#so i still consider it a success with or without the baking powder

[maraschinotopped]

i just spent ~3 hours making one batch of pancakes from an 'estimated 20 minutes to make' recipe 🔥🔥🔥 DONT FUCK WITH ME 🔥🔥🔥🔥

[lunesg-sainte]

Be eco-friendly without realizing it

I'm from Mexico, (I say this just to clarify, in case something sounds strange). I live in a still rural area (although urbanization is catching up with us) and I did my first years of school in schools that were a maximum of ten minutes away on foot. At twelve I started taking public transport and when I turned fifteen my trip Every day it was an hour on public transportation (which is considered normal in the area where I live). The thing is that we were always very conscious of our waste.

Much of what we did since my childhood is wash clothes and clean our house with filtered rainwater in the rainy season. The clothes have always been hung in the patio and dried by the air or the sun (we have never had a dryer). Refuse yogurt, cream and other plastic containers. The jars are reused to store cinnamon, coffee, sugar, powdered milk, spices and other things. When we wash the dishes, in a plastic bowl we add water and a few drops of biodegradable soap and with that we wash all the glasses, plates, utensils and pots that we use for cooking and eating. We currently have chickens that roam freely and thanks to this we have a daily supply of eggs. We are not vegan, but I'm not really that worried about that, because my area is highly rural it is very easy to get meat from local producers, the only thing we can't get so easily is fish but it's not like we eat it commonly. If we have too many plastics, glass, cans and metals that we do not use at home, there are these people who buy these types of products by the kilo to in turn resell them to recycling plants that are far from us. The plastic bags we have are generally used for garbage that is not biodegradable. This year we plan for a part of our patio to become a more abundant garden, last year we did it and it was good, we hope to have more success this year. It was great to see butterflies, bees and hummingbirds out the window while I was washing the dishes. I recently bought an electric oven and started learning how to bake.

When I got into the solarpunk label I saw so many practices that we have done in my house throughout my life, it was so cool.

The hope of a future in which we can all live in the most respectable way possible with our planet. ​

[dru-reblogs-stuff]

Image description: photos of the mentioned book which read:

Melt 1½ cup of shortening and 2 ounces of unsweetened chocolate in the top of a double boiler, then allow it to cool. Sift together 3/4 cups of flour, ½ teaspoon of baking powder and ½ teaspoon of salt. Beat 2 eggs until light and fluffy, stir in 1 cup of sugar, then blend in the chocolate-shortening mixture. Stir in the flour mixture and 1 cup of hickory nuts. Bake in a greased 8- by 8-inch baking pan for about 30 minutes in a 350° oven.

Hickory-Nut Pie is closely akin to Pecan Pie but I consider the distinctive hickory-nut flavor a decided improvement. Make an Oil Pastry (see page go) and fit it into a 9-inch pie plate. Beat 3 eggs slightly, then add 34 cup of sugar, ½ teaspoon of salt, 1 cup of dark com sirup and ½ cup of melted butter or margarine, then beat thoroughly. Stir in 1/2 cups of hickory nuts and pour into the unbaked pastry shell. Bake in a 350° oven for 50 minutes. Cool before serving.

The Indians had methods of using hickory nuts that are seldom practiced today. There are many early accounts of the southern tribes pounding hickory nuts, shell and all, and boiling them in water to make a kind of nut milk or oily liquid. This milky liquor was called, in one Indian language, powcohicora, and it is from the latter part of that name that our term, hickory, comes. Recently I experimented with these pounded, unshelled nuts with at least partial success. I first cracked the nuts to make sure I didn't get a rotten or wormy one in, then pounded them up until the meats seemed pretty well loosened from the shells. I put 1 quart of these pounded nuts in a kettle and poured boiling water until it stood an inch above the nuts. Right here I made my first discovery. The nut meats are lighter than the shells and float above them, so all but the finest bits and parts still stuck to the shells could have been skimmed off. I left them in for the time being and boiled the mixture for 15 minutes. By this time the liquid was thick as bean soup and a light-brown color. At this point, I carefully dipped out some of the liquid with the floating nut meats, added a little salt and a dash of pepper and ate it as soup, with a salted cracker. While it wasn't the best soup I ever ate, it was pretty good, and it must be very nourishing.

I then skimmed off a little of the oily top part of the liquid, strained it into a bowl to remove the nut meats and set the bowl in the refrigerator until it cooled. The thick, oily part rose to the top leaving clear liquid at the bottom. This oily, nut-meal mush, spread on a cracker, made a very tasty substitute for butter. As I was experimenting with this powcohicora, I was reminded of the times in Hawaii, when I had poured boiling water over the grated meat of ripe coconuts and squeezed out an oily milk or cream The Hawaiians use this milky liquid to make a pudding called hau which is always one of the dishes served at a luau or Hawaiian fe I still remember how haupia is made, so I decided to combine the goodies of two primitive cultures and try my hand at making powcohicora-haupia. Using a large cooking spoon I carefully skimmed off liquid with its floating nut meats, so as not to include any she then strained the rest of the liquid from the shells through a double thickness of cheesecloth. As I poured this liquid nut-meat mixt back in a kettle, I noticed that the powdered shell which had passed through the cheesecloth had settled to the bottom and it was e to drain the liquid off it without including any of this shell materia I had 3 cups of this liquid-nut mixture left. I mixed 6 tablespoon of cornstarch and ½ cup of sugar with just enough of the liquid make a thin paste. Then I brought the liquid in the kettle just to a boil, then stirred in the sugar-starch mixture and kept stirring the pudding became quite thick. Next I stirred in a little van extract, and poured it into a fancy mold. When it had cooled set, I turned it out on a cake plate and served it for dessert, and six people, who were there for dinner that evening, pronounced delicious.

I'm sure that walnuts and hickory nuts have still other possibilities that are waiting to be explored. They are fun to gather, good to and wonderful in cooking. Let's go nutting.

End description

ok today i learned from the oxford english dictionary (looking at obsolete botanical terminology) that there was a drink in native american cuisine called "pohickory" made from hickory nuts soaked in water

so basically almond milk, but with hickory nuts. hickory milk. there were non-dairy milks pre columbian exchange that's so cool

[mochegato]

Capturing a Dream

Chapter 5 – Kobayashi Maru

 “Why are you wearing that thing?” Conner teased Chimera with a playful lilt to his voice and pointing to her pink apron. She had wanted to make some treats for the team and roped him into helping her despite his objections. Apparently, sitting and watching Wolf attempt to play with Sphere wasn’t considered an adequate way to spend his morning.

Chimera raised an eyebrow at him.  “To keep clean.  Things can get messy when you’re baking.”

“Just don’t get dirty.” Conner responded easily. He leaned over to her with a mischievous look, “Bake better.”

Chimera gasped in fake offense and glared at him as she finished pouring the flour into the mixing bowl.  “Whatever, oh kitchen guru.”   She moved to get the buttermilk and looked over at him with a slightly too innocent expression.  “Hey, can you turn on the blender for me, please?”

Conner grinned smugly from his apparent win and moved to the mixer to turn it on.  He accidentally switched it to the highest level.  He wasn’t able to move before a wave of flour flew out of the bowl and coated him in a thick coat of white.  He fumbled for the off switch before turning toward Chimera with a questioning look.  She doubled over in laughter as soon as she saw him.  He groaned and started trying to shake and brush off the flour, but that just seemed to make it worse, spreading it further and pushing it into his shirt and pants.  Chimera was now gasping for breath from laughing so hard until she fell on her butt, making her laugh harder.  “That… that’s… that’s why I wear an apron,” she choked out.

“You…” Conner stared incredulously at her.  “You did that on purpose.”

“No.  I would never.” She tried to defend herself, but the wicked look in her eyes and the way she was biting her lip trying not to laugh as she leaned against the lower kitchen cabinets, gave her away.

“Is that so,” Conner asked, the mischievous glint back in his eye as he picked up the mixing bowl.

Chimera’s eyes widened as she realized his intention. “No, no, no.  Conner.”  She held up her hand in a placating gesture and tried backing away from him but she was already pressed against the cabinets so there was nowhere to go. Conner threw the contents of the bowl at her with a roguish grin.  She squealed loudly as the ingredients hit her legs and her forearms that were protecting her head.  “Conner!” she chastised him with no heat in her tone.  “I cannot believe you just did that.”

“Then you’re really not going to believe this,” he grinned as he picked up the bowl of sugar they hadn’t added yet and threw that at her too.

Chimera was barely able to dodge out of the way in time and grabbed the container of baking powder and flicked it toward him. He just dodged it but the baking powder was just a distraction from the cocoa powder she threw at him next.  The cocoa powder caught him in the neck and hair, the impact spreading it to his face and shirt.  He recovered quickly and searched for something else to throw, coughing slightly from the cocoa powder that hung in the air.

“Okay, okay.  Truce!” Chimera yelled holding her hands out placating.  “The only ingredients left are wet ingredients and I really, really don’t want to clean that up.  Truce?”  She eyed him suspiciously, the same way he eyed her.  He reached his hand out to her but his body was guarded in case she tried to go back on her word.  Chimera tentatively reached out her hand as well, suspecting a counter strike, but their hands met without incident.  They smiled at each other breathlessly.

Chimera pulled Conner into a hug and Conner wrapped his arms around her just as tight until he felt something granular sliding down his shirt.  He looked at Chimera and groaned.  She was shaking her hair out on his shoulder causing the sugar that had caught in her hair to fall on him as well.  Chimera laughed even harder, her face turning red in the process.  Conner laughed too in spite of himself.

After Chimera had calmed down a few minutes later, she surveyed the damage around them and glanced over to Conner.  “Okay, do you want to help me redo this and we can clean together while it’s in the oven or do you want to clean while I bake?”

Conner surveyed the kitchen as he considered his options.  “I’ll clean. It’s probably safer that way.”  He sent her a mock glare that she laughed off.

Chimera hummed as she remixed the ingredients for the chocolate cupcakes.  She was enjoying the moments of normalcy and lightness between missions.  Things were just starting to settle down again into a routine after the last few weeks had rocked the Team to their core.  She needed this reprieve and she was confident that Conner did too after everything that happened.

After the cakes were out of the oven and the kitchen had been cleaned with only themselves left to clean off, they grinned at each other.  “I’ll frost those tonight after they’ve cooled.  We both should probably get moving.” She smiled at him as she headed out of the kitchen.  “Probably should take a shower first though.”

He smiled as he looked down at his clothes and raised an eyebrow at her.  “And whose fault was that?”

She looked back at him with wide eyes, the perfect picture of innocence.  “You could have just not gotten dirty, right?  So… yours.”

He narrowed his eyes at her and she smiled back brightly.  Conner fought it, he really did, but he couldn’t stop the corners of his mouth from turning up and the chuckle from working its way out.  “We’ll settle this later.” He waved at her as she left, his eyes following her until she was out of sight.

<><><><><> 

The team watched in shock as Artemis’ body disappeared in a flash of light. That was… less than optimal.  “Everyone get in the ship!” Aqualad called to them as he whipped out his water bearers to destroy the downed ship that had just eliminated their teammate.

As soon as the ship was destroyed, Aqualad joined Superboy, Robin, and Wally on the ship.  “We need to rethink our approach to this.  I still think a plan is needed, but going against them even as a sneak attack cost us Artemis and Wolf.  There has to be a different way to address this.”  Aqualad stated calmly.

“Head on didn’t work and sneak attack hasn’t seemed to work better.” Kid Flash added in the same academic tone as one would considering a word puzzle.

“Back to the Cave to regroup?” Robin asked from the ship’s controls.

“No, to the Hall of Justice.  We need to consider the effect this is having on the people here as well.  The people need to know there are still heroes out there.” Aqualad responded flippantly, keeping his focus on the horizon.  His mind was still running through possible approaches.  What had worked, what had failed, what they hadn’t tried, what had the most success and might work if it was reworked.

Suddenly Kid Flash gasped and pounded his fist on the ship’s controls. “Artemis is dead!”  He jumped up.  “They killed Artemis.  Artemis died right in front of us.”

Aqualad put his hand on Kid Flash’s shoulder.  “Her sacrifice will not be in vain.  We will avenge her.”

“I’m going to kill every last one of them.” Kid Flash vowed looking out to the skies, searching for any he could shoot.

“Has anyone heard from Chimera?” Conner asked, his eyes suddenly looking frantic.

“No, she hasn’t contacted the Cave since the aliens attacked.” Aqualad confirmed.

“Robin, check the communication in and out of the Cave.  See if there is a message from Chi in there.” Superboy commanded anxiously.

Robin connected to the Cave.  “Nothing at the Cave.  I’m checking the Hall of Justice right now.”  He kept searching but his eyes were getting more and more worried as he did. “Nothing… there’s nothing.  The Hall’s communication networks have been destroyed so we wouldn’t know even if she had tried.”

Aqualad placed his hand on Superboy’s shoulder, just as he had for Kid Flash. “I’m sorry.”

Superboy jerked away like he had been burned.  “No.  We don’t know that anything happened to her.  She could be fine.  There were no reports that she was killed.”

“That’s right.” Robin encouraged him.  “We’ll keep fighting to find her.  The quicker we end this attack, the quicker we can find her.”  Aqualad grimaced at Robin who responded with a dark look of his own.  “We’re coming up on DC.  It looks like we’re not the only ones.” He said indicating the alien ships that were heading toward the Capitol Building.  

“Let’s destroy these bastards.” Kid Flash growled already aiming the weapons systems on the closest one.

“We can’t shoot them all.  Superboy, you think you can take one on your own?” Aqualad asked, keeping his eyes on the screen and formulating a plan.

Superboy gave him a feral grin.  “Absolutely.”

“Good. We sneak up on them, drop Conner on the closest one then start moving onto the next and work our way through. Once they’re all taken care of we start working with the army to combine forces and assess our assets.”

Conner took a deep breath, bracing himself for his next move.  They had already lost the entire Justice League, Wolf was dead, Artemis was dead, and nobody had heard from Chimera.  He didn’t want to think she was dead, but… the odds were not in her favor.  But she was magic and had already survived attacks he didn’t think anyone could survive. And she was a strategist.  If anyone could come up with a plan for her and for them, it was her.

“Ready?” Robin called out to him.

“Just give me the sign.  I’ll take them out.”  Superboy turned back to the hatch below with a determined stare.

“Opening the hatch.  I’ll count you down.  5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Jump!” Robin called out.

Superboy jumped and landed directly on the alien ship with enough force to create a massive dent in the ship.  He ripped off the canon and began punching the ship as hard and rapidly as he could manage.  He was too laser focused to notice the Team’s ship firing on the ship that came up behind his, destroying that ship, leaving three more ships.  The Team’s ship started firing on the next ship, bringing the other ships’ attention to them.  

Conner whipped around to assess the situation.  His ship wasn’t completely destroyed yet, but disabled.  If he could jump on another, he could disable that as well, making it easier for the Team’s ship to destroy them. Before the ships could start firing, a portal opened immediately in front of one of the ships. The ship flew in and suddenly the next ship over exploded and the two ships crashed, followed almost immediately by the third ship exploding from the Team’s fire.

Superboy’s ship glided down, crashing on the National Mall, skidding to a stop just in front of it.  Superboy jumped just before it came to a stop, landing in a crouch in front of the army forces stationed in front of the Capitol Building, the Team’s ship landing just behind him.  Superboy looked up to the army and stopped short, his breath catching in his chest.

Standing in front of the army forces was Chimera, standing tall, a little disheveled, a bit bloody, but standing and smiling brilliantly at Superboy. Superboy’s eyes lit up and he started running to her.  Chimera jumped in his arms, laughing heartily in relief.  Superboy hugged her tight, spinning her around in his excitement to see her. Chimera looked down to brush the nonexistent hair out of his face, cupping his face in the process, her grin growing impossibly bigger as she did.  Superboy’s eyes were crinkling from the large smile spreading on his face that only got larger as Chimera leaned down to touch her lips to his.

Her lips were soft and yielding and everything he had been dreaming they would be... not that he had been dreaming about her... he just... had been... repeatedly.  The kiss was exactly everything he had dreamed it would be.  It filled him with warmth and comfort at the same time, making his heart race.

They broke apart, gasping for breath after what felt like no time at all and forever at the same time.  Chimera smiled sappily at him, not letting him move his face too far from hers.  “I don’t want to wait until the next world ending event to do that again.”

Conner looked back at her with desire and shook his head.  “I don’t want to wait at all.”  He whispers heartily, capturing her lips and letting the emotion sweep over him again.  The kiss was hungrier than the first, more assured in their mutual desire.  A reprieve from the devastation and loss. A dream in the middle of a nightmare.

They broke apart when they heard someone clearing their throats.  “She’s kissing Superman.”  “That’s not Superman.  He’s too young.  And where’s the cape?”  

“He’s better.  He’s Superboy.” Chimera responded without sparing the interrupter a glance, keeping her eyes on Superboy’s.  

He twined his hand into her hair, gently setting her down to cup her face with his other hand and keeping her close.  He pulled away slightly, still touching her, not willing to give up on that reassurance that she was still there, that she was alive and by his side. “So this is where you go to” he said with a smirk but eyes still showing how relieved he was to see her.

“Guess my secret is out,” she smiled at him, cupping her hands over his.  “I’m glad you finally know.  I hated keeping it from you.”

Conner rested his forehead on hers and let out a deep shuttering breath.  “We thought you were dead.  Don’t ever do that again.”

Chimera squeezed her eyes shut and nuzzled her face into his hands.  “The zeta tubes I knew about were down and I was fighting here.  I couldn’t abandon them.”

Kid Flash broke free from Robin’s grip and stalked over to them.  “So this is where you have been this whole time.  We could have used your help.  We were fighting alone.  Artemis was fighting alone.”

“I’m sorry for what happened to Artemis.” She looked at him with guilt and compassion in her eyes.  “I wish I could have been there for you, for my Team.”

Kid Flash moved so he was only a few inches from her face.  “But you weren’t.  And now Artemis is dead.” He growled at her.

A guilty, hurt look spread across Chimera’s face and she backed away from Kid Flash, seeming to shrink at his censure.  Superboy moved in front of her, pushing Kid Flash away.  “That’s enough.  She was saving civilians.  That’s what we’re supposed to be doing.  What happened to Artemis isn’t anyone’s fault but the aliens’.”

Aqualad walked up to them and placed a hand on Kid Flash’s shoulder.  “He’s right.  Circumstances were extreme.  We are a team.  We need to start acting like it and focus on taking down the aliens, not each other.”

Kid Flash glared at Chimera before looking away.  He knew, he knew it wasn’t her fault, but that didn’t stop a part of his brain from blaming her.  But, blaming her wouldn’t help the situation.  It wouldn’t bring Artemis back.  They needed to stop the aliens before they killed more people and they needed her for that.  “So what’s our next step?”

Aqualad looked over the wreckage formulating a plan, and trying to keep his anger in check.  “We’ll salvage as many of the alien’s cannons as possible.”  His face morphed as his anger took over.  “Then we take back what is ours.”

<><><><><> 

The Hall of Justice didn’t offer any particular insights, just a sense of familiarity and fleeting safety in their decidedly unsafe and insecure position. It wasn’t the Cave, it wasn’t their home, but it was a symbol of hope to people around the world and had been to them. And hope was something they all needed more of today.

Aqualad sat with the army general talking tactics while the other army men watched the perimeter and tried to take a second to themselves.  Kid Flash and Robin were running tests on the alien cannons to learn more about them.  A look of frustration and concentration set on Kid Flash’s face.  They were going to figure this out.  They needed to avenge Artemis and their mentors.  Robin watched the results of one test come in and launched into the next test with calm and determined eyes, his mouth set in a thin line, the very picture of traught.  He would deal with the emotions later.  Right now, the priority had to be their analysis.  They needed to figure out how to defeat the aliens or they were all going to die.  There was no time for emotions right now.

Superboy and Chimera stood sentry at the main entrance, no longer holding hands now that the initial wave of relief had passed and they were on a mission, but standing close enough that Superboy could feel the heat from her body.  Both had their eyes trained on the skies, but he occasionally darted his eyes to her just to reassure himself that she was there. “I’m sorry about Wolf.” She said quietly, eyes still on the sky.

Superboy’s eyes moved to her for longer, focusing on her.  He could see the sorrow in her eyes as she said it, even though she refused to take her eyes off the skies for even a moment.  Every bit the professional as he expected from her, pushing away her emotions until the mission was over.  But too worried and grieved for him to wait to say something. “He died protecting me.” Superboy grumbled looking back to the sky.  He wouldn’t cry.  There had been so much death and destruction.  It was ridiculous to cry over one pet.

Chimera nodded solemnly.  “That’s what you do for the people you love, you risk your life for them.  Sometimes you lose it for them.”  Superboy could see the tears trying to escape that she held tight to.  “And he loved you.”

Superboy opened his mouth to say something too fast, too deep, something he knew she wasn’t ready to hear, but before he could Kid Flash yelled out saving him from himself.  “Guys! Look what I found!  Look at this!”

The Team along with General Eiling moved over to him.  “What did you find?” Aqualad asked, unmoved by Kid Flash’s excitement.

“Zeta-beam radiation!” Kid Flash exclaimed excitedly.  “The cannons have zeta-beam radiation!  The same as our zeta tubes.”  He was nearly bouncing with excitement.  “They aren’t disintegration beams, they are teleporting beams.  Do you know what that means?”  He grabbed Chimera by her shoulders to make sure she was entirely focused on him, the one person on the Team who could match his levels of excitement.  The one person who could mutually indulge in extreme emotions.  His smile was so big and bright, it almost brought hope back to the structure all on its own.  “They’re alive.  They aren’t killing people, they’re taking them hostage!  We can save them.”

Chimera smiled widely at him.  “We can save Artemis.”  Kid Flash started giggling with happiness as he nodded at her words, hugging her tight. The hug he gave her turned into a dive for cover when the building was rocked with an explosion, Chimera covering his body with hers.  As soon as the rocking stopped, the Team and soldiers popped their heads up assessing the situation.  “We’re surrounded, sir.”  One of the soldiers at the entrance reported.  “At least twelve ships out there, sir.” Another soldier called back.

“There’s no way to make it to our ship,” Robin commented.

“We need to move to the Zeta tubes.  Robin, I need you to run ahead and hack the system to get authorization for the soldiers.” Aqualad called over to him as he wrapped one of the soldiers’ arms over his shoulders.

“On it,” Robin calls already running toward the zeta tubes.  By the time the rest of the Team, each supporting at least one soldier, got to the room he had the system hacked and was already scanning soldiers.  They all braced themselves and jumped out of the way of falling chunks of ceiling as more explosions rocked the building.  

Superboy searched out Chimera after the latest particularly bad explosion, breathing a sigh of relief when he found her standing unharmed near the zeta tube. “That one sounded like it came from the inside.” He reported loudly.

“They appear to have breached the perimeter.  They will be here soon.  We need to move.” Aqualad stated gravely.  “Chimera, you go through first and signal us if it is safe.”

“What? No!  You don’t know what you’re sending her into,” Superboy objected.

Aqualad shook his head.  “Chimera has a nearly indestructible suit.  If there is something on the other side, she will be best equipped to withstand it.”  He nodded to Chimera to signal her to move.  

Chimera nodded back and gave Superboy a weak smile.  “See you on the other side.”  Superboy nodded back.  He would see her.  They would see each other and he would kiss her again.  He watched as Chimera disappeared through the zeta tube, holding his breath until they heard a signal come through to Robin.  

“She’s okay.  She says it’s safe.” Robin reported.  Superboy let out the breath he had been holding.

“Everyone start moving.” Aqualad commanded.  “Soldiers first.”

“No,” General Eiling countermanded.  “We cannot risk losing more heroes.  You go first.”  Aqualad squared up against him ready to argue.  “We don’t have time to argue.  This is non-negotiable.  You. Go. First.”

Aqualad grunted in displeasure but nodded. “Kid Flash, you go through next, Robin, you next, followed by Superboy.  I’ll go next, followed by the army soldiers.  Time is a factor.  Move quickly.”  Kid Flash looked between them, but moved to the tube quickly.  Robin frowned at Aqualad, but moved to the tube to wait his turn.  

The Team and the soldiers in the room waited impatiently for their turns to make it through the zeta tube.  It didn’t take long for each person to go through, but they didn’t have time to wait. They could hear the explosions and the destruction nearing them quicker than they had.  It went against their natures to just stand by and do nothing, but there was nothing to do, not until the room was breached.  

Robin had just made it through the tube when there was a flash of blinding light and everything seemed to freeze for a few moments before returning to normal. Aqualad and Superboy shook their heads in confusion, the light having done something to their heads, causing momentary confusion.  When they looked back up, the door to their stronghold had been blown apart and the aliens were entering in droves.  The room erupted into a cacophony of yells, screams, weapons’ fire, and fighting.  “Superboy, get in the tube.” Aqualad yelled to him as he attacked an alien.

Superboy opened his mouth to object but quickly dived out of the way of an oncoming shot.  “Now!” Aqualad yelled again.  Superboy moved quickly to the tube, keeping an eye on the aliens as he waited for the tube to recognize him and shoot him with the zeta beam energy.  He gasped as an alien aimed at him.  It was a race between the zeta beam energy and the alien’s weapon.  He closed his eyes and braced himself for the hit that never came.  

When he opened his eyes he saw Chimera’s grinning face.  He exhaled the breath he hadn’t realized he was holding and pulled her into a hug, burying his face in her neck.  He pulled away just enough to kiss her again, weaving his hand into her hair to pull her closer.

“The tube is down.” Robin reported gravely from his position at the zeta tube controls.  The rest of the Team turned to him in question.  “The Hall of Justice tube entrance is not responding.  Likely destroyed.  We should not expect survivors.”

Kid Flash and Chimera gasped at the declaration.  Chimera buried her face in Superboy’s chest.  He could feel her tears soaking through his shirt.  He pulled her closer and rested his head on hers, trying to whisper comforting words, but there were none.  There was no comfort in this situation.  The only comfort he had found in this entire situation was her, so he hugged her closer like the symbol of hope she was to him.

Chapter 6

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[iforgotmypreviousaccountlol]

Starting Line

Happy Holidays, @carson-asmo-lover 

This is your Secret Santa gift. I hope you like it!

AU: Asmo is a uni student who just moved into a new apartment unit, Solomon is living next door learning how to bake. Every day, Asmo would smell the sweet aroma of baked goods from his room and in the hallways. One day, after a hectic day from uni, he stops in front of the door trying to guess which baked good is being made for that day. The door opens, cue awkward silence, Solomon invites Asmo into his apartment, and into his life.

ASMO

There, there it is again. Asmodeus glanced at his wall clock. Right on time: 2 o’clock in the afternoon. The sweet smell of sugar and pastry permeated his room. His next-door neighbour is baking again. He closed his eyes and inhaled, trying to take a guess which pastry his neighbour decided to make today. It has been a good past-time for whenever he found himself bored on some days when he doesn’t have uni classes. Not that he had nothing better to do, he had to catch up on a lot of schoolworks but he isn’t in the mood to do them right now.

He moved in just a few months ago so he could be closer to school, but now that he enjoyed the new-found freedom that is living alone, he realized he missed the constant presence of his brothers. Sure, having his own place meant that Lucifer wasn’t around to nag him when he goes out to party most nights, or if he brings people back to his place for some night escapades (He never did bring someone over though. Maybe he should.) He made a mental note to go home for the weekend if the workload permits.

“Cinnamon rolls,” he finally said, propping up from the couch. The sweet smell of the cinnamon powder that contrasted with the slightly sour cream cheese made Asmo’s mouth water. He groaned. “If you’re gonna make pastries, at least offer some to your neighbours so we don’t get hungry from the smell.”

Now he has no choice but to go down and buy something sweet to satisfy his craving. He put on a peach sweater and wrapped a white scarf around his neck. He stared at his reflection for a moment. His champagne-colored hair was longer on one side, stylishly swept to frame his face. His diamond stud earring reflected light when he turned his face in a certain angle. “Alright, enough. I look stunning, as always.”

He wrinkled his nose at his neighbour’s door when he passed on his way out, the smell of cinnamon is much stronger in the hallway. He hadn’t even met the mysterious baker, given that he’s almost always out to some party when he isn’t in class, it’s strange that they never even once bumped into each other in the lobby or the elevator. He shrugged and went on his way to hunt for some cinnamon rolls.

 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 Asmo was almost dragging himself back to his condo unit after a hectic morning. He had a 3-hour lecture for Fashion Marketing and he had to pass a 10-page essay on Fashion Theory (which of course, he crammed last night. He even skipped a campus party!) and he’s just about ready to pass out and is determined to take a long nap for the whole afternoon. That would have been a solid plan, except it’s 2 o’clock in the afternoon and the scent of baked sweets wafted from his neighbour’s room and into the hallway.

He stopped on his tracks and inhaled the scent, his brain immediately fell to its routine, trying to discern which ingredients are being used to create what pastry. “Milk, definitely. What else? Eggs? And oh—”

The door suddenly opened. Asmo jerked back in surprise, his hand latched to the strap of his sling bag. He blinked once, twice.

A tall man with silvery-white hair with stunning blue-gray eyes, wearing a black turtleneck with sleeves rolled up to his elbows and white apron, came out of the room carrying a small trash bag. Asmo was never one to be at a loss for words, especially not in front of attractive people, but his tongue refused to make an audible sound.

“Oh, hello. I suppose you’re my neighbour? I believe this is the first time we’re meeting each other?” The man continued, “I’m Solomon.”

Asmo shook off his surprise and cleared his throat. He wore his usual disarming smile and nodded at him. “Asmodeus. I just came back from school, I was just, uh,” he said while gesturing to his unit’s door.

“I see.”

Awkward silence filled the space between and around them. Asmo noticed a faint sprinkle of flour on Solomon’s right cheek, he clamped down the urge to reach in and dust it off.

The fire alarm started beeping causing the two to jolt in surprise. Solomon raced to the trash chute, dumped the trash bag and raced back inside his room to turn off the oven. Asmo stood unmoving to the doorway. He wondered if he should offer help.

Thick smoke came out of the oven when Solomon opened it, he fanned the oven with a mitt. The fire alarm hasn’t stopped beeping so Asmo mindlessly stepped inside and grabbed the nearest flat object (which happened to be a pan of piped cream puff dough) to fan the alarm component on the ceiling. He honestly had no idea what he’s doing. The piped dough from the baking pan fell and scattered on the floor, one even hitting him right on the cheek.

“Oh. It stopped,” he commented, the pan still raised over his head.

Asmo glanced at Solomon who was still kneeling in front of the oven and saw that a bunch of dough pieces is now strewn around the kitchen floor. A solitary piece of dough stuck on the baking sheet finally gave up and dropped on Asmo’s forehead. He blinked slowly, unsure on how to react.

Solomon snorted, obviously trying but miserably failing to hold back a laugh. Asmo flicked away the dough which earned a chuckle from Solomon, which in turn triggered Asmo to burst into laughter.

“Sorry, that was… not funny.” Solomon said in between laughs.

Asmo doubled over. He wiped a tear that escaped his eye from laughing and said, “It kinda was.”

“Listen, why don’t you sit and clean yourself up. I’ll just tidy up for a bit and we could enjoy the successful batch I made earlier. Think of it as a welcoming present.”

Asmo considered it for a moment. Sleep or… this? “Sure.”

Solomon smiled, and started cleaning up the mess.

Asmo pulled out a chair and sat. His rose and gold eyes followed Solomon’s movement. It mesmerized him; the grace in his movements, certain and self-assured. He stared so hard he didn’t even notice that Solomon was already standing in front of him asking something.

He shook his head a tiny bit. “I’m sorry, come again?”

Solomon chuckled. His chuckle sent a shiver down Asmo’s spine.

“I asked if you would like tea or coffee. To pair with the cream puffs.”

“Tea, please. With milk.”

Solomon nodded and proceeded to the kitchen counter to make the tea. Asmo wanted to face palm and cringe. Why is he acting this way?

“So… tell me about yourself,” Solomon said.

Asmo paused. In any other instances, he would’ve already started talking about himself without even needing to be prompted. Why is it that he can’t think of something interesting to tell this guy?

“Why don’t we talk about you first?” Asmo deflected the question.

That earned another smile from the fair-haired man. He brought the cooling rack containing the cream puffs and a tray of tea and cups.

“What do you want to know?”

Everything, Asmo thought. Instead he asked, “What’s your major?”

“Chemistry. You?”

Huh, that surprisingly fits him. “Fashion design. Why are you always baking?”

Solomon sipped his tea. “I promised my little brother Luke I would teach him how to bake. You see, a friend of mine, Barbatos went overseas for a job. He was the one who was supposed to teach Luke. But since he can’t, I decided to give it a go.”

“That’s incredibly nice of you.”

“Thank you. For now I still need to watch videos and study the recipe but I think I’m starting to get the hang of it. Well, except for the incident earlier.”

Asmo nodded. The cream puffs looked so good he wanted to pull out his phone and post it on his Instagram but he stopped himself. He reached for one and popped it into his mouth.

The milky taste and the slight crisp of the puff blended well, it tasted divine—Asmo’s thoughts stopped at the same time he stopped chewing. WHAT IS THAT? It’s bitter and spicy and sour, flavor after flavor assaulted his taste buds faster than his brain can process the actual taste of the pastry.

He looked at Solomon, the latter clearly expecting a comment or reaction from him. Good thing he quickly managed his expression. He smiled, the cream puff still stuck on the roof of his mouth.

He was saved by the ringing of Solomon’s phone. When Solomon turned his back to reach for his phone, he quickly spit out the pastry on his handkerchief and stowed it on his bag’s pocket.

Solomon’s eyes widened slightly at him when he saw him gulped down his tea as a desperate attempt to wash out the aftertaste. “You sure are thirsty. More tea?” Solomon offered.

“I am. Yes, please.” Asmo nodded vigorously.

“So, what can you say about the cream puffs? It’s my first time so I can understand if they didn’t turn out perfect.”

That would be the understatement of the year, Asmo thought. He also dreaded the question. To tell or not to tell? “Do you have any more of the strawberry tart you made the other day?”

“How did you know I made some?”

“Please. Everyone on this floor probably knows what you’re baking every day.”

Solomon chuckled and proceeded to get a strawberry tart from his fridge.

Asmo swallowed, bracing himself. Just a small bite. A chaos of flavors.

He placed his palms flat on the table for 10 seconds then rushed to the sink to spit out the tart and gargle water. “What the hell was that?”

Solomon raised an eyebrow at him. “What do you mean? It tastes normal to me.”

Asmo’s jaw fell when he saw Solomon eating his tart with no problem, enjoying it even. He can’t believe he spent his days craving for sweets his neighbour baked when in reality they taste this atrocious.

“That’s it, Solomon. You’re not allowed to bake anymore,” Asmo said, shaking his head.

“Huh? I thought I was doing fine. I really need to learn though, I can’t disappoint Luke.”

Asmo bit his lip, considering. He sighed. “Fine. You can bake all you want, but never without me. I’ll oversee whatever you’re doing to make sure you never end up making those… those unidentifiable monstrosities again!”

Solomon smiled; in his grey-blue eyes, Asmo saw wonders, and potential, and… a future. “Deal.”

SOLOMON

Solomon checked his watch. It’s Friday and Asmo will be coming over in a minute or two. It’s already been more than a month since they started their “baking lessons.” Granted, it’s not every day; it’s only twice a week, thrice when their schedule permits. But would it be a stretch if he admitted to himself that the highlight of his weeks are the days when Asmodeus comes over to watch him work?

A knock interrupted his thoughts. He should just give Asmo a spare key, he thought while walking towards the door.

“You’ll never guess what happened in class today! So see, I crammed a paper again last night so I almost came late for class. Our professor for that class was Professor Simeon, you know? He’s wonderful but can be very strict so I didn’t want to be late and be scolded but then, on the way to the classroom…”

Solomon’s lips tugged at the corner as he watched Asmo lament about his tiring day at school. His strawberry champagne bangs swept stylishly, slightly messed up by the wind. His gold and ruby eyes sparkling along with his words and gestures. Asmo always looked alive to him. No, not the usual alive as in living. Really alive. Maybe that’s what happens when you know to find love in everything.

“Anyway, what are we making today?” Asmo finished, hanging his white coat on the rack near the door.

We. It shouldn’t have sounded as nice as it did. “We,” he said the word with maybe a bit more excitement than warranted, “are making red velvet cake.”

“All right! That’s great. I love red velvet.”

“I already prepared—”

He stopped because of the irritation that flashed in Asmo’s eyes. He bit his lower lip to suppress a smile.

“Throw it out.”

“That would be a waste. At least try out the batter before rejecting it.”

Asmo put both his hands on Solomon’s shoulders and looked at him seriously, emphasizing his words, “Solomon, I know for a fact that you are an amazing and smart chemist, but you’re hopeless in the kitchen.”

Solomon laughed which earned a chuckle from Asmo. “No, no, I didn’t add any suspicious ingredients this time. I swear. I followed the instructions word for word.”

Asmo begrudgingly took a spoon and tasted the batter.

“Good?”

He shrugged. “Surprisingly.”

It was two weeks ago when Asmo finally figured out what he was doing wrong all this time. Solomon had a bad habit of experimenting with ingredients, most likely because of his chemistry experiments. But even after figuring out what’s the problem, Asmo continued supervising his baking. Not that he’s complaining, and not that he would ever ask the arrangement to be over. He would never admit it out loud, but he liked having Asmodeus over.

Solomon started whipping the frosting with a hand mixer while Asmo stayed close to watch him. It took a lot to focus and not glance on his side.

Asmo said, “Hey, you got a little something—”

His eyes met Asmo’s in time as Asmo’s fingers dusted something from his cheek. They stayed frozen in time for a moment; staring at each other, Asmo’s fingers barely grazing Solomon’s cheek.

The moment would’ve lasted longer if the mixer’s whisk attachment hit the side of the bowl in a wrong angle and sprayed both of them with frosting. They blinked at each other before bursting into laughter.

“Kitchen blunders for the nth time,” Solomon joked.

Asmo pulled out his phone and suggested they take a picture, Solomon let Asmo take their “selfie.” After Asmo was satisfied with the pictures, Solomon reached for a paper towel to wipe frosting from Asmo’s usual immaculately beautiful face.

After the cake cooled, Asmo helped design the frosting. He also took pictures to post on his Instagram. Solomon made an account last week just to look at the pictures occasionally. The photo of the cake earned hundreds of likes and comments in minutes. Well, that can’t be helped, Asmo is a popular guy. Solomon would be too if he actually bothered to socialize, but he found it rather exhausting to deal with people he’s not interested in.

“Hey, could you send me our picture from earlier?” Sol said.

“Oh yeah, sure.” Asmo fiddled with his phone. “…And sent.”

“Thank you,” Solomon replied.

They settled down on the table to eat the cake they made and have some tea. They talked about their days and their upcoming exams. Eventually, the sun started setting. Its golden rays streaming from the window, dyeing the room in a soft orange hue.

“I think you’re okay now, Solomon. Remember to just always follow the instructions and don’t add any unnecessary ingredients to whatever you’re cooking or baking, and it’ll turn out fine.”

Solomon raised an eyebrow. He pushed away the idea that Asmo will now stop coming over because they already eliminated the cause of the weird taste (which isn’t actually weird for him).

“It's a force of habit. I’m always curious so I can’t stop myself from experimenting with things.”

“I guess…”

“Why, am I eating up too much of your time?” He asked.

“Of course not. I like spending time with you, Solomon.” Asmo’s cheeks flushed a bit.

Solomon sipped his tea.

Asmo took the small window of silence to change the topic. “Anyway, I got a call from Mammon the other day and guess what? He’s appearing in a mag—”

“Me too,” he interrupted.

“Hmm?”

“I like spending time with you too.”

Asmo was caught off-guard but eventually smiled. He reached for his bag and pulled out a silver box with a champagne-colored ribbon. “By the way, here.”

Solomon’s brows wrinkled. “What’s this?”

“Happy Birthday, Solomon.”

“How did you—”

Asmo winked at him. “Information comes easily when you have a lot of friends.” Asmo laughed and continued, “Kidding. I’m in the same class as Meph, he works in the registrar’s office as an assistant so I asked him. I had to do him some favours, but eh, it’s worth it.”

“Thank you, Asmo. Really.”

Asmo’s phone beeped, he looked at his notifications. His eyes widened a fraction.

Solomon smiled. He had an idea why Asmo was surprised. He glanced on his own phone, notifications pouring in fast. He clicked on a post, his first one ever.

It’s a photo Asmo took of them earlier. Asmo, lively as always, was throwing a peace sign while winking, his ruby and gold eyes full of wonder; Solomon, his blue-grey eyes a pool of mystery, was smiling a bit, looking at him contentedly. The caption? Best birthday with ‘that special someone.’

His phone chimed, a notification appeared on top of his screen: Asmodeus liked your photo.

[holeyweasel]

༄ daniel padilla, cismale, he/him + the color orange, impressive explosions, fireworks in the night sky, trolley carts ignited into flames, graffiti on stop signs, and quivering palms concealed by a nifty hand-buzzer. – is that george weasley ? their ministry records say that they are twenty-five , a pureblood , and went to hogwarts . currently they are the owner of weasley’s wizard wheezes . whenever i see them saintlike by jakey starts playing in my head. i think this may be because they’re astute & whimsical , but they also happen to be deviant & reticent . (       BIOGRAPHY. | PINTEREST. | PLAYLIST.     )

TRIGGER WARNING: MENTIONS OF ALCOHOL & SUBSTANCE ABUSE / ALLUSIONS TO ALCOHOLISM.

basics .

name & origin : george felix weasley ; based on the Greek word georgos; meaning farmer. the word georgos is a combo of two Greek words, ge (γῆ), meaning earth, soil, and ergon (ἔργον), meaning work. && george doesn't apply much of a personal meaning to his name; perhaps molly was following the trend of her late, twin brothers, gideon & fabian, or maybe it'd just been a coincidence. george doesn't know; it's possible he never will, since molly doesn't talk about her brothers that have passed too often. nicknames : forge, fred, georgie, gred, twin #2, & weasel. preferred name : george is fine. age & birthdate : twenty-five ; april first. gender & pronouns : cis male ; he/him. orientation : straight ; heteroflexible ; questioning. ethnicity & nationality : filipino ; english. hometown : ottery st. catchpole, devon, england. current residence : the loft above number ninty-three diagon alley. occupation : owner & operator of weasley’s wizard wheezes. hogwarts house / school graduated from : gryffindor.

miscellaneous .

phobias : he can’t be alone, because when he is, that’s when he gets into more compromising situations. he excessively relies on others to fulfill his own emotional needs (eg. fred, specifically) his codependency to fred ran, and continues to run, so deep that even his level of confidence changes without his brother around. he needs fred around to feel okay with himself. he fears being rejected and abandoned as lone unit; rather than the one collective unit he was with fred. quirks : when disinterested in something, doesn’t put the effort in; rarely expresses his true emotions unless it’s through anger; jokes so much it’s hard to tell when he’s being serious; sometimes doesn’t realize when a joke has gone too far & unintentionally hurts people’s feelings. when his emotions are too much to handle, can act rashly, and do something stupid; he often winds up in trouble since he couldn’t careless what others think. also he’s not great at overly complicated math. fred was better at math, while george is better at reading/writing/words in general. basic addition and subtraction is fine, but once you get to double digits? oof. he uses his fingers to count. hobbies : comforting others & giving advice anonymously, creating his own spells & potion recipes, dueling, inventing things, quidditch beating, quick-wit, speed reading, stand-up comedy; there’s never a dull moment with him; he’s always able to entertain an audience and make people laugh. likes : adventures, biscuits, breaking things, causing chaos & confusion, conjuring up ideas & schemes, creating inventions, discovering new things, explosions, fireworks, flashing lights, freedom, friendly debates, hippos, irony, jokes, laughter, memes, mum’s home-cooked meals, parkour, philosophy, petty arson, punching things, puns, quidditch, quotes, rebellion, rioting, sweaters, & unlimited knowledge. dislikes : being alone, being controlled, boredom, commitment, conformists, copycats, cucumbers, disloyalty, early mornings, feelings that aren’t joy, grapefruits, hypocrites (ironically), instant tea, judgmental people, ordinary living, pocket watches, purists, restrictions, school, sellouts, silence, sitting still, spinach, the government, the rich, the status quo, & unnecessary rules. wand :  10 ¾ inches ; dogwood ; dragon heartstring core. patronus : previously, his was a magpie; along with fred’s. since fred’s death, he struggled to conjure one for many years, but eventually was able to - and it’s now a peacock.  boggart : him, completely and utterly alone. without fred or just without anyone in general? the world may never know. reverse amortentia : burning cedar, broom polish, firewhiskey, freshly baked biscuits, & roasted chestnuts.

history .

➵ the fifth son born to arthur & molly weasley right after his twin brother, fred, george was practically born a prankster & inventor. after graduation, he planned to become a successful entrepreneur. from birth, both him & fred were attached at the hip; getting into all sorts of shenanigans together. not much has really changed regarding that. growing up, they successfully set off a dungbomb during christmas dinner, turned ron’s teddy bear into a spider after he broke fred’s toy broomstick, gave ron an acid pop that burnt a hole in his tongue, and nearly tricked ron into taking an unbreakable vow. ➵ during his first year, him and fred swiped the marauder’s map from filch’s desk; this aided more in their mischief. ➵ george, while not being a hat stall, could definitely have been a fair candidate for slytherin with his ambitious & cunning nature — if only he wasn’t a red-headed, reckless weasley. ➵ this curious boi might have a teeny, tiny case of undiagnosed ADHD. he definitely exhibits all of the symptoms; he’s never gotten officially checked out, though.  ➵ second year, he joined the quidditch team as beater. at one point, ron informed harry that george received ”really good marks” for his first few years. ➵ the summer before his fourth year, he stole arthur’s ford anglia with fred and ron. this was in order to rescue harry from the dursley’s and bring him to the burrow. ➵ the summer after fourth year, george went on a trip with his family to visit bill in egypt. with fred, of course, he tried to push percy into a pyramid. ➵ fifth year, he & fred graciously gifted harry the marauder’s map since they’d already memorized it. ➵ sixth year, he attended the quidditch world cup with his family, harry, & hermione. he and fred gambled on the outcome & won a great deal of money from ludo bagman. however, they were never paid, and harassed bagman all year. fred wanted to inform the ministry; george was against it since that’s considered blackmail. after harry won the triwizard tournament, he gifted fred & george his winnings to make up for their lost bet. they put this money away with the intention to invest it into their future joke shop. this is also the year they began selling their inventions and he took his ordinary wizarding level exams; received 3 OWLs in, what’s assumed, charms, defense against the dark arts, & transfiguration. ➵ seventh year, he spent the summer before school at 12 grimmauld place. after being given harry’s winnings, george had no interest in returning to school, but did anyway. he spent most of the year selling his and fred’s products. he also joined dumbledore’s army; not being a huge fan of umbridge. ➵ later that year, umbridge kicked him, harry, and fred off the quidditch team after george & harry got into a fight with draco malfoy. once the DA was discovered, george decided with fred, that he didn’t care about getting in trouble, and they began an all-out rebellion. they shoved an inquisitorial squad member into a vanishing cabinet, set off an array of fireworks that they made themselves, & created a portable swamp in the corridor. after the vandalism & chaos, george flew away from hogwarts with his brother; encouraging others, and peeves, to follow their example. ➵ after fleeing the castle, george worked with fred to establish a weasley’s wizard wheezes storefront. the summer before the golden trio set off for their sixth year, they had their grand opening. they remained open in diagon alley even while growing tensions of the war ensued. draco malfoy even purchased peruvian instant darkness powder from their shop, which assisted him during the battle of the astronomy tower. in theory, the twins unknowingly helped the death eaters twice, but we don’t have to unpack all that right now. ➵ him & fred lived in a loft above their shop. ➵ sometime after turning of age, george joined the order and assisted them during the battle of the seven potters. he was paired with remus lupin, and sometime during this mission, snape hit him with sectumsepra. he lost his ear and it was unable to be healed due to being cut off with dark magic. ➵ the burrow operated as a new headquarters for the order until they were ambushed by death eaters and they had to flee. ➵ george & fred were frequent guests on lee jordan’s radio show: potterwatch. ➵ george was hit with snape’s sectumsepmra curse and ended up losing his left ear. since it was dark magic, his injury wasn’t able to be repaired. he has permanent hearing loss and a scar where his ear used to be. he’s picked up BSL (british sign language) since the incident.  ➵ he split up from the rest of his family after the death eater ambush, but remained with fred. him & fred were apart of lee jordan’s radio broadcast, potterwatch, so it’s assumed they were with lee in some way. ➵ there was an incident where george, alone, was taken in front of the wizengamot while fred had stepped out for the afternoon. he was brought on charges of aiding and abetting the mass breakout of muggleborn criminals. supposedly, they had items sold at weasley’s wizard wheezes that’d aided in their ultimate escape. ➵ questioned & tortured at the hand of umbridge, they almost sent him off to azkaban… but the department of magical law enforcement requested time to gather more evidence to build a stronger case of george’s involvement. his blood status wasn’t in question, and therefore, he was free to go. ➵ during the battle of hogwarts, george lost his twin brother, fred, in an explosion orchestrated by augustus rookwood. the years that followed were absolutely the hardest thing he’d ever gone through.  ➵ upon fred’s demise, george might have taken up a biiit of a drinking problem. while it hasn’t entirely taken over his life, some would definitely consider him a “functioning alcoholic.”  ➵ depending on a potential charlie mun, after fred’s funeral, george followed charlie to romania in order to “travel” and “find himself” without fred able to stand by his side anymore.  he eventually stole a dragon from charlie and took it across the world. goooo georgie! he returned about a year after fred’s funeral initially took place. ➵ for quite some time, george struggled to conjure a patronus. with all of his “happy memories” linked to fred, the charm became quite difficult for him to perform. of course, george is a determined individual; he continued to try anyways.  ➵ eventually, two years after fred’s passing, george was able to cast a patronus. although, instead of a cheery magpie revealing itself, a peacock took its place. this was significant because, slowly but surely, george was beginning to detach his identity from fred. ➵ george continued to build the business he’d started with his late brother. these days, he fills his time with work; occupying his mind with weasley’s wizard wheezes instead of the void fred’s passing left within him.

[javierchvez]

winter bakin’ | jovier

pairing - javier chavez & @jojohood

time - sometime around winter break

setting - the kitchens

summary - javier and jojo make cookies for the holidays

The best part of Christmas was the baking. At least that was Javier’s opinion in previous years. This year he had something even better to look forward to, and that was baking with one of his favorite people. She might not be the most adept baker, but it was still nice to have company in the kitchen. And Javier couldn’t have asked for better company than Jojo. Grabbing the last of the ingredients, he gave her a quizzical look. “Now, the only question is…” he trailed off as if to build suspense as he reached into the drawer. It wasn’t anything that needed the suspense, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t fun to make it sound like a much larger debate than it was. “Do we want to do snowmen or the traditional gingerbread man?” Though he was asking for her opinion, he definitely made his own known by nodding his head slightly towards the former.

Jojo wasn't exactly what anyone would call the most festive person, but that didn't mean she hated the holidays. How could she, when her home back in Sherwood always went all out for them? It just meant that while she admired the holiday lights and decorations and all that stuff, she didn't usually participate in any of it firsthand. She especially didn't if it had anything to do with cooking or baking, but baking holiday cookies was a fun excuse to hang out with Javier. Not that Jojo needed an excuse -- almost without her even noticing, Javier had become one of those rare people that she knew she could hit up to talk about anything, at any time. And she must like him a lot if she was here, ready to try making cookies for the first time. "Hmmm..." Jojo said outloud as she struggled to tie her long, wavy hair back into a ponytail or bun to keep it out of the way from getting burned or something like that. She considered saying gingerbread just because she knew he wanted the other one more but she ended up going with, "Fuck tradition! Let's make some tiny snowmen!" With that, she finally wrestled most of her hair into a ponytail that stayed and she wiped her hands on the side of her pants. "So, Chef Chavez, how do we start this thing? Because I'm not kidding when I say the extent of my baking knowledge is those tv competition shows."

Javier could hardly contain his excitement when she agreed with him. He honestly would have been okay with either cookie, he just liked the way the snowmen looked and the fact that they had more icing on them than the gingerbread men. “Seriously, don’t even worry about that. That’s what I’m here for,” he said, trying to make her feel better about her inexperience with baking. “I can show you what to do. It’ll all be fine, trust me.” He’d shown plenty of people how to make things. Okay, maybe not that many people, but he was sure that he could teach Jojo a simple sugar cookie recipe. “So first, we’re going to pour flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl and use this to mix it together.” He handed her a whisk as he spoke, with his other hand setting out the measuring cup to measure out the mentioned ingredients. “And while you do that, I’ll get the butter and sugar going in the mixer.” Javier waited until all the dry ingredients were properly measured before moving on to beat the butter and sugar together and tossed her a reassuring glance. “See? So far so good. You have nothing to worry about.”

"Worried? I'm not worried," Jojo lied through her teeth in the most teasing tone she could manage. She wasn't used to the part of liking somebody that made her insecure that they'd think less of her if she proved herself talentless, but at least Javier was nice about it. He was nice about everything, and besides, it wasn't like cookies were even that hard of a recipe to not fuck up. "And I do trust you," she admitted with a sigh. It was weird to say those words and even weirder to mean it, but it felt like a good kind of weird. "Alright, let's go!" She rubbed her hands together before taking the whisk from Javier and nodded. It sounded simple enough. Just mixing together weird dry powders. And whisking itself was easy enough to do, even without paying too much attention, which was good because the best part of this by far was getting to watch Javier. Even when he was doing simple stuff like beating butter and sugar together, it was kind of sexy; he was just so casually confident in the kitchen. "Right? I don't want to jinx myself but I think I might be a whisk master already. Do you ever just eat the sugar-butter mixture by itself? Because that looks good!"

Before he had been grinning at getting to do the shape he wanted, but now that grin turned into something softer; it wasn’t everyday that Javier was told that someone trusted him. Not that he’d ever do anything to make him untrustworthy, but he wasn’t naive enough to assume that absolutely nobody had preconceived notions regarding the VK’s. Although he’d never accuse Jojo of being like that. After all, if she thought something, she would say it. She was definitely not the type to say one thing and mean another, and maybe that was why he’d appreciated the comment so much, although really it wasn’t that big of a deal. They were only making cookies, not a whole lot of trust was needed in the subject, but it was still very much appreciated to be heard. And he also appreciated the enthusiasm she exuded even while doing something she had said time and time again she wasn’t good at. Javier laughed when she called herself a whisk master and peered into her bowl, a playful gasp leaving his lips. “Wow, that’s the best whisking job I’ve ever seen. And that’s coming from me.” Her question gave him a slight pause, a look of guilt spreading over his face briefly. “Uh, yeah, but no judging me! I only did it the first time I made cookies over here because, well, it was the first time I’d made cookies with fresh ingredients. And I do not suggest eating just butter and sugar. It’s kind of gross.”

Jojo rolled her eyes but couldn't help but smile at Javier's surprised gasp; joking around in a kitchen together was annoyingly just as much fun as the lame people in romcoms made it seemed, and she kind of hated herself for actually puffing up a little bit at his playful compliments. Maybe it was too late for her and she was officially a fool with feelings. She'd think about that later, though. Right now, she had a handsome and hilarious boy to mock. "Um, permission to remain unjudged denied! I can't say I don't get the temptation though. It looks freaking tasty." She looked down at the mixture and then over at Javier with mischief twinkling in her eyes. "Hey, are you one of those cooks that gets weird about people sticking their fingers in your food?" she added, sticking a finger out menacingly towards the butter and sugar bowl. "Do you dare me to taste it?”

“I just told you it was gross and you still wanna try it?” Javier asked, laughing as her finger neared the mixing bowl. “I’m not one of those, no, but like I said, I really advise against it.” He made sure the mixer was off before tipping the bowl towards her. “But if you really want to do it, be my guest. Just don’t blame me when it’s the worst thing you’ve ever had. I warned you it was gross.” He had to admit, even though there wasn’t much baking being done and more messing around, he was having a great time. It was always a good time with Jojo, no matter what they were doing. “I’m about to add vanilla, egg, and almond extract though, if you’d rather wait. We’re almost to dough and that tastes a lot better than just butter and sugar.”

For someone who had never been in any relationship before and had only really seen successful ones, Jojo really had a bad habit of waiting for the other show to drop, and so she kept expecting Javier to get annoyed that she delaying their progress, or that she was just goofing off, but it felt more and more like waiting for something that wouldn't come, and that made it easier to be herself. "Yeah! You can't call something gross and honestly not expect me to try and test it out," Jojo snickered. She loved self-imposed dares and trying new shit out, and this felt like a good opportunity to do both of those things. She considered waiting for a moment so she could have the full dough experience as Javier suggested but then she just shrugged. "I'll try it when you get it all doughy too but I'm too curious right now!" Her finger swiped the edge of the mixture and scooped some up. "Cheers," she laughed,  popping it into her mouth and keeping eye contact with him the whole time. The taste wasn't as bad as she had been expecting and she covered her mouth with her hands as she laughed. "Dude... is it bad that I liked it?"

Sure, he’d definitely had worse tasting things on the Isle, but this was gross more so because of texture than anything else. Just watching Jojo eat it made him grimace, remembering his reaction the first time he’d tried the mixture. It was not at all the one she gave him now, and Javier couldn’t help but snicker. “I mean, everyone’s got different tastes?” He responded, reaching for the next set of ingredients to add to the bowl. “But I’m telling you. Nothing's gonna beat the dough. I know they say you shouldn’t eat raw dough because of the eggs and what not, but it’s still amazing. I could sit and eat an entire bowl of it, honestly. Who needs actual cookies when the dough tastes a little better?” After adding in the vanilla and eggs, Javier added the dry ingredients, setting the mixer to low and letting it do its thing. “So, thought about how you wanna decorate your snowman? Do we want royal icing or would you rather use fondant?”

Jojo felt even more like smiling at the look on Javier's face; he looked absolutely aghast, and it genuinely cracked her up that she could gross him out a little bit. And then he laughed and it made her laugh, and her heart felt light. She was still getting used to the fact that somebody's emotions had such sway on hers, but it felt so good right now. "I love raw cookie dough, man," she laughed. "I'd eat it all day, but I guess I wait until they're real cookies. That's the Christmassy thing to do, yeah? And I'm not sure. How are you going to decorate yours? Not that I'm planning on copying you, but you're the kitchen genius here! I'm not even sure I know what fondant is, actually, except that the cooking shows say it's hard to use. Which of those is more fun to lick off? I vote for the best licking experience!"

“You have no idea what fondant is? Wow, I really have failed to teach you anything,” Javier sighed exaggeratedly and shook his head. “But at least you know it’s hard to work with, and honestly it doesn’t taste great. It just makes decorations look better. Especially when you’re trying to create a scene or build something. Royal icing it is, but don’t expect it to come right off when you lick it like regular frosting does. As for how I’m decorating… I’m not sure. I guess I was just gonna do a regular old Frosty type snowman. Boring, huh?” He was really glad that they’d gotten the chance to do this, especially since she’d always said she wasn’t any help in the kitchen. It was nice to have someone other than his sister or dad in there with him, and someone he could really joke around with like they had been. Javier really felt a connection with Jojo, and it made him really happy to know that she hadn’t gotten sick of him yet. He hoped that day wouldn’t come for a long, long time, if it ever did come. For now, though, they had cookies to worry about. What the future held for them could wait; besides, it was much for fun to live in the present with her. “Ready to roll it out? You wanna do the honors?”

"It's not my fault you look hot when you're explaining kitchen stuff," Jojo complained, fake-fanning herself as if he was too sexy at this moment to even stand. "It makes it hard to listen to you when I just wanna kiss your face." She was good at saying bold stuff like that over text but in person, it made her blush a little and she let herself listen about the icing instead. "Eh, some people say boring. Some say classic. Me? I say boring," she joked, "but it'll taste delicious for sure." She nodded when asked about rolling out the cookies and she excitedly took the roller to the dough, ready to show her stuff. "You're not going to get behind me like a guy in the movies to 'show me how it's done', are you?" Jojo jested, her strong forearms making quick work of the dough.

Javier “looking hot” was something he was still getting used to; the only time he thought the word described him at all was in a literal sense, not an attractive sort of way. He scoffed lightly and rolled his eyes, muttering a “yeah, right” as he busied himself cleaning the area while she rolled out the dough. “You know, I kind of thought you’d say that,” he joked, moving the ingredients no longer needed out of the way to make room for the icing. Egg whites, vanilla, and confectioner’s sugar were pulled out instead, and measured carefully into a new bowl for the standing mixer. “Wow, do I really come across as that kind of guy?” Javier snorted, trying and failing to feign offense. He traded his expression for a small pout, adding on, “I didn’t think you thought so little of me.”

Jojo was very familiar with the sort of reaction Javier let out when she called him hot -- honestly, it was the kind of reaction she always had whenever anybody complimented her looks. She was convinced she was the worst looking in her family and just sort of weird-looking in general, but that was different; Javier was actually hot, super fucking hot. She'd thought so even before they started whatever this was. "It's true," she sighed, but otherwise let it go as they started preparing the icing and she licked her lips in anticipation for tastiness. Jojo giggled at his false-offense, raising a brow at him. "Maybe I just wanted to get you behind me," she quipped, shrugging a shoulder. "But seriously though, no. You're the least 'that kind of guy' I've ever met. It's why you're my favorite."

‘You’re my favorite,’ wow. Javier hadn’t expected to hear those words or have the kind of reaction he did; he could feel his cheeks warm as a smile tore across his face. The only people he’d been the favorite of were his father and sister, and that didn’t have nearly the same effect on him as hearing it from Jojo. “Favorite, huh?” he echoed teasingly, or at least that’s how he meant to repeat it. He was sure it didn’t come off quite like that with his cheeks still tinted with blush. It probably came off more like a schoolgirl laughing a bit too hard at a joke her crush had just told, which truth be told did describe how he was feeling at that moment a little bit. Giddy, giggling to himself in a slightly idiotic manner in response to something his crush said. Javier cleared his throat to compose himself a bit, busying his hands with the icing that was quickly coming together. “And if that’s what you really want, I guess I can show you how to pipe the icing onto the cookie. Have you ever used this stuff before? It’s kind of fun, a little like coloring if I’m being honest. Just draw a border around the area you want to ice and then fill it in,” while he explained, he separated the icing into several bowls so they could color it for whatever accessories their snowmen would be wearing. “Is the dough ready to cut and bake?”

[brawltogethernow]

So the problem starts, the problem starts when Kaine agrees to go to a bake sale.

This little old lady put her hand on his face, see? What are little old ladies doing putting their hands on his face? Doesn’t she know he could snap her neck with a finger twitch?

“You are a good Catholic boy,” she says. “I know one when I see one,” she interrupts when he opens his mouth to protest, though he wasn’t yet decided which descriptor to zero in on first. “You are always at confession.”

Kaine may, possibly, have been using confession as a kind of no-papers-required stand-in for therapy. Or maybe a no-blood-shed-Aracely-isn’t-glaring-at-me stand-in for hurting himself.

He has enough brain cells not to say this. Barely.

“Thank you,” he says instead, and tries to pull away.

She leans with him. Her hands remain on his face.

“But I never see you anywhere else!” she says. “You must come to the bake sale. It’s on Friday.”

“Okay,” says Kaine’s mouth entirely without his input. He was born with an inbuilt structural weakness against little old battle axes. He attributes this to the ghost echoes of Peter Parker’s idyllic childhood.

-

“So what are we making?” demands Aracely as soon as he returns to the presidential suite. “Lemon bars? People on TV make lemon bars. What is a lemon bar?”

Sometimes, Kaine is more glad than anything that she's always eavesdropping on the inside of his head. Often, he’d cut off a limb, hell, all his limbs, to keep her out. He'd grow a bunch of spider legs again and then cut those off. He’s not sure exactly where this falls between the two extremes. But definitely closer to the negative side.

“Oh,” she says as if he answered, tipping her head. She’s turned around on the couch and sat up on her knees and braced her arms on the back of it to see him better. “You don’t know either. That’s okay, we can Google it.”

-

So they burn the kitchenette a little bit.

"We can rebuild it," says Arcacely. "We have the technology."

He definitely leaves her in front of the TV too much. But what's the alternative, bringing her with him more?

"Yes, it is," says Aracely like he spoke out loud. "And that is but one more reason why you should do that."

"Hell no," says Kaine, and books it out of the suite fast enough that he can pretend he didn't hear her shout, "Swear jar!"

-

He finds the maid who most often handles their rooms. He hands her a stack of hundreds for her trouble, then gives her a couple more because he can tell the exchange has scared her. He tells her the hotel can bill him the damages. And then he asks her how to get to the hotel kitchen.

Aracely appears, out of breath, as he finishes bribing his way into use of a stove. Her ability to do this is one reason among many why he doesn't own a cellphone.

"You could have just asked them," she chirps, methodically going through the room and opening, examining, and then closing every drawer. It's empty right now, so there's no one to stop her. "I think they would have just let us use the kitchen. The people here like you."

"No, they don't," corrects Kaine. "And who cares? It's not like we need to save money." He can just go hit more human traffickers if he runs low. And since he spends a lot of his time doing this even when he's not running low, he is in absolutely no danger of running low. He's pretty sure he could buy a yacht, or a politician.

"Success!" proclaims Aracely, and when Kaine turns around she's holding a clear plastic tub of brown powder over her head. There's a piece of paper laminated to the side with text printed on it that might be a recipe. "Brownie mix!"

-

"That is not food," declares Aracely of their creation. "No one is going to buy that."

Kaine leans over to examine it. It's kind of...grainy.

"Brownie sand," says Aracely. "Could we start a new trend?"

Kaine sighs. They should have known trying to quarter the banquet-sized serving on the tub was a bad idea. They have clearly miscalculated on some ephemeral measurement level. They've angered the baking gods.

"Are there baking gods?" inquires Aracely.

"Why don't you ask the Catholics," says Kaine, and tugs her away to tip the cleaning staff again.

-

“This is good too,” says Aracely, presiding over the storebought tubs of those weird shitty grocery store cookies that are mostly icing that they brought instead.

“I don’t even know how I got here,” says Kaine. “What are we doing here?”

His nose twitches. He’s not sure if one of them still smells like burnt lemons or if he’s just imagining it. He does know that he’s avoiding anything lemony for a long time.

-

The woman who got him into this sidles up to them shortly after they set up, looking very pleased to see him there.

"Always good to see fresh faces," she says, and winks at him.

She continues to talk in a way that stays steadily one step to the left of him feeling like he has a firm grasp on the conversation. Possibly that's because he's overthinking things and doubting whether he's correctly interpreting a single word she's saying. What even is "the congregation", in this context?

He looks at Aracely.

She shrugs.

Is it a list. Do you have to complete a set of tasks to qualify. Are there membership cards?

Aracely shrugs a little more beffudledly. Her reeducation via television and following a vigilante around active crime scenes must not have taught her about this.

-

The bake sale is to raise money to fix the air conditioner. This means that the building is the same temperature inside as it is outside. The best description he can come up with for the response the people in the room are having to the sweltering temperature is "cheerfully miserable".

Other than that it's...weird. Festival-ish? It kind of plucks the strings of memories that don't belong to him of May Parker presiding over neighborhood events with an endlessly gentle iron fist, but it also doesn't. He also kind of feels like he is impersonating someone who is actually supposed to be here. But that's nothing new.

There is a big confused snarl in Kaine's chest made mostly of other people's experiences that he can't even begin to interpret if he pings himself about the concept of "God". He thought that might be a problem if he just walked in here and...socialized.

It is not. No one is asking him about God.

"What do you think about the setup this time?" a woman with a thin mouth and long, spindly fingers demands. Her lipstick is the same shade as Annabelle's hair and her turtleneck suggests a total lack of concern for the wet Houston heat that Kaine finds honestly terrifying.

"The--?" he starts to answer.

"It's definitely for the best they didn't decide to hold it in the basement again," she continues, saving him from answering her not-really-a-question. "I mean, why? The lobby has all these lovely windows."

She gestures. Kaine nods along, his adrenaline spiking more than it ever has for any interaction with a werewolf or a most dangerous game type with a knife.

Thus follows a brief interaction where Kaine hums or nods when appropriate, and in return learns that she's very invested in the greater accessibility of the lobby, she plays piano on a volunteer basis for the church, and she knows he's "one of Marie's injections of fresh blood" but doesn't seem interested on calling him out for not belonging here.

"Do come to the community breakfast tomorrow," she finishes, buys two cookies, and leaves.

The emotional aftermath is akin to having weathered a near-death experience.

-

Aracely has found an older couple to speak Spanish with and is chirping away at the same blistering clip typical of her English, but with a more fluid cadence that betrays it's at least one of her native languages. The in-his-head thing doesn't really go both ways, so he has no idea what they're talking about. Probably something he'd regret knowing. What if she is asking them about baking gods.

A guy in a priest...collar...thing...who Kaine hopes desperately is not the one he sometimes monopolizes, or, failing that, does not recognize him, has sprouted up to make polite conversation.

"Not a bad turnout today, eh?" he says.

"Good thing they moved it back into the lobby," tries Kaine.

The priest beams at him like he's repeated the secret code.

"So true," he says.

Kaine is totally mastering churches. This is great. He bets if it were Peter in his place he would have started a fight by now.

-

"I think that went well," says Aracely after they've retreated to the suite and she's curled back up on the couch with a bowl of...something. She stabs the contents of the bowl with a spoon. "We should definitely do that again. Socializing with your community is almost as important as scaring away all its drug lords!"

"They're not my community," says Kaine. Not just the Catholic church a few blocks away from the hotel, which he still thinks he prefers from inside an anonymous guilt box. Houston is not Kaine's community. He does not have, does not get to have, a community. (Aracely rolls her eyes in an incredibly teenagery way, projecting exasperation either at his answer or his train of thought.) "What are you eating?"

She salutes him with her spoon. "Brownie sand! It's very edible!"

"Ichh," says Kaine.

"It's good for you!" Aracely declares. She looks dubiously down at her bowl, and corrects, "It's not actively bad for you!"

"No more chocolate," says Kaine. "No more lemons. No."

"But maybe some more bake sales?"

"...Maybe."

"Yes!"

==

On AO3 (where the title and summary can be considered a bonus gag). Last year the GG Discord was talking about how the Marvel wiki categorizes characters by religious affiliation, which led to questioning why Kaine Parker was listed as Catholic. I reported back several months later after I read Scarlet Spider that it was because he started going to confession after being thrown through a church wall, which prompted gelpenss to pitch the mental image of Kaine showing up to one of the less cinematic things people do in churches.

[akaashisupremacy]

Chapter 2: Chasing Springtime (Summer)

Tsukki x fem!reader/Oc

genre: romance, angst, friends to lovers, lowkey nsfw (wc: 5072 lol)

Summary: Kei Tsukishima, now in college is reacquainting himself with a childhood friend. Old feelings that he has long shoved aside resurface.

Notes: Kaori Miyahara is an original character, but readers are free to put themselves into her shoes! There will be more chapters to come and let me know if you have any feedback or if you want to be in the taglist. 

Chap. 1 (Ao3) || Chap. 2 (AO3) || Chap. 3

Summer (July) || Sendai City || 2018

It was a warm summer evening in July. The gentle summer breeze swirled with a bit of humidity plied on Kei Tsukishima’s skin as he made his way into the train station. Usually buying a strawberry shortcake was an errand he readily undertook, but the day has been long and he was hungry that he was almost ready to neglect his errand. Besides, the anxiety building at the pit of his stomach as he walked towards the store was of no help.

As he selected a cake from the display stand, Tsukki tried to shake off his nerves. He was tired, worn and a little bit sticky, but today required special effort. Today was Kaori Miyahara’s birthday and he promised himself that he would surprise her with her (and his) favorite cake. He saw her regularly around the Sendai University campus, but he only ever hung out with her on Sundays. Today was Tuesday.

Tsukki was a second year college student playing professional volleyball in the Division 2 league. Since school was out, the training hours have extended themselves into the day. His schedule looked similar to a signed professional’s during his breaks, testing his stamina and his patience to their limits. His sport was fun, but sometimes it could be draining and Tsukki was the type of athlete who needed to rest.

The shopkeeper asked if he needed anything else. He requested for a candle to which she willingly obliged. He paid for his purchase and briskly walked in the direction of Kaori’s apartment which was located in a nearby residential street. He found his feet taking him into a dark brown door with a single pale of light lighting the doorstep. He rang the doorbell door.

A girl that barely hit the height of his chest opened the door. The smell of a maturing dinner wafted out into his Tsukki’s nose. He could hear the sizzling of meat and smell freshly cooked rice.

“Tsukki!” exclaimed a surprised Kaori. She looked like she just got home; she was still dressed in training shorts and her team shirt. Kaori trained with their university’s rhythmic gymnastics team.

“I didn’t expect you’d be dropping by,” she said. Her cheeks were flushed from the heat of the cooking, but her face looked drained. She too looked like she had a long day.

“I came over to drop this off. Happy birthday.” he said, handing her the paper bag containing the cake box. He tried to be cheerful in his tone, but Tsukki had never been great at being sunny.

“Thank you!” she smiled brightly, ”You really shouldn’t have-“ She stopped midway to take her cooking out of her pan and throw her windows open before rushing back to the door. The smoke from her pan had quickly filled her small room.

“You really shouldn’t have! I’m sorry to have caused you trouble on a weekday, I know how hard training is lately. Anyways, have you eaten dinner yet? Is your brother home for dinner?” she asked, with one hand holding the cake and another hand fanning herself. She had forgotten to put it down on her table.

Tsukki lived with his brother who was working in the city. They usually made dinner together.

Tsukki shook his head, “He’ll be out tonight. I’ll be heading home to get started on dinner. Sorry to bother you, I hope I didn’t distract from your cooking.” He shrugged his shoulders and put his hands in his pocket, slightly embarrassed that he had caused a ruckus in her home.

“Why don’t you stay over for dinner? I’ll make a little more teppanyaki beef.  Okasan came over last weekend and she brought over enough food to stuff my fridge.” she said, ushering him in. Tsukki tried not to show that the smoke lightly fogging his glasses was bothering him.  

Tsukki put down his bag and put himself to work. He filled two bowls with rice, plated some pickles and vegetables and helped her set the table as she made more beef. Kaori seemed to have run out of miso paste, so instead he made soup from powdered miso from her cupboard. This was the first time he’d been inside her home in the city.

While he helped her prepare their dinner, he quietly observed her little apartment, which was little more than a glorified room. Her dining room was her bedroom when her bed was rolled up. Her left wall was occupied by a desk and shelf stacked with books, memorabilia and some baskets of clothes. What looked like sliding doors to another room were where she kept her bed things and some clothes. Kaori was by no means big, but the room looked too small for her (at least in his eyes). The two of them making dinner off a minute counter quickly crowded the space.

Her apartment was drastically different from her old family home near Karasuno, just outside of the city which was a relatively spacious concrete home with wooden floors. The house had a backyard that was the size of a small half court. The house had multiple rooms and a wide receiving area. If Kaori did mind the size of her apartment, she did not show it. In fact, she was almost oblivious.

Once dinner was set, the absent sound of cooking begged to be filled by conversation. They sat down on her table on the tatami floor and began their dinner.

“How’s your birthday so far?” he asked. The table they were eating on was so small for Tsukki that even when his legs were folded and crossed, his knees would still touch Kaori’s toes. He felt conscious about touching her and moved himself back.

Kaori’s teammates had surprised her with some home-baked treats as birthday tokens, but other than that her training went on as usual. She proudly showed off some of the treats and told him a little about each team mate that gave it to her.

“How was your day? ” she asked in return.

“Nothing new,” he shrugged.

“Any ideas for internship plans for your senior year yet?” she asked. Tsukki was aiming to eventually enter a historical or science museum.

Kaori hesitated a bit, “When Okasan was here last weekend, she talked about her retirement plans. She is thinking of retiring in the Kansai region and I might move there after I graduated to be closer to her. I’m a bit concerned if I can get a job there considering our internship will be here.”

“So you’re moving again?” he asked as casually as he could. He could sense his nerves building while remembering Kaori’s last move. He had almost forgotten about that memory.

As far as Tsukki remembered, Kaori had moved a lot when she was in elementary. At one point her family lived overseas because of the nature of her Otoosan’s job. When she entered Junior High, her family moved into the house next to Tsukki’s family home. She stayed there until she abruptly left during their second year of high school which was the last time he saw her before college.

Kaori nodded, “Probably, if I can find a job in the region.”

Tsukki’s facial expression shifted. His face stiffened and then immediately erased any semblance of emotion.

“Is anything the matter?“ she asked, as she looked up from her food. She sensed his tension. She knew he was holding back.

“Nothing, it’s not my place to say. You should do what you like.” he said, shaking his head. He could sense his temper rising.

“Tsukki, I feel like you have something to say.” she said, treading carefully. Tsukki definitely had opinions even if he was quiet most of the time, “Just air it out.”

He put his bowl down unintentionally slamming it onto the table.

“ I can’t believe you’re moving…again! Every time things start to fall into place, you leave.” His voice was brimming with hurt and anger. His eyes were beginning to feel hot. It was taking all his control not to let angry tears roll down his eyes.

Kaori had never seen Tsukki so emotional. He kept trying to hold his outburst down without much success. Whenever he was disappointed or angry, Tsukki was always careful not to show it and now he had just exploded. She was stunned into silence.

“At least this time you’ve said it ahead of time, last time you didn’t even bother to say goodbye.” he said, crossing his arms and avoiding her eyes, “You just left.”

“Tsukki, I wanted to say goodbye. I had prepared to say my goodbyes to everyone -“ Kaori was pleading with her voice.

“You literally said goodbye to all you other friends except me!” he exclaimed with his hands.

Suddenly Tsukki felt like he was sixteen again, sitting in his high school classroom during lunch. He mentions to one his few friends that he had not seen Kaori yet after summer ended. A friend replies that Kaori had moved away during the break. Surprised that Tsukki had not known, his friend asked if Kaori had spoken anything about her move. Tsukki sits on his desk shocked and unable to process what he had just heard.  

Tsukki remembered being asked to walk with Kaori to school on their first day of Junior High. His mother informed him that their new neighbors had a daughter that would be attending the same school.

“Moving to some place is always hard, it would be nice if you can be a friend to the Miyahara girl.” she said.

Tsukki grudgingly obliged to walk her to school on the said day, barely talking to her on the way there. Although he only promised to walk with her on the first day, they somehow left for school almost the same time every day. And so for all three years of Junior High, they walked to school together. Their friendship wasn’t particularly chatty, but Tsukki knew about Kaori’s dream to qualify for the national team for gymnastics and secretly thought it was cool whenever she got invited to selection camps. Kaori learned about Tsukki’s admiration for his older brother who played volleyball and was not surprised to find that he had barely made any friends in his volleyball youth group.

“Tsukki, I think your experience at volleyball would be richer if you made more friends.” she said, looking up to the sky with her hands in her pockets on their way to school, “I wish I could have teammates, you know. In gymnastics even your teammates are your competitors so it can be difficult to find lots of support from them during high pressure moments.”

Some time in their first year at Junior High, Kaori was invited to a selection camp for junior level gymnasts hoping to compete internationally. She found the experience stressful.

“Then why don’t you just join a team?” he asked. That seemed like a pretty obvious solution.

“Coach says I can better polish my individual skills if I work alone. Group routines take longer to choreograph and clean,” she sighed, “Joining a team will require me to learn a different skill set too. We don’t really do teams for individual competitions if you’re qualifying for elite.”

“See even your coach thinks team mates are unnecessary for improvement.” he pointed out.

Kaori retorted that it was because she competed in an individual sport.

“You compete with a team. You can’t compete alone.”

“Whatever, I still think I don’t need to be friends with my team.” he said, shrugging his shoulders.

“It’s like you weren’t listening to what I just said,” she said with her hands on her hips as she stopped walking. Tsukki ignored her and continued strolling to the direction of their school.

“Hey! You can’t just pretend not to hear me.” she exclaimed, with her hands still on her hips.

“Yes, yes I can.” he called out, turning his nose to the sky.

“You can be such a snob sometimes,” she said, her nostrils flaring while running to catch up with Tsukki’s long strides.

Tsukki chuckled on the inside as he walked slower so Kaori could catch up.

They began drifting apart in High School when Tsukki could no longer regularly walk to school with her because he had morning training. Still they tried to keep in touch, Kaori would sometimes go to his games and he would keep tabs on her competition scores. After summer training ended in his second year, he noticed he hadn’t seen the light in their house for a while. He heard about her move at school and hurriedly asked his mother as soon as he got home to confirm if it was true. His mother validated that the Miyahara family moved away because her parents had separated. Kaori would be living with her mother, who got a job somewhere else in another city.

“I was so tired by the end of it all explaining why I was leaving them that when it came to saying goodbye to you, I couldn’t do it anymore. I was so so tired of having to keep explaining a move I didn’t even want. I felt that we had drifted apart and that was excuse enough not to tell you at that time.”

Kaori looked worn. She had not anticipated Tsukki’s reaction. With her back against the wall, she could not decide between letting Tsukki vent or airing her own frustrations about him. She decided to pick up another piece of beef and continued chewing, too tired to do more than ignore the conflict at hand.

“Kaori, we’re next door neighbors. Could you really not have said anything?!” he snapped. His eyes glared at her intently. Tsukki did not have many friends so he felt particularly betrayed by her sudden move.

His last line incensed Kaori. She forcefully stabbed her chopsticks into her bowl of rice and crossed her arms. She couldn’t believe he was laying all the blame on her. Part of the reason they had drifted apart was him too.

“Tsukki, we barely talked during High School. We were both busy and you weren’t making time for me either. Qualifying for Nationals in important and hard work on your end, but you can’t just toss people aside while you compete. You would never even talk to me at school, because you were afraid that people would tease you about it like they did in Junior High. It made me feel like you had outgrown me. Every time I tried to reach out it felt like you were pushing me away.

I know and I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I was only thinking of myself. I didn’t think you’d be so affected by my move. ” she said. Tears started welling up in her eyes. He realized too late that he went too far. Kaori was clearly hurt. His anger shifted to guilt.

“I was just so tired, Tsukki. My parents had been fighting all the time for years at that point and they were getting divorced during our first year. I was pretending that everything was alright even if I’ve been wearing thin all of freshman year.” she continued, not meeting his eye. She buried her face in her hands, sighing heavily.

Kaori knew from the moment she decided not to let Tsukki know that it would eventually backfire if they had met again and that moment had definitely arrived.

Tsukki slowly regained his composure. He didn’t mean to yell at her on her birthday. He hadn’t expected that he would be confronting the resentment that he held for her tonight and now that he finally did it his anger was slowly evaporating. He pulled the box of tissue beside him and handed it to her. He hated to cry and he even felt worse that he reduced her to tears.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to lash out.” he sighed, his temper finally cooling. He stood up to make another pot of tea to make himself useful. After adding more cold water and some ice onto her small pitcher of mugi cha, he poured the drink into her cup and gently pushed it towards her.

“I was so hopelessly attracted to you for so long, but I preferred to just shove things down.  I liked you so much that I didn’t know how to deal with it when you suddenly left. At the end of the day, you don’t owe me an explanation. You don’t even have to apologize.” he acknowledged, nodding his head.

Kaori was quiet for a long while after that. At a loss at what to do next, Tsukki  awkwardly kept eating his dinner in silence. When they were done, he brought out the cake and lit a candle for her to blow. She looked at the cake thoughtfully and waited a bit before she blew it out. She silently cut the cake in half, giving a slice to Tsukki, who started clearing dishes into the sink to make room for dessert.

“Where do we go from here? What do we do now?” she said in a subdued tone, not meeting his eye. Dinner was so still that one could hear the soft clacking of utensils on plates. Tsukki was tempted to wash her dishes to avoid any more conversation.

The two only ever met up every couple of Sundays under the guise of aiming to explore more museums in the area. Any conversation they had were usually related to school work or their current living situation.

“Well…ahh” Tsukki stammered, “We always talk about what we’re doing now, but we haven’t really caught up on the things we’ve done when we were apart….”

He was conscious of his wording as not to put the blame of being away on Kaori, “Do you want to start there?”

What supposedly began as a quick weeknight dinner dragged into the night. Kaori narrated how she was injured through most of her high school gymnastics career from a combination of pacing, stress and growth spurts which made her determined to pursue gymnastics through college so that she could have another chance to rediscover her love for the sport. Since she joined her current team, her training was lighter allowing her to be healthier.

“I’m doing so much better I feel like I’m having a resurgence of sorts. Competitive gymnastics is not really a long term career so to still be doing this now makes me feel so happy,” her eyes glistened as she spoke, “I can’t do all the tricks I used to do but I’m the healthiest I’ve been in a long while.”

She turned around and lifted her shirt a bit to show him her back. It was a slim back with some athletic tape here and there.

“I used to be covered in tape, like it was the only thing holding me together. Now, I feel so much stronger.” Kaori beamed as she talked about her health. Tsukki vaguely remembered a time in High School where she lost her spark for gymnastics.

“I mean if you’ve been in sports rehab for most of High School I should hope you really did come out stronger,” he said, sipping his tea.

Kaori put her shirt back down and patted herself, “That is true, but I don’t expect you to understand since you’ve had a relatively healthy career. What about you?”

Tsukki was slightly taken aback but tried not to show it. He talked about qualifying for nationals all three years of his high school career and how he found his passion for volleyball. In Junior High, he felt like he was only playing because he needed something to do, but that changed during the finals for his first prefectural.

“Nobody thought we could beat Shiratorizawa High because they’ve been unbeatable in the finals at the prefectural level the past three years, even I thought we were going to lose. When I learned how to block his spikes and play against them, we won. That really changed the sport for me. It stopped being just a club. I realized how much I liked playing and winning.”

“It’s still not fun all the time, but it started becoming fun some times.” he added.

Tsukki briefly touched on how he was recruited to play professionally in Division 2, which was a far less exciting story than qualifying for his first Nationals.

Their conversation kept going and they began talking about their future plans for after college. Kaori explained why she was so adamant to be near her mother and how she found it difficult to be away from her so long now that she worked in another region.

“After my parents divorced, I felt very lost. I knew I was a child, but I had no choice but to be an adult. After she started getting part, I was set to start out college and she moved south. I want to get some time with my mom back. It’s very important to me Tsukki.

When she retires, she might not like it here in Japan so she might just move back home to be with the rest of her family. She said she might stay in Japan for a couple of years in her retirement to give it a shot.”

Tsukki stated that he would like to work for a museum and that he was aiming for Sendai City Museum. He wasn’t really sure if that would pan out with his professional contract, but he is quite looking forward it.

The night ended quite late with Tsukki standing just outside her door. He had felt much lighter than when he first stepped foot into her apartment earlier that evening but he also felt more exhausted. Not only was he physically drained, but the emotional weight of the evening was wearing on him.

“If you really want to move to Kansai, I’ll move with you.” he said in all earnestness. Tsukki caught himself after he made his promise, “Depending how things pan out I guess.”

Kaori was caught off guard. It was near impossible to get him to be expressive and vulnerable and here he was promising to plan his future with her.

“What about your career? How will you continue to play volleyball professionally if you move?” she asked, sounding concerned.

“We can talk more about this another time. I don’t have to play professionally. I can just find another league. I’m not sure I can keep playing like this after I do get a normal job.” he shrugged.

“Really?“ she smiled brightly.

“Kaori I just said I would,” he said, raising his eyebrows, his cool had returned after an evening of being unnerved.

“It wasn’t loud enough. Could you say it again? I don’t think I heard you right the first time,” she teased, laughing while cupping her ears closer to him.

“You’ll have to wait another day.” he nodded while tilting his head and turning his back on her, “See you on Sunday.”

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

Summer (August)

Sendai City

2020

On a rainy August afternoon, the change of weather had finally eased the sizzling pavement of its heat. The unyielding sun and the dry air gave way to a cooler temperature made it an easy enough day to spend under light summer blankets.

Although there was a little bit of sun out, Kaori’s apartment was barely lit. Her curtains were drawn and the lights were off. The only sliver of light in the apartment escaped from a part of her window that could not be covered. The light barely grazed Tsukki’s head, illuminating the strands of his hair.

Despite the darkness, Kaori was aware of exactly where Tsukki was. He was laying on his side atop of her futon bed with a thin blanket covering most of him. She could see the outline of his toned body draped beside her. He had one hand on her waist and another running back and forth her hair and her spine.

“I called Okasan to tell her that I would like to work a bit in Sendai before I move to Kansai. I told her it might be easier to get my start here since I’ll be doing my internship in the area. She must have sensed that I’m seeing someone because she immediately told me to make sure that I put my career ahead of my priorities,“ she sighed her forehead pressed against his throat. She could feel his throat rise and fall as he listened to her.

“She went on a tirade cautioning me about getting into a serious relationship too early. She went on about me being in the age of curiosity - a time to explore what I like and don’t like. Now was not the time to be committing to something I might later regret was what she said.” Kaori murmured, her hand around his neck while she lay across him. She could feel his fingers continually running through her hair and bare back as she talked.

“I’m sure the advice was well-meaning.” he murmured into her ear, his fingers drawing shapes on her hips and lower back.

“Do you think she really knows?” her tone sounded a bit troubled.

Tsukki adjusted his glasses and gently pushed her away to look into her eyes, “She is probably just casting out a wide net honestly. I don’t think it’s anything to be worried about.”

In truth there was probably no repercussion if Kaori’s mother found out she was seeing someone. Kaori was just intensely private about her personal life and she felt mortified at the thought that her mother would know about her relationship.

“Do you ever get curious though?” Kaori asked.

“Curious about what?” said Tsukki, looking somewhat confused. He kicked the blankets down to his feet which were barely covered just because he was just too tall for her blanket. Kaori instinctively covered herself as her blanket slid down. Tsukki, grabbed his jacket from his side and covered her.

“What it’s like to be with other girls? Athletes have lots of fans, right?” she asked, only half paying attention.

Tsukki thought back to incidents with fans. He did remember hearing his name occasionally from the spectators during big matches. There would be girls trying to go up to talk to him every now and then and he opted to ignore them or shake them off.

“I don’t have the time nor the interest to entertain romantically interested fans frankly. Even when there were girls approaching me in high school, I thought it was just annoying,” he said, scratching his head, “I think Yamaguchi would have been a better audience for their attention honestly.”

Yamaguchi was his best friend and teammate from his High School Volleyball Club. One of his pet peeves was that girls would often approach him to ask about Tsukki. Tsukki felt that Yamaguchi was probably more suited to the attention Tsukki received from girls his age.

Tsukki was puzzled by the direction of the conversation especially considering how they had just spent the afternoon together. Just thinking about the intense pleasure he had experienced half an hour ago made tingles up his spine. How could he be thinking about other women during an hour like this?

“Are you actually jealous of my ‘fans’ ?” he smirked, then feigned shock, “I didn’t think you’d ever be the jealous type. My my!”

Kaori punched his ribs.

“You play in a Division 2 league, get over yourself.” she huffed, turning her back on him. Tsukki didn’t even play in the top tier professional league. There were more tiny children asking for his autographs than women shrieking for his attention. “You’re not Kageyama.”

“I’ve known you since we were in Junior High. If I was more curious I think I’d opt to look for someone I didn’t know as well or maybe a flashier girl…maybe I am the country bumpkin simpleton you tease me to be.” he said, “If country bumpkin equates to my lack of attachment to fame and attention.”

He tried to put his arm around her waist to draw her back to him. Kaori instantly swatted his hand away. Tsukki resigned to himself and lay flat on his back with his arms on his head.

“I mean I wasn’t even looking for a relationship, we kind of just stumbled onto each other. I really like you, I do but if we hadn’t been seeing each other I wouldn’t be actively going around searching for someone to date.”

He flipped the question onto her.

“How do you feel about your fans? Are you curious what it would be like to date one of the people cheering for you in the stands.”

“Not really? I mean I feel thankful and respectful for the people cheering me on, but honestly I’ve never thought about being romantically linked to any of them. Liking the same sport is not a good foundation for a relationship.

Also, the majority of gymnastic fans are either hardcore fans of the sport, former gymnasts or families of budding gymnasts. There are very few casual fans looking for a date in the audience, you know?” she said, turning towards him with her arms crossed.

“Oh wow, that’s very balanced of you.” he said.

“Are you not curious?” He asked, suddenly conscious of being her lover.

“Curiosity doesn’t always pay off.” she swiftly answered, “Every guy that has tried to ask me out either looks like trouble or believes me to be a different person from who I am.”

Kaori thought back to the time her friend tried to set her up on a double date with a guy that asked her to be more “kawaii” and lady-like because he felt she was taking too big a bite of her food. The boy thought she would be more attractive if she demurred herself. The experience made her shudder at the audacity of men.

“Does that mean I look like trouble?” he gasped, faking his dramatics.

“No, you’re too anti-social to cause trouble.” she laughed.

“Then are you not content with me?” he followed up.

Kaori quickly paused to think and said, “I am.”

Tsukki moved over closer to her, covering her body with his. Kaori wrapped her arms around his neck as he pressed himself onto her. He could feel her breathing in his skin.

“Then I don’t see what’s the problem.” he said, planting a kiss along her neck.

[forged-through-trials]

Everything was in place to take down Audens Avidius. All that was left was to wait out until the morning, while keeping a look out to make sure nothing happened to Lorunk and Ruslan. That out of the way, it was time to rest and wait until morning.

On the trip back to the Market District, we passed through the Arboretum, and who should we run into on the way, but Thoronir; our mark for the scheming price-gougers Society of Concerned Merchants’ job. Well, I’m not exactly happy with Jensine right now, given the stunt she pulled, but hey, I figure it’s still worth looking into his operation. Trials: “Ho, you’re ‘Thoronir’, right? I hear you’re cleaning up right now. Might I ask about your inventory?” Thoronir: “What about my inventory?” Trials: “Where’s it come from?” Thoronir: “Well, that would be a trade secret. I can’t divulge how I pass the great savings on to you, now can I? “Just like a baker not revealing his best recipes, or a clothier guarding his best designs, or a butcher not revealing where he gets his meat from--” Trials: “I’m not sure about that last one. I feel like I’d be more comfortable knowing where my meat comes from.” Thoronir: “Suffice to say, my sources are quite reliable and low cost. That way, you walk out with a full coinpurse.” Trials: “...you’re a really happy businessman.” Thoronir: “Why shouldn’t I be happy? I’m making a killing. And it’s the kind of ‘killing’ where I don’t have to eat anyone.” Trials: “...wat?” Thoronir: “IDidn’tSayNuffin’.” Thoronir rushed off after that, vanishing into the dark of the night. But I gave chase, sneaking after him. He made for the Market District, and I followed him through, tailing him carefully.

It was close to midnight as Thoronir approached a garden somewhere behind Rindir’s Staffs and Edgar’s Discount Spells, and I followed after, hiding against a corner, as a blond Nord approached, and spoke with him. I leaned in as close as I could, and listened in. Thoronir: “That you, Agarmir?” Agarmir: “Shhhh! Not so loud. How many times have I told you that?” Thoronir: “Sorry, I am not used to this kind of meeting. It always makes me nervous.” Agarmir: “Well, just shut up and listen to me. The next shipment will be sooner than I expected. Just have the money ready.” Thoronir: “Same assortment of things? I mean, I have enough clothing for now.” Agarmir: “You take what I get! I get notice at the last second, and I have to jump on it. No time to be picky about it.” Thoronir: “Well, that Society is putting more pressure on me. So maybe we better cut back for now.” Agarmir: “You cut back now, and I’m going to take my business elsewhere. Or maybe pay a visit to that Jensine and tell her about your little scheme.” Thoronir: “Fine, you made your point. Contact me when you have the items, and we’ll meet again.” Agarmir: “Don’t worry, it will be very soon. Now get outta here.” Jeez, that was about the rudest transaction I’ve ever heard that didn’t involve me. We have some literal back-alley deals going on. Something shady is definitely going on here, or else why would Thoronir need to meet his contact in the middle oft he night? Agarmir was our next lead. As the source of Thoronir’s ultra-cheap wares, he’s the one to tail to discover what the nature of this shady business is. We gave chase after him, and followed him over toward the Talos Plaza District. There, he entered a house, presumably, his. Now, breaking into a place while the owner was there is a pretty dangerous move, so I gave him an hour to, hopefully, go to bed... only to find that he’d barred the door. Who the hell barricades their door when they’re at home? Is he expecting a zombie horde or something? So that was a bust. As long as Agarmir was home, there was no getting into his house. Out of options for the moment, Ruin and I retreated back to the Market District, renting our familiar room at the Merchant’s Inn and turning in for the night. The morning came, and it was time to check on Lorunk and Ruslan. Ruin and I rushed on over to the Temple District, and met up with the pair once they’d exited their houses. I explained my intentions to escort them, and followed to duo over into the Elven Gardens District, where they sought out Captain Hayn.

Ruslan: “We’d like to report a crime. Watch Captain Avidius stole all of our money while we were shopping in Jensine’s Merchandise.” Lorunk: “That’s right!” Itius Hayn: “I see. These are very serious charges. I’ll need you both to provide two witnesses to the crime.” Ruslan: “...but we are the witnesses.” Itius Hayn: “You can’t expect me to just take your word for it. If I did, something might actually get done in this city!” Trials: I leaped out from a corner and screamed. “Just do your job, jackass!” Itius Hayn: “Ugh, great. Internal Affairs will be on me like kitty-litter on a Khajiit. I’ll be filing paperwork for a week after this, but, fine!” Our two witnesses rushed home after that, but I tailed Hayn for the moment. I really wanted to see the moment when Avidius got what was coming to him.

Back in the Market District, that is exactly what went down. Itius Hayn: “Audens Avidius, you are under arrest for extortion and petty theft. Surrender peacefully and keep what little dignity you have left.” Avidius: “I’m surprised, Ititus. I didn’t think even you would stoop to arresting a fellow Captain.” Itius Hayn: “Only those who break the law.” Avidius: “Damn, and I would’ve gotten away with it, too, if it weren’t for those meddling lizards!” Trials: “Have fun in the dungeons, jerk-face!” Avidius: Increasingly unhinged. “Someday, I’ll get out, and when I do, you’ll pay! You’ll both pay!” Trials: I crossed my arms and smirked knowingly. “Take him away, boys.” Itius Hayn: “Hey! I give the orders here!” He turned to two generic guards. “Bake him away, toys.” Generic Guards: “...huh, what?” Itius Hayn: He flushed awkwardly. “...just do what the lizard says.”

It was late afternoon by then, so, feeling good about a day’s work well done, Ruin and I swaggered back on toward the Talos Plaza District, where we tried Agarmir’s door again. Success! This time it was unbarred. We gave a quick look around to make sure the coast was clear, and then broke in. Ruin: “Where did you learn to pick locks and break-and-enter this way?” Trials: “Ruin, Ruin, buddy, we’re not ‘breaking-and-entering’. We’re... investigating.” Ruin: “Without a warrant or probable cause?” Trials: I rolled my eyes at him. “Well, you can feel free to hang out here and find me two witnesses. I’ll just be in here, doing my job.” Ruin: “You know what? You’re right, that system is stupidly obtuse.” In, we went, and I zeroed in on the basement right away. I figured, it was more likely he was keeping shady stuff down there, than it was likely he was keeping stuff in his bedroom. Down in the basement, the place looked a sight; blood stains, clothes strewn about, and piles and piles of a mysterious powder, as well as muddied shoes and shovels all over the place. On a corner table lined with candles, I found a book labeled as “Macabre Manifest.” ...really strange name for a book. Points for the alliteration, but that’s pretty on-the-nose considering that I presume Agarmir is looking to hide his dirty-dealings.

The contents of the book confirmed what the title implied. Again, not sure why Agarmir wanted to advertise this. Was he worried he might forget what his business was all about? And indeed, the contents of the book revealed the ghoulish details of Agarmir’s business. If the big header at the beginning of the book that read “Recently Deceased” was anything to go by, it seemed the stock he was selling to Thoronir was obtain via grave-robbing! Huh, if he’s stealing from the dead, maybe he is worried about zombie hordes coming to exact their revenge after all. Ruin: He snorted, gritting his teeth. “Grave-robbing? How repulsive!” Trials: “...Ruin, we nick stuff off of dead people all the time.” Ruin: “There’s a vast difference between slaying a bandit in combat, looting the spoils, and robbing from the honored-dead.” Trials: “Really? Because the only difference I see is that robbing the ‘honored-dead’ means you’re messing with people who had money and/or connections.” Ruin: “I think it’s a bit more complicated than just that.” Trials: “I don’t think it is.” Ruin: “Well... we’ve been hired to prove Thoronir’s stock was ill-gotten, and even if this system doesn’t make a lot of sense, by their clown-shoes logic, Thoronir’s stock is indeed ill-gotten. We have what we need to get paid.” Trials: “...hmm, true enough, BUT, I don’t feel good about selling Thoronir up the river like that.” Ruin: “Why?” Trials: “Because Jensine’s a bint and I don’t like her face. “Besides, I have a hunch that Thoronir doesn’t know what’s going on. Let’s confront him and see how he reacts to this evidence.”

We jogged back over toward the Market District, burst into the Copious Coinpurse, and slammed the book down on Thoronir’s desk. Trials: “Hey, chief. We pinched this from Agarmir. It’s proof that the stock he’s been selling you is obtained via grave-robbing.” Thoronir: “Oh! A little ghoulish... but I do buy things from adventurers who take things from fallen enemies all the time!” Trials: I shrugged and rolled my eyes. “That’s what I said!” Ruin: He sighed and shook his head. “Sir, whether or not it makes sense, it is the law here in Cyrodiil, and is a capital offense here.” Trials: “...Ruin, why does grave-robbing carry the death-penalty, but necrophilia is only a five-hundred gold fine? I feel like that’s backwards!” Ruin: “...” He paled visibly. “How do you know that?” Trials: “I know a very strange Dark Elf over in Skingrad.” Ruin: “...” He sighed and groaned. “This place is weird.” Thoronir: He paled a little. “Well, if it’s so disreputable that I could get into serious hot-water for it, then you’ll have to put a stop to it at once. I’ll fully cooperate with your investigation, of course, provided you put in a good word for me.” Trials: I gave a friendly salute. “Absolutely. Now, can you tell us what Agarmir might be doing right now?” Thoronir: “He mentioned having ‘something important to do’ today. You don’t think he would dig up another... oh no, he wouldn’t. But I guess he has been! Oh my, what have I gotten myself into??” Trials: “Calm down. We’ll get him. We just need to know where to look.” Thoronir: “Well, assuming he’s still in the city, you’ll want to try Green Emperor Way. It’s the largest graveyard inside the city walls and the likeliest place for him to... uh... ‘do business’.” Trials: “...grave-robbing right under the Emperor’s nose? By the Nine, that sounds really dumb! How has it taken this long for anyone to figure out what he does??” Thoronir: “His beard emits pheromones. It’s the only logical answer.”

Ruin and I raced over to Green Emperor Way, and as we ran the circuit, looking for signs of Agarmir, we noticed the door to the “Trentius Family Mausoleum” was left ajar. Well, if Agarmir was going to roll out the red carpet for me, I was going to take it. We rushed in, and immediately found the Nord himself, and an armored accomplice, within. Agarmir: “I had a feeling you’d catch on sooner or later.” Trials: “We’ve literally never spoken before.” Ruin: “Maybe he also prepared this speech in advance?” Agarmir: “Oh, shut up, both of you! The door locked behind you as you entered, and I’m going to murder you both and chuck you into this unmarked grave.” Trials: “But, it is marked. It says ‘Trentius Family’ on it.” Ruin: “Do you think that, after he buries us alive, he’s going to dig us up and rob our things?” Trials: “See, if he were smart, he’d kill us first, then take our stuff, so that way it’s actually legal.” Agarmir: Increasingly Irate. “Are you two even paying attention?? I’m threatening to murder you!” Trials: “...since we’re in a mausoleum, is it still legal to loot him and his friend when we defeat them? Or would that be grave-robbing?” Ruin: “I do not know. Cyrodiil’s legal code makes no sense to me.” Trials: “Well, as long as there aren’t two witnesses, I think we’ll get off with a warning.” Agarmir: Grinding his teeth. “Stop ignoring me!” Trials: “Wanna go eat at the Feedbag after we’re done here?” Ruin: “You always choose the cheapest places. Why can’t we eat at the Tiber Septim Hotel?” Trials: I offered Ruin the Stink-Eye. “Well, well, lookit Mister Moneybags over here! Do I look like I’m made of Septims?” Ruin: “All I’m saying is; we’re going to be paid for this job, and we’ll only be in the city for a few more days. Let’s try somewhere new.” Agarmir: Deadpan. “You both are horse’s asses.” Trials: “Okay, okay, we’ll compromise and hit up Luther Broad’s Boarding House, deal?” Ruin: “Deal.” The fight was on... and over rather quickly. Turns out, when you show up to a sword-fight wearing your working clothes, you tend not to last very long. His backup lasted a little longer, but with two-on-one odds, we took him down quickly, too. Then, legal or not, I pinched their stuff, and left them for the guards to find and clean up. On the way out, I picked up the soil-stained shovel Agarmir had been using to dig up the Trentius Family plot. Given the... strained legality of all of this, the more evidence I had to prove Agarmir’s guilt, the better. We reported in to Thoronir once we were done, and presented him with Agarmir’ shovel as proof of his defeat. Thoronir: “Then we can at last rest. I feared had he somehow bested you, I’d be next. It’s fortunate that your skills exceeded his. “I’ve come to some decisions. I intend to donate all of the money I have made, as well as what is left of the stolen items, to the temple.” Trials: “That might square you with Arkay, but otherwise, you’re just lucky the guards in this town are super-duper lazy.” Thoronir: “I also want you to know that I had a long discussion with Jensine, and I have decided to join the Society.” Trials: “Bottom text.” Thoronir: “...” He rolled his eyes. “No, I mean, Jensine’s Society for Concerned Merchants.” Trials: I frowned and scowled at him. “Oh, so you’re selling out, huh?” Thoronir: “That’s capitalism, baby. The biggest sellout always wins! “But I realize you risked your life to give me a chance, and Thoronir never forgets things like that. Please, accept this ring... and store credit.” Trials: “...friggin’ smart-alleck.”

Hoping to get some kind of real payment out of this, we made for Jensine’s to offer my final report. Trials: “And that’s the whole story.” Jensine: “Oh yes, Thoronir spoke with me while you were out. He explained his intentions to donate to the local temple, and to join our Society, and fix prices with us buy and sell at a ‘fair’ price. “In return, the Society has decided not to press charges. His name will be absconded from the records of this crime.” Trials: “...” I set my hands on my hips. “Lady, you wouldn’t press charges against Audens Avidius, but you considered pressing them against Thoronir?” Jensine: “That was different. The first one was out of spite! While the second one--” Trials: “--Would have also been out of spite.” Jensine: “...” She scowled. “Just, shut up and take your gold!”

[freemanverse-casualcomp-au]

Cookies (?)

John trying to make cookies under Ross’ supervision. It goes very, very wrong. Someone please evacuate Ross from breaking down and dying please-

"Why the fuck you wanted to make cookies again?" John's eyebrows twitched upon hearing Ross' question, putting down their groceries on the top of their kitchen counter. Pulling out a box of instant cookies mix, the rattail-tied haired man paused for a moment to take a good look at the box and then to him, his usual grumpy face now had a hint of concern. "You better not burn the fucking kitchen like last time, I'm tired of eating outside and it's a waste of money."

He sharply nodded, eyes focusing at his laptop, its screen displaying a simple step-by-step to make cookies for amateurs using its instant mix.

He was determined to make these warm and sweet delicacies of Barney’s favourite kind; plain, dark brown sugar-infused cookies with chocolate chips sprinkled on the top of them. His long-time teammate’s birthday is tomorrow and he wanted to make the man proud of him for baking these bad boys, maybe even letting him help inside the kitchen.

(Looking at his captain’s inner flame lit up, Ross silently grabbed a fire extinguisher under the sink to the closest place he could grab on for safety measures.)

“Sheesh, can you not making that face?” He looked up from the screen, his green eyes meeting Ross’ unfriendly (not cold, just unfriendly) lighter ones. The ace frowned before he took a deep breath and passed the box to him. “Just check behind for additional ingredients. I’ll be helping if you break shit or something. I’ve preheated the oven so you couldn’t burn down this place again.”

(Looking out for his captain’s attempt to bake somehow made him nervous as hell. He decided to sit on a chair near the counter so he could immediately intervene if John screwed up on something.)

He gave another nod, his hand grabbed the box firmly and flipped it. He could see all of those needed steps and its wet ingredients. All he needed to do is to put a stick of softened butter and a large egg.

...softened butter?

He took a glance at the counter where Ross lastly put out all the groceries. Sure enough, a stick of butter and a carton of eggs were left there for easier usage. He grabbed the solid dairy product and squeezed it gently, his face slightly soured when he found out it’s still hard to touch.

How to soften a butter...maybe he could use-

“Cap, I know what you’re thinking right now from the look of your stupid face and no, you can’t use your damned crowbar to soften the fucking butter.”

John silently groaned upon hearing the ace’s blunt and harsh statement, but it’s true. Barney never let him in the kitchen when he saw John with his crowbar. It means that he needed an alternative to soften this thing up, but how?

(Ross saw how his captain trying to think other solutions to soften a single butter without using his favourite weapon and huffed in slight frustration. How is this so-called “FPS Expert” man also useless at normal things?)

“Use the fucking microwave, dumbass!” He could detect a bit of anger behind Ross’ statement as he pointed up above John’s head, at the top cabinet to be precise. “You grab a microwave-safe bowl from there and put the butter in there, then you put it into the microwave and use 500watt power for fifteen seconds. The butter will soften from the heat and you can use it for your stupid cookies.”

John didn’t want to admit it loudly, but Ross was being incredibly nice to him today.

He quickly did the things Ross had told him. Fortunately, Barney taught him how to use the microwave when he was still living together with his vice-captain, so that’s one thing he could do himself. As the result, he managed to get the butter softened and ready for use. He put the bowl on the counter and stared at it for a second before grinned widely and went over to his laptop screen for the steps.

(The sight of his captain grinning just for successfully soften a butter almost made him laugh out loud hysterically. Thankfully his common sense shook him out from that feeling before he explode from laughter. But really, he just noticed his captain is one simple normal man outside the gaming scenes.)

The first step; put all the ingredients into a bowl and mix until homogenous.

Huh, sounds simple enough.

He opened up the box and pulled out some packages containing the powdered mix and chocolate chips. With help from a pair of scissors, he cut the packages open and poured both of the contents into the bowl of softened butter. Finally, he grabbed an egg from the carton and tapped it on the counter’s rim, creating a small crack that he then used to easily cracked it open into the bowl without any mess.

He took a quick glance at Ross, eyes pleading for approval. The man looked at the contents of the bowl and gave him a thumbs-up, fueling his pride of success.

(...He swore he heard a slight squeal from John after that. A fucking childish happy squeal from the usually stone-faced captain of his. What the fuck.)

Now, to mix all of this...maybe now he could-

“Cap, I swear if you’re thinking about using your fucking crowbar to mix those, I’ll forever ban you from using the kitchen again.”

Welp, time to think of another option.

He scanned the kitchen for a stirring tool and his eyes landed on a big wooden spoon near the sink. With that, he managed to turn the pile of ingredients into a dough with no difficulty.

Perfect. Now to add my personal touch-

“Ah, sonovabitch, I need to make a call to somebody first.” Ross’ sudden voice startled him out from his focus. The ace got up from his chair and walked to the balcony while pulling out his phone from his bomber jacket pocket. “Be right back after this, and don’t put the cookies before I told you to.”

And with that, Ross was no longer in his sight.

...Is this means...

As if he was possessed, he ran into the pantry and grabbed a tube of tomato paste, a jar or dark brown sugar, and small can of sea salt. At the same time, he opened up the fridge and grabbed a can of Monster and cracked open the fizzy energy drink. He put all four items into the counter near the dough bowl and began to dump them all inside the bowl without any kind of self-preservation whatsoever.

A small laugh escaped his lips, and it’s not the good one.

(Holy fuck, why the air is getting chilly all of the sudden? Ross tightened his grip on his warm phone as he put it back inside his jacket and went back inside.)

“Yo, I’m back from doing shi- what the fuck are you doing?”

His head immediately snapped at the voice’s direction, eyeing at horrified-looking Ross. His signature grumpiness was replaced with a face of disgust and fear. “CAP WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU PUTTING- OH FUCK IT SMELLS LIKE SHIT!!!”

He shrugged him off, grabbing an empty baking tray with a sheet of parchment paper and put big dollops of the “dough”, even he wasn’t sure if it’s still considered cookie dough, but he feels like he did the right thing.

(He bet his dumbass captain thought he did the right thing, judging from his slight pride smirk plastered on his face right now. Hell, he’ll put all his PC setup inside that fucking bet.)

Ross gritted his teeth but didn’t say anything else. John knew his ace was in deep stress seeing what he did but didn’t say much. Barney loves food with tomato paste and he saw an article that chocolate chip cookies are better with sea salt added. He didn’t know about Monster drinks in them, but he hoped that they’ll turn up good.

After finishing up putting out all the dough, He put them into the preheated oven and put on a timer at ten minutes, then walked away from his crime scene calmly, knowing that Ross wouldn’t do shit to his masterpiece.

(If he managed to find Barney before his captain did, he need to warn him about John’s freshly-baked death in a form of reddish-looking cookies with chocolate chips)

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

“Cap, I’ve put your crap in the cooling rack now.”

John’s ears perked up upon hearing Ross’ voice and hurriedly blitzed from the sofa to the kitchen, eyes sparkled with delight. He could smell the sweet scent of the sweet brown sugar, along with the tomato paste and the overpowering Monster. To be honest, it’s not too bad of a smell.

(OH SHIT OH FUCK THE SMELL IS SO FUCKING HORRIBLE, BARNEY PLEASE COME HOME-)

“Oh, you looked so damn proud of yourself for not burning the kitchen.” The ace commented, putting all of the dirty dishes into the dishwasher and turned it on. “Those craps better not be deadly or I’ll call the poison control crew.”

The captain slightly nodded his head, a small doubt landed on his mind. What if the taste wasn’t as good? He shook out those thoughts and focusing on those normal-looking reddish-coloured cookies. From a first glance, people might think these were just a batch of red velvet cookies with chocolate chips until they got a whiff of the smell.

Yeah, he needed a guinea pig to taste test one of them.

And the perfect candidate is just staring back at him with his usual grumpy face.

(...Why he felt like death is visiting him?)

“...What are you staring a- HURMPK!”

(WAITWHATTHEFU- Holy fuck he could see his entire life flashes before his eyes-)

With a speed of Lion’s EE-One-D*, John snatched one of the cookies and stuffed it into Ross’ mouth, which then the ace instinctively chew and swallow. His eyes widened and he seems to freeze for a moment before he dropped down to the floor and passed out.

...Is he dead? Did he just kill a man with food? Should he call an ambulance?

“Hey, I’m home- what the hell is happenin’ here?”

John froze when he heard that Southern-accented voice and slowly turned his head towards the source of the voice. Barney was standing near the counter, his brown-green heterochromia irides* eyes staring at them like he’d found a crime scene.

Well, he’s not wrong, it looks like a crime scene.

And he needed to silence the witness.

“...Gordon? Why are holding that cookie- URK!”

Like Ross, he stuffed his weapon to the vice’s mouth and made him writhe in disgust first before meeting his fate like his other unconscious teammate.

.

It was a usual Monday at the team’s apartment, with an addition of the team’s duo chef banned John from using the kitchen ever again, and the reddish-coloured cookies got disposed in an open dumpster fire and forever gone from their sight.

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

Footnotes:

- Lion’s EE-One-D: Basically a gadget from R6S’s attacker Lion, used to detect enemies by movements and its detection is almost instantaneous.

- Heterochromia Irides/Segmental Heterochromia: When a patch of a different color appears in one iris. In Barney’s case, he got a patch of green on both of his brown irises.

[reflectshawn]

Exploring Creativity

     Everyone can create but to be creative (or to be a creator) requires imagination + action. Let’s call it “Imaginaction.” Like the concept of Force in Physics, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, creativity is a force that when present is difficult to suppress. The more pressure applied to contain it, the greater reaction. It will always find a way to push through and find an outlet, either overtly as a creative work, such as art or music, or as an approach to solving problems. Some people are naturally imaginactive, while others claim to lack creative bones or muscles or just don’t have the capacity to make an effort. Regardless of how one’s brain works, left, right, or center, given the right circumstances anyone can be creative.      So what does Imaginaction look like? Let’s make up a simple scenario. Imagine there’s a worldwide pandemic with a zombie apocalypse and that it isn’t safe to eat store-bought cake. In fact, there is no store-bought cake anymore. Sally Spreadsheet and her family are living in a time locked underground bunker, so making a quick run to Trader Joe’s isn’t an option anyway. Sally, who is an actuary, doesn’t consider herself creative and especially under these circumstances, is baking a birthday cake. Sally just used the last of the sugar and flour in the pantry and realized that they are out of eggs. There won’t be any more eggs since they already ate all the live chickens and the goat won’t lay one. What is Sally to do? Does she throw it all away and call it quits? It’s time for creative problem solving! The internet is broken, so Sally will need to resort to using her memory and wits, and available materials. To frame the problem, she determines that she needs an edible liquid with the potential to bind the other materials. There was something about applesauce she had heard a while back, but alas, no applesauce in the pantry. While rummaging through her personal stash she comes across a package of freeze-dried bananas and remembers that they became sticky after she licked her fingers and reached into the bag for another one. Sally has a “Eureka” moment and restructures the problem. What if the ingredient doesn’t need to start as a liquid, but becomes liquified for the recipe? Sally decides to grind the bananas to a powder using the food processor (they still have electricity) and then reconstitute it with some water. She adds about two ounces to the mix and the cake bakes up perfectly. Sally has used her imagination and taken action to solve the problem. Imaginaction at its finest.      Given my background in marketing you might be surprised to read that creativity, or at least creative involvement, always felt elusive and just out of reach. On the one hand, I had a succession of six bosses in eight years and the absence of a clearly defined role. Without the support of a champion it was difficult to move within the organization. On the other hand, ironically there wasn’t much room for creativity in the creative process. It was a finely tuned machine that repeatedly turned out tentpole film releases with #1 weekend box office results. The creative executives I worked with didn’t actually do much creative anyway. They were armchair quarterbacks who directed creation of materials at various agencies. Sitting alone in an office all day felt like a lonely proposition, so I didn’t pursue that track when I finally had the chance. In any case, the creator in me developed my own side projects as creative outlets, including a television show, web application, immersive wedding venue, and mobile game. They are still in various stages of development and I continue to push them forward.

[lady-divine-writes]

Klaine Advent Drabble - “Baker’s Creed” (Rated PG13)

Summary: Kurt and Blaine have been competing with one another their entire relationship. Now, without knowing it, they're competing for their daughter's affection. Will they work things out before it destroys their kitchen? (2916 words)

Notes: Written to include the @klaineadvent 2019 prompts creed, lecture, and quarrel, as well as the @gleepotluckbigbang prompts cookies, sick, and charity.

Read on AO3.

Blaine wakes up to an empty bed, a script weighing down his chest, and the sinfully sweet smell of Kurt’s chocolate chip cookies wafting through the air.

“Mmm … cookies for breakfast,” he mutters through heavy lips. Next to sex, it’s his favorite way to wake up. He inhales deep. “Time to get myself some sugar.” He giggles at his own suggestive remark, giddy with sleep drunkenness. He moves the script to the side and stretches, using the opportunity of a (temporarily) empty bed to monopolize as much space as possible. The stiffness in his arms unravels, his back cracks, and a feeling of utter euphoria fills his body.

“Ahhhh. This is nice.”

He turns to Kurt’s side of the bed and blows it a kiss. It strikes him for a moment that Kurt being out of bed already is a bit odd, but he can’t remember why. So, as his mind starts to clear, he runs down the check list.

What day is today?

Thursday.

Okay. Makes sense then. Kurt should be up and getting ready for work.

Blaine smiles, rolling on his side and cozying up to his husband’s pillow. He inhales again.

Kurt’s pillowcase still smells like him.

Blaine hugs it, running his nose along the crease that once cradled Kurt’s ear.

“Yes, Kurt,” he whispers, imagining himself in the kitchen, standing behind his husband, arms wrapped over his as Kurt prepares dough for the baking sheet. “Let me help you roll some balls, hmm? Whaddya say? You always tell me how good I am at …”

No!

The word pings through Blaine’s brain like a paddle ball, knocking the daydream from right out of his head.

It’s not Thursday. It’s Friday. Yesterday was Thursday. That’s when Blaine got the script for his new pilot, Mutiny on the Bounty – a campy, madcap comedy about a team of armored car thieves/assassins who manage to pull off the most dangerous and insane heist of the year by screwing every single thing up. The writing is stellar, the cast (comprised entirely of LGBTQ actors) revolutionary. JVN has been on board with the project since go and Blaine couldn’t be more excited to share billing with him.

Best of all, his daughter Tracy – 14-years-old and a huge Queer Eye fan – now looks at Blaine as if he walks on water. Considering what raising a teenager has been like thus far, Blaine is ecstatic that he’s managed to pull that off.

They were going to celebrate last night by having dinner at Per Se, and then he and Kurt were going to do some adult style celebrating after Tracy fell asleep, but Kurt started running a fever and …

Shit!

Blaine sits straight up in bed, nearly tossing Kurt’s pillow across the room, becoming both sober and awake in a blink, which makes his head throb.

Kurt has the flu!

Blaine looks at the empty spot again. The last Blaine remembers of his husband, he was high on NyQuil and fast asleep.

So what was he doing in the kitchen baking cookies?

Memories start flying at him hard and fast, and that’s when it finally hits him.

Bake sale!

The bake sale to raise money for the field trip to Washington D. C. that Tracy has been looking forward to since they found out about it at the beginning of the school year.

The bake sale Tracy failed to remind them about until BEFORE BEDTIME!

The bake sale that parents are required to participate in as half of their children’s citizenship grade and which the school would not simply allow them to cut a check to avoid.

“We are not a charity, Mr. Anderson,” Mrs. Palmer, Tracy’s principal (who sort of reminds Blaine of the dean from Monsters University), had said when he asked. “We have the money in our budget to accommodate all of our children. But if we, too, cut a check every time a teachable moment arises, we wouldn’t be much of a school, now, would we?”

Blaine had agreed to her face then spent an entire ride back to their house in his Mercedes replaying that moment with the addition of him buying the school outright with a check and firing her just to make himself feel better.

Kurt had been determined to make those cookies. But Blaine told Kurt not to worry about it, go to bed and sleep off being sick. He’d take care of it in the morning. Blaine even set his alarm clock for three a.m. so that he could do it. He glances over at his phone, the time on the screen reading 3:45 a.m. He glares at it, wondering why the alarm didn’t go off when it should have. Squinting harder, he sees why.

The little clock icon beneath the numbers, the one that indicates an alarm has been set, is no longer there. Blaine remembers vividly it being there when he went to bed. He’d double checked.

Then triple checked.

Which means Kurt had been feigning sleep until Blaine passed out, then crept downstairs to make the cookies himself!

Because he’s stubborn.

And now, Blaine has to go into the den of the dragon and persuade him to abandon his cookies and come back to bed.

Fun.

Blaine sighs. He swings his legs over the side of the bed but he doesn’t let his feet touch the floor. Then he sighs again. He’s not looking forward to the Battle Royale he’s heading into, but he has to do it. He has to get his husband back to bed by any means necessary.

Parts of his body twitch in excitement when the image of him throwing Kurt over his shoulder and carrying him back to their room kicking and protesting leaps to mind, and he scowls.

“Not now,” he grumbles. He stands up, slides his feet into his slippers, and heads to the kitchen.

The sounds of his miserable husband baking while physically unwell come to him in stages.

First, the sharp ringing of metal utensils hitting the sides of metal bowls.

The mixer running is next, then a timer for the oven goes off.

Finally, the sniffling, the sneezing, and the coughing, which should be a giant red flag to someone like Kurt (both a perfectionist and a germaphobe) that baking isn’t the brightest idea right now.

Blaine’s not going to point that out. It’s simply an observation.

Blaine pads quietly into the kitchen. Kurt doesn’t seem to notice – eyes red-hot and blurry with fever. He slides past Blaine twice without looking his way, making Blaine wonder if his husband may, in fact, be sleep-baking.

“Kurt? Honey?” he says in a low, calm voice so as not to startle him. “It’s almost four in the morning. You have the flu. You have to get some sleep.”

Kurt sniffles. “I don’t care,” he says in a ragged, rough voice. “I’m not done! I have four more batches in the oven, nine on the counter ready to go. I have to finish before seven.”

“Then let me do it for you. I told you I would.”

“I can’t let you do it for me!” Kurt grumbles, stirring chocolate chips into a bowl that Blaine is 88% certain has nothing else in it. “I started these cookies and I’m going to finish them!”

“I don’t understand, Kurt! What’s the big deal? They’re just cookies!”

Kurt gasps, the quick intake of breath through his dry throat starting a massive coughing fit – one that Blaine stands patiently through till the end so that his husband can continue lecturing him. “They’re not just cookies! These are my mother’s chocolate chip cookies!”

“I know! And I’ve made them with you for over a decade so I can definitely finish these!”

“It’s not that you can’t do it! It’s that I don’t want you to do it!”

“Why not?”

“It’s the principle of the matter, Blaine!” Kurt argues, trading his chip-filled bowl for a baking sheet. “I have promises to keep! Oaths to uphold! A whole … a whole … baker’s creed!”

Blaine’s face pinches, but he keeps himself from laughing, even once, as that would not go well. “A … a baker’s creed?”

Kurt stops rushing from counter to oven with a baking sheet of uncooked dough in his hands long enough to glare at his husband with steely, red-rimmed eyes. “It’s a real thing, Blaine! Look it up!”

“How about I just take your word for it?”

“Whatever.”

“Come on, honey.” Blaine tries to cut Kurt off, tries to swipe the baking sheet from him, but he doesn’t have much success. “It’s not that big a deal!”

“Of course it’s not that big a deal to you, Mr. Big Movie Star who just landed a movie starring Jonathan Van Ness!” Kurt laughs, then snorts, then hacks so loudly his throat sounds like it’s going to explode. “You’ve won! Conquered the teenage years ahead of schedule, jumped to the head of the class!”

“Is that what this is all about?” Blaine asks, gesturing at the mess Kurt has made in the kitchen, completely out of character for him. He’s not baking for the enjoyment of it. He’s baking out of vengeance - to get back at Blaine. “Kurt! I worked hard to get that role!”

“I never said you didn’t! But there are a hundred things I’ve worked hard to accomplish here in this house! Accomplish with our precocious daughter! And right when I feel like I’m slipping back to the starting line again, you find a way to bypass all of that and leap ahead!” Kurt sighs. No – flattens is more the word. He sinks to the floor, sitting amidst starbursts of baking soda, and sets the baking sheet indelicately onto the tile. “The same way you always do.”

Blaine looks down at his poor husband, hugging his knees on the powder-covered ground. Then he looks around the kitchen, at the cookies Kurt had been throwing together in an attempt to have them all done by the morning – all wrapped up for Tracy to take. His mother’s chocolate chip cookies, by far the most popular cookie he bakes. It’s his signature cookie, all his by now since he’s made little tweaks here and there – a bit more brown sugar, a bit less white, one more egg yolk, cake flour instead of all-purpose, which Blaine would have advised against but, as always when it comes to baking matters, Kurt was right. These cookies have been Kurt’s claim to fame at PTA meetings and bake sales all over Manhattan for the entirety of Tracy’s life. But most of all, they’re the first cookies Tracy ever helped him make.

And they’re her favorites.

And whether making these cookies actually does anything to move the needle in Kurt’s favor, he needed to accomplish this by himself. For himself. Raising his self-esteem wasn’t dependent on Tracy so much as it was dependent upon Kurt.

Blaine sees that now.

“You’re right, Kurt,” Blaine says, sliding down the cabinet to join him. “I lucked out. I found the Golden Ticket, without even knowing that’s what it would turn out to be. But I didn’t do it to undermine you! I swear to God I didn’t!”

“Swearing to God doesn’t really help your case here.”

“And me getting one awesome role doesn’t wash away all the amazing things you’ve done for Tracy these past fourteen years - the homemade Halloween costumes, the sing-a-longs, the school plays you’ve volunteered to direct, the school trips you’ve chaperoned, the bake sales and the cookies and the birthday cupcakes.” He inches closer, bumps their shoulders together. “All the nightmares you’ve chased away, the tears you’ve dried. Kurt … one role in one stupid movie can’t compete with any of that. To tell you the truth, that’s why I was so over-the-moon when she got excited about it. Because I’m not the one she goes to when she wakes up in the middle of the night, or when she falls and scrapes her knee, or when she needs cookies for a bake sale. It’s you.”

Kurt reaches for Blaine’s hand, weaves their fingers together. “She goes to you, too.”

Blaine shakes his head. “Not as much. Not since she was about seven. I don’t know what changed but she was your girl after that.”

Kurt peeks at Blaine, his head the one hanging now, gazing at their joined hands with watery eyes.

“It’s not a stupid movie,” Kurt says. “It’s going to be a kick-ass amazing movie, and you know it.”

“But it’s not as important as Tracy. Or you. And, yeah, she’s all gaga about it now, but I’m going to be gone for how many months?”

“Oh,” Kurt says sadly. “I didn’t think about that.”

Blaine’s head finds his husband’s shoulder and rests there. “There’s so many things we compete over. Tracy’s affection shouldn’t be one of them. She loves us both. I know that, even if I have to remind myself over and over some days.”

“You’re right. I know you’re right. It’s just been hard lately, watching her follow you around like a puppy, begging to read through lines with you and talking about becoming an actress when yesterday she was reading over my copy for Vogue and talking about becoming a designer and asking Isabelle how old she has to be to intern and … oh …” Kurt repeats, realization springing to life in his brain at how often Tracy goes to the office with him, helps him pick through his photographs, gives her two cents on fabric choices, helps him accessorize models …

Oh …

“Yup,” Blaine says as if he can read his husband’s mind. “Tomorrow she might wake up and tell us she wants to be a neurosurgeon because Louis Tomlinson decided to give up singing and go to medical school so who knows? If you’ve taught me anything about raising kids it’s that they change their minds like the wind. In fact, pretty much everything I know about raising our daughter I’ve learned from you, and do you know why?”

“Hmm?”

“Because you’re an amazing father.”

Kurt smiles, kisses the top of Blaine’s head. “So are you.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Blaine brings Kurt’s hand to his mouth and gives it a kiss. They melt into one another on the kitchen floor, content to remain there, nestled in their puddle of baking soda, surrounded by the scent of chocolate chip cookies, until sun up. But something in the vicinity of the oven pops, interrupting their serene moment.

“So, are you ready to power down the oven and head to bed?” Blaine asks, eyeing the appliance anxiously.

“But what about the cookies? The school needs them in four hours!”

“I’ll get them whipped up. No problem.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure.” Blaine hops up and helps a wobbly Kurt to his feet. “You run along and climb under the covers. I’m going to check some things out down here, then I’ll come in and tuck you into bed.”

Kurt peers at Blaine, his mind working, searching for an argument. “I don’t know. I still think …” He starts to keel forward and Blaine catches him. And Kurt nods, that being the end of that. “All right. I’m going.”

“Good.” Blaine smacks his husband on the behind as he shuffles away. He can’t help it. Even under-the-weather, his nose as red and watery as his eyes, he’s the sexiest man in the universe.

Blaine decides to start with the oven, figuring he should check on whatever that was that exploded before it does it again and takes the whole house with it. Cautiously, he opens the oven door. Before he can peek inside, a disgustingly sharp smell assails his nose and stings his eyes, forcing him to back away. Through barely-open lids he sees Kurt’s latest batch, which has melded into one single cookie, weighing down the baking sheet so much, the wire rack has begun to buckle.

This, he decides, could be a problem.

“Uh … Kurt?”

“Yeah?”

“What did you put in these?”

“The usual – sugar, butter, chocolate chips, vanilla …”

Blaine scans the kitchen while Kurt talks, finding each ingredient when he mentions it. Suspicious of one item in particular, he asks, “Did you put flour in these?”

“Of course I did! What do you take me for? An idiot?”

“No. Not at all. What flour did you use?”

“Cake flour.”

“Which bag?”

“That bag by the counter,” Kurt answers with a vague wave.

Blaine looks toward the counter, his eyes growing to comical width. “The one on the counter counter, or the one on the floor?”

“The one on the floor, I guess. What does it matter?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Blaine says. “N-not at all.” But that’s a lie. Because the bag of flour on the floor isn’t flour. It’s cement, from the kitchen remodel they’ve been planning. “I think … I’m just going to shut the oven off for now and run a few errands.”

“Errands? What errands?” Kurt asks in alarm. “It’s four in the morning!”

“I know.” Blaine grabs his coat and keys. “I just … I’m going to go get some bagels. For breakfast …” Along with nine dozen replacement cookies and a HAZMAT suit.

“Well, don’t take too long. And be careful.”

“I will. Love you.”

“Love you.”

On his way out the door, Blaine giggles to himself.

Because he’s going to solve this problem by writing a check.

[takingcourage]

Additions: Part 4

Pairing: Jaime x MC

Word Count: 4,050

Summary: With an important breakthrough and their first holiday season as a family of five, things start looking up for the Lewis household.

November, 2027

I’ve got the details for Thanksgiving. Sending them to your email soon.

Arden dragged a thumb to unlock the screen and sent a quick response to Ellen’s message. After slipping her phone back into the purse at her feet, she attempted to get back to proofreading the document in front of her, but distractions thwarted her efforts. 

She’d always been partial toward any day that brought communities together, and Thanksgiving certainly fit the bill. But this year, she was interested in one very specific group of people and not the whole of Northbridge.

Their little family had seen a handful of holidays in the past few months -- Jaime’s and Will’s birthdays, Labor Day, Halloween. Each had been thoroughly enjoyable in its own right, but Thanksgiving was taking things to a whole different level. 

Lips curving softly with her anticipation, she reviewed her calendar, making a few adjustments to clear time for next week’s session. She saw her inbox increase in another tab and popped over to check the files from Ellen.

She was still skimming over the plans when the door opened at the other end of the waiting room. Alex walked toward her, trailed by a middle-aged man who raised a hand to her in greeting.

With a smile, she closed the laptop and rose to meet them both. After exchanging a few words with the therapist and scheduling a subsequent session, she and Alex quietly made their way down to their car. 

Arden hated parallel parking, but it was a necessary evil in this part of the city. Giving all of her attention to the backup camera and the view out her window, it was easy to ignore the silent passenger at her side.

She stole a quick glance after merging into the flow of traffic.

Her son’s mouth was firmly shut, his gaze fixed on the progression of vehicles beside them. 

Alex was never talkative coming out of these sessions. He wasn’t very talkative in general, but it seemed especially unfair for him to be so close-lipped on the heels of a session where she knew he’d spoken freely to someone else. Grateful as she was for the improvement they’d noticed in the past six weeks, an inkling of jealousy always rose during their drive home. 

Often, her natural curiosity got the better of her. She’d ask a probing question in return for a few syllables, followed by total quiet for the rest of the afternoon. She wasn’t making that mistake today. 

Bottling up her impulse to speak, she adjusted the radio and waited until they’d made it to their neighborhood to even attempt conversation. “I’m really proud of you, Alex.”

The boy muttered a thanks against his palm.

“Mr. Spencer said that he gave you an assignment for your next meeting. Can we talk about it?”

“I guess.”

“He said he wants you to write some things down?”

“Yeah.”

“What did he ask you to write about?”

“Stuff.”

Arden gnawed the inside of her cheek to hold her instincts in check. Carefully measuring her breath, she turned onto their street. These appointments allowed her to have a bit of time alone with her oldest son, but without his siblings around, getting him to open up was nearly impossible.

“Okay. How would you feel about starting on it now while I make some cookies?”

Framing her requests as suggestions rather than commands had been one of Dr. Spencer’s recommendations after their initial meeting. It was only a small change, but the results had been surprisingly fruitful.

“Sure.” He tried to keep his response noncommittal, though she thought she saw the shadow of a smile cross his lips as they drove into the garage.

By the time she’d cracked a pair of eggs into the powdered mix, Alex had already neatly penned through the first several lines in his notebook. 

Relieved that he’d engaged in the work so quickly, Arden cued up a playlist on her phone and connected to the bluetooth speaker on the windowsill. The music served as not only a buffer from the silence that she knew was awkward for both of them, but it also helped to keep her mind from wandering to boy’s thoughts. Much as she wanted to know what was going on in the next room over, she hated the idea of taking shortcuts. 

Five months. They’d been trying to navigate his barriers for the entire time he’d been living with them. Thankfully, he hadn’t run away again since the night he’d fled to the docks, and he’d been doing a much better job of regulating his emotions over the past month. He even had a decent attitude most of the time. 

But he was still so distant. 

It made sense, really. Even disregarding all other circumstances of his life, his siblings were naturally the ones who used to receiving attention. With his sister’s eagerness to please and his brother’s sociability, it was easy for Alex to fade into the background. She just didn’t want him to stay there.

“Arden?”

Bowl in hand, she popped her head through the archway to see a perplexed face staring back. “Yes?”

“I’m stuck on a word.”

Her brow creased as she took the seat across from him. “Can you tell me how you’re using it? Or explain what it means?”

Alex stared at the paper before him, twisting the mechanical pencil between his hands. After several moments of thinking, he produced, “It’s like when lots of things are happening all at once and you don’t know what to do.”

Pandemonium? 

No, obviously it’s not that, she chided herself. No fifth grader goes searching for that word. “Chaos, maybe?”

“No, it’s how you feel.”

“Anxious? Frozen? Overwhelmed? Dis–”

“Overwhelmed!”

Arden felt the tingle of pride as his face lit in recognition. She might not be a perfect parent, but she fared pretty well as a human thesaurus. 

“That’s it! How do you spell it?” He scribbled furiously while she rattled off letters at a moderate pace. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. Let me know if I can help with anything else.” With a reassuring smile, she turned back to the kitchen and went back to stirring the thick dough.

When he called a second time, she’d just crawled into the bottom cabinet to find a cookie sheet.

“I’ve got another one!”

The pitch of his tone mirrored her intrigue. She could play find-the-word all afternoon if that was what he wanted to do. “Sure thing! I’ll be there in just a sec.”

Alex was looking up at her, pencil poised. This time, he was ready with a description as soon as she stood before him. “What’s the word for when somebody can’t stop doing something?”

“Umm…” She’d been stringing words together for a living for the past ten years, and she’d be darned if an eleven-year-old child stumped her over a definition. “Uncontrolled?”

“No, like they can’t stop drinking or doing pills or something.”

The ease with which he provided the correction halted her breath. “Like an addiction?” Her last word was tentative, everything in her hoping that her guess was wrong.

“Yeah.” He started spelling the word under his breath, jotting down the letters in quick succession. 

Since he paid her no mind, she went back to lining the baking sheet, but this time her thoughts remained in the next room over. He was writing about his past. She knew he was. Temptation mounting, she increased the volume of her music to try to remove at least one of its sources.

“Can you help me again?”

Arden scraped down the sides of the bowl a bit too forcefully, nervous energy getting the better of her. 

“I’ll be right there.”

This time, she risked sitting next to him. Strictly speaking, she wasn’t sitting, just resting a knee on the chair. She didn’t want her presence to come off as any kind of threat, but she didn’t want to squander this opportunity to strengthen his trust in her. Second guessing her decision, she almost missed his query. 

“What’s the opposite of love?”

The simple question threw her off kilter, and her eyes narrowed as she considered his inquisitive face. “Hate?”

“Obviously. I know that. But like, what is it when someone doesn’t love somebody anymore?”

“You mean falling out of love?”

“No.” Maybe they did hate each other…

Tensing, Arden slid all the way into the chair beside her son. “Do you want to read me the rest of the sentence? Sometimes that helps.”

He shook his head mutely, tugging at the clip of his pencil. 

“Alex, can you talk to me about what you’re writing for Dr. Spencer? Is it about something that happened to you?”

Slowly, he nodded.

Even if he wasn’t willing to talk about it, she didn’t want to lose the potential of the moment. She had to leave him with some assurance that whatever had happened in his past would never happen again. “Alex, you know that Jaime and I love you. I know that the adoption won’t be official for a while, but you’re part of our family. No matter what, we’re going to take care of you, okay?”

He leaned away as though he’d been struck. That’s what my real mom said too.

Arden’s throat tightened as she watched the tears gather in his eyes. Dropping his pencil, he tried to smack them away, but they flowed hot and fast.

Cookies forgotten, she scooted her chair close enough for him to feel that she was there. Although she didn’t risk touching him, leaving him alone in that state would have been impossible. 

“You don’t have to answer this question if you don’t want to, but did he ask you to write about your parents?”

“Uh-huh,” he hiccuped through the onslaught of tears. “He wanted me to write about when I was home with them.”

Arden’s own eyes were streaming by the time he got the sentence out, and it was all she could do to keep from pulling him into her arms.

He’d never let his guard down with her -- never seemed this vulnerable before. Any snatches of weakness that she’d found had been the result of overhearing his thoughts, not because he’d actually allowed them to show on the outside. 

A series of rising breaths came from deep in his chest, working up the power to say something. Suddenly, it all tumbled out, thoughts releasing as though they’d been pent up behind a dam. “She we’d be okay and that she’d come back. She promised she’d come back for us.” His words were barely discernible through the thick layer of tears. “But she hasn’t come back.”

Arden pressed her eyelids firmly shut to keep her head from splitting. We’ve talked about this. He knows she terminated her parental rights days after the kids entered the system. He knew when they came to live with us that this was going to be a permanent arrangement.

But that probably wasn’t what he needed to hear. 

“Alex…” she started, but words utterly failed her. Taking the leap, she slid one arm around his shoulders. When there was no dissuading thought or action, she balanced on the edge of her chair drew him to her side. Though he remained almost completely still, it was enough. His head rested on her shoulder as his tears continued in a steady stream. 

It was Jinx who eventually brought them back to reality, her cold, wet nose bumping against the elbow Arden had propped on the table.

What a mess! You both look terrible. 

With a breathy laugh, Alex left Arden’s side and righted himself in the chair. “Hello, Jinx,” he greeted, stretching out a hand to pet her sloped back. Halfway down, he paused and turned toward Arden. “Is she supposed to be on the table?”

“Not at all. But maybe we’ll make an exception today,” she decided, watching with interest as the creature stepped closer to the boy instead of darting away. Selfish as her motivations often were, Jinx did have a genuine caring streak when she sensed others in distress.  

The cat butted her head into his palm, purring loudly at his attentive petting. “Should we finish the cookies?” he asked, using his free hand to scrub the tears from his cheeks. “I think I’m finished writing for now.” 

“That sounds like a great idea. You can help me with them if you wash your hands.” 

Delivering a final pat to Jinx’s grizzled crown, he took his notebook and left the room.

Arden’s smile broke as she heard him turn the corner into the hall. What just happened?

Whatever it was, it wasn’t going to solve all of their problems. But at least it felt like a start. 

Retrieving her phone from the nearby counter, she tapped out a message for Jaime: You’ll never believe what just happened with Alex. I can’t wait to tell you tonight over that bottle of wine we’ve been saving.

_____

December, 2027

“You can’t win Monopoly with just the railroads,” Alex whined, rifling through his stack of money in search of hundreds. Making his way to the end with a huff, he yanked out a set of papers.

Arden gladly received the four blue bills he extended across the table. “Then that just means there’s one less person for you to beat. I don’t see why you’re complaining if there’s no way I can win.”

Will’s short arm flung out in front of her, reaching for the dice. She nudged them closer, then watched his roll.

“Oh, man.” The words were barely recognizable around the yawn that divided them.

Sophia tapped a finger on the Luxury Tax square. “You need to move here.” At Jaime’s raised eyebrow, she withdrew the hand and slipped it under her thigh. “Sorry. You can do it yourself.”

Ribcage propped on the edge of the table, Will leaned over the board and moved his terrier across the requisite spaces in a series of hops. “I didn’t want to land on the ring again. Do we have to keep playing?”

Jaime took a long drink from his mug, exchanging glances with Arden from his end of the table. There’s a reason we went so long before getting a copy of this game.

Arden swiped a lock of hair away from her forehead, giving him opportunity to speak. One of them needed to take the high road, and it was beginning to look like he wouldn’t be the one to do it. “Will, are you sure? You’ve been looking forward to trying out all of the games you got for Christmas.”

“This one is boring,” he pronounced simply, rubbing his face across the forearm that was still stretched toward the game board.

“Is everyone else bored too?” Jaime queried. “I don’t want to cut it short if people are having fun, but it also doesn’t make sense for us to keep at it if everyone’s miserable.”

“I’m bored,” Sophia confirmed with a nod.

“It’s stupid. We should do something else.”

With the consensus from all three kids, it was easy to see that soldiering on would be pointless.

Jaime cocked his head to peep in at the stovetop clock. “Maybe it’s time for us to pick out a movie. It’s after 9:30. By the time we’ve made some popcorn and started watching something, we’ll be pretty close to midnight by time it’s over.”

Alex pulled in all of the money he could reach and filed it away in his banker box. “Can we watch one of my new Marvel ones?”

“Yeah!” Exhaustion overcome by excitement, Will tossed his stack of bills in the air.

“Hey, pick those up!”

Arden pushed in her chair and folded her arms over the back, rolling her eyes at the brothers’ innocent shenanigans. “You up for superheroes, Sophia?”

The thoughtful hazel eyes rose to meet hers. “Yeah.” They darted back to the cell phone in her hands, but her thoughts suggested her mind still hadn’t moved on yet. That one actor is pretty cute. Maybe he’ll take his shirt off…

Turning over her shoulder to hide the smirk that was cracking her lips, Arden checked Jaime’s progress in the kitchen. 

_____

By the time the film had drawn to a close, Arden was comfortable enough on the couch to rethink their plans for ringing in the new year. Casting a look across the room, she found Alex and Sophia still very much awake, attention divided between their phones and the television in front of them. Jaime offered her the remaining popcorn from their shared bowl, but she declined.

Once the screen had faded to black, Arden carefully moved the bony shin that had been digging into her calf for the better part of the last hour. Unfazed, Will remained asleep on the other end of the couch. As the credits rolled, she made her way to the kitchen to find the pots and pans that she’d already slated for the task ahead.

11:54

Jaime was gently nudging Will’s shoulder when she returned with their noisemakers. 

“Coats on, everybody,” she admonished, passing a pot and wooden spoon to each child.

Still jumbled from sleep, Will gave her an uncertain frown. With a yawn, he took the objects from her hands.

“Why are we doing this again?” Alex lifted his saucepan and wooden spoon to reinforce his skepticism. His coat dangled from the one sleeve that had made it over his arm. 

“It’s a tradition.” Jaime’s staunch answer was punctuated by a vigorous shake of his own spoon. "It’s also a lot of fun.”

“Next year, we should have fireworks!” Will suggested a little too loudly. 

Arden inclined a brow, thanking her better sense for keeping her youngest to such a rigid bedtime schedule. Tired Will was proving to have even fewer inhibitions than his rested counterpart. “We can talk about that later. For now, we need to get outside!”

The five of them huddled together on the front porch, several sets of teeth chattering as Jaime counted down the seconds before midnight.

“Happy New Year!” they rang out in rambling chorus before drowning out the well wishes with their noisemakers. Sophia’s eyes widened in surprise at the flurry of sound they produced. With the lack of sleep, Will’s easy smile was even more exaggerated than usual. Even Alex renounced his former inhibitions, delivering an occasional smack to Will’s pan instead of his own. 

I love you, Arden.

On hearing Jaime’s thought, she paused beating her spoon and rose up to meet her husband’s full lips. His kiss was gentle and slow, rich in the celebration of a year well spent. Feeling his smile before he pulled away, she couldn’t help matching it with one of her own. 

In spite of everything they’d told the kids about the glories of board games and banging on pots and pans, midnight kisses were actually her favorite part of the yearly celebration. If there was a better way to start each revolution around the sun, she had yet to discover it.

“This is really loud,” Sophia complained, tapping her spoon daintily against the rim of her pot. “I should have worn earplugs.”

“Next year,” Jaime suggested, and she smiled in return. He checked his watch. “It’s almost 12:02. Time to wind things down!”

Will fumbled over his spoon, but Sophia swooped down to catch it before it could roll into the bushes. Blinking rapidly, the boy held out a hand to take the object back. Sophia surrendered it, but kept a cautious eye on her younger sibling. 

“And that’s our cue to go inside and get ready for bed,” Jaime announced, propping open the door so that he could follow the rest of the family into the house. 

While the kids brushed their teeth, Jaime collected pans and returned them to their proper shelves in the kitchen. Arden trailed him aimlessly, leaning against the doorjamb with a yawn.

“Let’s get you to bed, Ms. Sleepy.”

“That’s Mrs. Sleepy,” she insisted as she fought to keep her mouth closed. 

“I think we’re a whole family of sleepies right now.” With a low chuckle, he took her arm. “C’mon, let’s go say goodnight so we can all get to bed.” 

_____

Arden stood before the mirror with watery eyes, yawn building as she watched Jaime strip down to his boxers. He tossed his dirty clothes into the hamper, sending her a curious look through the glass. 

“Do you remember that year when you were sick and we couldn’t celebrate New Year’s together?”

“Uh-huh,” he answered, putting away his toothbrush. “And after you pulled the surgical-mask thing when I had the flu, I don’t really blame our parents for keeping us on opposite sides of the fence.”

“True.” She paused for a yawn, leaning close to the glass to examine her bloodshot eyes. “I tried to be extra loud so you could hear me all the way from my porch.”

“For the record, I was so doped up on cold medicine that I slept through the whole thing.”

“Well, I’m still sorry I did it. There you were, trying to sleep, and I was clanging like a drawer full of silverware.”

“You need some rest, babe.” 

“I know, I know.” She took the pack of floss he slid toward her and cut a length. “That simile didn’t even make sense.” 

He crossed behind her to throw his own floss in the trash can. As he passed, he kissed her shoulder through the flannel of her pajamas. “It’s bedtime,” he pronounced simply. 

“It’s barely midnight and I’m completely useless. I feel like an old lady.”

“I guess we’ll just have to be old, tired people together, because I’m exhausted too.”

“Then let’s get you to bed, Mr. Sleepy.” There was a weary lilt to her voice as she wound the floss between two fingers. 

“I’m just waiting for you,” he assured. 

Arden finished flossing and made a show of prepping her toothbrush. “I know the kids were grilling each other about their resolutions for the year, but I never asked if you had one.”

While he considered his answer, she set about brushing, her weary hand slipping into the accustomed motion with ease. At her insistent face, he finally spoke. 

“Nah, not this year. Unless helping Alex keep his is a resolution.”

She spat her toothpaste into the sink. “You mean what he said about doing better in school? That wasn’t his real resolution.” Catching his frown in the mirror, she clarified, “What he really wants is to stay in one place for the whole year.”

“I hate it that he’s still thinking like that.”

“I know, but I get it.” She ambled to the bed and tossed the covers back. “Maybe things will start to change once the adoption is official.”

“Either way, he’s not going anywhere.”

“Absolutely not.”

“He’s stuck with us forever.” Jaime flicked the overhead light and joined her, careful to keep his icy toes as far on his side as possible. 

Arden burrowed closer anyway, eager to share what warmth he did possess. He scooted over to free some space on his pillow, which she eagerly claimed. 

“What about you, my love? Any resolutions of your own?”

Eyes closing in consideration, she giggled at the first thought that came to mind. “I should probably stop drinking so much coffee...” 

“We both know that’s never going to happen.”

“Yeah... Other than that, I don’t know that anything needs to change, really. I’m pretty happy with everything the way it is.”

“I am too. G’night, Arden.” 

She tugged his arm around her stomach, her fingers curling over the hinge of his wrist to keep him in place. “G’night.” Breathing deeply of his woodsy scent, her mind ceased its drifting, settling finally on thoughts of the man beside her. 

“Jaime?” She felt him jolt as she broke the silence. 

“Huh?” he asked with a croaky voice. 

“Changed my mind. We need more dates this year.”

“Can we talk about it in the morning?”

“Uh-huh. G’night again. Can’t wait to spend another year with you.” 

The arm tightened at her waist, and she finally allowed herself to surrender to sleep. 

[hellyeahrihannafenty]

The Totality: Rihanna | ELLE Magazine

Let’s just call Rihanna what she is: the coolest woman on the planet—with beauty, talent, attitude, and personal style to spare. Here, the global megastar answers questions from a cross-section of her famous fans.

Somewhere between releasing her debut single “Pon de Replay” (to blitzkrieg effect) in 2005 and sitting down to discuss international education with Emmanuel Macron in 2017, Rihanna has become much more than a pop star. The music is still absolutely vital, yes—her eighth album, Anti, which has been kicking up dust on the dance charts since it dropped last year, was deemed by Forbes to be one of the most successful recordings of all time—but as an icon, she represents something far greater: what a woman can achieve when she tackles her career, and her life, on her own terms. Rihanna is always fearlessly, unapologetically herself, whether she’s making maverick fashion choices on the red carpet, calling out body shamers, or adding yet another unmistakably RiRi-stamped endeavor to her string of (singer-actress-designer-entrepreneur-philanthropist-etcetera-etcetera) hyphenates. We can now add beauty mogul to that list.

The singer has poured her uncompromising attitude into a much-awaited makeup line, Fenty Beauty by Rihanna, poised to launch with a big bang of 91 products on September 8 at Sephora (expect lines) and on the brand’s website (Internet = broken). Its focus, perhaps surprisingly from a practiced maquillage peacock who has been known to rock vivid blue and ink-black lipstick with defiant flair, is gleaming, satiny, flawless skin, built around an assortment of user-friendly highlighting and contouring sticks, and a whopping 40 shades of foundation. “The biggest void I’ve found in the industry is the lack of variety in foundation shades,” Rihanna tells us. “That’s one of the things that was most important to me—to make sure everyone was included.” It’s a nod, too, to the complexion-perfecting gateway drug that ushered the Barbados native into beauty in the first place: “Foundation was the first product I ever owned,” she says. “It was like magic, and I’ve been in love with makeup ever since.”

Avidly hands-on throughout the collection’s development, Rihanna helmed everything from the playful name selection (there’s a gold powder highlighter, for instance, dubbed Trophy Wife) to the packaging, which, like its creator, is multifaceted, with tough, graffiti-inspired outer boxes opening onto sleek, streamlined, sweetly pretty individual products. “There are plenty of options out there when it comes to makeup,” Rihanna says. “My approach with Fenty Beauty was just to do things my way.”

19 QUESTIONS FOR RIHANNA, FROM 20 OF HER FRIENDS AND FANS

Tyra Banks, Model/Entrepreneur: You’re so successful and surrounded by people who want to please you. Who gives it to you straight?

Rihanna: For me, it’s my mama. They all fake, LOL, and fired!

Eminem, Rapper: You don’t seem like you’re ever thinking about trends when you go in the studio, yet you end up setting them. What are you looking at when you start your recording process?

Rihanna: I rarely know exactly what I want to do, but always know exactly how I want it to make me feel. Feeling always leads the sound!

Wyclef Jean, Rapper: The last time I saw you was at the World Cup. If you could be any football player in the world, who would it be?

Rihanna: Cristiano Ronaldo. But then again, Beckham did marry Posh Spice.

Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia, Designers, Oscar de la Renta: What’s your best vintage find?

Rihanna: On New Year’s Eve, 2016, I bought this costume from 1952 that was worn in the movie Singin' in the Rain.

“Rihanna is today’s most fascinating performer, a mysterious amalgam of amiable warmth and glittering charisma. With her keen creative eye for line and color, she has become a fashion icon, like Audrey Hepburn. Yet she is a tempestuous wild child and international adventuress, like Ava Gardner. Most importantly, as an artist in this overmechanized age, she bravely draws on deep wells of pure emotion, endearing her to millions of fans worldwide.” —Camille Paglia,Author/Critic

Tricky Stewart, Record Producer: Do you remember the first time a crowd gave you goose bumps singing all the lyrics to your song in concert?

  Rihanna:  Yes! I was on tour, and the whole crowd started singing “Take a Bow” word for word…to the point that I couldn’t even sing. They performed the entire song for me.

April Bloomfield, Chef: What do you cook when you want a little comfort?

Rihanna: Bajan macaroni pie, which is our version of a baked mac ’n’ cheese.

Zac Posen, Designer: What’s your secret family recipe?

R:It’s a secret! LOL. But they make a mean “cook-up” and pepper pot. Both are Guyanese recipes.

Jacquie Aiche, Jewelry Designer: What’s your favorite body part?

R: Well, my favorite body parts on pretty much any woman are the collarbone and shoulders.

Charli XCX, Singer/Songwriter: What’s your ultimate karaoke song?

R: Bon Jovi, “Livin’ on a Prayer”; Journey, “Don’t Stop Believin’ ”; Brandy and Monica, “The Boy Is Mine.”

"Rihanna brings ‘global gumbo’ to the culture. Her voice unites the world through positive music vibes." —Wyclef Jean, Rapper 

Danielle Steel, Best-Selling Author: I love your shoe passion, especially your collaboration with Manolo Blahnik. How much of the designing do they let you do?

R; They really give me all the creative freedom I could ask for, but of course I have this unique opportunity to work with Mr. Blahnik himself, so his expertise is always more than welcome!

Kelly Fields, Chef (Willa Jean, New Orleans): Your preferences in fashion and art appear to embrace the entire scale of highbrow/lowbrow—which is how I like to cook. I’d love to know if your preferences in munchies run along that same scale?

R: You mean KFC on a private jet is not normal?

Laverne Cox, Actress: You’ve had so many iconic fashion moments and take so many risks. The CFDA Awards Adam Selman dress in 2014—what gave you the courage to take that risk that was so perfect and elegant yet daring?

R: Dear Laverne, I took advantage of my titties before they go south. I saw my window, and I took it.

Pharrell Williams, Musician/Producer: You’re a pluralist in every sense of the word. Did you always have these dreams to do so many things, in addition to being an artist? Or have you just figured that out along the way that there are other things you can do very well?

R: I’ve always been a dreamer…or let’s just say I kept my options open. In my heart, I knew singing was gonna be in my future, but I considered psychology, hairdressing, banking, teaching, acting, modeling, aviation, and philanthropy. I just didn’t know I’d pretty much be doing all of these things eventually!

Gary Ross, Director, Ocean’s 8: What’s the first thing I should do when I get to Barbados?

R: [Fast-food] Chefette and a rum punch!

"I love Rihanna. I love that she is herself with no apologies. Her sense of style and self is unique. I love how she transforms herself with each album, each campaign. Always evolving. A true icon." —Venus Williams, Tennis Champion

David Copperfield, Magician: I’m not kidding, this is a real offer: I can make you disappear and reappear anywhere in the world. Where do you want to go, and why?

R: Ten minutes before I lost my virginity…and I’m holding you to that offer. LOL.

Emilio Vitolo, Restauranteur (Emilio's Ballato, New York City): What’s the name of the soup dish that’s the most popular in our region of Italy?

R: It’s my favorite on your menu...pasta e fagioli.

A$AP Rocky, Rapper: Tupac, Bob Marley, and Time: Fuck? Marry? Kill?

Shit, well, we stay killing Time. Fuck Tupac. Marry Bob, duh.

Olivia Wilde, Actress: What’s the most valuable mistake you’ve learned from?

No cheese for Jay Brown before a flight.

Patricia Field, Stylist: Would you consider having a cocktail with me sometime in the near future? I’d like to get to know you better. (Not hitting on you.)

Your place or mine?

"Rihanna’s MTV 2016 VMA performances were groundbreaking, paradigm- shifting moments in female swag. She represents badassery, positive self-esteem, and in a great way. She is powerful and vulnerable simultaneously, which makes her a revolutionary. Yes, she’s sexy, but once she’s got your attention, I don’t think you can ignore what she’s saying to you: She is curated and deliberate without feeling staged, and her intent is as real as anything out there. I respond to her as a writer, a woman, and a fan.” —Courtney Kemp, Showrunner/Creator, Power (Starz)

HERE, RIHANNA'S INSIGHT AS THE PROPRIETOR OF FENTY BEAUTY

ELLE: When did you first wear lipstick?

         Lipstick always got me in trouble. Whether it was at home as a kid, or my early teenage years in my career, I always had the urge to wear it. So I broke all those rules. Now lipstick is like my li’l secret weapon!

What is the craziest thing you’ve ever done/tried for beauty? Would you do it again?

         A corset! I’d do it again, though. I’d wear it every day if I could make it out alive!

What makes you feel dressy/“done,” beautywise?

         My finishing touch is usually my highlighter. I love highlighter—it just adds this sense of fantasy to any look.

"What is incredible about Rihanna is that in a world facing a deadening crisis of leadership and the constant negation of creative efforts, her music globally moves and inspires us to be completely alive without restrictions or prohibitions." —Richard Phillips, Artist

Of all the celebrities you’ve met, who smells the best?

         [Photographers] Inez and Vinoodh! Inez smells delicious. She actually gifted me her scent, because I always asked her about it.

Who’s your hair idol?

         This is probably confusing to most, but it’s in between Toni Braxton from back in the day with all her short haircuts…and Cindy Crawford. She had the most effortless yet stunning hair.

Who’s your makeup idol?

         I have to go with Veruschka. She made makeup look like silk!

This article originally appears in the October 2017 issue of ELLE. [Buy]

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Healthy Dinner Ideas Shared By 25 Food Bloggers

You love cooking for your family but lately, you’ve been running out of healthy dinner ideas? Unfortunately, this happens more often than we would like to admit. Many people are too tired in the evening to have any more energy to cook so they choose to eat junk food. But as the name says “junk food” or “fast food” has many negative effects on your health and on the way you look.

Despite what you may think there are tons of dishes that you can prepare that are nutritious and don’t require a lot of time and effort. To help you with this challenge we reached out to 25 food bloggers and asked them the following question:

What are your favorite easy healthy dinner ideas?

We received some amazing recipes that you can read in the post below. Enjoy!

Melissa Eboli – Via Melissa

As a nutritional chef, I have a lot of favorite easy and healthy dinner ideas. One that comes to mind is a basil-turkey stir fry. It takes less than 10 minutes to prepare, and then quickly and then it easily cooks on the stovetop in 15-20 minutes. It can be served over rice, quinoa or cooked with cauliflower rice for an even lighter version.

Another super easy dinner idea is salmon w/ asparagus. You can prep them in under 5 minutes, and then bake them simultaneously in the oven for 10-12 minutes.

One additional suggestion I will give is a plant-based dinner idea, jackfruit stew with chipotle aoli. This dish also takes less than 10 minutes to prepare and cooks on the stovetop in 15 minutes. The one great thing about all items I mentioned above is that you can always have the ingredients on hand to make them in your pantry or freezer.

If you’d like the recipe for these or very similar dishes, please check out my cookbook Let’s Dine In: Healthy Recipes & Tips To Minimize Your Shopping Trips on my website ViasKitchen.com or Amazon.

Jim Mumford – Jim Cooks Food Good

My favorite easy, healthy, and comforting dinner ideas must have these things to be as amazing as possible; minimal effort, maximum versatility and is interesting.

To me, an easy meal is one that doesn’t take a lot of effort or ingredients. Sure, chopping veggies or rolling out dough isn’t *hard*, but it can be taxing, especially if you’re trying to also parent! So, a recipe like my Pizza Soup, which uses the blender as a time-saver, is a great weeknight meal.

Versatility is also crucial to an easy healthy meal. We’ve all been there; an ingredient goes bad, you’re out of something, etc. Having a recipe that can give and take with ingredients is a must for weeknight success. Consider my Pork Bibimbap, which can accept a wide array of ingredients and toppings! This is also super important if you need to cook with dietary restrictions in mind!

Finally, your weeknight winning meal needs to taste amazing and be interesting! Fun, interesting meals keep you going back for more, and make dinner fun. A tip would be to mash up foods to make something new and exciting, like my General Tso’s Tacos!

So, in conclusion, my favorite weeknight meals are easy to make, versatile to meet all demands, and are fun and interesting to make!

Katy Malkin – Learner Vegan

My absolute favourite easy dinner is loaded with baked sweet potato. Sweet potatoes are so nutritious, packed with fibre, and easy on digestion too! Plus, did you know that they stabilise your blood sugar levels, and keep you full for longer?

I choose the biggest one I can find and bake it for around 30 mins. I often have it with chickpea ‘tuna’ for a real protein-packed meal. Simply put, that’s a tin of chickpeas drained and rinsed. You roughly mash them with the back of a fork and mix in garlic, nori, vinegar, and houmous. You could also add salt, mayo, or sweetcorn to taste.

After that, I just add a side salad or steamed veggies. Perfect!

The best thing about this meal is that you can switch it up so easily by changing the toppings. It never gets boring! I love a sweet potato with bean chili, tarka dahl, roasted chickpeas, and scrambled tofu. You can batch make all of these in advance, too.

Top tip: if health is your goal, switch out the butter in your jacket potato for a smear of houmous.

Niki Campbell – The Flourish Group

I often tell my clients to start with their family favorites and then look for ways to upgrade the health quotient.

For example, a favorite recipe might be a rigatoni casserole with ground beef sauce and lots of mozzarella cheese on top.

Take that recipe, upgrade to a high fiber noodle like whole wheat pasta or a high protein pasta like lentil or chickpea. Then, use a leaner ground beef or ground turkey, and cut the cheese in half. Still get the same flavors and comfort with less fat and more fiber.

Another one is sheet pan recipes. These are protein and veggie-focused with some starch mixed in. Start with a healthy protein and surround it with your choice of potato or starchy veg like carrots and then add something green that roasts well – Brussels, broccoli, asparagus.

Luke Jones – Hero Movement

I like eating and I enjoy cooking, but like most people, I’m not always a fan of spending hours in the kitchen prepping meals or deliberating over what I’m going to have for dinner. So if in doubt, I typically refer back to a tried and tested formula:

Half a plateful of veggies: typically some roasted veg, greens, salad, or a mixture of all the above.

A few handfuls of a protein-dense food: tofu or tempeh is our go-to, but we’ll also sometimes include good quality fish and occasional meat.

A carb-dense food: often buckwheat, quinoa, rice or potatoes – typically a cupped handful if I’ve not been super active, but 2-3 if I’ve been training.

A fat-dense food: olive oil, nuts, seeds, or avocado, varying from 1-3 thumb-sized portions depending on activity levels.

Condiments and sauces: hot sauce and light mayo are the go-to if we’re after something quick, or we’ll make a homemade curry, stir-fry or traybake if we have more time on our hands.

Alina Z

My latest creation and obsession recipe is this Truffle Pasta:

1 package of ground Beyond Meat

1 package of gluten-free fresh pasta by Taste Republic (or try Mung Bean pasta by 365 Brand for extra protein)

1 bag of mushrooms medley from Trader Joes

Follow Your Heart Provolone dairy-free cheese

Follow Your Heart Parmesan dairy-free cheese

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Sabatino Truffle Zest

Saute ground Beyond Meat beef in a pan while cooking the pasta (this fresh kind only takes 2-3 mins), then add mushrooms and let them defrost and heat up in a pan. Cover with Provolone, then add cooked pasta and truffle zest. Mix all together.

Serve in a bowl sprinkled with parmesan and olive oil. It’s sooo good!

3 MINUTE Chili

⁣ ⁣

Ingredients: ⁣ 1 Bag of Beyond Meat beefy crumbles⁣ 1 12-Ounce jar your favorite salsa⁣ 1 10-Ounce box of unflavored kidney beans 1/2 Cup Daiya cheddar cheese⁣

⁣Combine beans, salsa and beefy crumbles together in pan and sauté for 3 minutes.⁣ ⁣ Drizzle with Daiya cheese, cover for 1 minute to melt the cheese, then serve.⁣

Alex Johnson – Med Munch

Curries are perfect healthy dinners you can whip up quickly when you’re struggling for time. They allow so much variety, allowing you can easily get your veggies into your diet or add some lean meat in for extra protein.

Some of my favorite types of curry include veggie chickpea curries for when I’m on a health drive and sweet potato and lentil curries, which are perfect for those lazy evenings when you want to throw in some extra carbs without overindulging.

Chicken curries are excellent for when you need to lose weight, keeping protein levels high and calories low without making you feel dissatisfied after.

Eggplant or aubergine is also a great alternative to base your curries around. No matter what you go with, you can often cook them within 30 minutes.

Simply serve with a healthy carb like whole grain rice and you’ve got yourself an easy evening dinner you don’t need to feel guilty about.

Gita Kshatriya – Warrior In The Kitchen

My idea of easy and healthy dinner ideas consists of including plant-forward ingredients that are packed with flavors and can be made in minimal time and with minimal mess!

I typically make a batch of quinoa and/or brown rice that I can use throughout the week. I pair that with vegetables and seasonings to create flavors from various cuisines around the world.

To make an Indian meal, you can combine the batch-cooked quinoa or brown rice with vegetables like broccoli, onions, and zucchini in tempered oil with whole spices like whole cumin seeds, mustard seeds, and whole dry chili peppers and ground spices like turmeric, ground cumin, and red chili powder.

To make a Mediterranean meal, you can combine the batch-cooked quinoa or brown rice with sauteed vegetables like cauliflower, zucchini, and eggplant. You can add a simple lemon juice, salt, and black pepper dressing, and top with olives, red onions, and feta cheese.

Those are just a couple of examples of how you can take batch-cooked quinoa and brown rice to a whole new level with each weeknight meal you prepare. Batch-cooked quinoa and brown rice provide simplicity, versatility, and variety when creating healthy weeknight meals.

Lisa Goodwin – 2 Share My Joy

You can save so much time and money while also eating much healthier if you choose to cook your own dinner at home. The best way I stay motivated to cook my own dinners is by choosing recipes that take 20 minutes or less and have easy ingredients.

One of my go-to dinner meals is this 20-Minute Black Bean Quinoa Chili. It is also oil-free, gluten-free, and vegan. One serving contains 450 calories and over 22 g of protein. The beans and the quinoa give this meal a high protein and fiber content which keeps you full for a long time. I love to top this meal with avocado as it adds a source of healthy fat.

During the summer, I enjoy making Italian Asparagus Spinach Gnocchi that also takes only 20 minutes to prepare. This light meal is packed with healthy greens like asparagus, spinach, and peas. I add chickpeas as my lean protein source

Another great way to add more vitamins to a meal is by blending your vegetables into a sauce. In this One Pot Creamy Coconut Potato Curry I blend bell peppers with coconut milk to make a creamy stew. This meal also contains potatoes, chickpeas, and spinach.

You can make it in an instant pot for a super quick and healthy dinner. One serving contains more than your daily need in vitamin C, which makes it a great immunity booster.

Jenny Zhang – Organically Blissful

When I have limited time to spare but want to whip up a delicious and healthy meal for my family, I like to turn Vitamix, Instant Pot, or air fryer for help. With a Vitamix, you can whip up a delicious meal in minutes.

Some of my favorite recipe to make from Vitamix includes hummus, squash soup, and even curry. With an instant pot, you can put your favorite ingredients in, and within an hour, you will have a delicious and healthy meal that is ready to be served while it feels like you spend hours on making it.

Some of my favorite meals to make in an instant pot includes chicken noodle soup, risotto, and fajita.

And lastly, with an air fryer, you can make your favorite comfort fried food healthier. Creating crispy food through circulating hot air, you can save fewer calories and contains less fat—all without sacrificing the taste.

Some of my favorite air fryer meals include chicken tenders, falafel, and salmon.

Sarah Cull – Life In Full Flavour

Whenever I’m feeling that I need a boost of energy or vitamins, I’ll aim for a nutrient-rich salad with a healthy protein. If I’m having meat or fish – chicken, salmon, and squid are my main choices – I’ll marinate it for 24 hours before cooking. It’s a great way to add flavours with herbs, spices, and seasonings that taste delicious but don’t add on too many extra calories.

For the salad, the more colourful the better. Beetroot, red cabbage, olives, mixed leaves, carrot, and peppers are some of my favourites. I’ll try not to dress the salad if possible, adding seeds instead to boost the flavour and add extra bite.

If I’m short on time or know I’ll be running late to get dinner started, I’ll buy a pre-made salad as a base and then add extras to bulk it up. Supermarket salads are convenient but can often lack a bit of inspiration, but as a base, they can be really helpful and a great time-saver.

Lisa Mitchell – Sacred & Delicious

Like most working folks, I’m interested in cooking easy meals Monday through Friday because I often work until 6 or 6:30 p.m. Simplicity and ease are my watchwords during the work week. Vegetarian and gluten-free are essential for my health.

Most meals in our household are vegan, although I do still cook with ghee (clarified butter). According to Ayurveda, the ancient medical and wellness system of India, ghee is considered the healthiest fat for its medicinal qualities.

Here are some of my favorite American-style weeknight meals:

1. Red lentil soup with vegetables. I usually make a homemade soup stock over the weekend, and then it’s ready for this soup. Sauté an onion in the soup pot or better yet, leeks, which are faster. Then cook the lentils for about 20 minutes with vegetables and seasonings in homemade stock, when available.

For an Italian flavored soup, try carrots, zucchini, and spinach with lots of fresh basil and a little bit of oregano. Sundried tomatoes are another tasty addition. You can make the dish Indian-style with cumin, coriander, and turmeric, and a hint of curry powder, it you like. All done in about 30 minutes.

2. A black bean soup is a winner during this cold weather. It can cook all day in a slow cooker with a bay leaf and an onion. Or cook it with a pressure cooker or Instant pot and add seasonings later. Be sure to soak the beans overnight or they will never get tender. Serve over a little basmati rice. Make plenty of that black-bean soup and strain the leftovers.

3. Next day, bake some sweet potatoes and top them with warmed up black beans, avocado, and or guacamole. Maybe a little fresh salsa, too. Yum!

4. With some leftover stock, enjoy a carrot soup with fresh ginger and basil, made creamy with a little almond milk—another 30-minute dish. When the weather warms up, I switch up the seasoning to cilantro and mint with cooling coconut milk. Serve it with some grilled tofu and some sautéed greens or a salad in the summer.

5. Try a gluten-free pasta or pasta of your choice! While the pasta is cooking, sauté one or two quick-cooking vegetables, such as asparagus, broccoli, or red pepper, in olive oil, liquid aminos, and garlic. Place the cooked and rinsed pasta on a bed of fresh arugula or spinach.

Add the veggies and toss with lots of fresh basil and salt. Sprinkle with nuts of choice. A delicious 30- or 40-minute meal!

Elizabeth Girouard – Pure Simple Wellness

The best way to make easy healthy dinners is to use whole food ingredients, prepared simply. Frozen veggies are great to have on hand for easy dinners. They are flash-frozen when picked, so often they have more nutrients than fresh ones.

Shortcuts can save time and energy, like purchasing pre-cut vegetables or mini-versions, like baby carrots or baby potatoes. Sheet pan meals, where all the ingredients are cooked together on one sheet pan, make clean-up easier too.

A client favorite is organic chicken thighs with roasted baby potatoes and baby carrots. Season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder, drizzle some olive oil, and cook at 400 F for 30 minutes.

Another no-cook option is an organic rotisserie chicken over a precut salad, with olive oil, lemon, salt, pepper and garlic. The dressings in the prepacked oils usually have less healthy oils, so it’s best to avoid them. Or, a bag of steamed frozen vegetables, with rotisserie chicken, drizzled with olive oil and hot sauce.

Here are a few other favorite simple, healthy dinner ideas:

Organic Chicken Sausage with onions and peppers

sauté onion and pepper strips in avocado or olive oil with garlic, salt and pepper for 3-5 minutes; add cut up pre-cooked sausage and cook until heated through

Veggie stir-fry

sauté chopped peppers, onions, zucchini, green beans, carrots (fresh or frozen) olive oil; add gluten-free Tamari sauce or coconut aminos, and serve over cauliflower rice or brown rice

Ground beef and mushrooms over zoodles

sauté grass-fed ground beef, once meat is cooked through, add thinly sliced mushrooms and organic tomato sauce until mushrooms are cooked through. Add zucchini noodles for 2 minutes at the end to heat.

Candice Walker – Proportional Plate

If I’m trying to keep dinner under 30 minutes but still keep it healthy and packed with flavor, one of my go-to recipes is a salmon dish, Citrus Thyme Salmon with Pesto Pasta. Salmon is most people’s go-to fish because it’s healthy, delicious, and extremely versatile.

It takes no time at all to cook in the oven, and I serve with simple pesto pasta and steamed veggies. The key to making a healthy, easy meal is combining elements that you can cook all at the same time – for example steaming veggies while the salmon cooks.

Another quick dinner I love is Ginger Scallion Noodles with Broccoli & Carrots – it’s an amazing substitute for takeout when you’re craving it. It helps to have an easy recipe on hand if you want to resist the temptation of ordering in.

Then, if I need something quick and warm, I always make Vegetarian Egg Drop Soup with Mixed Veggies – I use arrowroot powder to thicken it so it’s just the right texture.

It’s a hearty, simple soup that works with frozen veggies like corn and peas, and I use homemade vegetable stock to make sure it’s not loaded with salt and other additives.

Jessica Braider – The Scramble

One of my favorite easy healthy dinners is build-a-bowl nights because they are so easy, flexible, and fun.

Start with a grain base such as rice, quinoa, or couscous, and then you can add any proteins, vegetables, and condiments you like to make the flavor fit your mood.

For example, you could go a southwestern route with black beans, roasted vegetables, shredded Cheddar cheese, and salsa.

Or, you could go middle eastern with chickpeas, chopped raw vegetables, crumbled feta, and hummus.

The possibilities are endless and if you make the base grain and some proteins or vegetables ahead of time, dinner can be ready in mere minutes!

Stephanie Mantilla – Plant Prosperous

My favorite healthy meal is lentil chili.

You can dump the lentils, salsa, spices, and vegetables all into one pot and let them cook.

This even works in an Instant Pot or pressure cooker.

The lentils provide a good amount of protein and you can add whatever veggies you have on hand.

You can serve the chili over a bed of rice, quinoa, or greens for a healthy meal your entire family will like.

Katrina Love Senn

My favourite easy healthy dinner ideas are tasty, quick, and easy. I am inspired by the seasons and like to eat real food.

In Winter, my favourite dinner ideas are delicious, warming, and nourishing. They include thick hearty winter soups (made from home-made broths), Asian stir fry’s, and spicy curries served with Basmati rice, cauliflower rice, or quinoa.

In Summer, as the weather gets warmer and the days are longer, my meals change also.

They are generally lighter using fresh salad greens, herbs, and microgreens. To serve interesting salads, presentation is key. Choose colourful ingredients, served on a long white ceramic plate.

Top the plate with interesting salad leaves. Then, add generous amounts of fresh vegetables (such as sliced avocado, grated carrot, grated beetroot, pomegranate seeds, walnuts etc or roast vegetables) and fresh parsley, basil, and mint, cracked black pepper, and sea salt. In Summer months, I also like miso, sushi, sashimi fish, and Vietnamese spring rolls (fresh).

Antonia Korcheva – Escape Waste

I love making zucchini boats. They are easy to prepare and the filling options are endless. This is a personal original recipe! Here are the steps:

You’ll need one or two zucchinis per person for one serving.

Cut the zucchini crosswise.

Carve each half with a spoon to create the boats.

Drizzle the boats with olive oil and a pinch of salt.

Bake them for 10 minutes on medium heat.

In the meantime, prepare the filling.

Put the filling in the boats and cook for 20 more minutes.

Filling ideas:

Mushrooms with onion and herbs;

Sauteed seasonal vegetables;

Quinoa.

Additional tip: Use the leftover carvings for the filling of the boats or prepare other meals such as salads, zucchini balls, or even cakes.

Cheryl McColgan – Heal Nourish Grow

People love to overcomplicate dinner time, especially when they’re trying to switch to a new, healthy way of eating. One of the first things to determine is what is really a healthy meal…which is not so easy nowadays with the pervasive old ways of thinking still dominating nutrition. Eating healthy can be simple.

After hundreds of hours of research, I’ve determined that a low carb diet free of processed food and added sugar is the healthiest option.

Based on this paradigm, my favorite easy and healthy dinner ideas basically include two ingredients. Combine your favorite protein (bonus points if it’s grass-fed or pastured) with a low starch vegetable. Add some healthy fat or sauce and you’re done!

If you’re really pressed for time or creativity, you can even skip the vegetable, GASP! This would be unheard of in the past but you can make a good case that vegetables aren’t necessary to a healthy diet.

Some specific examples of this type of meal are a perfectly cooked grass-fed ribeye with some asparagus roasted in olive oil. Another great choice would be a one-pan meal of pastured chicken thighs and brussels sprouts cooked in butter. Particularly if you’re trying to lose weight, this dinner method will keep you on track and simplify healthy eating.

Youmna Rab – Sustainably Yours

My favourite, easy healthy dinner ideas are ones that can be made in less than 20 minutes and create very few dirty dishes. When it comes to cooking, having to wash tons of dirty dishes automatically makes an easy dinner much harder. Dishes that can be made in one pan are the best way to go.

The easiest one-pan dinner I make is pesto ravioli. All you have to do is heat up frozen ravioli, cut some veggies and mix it all together on the stove with pesto! Most frozen food isn’t considered healthy, but ravioli can be if you add pesto and lots of vegetables.

Another great easy vegan option is a barbecue chickpea wrap. All you have to do is heat up canned chickpeas in barbeque sauce and wrap it in a tortilla with your favourite vegetables. Lettuce, tomatoes, and onions are great options that pair deliciously with chickpeas. Spread some hummus on the tortilla as well to add some more flavour.

These two healthy dishes are favorites that can be made in less than 20 minutes. To spend less time in the kitchen, cut up vegetables while everything else cooks.

Stephanie Harris-Uyidi – Posh Pescatarian

Soups, Chowders, and Stews

I love turning to soups, chowders, and stews as quick and healthy dinner options. This way, you can easily combine a medley of veggies, legumes, and spices to create a healthy but flavorful meal.

Soups, stews, and chowders provide home cooks the opportunity to experiment with flavor combinations. From a Mireproix mix (sauteed celery, carrots, and onions) to coconut milk to kale to lentils to lemons, the options are endless!

Some of my favorite recipes include Cauliflower, Coconut & Orange Lentil Soup, Wild Salmon & Tuscan Kale Chowder, and One Pot North African Fish & Chickpea Pescatarian Stew.

Salads

Salads are another great healthy dinner option, and it doesn’t have to be limited to Caesar! You can add veggies, fruits, protein, cheese, and nuts to your dish for added flavor and variety.

I love going back to many of my recipes that are now staples in my diet, including Elote Grilled Mexican Street Corn Salad, Salmon Bacon Salad, Spicy Yucatan Fruit Salad, and Wild Tuna Salad.

Laura Poe Mathes

When putting together quick and healthy dinners, I like to use a basic template to make sure my family gets the nutrition they need while also keeping it simple: every dinner has a protein (usually meat), a vegetable and a whole grain or root vegetable. Fill in these blanks with whatever is on hand and you are on your way to a healthy dinner.

For example, some of my favorite nutrient-rich and delicious dinners are: tacos with ground beef and beans on corn or whole wheat tortillas with plenty of veggie toppings; Thai laab, a dish of ground pork, seasonings and vegetables served in lettuce wraps, with brown rice; curry or stir fry with whatever meat and vegetables need to be used up in the fridge, on a bed of sweet potatoes or brown rice.

Finally, breakfast-for-dinner, the ultimate dinner-saver–I will typically make a cheese and veggie frittata or omelette and serve with whole grain sourdough bread when we are really short on time to throw dinner together.

Don’t be afraid to experiment and try to do as much meal planning as you can ahead of time so your healthy dinners come together quickly and easily.

Shruthi Baskaran – Urban Farmie

My favorite healthy dinners are plant-forward, vegan or vegetarian versions of simple African stews.

Say, for instance, Efo Riro, a hearty Nigerian spinach stew cooked using a red pepper and tomato puree, as well as umami-rich elements like mushrooms and tahini.

Or a warm bowl of Ethiopian Atakilt Wat, a cabbage stew made with pantry staples like potatoes and carrots, and oil infused with simple spices.

These dinners are hearty, comforting and nutritious, and easy to make at home even when I’m busy!

Jenna Passaro – Sip Bite Go

As a parent, I know how important it can be to throw a quick and easy dinner together. Make a delicious 30 minute or less chicken dinner with inspiration from this recipe.

Here these perfectly cooked chicken breasts are served with an easy avocado and vegetable salad. You can make a simple chicken dinner like a restaurant would make – right at home.

Need a vegetarian option? These easy baked buffalo cauliflower bites are an addictive meatless buffalo wings alternative. This vegetarian chicken wing alternative is a favorite in my house for game day and using up leftover cauliflower.

If you’ve heard of cauliflower buffalo bites, you’ll find this recipe is a little different. The addition of red onion makes these buffalo cauliflower bites taste more gourmet. Find the recipe here.

Marissa Schaumloffel – Over The Spoon For

My favorite easy and healthy dinners are any options that I can use whatever I have on hand.

I either turn leftover vegetables and potatoes into a baked frittata or create a Buddha Bowl with a rice or quinoa base.

These allow me to fill up on protein, fiber, and healthy fats and use what I already have rather than going to the store after work.

I cook rice or quinoa in the rice cooker in about 20 minutes while I cut up any vegetables.

I love to add different sauces to make the meals different and flavorful.

Thank you so much to all the experts that have contributed to this expert roundup! If you want to help more people improve their health and their diet then please share this post with your friends and followers so we can spread these healthy dinner ideas.

source https://nutritiondietnews.com/healthy-dinner-ideas/ source https://nutritiondietnews.blogspot.com/2021/02/healthy-dinner-ideas-shared-by-25-food.html