#or like even before the stores start stocking up on halloween inventory | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

sacklerscumrag · 4 years ago

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Part I of III: Stay With Me Series

Notes: Hey ya’ll so i decided to do a little three part Clyde series with some fall vibes! I’ve been feeling a little off lately so i wrote this last night to take my mind off things :) hope you guys like it, I'm already halfway through part 2 and its a long one 😅 There's something about Clyde and a bookstore that just gets me going. Enjoy :)

Summary: Moving to Boone County, West Virginia a year ago today, your entire life has changed. With owning your own bookstore and your favorite holiday around the corner, could love also be in the books for you?

Wordcount: 1.6K

The air was cooler, and the leaves had already changed. It was official, Autumn had arrived in Boone County, West Virginia. It had been a year since you moved here and started helping Sam out at your favorite bookstore. Until about a month ago, when he decided it was getting to be too much work for him to keep up with, so he asked you to take over. You headed to the bookstore early that morning to start decorating for Halloween and take in some new inventory for the holiday season. Hanging some orange twinkling lights along the frame of the windows and doors and setting up pumpkins with black tinsel on the bottom of the large window out front to display some books. The store was small and cozy, so there wasn’t space for much.

You weren’t expecting too many customers today, seeing as it was Sunday, so you settled behind the counter with a good book and some coffee. Flipping through the last pages of your Frankenstein novel, you heard the door chime at around 11:00 am.

“Good Morning, welcome to Sams” you said barely peeling your eyes away from your book long enough to see who came in. You stood up, setting your coffee down, and walked over to the entrance.

“Good mornin’ Miss, uh is Sam around?” you turned your gaze to him, about to give him an answer but were taken back by the man standing in front of you. He towered over you with long, wavy, dark locks drizzling down to his broad shoulders that you just wanted to wrap yourself around and never let go. He had dark, sultry eyes with the most exquisite nose you had ever seen, his lips were full, plush, it made you want to drown in them. You noticed his mechanical arm but paid no mind to it, how could you when the man was built like a Greek god. You were sure you had never seen him in the store before, you definitely would’ve remembered.

“Ya alright there Miss?” his deep voice snapping you out of your thoughts, you didn’t even realize you were biting your lip, almost tearing at the skin.

“Yeah sorry I-uh Sam’s not working anymore so I’ll be taking over. Is there anything I can help you find?” trying your best to compose yourself, interlocking your index fingers behind your back.

“No ma’am its alri- well actually ya got any good books for Halloween? I’m always lookin to read somethin good for the holidays” he put his hand in his pocket, keeping the mechanical one tightly to his side.

“Of course, follow me” you guided him through the bookshelves, his heavy footsteps following closely behind you. He was slightly hunching over to fit himself in between the shelves before you reached a small, black table decorated with spiderwebs in the back of the store.

“These are all my favorite Halloween books I’ve read so far” stepping to the side to give him a better view of the array of books.

“Ya read all o’ these?”

“Yeah, I guess you could say readings a hobby of mine” you turned to give him a smile only to see he was already smiling at you. “If you need anything else, I’ll be by the counter” quickly walking away before he could see the heat rising to your face.

About an hour or so later, he came back with two books in his hand and placed them on the counter along with a crisp bill.

“On the house” you said pushing them back towards him.

“I can’t let ya do that Miss I-“ he placed his hand on the books but you cut him off by putting your hand on his.

“The only form of payment I’ll be accepting is your name” he swallowed hard, looking down at where your hands were still touching then looking back at you.

“My name’s Clyde” you withdrew your hand from his, already missing the warmth, and settled back behind the counter.

“It’s nice to meet you Clyde” you told him your name as he stuffed the money back in his pocket.

“Well, that’s a beautiful name. It’s nice to meet ya. I better head on out then. Have a nice day, and thank ya again” you gave him a smile, noticing the flush in his cheeks.

“Have a nice day, Clyde” he grabbed his book and headed out the door. It wasn’t until after he left that you realized how flustered he made you, releasing a breath you didn’t even realize you were holding.

The following week flew by and as Halloween approached the bookstore got busier. Finding yourself with less time to daydream about Clyde and those alluring eyes of his, you were dumbfounded as to how such a large man could be as shy and reserved as Clyde was.

When Sunday rolled around, you were looking forward to seeing him again. You woke up that morning, did your hair and applied some light make up. Wearing your favorite pair of high waisted black jeans, throwing on a long black sleeve with a ghost in the center, and your black boots as you grabbed your coat and headed out the door.

A few customers passed through in the morning, still giving you time to read through your book and tidy up the store a bit. Clyde came in at his usual time, looking as handsome as ever.

“Mornin” your name sounded like honey coming from his mouth, you could listen to that man talk all day. He stood by the door, hands fidgeting with the sides of his jeans.

“Good Morning Clyde, how’s your day going?” putting your coffee down to look at him.

“Gettin much better now” he said looking down, a slight smirk appearing on his face “I loved the book ya recommended for me, finished it last night.”

“I’m glad you liked it, are you back for another?” you made your way around the counter, suddenly needing to be as close to him as possible.

“Yes ma’am, do you happen to have Frankenstein? Saw the movie last night n I been dyin to read it”

“I just finished reading that one actually, it’s a classic. Did you see the original black and white film? That’s my favorite”

“Yeah, it’s the only one I’ll watch, I love all em black and white movies. Thought I was the only one.”

“Not at all, those are my favorite too” you said pacing towards the bookshelf, scanning it. “We actually don’t have that one in stock but” walking to the counter, returning with the novel. “You can borrow mine if you’d like”

“Ya don’t have to, I’d hate to cause ya any trouble.”

“Clyde, it’s no trouble at all” you said handing the book to him.

“You have any favorites you can show me? I really wanted to take home more than one today” he clutched the book you gave him close to his side. You both made your way over as you showed Clyde your favorite section of the store. It seemed like hours passed as you both discussed your favorite books and authors. The more you talked, the more you realized you and Clyde had much more in common than you thought.

After some time, Clyde paid for his book, mumbling something about being late to work as he walked out. Your heart raced watching him nervously fumble with the books in hand.

Another week went by with Clyde on your mind. Before you knew it, it was another chilly, Sunday morning. You had picked up some cookies and pastries for some of your loyal customers and settled in with your book behind the counter. You saw Clyde’s truck pull into the parking lot a bit earlier than usual.

“Mornin” Clyde walked in with a book under his arm and two coffee cups in his hands. He was wearing a navy-blue button-down shirt with a black undershirt and jeans that were too tight for your own good.

“Good morning Clyde, back for something new?” he chuckled lightly at your response while walking towards you.

“This if for ya” he places the book and a coffee cup on the counter “For lending me this, I appreciate it” the way he smiled at you making something ignite in your core.

“You brought me coffee? Thank you, Clyde” you damn near melted at this gesture “Anything I can help you find today?”

He approached the counter, arms tightly at his side and chewing on his lip. You could tell whatever it was he had to say was making him nervous. He placed a hand on the counter and took a deep breath.

“I just came by to ask ya something. M’ sorry if this is too forward o’ me or if it makes ya uncomfortable but will ya do me the honor of goin out on a date with me? I been meanin’ to ask ya since the first day I came in. I know a girl like you can do a heck of a lot better than me but if you just-”

“Clyde, I would love to go on a date with you” his eyes darted to yours, almost like he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

“How bout a movie then? At the drive-in? Their showin a black and white movie, Frankstein like the book ya been readin. Tomorrow at 7?” he cleared his throat, worried he sounded too eager as soon as the words left his mouth.

“That sounds wonderful Clyde” he smiled at you before looking at his watch.

“I gotta go Darlin but I’ll pick ya up tomorrow at 7 then” you nodded as he turned and walked out.

Tomorrow couldn’t come soon enough.

#clyde logan #im soft for Clyde lately #logan lucky #inspired by the song Stay With Me by Anson Seabra #that's why this is so soft lol

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nillegible · 5 years ago

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Hidden in the leaves

This is my gift-fic for @withyourrhythm, for the 2020 MadaTobi Gift Exchange (@madatobigiftexchange)

Withyourrhythm, I really hope that you enjoy this fic! You asked for:

My first prompt would be AUs! Maybe something like coffee shop AU, florist/tattoo artist AU, or even a zombie apocalypse AU. Second is dystopia, and the third one is sniper!Tobirama

This isn’t quite a florist AU, but Tobirama helps run Hashirama’s plant nursery? I hope that it’s close enough to what you wanted! I’ll confess I really couldn’t pick just one thing to write; I was 3-4k deep in a Red, White, and Royal Blue AU at the beginning of January, before the continuous news about the primaries and the election basically destroyed all my will to continue with that. (That’s why I asked about the modern royalty AU. Sorry about that!)

So… here it is! I really hope that you’ll like it!

“Hello, can I help you?” asks Tobirama, setting down his tablet when he hears the wind chimes tinkle. Hashirama had set them up above the door in place of a doorbell. Only then does he catch sight of the two customers who have entered the store; a handsome young man, maybe a little older than Tobirama with a wealth of dark hair, and a tiny boy with equally messy hair, maybe six years years old.

“That’s not what you’re supposed to say,” says the kid looking up at him with large dark eyes, and a pinched expression on his face.

“I’m sorry?” asks Tobirama, glancing at the other man who looks a little embarrassed.

“Kagami, that’s impolite Mr.-” the customer’s quick glance at Tobirama’s nametag doesn’t really help since it’s an artsy embroidered thing without his last name on it, but he perseveres - “Tobirama can welcome us however he likes. I’m very sorry, I’m Uchiha Madara, we visited last week, and the person working had a different greeting.”

“Senju Tobirama, you must have met one of the others,” says Tobirama, realizing now what the kid was talking about. There’s no way Tobirama is going to repeat the same cutesy spiel, ‘Hello, welcome to The Senju Plant Nursery and Interior Landscaping Solutions, which of our lovely plants would you like to adopt today?’ that Harshirama asked his employees to use on every unsuspecting customer to cross into their shop. The kid is still staring at him like Tobirama has done something unacceptable though, so Tobirama tries, “So you would like to…adopt a plant?”

The kid instantly grins widely, “YES! Uncle said I could, I asked all week and I read two books about plants from the library, and I get to build a terrarium, and I can choose what to put inside it!” he says, without stopping for breath.

Tobirama can’t help it, his lips twitch into a smile at the genuine enthusiasm. “That sounds wonderful! Are you only looking for the plants to go in, or are you looking for a tank, lighting, gravel, and moss as well?” he directs the question to Kagami, seeing how excited he is, but the kid looks up at his uncle.

“Uncle?”

“Do you have all of those things?” asks Madara. “If so that would definitely save us a few more stops.”

“We do,” says Tobirama, coming out from behind the counter. The shop’s layout was odd, most likely because it had been a row of smaller stores once, before his brother had bought the whole lot and knocked down only some of the walls. It meant that from the entrance the store looked far smaller than it really was. “Come this way,” he says, leading them out of the first section (indoor plants that were fine with dim lighting, through the outdoor plants and pots section that opened into the actual outdoors behind the store where the hardier half of their inventory was, and into the third part of the store that had the components for setting up terrariums or aquariums. Starting with a correctly sized tank made the most sense, after all.

“Oh there are fish!” says Kagami, once there. They don’t stock quite as many fish as an aquarium or pet shop would, but they have enough small ponds and pond-plants that they prefer to have some small goldfish, koi, and other pond fish in stock. “Can I get a fish for my terrarium? Please?”

“Do fish belong in terrariums?” asks Madara.

“We could make a tiny little pond inside, and then we can get lots of tiny little fish to go in the pond!”

“That would be far too little water, you’d need at least twenty gallons of water for most fish to be comfortable, and they’d be happier with more. You’d need a full aquarium, not part of a terrarium,” says Tobirama, hoping the kid isn’t going to be throwing a tantrum over this.

However, Kagami just clutches his uncle’s leg and looks up at Tobirama, “They really won’t fit? Even the small ones?” he asks eyes wide.

“We all fit inside closets, but we wouldn’t like to live there, right?” asks Tobirama. Madara’s lips definitely quirk at that, and Tobirama can’t glare at him (or rephrase his statement to be less embarrassing) because large dark eyes are regarding him very carefully.

“No, that would be bad,” the kid decides sadly, then gives the goldfish another longing look.

Madara pats him on the head, “Come on, I see the tanks. We’re here to adopt a plant, remember? Don’t get distracted,” and he gently guides his nephew toward the display of glass tanks and bowls. Tobirama hovers in the background, listening as Madara carefully talks Kagami down from a rectangular twenty-gallon tank to an eight-gallon bowl, by pointing out that they could keep it on that table near the window, wouldn’t that be nice?

Some faint tinkling alerts Tobirama to another visitor, and he tells the Uchiha that he’ll be back momentarily, and hurries back to the front. He hopes Yamato would return soon, it’s always a bit worrying when he’s left all alone. This customer is far easier to help, she’s looking for a tabletop cactus arrangement, and she picks up one of the smaller ones without much time to deliberate. He packages it up for her, provides a gift bag, processes her purchase, and heads back to his previous customers.

They’ve wandered on to the selection of gravel and marbles now, and Kagami seems insistent that they get an eye-searingly orange gravel. Between the soil and the activated charcoal layers, they’re going to end up with something a little too Halloween-seeming for August, but clearly this isn’t a battle that Madara is going to win.

“It has to be orange,” Kagami says again, after Madara points out that the plants will be green, and their living room is blue. “It just has to.” But he won’t answer when Madara asks why. Giving it up as lost, Madara takes the orange gravel, and Tobirama hands him a basket that already has a package of activated charcoal in it for him to put the gravel into.

“Do you need potting soil as well or do you have that?” asks Tobirama.

“No, we definitely have soil. You mentioned moss?”

“It’s there,” says Tobirama gesturing, so that Madara can pick out one that he finds appropriately colored and priced. “You’ll want enough for a layer between the soil and gravel.”

Madara seems to take two at random, and then turns to Kagami. “Ready to find your plants?”

“Would you like some other decorations, first?” asks Tobirama, pointing out the shelf with different odds and ends, from miniature wells and animals, to packets of miniature paving stones or park benches. Kagami bounces over at once, and Tobirama ignores the guilty twinge at taking advantage of a child to buy more from his shop. They’re running a business here, after all.

“This one!” says Kagami, picking up a medium sized orange stone, with a spiral design on it. Madara lets him add it to the purchases in their basket without complaint.

Helping them select plants doesn’t take nearly as long as Tobirama expected, apparently the child had been entirely serious when he said that he had researched what plants he wanted to get. Kagami earnestly lists out the names of the succulents that he wants – making him a far more serious customer than most adults who just browse and choose whatever they think looks pretty. Tobirama manages to find four of the five plants that they want, but doesn’t have the last one in stock.

“I’m really sorry, we don’t have any more on hand. Do you want to pick something else? I can tell you which plants need the same amount of water as these ones.”

To his horror, Kagami’s face scrunches up at that. “But we need that one.”

“I’m really sorry, you could either pick it up later this week – I’ll order one for you – or I could tell you where the other plant shops are around here so you can check if they have some, but I can’t confirm that they will.

“Kagami, you can pick out a different plant,” says Madara, and the child bursts into tears. Madara, looking distressed, sets down his basket and lifts Kagami into his arms, trying to calm him by patting his back and making soothing noises while Kagami sobs into his shoulder.

“But Uncle, it has to be that one, we need it,” he says.

“Shh, please tell me why, my heart. We’ll find you one if we can, but if you tell me why, I can help you find something else too, right?”

“Because Obito-nii wanted that one,” says the kid, and Tobirama thinks he sees grief flash across Madara’s face.

“Kagami. When did he–?”

“He said it was pretty when I showed him the book, and he liked it, he said so,” he says, and Madara shuts his eyes for a long moment, before he continues to soothe the child.

“We’ll get some, we’ll ask Mr. Senju to order one for us, and we’ll leave space for it in our terrarium, and we’ll add it when they get here, is that alright?”

It takes some time for Kagami to calm, but the promise seems to help. He finally agrees with a soft, “Okay.”

Tobirama is about to get the box of tissues he keeps behind his desk, but Madara’s pulled out a handkerchief to wipe his nephew’s face. Kagami doesn’t let go of him though, and Madara doesn’t seem about o let him down. He shifts his Nephew, then picks up the basket to place on the counter. Tobirama processes the purchases silently, not wanting to further stress Madara out. It’s like the happy pair that had walked into his store had completely vanished; Kagami doesn’t emerge from where he’s hiding his face in Madara’s neck and Madara’s handsome features have gone cold and tired.

He’s not really sure what’s up, but he kind of wishes he could help.

Wait, he can help. “If you leave me an address, I could have one delivered in a few hours,” he says, before he can think it through.

“You… really?” asks Madara. Which makes sense, Tobirama had just told him it would take a few days.

“I’ll find you one,” he says, instead of backtracking. After all, Hashirama has a large personal collection at home and he’s sure his brother wouldn’t mind if he took one. He can replace it later this week when the next shipment comes in. Kagami finally lifts his head up to look at him, and Tobirama asks, “Do you know what size you want it to be? I can’t confirm I’ll get the exact size, but I can get you something close.”

“Like this one,” he says, pointing at one of their purchases, maybe 5 inches tall.

“I can do that,” says Tobirama, relieved. He’s definitely seen that size.

“Thank you,” says Madara a bit more intensely than Tobirama thinks is actually warranted in this case, and then he lets his nephew slide down. “You’re going to have to help carry things out to the car,” he says, and Kagami nods seriously.

Madara pays and leaves his address, and Tobirama watches them leave, the soft tinkle of the doorbell ringing for s few moments after they leave.

Yamato and Kawarama should turn up for their shift at twelve, Tobirama would make the delivery after that.

Tobirama should have remembered that every person in his life is an insufferable busy body, because before the week is out, he greatly regrets the random moment of generosity that led him to help Uchiha Madara and his nephew out. He’d told his brother that he was appropriating one of his succulents, and Hashirama had been fine with that. But then he’d also told Mito, who’d found it odd and mentioned it to Touka, and it spread from there and he’d been listening to sly comments all week.

“So, everyone’s curious: was he pretty?” asks Itama the moment Tobirama picks up his phone, and Tobirama resists the urge to just hang up on Itama.

“I see you’re free enough to join in the absurdity. Assignments just not hard enough for you?” he snaps.

“Wow you’re touchy,” says Itama with a faint note of surprise. Which, fair. This was the first time Itama had mentioned it, so it wasn’t frustration at him that Tobirama was reacting to.

“I’m sorry,” says Tobirama. “They’ve been at it all week, I’m tired of it.”

“Sorry to add to it, then,” says Itama. “I just… Never mind. So how has work been?”

“Never mind what?” he asks, instead of accepting the change in conversation.

“It’s just not the sort of thing you do. You’ve yelled at Hashirama for much less,” says Itama quietly.

Right, the whole: They’re your customers, not friends, brother, don’t be ridiculous, speech that he’d perfected when helping Hashirama find his feet with his new business and his brother treated every single one of them like a friend.

Tobirama’s not sure how to explain… Madara had looked pained, over the lack of a simple plant that they usually sold by the dozens. He’d wanted to help. “Well, I’ve learned my lesson,” he says lightly. “And my week has been well, I’ve completed the renderings for that old age home I was working on, and aside from my two current projects I’ve started discussions with a potential client with a potential client who wants to surround his mc-mansion with tropical trees and put in a hedge maze with a heated pool in the middle,” he says, making Itama giggle. He’ll probably turn the last project down, the client had very bizarre tastes, Tobirama would hate to be associated with the final product. “How was your week?” he asks.

“Well, we’re considering arranging a game of Humans vs Zombies that goes on until Halloween or the last human dies…”

Tobirama settles in to listen to Itama, wishing once again that his younger brother had decided to go to a closer school for his undergrad. He misses having his most sensible sibling around.

His family tires of the subject soon, which is good because Tobirama doesn’t see Madara again for more than a month.

“Good afternoon,” says a familiar voice, speaking over the tinkling of the chimes over the door.

“Hello again,” says Tobirama, giving Madara a small smile. “How can I help you today?”

“I hear that that’s not what you’re supposed to say,” Madara says, grinning, and Tobirama rolls his eyes.

“You’re not nearly cute enough to pull that off,” Tobirama tells him, then blinks as he realizes what he just said. “What can I help you with?” he asks quickly, hoping Madara would let it slide.

Madara pauses, then says “I need a selection of seeds, and some starting trays.”

“It’s far too early, you should start in January or February depending on the species,” he says, but sets his tablet down and comes around the counter anyway.

“That’s not what I need them for, it’s for a science fair project.”

“I see,” says Tobirama, gesturing Madara to follow.

“Are you the kind of person who’ll be upset if I confess that most of these plants are probably going to die in the name of science?” asks Madara as he references a list and grabs the corresponding seed packets.

Tobirama laughs. “No, I’m not. And a science project is a worthy enough cause.”

“I’m not the one working at a place that gives plants up for adoption,” says Madara smiling. He holds up three varieties of cucumber seeds. “Which of these would you suggest?”

“Usually people ask which are the best for pickles,” says Tobirama, considering the three packets. “It really depends on what you need them for? The Dasher and General Lee are really sturdy species, so if you want something a little more sensitive, go with the Wisconsin SMR58? But if you would like them to last, either of the first two would be fine.”

Madara considers and then takes one each of General Lee and the Wisconsin SMR58. He’s amassed quite a selection, and Tobirama can’t help but be curious.

“What is the science fair project on?” he asks.

“They’re looking at how the wavelength of light corresponds to plant growth,” says Madara.

“That seems pretty advanced for a first grader,” says Tobirama. Not that it’s any of his business, and Kagami had seemed like an intelligent child, but that’s not a project for someone that young.

“Oh no, it’s not for Kagami. This is for my ten-year-old, Shisui. He wanted to come with me but he has so many after school practices, and Mondays are my only reliable days off, so I made him give me a list of the things that he needs.” He meets Tobirama’s eyes, and he nods in understanding. “I just need two 1020 trays, and then I’m done.”

“Over there,” says Tobirama, and then leads the way back to the register.

“Oh, you’re hiring?” asks Madara, stopping halfway with his card out. Tobirama glances at the sign behind him on the bulletin board, which says they’re looking for new full or part-time workers.

“We’re always hiring. My brother likes to hire from the local high-school but the kids are always graduating and leaving, or getting detention or they have tests coming up and beg off, so we’re always short on staff.”

“So you take the school-time shifts? Oh, sorry - ” he says, and finally hands over his card.

“I take a lot of the morning shifts. It doesn’t make much difference to me if I work here manning the register or from my office at home,” he says, gesturing at his tablet. “When I’m busy, Hashirama or Yamato will take them.” He finishes up and passes the card back, and slips Madara’s seed packets into a paper bag and hands it over.

“Do you know someone who’d like a job?” he asks. I could put in a good word for them to my brother.

“I’m not sure, I’ll check with him first,” says Madara.

“Well, you know where we are, but this is my brother’s number if you want to pass it on,” says Tobirama, handing over a card that he keeps behind the counter.

“Could you give me your number too? I might have some questions,” says Madara, and Tobirama scrawls his own number on the back of the card.

“Thank you,” says Madara. “I’ll text you if he’s interested. Have a nice day, Tobirama!”

“You too,” says Tobirama, and after giving him another smile, Madara leaves.

Tobirama sits back down in his chair, but doesn’t go back to work for several minutes, trying to decide if that had been an excuse to get his number, or if Madara really did only want to pass on a potential employment opportunity to someone that he knows.

If he’s being honest with himself, he kind of hopes that it’s both.

He gets the first text about a week later:

senju tobirama? hi, this is uchiha madara. I’ve spoken to my nephew’s therapist and she thinks getting a part time job now is a good idea. I just wanted to ask you a few things before I ask my nephew if he’d be interested.

Hello, sure. What would you like to know? (I’m assuming this is a different nephew)

oh yes, I have three. Obito was in an accident a few months ago, he’s only recently gotten out of hospital. we’ve decided to home-school him this year, but there’s only so much time that a teenager can stand being home alone, and he’s always liked plants… I was hoping if he had something to do that made him feel useful he would cheer up a little?

That sounds like a great idea. What specifics do you need to know? I can ask Hashirama for you.

It takes longer than Tobirama expects, so he nudges him a little with an extra text.

Madara?

the accident. it left Obito with very visible, significant scars. some people find it disgusting, and I know you’re running a business, and if you’d rather that your customers not have to deal with that, then it’s fine. but I’d rather know now than have him be rejected for that alone when he turns up to meet your brother. that’s the most important thing. besides that, his shifts may need to a bit flexible, he has a lot of physiotherapy appointments to get through for a while.

It won’t matter. And all our employees get flexible shifts.

You should probably ask your brother?

Trust me, it won’t matter.

There’s a long gap again before Madara replies. When he does, it’s quite short:

Thank you.

It feels wrong, to be thanked for basic human courtesy, so Tobirama doesn’t answer. Instead, he goes to find Hashirama.

Obito turns up for an interview the following week, and Tobirama hangs around even though both Yamato and Hashirama are on shift and he doesn’t have to be there. He’s glad for it, because his brother comes out from the office with a hand on Obito’s shoulder, looking extremely cheerful. “You just said he was good with plants, not that he grows vegetables for several families and makes his own organic fertilizer!”

“I take it he’s hired, then?” asks Tobirama.

“Oh yes! Of course!” says Hashirama.

Tobirama glances at Obito again, the right side of his face is badly disfigured but he can see a faint blush on his left cheek. “Welcome,” says Tobirama. “I hope you’ll like working here.

“Me too!” says the boy, and though it’s a little quiet, Tobirama has the feeling that this boy is actually a lot like Hashirama and Kawarama (loud, passionate and enthusiastic). He’ll settle in soon enough.

After Obito leaves, Hashirama leans over the counter and continues talking about the things that Obito apparently does in his home garden. Tobirama feels no shame at all in ignoring his brother’s enthusiastic gushing to text Madara.

Hashirama adores him. He hasn’t shut up about vermicomposting and coffee-grounds fertilizer and youths who believe in the sanctity of the environment since your nephew left.

The reply is almost instant this time.

thank you, Tobirama.

I didn’t do anything. He’s a lovely young man, and my brother may be idiotic at times but he would never send away someone who loves gardening as much as he does.

just accept the thanks, Senju

Accepted, then.

Having Obito at the store quickly becomes routine. Obito talks a lot more than Yamato did when Tobirama was paired up with him for shifts, but he doesn’t mind if Tobirama listens while he sketches and is suitably impressed by some of Tobirama’s designs, so he doesn’t have any complaints about the young Uchiha.

(Obito also comes with a lot more stories about Madara. There are also stories about his younger brothers Shisui and Kagami, and his best friends Kakashi and Rin, but after filtering them out Tobirama has learned quite a lot about the young uncle who had taken the three of them in when their parents died, and who was of all things an Elementary School art teacher and a Martial Arts instructor, which was why he had such strange work hours.)

If Tobirama always made sure that he was working on Mondays, the day when Madara took advantage of his day off to either drop Obito off or pick him up, solely because Madara usually comes inside to talk for a few minutes, well. No one had seemed to catch on quite yet.

And then Itama comes home for the winter holidays, and while Tobirama is very happy to have him back, his little brother watches with his too sharp, all-seeing gaze when he says goodbye to Obito and Madara when they leave after one of Obito’s shifts. Once they’re gone, Itama raises a single eyebrow at him.

Tobirama gives him a level look, trying to project how much he does not want to be interrogated on the subject.

“Does that mean you’re not going to ask him out?” Itama asks.

“We’re just friends.”

“Yes,” says Itama slowly. “Because you haven’t asked him out yet.”

“I’m not going to,” says Tobirama firmly. He definitely liked Madara, he’d though the man was pretty gorgeous the very first time he’d seen him, but he’s decided to suppress that. Because reducing Madara to just a hot guy is almost offensive – he’s so much more than that. Kind, and generous, and he watches over his family with the sort of single-minded focus that Tobirama respects deeply.

In just three months, a few exchanged texts had grown into longer conversations and sometimes phone calls. He’d been invited along to see Shisui’s exhibit at the Science Fair, and invited along on one of Madara’s extremely rare Saturdays off to a Botanical garden for Obito’s birthday. Tobirama had had a pretty faithful shadow that day in Shisui who in spite of being Obito’s younger brother had still listened with great attention when Tobirama tossed out plant and insect facts, and then criticized the design of some of the walkways and arbors.

Tobirama likes them. All of them. He isn’t going to ruin what he has.

“I only told Touka and Mito to leave you alone until Christmas,” says Itama.

“You what.” says Tobirama flatly.

His brother shrugs. “They were really bothering you, remember? So I told them to lay off while you get your head together. But I didn’t think it would take you this long to make a move.”

“I am not going to make a move,” says Tobirama.

“Why? You really seem to like him! Do you even know how much you talk about him or his kids?”

“Please just drop it,” says Tobirama.

Itama stares at him a moment longer then exhales loudly. “Fine. There’s still a week. I’m not saving you from Mito and Toka again.”

“I can deal with them, you didn’t have to protect me the first time,” says Tobirama.

“Really? Their pointed questioning wouldn’t have embarrassed you enough to push the Uchiha away to save yourself the trouble?”

His brother has a point. While both women would absolutely throw down in his defence if anyone else was bothering him, the knowing looks and the witty comments would have made him much more self-conscious when actually speaking to Madara. He might not have even tried to work toward a friendship. And that would have been sad. He makes a note to get Itama something nice before he has to leave.

A few days later, he has a new customer, but he looks so much like Madara and Shisui that Tobirama knows he has to be the often mentioned but never seen younger uncle who’s usually away at university. “Hello, is there something that I can help you with?”

“Uchiha Izuna, nice to meet you,” he says, “I just wanted to see the place that my nephew has been working at, and maybe pick up a few poinsettia plants?”

“You don’t want Poinsettia, Obito doesn’t really like them,” says Tobirama before he realizes that’s not quite polite. “Um, I mean. If you wanted to get them for him?” Strangely, Izuna doesn’t look offended.

“No, you’re right. Obito doesn’t like them, he says so every year.”

“So these are for someone else?” asks Tobirama. He gestures toward the stand with an array of potted poinsettia plants. “You can choose what you like, it’s a bit late in the season so these are all that we have left.”

“What should I get my nephew instead? I missed his birthday this year, so I was hoping to get him something special for Christmas.”

“Well, he said he needs new gardening gloves, but that’s not really an apology present, is it? He wanted that new video game – Outer Wilds. He wanted to have an excuse to invite his friends over more often since he doesn’t see them at school anymore.”

Izuna nods thoughtfully. “The other two?”

“Madara is getting Shisui a microscope. Maybe a set of prepared slides to match? Or a telescope. He likes insects but I don’t think he’d really want a preservation kit, he’s not the type. I don’t think you could go wrong with getting him a book, either.”

“Hm. And Kagami?”

“Definitely a book,” he says. In fact, there’s a book on aquatic sea creatures that Tobirama has already bought for him; he’s seen the way Kagami always runs to see the aquariums for a few minutes whenever he visits the store. “Do you want me to suggest some titles?” he asks, when Izuna just continues to stare at him strangely.

He seems to be hiding amusement. Tobirama does not understand why he’s amused.

“That will do,” he says. “Those are excellent suggestions. Thank you for the help,” he says. ”I guess I’ll see you around sometime, I’m staying until after the new year.”

“So, you don’t actually need to buy anything?” Tobirama asks just to confirm.

“Not right now, sorry. Poinsettias were a silly idea.”

“Oh, Izuna! Back again?” asks Yamato, coming back from where he had been arranging a shipment of gardening tools.

“Ah, yes! Still can’t decide what I want to get though. I’ll be leaving now. Bye! Bye, Tobirama!” says Izuna, and makes a speedy exit.

“Well that was interesting,” says Tobirama, though he can’t quite keep himself from smiling. “How many times has he come over?”

“Three times,” says Yamato. “He seemed desperate not to ask when you’d be around in case one of us told Obito that his uncle was being weird. Did Hashirama tell you when the seed-starter order will get here? We’re really running low.

“I’ll check,” Tobirama assures him.

That night, after dinner, Tobirama is in his room finishing up a layout for a client, when he gets a text from Madara.

did my brother come to see you today??

Yes, he did. He was looking for a gift for Obito, but didn’t buy anything in the end. I told him to buy him a video game instead and sent him away. Not the best business decision, but your brother said it was partly an apology so I had to help.

Did he say anything?

He asked me what he should get Shisui and Kagami as well.

And nothing else?

No, he didn’t say anything else.

Tobirama stares at the message for a few moments after that. Tobirama has had a lot of experience with how younger brothers teased, which meant Izuna had been teasing Madara about… potentially revealing something embarrassing to Tobirama? That made it sound like… like Madara did care about him? No one really cased out their nephew’s workplace by just quizzing the person at the register, and Yamato had let him know that Izuna had come to the store a couple of times, clearly looking for Tobirama even if he didn’t admit it, so it had to be… Tobirama holds closely to the fluttering hope that this gave him, and types out:

Madara, when you’re free, would you join me for coffee?

I’d like to talk, can we meet up?

Madara, don’t be offended but I’d like to ask if we could

He deletes every message instead if sending it. What if Madara assumes that he’s only asking him out because Izuna said something, and not because Tobirama really wanted to ask? He should probably wait a little, right?

He gets a call from Madara a few minutes later.

“Hello,” says Tobirama, picking up.

“What did he do? He looked suspicious and embarrassed when he got home.”

“Yamato spilled that he came to the store multiple times trying to catch me on shift, and he fled,” says Tobirama.

“That… sounds like my brother. I’m sorry, that was really rude –” he sounds exasperated.

“No no, it’s fine. He was really kind of cute!” says Tobirama.

“He. He was?” asks Madara.

“Yeah. He was definitely flustered, all but bolted once Yamato saw him. Don’t worry about it, I’m not angry with him. It was quite nice meeting him, really.” Tobirama tries to force some reassurance into his voice, because Madara sounds a little…stiff.

“That’s good. That’s really… good. I’ll talk to you later? I just wanted to make sure he hadn’t offended.”

“It’s all fine. Bye, Madara.”

“Bye.”

There was something wrong with that conversation, Tobirama just knew it. He’d expected Madara to laugh about his brother’s ill-conceived but well-meaning plot to make sure Tobirama was a decent person. But Madara hadn’t laughed.

Why not?

When he finally realizes what he had just implied during that short conversation, he wants to slap himself in the face. Stupid. So so stupid. Leaving his room, he heads straight for his brother’s, glad that Itama’s staying with him now that Hashirama’s house needed a nursery. He knocks on the door.

“Come in,” says Itama.

“Itama,” he says, but isn’t sure how to explain.

“What happened?” asks his brother.

“Madara called me.”

“And? What did he say?” Itama actually looks… strangely angry?

“What?” asks Tobirama.

“If you asked him out and he turned you down then he’s an idiot who doesn’t deserve you,” says Itama. “But I really thought – ”

“No, listen.” Why is everyone jumping to conclusions today? “Madara called me, because Izuna came to see me at the store today. It seemed like he was checking to see if I was a creep? So I thought maybe Madara was interested?” Itama nods encouragingly.

“And when he called I… I sort of told him that Izuna is really cute and I was glad I’d run into him.”

Itama looks pained. “Tobirama-nii, why.”

“That’s not what I meant! I didn’t even realize until after, when I was trying to figure out why he sounded so depressed. I was glad to meet him, but not because I like him, it’s because.” it gave me a tangible proof that Madara might like me back.

“So what are you going to do?” asks Itama.

“I’ll speak to him tomorrow,” says Tobirama. “I’ll ask him out properly.”

Itama is looking down at his desk, and he taps his finger a few times like he’s thinking something through. “No,” he says finally.

“No?”

“You should go now.”

“It’s late,” says Tobirama. “He has kids so he sleeps early! And we’re adults, not teenagers from a Hallmark channel romance movie, we can wait until the morning.”

“Don’t be stupid, Tobi-nii,” says Itama. “He really likes you. He’s probably hurt.”

Right. Madara had sounded a little hurt.

Tobirama hates that he’d done that, even unintentionally.

Right then, he’s apparently doing this.

(He grabs his potted lavender plant on the way out, and Itama says, “You absolute dork.” Tobirama ignores him.)

He’s even more nervous this time than he was the first time that he’d been standing on this doorstep. Steeling himself, he knocks on Madara’s door. That time he had been hand-delivering a succulent he’d appropriated (with permission) from his brother’s private collection to a complete stranger, and it had still been easier. He knocks again, he doesn’t want to ring the doorbell, because he knows Kagami should be asleep already.

This time it’s not Madara who opens the door, but Izuna.

“What do you want, it’s late,” says Izuna, keeping his voice down.

“I need to talk to your brother! I don’t think you’re cute!” says Tobirama. Ah, that wasn’t quite what he meant to say. “I mean-”

“Oh, thank god,” says Izuna instead of getting offended. “Come inside. He’s in the living room.”

Izuna lets him walk in ahead, to close up behind him, and Tobirama enters the room to see Madara on the couch, Obito curled up with a book in the armchair beside him.

Madara looks at him, eyes wide, then glances at the herb in his hands. “Hi, Madara, Obito” says Tobirama. And then Obito bursts out laughing.

It stings.

Maybe he shouldn’t have come here, with literally an offering of love, maybe Madara might not know what Lavender stands for but Obito, who cons every teenager who steps into their store to buy a pot of the herb definitely knows what’s up. (“Roses? Bouquets? They all die. Lavender is the true symbol of everlasting love and devotion,” he says to each one of them, eyes shining and they fall for it hook-line-and-sinker).

Tobirama involuntarily steps back, eyes on the ground so he doesn’t have to see their faces and tries to come up with something to say. He should confess anyway, even if Madara doesn’t reciprocate, but he’d rather not do it on front of Obito.

“No, no, no! I’m sorry! I’ll leave, you guys should talk!” says Obito, and suddenly the teenager is right next to him, gripping Tobirama’s arm with his scarred right hand. “I wasn’t laughing at you, I am so sorry. But I’ll go now. I’ll see you tomorrow, Tobirama-nii.” And then he’s running away, Tobirama can hear him thunder up the stairs.

Tobirama glances at Madara who’s also standing up now.

“You brought me lavender?” he says.

“I did. On the phone, you misunderstood. It’s not Izuna that I like. I wanted to call you back, but maybe this is better done in person, so I thought- So I came,” he says. The small but unbearably radiant smile that unfurls on Madara’s face clears away the lingering doubt.

“Thank you,” says Madara, taking the pot from him carefully and setting it on the small table, and then takes both of Tobirama’s hands in his. “Tobirama, I love you too, and I would very much like if we could go out officially,” says Madara.

“Yes, we should,” says Tobirama. “I’d really like that.” He hadn’t really called it love yet but Madara’s not wrong. Even though they’ve known each other for so little time there’s something about the other man that makes Tobirama think there could never be anyone else who had the potential to fit into his life the way Madara does. The way Madara’s family does. “I really like your nephews. I haven’t decided about your brother,” he says.

“I’m hurt,” says Izuna from behind, and Madara glares over Tobirama’s shoulder.

“Go away!”

“Fine! But this is so unfair, I was cute not two hours ago, and now I’m not even tolerable,” he complains, and they wait while Izuna makes his way up the stairs so they have some privacy.

“My nephews like you too,” says Madara. “As does my brother, he was quite complimentary earlier.”

“Is Obito okay with it? He seemed…” odd. Tobirama cuts himself instead of voicing the tactless word that comes to mind.

Strangely, it makes Madara chuckle. “He was laughing about the lavender, not at you,” says Madara.

“I don’t understand,” Tobirama says, and Madara takes his hand and leads him towards the downstairs office that the kids used for homework. All along the large window, in different sizes, are lavender plants. Seven of them.

“I’ve been trying to confess for a while,” says Madara, squeezing Tobirama’s hand.

“I’ll take them back with me,” says Tobirama, and Madara carefully brings up one hand to Tobirama’s cheek. Tobirama’s never been this close to Madara before. He’s just as beautiful close up.

“You don’t have to take them home. I can keep them for you. You could move in,” says Madara. He looks so very very hopeful.

Tobirama can’t resist, doesn’t have to resist, he leans closer for a kiss and Madara meets him halfway, and it’s soft and gentle and perfect. When they finally pull away, Tobirama looks at Madara’s radiant face and decides he needs another one. He catches Madara’s lips again.

“I’m not moving in with you now,” Tobirama says, when he’s caught his breath after two kisses. He can feel his cheeks stretch with an uncontainable smile; the offer alone is enough to make him feel giddy with joy, but he can’t accept it yet.

“Too soon?” asks Madara. He doesn’t sound upset.

“It’s too soon,” he agrees.

“I can wait,” says Madara.

“Mm. And you haven’t met my family properly yet,” says Tobirama.

Madara tilts his head a little to the side. “I know Hashirama and Kawarama. I don’t think they dislike me? And I met Itama this week. He seemed nice.”

Itama? Nice? There’s only one person who can get both Mito and Touka to do what he wants, and that’s his little brother. Itama is not nice, that’s just what he prefers to let people think about him. How on earth is he supposed to break this to Madara?

“Itama does seem to like you,” he starts. This would be Madara’s saving grace. “But Mito and Touka haven’t met you yet. They, and Kawarama, have sworn to leave you alone until the 25th. After that…” he trails off. “I think Hashirama really does like you, though,” he says, hoping it’s consolation.

“Leave me alone?”

“They didn’t want to scare you off too soon,” says Tobirama. Madara presses a kiss to Tobirama’s nose, then his cheek, then tilts his head up by the chin for another kiss.

“No one’s scaring me away from you,” he says firmly.

“I will hold you to that,” says Tobirama. He really will, too.

“Please do,” says Madara.

#madatobigiftexchange #madatobi #giftfic #tw: permanent disfigurement #tw: obito has scars

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carmenlire · 6 years ago

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White Blank Page Ch. 1

Lovely moodboard courtesy of @kindaresilient!!!!!

read on ao3

Okay, maybe he’s a little lost.

Magnus looks at the app on his phone, screen mockingly cheerful as it declares that he’s reached his destination. He ignores the constant stream of notifications from incoming emails and calendar alerts, focusing instead on the miniature map where his location is marked with a star.

He looks up but only sees a bookstore where the restaurant supposedly sits. Ragnor is going to kill him. They have a standing lunch date every Thursday afternoon and Ragnor was nothing if not punctual. Magnus can hear the sarcasm from here.

Did the weight of your ego slow you down?

If I didn’t know better, I’d think you had higher priorities than me.

Rolling his eyes, Magnus does a quick scan of the block but doesn’t see anything that looks like a trendy Mediterranean restaurant. He debates on what to do before sighing and reaching for the door to the bookstore. Maybe an employee will be able to help him.

He takes a minute to look at the exterior of the shop and likes what he sees. It’s October and the window display has autumn-themed cookbooks out intermingled with Halloween decorations, including painted pumpkins and a witch's hat. It’s cute, cheerful yet practical, with a touch of casual elegance.

The door is black with a frosted glass window. Etched into glass is the name of the store.

Lightwood Books. Est. 2016.

The font is reminiscent of some bygone era, all curlicues and cursive. When Magnus swings the door open, a little bell chimes and he sees the same streak of whimsy and understated elegance as he takes in the rest of the bookstore.

It’s two stories and the first floor is done in the same dark tones as the outside. The walls are bookshelves from floor to ceiling, done in dark teak wood. The room is cluttered-- not cramped but there are several display tables ranging from books on special topics to book related gifts to more Halloween decor.

It’s lively yet muted, the perfect balance that invites the customer to browse or settle in with a book and a hot chocolate.

Magnus smiles as he sees another painted pumpkin in a rainbow of colors. It’s homey and comfortable but with a modern twist. Magnus already wishes he had the time to browse more thoroughly.

He doesn’t see another person. Taking a few steps inside, the door shuts behind him.

“Hello,” he calls out into the warm silence of the store.

There’s no answer and Magnus is intrigued. It’s obviously a well-kept store. The stock is in perfect condition and it’s furnished with care. Curious, he ventures further into the store. Unable to help himself, he strolls through the first floor. It looks like a mix of adult fiction and nonfiction. He falls in love with the color scheme even more as it provides a perfect contrast to the bright spines and colorful covers of the books themselves.

He sees the latest thriller from an author he adores and can’t help but pick it up. He might be a few minutes late, but hopefully Ragnor will calm down when he sees the book in his hand.

Distantly, he quiets the voice that insists he keep a strict schedule. Surely, a few minutes won’t hurt.

He sees a staircase that was hidden from the front door and with an inward shrug, starts climbing. He’s a little surprised that the stairs don’t creak and can’t decide if that’s disappointing or not.

The second floor is a burst of color. There’s a little café with a delightfully handwritten menu done in chalk. The pastries look divine and Magnus is sorely tempted to order a latte.

He doesn’t though; instead, he turns his back on the coffee and sees the children’s section. It’s bright and fun with bookshelves in every color, height appropriate for the kids. There’s a huge rug in the center of the area and it’s lined with baskets of toys on one edge.

Magnus barely notices the rest of the area as his gaze lands on a broad back. The man looks to be doing inventory, if the boxes and clipboard are any indication, and he looks great from the rear. Magnus can see a tall frame and dark hair and jeans hugging a truly lovely ass.

Clearing his throat, Magnus smiles as the man turns around and-- Christ. The man is an Adonis. His hair is messy, black locks framing a face that looks sculpted from granite. He’s wearing a black sweater with the sleeves shoves up to the elbows and he looks at Magnus with a little smile, warm and inviting with a hint of tempered curiosity.

“Can I help you?”

Magnus can’t help but give him another once over as he starts, “I hope so, darling. I was supposed to meet a friend at Adega but the GPS dumped me out here-- though, obviously, this is a charming bookstore and not a Mediterranean restaurant.”

That smile grows into a grin as the man chuckles. “That happens more than you’d think. Our street addresses are only one number apart and a lot of people turn up here looking for tapas.” He points in a general direction. “You actually want the street next over.”

Magnus laughs a little. “Well, it’s nice to know I’m not the only one who’s made that mistake.”

“I don’t mind,” the man says, eyes dropping to the book in Magnus’s hand. “Especially when it gets me more business.”

Holding the book up, Magnus waves it a little. “I saw this when I was looking for someone and couldn’t resist. She’s one of my favorite authors and I haven’t had the chance to read this one yet.”

He follows the man as he heads towards the stairs, appreciating the view as they start back down the the first floor. He’s only broken out of his reverie by the man throwing a sheepish question over his shoulder.

“You weren’t waiting long, were you? I’m sorry no one was down here when you came in. I hope it wasn’t too much of an inconvenience to come upstairs-- there’s usually a lull around this time and my staff are on lunch.”

Waving the apologetic tone away, Magnus follows him as they make their way to the register. He stops in front of the antique desk that’s been retrofitted as the man moves to the other side. Laying the book down between them, Magnus looks up, tilts his head, considering.

“Not at all,” he says easily. “I’m fond of independent bookstores and it’s always a treat to find something new. I’m a big fan of unexpected surprises.”

He’s treated to that warm, slightly breathless laugh again as he hands over his credit card. “In that case, thank you for your patronage.”

Raising a brow-- both at the quip and at his ratcheting interest-- Magnus replies, “You’re more than welcome. . .” he trails off, inviting the stranger to share his name after seeing no nametag.

“Alec,” the man says, arching his own brow at Magnus’s forwardness.

“Alec,” Magnus repeats, savoring the syllables. “Short for Alexander?”

With a droll look, Alec says, “Yeah but no one calls me that.”

“What a shame,” Magnus murmurs, accepting the bag Alec slides to his side of the counter. It looks sturdy in a rich navy blue, the name of the store and date of establishment in the same swirling script in a bright yet understated silver.

He’s signing his name with a bit more flair than usual when Alec asks, “So, I take it you’re a big reader?”

“Oh, I love to read,” Magnus replies airily. “My mother used to take me to our local bookstore on the weekends when I was a child and I try to read a book a week for pleasure. Doesn’t always work out, but that’s the goal,” he ends with a resigned shrug.

Leaning a hip against the counter, Alec smiles at him. It’s easy, a current of warmth through it, though it’s the least bit shy. The combination has Magnus enthralled.

“Well, I hope to see you again sometime.”

Magnus picks up the bag, taking a step backwards to the door. His eyes run over Alec one more time before their eyes meet and he winks.

“Oh, I think I might turn out to be a regular customer, Alexander.”

He turns on his heel but not before he sees the start of an absolutely adorable blush on Alec’s face. He walks out without a backwards glance. Once he’s on the sidewalk, he throws a cursory look to both sides of the street before crossing.

He walks a block over and as soon as he turns the corner, he sees the restaurant. Checking his watch, he’s relieved to see that he’s less than ten minutes late. Hopefully, Ragnor won’t be too insufferable about it.

He walks in, bypassing the hostess. It’s late for lunch and the place is mostly empty. Ragnor is easily visible at a table, reading over the menu. As Magnus approaches him, Ragnor doesn’t look up.

“Had I known how cavalierly you were going to treat our lunches, I never would have agreed to meet,” Ragnor says, still refusing to acknowledge Magnus.

Rolling his eyes, Magnus slides the chair across from him out, relaxing against it as he sets his purchase neatly on the floor.

“I should have known,” Ragnor says, turning his menu over. “I’m no competition for a shopping spree.”

Magnus picks up his own menu, looking over the drinks as he absently replies, “Oh, shut it. Google Maps failed me and I ended up at this charming little bookstore. I had to ask an employee for help and bought a book. You’re lucky I showed up at all after being helped by Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome incarnate.”

“Thirsting after bookworms, are we?”

Magnus sighs, a little dreamily, as he reads the day’s specials. “You know I love an intelligent man. I bet Alexander could hold his own.”

At that, Ragnor looks up. “Alexander? Alec?”

Magnus looks up to, sees Ragnor looking a mix of surprised and confused. “Yes? I take it you know him?”

“Of course I know him. We went to law school together. He graduated at the top of the class and, from what I hear, was a shark in the courtroom for a few years. He was on the fast track to make partner at his parents’ firm, surpassing everyone’s expectations. Then all of a sudden, he left his cozy corner office and opened a little bookstore in Brooklyn. I can’t believe you coincidentally ended up in his shop.”

Magnus holds up a hand, processing the fount of information he’s just been given. “You’re telling me that the man who just blushed at my almost appallingly obvious flirting was a Lightwood? Of the New York Lightwoods? The heir to one of the oldest families in the state?”

“What else would you think when you saw Lightwood Books emblazoned on the storefront?” Ragnor’s voice is dry as seven hells and twice as incredulous.

“How was I to know that golden boy had abandoned his family’s wealth and influence to open a cozy little neighborhood bookstore?”

“It’s just one of those things you know, Bane,” Ragnor says, voice scathing. “You run in similarly elevated circles. It was hot gossip when it happened.”

Magnus shrugs at that. “You know I barely slept a few years ago. That was when my company started taking off and every waking thought was centered on not filing bankruptcy.”

“You have assistants for these kinds of things,” Ragnor says.

Magnus doesn’t deign to reply and the waitress comes over in the next second to take their orders. They pass a lovely hour in the fall afternoon. More than once, Magnus catches himself staring out the window, watching colorful leaves rustle in the breeze.

It’s not often that he has these pockets of time to just be himself. He has a multi-million dollar business that requires constant love and attention. He’s pulled in a dozen directions at any given moment and sometimes he thinks that all he does is eat, sleep, and drink his company. He’s always Bane, CEO, instead of simply Magnus.

He has family dinners on Sundays, though. He has these weekly lunches with Ragnor or Raphael. Today, he had a handful of minutes with an intriguing stranger. He wasn’t thinking about stocks or advertising or his never-ending email queue with Alec. No, Lightwood Books had let his mind calm. There’d been nothing to think about except the quiet, cozy charm of the store and the laid-back mystery of its apparent owner.

Magnus settles back in his chair as the waitress sets down dessert. Distantly, he knows that he’ll be visiting Lightwood Books again very soon.

#a chaptered fic!#this was originally a oneshot with a goal of 5k #but I like the thought of having a few chapters #this is super light hearted and low stakes #just a fall inspired fic #because it's the best season #and i live for cozy malec #white blank page #my writing #malec fic #I now imagine this as about 10k #short and sweet

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tridentinfotech · 2 years ago

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Is Poor Customer Management Haunting Your Business in This Festive Season? Not Anymore!

Retail ERP Software / By Trident Information Systems

In the not-too-distant past, Halloween marked the transition from summer to the succeeding winter holidays with color, foreshadowing the impending season of heavy consumer spending. According to the National Retail Federation, 40% of Americans now start their holiday shopping before Halloween. You must be ready to manage this rush of customers and uphold the same standard of customer care as you do the rest of the year. It is best to implement ERP Software for Retail.

According to Deloitte, customers typically tell nine people about a pleasant customer experience but 16 people about a poor one. Even if this number is horrifying, careful holiday planning might help you overcome your phobias. Let’s look at the finest strategies for avoiding being haunted by unhappy customers throughout the remainder of the holiday season.

Cut Out-of-Stocks with ERP Software for Retail

During festive times, customers are already busy with many tasks. Because of this, they prefer only those stores that will provide smooth services. Imagine many customers entering your store and finding the missing commodity. They might get frustrated and not prefer your store in peak times in the future. According to the HCL group, retailers lose up to 1 trillion dollars every year due to out-of-stock commodities. The number is shocking but provides a great business opportunity for you.

You can become the store that holds all the popular commodities all the time. But managing rhythm can get difficult with siloes systems. You should invest in ERP Software for Retail that gives real-time inventory updates, and many other robust features to effectively manage your inventory.

Even if you go out-of-stock sometime, you can make it visible on your online store. Get Software for eCommerce Website that can manage your online and offline store. You can then manage your store and warehouse altogether, leading to happy customers and five-star reviews.

Offer Exciting Promotions

This is a very common yet effective technique to attract more customers. Moreover, the Festive season is the best time to move your extra stock out on sale. Ideally, a sale aims to provide benefits to you and your customers. Check how your previous sales went and how you can make it even better this time.

You should aim to provide competitive prices without having to disbalance the perception of “value”. If you provide an item at excessively low prices, it can backfire. Your customers can perceive the product as a compromised quality item. You need to maintain your balance.

Furthermore, you can make strategies to convince your customers to purchase more. Look through your previous interactions with them and understand their spending pattern. Employ Business Intelligence for fast and accurate reports. You can tremendously boost cross-sell and upsell.

Retail CRM Software like LS Retail comes with Power BI which collects a pool of data from Retail POS Software and filters it to generate actionable reports. This data is crucial for any successful strategy.

Embrace Unified Commerce

Given that more and more people are integrating online technology into their daily lives, your company should ideally have both traditional and online shops. It is equally crucial that these shops can exchange data in real-time, allowing all channels of commerce to benefit from what your company has to offer.

Some shops use add-ons that they link with their existing systems to address this issue. These, however, may leave them with Frankenstein’s monster of many modules and suppliers, all of which produce inconsistent data and perform inefficiently. As a result, you are left with dissatisfied customers who, after carefully weighing their options and selecting a product to purchase, only to receive a message through email two days later informing them that their order cannot be fulfilled because it is currently out of stock. Or even worse, they can place an online order for an item that is in stock with pick-up in-store just to find out when they get there that it’s unavailable. According to Gartner, 58% of consumers believe that having access to inventory status online throughout a purchase is crucial.

With ERP Software for Retail, you can choose which of your street-side and online promotions to match, and customers may exchange and return things they’ve bought online at customer service counters within your physical stores. Most essential, the inventory figures displayed on your website will correspond to the stock in your store. Your customers will have a fantastic experience if you give them convenient and accurate product information.

In the era of heavy competition where every business is lurking to grab an opportunity, getting the latest ERP Software for Retail avails a competitive edge. ERP Software for Hypermarket like LS Retail allows Power BI Capabilities, Microsoft Azure Cloud Strength, and various robust features to get you the most profit in this festive season. If you are looking for a Retail POS Implementation Partner, Contact Trident Information Systems. We are Microsoft Dynamics 365 Gold Partner and LS Retail Diamond Partner. For further queries, Contact Us Today!

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breakingmllc · 4 years ago

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You Can'T Scare Me I Am A Grumpy Old Nurse During A Pandemic Halloween T Shirt

I have had this thought in my head after watching the show you did with our troops hunting wild pigs thank you for the troop support my thought was I would like to see you roll into some hunting camps 1 you may be surprised with some of the food 2 watching you verbally hilarious blast the guys about the food they are eating and prepare a You Can'T Scare Me I Am A Grumpy Old Nurse During A Pandemic Halloween T Shirt meal at a hunting camp that is note worthy and pass on some wild game recipes currently I hunt in pennsylvania and would love to see some rustic camps scenes not a top end ranch with all the comforts I would love to have you visit mine but it would be more like a construction show. Thedirtypopup will celebrate the illustrious 20 year history of nsync and will serve as the launch of the group’s official merchandise capsule collection visitors can expect to have first dibs on a limited inventory of official merchandise as well as immerse themselves in fun engaging photo activations that pay homage to iconic visuals from the group s career the experience will also feature authentic props wardrobe artwork and photography on display admission to the pop up will be free to the public all ages 6801 hollywood blvd ste 200a hollywood ca 90028 across from sweet at the hollywood highland center hours of operation saturday april 28 noon to 8pm sunday april 29 noon to 8pm monday april 30 4pm to 9pm tuesday may 1 noon to 8pm for more information please visit www nsync com. A sneak peek at the covers for sherlock a scandal in belgravia 2 from titan comics the manga adaptation is in comic shops from jan 8 2020 and has 4 covers to collect including one by alice x zhang pre order from your local comic shop to find your nearest store visit

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Exclusive the You Can'T Scare Me I Am A Grumpy Old Nurse During A Pandemic Halloween T Shirt seventh doctor and ace are on different sides in dark universe coming in january 2020 from big finish productions read more about this new audio adventure here. Brandy Jutte We are just worried about the spread of this virus to the US The CDC is saying it s not a matter of if but when What kind of policies and steps are being put into place to protect the American people I m sure you and your administration is doing a great job when it comes to dealing with this virus but that doesn t help to settle our fears about this spreading like the plague Emily Troy I don’t believe this I believe this was started chemically to try andstop our Presidents good economy so people will think that Pres Trump caused this That’s what they want you to think It is done by countries who want to hurt the economy and is The Dems want us to take a shot to make us sick or kill us No Way no shot will I be taking Marcia Wilson Thank you very much for your heart felt response concerning our country Thank you for you determination in continuing to take the correct actions as you have been blessed with such discernment over MANY situations and and Leading our country back ont Xem thêm Marilyn Folz Mr President we know the dems Most of America loves you Rural America loves you because you have brought back jobs We can rebuild our small towns with some more help We need you We have your back TRUMP 2020 Doug Milliken We know you will provide the best possible protection for our great country Thank you Your doing the right thing and a great job of it Gina Mac Yes and the 15 in the US are reported to be concerned about lost luggage aka they are doing well and the hype surrounding this is being blown out of proportion Doing a great job Mr president Gregg W Jones I know you cannot read every comment but I still want to say that you and your Administration are doing a great job period Thank you for your leadership and for your service You sacrificed so much to be our President and you and your family has been in the target view of the Dems since your one Keep up the excellent work Sir This DAV is proud and thankful Shawn Stroh Bernie said you can’t predict when the virus will end but they have predicted when the world would end due to climate change 1000 times and were wrong every time TRUMP 2020 Firras Garada So are we going to ignore the CDC s warning today I m a doctor here in Michigan and believe the coronavirus is coming to wreak havoc in America Both for businesses and an overall health crisis Great job Mr President keep making this Country great The fact is just like the hurricanes and all the other emergencies we have had you have done your very best to take care of it and keep things at a minimal Through your Presidency you have absolutely done the best job possible in taking care of Americans And look at all the trolls on here Heather Lynn DeAnna President Trump you and your administration are excellent Nobody believes the liars on the other side This is a horrible disease that may cause harm but you have done your job Thank you Beth Jenks Thank you Mr President I don’t care what party what color young or old people we need to just believe Trump the CDC and let him make the decisions You better here me the Dems could have let that crap in here So don’t panic Trumps proved everything hes done on this Damn Dems wanted to let them all in Trump 2020 When you came to India we liked it very much But now after you leave there seems to be something deserted here Because my sister also lived there Good luck on reaching your country Rajkumar sahiba Raja Bhaiya State Genral Secretary LJP Uttar Pradesh INDIA Rem Rem Keep on doing what you do best running the country The dem debates tonight are a laughing stock A complete clown show LMAO They will always blame you It’s all they have but we know better they’re the do nothing dems just like you’ve said all along Kristin Valencia Aguiar Keep up the great work president Trump The Chinese government isn t being forthcoming and honest with this virus Put our best doctors and scientist on this to formulate a vaccine This looks like an orchestrated attack to bring our booming and prosperous economy to a halt Let s not let it happen Kimberley Reasor I trust you 2 do what you need 2 do You are doing a wonderful job in trying 2 keep this country which is should be your number one concern in both keeping us safe healthy Keep up the good work Trump2020 Travis Spada Not one death in the US What are the dems talking about Beat Trump that is their platform even if he made the right decision they are going to do the opposite Looks like an old folks home up there Tamara Stolzenthaler You are not communicating the truth You only care about stocks staying high so you can win the election Plus you need to be in quartentine after your travels David Brown I generally don t mind political gamesmanship but honestly this is the time to just come together and shut the borders till we get a handle on this before we end up like Italy Allen Stewart CV is a joke Spoke to a doctor who said it does not even compare to the Flu 30 000 affected in China So what There are 1 386 Billion people in China 20 30 cases in US 315 Million people in US Pure sensationalism Carol Hartford Howard You said it President Trump The DemoRATS complain criticize no matter what you do but I don’t see them coming up w any plan at all much less a better one IIn fact this is the party that supports open borders and sanctuary cities Hey Dems if you’re not part of the solution shut your pie hole stop the criticism Carol Hartford Howard You said it President Trump The DemoRATS complain criticize no matter what you do but I don’t see them coming up w any plan at all much less a better one IIn fact this is the party that supports open borders and sanctuary cities Hey Dems if you’re not part of the solution shut your pie hole stop the criticism Lauren Smith Nothing you do will please some of these people Just do the best you can most of us appreciate you and the efforts you make By what we have seen we have an idea of what you have to deal with to get anything done No one knows the shoes you walk in except you Trump2020 Judith Lacari I do not care about parties now my concern is the health and safety of US Citizens I trust you will add funding to the CDC and put additional medical staff to come up with a vaccine or preventive measures just in case the Corona virus spreads into the US Closing boarders is one measure we need medical prevention Kristie Newby Please consider an address to the nation to calm everyone down Everybody is panicking and the stock market shows their irrational fears A public address on what you are doing to protect us will reassure them Thank you for all that you do President Trump Donna Fell 8 200 people in the US died from the flu last year and millions fell ill The CDC told us to wash our hands stay away from those who are ill and that the flu is deadly and spreading Cody Buck So the CDC it’s basically saying that there is no solution for this coronavirus but to wash your hands several times a day and do not touch your face or nose And if you’re sick stay at home Period Damn all these new news updates give me anxiety I think I’m just going to stay away from people and enjoy my animals company Constance Williams The minute they announced Chelsea Clinton was on the board of WHO The World Health Organization Then Chuck Schumer said this administration wasn’t doing enough about the virus Joey Scott My daughter is a nurse and it’s not even a fear at their hospital 14 000 people have died in the United States from the flu this year is that a pandemic Is everyone running scared We’re all still working still living our daily lives and society I Xem thêm Paul Cochran Thank you President Trump but I see the Socialist Democrats and Biased Socialist Media turning this situation into another very UGLY ATTACK ON YOU I say stay strong and keep the heat on because scare tactics by the left will not work Stephanie Coleman People please This is just a cold on steroids Lysol has a list of pathogens it kills on the can Coronavirus is one of them This is not new Get a freaking grip If Trump cured cancer y’all would find something to complain about Steve Boyd Mr President I know you’re doing everything thing that can be done to protect the United States of America because you love the country The Dems lie I wish everyone had ears to hear them حسين عماد شنان I find it ironic that we have a drug pandemic in this country from drugs flooding this country through open borders yet the DEMS ARE DOING NOTHING TO HELP THIS I also find it interesting how they are pushing this flu causing panic They did this with the bird flu swine flu ebola virus etc and here we are during an election they must be running out of crap to blame you for Bonnie Kennington We have third world conditions in our Democratic run cities causing disease we have thousands of people dying from drugs we have thousands dying for lack of health care and we lose thousands to the flu every year even with vaccines think this new vi Xem thêm Wendy Clayton Hall You made great decisions closing the border and keeping Americans safe Keep on making good decisions and use your power of ignore with people who don’t agree with the good decisions you make for our country Trump2020 cant wait to vote Lauren Hartnett Thank you for cutting their budget funds last year and this year It should put us in a great position to beat this horrible virus Great job Vivian Warner The Dems will never like you their whole platform is based on hate Trump And they say conservatives are haters You can’t change the mind of someone running on passion and not facts David Rodriguez This country has a huge infrastructure of researchers physicians and professionals whose sole purpose is to protect Americans from situations like this There is little any one person even the president can do about it other than speak to the people Those who criticize the president are either ignorant or terribly misinformed or maybe both Carrie Crawford CDC needs to be held accountable for all the unsafe vaccines Please let Robert Kennedy Jr Start up the safety program to actually test vaccines Since 1986 they have not tested them 1out of 35 kids has Autism It’s not a coincidence vaccines sho Xem thêm Eutana Evans No matter what you say or do will never be acknowledged as being good for our country according to the Democrats They have their own agenda which is all about getting rid of you Period Keep up with what you are doing for us By the way I AM AN EX DEMOCRAT Jennifer Hastings So I have a family member currently in china and from what we ve been told everyone there is quarantined in their homes they are only allowed to leave to buy food and home supplies children are doing school from home online and they cost of flying in a Xem thêm Salam Raed You cut the funds on CDC to pay for the wall and now you blame the Dems Instead of stupid tweets try to find why medical face masks are out of stock almost everywhere Linda Sears The schizophrenia of the Dems First they say the President’s plan is DOA THEN they say he has no plan What it really is is the DEMS have no plan and no plan to have a plan except they don’t like Trump’s plan Bill Roudabush President Trump you’re first priority is to the safety of the American people You’re doing great Democrats and their Democrat activist journalists will condemn you know matter what you do Ignore them you have the majority of Americans behind you Cynthia Besson Fergusson We trust your doing an awesome job and protecting us We know you have our best interest at heart The Dems are just ruining it by whinning about everything and then we will believe nothing As Bill O Reilly noticed Biden just said 150 million people have been killed by gun violence Nobody says a word Insane Or did I hear it wrong My thoughts as a professional nurse He makes so many gAfs I really get worried for his mental well being Like him saying recently he was running for the US Senate or not identifying the correct name of a state he was in And many others My concern is does he have eArly dementia Voncile Stone The dems would much rather the virus take over the country if that made Trump look bad People dyeing means nithing to Schumer or Pelosi Trashing Trump is much more important they are truly mentially Ill Marilyn Demby Caulder You are doing a great job we don’t believe one word that comes out of the mouth of those lying Democrats the debate tonight was more like a circus They are scared of you that’s for sure and they better be afraid very afraid Trump 2020 Mike Perry The Democratic party actually loves the prospect of a pandemic that effectively destroys the economic prosperity of every country in the WORLD these people have NO limitations of who ever needs to Die for their agenda to be put into place and fo Xem thêm Michael Stovall On the Democrat Debate Stage tonight all the Circus Clowns said you President are not doing enough to protect the United States from the Coronavirus I am sure the Fake News Media will be repeating what the Debate Clowns said Jeremy Church It just occurred to me The fact that we don t live in a third world communist country where we are forced to work relentlessly for little to no pay That we have access to healthcare The fact that our government doesn t view us as subjects Kathy Doering Leyba LOVE YOU BIG D Dems need to stop using the COVID 19 to further their political gains Shameful Real Americans know how to help themselves Stop whining and get your house straight for a bumpy ride thru this potentially difficult journey Snowflakes Kay Chaney America Thanks You Mr President and the majority of it is very pleased with You as our Commander Chief We all are very aware of the Dems their fake media every one of their crooked schemes Where by they are nailing their own feet to the floor Laura Murphy Taylor Americans always know when you do the right thing by the level of outrage the Democrats have So if their faces are melting and their hair is in fire We know you did it right Janice Smith You can do no right in the Dems eyes but who cares Your Patriots have your back Jennifer Bishop And I don’t care if a DEMOCRAT’S post negative crap on my post Anyone that thinks the way Sander’s Boomer Obama Clinton and all them think is ok then there is definitely some screws missing BobDebra Lee Thank you Sir Thank you for the continued success off the wall and thank you for closing the gates to those coming in that could possibly be exposed Democrats are just really unhappy people They would crucify Jesus again if he were here Amazingly sad Frances Willden got to be 5 steps ahead the dems must be all on crack or your hitting to close to home or their pockets what both I do why ahead where does it hurt your ready to face it on meaning a storm comes flash lights generators if it dont work propane and m Xem thêm Matthew Perry Thank you President Trump for protecting our boarders and health The Dems will never give you a fair evaluation You do what is right for the American people and we all know it Richard Griswold By the way Mr President Rod Rosenstein’s sister Nancy Messonnier is trying to instill fear chaos with press releases to the public Scott Kimrey Unfortunately it only takes one self actualized individual who gets the chance to skirt quarantine and start infecting what is now a national and global community Odds are in favor of the virus spreading here and again unfortunately the Dems are sit Xem thêm Richard Shallenberg all americans know we at CDC have a handle on what we have been allowed too handle but just like WHO was a weel late on knowing nothing we were already ahead of them and china but the dems don’t care about world health they are a bunch of abortionists’ the more deaths the better they just want there money Rhonda Schneider Thank u Mr president if the dems had it their way we the american people would b suffering greatly they don’t care about us the lower hard working class like me needs someone to help us we can’t continue living with such low wages high price of living n expensive health care Lindy Frady The Dems keep fighting among themselves So much BS going on had to turn it off It s ok the more they talk the more votes we get People are coming to the light side daily They have lost there minds and it keeps getting worse No the lead candidate is a socialist Winning Trump 2020 Claire Fish Yes it is a boo hoo for Democrats because they didnt take the virus seriously They only care about trying to ruin Trump more than the people of this Country Congress voted against closing a part of the border It was the smart thing to do Allicyn Raymond Your the biggest reason I have faith this planet wont capsize into a big ball of fire into space Thank you for never letting the nay sayers break you down The dems and any other politician could learn a thing or two from your administration Thank you for your selfless service You got my vote for the rest of history please save our vaping industry as well please Kristofor Gullickson The Dems are just tryin’ to get the last bit of their investments from just before Obamacare It is likely any Republicans are not in Government anymore or sold their shares long ago Mary Schmidt Kern Steyer wants reparations for slavery for those who never experienced It Wtf the Republican Party was started to end slavery and somehow the dems are twisting it because red voters believe in making your own living and not depending on the government for handouts unless you really need it Uhhhg Carole Tewell what about the man you just appointed who knows absolutely nothing you can really pick them and the wonderful betsy devoss who also know nothing about education were her donations worth childrens education as long as you can fill a spot with one of your wealthy friends it doesnt matter you have to pay them back for their support Jerry Aggson Keep it up Mr President you’re doing a great job There’s only one thing more ignorant than a democrat poo pooing a good thing Someone voting for that democrat Never the less we love the job you are doing and couldn’t be more proud of the man that Xem thêm Eliz Ann Maybe you should reasure the American people that you are working with CDC because as usual the Dems are saying you are doing nothing about the corona virus William M LeBleu It doesn t matter what you do Mr President the media and the Democrats will try to twist it to try to make a negative out of it Just remember Sir when it comes to these clowns that is all they have to offer America a big NEGATIVE They have run Xem thêm Jill Lanpher Those who vote for Bernie Sanders are voting for socialism leading to communism think money grows on trees that student debt should be paid by tax payers support open borders and sanctuary cities free Medicare for all feel nothing is wrong with Xem thêm Curt Green Most of us know your level of commitment and appreciate it Wouldn’t even be surprised at all if the Dems manufactured yet another crisis simply to affect an election Wouldn’t be the first time they sacrificed American lives for their cause Desperate times call for desperate measures Go ahead shoot holes in it if you can but it doesn’t matter because even if it were true it will never be reported Vincent Anthony One sign that the Dems were serious about this is that they would not politicize the situation As it is they have positioned themselves for victory only as American bodies pile up DISGUSTING Kathy Ream Just saw the demo debate None of them would shut up when their time was done Birney wouldn’t shut up even when it was some one else turn It was a mess up there on stage I can’t imagine ANY of them as President They all have a plan but never say what it is Trump2020 Adam Lindley Dems just throw money at something to fix it Still not working Throw more money at it That s their way Trump doesn t give enough money and they throw him under the bus The democrat way Sandra Bates The dems are trying to use this now as a political tool We know you have a handle on this situation Please keep us informed Some of the media are trying to put fear into America Fake News Really Fake News and definitely biased news to say the least They don’t know how to report real news anymore Your administration is doing a great job Deslor Emberga Vanhees Why will American vote for Democratic they all ready show how they are in 3 years nothing they ve done but to Harass their own President it should be nothing but President Trump 2020 GoD Bless America in Jesus name we trust not the Democrat Atlas Holduup Just registered to vote for trump didnt like the iran situation but other then that hes proven himself worthy of presidency and I swore id never vote until a candidate presented himself worthy of my vote Michael Davis Every Demoncrat is a sore loser Most are clueless to the fact that the globalists want to control their very lives by tyrannical rule Trump is our last hope I for one have confidence in you and your Administration Mr President Also I am fed up with the Dems who would not be happy with any thing you do Thank goodness we the people know them well And if anyone out there is not sure just go look at the behavior of Nancy Pelosi and her dressed in white clan s behavior during our President s SOTU address That behavior Is the worst that I have EVER seen from elected leaders I felt terrible discomfort knowing that that behavior was being seen all over the world Just think about that Let that sink in people please God help this country if THOSE people ever make up the majority of our Leaders Carmelo Consiglio Trumps been cutting funding for the CDC since taking office If there’s not an outbreak in the USA it will be a miracle Hell today he’s trying to put a bunch of patients in a condemned building in the OC instead of a FEMA facility Maxx Alexander It’s ok nobody with a decent brain and a clue has missed the media being completely negative and dishonestly so No better President we could ever ask for than you Especially when times are challenging Christine Ward Roe I think the media isn’t helping by blowing this up in the news remember China delayed by 6 weeks and let the virus spread but the US has acted very quickly to contain it especially by Trump imposing travel restrictions and quarantines otherwise we would look like Italy but the dumbard Dems are upset with the his travel ban what the heck. 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omegaling · 7 years ago

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Allez Cuisine! ~Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve: Malbec and Bucatini all’Amatriciana

Chapter warning: Rey has memories of when Plutt was a disgusting bastard to her when she was a minor.

Chapter Twelve: Malbec and Bucatini all’Amatriciana

In the end Rey decided to buy the wine.

It was a stupid thing to get her panties in a wad over, but in retrospect she supposed it was only a matter of time before her anxiety manifested in some form or fashion. It certainly didn’t happen when she reported to her first shift after her meeting with Ren, where she churned out dozens of croquetas de jamon and her caldo gallego which was becoming exponentially popular as the weather got colder. When she discussed the nightly specials with Poe she did so without imagining him handing her her last paycheck. When she and Finn started the new season of American Horror Story and debated what that year’s group Halloween costumes should be (Finn wanted Ghostbusters, Rey wanted the Crazy 88s from Kill Bill ) she did so without feeling sick with guilt. Even when her phone’s calendar popped up with a reminder that her first lesson was on that upcoming Monday at five o’clock she felt remarkably calm. In fact, had it not been for their string of emails she could almost believe that her whole correspondence with Kylo Ren took place inside her head.

It remained that way until she was halfway to his building and found herself standing in front of a corner liquor store in a strange sense of contemplation. One of the last questions Rey asked Kylo was what she needed to bring for her first lesson.

“Only your knives,” Ren answered as he finished off his croissant. A tiny piece of pastry clung to the corner of his lip, which he hastily brushed away with the pad of his thumb. Rey realized she was staring and quickly averted her eyes. He must have noticed because the same corner quirked up the smallest of fractions, which reignited her blush anew. “I’m a stoic believer that chefs should always use their own knives when they can. Unknown blades leads to shoddy knifework more often than not.”

Rey was oddly perplexed by his answer. “Are you sure? I really don’t mind picking up some basic ingredients on my way over.”

Ren waved her offer away as though it was a bothersome fly. “There’s no need for that. I have everything we’ll need at my apartment. I also don’t want you showing up with any preconceived notions of what we’ll be making. I prefer teaching from the ground up.”

Rey spent the a good portion of that afternoon wondering what the home kitchen of a chef of Ren’s caliber was like. It was not hard to imagine a pantry full of items like gold-seal balsamic vinegar, stacked jars of beluga caviar and virtually every spice known to mankind and a refrigerator stocked with prime wagyu ribeyes and tubs of creme fraise. Surely he didn’t eat the same way he cooked at Vader and on Iron Chef at home, or he wouldn’t have his lean, athletic build (that she certainly had not been admiring, thank you very much), but if he didn’t mind using his personal inventory who was she to argue?

Still, she felt strange going over to someone’s home empty handed. She might have grown up poor, but she didn’t grow up without manners. Bringing something to drink seemed simple and reasonable enough, but now as she stood before the store’s meager wine selection she felt her heart rate begin to increase and the palms of her hands grow slick with sweat. At first she attributed it to stepping out of the chilly late afternoon air and into the overly warm store, but as her eyes roved over the rows of chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, zinfandels and cabernets, she was finally forced to acknowledge the feeling for the panic attack that it was.

Shit. Shit. This was really happening. She was less than half an hour away from being privately tutored by a chef with five stars and at least a dozen James Beard Foundation awards under his belt, not to mention the innumerable other awards and recognition from food critics, restaurant reviewers, and just about every form of printed media that covered every aspect of contemporary culture and the culinary scene. And what was she? A prep cook with two year’s experience and no prior education or background in the restaurant business who only got this far because of a lucky break, a sophisticated palate and the ability to learn quickly with asking minimum questions.

“Don’t even bother, kid,” Unkar Plutt grunted one day when he saw the stacks of college applications and brochures on the scarred kitchen table at his house. Normally Rey was careful about keeping them hidden to avoid this exact type of confrontation, but Plutt was off work unexpectedly early that day, the reek of cheap alcohol already prevalent beneath the ever-present stench of diesel fuel and cooking grease. “Those damn schools need to stop spoon-feeding you kids these delusions that a piece of paper that cost fifty grand only gets you jack shit and the system only exists to screw people over. You want some quality advice? Go out and get a job like the rest of us sorry fuckers. Or if you’re looking for a real easy ride just have someone knock you up and collect welfare for the next eighteen years. I’m sure even you can find someone desperate enough to help you with that.”

Rage had rose in Rey’s throat in acidic waves, but she made herself remain silent; she still had the bruises on her arm from the last time she backtalked him. She loathed the tears that rolled down her face when she was in bed that night, but they helped temper her resolve and made her more determined than ever to prove him wrong.

It was exactly that brash line of thinking that put her where she was now. Ren had challenged her and she had stepped up to it for no other reason than to defend her pride. What if this time she was truly in over her head? What if the only thing that came from all this was her becoming the butt of a joke between Ren and all his celebrity chef friends?

Rey turned over the bottle of malbec in her hands. Alamos was a good wine - one of her favorites, in fact - but it would only cost her a whopping twelve dollars. She was certain that Ren had a custom-made wine closet in his apartment full of the best wines France, Italy, and California had to offer. Would he scoff at her attempt at being a decent houseguest? If that happened she already knew she’d flee from pure embarrassment and pray that she’d never have the misfortune of seeing him ever again.

The thought gave her pause. A few weeks ago the Ren she thought she’s knew would have regarded anything she did with open contempt. But now? The image that she had previously build of him - which she admitted was largely based on the perceptions of others - was beginning to crack and fall away. The man she had met in the coffee shop who shared his croissant with her was not the same one that the other Village chefs jeered about over drinks, nor was he the force of nature on the set of Iron Chef America.

So now what she wanted to know was, which version of Kylo Ren was real, and how did it compare to the one she thought of at night?

Rey took the bottle of wine up to the cashier before she could change her mind.

Kylo Ren did not live in the gilded opulence of The Plaza, nor did he have a sweeping panoramic view of Central Park from 15 Park West. With that being said, the Walker Tower was certainly nothing to sneeze at. Built in 1929 by Ralph Thomas Walker in New York’s Chelsea neighborhood, the building embodied all the defining characteristics of art deco architecture: bold but aesthetically pleasing angles, handsome brick facade, and the geometric and organic ornamentation that the art style was so revered for. The last of the wan September afternoon light reflected off the leaded glass panes that made up the front entrance, making it glow gold.

The doorman attending the Tower’s entrance - a middle-aged gentleman with a steel-gray moustache - regarded Rey as she approached. She could only imagine what he thought of her in her faded jeans and sweater that had seen one too many washes, her face partially obscured by a too-large scarf and ratty tote hanging off one shoulder. It was especially hard to not feel self-conscious when he looked away from her to tip his hat to a businessman entering the building whose suit probably cost more than what she made in the month.

Several months, she amended with a touch of bitterness.

Rey could hear the echo of Plutt’s sneering voice in her head, taunting her that she was way out of her league. Her hands tightened on the neck of the wine bottle, imagining it being his fat neck as she strode forward, her chin tilted up. Per Ren’s instructions, Rey told the doorman her name and whom she was there to see. She expected the same chilly reception she received at the First Order headquarters, but instead the doorman beamed at her, his blue eyes warming.

“I was wondering when you’d arrive, Miss Jakken. Go right on up. I’ll inform Mr. Ren that you are on your way.” He opened the door for her, bowing a bit as she crossed the threshold.

Stepping into the Walker Tower’s lobby was like taking a step back in time. Black marble floors and pillars made the ivory-colored crown moulding and the panes of crystal-bright glass in their latticework of stainless steel practically glow in comparison. Rey could easily imagine how this place must have looked like in its hayday, when women in elegant evening gowns and men in black tie finery passed through this very same lobby on their way out to the theater or to a prestigious party.

Maybe we can do 30s mobsters for Halloween, Rey thought idly as she stepped into one of the elevators.

Ren lived in the upper floors of the Tower, nearly twenty stories above 18th street. After checking and re-checking his apartment number, she found herself standing outside his door. Her heart was in her throat, but her feet remained blessedly planted to the ground.

Perhaps a little too much so. Five minutes later, she was still standing there, her arm firmly pinned to her side.

Oh for pete’s sake, Jakken, just get it over with! She finally brought her hand up to knock.

In the instant before Rey’s hand come in contact with the door it suddenly swung open. Instead of rapping with enough force to be heard through the thick wood, Rey ended up punching Kylo Ren in the shoulder. Hard.

She also discovered, at that exact moment, that there truly was no God, because if there was They would have been merciful and struck her down where she stood to save her from her own embarrassment.

Luckily, punching Kylo Ren was about as effective as punching a tree (her hand would attest to that the next morning); the only reaction she got from him was a cocked eyebrow.

“I know I don’t have the most admirable reputation, but I thought it’d at least be a little later in the evening before you started lashing out at me.”

Rey’s face burned with such intensity it was a wonder that her hair didn’t ignite. “I… It’s not like I did it on purpose! You’re the one who just...just opened the door without making sure someone wasn’t on the other side…!”

“Miss Jakken.”

The sound of him saying her name cut her off mid-ramble. When she dared to look up at him, she saw that a corner of his mouth was quirked up ever so slightly.

“I was only joking. Since I know it doesn’t take ten minutes to travel from the lobby to my front door I was starting to think you had some last-minute second thoughts.”

Ah. She had no idea she was standing at his door for that long before getting up the courage to finally knock.

“Nope, definitely not,” Rey said, perhaps a touch too fast. “Not a single second thought in my head, or else I wouldn’t be here.”

A palpable silence stretched between them as they continued to stare at each other over the threshold of his apartment, growing increasingly awkward with each passing second. Almost a full minute elapsed before Rey realized that Ren was just as much waiting for her to say something as she was for him.

“Won’t you come in?” he finally asked.

“Yes of course thank you,” Rey said all in the same breath, barely giving Ren the chance to get out of her way as she barreled past him and into his apartment.

So this is what twenty million gets you in New York City, Rey thought with a touch of bemusement as she stepped into Ren’s main living area. Her and Finn’s entire apartment could have easily fit in Ren’s living room and kitchen, which felt even bigger by the line of floor-to-ceiling windows across two of the walls and its high ceiling. While Rey would have preferred an apartment that overlooked Central Park, Ren’s panoramic view of the New York skyscrapers already glittering in the purpling twilight was nothing short of breathtaking. His pension for black, white, and chrome-themed interior decoration evidently extended beyond Vader’s dining area, but in his home it came off as being much softer and not nearly as cold: the epitome of a high-end bachelor pad. A handsome black leather sofas and loveseat set, separated by cut glass end tables, circled a modern gas fireplace made of steel and glass. Gray rugs with modest geometric patterns covered the majority of the dark wood flooring, and a cursory glance at one of his three bookshelves showed Ren mostly read biographies and nonfiction of a wide variety of subjects. There was no TV, but a buffet table set between two of the bookshelves boasted a top-of-the-line Bose speaker system and the largest collection of CDs Rey had ever seen outside of a record store. It was all very classy, but it also felt very lonely.

Deciding that she had gawked at his home long enough, she turned toward the only reason why she was there: his kitchen.

Of course, Ren’s private kitchen was the most beautiful she had ever seen, with its dark wood cabinets, stainless steel appliances, and black granite countertops that sparkled with flecks of embedded quartz. The only thing that suggested that it was no ordinary kitchen was the massive gas range stove and oven unit that dominated the far wall, every inch the same beast used in New York’s best restaurants.

“Feel free to make yourself comfortable,” Ren said, every bit the formal host. Then he said in a tone that was caught somewhere between a question and a statement, “You brought wine.”

Until that instant, Rey had completely forgotten about the wine. Had she not, she might have tried to wrap it in her scarf as discreetly as possible and left it with her shoulder bag, but instead she had carelessly set it down in full view on the corner of his extended dining table.

“I did,” Rey said, once again fighting the urge to bolt. “But only as a preemptive ‘thank you for the lessons and for letting me make a mess of your gorgeous kitchen.’ And I’m not technically going against your instructions of bringing anything except for my knives because this isn’t an ingredient, and if it is it’s only coincidence that I chose it. And even though this malbec is popular at BB8 it’s nowhere near fancy enough to be a date wine, so it’s much better to share between acquaintances and coworkers and not necessarily as friends…”

Oh my god Rey, stop talking, stop talking, stop talking right now…!

She cleared her throat, which had become painfully dry during her mindless rambling. The fine grain of the tabletop suddenly became the most interesting thing in the entire room, and Rey studied it with interest as she said, much more softly, “Besides, Alamos is from California. It’s not even true Argentinian malbec.”

“What difference does that make? It you enjoy it, and it’s something you feel is worth sharing, then that’s all that should matter.”

It was the gentle chime of glass on wood that at last coaxed Rey to look back up when the unexpectedly gentle tone of Ren’s voice did not. He stood a little ways down from her at the dining table with two large bellied wine glasses at his elbow and a corkscrew in one hand. He wordlessly held out his other hand and Rey handed the wine over to him.

With expert precision, Ren cut off the foil covering the top of the bottle before shoving the twisted metal screw into the cork. Rey didn’t even bother to hide how she watched how the muscles in his exposed arms corded as he worked the cork free, the fabric of his button-down shirt taught over his shoulders. She also noticed for the first time that the top two buttons of his shirt below the collar were undone, revealing a swatch of pale skin of his neck and chest. Every other time she had seen him, whether it was over some fashion of media or in person, his clothing had been exceedingly modest, even to the point of being prudish: all long-sleeved and high-necked shirts and perfectly creased slacks. Seeing him now, with his sleeves partially rolled up and wearing dark, casual jeans, felt strangely intimate.

Rey scoffed at herself. You’re reading way too much into this. You’re only here to learn how to cook like a pro. If it wasn’t for that, someone like Ren would never look twice at you.

The cork came free with a pop. Ren poured the lush red wine into their glasses in equal portions, then offered one to Rey. The rich bouquet of sun-ripened berries and heady oak tickled her nose as she raised the glass to her lips, savoring the way that the decadent, sweet liquid spread across her tongue. It took a huge amount of willpower to not down the entire glass in one go.

“Technically…” Ren started, sounding as though he was measuring each word before speaking, “true malbec wine in determined by the grapes used, not by a specific region. If that were the case, all malbecs outside of France would be frauds since that is where the grape first originated. They never took well to France’s climate and were used primarily as blenders, but they thrive in Argentina and in California, which is where the majority of malbecs come from.”

“Oh,” Rey murmured into her wine glass. “That’s... good to know.”

An awkward silence fell over the pair, the constant hum of the kitchen’s massive refrigerator suddenly aggravatingly loud. Rey took another sip of wine, needing a few seconds to align her thoughts. Her first cooking lesson was going nothing like she imagined. Ren may have shed most of his brusqueness since their very first encounter, but he did not let their conversations stray beyond the topic of food and preparation of it, which was something she had expected. What she had not expected was not only standing around his dining room table, discussing the wine she bought on a whim, but doing so in a way that put her insecurities to rest. It was becoming increasingly difficult to gauge what he would do or say next, and that was making her nervous.

“So,” Rey said, perhaps a bit too loudly, “What’s on the menu tonight? Duck confit? French onion soup? Something stuffed with foie gras and poached in butter?”

“I was actually thinking of starting in a different direction. How do you feel about Italian food?”

“I love it,” Rey said, perking up. “Mediterranean cuisine is one of my favorites.”

Ren topped off their wine and gestured for her to follow him to the kitchen. Rey eagerly followed, feeling excited for the first time.

“Like most international cuisine, Americans have completely destroyed the idea of what authentic Italian food actually is. The most popular variation - overcooked pasta slathered with red sauce - is nothing more than a bastardization of traditional bolognese sauce, which comes from the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, which is only one of twenty separate regions throughout the country. Each region has its own food culture that it is fiercely proud of. If Americans ever took the time to learn that, every Olive Garden restaurant in the country at large would close within a week.”

Ah, there’s the Kylo Ren I’m more familiar with.

Ren moved about the kitchen as he spoke, removing various ingredients and equipment they’d be using; medium-sized oblong plum tomatoes, a wedge of white cheese with a black rind, and a hefty slab of what looked like pork belly, but even more heavily streaked. It was not until he took out a package of fresh pasta from the fridge that things finally clicked into place.

“You’re going to teach me how to make spaghetti?” she blurted out before she could stop herself.

“Bucatini all’amatriciana, specifically,” Ren corrected. “A specialty out of Rome. If you want to learn what it takes to make good food, you need to first learn what makes food great.”

“Train long and study hard, you must,” Rey quipped in a raspy voice, then blushed when Ren cocked an eyebrow at her. “Sorry.”

“As I was saying, food culture in each of Italy’s regions are heavily influenced by the ingredients produced there. The northern regions such as Lombardy and the Aosta Valley prefer polenta and risotto to pasta and butter rather than olive oil. Warmer climates in the south make crops like tomatoes, artichokes and eggplants plentiful. Sicily is unique because its cuisine is an amalgamation of all the cultures that have conquered and otherwise occupied the island over the centuries and turning it into something all its own.” As he spoke, Ren set to work prepping their ingredients for their own meal. He wielded his knife - a beautiful eight-inch Miyabi blade - with the skill of a master swordsman; the tomatoes and the plump yellow onions on his cutting board weren’t so much sliced as they seemed to fall apart under his touch in perfectly proportioned segments. “But they all have the same thing in common, as does every great culinary culture around the world does; they use what’s available to them, in the season when it’s available.

“We are going to be cheating a little bit tonight; if we wanted to keep in spirit of the lesson, we would be making something far more appropriate for autumn, such as risotto with mushrooms and hazelnuts or pumpkin ravioli, but I feel that this dish will more accurately accentuate what I’m talking about. As I said, amatriciana is specific to the Lozio region, where Rome is located. The dish’s two main ingredients, guanciale and pecorino romano -” he respectively pointed to the meat and cheese with his knife - “originate from that area. Today most places use pancetta and parmigiano reggiano in their place, but it’s important to always remember where something originates from, no matter how humble of a beginning that may feel like. That, Miss Jakken, is the cornerstone of all cooking. A chef who forgets that has lost his integrity.”

He paused, casting a glance at her out of the corner of his eye. Rey felt her heart stutter. He had given her that look once before, when he told the story of Hades escorting his bride to the underworld. It was just as improbable to decipher it now as it was then, because surely Kylo Ren wasn’t, even on the most subtle level, flirting with her. She took another sip of her wine, fortifying herself before steering the conversation back to what she hoped was safer waters.

“You know you can call me Rey,” she said, her voice uncharacteristically quiet.

Again, that slight upturn of his mouth . Shit . What would she do if he ever smiled at her for real?

“If you insist… Rey.”

#reylo #reylo fanfiction #reylo chef au #reylo au #allez cuisine!

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yaaliinventory-blog · 7 years ago

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Top 6 steps to improve online selling this Halloween

Every year, holiday season is the most expected period when everybody shops as if they are buying up for the whole year.

Good news for online retailers: holidays today mean holi-sales, as more people than ever before will do their holiday shopping online.

The holiday season starts with Halloween, the 4th largest holiday for E-commerce (coming after Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Christmas & New Year). If you don’t wanna miss any sales on this shopping craze, you’d better get prepared right now.

That’s because the spooky-fun holiday has become the 8th-highest spending holiday in the US according to the National Retail Federation (NRF). Just last year the NRF projected Halloween to rake in $8.4 billion in the US alone, and the holiday isn’t just limited to America.In Europe, Halloween is popular, too, and for savvy sellers who sell on multiple marketplaces around the world, the chances for massive sales are high—if you plan accordingly

There is a statistics which describes

" Merchants who specialize in E-commerce during holiday season will be even selling more in normal days. "

That’s because the NRF found that in 2016, nearly 22% of consumers were planning on making Halloween purchases online. Year-over-year, that’s more than a 26% increase, and with online shopping on the rise, 2017 is set to be a record-breaking year for E-commerce sellers.

whether you plan on putting on a costume (or dressing up your pet), you have to admit: Halloween is an extraordinary time of year for online sellers.

Here are 6 must-do tips to help you get started for this Halloween.

Start promoting holiday offers at-least a week ahead

It has become common that people are buying sooner and sooner before the holidays. According to National Retail Foundation, 40% of consumers begin shopping before Halloween. They do not only shop for the Halloween but also shop for later holidays like Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year.

This fact is well proven by Google reporting that 1 in 4 American shoppers searches for gifts and stuffs long before Halloween. In order to catch the early sales, online retailers need to prepare for the holiday sales as soon as possible.

Get your inventory bulked up, promotions ready, store decoration finished and everything else done and up at least 2 weeks before the holiday.

If you don’t want to bring up everything too soon, start with publishing some teasers in landing page or sending promotional emails to remind your customers of visiting your store on the big day to catch the deal.

The idea is to become your customers best choice when they think about where to shop/search for this years holiday purchase.

Optimize mobile version of your website

The study by KPCB shows, that an adult in the US spends approximately 2.8 hours daily browsing Internet with his/her mobile devices (which is 51% of all the time spent online daily).

From search to purchase, online shoppers are turning from web to mobile devices, thanks to the booming era of smartphones and tablets. M-Commerce now has become an essential growing part of e-Commerce.

With more than 50% of online shopping occurring on smartphones and tablets, you’re virtually about lose half of potential sales in this holiday season if your website isn’t mobile-friendly.

You should design a mobile-responsive website and perfect the user experience on mobile shopping:

- Don’t require logging in to shop on mobile

- Make it easy to browse with one finger

- Simple and quick checkout process

- If you want to invest more: create a separate app for shopping on your store

Decorate your store with a spooky look and feel

Shoppers are most willing to pay real money when they are in the mood. Why do offline-retailers spend about $60 billion annually on in-store display for special events? Because customers are much more lavish when being emotionally affected.

If you’re doing online business, you’re saving much more than offline retailers in decorating and changing the look and feel of your store. Designing some thrilling images on homepage, installing themed add-ons, sending HTML emails are all easy and cost-saving ideas to prepare a spooky look for Halloween to impress your visitors.

Product packing

Halloween is a holiday when people buy little things as gifts and package here matters. The more creative package you have, the more likely you will be chosen among the number of similar retailers. Design several packages and offer Halloween sets of products, combining the best-selling items into special Halloween deals.

Be Sure To Stock Up

Almost a third of shoppers start buying for Halloween before October. So, if you’re selling Halloween related goods, be sure to stock up early and start your Halloween efforts in good time. You don’t want to miss out on a huge segment of your potential market, so planning ahead and starting any promotions well in advance is a must.

You’ll want to use your planning to predict any increase in sales as a result of Halloween marketing efforts and offers, and make sure that you have the capacity to meet demand.

Offer Something Extra

Halloween is a good opportunity to increase sales on your E-commerce site, but it’s also a good opportunity for your competitors, so you’ll need to do something to stand out and offering something extra to your customers is a useful tool for doing that.

We provide our entire resources to support your online selling with Yaali Inventory Management Software, if you’re an E-commerce Seller/ Brick and Mortar Seller get benefited from Yaali , you would have never come across these features which we provide. We are offering it for free. So check in without worries and Get benefited this Holiday season

Thank you

Best Regards,

Yaali Inventory Management Software

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noahdogcarrierbackpack-blog · 5 years ago

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A few of the Best Socks for Women?

Insignificant as they may possibly be, socks can get the outsize effect on typically the course of your working day. As well free around this ankle joint, and you are getting to turn out to be pulling them way up just about every few blocks. Very rough — blister area. After that there’s the matter of picking a sock that certainly is basically stylish — deciding on among, say, a match of actually eye-catching tube socks and some glittery mesh going-out socks. All of us attained out to twenty-one stylish women to hear about their favorites regarding all occasions — regarding slipping on under high heel sandals (Darners, Tabios), and steering clear of slip-sliding on the yoga sparring floor (Sticky Bes together with Pointes). Consider your sock compartment revived. 1. Bombas No-Show Stockings We’ve read high compliment for Bombas socks via everyone through Yeardley Smith (the words of Lisa Simpson) to help chief cook Jonathan Waxman. Persons are especially partial to the brand’s no-show shoes. “For me, it’s information on comfort and ease and functionality, ” says stylist Jasmine Caccamo, that loves the brand’s no-show style. “When I’m putting on everything from my YSL Court docket Classic trainers to be able to my Coleman Air Pegasus, Bombas clothes are my own go-to. All these socks experience a ‘blister heel’ (meaning gel grips around the heel bone that keep the clothes in place) and the particular good quality of the natural cotton makes them ultra comfortable, comfortable, and in order to. ” Allison Tray, founder regarding Tres Belle Spa in Boerum Hill, explained to people that she is “totally obsessed” with how secure Bombas socks are, in addition to compares the feeling connected with wearing these phones “a small hug on the foot. ” She sports them to be able to the gym, and as well frames them with ankle joint boots. minimal payments Hue No-Show Socks To be able to wear clothes with residences, you’re planning to need something using a deep cut in this front, and, crucially, a little something that wil slip away. Dolley Frearson, co-founder plus creative director of Large Fashion Home, discovered a new pair that does the particular tip: Hue’s No-Show Shoes. “They’re the best no-show socks actually, ” the woman says. “I possessed in order to go through so several brands before My spouse and i observed ones that didn’t slide off. ” These shoes feature an supple topline and a silicon back again so they stay throughout place, and according to Frearson, they handle only about each type associated with boot: “They’re perfect intended for flats, booties, sneakers, every thing. ” several. Jarseen The female No-Show Low-Cut Non-Slip Boat Socks We would be remiss to abandon off the particular pair of no-show clothes that come recommended simply by researched surgeon Marian Wang, that applied her professional homework expertise to often the hunt for the perfect no-show sock. Her answer: Jarseen Women’s No-Show Low-Cut Non slip Liner Socks. “This sock was the clear winner, ” she wrote. “Unlike many no-show socks who have just a tiny pat of silicon gel in the hindfoot for hold, these shoes have a new ring of gel just about all the way around often the borders, which is a lot of more effective. ” There is also silicone within the baseball of the foot, which in turn helps your sock live place in flats. “If My spouse and i have been only acquiring one set of two, I’d find these, ” says Wang. 4. Keysocks Knee Substantial No Display Socks “Winter no-show socks” may noise like the zusammenstellung einander widersprechender begriffe, although costume custom together with Strategist contributor Alison Freer identified a pair that is normally just that. They are knee-high no-shows, which usually she describes as “kind of much like a pair of Peds about steroids. ” This shoes cover your foot, often the bottoms of your foot, heels, and calves, nevertheless leave your ankle subjected. It might sound unusual, nonetheless Freer swears they are extremely versatile: “You can put on them underneath skinny jeans or even pants with high heels, moccasin shoes, oxfords, récréation flats, as well as even Toms (seriously, have got you received a whiff of your Toms currently? ), and absolutely no person would be the wiser, ” the woman says. This socks will be made with Coolmax polyester, a moisture-wicking technical materials, which Freer says will help cut sweat and smell in half. 5. Nancy Los angeles Rosa Two-Tone Voile Stockings Both former Maryam Nassir Zadeh buyer Carnelia Garcia and swimsuit designer Melisa Denizeri raved concerning Maria La Rosa silk-blend shoes. “Maria La Rosa shoes feel super high-class along with the colors are constantly fun, ” says Denizeri. Garcia, that calls the particular socks “super chic, ” told all of us that the lady liked to be able to pair all of them with MNZ new sandals (but you could wear them all with any kind of sandals). We’re straight into the brand’s recent horoscope-themed silk-blend clothes — which would make a good birthday gift for this Co-Star addict in your own personal life — and this two-tone golden pair, which can be with a a bit more affordable price point. 6. Tabio Side Shrub Short Socks Denizeri can be another fan of Tabio socks — she states that visiting the Western brand’s London store is actually a emphasize of her family vacations to help the U. K. — for their unique styles in addition to high-quality construction. “I believe what sets Taboio shoes aside is the particular quality sourcing of the yarn and their creation standards, ” Denizeri states. “But also the classic layouts — I would not seriously find any related socks by simply other companies. ” Maayan Zilberman, president of the confectionary firm Sweet Saba, is some sort of Tabio devotee, as well. “They have finest yarns suitable for using using heels, ” states. 8. Hansel From Basel Small Chucks Sheer Folks Sock Of all the brands producing show-off-worthy socks on the market, fine art movie director (and former Have to have Offer Co. fashion director) Krystle Kemp says the fact that Hansel from Basel “is the one that makes fun-to-wear shoes in the nearly all aesthetically appealing way. ” According to Kemp, the particular sock line’s layouts autumn “somewhere between simple and even loud, and they affect the perfect balance of flashy interest and thoughtful layout. ” Ear-piercing start-up Studs founder Lisa Bubbers can be a fan, too. “Hansel Through Basel socks may be the most beautiful, delicate very little works of art produced in Japan, ” she claims. “They’re made for showing off with some loafers or chunky heel. ” 8. Roots Cabin Sock You don’t have to be able to be hiking keep pile to slide about some sort of pair of thick shoes — they work as well for a new day inside office. Denizeri says of which in the winter the woman first are traditional camp out socks, like these from D. L. Veggie and Origins Canada. “I usually wear heavy boots and My partner and i love to put on heavier socks, ” states. “They’re super cozy when they are worn in your own home. ” The Phase. M. Bean are made of a good chunky cotton stitched plus the Roots are a new cozy flexible plastic and natural cotton blend. 9. Hanes Silk Reflections The female Knee Large Strengthen Toe of the feet If being dressed in a new set of two chunky clothes under boots sounds as well heavy with regard to everyday use, take note through halloween costume designer Leesa Evans, that says she “loves to help wear a thin knee-high inventory with boots. ” Often the thinner sock makes for simplicity of wear: “It makes taking your boots upon, especially a new knee-high boot your computer, extremely uncomplicated, ” the lady says. We think these would be practical in order to have available for wearing with loafers and inshore in the cooler a few months, as well. Read more: - Best Toddler Bike - Dog Backpack Carrier - Balance Bike Toddler - Nearest Redbox Locations - Sock Boots - Phone Cases

#Sock #Boots #Sock Boots #Cheap Sock Boots #Best Sock Boots

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hiiroiisms-blog · 7 years ago

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Bitcoin Futures Will be Here: Situation So Far

Often the week in front will give significantly better future hint of Bitcoin derivatives products and solutions as yesteryear at some p. e. EST, typically the Chicago Snowboard Options Substitute (CBOE) made possible bitcoin options to begin dealing under the mark “XBT. ” Chicago Cargo Exchange (CME) is set to let futures exchanging in the cryptocurrency of their own 2003 honda accord on January 18, 2017. Bitcoin coins were in place over twenty percent leading into often the U. Nasiums. market available. Current desire for foods for the options contracts contracts may seem to show your stronger liking for near-term bitcoin futures contracts priced on the current identify rate. Depending on CBOE forums feed, in excess of 800 plans were dealt with in the primary two a long time.

At least one outage plagued the exact CBOE at the begining of trading, as well as two a matter of minutes of while relaxing from main: 31 r. m. SERA to 8: thirty three p. michael. EST, although the CBOE said at 5: 34 k. m. FUT that there would have been a 5-minute tumulte if the entry month (January expiration) won 30 percent.

Most of these deliberate prevents in buying and selling are also known as “circuit breakers” and are suitable protect this market from irrepressible volatility.

When we delay to see the best way futures stock trading unfolds from the U. Ings. markets now, here are some with the notable incidents that bought us towards a world of bitcoin futures.

April 31 The exact CME Collection gave bitcoin investors throughout the world a bit of a The halloween season treat every time they announced ideas to allow bitcoin futures to generally be traded very own exchange. The particular Chicago Cargo Exchange’s declaration notably coincided with the wedding of the being published of Bitcoin inventor Satoshi Nakomoto’s primary 2008 white colored paper in the cryptocurrency.

Cryptocurrency enthusiasts procured this as the signal involving mainstream likability of the advantage class, and also bitcoin closed down the day (according to fantastic data made available from www.coinmarketcap.com) from $6, 468. 40. As soon as futures dealing opened whether or not, bitcoin seemed to be trading with $14, 901. 70.

12 , 1, 2017 Regulators afforded bitcoin options the green light-weight for the CME Group for self-certification by CBOE Futures contracts Exchange (CFE) as well as for the particular Cantor Exchange’s new seek bitcoin binary options. Typically the exchanges sure the CFTC that the new models were compliant with the self-certification process protocols, and the CFTC refrained by halting typically the self-certification. CFTC Chairman With regard to. Christopher Giancarlo stated in any press release:

Bitcoin, a exclusive currency, is usually a commodity compared with any often the Commission includes dealt with inside past…[a]s an end result, we have have extensive talks with the transactions regarding the planned contracts, along with CME, CFE and Solista have endorsed significant changes to protect users and maintain well-kept markets. November 4 Often the CBOE published it would unveiling futures exchanging in bitcoin under the icon “XBT” about Sunday overnight, December twelve, 2017, on 6 delaware. m. APPARA?T COMME ÉTANT. This step was seen as an manoever for you to beat the sooner announcement with the competing CME that they will allow futures buying and selling in bitcoin beginning 12 18, 2017. Not surprisingly, the exact CBOE’s access to the change platform Gemini, owned because of the Winklevoss girl twins, may permit the newly produced “Bitcoin Billionaires” to further take advantage on the results of the cryptocurrencies.

December some A Natixis Investment Operators Survey connected with 500 world wide investors organizing more than $19 trillion with assets finds that “nearly two-thirds [of market research participants] said Bitcoin was in some sort of bubble, this was a thirty days before the cryptocurrency surged on top of $10, 000 last week. ”

Also bearish on bitcoin was Sophie Roach, a new Yale Higher education economist just who told CNBC’s “The Rundown” that alternate legitimization creates bitcoin “somewhat dangerous [for investors], ” citing a “lack of inborn underlying global financial value towards concept. ”

December a few S3 Mates, a data homework and statistics firm, routed this observe to people on GBTC ETF, truly the only ETF which in turn trades bitcoin. In the take note of, Managing After of Predictive Analytics during S3, Ihor Dusaniwsky, encouraged that bitcoin as an purchase would be “ripe for a reduction once the CBOE futures long term contracts go live” but also wary that the prices for shorting the GBTC ETF shall be extremely huge. While coins contracts could enable a lot easier and more reliable access to either long in addition to short placements, Dusaniwsky taken into consideration, futures stock trading would likewise carry insurance rate costs for any GBTC ETF investors, documenting:

Long GBTC holders could feel the agony of a 53% assets premium shrinkage, while shorter sellers will likely to be incurring your 50%+ stock options borrow rate - both equally sides will be shelling out a premium in an effort to ride the particular Bitcoin rollercoaster once the CBOE futures start out trading.

As well on January 6, 2017, trading level for BTC nearly multiplied from half a dozen. 9 million to 13. 7 thousand and passes across the 12 billion amount threshold at last since Bitcoin crossed $9,95, 000 (November 28, 2017). Whether the following run up appeared to be related to the potential lead of bitcoin futures or simply just normal current market machinations can be unclear. 12 , 7 The exact Futures Field Association, a business organization whoever primary customers consist of the main clearing buildings and liberating firms pertaining to futures across the world, published a letter it seemed to be sent to typically the CFTC chair person on November 6, 2017, decrying how little “a healthier dialogue amongst regulators, geneva chamonix transfers, clearing dwellings and the paying down firms who'll be reading and absorbing the risk of most of these volatile, surfacing instruments in a default. ” This is inspite of the fact that often the letter in addition admits in which, “Under legislations, exchanges may perhaps self-certify a solution for dealing by the nearby of internet business one day and next list the goods for exchanging the next day. This does not necessitate CFTC credit or input…”

Also with December six, in a articulation interview having former Superior Michael Bloomberg, Chairman plus CEO regarding Goldman Sachs, Lloyd Blankfein, stated this, “We’ll [Goldman Sachs] discover. If it negotiates and it may get more established and this trades as being a store cost and it would not move up and also down <20% and there may be liquidity on this website, we’ll go to it. ”

That exact interview incorporates the rule that, reported by an un-named source by using knowledge of Goldman Sachs options, the financial commitment bank blueprints to help distinct bitcoin options contracts contracts for several clients if your derivatives go real time and that “the decision to client positions will be designed on a case-by-case basis. ” Goldman Sachs “will react in an agent capacity” along with “won’t be a market-maker or build up inventory during the derivatives. ”

December around eight As the ordinary trading 1 week came to an end, Coinbase and its substitute platform GDAX sent an indication from Coinbase CEO, John Armstrong, to help its users by blog in addition to email that will “invest green, ” as well noting of which “there may perhaps be downtime which may impact your individual ability to exchange. ” Even though seemingly simple, it appears the exact Coinbase party was re-entering a surge around trading sound level that would wreck its base. At 20 p. n. on 12 10, 2017, Coinbase tweeted that it might be offline first hour involving scheduled preservation to “help to prevent slowly performance plus login challenges during large traffic spikes. ”

In sum The market for Bitcoin Options is opened for business. Just after 14 working hours of premarket bitcoin futures contracts and a 100 % day connected with trading out of both Euro and Ough. S. option traders, “XBT” appear to be functioning like planned. Though spectators of your past weeks time have foretold of sets from rosy outlooks to apocryphal warnings, most people, at least with the moment, look like on a avenue toward re-discovering cryptocurrency options as a innovative wave with derivatives.

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