#once i have enough i know where to find pigs so ill take some of them back as well
Explore tagged Tumblr posts
yo9urt · 6 months ago
Text
barn is now fully operational!! :)
minecraft continues swimmingly...i now have TWO (2) dogs
#another long ramble ahead ->#so we have a total of 5 enclosures...the biggest one is for equines and theres 2 in it right now#because i dont have a saddle i cant tame them but i do have leads (killed a wandering trader because his trades meant nothing to me#and he kept stomping on my crops and i didnt have the patience to wait for him to leave)#so i kidnapped a donkey from the field and then i went to the quarry and kidnapped the horse with the best stats#(one of my mods lets me see their stats w/o taming them) i need to check on the wiki and see if horse stats can pass from parent to child#or if its random because if its random im releasing this one and kidnapping a prettier one but if not im going to selectively breed them#for a mechanically good and also pretty horse. but thats not for a while so whatever#i WANTED to kidnap horses from the village but PILLAGER PATROLS WONT FUCKING STOP SPAWNING BY MY HOUSE. DIE !!!!!!#laika and freya are very strong doggies they do a great job killing the patrols with me. so proud of my girls <3#anyway 3 of the other 4 enclosures have animals in them. ones for cows one for sheep one for chicken#the mob variants mod DOES work on the farm animals so with the cows i actually found this gorgeous fluffy black one#and i bred it with a gray one AND THEY HAD A FLUFFY PALE GOLDEN BABY? so cute...#i also found a RAM like a sheep with big curly pixel horns so im breeding that one to try to get more#and the chickens have some really neat palettes like midnight and golden and stuff so im breeding the prettiest ones in their pen too#no pigs...i have carrots but im waiting for more to grow in the farm and make a bigger patch of them#once i have enough i know where to find pigs so ill take some of them back as well#im getting a bit tired of homesteading so i think soon im probably going to do babys first cartography#ill bring laika with me and we'll walk through the old growth spruce forest and that general area and see what we find :) maybe more dogs l#lol* anyway yeah everything is really cool !! except for the pillagers
2 notes · View notes
onthepyre · 7 months ago
Note
Hi June! No.1 for the prompt meme if you feel inspired? 💖
hi calli!! thanks for dropping in <3 this is kind of loosely the "dirtiest white boy in america" period but honestly. fuck if i know. it's sad though
send me a number and ill write something angsty
1 - keeping things from the other to spare their feelings
Sometimes Dad had to bail, Mickey knew. When they were little kids, not smart enough to keep their traps shut, he and Mandy got dragged along, lying in the backseat, her head in his lap. Perks of being the youngest two, Mickey guesses. Seeing Indiana before they turned six. By the time Mom was gone, they were told to keep their heads down and wait it out while Dad fucked off to who-knows-where. It sucked, but it sucked less than having him home. It was tolerable.
When the pigs started sniffing around the Alibi, Dad got itchy. They were just around to "ask questions," but the proximity was enough. He had a bag packed in ten minutes, four loaded handguns tucked under dirty underwear and ratty cutoffs. It was damn near a rampage, but Mickey didn't have the sixth sense his siblings did that told them to get the fuck out of dodge. He didn't even realize the depth of shit he was in until Dad pitched a backpack at him and asked what the fuck he was standing around with his thumb up his ass for.
Arguing was useless. If he ran now, Mickey would be dead when Dad inevitably made it back to Chicago. So he took the backpack and stuffed it with a change of clothes and a handful of knives and cash, tucking his busted flip phone into a wad of underwear. In case he needed it, Mickey told himself. So he could contact Mandy if they were gonna be gone long. Not Ian.
That's what he told himself, at least, but when they were halfway to Dad's buddy's cabin in Minnesota and it slipped out that he was wanted for eight counts of trafficking, when Mickey's throat started to burn, he knew.
A nine hour drive meant sitting next to Dad all night. When they finally, finally made it, got out to stretch their legs deep in the woods, it set in. Mickey was very firmly stuck here, at least for the coming days, nobody to keep him company but Dad and the fucking raccoons.
Just about as soon as they set foot in the cabin, Dad was snoring. Mickey wasn't about to take his chances in the same room, only four feet of space between the twin beds. He crept to the bathroom, locked the door, propped a stepstool against it for good measure. He texted Mandy first, short and to the point: sos in mn.
Then there was the problem of Ian. He had, at best, one message to make sure he'd leave him alone. There was no telling how long it would take Mandy to figure out how the fuck to get him out of this three-room shithole, assuming he wasn't cursed to die in it. Mickey couldn't say nothing. Ian would get antsy, go looking for him. Say something he shouldn't. But he couldn't tell him what was actually happening, either, because he couldn't give Ian that false hope. Couldn't let him stay attached, pine, worry, wait for something that wasn't going to come.
He had to let him get over it like a normal heartbreak. Ian could cry for a week and then find some other South Side street rat to fuck instead, a thought that had Mickey gnawing on his bottom lip to distract from the pit in his stomach. Yeah. That was what he had to do.
cant c u anymore, he wrote. dont txt.
Mickey deleted both messages as soon as they went through. He allowed himself ten seconds to let it sink in. Knuckles pressed into his eyes, sitting on the toilet lit bent double, he sniffled once. Then, after a few shuddering breaths, he opened the door, and thank fuck, Dad was still snoring.
25 notes · View notes
ciaossu-imagines · 8 months ago
Note
omg, finding someone else who detests eggs like me is such a relief! i feel like i just met my other egg-hating half, haha! everyone around me likes them, so i feel sort of embarrassed when eggs are served during mealtimes and then people look at me like i’ve committed a crime by being the only one not eating them. god, it’s exhausting to have to explain or justify myself.
anyway, i appreciate you taking the time to read my self-ship headcanons. i find it heartwarming that you’re always excited and enthusiastic about your readers’ interests. i noticed that you reblogged prompts, so this time i have something to send in. from the ask game, can you do 🐰🐶💎🌿? i’m interested (and i’m sure the other readers are as well) in getting to know you more!
- nix
I know what you mean! Everyone I know definitely is an egg person and they keep telling me that oh, I just haven’t tried them prepared like this or I’ll love them if they’re in something. And they’re kind of right on that one – I tell them I like them in cake and cookies and they look at me like I’ve committed some kind of culinary crime in disliking them. I know the struggle. Also get lots of weird looks for saying I hate Jello – it’s a texture thing though. Squishy makes me so blegh and it’s not pretty, haha!
Heck, I appreciate you sending them in. They gave me so many smiles and happiness today and I appreciated the nice chance of pace and distraction! Thanks to that and other messages sent in, I made it through the commission I was working on and got inspired to reply to a couple emails, and write one post to add to the queue eventually! Honestly, hearing all about your guy’s interests, ships and characters inspire me as a creator too! Also, thank you so much for wanting to get to know me more! I find that really sweet and very flattering 😊
🐰 What do you think says the most about a person?
This is a lesson I’ve learned the hard way, but people’s actions speak volumes. Unfortunately, it’s been a lesson hard learned, but anyone can say pretty words, anyone can promise you the moon and the stars, anyone can convince you that they’re this amazing person just from their words alone, but their actual actions and what they do will speak volumes more. People whose actions tell me they’re a good person, people whose actions show kindness, respect, and strong morals and character – those are the people I have learned are safe to trust and open my heart to and let into my life. I hope nobody ever has to learn that lesson the hard way, of course, but do believe that people’s actions should be what others judge them by, not their words alone, not some superstition based on star signs, not their looks, not their mental illnesses, not their physical capabilities…just their actions.
🐶 Are you more of a dog person or a cat person?
Both! I love all animals – up until my last couple and current apartment, which are pet free, I’ve always had a cat and love lavishing my friend’s dogs with attention and treats. Once I get a new apartment (or, crossing my fingers, my own house), I definitely want a cat again and I would kill for a place where I can have a pig again! Just a mini-pig, honestly. I have a friend who got one and I love them so much. They’re harder to train than a cat, yes, but once they’re trained, they’re smart and cuddly and lovely pets.
💎 What’s your most prized possession?
I have a leather jacket a friend gifted me. Yes, you guys can be mad at me, it’s indeed real and genuine leather, a motorcycle jacket so I’d be a bit safe when I rode behind him. It’s lasted me eight years now and looks almost the same as it did when I got it. Not only has it held up remarkably well, it’s warm enough to last me into December (though I admittedly run hot) some winters, most definitely into November. It also looks good with everything I own, has good pockets on it. I also have a hand-me down cut from the same friend that I wear when I’m feeling really lonely, as it always reminds me of him. I’ve had some rude people tell me it looks ridiculous on me, especially when I wear it with my usual pastel dresses and frilly skirts, but he always told me I rocked it like no one else, so I take his confidence into all days when I wear it.
🌿 Describe your favorite outfit.
I wear a lot of dresses and skirts, to be honest. It’s only in winter that I start throwing on pants or when I have to work (uniform and all). My favourite one is super geeky though! I’m actually going to add a picture here!
Tumblr media
I’ll throw leggings on under it in chillier weather and always wear bike shorts under all my dresses and skirts (I’m super active and tend to sit like a man, so they protect my modesty). It’s old now, at least five or six years old and it’s been washed so much the colours aren’t as vibrant and it’s all stretched out, but it will have to come apart at the seams before I give up wearing it.
2 notes · View notes
dantesunbreaker · 1 year ago
Text
Why Do You Lie? Ch. 2/3
Daryl Dixon x Transmasculine Reader
I have this posted on Ao3, but I like having my work cross posted. This has some pretty heavy themes so be warned.
Trigger Warnings: Attempted Suicide, Mention of Transphobia, Mentions of Drug Overdose, Self Harm, Mental Illness
Scavenging what you could find within the convenience store had been simple as a breeze when you once again had the relief of medication in your system. When two walkers had stumbled out from a blocked door you didn’t so much as flinch before driving your knife through both their skulls. But, you feel an icy stare at your back. Daryl watches your every move like a hawk, expecting that you are going to freeze up again. It hurts more the fact the acher won’t utter a single word to you.
So, when all bags are full to the point none of you could even imagine being able to carry more, you eye Daryl ask he starts his bike. You watch him turn his head back towards you a fraction of an inch, but not daring to turn enough for you to enter his field of vision. Hesitant, you let all your insecurities bubble up inside you. Sucking in a deep breath, you make your decision.
Thankfully, while Michonne gives you a look as you drop into the passenger seat of the car, she doesn’t make any remark. Fidgeting with your seatbelt, you miss the way Daryl’s muscles tense up before he is back on the road again. You fiddle nervously with the strap of your bag before you sigh and place it on the center console between the seats. Daryl kicks off onto the journey back home and you find yourself watching him shrink into the distance as he keeps a large lead between you.
“You know how Daryl is,” Michonne breaks the silence, noticing the way you continue to gaze out the windshield at the archer. “He’s a stubborn man that doesn’t know how to handle his emotions. But Y/N, he only is being like this because he cares about you. Daryl just wants you to be safe.”
“Maybe,” you force yourself to turn away, forehead resting against the side window as you watch the world go by. “I’m not so sure of that right now. I know he cares in his own way, but I just don’t know if I can convince myself it’s about me and not just because I'm part of the group.”
“Give it time.”
Sometimes you wish that you could be as certain as Michonne. You don’t give her a response, knowing she doesn’t really need or expect one. Instead a comfortable silence falls over you for the rest of the trip, leaving you to your own thoughts once more.
It’s peaceful, to the point you nearly drift to sleep on the trip, feeling both mentally and physically burnt out from the roller coaster of a day you experienced. But it isn’t over yet. As the prison slowly creeps into view, you know that you have plenty of work yet to come. Probably a million questions soon await you as well. Rick and Carl are already waiting, having seen your vehicles approaching and are quick to open the gates just long enough for you to pass through. Driving up the dirt path to the second gate, you watch the pigs in the small hand built pen with a smile as you pass. As Michonne parks just inside the perimeter of the yard you notice that Daryl is nowhere in sight, likely having gone off somewhere secluded to unload his bike.
You’re first out of the vehicle, moving straight to the back of the car to begin unpacking. It takes a moment for Michonne to follow you out, and you notice your bag clutched by the strap in one of her hands.
“Don’t forget this,” she calls while skillfully tossing it across the top of the car to you. “I’ll be back to help in a moment.”
Not questioning where Michonne is off to, you begin to inventory your haul. There is probably enough food to feed everyone for a couple months, though with Rick’s crops coming it, it had the potential to last even longer. When it comes to the medical supplies, it is hard to judge how long everything will last however. But it certainly is enough to replace everything in the infirmary at least three times over.
As you are about to begin unloading, you look up to see Rick and Michonne walking side by side in your direction. Michonne catches your eye and gives a completely neutral expression you are left utterly unable to gauge. This could be bad. Ducking your head you quickly turn away from them and attempt to look deep into sorting supplies.
“Y/N, can I borrow you for just a moment?” At Rick's words your stomach drops. Anything but this. Facing Rick, knowing that he knows you weren’t being honest... well let’s just say you would rather shoot yourself in the foot. But you aren’t a complete coward.
With eyes closed tight, you suck in a deep breath before you turn to accept your fate.
“Yes, Rick?”
As much as you don’t want to meet his intense gaze, you lock eyes with the scruffy older gentleman. If only for the briefest of moments. Better than nothing. But in that moment, instead of anger in Rick’s sky blue eyes, you swear you see something else. What is it? Remorse.
“Walk with me.”
Casting your gaze to your own boots, you fall into stride with the other man. There is a knot growing in your gut as you dwell over every possible way this conversation could go. Would he send you away? In pulling the wool over his eyes to go on the run, did you jeopardize your welcomeness within the prison? After a while, when you’re well past the cell blocks and away from the others gathering out in the yard, Rick stops with a deep sigh, his back to you and rests his hands on his belt.
“You’ve been with us for a while now, Y/N,” Rick begins, voice soft yet full of authority, just loud enough for you to hear. “We found you, we took you in just a few months before taking this place. I’ve seen you put yourself at risk to save others. To protect Carl. To protect Judith. So, it’s just something I don’t quite understand.”
Rick finally turns back to face you, a strained look of something akin to pain in his eyes as he takes a step closer to you. Your lip trembles. Distress and fear makes you want to turn and run from the situation. Flight or fight instinct kicking in and telling you to leave an uncomfortable situation. But you keep yourself together, grounding yourself as best as you are able.
“You are part of this group, part of this family, Y/N,” Rick leans closer to you, adjusting to your height until you can’t help but look into his eyes. “You are important. Not a single person here would judge you, and if there is, be sure to send them my way and I will get them sorted.”
Appearing to be out of near thin air, Rick holds one up of the bottles of your medication in front of you for you both to see. Shit. Michonne must have slipped one out of your bag while you weren’t looking in the car.
“You gotta know, there is no need to hide from us,” grabbing your wrist with a firm calloused hand, Rick turns it over and places the bottle back into your palm. “If this is what keeps you safe, what keeps you with us, then it’s important to us too. You give us a list of what you need, what to look for, and we will get it for you. You don't have to be afraid. We will take care of you."
You can't help the few tears that trickle down your cheeks before you hastily wipe them away with the back of your sleeve. It’s hard knowing what to say. But the look on Rick’s face as you continually wipe at the tears that just won’t seem to stop, you know he understands what you want to say without needing to utter a single word. With a wink and a nod, he moves past you, giving you a firm clap on the back as goes.
Feeling as though a heavy weight has been lifted from your chest, you allow a small smile to form on your lips. Maybe there is hope. Maybe the time has come to take a chance and to stop letting your inner demons be your voice of reason. Tucking the small bottle into your pocket, you turn back to help unload the car with a much lighter spring in your step.
With the help of a few former citizens of Woodbury, it doesn’t take more than half an hour to have the vehicle completely unpacked. Neat stacks are organized by where they need to go while people carry what they can to their designated locations. By the time everything is said and done, you are exhausted, a thin sheen of sweat clinging to the back of your neck. All you can think about is how nice it will feel to drop into your bunk for a much needed rest.
All that is left is your personal bag, still loaded with your haul of anti-anxiety meds, which is slinging over your shoulder. You try to tell yourself that perhaps after a night to unwind and settle from all this excitement you will talk to Hershel about stocking some in the infirmary. Maybe someone else was struggling just as much as you and could use them as well. Distracted, you pay no mind to what is in front of you, and thus let out a startled gasp as you collide with something warm and solid before falling flat on your backside. Beside you is your bag splayed out against the ground, contents scattered all around you.
“I’m so sorry, I wasn’t looking where I was going!” You stumble over an apology before you even look up, but once you do your voice catches. Crystal blue eyes stare down at you. Daryl.
Panic creeps in as you fumble to shove everything back into your open bag before the archer takes note of the numerous bottles of pills. But that of course is an unrealistic fantasy. With heart beating fast, you think it may explode as you watch in slow motion Daryl crouching and taking a bottle in his hands where he turns it over carefully.
“Just like Merle,” Daryl’s voice is a low growl, hard eyes staring through you. The bottle is thrown back at the ground. “Always hoarding whatever shit he could get his hands on. I’m tired of losing people, so not gonna keep takin’ that risk. Ya ain’t going outside that fence no more. I’m gonna make sure of it.”
So badly do you want to correct him, to explain what the pills are for, why they are so important and essential to you, but you can’t find your voice again. Though, this time your instinct for flight gets the better of you. Forgetting your bag, forgetting your meds, you leap up and push past Daryl, nearly knocking him over as you sprint inside the cell block. Tears sting your eyes as you run, ignore all those that call out your name as you pass. Not until you reach an empty cell block far into the depths of the prison do you slow to a stop. Just a few days before Rick had sent in a group to clear the block.
Making sure both entrance and exit doors are secure, you make your way to an empty cell and press your back against the wall and slide until you hit the ground. Trembling hands grab your shins and pull your center until your head rests on your raised knees. A violent sob shakes your body, tears burning your eyes.
“Why am I like this?” You cry out to the empty room. It echoes back in your ears and reminds you how truly alone you are.
Hours pass as you stare endlessly at the concrete wall across from you that you see but don’t actually acknowledge as being there. You teeter somewhere on the edge of being numb and debilitated with pain. But nothing erases the aching pain that stabs at your heart. There is no light that can pierce the darkness that is your thoughts as you think of how you could eliminate a problem for those at the prison. In ending your suffering, you could relieve them of the burden of your care.
Choking on a sob, you rip the shirt off your chest to stare and the raised white scars that scatter from shoulder to elbow, some ever so fainter ones bleeding down into your forearms. Besides the two large scars under your chest is a fine speckling of scars stretching across your ribs and soft stomach. Beyond the beltline it only continues. Hip to knee is not only thick with scar tissue from repeat injections but criss crossed with jagged lines.
At least that was something you could say you were good at, being smart enough to only place your wounds where it was easy to hide. You can’t recall the last time a new scar was added to your mass collection. Sometime after the dead began to walk the earth, but not long before Rick and the group had found you and taken you in. The joy and sense of belonging that had brought you was enough to combat that ever present part of you. Or at least you thought it was. Rick may think of you as part of the family, but you can’t shake the feeling they would be better off without you. Daryl, the one you care for and love most of all, you fear never really cared for you at all. Though it’s too late now though, you wish that you had told him how you really felt about him. You know it’s something he needs to hear, that people are capable of loving and caring about him. Something you fear he doesn’t realize himself.
Drawing your knife from the sheath on your belt, your hand moves without an active thought as you stare at your wrist. Letting out a soft sigh, you watch the dark red line that begins to travel down the length of your forearm. Location shouldn’t matter this time. You don’t have to care if anyone can see the scar, because this should be the last one.
Numb, you remember the bottle that Rick handed to you. It is still in your pocket. With the hand not trickling with blood, you pull the medication from your pocket and pop the lid. A cold and empty laugh leaves you. Something that is so necessary to your ability to function has somehow brought an abrupt halt to your happy ending. You put one on your tongue and promptly swallow, frowning at the horrid taste. At least you can be calm as you wait.
For a moment you consider why just stop at one. You could take the whole bottle just to make sure that you’ve finished yourself off. But you pause. You think back to Daryl. What would he say when he saw you like this? Death by overdose just like he probably expects from you. You can’t win, even in death. Fresh tears fall as you let out a guttural scream, throwing the open bottle at the wall and watch the explosion of pills rain down around the cell. With a quivering sob, you close your eyes and wait, dreaming of better days of being without pain.
17 notes · View notes
lepurcinus · 1 year ago
Note
I saw your post on the German rabbit care guide with interesting views.
As someone who has experience with over 13 adult rabbits and been autisticly researching them to death I can give you some care advice.
With food-
Hay is extremely important and not a supplement.
If you want to go with the natural root, it still stands. Wild European rabbits are mostly grazers, only supplementing their diet with greenery and roots when they can/when grass is not available. Hay is the human alternative to constant access to grass. This is why farm rabbits/horses/sheep with rotating grass access don't need hay but stable/pet based and over-wintering farm animals do.
Pellets - you technically only need a small amount. I only feed a bowl full as mine can only have so much access to hay due to their hutch space.
Greenery- you do not need to feed daily. I only feed kale once weekly as it is high in calcium (too much causes bladder sludge). I feed no other greenery unless I have some. If anything too much greenery is problematic as it scours.
Socialization - yes they are social
A very tricky topic. They benefit from pairs but only if spayed/neutered. They will fight otherwise. Only spay/neuter if you can find a good vet as I understand not everyone has access to a rabbit savvy vet.
To complicate things more is the view on mammals. Pet parrots are just as social (if not more) and it is not frowned upon to keep singularly if you provide enough enrichment and human companionship. The same with dogs. However step into the Territory of guinea pigs/rats/ferret/chinchillas/gerbils and of course rabbits and people will throw a fit over it.
It is perfectly fine to keep a single rabbit if you socialize with them and provide enrichment.
Wire floors- not good
It used to be an old practice to have wire floors in hutches. It was done so the droppings and urine would fall into a collection tray umderneath or floor instead of where the rabbits stand. Not now though.
Turns out rabbit feet are delicate and it can cause sore hocks. Some rabbits can "tolerate" it but it is very uncomfortable and gets hot in the summer.
It is better to either spot clean (clean just toilet corner) daily or litter box train instead.
Health to look out for-
Wheezing/snotty paws and face- check with vet for the dreaded snuffles. Technically a name for many things. One is extremely dangerous and if treated early is survivable.
Red urine- red urine is not a problem. Certain food/normal hormones can make your rabbits wee weird coloured. Only be concerned if it is very sludgie (bladder sludge) or it looks like someone has dripped a drop of red dye in it (this IS blood in urine).
Soft stools- cecotrophs being left could mean being overfed or illness. Try reducing food first. True soft stool could be indicative of too many greens but also stomach upset. Check with vet If not overfed greens.
Not eating or pooping- take up the vet immediately. Treated with Oxbow critical care TM. This is a food powder to be mixed with water and syringe fed. It needs feeding every two hours in the morning and every four hours evening. This will stop GI stasis which is fatal for herbivores of any type (especially rabbits).
If you ever need any help with information, feel free to ask :)
Thanks for the information! I certainly appreciate the hassle for wanting to respond based on that random post.
I can say that I'm sticking to those guidelines pretty well, so I don't feel bad about knowing there's something off there hahaha.
The thing about my post was more because of the weird confusion that was generated for me, I didn't trust that site too much to tell you the truth and like I said there were things that sounded very strange. (I mean if it's THAT bad as they make it out to be then I think there should already be more warnings about it and less recommendations).
I'm going to leave this in the blog as a general guide just in case, and more if anyone wants to see. Again thanks 🐇👌
4 notes · View notes
moemoemammon · 3 years ago
Text
MC is Sick?!
(Feat. GN!MC and the Demon Bros)
✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦
Lucifer
A little late to notice that you’re sick. He’s been so busy lately that he can’t watch you as carefully as he’d like to, so he apologizes for not catching on sooner.
But now that it’s been brought to his attention, Lucifer is all over it. You’re excused from your classes and sent to your room for bedrest while he tends to everything else. He’s rarely the one to bring you your medicine or meals, to his dismay, but his busy schedule just won’t allow it. 
If he were able he’d let you stay in his room until you felt better. But for the time being, he’ll have to squeeze in little visits to your room, where he’ll pop in and sit on the edge of your bed, pressing his hand against your forehead and letting it linger on your cheek.
He’ll often come to your room with a record for you to listen to, and he loves talking about the history of the music and the life of the composure. His boring talks put you right to sleep.
“This piece is one of my favorites. The composer went into an illness induced madness when he created the sheet music, and wouldn't eat or sleep for two weeks until it’d been completed. Why, I often listen to it when- Ah, have you fallen asleep?"
Mammon
The first to notice the change in your health. You don’t look so good.. Are you okay? MC?!
Good luck trying to get any rest, because your first man is gonna be popping in and out of your room every five minutes. He’s constantly checking in on you, making sure you’re not too hot or too cold, that you’ve got something to drink, that you ate the soup he left-
Actually, Mammon’s not that bad of a caretaker! He’s a little too attentive, but he clearly knows what he’s doing. Also insists on being the only one that takes care of you until you’re better.
Polices everything you do. You wanna get out of bed? Nope, wait for Mammon. You’re bored? He’ll bring you something to do. Know what, he’s just gonna move into your room for the time being-
“Who told ya to go and get sick? Makin' me worry like this... I'm gonna make sure ya get better in no time, so you'd better be grateful, ya hear? I don't do this for just anybody..."
Levi
No way... You’re sick?! But you guys had plans to watch Magical Ruri Hana together...
Yeah, he’s not the best at caretaking despite watching Cells at Work, but he does know the basics! It kills him to leave his room so frequently, so.. why don’t you just stay in his room? He’ll take care of you there, and the healing waves of Ruri-chan will wash over you and get rid of your illness!
He definitely can’t be your primary caregiver, unless you want to be sick forever. Anime doesn't really imitate real life. Who would've thought?
 But he’s as attentive as he can be, at least! He brings you new DVDs to watch, manga to read, and delicious stacks to try whenever he can! Even if this is all he can do, he wants to make sure you know he’s thinking about you. May or may not also be spam texting you and keeping you awake-
“I brought the audio drama for you to listen to! It's from the TSL live series, where they act out the scenes! You won't have to worry about reading or watching anything, so you can listen to it to sleep. Oh, but I want to hear your opinion on everything! And then you- huh? When will you be able to sleep? Uh..."
Satan
The most knowledgeable when it comes to taking care of human illnesses, but he still fumbles a little. Insists on making an accurate diagnosis of your symptoms, and that takes way longer than the actual treatement,
But once he’s deduced what’s going on, Satan goes all in. You might feel like a guinea pig because of all the weird methods he’s trying on you (may or may not have read a medieval medicine book first), so uhhhhh be patient with him. Now hold still while he puts this onion in your sock-
Not as attentive as the others, but very thorough when he tends to you. And despite all the unorthodox healing methods, you actually recover quickly, by some miracle.
In the quieter moments when all you need is rest, Satan will sit by and quietly read to you until you lull off to sleep, brushing the hair from your face before he leaves.
“Hm... I was sure St. John's Wart would do the trick, but your fever hasn't broken at all? Maybe I ought to try minced garlic and honey next? Or maybe..- Eh? Just normal medicine is fine?"
Asmo
SICK?! No no, this won’t do at all! Asmo doesn’t want to see his darling MC looking so pale and unsightly! It’s off to bed with you now. No, not his bed he loves you but you’ve gotta understand-
Gentle affection is one of Asmo’s selling points, but that doesn’t mean the king of aftercare knows how to treat illnesses. He does however make you extremely comfortable. I’m talking extra fluffy pillows, cold and hot packs where you need them most, careful sponge baths (if you’ll let him), and everything else he can offer to make sure you’re okay.
May or may not show up in a hazmat suit, but don’t worry. The mask is clear so you get a view of his beautiful face! And when he isn’t around to take care of you, he sends pictures of himself to speed up the healing process.
Most likely to ask for help in your care. He tends to forget that you need more than affection and selfies to help you recover-
“Make sure you get better quickly, okay? I'll keep gracing your with my gorgeous face, and that ought to heal you in no time! Oh, maybe an herbal bath will help, too? I'll join you~!"
Beel
Extremely worried the moment you sneeze twice in a row. And when that escalates into a full blown cold, he immediately takes you to your room and cocoons you in every spare blanket he can find.
His care is sloppy, but full of affection. Your bed is a fluffy mess of soft blankets and pillows, and he lingers in your room nearly all day. And naturally, Beel knows you need to eat in order to heal.
You’re never without any food. This man will bring you an entire rotisserie chicken and a quart of orange juice for breakfast do not underestimate him. And if you can’t stomach anything, he’s try for things that’re easier to eat. like soups and broths. Also insists on feeding you himself.
Might also need some help in caring for you. He has good intentions and he’s being as careful with you as can be, but it can’t help to have another set of hands on the job. He wants to make sure you get the best care he can offer.
“Mm... you're not eating a lot today. Hm? You're full? But you only had a shadow hog roast, three sandwiches, and a gallon of juice. Are you sure that's enough? ...Well, maybe you're right. I'll eat what you can't finish, then. Hm? You're worried I'll get sick? It's fine. A human cold wont affect me."
Belphie
He knew something was up when you didn’t get out of bed that morning. Sleeping until 2pm is HIS thing, got it? Just kidding-
Tries not to show it, but this man is so worried that he can’t even sleep. BELPHEGOR, the Avatar of Sloth, is suffering from insomnia. 
He isn’t really the best at taking care of other people, but he knows that plenty of rest can only do you good. Belphie climbs into your bed and resigns himself to staying there until you heal. Somehow, having him around makes your sleep even deeper, so you always wake up feeling a little more rested than before.
Not so great at remembering when to bring you medicine and stuff, so the help of the others is a given. But despite that, you find yourself comfortable in every position you shift into. Belphie knows a thing or two about resting peacefully, so he’s got an eye for helping you with that.
“Are you feeling a little better today? ...Good. You were tossing and turning in your sleep, so I got you that ice pack. It look like your fever finally broke, so that means I can rest easy now.. goodnight......"
1K notes · View notes
strawberry-jammers · 4 years ago
Text
A child to protect (pt2)
tommyinnit x child!reader|| things dont go as planned
part 1 part 2 part 3 part 4
“Tommy what is this?” dream asks, looking at the, rightfully, scared boy. “U-uh well-” “you lied to me.” dream says, going into the no longer hidden room. “The only rule was to burn you stuff everytime i came here, yet you kept things from me. Tommy you disobeyed me.”
its 1 am and idk what's going on anymore
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“What, dream come on, did i really disobey you-.” dream cut tommy off again, “yes tommy. Yes you did. I'm blowing this place up, destroying your portal. You'll have to start all over again, and you won't have any access to the nether.” dream moved, placing TNT down. “Come on dream, you don't have to do this. Please dream.” 
“No tommy, you tested me one to many times.” dream lit the TNT. the room and house blowing up slightly. Some of his things didn't get destroyed, so he quickly grabbed, making sure dream didn't notice. 
Dream went around. Destroying everything on sight. Tnret, the portal, the rest of the little area ghostbur made, everything. Once dream left, tommy was left alone with the barren area he once lived. Everyhome he had was destroyed or taken, wasn't it?
Tommy built up. He was tired, he didnt wanna deal with dream anymore.he didnt want to be exiled anymore, he wanted none of this.
Tommy finished his tower, staring out around him. At the ocean, the holes dream created with the explosive, the small hut in the distance-
The small hut. (y/n)! 
Tommy still had his kid, he still had the baby he has been raising for the past months of his life. Dream didn't take everything, for there was one thing he still had, and that was his child.
Tommy looked down, seeing a small yet big enough pond. He jumped down, aiming for the body of water. Splashing, he swam up towards the surface. “Go get (y/n), and then think of a plan later.'' Tommy swam out of the pond, running off towards the hut he had made oh so many months ago.
Bursting threw the door, he saw the baby laying in their crib, crying as they always did when he visited. He'll be able to take care of the baby properly soon.
"Hey (n/n), hey shhh you hungry?" The baby cried still, not understanding what he was saying. Tommy grabbed some of the milk he had stored, and put it in a bottle for the child. "Come here." Tommy picked up the small child, and started to feed them. They seemed to calm down. 
"I'm glad he didn't find you. I don't know what i would've done if he did." When they where done, he took the bottle from (y/n) and sat it down. “Idk what to do now….” the child made sounds as usual. “Let's go on a walk, ill figure something out then.” getting up, he left the hut to walk around the woods a bit. They saw many animals as they walked. Tommy sat down near a tree and let the baby crawl around a bit. Tommy watched them, making sure they were safe. 
(Y/n) crawled around, fascinated with all the animals. They crawled up to a pig, wanting to pet the pink creature. Tommy got up and grabbed the baby, "hey hey, don't touch the pig. pigs are gross. I knew a pig once. Terrible man he was little (f/i)." The baby made grabby hands at the pig. "You really like pigs don't you…." Tommy thought for a moment. He decided to visit technoblade. 
"Okay (y/n), we’re gonna go live somewhere else. I'm gonna make you some warm clothes and pack up!” Tommy went back into the hut, placing down the baby on their crib. “Okay, time to fucking pack. It's really only (y/n)s stuff but whatever.” tommy spent a half hour getting things ready for them to leave. He dressed (y/n) up for the excursion. 
“Alright little (f/i), lets go visit the blade.” the child laughed, thinking he was funny. “Alright then, lets go!” they left the plains biome and headed towards technos house, that's somewhere in the snow.
(y/n) didn't like the trip very much.
“I know it's cold, but we have to get there! (y/n) please don't cry, fuuck, its okay its okay.” (y/n) was very cold, the snow being harsher than Tommy had originally thought it would be. “I know, I know, it's cold, but we’ll get there soon. I hope.” they continued there walk thru the snow. 
It had turned night, and Tommy had finally found technoblades house. (y/n) had calmed down after the snow had stopped falling. Tommy had to constantly run from monsters, making sure none of them hit (y/n).
“Fucling finally!! Took forever to get here.'' Tommy looked around to see if the technoblade wasn't there. He didn't see a nametag, so he had to assume the blade was off doing something else. “Alright, we've made it.'' Tommy opened the door, immediately seeing zombie villagers in boats. “AHHH!” he yelled, (y/n) started crying at the loud yelling. “Sorry sorry.” Tommy quieted down as he looked around the house, and soon started going through the chests to steal things. “Oooo, here (y/n) have a gapple. You can't eat it but you can at least look at it.” the child happily took the pretty fruit, gumming at it happily. “Aaawww you got saliva all over it. Gross.” Tommy says, annoyed. 
“Okay, time to make a home under his house.” The child was paying more attention to the apple than they were to tommy. Tommy huffed, sitting (y/n) down, far away from the zombies, and started to dig down.
He made a nice room for them, enough blocks down so he wouldn't be able to hear them. Tommy climbed back up to grab his baby. “C’mere little (f/i)!” he says, walking up to the small child who was still trying to eat the gapple. They were unsuccessful. He grabbed the child. “Gimme the gapple (y/n).” he says, taking it from them. (y/n) whined slightly, wanting the gapple back. Tommy sighs. “Fine you can have it.” Tommy gives them back the apple. (y/n) laughs happily. He smiles, climbing down the hole to their new home.
“Alright little (f/i), this is our home now!” He sits them near the prime log. “This is the prime log, be very careful it's an important thing.” the child crawls over to it, trying to climb on it. Tommy sees this and puts them on the prime log. “(y/n), ruler of the prime log!” the child laughed, clapping. “(y/n), how does it feel to be so cool?” he asks. They just said incoherent words instead. 
They played around for a bit longer, till the child fell asleep on the log. Tommy picked them up, putting them in their new crib. “Good night (y/n).” he says, going to his own bed to try and sleep for the night. 
This time he actually did.
399 notes · View notes
Text
Best Parts Of Him
Sebastian Stan X Daughter!Reader
Summary: As time goes by he wants you to know that he'll be with you wherever you go, you'll always be his baby girl
Warnings: breakup, that's all I think.
Song: Best Parts of Me by Will Dempsey
A/n: The Romanian is from Google Translate it might not be right... If it isn't go ahead send me a message or an ask with the correct translation and I'll fix it thank you!
Princess is spelled prinţesă and dear/darling is dragă :)
Tumblr media
I can still remember the first time I saw
Those brown eyes staring into mine
It was in that moment I felt a love
I never knew I would find
It's like God took my heart right out of my chest
Sebastian smiled down staring at your big doe eyes that were filled with so much innocence. He couldn't believe it, he was a dad. Not only a dad, but a dad to the most precious little thing he had ever seen. Wrapped in a pink hospital blanket, a tiny tuft of hair on your head, and most beautiful eyes he's ever seen.
"Oh bless you." He cooed as you let out a tiny sneeze. He was in love, you owned his heart now he swears. He's never loved anyone or anything as much as the little baby in his arms. "Aren't you just the most precious thing. I love you." He placed his lips onto your forehead before looking back at your face.
"I'm gonna teach you everything I know. And your gonna know Romanian. Asta e corect prinţesă." He finished in his mother tongue. (That's right princess)
And wrapped it all up in a little pink dress
And painted the most beautiful smile in the world
And topped it all of it with brown hair and curls
The day he made my baby girl
Sebastian took a deep breath before knocking on the door holding the sunflowers in front of him. He could hear giggling from the other side of the door before it was opened.
You were in your room with your grandmother before you heard the doorbell. You looked up at your grandma smiling.
"Go on." She urged. You went running out of the room giggling once you made it to the living room. Opening the door you saw your dad holding a bouquet of sunflowers.
"Yes daddy!!" You jumped up and down smiling. He chuckled.
"Prinţesă, can I take you to the daddy daughter dance?" He asked kneeling to look 6 year old you in the eye. He couldn't help but hope you'd always be this tiny little girl. His little princess.
"These are for you dragă."
"Thank you."
'Cause the best parts of me were given to you
And I hope that all of your dreams come true
And as time goes by
I want you to know that I'll be with you wherever you go
You'll always be my baby girl
"And the winner is-" You crossed your fingers and looked down at your dad who was sat in the audience. "Y/n Stan, with her dance act!" The principal announced. You smiled stepping forward.
"Here's your prize." The drama teacher came onto the stage with the prize, it was a fifty dollar toys R us gift card.
You found your way in the lobby of your school looking for your dad. He was stood next to your grandparents, holding a bouquet of flowers. You smiled hugging him.
"I won." You said proudly.
"Good job dragă."
She's as sweet as the syrup
She dripped on her dress
Won't leave the house if her hair is a mess
"Daad! It looks terrible I can't go to school like this." You said motioning to the lopsided braids.
"Hey little missy I'm trying my best." He said. "It does look pretty bad though doesn't it?"
"Yeah it does. Just pull it back up in pony tail daddy." You grumbled crossing your arms.
"How about pig tails?"
"Fine just get them even." You sassed. He gasped.
"Hey sassy mcsass I'll leave your hair like this."
"Sorry dad." You leaned up placing a kiss on his cheek.
"That's what I thought."
You should see her dancing when she thinks she's alone
Or the snap she sends me from her mama's phone
And I've made so many mistakes in my life
At least I did one thing right, my baby girl
Sebastian did his best to hold in his laughter as he watched you belting out to music. Doing a funny dance, holding you hairbrush like a microphone. He pulled his phone out and began filming.
"You held me down, but I got up already brushing off the dust." You sang along. "You hear my voice, you hear that sound."
"Like thunder, gonna shake the ground." Sebastian joined. You screamed turning around dropping the hair brush. "You held me down, but I got up." He motioned for you to keep singing. You smiled joining in.
"Get ready 'cause I've had enough, I see it all, I see it now."
"I got the eye of the tiger, a fighter, dancing through the fire, 'cause I am a champion, and you're gonna hear me roar." You two sang together. "Louder, louder than a lion, 'cause I am a champion, and you're gonna hear me roar."
'Cause the best parts of me were given to you
And I hope that all your dreams come true
And as time goes by
I want you to know that I'll that I'll be with you wherever you go
You'll always be my baby girl
A scream was heard through the penthouse. Sebastian jumped to his feet running out of his office toward the sound. Almost falling a few times before he made it to the living room, more importantly by the door. He sees you a big smile on your face, hugging a piece of paper to your chest other mail scattered on the floor around your feet. He immediately felt relief seeing you okay.
"What happened?" He asked walking closer careful to not step on the other mail.
"I got in!" You said looking at him with such joy he has never seen before.
"In what?" He smiled.
I got in my dream school!!!" You exclaimed. He gasped hugging you.
"I'm so proud of you!" He said. His baby girl all grown up, leaving for college this summer.
There'll be some hard times you'll face in this life
Just say the word and I'm by your side
And all those bandaids and heartbreaks and days that go wrong
You'll never face them alone
Sebastian was confused, you had been away at college for about three months, it was November now. He wasn't expecting you to come home until Thanksgiving, but you called him told him you'd be home for the weekend and staying during Thanksgiving break. He didn't know why though. You told him you were having a Friendsgiving with your roommate and some other friends you made at college this weekend then you'd start heading down the next morning. Though you called him Friday and told him you were on your way. So Saturday morning he was up and watching for you to get there.
"Dad?" You hollered walking into the penthouse. He came around the corner frowning when he saw you. What looked like dried tears on your cheeks and his old college hoodie you stole from him when you were 7, a clear sign you were sad.
"Dragă? What happened?" He immediately brought you into a hug. You broke, you tried all night to stay strong but here you were. You never could stay strong around your dad.
"H-he broke up with me." You choked out. He knew who you were talking about, your boyfriend Kevin. You and Kevin had been dating during senior year of high school and decided to try to take a chance at long distance.
"Oh prinţesă." He mumbled.
"He met someone new!" You cried. "I wasn't good enough."
"Hey. No, you don't talk about yourself like that." He pulled away putting his hands on your shoulders. "Ești perfect, frumos, nu vorbești rău despre tine! A intelege?" You knew he was serious when he broke out the Romanian. It was rare for him to talk to you in Romanian, it was more common for you two to talk to your grandmother in Romanian but it was only pulled out for you when you were in trouble. (You are perfect, beautiful, you don't speak ill of yourself! Understand?)
"da tată." You responded hugging him again. Your dad always could make you feel better. (Yes dad)
'Cause those best parts of me
Will never leave you
Wherever you go
Whatever you do
And if there comes a time
When I'm not around
You know where I'll be found
My baby girl
My baby girl
My baby girl, oh
Tumblr media
A/n: I love this song, I found it on tiktok and think it's beautiful. Also, I think I perfected the songfic? With it in bold and italic while also indented. What do you think?
227 notes · View notes
roger-that-cap · 4 years ago
Text
meet me in the gardens
summary: being the widow of a decently wealthy lord and sitting on a large plot of land automatically meant that you were a candidate for the program that you couldn’t say no to; the hosting. you had to sponsor a knight and keep them in your home for an entire year, which was troublesome enough on its own. but you never expected your knight to be a woman, and you certainly didn’t expect to have a full on illegal love affair with her, either.
knight!natasha x lady!reader
sort of royalty au (there’s social hierarchy and a king and queen and knights and commoners and all that so- yeah it’s a royalty au nvm lmao)
warnings: this is fluff, angst, uh, basically everything but smut and serious angst.
word count: 2.5k, starting off short before we get into this 
part one!
also, to the very few people who look for fics up here- i promise i’m alive, sorry for being m.i.a! work and school are bodying me right now 
Tumblr media
A lot could change within a year.
In a year, one was expected to grow wiser and older, and for you, because you were a woman, prettier. And because you did all three of those things in one year, you were herded off like cattle from your small farm, where the old pig you would soon be forced to call “husband” had seen you in the first place, and carted away to his large estate. You were supposed to be his wife, bear his children, and love him unconditionally even though you knew nothing about him, and he was supposed to do not even half of that for you. He had chosen you purely because your father had an abundance of wheat and animals, and he thought you were nice looking. He would surely never go hungry if he had the owner of a relatively large farm’s daughter with him.
Regardless of his reasoning for wanting to make you his wife, it ended up happening. You cried yourself to sleep the night before, and when you were done consummating the horrid marriage, you cried after he fell asleep, unable to shut your own eyes. That was how you spent your first night at the female counterpart to your lord husband, and as Lady Mirellis.
The marriage was loveless. The only thing you got out of it was a nice roof over your head and some silky clothing that made you feel like you were betraying who you really were. He was a brute and a pig, and he hardly ever spoke to you other than to tell you to get on your back, your knees, or something else as equally vile. You were the lady of his large manor, considered a small castle, but that was all you were. You made friends with the staff around, and that made things just the tiniest bit better. He was still cruel and crude, still insanely aggravating, and getting more and more angry with each month that you weren’t carrying his child.
And then, all of a sudden, he grew ill. And, within a month after he fell ill, he died. And then you were a single woman who had a large estate to her name, and a growing line of suitors who wanted nothing more than to have their last names attached to the great patch of land. You were the lady of the house without a lord, still young and still capable of marriage. After a large fuss over whether or not a young woman from your background was fit to take over, you had inherited everything.
So, yes, a lot could change in a year. And you decided that the changes that took place in that year were ones that you could barely handle.
§§
You knew exactly what the letter with the King’s Seal on it was when it was put into your hand, and you very easily guessed the contents of it.
You supposed that you should have seen it coming. Miraculously, your late husband and lord had gotten out of the Hosting, which could have been seen as treasonous or dishonorable if he had been any less careful. You grew up on a farm, and you had no idea how to go about denying or questioning royal decree, so you weren’t going to. You were going to have to Host, for the first time in your life.
Your family was never important enough to have to do it, so you had no experience with it, other than knowing that a high up lord of a small castle, or big estate, whatever one wanted to call it, was in charge of having a knight in their home while the knight completed his year long training. The training was said to come from within, and the job of the knight was to be a good, honorable guest, and to come back to the castle after their year expired as a new and improved person.
But it was rare that they truly soul searched, you had heard. Mainly because they were ninety nine percent male and thought with their penises more than their brains and hearts. The Hosting was a knight’s last stop before true knighthood, more or less a time that humbled young knights. It was a test of the true intentions of a knight, the true desires of a man who wished for glory and authority.
“For you, Milady.” You grimaced inwardly at the title, the title that you used to have to call the lady that you used to bring barrels of hay to on Sunday mornings. You nodded at the young boy, a smile on your face. He was new, and it was clear that this was his first task that involved him to speak to a “higher up” person.
You patted his head. “Thank you,” you said, and his eyes widened comically before he laughed and ran away, obviously shocked by the way you spoke to him back.
It wasn’t against the law, but it was frowned upon for nobles to speak to servants more than necessary. A noble person was not required to have manners or ask kindly for things, and when they did, it was certainly an out of the ordinary experience. You knew that well enough.
You broke the red seal and took in a deep breath, going to sit at your late husband’s desk (that you of course inherited, as you inherited everything the man had) and finding your name in perfect and Royal handwriting.
Lady Mirellis,
As you know, the time for the selection of The Hosting has come. Your house was not a host during the previous Hosting, therefore, you will be required to sponsor a knight this year. Out of respect for your late husband and all he has done for me, I will choose a knight for you, a knight that I trust. You will be safe with my choice, and the year will flow smoothly. Once again, I am sorry for your loss.
Please expect your knight within the fortnight, Lady Mirellis.
With respect, King Anthony Stark.
§§
Two weeks later, your keep was buzzing. You hated hosting things, even if they were short dinners. And you knew that you were going to hate hosting a person for an entire year. A brand new knight who was full of himself, no less.
King Anthony had given you what he thought was going to be an easy charge for a reason. New knights were known for being rowdy, disgusting, perverted, and authoritative when they shouldn’t have been. No lady should ever have to deal with the crude words or behavior of a man—certainly not. And with you and your poor husband gone, that meant that no one was there to help you.
You appreciated the kindness, but it was obvious that every man thought that women were only an extension of their husbands. If you weren’t able to handle the loud voices and taunting shouts of men and boys, you would have melted or turned to dust by the time you were thirteen years old. If you had survived a man who carted you off and away from your family like you were cattle, you could handle a boy who was staying under your roof.
Nonetheless, your people were busy, and so were you. They were making accommodations to the largest guest room, because it was to be someone’s for an entire year. They were cleaning things that you never thought would be cleaned, washing random sheets and hanging them to dry. And you? You were making the welcoming package.
You had never made one before, but you were trying your hardest. It was more or less a care package to make the knight feel comfortable. It was a starter kit, so that they wouldn’t have to ask for much or seem unfit for knighthood, because it was all about pride. So help anyone above, you wouldn’t be dealing with a knight with a bruised ego.
“Men,” you scoffed out, rolling your eyes as you fluffed the silk pillowcase and folded the top of the woven basket over, closing in everything and tying the top with a bow. 
“Y/N,” a woman’s voice called out, and you turned to it with a gentle smile.
Of course it was Wanda. Her and her brother were always by your side, ever since you had arrived at the keep. Pietro was the messenger boy for Lord Mirellis, because he was so fast on his feet. He delivered a message meant to go hundreds of leagues away and came back within days, when it would take others weeks. You liked Pietro a lot. He was a funny man, cheeky, but he knew his boundaries with people, whether they were lowborn or highborn. He had the same amount of respect for everything, and you admired that about him.
Wanda however, was your favorite person in the castle. She was the first kind face that you saw when you walked into the keep. She was the first person to actually ask you if you wanted help being dressed or brushing your hair. She was able to see that you needed help with your corset before you even asked. There were so many trivial things that Wanda did for you that made you so loyal to the friendship you shared, but there was one thing you were sure to never forget.
She had been the one to help you out of bed after a rough consummation night. She was also the only woman who had offered you even a sliver of sympathy, and for that, she was your greatest ally, and on a deeper level, a true friend. 
You had barely even seen her for more than five minutes before you woke up in bed by yourself the morning after that horrid night, crying silent tears and feeling sore between your legs. A knock sounded on the door, and instead of her turning away and apologizing for coming in on such an improper moment, she shut the door and asked you if you needed help, without any fear of being scolded. Wanda Maximoff was different. That’s why you liked her so much.
She was standing beside you as you waited, even though waiting for a knight was somewhat improper. You were supposed to wait inside and have them knock on your castle door, and you were to welcome them inside and have a warm dinner ready. That was how it was always supposed to go, but you decided not to do that.
You were standing outside, like the lady you had been forced to become. Your chin was slightly lifted and your hands were at your sides, even though you were desperate to fiddle with your thumbs. You took in a deep breath as you heard the sound of a carriage coming, horses and the chatter of men getting louder with each passing moment.
You would be a liar if you said that you weren’t scared to have a man in your house that you didn’t know. Not only would he be a man, but he would be a man that knew how to do things that most didn’t, such as how to properly wield a sword. You were a woman alone, a widow to a lord, and people had tried things with you before, ever since your husband had died. Most of the time, those things ended up with their hands being cut off as the legal and unyielding punishment for their attempted crimes.
“No one here is going to let a stupid knight hurt you, you know.” Pietro had come out of nowhere, chest puffed out as he looked to his sister for a moment, and then back at you. “Wanda is practically with you every second of every day, and I’m never too far.” It was true. There were guards around, as well, but you were still scared.
“If you don’t like it this year, you can always say no next year.” Wanda offered, but you whined under your breath when you remembered that this was no visit. The man would be living with you for an entire year. “And King Anthony said he would be giving you a man he trusted to sleep under your roof. I trust his word.” 
“As do I,” you said quickly, ringing out your hands one last time before the carriage got closer. “I’ll be fine, you two. Thank you.” And they knew just how grateful you were for them.
The carriage was being pulled by two white horses, both looking around carelessly and cluelessly as the coachman pulled them to a stop. “Lady Mirellis,” he said, looking you up and down, clearly judging you for not yielding to tradition. “It is very kind of you to meet us outside.”
“I thought it may be easier to begin the tour early,” you said, remembering at the last moment to school your voice into sounding ladylike. The stark difference between your public voice and the one that you spoke to Wanda and Pietro with always made Wanda smile a bit, and you knew that you would have laughed if you were looking at her. “I don’t want to give my new guest too large of a culture shock. I am not quite sure if he would appreciate being hoarded inside a place he hasn’t seen before.”
The coachman gave you an odd look, almost like he wasn’t understanding what you were saying. Or maybe, why you were saying it. But, he knew that because of your status, your word outweighed his, and he would do as you said. Your heart was beating nearly out of your chest as you watched him climb out of his chair and walk around, and you saw his hand wrap around the handle of the white and gold carriage.
There was a flash of brilliant red. That was all you saw at first, and then you saw shiny armor, glinting in the sun. Your eyes trailed up from the shoes that you knew were crafted specifically for knights, up to the legs and then to the breastplate, which you noticed was curved outwards. Your brows furrowed as your eyes got stuck in that place, and you willed yourself to believe that it was a trick of the eyes. There was a pinch on your arm, and you realized that you had been staring without speaking for much too long. In your embarrassment, your eyes flickered up to meet the man’s, and then, you nearly choked.
The knight was no man at all.
*****
so this is a series! this idea has been cooking up in my head for a while now, and i figured it was finally time to go through with it! i’m really excited about this one, and i’ve already got most of it planned out. i hope you guys liked this!
also- if you would like to be tagged, you are free to ask! (bold of me to assume that any of y’all want a notif for this bye 😭) please interact with this if you liked it, it makes me so happy and motivated to hear from you guys!
290 notes · View notes
enthusiasticharry · 4 years ago
Text
The Secrets You Keep
summary: you're a stripper, and you meet Harry off shift. what happens when he finds out?
request: hiiii would you be able to do something like stripper y/n? not where they meet at the club or anything but something natural like at a cafe or something but she keeps it from him bc she thinks he’ll leave her? then he has a guys night at the strip club and sees her perform? but he loves it and she’s a bit embarrassed? idk but that kinda vibe if ur up for it! X
word count: 8.3k words of fluff, smut and angst if you squint (and i really mean squint) also not proofread, sorry! 
masterlist    |    asks
Tumblr media
It never occurred to you that once you left full time education you’d end up becoming a stripper. It wasn’t the occupation you had envisioned for yourself, but it was the one that paid the best money and even though it shouldn’t be — money was the thing that you needed the most. You lived in a small, one bedroom flat that you shared with your Grandma who had no income and little pension meaning that you was the only source of income for the two of you. Obviously it was hard upon you, but your Grandma had done so much for you when you were younger that you wanted to help her as much as you possibly could. Granted, finding a job as an eighteen year old that was enough to help pay the bills and for the treatment your Grandmother needed wasn’t the easiest, and that was how you stumbled across the club and the jobs there. Your Grandma didn’t know how you received your income, and you planned to keep it that way for as long as you physically could. 
“Have you got any private dances today?” Jocelyn, also known as Sapphire amongst the people in the club, asked as she started fixing her makeup in the mirror next to yours. 
“I don’t know.” You sighed, spraying a small amount of hairspray upon your curls, “I haven’t spoken to Elliot yet.” 
“Apparently some big shot businessmen are coming in tomorrow.” Ruby adds from the other side of you, applying a lipstick that matched her name to her lips. 
“Ugh.” Sapphire groaned, “That means old men with small dicks wanking to us instead of being with their probably very lovely, loving wives at home.” 
“They lust after the taboo.” You add, applying a small amount of lipgloss to your lips, “They want what they can’t have, and brag when they get it.” 
“They have money though.” Ruby shrugged, “Haven’t had many tips this week. I’d probably do anything for a couple hundred quid tomorrow.” 
“Not anything Ruby.” You turn to look at her, shaking your head at the younger girl, “Stand your ground. Don’t let them take advantage of you.” 
“I won’t.” She smiled, “I learnt from the best.” 
“And don’t you forget it.” 
As a fresh eighteen year old, just as Ruby was now, you could’ve only hoped for someone to help you and guide you through the trails and tribulations you endured at the club. That’s why you sort of took the younger girl under your wing and helped her as much as possible. 
It wasn’t a lot. Granted, with what they did the majority of it was on their own upon the stage or in a private dance but you wanted to make sure she had small tips to help her handle herself in any situation that could occur and that she someone to talk to if she ever needed it. 
“Are you working tomorrow, Emerald?” Emerald was your stage name. 
“No.” You sigh happily, “It’s my day off.” 
“Enjoy yourself, you deserve it.” Ruby smiled. 
You certainly did. 
Tumblr media
The next morning, after helping your Grandma get ready and to the hospital, you make your way towards the small café you usually went to during your Grandmother’s chemo sessions. They usually lasted around three hours, and whilst you offered to stay with her, she usually forced you to leave and spend some time on your own, claiming she didn’t want you to see her at her worst.
The spring days had just started to warm up, so you dressed yourself in a summer dress you had picked up for cheap at a charity shop. You carried your tote bag with your book in over your shoulder as you pushed past the people on the street.
It wasn’t usually this busy, and looking around you saw no free tables but a few free chairs dotted around. Your favourite table, tucked away in the far right corner by the window had been taken by a man sat reading, just as you would’ve been. You toy back and forth with the idea of going to sit over there as you walk over to the counter. 
You order your usual, a peach iced tea, and wait for the kind barista to make it. Your free days, usually, landed sporadically. They normally occurred when your grandmother either had chemo or a hospital appointment and that’s only because she can sometimes be really ill after them and needed you to look after her. Even though Elliot was not a good person by any means, he understood your situation and did help as little as he could. 
“Excuse me.” The man looked up from this book at you, “Is this seat taken?” 
“Uh. . .” 
“It’s fine if it’s not!” Your quick to add, “There’s just no other seats.” 
“No.” Your smile falters, “No! I mean that the seats not taken. It’s yours.” 
“Thank you.” You drop your tote bag down on the floor, holding your hand out to the man, “I’m YN.” 
“Harry.” He shakes your outstretched hand. 
There was something oddly familiar about him, but you couldn’t quite place your finger on why. He dressed quite casually, a punny t-shirt that said something about health on it and you didn’t want to seem too weird and bend down to look at what he had on his bottom half but you suspected it was something just as interesting. 
You take your book out of your bag and place it on the table in front of you, flicking through the pages until you found the page you had left off at. 
As a child you loved to read. Your grandmother always read you a bedtime story before bed and it lead to English being your best subject at school. Whether it be the creative writing aspect, or the analytic — you were just good at it. It was your highest grade at GCSE, an A, and your highest grade at A Level, a B.
You didn’t exchange any more words with Harry the entire time you were there. Periodically you looked up at him, and somewhere deep down you hoped that he did the same for you but you couldn’t be too sure. The book that he was reading seemed interesting enough, something about watermelon, you had noticed. You had a slight suspicion that it wasn’t about watermelon but you could never be too sure you supposed. 
A whine almost escaped your lips when you realised that you had to go pick up your Grandmother and your book had just gotten interesting. That was the problem when you read, you could sit and do it for hours and not even look up. It was something so interesting to you that you could immerse yourself in a world different to the one you lived in and slip out of reality for however long and return back to normal as though nothing had happened. 
“Thank you for letting me sit here.” You smile as you pack your bag up, “Goodbye.” 
“Bye.” 
You left feeling sort of fuzzy inside. You hadn’t spoken to the man at all really, but he was kind and certainly handsome with his tousled brown hair and gentle smile. That was probably going to be the last time that you saw him, and you probably should’ve asked for his number at least but you didn’t and that was why you walked away with him laying heavy upon your mind.
Tumblr media
The next day, you wanted nothing more than to leave in the middle of your shift and curl up on the sofa. Instead, you were stood in a private room in the back of the club swirling your hips for a man sat upon a chair in the middle. 
“You’re fucking fit.” He moans, and you almost throw up in your mouth. 
“Thank you.” 
You move yourself so you’re hovered over his lap, twisting your hips to beat of the sultry song spilling out of the speakers. If you didn’t need the money, or have a bills to pay you certainly wouldn’t be doing this. 
“Fucking sort.” That’s when his hand drops down upon your behind, squeezing the flesh harshly. 
You stand up, flipping around so that you’re looking at him, “Hands off.” 
“Babe.” He throws his head back, “C’mon I’ve paid bags for this dance.” 
“And you pay for a dance, and the rules state no touching.” 
He holds his hands up in surrender, “I’m sorry. Won’t happen again, babe.” 
“Better not.” 
It does, and that’s when you get up and leave. He still has to pay, which is a plus but it just isn’t the best feeling. The job you do isn’t one that people necessarily respect you for, but there are rules in place to help with that. You and the other dancers within the club were human beings and deserved the rights that any other person has. 
“You okay?” Ruby presses her hand to your shoulder as you powder your under-eyes, “I heard he was touching.” 
“Yeah.” You smile at her through the mirror, “Started behind and they he just full on groped me.” 
“Men are pigs.” 
“I second that statement.” You laugh, “But you know what they’ll say.” 
“That we teased and antagonised them to do it.”
Throwing her a deadpan look, you nod. It was something that you had dealt with for the past six years of your life and even though you did hate it and wanted nothing more than for the ground to swallow you up every time it happened — you had gotten used to it. 
“Did you have a nice day off yesterday?” 
“I did thank you.” You smile, “Read a bit. Spent some time with my Grandma.” 
“Sounds lovely.” Her face then twists into one that you can’t quite pinpoint, “You didn’t miss much here.” 
“The businessmen not up too much?” 
“No they paid well.” She nodded, “We just had to watch them wank their micropenises at us.” 
You curl your nose up at the thought, “That sounds pleasant.” 
“Totally.” She snorts. 
“Emerald. Ruby.” Elliot sticks his head into the room, “Get your asses back out there.” 
Ruby rolls her eyes and you laugh. Your job certainly wasn’t your favourite but some of the people around you made it more pleasant.
Tumblr media
Two weeks later you find yourself sat in the corner of the café down the road from the hospital, your book open in front of you and a peppermint tea sat upon the table in a pot. Your Grandmother’s second round of chemo was slowly coming to the end of its stint and even though you wanted nothing more than for her to be back to the epitome of health, you would miss spending time at this small café. 
“Hi.” You lift your head up to see Harry stood there, slightly breathless, “Is this seat taken?” 
“It’s yours.” You smile, watching him drop his book on the table.
This time you could see his entire outfit. A white t-shirt with some writing on that you missed, a floral shirt over the top paired with red corduroy flares. You were right the last time that you met him —he did have an amazing sense of style. You, however, bought whatever was the cheapest or on sale that seemed acceptable to wear in public. 
“How have you been?” 
“I’ve been okay.” You smile, “You?” 
“Good, thanks.” He scratches the base of his neck, “I haven’t seen you in a while.” 
“Oh.” You have to stop yourself from smiling too much, “I only come when my Grandma has an appointment and they’re usually two weeks apart.” 
“Ah.” He nods before his face curls, “I’m sorry if that seemed creepy.” 
“It didn’t.” You can’t help the butterflies that erupt within your stomach, “I just thought I wouldn’t see you again.” 
“Couldn’t let that happen.” Heat rises up your neck as he beams.
“No complaints about that from me.” 
“That’s good.” He rests his hand upon his chest, letting out a deep breath, “Thought I was punching a little over my weight.” 
“You’re not.” You cheeks hurt from smiling, “It’s cute.” 
He looks down at his book. He seemed so shy, as though he had a confidence to talk to people but once they complimented him or something to do with him it completely changed. It was intriguing. He was already nicer to you than most people you’ve met of the opposite sex in your life and you’re let to learn anything about him apart from the fact that he reads Bukowski and likes black coffee — it certainly wasn’t much to go on. 
“How long do we have until you have to go back to your Grandma?” 
“Not long.” You sigh sadly, “I’m sorry.” 
“No, I understand, it’s okay.” He flashes you a small smile, “Can I walk you back to the hospital?” 
You ponder his offer for a second, “Yeah. I’d like that.”
You walk back to the hospital brushing arms with one of the nicest people you’d ever met, and you couldn’t be happier. 
“Has your Grandma been having treatment for long?” 
“It’s her second round.” You explained, “They originally removed the tumour and it went away but it came back. They caught it quickly and she’s back in bay 11 for three hours every two weeks.” 
“I’m sorry.” He sighs, “That must’ve been tough.” 
You shrug, “She’s a fighter, I know she is.” 
“I don’t doubt she is.” He smiles, “She’s got an amazing granddaughter to stay alive for.” 
The walk to the hospital isn’t long enough in your opinion. You speak about a few things, and you learn he does music and that’s when you put two and two together and realise that he’s actually Harry Styles from One Direction. Harry wished he could’ve recorded your reaction when you realised. 
Harry had never met someone like you, and he had met a lot of people in his life. You were sweet, and kind and so gentle but also confident and held yourself in such a strong way that he couldn’t help but want to know you, the real you. 
“This is it.” You stop in front of the entrance closest to the chemo ward, “Thank you for walking me.” 
“It’s no problem.” He smiles, “I hope this doesn’t sound too weird, but can I get your number?” 
“Uh. . . yeah.” 
“Great.” He beams, “At least now I won’t have to hope you show up at the café.” 
You swear you felt your heart burst. 
Tumblr media
During your shift a couple of weeks later, you don’t notice your phone light up a message. You actually don’t notice at all until you arrived home that night. You had already checked on your Grandma, who was sound asleep in bed, and that’s when you allowed yourself to drop down upon the sofa with a sigh. 
Seeing an unknown number pop up on your screen at first had confused you, but once you had looked further into it, your palms started sweating. 
Hi YN. It’s Harry. I know it’s been a while but I’ve been trying to figure out what to say. I hope you and your Grandma are well. 
Your heart starts to beat faster. The message you had awaited for weeks was here and you had no idea how to act, never mind what too reply back with. The only thing that spiralled around within your mind was that he had been thinking about you. 
In your head, you imagined him pacing around in his large house trying to figure out what to send you, just like they do in the movies. You at least hoped that was what he had been doing over the past couple of weeks. 
Hi Harry! It’s lovely to hear from you, sorry it’s late. I’m okay, Grandma’s getting there. How are you? 
You throw your phone down on the sofa next to you, trying not to giggle like you did as a schoolgirl whenever you were messaging boys. You nearly cried whenever you phone ran out of credit and you’d end up having to run to the store to get a top up in the morning with your spending money and explaining to them what had happened. You were thankful that your upgrade didn’t need that. 
I’m okay. Glad to hear about your Grandma. I know this is probably really weird and totally out of the blue, but are you free this weekend? I’m leaving next week for a little while and I really want to see you before I do. 
In your head, you ignore the end of the message about him leaving and focus on the fact that he wants to see you. Harry Styles wants to see you. You hoped it was a date, everything pointed it to be a date but you didn’t want get too ahead of yourself. 
You haven’t had a boyfriend since your first year of Sixth Form, and the first date you were going on since then was going to be with Harry Styles of all people. 
If you pull some strings, work an extra long shift on Saturday and please some of Elliot’s special clients — you may be able to get Friday night off. It was a maybe, but over the next two days you could make it a yes. You hoped that you could make it a yes. 
You’ve never, in your six years of working at the club, missed any of your shifts for anything other than your Grandma suddenly falling ill, and those were on rare occasions. You certainly deserved this day off.
I’ll have to check with my boss but I think I could do Friday night? If that’s not a problem for you. 
You have to bite your lip to stop yourself from internally freaking out. 
Sounds perfect. How about I pick you up at 8? 
You wince. It wasn’t as though your were embarrassed of where you lived because you weren’t. You’ve worked hard to be able to pay for the flat and everything in it but there was something about showing it to someone who you’ve only just met and had no intention of explaining your situation to wasn’t on the top of your priority list. 
Is there any chance I could meet you somewhere? 
Of course. Where do you fancy eating? Italian? Thai? 
Italian sounds good. 
Great. I’ll send you details over. 
Thank you :) 
See you then, YN. Sweet dreams. 
Night, Harry. 
You slept well that night. 
Tumblr media
“I just don’t think I can spare you Friday.” Elliot sighs, “I’m sorry YN.” 
You have to stop yourself from wanting to cry. You don’t use up all your holiday days, and you work way more than you should or that you’re paid for but you don’t complain and you just get on with it. The one time you ask for a shift off, his stubborn ass says that he cant do it. 
“Please, Elliot.” You sign, tucking a piece of your hair behind your ear, “I just need this day off.” 
“And I need my best girl on the floor. Need the best of the best.” 
“There are plenty of other better girls than me working here.” 
He shakes his head, “You’re the favourite, YN. Need you to be there.” 
“Elliot.” You sigh, leaning forward in the uncomfortable seat you were sat in, “I’ve worked for you for six years and I’ve never asked for a day off like this before.” 
“Yeah but—”
“—and! I’ve never asked for a day off apart from going to the hospital and you know that.” 
“I couldn’t exactly say no to you—”
“I’ve worked every shift you’ve ever asked me to, covered for people when you need it.” 
“Stop it!” He holds his hand up to silence you, “Just shut up for a second.” 
You clamp your lips shut. If you didn’t need to stay on his good side to get Friday off you probably would’ve said something about how rude he was being. He’d always been rude, but he paid you and the rest of the girls so you all chose to ignore it. 
He ponders, and you know the cogs are turning within his brain as he scrolls through his laptop, typing a few things. He takes his glasses off his face and drops them dramatically down on the table in front of him. 
“Ruby will cover your shift.” 
You let out a sigh of relief, “Thank you!” 
“Don’t be thanking me too quickly.” He points his finger, “I need a favour from you.” 
“Anything. Well not anything.” 
“In a few weeks times there’s a big birthday party coming in.” He explains, “I need you to be the star of the show, do private dances and all the good things like that.” 
“Just that?” You ask, knowing that it could be a trap knowing Elliot’s track record. 
He nods, “Just that.” 
You look at him sceptically, “What’s the catch?” 
“No catch.” He holds his hands up, “A few big names are coming, that’s all. A list celebs that have asked to use the back exit.”
“That’s it?” 
“That’s it.” 
“Let me know the date and I’ll do it.” 
You stand up, happy that you’ve managed to get your shift tomorrow off and that you can go on the date you have been excited for since you met Harry and was introduced to the world with him in it. 
“Have fun at your thing Friday.” 
“Thank you. . .?” 
You don’t think you like Elliot being nice to you. 
Tumblr media
Friday night rolled around quickly and you were thankful for that. After helping your Grandma with her own dinner and into bed, you start getting ready. You curl your hair, brushing it out until its in what looks like effortless waves but are actually quite hard waves to achieve. You do natural makeup, something completely different to makeup you usually wear in one of your shifts. You try to keep all of your features soft, different to how you usually look on a day to day basis. You dress in a long white polka-dotted maxi skirt, paired with a thin long-sleeved jumper that would keep you warm due to the ever changing British weather. 
You had done a little bit of research on the restaurant Harry had sent you the address for and learnt that it wasn’t the most expensive restaurant ever, but one that was way out of your price range. It meant that you had to dip into the fund that you keep for occasions where you need a little extra money or you will use in the future when you eventually move out and busy your own place. 
The tube was crammed, seeing as though it was a Friday night and the majority of people were either coming home from work and stating to go out for end of the week drinks. You knew that the club would start to become heaving as the night grew and a part of you was thankful that you didn’t have to work today, and you were given a small break from the hell that is working at a strip club. 
The restaurant, when you arrived, definitely looked fancier than it had online. The bar stood against the corner wall, the right hand side of the restaurant had booths covering the walls whilst stand alone tables scattered around the rest of the room.
You were surprised when you saw Harry, already sat at the booth in the far right corner. He lifted his hand up in an awkward sort of wave and you couldn’t help but beam at him. He had a shirt, an expensive looking white shirt with a yellow and blue jumper over the top. You hand felt so excited to see someone since when your Grandma went into hospital for her tumour being removed and you couldn’t see her for a few days. 
“YN.” He sighs, “Hi.” 
“Hi.” You smile, slipping into the booth across from him. 
“Was starting to think you wasn’t going to show up.” 
“I’m sorry.” You tuck your hair behind your ear, “I underestimated how bust the tube was going to be.” 
You can tell he wants to pry but instead he says, “It’s okay.” 
His nails were painted yellow, a few of them painted lilac as well. There was something so simple about his nails that you just loved, and if it wasn’t weird you probably would’ve stared at them for way too long for it to be acceptable. You knew he had tattoos, and you could see the cross on his hand and the the anchor peaking out from underneath his shirt and you wanted to see more. 
“I like your nails.” You smile, running your own fingers over your own nails underneath the table. 
“Thanks.” A blush creeps up his neck, “I did them last night. Sort of calmed me down, I was quite nervous.” 
“Nervous for what?” 
“This.” He nods, “I haven’t been as nervous for a date in a long time.” 
“You don’t have to be nervous.” 
In your twenty four years of living, you’ve never had someone say that they were nervous to see you. You’ve been nervous to see and do many things in your life and you hoped that somewhere along the line it would’ve been the same for somebody else and yourself but you had the slight suspicion that wasn’t the case. Hearing those words out loud, coming from someone who you’d never expect it too was special, and you were going to keep that for as long as you physically could. 
“I did.” He looks down at the table briefly, “I’ve never liked a girl as much as I like you before.” 
“You don’t really know me.” 
“I’d like to get to know you.” 
That’s what you do. For the rest of the date you don’t stop talking. Even though you’re starving and could eat your fist, it takes you the longest you’ve ever taken to eat your food because of how much you spend it talking. 
You’re just about to dig in to your desert when your body physically halts, “Why didn’t you want me to pick you up?” 
“I, uh, I—”
“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t what to! I know I can be pretty invasive sometimes.” 
“No, it’s fine!” You take a sip of your drink to swallow down the dryness within your throat, “I don’t live in the nicest building, or in the nicest area and I guess I was embarrassed.” 
“You don’t have to be embarrassed.” 
“But I was.” You drop your eyes to the plate in front of you, “I know I shouldn’t have been and that it was stupid but I just didn’t want you judge me before you truly knew me because of where I live.” 
“I hope you know now that I wouldn’t have done that.” 
“I do.” 
You let Harry drive you home. Even though you would never admit it to his face just yet, you really liked him. He was kind, sweet and funny and everything you could ever want in your person. You haven’t said this in a long time but you love the person you are around him and you wouldn’t change it for the world if you didn’t have to. 
He stops in the car park outside the building of flats you live in and you can tell he’s thinking deeply about something but you try to not concentrate on that too much. 
“I would invite you up.” You laugh, “But I don’t think the sofa in the middle of my Grandma’s flat whilst she snores in the next room is the most romantic.” 
He scrunches up his nose, “I can’t say that it is.” 
“I’m sorry.” You drop your head to look at your hands that are tested on your knees, “I really wish I could offer you something. Anything.”
“It’s okay, YN.” He uses his finger to move your head up so that you’re looking at him, “I don’t expect anything from you. I hope you know that.” 
“I know.” 
He hesitates for a moment, and you can feel the finger that was rested upon your chin move upwards so that its upon your cheek. You flicker your eyes closed and just mask in the feeling of his touch against your cheek. 
“Can I kiss you?” He asks. 
You eyes open as you nod your head, letting out a shaky breath at the sheer surprise you feel at his words.
“Want your words, darling.” 
“Please kiss me.”  
You close your eyes again and you feel his lips touch yours. It's light at first, but you can’t contain yourself and you end up pushing closer to him, relishing in the feeling of his lips upon yours. Your fingertips grip the collar of his shirt, trying to pull him closer without hurting himself too much on the centre console. Even though you both don’t want to, you pull away as you start to loose breath. 
“You okay?” Your chest heaves up and down as he speaks. 
“Never been better.” You sigh, resting your forehead against his. 
“Good.” 
You kiss again, this time its more passionate and you can’t help but let out a small whine as he pulls away. The smug look on his face after hearing that sound was enough to send your stomach doing flips. 
You really didn’t want to do this, but you had too: “I have to go.” 
“It’s okay.” He smiles, “I understand.” 
“Okay.” You reach for the door handle. 
“I have to go away for a bit.” He sighs, “I’m writing some music over in America but when I get back, do you want to maybe go on another date?” 
“I’d love to.” 
He presses one last kiss to your lips and you leave the car, muttering a small, “Bye.” 
You feel giddy. As though you’re sixteen again and just come back from your first date with your first boyfriend. It was something you hadn’t felt in a long time and in all honesty, you had no idea how to handle those feelings. You certainly wouldn’t admit that you screamed quietly into your pillow in excitement that night. 
You couldn’t wait for him to return home. 
Tumblr media
Two weeks. Harry was away for two weeks and even though you had only kissed him once, twice if you actually count how many kisses there were, you missed him more than words could explain. You weren’t one to usually message first, so you did end up waiting until Harry had a spare moment to message you which wasn’t as often as you would’ve liked but you couldn’t complain. 
You almost felt as though you had been drip fed this new life with Harry in, only to have it taken away quicker than you could blink. It wasn’t forever, and that was probably the thing keeping you sane. This had all happened in such a short amount of time but you wouldn’t change it for the world. 
The only thing that limited how far you could take this was your job. 
Harry had obviously been curious and during a text conversation in the first week of his week being away — he asked what you did. After having a small freak out you decided to say that you worked in a bar. It was a small, white lie and you hated yourself for it but telling him that you were a stripper just didn’t feel like the best thing to do at that time. 
You just weren’t ready to tell him, and that was totally okay. 
Speaking of your work, tonight was the night of the big party that Elliot made sure you could come to. The club had held celebrity parties before, so you weren’t entirely nervous but every time someone mentioned it you could feel your heart speeding up slightly. 
“Emerald.” You turn to look at Elliot who’s trudging towards you, a bag in hand, “Here’s your new outfit for tonight.” 
“New? I thought I’d just wear the one for special occasions.” 
“This is a special, special occasion Emerald.” He dropped the bag down in front of you, “Wear this.” 
Taking the material out of the bag, your mouth dropped open at the sight of the emerald green lingerie in your hands. It was delicate lace that you feared you’d rip if you weren’t too careful. Putting it on, your breasts slightly spilled over the lace, and whilst your front was covered, the thong back of the lingerie left your ass on full display. It was beautiful, you couldn’t dismiss that but you just hadn’t ever worn something so skimpy before. You pulled your black silk robe over your shoulders, fastened your black heels onto your feet and made your way towards the side of the stage. 
The skimpiness of the new lingerie did send more butterflies to the pit of your stomach than you were originally hoping for but it was only another hurdle for you to get over which you knew you’d be able to do. 
You heard the music start to play, you slipped your hand through the gap in the curtain and opened it, revealing yourself to the room. 
Here goes nothing, you mumble to yourself. 
Harry’s jaw dropped at the sight of you on the stage. It certainly wasn’t his usual scene, a strip club, but it was a friend of a friends birthday and he had kindly been invited and he wasn’t about to turn it down. He wasn’t in the band anymore, and certainly didn’t have to hide that he went to places like this anymore, even though they weren’t his favourite. 
He couldn’t bare his eyes off of you. The way your body moved to the rhythm of the song, your darkly manicured nails pushed the robe of your shoulders, exposing the delicate lingerie you were wearing. Harry would be lying if he said that his cock didn’t start to stir at the sight. 
You. The girl who he thought spent her days reading, and looking after Grandma had a secret persona that he only wanted to explore more. 
“My word.” One of the men in the group spoke, loudly so that everyone could hear him, “She’s fit as fuck.” 
“To get my hands on her.” 
Harry clenches his jaw, and his fist that rested on the arm of his chair. If he wasn’t in a very public place where people could record him, he’d give that man a piece of his mind. He probably would but he’d do it when nobody was around so the man could truly understand what he was saying to him. 
“Do you think I could get a dance with her?” The birthday boy asked. 
“It’s your birthday.” The dickhead with no morals spoke, “She might give you something special as a present.” 
“The rules say no touching.” The words slip out of Harry’s mouth before he can stop them, “So I highly doubt that.” 
“I’m sure you’d be saying something different if you were in his position, Styles.” 
Harry rolled his eyes and focused his attention back on the stage, watching as you seductively bent down to pick up some of the tips that had been thrown on the bottom of the stage. The song was slowly finishing and Harry couldn’t help but feel a little bit of disappointment bubbling within him.
Harry watched your lean legs as you strutted towards the side of the stage, flicking the long wig on your head over your shoulder, seductively running your tongue over your bottom lip as you pulled the material of the lingerie down from your breasts. 
Harry bit his lip, his leg bounced, he ran his hand up and down his thigh. He tried to do everything in his power to distract himself from the rousing within his trousers but he just couldn’t do it. The flimsy material dropped to the floor, your red painted lips curled up into a smirk and you made your way behind the curtain, not showing any of your truly bare skin. 
If you hadn’t been imprinted on his brain before, you certainly were now.
You could hear the grunts and groans of happiness, and a few cheers whilst on stage but the lights were so bright that you couldn’t see anything past the first row or so. The tips you had received were good, and you were pleased about that. 
You received your robe and bra back from the stage and pulled them back onto your body. Your solo dance was always a hit for Elliot, and you supposed that was why he’s kept you on for so long and if you were honest, they were the easiest to do. Private dances always made you too uncomfortable, and in the six years you’ve worked there there had only been a handful of people that made you feel comfortable when it came to private dances. 
“Emerald.” Elliot walks in smiling and you assume everything is swell on the floor, “They fucking love you.” 
You nod your head, muttering a small and awkward, “Thank you.” 
He hums, “You’ve been requested for a private dance, and he’s promised to pay you accordingly.” 
“Really?” 
Another hum, “Room Two. I think he’s already there.” 
“Thanks.” 
He leaves the room, a bounce in his step. You suppose that this is a good thing and he’ll finally get off your back for the time you took off for the date with Harry. You at least hoped. 
You checked yourself. You made sure your makeup still looked flawless, your breasts sat perfectly within the material and your arse looked good. You brush through the wig once and make your way towards room two, the smaller of the three private dance rooms which helped it be more intimate. 
You smiled at the bouncer at the door, Gerry, a man who looked as though he could kill someone with a single punch but was actually a massive teddy bear. He was good at his job of keeping everyone safe and making sure that the bad eggs that came in left just as quickly. 
Watching the door slowly open, Harry felt his heart stop. He had been pacing up and down the room ever since he had walked in, and only just stopped when he heard the creek of the door. He couldn’t believe that you were in front of him, and you certainly couldn’t believe that he was in front of you either. 
“YN. . .” He sounded breathless. 
“Harry?” He could see your chest rising and falling at a quick pace, “What? How? I thought you were in America.” 
He scratches the back of his neck sheepishly, “I got back last night.” 
“Why are you here?” He can hear the lump in your throat as you speak, your eyes glossing over. 
“A Birthday party.” 
“Yours?” 
“No!” He’s quick to interrupt, “A friend of a friend. It’s not mine. Mine’s in February, and I certainly don’t think I’ll be having my party here. Not that there’s anything wrong with here! It’s lovely! You’re lovely! I’m rambling.” 
He was so gosh darn cute and if you weren’t in the middle of a break down, you probably would’ve laughed or at least reacted to his little word vomit. It was probably the quickest you’d ever heard him talk, not that it was hard. 
After a few minutes of contemplating what to say, you sigh, “I’m sorry.” 
His voice is soft, his features falling, “What are you sorry for?” 
“Lying to you.” You drop your gaze to the floor, trying to suppress the tears, “I didn’t want to.” 
“Hey, hey.” He walks over to you, placing his finger underneath your chin just like he had done in the car weeks ago, “No need to get upset, I’m not.” 
“You should be.” You bottom lip quivers, “I lied to you and I had no intention to retract that just yet.” 
“YN.” He rests his palms on your cheeks, “I’m not angry. I’m not upset. I just want to know why.”
“I was scared.” You admit, trying to do anything but look up at him, “I didn’t know what you’d think or if you’d change your mind.” 
“Change my mind about what?” 
“Wanting too, you know. . .?” 
He shakes his head, “I wouldn’t. There’s no reason for me to.” 
“I’m a stripper Harry, it gives you full reason to not want to be associated with me.” You lift your hand to wipe your under-eye. 
“I’m not judging you, YN, I said I wouldn’t.” 
“I wouldn’t be upset if you did.” 
“YN.” His voice is stern, more so than it had been, “I don’t care that you’re a stripper.” 
“You don’t.” 
“No.” He smiles, “I don’t.” 
“Fuck.” You let out a breath of relief, “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.” 
“I don’t mind.” He shrugs, “If you didn’t want to, you didn’t have to.” 
You had never met someone like him, and no matter how many times he surprised you that was just fact. Granted, you hadn’t had time to date anyone with looking after your Grandma but another reason you didn’t was because of what they would think of you. 
You knew that not everyone would be was understanding and lovely as Harry had been, and that was just because of the lovely person he was inside and out. That was the reason you didn’t tell him, because even though you had an inclination that he was accepting but you didn’t know whether that was just a façade or he was like that in real life. You loved that he was like that in real life. 
“Can I be honest?” You nod, “I enjoyed it.” 
You bite your lip to suppress the smile that threatened to cross your lips, “You did?” 
He hums, beaming a smile at you. 
“If you wouldn’t mind.” The corner of his lips tugs upwards, “I’d still love to get that private dance.”
You roll your eyes and thwack his shoulder playfully, “If you must.” 
“I’ll wait for you.” He nods, “Until your shift is over, if you want.” 
“Please.” 
“I’ll see you then.” 
Tumblr media
You hadn’t even made it completely into Harry’s house before his lips were on yours. He pushed you up against his front door before he’d even shut it properly, his lips falling upon yours with a hunger you hadn’t felt since you last kissed him. 
Maybe it was his hands rested upon the small of your back, your fingers threading through the curls at the nape of his neck. 
“Can I offer you a drink?” He smirks against your lips. 
“Not the priority.” You reply, not bringing your lips away from his. 
“Noted.” He places a kiss to your jaw, “Upstairs?” 
“Upstairs.” 
You follow him up the stairs, your hand rested firmly in his. You’re too distracted by the man in front of you to take any notice of the house or where you were going. 
Harry had kept true to his word and waited for you. You secretly wished that you could have recorded the group’s reaction as you walked towards him, a small smile on your face. After bidding them goodbye, the two of you jumped in a taxi that Harry had ordered and made your way to his house, or what you expected to be his house and you weren’t disappointed. 
The second you step into the plushly decorated room, you’re kissing again. His hands slide down to rest upon curve of your ass, his ring-clad fingers immediately squeezing the flesh. You groan lightly into his mouth, allowing his tongue to slip through her parted lips. You grip his bicep as he leads your backwards into the room, your calves hitting the bed as he does so. 
Your lips part, you fall back onto the bed. You look up at him through your eyelashes, your fingertips reaching to pull the shirt he was wearing over his head. You almost swoon there and then at the sight of the tattoos littering his skin. You lean forward and place a kiss on his lower stomach, just before his happy trail that slips into the band of his trousers. 
You bite your lip, grinning up at him. 
“What are you planning?” 
“I don’t know.” You shrug, “What do you want me to be planning?” 
He groans, “Anything at this point.”
You reach forward, taking the button of his trousers in your fingers. You look up, “Is this okay?” 
“More than okay, baby.” 
You unbutton his trousers, wrapping your finger in the waistband and pulling them down. You can already see the tent in his boxers. You wondered how long he had been like this, you wondered if it had been since your dances. 
You blush slightly as you hook your fingers now into the waistband of his boxers, looking up at him. You can’t handle the look on his face, the slight blush but the boyish grin mixed with his curls that had fallen forward upon his forehead. You pull the fabric down, exposing his hard cock. You watch as it hits his stomach briefly, the tip swollen. You lift your hand up, wrapping it around him before giving him a few pumps. His stomach quivers as you do so, a groan escaping him as you wrap your lips around his tip. His eyes flutter closed as you start to bob your head, his fingers reaching forward to grab your hair into a ponytail. 
“Fuck baby.” His hips involuntarily buck forward. You sink further down, going as far as you could. 
Harry couldn’t believe how good he felt. It had been a while since he had been with someone, and it was worth the wait. You pulled away too soon in his opinion, but the sight of you, all teary eyed and sloppy sent his mind spiralling. 
“God.” He bent down and wrapped his arms around your thighs, lifting you up so he could move you further up the bed, “You’re fucking killing me here.” 
“Good.” You giggle. 
He’s quick to remove your shirt, allowing you to pull your jeans down at the same time. He didn’t expect you to still be in the lingerie from earlier, and if it was physically possible, he swore his cock hardened even more. 
“Fuck me.” 
He leans forward, pressing his lips to yours again as his fingers fumble with the latch of your bra. You bite your bottom lip as he wraps his around your nipple, flicking it with his tongue. He uses his hand to knead the other one. You can’t help but grind your hips forwards, a feeling bubbling deep in the pit of your stomach that you hadn’t felt in a long time. 
“Harry.” You moan, withering under his touch. 
He kisses down from your lips, to your jaw, down your neck until he’s littering them all the way to the band of your underwear. 
“Is this okay?” 
“More than okay.” You whine as he lets out a breath upon the thin material. 
He pulls your underwear down, teasing you by placing kisses across your thighs and pubic bone. He’s so close, yet so far from the place that you need him the most. He licks a stripe across your centre, until he wraps his lips around your clit. You can’t help the moans that escape your parted lips as he nibbles and flicks your sensitive nub, her thighs starting to shake as he coaxes her closer and closer to her orgasm. 
“Don’t stop.” You thread your fingers through his hair, “God! Harry.” 
He pulls away, and you let out a shaky breath as he does so. 
“No fair.” You whine. 
“Life isn’t.” 
“Just shut up and get a condom.” He does as you request, placing a small peck to your lips as he reached over to grab a condom from the drawer beside the bed. 
You watch as he rips the packet open with his teeth, pulling the rubber down his length. He presses another kiss to your lips, catching her eyesight once more.
“Are you sure?” 
“More than okay.” 
He hovers over you, rubbing his tip up and down your wet folds to coax a moan out of your lips. He groans into your shoulder as he pushes in, biting down briefly to suppress the sound. 
“Don’t.” You moan, scratching your nails down his back as he starts to thrust in and out of you, “Let me hear you.” 
“Fuck.” You squeeze him slightly, “Do that again.” 
He speeds up, catching your lips as your hips meeting quicker, the only sound in the room being your skin slapping each others. You slip one of your hands between the two of you, your nimble fingers rubbing your clit. 
“Where have you been all my life?” You can’t help the pleasurable giggle that escapes your lips. 
“Feel so good, H.” 
After a few more thrusts, a couple more circles of her clit and she’s comes around his cock, squeezing him tightly as she did so. 
“Fuck, shit, oh god.” 
He continues to thrust in and out of you, coaxing you through your orgasm and towards his. He seems to go deeper and deeper until he’s spilling inside the condom, his moans louder than any you had heard before. 
“God.” He collapses on top of you, taking a few seconds to collect himself and let you collect yourself, “Haven’t felt like that in a long time.” 
“Glad I could be of some assistance.” You push the hair that had matted to your face off. 
“You should keep secrets from me more often.’ 
“I’m never doing that again.” 
“Good.” He pecks your lips. 
929 notes · View notes
lailoken · 4 years ago
Text
Tumblr media
“Elder (Sambucus nigra), also known as boor or bour tree.
Elder is one of the most enigmatic plants in British folk tradition. On one hand it is feared and associated with WITCHES and on the other it is valued for its protective qualities, as a fly repellent, and for its use in many herbal remedies.
The whole plant hath a narcotic smell; it is not well to sleep under its shade. [Withering, 1776: 186]
[In Leitrim, Waterford and the south of Ireland] the elder or 'bore' tree is believed to have been the tree from which Judas Iscariot hanged himself. The proof of which is the fact that its leaves have an 'ugly smell', and, moreover, that its fruit has since degenerated from its original size and excellent flavour, and become worthless both as to size and taste. [Anon., 1916: 425]
It was said at Beckley that if you burn elder wood you will become bewitched. You never cut it down. In Wootton they say that the elder is a witch tree. You should not mend a wattle hedge with it, as it will give the witches power. If you cut it, it will bleed. [Oxfordshire Women's In- stitute groups, 1950s]
Unlucky to burn Tramman [elder], it is the FAIRIES’ tree. [Lezayre, Isle of Man, c.1975; Manx Folklife Survey]
Normally in the Isle of Man elder is the fairies' tree which is unlucky to cut down, or burn when fallen. I was told in 1992 by a forestry worker of his pleasure that a large elder had blown over into the field adjoining his garden and thus relieved him of the need to find someone willing to remove it. [Union Mills, Isle of Man, October 1993]
Elder flowers—it is alright to pick the flowers for wine or culinary use, but the tree is a friend of witches and the wood should never come into the house. [Ashreigney, Devon, July 1983]
Elder—unlucky to bring either flowers or wood into a house: (a) because it is the witches' tree, (b) because it was believed that Judas Iscariot hanged himself from an elder tree, (c) because if you fall asleep under elder flowers the scent will poison you or you will never wake up. [Driffield, Humber- side, March 1985]
Collecting firewood from the hedges surrounding the cottage and returning happily laden, but being accused of bringing bits of elder into the house—it was considered unlucky to use these to light a fire. [Bow Street, Dyfed, October 1984]
The only unlucky plant which I have heard of is the elder tree, which the old people looked upon as unlucky. As I have heard the old people say, it was unhealthy to have an elder tree growing near the house as it was often noted the inhabitants seemed more prone to TUBERCULOSIS or 'Consumption' as it was known in Ireland in the old days. However, as TB was rampant all over the country at that time, I don't know if the belief would have any significance. My own people however would not cut down an elder bush or burn it no matter how old or rotten it was. Nor allow an elder stick in the house, and it would be an unforgivable act to strike a child or even an animal with one. [Kill Village, Co. Kildare, October 1984]
The family name dies out on the property where the elder grows in the kitchen garden. [Skibbereen, Co. Cork, January 1993]
Do you know the Rollright Stones in Oxfordshire? You can't count them; you never get the same number twice. In the next field there is a big stone called King Arthur, and there are various stones called after his Knights around. There are some elder bushes nearby. We used to go there as children on our bicycles and try to count the stones. We were told that if we picked a flower or a berry from these elderberry bushes we would be turned into stone. We used to dare each other to pick a berry or a flower, but no one ever did. [Mitcham, Surrey, May 1986]
However, in the early part of the nineteenth century:
On Midsummer Eve, when the 'eldern' tree was in blossom, it was a custom for people to come up to the King Stone and stand in a circle. Then the 'eldern' was cut, as it bled 'the King moved his head.' [Evans, 1895: 20]
Sometimes it was thought that wood, berries, or flowers could be safely taken from an elder only if the tree's permission had been sought first.
Hearing one day that a baby in a cottage close to my own was ill, I went across to see what was the matter. Baby appeared right enough, and I said so; but its mother promptly explained. 'It were all along of my maister's thick 'ed; it were in this how: t'rocker cummed off t'cradle, an' he hedn't no more gumption than to mak' a new ’un out on illerwood without axing the Old Lady's leave, an' in coorse she didn't like that, and she came and pinched t'wean that outrageous he were a'most black i' t' face; but I bashed 'un off, an putten an' esh 'un on, an' t'wean is as gallus as owt agin.' This was something quite new to me, and the clue seemed worth following up. So going home I went straight down to my backyard, where old Johnny Holmes was cutting up firewood—‘chopping kindling,' as he would have said. Watching the opportunity, I put a knot of elder-wood in the way and said, 'You are not feared of chopping that are you ?' 'Nay, he replied at once, 'I bain't feared of choppin' him, he bain't wick (alive); but if her were wick I dussn't, not without axin’ the Old Gal's leave, not if it were ever so'.. . (The words to be used are): 'Oh, them's slape enuff.' You just says, 'Owd Gal, give me of thy wood, and Oi will give some of moine, when I graws inter a tree.' [Heanley, 190I: 55]
If you chop an elder tre e or fell it, you should bow three times and say:
Old Woman, Old Woman, Give me some of your wood And when I am dead I'll give you some of mine. [Whitwick, Leicestershire, August 1983]
[Staffordshire, 1930s:] my mother said it was the thing if one wanted blossoms or fruit from an elder tree to say 'Please Mother Elder may I have .. .' [Ponsanooth, Cornwall, November 1993]
In addition to records of elder being inauspicious, there are many rec- ords of it being a beneficial, protective tree.
[In Northumberland] an old man told me that his aunt used to keep a piece of bour tree, or elder, constantly in her kist (chest) to prevent her clothes from malign influence. [Hardy, 1895: 325]
In south Wales it was deemed very dangerous to build any premises on or near the spot where an eldertree stood. In the past an elder planted before the door of a cow-shed or stable protected the cows and horses from witchcraft and sorcery. [Trevelyan, 1909: 103]
[In Scotland elder was] often planted near old crofts and cottages as protection from witches. [Webster, 1978: 342]
[In Guernsey elder] had to be planted as near as possible to the back door, the most used entrance, since it was a sacred tree and a good protection against witchcraft. [McClintock, 1987: 33]
[In Ireland] it is considered lucky to have an elderberry bush grow near your house, especially if it is "self-set'. [Bracknell, Berkshire, August 1984]
Mother used elder leaves to make a pattern on the floor-bricks. Painting around them with red paint. Making the cross with elder leaves. This was an old custom, going back to her grandmother's time, so the custom had to be continued despite the time-consuming nature of the work. [Bow Street, Dyfed, March 1984]
Elder: this was called Boortree... The leaves were boiled and the water used to dose pigs. For this purpose, and because it was supposed to be a protection against LIGHTNING, there was a tree of it at every house. It can still be seen growing in places where there are no houses now, but where houses were years ago. [Lenamore, Co. Longford, April 1991]
Family folklore passed on to me includes . . . one should plant a ROWAN and elder tree and never cut them down, in order to keep witches away. [Parkstone, Dorset, June 1991]
I can remember as a child elder growing around the wooden bottom-of-the-garden 'lavvy' at my uncle's farm near Brentwood, Essex, and many other similar loos with elder adjacent. I was told that the elder would live 'almost for ever', as if one root died off another would spring from a fallen branch or twig. They were treated with 'respect' as they kept away bad magic—no one used the word 'witches'—but the inference was there. [Yafforth, North Yorkshire, January 1990]
More usually elder trees were planted around toilets and other build ings to deter FLIES.
Elder bushes are invariably to be seen outside the dairy windows on the north side of old-fashioned farmhouses in the Midlands. This was done because elder-leaves are supposed to be very objectionable to flies, wasps and other insects, the tree thus provided both shade and protection. For the same reason a switch of elder with leaves on is used when taking or driving a swarm of bees. [N &Q, 11 ser. 12: 489, 1915]
When inspecting a slaughter house [in Cornwall] a summer or two ago, I commented on the absence of flies, and was told that this was due to a large elder bush growing some feet away and that branches of elder in any building would keep flies away. [Peter, 1915: 123]
An elderberry tree was always grown near the house—I think it was to keep flies away. [Didcot, Oxfordshire, February 1991]
According to some friends of mine elderberry bushes were planted by water butts and outside privies so that the smell would keep the flies away. [Horseheath, Cambridgeshire, April 1991]
As a youth my late father worked on the land...Often handling horses it was common practice to tie bunches of elder leaves to the harness to ward off flies. [St Osyth, Essex, February 1989]
My wife, who comes from Northumberland, tells me that her mother used to make up a concoction with elder flower when she was a child. All the family washed their faces in it to keep virulent Northumbrian midges at bay. She remembers it smelling not too pleasant, and tended to keep other children away as well, so she would take the first opportunity to wash it off! [Hexham, Northumberland, June 1988]
About twelve years ago in Girton, Cambridge, a small swarm of bees (apparently known as a 'cast') settled on a plum tree in our garden, about six feet up. A neighbour, Mr C. G. Puck (now 84 years old), a retired shepherd and lifelong beekeeper, came to collect the bees. He removed the queen bee from the swarm and placed her under a small open wooden box inverted on the ground under the tree. He then asked for a sprig of elder and laid this about nine inches above the swarm, saying that the smell of it was disliked by bees, and by the early evening all the bees had moved into the box . . . He had learned of the use of elder in this fashion from his beekeeper father, in his native village of Thriplow, south Cambridgeshire. [Girton, Cambridge, May 1988]
On the Isle of Man:
Each old cottage has a 'trammon', or elderberry tree, outside the door. This is used by the 'Phynodderree' to swing in. He is a kind of faun who can bring much luck, and even helps materially in outside work. [Daily News, 27 January 1926]
[Fairies] liked most of all to swing and play in the elder trees, and these were always thought of as fairy trees in the Isle of Man. There wasn't a house or farm that didn't have its 'tramman' tree planted by the door or in the garden 'for the fairies'. Many of them are still to be seen; the single tree will soon have grown into a thicket, hiding the old ruined house, but a sure sign that a house once stood there . . . When the wind was blowing the branches, it was then that the fairies were believed to be riding the tramman trees, but it was said that they would desert a house or a farm where the trees had been cut down. This must have happened only very rarely: no-one would cut a branch of the tramman, let alone the tree itself, but if it was done the fairies grieved. [Killip, 1975: 35]
Regardless of whether elder is considered to be malevolent or protec- tive, most of the folk beliefs associated with the tree appear to be con- cerned with its protection and preservation. Two quotations from herbalists writing in the 1940s demonstrate the value of the elder tree.
[According to my [g*psy] friend] the healingest tree that on earth do grow be the elder, them sez, and take it all round I should say 'twas. [Quelch, 1941: 78]
[Elder has] the unusual distinction of being useful in every part. [Ransom, 1949: 55]
Thus it is possible that the various folk beliefs associated with elder were due, at least in part, to efforts to protect a valuable resource.
The period when elder flowered was sometimes considered to be a time when the weather was poor. In the Basingstoke area of Hampshire this time was known as the elderbloom winter [Maida Hill, Lon- don, December 1982], while in Cheshire:
Weather prophets say that if the weather breaks while the elder-flowers are coming out, it will be soaking wet (in Cheshire parlance, drabbly) until they fade. [Hole, 1937: 49]
Francis Bacon (1561–1626) recorded: 'They say' WARTS can be removed by rubbing them 'with a Green Elder Sticke and then bury- ing the Sticke to rot in Mucke' [Bacon, 1631: 258]. Similarly:
A 15-year-old girl, writing in 1954, says that her grandfather told her to pick a small twig of elderberry, touch her warts with it, chant the words, “Wart, wart, on my knee, Please go, one, two, three” and put it 'down the toilet'. [Opie, 1959: 315]
Elder is, perhaps, the wild plant most widely used in folk medicine.
Queen of all Forest [of Dean] remedies was 'ellum blow tea'...The flowers were gathered in the spring and hung up to dry in closed paper bags ... in the kitchen ... You dared not sneeze in the winter or down came the bag, a good handful was put in a jug, covered with boiling water, covered with a tea towel, and left to infuse. One had to force this evil-smelling brew down one's throat willy-nilly. I loathed it, and to this day can recall that smell of cats which emanated from it. Poultices of the mixture were used for SPRAINS, aches, etc., in joints, also for boils and 'gathered' fingers—whitlows and so on. It seemed to be a universal panacea; the only use it didn't have was for constipation . . . Elder berries were favoured too; they were boiled up with sugar, the resulting syrup strained, bottled, and used in winter for coughs and colds . . .There is not a Forester alive over the age of 70 who does not know ellum blow tea. [Cinder- ford, Gloucestershire, November 1993]
Elder berries when fried with mutton fat are used for BOILS and ULCERS. [IFCSS MSS 414: 43, Co. Clare]
Elder root when boiled and the water drank supposed to cure RHEUMAT- ISM. [IFCSS MSS 700: 35, Co. Meath]
An infusion of elder flowers in boiling water will alleviate PILES. [Horsted Keynes, West Sussex, February 1991]
A green ointment could be made from the leaves, based on mutton fat, and the creamy white flowers made Elderflower Water for the complexion. The flowers, dried in the sun and stored in a paper bag make a good remedy to break a hard COUGH and bring up phlegm. I always pick and dry some when they are in bloom, put the full of your fingers (one hand) in a mug, pour boiling water over and let it infuse for ten minutes. A little milk or fruit juice can be added. [Lenamore, Co. Longford, April 1991]
For flus and FEVERS
40 oz whiskey bottle. Pick, clean, weigh, one pound ripe elder berries. Delete the strings (most strings anyway) using a fork, and put berries into empty bottle. Add 4 lb sugar. Top up with a bottle (or most of a bottle) of whiskey. Seal well. Store for 3 months and strain. Use strongest spirit. Dose—Strong glass of this 'Elderfire'—add hot water (as hot as possible) and drink. Take 2 or 3 spoons of honey with drink. Repeat each night (or more frequently)–usually two nights is sufficient to clear the flu/fever results guaranteed. [Killarney, Co. Kerry, September 1991]
[My mother, who was 94 when she died in 1987] used to collect elder-flower in the spring, and dried it. In the winter if we had colds or flu, the elderflower was put in a jug covered with boiling water and put on the hob to stew. At night we were given this (strained) with sugar and a few drops of peppermint oil added. We were given a teacup full of this at night, and in the morning we had to drink half a cupful of this cold mixture. It was supposed to sweat out the fever. She used to tell me how she pulled me through PNEUMONIA by poulticing with hot flannel and sips of elderflower tea, day and night. [Hill, Worcestershire, October 1991]
When my three children were small and we had wintery weather (and it can be very cold up here at the foot of the Cairngorms), I made elder-flower wine, and when it was time for them coming from school I had three cups, bowl of sugar, bottle of elderflower wine and the kettle boiling, and I gave them a tody; they never had colds or flu. [Boat-of-Garten, Inverness-shire, November 1991]
Elder flowers and berries are widely collected by makers of homemade wines. The flowers can also be used in cooking [Ó’Ceirin, 1980: o1), and the fruits have been recommended as a substitute for currants [Ransom, 1949: 55]. Elder leaves have been used as a TOBACCO substitute.
Myself, my brother and a friend always smoked elder leaves when money was not available for tailor-made cigarettes. We spent much time in the woodland of Thetford Chase, where on our regular walks we would break down, but not completely snap off, small sprigs of the elder. We found that if we severed the supply of sap completely the leaves on the sprig would dry out resulting in a hot strong smoke. We found that if the leaves remained just slightly damp they were a quite pleasant smoke. It was obviously trial and error, sometimes they remained too wet to burn properly. We would stuff the leaves very lightly into the stems of various umbellifers...We actually prefered these cigarettes to the tailor-made, but they were not available during winter. [West Stow, Suffolk, November 1992]
Elder wood is characterized by its pith, which can be easily removed.
[On Colonsay] boys aspiring to be pipers made chanters of the young branches [of elder], which are full of pith and easily bored. [McNeill, 1910: 130].
Haw-blowers are made by scooping the pith out of an elder branch. Haws are blown through these. [IFCSS MSS 700: 338, Co. Meath]
The people of the parish were able to make toy guns. They got an elder stick about one and a half feet long and scraped out the inside. Then they got a stick about the same length and made it fit into the hole and then the gun was made. [IFCSS MSS 867: 132, Co. Kilkenny]
At the the beginning of the century children in parts of Devon used to make pop-guns' out of elder: they would force a hole through the pith, and then fashion a ram-rod out of HAZEL WOOD. Chewed paper would be rammed down the hollowed elder sticks, and pressed out with considerable force. Great sport ensued. [Lafonte, 1984: 35]
There was another use for the Boor tree in olden times. A suitable length was cut and seasoned, then the white pith in the centre was scraped out, lead was then melted and poured in. When set, this made a good weapon for protection on a journey or out walking at night...My aunt who was born in 1894 remembered one man who had such a stick. [Lenamore, Co. Longford, April 1991]
[In Horsefield, Cambridgeshire] for winter feeding one beekeeper used to make little troughs out of elder wood; he cut pieces about the thickness of a finger and five or six inches long, tapered off one end and removed the pith, and used them for replenishing the bees' honey by inserting this end in the exit hole. [Parsons MSS, 1952]”
Oxford Dictionary of Plant-Lore
by Roy Vickery
106 notes · View notes
beewolfwrites · 4 years ago
Text
And When I am Formulated, Sprawling on a Pin - Chapter Nineteen: I May Think of You Softly
The angst is starting to hot up now, because we can’t have a Chishiya fic without it :) 
As always, you can also read this on AO3 here. 
Just adding this because I’ve gotten a few messages about it, but once this fic comes to an end, I’ll start reading the manga properly so I can eventually write a part 2/sequel! 
While I’m reading it though, I want to make a collection of one-shots based on this fic from Chishiya’s pov. I have a few scenes in mind to focus on, but if there are some you’d like to see, just drop me a message, comment, carrier pigeon etc... and let me know! 
----------------------------------------------
‘It’s time.’
They were simple words, but they carried an awful lot of weight. The plan had to go perfectly, otherwise we were finished.
Arisu’s voice sounded from the other line. ‘Is everyone getting into position?’
I picked up the walkie talkie and headed to the door, only for Kuina to grab my arm and stop me. Perplexed, I opened my mouth to ask her why, but her pleading expression silenced me as she took the walkie talkie from my hand.
At the same moment, a new voice – Usagi’s – came through. ‘I’m in the hall, keeping lookout.’  
Never taking her eyes from mine, Kuina’s hand tightened around my arm. She pressed the button to activate the walkie talkie. ‘We’re watching over the elevator to the top floor.’
Except we weren’t. We were here, in my room.
Kuina??
Once again, I began to ask her what was happening, but she shook her head, shushing me. The guilt in her eyes was unmistakable. ‘The coast is clear,’ she said into the walkie talkie.
Then it became awfully, awfully apparent what was going on.
‘The new leader is making a speech in the lobby,’ Chishiya said, ‘and all the executives and militants are at the annex. I’ll let you all know if there are any changes.’ There was a pause. ‘This is our only chance. I’m counting on you, Arisu.’
Shrugging out of Kuina’s hold, I sat down on the bed, trying to process the situation. This had been his plan from the start. Not the official plan, but a fake one: to use Arisu and Usagi to locate the safe, and to let them take the fall. Chishiya may know the passcode, but the location of the safe is something that can only be discovered once you actually go into the room.
He’s using them as his guinea pigs.  
‘I’m in the Royal Suite now,’ Arisu said. ‘Though I can’t see anything that looks like a safe. Just give me a minute.’ My knee began to bounce nervously as the line went quiet. Then his voice crackled through, triumphant, ‘I’ve found it!’
A puff of air sounded from the other line, and I could practically hear Chishiya’s smirk. ‘The code, it’s 8022.’
There was a pause. ‘How do you know?’ Arisu asked. ‘Did you see inside the black envelope?’
I leaned forward, curious about how Chishiya had managed to figure it out simply by sitting in the same room. There were two possibilities here. Either Chishiya knew perfectly well what the passcode was, and he would concoct a lie to give to Arisu, or he only had an inkling about the passcode, and he was using Arisu to test it out.
‘No,’ Chishiya said, ‘but I didn’t need to. Aguni’s expression told me everything. He was surprised at first, then he was confused. I believe the paper inside was blank.’
‘Blank? But what about the passcode you just told me?’ Arisu asked.
There was an amused hum. ‘The wax seal. You remember Hatter’s ring… it was stamped with the word ‘BOSS’. When the wax seal was stamped, the embossing left numbers. That was the true code.’
You really are incredible, and not necessarily in a good way.
It certainly sounded convincing enough, though until Arisu tested it, there was no way of knowing whether this was the genuine truth, or an impressive sounding lie. And judging by the way things were going, he would find out very quickly.
My heart broke for Arisu as he spoke with pure, blind amazement. ‘Chishiya, I’d hate to be your enemy.’
I held my breath, waiting for the worst as silence ensued. This was a setup, after all. I glanced at Kuina, but she only looked at me apologetically.
Why does he have to be so cruel?
‘Chishiya??’ Arisu’s voice shook. ‘Chishiya, the code’s wrong?’
The static shut off into silence.
------------------------------------------
Even the stale air of my room tasted bitter as I gripped my walkie talkie, turning it over in my palm. It was tempting to just toss into the dustbin and wash my hands of the whole thing, yet I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Chishiya had backed me into a corner. It would be too dangerous to stay at the Beach now that the militants had taken over, but I also resented Chishiya for stringing me along in such a dreadful scheme.
Kuina was waiting for me in the hall outside. Now that the militants were busy with Arisu and Usagi, the royal suite was unguarded. This was the final test. The real plan. But as for whether or not I joined them…. I didn’t have a choice, or at least, it seemed that way. I remembered the words that I’d told Hatter when I first arrived at the Beach.
‘I still have a choice. It’s just that one of the options doesn’t look too great.’
There was always the option to stay and pretend that I had nothing to do with it. Except there was an obvious downside; Niragi wouldn’t settle for that. He’d be out for blood. My blood. It was either possible death or certain death… freedom or confinement. I knew which one I preferred.
‘Though wise men at the end know dark is right, because their words forked no lightning they do not go gentle into that good night.’
It was funny how fittingly Dylan Thomas’ poem sprung to mind now. I was going to die. That was inevitable. But I still wanted my voice to be heard. I still wanted to chase the meaning of it all.
Pocketing the walkie talkie, I walked towards the door. It almost felt sad. All the textbooks I had been given, the books that had kept me sane this entire time… I would have to leave them behind. They were gifts from Chishiya, but after what he’d done to Arisu, they were tainted. I shut the door behind me, quite possibly for the last time.
Kuina was leaning against the opposite wall, and when she saw me, her expression was one of relief.
‘For a minute, I thought you weren’t coming.’
I tried to smile. ‘For a minute, so did I.’
The hotel was quiet as we made our way to the top floor, it became apparent how quiet it was. The militants and executives were likely dealing Arisu and Usagi by now, and I hated to think of what was currently happening to them. Perhaps this was another reason Chishiya wanted to use them; as a distraction.
‘I don’t like it either,’ Kuina said. Her jaw was rigid. ‘I really don’t like it. But I have to get home to my mother.’
Some of the bitterness I felt softened. I couldn’t fault her for that. Not really. She had told me once, while we were on the rooftop, about her mother being the only one to accept her after her gender reassignment, and now her mother was ill, yet she was stuck here, unable to help. She had tried asking about my own life, although I’d brushed it away at the time.
‘My brother,’ I said after a moment. ‘I want to get back to him. He’s older than me, a psychologist. He went into psychology to research treatment options for certain mental health conditions. My mother isn’t happy… to put it mildly. She’s a mess. Probably it’s something to do with being married to my dad, or maybe it’s genetic.’
Kuina went quiet at first, then took the quit-smoking aide from her mouth. ‘Are you two close?’
I shrugged. ‘I suppose we are. We both grew up in the same place, and we both have that understanding. He was always the one who went first, and I’d follow him. He wasn’t scared of anything, not even my dad.’
Kuina and I didn’t say anything more after that. We were nearing the top floor now, and even though I couldn’t see him, I knew that Chishiya was lurking somewhere, waiting for us to give him the all-clear.
As planned, Kuina handed me a second walkie talkie, and I took my place at the end of the hall, looking out for any executives. Meanwhile, Kuina took watch outside the royal suite, where she could see Aguni’s room. So far, Aguni had remained in his old room, despite being the new number-one, and since Arisu and Usagi’s capture, he had yet to emerge.
Chishiya’s voice sounded through the walkie talkie. ‘You two, how are things on your side?’
Just the sound of his voice brought with it a mixture of anger… despair… betrayal… relief… and love. Even that. How was it that now, when I had never been more hurt by him, I still craved the safety I found in his voice.
I don’t know who I hate more, him or myself.
I didn’t particularly want to speak with him. But ignoring him wasn’t an option either. ‘You’re all good to go from where I’m standing.’
‘Aguni’s still in his room,’ Kuina’s voice crackled through. ‘We’re getting bored now.’
‘Then should we get going with the plan?’ he suggested.
I clicked my tongue, eyes scanning either side of the empty hall. ‘We’ve already gotten going. It’s you who needs to hurry up.’
‘Patience,’ was the curt reply.
I didn’t hear anything, but I knew that somewhere down the hall, Chishiya was entering the royal suite. ‘I don’t know if Arisu is stupid or intelligent,’ he said. ‘Hatter was paranoid. He wouldn’t have hidden the cards in a normal safe.’
Did Arisu try breaking into one of the hotel’s guest safes?
‘Where’s the real one then?’ Kuina asked. She sounded tired and weary.
‘When Arisu was caught,’ Chishiya replied, ‘Aguni wasn’t paying attention. He was looking towards a certain picture on the wall. It turns out the paper wasn’t empty after all. It contained a drawing instead.’
It was impressive how Chishiya was able to figure these things out through body language alone. For someone who seemed to have no concept of how people behaved, he sure paid attention to our behavioral patterns.
‘So, you had no idea where it was until then?’ I asked.
‘Exactly,’ Chishiya said. ‘What happened to Arisu was necessary if we were going to find the real safe. Speaking of which, I’ve found it.’
The way he talked about it was chilling. Not so much the words themselves, but the ease in which he spoke them, the lack of hesitation.
Kuina seemed to be thinking the same thing, as she sighed into the walkie talkie. ‘You used him just for that?’
The response was immediate. ‘In order to gain something, you have to lose something. He’s just a sacrifice. Things like this happen a lot, don’t they?’
The level of self-assurance behind those words… it was brutal. I always knew he was like this, but what did that mean for me and Kuina? Were we just pawns like Arisu and Usagi? Would our deaths be necessary too?
‘No, they don’t.’ Kuina said. ‘Not at all. I really don’t want to be your enemy.’
At this, I almost laughed. When I first met Chishiya, I had thought the same thing, and earlier today, Arisu had said something similar himself.
‘I get that a lot,’ Chishiya replied.
Perhaps everyone is his enemy. Perhaps the only person he sees surviving the Borderlands is himself.
The idea was a harsh philosophy, but it made sense. Chishiya had always made me feel like insignificant just through his calculating gaze alone. In that sense, he was just like my own father, and chances are that was why I was drawn to him. In this crazy parallel world, feeling small was the only thing familiar to me.
Maybe, in order to gain my own freedom, I have to lose Chishiya.
--------------------------------------------
Now that the sun had set over the skyline, the evening had turned still and cold. Aside from the hum of cicadas and the chatter of crickets, it was quiet. Leaning against the outside wall of the hotel, I wrapped my arms around me, although it did nothing to stave off the shivers that tickled my skin. Nor did it melt the wedge of icy determination that had buried itself within me.
I’ll follow him for the sake of leaving the Beach… but I refuse to let myself love him.
I had never been a good liar.
To my right, Kuina was leaning against a lamppost, staring guiltily at the ground. Meanwhile, Chishiya removed his numbered wristband as he strolled towards a decorative brick archway that led out of the hotel grounds. ‘I guess we won’t be needing these anymore.’
‘Don’t you feel sorry?’ Kuina asked quietly.
He stopped. ‘Sorry?’
I looked at him curiously, wondering how he could seem so calm. ‘About what happened to Arisu… I feel really sorry for him. We both do.’
Kuina nodded, folding her arms tighter. ‘Don’t you?’
Chishiya’s eyes flitted to mine, and for the first time, I saw genuine surprise there.
Show me a sign… please give me a reason why I should trust you.
‘Is there anything we wouldn’t do in order to survive?’
A shudder ran through me, and this time, it had nothing to do with the breeze. His words confirmed my every suspicion, but I couldn’t let myself feel so disappointed. I needed to block it all out… block everything out.
Then he smiled. It would’ve been easy to mistake it for his usual smile, if not for the hint of bitterness there. ‘If you both feel so worried, then maybe you should go and help him.’
Kuina looked at him, eyes wide with regret. However, she didn’t move. Neither of us could. We both had our own reasons why we needed to survive and return home. Knowing this well, Chishiya took a step towards the arch, only to stop once more. His brow furrowed as he whispered something under his breath.
Growing impatient, I pushed away from the wall and walked towards the exit… towards freedom.
‘Stop.’
Chishiya’s hand clasped around my wrist, dragging me back. I yanked my arm away immediately, both hating and loving the feeling of his fingers on my skin. ‘What do you think you’re doing?’
Kuina appeared at my side, and the three of us watched tentatively as Chishiya tossed his wristband through the arch. A red laser burst through the plastic, leaving behind a singed hole.
I stepped back, horrified. This couldn’t be… could it?
The Beach is a game arena??
75 notes · View notes
katnissmellarkkk · 4 years ago
Text
Andddd here’s my chappy three thoughts 🥳🥳🥳
Tumblr media
Hmmm Katniss saying that her mother has a dress made of velvet is actually really interesting because it shows that Mrs. Everdeen Lily-Rose really was well-er off before she married Katniss’ father Hunter.
Or did she get the velvet dress from Maysilee? Oh well, who knows.
Aww, Katniss’ nervous habit of touching soft things repeatedly to soothe herself 🤧🤧.
“Crying is not an option. There will be more cameras at the train station.” — someone tell that to Peeta 🤣🤣🤣.
Okay I gotta stop picking on Primmers, I know but like. How small is she that she sits on Katniss’ lap like a toddler but then in the following year is the same height as her? Doesn’t matter I know but still I wonder.
Okay so Mrs. E is the doctor for the people of the Seam? Idk I never thought about this but who does people like Peeta or Madge or Delly go to if they’re sick or hurt? Is there a still running apothecary shop that Katniss never mentions? Are her grandparents still running the family biz?
Also okay, I gotta stop having so many thoughts on all the lil details I know but like. Katniss says here she’s familiar with the herbs her mother doesn’t grow on her own so like a). Katniss is more of a healer than she leads on because no average person knows what kind of plant is medicinal and b). Her mother is just growing herbs and Katniss never mentions it again in the whole series? Or I just missed it.
Okay imma move on from this one singular paragraph but Gale and her made a pact a year ago that they’ll supply each other’s family with game if they were to be reaped... I’m feeling like their close friendship is probably only one year old then? Idk. Just my interpretation.
Honestly I love Katniss getting mad at her mom here.
She’s sixteen, for God’s sake, of course she’s angry at what her mother’s illness put her through.
Also I lowkey like that her mother got mad back because that lady in the movies had zero personality.
“Boys who are two to three times my size.” She sounds so little, omg 🥺🥺🥺.
“I don’t care if we’re rich, I just really want you to come home” 🤧🤧🤧😩😩😩😩 okay Primmers, you got me here.
“the Peacekeeper is at the door, signaling our time is up, and we're all hugging one another so hard it hurts and all I'm saying is ‘I love you. I love you both.’ And they're saying it back...” this is so sad leave me be 😫😫😫😫
Katniss is burying her face in a pillow to block out her emotions this is too much for me 🥵🥵🥵
Omg I forgot Peeta’s father visits Katniss 😅
Why does he visit Katniss?
She describes Peeta’s father as a “big, broad-shouldered man.” And then describes Peeta as stocky. Idk the comparison of the two descriptions has always led me to think Peeta is gonna be a big dude when he grows up like his father. This made no sense and had zero correlation but I thought, so I said it, no regrets
Oh he brought her cookies 🤧
WAIT WAIT WAIT. I just had a new thought, y’all. What if instead of the baker bringing cookies being a thing he does for all tributes, what if he’s bringing the cookies because Peeta asked him to, because he made them and wants to give them to Katniss and knows she’ll never accept / trust them coming from her competition? What if that’s the real reason the baker visited her in the first place? Because Peeta asked him to? This was such a shipper comment but idc, no regrets, remember?
Omg Peeta’s father is just mute 🤣🤣🤣
Between an abusive, angry mother and a mute for a father, the Mellark brothers must have had a fairytale of a childhood 😅😅😅😅.
But seriously #PoorPeetaMyBaby
Aww Peeta’s father is gonna help keep Prim alive 😭
Omg I just remembered he’s her mother’s ex boyfriend. Haidon Mellark, as I named him in my fics.
That one fic where he was thought to be Prim’s real father is just playing now in my head, rent free.
But does Katniss not realize that he may be offering to help Prim as a favor to her? Like she claims Prim is just so wonderful people adore her but there’s like zero evidence in the text that make her endearing? Okay I need to turn this bus around, I need to find a love for Primmy Deen.
Madge is not one for preamble apparently. No “hi, how are you? I’m sorry you’re gonna die? What will your last meal be?” Just right to “here, wear this family heirloom of mine, k thanks.”
I like that Madge had to kiss her cheek for Katniss to realize they were friends 😅😅😅.
I remember always loving her and Gale’s hug here. I’ve always felt like it was platonic, but especially when I first read the books and had zero preference one way or another for Gale or Peeta, I really liked how she said even with nothing romantic between them, “when he opens his arms, I don’t hesitate to go to him” or something I’m paraphrasing ok I’m lazy
Also though, this is the first time they’ve ever hugged? Idk why that surprises me? It shouldn’t because where is a hug gonna fit into a hunting trip 😅🤣😂 “I just caught a deer!” “let’s celebrate with a hug!”
I like that Katniss remembers how her father even failed to make a good bow sometimes. Random, I know.
I like that the Capitol weren’t entertained by the people freezing to deaths because it wasn’t bloody enough 🤭🙃
“How different can it be [to kill a human vs an animal]?” She’s about to find out, Gale 🥺. And when she comes back you won’t understand 🙄😔
What did Gale want to say before the Peacekeepers dragged him away?
I used to think it was a confession of love but I’m actually sure it wasn’t now? Just the wording “remember I-“ doesn’t sound like it, considering he never confessed anything prior to her coming home.
I’m assuming now he was just gonna give her some more advice to stay alive 🤷🏼‍♀️. Clearly if it were relevant it would have made its way to the others books.
Aww, she’s never been inside a car before 😭😭. I didn’t even know they had cars in this universe but okay.
I notice though how she says “In the Seam, we travel on foot.” So is Peeta just riding his trolly down the street every day with the other merchants then? 🤣
Peeta just openly crying on camera 😅😢.
I like how Katniss is like “ooo is this an act to get sponsors?” when in reality Peeta’s like “no, I’m just a soft and genuine boy ™️”
Omg I just realized this totally goes along with Peeta’s thing later on “I want to die as myself”
He’s refusing to hold back his emotions because he thinks he’s doomed to die and he’s already refusing to pretend to be or feel something ingenious.
But a Johanna mention in book 1 chapter 3 woohoo 🥳🥳🥳 also Katniss comparing Jo and Peeta is kind of like foreshadowing of their shared torture in book 3.
Omg she just called Peeta broad-shouldered and strong. 🥰🥰🥰 my headcanon for his post-canon body is confirmed
Also why does Katniss keep allotting his strength to carrying bread trays around? Are they heavy? Why have I never once heard of people who carry bread trays being strong? I always thought Peeta was really strong because he learned to fight in order to defend himself against his mother but that’s probably wrong.
But if a mother is abusive, it can lead to one of the kids being physically violent as well and we know Peeta isn’t but he has two older brothers I’m gonna cut myself off now but I think we all smelled what I just stepped in.
Also I just find it so fascinating now how she regards herself vs Peeta here.
When talking about herself, she says, “The competition will be far beyond my abilities. [...] Oh, there'll be people like me, too. People to weed out before the real fun begins.” But when she talks about Peeta, she immediately says, “It would take an awful lot of weeping to convince anyone to overlook him.”
It’s just funny how she discounted herself right from the start but thought he was a real contender and then come to find out, Peeta believes it’s the exact opposite 😂🙃. They’re both so stupid I can’t even take it.
Wait did they actually give the location of the Capitol and the location of District Twelve in today’s world? And I just overlooked it? Brb I’m gonna go to google maps right quick.
Okay so basically what I gathered is the Capitol is probably in New Mexico and District Twelve is somewhere between Kentucky and Alabama. Irrelevant I know. But just a reminder now to everyone that Katniss and Peeta are literally speaking, crying and screaming in thick, backwoods southern accents.
It’s literally so sad how everything for Katniss is about food. Like every motive she has, every action she does is about preventing starvation ever again. 🤧🤧🤧
First mockingjay mention 🤭🤭.
“My father was particularly fond of mockingjays” 😭😭😭 I bet he was 😭😭😭😭
We always go on and on about how Katniss is a mockingjay or her children are mockingjays but Katniss herself here says mockingjays represent her father imma cry, y’all 😫😫😫😫
“It’s like having a piece of my father with me, protecting me” shut up shut up shut up shut up
Awww, Katniss has never had food like this before 😔😔😔
Neither has Peeta 🤧🤧
Katniss disliking the way Effie put the two kids from the year before down and so began to eat like a pig just to prove her point, is so her. And the beginning of her fighting for the underdog.
Omg the Rue introduction 🥺🥺🥺
Bahahahaha the commenters calling District Twelve backwards but charming 😅😅😅 they really are the hillbilly district
Peeta’s unexpected laugh 🥺🥺🥺 I love you, baby
“He was drunk. He’s drunk every year.” “Every day.” Katniss and Peeta are already finishing each other’s sentiments and teaming up to get on Effie’s nerves I love them so much 😍
Oh my God, Effie, you selfish jerk. They’re kids having fun for like one second, no need to throw in their faces they’re gonna die if the drunk won’t help them. I’d forgotten why I don’t really like the book version of her. I actually prefer her as comedic relief in the movies.
I actually just realized I really dislike Effie Trinket, I hope they never speak to her again Post-Mockingjay. Idc how you’re raised you don’t need to treat teenagers who are sentenced to a probable death badly just because they laughed at you 🙄🙄🙄😡😡😡😡. They didn’t even really laugh at her, she’s just annoying and awful, we don’t stan Effie in this household.
Okay, that’s all for my thoughts on chapter three! Until next time, y’all ! If anyone actually read this long mess of a post.
40 notes · View notes
lettrespromises · 4 years ago
Text
la querelle des coeurs. - kuroo, atsumu, daichi.
@luveranime​ sent a letter : ❝ Me again lmao 😂 could you do one where kuroo, atsumu and daichi’s s/o has a ex best friend and they try to take their bf away from their s/o but then their s/o like angrily lashes out? Then like a cute fluffy ending :) ❞
author’s letter : ❝ aaaaa, it’s always pleasure to see you in my inbox!! thank you so much for trusting me with all your prompts, it means the world. ooooh, i love myself some angst to fluff especially with kuroo. i hope you’ll enjoy your promised letter!
sealed with a kiss. sincerely yours, nikki. ❞
genre : kinda fluff, kinda angst. warnings : cursing, toxic friendship.
Tumblr media
Now, now, now, Kuroo like the gorgeous scorpio he is has some kind of sixth sense when it comes to lies, basically, you could consider him as a human lie detector. This talent of his extends to being able to discern people’s true nature- given that he is someone who doesn’t trust people easily, he’s even more careful around people he doesn’t deem as trustworthy.
Truth be told, he doesn’t come as a surprise to him when you tell him that you had a succession of arguments with your best friend, to the point where you felt obligated to cut ties with them. 
You can tell from miles away that the sentence “I don’t want to say I told you so, but I told you so, kitten.” is burning the tip of his tongue, begging him to be set free so he could rub his pseudo sixth sense in your face.
From now on, Kuroo morphs into ‘super protective mode’, he just wants to protect you from any emotional harm, he knows how vicious your former best friend is, after all, he always knew.
He will walk with you everywhere, cradle you into his embrace if you feel the need to shed a couple of tears- he picks up the shattered pieces of your broken self and glues them one by one and seals them with a kiss or a heartfelt compliment.
After several days, Kuroo’s efforts and dedication to make you feel better finally sets in. Your introspection sunk in and you feel the aftereffects bloom- you feel fearless, powerful, and you came to agree with yourself on stating that you are indeed better off alone.
The plot twists in the hallways of your school- your arm is wrapped around Kuroo’s, just the way you like it. His orbs never leave you frame and anyone could tell how the gleam in his eyes reflect his love and adoration for you. 
Needless to say, his favorite time of the day was when he could have lunch with you and listen to your ramblings while observing your divine traits. However, being academically smart doesn’t prevent him from being a airhead at times : “Kitten, I totally forgot to grab myself something to drink. Will you wait for me at our spot? I’ll be quick.” “You already know where to find me then, Tetsu.”
And with that, he leaves you in the middle of the hall (but not before planting a peck on your forehead.) On his way to the vending machine, he sees none other than your former best-friend, body leaning onto said vending machine, as if they were waiting for him to come out after witnessing your discussion.
The plain expression plastered upon Kuroo’s facial expression speaks louder than a thousand words revolving around the lexical field of anger. Nonetheless, he tells himself that if he ignores them, then there will be no harm done, unless...
“Hey there, Kuroo. I knew you’d miss me! Don’t worry, baby, I missed you just as much.”
The person you once called your best friend orientates their body in a strategic way so they’re closer to Kuroo, their whole body facing him. Of course, he didn’t miss the poor attempts to get him to pay attention to them. Their whole body language screamed ‘acknowledge me.’
Kuroo remained stoic and pushed the coins inside the vending machine instead. This lack of attention only emphasized their anger and in return, their level of patience diminished gradually. But they had another ace hidden in their sleeve, and this time, attitude matched their actions- your former best friend grabbed the hem of Kuroo’s collar while their other hand was planted at the back of his neck to force him to look on what they deemed as the only important person here.
“Kuroo, baby, I’m so glad you came to see me, because let’s face it : you’re only here because you know you’d see me here. Have you finally realized that Y/N was not good enough for you? You want a real significant other, don’t you?”
If hearing the sound of their voice was disgusting enough, imagine how filthy Kuroo felt when he sensed a foreign body throw themselves on him- his skin was burning under the poisoning touch of your former best friend. 
Now, now. The ‘you’ topic was quite the sensitive one to Kuroo, given that he would and could put anyone in their place if he happened to hear a ill word about you. “I’m going to say this once : don’t play a game you can’t win so don’t say another thing about Y/N.” 
Oh, but would this stop them? Absolutely not. Their hand travelled from the back of their neck to the muscular reliefs on his chest, an area only you had the luxury you to touch and worship. “Don’t be like that, Kuroo. I know I can touch you, love you and at least I won’t fake it like Y/N does.” they concluded their sentence with a wink sent his way and Kuroo could already feel the taste of vomit invading his tastebud. 
In one sharp motion, he grabbed their wrist and yanked himself free of their intoxicating clutch. Just his luck, he thought, while your former best friend cursed silently under their breath as they saw you arrive.
“Tetsu, are you okay? What’s taking you so long?”
Oh and here it was, the pure grin which radiated nothing but pure mischief- your presence signed the end and what a beautiful ending it was for him. “Maybe you should ask them, kitten. They were rambling about how I should date them instead of you. Can you believe that bullshit?”
Your eyes darted onto a familiar frame, but just by glancing at them, you felt all the inner rage overwhelm you, including all the pain you had to go through. It was like facing your own nightmare, but you’ve never been alone to fight your battles- Kuroo has always been there by your side.
“You said what now?”
Your stare emanated nothing but pure and intense rage, your whole body language testified of your inner envy to make them choke on their own words.
“I said-...”
“If you think for a single second I’m going to let you talk, you’re dead wrong. You’ve been feeding me enough lies during all this time we were ‘friends’, and now, you’re throwing yourself on my man? You really have nothing for you, do you now? Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go grab lunch with my boyfriend. I’m not sure you’ve ever heard of him but his name is Kuroo Testurou, you know, the man you’ll never get?”
Kuroo couldn’t help but to let a snicker break free from his lips, this scene was wonderful to watch. An immense wave of pride washed over him, and it struck him again, he realized for the umpteenth time how lucky he was to share his life with you.
He wrapped his arm around your waist, tugging you close to his side and delivered a peck full of love upon the flesh of your cheek. “I didn’t know you had all of this hidden in you, kitten. Not gonna lie, it’s kinda hot.” 
You playfully rolled your eyes and punched his arm as his words connected with your eardrums, “You’re so lucky I love you.”
“Don’t get it twisted, kitten, I’m lucky one here.”
“Are not.”
“Are too.”
“Are not.”
Tumblr media
It’s safe to say that Atsumu does have a reputation that follows him around, he his the local heartthrob of his school and he secretly takes pride in that. But nothing fills his heart with pride more than being able to call you his.
Being Atsumu’s girlfriend, you are indirectly exposed to threats, insults and other acerbic remarks coming from his fangirls. Sometimes these attacks are direct like dirty talks behind your back when you’re holding his hand in the middle of the halls, and other times, it’s more subtle and the perfect example of that is how the person you used to call your best friend took advantage of your relationship status to get closer to Atsumu.
They made it clear and had no shame hiding behind their shameful shenanigans, “Did you really think I was talking to you for your personality? Get real, Y/N, I don’t care about you. I only care about your man.”
These subtle shenanigans hurt the most because they were the most vicious and purposefully hurtful, and the worst part was that they had somehow managed to become friends with Atsumu. Emphasis on the word ‘somehow.’
As per usual after school, both you and Atsumu could be found at the gym, and oh boy, did he love being able to see you everyday- not only at school but also at the gym as you were the manager of the volleyball team.
However, this time, you had quite the surprise when you entered the gym. Kita had asked all the players to gather up as he explained them the new change amongst the team : “Considering that the nationals are around the corner, the coach and I stated that it was necessary for us to hire a new manager in order for Y/N not to feel overwhelmed. Please welcome your new manager and take good care of them.” 
As his words echoed in the gymnasium, you felt your stomach sink to your heels, your mouth was set agape under the overwhelming feeling of pure disgust. Not them, out of all people. Hell, even Atsumu’s worst fangirl sounded like a better idea right now.
Of course you couldn’t blame Kita for choosing your former best friend as the new manager, but the glance Atsumu threw your way testified of how much he knew this situation was going to eat you up alive. 
After the captain dismissed everyone, Atsumu wasted no time and ran up to you, he felt the need to reassure you and make you feel at ease despite the venomous presence of your former best friend.
“Cheer up, baby, ya’ know I’m here, right? This pig isn’t gonna’ get a piece of me. Now, be a doll and gimme’ a kiss.” 
Classic Atsumu right here, but who were you to deny such a sweet request? So you did as told, and planted a kiss on his plump lips. And that’s when you could pinpoint the precise moment when your former best friend had fallen right into Atsumu’s trap.
“As your new manager, I have to say that it’s not very professional to kiss your significant other on the court. But, I mean, what else did I expect coming from Y/N?” 
Your boyfriend’s arm was protectively wrapped around your waist, tugging you closer. The root of each of his action was to protect you from the incoherent and toxic words dropping from their lips. But deep down, he knew better than to mess with you, especially when the whole team was looking at you.
“Oh, I’m sorry! Did you mean do this?”
There you went again, planting yet another kiss upon Atsumu’s lips who couldn’t help but grin at the taunting nature of your actions. Once you broke the kiss, you could feel the hot breaths of your boyfriend crashing upon your skin “That’s my girl.”
Your former best friend looked around in despair, her eyes scanned the room to seek for help, to back up her actions. Osamu let a small laugh fall free from his lips, Suna rolled his eyes so hard you thought they were going to get stuck at the back of his head, and Kita, out of all people, let out a desperate sigh. “As the captain of the team, I must inform you that it is my duty to let you know that you cannot dictate your way here, and you cannot display a clear lack of respect to Y/N.”
This time, it was their time to be dumbfounded and left in the middle of the gymnasium with their mouth set agape in pure surprise. The silence, although it was broken by a few playful laughs, was agonizing to them. 
“C’mon, new manager, tell ‘em why ya’ chose to come here.” Atsumu taunted, the smirk plastered upon his face as wide as ever, but he only found silence as an answer.
“Are you sure you don’t want to tell the rest of the team? Alright then. Maybe you should tell them how you only joined our team to flirt with Atsumu knowing very well that we’re dating, what kind of person that makes you, mh?” Each word pronounced was embedded with venom of your own, and deep down, exposing the true nature of your former best friend brought some sense of satisfaction. And thus you began reading out loud each text they had sent you, justifying their one-sided reason to join the team, only to flirt with Atsumu.
“Yeah, ya’ ain’t slick! Sorry to break it to ya’ but I ain’t into snakes.” Atsumu continued, sticking his tongue out before the still dumbfounded personification of a snake.
Pure embarrassment consumed them, the more they were staying amongst the deafening silence of their sour loss, the more they felt vulnerable and the more they realized they lost their own game. The stares of the whole team became agonizing, so agonizing that they felt obligated to leave the gym, head hung low in defeat.
“Byeee! Ya’ won’t be missed!” Your boyfriend concluded his sentence by imitating the hissing sounds of snakes, and you wondered why you were dating a man-child. Nonetheless, knowing very well he couldn’t get his hands off of you and craved for a physical touch at all times, he pressed his lips against yours once more. “I ain’t into snakes but ya’ could s-s-s-s-slide your way into my heart, baby.” and with that, Osamu hit the back of his twin’s head with a volleyball.
Maybe he deserved that.
Tumblr media
Being the unofficial dad of the Karasuno volleyball team came with its perks, one of them was the ability to be able to discern if the people you were hanging with genuinely cared about you or not, you liked to joke around and call this his “secret dad weapon.”
Much like Kuroo, he was not one bit surprised when you told him that you had to put your friendship to an end with your former best friend. Of course, he was not angry, but in typical dad fashion, he adorned the oh so famous disappointed dad expression on his facial structure.
He told you not to overthink it, and to focus on the other friendly presences in your life such as the volleyball team or Kiyoko and Yachi, mainly because he knew he could trust them with his eyes closed, but also because he knew he would be able to make them pay if they were to hurt you.
When you started dating Daichi, you grew the habit to join him outside the gymnasium after his training, a bottle of water in your hand in case he overworked himself, which he always did. 
This time, and much to your surprise, you found a note near the doorframe leading to the gymnasium. And if you were careful enough, the slight details and the precise calligraphy hinted that said note was in fact a love note. 
You found it rather amusing at first, perhaps it was a letter dedicated to Kiyoko because this woman was the living and breathing proof that God was indeed a woman. 
But everyday, you would find yet another letter, still carefully written and decorated leaning against the doorframe. This time, however, a calligraphic ‘D.S’ framed the front of the letter. You couldn’t help but let your stare roam over the fine print of calligraphy over and over again. 
As the saying goes ‘curiosity killed the cat’, and you were no exception to that common phrase. You meticulously took the letter and unfolded it- it was so beautifully written, the details were placed strategically. It was a proof of pure love in the form of a letter. 
Then, you began reading it :  “Dear Daichi,  Words cannot do justice of how much I love you. Everything about you fascinates me- from the way you spike the ball so roughly to the small smile on your face after scoring a point. If only I could tell you how much you mean to me. Don’t worry, Y/N won’t know a thing. Come to the gymnasium tomorrow at 5 if you wish, until then, accept all my love.”
You read the letter once, then twice, then an umpteenth time until the words were embedded in your brain. You thought it was just a prank, after all, Nishinoya and Tanaka were quite the pranksters amongst the team, but the handwriting was so delicate, too delicate to be theirs. 
You could feel salty pearls coming at the brim of your eyes until they fell onto the surface of the paper, resulting in the texture of the letter now being bloated under the wetness of your tears. 
You kept your discovery under silence, you trusted your boyfriend of course, but given the additional stress brought by the nationals, you refused to distract him from his goal.
But here you were, sharply there in front of the gym at five as indicated on the letter. However, Daichi hadn’t shown up like the anonymous lover requested, he was already stretching anyway. 
Knots started to form in your stomach as you wondered who the hell had the idea to write this love letter to him, after all, it’s not as if your relationship with Daichi was kept as a secret. 
And at 5:01 precisely, your orbs felt on the figure of your former best friend who had the most victorious grin plastered upon their face. Not only these letters were meant to be read by Daichi, but by you too, their main goal was to hurt you where it stung the most.
“What the hell are you doing here? Where you the one who wrote these letters?” You spat, waving the letters between your thumb and forefinger. 
“I’m sorry, Y/N, I know you love to make everything about yourself but I was expecting Daichi, not you.” Although they said they were sorry, there was not one ounce of genuine compassion in their voice.
Anger got the best of you resulting in the sudden apparition of veins on your neck as the volume of your voice only increased : “Who the fuck do you think you are? Are you that desperate? If you want a reply to your letter : Daichi doesn’t even know who you are.”
Your emotions controlled each one of your actions, including the severe tone of your voice. The ruckus made its way inside the walls of the gymnasium, until Daichi and Sugawara opened the door in order to find an answer as their interrogation : what was happening outside? 
Daichi’s eyes widened when he saw your frame shaking from anger, it was so unlike you, you matched him in a way because you were always so calm and collected. His mind raced as he wondered what was the cause of this sudden switch of behavior. 
He found the answer to his question pretty rapidly as his eyes darted towards your former best friend who was still wearing that victorious grin on their facial structure. “Y/N, love, what’s going on?” he asked as his hands were draped over your shoulders, forcing you to look at him.
“Oh, hey, Daichi! Have you read the letters I left for you? I bet Y/N never wrote this kind of letters for you.” It took inhuman strength for Daichi to ignore their taunt, instead, Sugawara sent a death glare their way : “Just leave, you have no business being here.”
Sugawara’s attempt at making them leave eventually succeeded after Coach Ukai’s sudden appearance before barking on your former best friend to “get the hell out of here” and “not disturb training anymore.”
Eventually, you were left alone with Daichi, your lungs felt constricted and you struggled to breathe. The aftermath of your outburst of anger made tears run down your cheeks as you sought for comfort inside of Daichi’s loving embrace. 
The pad of his thumb brushed your tears away, planting a series of kisses upon the surface of your forehead as a silent way to tell you that he was here and he was not going to let you go.
“Listen, love, I don’t know what happened and we will talk about it whenever you feel ready. But promise me one thing, never doubt of my love for you. Could you do that for me, Y/N?”
You simply nodded against his chest, the steady rhythm of his heartbeat kept the haunting thoughts in your head at bay. “I love you so much, Y/N, so, so much.” he whispered, concluding his sentence with a kiss left on your lips.
If only he knew how much you loved him. 
299 notes · View notes
night-eagle-flight · 4 years ago
Text
Hidden Gem Chapter 1
Some characters may be a tad OC but I tried to keep them close to their personalities. Connor will be in this story but he won’t appear for a short sec. Hope you guys enjoy! 
You had spent the day wandering the street of New York, carefully avoiding the puddles that were left behind from the recent rain. Your pale (F/C) dress flowed as your pace quickened to get home.
“My lady,” said one of the guards as you arrived outside the gated home, “Master Haytham is waiting for you in his quarters.”
You nodded and thanked him as you rushed inside. The house was an average size and the décor made you cringe slightly due to it collecting some dust over a couple of days. Once you arrived to a highly decorated door, you took a deep breath and knocked.
“Come in.”
You opened the door carefully and closed it behind you as you made your way to Haytham.
“Did you enjoy your stroll my dear?” Haytham asked from his freshly polished desk.
“I did.” You spoke softly. “This city is very different from Boston.”
Haytham looked up, “You don’t seem too happy about this move.”
You remained silent causing Haytham to let out a hard sigh, “I understand that leaving Boston was hard,” He stood up and walked towards you placing a finger gently under your chin to make you look at him, “but this will be good for you.”
He showed a small tenderness in his eyes for a split second then leaned to kiss your forehead, “I have done my best to care for you since I found you. You were lost remember?”
Your eyes prickled, “And I thank you everyday for taking me in. If it not been for you I... I probably wouldn’t have survived on my own.”
“I have seen you grow into a fine young woman and I consider you my own.” Haytham stepped away and went back to sit down on his chair, “Which is why I wanted to make sure your future was assured.”
One of your eyebrows raised slightly, “What do you mean by that exactly?”
Haytham intertwined his fingers as he leaned forward on his desk and spoke, “I have arranged for someone to take your hand in marriage.”
Your eyes widened and you dared to not speak less you wanted to anger him. Talking back was something you learned early on never to do.
“He is a good man. One of my subordinates in fact.” He smiled proudly.
You swallowed the knot in your throat but still felt it constricting, “May I ask who it is I am marrying?” Internally your mind yelling, “Please not Lee or Hickey. Please!”
“Now why would I want to spoil the surprise?” He said coyly, “I am sure you can wait a day to find out. He is coming here to meet you, after all this is his home.”
You felt the color on your face drain slightly and quickly bowed your head, “I-I look forward to meeting him.”
Haytham decided to ignore your distaste of the plans that were made and instead stacked his paperwork and stood up once again, this time taking hold of his tricorn hat.      
“Let’s head out for a shop to pick out a new dress for you.”
“But this one is my favorite dress.” You thought but opted to say, “It has been a while since you joined me to shop.”
“This is important.” Haytham said matter of factly. He walked passed you and you followed, “Things must go smoothly.”
A carriage was brought out for the both of you and soon you were sitting in comfortable silence.
“(Y/N).”
You looked at Haytham as he spoke, “You must be at your best behavior for this.”
“I will.” You said feeling yourself adjust to sit up properly.
Etiquette. Rules. Order. That’s all you’ve ever known since the day Haytham saved you from starvation as a child. You wanted to speak out from time to time but to go against him made a tinge of guilt rise. He had given you so much and you felt that you owed him your obedience. He could have easily left you in that filthy alley or an orphanage.    
“No need to look so grim.”
You snapped out of your daze and smiled, “I apologize. I was only lost in thought.”
Haytham looked out the window for a second, “How would you like to get some chocolate after we pick out your dress. It has been a while since we have treated ourselves.”
You smiled with a matching eagerness on your face, “I would love that.”
Once both of you arrived to the dress shop, you knew you wouldn’t be the one to pick out your dress.
“How about this one?” You asked Haytham.
“I forbid you from showing any ankles, elbows, and.... ABSOLUTELY not that!” Haytham encircled your waist and pulled you away from the newest trend of low cut dresses, “You are a respectable young lady and are to dress like one.”
You sighed in slight annoyance.
“Do not start with that tone again.” His serious tone making your eyes widen and stop immediately.
You bowed your head and spoke softly, “I am sorry. Please. Tell me what you believe is appropriate for me to wear for my husband to be?”
Haytham stared you down, “Look at me when you say that.”
You felt your anger rise but it faltered when you looked at Haytham’s eyes, “I.... I am sorry. P-”
“What are you sorry for?” Haytham asked abruptly.
You felt embarrassed as people began to talk and snicker. You once again swallowed that knot that was forming in your throat, stood tall, looked Haytham in the eyes, and spoke with a bit more firmness, “I am sorry for being ill behaved. Please, tell me what it is that I should wear to meet my husband to be.”
“Better.” Haytham stated as he grabbed a dress that was next to him, “This one here will do.”
Your hand touched the red skirt and your fingers slid over the black embroidery design. A large black bow decorated the back alongside the red straps that crisscrossed towards the top of the dress.
Haytham didn’t wait for your reply and soon you were in the carriage again headed for a small confections shop.
“Thank you for the dress.” You said attempting to break the silence.
“We will be going over how you will act when your fiance arrives once we get home.” He looked at you, “A wife must keep the standards of the house hold and please her husband.”
“I understand.”
“Once we arrive for some confections, I expect you to pick out a proper gift for him.” Haytham at last smiled a bit, “Chocolate helps ease tension wouldn’t you say my dear?”
You put on a fake proper smile, “Yes it does.”
You didn’t think picking out chocolate confections would be hard but you should have known better. Especially with Haytham’s standards.
“That’s too small dear, pick something else.” He said the first time.
“The wrapping is all wrong on this one.” He said the second time.
“Well this looks good enough for a pig.” He said a third time.
You held in your sigh because you knew what he wanted you to ask.
“Can you please help me pick out a gift?” You asked while mentally saying, “Why did you want me to pick if you were going to pick in the first place.”
Haytham smiled and beckoned you to follow, “I believe this would be appropriate.”
You had to admit that the craft of it was impeccable, “I am surprised they managed to make a ship out of chocolate.”
“Yes.” He said beckoning the shop owner, “It’s very similar to the ship he captains.”
Once the purchases were made you both headed back home where it was lesson after lesson about wife etiquette into the early hours of the night for you. Most were things you already knew but at this point it was like they were only trying to drill it further so it became second nature.
As you were brushing your hair in front of a small vanity you saw the dress in the mirror. Slowly you glared at it but the anger slowly dissipated to sorrow. Small tears began to prick in your eyes but your quickly rubbed them away when there was a firm knock on your door.
Haytham strolled in and sat on your bed as he stared at you from your mirror.
“Was there something I missed?” You asked as you turned around to meet his gaze.
“Nothing. Just remembering when you were a child, is all.” He stood up and walked before you, taking the brush from your hands and turning you so he could brush your hair.
Your shock didn’t go unnoticed as you heard a quiet chuckle, “Just remembering old times my dear.”
It remained quiet for a second as Haytham finished brushing your hair. You noticed him pulling something out of his pocket and begin to put it around your neck.
“This necklace was a gift sent ahead of time before your fiance’s arrival.” He placed the clasp and stepped back, “He knows it is you he will marry once he sees it.”
You placed a hand over it, “I’ll thank him properly when I see him.”
Haytham nodded, “Then I bid you goodnight. Rest well.”
“Goodnight.” You said.
When you heard the door click you looked down at the red cross at the end of the necklace. It didn’t take long to realize it was similar to the one Haytham had on his ring since the day you met. You decided to go to bed wearing it so you wouldn’t forget to put it on in the morning, but sleep seemed to evade you for that night. It couldn’t be helped when the tears started rolling down your eyes.
59 notes · View notes
gale-gentlepenguin · 4 years ago
Note
tmnt 2012 x miraculous ladybug headcannons based on the nyc special?
This could be its own what if!
(What if the NYC Special was a TMNT 2012 crossover?)
-Most of the story beats in Paris are the same. Marinette gets permission to have Adrien come to NYC. Ladybug asks Chat noir to guard the city, etc.
-Hawkmoth knows about the seedy criminal underbelly of NYC and tries to get intel from the Foot about the Eagle miraculous.
-The school that the class meets is from April’s school. She and Casey greet them. 
-Casey hitting off with Kim and the other guys. April becoming friends with Marinette.
-Alya asking April about the weird sightings in the city. Which April tries to downplay, but Casey overhears and is happy to blab to the cute girl about some of the crazy stuff in NYC. (except he doesn't mention the turtles because he is a bro.)
-”Ninjas? Aliens? mutated people?! I need to get photos of this!” Alya practically rushed out.
-April glares at Casey over that. Which Casey is like “Oh come on red, how much trouble can one girl get into.”
-Marinette immediately runs after alya because she KNOWS! what trouble she can get into. 
-April decides to follow to make sure nothing bad happens. She tells Casey to stay and not let anyone else leave. And Casey rolls his eyes but says sure.
-Nino notices his girl is gone and asks Casey if he saw her. Casey smirks says that she and a cute girl and his friend left.
-Adrien joins the conversation
-”We should find Alya and Marinette before they get in trouble with the teacher.
-Nino and Casey agree, (the later because he was bored.)
-Alya, Marinette and April end up running into Bebop. (literally, because he was cloaked.) He was not happy with alya’s comment on calling him a weird pig man. (she took photos)
-Alya almost got blasted but April saved the day, telling them both to run.
-Marinette tells Alya they should split up and get help. Alya agrees and they go. Ladybug will make a quick appearance.
___________________________________________________-
-The guys end up running into Rocksteady. who was not happy to see annoying hockey player.
-Adrien tells the two to leave, but Casey is already attacking. Nino says he will go get help. Adrien decides a quick appearance of chat noir would help.
____________________________________________________
-April had put a call to the turtles as she was fighting Bebop, and just when Bebop has her cornered, a yo-yo swings in and yanks the pig away into a dumpster.
-”You alright?”  Ladybug asks, leaving the red head confused. Who was the girl in the spots? Though, for some reason she felt REALLY familiar (can't fool the psychic powers)
-”Is that you Marinette?” Asking quietly.
-Ladybug dismissed the notion entirely and goes to fight Bebop, who was outtie 9000.
_________________________________________________________
-Casey realized that fighting a rhino without weapons was not smart. Thankfully just before he was street pizza, Chat noir jumped in.
-”Ill take it from here. Do you think you can give up, I don't want to fight an endangered species.”
-”The only thing that is facing the danger is you Comrade.”
-Cue fight with Chat noir holding his own against the rhino man.
-Casey admits the blond got style. And he NEEDS to introduce him to the turtles.
-Rocksteady gets a call from Bebop saying that they got what they needed and they needed to head back. So he tells the cat boy he got lucky.
-Casey notices the distress call and asks the cat boy to join him.
-”Its chat noir.”
-”Okay Chat”
-”WOW! Watch the pronunciation.”
-”Why?”
-”Nevermind just go.”
_______________________________________________________________________
-Donnie is the first to arrive on the scene, (worried about April.) April tells them she is fine, and then he realizes that there is another person that just saw them.
- “Ummm hello.”
-Ladybug had to admit, the pig was a lot at first. now the giant talking turtle. Then include the other 3 TURTLES.
-They introduce themselves. The Purple headband was Donatello, The blue headband, Leonardo, The red headband was Raphael, and the Orange one was Michelangelo.
-Mikey was hyped because “SUPERHERO!” and asks for autograph. Leonardo may or may not have an infatuation because (leader type)
-Casey arrives with Chat noir. Cue argument between the two. Which Chat noir feels ashamed.
-Mikey says “Ooof Superhero couple arguments are intense.”
-Leonardo feels he can relate to Ladybug, and takes her side on that. Donnie does as well. Raph and Mikey takes Chat noir’s side. Thus causing a divide for the team.
-But after the argument, Chat noir was able to explain what happened and that if anything should happen. He does have the akuma alert active and he can fly back. Which Makes Mikey have a field day with all the questions he want to ask
-The turtles bring the two back to the lair where they meet Master Splinter, who recognizes the miraculous.
-”You know about the miraculous?”
-”It is in the ancient Hamato book of legends. Powerful artifacts that contain powerful spirits that will give the user amazing powers and abilities. There was once one of my clan that did use one once, he had the power over storms. He was known as Hamato Ryu, the Dragon Shinobi.”
- Ladybug was fascinated by the legends, asking if he knew anything else. 
-Splinter agreed to tell her more, if he could test her and her partner’s abilities. (they were both in the middle of an argument) so they were a bit hostile towards the other.
-Splinter kicked their buts hard. Even with their super powers. Splinter pointed out that they are both powerful, but they are not in sync. Should they learn to fight as one, they would be able to beat anyone.
-Chat noir and Ladybug still argue over the situation, and Raph recommends that they spar. Chat noir says he doesn't want to hit her.
-Ladybug says its a good idea, and cue them fighting. Chat noir and Ladybug actually do get out a lot of their hostility (which may have made things worse) out during the match. But an akuma alert actually stops it.
-Ladybug decides that flying to Paris wouldn't be fast enough and uses the horse miraculous to warp them both there.
-The turtles tag along and they fight Robustus (sentimonster)
-Ladybug then Leaves Chat noir in Paris, Saying now he can keep his word now. Which then leaves Chat noir a bit hurt. 
-Now chat noir feels the brunt of his actions and is consumed with guilt.
_____________________________________________________________________
-Hawkmoth had managed to get the Eagle miraculous thanks to dealings with the foot.
-Hawkmoth thanks Shredder and agrees to his part of the bargain. To power up his mutants.
-He akumatizes Stockman fly into the ‘Mutanifier’ which has the ability to amplify the power of other mutants.
- Bebop, Rocksteady, Rahzar, and Fishface get upgrades. Bebop Now much bigger, His tusks Longer and he has wings. Rocksteady Now even tougher and taller then one of the Tryceritons. Rahzar moves even faster and his claws are much shaper. Fishface gets actual legs, and can shoot his scales like bullets.
-Shedder orders them to destroy the turtles.
-Hawkmoth then tells shredder that he wants two more artifacts
-”When I get the head of Hamato Yoshi, you can get your jewelry.”
-Hawkmoth can sense the amount of lose and rage from shredder, he decided not to akumatize him, because he seems to strong willed to concede to him right now.
________________________________________________________
-The turtles comment that what Ladybug did wasn't cool. Donnie had to agree, it seemed like a jerk move.
-Ladybug dismisses it and goes back to her class.
-Alya was relieved to see her friend, but Adrien was still missing.
-Marinette was shocked to hear Adrien was gone. She goes looking for him, only to see the city of New York under attack.
-Ladybug must go back into the fray and she meets up with the turtles, who are outmatched by the powerful mutants
-They barely escape and Ladybug reveals she has a plan.
-Ladybug realizes its time to give her new friends some power ups.
- Leonardo gets the Dragon miraculous, Making him Kame Ryu.
-Donatello gets the fox and becomes Kame kitsu
-Mikey gets the monkey and becomes Kame gokuu
-Raph gets the Turtle and becomes Kame Kappa. (he does not like that his weapon is a shield) But he works with it.
-Mikey is LOVING the powers, though he is not use to the weapon. He asks Donnie if he wants to switch.
-The new hero team is able to beat the improved mutants and they even free stockman fly from the akuma. Which infuriates Shredder. Which Hawkmoth uses as a chance to *Free* him of his mental restraint and then akumatize him.
-That is when Hawkmoth akumatizes Shredder.
-Creating the wild and Powerful Doom-ja. Who had more armor and basically looked like a less mutated super shredder. All feral
-The doom-ja was deadly and beat the crap out of the team.
-Ladybug calls her lucky charm, only for it to show a postcard to Paris.
-She needed chat noir here.
-Chat noir was patrolling paris. Only to see a portal that he collides with. He was surprised to see it.
-Chat noir apologies to Ladybug about everything, and Ladybug apologizes for snapping at him so hard. They both agree that they could have handled it better and that they are a team.
-The two join with the hero turtles and fight Doom-ja.
-They take the lesson they learned from Splinter about fighting as one, and the two of them were able to knock Doom-ja off his rhythm. The turtles were able to destroy the akumatized helmet and defeat Doom-ja.
-Shredder now facing 6 super heroes and now more clear minded. He decides he would leave for now, mostly because he was angrier with another individual at the moment.
-Hawkmoth had been watching from the sidelines, and didn't notice that Splinter had tracked him down.
-While The heroes fought Doom-ja. Splinter fought Hawkmoth.
- Despite the powers, Splinter kicked his butt. Splinter comments the he can sense that he lost a loved one, and that his grief and rage have consumed him.
-”You will become no better than the shredder if you continue down this path. So take this as a warning, come back into my home with your obsession, and you will not get back up again.”
-Splinter had snagged the eagle miraculous from him before leaving Hawkmoth beaten and bruised. Hawkmoth crawled away, ego bruised.
-Splinter give the eagle miraculous to Ladybug, saying that a guardian would be best to overseeing the miraculous.
-Ladybug thanks him, offering to let him keep it. But Splinter says that they will be fine without it.
- The turtles say good bye to their hero friends. Ladybug and Chat noir are back to in sync partners.
-Adrien is back in NY and marinette is relieved to see him safe. Hugging him and forgetting her awkwardness for a bit. 
-The class does get their fun sight seeing adventure, and the turtles let them have a break. Mikey asks if they can visit Paris.
-”Maybe one day.”
91 notes · View notes