confronted with the ugly reality of it right in the middle of the song. They stop singing. They do not sing again for the rest of the movie. This moment is treated as deadly serious and no one is telling any jokes, nothing silly or magical or hijink-y is happening. It's just desperately sad.

And no, that did not happen in WWDITS. Nandor kept being a dumb puppy whose stupidity we were supposed to laugh at. Laszlo returning with Colin was segued into a joke about the clown sucking his own dick. Guillermo's final stab in the heart was the HEIGHT of WWDITS's sort of weird hijinks dark humor.

Just... none of it was funny. When you add that to the shallow plot device characters, the pile of coincidences that were easy for the writers even if they didn't make sense for the plot (like Guillermo bringing Freddie back to the house in the first place), forgetting previous details from earlier in the series (Nandor sucking at hypnotizing people), the over-reliance on magic and hypnotism to smooth out plot holes/characterization struggles, and the blatantly awful treatment of Marwa...

I don't want to make it sound like I'm trying to be a dick out here shooting down other people's theories in the fandom or something, but like... Like. I personally do not buy that this was on purpose. I don't see anything in the episode to signal that this was supposed to be serious as opposed them trying to make it funny and just not succeeding. I can understand that drive to make sense of the writing decisions, but... honestly, frankly, I think the writers were just sloppy. I hate that it's true and I might be able to look past it, but I'm not going to pretend like it didn't happen. : /

[temilyrights]

Hey ;)

I am finding it hard to choose one character would be greedy to send you three? 🤣🤣🤣

Just incase it isn't Emily, JJ and Garcia. If it is choose one. 😏😏😏.

Sorry this took so long, I ended up just doing JJ otherwise this would have taken me even longer. I’m sorry!

Headcanon A: realistic

JJ has a favourite pen that she fills out all her paperwork with. She used to bring it on cases with her too, but there was one too many occasions when one of the cops went to borrow it, and JJ had to refrain from snatching it away from them, so she's learnt to keep it at the office. And the others know not to touch it.

Headcanon B: while it may not be realistic it is hilarious

The Cheeto obsession reaches a point where Penelope stages an intervention. Spencer talks about how they endanger her health, Penelope says an obsession like this is unhealthy, and Derek goes on about how they’re gross and couldn’t she just pick a better snack to be obsessed with. Emily just sits to the side and laughs. It ends when JJ goes on a rant about how they all have unhealthy obsessions too, only she doesn’t judge them, and storms out of the rooms (and immediately goes and inhales a bag of Cheetos). 

Headcanon C: heart-crushing and awful, but fun to inflict on friends

There’s a period, when Henry is only four, where they get about four cases in a row all to do with children. JJ can’t sleep for weeks, as every night is filled with nightmares of her son being gone. She ends up moving into his room for a while, sleeping in a bed beside him so if anyone tried to take him, she’d be right there. Will tries to understand, installs a security system in an attempt to get her back in her own bed but it doesn't work. It's not until Hotch notices how warn down she is, and speaks to her, understanding in a way Will can’t, that she manages to move back to her own bed. But even now she wakes up in the middle of the night to check on her children, just to make sure.

Headcanon D: unrealistic, but I will disregard canon about it because I reject canon reality and substitute my own.

She was in a short relationship with Elle, but it ends after Elle is shot. The other woman won’t let JJ near her and she’s crushed. She tries to get Elle to open up and let her take care of her but Elle just slams the door in her face because she refuses to let JJ see her in so much pain. Years later, they still think about each other and wonder about what could have been. 

[kayluh1915]

Ice Cream Cake

Pairing(s): Pedro Pascal/Female Reader

Words: 3,233

Warnings: None

Pedro (in collaboration with your mother) throws you a party for your birthday, but not for the reason you originally thought.

DISCLAIMER!

So, the beautiful Maggie ( @221bshrlocked ) was talking here on Tumblr about an age gap between reader and Pedro and I am HERE👏🏻FOR👏🏻 IT👏🏻 so expect more of this because she's got me hooked. Blame her... when she gets back from her break! I originally planned for this to be FILTHY, but no matter how many times I tried to work it in, it just didn't fit. So, have some fluff instead! Maybe next time, you filthy whores.

This works as a stand-alone, but I do consider it to be in the same universe as Beautiful People. It isn't necessary in the slightest to read that before this, but it is available if you would like to give it a read.

As always, comments are welcomed and encouraged.

You can also follow me on Twitter if you'd like. My life is boring, but I try.

Enjoy!

Read on AO3

My Masterlist

It’s a warm summer evening. The frogs are croaking, the fireflies are starting to come out, and the crickets are singing as the sun began to dip over the horizon of the mountain. The perfect kind of evening for bonfires, camping, or even some late swimming. All great ways to spend a gorgeous evening. Far better than being pressed up against the glass of the local community center… in your opinion at least. However, for the sweaty fangirls, the chance of even getting a glimpse of your boyfriend was by far the better option.

“Such heathens.” Your mamaw said, rolling her eyes at the crowd outside. “They should show some dignity.”

“You were young too, Mom. Cut’em a break.” You Mom replied, carrying a plate of homemade peanut butter rolls.

“Well, I’d like to think I’d have more respect than to stare and lust over a local's boyfriend on her birthday, famous or not. He ain’t even here yet for cryin’ out loud!” You reached for one of the treats while your Mom was occupied, quickly stuffing it in your mouth. It was just as delicious as always.

“You should call for more security. If they’re like this when the man ain’t even here, I’d hate to see em’ when he does. Someone’s gonna get hurt.” Your Mom thought for a moment, looking back to the crowd outside that had somehow doubled in just that short amount of time alone.

“Yeah, you’re probably right. I’ll get on the phone and let the- Honey, don’t eat all of your aunt Judy’s PB rolls!” Your Mom scolded you once she noticed your stuffed cheeks.

“I dunno what you’re talking about.” You replied, mouth still full.

“It’s the bee’s birthday, Annie. Leave er’lone.”

“Then you can explain to the guests why there’s no rolls left.” The door suddenly opened, the overwhelming chatter from outside piercing the otherwise calm atmosphere of the community center and startling the three of you. You worried for a split second that maybe one of the fangirls had gone rouge and got past the guards or that one of the guests arrived way too early, but it was just your best friend, Emily… thank God.

“Damn, you’d think there was a celebrity nearby or something.” She joked, pointing her thumb back towards the door.

“There isn’t.” Emily’s smirk morphed into pure confusion.

“Whaddya mean? I thought he was supposed to be here around four?”

“Last second table read. Set him back a few hours.” She nodded in understanding, stealing one of the peanut butter rolls from the plate your mom was still carrying. She was about to protest but decided to take the damn treats into the ballroom so they would quit getting swiped in the first place. Even then she had your brother to worry about.

“Well, come on. We gotta go get you all dolled up for your man.” You looked towards the crowd, the mere idea of walking past all of those people green with envy making you nervous. Security guards or not.

“W-we can’t escape out of the back, can we?”

“Nope, they’re lined up back there too. I tired.” You threw your head back with a groan.

“Fuck.”

“There’s security out there, honey. They’ll protect you.” You mamaw said.

“Yeah, c’mon. You don’t wanna start your party in a ratty t-shirt and some jeans, do you?”

Honestly, you didn’t care.

When Pedro asked you what you wanted to do for your 25th birthday, you answered with the what you normally did. Stay home, do nothing, treat yourself to an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen, and maybe have Emily come over.

“When’s the last time you’ve done something special for your birthday?” He’d asked.

‘It’s been years. I’m not the party type and I never have the money to do what I actually want. Even a DQ cake is a decent amount of cash for me.” He paused for a moment, obviously thinking.

“... What have you actually wanted to do?” You immediately knew what he was up to.

“Nope! Don’t even think about it! It’s way too much money. Seriously, a DQ cake at home with you is more than enough.” It wasn’t his idea of spoiling you on your birthday, but he agreed. If that’s really what you wanted, then he’d give it to you. Whether you knew it or not, he’d give you the world if he could.

When you and Pedro visited your mother one weekend, she had asked you the same question. Before you could get out the answer you had given Pedro, she'd already replied with her own.

“You know, you haven’t had a proper party in years. We should throw you one.” You tried again to intervene, but Pedro stepped in.

“I’ll help in any way I can. Mi Abeja deserves something special for her birthday.”

So much for your private DQ cake celebration.

You weren’t ungrateful or anything. In fact, you really didn’t mind it. A day of dancing and good food sounded great and you were thankful to have someone like Pedro that was able to give you that. However, seeing all these people stepping on each other just to get one glimpse of the man you love made you long for that DQ cake.

“Pedro’s tee and jeans are fine.” You answered, Emily clicking her tongue at you and grabbing ahold of your arm. She dragged you towards the door and waved to your Mamaw.

“Be back in about two hours.”

Thankfully, you made it to Emily’s car without a scratch, taking in a huge deep breath once you shut the passenger door.

You wanted to choke her.

____________________

Your hairstylist released the last lock of your hair from the curling wand with a whistle.

“Lookin’ good, cutie! Pedro’s gonna faint when he sees you.” She exclaimed, spinning you around so you could take a look at your freshly styled hair. You cupped the curls framing your face and shook it out a little. Not even you could deny how much you loved being dolled up even if it hadn’t been your idea.

“Thanks, Jo. I love it.”

“You’re welcome, baby.” You got up from the chair and walked over to your couch, picking up the gift box Pedro had given you last week. He’d told you to wear it to your party, but not to open it until then.

“Well, open it! Let’s see what he picked out for you.” Emily exclaimed, obviously more excited about it than you were. Even Jo was peeking over as she got her stuff together.

You pulled the ribbon until it fell slack, placing the box back down on your couch to take the lid off. After fishing through a sea of tissue paper, you finally saw it. A black knee-length dress decorated with beautiful roses and daisies and a pair of black heels that had their own blossom.

“Ooooo! How pretty!” Jo cooed, adorning the dress.

“Man, he has a good eye,” Emily added. “That’s beautiful.” You looked over at her with a crooked eyebrow.

“Did you think he couldn’t match colors or something?”

“No, I’m just saying that men usually suck at stuff like this, but he did great.”

After everything was done, you stepped in front of your full-body mirror to take a look at yourself. You hated to admit it, but you actually looked pretty good. Your hair was curled and framed your face nicely as the dress Pedro had got you hugged your body perfectly. You even liked the heels which was a shock. You hated heels, but he had managed to find a pair that weren’t that tall so your feet wouldn’t hurt. It was a very sweet gesture, but you'd still be taking them off before the night was over.

“Shit!” Emily cursed. “Yeah you’re beautiful bitch, we gotta go. You’re going to be late for your own party!” You got back in her car as fast as possible, the heels slowing you down slightly. Despite that, you managed to make it in time, the security guards redirecting you to the upstairs entrance.

“Pedro’s here and they’ve gone wild. You’ll have to go in where the guests come through. There's more of us up there.” Emily complained mildly about having to park farther than she’d like, but you weren’t really paying much attention to her. Since the guard had told you that your boyfriend was finally here, the only thing you could really focus on was getting to him.

You made your way down the stairs slowly but as fast as possible, trying to avoid using the handrails since the decorators had worked so hard on making them look nice. Suddenly, you heard the crowd gathered outside scream, distracting you from your slow descent. You’re glad they did because at the bottom of the staircase stood the man you couldn’t wait to get to, everything but him going out of focus.

He was wearing a maroon button-down tucked into a pair of black dress pants. The sleeves of his shirt were rolled up, exposing his toned forearms as the black tie sat crooked around his neck. His hair was also slicked back, a few curls defying the gel and coming down to rest on his forehead. His brown eyes were crinkled, his blinding smile causing butterflies to erupt in your stomach almost as much as the trimmed facial hair that framed his jawline.

You continued to make your way down, now using the previously avoided handrails so you could go faster. When you got to the last two steps, he held his hand out for you to take. You gladly did, his calloused hand so large and warm compared to yours. You giggled when the dork pressed a light kiss to your knuckle.

“Are you my Jack for the night?” You teased, earning a snorted laugh from him.

“Nah. Just always wanted to do that. Didn’t think I’d get my chance tonight.” He made sure you came down the last two steps safely, you immediately wrapping your arms around him as soon as your heels touched the tiled floor. You laid your head on his shoulder with a content sigh, Pedro returning the hug as soon as you initiated it, his strong arms holding you tight as he pressed tender kisses to your temple.

“Missed you...” You said quietly, loud enough only for him to hear.

He parted with you ever so slightly to kiss you properly, his lips melding with yours so perfectly that you never wanted to come up for air.

“Alright, alright, break it up you two!” Your dad said, the only thing that saved you from being lost in his lips for the rest of the evening. “C’mon, everyone’s been waitin’ to see ya.” You looked back up at Pedro, smiling wide as soon as you saw that he was staring.

“Stop it.” You laugh. He laughs too, pressing another kiss to the side of your forehead.

“I can’t help it. Mi Abeja looks so pretty tonight.” You reached up to his tie to fix it for him, your eyes focusing on the poorly tied knot that he’d obviously done himself.

“Save it. We have to go greet the family before they blow a gasket.” You said, patting his chest once his tie was finished. He stood next to you and put his hand on the small of your back, gesturing towards the ballroom with his free one.

“Lead the way, honey.”

____________________

The party was well underway by now, the bass of the music thumping hard in your chest as you ate your second piece of birthday cake. It was no DQ ice cream cake, but you couldn’t deny that your aunt Judy could bake.

After the cake was cut, the DJ started playing music, inviting everyone out to the dancefloor. Pedro asked if you wanted to go dance but you turned him down.

“Not yet. I’ll join you once I get my fix on cake.” He nodded, pressing a kiss to your forehead as he left to join your brother and a few of your cousins who were already “cutting the rug” you guessed.

You watched as Pedro loosened up, him and your brother dancing so rediculously that you couldn't help but laugh.

Whether Pedro wanted to believe it or not, he was quickly becoming a Hollywood golden boy. He more than deserved it, but the pressure of it all got to him sometimes and you were ecstatic to see him relaxed for a change.

He’d long discarded his tie, the hair gel barely holding back his curls that started to drape over his eyes that were crinkled up from smiling.

The song they were dancing to ended with one last thud from the bass, the DJ grabbing the mic as soon as it stopped.

“Alright folks, now we’re going to sllooww things down to allow the birthday girl to share a special dance with her love.” You looked up mid-bite of cake, not expecting to be singled out like that.

Pedro walked over to you, offering his hand as the slow song began to play. You quickly swallowed the bite of cake and wiped your mouth off with a napkin, placing your hand in his and allowing him to lead you to the dance floor.

He placed his large hands on your hips, pulling you close and laying his forehead atop of yours as your snaked your arms around his neck. You swayed with him for a bit, the flash of your mom’s camera vaguely registering in your mind, but you didn’t care. It all fades to nothing when you’re with him.

“You’re so beautiful.” He said, his mocha gaze full of adoration when he lifted his head away to look at you.

“You’re not so bad yourself.”

“Even for an old man?” You snickered.

“So nice that any other old man could never compare.” He breathed a laugh through his nose, his crooked smile doing things to you.

You continued to sway to the song, Pedro spinning you around a few times before you settled back into your rhythm. You laid your head on his shoulder after a bit, allowing him to fully take the lead. One of his hands left your hip to come up and hold the back of your head as he pressed gentle pecks atop your head.

“I love you so much.” You smiled on his shoulder, one of your own hands tangling into his dark curls.

“I love you too.”

____________________

Later that night, you and Pedro laid quietly on your bed, his arms tightly wrapped around you as you watched TV together. It was super late and you both were exhausted, but neither of you wanted to sleep. You were quickly losing the battle, however. Your eyes starting to droop as Pedro played with your hair.

“Don’t tell me you’re tapping out already.” He teased, his voice pulling you from the edge.

“M’sorry. S’been a long day.” You felt his chest vibrate with a chuckle, his mustache tickling your cheek as he pressed a kiss to it.

“I had one more gift for you, but I guess it can wait until morning.” Despite how tired you were, you were curious as to what he could have up his sleeve and couldn't resist looking at him over your shoulder.

“What is it?” He laughed.

“Awake now, are we?” He teased, rising up from the sheets with you and getting up. “Wait here. I’ll be right back.”

It took him longer than you expected and he made quite a bit of noise, but it was well worth it.

He watched your eyes light up with happiness as soon as your gaze landed on the piece of DQ ice cream cake he was holding in his right hand, a single lit candle atop of it. He was also holding a blue gift box with a white bow, but you were more focused on the frozen treat at the moment.

“Aww, Pedro…” You cooed as he set the cake down in front of you with a kiss.

“Happy birthday, my sweet Abeja.” You blew the candle out and licked the ice cream off the bottom, setting it aside and digging into the slice. You groaned at the taste, the mattress shifting as Pedro sat back down next to you.

“Good?” You nodded.

“It’s DQ ice cream cake. How could it be bad?” He let you enjoy your treat, your attention suddenly shifting to the gift box he’d sat down. You pointed your fork at it.

“What’s that?” You asked with your mouthful. Pedro looked to the box and picked it up, gesturing for you to take it.

“Why don’t you open it and find out?” You gave him shifty eyes, setting your fork down to take the box out of his hands. You took the bow off and set it aside, lifting the lid off the box quickly. You froze when you saw what was inside.

Laying atop white tissue paper sat your passport and a Mickey Mouse ear hat. You slowly took the hat into your hands, only just now noticing the sticky note that was stuck on the other side. It read:

“To DisneyWorld we will go for your special day, to create memories that will forever stay.”

You didn’t even realize you were crying until Pedro reached up to wipe a tear off of your cheek.

“How… how did yo-”

“I asked your mom. She said that you’ve always wanted to spend your birthday at Disney but never had the money. I knew you wouldn’t go if I told you about it ahead of time, so your Mom and I worked together to throw you a party so you wouldn’t be suspicious.”

There was no way you could accept something this huge from him. It had to cost him a fortune… weeks of his schedule.

“What ab-”

“Shhh.” He shushed. “None of that. You deserve this, Abeja. You work so hard and barely get anything. Please, let me spoil you just this once.” You wanted to turn it down, the guilt of not helping him pay for it eating you up. Though you knew he was under contract with Disney in the first place and more than had enough money to pay for it, you still didn't want him to think that you were trying to mooch.

However, the look of pure nervousness and adoration on his face melted all of that guilt away.

You sat the hat down and reached for him, hugging him tightly as more tears fell down your cheeks.

“...Thank you.” Pedro let out a breath of air you didn’t know he was holding, his arms hugging you back tenfold.

“No amount of money is worth more than this. I promise you that, honey. You’re worth so much more.”

You ended up falling asleep wrapped in his embrace, the day finally catching up with you. Pedro gently laid down, making sure not to wake you as he situated you to lay atop his chest while he laid on his back. You stirred as he pulled the blanket over the both of you, but didn’t rouse any more after that.

He reached over and turned the TV off with the remote and switched off your lamp, pressing a kiss to the top of your head before drifting off right behind you.