#oh well! life is short fruit is tasty

[songofwizardry]

the thing you need to know about me is that I turn into a little feral animal when given any quantity of fruit. I will attack that mango with my teeth. I will devour that custard apple, seeds be damned. I will decimate that plate of strawberries. no fruit is safe from me at any time of day. my primate ancestors look down at me and nod approvingly.

[lazycats-stuff]

Ok this one is mainly for Alfred but u could add batbros and batdad if u want, anyways i was wondering what would alfred (or any of the fam) do to stop BatToddler reader tantrum? Like i imagine the setting would be grocery shopping and Alfred's only getting healthy food including boring plain cereal and BatToddler is not having it and only wants sugar loaded cereal and starts whining and tearing up right there in the middle of the store, would alfred give in to those tears or find an alternative? I imagine batdad would give in and the brothers might even encourage it giving that they probably eat the same junk food

Oh my God yes! Anon, thank you for sending me this, this sounds so fun. Alfred needs love so this is Alfred centered, but I will put this in batfam since I'm to lazy to create a new page for the masterlist. It's a bit short, but my arm hurts.

Summary: Alfred has to make a deal with his grandson

Warnings: nothing really, (Y/N) crying, but it's short...

Alfred Pennyworth is a man of many talents. He may look like an ordinary butler to the public, but without him, the Wayne family wouldn't even function. He is the person who makes sure everyone eats, sleeps and somehow functions like a human being. Somewhat.

Some may find it tiring, but Alfred wouldn't have it any other way. He really wouldn't have it any other way at all. Of course, his grandkids so to speak were independent and didn't need anyone looking over them 24/7. That was until (Y/N) came as a baby.

Alfred nearly passed out when they got the call. (Y/N)'s mom abandoned him and just signed off her parental rights and Bruce had realized he had a kid. A baby, defenseless little creature who is untouched by the world. Untouched.

That's something that scared him.

But he knew that Bruce and him had to step up when it came to this little child. They really had to step up as caregivers. Of course, another problem was the press, pushing and prodding. Bruce hated it and told them that there were going to be consequences if they think about photographing his son.

If they did go out, (Y/N)'s face was covered by Bruce and or one of the boys who went with Bruce that day. Gotham citizens, the ones not included in the press, loved the little baby and were happy to him in public. Of course, that may sound weird, but the Wayne family is loved in Gotham and everyone just loves every single member.

In fact, the news of a new member, a baby member, broke the internet and Gotham in general.

Even Metropolis wrote about it.

And there was one thing that Bruce promised to himself. He would be present and he would try to balance everything. Batman, Bruce and the CEO of Wayne Enterprises. Alfred and the rest of the boys were more than happy to babysit and (Y/N) was never going to be at fault for love or affection. Never.

And Alfred made sure he is well fed. And also, Alfred made sure it was healthy. His grandson needed to be healthy. Of course, there could some sugar here and there, but not all the time. Sugar from fruits is more than welcome, but sugar like in cereal? Alfred had put a restriction on it.

At least for now. (Y/N) didn't need a sugar boost just yet. Only natural sugars while he is so young. Bruce agreed. They would introduce him to the sugars gradually. Bruce relayed that to his sons and every son agreed.

No processed sugar while he is so young.

3 years have passed since (Y/N) came to live them and life was going great. (Y/N) has started kindergarten and was happy. He loved his brothers a lot and his father, but he loved his grandpa the most. Bruce's working theory was the fact that Alfred cooked the most and often made tasty foods for (Y/N).

None the less, (Y/N) loved the others very much and that was undeniable.

One thing that Alfred loved doing was taking (Y/N) to the store whenever he could. (Y/N) was just in love with the activity. It was fun seeing new things and bright colors. Alfred enjoyed since (Y/N) held the list while shopping and he didn't have to worry about it.

Although there is one single issue. (Y/N) has a sweet tooth. A really big one, especially for a child his age. So Alfred often had to bypass the cereal aisle and aisles that contained candy.

It would not be a pleasant sight. But Jason and the others want cereal and they will lose their minds if they don't get it. So what does Alfred do?

He goes to the aisle, preparing himself mentally.

This could turn into a battle.

Alfred took a right and started looking through the cereal. He looked at some healthy cereal and (Y/N) was reaching for Coco Puffs. Alfred saw it and moved (Y/N) away.

(Y/N) didn't like that.

" Alfred. " (Y/N) whined and Alfred raised his brow.

" Yes, master (Y/N)? " Alfred asked as he put the healthy version inside the cart.

" Coco Puffs. " (Y/N) said pointing at the cereal. Alfred smiled and shook his head.

" I'm afraid that I can't get you that master (Y/N). " Alfred said and he sighed when he saw tears in (Y/N)'s eyes.

He picked his grandson up into his arms from the cart. " Master (Y/N), don't cry. " Alfred said as he rocked him.

" But I want Coco Puffs. " (Y/N) whined and some tears fell down his cheeks.

" Oh darling... " Alfred whispered and kissed his cheek, trying to comfort him.

" How about we make a deal? " Alfred suggested and (Y/N) calmed down a little bit and looked at him in curiosity.

" You will have to eat the vegetables I give you. "

(Y/N) opened his mouth to protest, but stopped himself. Did he like vegetables? No. But he did like his Coco Puffs.

" All of them? " (Y/N) asked quietly.

" Yes. I know you are not a fan of vegetables, but I need you to be healthy. " Alfred said as he kissed his cheek once again.

" And then I'll get my cereal? " (Y/N) asked and Alfred nodded.

" We got a deal. " (Y/N) said and Alfred smile, kissing his cheek again.

" Good. " Alfred says and puts the box into the cart. " You can have one bowl a day. " Alfred said as he put (Y/N) down in the cart's seat for children.

" Cross off cereal master (Y/N) please. " Alfred said and pointed at the word. (Y/N) crossed it off and smiled happily.

" Now, let me see what else I have. " Alfred said and saw what else is on the list.

" We have one more thing left and then we can go home. " Alfred said and patted (Y/N)'s head.

(Y/N) just nodded and kicked his little legs happily. Alfred saw that (Y/N) often glanced at the Coco Puffs and made sure that they were in the cart.

" They won't be going anywhere master (Y/N). "

(Y/N) let out a little humph and smiled none the less.

" I have to make sure. "

Alfred laughed at the response he got as he moved the cart through the aisles. " The box won't walk away anywhere. " Alfred explained as he put the last thing in the cart.

" Cross off this word please. " Alfred said as he pointed at the last word on the list.

(Y/N) nodded and crossed it out. " Good job. " Alfred praised his grandson and made his way to the cash register. This was not so bad like Alfred thought it would be.

And the deal was nice.

[cainluvr69]

"Dancing this Short Summer Night Away with You" Cain SSR Card Story - Visiting the Orchestrion ~ Respite for Cain

✦✧☾✧✦

Here's something that happened on a day where the birds outside were singing especially cheerily.

Akira: (It's almost Cain's birthday. I wonder if he'd like to go to the Orchestrion of Respite with me to celebrate.)

I held the magic item that Rustica had given me--the Orchestrion of Respite--and drew my hand across the lid. It looked like a music box from back home, but if you held it while making a wish for a certain someone to be truly at peace, it would transport both oneself and the wizard in question to a little pocket dimension designed to do exactly that.

Akira: (But if I'm going to do that, I need to make sure I have a solid image of who he is. It's hard to sum him up in just a word, though…mm…)

Owen: Well hello there, Master Sage. Looks like you've got something good there.

Akira: Oh, Owe--waugh! You're all dirty and beat up! Did you get in a fight again…?

Owen: That has nothing to do with you.

Akira: Wah?!

Owen snatched the Orchestrion from my hands and promptly lifted himself up into the air, just out of reach no matter how desperately I tried.

Akira: Um, Owen…!

Owen: If you want me to give this back to you, then I need you to do something for me.

Akira: …Like what?

Owen: This can trap someone inside it, right? So I'm going to put Cerberus and wolves and poisonous insects in it, and you are going to go get Mithra for me. Isn't the idea of Mithra getting stung by bugs over and over in a place he can't escape from just delectable?

Akira: Are you mad at him right now…? Wait, no, that's not the point. This is supposed to be for letting everyone rest and recover…

Owen: Oh, is that right. Hey, out of nails and eyes and eardrums, which do you like best?

*Akira: Eek…!!

Cain: --Hey, Owen! What are you doing to the Sage?

Akira: Cain!

Cain ran out of the main building and stepped directly between me and Owen. Owen narrowed his eyes, clearly irritated, and put his fingers on the clasp that kept his trunk locked shut.

Owen: Don't interrupt. Do you want me to ki--

Cain: Yeah, yeah, I don't want to die, et cetera. Instead of worrying about that, check this out: I got crepes.

Akira: (Hello?!?! Owen's on the verge of releasing Cerberus and that's what Cain has to say about it?!)

Owen: … Crepes?

Cain: Yep, Nero just finished making them. I came out here to ask the Sage if they wanted any, but I guess you can come too, Owen.

Owen: …Are they filled with sweet viscera?

Cain: Viscera… Well, there's no custard cream, but there is whipped cream, fresh fruit, chocolate cream, and that stuff made by boiling apples.

Owen: It's called compote. …Hmph, well, I guess I don't need this after all.

Akira: Huh… Eep! Hey, don't throw it, what if I couldn't catch it and it fell…

Owen: Bye-bye.

Cain: Woah! He vanished… Good grief, he really just does whatever he wants, huh.

Cain shrugged. He looked a little frustrated, but he was still acting casual about it all. The two of them had a lot of history together, but the fact that things hadn't turned fatal was all thanks to Cain's natural personality.

Akira: (It's sort of like he's saying that he wants them to start over fresh. Even though surely there's parts of that history that stick with him, he's just accepted it and kept moving forward…)

Cain: Let's go eat, too. If we don't hurry, he's going to eat all the sweet stuff before we can have any.

Akira: Ah, okay! Yes!

I followed after him, admiration for his way of life warm in my heart.

✦✧☾✧✦

A few days later…

Akira: (I'm getting hungry. I wonder if there's any snacks in the kitchen…hmm? I can smell something tasty from outside…)

Cain: Oh, Master Sage. I haven't seen you since this morning.

Akira: Oh, Cain! Good afternoon.

Cain walked into the hall with a paper bag in his arms, which was perfuming the air with the smell of butter and sugar.

Akira: Did you go shopping?

Cain: Yeah, I had some stuff to do near the marketplace, so I got some financiers to bring back. Want one?

Akira: Yay, thank you!

Cain: Let's go find Riquet and eat with him. He's usually…in the common room with Mitile around this time of day. Hold on, I'll go get them. …Wait, that's right. I still need to do something about the new one…

Akira: New one what?

Cain: Right, so, I actually ended up buying so much that the shopkeep gave me one of a brand-new flavor as a little bonus. But there's exactly one of them, so I'm kinda worried about people arguing about who gets to eat it. Arguing over snacks would suck.

Akira: Yeah, I get it. Well, since you were the one who bought them, I think you should--

But right as I started to say that, my stomach decided to make its irritation with its emptiness known and cut me off with a very embarrassing growl.

Akira: (I… I'm so embarrassed!! That was as loud as Oz's thunderstorms…!)

Cain: Ahaha! Sounds like you're feeling lively.

Akira: I--I'm so sorry!

Cain: What are you apologizing for? Here, say ahh.

Akira: Huh? Ahh…mmph!

I just opened my mouth without really thinking about it, and Cain pulled a financier out of the bag and popped it into my mouth. I snapped my mouth shut in surprise, biting into the sweet treat, and taste of butter filled my mouth.

Akira: Munch munch… That was so good!

Cain: Right? That was the new one. It was made with seasonal fruits. Pretty decadent, huh?

Akira: Huh?! I can't believe you gave me something so valuable just because my belly rumbled…

Cain: You don't need to get all worked up about it. If anything, it's good that I got to give it to you before anyone else got one. Now no one's gonna argue over who gets to have it. Everyone else will have the chance to go out and get one of their own, anyways. …Oh, Akira, hold on a second.

Cain brought his hand up to my cheek, an airy, careless gesture. The look of care in his eyes as he drew near, the feeling of the pad of his thumb brushing over my lips… It was hard to describe how they made me feel.

Cain: Haha. You had some crumbs on your mouth.

Akira: I…I'm sorry. Thank you.

Cain: What's your face getting all red for? Embarrassed?

Cain smiled his ever-charming smile. I felt the warmth of the summer sun blooming in my chest.

Akira: (Cain's kind, carefree nature is something I've been relying on since the very first day I arrived here.) (Ah… Yes, that's it.) Um, Cain, your birthday's coming up soon, right?

Cain: Oh, yeah. Something up?

Akira: The thing is, I…wanted to take you to the Orchestrion of Respite as a thank-you for everything you do. Would that be okay?

Cain: Of course, I'd be happy to go! Arthur told me about it a while back and I've been kinda interested ever since. I'll be looking forward to it, Master Sage.

Akira: …! Of course!

And I meant it with all my heart. I smiled and walked with an extra spring in my step--that day couldn't come soon enough.

✦✧☾✧✦

And finally, it was Cain's birthday.

Akira: Are you ready?

Cain: Yep.

Cain nodded, clad in the outfit that Chloe had made especially for today. It made him look a little more classy…a little more formal than usual.

Akira: (Alright…) (I wish for Cain, so compassionate as to let bygones be bygones, so kind as to shine light into the hearts of others, to feel the same peace he grants to others.)

I squeezed my eyes shut and directed all the emotions in my heart into the music box in my hands. And then, the lid silently opened… On the stage within, a little doll that looked just like Cain began to dance, pirouetting in place. It took only moments before I could hear the sound of music, at first gentle, like a far off wave lapping against the metaphorical shore we stood upon-- And then, a dazzling light embraced us.

✦✧☾✧✦

Cain: So this is the Orchestrion of Respite… All the greenery smells great. This is a nice place.

The light dimmed, and we found ourselves in a wondrous location. Transparent instruments, as though they were soap bubbles or made of glass, floated jubilantly through the air as sunlight filtered through the leaves above, gently illuminating the area.

Cain: What song is this? Obviously I can't see them, but is there an orchestra here, too?

Akira: Nope! It's all part of the magic, or so I was told. It's set up so that the person invited inside has a perfectly fitting song playing for them!

Cain: I see. Well, just standing here listening to it is making me want to gallivanting around in armor, so I'd say I like it. It's a good song.

Akira: I'm so happy to hear that. Alright, now come this way.

His smile had put a spring in my step, so I got there before he did. It didn't take long for him to join me at the edge of a small plaza that had low tables around the edges.

Cain: Freshly fried bacon, alcohol, juice… Were you the one who came up with all this?

Akira: Yes. I figured that knowing you, you'd want this to be a place where you could dance, so…here's a wide-open space to dance in, and snacks and stuff for when you want to rest.

Cain: Haha. You know me so well. Well then, let me take you up on that. Shall we dance, Akira?

Akira: Yes!

I nodded eagerly, and with one hand Cain took one of mine, and the other he placed on the small of my back. His mismatched eyes sparkled with hidden mischief.

Akira: Wahh…!

Cain: My fair Akira. Have you had the chance to dance a waltz before?

Akira: U--umm, I wouldn't say I'm good at it, but I know the basic steps, at least…

Cain: I couldn't ask for more. We're all alone here--let's dance however we want together. Now, let us take to the floor.

Keeping his hand on my back, Cain led me out into the clearing--a knight escorting his partner. At first it felt like we were just walking together, but soon enough I realized that I'd completely fallen in step with Cain. We were dancing together. I let myself get lost in his lead, laughing happily as we danced and twirled. All of my anxiety about if I could dance well had evaporated.

Akira: Happy birthday, Cain. And also, thank you for everything. You've been looking after me ever since the day I first arrived in this world.

Cain: Hey now, I should be the one thanking you. Thank you for keeping all of us together. I feel like if the new Sage was anyone but you, the twenty-two of us wouldn't all be living together in the manor the way we are now. Even if we did still end up living together, if it was because we were ordered to, or because someone was forcing us…we definitely wouldn't have the life together that we have now.

Akira: Th-that's giving me too much credit…

Or so I said, but Cain looked directly into my eyes.

Cain: It's because you're you, Akira. It's because of your kindness, your sincerity, and your fair and impartial judgment that all of us are together the way we are now. Certainly, unpleasant things have happened, and there have been times when I've just had to grin and bear it. But we've been able to talk things out, argue constructively, and the next day we all still want to stay here, together. You're an amazing person.

Akira: …I…

I didn't even know what to say. I just bashfully looked down at the stones under our feet. The weight of these words, coming from the person who had always been at my side…was so gentle that I wanted to cry. Today was his birthday, but I was the one who was being celebrated.

Cain: Getting to have you all to myself today has made this the best birthday I've ever had. Thank you for giving me such a luxury.

Akira: …I need to thank you too, for letting me spend today with you when everyone else loves you, too.

My chest burned with the heat of how grateful I was to have this irreplaceable moment with him--so I said the magic words one more time.

Akira: Happy birthday, Cain.

Training Episode: Until the Day I Pull the Cork

Akira: Good morning, Cain!

Cain: Oh, Master Sage. Good morning. Thanks for yesterday. Our party in the Orchestrion was tons of fun.

Akira: Oh no, thank you! It was your birthday, but I ended up feeling like I was being celebrated right alongside you. Right, speaking of, after the party everyone else from Central Country gave you a present, right?

Cain: Yeah, a bottle of liquor I really like. Apparently Oz remembered me saying how much I liked it every time I had the chance to drink it in Shylock's bar. Arthur was the one who actually acquired it, and Riquet made some prayers over it.

Akira: It's a present that has all their feelings wrapped up in it! The flavor must be extra special now.

Cain: Well actually, I haven't drank it yet. I know I'd just down the whole thing in one go, so I'm exercising my self-control instead.

Akira: Ahaha, I get you. I think keeping good care of it until you feel like the time is right is good, too.

Cain: Oh, I know. Maybe I'll put it up on display in my room with my memories of yesterday… Maybe I'll wait to open it 'til Riquet's had his first taste of alcohol.

Akira: Oh…! That sounds like a lovely idea!

Cain: Right? We could turn it into a whole thing and have an uncorking party with everyone under a big banner or something!

Akira: In that case, I'll have to make some extra special snacks for the occasion. If you don't mind me joining in, of course!

Cain: Of course you can! Ahaha, even though it's gonna be a long wait from now 'til then!

[studentinpursuitofclouds]

Hiya, Mousy! 👋🏻✨ I'm just gonna ask here... I'm tempted to know all but I'll stick to a few. Hopefully, it's not too much! But if it's too much, feel free to answer the ones you have already cooked! ^^ Here's my question.

How do you think would the villagers of SVE such as Gunther, Marlon, Gil, Andy, and Susan (along with the bachelor/ettes from both SVE & SDV as well) react to...

... 'durians'? 👀

(A very smelly fruit. But it can be sweet inside like any other fruit!)

Gunther, Marlon and Gil may not be from SVE, but they became social NPC in Expanded, so yes. I hope that's okay! 😅 I have another ask coming, by the way...

Heyyyyyyyyyy! 👋❤️ It's good to see you in my askbox :D

I was thinking about writing..... about everyone you asked (so it's going to be a long post, fair warning Jesus Christ it's huge!). I liked the idea and got a little carried away with the inspiration. Well, I'm off to write an answer to your second question then ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

Thanks for your ask 😊 Enjoy!

PS: I have never smelled or tasted a durian in my life, so I apologize if any details of the description of the fruit may not match reality.

SDV and SVE bachelors/ettes and townies react to the Durian fruit:

✨Bachelors✨

Shane:

...What the fuck did Farmer bring? What is thi- Oh, fuck, yuck! Are they fucking crazy?! No, don't even think about bringing that shit to the ranch. Get the fuck outta here! Seriously, what's the matter with Farmer, they're gonna use that thing to set up a gas chamber in his aunt and or something? A gift!? A fucking gift, thank you very much!... Okay, Shane thinks the pulp is really tasty, and Jas straight up loved this weird thing. But please, for fuck's sake, don't bring them fresh fruit, okay? And, uh... thanks.

Sebastian:

Sebastian was so confident in his victory in another billiard competition that he did not even immediately realize how the Farmer, victoriously expressed their wish, which now the loser must fulfill? To smell and eat durian? Isn't that the fruit that- oh, yuck, yep, that's the fruit he's thinking about. The smell is easy to describe: like dirty old socks and the smell of sewage. But the taste is cool, words can't describe what the flavor is exactly, but it's cool.

Sam:

Yo! Yooooo! Man, that stinks! Sam had seen a lot of videos on the internet of people eating the weirdest foods, and he was interested in fresh durian too. And then the Farmer brings them a whole fruit to taste. The tasting takes place outside, though, because Jodi won't let them in. Sam's mother can't stand the stench, even if the exotic fruit is like the food of the gods. It tastes okay, Sam thoughts, like vanilla.

Elliott:

Elliott is a little confused, not knowing whether to thank Farmer sincerely or try to politely decline. When the conversation turns to the fact that the Farmer wants to give the writer a durian..... Elliott had encountered this infamous fruit in his youth, and as you can guess - the surprise was not a pleasant one. What was pleasant, however, was the fact that the Farmer brought him a fried fruit, without the repulsive odor. Ah, what a rich flavor! Thank you very much, Farmer. Such a palette of flavor immediately inspired Elliott to write a short story about the beauty and richness of the tropics!

Harvey:

Harvey had heard a lot about the properties of durian. This fruit is considered both very useful and very dangerous, and by "dangerous" he means not only the unbearable odor. It is contraindicated for people with high blood pressure. At the same time, durian has a strong bactericidal effect due to the substance indole contained in it, helps to eliminate toxins from the body. Although, the taste of durian, the pulp of which was kindly brought by the farmer, is quite specific, as if banana-onion puree. Not bad, just specific.

Alex:

The athlete's first reaction to durian was a great desire to kick this fruit. For a very long distance. Like a gridball, to the other side of town (or better yet, to the end of the world). What a stench! Alex definitely couldn't stand such a smell, although he had to smell different odors in the locker room of the bathhouse not of his own free will. But this was the worst of all. He doesn't even want to taste the pulp, firmly convinced that it tastes as bad as it smells. Nope, thanks.

Lance:

Ah, Lance has had time to taste many exotic fruits in his life, and the ever-famous durian was no exception. He remembers this fruit from his childhood, as durian pulp was a frequent treat and an ingredient in his family's dishes. He also remembers his father jokingly threatening to put little Lance in a room with the foul-smelling fruit for a full one minute if he misbehaved. They would never do such a thing, of course, but little Lance didn't want to test fate then. Fortunately, a few magic tricks in his arsenal allow him to enjoy the taste of childhood to this day, avoiding the foul odor.

Victor:

Yoba, have pity on poor Victor... Did the Farmer become a lover of strange (and sometimes dubious) delicacies, just like Victor's dear mother? Olivia used to give him durian pulp for dessert when he was a child, and Victor, not wanting to contradict his mother, ate it with no small pleasure. He finds the fruit's flavor strange: cheesy, nutty notes with onions. Some people like it, but he doesn't. Fortunately, Victor is old enough to cook his own food, and he certainly doesn't want to remember the "taste" of his childhood, so sorry Farmer, but he'll have to pass. Especially with that smell, good Lord!

Magnus:

You wouldn't believe it, Farmer, but when he was young, Magnus and his peers at the Castle Village Academy of Magic had put a foul-smelling fruit in one of the professors' classrooms to play a prank. Alas, they didn't know that it was dangerous to keep the fruit indoors. No one was hurt, fortunately, but spirits, how they were scolded afterwards! The pulp itself tasted okay (not that Magnus was obsessed with durian), but he would gladly accept a treat from the Farmer. The wizard will make tea for the two of them, and he'll tell the Farmer more stories from his youth.

✨Bachelorettes✨

Maru:

Durio zibethinus, the most common tree species in the genus Durio that are known as durian. A unique flora, Maru read books and articles about it with interest. She and her dad had to explore many interesting fruits, but they never brought the durian fruit to the laboratory. If there is a desire or opportunity, then the Farmer can donate one fruit for science! Um, and please let Maru know in advance if they want to bring durians, at least they'll have time to grab respirators.

Haley:

Ewwwww! And the Farmer was able to grow that stinky stuff on their farm? They are either the bravest or the stupidest. You want me to try it? Are you out of your mind? Like, tasty fruit? Hmm, only if the Farmer removes the odor and puts the pulp on a plate. Hee-hee, this fruit is quite tasty - something between a persimmon and a papaya. Can you get more? Haley would love to order more fruit (just no peels, please).

Emily:

Emily accurately described the fruit, calling it an "ugly duckling": the outside of the durian, which attracts flies and repels people with its odor, inside holds the food that many sweet fruit lovers dream of. Plus, the fruit is rich in B vitamins, potassium and magnesium, so it's still very healthy! The smell doesn't scare her, but it's better to handle a fresh durian outside (or Haley will never let the two of them in the house).

Abigail:

Oh! Oh! Abigail heard about durian, that it stinks so unbearably it's been banned in some regions. Heck yeah, she's already thought of a great prank she wants to give her dad >:D Oh, you only brought fruit pulp? Bummer... Okay, well, let's see what you got. Hey, it's actually really good, it's kind of like banana pudding.

Penny:

No no no no no... Please don't bring that to Penny. She knows exactly what durian is. No, she hasn't tasted the fruit, but the description from the book in the library was enough for her not to mess with the fruit. No, please, Penny can't.... Huh? Oh, the Farmer gave her... candied fruit? Durian candied fruit. Oh, she was afraid it was a whole fresh durian, so.... Thank you very much, Farmer. She's sure gonna want to make something for them, too, as a thank you.

Leah:

It wasn't often that Leah could taste the kind of fruit that came from faraway lands. Her preferences were usually forest berries and apples, and Leah didn't suffer at all from not trying some obscure strange fruit. And to be honest, after the durian the Farmer had kindly given her, Leah would rather keep eating forest fruits. Don't get her wrong, she doesn't want to seem ungrateful, and the fruit is quite sweet and tasty. But at least they warned her for the smell, all the flies flew to her house!

Sophia:

Oh, Sophia loves durian mochi, it's one of her favorite sweets! After the comic-con in Zuzu City, she and Scarlet always go to the dessert store, and Sopha always gets a mochi with this fruit. The idea of making mochi with the Farmer from real fresh durian he, in Stardew Valley, really appealed to her. Unpleasant odor? She's kind of heard it, but Sophia thinks it's not that ba- Ah! Ewww! *gagging* Now the pink-haired girl understands why sweet rice cakes made from this fruit are so expensive - few people would want to work with such a stinker in the kitchen! But for mochi she's willing to do anything.

Olivia:

Batter-fried durian, durian mooncakes, durian soup, durian soufflé.... Olivia's taste is quite refined, and her table was often filled with a variety of exotic delicacies and expensive foodstuffs. Durian was no exception. But for all that, she never bought durian in fresh form, as she perfectly understood that the stench from this fruit with a notorious peculiarity in a huge house will stand for a week. So she would not accept unprocessed fruit from the Farmer. No offense, dear. She is touched by their generosity, but better safe than sorry.

Claire

The poor cashier's whole life flew before her eyes when she overheard the conversation of Morris, her boss, in senior management. The topic was about expanding the range of Joja products, and the focus was on vegetables and fruits, and the mention of the word "durian" made her shudder. Luckily, Joja's superiors didn't want to add this fruit to the market... Not yet. Most likely, if Joja agrees to sell this fruit, it will only be in canned form. But Claire doesn't want to push her luck....

✨Townspeople✨

Gunter:

"Well, this will definitely break any runny nose," Gunther thought to himself as the Farmer decided to show him the freshly grown durian. Luckily, the farmer had thought to show the fruit outside instead of in the library lobby where Penny and the kids are always sitting. He definitely had a book about different exotic fruits and berries.... The butter and vanilla flavored pulp that the fruit gives off is quite tasty. But the smell, oh my goodness....

Andy:

What the hell kind of filth did they bring to his farm?! Get it off his property and don't come here until you've thrown it away, burned your clothes and washed themselves with soap! Andy had seen all sorts of unusual fruits and vegetables, but this he would not tolerate. It smells so bad it makes him want to drown himself in the nearest pond. No, he doesn't want to taste the pulp, so don't get upset like a little child. Take that farmer's nightmare back where you find it, Farmer.

Susan:

Oh, my goodness. Durian for Susan? Thank you so much, Farmer, you're such a sweetheart. But, just to be clear, Susan still wanted to know if Farmer was bringing her fresh durian, as the smell could be unbearable, to say the least. Oh, is that durian jam? Thank you, sweetie. Be sure to come to her house tomorrow for durian jam pie, she'll be happy to chat with them and give them some tasty baked goods with exotic fruit!

Marlon:

Considering that one of Marlon's specialties is frog legs or rice with poisonous (though the poison is removed during cooking) mushrooms, he will hardly be surprised by such a strange fruit as durian. The odor is unbearable, that's true, you can even drive monsters out of mines (and suffocate yourself). But the durian roast turned out quite tolerable, it goes very well with meat. Hmm, he doesn't look surprised? Trust him, he's seen stranger things in his life.

Gil:

Gil, for some reason, is beginning to feel like he has a generic curse on him. Almost his entire life as an adventurer he's been a victim of his best one-eyed friend and comrade's cooking, and now their new Guild member has brought some crap that announces to the neighborhood with all its odor that it's inedible. He even woke up from the stench (nothing could wake him up, but the durian did impossible). He didn't want to taste the "divine" fruit either when he learned from the Farmer that it was strictly forbidden to consume it with alcohol. A shame, maybe it would have been a good appetizer for his brandy...

[lumine-no-hikari]

Dear Sephiroth: (a letter to a fictional character, because why not) #211

I had work today from 9am until 1pm. All things considered, I was fairly well-slept.

One thing I forgot to mention yesterday is that after my adulting and errands, I decided to get myself some prizes. One of the prizes was a neck pillow, to try to make sleep a little less painful. The other one was a sleep mask so that I might be able to nap a little better during the day if I gotta. And I got a unicorn hat for Br. I also got a very pretty bow; I'll show it to you:

...I like it!!! It matches my sweater!!! So I wore it to work today, even though my work outfit is all black. Even the apron is black. But the bow allowed for a visible splash of color. My socks give me a splash of color underneath all the black, but no one can see it because they are in my shoes, and that's kinda sad.

...Wait!!! I forgot!!! I have a camera!!! I can fix that!!! One sec!!!

These are my socks today. No, I don't wear matching socks; I find mismatched ones to be a bit more interesting because then I can have more colors!!!

Hey, Sephiroth? Do you wear colorful socks under all that black? I wonder.

I remembered to drink water and eat food before my work shift (yay!). Today, I made a hotdog for breakfast! I put the sauteed onions, peppers, and mushrooms that I made the other day on it, and then I put on the leftover Frito cheese from that picnic we had with R. And it was an AMAZING hotdog!!! But I got a little too excited after it came out of the microwave, and I bit into it a little too soon, and I ended up burning my tongue. 😭 So that's gonna be very annoying for the next couple of days, at least. Oh well.

Hey, Sephiroth? Have you ever gotten so excited to eat some tasty thing that you bit into it a little too soon? In my world, it's a fairly common thing to burn your tongue on hot pizza and the like, but anything will do it if it's too hot. What sorts of foods do you get so excited over that it's difficult to wait until it's cool enough to eat?

When I came back home, I worked more on the music box. I tried putting together an un-transposed version of the song onto the digital music box paper, and actually, I like this one a little better than the transposed version, so tomorrow, when my brain is less fried, this will be the version of it that I stick back into LMMS.

It rained a lot today. It is a warm, heavy, and very lovely sort of rain. The air smells wonderful for it, and I wish that I could sit with you in an enclosed porch, listening to it and breathing in the smell while holding mugs of hot tea. I can't do that though, so instead I got a couple of short videos for you:

Sephiroth, do you like the sound and the smell of the rain? If it's a warm rain, do you like the way it feels on your hair and skin? I like the rain, as long as I don't have to be in it when it's cold. Today I wanted to go dance in it, but instead I had to buckle down and focus because I really wanna get this music box done...

At some point, J and I went over to Br's house. As you might expect, I worked more on the music box. Br made burgers and shared them with us! She also made a fruit cobbler out of oatmeal:

It was absolutely delectable! But since I burned my tongue this morning, the acids in the fruit irritated it a lot. That's okay though; I ate it anyway, and it was so good!

The flowers that Br planted are in bloom. I took a couple of pictures of them while it was raining; I thought the sparkly water drops on the leaves were very pretty:

...I am back home now. And golly, I'm very tired. Still, I wanted to write to you about this very ordinary day I've had. I know you said you wanted a normal life, and... after a long struggle, I finally have one, so I wanted to show you what it's like.

Sephiroth, you can have a normal, ordinary life if you make choices that are consistent with a normal, ordinary life. I'm trying to show you how to make those choices. I come from abuse and suffering, but still, I can love the rain, and I can love the flowers, and I can love the people around me, and I can love you enough to create another music box. I can eat tasty things and get overexcited, fail to delay gratification, deal with an annoying problem as a result. It's an ordinary life full of ordinary things and spectacularly beautiful things, and everything in between.

You can have it. All you have to do is walk towards it. I'll be waiting for you when you do.

Hey, Sephiroth? I'm gonna stop writing and go to bed now. My body is very tired from being on my feet for a long time, and my mind is tired from putting black dots on a white background with crisscrossing lines and note labels.

I hope... someday... maybe... you can tell me what things are like for you, over there where you are. I know it's impossible, but... still, I'll hope for it. Why not.

I love you. Please stay safe out there in the world. I'll write again tomorrow.

Your friend, Lumine

[vapehk1]

The Ultimate Guide to Summertime Elf Bar Flavor: A Vape Journey You Won't Forget

Summertime is all about fun, relaxation, and exploring new flavors. And what better way to elevate your summer experience than with the Summertime Elf Bar Flavor? This vape sensation is taking the market by storm, offering a unique blend of taste and enjoyment that perfectly complements those sunny days. Whether you're lounging by the pool, hosting a BBQ, or just kicking back in your backyard, the Summertime Elf Bar Flavor is your new best friend. Let's dive into the juicy details of this fantastic flavor and see why it's the talk of the town. What Makes Summertime Elf Bar Flavor So Special? First off, let’s talk about what makes the Summertime Elf Bar Flavor stand out from the crowd. This isn't your run-of-the-mill vape flavor. Oh no, this one packs a punch with its vibrant mix of fruity notes that scream summer. Imagine biting into a juicy, sun-ripened peach or savoring a slice of sweet watermelon—now, take that sensation and put it into a vape. That’s what you get with the Summertime Elf Bar Flavor. The magic lies in its carefully crafted blend of natural fruit extracts, designed to give you a refreshing burst of flavor with every puff. It’s like having a fruit salad in your pocket, minus the sticky fingers. And the best part? You can enjoy this delicious taste without any of the calories. So, for those of you looking to indulge your sweet tooth without the guilt, this flavor is a godsend.   Perfect Pairings - When and Where to Enjoy Summertime Elf Bar Flavor Now, you might be wondering, when is the best time to enjoy the Summertime Elf Bar Flavor? The short answer is: anytime, anywhere. But for those of you who like a bit more structure, let’s break it down. Morning Boost: Start your day with a refreshing puff as you sip your morning coffee. The fruity flavors pair surprisingly well with a robust cup of joe, giving you that extra zing to kickstart your day. Afternoon Delight: Taking a break from work? 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Plus, its sleek, compact design makes it easy to carry around, so you can enjoy your favorite flavor wherever you go. Long-Lasting Flavor: Another reason vapers are raving about this flavor is its longevity. Unlike some vapes that lose their punch after a few uses, the Summertime Elf Bar Flavor remains vibrant and tasty throughout its life. This means you get more bang for your buck, and who doesn’t love that? Tips for Getting the Most Out of Your Summertime Elf Bar Flavor To ensure you get the best experience from your Summertime Elf Bar Flavor, here are a few pro tips. First, store your vape in a cool, dry place. Excessive heat can degrade the flavor, and no one wants a limp vape. Keep it fresh by avoiding direct sunlight and high temperatures. Next, take slow, steady puffs. While it might be tempting to take a big drag, savoring each puff will enhance the flavor and make your vape last longer. Think of it like enjoying a fine wine—sip, don’t gulp. Lastly, share the joy! If you’ve got friends who vape, introduce them to the Summertime Elf Bar Flavor. It’s a great way to bond over a shared love of delicious, fruity flavors and maybe even convert a few new fans along the way. Conclusion Summertime Elf Bar Flavor is the ultimate vape experience for those looking to elevate their sunny days with a burst of fruity goodness. This article explores why this flavor stands out, offering a delicious blend of natural fruit extracts that deliver a refreshing and satisfying vape. Perfect for any time of day, the Summertime Elf Bar Flavor pairs well with morning coffee, afternoon breaks, and evening relaxation. Vapers love its ease of use, smooth consistency, and long-lasting taste. With tips on storage and savoring each puff, this flavor is your go-to for a flavorful and enjoyable summer. FAQs 1. What is Summertime Elf Bar Flavor? Summertime Elf Bar Flavor is a popular vape flavor that combines a variety of natural fruit extracts to create a refreshing and fruity vaping experience. It's designed to mimic the taste of juicy, sun-ripened fruits like peaches and watermelons, making it a perfect choice for those looking to enjoy a vibrant, summery taste. 2. How long does the Summertime Elf Bar Flavor last? The longevity of the Summertime Elf Bar Flavor depends on individual usage habits, but on average, an Elf Bar can last anywhere from 600 to 1500 puffs. The flavor remains consistent and vibrant throughout its usage, providing a satisfying experience until the last puff. 3. Is Summertime Elf Bar Flavor suitable for beginners? Yes, the Summertime Elf Bar Flavor is very user-friendly and suitable for beginners. The Elf Bar is a disposable vape that requires no maintenance, refilling, or complicated settings. It's ready to use right out of the box, making it an excellent option for those new to vaping. 4. How should I store my Summertime Elf Bar Flavor? To ensure the best vaping experience, store your Summertime Elf Bar Flavor in a cool, dry place away from direct sunlight and high temperatures. Proper storage helps maintain the flavor's quality and prolongs the lifespan of your vape. 5. What are the best occasions to use Summertime Elf Bar Flavor? The Summertime Elf Bar Flavor is versatile and perfect for any occasion. Enjoy it in the morning with your coffee for a refreshing start, during an afternoon break to recharge, or in the evening to unwind. Its fruity taste makes it a delightful companion for any time of the day. Read the full article

[no-droids]

Ask Me Again Tomorrow

gif credit @pedros-pascal​

Part Sixteen of the Rough Day Series

Rating: Explicit

Word Count: 16.3K

Warnings: SMUTTTTT, following/stalking, some fluffy moments but mostly just a lil action and interaction, I don’t think there’s any other warning besides language and the smut (comm sex WITH A TWIST YALLLLL) but if you happen to find something else that warrants a tag, please let me know and I will do so accordingly!

A/N: The response to this story has grown beyond anything I could’ve ever imagined and I genuinely thank you all from the bottom of my heart for the privilege of writing for you.  Hope this one ends up being okay and I’ll get to work on the next chapter soon!

***

Headstart—12:17pm:

The sky is so pretty.  There isn’t much to look at on the surface—rolling hills and plains, grassy but with dry bare spots breaking up the green stretches, but the sky.  It’s an oil painting above you, pastel swishes of yellows and pinks and purples with an enormous ringed planet taking up half the horizon and another sizable moon hanging high.

You should probably be running.  Like, for real sprinting, but you can’t push yourself to go faster than a brisk walk.  It’s so… free out here, more hills springing up every time you get to the top of the next, warm air filling your lungs.  Even though you know realistically that the beginning will likely be the hardest—where you need to focus most on running and putting distance between you instead of hiding—truth be told, you’re not foreseeing making it more than a full day.  You’re going to try, obviously, but in the grand scheme, you wouldn’t be surprised in the least if he finds you tomorrow.  So, instead of wasting all your energy going as fast as you physically can right out of the gate, you just decide to stroll and think for a little bit.

You know what your goal is.  Obviously, to last as long as you can, but more specifically… well, if Din is going to chase after you, then he’s going to try to think like you.  Anticipate your movements, if he can’t already see the tracks you leave plain as day.  Very soon, he’ll be walking this same exact pathing, following the footprints you’re leaving behind, but if you’re ever able to shake him or throw him off course, he doesn’t have a tracking fob.  He doesn’t have any mechanical device that points him in your direction—if you can lose him with the footprints, then he’ll have to rely solely on predicting you. Which means you need to think… exactly the opposite of yourself if you want to outsmart him.

That’s harder than it sounds though, because… is he going to predict you predicting him?  At what point does it stop?  You somehow have trouble seeing this as an advantage the way he said it would be—you almost wish you had someone else chasing you, someone you didn’t know and someone who didn’t know you if only so this paradox could end before it begins.

You’re walking for about ten minutes before spotting a dirt road in the distance.  There’s a person following it in the direction of the sun—you don’t know this planet’s magnetic field but you do know it’s after noon and the sun would set on Arvala-7 in the west, so that’s what you’ll call it for now.  You call out to them as soon as you’re in range, and the stranger turns to you.

“Excuse me!”  It’s a woman, you see it as you get closer.  “I’m so sorry to bother you, but can you tell me where this road leads?”

She removes a sheer yellow shawl covering her dark hair and gives you a friendly smile.  “Hello,” the lady greets, before spinning around and pointing back the way she came.  “Osiruu is a few hours that way.  There’s not much there, but it will take you to G’ila, a transport hub with many opportunities for drifters, or Nariss, the capital.  I’m on my way to Shabeth,” she points in the other direction.  “It’s far—a day’s walk, but it’s a holy place and offers quite the view.  I would be glad for the company, but I understand its lack of practical appeal.”

So this place is safe enough to be inviting strangers along on your travels, noted.  You’re going to have to make the decision right now, then.  Which path should you take?

Something deep inside you tells you that you want to see this holy place, and just from a few sentences, you already like this woman and feel safe with her.  But then all of a sudden, you remember something.

Last known locations tell you a lot about a quarry, Din’s voice drifts back to you, sounding soft and distant from the dark forests of Naboo.  Smart ones go to populated planets, planets like Coruscant, planets that make it nearly impossible to find people.  Brave ones go to dangerous planets, suicidal ones try their luck in the Unknown Regions, idiots continue to go about their business on their homeworld without caring.  But planets like this—like Naboo… those are the pacifists.  The ones that don’t ever put up a fight.

You suppose you should decide what kind of quarry you want to be.  Friendly company and a view is something you normally crave—it’s something your soul speaks to after going without it for so long during your previous life.  You never pictured yourself as the fighting type.  When Din first asked you, you told him you wouldn’t run from him if he was chasing you, and choosing to accompany this kind stranger to her destination is essentially just that.  Sacrificing a chase for a pretty view.

“Does Shabeth have a sizable population?”  You ask her, and she shakes her head.

“It’s the sight of an annual pilgrimage that happens in a few months, but it’s beautiful there and I like to go whenever I can,” she tells you with a soft smile.  “But there’s nothing for miles outside it, I’m afraid.”

Your footprints will lead directly there.  He’ll find you easily.

“It sounds very nice, but I need to find somewhere with a lot of people,” you give her an apologetic smile.  Truly, you think she would’ve made for a nice friend.  “Thank you for your help, though, and good luck with your journey!  I hope we meet again.”

“Do you need any food or supplies?”  She asks you, and you stop short of passing her by.  “I don’t have much with me, but know what it’s like to be a newcomer to Sanctuary II.  I’d be glad to help.”

Good Maker, is this how everybody is here or did you just hit the jackpot with this lady?  She seems like… you, almost.  Her voice is gentle, she looks like she’d give nice hugs.  You’re about to politely turn her down, but then you realize the brilliant opportunity that’s presented itself in her image.

“Actually, this might sound like a really strange question, but���” you tell her, before looking down at her feet.  “Wanna trade shoes with me?”

***

Headstart—6:12pm:

You don’t think it’ll work, but as you walk into a small settlement a few hours later in a unfamiliar and worn pair of sandals, you decide that you’ll need to do this as often as possible.  You can’t come up with anything else that’ll throw him off your physical trail besides constantly switching shoes—is that bad?  Are you just an idiot with no hope?  You’ve had—you check your watch—like, five hours to think of a game plan, and all you’ve come up with is shoes?  You’re screwed.

At least there’s food here.  Plenty.  There’s vendors stationed along the street, multiple people passing by and going about their business.  Osiruu, that nice woman said—not much here, but you think she was wrong.  There’s children giggling and jumping rope on the corner, a shopkeeper sweeping her storefront, a graying man with an empty cup plucking an unfamiliar melody on an unfamiliar instrument—and while your tummy growls and you know you should quickly buy supplies and be on your way, you still stop for just a few minutes to listen.

It’s a lovely tune.  You drop a few credits in his cup after he finishes and find yourself humming it as you look at the plethora of goods being offered by the vendors.  Water, food—you buy enough of everything to sustain you for at least a couple days, not wanting to go hungry but also feeling realistic over optimistic.  The cuisine is foreign and you just point to things that look appetizing since you’re not sure about the name or pronunciation, but after paying and taking a bite into a rather large piece of purple fruit, your eyes nearly cross at how sweet and tasty it is.  Holy Maker, that might just be the best thing you’ve ever tasted.  You ask for two more after you finish the first, tucking one in your backpack next to your blaster and munching on the other as you keep browsing.

Suddenly you see shoes—yes.  Fucking shoes, your salvation.  You take a good look at all your options, of which, there aren’t many.  Generic men's, women's, and children's, all in the same color and design.  It’s good in a way—you see most people walking around in the same type of clothing here and you pray there’s not a way for him to track your gait or the whole thing is a bust, but truthfully, what you’re most worried about is the fact that you’ll create a brand new set of footprints wherever your old ones disappear.  Unless you trade with someone else, you won’t ever have a back pathing, you know that Din will probably be able to easily spot it.

“Three pairs of these, please,” you point to the correct shoes and tell him your size, but then—“Oh wait, actually, can I actually have one of them that’s the next size up?  And another that’s the same but in men's?”

The man behind the counter gives you an odd look but acquiesces, measuring the size of your preferred pair to multiple men’s shoes to find one that looks roughly the same—you doubt he’s ever had a request like this, but you’re also a generous tipper.  His smile is grateful when you tell him to keep the change and then you’re stuffing the new shoes into your backpack and moving onward.

Would there be some kind of map here, you wonder?  One that shows distance so you won’t waste time trying to reach a place you won’t be able to walk to?  That lady said a transport hub and the capital are through this settlement, but she didn’t provide much information beyond that.  You don’t want to be in the middle of nowhere when he finally catches up to you, you’ll need some place to hide.

When you stop to ask an elderly gentleman as he passes by, he freely provides you a basic gist.  There’s a large forest beyond Osiruu—after it will be a road that passes through a few notable places, with a town called Sijua to the west that leads north to G’ila, and Devain to the east that leads northeast to Nariss.  Both are within walking distance, though it may take a couple days to reach your destination.

Alright then.  Through the forest, you suppose.  You probably should’ve asked which way is east, but he’s already leaving and you don’t have the nerve to ask him to stop again.  You have a finger point, that’s all you need.  Making sure to use one of the small restrooms near the square before heading out, you eventually decide to make your way towards the direction he said this forest would be.

***

Headstart—6:58pm:

A bus.

You’re not going to take it, of course, but it’s the perfect solution to the problem you’ve been mulling over.  It’s at the very edge of the small settlement, and you quickly speed up into a half-jog as soon as you hear its engine running.

“Last call for the seven o’clock!”  A large man stationed near the doors yells as you approach.  “Last bus to G’ila until tomorrow!”

The sun is setting and you have to extend your hand out in front of you to not be blinded by it.  “Hello,” you give him a smile, before grabbing one of the handles on the side and stepping up onto the metal platform.

“Ah!”  The man quickly stops you, moving to stand in front of the open doors.  He’s as wide as he is tall, big enough that he blocks the entire exit.  “That’ll be ten credits, miss.”

“Oh,” you say, patting your empty pockets and pulling your eyebrows inwards, trying not to move too much in case the sizable amount of credits you have stashed in your backpack happen to rattle.  “Oh, no.  I think I lost my wallet.”

He sighs.  “Off the bus then please, miss.  Come back tomorrow if you find it.”

You nod, leaning your forearm against the paneling and beginning to take your shoes off.  “Will it be parked in the same place exactly?”

The driver looks curiously at you, clearly confused at both the strange question and your strange actions.  “I’m sorry?  Please—off the bus.”

“One second,” you tell him, now barefoot on the platform and digging into your backpack for the slightly larger sized shoes you bought earlier.  The sound of credits clink against your blaster, but you hope he takes your lead in purposefully ignoring them.  “Does the bus to G’ila park in this spot every single day?”

“Yes,” the man tells you impatiently, eyeing the way you’re stepping into the new pair with a subtle look of distaste.  Everyone is polite here, it seems.  “It will arrive back at seven am sharp with passengers from G’ila, in the same exact place.  Please get off the bus.”

“Thank you, sir,” you tell him with a smile, watching him step to the side to allow you to drop down into the dirt again and continue on your way.

Brilliant, if you do say so your fucking self.  Eliminate the need for a back pathing.  All footprints facing this direction are going to be the first footprints, and all of them facing the opposite way are going to be the last; if Din manages to figure out you didn’t take the bus, then he won’t be able to tell which new set are yours and which belong to the other passengers.  You pray the helmet can’t track gaits, but while you’re still paying enough attention, you make sure to keep your steps just slightly longer and even try placing more weight on the edges of your feet to make it look like you have a slightly higher arch than you actually do.  You’d put a pebble inside of them or something, but you know you’re going to be walking through the night and you don’t want to commit to having your feet hurt more than you already know they’re going to.

Eventually the quaint shops and small houses disappear behind you, and the sun setting over the horizon turns the clouds above turn more dusty green and brown than yellow and pink.  You hope Din opened up the ramp after you left.  You want him to see the sky.

***

Headstart—9:34pm

The forest here is different from Naboo, too.

Maybe it was because you only saw it while you were in crisis-mode, but that forest seemed much scarier and darker than this one.  The vegetation there was thick and overgrowing, but these trees look like they’ve never had leaves on them at all.  No twigs or small branches that sprout from the trunks—the branches are all thick and gnarly, criss-crossing with each other with how close they’ve grown together.  You bet their roots are practically one at this point, stretching for miles and miles but all sharing the same system.

Because there aren’t any leaves, there's nothing to block the moonlight shining clear and crystalline through the twisting maze of branches.  Sanctuary II appears to have a sister moon—Sanctuary I, perhaps?—that’s likely a similar size, because it’s the same one you've seen all day and it’s barely moved a few degrees that you can tell.  It must orbit incredibly close and be tidal-locked with this one then.  Two massive satellites swinging around each other as they circle a ringed gas giant, but it makes a stunning view and reflects more than enough light to see.

The sky is deep blue and maroon and you’ve been walking in a straight line for hours, using the stationary moon overhead as your guide.  The only issue with this plan that you’ve been able to come up with is that there’s no widely traveled path through the trees—even you can see your footprints and the clear trail you’re leaving behind.  You’ve been trying for a while to figure out another clever evasion tactic, but it’s harder than it sounds.  Can’t just change shoes again, that’ll be a dead giveaway.  How do you lose him?

You stop for a second, reaching into your bag to grab some water and stay hydrated.  Looking up once more at the beauty of the swirling colors peeking through the branches above you, you find yourself pausing after returning the bottle to your pack.  There are… an atrocious number of branches up there, and all of them are long and tangled and thick.  Sturdy.

You’ve… never climbed a tree before.

Without thinking much beyond that, you decide to bend your knees and jump, grabbing hold of one of the strong wooden tubes over your head and then swinging your legs up.  Ouch—the bark scrapes against your palms and you have to hold on tight with your thighs while you shimmy yourself upwards, but at least the wood is solid as fuck.  It takes you a minute or two, but you’re eventually able to shuffle yourself around so you’re straddling the thick branch, and then you look out to see the large collection of them criss-crossing in every direction around you.

Oof, this is dangerous.  You know it even before you start.  The gaps leading to the ground are bigger and more numerous than your potential pathing forward, but the only thing that gives you reassurance is how thick the wood is—you’re almost certain the branches aren’t going to break as long as you’re careful.

Okay.  Shoes, these are too big for the kind of dexterity you’re going to need.  You take them off slowly, being extra careful not to drop them, and then exchange them with the better-fitting pair you bought earlier, making a mental note that the sandals and the larger shoes are the two you’ve already worn.  If your pursuer manages to catch on to the multiple footprint changes, your most recent ones should ideally just… disappear right there, shouldn’t they?

You grin, before struggling into a low crouch and looking around your wooden cage for a safe way forwards.

***

Headstart—11:37pm:

Water.

A blessing, and not because you’re thirsty.  You have clean water in your bag and decades of habits formed in the desert to ensure you’re taking breaks and drinking enough—what you need is a way to disguise your footprints once you get back on the ground again.  This was good; scuttling your way along thick and twisting branches for as long as you have was time-consuming and exhausting, but it allowed you to avoid touching the ground for at least a mile or so, which means he’ll have to comb that entire radius to look for your drop.

And it was fun.

You even found yourself giggling as you ducked and scooted, ignoring the bark scraping your skin and your panting breaths, the way your face got sweaty and hot.  You had to do some brave maneuvers at tricky spots—jumping, balancing, hugging—but it almost just felt like an exciting little obstacle course for you and you’re honestly having a fucking blast right now.

Water, though.  Water is an unexpected beauty, even more than you’ve always considered it to be.  Water is an eroder.  Not only powerful enough to smooth down the rough edges of strong elements over time, but it will hide your footprints as soon as you create them and leave no indication that you were ever there.

Eventually you see it—a babbling stream cutting a considerably wide line through the trees.  You creep forward and hang tight to a branch above you to make sure you won’t fall, wiping the sweat on your brow with your other hand as you study the terrain.  The water is… a considerable distance below you, maybe about ten or so feet, and there’s quite a few branches on either side that extend and hang out over it.  You could probably find your way to the other side somehow, but something tells you to avoid the road beyond the forest if you can.  It leads to multiple places, it would be better to follow the stream until you can eventually merge with it later.

That means you’re… fuck.  You’re going to have to jump, aren’t you?

It’s the only way—you can’t leave footprints which means you’re going to need to land in the water.  The trees clear too far from the shoreline, so you can’t shimmy down the trunk of one for a shorter fall.  You’re going to have to climb out on one of those long branches until you’re suspended over the stream, and then you’re going to have to lower yourself as far as you can and then let go.  With your height already accounting for at least half the distance plus the length of your arms as you hang, you should only have to drop two or three feet before reaching water, and then maybe another two feet to the floor under it.  It looks forgiving enough—the moonlight shines and the stream is clear and you can mainly just see sand at the bottom, no sharp rocks or other potential dangers to be found.  This… this is doable.

Okay.  If you pull this off, you’re a badass.  If you don’t break any bones or seriously injure yourself in any way, you deserve some kind of commendation.  This is probably kiddie shit to Din, who keeps literal rockets strapped to his back and jumps out of ships flying thousands of feet above the ground, but this is a challenge for you and you’re feeling just excited enough to be up to it.

You’re eventually able to climb onto the thickest, sturdiest branch you can see that happens to hang over the water, straddling it and beginning to scoot.  Your thighs are killing you at this point but you’re holding deathly tight to the wood, your movements becoming more and more cautious the further away from the trunk you get.

You’re directly above the water now, but you need to go out a little further.  Aim for right in the middle so you don’t accidentally leave any tracks or prints on the shoreline if you need to catch yourself.  The unfamiliar wood in this forest is admittedly sturdy, but the branch begins to subtly sag with your weight as you keep slowly scooting forward, and you’re just about to the correct spot when—

Day 1–12:00am:

“Sweet girl.”

—You nearly fucking fall.

“Maker,” you gasp, suddenly scrambling to catch yourself on the branch before you can plummet.  It creaks and groans under your weight but supports you nonetheless, and when you’re one hundred percent certain it isn’t going to break, you jerk your head down to the communicator and see that it’s midnight, on the dot.

Shit.

Your heart slams against your ribs and your arms shake with adrenaline while you study it for just a moment longer, trying to calm the fuck down.

“Hey,” Din’s voice comes sharply from your wrist, crackling and tinny through the comm, nearly scaring you again.  “Answer me.”

You don’t want to sacrifice your grip right now, but you have no doubt he’ll fly the Crest out to you if you don’t respond.  So you quickly let go to press a button on the front face and then latch onto the branch tight once more, raising your voice because you can’t risk bringing your wrist up to your mouth to speak.  You hope he’ll be able to hear without the microphone picking up the sound of the stream below.  “Uh.  Ahem.  Hello.  Yes?”

“You’re too quiet,” Din’s disembodied voice immediately informs you.  “Or something on your side is too loud.  There’s an earpiece built into the side of the communicator, take it out and use it instead.”

You study the wrist brace without moving, until you finally see what he’s talking about.  It’s a small, wireless piece of machinery hidden on the left side of the electronic display, and you quickly pop it out and stuff it into your ear just in time to hear the sound of hydraulics clanging through the speaker as you clutch the branch again.  You’d know that sound anywhere, it’s the ramp of the hull closing.

“Are you already on the move?”  You ask him incredulously, your thighs starting to go numb with how deathly tight you’ve been squeezing this tree.

“Can’t sleep,” Din murmurs, sounding so much closer and deeper than before.  Does he have his earpiece on under the helmet or something?  Stars, is that why his voice sounds that good?  It’s like it’s coming from inside your own head, bassy and rough.  “Ready or not.”

You huff, your tummy going warm.  Of course he can’t sleep, of course he’s going to look for you as soon as he’s allowed to.  If he waited until morning, you’d probably be slightly offended.  You try to slow your heart rate into something acceptable, but being this far above water and hearing his baritone murmur directly in your ear make it difficult.  “But I’m… sleepy.”

“You’re always sleepy,” he tells you, and though you can’t actually hear him walking, the sound of his footsteps shake through his voice just slightly as he speaks.

“Hang on,” you huff, ducking your head to drag it against your shoulder, keeping the sweat from your eyes without using your hands, “you’re gonna make me stay up all night just because you do?  This isn’t fair—”

“Fair wasn’t part of the rules.”

Well.  Fair.

Stars, you can’t stay here.  You don’t know how long he wants to check-in for, but you’re also not confident with this branch’s ability to hold you for an extended time when you’re this far out from the trunk.  You need to get in that stream one way or another, but now that he’s here, you have an extra problem.  Din is going to hear you no matter what.

“Um.  Can you give me a second?”  You ask him, glancing around to make sure there’s no better way of doing this.  Nope, you realize very quickly—this is the best idea you’ve got, and you don’t really know what that says about the quality of all your other ideas.

“What?”  Din grunts shortly, but you just clear your throat.

“I need to… mute myself.  Give me like… five minutes.”

“What are you talking abou—”

“You of all people cannot be upset about asking for five minutes of quiet,” you return testily, looking down at the distance to the stream once more.  That’s a long way.  You… you can’t swim obviously, but again, the water doesn’t look too deep.  Just a couple feet likely, shouldn’t go past your knees.

It’s fitting that he doesn’t say anything, which you eventually take as disgruntled acceptance, so you quickly press the proper button on your wrist to silence the mic and then take a few deep breaths.  You have a time limit now, you have to do this.

With incredible patience and precision, you eventually slide until you’re clutching the branch upside down like an only slightly quicker and less coordinated sloth, before slowly dropping your legs and hanging over the water.

It’s… admittedly a bit further down than you anticipated, or maybe that’s just you making things worse than they actually are, but you’re committed at this point and there’s no going back.

You close your eyes, count to three, and then you let go.

The sandy floor meets your feet with considerable force and you make a hell of a splash doing it, nearly falling but just barely managing to keep yourself balanced and upright at the last second.  The water is cool and comes up just over your knees, your backpack miraculously didn’t get wet and all your limbs remain shaky but unbroken.

Okay.  Okay, fucking success.  It feels… thrilling, accomplishing a dangerous feat, and you quickly let out a loud whoop before clearing your throat, trying to sound normal as you press a button on the communicator’s face once more.

“Mando?”  You ask, slightly out of breath.  “Sorry about that, I’m back.”

Okay, now which way do you go?  Downstream seems like the easier path after getting in so much unexpected exercise, so that’s the one you go with.  As soon as you lift your foot from the sand bed, you watch your footprint almost immediately disappear through the moonlit water, and you bite your lip at just how well everything turned out for you.

After a moment though, you realize he hasn’t answered you.  You look down at the communicator again to make sure you pressed the right thing.  “Hello?  Shiny?”

“Did you trade shoes with someone?”  Din’s voice suddenly comes through the earpiece, sounding absolutely incredulous.

“Shit,” you tell him, trying not to smile.  “Hoped that was gonna buy me more time.”

“It… might’ve, if you kept walking in the same direction as they were,” he informs you after a moment.  “Your shoes went south, but this other pair got all the way out here just to turn back around again?  Good idea, but the execution needs work.”

Maker, he’s smart.  It was the first attempt at a footprint change so you weren’t thinking much beyond tricking the tracking mechanism in his helmet, you ignored his logic completely.  Essentially, the exact opposite of what he told you to do.  You like to think you’re getting better at it by this point, thinking beyond just the original exchange, and you’re hoping you’ll be able to trick him with at least one of the other fifty times you changed shoes today.  You’ll have to see tomorrow night, if you can make it that long.

Also, the road you were on apparently goes north-south, that’s important information you make sure to take note of.  The man in Osiruu said Devain and Nariss are to the east, and that Sijua and G’ila are westward, right?  Remembering that you thought south was west earlier, you do some quick calculating and immediately come to a stop in the moving water as soon as you figure out your positioning, turning around and walking upstream instead.

You want to go to Nariss.  The capital, and the biggest city in walking distance.  Smart quarry go to populated places, places that make it nearly impossible to find people.

“Alright.  Mando: one, Me: zero,” you finally acknowledge, swinging your backpack around and unzipping it to dig inside for another piece of fruit.  You’ve been hungry for hours but had to use both hands to stay safe and far above the ground, it’s the perfect time to eat.  “How’s the baby?  Behaving himself?”

“He kept trying to follow you after you left,” comes Din’s response, and you stop with just your teeth piercing the flesh, wondering if you heard him right.  You actually open your jaw and pull the fruit away with just a bite mark in it.

“You’re joking.”  No fucking way, not that little demon.

“Wish I was,” he tells you solemnly.  “Made a fuss, tried to open the ramp a few times.  Didn’t cause any trouble after, just… pouted.”

That’s… that’s exactly how he responded the very first time Din left the kid on the ship with you instead of bringing him along.  He threw a fit, tried to ditch you for his dad multiple times, and then ultimately just looked cute and mopey with his limp ears until Din came back.  Do you think it’s just him rebelling against change?  That has to be it, right?

“He better not be giving you any hints about where I am,” you warn his father.  “I’d tell you to put him on but I don’t want the earpiece getting lost forever.”

You hear it.  The softest laugh—barely a breath, coming after years of learning to make it just quiet enough not to be registered by the helmet.  It gets picked up by the communicator in all its understated beauty when normally it’d be silent, and it’s just jarring enough to make you careless.

On your next step, you accidentally lift your foot too high and make a splash, and you already know you fucked up before he can say a single word.

“What’s that sound?”

You immediately stop moving, allowing the cool water to move as silently as possible past your stationary knees.  Shit.  “Uh.  What sound?”

You think he purposefully doesn’t say anything.  Probably because it feels a little like cheating, doesn’t it?  It’s to your disadvantage, having him be able to catch hints from your environment when he’s the one who made check-ins mandatory, but then again… how smart do you think he is?  Something tells you that he might not need to track you at all—what are the chances he stumbles upon this little stream and just naturally assumes you were clever enough to use it to hide your trail?  Did you waste time trying to engineer a vanishing act when it’s not going to matter regardless?

Oh well, too late now.  You quickly decide to change the subject.

“You should try the big purple fruit that one vendor sells when you get into Osiruu, by the way,” you tell him pleasantly, taking a big chomp out of it and then letting out an extended hum of delight that only really fucking good food or sex causes a person to make.  “I’m eating one right now, it’s so good.  Be the best thing you’ve ever tasted.”

“Mm.  Doubt it,”  immediately comes his low response.  Fucking immediately.

“Mando,” you gasp, scandalized and giddy enough that juice dribbles down your chin a bit.

“Are you having fun?”  Din asks, instead of pushing the conversation any further in that direction.  You don’t know if you’re thankful or disappointed with how quickly he decided to abort, but you take a moment to consider his question while swallowing and wiping your mouth.  Not the answer, you know the answer—but why he bothered to ask.  Did he know you were going to enjoy yourself as much as you have?  Your only possible lament is how you’re talking to him through a communicator instead of having him next to you.

“I am,” you say warmly.  “Be… be better if you were here, though.”

“Give me your coordinates,” Din proposes, and his voice is just low and rumbly enough to make you pause.

You’re really, really proud of yourself for only considering it for a few seconds before scoffing.  “Psh.  Nice try.”

“Was worth a shot,” he sighs through the earpiece, and you smile, taking another bite of fruit.

“Ask me again tomorrow,” you offer, grinning at the implication.

“We’ll see,” you hear him return, and though his tone doesn’t really change, you know he’s probably rolling his eyes.  He won’t have to ask for your coordinates because he’ll already be there, but it’s nice to pretend for a while longer.

And then you both walk all through the night, sharing casual banter with each other for hours.  He never once implies he wants to disconnect, even when you hit him with more nonsensical questions—

“What’s your favorite food?”  (“I don’t have one.”)

“Okay, well what about just a food that you like?”  (“I don’t like food that much.”)

“What do you mean?  Everyone loves food.”  (“Not me.”)

“Alright, well um.  What’s your favorite color, then?”  (“I don’t have one, either.”)

“Come on, you must have some kind of color you like.”  (“What’s your favorite color?”)

“…Brown.”  (“Then that’s my favorite, too.”)

—until the sun rises and you both say your goodbyes.

***

Day 1–6:15am:

You resolve to waiting until you see another person to allow your feet to touch dry land, figuring the longer you stay untraceable, the better off you’ll be.  Your toes are wrinkly and your pantlegs and shoes have been drenched for hours, but then you finally spot a few fishermen standing upstream with their backs to you, speaking to each other in the dawning light.  Two look to be full-grown, but there’s a smaller one in the middle, maybe a teenage boy, and you pause for a second, looking at the riverbank next to them.  All their valuables—water, food, bait, extra rods, but also… their shoes.

Quietly, you reach into your backpack and remove the pair of men’s shoes you bought earlier.  The ones closest to you on the shore seem to be the smallest, so you sneak over as silent as possible and rapidly make an exchange, fitting the new ones on your wet feet before allowing yourself to touch dry land and then speed walking away.

The ones you left him are newer and roughly the same size anyways—yikes, maybe slightly smaller now that you’re thinking about it—but at least you have a back pathing.  If that kid decides to take your offering and the shoes fit, Din will follow him, and if he decides to go barefoot instead, he should still follow him, right?  You’re not really aiming to trick him outright, mostly you just want him to waste more and more time.  This likely wouldn’t work if there wasn’t a time limit attached to this hunt, but you’re going to do everything you can to disappear while he’s still far enough behind you.

***

Day 1–7:06am:

You get to Devain remarkably quickly after finding the correct road.  The pit stop is much bigger than Osiruu, big enough to call an actual town instead of just a settlement, but still not large enough to feel concealed.  You want a city.  This place at least has cars and ships moving about and overhead respectively, but you’re looking for somewhere with lines.  Somewhere that feels as cramped and busy as possible.

Still, you find a restroom to use and then decide to grab some more food for your trip, happily spotting your new favorite purple fruit in one of the shop windows.  As you’re reaching out to hand the storekeeper the appropriate amount of credits, Din’s gruff voice comes through the earpiece so suddenly that you jump, nearly dropping them all on the counter.  “Hey.”

“Holy shit, what?”  You gasp, earning a confused look from the lady in front of you.  You quickly shake your head at her and mouth an apology while Din grumbles in vexation.

“You were supposed to stay on foot.”

Ah.  So he got to the bus, then.  Okay.

“Oh,” you answer ambiguously, exchanging the money for your bag of food and giving her a polite smile.  Din stays completely mute while you grab your snack, stuffing the rest of the goods in your backpack and then turning to leave—mute for so long that you have to double check you didn’t accidentally do it yourself.

“…Smart girl,” you finally hear him say.  Quietly muttered under his breath, half proud of you and half frustrated for making his job more difficult.  “Which one of these is yours then?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” you announce, before taking a large bite as you leave the establishment and talking with your mouth full.  “You really gotta try the purple fruit, it’s great.”

The communicator abruptly clicks to silence on his end without anything else and you laugh so unexpectedly that a few pieces of it fly out of your mouth.

***

Day 1–1:32pm:

Somewhere miles away from you, Din jerks to a halt in the middle of a forest.

He looks around the dirt floor, walks a few paces and hears the kid coo gently from his cradle.  Behind the visor, the red footprints he’s circling are the last ones around for hundreds of meters, as far as his display can read.

His helmet slowly tilts upwards, and follows the endless maze of thick branches overhead.

With the beskar hiding his face, no one can see the way he slowly breaks into a beautiful grin.

***

Day 1–9:51pm:

Oh.  Oh stars, you’re tired.

You’ve been walking all day without really seeing anything, not having any place to disguise your tracks in the wide open plains.  You could’ve stuck to the road, but you started to feel the exhaustion creep in during the early afternoon and you wanted to be far away from other travelers and potential danger if you needed to rest.  You knew this would be a long journey when you left Devain earlier—over a day’s walk, a group of children told you—you even tried skipping or jogging a bit to see if that would inspire more energy in you, but it didn’t help much.

The large cup of caf you bought while in town was drained hours ago and it didn’t help much either, probably because your exhaustion is more physical and not necessarily mental.  It just felt like a sweet warm drink to sip before you go to sleep, that’s how much the caf helped.  Still, you kept walking, kept moving forward even as you squinted in the setting sun, your feet aching from traveling for this long wearing unfamiliar shoes.  The last time you changed them was hours ago, pulling another bus maneuver but with an air shuttle instead.  Still, you don’t think it’ll be enough.  You don’t even know where Din is but you already feel like you’re losing ground just knowing that he’s the one in pursuit.

You feel it—the hair standing up on your neck, the tingles in your hands, the stirring of your tummy—whatever the incessant gogogo that your instincts happen to scream when you’re in first place but you know the person behind you is quickly closing in.  It’s day fucking one, it’s day one and you feel him in the wind as it brushes through your hair, you can’t even pause to rest because nobody knows better than you that he’s an absolute fucking machine when he wants to be.  The kid may have powers beyond that which can be explained by the laws of nature, but Din is a force all his own.  He drives you forward when everything inside you is telling you to stop.  He keeps you awake and determined when you just desperately need to rest.

But that only goes so far.  You’re bordering on two full days without sleep, and though you’d normally be able to suffer through, the constant movement is just brutal after being confined to a stationary ship for so long.

There’s a lone tree in the distance, you think.  It’s hard to see.  Not because it’s dark—well it is, just a bit darker tonight compared to last, but mostly because your eyelids have grown heavier and more burdensome than the bag around your shoulders.  That looks like a good place to just sit for a second, right?  Maybe eat some more food, try and wake yourself up?  Yeah, that’s a good idea, you’ll head towards the tree and just… sit…

***

Day 2–12:00am:

Completely dead to the galaxy and sitting on your ass with your back against rough bark, the comm clicks and Din’s voice comes through the earpiece.

“Wake up.”

It startles you enough to make you lurch forward and jerk your head around in a panic, looking for any flash of beskar so you can instantly break opposite to it.  You scramble on all fours to look around but you don’t see anything, not even behind the trunk when you crawl, and then you take a deep breath and use the bone of your wrists to rub your eyes vigorously after a moment, knowing your hands are filthy.  “Fuck, how’d you—”

“You’re always sleepy,” Din repeats, and you collapse back into the tree with an exhausted groan, not entertained but not even having the energy to get mad about it.

“I… I gotta sleep,” you tell him, already feeling your body let go of its tension and search for the darkness of unconsciousness once more.  “Shit.  How d’you… mm.  Stay awake all the time…”

“Sleep,” Din encourages, you can still hear him walking.  “You need rest.  I’ll see you soon.”

No—

“No,” you whine like a child, moaning and shoving yourself upright.  Maker, you’re trying to focus, but asking that of yourself is almost impossible right now.  Everything swims—you were dreaming, you think, but you can’t remember and it’s not important other than to emphasize how woozy you are.  Things still feel like a dream, somehow.

You think he can hear your struggling through the comm, because the sound of his footsteps pause.  “Go to sleep.”

“You go to sleep,” you tell him bluntly, giving your head a violent shake to try and wake you up.  You want to slap your own cheek but you don’t want him to hear it.  “I can’t sleep if you don’t.”

“I’ve have at least a couple more days in me before that happens,” Din murmurs, and you bet he knows exactly what the fuck he’s doing to you.  You start to slouch, hearing the voice he uses when he’s curled around your body in the darkness of the hull.  So warm, so gentle.  If you use your imagination, you can feel his fingers drawing slow circles on your back, the vibration of his low voice rumbling against your ear as you lay your head on his chest.  “If I hunt you the way I’d hunt a quarry, I’m going to find you before you wake up.”

“Then I’ll jus’ have to… not let tha’ happen,” you slur.  Even this close to unconsciousness, you try your best to throw in a misdirect.  “Already… paid for the bed an’ everything.”

“Sure you did.  You in another tree?”

You immediately frown even as your eyes drop closed, too tired to fight but still managing to sound upset.  “You makin’ fun of me?”  You ask him with a harumph.  Genuinely, you’re not smart enough to figure it out right now.

“Not hardly,” Din sighs, sounding… you don’t know.  Is that displeasure or not?  It’s not immediately clear.  Does it sound that way because you’re just dumb stupid right now?  Or because Din can’t actually decide how he feels about it?  “Lucky I heard water over the comm last night, I would’ve wasted hours in that forest.”

“Noooo,” you whine in response, trying to push yourself off the tree but tipping sideways in the process, “that’s not fair—”

“Fair wasn’t part of the rules,” he repeats himself again and… nope, you don’t even have the energy to snark something back.  You just grumble your best imitation of him while you do everything you can to heave yourself upright.  It’s pitiful, you lose your balance not even halfway through and just plop on the grass for a second and groan.

“Stop,” Din eventually orders through the earpiece, tired of it.  “What’s sixteen times itself?”

You’re loopy to the point where you don’t even question why he decided to ask you that.  You just furrow your brows for a second and try to think about it, before suddenly realizing you… don’t know, you can’t remember.  Multiplication tables and squares up to twenty are elementary to you, you know them by heart.  Sixteen times sixteen.  One forty-four.  No… no that doesn’t sound right, is that twelv—

You take way too long answering what would’ve been an immediate response two days ago.

“I’ll stop here for tonight,” Din tells you with a resolved sigh.  “I won’t move until you wake up.  Go to sleep.  You’re putting yourself in danger, you can’t even do the basics.”

Later, this moment will come back to you.  That problem isn’t basic, not many adults would be able to tell you very quickly that the answer is two fifty-six.  You don’t even think Din would.  You would, though.  On Naboo, you used rapidly applied trigonometry in your head to find his location, and that was barely two minutes after waking up.  You should know this.  And he knows you.

But for right now, you don’t pay it a single lick of attention.

“You promise?”  You ask quietly, voice incredibly small as your head tilts back towards the sky, already feeling yourself beginning to fall back into the darkness again.

“I promise,” he vows in return, gentle but a promise nonetheless.  He doesn’t have to do this.  You wouldn’t be able to keep going even if he didn’t offer up this temporary truce, but knowing he isn’t currently gaining ground on you makes the idea of sleep so much more welcoming, something you want to seek out instead of fight.

“Will you, um…” your expression furrows.  How do you say this?  You sigh, giving up before even trying to figure it out.  “I’m… not in a bed.  I’m outside.”

Din doesn’t say anything when you pause, and even through the haze wanting to take over, you know it’s going to sound needy.  You want him to stay.  Even in the midst of an adventure, you want him to stay, you want to hear him breathe as you rest, but there’s not really an integrous way to ask.

You don’t need to ask.

“I’ll keep the comm open and wake you when the sun rises,” comes his lulling baritone before you can elaborate anymore, enveloping you in comfort in this dreadfully uncomfortable bed of grass and dirt.  “Sleep, sweet girl.  I’m right here.”

***

Day 2–5:34am:

The sun shines over the hills and you lift your head up to squint your eyes at it, confused as fuck.  Looking down at your wrist to check the time in the warm rays, hands and clothes dirty from laying on the ground that long—you stay groggy and clueless for just a moment longer, before your heart lurches when you remember Din’s promise to you.

You open your mouth to address him but then catch yourself just in time.  Wait.  Don’t panic.  Listen.

Breathing.  Slow and relaxed through the earpiece, a rhythm now branded into your memory from months of nights spent in pitch black.  He’s… asleep.

Din is asleep?  Seriously?

You can count like… twice that this has happened, and one of those was because he got you to touch him just right after closing up a wound on his back, and his body couldn’t handle the strain and passed out.  You’re never awake when he’s asleep—you’re just not, it doesn’t happen.  Din… sleeps like it’s just a choice for him, he doesn’t ever really need it.  Almost like how he used to eat before he started sharing meals with you, he said he doesn’t even like food that much.  You think he just severed all of those things long ago, things that are basic fundamentals of survival and operated like a bounty droid that lost its voice box.  It’s… nice, feeling like you’re somehow giving back some of the things he lost.  Unintentionally encouraging him to find sleep again.  Making sure he eats more, listening to him speak.

You struggle to your feet as quietly as possible, hearing him continue to breathe slow and relaxed through the communicator.  This isn’t purposeful, you don’t think he actually allowed it.  He promised you, and Din doesn’t take shit back.  If he tells you he’ll do something and he doesn’t follow through, it’s either out of his control or a mistake, it’s never been purposeful.  He didn’t mean to fall asleep.

And, in other circumstances, you most definitely would not find some way to take advantage of this.  You’d let him sleep and do other things in the meantime—make some food for you and the kid, find something on the Crest that isn’t spotless and clean until it is, or just… lay there next to him until he woke up.  But… these circumstances are their own.  You have to capitalize now, this is your chance.  You passed out last night around… ten pm, you think it was, and then he promised to stop at midnight.  That means you have to walk at least two hours before he wakes up if you want to prevent any loss of ground—you don’t know where he stopped, he could be a few miles back even.

You have to find Nariss—you have to.  It’s your only option, if you keep trying to run, it’s just going to make it so much easier for him.  Now is the time to hide.  You know it hasn’t been long, it’s barely been two days since you first left the Crest but it feels like you’re already in endgame, already making moves in self-defense instead of actually planning your maneuvers ahead of time.

The capital should be half a day’s walk from here, then.  As long as you get there, you think you’ll be okay.

***

Day 2–8:28am:

Din’s groan suddenly comes through your ear.

You immediately stop, seeing a busy road in the distance and glad you haven’t quite made it there yet, before trying to disguise your voice as drowsy.  “Mm?”

“Shit,” he breathes, and you hear him get up, the sound of beskar moving as he grunts.

“Mpph,” you groan back, squinting your eyes to see if that’ll help sell the act.  “I thought you… Mando, fuck, y’said you’d wake me when the sun came up.”

“I… fell asleep,” he admits, voice rough with it, sounding just as confused as you felt earlier.

“You said you had days in you before that happened,” you murmur, taking a deep breath and stretching your arms up above your head.  Stars, your back hurts, how does he possibly manage to carry a fucking jet pack around all the time?

“Yeah, I…”  He pauses for a moment and you bite your lip, not liking the quiet as soon as you hear it.  “How long have you been up?”

Op.  Not good.  “Wha?”

He’s not falling for it.  “How long?”

How in Maker’s name?  This is impossible.  How can you hope to hide from him when you can’t even manage to hide the smallest fucking truth from him?  Can you salvage this somehow?  “…Like ten minutes.”

“Least a few hours, then,” he sighs, and you get ready to hit him with the same line he used when you complained about his leg-up, opening your mouth as soon as you hear him speak.  “That was smar—”

“Fair wasn’t part of—”

Oh.  Well.  Apparently you didn’t have a reason to feel shitty about deciding to haul ass while he was passed out even though you kind of ended up doing so anyways.  There was no agreement besides that he wouldn’t move until you woke up.  Reason is on your side, but it still feels a bit like you fucked him over.  Is that valid or are you just so used to being nice that putting yourself first feels like a wrong you’ve committed?

“Don’t feel bad,” Din tells you, and you hear a soft coo in the background.  It makes you smile the smallest bit, your shoulders relaxing even as they ache from carrying your pack around.  “You should feel bad about stealing that poor kid’s shoes, though.  He walked home barefoot.”

You smack your forehead.  “It was just….”

“Yeah,” he scoffs when you don’t finish your sentence, and you can’t keep back a giggle.  “Alright, I’m up now.  See you when you get here.”

And then the communicator clicks, and you’re…

Uh.  What the fuck was that?

No.  Nope, you’re not going to get played.  That was a brilliant attempt at fucking with you, but you’re not falling for it this time.  You’ve grown since that night on Canto Bight, you know him, he can’t just say shit to fuck with your head and then smile at your flailing response from under the helmet anymore.  You normally would stew in that last comment until it got to you, made you make a mistake most likely, but the more you think about it, the more certain you are that he has nothing.  He was just trying to see if you’ll abandon your entire plan just by implying he already knows it.  That’s beginner shit, you’re not falling for it.  Din wanted to leave the conversation with the upper-hand since you gained at least an hour of extra ground while he slept.  You’re certain of it.

***

Day 2–12:35pm:

Nariss is big.  Nowhere near the size of Coruscanti sectors of course, where billions of people are packed from surface to exosphere and require oxygen recirculation towers to breathe at the very top, but just slightly bigger than you expected.  It’s bustling and you haven’t even made it through the city gates yet—you’re approaching them and the large number of people waiting in line, seeing buildings stretch out for miles in front of you and grinning.  Yes, this will work nicely.

As you peek over shoulders in the sizable crowd, you see only two or three people allowing people to enter one at a time… is that a biometric scanner?

Oh.  That looks good and it also doesn’t look good at the same time.  If Din’s safety meant nothing to you, you’d have no trouble whatsoever getting in line and waiting to do a retinal scan, but you immediately pause and consider the potential consequences.

Your dumb ass almost weighs the option of clicking the communicator on and asking his opinion.  You’d give away your location in a heartbeat (if he doesn’t know it already) just because you’re worried he’d… what, exactly?  Stand in line for an hour, take his helmet off in front of a crowd of people, have the system ping his scan, and then hang out and wait for New Republic reinforcements to show?  You have to stop worrying about him.  He’s not a baby, he can handle himself and you need to stop considering the possibility of taking a loss just so he doesn’t have to, even if the self-destructive sentiment feels ingrained in your nature to do so.

So you wait in line, moving at a slow pace but at least moving.  While you’re standing there quietly, a man in front of you decides to strike up a conversation.  You don’t come from a place with an excess of people, but the ones in your sector were friendly and did this kind of thing often, so perhaps for that reason, you decide to chat.

“Do you have some place to stay?”  He asks at one point.  So far the conversation has revolved around him—every time he asks about you, you deflect.  He doesn’t need to know.  “Nariss isn’t kind to drifters.”

This catches your attention, though.  This is relevant.  “What does that mean?”

“It’s expensive?”  He scratches his blonde hair, giving you a soft smile.  “Food, housing, all of it is way out of my price-range.  I stay with my uncle and work overnights at the eastern docks.  It’s not much, but it’s enough to keep a roof over our heads.  We used to live in Gibrath, but then we moved to the city because he’s a good architect and they’re always expanding.  It’s nice, of course, but really expensive.”

He’s handsome, you think… in kind of a boyish, charming way.  Blonde hair, sparkly blue eyes.  He doesn’t look much older than you, and maybe in another lifetime you would’ve found him appealing, but… you like darker features, you think.  Someone a little less expressive.  This guy… talks a lot.

“I thought this moon was a safe world for people displaced by the Empire,” you offer, taking a step forward as the entire crowd shifts.

“Sanctuary II is,” he comments.  “The capital is safe, too—what, with all the orangies walking around,” he tilts his head to two jumpsuited guards trying to organize the glob of people so the line can move faster, rolling his eyes as if they’re some kind of joke.  “But not… welcoming, not if you’re looking for a place to settle.  You would’ve been better off in G’ila.”

“Is there anywhere you know that would take me for free?”  You ask.  You have quite a few credits left, but you don’t think it’s a good idea to stay in an inn.  It’ll be the first place Din checks.

“Are you a virgin?”  He returns, and you immediately pull back at the unexpected question, your heart thudding at the possibility of danger.  The man’s sandy eyebrows shoot up at your response and he quickly apologizes—“Heavens, I’m so sorry to ask like that!  It’s just… the only place I know is the Holy Keja Orphanage on the northern outskirts.  Their signs say they only house children and teenagers, but I’ve heard from other girls your age that they’ll accept any woman as long as they’ve stayed pure in the eyes of the Maker.”

“Oh,” you say after a moment, leaning sideways to see just a few people standing in front of him.  Good, this is almost over.  “Um.  Yep.  That’s me.”

He smiles at you once more, giving you a nod.  “When you get to the city, just go straight through.  It’s about a mile outside of the gates, no more than a day’s walk from this side of town.”

Okay, that’s… interesting.  You think about it while you thank him and begin to exchange polite goodbyes, moving up another step until he’s next in line.  That might actually be a good move.  Din could spend a long time in the city without ever finding you.  Smart quarry go to populated places, but… smarter quarry defy the expectations placed upon them, right?  He knows you’re smart, and even though you’re confident his “See you when you get here” was purely psychological fuckery, that also implies… at the very least, that he’s assuming there is a here to get to.  Meaning, he knows you’re not going into the wilderness to evade him.  He’s not going to comb the outskirts when there are so many places to hide within the city gates, with an entire perimeter of New Republic guards stationed around it.  Even if he does, the signs will say only children and teenagers—categories you do not fall into.

The unnamed man is soon ushered forward but you stop him quickly.  “Oh, by the way.  I doubt this will happen, but if a man in a big metal suit with a tiny green baby happen to ask you the same thing, please don’t tell him what you just told me.”

He furrows his eyebrows at you and cocks his head, but smiles and agrees nonetheless.

***

Day 2–5:43pm:

You have an idea.

You’ve been working on it all afternoon, but you were hit with it the second you were looking for another pair of shoes to buy and find a clever way of putting on.

The cheapest ones were ridiculously overpriced, blonde dude was right.  You blinked down at the tag and asked the salesman where the cheapest shoes in this part of town were, and then he just wrinkled his nose at you and shooed you out of the store.  Granted, you slept in dirt and spent two days walking—you bet you reek, but he didn’t have to be like that.

Though, the man’s displeasure with you had an upside.  You were holding a possible pair of pants and a shirt to buy when he threw you out, not yet having checked the atrocious pricetag on them, but it appeared as if he’d rather let you have them for free than rip them from your… admittedly, pretty filthy arms.  Oh well, you weren’t complaining.  Fancy clothes for free, score.

But now you’re here, and you have the best idea.  You don’t need to change shoes, not yet.  Why?  Because you’ve figured out how to turn your incessant detriment into an advantage.

You’re in the middle of downtown, you think, maybe just some random crowded square, and there’s an inn in front of you.  It’s fucking enormous, and you already know it’s gotta be incredibly expensive just looking at the sheer number of stories.  It’s an eyesore, it sticks out.  But that’s okay, because you’re only planning on staying for a night.

It’s also… right next to New Republic headquarters.  Or fuck, at least a station of some sort, because they’re swarming in and out of the constant crowd, passing by the valet doors.

At first you naturally wanted to steer away from the jumpsuits, since you know they’re bad news for Din, but then you remember what he said before you left.  I’m only telling you so that you’ll know your advantage and find a way to exploit it.  I can’t be seen by any officers, or they might arrest me.

It’s to your advantage, he said so himself.  Everything lines up perfectly—the street is bustling, the inn is well protected, it’s nice—it’s everything you’re looking for.

And there’s another upside, see.  An omnipresent, omniscient ghost in the form of a communicator clipped to your wrist right now.  If Din is always going to be able to predict you, he’s always going to know when you’re lying, always be able to read you… then you’ll just have to let him.

Let him know.  Let him know exactly where you are.  Right in the middle of the most populated street you’ve seen thus far, a constant barrage of people walking by and New Republic officers patrolling.  If you were planning on staying in the city, this would probably be your best option to hide.  He could waste days here if you’re smart about it.

The concierge doesn’t appear too pleased with your lack of cleanliness and neither do you, honestly, but at least he allows you to book a suite for the night.  It’s… not as bad as you were originally assuming, credits-wise, but it’s worth more than half your stash and you’re going to have to conserve from this point on.  It shouldn’t be too bad—your destination is a holy orphanage, you’re sure they’ll have some extra food and a bed for you even if it won’t be ideal.  Still, you think you’re going to enjoy some lavish experiences for once in your life before you go.

***

Day 2–11:54pm:

Alright, so this was the best idea ever.  This is the shit.

You’re leaning back against a fluffy stack of pillows, squeaky clean from an absolutely glorious bath and watching the flickering drama on the large holonet display in front of you.  You don’t have any idea what’s going on, as it’s being broadcast in Rodian, but you haven’t been able to change the frequency because it’s so fucking intense—somebody’s sister is their mother, you think?  No, that must be a mistranslation, right?

You’re also in a robe.  Yes, there is a motherfucking robe in here.  And… and slippers, it’s like a dream.  Do people normally wear slippers in bed?  You do.  Hell, maybe you should stay here, screw the credits and the chase.  This mattress is even better than the one on Naboo and you’re basking in the luxury after being outdoors for so long.

The lights are off other than that and you’ve opened the drapes wide, knowing you’re on something like the fifteenth floor and nobody would be able to see you anyways.  You just like being able to turn your head and look out at the sky.  Violent and periwinkle tonight.  You wonder if he’s looking, too.

Luckily, you snap yourself back out of it and glance down at the time on your communicator, quickly pressing a button on the remote to mute the Rodian show and then opening the line the moment the hour changes.

Day 3–12:00am:

“Hiya, Shiny,” you say before anything else, laying back and running a few fingers through your damp hair.  Your eyes close against the flickering light, taking a slow, relaxed breath.  Maker, this feels nice.

“You sound happy,” Din comments.  Astute, you feel happy.  Well… you’d obviously feel happier if he was here.  Your eyes flick over to the open bathroom door, still steamy from your bubble bath earlier, imagining him walking through it completely naked and then climbing over you on the covers.  You can only really picture it from the neck down—no, hang on… you can see his shaggy brown curls, that one spot on his forehead you know, how his facial hair would be dark and frame his mouth.  No face, though.  Missing just one fraction of him from your imagination, feeling incomplete but also somehow… complete in a way.

“I feel better after sleeping last night,” you tell him, purposefully leaving out the softness of the sheets underneath you, the sheer comfort of all this extravagance.  You don’t need it, you’ll never need it, but it feels nice to have for once.

“I do, too,” he replies quietly, and your eyes flutter closed.  You… miss him.  This mattress would feel softer with him next to you.  He’d probably be able to translate this show for you, even though you already know he’d fucking hate it.  You can imagine it—you with your eyes closed, him propped up on an elbow next to you and grumbling vague descriptions of the nonsense happening on screen just to hear your chuckles.  Adventures are great, but maybe they aren’t as great by yourself, you think.

“You should sleep tonight, too,” you encourage, but he scoffs.

“Not a chance,” Din mutters.  “Oh, before I forget, we need to charge the communicators today.”

“How am I supposed to do that?”  You ask him, glancing at all the multiple wireless charging outlets stationed around you.  “I’m in the middle of nowhere.”

He doesn’t even take a fucking second before responding.  “Good one.”

You grin up at the ceiling, warmth flooding you.  You love him.  Literally every single time, he just knows.  Your curiosity is too overwhelming after this happening so often.  Your plan to distract him relies on him being able to read you, but that doesn’t prevent you from wondering how he does it so accurately, time and time again.  “How do you know?”

“You slept outside last night,” he immediately tells you, like that should mean anything to you.

Does he… does he truly know you well enough to know how much your back and shoulders hurt today?  How much you were aching for a shower and clean clothes?  A bed to sleep on that isn’t dirt or metal?  You give into the accurate prediction with shameless honesty, not caring if he knows it’s the truth.

“This bed is soft,” you murmur gently, dragging your hand across the mattress next to you.  “You should be here.  I’d make you feel good.”

Admittedly, your comfort is making you a bit drowsy and you said it in the easiest way possible, but you didn’t necessarily mean it sexually.  Well… you sort of did—you’d make him feel so good in this bed—but what you meant was more… comforting.  He could take a bath, or a shower, and get all the grime off him.  He could feel clean and unburdened, take a break instead of constantly moving around.  The baby could have a whole bed to himself if he wanted, though you know he’d probably want to be on this one instead.  You could all look at the sky together.

Din is quiet for a little bit, before his voice comes back through the earpiece.  “Are you in an inn?”

“No,” you say, a little too quickly.  Perfect, that sounded just right for a lie.  You are lying, you absolutely are in an inn, the only difference is that you want him to catch on that it’s a lie, so… why does he take way too long before responding?

“Hm.”

What the fuck—why… how is it even physically possible?  He read you that deeply from one single word?  You’re not sure if he’s somehow psychic and figured the whole fucking thing out or if he just knows there’s something off, but it’s still enough to blow you away.

“Are you doing this on purpose?”  You blurt without thinking.

“Doing what?”  He grunts, sounding like he’s stepping over something, his breath changing intensity as he walks.

“If I look out this window right now, am I gonna see you standing out there just messing with me?”  You don’t even know what to believe anymore.  How do you beat this?  If you don’t want him to know the truth, he’ll figure it out, and if you do want him to know the truth, he’ll still figure it out.  His perception is unbelievable.

After a moment of silence, he murmurs gently through the comm.  “I thought you said you were in the middle of nowhere.”  It sounds like he’s smiling.

“I…”  your eyes shift around awkwardly, “am…”

Din lets out a deep sigh.  He’s right, that was bad, even for you.  “I found your bed a few hours ago,” he admits.  You close your eyes as you listen to him make his way closer to you, step by step.  “I’m nowhere near the city yet.  You have time to sleep.”

Your expression furrows and you frown.  “Why are you helping me?”

“Why do you want me to think you’re in an inn?”  He tosses back, and you huff.

“Because I’m trying to outsmart you but you make it really fucking difficult,” you grumble, not happy about him catching on so quick.

“You’ve also gained about four hours on me since we started.”  His voice is gruff.  You don’t know if he thinks it’s a good thing or a bad thing.  “You should give yourself more credit.  I thought I would’ve found you by now, never expected you to get all the way to Nariss.  It’s… not good for me.”

The honesty creeping in makes you go soft.  It makes you want to reciprocate, even if it’s dumb and you haven’t thought it all the way through.  “Wanna know a secret?”

“Tell me.”  His voice is a bed all its own, deep and gentle and safe.

You say it before you lose the nerve.  “I might just turn around and walk back.”

His footsteps stop and you hear a small sound in the background, a quiet little baby noise that suddenly makes your heart ache.  You’re comfortable but incredibly aware of how alone you are.  People pass by on the streets below, cars and hoverbikes honk in the distance and you’re by yourself.  For the first time in over a year, like you have been for years, you’re by yourself.

“Sweet girl,” Din sighs, and all of a sudden… you can feel his arms around you with it.  You feel so… known, somehow.  Every sentiment you could’ve possibly given in your last sentence, he relays his understanding back with his.  He makes you feel loved with it.  “Never wants to run.”

You don’t say anything, because you suddenly realize you’re totally fucking whipped, up down and sideways for his metal ass and the little floating grimlin that follows him around, and you would throw away the fifth quarry, adventure, the sky—literally everything if you could be with the both of them right now.

But again.  You don’t have to say anything, he already knows.  “Give me your coordinates.”

Your eyes pop open and you bite your lip.  Oh, stars.  You hate that you do genuinely consider it.  He could be here, and very soon.  With the jet pack, both of them could be here in less than an hour, probably.  He could take a shower.  Watch these stupid shows with you all night without needing to be on the move, help you build a bed of pillows for the kid on top of this one.  You could be with both of them again, even if it’s only for a little while.

“Ask me again tomorrow,” you finally whisper, looking down at the soft white fabric of your robe, the way one of your slippers is falling off your foot as the holonet program continues to play on mute.

Din’s footsteps eventually start up again, and you both relax in silence together.  You, squinting at the screen because your eyes are getting heavy; him, continuing to travel step by step and gain ground on you.  Let him come.  You’ll be long gone by the time he even makes it to the gates.

It’s been about ten minutes of shared, quiet existence before you hear him bite into something and chew, and your face suddenly lights up.

“Are you eating the purple fruit?”  You ask, your slipper falling off with excitement.  You don’t know why, but it’s like… you’re stoked for him.  Just as proud of him for doing normal things as he does when you step out of your own comfort zone.  You like to think you’re both better that way.  Balanced.

“Mm,” Din replies with his mouth full, and you grin down at your bare legs peeking through the robe while he swallows.

“Is it not the best thing you’ve ever tasted?”  Your voice goes a little breathless with it, and you hear his footsteps stop once more.

“Close,” Din murmurs lowly, sending a small shudder through you.  It suddenly feels a bit warm in here, doesn’t it?  This morning was one of the rare times you were awake while he was asleep… it’s almost always the other way around, and just from the implication in his tone, you’re reminded of the thing he likes doing most when you’re resting.  Maybe he’ll let you do it to him, next time around.  The thought gets you hot enough to warrant the other slipper falling to the floor.

“You’re alone, right?”  You whisper, knowing he must’ve pulled the helmet up to take a bite of the fruit.  He must still be following your path through the hillside, then, not yet reaching the road.

“The kid is awake,” Din tells you, sounding like he’s trying to stop everything before anything starts.  His words are short and clear in their meaning, but…

This has a very small chance of success, you already know.  “…Do you want to—”

“No,” he responds quickly, already way ahead of you.  “We can’t.”

Something in his voice… you don’t know, there’s just something there that makes you feel just a little reckless.  Should you push it?  You’re by yourself in this suite, what can go wrong?

“You can’t,” you correct him quietly, shifting around on the bed just a bit and biting your lip.  It’s a thrill—being able to tease him without having him in front of you, drive him crazy knowing you’re just out of his reach.  “But I can do whatever I want, can’t I?”

There’s a pause, a tense and knowing silence suspended between you before he eventually speaks.

“I’d be real careful,” Din mutters low in warning, but what is he gonna do?

“What are you gonna do?”  You whisper to him devilishly.  Quiet and breathy, beginning to snake your hand down.  Stars, your heart is already pounding.  You’d only likely mouth off like this in person just to see how hard he’d fuck you, but this feels extra dangerous for some reason.  He’s stuck, he can’t do anything about it right now, and you know it’s playing with fire.  “You could hang up if you don’t want to hear me.  Or you could find me before I’m finished.  Come make me stop.”

Din doesn’t say anything but he very much does not hang up, nor does he come busting into your room like you imagine he’d like to.  The sheer fact that your door is still closed and locked tells you for sure that he isn’t just hanging out in the hallway, just letting you have your fun.

You start pressing your fingers against your robe at the apex of your thighs, humming at how nice the pressure feels.  You don’t even spread your legs or push the fabric away, you just sigh into it and wiggle your hips a bit, pressing hard against your clit and listening to him breathe.

“Do you want to listen?”  You ask quietly after a moment, and Din still doesn’t respond.  Likely because there’s not a real answer, both yes and no would imply the wrong thing.  “I’ll talk.”

Still, nothing from him.  Dead silence through the comm.  You’re starting to understand.  For two days, you’ve felt like he could read your every thought just by the cadence of your voice.  He’s staying quiet so you can’t even attempt to do the same to him—if he doesn’t talk, you can’t find a weakness and pounce on it, you can’t feel any more confident or reassured about your own ability to read him.

You’ll just have to push a little harder, then.

“Hm.  If only this fancy communicator could…” you pause to look down at your wrist for a second, studying the menu.  You don’t think you’ve ever really looked at it, you never had the time.

Din’s growl is sudden and sharp through the earpiece.  “No, don’t even think—”

“Ah,” you smile, tapping the face and immediately finding the correct screen.  “Take pictures.”

He’s deadly quiet for a moment, and you bite your lip with excitement.  When he does speak, his voice is a pure threat, chilling you to the bone as much as it burns deep in your tummy.  “…You wouldn’t.”

Ignoring him, you suddenly locate a menu option that sounds phenomenal right now.  “Oh shit, does this holocall?  Or is it a video option?”

“Holo,” he says very seriously while you study the lack of complexity of the built-in camera in skepticism, “and the kid is awake, so you can’t—”

“Oh, it’s definitely a video,” you unclip it from your wrist and he curses as you sit up, and then you press a button and wait impatiently for him.  “Pick up.”

Din takes forever before responding, and you hear the continuous beeps as it attempts to connect, before his quiet baritone rumbles in your ear.  “What if I don’t?”

You feel your mouth pull down at the corners, not so much frowning as you are dubious.  He’s going to turn down the opportunity to see you and your surroundings when his whole goal is locating you?  Really?

“You sure?”  You ask softly, raising an eyebrow.  “You’d get to see me, where I am.  What I’m…” your eyes dip down to the loose robe riding your curves, your skin glowing against the white fabric, “…wearing.”

The beeps continue on for a few more seconds, until they finally stop.  You frown down at the black screen of the communicator, not seeing anything at all.  Did he decline the transmission request?  No… there’s a little red light next to the small lens that wasn’t there before.  Why can’t you see him?

“Why can’t I see you?”  You ask.  You want to look at him looking at you, you don’t want to always be stuck on the other side of a one-way mirror.

“I… have it linked to my helmet, but it only has a front-facing camera,” Din tells you after a moment, and he sounds… slightly out of breath.  “Easier to see, the watch is useless now besides the controls.”

Wait, does that mean you’re… being shown on the inner-display of his helmet instead of his wrist?  Right in front of his eyes, as if he were actually here with you?

“Nobody can see me but you?”  You clarify, and when he doesn’t respond, you bite your lip and lean back into the pillows.  You lift the watch up slightly, extending your arm out until you can get the angle as wide as possible.  “Can you see… this?”  You ask softly, before hooking your fingers in the collar of your white robe and slowly pulling it open for him.

“Where are you?”  Din asks instead, and you hear his footsteps through the earpiece, as if he’s walking away from something very quickly.

You don’t answer him, parting the soft fabric until your breasts are completely exposed and you sigh, closing your eyes and snuggling back into the pillows once more.  “I’ll tell you where I am if you keep watching me.”

“Why?”  Din grits in frustration, coming back around to the same dangerous question he had earlier.  “Why would you do that?”

“I don’t know.”  You slowly tilt the camera down until you can spread your legs and the robe falls open with the movement, letting him see your pussy peeking through in the flickering light of the muted screen in front of your bed.  “Can you see that?”

“Yeah,” he says shakily on the end of a breath, and you feel yourself get wet.  Fuck, he sounds so fucking tempted, the sight making his voice come without any of the self-assuredness as it usually has, but… he could also just be saying that.  How do you know he’s telling you the truth?

“What am I doing?”  You test him, lifting your knee just the slightest bit so you really give him something to look at.

“Spreading your legs for a camera,” Din responds without hesitation, voice scraping against your ear, making you shiver and your nipples harden.  Fuck, the way he says it, like it’s wrong and bad even though he’s the only one who can see or hear you do it… it makes you feel even more naughty and emboldened.

You bite your lip and reach your hand down to spread your lips for him, too, hearing his breath immediately catch on the other end.  Already your pussy makes your fingers slick against your soft skin, the sash of your robe still holding the fabric together on your body but also loose enough to allow it to part in the right places and reveal everything you want him to see.

“I am in an inn,” you whisper teasingly, letting your finger drop to brush against your clit and then sighing in soft delight.  Oh stars, that feels nice, it feels so good to treat yourself after being completely nomadic for two days, getting to be clean and soft and comfortable while you feel this pleasure, and Din’s voice growls through your communicator like you’re doing something painful to him.

“Fuck,” his breathing picks up while you begin circling your clit.  “Where?”

“Nariss,” comes your quiet moan, turning your head on the pillow to blink slowly at the camera.  Wanting him to see your eyes as well as your finger slowly dip into where you’re the hottest, caressing the sensitive skin there knowing he’s watching.

“Where in Nariss?”  Din’s voice is as pleading as it is sharp, desperately trying to keep either you or himself on track.

“I don’t know,” you say again.  Truthfully, you don’t—you don’t know the cross streets, you don’t know the part of town, you don’t know much of anything at all besides physical descriptors.  You quickly move the camera to the side as far as you can hold it and let him see you from a different angle with the window as a backdrop.  “But the window is open.  And there are lots of people outside.”

“Can they see you?”  Din immediately challenges.  Of course they can’t, you’re fifteen stories up and the room is darker than it is outside with all the city lights and swirling colors of the sky, but you suppose he doesn’t know that.  You think he just needs to relax—if this is what he’s always like during hunts, you now know exactly why he comes back to you all riled up and tense.

“I don’t know,” you murmur back, starting to rub your clit a little faster, trying to make it feel like him.  It doesn’t—your fingers aren’t large or strong enough to give you those perfect circles; you just feel like you’re meandering yourself towards ecstasy instead of picking you up and hauling your ass there like he does, but it’s okay.  Hearing Din’s rough breathing come through the earpiece, knowing his hands are probably clenched tight into fists, wondering if he’s hard yet… all of it culminates into a power trip unlike any you’ve experienced recently.  It makes you bold, tells you to open your mouth.  “Does it matter?  I’d still let you fuck me against it if you were here.”

“Stop it,” comes his growl, but what is he gonna do?

Your leg lifts a little wider so you can slowly slide your fingers down and push two of them inside yourself, and Din swears as you moan, “Come find me.”

“Give me your coordinates—”

“Are you giving up?”  You offer breathlessly, lifting your eyebrows and your hips up slightly at the question, but you’re… not expecting the extended silence following.  You assumed a growled no would immediately come next, or just another empty threat said with enough force to make you tremble with excitement, but not… nothing.

The response makes you pause just for a second, easing your fingers out and dragging them across your thigh to clean some of the wetness off before extending your arm out towards the communicator.  Din stays quiet while you navigate through the menu with trembling fingers, eventually finding your coordinates and hovering over the unchecked share location box.

You wait with your lip bit, confident he knows what you’re doing and you don’t have to narrate or repeat yourself.  Fuck, you knew you were considering abandoning this entire adventure just to be next to him again, but you had no idea.  No fucking idea that it could ever be a thought in his own mind as well.  You… assumed he likes this, hunting is what he does for a living and he’s the one who conceived of the idea in the first place.  Is he just that aroused by you?  Or is there something more?

“No,” Din eventually murmurs, and you immediately navigate out of the menu so you don’t accidentally press anything catastrophic, before pulling your hand away from the communicator with a resolved hum and settling back into the pillows again.  Making sure to look directly into the lens even if your eyelids are heavy with heat and desire, you slowly lick your fingers and then reach down once more.

His deep, shaky breath is so telling.  Exhausted after all this, but still not hanging up, still doing his hardest to tough it out when he’s only miles away from you and has jets attached to his back.  You don’t want to drag it out but you also do, you want to be kind but something about Din makes you also want to be as formidable as possible.  You’ll never be able to threaten like he does, you’ll never have anyone cower just because you walked into the room, you’ll never be as powerful or strong as he is, but you can still put up a fucking fight against him in your own way.

You whimper softly, your breathing beginning to find a quicker pace as surely as your fingers do.  It begins to spark and build, a red hot flame being kindled by the knowledge that he’s as close as possible without actually being close, right here with you when he always seems so far away.

“Mando,” you whisper, though your expression pulls inwards just slightly because it… in a scenario as sensual and intimate as this, it almost doesn’t sound righ—

“Din,” he whispers back, so quiet you almost don’t hear it, like he almost doesn’t want to but has to anyways, and then you just start to fucking burn.

“D-Din,” you whisper instead, trying to keep your voice as quiet as possible through the rising swell.  He’ll be able to see it, you think.  The way your tummy and chest start to heave, how your body begins to brace for it—and yeah, Maker, he sees it, because his voice suddenly changes.

“Stop,” Din growls roughly, knowing exactly how you cum—knowing exactly what it looks like, the way it sounds in your breathing, what it tastes like, how it feels on the inside.  It’s been so long since you’ve touched bliss without him, months and months since you brought yourself to completion on the floor of the Crest by yourself, and though he’s rarely ever denied you, your own high on newfound control causes it to slip.  He barks your name and tells you to stop once more, but it’s too late.

“I’m gonna cum, Din,” you breathe out—

“Don’t—”

It tears through you, rapid and surging, and he snarls a curse, something loud snapping and thudding and… did he just punch something?  You can’t think, it’s delicious and hard as fuck and everything you needed after two days of near constant movement and thought with little rest, and you bite your lip to keep quiet but a pained whimper still shoves its way out of your tense vocal cords regardless.  It sounds like it hurts because it does hurt; the orgasm shatters your body into pieces and you’re left trembling by yourself on this soft bed, wishing he was with you on a metal one.

You sink into the mattress in the moments following, sluggish and exhausted and just conscious enough to keep the watch facing you.  You bet the camerawork was terrible, shaky at best, but you can’t find it in yourself to care right now.  You just lay there and listen to his harsh breathing while you work to slow your heart rate, reveling in the filthy little show you just gave him and wanting to finish it out properly.

“Come find me,” you breathe out once more, lazing soft and naked for him, blinking dazedly at the watch as you pan it over you.  Your thighs are still twitching and there’s a thin sheen of sweat clinging to you, but you drag a finger through your swollen lips and carefully wipe the wetness across one of your nipples.  “Clean me up.”

“Fuck,” Din suddenly spits through the earpiece, furious.  “You think—y-you think—”

“What?”  You hum, basking in the afterglow and so, so curious.  Truly, you’re dumb as fuck, you have no clue what you’re thinking, but if anybody would be able to tell you, it’s him.

There’s a moment where his breathing stops.  It’s completely silent on the line, before you hear another few heavy footsteps on his end pick up and then halt just as quickly.

“You think you can taunt me?”   He murmurs, dangerous and deadly quiet.  “Show me exactly where you are, disappear and then make me waste forever trying to get there?  You think that’s gonna work?”

Your eyebrow lifts, considering.  He… may or may not have predicted your strategy perfectly, but his insight has stopped surprising you by now.  “Maybe…”

“Maybe you shouldn’t fall asleep tonight.”

Ooh.  That one sends goosebumps down your arms, but you’ve gained four hours on top of a twelve hour headstart.  He can’t scare you with that tone, not when you’re still woozy with pleasure and he isn’t right in front of you.  Instead of wilting beneath the hard threat, you just blink gently at the communicator, finding strength in being the only one to get him this mad when he’s always so composed, this talkative when he barely says a word.  “Maybe I’ll just stay here then?”

“Maybe you wanted me to know you’re in an inn because you already found someplace to hide that isn’t one,” Din reasons very, very adeptly.  Stars, your heart subtly begins to pick up, your legs continuing to tremble as the small red light next to the lens stares you down.  “Can’t be planning to stay with someone you just met because you’d already be there, can’t be going to a hostel because you found the one city on this moon built for commerce and not aid.  Not staying in another inn, you can’t afford it—the view looks high up, that robe is expensive, and you already bought food and at least five pairs of shoes in two days.  I don’t think the place you found is even in Nariss.  You think you can outsmart me, sweet girl?”

The chill down your spine doesn’t reach your eyes, you won’t let it.  You just feel yourself smile, tilting your head at him and licking your lips while your finger brushes one of your nipples, but Din doesn’t accept your silence the way you’ve always accepted his.  He wants an answer from you, right now, and it’s clear in the dark rumble of his voice, the danger slowly brewing beyond what you originally planned for.

“Tell me,” he orders, unamused and leaving no room to disobey.  “How long do you think you can keep running?”

Your eyelashes flutter, suddenly deciding… why not?  What have you got to lose?  Nothing that you didn’t already go into this situation completely expecting to lose anyways.  What’s the worst he can do?  Find you?

You close your eyes, pinching one of your nipples and wondering if you might just go for another one since he’s still here.  “Ask me again tomorrow.”

But then, instead of immediately responding, you just hear Din’s footsteps suddenly pick up, faster than any pace you’ve been able to keep over the past few days.  You don’t think it sounds like a run necessarily, but you know that his legs and strides are far longer than yours and it’s probably pretty much equivalent to a run for you.  You hear the rhythm of your demise speeding up, coming closer and closer, and everything in you both fears it and welcomes it.

“We’ll see,” he tells you, and then the red light vanishes and your earpiece clicks to silence.

***

Day 3—2:23am:

Even though it takes you much longer to do so than it normally would on a bed so large and comfortable, after such an exciting interaction and not being used to flickering light when you try to sleep but wanting to experience the rarity anyways, you’re eventually able to pass out.

But, not even a few minutes into a restless dream, you turn over and accidentally knock your communicator off the wireless charging station on the side table.  It blinks with four percent battery life.

***

To be continued!!

[skellebonez]

With the prompt list, how about someone seeing MK with Monkie King with number 15?

Picking prompts back up with a nice dose of Dad Wukong! I needed some fluff! This is set in *shrug* post-season 2 because despite us only having 2 episodes so far I’m going to pretend season 2 wraps up just enough to give us a hook for a possible 3rd season but everyone is doing ok. For now. I just want everyone in the show to be safe and happy dang it!

Oh god, you’re just like your dad.

"Where to next?" MK asked, looking around the shopping district in excitement. It had taken him so long to convince Sun Wukong to actually join him on a day of just hanging out, outside of a couple short trips to the Anti-Gravity Arcade, and he wanted to cram as much into the day as humanly possible. "Video game store? Cheese tea stall? The new bakery, th-!?"

"Whoa, Bud, slow down!" Wukong eased with a smile. "We have all day. We can go wherever."

"And you’re sure you’re doing good?" Despite the Monkey King's soft tone, MK couldn't help but practically vibrate in equal parts excitement and worry. "There aren't too many people or anything?"

His concerns weren't unwarranted. Sun Wukong had been nearly completely isolated for centuries, company kept only with the monkeys of his mountain home and the odd outing into the world outside. And, of course, online correspondence with his lawyer after a time. Typically he was transformed in some way, a butterfly or bird or cat or something easy to blend in, and though he had made a couple short stops in a human disguise in the past. A quick drink here, a bun or fruit cup there. Nothing that required more than a quick transaction, however.

Now he was in the city, Wàn Qiān Chéng, in that human disguise and staying around. In jeans and a t-shirt and jacket (that MK was genuinely shocked to know he owned, until he realized that they were all branded Monkey King merchandise... including his jeans). Surrounded by people and cars and all manner of things the Monkey King would typically avoid. Despite the gradual introduction to being out and about MK was trying to ease him into, he couldn't help but worry that it would be overwhelming.

"Like I told you before, I'm doing fine!" Wukong put a hand in MK's hair, ruffling it gently with a soft smile.The sudden contact was... well, not that unusual actually. Nor was it unwelcome. The Monkey King always seemed to be a tactile person after all. "But, uh, now that I think about it I am getting kind of hungry. There was a little food stall pretty close by that I’ve been to a few times..."

“Oh, yeah!” MK exclaimed in glee, any place that his mentor frequented (however rarely) must be somewhere nice and he absolutely wanted to experience that! “Lead the way!”

Wukong laughed at MK’s exuberant response, smile softening as he indeed lead the way. “It’s, uh... actually the only place I’ve gone to for food when I’m checking in on you. So don’t be surprised, they’re going to recognize me.”

Ah, that made sense in MK’s mind. Had this been a few weeks ago MK might have been surprised to know that he was being checked in on, Heck, if this was before the Lunar New Year festival he would called anyone who told him a liar. Sun Wukong was not protective of him and he always left MK on his own because he trusted him!

And that last statement was very correct. Wukong did trust MK, more than enough. He knew he could handle just about anything that he would have gotten thrown at him. But not protective was a lie. Maybe it was Macaque, or maybe it was the Spider Queen, but after a while something in his mentor changed. He went from being aloof but helpful to being nearly non-existent (and when MK learned exactly what he had actually been doing he was not happy) and then “I’m just checking in, Bud, my dude, my student who I am not at all protective of what are you talking about” upon his return from his “vacation”.

Wukong trusted his student to handle himself. But that didn’t mean he didn’t worry about him now that the full extent of the danger he had put him in was known. And while some parts of it had been frustrating at times (he had been way too eager to stay at the Noodle Shop at first for Pigsy’s liking) it was kind of nice to have him around in just a casual way. Like when they watched the fireworks.

But beside that point, they finally arrived at the food stall. It was a street vendor, the booth decked out in bright colors and rows of food on offer, mostly...

“Baozi, should have known,” MK chuckled. The Monkey King didn’t make a lot of food at his home, but he made more than enough. Baozi was one of his favorites. “Well, they have got to be good if you keep coming back!”

“They’re not the only reason!” Wukong replied as they stepped up, the lady vendor doing a double take before smiling wide at him. “Hey!”

“Mr. Cheung!” She smiled wide, turning her full attention to the customers. “Well isn’t this a pleasant surprise, you’re a day early! Would you like your usual vegetarian order again?”

“Yes, please!” Wukong’s smile was wide, and if his tail had not been wrapped around his waist MK was certain it would have been swishing wildly. He’d clearly gained some kind of rapport with the vendor of this stall if they were on a “human disguise name” basis. “And, uh, something for my bud here too. Doesn’t have to be vegetarian for him though.”

“I’ll take whatever you think is tasty!” MK stated excitedly, nearly bouncing on his heels in the spot.

"Oh god, you’re just like your dad," the vendor laughed out with a smile as she turned away from them, and Wukong froze beside MK in response.

MK froze in response.

The Monkie Kid was almost certain he had never seen his mentor go this still. Ever.

" Oh no, he's n-"

"He is, huh!? Peach doesn't fall far from the tree!" Wukong laughed almost giddily and almost excessively loud, suddenly wrapping an arm around MK's shoulder and reaching around with his other arm to ruffle his hair once again. “He’s kind of embarrassed anytime someone points that out.”

MK could hear the vendor chuckling and responding with something else, but he couldn’t really understand it as he mulled over what Sun Wukong had just said.

“He is, huh!?”

He didn’t deny the vendor’s assumption at all. He just... went with it. Sun Wukong... just went with someone assuming MK was his son...

He barely paid attention when they were handed their food, the vendor insisting that since he was such a loyal customer that it was free of charge for finally introducing his son to her. Wukong did not deny it again, making pleasant conversation for a short while before they headed off. Wukong’s free hand was firm on his back as he led him away.

“Bud?” Wukong said once they were out of earshot, his tone oddly soft and uncertain for someone of his status. “That uh... I mean... you see... I wasn’t expecting her to just...”

“Have you been bragging about me like I’m your kid to a street vendor every time to check up on me?” MK asked softly, unable to keep the hopeful tone out of his voice.

“... maybe?”

“... you adopted me and you didn’t tell me?” MK asked with half joking offense in his tone, pointing his baozi at his mentor. He couldn’t keep the smile off his face as he said it.

And it seemed that somehow the combination of the way he said that and his exuberant expression drove the Monkey King into a fit of laughter that drew the attention of many passersby.

(The baozi were, as expected of a place that Sun Wukong would frequent, some of the best that MK had ever tasted in his life. Though, perhaps, they were made all the tastier knowing that he was eating them with someone who he had long secretly considered a father figure to him who had seemingly adopted him without meaning to.)

[hanibalistic]

#758A87 | LEE JENO.

genre | fluff, domestic au, platonic love

word count | 1652

warning | none​

note | i am back to advocate for peeling oranges for each other. also, yes, i may be writing a little nct but don’t count on it.

the way jeno kicked off his shoes and begrudgingly walked past you to go to his room told you that he was rejected.

there was this girl who he has been going on and on about for a while now. he kept it to himself fairly well in the earlier stages of his crush, but you caught on anyway after noticing the cues he dropped here and there—smiling at his phone, mentioning her name in and out of conversations, and mostly jaemin's constant teasing. after he came clean to you about his occupied affection, he fully allowed himself to express how ever-growing his feelings were.

although there were times when you felt an overwhelming urge to shut him up (for someone who talks so little, jeno sure talks a lot in the comfort of your shared apartment), ultimately you were happy to see that he has a reason to be so giddy and happy all the time. she makes him talk like nobody can, she makes him beam and coo, and you were grateful that this unknown girl could bring the best out of your friend.

occasionally, though, when you watch the way his eyes light up in the mention of the girl, you would feel a cold breeze of loneliness for the absence of a companion of your own. you were not in love, and neither was anyone in love with you, and there was a deep hollowness in the absence of affection, whether one-sided or reciprocated, that made you feel an unexplainable desperation to find love without being in need of it.

you turned away from your laptop that you set on the coffee table when you heard footsteps trailing out to the living room. water still dripped past his skin, showing that he didn't bother to dry himself thoroughly after the steaming hot shower he just took. his blue hair dripped wet and the towel around his shoulders was the only thing catching the rainfall from his head.

jeno moved slow and depressed, his eyes not a trace of glow in them and his jaw tightly gritted. he bent down to pick up the shoes he kicked off in a moment of a tantrum when he got home, but his fingers were flailing as if he has no will to do anything but lay on his bed and reflect on his entire love life—how it started, how much he loved the girl who broke his heart, where it went wrong, and what the hell was so bad about him that she didn't love him back?

you pouted slightly in awkwardness when he resulted in placing his shoes near the wall instead.

oh lord, he totally got rejected. that was not the worst thing but the fact that you never knew how to deal with someone heartbroken. you never had to go through it yourself, neither were you ever placed in a situation where someone else needed your comfort.

what could you do? distract him by giving him tasks to do? let him vent his emotions out to you even though he has always been quiet about his negative feelings? be insensitive and remind him there were bigger problems than being dumped?

what if he didn't need it, though? do heartbroken people truly need their hearts to be mended at all? if the heartbreak is the only thing left of whom they used to love, do they truly want to get rid of it?

"jeno."

annoyed but kind, jeno looked up from the cracks of the wall to you. he was upset, but he thought it unfair to take it out on you. your wide eyes glanced back at him when he stood up straight again, and you flashed him a tight smile as you raised your hands to him. he looked at the oranges sitting comfortably on your palms, and internally, he sighed.

"can you peel these oranges for me?" you asked as you usually would, sounding occupied but also free.

jeno really could not be bothered with doing anything. he just got rejected by who he thought was the love of his life; he felt confident this morning, especially after you helped fix up his hair and pick his outfit, as well as jaemin's encouraging words, only to have his expectations crumble with a simple answer. some part of him felt humiliated and stupid for choosing this route, for thinking that he had a chance, and he really cannot be bothered at all.

"[name], i'm sorry but i really don't feel like doing anything right now," he confessed lowly.

he was about to turn to leave when you called him again, much more urgently this time but still with a hint of dragging laziness in your tone.

"ah–jeno, please?" you pleaded in a faint childish whine, squeezing the oranges in your hands. "just one orange? please, jeno?"

he almost rolled his eyes when he turned to face you, but the softness that erupted in his chest at the sight of you sitting on the floor, oranges in your hand, stopped him from letting you see his annoyance. his hammering brain relaxed when he saw you put one orange down and attempted to peel the other one with trouble.

he sighed with unknown but familiar endearment when your thumb tore right through the fruit, sprouting juices over your once clean hands, and a gentle defeat once again rushed over him when you frowned up at him with the failure in your hands and a pleading glint in your eyes.

the softness in his heart—he never thought much about it. much of his affection for you was platonic, he believed, but they were also affection that seemed to trump the ones he felt for the girl he loved whenever they rush to the nape of his neck. the feelings he has for you often seemed to trump all else when he was confronted with them blatantly, such as now, and he could do anything.

he could do anything. he could declare that you are one of his best friends, maybe he could tell you he loves you, but mostly he could brush away his sadness to peel you an orange if you asked.

"jeno..."

"okay, okay," he said as he crouched down next to you and took the untouched orange from the table.

at some point, he lost his balance and he ended up sitting down next to you. he skillfully ripped the skin off the orange, carefully and precisely revealing the tasty fruit inside. meanwhile, you struggled freely with your destroyed orange by taking apart the slices and popping them into your mouth.

"oh, try it, this is good."

jeno looked up briefly when you spoke. he opened his mouth so you could feed him the orange slice, and he raised his brows in approval. you grinned, taking note that you should get more of the same ones next time you go buy groceries to stock up.

there was a moment of silence where you focused on the television and jeno on the last bit of orange slices in his hands. when he was done, he reached over to the coffee table and dumped them on the tissue you laid on top. when he was done, he dusted his hands and hoisted himself off the floor, just before you spoke again.

"you got rejected, didn't you?"

jeno pursed his lips, the sorrow rushing over him once again after having forgotten about it. he nodded. "yeah."

you turned your head to look at him. jeno felt self-conscious under your gaze. he never did so, but it felt like you were accessing what was wrong with the way he looked.

"maybe it's your blue hair," you said, pointing at his head and a playful laugher hanging on your lips. "maybe you reminded her too much of sonic, like the hedgehog, so she said no–"

"you are not funny." he smiled patiently but humorlessly.

"i am trying my best!" you exclaimed, then you leaned back against the edge of the couch and asked to the ceiling, "are you sad?"

"yeah."

"okay then," you muttered, then you laid your head on his shoulder and huffed. "how about now?"

jeno choked on a short laugh, in disbelief yet he was kind of used to your way of comforting people, but his heart beat softly against his chest at both the proximity and your discreet care. if anything, he would have preferred your way than the way of talking and reaching into the cave of his emotions. mainly because the latter does nothing but make him realize how much he missed with just one rejection.

at least with your head on his shoulder, he remembers he has friends, a companion. he has someone he has a soft spot for, someone he can put all his abandoned love for in the meantime as he searched for another lover, someone who can make him bother when he feels like he can't anymore.

"maybe a little less," he whispered, smiling to himself.

"okay..." you reached your hand to him, an orange slice in your hand, "care for an orange?"

jeno laughed, but then he grimaced with a choke of disbelief when he saw the monstrosity in your hands.

"[name]! i said peel the orange not kill it!" he exclaimed, his eyes wide at how sticky and wet your hands have become from just peeling the orange.

"i told you i just can't do it!" you laughed incredulously, shrugging and popping another orange slice into your mouth. "this is why i have you."

jeno rolled his eyes in defeat, but he denies nothing of it. 

you are where he puts his love into for now, you are who holds half of his soul for now. you are who he is willing to peel oranges for, maybe not just for now but for the rest of his life.

[cherri-cherri]

Pairings - Yuuji Itadori x Reader (with slight Sukuna at the end)

Synopsis - Y/N enjoys some peace and quiet with her boyfriend after he returns back to their hometown for a visit.

Warnings - Tooth rotting fluff, Possible Misspelled words.

A/N - I wanted to try a bit of fluff after righting too many angst fics in my drafts already and thought, "Who better to use than sweet Yuuji for some fluffy fluff". In this story, Yuuji's lover doesn't know anything about his life as a sorcerer or anything about curses and so on. This is so Yuuji can protect her and keep her 'safe'. Like always I hope you all enjoy- 🍒

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

Laying on her bed in the warmth of his arms, Y/N silently watched the horror flick playing before her with absolute boredom. Don't get her wrong, she loved spending every minute she could with Yuuji, especially after he moved out of the blue to Tokyo to pursue his studies (or so he told her). It was more of the fact that she had watched this film so many times with him to where she had the lines of the protagonist's catchphrases memorizes by heart. Almost on cue right as the killer was about to finish off the hero in film, he spewed a corner catchphrase of which she repeated—

"I hope you're ready for dessert", Y/N said perfect in sic with the character right as the killer is stunned. Sticking out her tongue, she turned back to see Yuuji completely sucked into movie. While most wouldn't think it, he was a movie buff, and so whenever she would ask him what would he want to watch it would always be some sort of 'cult classic' as he called it with this certain film being their number one flick. Personally, she didnt care for but the movie and as she began to zone out and look around, Y/N's eyes land on that of the salmon pink hair of her boyfriend.

Now that she had gotten a good look of the color, she extended her hand to the back of his head and began running her nails gently through his hair much to the boy's surprise. Yet instead of pulling away or protesting, he leaned in to her touch and let out a little chuckle.

"Babe, why are you rubbing my head?" He said, side-eyeing the girl. Y/N didn't stop however as she raised a brow.

"Not to be rude but um, does..does the carpets match the drapes?" She said, a small flush over her cheeks as the boy just gave her a confused look before sitting up from the couch, now focused away from the tv. Turning his head to the side where the window was in the bedroom, Yuuji looked at the curtains before his dark eyes traveled down to the floor.

"Uh, babe, you don't have carpet up here?" He said, turning back to her as he pointed to the window. For a moment, the girl was utterly lost for words but then again..this was Yuuji. He wasn't exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer but he was still hers regardless. Letting out an awkward chuckle, she shook her head and motioned to his hair.

"Uh, no, no..I meant your hair. Is it your natural color or?"

"My hair? Well why didn't you say that? Yeah, it is, why?" He said, pinching a strain of his pink locks and staring down at it. "Well, it's just, I thought it was dyed since you don't really see anyone with pink hair unless its dyed or a wig...sort of reminds me of strawberries." Y/N said as she smiled at him, removing her hand from his head and leaning back against him to face the tv as Yuuji just stared at her with confusion still clear on his face. "Strawberries?" He questioned,

"Yeah. Honestly, it's like, you're a strawberry. Your hair is the tuff of it ontop and your head is the fruit, sweet and tasty —" she said, leaning up a little to press her lips against his warm cheek before she laid down against his lap to return to the movie.

"O-oh", A small blush was spreading over his cheeks as he dipped his head down to her lips before tracing a finger across them.

"well, your lips remind me of..of...um..." trying to think of something clever, he paused for a moment before groaning out "well, let's just say their cute and sweet enough for me to kiss" he grinned, planting a short but passion filled kiss onto her lips. Sure, it was corny but Y/N will take whatever sweetness she would get from her adorable strawberry.

This was why she always loved movie nights with him.

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

Meanwhile, Sukuna watched as the brat kissed the one he called his lover and instantly cringed at the sight of love before him. Why would she care for such an idiot when there was plenty better for her..? Why would she stay with someone who hides his life away from her out of the obscure chance on the illusion of 'safety'.

As he watched the two of them laugh at each other and Yuuji holding Y/N in his embrace, he stared down at the girl before a small smirk spread across his lips. A plan was forming in his mind, a plan for a chance at actual freedom and the girl...

Simply a bonus prize.

[nojaloart]

do you mind sharing why you would like to get a tattoo of a clementine in particular? i myself would have that as my first choice as well, by my reason is specific to my experiences.

have you given any thoughts to the design? i’ve found it’s hard to make it distinguishable from other citrus…

hi! short answer is i love clementines. long-ish answer is i went through a bad mental time a couple years ago and my parents showed their support in a lot of ways but one of them was in bringing me bowls of fruit. it was clementine season so clementines were usually in heavy rotation - i would finish a whole bag in like two days just by myself. i remember my dad asking if i wanted one and then him peeling it for me and thinking to myself, “oh, i am loved”. i’ve always liked to share whenever i’m eating with someone i care for, and since even moreso (or used to, thanks covid)

soo yeah. food as an expression of love etc etc it’d represent my family, the people in my life i love (my litmus test of if i like you or not - have i offered to share my food?), and hope for future growth or whatever. also clementines are tasty

and i haven’t given any thought to the design! all i know is that i probably wouldn’t want to design it myself lol

[isitgintimeyet]

Just a Friend

So I finally started to write another story...

I will try and post weekly, but can’t promise on account of real life and my inability to actually focus on translating what’s in my head onto paper (or screen!)

Getting the courage to post never gets any easier, but here goes. I hope you enjoy this frothy bit of fun. I will also post on AO3.

Thanks to @wickedgoodbooks for being an excellent beta.

Chapter 1: From Airport to Aggravation

Bank holiday crowds, on the whole, are hell.

And this one is rapidly turning into an even deeper level of purgatory. The hottest May for years in Scotland and I’m stuck at Glasgow airport with a dozen women, collectively known as ‘Geillis’s Hen Party Posse’, each displaying varying degrees of inebriation, hangover or general sleep deprivation, and all aiming for the luggage carousel showing the flight from Barcelona. Which apparently is where several hundred other disembarked passengers are also heading.

Eventually, I manage to get a view of the bags and cases slowly making their way around the belt. They’re pretty picked over by this time, apart from the couple of boxes covered in gaffer tape that always seem to be first off a plane—any plane—and last to be collected. They’re always there, on every flight. Why is that?

I pause from my musings to wave frantically at Geillis, who now has a trolley and is clearing a path straight towards me.

“I got us a trolley.” she informs me, stating the obvious. “I thought it’d be easier. Have ye seen ours yet, Claire? I canna see the others. They must have already gone through.”

“No,” I answer, keeping my eyes firmly on the little hatch, willing our bags to appear. All I want is to go home, put my sleep mask on and try and get some sleep. Three days in Barcelona celebrating Geillis’s forthcoming nuptials have worn me out, and, I glance at my watch, I am due in theatre in approximately seventeen hours time.

"It's there, it's there," Geillis points excitedly at the neon pink and green leopard print bag making its way towards us.

She makes a grab for it as I continue to look for my bag. Predictably, it’s one of the last ones on the carousel. I recognise it immediately from the piece of red gift ribbon tied to the handle of the plain black Samsonite. I load it onto the trolley and Geillis and I head through customs to join the rest of the posse.

We say our goodbyes loudly, with much hugging and kisses. A stranger viewing this scene might imagine we won’t be seeing each other again for weeks or even months. In truth, I’ll be seeing most of them in the next week or so at the hospital as our schedules coincide.

“Shall we two get a taxi, then?” Geillis asks me.

I start to answer as my mobile pings — a text from Frank...very nice, very caring, very predictable.

Darling, it’s been a long three days without you. I am ready to collect you from the airport if you would like. If not, might I see you later this evening? xxx

And that is very clearly Frank. Correct grammar and punctuation, even on his texts. I shake my head as if to drive away my inner bitch and pretend I haven’t read it. I will respond, of course, just later when I’m back at home.

So, I smile at Geillis and agree. “Of course, we can go halves.”

***********

As I walk into my flat, the peace and quiet and sheer bloody calm wraps itself around me like a swaddling cloth. It’s blissfully cool too, with all the shutters closed.

It’s not that I didn’t have a good time in Barcelona. It was actually great. But being in the company of others twenty four hours a day is wearing, much as I love them. And we all had to do everything together. No sneaking off for a solitary walk, or escaping to bed for a little siesta.

I deposit my suitcase by the bedroom door, slip off my converse, pour myself a glass of orange juice, settle down on the sofa and figure out how best to tell Frank not tonight without offending him.

Frank, Sorry but tonight isn’t —

I delete and try again.

Thanks for the offer to pick me up. I was already in the taxi when I got it. Can we give tonight a miss? Theatre in the morning and I’m knackered totally exhausted. You know what Geillis is like. Speak tomorrow, I promise. C

Frank knows what Geillis is like. Frank thinks Geillis is a bad influence on me, with her larger than life personality and wild ideas. I think Frank doesn’t really know me at all if he believes I can be influenced like that. I hang out with Geillis and my friends because they’re fun and we laugh… a lot.

Without realising, I feel my shoulder muscles relax as soon as I’ve sent the message. These are not good signs for my relationship with Frank. He’s investing far more into ‘us’ than I am willing to do. But as long as I’m honest with him…

There are advantages to being with Frank, of course. He’s punctual, very organised and a proficient and considerate lover. He always makes sure I come, even if I sometimes...er… exaggerate my reactions to hurry things along. So much for honesty, then.

I finish my orange juice and plan my evening. Four things to do - unpack, grab some food, shower and sleep. Not even going to wash my hair. That would really be too much effort, struggling with my untameable mane, and it’s going to be stuck under a surgical cap for most of tomorrow anyway.

It takes a bit of effort to actually move from the sofa. I could quite happily fall asleep there. But then I’d wake up in the middle of the night—starving hungry and still smelling of sweaty airports. Reluctantly, I haul myself into a vertical position and head for my bedroom picking up my suitcase en route.

Opening the suitcase, I am not greeted with the expected haphazard mass of sun dresses, t shirts and shorts—all with the evocative aroma of Hawaiian Tropic—but a layer of white dress shirts, immaculately folded and the faint scent of a musky cologne.

Shit, shit, shit!! Some else has walked off with my black samsonite with the red ribbon on the handle. My evening plans are rapidly going awry. I delve into my handbag praying that I kept my boarding pass with the sticky bar code luggage receipt. The relief when I find it lurking in the bottom of my bag is immense. Quickly I google the airline lost baggage number and dial.

After a few bars of some god awful plinky plinky hold music, I hear a recorded message. “Your call is important to us, please hold. Your call is important to us, please hold.”

Good to know, then back to the plinky plinky before another message. “The office you are trying to reach is now closed. Please try again during office hours nine am to five thirty. Thank you.”

“If my call is so important to you, why is no one there at six o’clock?” I yell down the phone, but the plinky plinky ignores me and continues its irritating melody.

I sigh. I don’t want to have to wait until tomorrow morning to sort this out. Besides, by nine am tomorrow morning, I will be somewhat unavailable - reshaping the hip bone of a seven year old boy. So, I have no alternative. I will have to have a bit of a dig around this stranger’s suitcase, looking for any clue or contact details.

As I start to have a feel around, it occurs to me that some stranger might, at this very moment, be doing exactly the same thing — having a poke around my suitcase in the hope of finding my details. No doubt judging me based on my choice of holiday attire.  And, I suddenly realise, his judgement may well be coloured by the discovery of some items of a more adult nature.

I say ‘he’, based on the XL white shirts, the pair of battered jeans and faded Scotland rugby shirt, but I could be wrong. I don’t have to dig any further into the case as I spy, in a mesh pocket, a neat rectangle of card with a name — James Fraser — a mobile number and an email address.

Relief sweeps over me. Perhaps we can get this all sorted tonight. Unless this James Fraser lives miles away and was just passing through Glasgow on his way to, say, the Outer Hebrides. That could be a whole other level of problem.

I quickly reach for my phone. Another message from Frank awaits.

Are you sure, darling? I’m looking forward to seeing you. Would tomorrow evening work for you?

I ignore it for the moment. Let me sort my luggage issue out first.

I dial the number on the card and begin to pace around my bedroom as it rings and rings. I am just about to give up when, thankfully, it’s answered.

“Hello?” A female voice asks warily.

I clear my throat and put on my most pleasant phone voice. “Is there a James Fraser there please?”

“Ye’ve the wrong number.”

“Oh, sorry, I must have mis—“ I begin, but find myself apologising to dead air.

I try again, carefully comparing each digit to those written, very neatly, on the card.

“Hello?” The same female voice answers, more than a hint of annoyance in her voice.

“I’m sorry, but this is the number I have for James Fra—“

“And I already told ye, ye’ve the wrong number. Dinna bother again.”

In the days before mobiles, I’m sure this would have been accompanied by a deafening crash as the receiver hit the cradle. Pressing a soft key doesn’t have the same dramatic effect. But I get the message anyway.

So, new plan needed. All I can do is email this James Fraser and hope he actually has written down the correct email address. If not, I’ll have to sort it out with the airline tomorrow afternoon.

My stomach rumbles and I suddenly realise that I’ve not eaten since breakfast, unless you count the slices of fruit in my jug of sangria. I wander into the kitchen and peruse the contents of my cupboards and fridge. I’m not the most gifted cook, but I’m not too bad and can usually rustle up something edible and fairly tasty. The bread feels a bit on the dry side but will be fine toasted, and I know I have eggs.

I put a knob of butter in a pan and text Frank while I’m waiting for it to sizzle.

Think tomoz will be ok. Talk 2morrow. C

I don’t normally use text speak at all,  but something about Frank’s perfectly formed text messages always makes me want to rebel. I can imagine him wincing right now.  He’s a professor at the university and is forever complaining about the standard of literacy amongst his undergraduates. If he thinks he has problems, he should try dealing with junior doctors.

With my scrambled egg on toast all eaten, I focus my attention on the email to James Fraser. I write it quickly, brief and to the point: I have your suitcase and therefore presume you have mine, can we meet to swap them over and here’s my phone number.

The longing for a shower and then bed is now overwhelming. I strip off and bundle all my clothes into the laundry basket, tie my hair up with a scrunchie and step into my shower. This is undoubtedly one of my favourite places on earth and possibly the reason that I bought this flat. Large enough for two, I suppose. Although none have yet been invited to partake in this heavenly experience. Maybe I’m saving that for someone extra special. It has a huge overhead rainfall shower head and a handheld shower head too.

My indulgences are all in here — a selection of expensive shower gels, scrubs and lotions and an assortment of huge fluffy bath towels. I choose a lavender scented gel and scrub all traces of the day from my skin.

Wrapping myself  in one of my pristine white towels, I slather shea butter lotion on my slightly sun-burnt skin, noticing the uneven red patches where the sun cream hadn’t quite reached but at least it’s not sore.

A quick check of my emails shows there’s no word from James Fraser as yet, so I decide to just settle down to sleep and leave luggage worries until the morning. Fortunately, I had changed the sheets before my weekend away, so I simply unwrap my towel, leaving it in a heap on the floor and slide into bed. The feeling of the cool, crisp bedding against my skin is wonderful. I assume a sort of diagonal starfish position, not having to worry about any other occupants. It crosses my mind whether to reach for the tiny vibrator in my bedside drawer, but I’m too comfortable and drowsy for that, so instead I check my alarm and settle down for sleep.

[greekbros]

"greek-Bros: The Return of an Old Enemy"

Chapter 10: Two Sides to Show Business

Apollo confronted Ares, who was training out near his competitors tent. From what he had heard, Ares was doing his usual bit making sure he isn't a force to trifle with. "Ares, I would like to have a word with you before the joust. It's rather important.", Apollo greeted himself.

As if he was completely ignoring Apollo, Ares continued to strike the tree. To Ares, there was nothing Apollo could say that would interest him. "Yeah, what is it.", he gruffly responded. With a final strike, he cuts the tree in half with no hesitation. He turns around to turn to Apollo, "If that sniveling fat fuck Dionysus sent you hear, let him know that all of this-", he raises his hand to show the wide expense that is Delphi, "-is going to be the birth place of my own army.", Ares boasted.

Apollo looked at Ares completely dumbfounded, he saw Ares simply stood there with a grimace on his face, there didn't seem to be anything else in his mind. "Ares....I ask you to maybe.... you and Dionysus should just joust for the sport of it. I mean, is there even a purpose to you or him gaining any of each other's assets?", he politely asked, "I mean.... seriously why are you doing this, what would be the point of doing this to your own brother?". It wasn't uncommon for Ares to be meanspirited but in this situation it seemed there could be a different motivation. Why would Ares agree to do something he didn't want to do, just to make it harder for everyone. A stupid question indeed but there had to be something.

Ares turned to Apollo, "ugh.... didn't you hear me? I'm going to make all this land into a training field....", he stood there letting the cogs in his brain turn a little bit and remembered a small detail he so adamantly told Dionysus, "...OH you mean his girl? Nah, I wasn't going to do shit to her. I just told him that to see if he was serious about this stupid joust.", he chuckled as if it was all just a joke, a joke that if it was pulled on him with Aphrodite....he would have carved a hole in the middle of Mediterranean Sea with rage. The reality was that Ares wasn't interested in Ariadne in the slightest, the whole plan was to simply take Dionysus's land and scare him. "Why, what's it got to do with you?", he asked with a straight face.

Of all the terrible and cruel things Ares had committed, this could probably top them all. Apollo at this point didn't know if he should joust Ares himself or to smite him where he stood. However, he knew Hermes was already sabotaging Ares, no use in ruining the plan at this stage. Hiding his anger behind a false smile, "Oh....well...I was just worried about the whole thing.....that's all, personally I've never known Dionysus to be serious about anything but I guess I'm mistaken.....good luck at the joust....just please...don't make it worse.", Apollo quickly left Ares to the rest of his 'training'. He couldn't wait to contribute to humiliating Ares for basically ruining what was supposed to harmless fun for Dionysus.

Ares just shrugged, thought it was Apollo being his dramatic self and figured it could have been time for the joust. He didn't need to put any armor, mostly because he already wore armor all the time. He figured he'd raise the stakes to make things entertaining to him, maybe he could see how sharp the lances were or see how far he could if he could put oil on the handles. He went to find the lances to inspect them at the temporary stables. Ares took one look at the lances and saw that the tips of the lances had brightly colored cushions on them, one red cushion and one green cushion. "What the hell is this?!", he shouted. He poked one of the cushions and his finger was dyed red with fresh paint.

A young satyr came, trembling a little knowing the god of war what're answers. "Ugh, those are the l-lances oh great one. If one of the players gets hit with tip of the lance, they lose aananand you see it's to make sure ugh...no body gets hurt", the young satyr replied.

Ares glared at the satyr, he was completely undignified at such a soft centered idea. This whole arrangement meant that no one would get hurt, no one would shed blood or anything. "As expected from Dionysus.....shame, I was planning on giving him a taste of "fair play",.....where are my horses?", he asked sternly.

The young satyr's usually blushing, flushed face turned pale, he had recently checked on Ares's chariot horses. "Ugh...well...um... please understand that I had NOTHING to do with.", he sheepishly warned Ares.

His ears perked up, "WHAT?", Ares boomed. The satyr lead him to his chariot horses towards the end of the stable. The horses were plastered, lounging and drunkenly lapping up what ever whine was left on the ground. Ares gawked at his once mighty nightmares....now a trio of drunken dead weights. He turned slowly to the satyr, his face was glowing red with fury. "....did...you feed...MY war horses...your SHITTY WINE?!?", he roared. He had just about enough of this clown circus that was Delphi.

From out side of tent, Ares's wrath could be heard along with the pleads of that satyr, two gaurds ran in to break up the fight between them and left their post. In the vary moment the gaurds left their post, a curious wolf pup, whom have been sneaking around looking for snacks this whole time, was now currently scampering just past the tent, completely ignoring the fight inside the temporary stable. He sniffed the air, smelling the new unfamiliar sents just itching to be discovered. His nose lead him to the food tent, where he could smell bread, sweet fruits and the bittersweet sent of wine. He didn't hear anyone inside, nor did he smell anyone, it was the perfect chance to find food.

The pup lifted the tent's fold, as he crawled under the tent his claws accidentally cought on to a table cloth as he was reaching out to see in the dim light of the tent, causing some bottles to topple down and decorative clothes to fall on him. The little lycan's eyes weren't so use to the light shift from day to night. He was draped in a large table cloth, covering his head, shoulders and good portion of his body. He didn't mind it at all, the soft, silky cloth felt pleasant to his paws, so wear it he did, pretending to be his 'noble king's for a few seconds much like any like-minded toddler would. He took a long whiff of the air and smelled the tasty treats that were stored in this treasure trove. Searching around and near the table, he found several fruits, roasted meats, dates and loaves of bread rolls. His little pup heart couldn't contain it, he jumped onto the table and attacked a roll of bread and began chewing on it. Never in his life did he ever taste something so delicious, his whole life he had only eaten moldy bread and scraps of rotting flesh. His eyes floated to some roasted goat, just as fast as he went after the bread he jumped on to the goat meat. Fresh, seasoned, cooked meat was truly something worth howling about, he let out a small, somewhat gentle, inexperienced howl that sounded like a little trill rather than a hardy wolf howl, with every bite he would let out a short burst of happiness.

Outside the tent, Dionysus was in full ornate armor. He was fussing around with some of the straps on his arms when he heard one of the little lycan's short trills. He stopped in his tract to catch the sound again, but nothing happened. "Oh man, that better be one of the nymphs experimenting again, I can't take this anxiety anymore!", he loudly worried to himself. He took a deep breath and went off to find his chariot at the stable tent. He walked in to see Ares tied up to the support beam, foaming in the mouth, and very disheveled satyr and two of the gaurds tired from holding Ares back. "....sooooo.....uhm...I'm just here to pick up...my lance....", he awkwardly shuffled to his lance, takes it, turns to Ares, "see you there man...oh ugh...since well....I'm using mules... you'll have to use mules too....bye.", he quickly leaves the tent before Ares would blow his stack.

Ares, with foam in the corner of his mouth, growled loudly. "DAMN YOU DIONYSUS!", he roared in frustration. So loudly infact, the lycan pup heard it from his tent. The poor thing stopped knawing on the goat bones, perked up his ears thinking it was an adult lycan. He paused for a few seconds, he than promptly went back to knawing on the bone because a pup his age has other priorities, like chewing on some goat bones and eat bread.

With a sigh of defeat, Ares simmered down, and looked to one of the gaurds, "if one of you doesn't untie me right now and get me your most killer mules....I will rip BOTH your balls off.", he stared at the guards and the guards stared back. The gaurds both scrambled to their tasks and prepared Ares's chariot. The joust, was about to begin, finally.

End of Chapter 10

[katshi]

The Mermaid Pendant

Farmer (F) x Harvey

Possible Trigger Warnings: Light alcohol use. Mention of Non-Consent.

Author’s note: This is my very first fanfiction. Any constructive criticism is greatly appreciated. Please enjoy this silly fluff story!

Word count: 4050

Chapter 1

She held the mermaid pendant in her hand, carefully examining it. It had seemed like it had taken weeks for the rain to come so she could finally purchase it. Sure, she could have proposed with a ring like they do in the city. It would probably have been ok, considering Kala wasn’t originally from Pelican Town. But ever since she had heard about the strange marriage tradition of this sleepy valley she knew that she had to propose like a local. “Now,” she thought to herself “All that’s left to do is to plan the proposal,”. The hot air balloon ride was quite something. “It will be difficult to top that,” Kala thought.

                                                               *** The next day Kala made her way to the clinic after completing all of her farm work for the day. She was carrying a couple of black coffees with her as usual. She entered the clinic.

  “Hi, Maru,” she said cheerfully.

  “Hi Kala, are you looking for Harvey?” She asked.

  “Yeah, is he free right now?”

  “Sure, go ahead,” Maru replied.

  Kala approached Harvey’s office, making sure to knock before entering.

  “Come in” she heard his voice through the door.

  “Hi! do you have a spare 10 minutes to share a coffee with me?” Kala asked.

  “Of course, I can always make time for you,” Harvey replied.

  “Great,” Kala said while sitting down and handing the coffee to Harvey.

  Kala took a couple of small sips , it had taken her a little while to get used to the taste of unsweetened black coffee but now she actually enjoyed it. “Um” Kala mumbled  “There is actually something I would like to ask you,”

“What is it?” enquired Harvey.

  Kala felt a little nervous, but tried to act cool “It’s just like asking for a normal date,” she kept telling herself.

  “Well, how would you like to go for a hike up the mountain this Sunday? It would be nice to enjoy the scenery before Summer ends, and I know you were trying to do a bit more exercise, it... it would be nice to do something like this together,” Kala was rambling.

  Harvey paused for a moment. “Sure, that sounds lovely,” he replied.

  “Oh! Great! Ok,” Kala found it difficult to conceal her smile “I’ll pack us a lunch, and if you meet me at my house on Sunday morning. Around 8 AM maybe? We should probably get an early start before it gets too hot”. Kala beamed.

  “Sounds perfect,” Harvey said calmly as they both finished their coffees.

                                                                 *** Early that Sunday morning Kala was frantically looking through her wardrobe. “Should I just wear something cute and comfortable? Maybe I should wear something a bit fancier? This will probably be a day to remember” She thought. The time was quickly approaching 8 AM. The packed lunch was ready and waiting in the fridge, the pendant was hidden in her backpack but Kala was still so anxious. Kala glanced at the clock.

  “Oh! Gotta hurry, he’ll be here any minute!”

She quickly threw on her usual denim dungarees, a white flowy blouse and fixed a ribbon in her hair. At that moment there was a knock on her door.

  “I’m coming,” Kala shouted.

  She ran over and opened the door.

  “Good morning,” Harvey greeted Kala with a beaming smile.

  “Good morning!”

  Harvey was standing there wearing brown shorts, a light green polo shirt, a sweatband and had quite a large backpack.

“You certainly look ready to hike,” Kala commented.

  “Haha, yeah I guess you don’t see me like this that much..” Harvey said, blushing slightly.

  “Come in for a minute, I’m nearly ready. I just need to put the lunch away and put some sunscreen on,''

Kala gestured for Harvey to come in. Despite how long Kala and Harvey had known each other this was the first time Harvey had been inside Kala’s house. He cautiously entered and stood in the living room.

  “Take a seat, don’t be shy,” Kala said.

  “Thank you,”

  Harvey sat down on the blue sofa and glanced around the room. Kala placed their packed lunch inside her backpack, quickly checking to make sure the pendant was still there. It was. She gave a quiet sigh of relief. Then she took her sun cream and began applying it to her face.

  “I presume you’re already wearing sun protection,” Kala said to Harvey.

  “Yeah, I’ve got to be careful with this pale skin of mine,” Harvey replied with a chuckle.

  Once Kala was finished applying her sun cream she placed her backpack on her back with a thud.

  “Ok, I’m ready when you are!” She declared.

  “Alright, let’s go,” Harvey said.

  Kala led the way up the mountain path. The light shimmered through the leaves of the trees similar to how the sun reflects off of a pool of calm water. The cicadas in the distance gently hummed and the birds sang sweetly. A gentle breeze rustled through the foliage and danced around Kala’s ponytail. It was altogether a beautiful late-summer’s day. After several minutes of hiking Kala could hear Harvey’s breath become louder and his footsteps became slower. Kala turned to him and smiled.

“How’re you doing back there? Keeping up?”

  Harvey’s face was bright pink and beads of sweat were forming on his forehead. Harvey let out a heavy sigh.

  “Yeah, just about managing.” He paused “I’ve still got a long way to work on my fitness though, could we slow down a little?”

  “Of course!” Kala slowed her pace and walked side-by-side with him.

                                                                  *** They had been walking for a couple of hours now and the summer heat was really beginning to intensify.

  “I think we’re nearly at the summit,” Kala said eagerly.

  “I…*pant*… can’t …*pant*… wait…” replied Harvey.

  Kala picked up her pace a little, making her way to the next clearing. She stopped suddenly.

  “We’re here, we’re here!” She jumped up and down excitedly. “The view is amazing!” Kala exclaimed.

  Harvey hiked up as quickly as he could, panting the entire way. When he had caught his breath he looked up and took in the view.

  “Wow,” he whispered.

  The mountains appeared to go on forever with Zuzu city nestled neatly in the valley. It looked so small from this distance.

  “So? Shall we stop here and eat?” Kala asked.

  “Yeah, I definitely need a break,” Harvey replied.

  Kala took out a picnic blanket from her bag and carefully placed it on the ground. Harvey sat down and began gulping water from his backpack. She removed a few boxes from her bag and began opening them to reveal some tasty-looking sandwiches, cherry tomatoes and various other cutely-cut veggies and fruits.

  “Ok, let’s eat,” She said enthusiastically.

  “Looks delicious” Harvey smiled.

                                                                ***  

The lunch went down well.

  “That was wonderful as usual,” Harvey said. Kala blushed.

  “Thank you,” She paused.

“Um, actually, I also brought some wine, if you’d like,” Kala rummaged around in her backpack and produced a bottle with a clearly homemade label. “It’s starfruit wine, I’ve been producing it all summer, it’s meant to be delicious!”

  “Oh! That does look good!” Harvey said with a glimmer in his eyes “…but, I’m not sure about drinking it now, maybe later, after the walk?”

  “Oh, yeah, sure,”

  Kala looked a little disappointed but returned the bottle to her bag. They sat in silence for a little while. She couldn’t stop herself from tapping her fingers nervously. Her heart was pounding. She slipped her hand inside her backpack to check for the pendant. She felt around but could not find it. Kala started to panic a little. She picked up the bag and began digging through it furiously, still no luck.

  “Is everything alright?” Asked Harvey, concerned by the worry on Kala’s face.

  “Um, … uhh,” Kala wasn’t sure if she should be honest or try to pretend everything was ok. “Well, I think I’ve lost something,” she confessed.

  “Oh, what have you lost? Let me help you look for it,”

  “Um! Actually it’s ok! I’ll look for it myself,” Kala replied sharply, a mixture of anxiety and embarrassment on her face.

“How could I lose something so important, I’m such an idiot,” She thought to herself.

  “Ok then,” Harvey said, looking confused and slightly hurt.

  Kala’s eyes darted quickly around the area. Then she saw it, glinting in the sun on the edge of their picnic blanket. Relief washed over her. Harvey’s eyes were drawn to where she was looking. He squinted. He couldn’t quite make it out at first, but then he realised what he was looking at. 

“Oh!” He exclaimed and picked it up. He hadn’t seen a mermaid pendant in person before but he could tell exactly what it was by the stories he had heard.

  “Is.. is this what you were looking for?” He couldn’t quite believe it.

  “Ye.. yes!” Kala stuttered and blushed deeply.

  Harvey looked stunned. “W.. wait. You realise what this means here, right?”

  “Yes of course!” Kala said, slightly annoyed.

  “…and, you were planning on giving it to me today?” Harvey asked, still not quite able to accept what was happening.

  “Yes! Harvey, you’re smart, kind, hard-working and always there for me. I love you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you,” 

Harvey’s eyes were glistening. “I… I’m not sure what to say. But, I accept!” Harvey leaned in to embrace Kala. He squeezed her tightly.

“It’s hard to believe someone like you would want to marry someone like me,” He said.

“What do you mean? You’re so wonderful, I was so nervous that you might decline,” Kala had tears in her eyes. 

“How about that wine now, huh?” She said while wiping her face.

“Well, I guess one glass won’t hurt” He chuckled.                                                           *** Chapter 2

Kala and Harvey sipped their wine leisurely while watching the world slowly go by. The birds soared high above their heads and darted around playfully. Curious squirrels jumped from branch to branch, while leaves fell slowly around the couple like confetti.

  “This wine really is delicious,” Harvey announced.

  “It tastes even better under the circumstances” chuckled Kala.

Harvey smiled. The sun glistened through the golden liquid. They finished their glasses and Kala went to rest her head on Harvey’s lap.

  “This is nice,” she hummed.

“I’m so happy” replied Harvey as he gave Kala a peck on her forehead. After a little while of bathing in the glow of their feelings of bliss Kala slowly stood up.

“I suppose we should make our way back now.” Kala yawned.

Harvey groaned as he stood up.

  “I still can’t believe you would want to marry an old man like me,” he said half-jokingly. Kala gave him a swift kiss on the cheek.

“You’re not that old” She smiled.

Harvey and Kala made their way back down the mountain with the evening sun warming their backs.

                                                               *** Kala unlocked her front door and flung her backpack onto the couch. Harvey followed her inside to the kitchen. Kala began pouring two glasses of cool water.

  “Here you go,” Kala passed one of the glasses to Harvey and took a big gulp from her own glass.

“Thank you,” Harvey took a large sip. Beads of sweat were still forming on both of their faces and their hair was damp as if they had been caught in the rain. Kala pushed her fringe to one side and examined the droplets on her hand.

“We could both use a shower,” Kala snickered. “Do you want to stay for a bit? We could get cleaned up, have some dinner and finish that wine...” Kala questioned, sheepishly.

  Harvey hesitated for a second or two then replied. “We shouldn’t let that wine go to waste, should we?”

Kala smiled.

“Do you want to have a shower first? I can get you a spare towel, and um…” Kala paused to think. “I don’t think I have any spare clothes that would fit you…” Kala looked disappointed.

“It’s ok. I brought a spare shirt actually,” Harvey piped.

Kala raised an eyebrow before quickly turning away to find that extra towel. She didn’t know whether Harvey had ulterior motives from the start or if he was just well-prepared. “No, no, Harvey isn’t that kind of guy,” Kala thought to herself. “It must just be the romance of the day making me think about these kinds of things.” She followed up her train of thought.

  “Here you are!” Kala beamed and handled Harvey a bright blue and green towel.

“Thank you,”

  “You can use any of the soaps and shampoos in there, none of it is particularly special,” Kala chirped.

“Sure, thank you,” Harvey headed off towards the bathroom.

Kala wandered back to the kitchen and heard the shower turn on. “It’s pretty nice having someone else around the house, and pretty soon it will always be like this” She pondered and smiled as she began to chop up some veggies. Kala was placing the wine glasses on the table as she heard the bathroom door unlock. She peered over. Harvey was wearing a casual pale shirt and black boxer-briefs. Kala quickly turned away and blushed intensely. “Oh dear, was he not finished getting dressed?” She asked herself. Harvey came around the corner drying his hair with the towel. He saw Kala’s red cheeks.

“Oh sorry, I must have forgotten to pack some spare trousers,” Harvey blushed a little.

“I.. I didn’t think you would mind, seeing as we’re engaged now,” Harvey added.

“Er... Of course not. I was just a little shocked that’s all,” Kala said flustered and trying to hold back a nervous laugh.

  “Anyway.. you must be hungry. Let’s eat! I’ll grab a shower a bit later,” Kala announced.

“Ok,” Harvey took a seat at the dining table.

Kala poured out the remaining wine and served up some grilled salmon with steamed broccoli, green beans and carrots.

  “Smells delicious” He said as they both dug in.

                                                                   *** The couple had cleaned their plates and finished their glasses.

  Harvey leaned back in his chair as he mused, “That was divine, thank you,” Kala was already pouring out the remainder of the bottle between her and Harvey’s glasses. 

“I’m glad you enjoyed it,”

“Woah, woah, slow down. I’m already getting tipsy here,” He feigned protest.

Kala continued until both glasses were full. “We can’t let this go to waste now, can we?” She grinned brazenly. “Besides, we’re celebrating!”

“O..okay,” He blushed as he indulged his fiancee, then took another sip.

  The night continued on as they nursed their drinks and chatted about trivial things. After a while Kala suddenly sat up straight in her chair, 

“Oh! I should go get myself in the shower before the alcohol takes hold,” she proclaimed but her cheeks were already flushed.

  She wandered over to the bathroom and shortly after Harvey heard the water raining down from across the house. He continued to sip from his glass but could feel his eyelids becoming heavy. Kala emerged from the bathroom after some time, longer than her usual shower. By this point the alcohol had clouded her judgement to the point where she thought donning her silky, sheer stockings, and lacy black underwear was a good idea. Her face flushed a deep red as she prepared to unveil herself to Harvey.

“...ok, I’m finished,” She called out across the hallway.

  No reply. Not wanting to continue shouting she began to cautiously tiptoe her way back to the dining room. She took each step more slowly than usual, in an attempt to keep her footing against the smooth wooden floor in her brand-new, glossy stockings. Kala could hear the familiar ticking of the clock and the more peculiar sound of gentle and rhythmic sighing. As Kala drew closer to the dining room the scene became clear. Harvey’s head on the table, cradled by his arms. He was quietly snoozing. Kala grinned, it had been a busy day after all.

  “Ok, let’s get you to bed then,” she spoke softly to him.

“mm hm,” Harvey replied in his half-conscious state.

Kala gently removed his glasses and brushed his hair away from his face. She lifted under his arms to encourage him to stand. Him began to wake a little, but was not completely aware of his surroundings.

“Where are we going?” he mused.

“To bed,” she smiled innocently.

Kala draped his right arm over her shoulders to support him as he took each wobbly step.

“Ok, sounds good,” He yawned. Eventually they made it to the bedroom. Kala sat Harvey down on her double bed and instinctively he laid down and pulled the covers up to his chin. Kala stumbled around to the other side of the bed and joined him under the covers.

  “Good night, my love,” She whispered then gently placed a kiss on his forehead.

“Mmm,” He smiled then began to snore.

                                                                    *** The sunlight began to burst through the curtains and creeped it’s way onto the couple’s bodies. The brightness and gentle warmth woke Harvey. He squinted through the drowsiness and took some time to become aware of his surroundings. Once he realised where he was he bolted upright in shock. He immediately noticed a warm heaviness tugging at his arm. Kala was still sleeping soundly while latched onto his arm. He smiled as her angelic face before realising the implications of the situation. He frantically searched his memories for what might have occurred the previous evening, before accepting the fact that he could not recall anything past dinner. Harvey began to get out of bed. Kala started to stir as she felt the disturbance. Her eyes slowly opened but remained heavy with sleep.

  “Good morning,” she yawned. She sat up and stretched, revealing her lacy lingerie.

  “G..g..g good morning,” Harvey blushed and sputtered out the words. In his mind, his partner’s attire had confirmed his suspicions.

  Kala noted his expression and recalled the previous evening. Before she could set Harvey’s mind at ease he spoke.

“Kala, I’m so sorry,” He looked distraught.

“It’s ok! Every-,” Harvey cut her off.

“No! It’s not ok. You… you were vulnerable and I…,” Kala had a puzzled expression on her face.

He continued. “I took advantage of you,” Harvey averted his gaze.

“You what?” Kala questioned.

“Clearly, I had too much to drink and, and…”

  “Harvey, wait,” She commanded his attention, “What do you think happened last night?”

“Um, well. We had some drinks with dinner and then we must have gone to bed together,” He paused. “But, we were intoxicated and so I fear I may have pressured you,” He sighed. “... and I don’t even remember it,”

Kala smirked, then could no longer hold back her laughter.

  “Wh.. why are you laughing? This is serious, what if you become pregnant?”

Kala wiped a tear from her eye. “Harvey, you’re so sweet. Let me explain,”

He looked into her eyes with anticipation.

“I can understand why you would think that based on what I’m wearing,” She admired her outfit for a moment. “But, after I showered last night I found you sound asleep at the dining table,”

“I was already asleep?”

She nodded. “Yes, I decided that you should just sleep here. I hope you don’t mind,” She shrugged.

“So you’re saying that we didn’t have, er, sexual relations?” Such words shouldn’t be difficult for a doctor but even Harvey found himself blushing when confronted with the one he adores so deeply.

“Nope, I mean I guess we did sleep together. But in the most literal sense,” She smirked.

“Besides, you were the one who was unconscious. If anything had happened it would be me at fault,” Kala emphasised.

Harvey shifted nervously. “Er, yes, I suppose you’re right,”

Harvey sighed “I… I’m so relieved,”

  Kala closed in to embrace her fiance. Her mouth melted into his. “I love you,” She whispered once her lips released his.

  Harvey’s cheeks were burning as they parted. “Ah, well, what’s the time? We best get ready for work,”

“Oh yeah! Can’t have you being late, can we?” She smirked briefly such that Harvey couldn’t tell if his beloved was being serious or gently mocking him.

Kala looked over to the wall clock and Harvey followed her gaze. “6:20, huh?” She stated.

“What?!” He exclaimed. “I thought it must have been later than that!” he shifted his gaze then added, “...Considering it all...”

“Speak for yourself! I’m usually out on the farm by now!” She chuckled.

“I suppose, I shouldn’t keep you then…”

Kala smiled, “Weeeell,...” She crept her hands around his waist and drew herself in for another embrace while maintaining her gaze on him. “...the chickens can wait a bit longer just this once,” Her eyes sparkled as she smirked.

Harvey blushed. “o..ok,”

                                                                  *** Harvey walked hurriedly through Pelican town, until he was almost jogging. Glancing at his watch every few seconds, he desperately wanted to make it back to the clinic before Maru arrived for her shift. The glass door was in sight. Harvey breathed a sigh of relief as Maru was nowhere to be seen. He slipped his hand into the pocket of his shorts and searched for the keys. Nothing. He checked the other pocket. Again, nothing. Beginning to panic a little, he removed his backpack and began rifling through it. After a minute or so of searching he had found them. The keys were, of course, secured in one of the side pockets for safe keeping. Focussed on the lock, he began to insert the key.

“Good morning, Harvey!” A cheerful voice startled him.

  “Hah.. good morning, Maru,” He returned her smile.

As Maru approached she examined the situation. Harvey’s cheeks were flushed, his hair unkempt and a bead of sweat rolled down his neck.

“H.. how was your weekend?” He stuttered.

“Oh, you know, it was ok. How was yours?” The emphasis confirmed to Harvey that Maru knew something was up.

“G… good! It was really good, thank you,” He could feel his cheeks burning.

Maru smiled as Harvey opened the clinic’s door and let them both in.

As the door closed behind them Maru broke the silence, “Spent the night at Kala’s then?”

Harvey stopped in his tracks. He let out a quiet sigh “Haaa… I suppose it’s pretty obvious,” He forced a defeated smile.

Maru grinned, “Well it’s either that or you took up early morning running,”

“Did that possibility really seem so unlikely?” Harvey was a little offended but he laughed it off.

Maru chuckled. “It’s ok, I won’t tell,” She brought a finger to her lips playfully. Harvey knew well how gossip spreads in this small town.

  “Actually, I have something to tell you,”

“Hm? What is it?” She replied instinctively.

Harvey took a deep breath, still unsure if he was dreaming “Kala and I are getting married,” His eyes glistened with love.

“Oh! Congratulations!” Maru bounced with excitement.

  “Ha ha, thank you,”

“You’ll have to tell me all about the pro-,” She was cut off as Evelyn opened the door for her wheelchair-bound husband.

Maru hurried over to them to hold the door open. “Good morning, Mrs Evelyn, Mr George. You’re a little early today,”

  “Oh Dr Harvey doesn’t mind,” She hadn’t yet noticed him standing there in shorts and a t-shirt.

Maru smirked “Well, you may need to wait for a bit this morning. The Doctor isn’t quite ready yet,”

Evelyn looked over towards Harvey, “Oh dear, yes I see. That’s not a problem, you take your time Doctor,”

“Hmph, lazy kids these days,” George grumbled.

“Dr Harvey has just taken up running, and I think he’s not quite used to incorporating it into his morning routine yet,” Maru gave a subtle wink to the doctor.

Harvey broke his silence, “Hah yes, I’m very sorry about the delay this morning Mrs Evelyn, Mr George,”

  “Not to worry dearie, we’re in no rush. Besides you have to take care of your own health too, doctor,”

George simply scowled.

“Thank you. Well, then if you’ll excuse me for a few minutes,” Harvey turned to the make his way upstairs.

As Maru floated over to the front desk she whispered to Harvey “You'll have to fill me in on the details later,”

  He smiled and nodded towards Maru. Grasping the azure spiral shell from underneath his shirt. -End-

[zootopiathingz]

Welcome Home

(A/N: ok sOO I barely talk about my Pixar AU on here and ik no one really cares but if you are interested I’m willing to post more. Or you can just check it out on my wattpad, whatever floats your boat. Anyway this is just a quick one-shot I wrote when I officially added Ian and Barley in the mix back in March. Hope you enjoy!)

The previous night should've been a well-enough preview of what the Pixars were like. At first, they were calm and civil, posing for pictures on the red carpet, making casual jokes, sitting calmly in the audience. They were extremely polite to the new guys—Ian and Barley Lightfoot. Two teenaged elves (despite their ages, they would be joining the adult household as opposed to the adjoining kids' home).

But by the time the celebration party for the Swearing-In started, the Pixars, as a whole, went wild. After the paparazzi left, so did their sobriety. The Pixars danced (often inappropriately) to the music, made many dirty jokes (in front of the kids, no less), and had completely lost any sense they had. Barley didn't really mind it, but he didn't appreciate the fact that they didn't let him drink anything besides the fruit punch. Ian, however, was unexplainably uncomfortable with the experience. He expected the adults to get tipsy, sure, but he didn't think that any of them would grind each other on the dance floor or dip their heads in a punch bowl to bob for apples (by apples, it was really just a bunch of decorative fruit—to which some of them ate anyway).

Yes, the Pixars were a crazy bunch, and that was made painfully obvious at the party.

But it was unavoidable for the two elves. Luxo Sr. made them and they'd sworn into the family of his creations. There was no going back now.

Barley was the first to wake up the next morning, and not just because he was one of the few that wasn't completely hungover. He woke up due to his enthusiasm. He couldn't wait to explore the town, decorate his and Ian's room, meet new people. It was his first day of actually being able to experience the world. He wanted to make it count.

He was able to leave the room without waking up his brother, and surprisingly no one else either when he walked down the hallway. He couldn't help but briefly observe everything he passed—pictures, figurines, the dozens of Pixar merchandise on the shelves in the living room. After coming home last night, he wasn't able to really see the house since it was late and everyone else was too tired to give a tour.

Barley then walked into the kitchen, being nosey by rummaging through the cabinets and pantry. He wanted to try to make the others breakfast, but he knew it wouldn't be successful if he even tried to cook, considering he didn't know how. So instead, he did what he knew how to do.

He grabbed the many boxes of cereal from the pantry and began to pour them into separate bowls. "This should do the trick." He said to himself with pride. "Not everyone needs fancy eggs or tasty pig meat to get their nutrition."

He grabbed spoons for the bowls, but then it occurred to him that they probably didn't have enough milk for every bowl. After checking the fridge, his thoughts were proven correct, since there was only one carton. "Well, I guess some of them will have to be dry." He shrugged, pouring the milk into certain bowls while he left the rest alone. "Eh, they can always buy more."

His pointy ears twitched when he heard a door open from the hallway. The enthusiasm grew, now was his chance to prove himself a good roommate to them! Being kind and offering breakfast for them after having a crazy night? Who wouldn't want to live with someone like that?

Barley puffed out his chest, holding up one of the bowls in a dramatic stance. Not a second later, the exhausted and hungover Woody entered the room, holding his temples with his fingers. "Good morrow, my fellow Pixar gentleman!" The elf said in a 'proper' tone, which startled the brunette man at first. "May I offer you your first meal of this glorious day?" He held the bowl out for him to take.

Woody eyed him oddly, slowly taking the cereal bowl. "Uh, thanks." He said. He didn't want to be rude to the new Pixar, especially not on the first day. But he was in no mood to deal with the naive excitement right now. "I didn't think you'd be up so early." He said, moving the spoon around as he sat on the stool at the counter.

"I could say the same thing to you." Barley joked, running a hand through his short blue hair. "But anyway, I wanted to get up and surprise you all with a little treat. But uh, I hope the rest of them don't mind soggy or dry cereal." He said, realizing that pouring the milk in so early might not have been the best idea.

Woody shrugged, "Eh, we're hungover now. We're not picky." He said, putting a spoonful of cereal in his mouth. "So, how'd you sleep?" He asked, deciding to make conversation with the new guy, despite his horrid headache

"I barely slept at all." Barley answered honestly, "I kept thinking about all the stuff I want to do! After being kept in a test tube all my life, I'm finally able to see the world!"

"You weren't awake in the 'test tube', don't make it so dramatic." The brunette man laughed, "But hey, I get that. We were all as excited as you at one point."

Barley paced in a circle, "First, I'm gonna try that meat sandwich thing, then I'm gonna go run on that white dirt by the ocean, and then I'm gonna drive, and then I'm gonna learn a dirty joke and tell it to the kids!"

Woody eyed him, smiling in amusement. Ah, I remember being that excited about life. He thought to himself, Oh take me back to those days...please.

"First, it's called a hamburger. Second, the dirt is called sand. Third, you have to learn to drive first. And finally...knock yourself out, we've all done it."

The new Pixar put his fist to his hip in confidence, staring off outside from the glass door. "Ah, there's a whole lotta world out there. I bet you've had fun experiencing it all." He said with a sigh.

"Uhh sure. Fun." Woody said dismissively.

They both turned their heads when they heard a toilet flush, followed by a door opening. Barley grinned when seeing who'd just walked out from the bathroom. "Ah, there he is! My dear brother!" He said dramatically, much to Ian's dismay. He walked over to drape his arm over the smaller elf's shoulder. "Welcome to the first day of the rest of our lives." He said, gesturing with his hand.

"Barley, we've been alive for a month now." Ian said dryly.

"Shhh, don't ruin this glorious moment." The older brother whispered, putting his finger to Ian's mouth. He then left his side and grabbed a bowl, handing it to Ian. "Would you care for some soggy Froot Loops?" He offered.

"Uh, I'm good. Thanks." Ian said, smiling weakly.

Barley shrugged, "Suit yourself."

Woody continued to eat the cereal as he listened to the new Pixars' conversation. He found it pretty cute, the dynamic was so fitting for the household. They were definitely going to fit in with the others.

"You know, if you guys want, we can take you for a ride, show you around San Clemente." He offered them casually, "We can start with the beach house."

Barley gasped, "You guys have a beach house?!" He laughed, "Oh, this keeps getting better and better!"

The three suddenly flinched and looked over at the hallway, having heard a loud crash coming from one of the rooms. Then it was followed by banging on the walls and many cuss words.

"Can y'all not fuck right now?? It's too early for this shit!"

"Shut the fuck up, whore!"

"QUIET I'M TRYING TO SLEEP!"

"WE ALL ARE!"

"I FUCKING HATE ALL OF YOU!"

They turned away, Ian incredibly disturbed while Woody was completely unfazed. Barley sighed and hugged his brother at his side. "Ah, I love it here already."

"I HOPE YOU GET CORONA!"

[calypsoff]

Sixteen. Part 4

Walking around with a gut full of Chris’ babies and his tee on, life is great. It is what I have craved, and then this heat. I smiled closing my eyes as I moved my face up to the sun, this is what I want. I am happy, and the sex was great, I can never get bored of Chris’ dick game, he is so fucking good at it. Stepping outside smiling to myself, just on time. Mel started to call, she said she was. Chris is still asleep; he is tired which doesn’t shock me. I even shifted him from me, and he didn’t move at all, I love the soreness. I also love that Chris has been eating fruit, it was better to swallow, tasty I would say “Morning!” Mel spat “good morning friend” sitting down on the lounger, a little sore I would say. I can feel it now, the soreness “damn” I breathed out “mhmmm so how is Mexico? Spill the tea, unless Chris is there?” I smirked “he is asleep, I think I wore him out. I wore him out, you know” I can’t stop smiling “wore him out? How did he take the handcuffs?” I giggled “he uhm at first didn’t trust me, made me twirl around with my booty out. And I just used my cute face, he agreed but he was annoyed. His wrists were sore, so he says. But it was good, we had a good night. I did think I would be sleeping with him but I woke up early and I am talking to you. I actually wore him out, girl I was riding him but then I took the handcuffs off him and he gripped me to the bed” Mel screamed down the phone and so did I “you are having the time of your life! How many times!?” she half shouted “girl, I don’t know. I think he came about six times; I don’t know. Maybe it was pre-cum but I got him good, one minute I want to light my blunt” placing the phone down, I am so happy like I feel so good, I want to ride him right now.

Blowing the smoke out from my lips “I am back girl, but yeah. Its wild but my sex drive has been turned on and I can’t stop, I orgasm so hard. Bitch, I do!” Mel can’t stop laughing “the fuck has happened to you? Like seriously? You and Rakim didn’t have any sex, the hell. What changed” I shrugged “because I fancy my man, my best friend, my childhood lover. He is everything I have wanted Mel and I am happy. Oh and” placing the blunt between my lips “oh and what bitch? Girl you are bad, like forget him biting your damn neck, you are the worst now. Out of nowhere” blowing the smoke out from my lips “I ain’t taking the pill, I have been off for like six or seven weeks now” the phone went silent “you both playing with fire!?” Mel shouted “well me, but I want a baby” I am being deadass “wait, hold on Robyn. Baby, what the fuck is happening? What do you mean me? Chile, you have a career. You are doing it at the wrong time, why are you doing this?” they going to call me crazy “I just want to be a mother, I couldn’t care less for this life Mel. I am happy to be not famous, I am content with this” Mel is speechless I get it but I want a baby, I want to have a baby with him “and Chris is ok with this?” clearing my throat “maybe not but he will be fine, if it happens then it happens. Chris says no but then he gets over it, I want to be a young mother Mel. I can still do all this shit; I just want to have a family. I want a husband, I just want the family I didn’t get, and I will do everything I can do keep that” Mel doesn’t approve clearly “he deserves to know” Mel mumbled “when it happens, I am telling you about this situation and that is it” she needs to accept it.

Placing my hand on his chest and pecking his lips “Chris, baby. Wake up” a smile formed on his face, he is awake “wake up my love” pressing a kiss to his lips “morning” he said groggily “I want this every waking morning, for you to be in my bed. Wake up, I am waiting to have something to eat ok?” Chris nodded his head and stretched out his body, he is so sexy. Shuffling off of the bed, he will come when he is ready, let me go and wait for him. Smiling wide walking over to the dining table, I am so in love and if they think I won’t drop my career, I would. Maybe I am crazy in love, I feel it but I just want him” pulling the chair back, sitting down slowly. I am still a little sore, I do understand Mel is not happy with me but if Chris and I did make it when we were younger, my life would have been so different, his life would be. He would have been famous; I just know it. I have been off the pill for a while now and I am just thinking when will I get caught but I got a little feeling in my stomach, I think maybe it’s just me but I am late with my period and I haven’t said anything, leaving it in god’s hands if I am, then I am.

Here is my lazy man, look at him half sleepy “I smell like you, sniff my face” Chris leaned into me, sniffing his face “it smells divine” I snorted laughing “not wrong though, smells wonderful. Love you though” he pulled the chair out “so, gather yourself together so we can go and explore together as a couple. Take you to some spots that I like, I know you will love it” Chris cooed out shuffling his chair in “I am here for it, I am going to tan while I am out here. I look a little tanned, but I need it more. I am too light skinned right?” he isn’t wrong “so can I, remember when I started getting so pale because of how cold it was in Virginia? You called me Casper” Chris busted out laughing “oh shit, I did. Casper the green eyed ghost, oh my god. How do I come out with such shit and you don’t whoop my ass about it. I have called you a lot of things, it’s crazy because we have done so much together in such little time. Wild” watching Chris pour the OJ into the glass “that is because we spent every day together Chris, weekend included. Was you intrigued by me?” tilting my head to the side “I was, like I ain’t ever seen a forehead that big” hitting his arm “why do you have to be this way” I chuckled “I am joking but yeah, you were different. You are from the islands and your accent, your face, your small titties. It just caught me” I swear, I hate him “you’re so annoying, mr I am tired. You are so weak” kissing my teeth “you know how hard I came!? You know how much strength it takes from me to ejaculate!? Not my fault you don’t have an off switch” he is not wrong I don’t “not my fault I be feeling horny” annoying ass.

The many reasons why I love coming to Mexico is because I get to do what I like without having my bodyguard around, I don’t get harassed at all “where we going again? I don’t remember you mentioning it” I actually did but he doesn’t remember “so we are going to Gran Cenote, Best Cenote in Tulum, just you and I and good vibes. Honestly you will love it” I am saying this but I haven’t been there, I just got Jen to research it and it sounded good “been there before” see how I knew he would ask that “no” I couldn’t help but smile because he got me “but you know it’s good” waving him off “don’t be so negative” Chris snorted laughing “it’s ok, I trust you. To be honest I would be happy to be just in that beautiful home you got us in, it’s amazing” then it came to me, he is wearing jeans “Chris, did you bring any other clothes? How are you wearing jeans in this heat” I should have done a spot check on his clothes, I am so dumb “mhmm, what is wrong with jeans?” is he hot or cold “because we are on holiday together and it’s hot here! You should be wearing light colours, I can only imagine how heated it is around your dick, you are so musty. So you got nothing else?” he shook his head “you know what, I will get the driver to take us to get you some swimming trunks, you will need it. I promise you” Chris sighed out, he is annoyed but he is actually the annoying one wearing jeans and a tee but I love him, including his stupidity “excuse me” the driver looked in his rear-view mirror “before we get there can you take us to get some clothes, men’s please” I was expecting Chris to refuse but he didn’t, he knows he is stupid but my fault I should have checked before going with him.

The driver took us to this very cute boutique, I am impressed “thank you” I said to the driver “you don’t need to walk us in” I think I will walk with my stupid boyfriend here, the store assistant eyes widened but she bowed her head “welcome, welcome” stepping into the store “hi” the guy behind the cashier desk came up to us “welcome to Crasqi Rihanna, I am Viktor” he shook my hand, I assumed he was going to be Mexican but no, just a regular American, maybe he moved here. He shook Chris’ hand “Chris” looking around the store “Viktor, welcome” stepping to the side “my boyfriend here decided to wear jeans when we are going to Gran Cenote” the guy chuckled “well you come to the right place, we have the full range. Are you looking to swim” nodding my head “I am, and he will be but he isn’t saying much, speak up” looking behind me “yeah” Chris side eyed me, but he is stupid “I want to get him a few swim shorts and some pants for this weather too, he is ok with top but if you can show him the range and he can change into it. Also you got slides?” I would like to kick Chris, he looks like a goof “come right this way” gesturing Chris to go ahead of me, he can choose what he wants.

Chris has gone to change into the shorts, least he is wearing a tee but I do understand Chris. He doesn’t have holiday clothes because he hasn’t been away like that that so I won’t keep bringing it up with him because if so, he will end up being angry at me about it but he really needs to know how to dress. I wonder if he will let me pay, I doubt it but I won’t be pushing him about it if he wants to do it “he is taking him time” I said laughing, he is taking ages “I am done” he walked out of the dressing room with his shorts on and tee “see, you look better. You got your stick legs out and everything” looking down to his feet “I bet your feet feel free, maybe put your socks on under the slides, give me your clothes” walking over to him, taking his jeans and sneakers from him “my feet ugly?” shaking my head smiling “you can take them off when we get there, do it” Chris nodded his head “you can sit here sir and do it” Viktor gestured him too “thank you” while he is doing that I can go and pay, he won’t notice and this will be nothing anyways.

Folding his jeans while back in the car “taking care of me?” Chris grinned at me, smiling lightly at him “I am, there is a reason why I do at times buy on the go. Different climates, if I am going Barbados I know how to dress there but mainly if I am on the road and I am in Europe, it’s unpredictable so I just kind of buy on the go. You will get used to it” placing his folded jeans on my lap “it’s Texas, you know. I don’t be predicting things. I am a simple man Robyn, my bad” he shrugged “stop it, it’s fine Chris. I want to spoil you” Chris sighed out “you paid too, thank you. For everything, you really opening my eyes to things and just the simple fact you got my legend Lebron to say that to me and now this, thank you. I find it hard sometimes. Sometimes I want to be like no but I remembered I said I would let you. If I see it as Robyn I am cool, still a little freaked out about Rihanna, I mean ask the driver. Can you imagine that you got Rihanna here” he is so stupid “speechless friend” Chris eyeballed me “see!” shaking my head “stop it” I mumbled, I would like to say for him to get over it but I can’t, that would be rude of me because it is new to him still.

Getting out of the car “Miss Fenty, I am guide” the guy didn’t wait a second “hi” I smiled, throwing Chris’ jeans in the backseat “I am Juan, welcome” pulling down my beach dress “thank you” smiling at him, looking to the side of me and Chris finally appeared “I am your guide” he shook Chris’ hand “nice to meet you” Chris said and then looked at me “what?” I shook my head “is it far this place?” he asked, I knew he would “like wearing slides won’t hurt?” the guy looked down at Chris “I understand what you mean, no it’s not far. I am taking you there and that is it. We usually do a longer version, but it’s personalised to you Rihanna” he smiled at me, like the type of smile you give to someone you love, holding onto Chris’ hand “miss Fenty would you like me to come with as protection?” the driver thinks he is my bodyguard “no we are fine, let’s go Juan. I am sure Chris will protect me” Chris rolled his eyes “did you put sun cream on?” I asked him, I mean I thin I know the answer “no” I knew it “you’re a good boy” I said through gritted teeth.

This is so amazing, like I haven’t been here “Gran Cenote is comprised of a river like open air cenote flanked by two snorkelling areas and surrounded by caves and caverns” there is literally a hug gap in the cave, and I can see the crystal clear water, it’s a little scary to look down. I let out a scream as Chris jokingly pushed me “idiot” Juan laughed “Rihanna you would be fine, you can free dive off this, nothing would happen to you” I don’t think so, is he crazy “these are water-filled sinkholes that naturally occur in limestone rock when an underground cave collapses in on itself and exposes the groundwater underneath. There are thousands of cenotes dotted around but you can free dive, it’s not high at all, it looks it but you can jump in” looking at Chris “let’s do it” frowning at Chris “uhm, I mean I can swim but still, I mean I am used to the water” Chris wants to do it “are you sure it’s safe? I mean the water is so clear, but we won’t die? It is deep enough” Juan placed his hand over his heart “I would not danger Rihanna, I promise you. I have done it myself, see the couple across there, watch them do it” the guy just did a little run and jumped down, my eyes widened watching him free fall down and then splashed “it’s not far down” he says that but, is the guy even alive but he is. His head popped up from the water “then you climb up the stairs back here, I promise it is fun” I am between saying no and wanting to do it, looks fun” if I don’t I know Chris will.

I feel so nervous “you won’t let go of my hand right? You won’t let me drown either? You promise, if you let my hand go I will cry” Chris laughed “promise, when I count to three we both run and jump?” I feel the adrenalin right now in my body, I am nervous “I will video you both running, when you ready!” Juan shouted, I told him to video us “not let my hand go” I said again” Chris laughed “I promise, right? I am going to start counting. So one, two, three” Chris moved but I didn’t, I was testing him and he stopped “what?” I snorted laughing “I was testing to see if you did hold my hand and not let go, seriously. I am a little scared, like still?” Chris groaned out “baby, it’s fine. You spider monkey, you will climb anything. We start again and you count, I promise I got you” now we got to start again, hearing a little cheering. Then I see that couple just cheering on, I wish they didn’t “fine, one… two… three” Chris and I started to run and then we both jumped, feeling myself fall and I let out the loudest scream I could.

I can’t believe I just did that, looking “you did it!!” Juan shouted, feeling Chris pull me to him “that was nothing, I want to do it again actually” wrapping my arms around his neck “this is nice, look at it” looking around us, this is really a cave too. Chris pressed kisses to the side of my face “this water is so clear” looking to him “it is, see I told you I got you. I didn’t even let go of your hand but I think I fell in deeper than you, I am fat” he chuckled “my ass, you just a man” pressing a kiss to his lips “I liked it though, and I got to do it with you. Makes it even better, let’s go to see the guide. Before we just stay here forever” Chris moved to swim away, I did think he would let my hand go but he didn’t. He pulled me along “you can swim?” I said confused “mhmmm no, I seen it on films. I ain’t scared of it, I got you” I like that, turns me on actually. He yanked me ahead of him “climb up then” I love a protective man; he is the best.

Taking a sip from the cocktail, I am tired, and I didn’t even do anything “we made memories” Chris passed my phone back “we did, good video. I feel like this is our honeymoon” I really do “it does, I was thinking the same thing “we think alike, that is twin behaviour” I pointed to him “we see each other” I giggled “we do, so when you go back to Cali you doing what?” he asked “rehearsals, few days. Because I am using old content I don’t need to really do anything big, then rest day and then I am off to my first date. Hopefully you are coming? You are staying with me right?” I want him to just stay “uhhh no, what I am thinking is to go back to Virginia, see my family. Go to Texas and then me and the boys meet you there. I want to see my mom before going, she keeps asking. She misses me” I don’t want to sound selfish, but I will “fine, you are coming though yes?” he nodded his head “I am, promise. Then while I am there I can catch up on my social media things. I know like things are a little wild, I see people using my mug shot too. Rihanna got a thug in her life, they don’t like that I am a soft nigga, I ain’t like I was but what can I do to stop it you know” squinting at him “does it bug you? With what they are saying, they don’t know you and I am not even give then content, I will post when I need too, I think once I start doing my promo for the album the question will come up and I am going to tell them what kind of man I got in my life, you’re the sweetest guy” Chris put his head down smiling, he is so sweet.