#so glad i didn't get rid of this top i haven't warn in years

[porkchop-ao3]

Tip for people who love the serotonin burst of getting new clothes but are broke:

1. Get bored of your clothes

2. Put them in a bag somewhere with the idea of donating them at some point

3. Forget to donate them and leave them for months on end

4. Rediscover them later and re-incorporate them into your wardrobe 😂

[pxmun]

It had been a long and eventful day for the NWR since Wendell's return. The silly old engine had been busy reacquainting himself with the railway and meeting new friends. Sir Topham Hatt, Lady Hatt, and Dowager Hatt were shocked when Cleo arrived at their house ridding aboard Thomas with Wendell in tow.

For a while Sir Topham Hatt was speechless, but after a while he had managed to snap out of his trance and welcomed his great-great grandparents' engine and honorary Hatt back home. Wendell was thrilled and as such used his steam mustache to wrap around the Hatt family to hug them.

Sir Topham Hatt now just had to find a place for Wendell to work on the NWR. For the moment though, Sir Topham Hatt thought it best to hold off that decision until tomorrow, as it was getting late. He told Wendell that the silly old engine could rest at Tidmouth sheds with the others for the night.

The other engines were excited and wished to stay up late in order to hear more about Wendell, Dinah, and Ethan's adventures. Sir Topham Hatt though, denied this and told his engines that it was important for them to get their rest and that they could wait until tomorrow for Wendell's stories. That included Cleo too, who had spent the whole day chatting with the silly old engine.

Understanding, but disappointed, Cleo got up to head home with Sir Topham Hatt. Before they left, she promised to see Wendell tomorrow and that Cleo would take Wendell up to Ulfstead Castle to meet the Earl. Wendell loved that plan and asked Thomas if he was alright with Cleo traveling with him. Thomas was perfectly fine with this; he knew how much Cleo adored Dinah's discoveries and felt that it would be wrong to prevent Cleo from going on her own adventures and making her own discoveries. Wendell was grateful towards the tank engine and promised Cleo, he would see her after school.

With that Cleo and Sir Topham Hatt left, leaving the engines to rest quietly in their berths.

Later into the night the Jukebox Bands manager, J.J. Silvers had just got done counting the nickels the band earned that day. Being on Sodor had brought the band a lot of business due in part to the busy train stations. Thanks to Romeo and Patty, JJ and the band were able to set up shop at Patty's mother's cafe and provide entertainment for its customers and fellow passengers. It had brought in big business, which the band was grateful for. The cherry on top though, was that the band didn't have to hide themselves away, they could be out singing face to face with the public without people freaking out.

JJ by now had rounded up the nickels needed to pay his charges. He was planning on hitching a ride on Percy back home when the small green engine left for his mail deliveries. JJ still had a few hours before Percy's crew arrived, so he decided to look around the roundhouse, being careful so he wouldn't wake up the sleeping engines.

JJ was enjoying his quiet midnight stroll when he felt something suddenly grab him. The band manager let out a yelp of surprise as he was hauled up into the air and was left dangling upside down in front of the glowing yellow golden eyes of Wendell.

"Ssssh, you'll wake the others." Wendell warned.

"Well, why did you string me up like a trout then"?! JJ aggressively whispered.

Wendell quickly glanced around the room before addressing JJ.

"I was awoken by a presence, a familiar presence that I haven't felt for almost a hundred years. Though, there doesn't seem to be anyone out of place here, well except for you." Wendell said.

Wendell then paused, his eyes slowly focusing on JJ. JJ was suddenly turned right side up; JJ was glad he didn't have human insides as a puppet, otherwise he would've been sick. The band manager was now face to face with the old magic engine, who stared the puppet right in the eyes.

"Hmm, you look oddly familiar, have we met before old chap"? Wendell asked.

JJ felt like he would be sweating bullets if he still had the ability to do so.

"No, can't say I have ever met an engine like you before." JJ replied, trying to free himself.

"Are you sure? Because you sort of look like..." Wendell was suddenly interrupted.

"Oh, will you look at the time! I really must get going, don't want to miss my train home! Y'know important manager business stuff"! JJ stalled as he squirmed out of the grip of Wendell's steam mustache.

JJ ended up belly flopping onto the shed floor before quickly getting back up onto his feet and skittering away.

"Oh, okay. Have a good trip then." Wendell smiled.

JJ ran for cover underneath Gordon and hid there until he was sure the silly old engine wasn't chasing after him. JJ took the moment of piece to catch his breath, he could hear Gordon's thunderous snoring from above. Unable to hear himself think, JJ climbed up into Gordon's cab where the snoring was muffled.

The band manager checked his little pocket watch, he still had five minutes before Percy was due to leave. JJ leaned his back against the cool boiler, feeling tired and warn out. Right now, he just wanted to go home and rest, heck JJ played with the idea of sleeping in.

By now, the band manager was struggling to keep his eyes open, he was so tempted to just fall asleep and that heavenly singing coming from within Gordon's boiler wasn't helping.

JJ paused mid thought.

"Singing from Gordon's boiler? That can't be right, my exhaustion must be having me hear things." JJ thought.

Still, just to be sure, JJ pressed his ear up against the outer wall of Gordon's boiler and listened. To his shock and surprise, JJ did hear someone or something singing on the other side.

With his interest piqued, JJ reached for the door to Gordon's firebox. After much straining, JJ managed to open the door and peered inside.

The singing was faint, but it was a bit clearer to hear. There were no words, just a sweet hum forming a lullaby. With his interest piqued, JJ decided to take a closer look at this mysterious phenomenon.

Before JJ stepped entered Gordon's firebox, he removed his hat and jacket and hung them up on the open firebox door to alert Romeo and Gordon's crew that he was inside. With that done. JJ began his trek towards the mysterious hymn.

The inside of Gordon's firebox was dark, the only light source being what little moonlight was peering through the open firebox door. JJ carefully maneuvered forward, using the mysterious voice as guide. He passed through the ashes that had been produced from the previous day's work, accidentally kicking up clouds of it as he walked on.

The hymn became clearer and clearer as JJ drew close. He was beginning to make out the voice, as he did, something about it triggered memories in the old puppet. Flashes of a ship on the sea, a pile of vomit, a rush of ascending stairs, a restaurant, a heavenly sad voice, and a figure sitting in front of a piano. Something about those memories brought a tear to the band manager's eyes, so he quickly shook away the thought.

By now, JJ had begun to realize that he had been traveling through Gordon's firebox for a while now. At first, JJ thought he had somehow managed to find his way into Gordon's boiler as he heard a "splash" as a result of the band manager stepping into water, but after viewing what little he could see, JJ was sure this wasn't the case.

JJ was beginning to feel uneasy and thought for a moment about turning around and leaving. However, he spotted a light emitting from the direction he had been heading and his curiosity soon gotten the better of JJ who felt drawn to it.

As he neared the source, JJ's surroundings became clear. What JJ saw was mind boggling.

Above JJ was an endless clear blue sky. A few items floating around like a train of express coaches, the Queen's fire service medal, and various photos of engines and people such as Flying Scotsman and Sir Charles Topham Hatt. What caught JJ's full attention though was what laid front and center of this strange space.

There, resting between two chiseled stone pillars and atop a marble pillar was a bright star.

It was emitting the hymn that JJ had been hearing.

The band manager stood in front of the star in stunned silence for a long while. Then, he collapsed onto his knees in a crying fit.

As the sun rose, Romeo strolled towards Tidmouth sheds with a smile and a song. He had some chores to do before school, such as getting Gordon ready for the day, but the teen didn't mind it.

He flung open the doors to Gordon's berth, ready to wake up the big engine.

"Good morning"! Gordon greeted.

Romeo jumped back in surprise, he wasn't expecting to see his friend to be up and about.

"Gordon? What are you doing up this early? I haven't lit your fire yet"? Romeo asked confused.

"JJ Silvers stayed behind last night and offered to get me ready for the day." Gordon replied.

Romeo looked over his friend and was shocked. Gordon had been washed footplate to fender, any brass and exposed metal had been polished, Gordon's firebox had been completely cleaned and was now nicely lit. Next to Gordon laid a few cups, suggesting that JJ had used these to fill up Gordon's tender with water.

Taking a peek into Gordon's cab, Romeo found JJ asleep on the floor, covered in dirt and coal dust.

"Well, that was nice of him. Guess we can return the favor by dropping JJ off at the cafe." Romeo suggested, still surprised by the gesture.

Romeo hopped in his friend's cab and with the crew they headed out for the day with a sleeping JJ in tow.

[albdodaze]

blooming. y.itadori

‘i will never, never leave you’ (chapter three)

warnings: none

context: IN WHICH kami gojo, younger sister of certain powerful jujutsu sorcerer, meets an idiot who makes cold barrier around her heart melt.

"Roppongi my ass," laughed Kami, looking at the abandoned old building they were standing in front of.

"There's a curse here," stated Satoru.

"You liar!"

"This isn't even Roppongi!"

"You were toying with us country folk!"

"There's a big cemetery nearby. The double whammy of that and an abandoned building brought out a curse," Satoru said, not taking his eyes off the building.

"So they really do pop up more often around graves?" Itadori asked as Nobara shouted evil in the background.

"The issue isn't the cementery itself," Yuuji's head turned abruptly towards Kami, who finally spoke up and a blush came over his face that he didn't even notice.

But Satoru did.

"It's the fact that people associate cemeteries with fear," Kami explained, totally oblivious.

"Oh, it was the same for schools, too, wasn't it?" Yuuji replied, ignoring the heat that flooded him at the sound of the younger Gojo's soft voice.

"Hold up. He didn't even know that yet?" Nobara asked, approaching from Kami's left.

—

"He swallowed a special-grade cursed object? Gross! Unbelievable! That's so unsanitary and disgusting! No way, no way, no way, no way!"

"This is what I was telling them the whole time," deadpanned Kami, and Nobara grabbed her by the shoulders and looked her straight in the eye.

"They thought otherwise?!" She exclaimed and leaned her head against Kami's shoulder, groaning at the thought of this. Kami patted her lightly on the head, glad that finally someone understood her.

"What?!"

"I agree with them," Fushiguro said.

"I want to know what all of you are capable of. Just think of this as a field test," Satoru finally spoke up. "Nobara, Yuuji, you two go exorcise the curse inside that building."

"Geh!"

"Huh? But I thought only curses could exorcise curses, right?" Asked a confused Yuuji. "I can't use any jujutsu yet."

"You're basically half a curse already. There's cursed energy flowing throughout your body. Though controlling that energy isn't something you can learn overnight," Satoru said and extended his hand towards Kami, who with a sigh pulled a weapon from the strap tied across her waist and handed it to him. "So use this."

"It's the cursed tool, Slaughter Demon. It's a weapon imbued with cursed energy. It'll work on curses, too," Kami explained as Itadori marveled at the weapon in his hand.

"Lame," Nobara said, and she and Itadori headed towards the building.

"Oh one more thing! Don't let Sukuna out! If you use him, you'll get rid of all the curses nearby in a flash, but you'll also drag everyone around into it."

"Got it, I won't let Sukuna out."

—

"I think I'll go, too," Megumi spoke up after a moment of silence.

"Don't push yourself. You're still recovering."

"But someone needs to keep an eye on Itadori, right?"

"True. But the one we're testing this time is Nobara."

"But don't you think leaving her with Itadori is kinda stupid? I mean, he's kinda... reckless," Kami spoke up, playing with her long hair.

"Also true. That Yuuji... He's missing a few up here," the older Gojo said, pointing to his head. "He has no hesitation when it comes to killing these tings that take form of living creatures, albeit bizzare-looking ones, to try to kill him. And it's not like he's been familiar with curses for a long time, like you two. This boy used to live a normal high school life."

'Normal.' What is normal? Did Kami ever experience or will ever experience something 'normal'?

"You've seen plenty of jujutsu sorcerers, even those with talent, give up in frustration because they couldn't conquer their fear or disgust, haven't you?"

'It will probably be me,' Kami thought, listening to what her brother was saying.

"So today I want to confirm how crazy she is."

Silence.

No one said anything, no one dared to say anything. Because what would they have?

Kami played with her fingers out of nervousness. And she didn't know if it was because of how awkward the silence was, or because she was afraid for the two inexperienced jujutsu sorcerers who were about to face the curses alone in an abandoned building. Maybe it was because of both.

'Or more by the second one,' she thought as she saw the curse fly out the window.

"I'll exorcise it,' Megumi said, looking at the curse.

"Hold on."

Not a few seconds passed, and the curse was gone. It had evaporated. There was nothing left of it but a dirty memory.

"Nice."

"She's crazy, all right," Satoru said smiling.

—

"I live over there! Thanks again!" Exclaimed the boy whom Nobara and Itadori had rescued in the building and whom they had just escorted home, making sure he got there safely.

The Gojo siblings waved the boy away, Kami letting out a breath she hadn't even noticed she was holding in. The white-haired girl felt a hand on her shoulder and lifted her gaze to look at her brother, who was grinning at her.

"Are you hungry?" He asked and started to lead them to where three of her classmates were waiting for them.

"A little, I haven't eaten anything all day," Kami said and put her arm through her brother's waist, leaning against him gently.

"Good Joseph!" Shouted Satoru suddenly, directing this to the three waiting on the stairs. "We made sure the kid got home."

Nobara and Itadori sprang to their feet and stood, prepared for the next mission.

"Now shall we go grab some food?"

"Steak!"

"Sushi!"

"Not again," Kami muttered under her breath, and Satoru laughed softly.

"Leave it all to me!" Her brother shouted. "And you, Megumi?"

Megumi didn't answer anything, being too busy playing some game on her phone.

Without waiting for anyone, Satoru put his hands on Itadori and Nobara's shoulders and started walking in the opposite direction, leaving Megumi and Kami alone behind.

'Ouch,' thought Kami as she saw Satoru laughing with Itadori and Nobara.

"Are you coming?" She heard Megumi's voice who smiled gently at her.

Kami reciprocated the gesture and ran to his left, following the rest.

"Oh, I forgot about my biggest haul of the day," Nobara began, walking in front of the rest. " Hey, you," she pointed to Itadori. "Go fetch my stuff."

"Huh? Why should I do it? I thought we were even."

"We won thanks to my cursed energy. Got a problem with that?"

"What about my raw strength?"

"Your monstrous power from eating weird shit?"

"It's not just that! Right, Fushiguro?"

Silence.

"Huh? What's the matter, Fushiguro?"

"Nothing."

"He's pouting because he didn't get to join in," Satoru spoke up.

"What a child!" Nobara said.

Itadori started laughing, definitely happy. After all, he finally had someone to get along with. And when everyone else joined in, it made his heart fill with warmth even more. But not quite. He didn't hear the laughter he most wanted to hear.

He lifted his gaze to Kami, who was staring dead at him, the corners of her mouth not even lifting for a moment. And that made something in his heart hurt.

Satoru wasn't blind either and noticed something was wrong, slowing his step to walk beside Kami.

"Are you okay?" He asked, leaning over her so only she could hear him.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Kami raised an eyebrow.

Satoru watched her closely, observing her every little movement. The way her hands tangled at the back of her body, her fingers playing with themselves. The way her gaze fled everywhere but at anyone beside her. The way you could see her nervously biting her lip and cheeks from the inside. The way she was so tense.

Satoru laughed softly, knowing what's going on and wrapped his long arm around Kami, pulling her close and kissing her gently on the top of her head, a thing he always did when she was sad and a thing that always helped.

This time was no different as Kami closed her eyes, relaxing a bit.

"After all, you know that no one can replace you for me, you're my little sister, no one could do it," Satoru whispered and reached out his little toe, wrapping it around Kami's one, getting at least serious for a moment before returning to his previous state and tickling Kami on her sides where she was most ticklish.

Kami jumped back with a squeal and threw an evil but amused look at her brother, who only winked at her and started laughing, matching Megumi's step.

The little girl's loud laughter rang through the yard behind the house as her older brother tickled her on the ground, laughing along with her. When he finally stopped, the white-haired girl looked at her brother and smiled widely.

"Satoru?"

"Hm?" The white-haired boy replied, falling onto his back next to his little sister and looking at her.

"Will you promise me something?" The girl asked, sitting down on the ground, crossing her petite legs.

Satoru nodded, also sitting down on the ground. The girl giggled softly and extended her hand towards her brother, showing her tiny little finger.

"Promise me you'll never leave me."

Satoru's face fell, and his heart simultaneously hurt and flooded with warmth. Because on one hand, what had it come to that a six year old girl would think anyone would leave her, and on the other hand, this was one of the most adorable scenes he could ever experience.

After a moment of silence, Satoru smiled softly and wrapped his, large compared to his sister's, finger around hers and rested his forehead against Kami's forehead, looking her straight in the eyes.

"I will never, but never leave you. After all, you know that no one can replace you for me, you're my little sister, no one could do it," he said seriously, never letting go of her finger from his as he felt tears coming to his eyes.

He quickly closed his eyelids and pulled his younger version to him, who immediately snuggled into her warm and loving brother.

"I will never, never leave you."

At the mention, Kami's eyes welled up with tears, which she quickly wiped away and pretended everything was ok.

'Then why does it feel like you're distancing yourself from me now? Like you're not proud of me? Like you want to leave me, just like everyone else?'