#so i went looking for my grandmother (the only other adult here)

[ghosts-lot]

i just lived through the scariest moment of my life i feel like im going to go completely bald from the stress in the next hour or so

[gguk-n]

Chapter 2- First Encounters

Arranged For Love (Carlos Sainz Jr x Reader)

Series Masterlist

Summary- Maybe grandma knows best. Maybe Y/N and Carlos should start listening to Y/N's grandma.

You could only imagine what had gone down in the Kastner household. You could hear Y/N screaming. She wasn't happy and she was about to make it known. "Mum, this is crazy. I'm not marrying some crusty old dude" she shouted. "Sweetheart, he isn't some crusty old dude." her mother emphasised. "A little older than you sure but he is a handsome man" her mother reasoned. "No." she retorted, "Dad, I get why you can't say no to your mother but this is just atrocious. You are forcing your daughter like in the 1500s to marry a random man grandma chose" she whined looking at her father on the verge of tears. "Angel, it's nothing like that. Carlos is a nice man, he comes from a nice family. I literally grew up with his father. I'm sure if you met him you'll like him" her father reasoned. "Yeah, sure" she replied sarcastically running a hand through her hair. "I-You-ugh-" she sighed, "You guys met each other during your masters programme and then fell in love naturally, got married and had children. Why do I not get the chance to find some one? Go out on dates, have my heartbroken a few times before I find the one but you guys won't even let me be a stupid young adult in peace" she sighed, angry tears falling from her eyes. "Oh, no sweetheart, please don't cry." her mother tried to console her. "Please, leave. I don't want to talk to you guys right now" she stated pushing them out and closing the door. Her parents sighed, "She'll come around" her father cajoled her mother.

Carlos senior wasn't having very much luck with Carlos junior either. "Dad, I don't get it. I met this lady, who apparently left a lasting impact on you, good for you" junior emphasised, "like once. I'm not marrying her grand daughter." junior tried to reason. "Son, she is a good woman. I'm sure the grand daughter must be just as good and fun to be around as well." senior said. "I have a felling you two will get along well" senior spoke. "You don't know that. I don't want to marry someone just because" junior stated. "I think you should meet her. After that, we'll think about it" senior tried to coerce his son to join them for dinner. Junior was so annoyed with his parents and some how both his sisters for on their side. Carlos couldn't believe he was being forced into meeting a girl they wanted to marry him off to.

Carlos knew that there was no way to avoid the dinner since his father would personally drag him there if he didn't comply and he had no plans of finding his father's brute strength out. So, reluctantly Carlos got dressed and went with his family.

Y/N, on the other hand, hadn't left her room since the outburst she had a few hours ago. Her mother her tried to reason with her to get her to come out to no avail. It was only after her grandmother came to talk to her, "Sweetheart, it's me" her grandma knocked her door. "I know you're angry at me. Stay angry but do meet him once" she said. "I don't want to" Y/N shouted. "Give it a try. This old woman has seen a few things in her time" she chided. "I'll embarrass you if you force me" Y/N retorted. "Go ahead. I don't mind" her grandma spoke. "Just remember, I'll be gone in sometime and you'll remember what I said" her grandma sighed. The door clicked open, "Why would you say that?" Y/N asked in tears. "Honey, because it is true and I just want what's best for you" she explained. "I want you around forever, that's best for me" Y/N spoke barely above a whisper. "I'll try to fight off the grim reaper" Anika laughed. "Now, will you get dressed, they'll be here soon" her grandma asked. And that's how Y/N got dressed and joined them for dinner.

The Sainz had already arrived and were talking to the Kastner's when Y/N entered the living room. The place felt slightly cramped with the number of guests who were sat in that room but extremely homely. Y/N scanned the room, her eyes darting from one face to another until they rested on a dashing young man. He looked like a model, it couldn't be the guy her family was trying to set her up with, could it? she thought. Her grandmother beckoned Y/N towards her and introduced everyone to Y/N. "It's nice to meet you" she said with a tight lipped smile. Yes that man was handsome but she wasn't giving them the satisfaction by caving in within seconds of seeing him.

As she moved down the line, greeting everyone, she couldn't wait to be introduced to Carlos. "That's Carlos junior, he's a Formula One driver" her grandmother mentioned as Y/N shook his hand. "It's so nice to meet you too" Carlos said, his accent thick. Y/N felt a shudder run down her spine as Carlos spoke. "That's my lovely grand daughter, Y/N, I've told you so much about" her grandmother said. Y/N turned to see her grandma gleaming with joy. Oh, she was a sucker for Spaniards, this wasn't good; she couldn't let them have their way, she thought. When she had returned to her grandmother's side, "He's the guy I'm hoping you'll marry" she whispered in Y/N's ear.

Carlos wasn't sure what he was expecting but he was not expecting to have his breath be taken away. When Y/N entered the room, visible annoyance on her face, Carlos found his lips twitching. He didn't believe in love at first site but he might've just experienced it. Her hands were soft and warm, he felt a spark as they met to greet each other, he only hoped she felt the same. Carlos was a goner and he wasn't sure what he was supposed to say to his dad or this Y/N girl.

After a little while of chatting and stolen glances on both Y/N and Carlos's part; they couldn't let the other know they were interested, it would be a told you so moment for their parents and they had no interest in inflating their ego. The families moved outside which had been turned into a makeshift dining room to accommodate everyone. Y/N and Carlos were pushed together to be sat next to each other in hopes that they would start making small talk.

Y/N was slightly intimidated by him if she was being honest, the more she looked at him, the more heart beat faster. He looked like he was carved by God, he was pretty and handsome to look at. His hair was tousled so perfectly, and his eye lashes brushed his cheeks as he blinked, his lips were so soft and plump, she wondered what they felt like.

Carlos wasn't any better. His eyes scanned her face, the way her nose scrunched when her family said something or the way her hair flowed as she tried to tie it back or the way her jewellery reflected against the soft light of the candles. He was mesmerised, her laugh was so full of life, it made him smile. She was so full of life, always keeping the conversation going with everyone but him. He thought, did she dislike the idea that much that she had barely spoken to him the whole night, choosing to address anyone but him as everyone had dinner. Maybe he was hurt, a little, he wouldn't lie.

After dinner, Anika noticed how the two of them had barely interacted or spoken to each other, much to her dismay. So, she took matters into her own hands; "Why don't the two of you walk around for a bit? Maybe Y/N can show you the house. You both will get bored with all the adult talk" she tried to shush them away. "But our siblings are still here" Y/N tried to reason. "They are going to watch a movie or something. You should show Carlos around" her grandmother insisted and pushed the pair away.

Y/N and Carlos walked away, "Hi" she said meekly. "Hi" Carlos replied. The backyard was darker now, only lit by the moon light. "So, you race" Y/N trailed off. "Yeah, Formula One. Do you watch?" he asked. "Honestly, no. Heard about it today" she replied sheepishly. "Never been a huge sports girl" she tried to ease the situation. "My siblings watch I guess" she tried to lighten the mood. "Yeah, they told me. They're big fans it seems." Carlos spoke. "Maybe you guys could come to a race, when it's possible" Carlos suggested. "I'm sure they'll love that" she smiled. Carlos felt his heart beat faster. "Won't you be joining them?" Carlos asked hopefull. "I don't get the sport" she stopped when Carlos's mood seem to dampen, "but if you'll explain it to me, maybe I'll enjoy it" she chuckled nervously. God, this habit of nervous laughter was gonna end her, she thought. Carlos seemed to cheer up after that. They walked around for a bit. Y/N even showed him the house.

"Have you ever visited Madrid?" Carlos asked towards the end of their tour. "No, always wanted to though" she replied. "Then you should, you have a tour guide ready" he said pointing at himself. "I don't want to bother you" she smiled. "I don't think it would be much of a bother really." Carlos smiled back. "Maybe we could exchange number, incase I come to Madrid" she said shyly. "Sure" Carlos said quickly exchanging their phones.

"When should we plan the wedding?" Anika asked the two couples. "Let the kids decide" Ivan spoke. "I would but I think Y/N won't marry him out of spite" Anika laughed. "Would she?" Rose thought out. "I think a winter or spring wedding would be wonderful, nothing fancy." Anika stated. "I'll have to discuss that with Carlos" Carlos senior said. "Sure sure, take your time" Anika said.

In Anika's eyes the dinner felt like a success. The two of them were talking cordially. "I think this was a success" she told Ivan and Carlos senior. The two men looked at each other than Anika, "We agree" they said looking at Carlos and Y/N talking as they returned back to the living room. "How did you find the place Carlos?" Anika asked. "It's nice" Carlos replied. "I'm happy you had fun" Anika said patting his back. "Come back whenever you want. You're always welcome" she insisted.

Everyone hugged each other good bye. Anika had gotten teary eyes as she bid everyone good bye. "I don't know when I'll ever get to you all again" she spoke slowly. "Don't say that. You'll live long" Carlos senior spoke hugging her. "It was nice meeting you" Carlos whispered in Y/N's ear. "yeah. come back sometime" Y/N said. "Do keep in touch" Carlos said. "I will." Y/N spoke.

Y/N felt giddy as she got changed. She hadn't felt this way, whenever she hung out with any guy. He had a great personality with his breath-taking looks. She found herself hovering over his number a few time over the next couple days.

While back at his races, Carlos found himself thinking about Y/N. It was weird for him to be this preoccupied with anything like this other than racing. He hoped she would text him some time since he was too scared to do it himself.

Taglist- @herexpertcollector @redrevvedup @chaostudee @larastark3107 @jovialpainterunknown @vip-access @sugarvibez @champomiel @inarabee @virazeeee @seonghwaexile @champ15ns @ajthefujoshi @musicheaux @npcmia @marvel-ous-miss-maisie @mochipatch @gleeblegnarp @formula1-motogpfan @taliya8346282844eliviahdgdajs @dying-inside-but-its-classy

[megamindsecretlair]

I'll Be Seeing You

Pairing: Jack Reacher x Black!Fem!reader/plus size reader

Warnings: 18+ only. MINORS DNI. You are in charge of your own reading experience. PIV, Cursing, SMUT, ANGST, fingering (fem receiving), nipple play, Sorry if I missed others. No spoilers for the show.

Summary: When Reacher reached your town, he was lucky enough to meet you the first day. You made him feel things he’d never felt before. And though there was the sad tug of goodbye in every interaction, he couldn’t help but stay one more night.

AO3 Link

Word count: 2,253k

A/N: Ask and ye shall receive, @kiwi-jelly-mochi! LOL. I rewatched Reacher tonight. Need that man badly! This is what my brain considers a drabble. Enjoy! Toss a coin to your blogger by leaving a comment, reblog, or unhinged ask.

Reacher had a lot of adjusting to do when it came to you. He was a man that prided himself on being as free as possible, never sticking anywhere for too long. He didn’t stay in the same place twice. There was too much world to see and his boots were made for walking. 

However, when he blew through your hometown, he saw you sitting outside of a local coffee cafe, nose deep in a book and sipping on hot coffee. A glance was all it took for him to know that he had to meet you. Talk to you. 

It took some convincing. You kept saying you didn’t usually go for “white guys”. Like you were trying to convince yourself not to say yes to him. That only made him try harder. Stick around the town longer than usual, actually finding the place relaxing for once. 

No matter where he went, trouble always seemed to follow. Not here. Not with you. It was like you cast some type of spell over the town, warding it from any evil intent swinging through. If he believed in such things, he’d firmly believe you cast a spell on him. 

It could explain how his chest grew tight whenever you looked at him. Or when you smiled at something small like when flower petals landed on your hand or when you heard children laughing. You were so sweet all the time. So full of love and optimism besides all the horrors in the world. 

He strangely found that he didn’t mind it. He wanted to soak up more of it. Be around it. Around you. Interested in the way you make him feel. Stirring up feelings he wasn’t sure how to interpret. 

His favorite thing so far was when you called him your robot. He knew he wasn’t the most expressive, the most welcoming. He’d been called everything under the sun by men twice your height and weight, upset that someone treated them like an adult for once. 

He would be lying if he didn’t like your attempts to make him smile naturally. Doing funny impressions, making funny faces at him, bumping your shoulder with his. He played along, doubling down on being a robot but that was okay.

He liked that you were the beauty to his brute. You made him feel like Fred Flinstone whenever you blinked those cute eyes at him. You let him turn his brain off, live in the moment. 

Speaking of, you were sitting on your couch, drinking your favorite drink and listening to old vinyl records your grandmother left you. You weren’t really into the music, but listening to it made you feel closer to her. Mourn the relationship you never had. Okay, so maybe he couldn’t always turn it off.

In his mind, details mattered. He wanted to bask in all of your details. The moles, the scars, the lines in the palm of your hand. You’ve lived and that made you the most interesting thing in the world to him.

Cool jazz music played, Billie’s voice crooning, and you lightly bobbed your head, looking at him. He smiled at you, loving the soft way your eyes crinkled. You took another sip and tilted your head at him. “What you thinkin’ about Mr. Robot?” You asked. You reached out and tugged at the corner of his mouth.

“You,” he said, seeing no reason to be coy. 

“What about me?” You asked.

“How pretty you’d look in my lap,” he said. 

You giggled and shook your head. But you placed your drink down on the coffee table and scooted closer. “You’re gonna make it hard when you finally say goodbye,” you said, your voice wobbling. You kept on a brave face, smiling despite it all.

He told you that he wasn’t the sticking around type. The more he stayed here, the more he gained familiar haunts with you day by day, he wasn’t so sure that was true anymore. Wanderlust was his first love. Needing to roam thanks to his military background. Never putting down roots. Never staying in any one place long enough to make connections. Just a mean right hook and an itch whenever he saw injustice. 

Yet, whenever he thought of leaving, his chest would seize and he’d have to sit there and breathe through the panic. He knew he was in too deep already, but he needed one more night. One more day to wrap himself inside you and pretend to live there. Pretend to claim you. Pretend that you’ll always remember him when you’ve found the love of your life and forgot all about him. 

Just one more. That was all he needed. Then he’d be strong enough. Then he’d be the only one strong enough to leave you.

For now, he pulled you by the hand to come sit in his lap. You giggled, scrambling across the lush blue cushions to climb into his lap. He also loved it when you got excited. The way you lived out loud, expressed emotions clearly and vividly. So much so, even a brute like him could pick up on it. Become infected by it. Feel it latch onto his bloodstream and never let up. 

He pushed your black flowered dress up your thighs as you settled into his lap. He grabbed two big handfuls of your ass, squeezing it hard just like you needed it. You growled, rolling against his crotch like a needy slut. 

You weren’t wearing panties and he chuckled as he gripped your ass, giving it a light smack. “No panties this time?” He asked. 

“They just get in the way. Someone has a penchant for ripping them,” you said, pointedly looking at him. You leaned down, pressing your lips to his. He hummed, licked his lips, and leaned in for another kiss. You indulged him, bringing your hands to cup his strong square jaw and scratch at his stubble. 

“You’re right, they’re in the way,” he said, grinning naturally, just for you. Your eyes lit up and you squirmed in his lap.

His dick was throbbing with your movements. With the subtle friction from your breasts pushed into his chest. He squeezed your ass again, giving it another smack. He began to kiss your neck, licking the pulse in your neck and causing you to purr. You melted in his hands, falling against him as he moved further down.

He used his teeth to pull down the cups of your dress, freeing your breasts and humming in satisfaction. Fuck, he loved your breasts. Loved how they were the perfect shape and size. He leaned down, needing to feel your soft flesh in his mouth.

He latched onto a nipple, sucking hard. You squealed, hitting his shoulder. He chuckled, sucking harder. He tortured the little nub, feeling it peak beneath his tongue. 

“Oh, fuck, Reacher, I could write entire books about this mouth,” you moaned, throwing your head back. You poked your chest out, giving him full and complete access. Just as he liked. 

“Please do, I’d love to read it,” he whispered against your titty. You chuckled, bouncing in his lap and rubbing against his dick. He felt lightning strikes straight to his balls, getting heavier with a thick load just for you. 

He let go of your titty with a wet pop, leaning back far enough to admire his handy work. Satisfied, he moved on to the other, suckling it and moaning as you rubbed in just the right place. Just enough for him to buck his hips. 

“I need you, Reacher,” you whispered into his hair, kissing his head. 

“I got you,” he said. For now. For this moment. For this brief interlude in between towns when he discovered all there was and planned to move on to the next. The next people. He wouldn’t find another you, however. 

He picked you up effortlessly, scooting you back on his thighs so that he could free himself. He groaned as his dick was released from his jeans, pressure finally eased. You leaned over to the end table, grabbing a discreet foil package.

He’d been here an entire week and he’d fucked you every single day. Never without a condom. He wished to feel you completely. To soak his dick with your slick. Your essence. The very heart of you. He wanted it. And that was exactly why he couldn’t. 

If you were an old blues record, you were one of the rare, more optimistic ones. The ones that hurt his heart and made him think at the same time. You sounded like forever in every ring around the record, the delicate scratch of the needle. You needed someone to handle you with care. With love. To play you every Sunday right as the sun went down, fresh glass of lemonade beside. To protect, to hold. 

And that was why he never forgot the condom. Neither did you. You handed it to him and he opened it, rolling it on, and he used his fingers to gauge how wet you were. 

Fuck, you were dripping. He groaned and went back to kissing your chest. Working his way up to your jaw, to the corners of your mouth, kissing you fully on the lips. Heat washed over him, a burning fire under his ass to get inside you as quickly as possible.

He played with your clit as he lined himself up, sinking you down on his dick. “Unf, fuck,” he moaned. You didn’t even grimace or cry out that time. A week was all it took for you to get acclimated to his size. 

“You’re killing me,” he said.

You giggled, pressing kisses into his face. He fucking loved it. Your hands went around his neck, starting to lift up and down onto his dick. 

Your breathing was shaky but you persisted, lifting all the way off of him and then sinking right back down. You groaned as he seemed to hit some kind of spot inside of you, rubbing his thick mushroom head along your inner walls.

“Shit, fuck me, Reacher. Fuck me, please,” you begged.

Reacher hooked his hands under your thighs and sped up, fucking you onto his dick with a little more speed. You cried, soaking his dick. He could feel it, but he couldn’t really feel it.

“Oh shit, right there. Right there, Reacher, right there,” you whimpered.

He listened. He kept the same pace, the same thrust, spearing you on his massive dick. “Let me hear you,” he said.

You cried harder, whimpered longer, moaned in a tinny voice that sent more lightning strikes to his dick. He seemed to swell just hearing how needy you were. Felt how wet you were for him. He pretended that it was only for him. That you would only ever get this wet for him. To bless him with this side of you. This unregulated, wholesome, completely authentic part of you. 

“Louder, louder,” he said, panting, thrusting up to meet you bouncing on his dick. You felt amazing. Perfect. So perfect.

Your cries got louder, moaning battling the music still crooning in the late afternoon. Your living room was small but it suited you. Everything about the space was warm and comforting. Even the couch. He sank pleasantly into it, firm enough to meet your sopping wet pussy.

Your titties bounced in his face. He watched your pert brown nipples dangling like sweet berries in front of his face. He resisted the urge to suck on them again, instead looking up at you.

Your mouth was open, tongue peeking out. Your eyes were low, spaced out, and the most beautiful sight of all. Better than any piece of artwork. Any genius masterpiece. Your nails dug into his shoulders. He barely felt it.

He wasn’t arrogant enough to not feel pain, but he was a big guy. He could take a punch and he could certainly take the way you gripped onto him for dear life. “Oh, Reacher, I’m gonna cum, I’m gonna cum,” you moaned, diving down for a kiss. 

“Let me feel it,” he said, looking into your eyes. 

You tightened your hold, gritted your teeth before your jaw went slack and you shook on his dick. He kept bouncing you, felt how your pussy tightened and pulsed on his dick. He moaned, wanting to keep looking at you but also wanting to let the sensation take over. 

Sensation won out as he dropped his head back against the couch cushion, smacking your ass as you moaned from your orgasm. He was close. Now that you came, he could take it a step further. Slide in deeper. Bounce you quicker. 

His balls tightened as he finally climaxed, hot sperm shooting into the condom. He moaned, grabbing onto your ass for an anchor point. He grunted as he finished, looking down at where you were connected.

Your skin was slick with sweat, chest heaving with breaths. He grinned at you, couldn’t help wanting to make you smile. He was going to hate himself when he had to make you sad.

“I think I’m gonna stay one more night,” he said, bringing you into a kiss. He licked your lips and you gasped and he slipped his tongue inside, needing to taste more. Do more. 

“Okay, but only one more,” you said, against his lips. You got an evil glint in your eye and he wondered if you weren’t up to something devious tonight. He couldn’t wait to find out.

There will be more! The Secret Jack Reacher Files

Taglist: @planetblaque @chaos-4baby @00aijia00 @amethyst09 @ciaqui

@we-outsiiiide @browngirldominion @iv0rysoap @thecookiebratz @harmshake

@judymfmoody @multiversefanfics @tvchi @kiwi-jelly-mochi

[adoresmiles]

His Concealed Obsession.

Chapter five

Tags : @violetmuses @deja-r @jacobscipioswoman @peaxhygirl @armandoaretasfc @unicorndelulu @liatreads @sunrisesfromthewest @onlyrealjoy @nobodygetsza @nelo0wesker @simpledopeme @slashervalley @aaronhotchnerlover @catha2003

The following morning  Noelani Storm was sitting across from her two youngest children . She had initially planned on meeting the both of them the previous night before but neither of the two were able to meet up with her . So here she was now , sitting in Kanani penthouse public lounge .

"Pono ʻolua e kamaʻilio me ko ʻolua makua kāne ."

"If he wanted to have a conversation with us , then he would be sitting here with us mom."

"Dad always send you when he knows his actions are in the wrong ."

"You are absolutely correct about that. He does and I spoke to him about his actions. Now it's up to him be an adult and have a conversation with the both of you. But know that his intentions are always pure and genuine."

"But the outcome is always the opposite."

Dad doesn't respect out our boundaries at all and if it continues then I'll gladly cut him off. Him and I will just simply coworkers."

"I agree , you don't even ask us about our personal life mom and let alone do you snoop around in our stuff. You would think it would be the complete opposite since Jaxon was the one to steal from him."

"Dad and Jaxon made amends with each other after that situation Nani."

"I could have told you that myself.. I personally feel like dad has trust issues and with the death of Nani neighborhood and then the shooting only has him on edge even more."

"I think he believes I have something to do with it."

"But you're not and I relayed that to him. When I went to get the camera footage , you weren't no in the video and mind you he saw the video as well. Even with the shooting, when it occurred you were caught in the midst of it. The shooter started shooting exactly at 4:45 pm he didn't make it to you until 5:15pm , he spun the block twice due to it be a gang rivalry going on and the shooter happened to see his guys ."

"Which I also checked them both about as well. I was on the one who dispatched the call to Keith and everyone else.  Rita and I saw the footage as well , I also checked Mike about assuming that the necklace around your neck is his son's."

"You didn't have to do that mom."

"No I did, nobody knows how that boy look besides him , ammo and your brother."

"Oh shit I didn't even realize you had a necklace on. It's cute on you , I like it. Where you get it from?"

"It was a gift but uncle Mike think the necklace belongs to his son."

"Far as I know Uncle Mike doesn't really have relationship with him. They're having a hard time building one. I only saw him a few times , a quick head nod and that's all."

"Well don't let them two fools get the best of you Nani. Same goes to you as well Keith, I know how protective you are when it comes down to your sister."

Noelani expressed as she begin playing with her son puppy. The puppy was roughly around five months old and everyone in the family was in a chokehold. She had also taken a liking to her human grandmother and aunt. Who both spoiled her with toys , treats and unconditional affection.

""That's my twin! She's the mini KP, just the female  version of me. What time are we doing this cookout today?"

"It's 11 now and I know your father and them are getting the meats and sides ready. So I'll say around four , that will give y'all enough time to get whatever you need done. ʻAʻole pololei kēlā koko ??"

"Ima have to drop her off at the sitters house."

"Why do you have someone watching my niece?"

"Because her mother is out of town. Plus you and mom are busy with work and getting the store ready for the grand opening."

"Now you know I love my grandchildren. Coco knows I love me some her and her little puppy breath."

"That's nasty mom."

"I swear you were a white women in your past life. That sounds like something a white person will say when they see a new puppy."

"KP isn't lying mommy , I don't ever want to hear that come from your mouth again. "

"It's like baby breath , but Keith why not just bring her to the cookout ? It's just our family , Marcus family , Mike and a few other people."

"Now when you say people you mean as the police department ?"

"Pretty much , the whole force practically raised you."

"I wasn't planning on staying long , just a couple of hours and then we're going to the  club."

"That sounds fun, I'm assuming it's you and your best friend of yours are the only ones going?"

"We invited Galena. Your peanut head son over here was suppose to join us but somebody got plans already."

"Aye the boys and I might slide thru for a bit."

"Don't be on any type of demon time and if you think about bringing Darius make sure he brings his wallet."

"Isn't he the one who likes you?"

"Darius does ask about you every other week."

"He's such a nice young man, you should give him a chance Nani. I can see you with him honestly."

"Darius is also a player and once you play me oh it's a wrap for you baby!"

"What about the secret admire you got going on? He got you flowers , that little necklace you got around your neck and he probably got you that dress too."

"He did and it's the right size too. I tried it on last night and it looks amazing on me too."

"Wait so not only does Darius like you , but you have admire out here buying you things?! The apple does not fall far from tree at all. Ua pololei kou kupunawahine nui."

"What was she right about?"

"You are just like your grandmother and I . We always had men chasing after us , even when we didn't want . They were always chasing after us."

"Let's not forget about me who is also son here , I have the females chasing after me consistently. But I got my eyes on my baby girl at the moment."

"You tell Deja that she better bring her ass to the opening next week. I’m tired of her missing out on the family functions.”

“I’ll let her know , she’s been looking forward to seeing you again. I really don’t want her to meet dad at the moment.”

“I understand completely but you can’t keep her from meeting him. She’s a lovely girl and I’m su-"

“He’s going to ask her a million of questions and I don’t want that for her. Dej meeting you and Nani was enough for me and respectfully I just want to keep it between us three. Everyone knows about us besides dad. He’s too judgy and I just can’t put her through that. I love her way too much .”

“You love her?! Awww KP you finally found someone to love. He’s growing up on us mom. I remember when you were running around in your little chain and diaper.”

“Kanani ya ass wasn’t even talking let alone even walking. So how would you even remember that?”

“Oh let’s not forget that grandma knows how to operate her phone now. All I have to do is ask for a specific video or picture and she will send it to me. Just don’t FaceTime though , she will sit there on the camera for an hour if you let her.”

“Now that is very true , she called me at three in the morning asking me what was I doing . So i asked granny why are you even up at that time anyway and she going to say that grandpa and her just got back from a party.”

“She called mom and i too on Group FaceTime. Saying how much she was having and how grandpa and her were going to be up all night long.”

“Now that’s nasty , they out here being grown and need to be stopped. They’re too old to be doing that.”

“Your father and i do it all the time.”

“Ew that’s nasty!”

“And that’s our cue to go , come on coco . Your grandmother is being real disgusting right now.”

“We have a whole baby here mom. In fact that’s a new boundary right there. Don’t ever mention your sex life us. I’m about to puke my breakfast up.”

Noelani shrugged her shoulder and continued to watch her children gag loudly. She wasn’t ashamed of admitting it to her kids that unlike them her sex life was very much still active and alive.

Translation

"Pono ʻolua e kamaʻilio me ko ʻolua makua kāne "  : You two need to have a conversation with your father .

"ʻAʻole pololei kēlā koko ?" Isn't that right coco?

"Ua pololei kou kupunawahine nui" : Your great grandmother was right.

[melzula]

Hi mel!! I hope you're doing well and as always love your work 💖💖 if requests are still open, I was thinking hopefully another iroh ii and kya's daughter piece? 🙈🙈 I would love for korra and the gang to meet iroh and his family somehow! ❤️

a/n: for you my dear i would be happy to write about iroh and kya’s daughter 🫶🏼

summary: the family comes together to celebrate Bumi’s birthday

~ based off of these hcs ~

“Tara, Azula, I better not find little fingerprints in your Great Uncle Bumi’s cake when I get over there,” Kya warns over her shoulder to the two little girls that peer over the table in awe at the perfectly decorated dessert before them. The frosted roses that line the edges are tempting, but the two girls know better than to disobey their grandmother’s words and instead opt to watch the woman prepare another batch of steamed dumplings.

“What are you two troublemakers up to?” A voice teases as strong arms wrap around their figures and hoist them into the air. Delighted squeals escape from their mouths as they meet the loving gaze of their father and are each gifted a kiss to the cheek.

“You better keep an eye on those ones, Iroh,” she jests before removing the cake and setting it away on a higher counter to sit undisturbed. “They’ve been eyeing that cake ever since y/n finished frosting it.”

“Now girls, we wouldn’t want to ruin your mother’s hard work, would we? I promise there will be time for cake later,” he assures the two before carrying them out into the yard where the festivities are taking place.

It’s Commander Bumi’s birthday today, and you and Iroh have graciously offered your home to host his celebration. Family and friends have been invited to partake in the festivities and enjoy the food you and Kya have spent hours preparing. It’s an intimate affair, but Bumi is grateful for each and every person that has come to celebrate.

After setting the girls down and allowing them the chance to run and play with their cousins, Iroh turns his attention towards you and your Uncles that sit admiring the newest addition to the family.

“I couldn’t be prouder to see how wonderful of a mother you are,” Tenzin compliments with a careful smile as he peers down at the babbling infant nestled in your arms.

“You did good, kiddo,” Bumi agrees with an affectionate ruffle to your hair. “He’s absolutely beautiful, a real Bumi if you ask me.”

You laugh softly at the way Tenzin rolls his eyes at his brother’s comment before looking down at your newest bundle of joy. Bumi the Third was born just a few months ago, and you and Iroh were thrilled to welcome your first son into the world. He was beautiful, with your eyes and Iroh’s nose, he was the perfect image of your love.

“General Iroh!” A voice calls, breaking the man from his thoughts and turning his attention to the group of guests that had just arrived.

“Avatar Korra!” He greets with a smile as he meets her and her friends halfway. “It’s so nice to see you all.”

“I hope we’re not terribly late,” Asami says apologetically with a remorseful smile.

“Someone had to stop and use the bathroom on the way here,” Mako retorts in annoyance while casting a judgmental glance towards his brother.

“It’s not my fault I didn’t have to go before we left!” Bolin defends adamantly only for Korra to shake her head and change the course of the conversation before they can embarrass themselves any further.

“Where’s Commander Bumi? We brought him a gift!”

“He was just here, but I think he went inside to check on the food,” Iroh explains before his eyes light up in excitement. Gesturing for the group of young adults to follow, the General leads Korra and her friends towards the guest area. “But there is someone I’d like you to meet.”

You sit alone now with baby Bumi, your Uncles respectively having wandered off to mingle with other guests and leaving you to your own devices. The child is as alert and happy as ever, letting out content coos as he grasps at the fabric of your dress. Noticing your husband approaching with the Avatar and her friends in tow, you’re quick to rise from your seat so you may greet the group.

“Y/n,” Korra greets with a respectful bow and a kind grin, “it’s nice to see you again.”

“It’s been so long since I’ve last seen you all, I’m so happy you’re here,” you agree with a pleasant smile. “It means the world to my Uncle that you all could make it.”

“I brought Korra and her friends over so they could meet the newest addition to our family,” Iroh explains to you with a grin before gesturing towards the newborn in your arms. “Korra, Asami, Mako, Bolin, I’d like you all to meet Bumi the Third.”

“He’s beautiful,” Asami gushes with a delighted smile as she extends a finger towards the baby and lets out a quiet laugh when he immediately latches on.

“You guys had another baby?!” Bolin exclaims in surprise only to earn a nudge to the side from his brother.

“We haven’t seen her in over a year, Bolin,” Mako reminds him before giving the two of you a polite smile. “Congratulations on the new family member.”

“Would you like to hold him?” You ask to an apprehensive Korra.

“Oh, I don’t know if I-“ she begins to protest, but she isn’t able to argue further as you wordlessly nestle your son into her arms. She looks panicked at first, but when he looks up at her with his wide eyes and gifts her a gummy smile, she realizes it isn’t so scary after all. “You’re a cute kid, aren’t you?”

“I call holding him next!” Bolin exclaims only to receive a harsh shush from the Avatar. You hide your laughter behind your hand before melting into Iroh’s side when he wraps a careful arm around your waist.

“Our children are lucky to be part of such a wonderful family,” you sigh wistfully as you watch the group fawn over the infant. It’s nice to know how loved your family is by all that know you and your husband, and you couldn’t be more grateful.

“I couldn’t agree more,” Iroh beams before pressing a kiss to the crown of your head.

How lucky you are to know such a wonderful group of people.

[armins-main-hoe]

Odd socks | Neteyam’s twin pt.2

There is now a full fic available, if you’re interested, link to the masterlist is here

Once again this is not proof read so I’m sorry :/ If you haven’t already you can read pt1 here. I’m planning to keep writing until Neteyam dies. 

 There was always the threat of sky people but you eventually had become convinced that they wouldn’t ever be too much of a big deal. You haven’t seen the worst of the fights your clan has with them but from what you have heard, no one has died from their attacks since you can remember.

Of course that all changed for you when you came home one day from hunting and couldn’t see any one from your family in sight. Your younger siblings have been told to always be back home before eclipse. It’s eclipse right now but they aren’t here. Your mother or father aren’t here as well.

You ask around and you’re told that your parents were patrolling with your twin brother but they should have been back by now. You start to worry and debate on whether you should go out and look for them.

You decided on waiting a little while longer in case they show up and the situation wasn’t as bad as you thought it was. Besides, if they don’t turn up anytime soon you’d rather take adults from the clan with you to help you look but that could only happen if they don’t come back for a while longer.

You decide to go to your grandmother while you wait. You loved spending time with your grandmother as you always annoyed her whenever you did visit her. Her reactions to your pestering amused you. “Hey grandma.” no answer. “Grandmaaaaa” Still no answer. “Grandm-” 

“Who let the screeching ikran in?” You hear her mutter as she made her way to you. “What is it? What do you want?” She was carrying a box with different types of what you suppose are medicine. 

“mom, dad and all my siblings have gone out, so I thought I would spend some time with my favourite grandma.” 

“As if you have multiple grandmas to pick a favourite from.” She walked past you and placed the box down before sitting down herself and patting the space beside her for you. You happily skip over and sit down next to her. She gave you a drink before getting one for herself. “Tsk, look at your hair, why don’t you braid it hm? Looks just like your father’s when he first came here.” 

“I’m not patient enough to sit still for that long. Mom has tried before.” You tell her before gulping the drink down.  You hear your grandma click her tongue again before drinking from her own cup. The two of you talked for a while more before you heard your mother calling for you. You said goodbye to your grandmother before leaving to find your mom. 

Soon as you made eye contact with your mother you knew something wasn’t right. She looked stressed and behind her you saw your dad gently pushing your siblings to their own tents and the looks on their faces told you something bad probably happened. 

“Where were you?” Your mom asked. 

“I was with grandma. What happened?” 

Neytiri sighed as some relief came over her knowing you were safe. She gave you hug and a kiss on your forehead before making her way over to your father. You were confused so you went over to Neteyam in his tent to find out what happened. 

“Neteyam?” You called out. With him you saw Lo’ak who sat with him. They both put on a small smile as you walked in. “What happened?” You asked again. 

The two brothers looked at each other before Neteyam began to tell you everything. 

“You’re both okay right? You didn’t get hurt or anything?” 

Neteyam shook his head. It was almost hard to believe that your younger sibling’s lives were held under a gun. A gun that belonged to a avatar no less. An avatar that belonged to the man that had nearly killed your father so many years ago. You hugged the both of them, glad that they both came back alive. Once again, you were no where to be seen when your siblings were in danger. You felt bad, you really did. 

You felt more guilty each time you looked at Neteyam, he was the one who had to help save your siblings while you were relaxing and laughing. You knew that it really wasn’t your fault but that didn’t stop you from feeling so guilty. The three of you heard voices of your mother and father from their tent, it seemed as if they were arguing. 

Walking over to your parents’ tent you saw Kiri and Tuk, Kiri waved you three over and all five of you eavesdropped on your parents’ argument.  

It was that day the five of you found out that your family would be moving away. To you it was all happening too fast. You would have never have thought back when you came back hunting today that the rest of your family were fighting for their lives and when they come back, you would be leaving the forest.  

That night, in your shared tent that you have with your sisters, you couldn’t sleep at all. Not while your mind kept running wild with thoughts of the events that happened earlier on that day. You nearly lost so many people who are so dear to you all at once. You could have been all alone for the rest of your life.  

Tuk had fallen asleep while hugging your arm, you looked over at her and pulled her closer. That night, you silently swore to yourself that no matter where your family end up going, you will take your role as the eldest sister much more seriously. 

You had to say bye to all your friends you had made and seeing them for what you know is the last time made you want to hide and not fly away with your family. Though you know that at the end of the day, you’d rather follow your parents, you will still miss your friends a lot. You had known them since you were a kid and now you won’t ever see them again. You don’t want that. The group hug you shared with your friends was bittersweet. 

 You and your family had only packed the bare minimum before you all had set off to fly away on your ikrans. The journey was long and tiresome. While flying you noticed how sad everyone looked, like there was this dark gloomy cloud hovering over all of you. In an attempt to cheer your siblings up you showed them a few tricks you learn’t to do on your ikran. Your brothers soon joined in and Kiri joined in soon after. Your dad turned around and told you guys off for messing around. So you all stopped and flied quietly for a bit before you ‘accidentally’ flew your ikran a little too far the the right, causing lo’ak to quickly move so you both don’t bump into each other. He looked at you while you shrugged and let out a ‘sorry’ with a smile. He caught on and the two of you began to try and bump into the other. Again, your dad told you off, this time more sternly so the two of you actually stopped but soon you reached the home of the metkayina clan.

The first thing you noticed when you got off your Ikran was how different the sea people looked. Their skin was a much lighter colour than yours, their tail and arms were also much thicker. Your dad went ahead and was slowly approaching the crowd that was still forming with open arms. You noticed Neteyam doing the same. You walked besides Kiri who seemed rather uncomfortable with the many stares you all were getting. 

Soon the Olo'eyktan appeared as well as the Tsahik. You watched and listened as your dad and mom talked with them both. The Tsahik walked over, observing your mothers tail and arm, commenting on how weak and thin they are. She then walked over to you and quickly grabbed your hands. She saw that your right hand had an extra finger and held that hand up for the entire clan to see. “These children aren’t even real Navi.” 

“yes, we are.” Kiri spoke from besides you. “They have demon blood in them!” The Tsahik ignored your sister. You tugged your hand out of her grip and looked at your dad. He stepped towards you and the Tsahik and showed both of his hands and how he had 4 fingers. 

“See here, I was born with the sky people and now I am Na’vi. You can adapt.” He spoke to not only her but the rest of the clan members too. 

It seemed as if they weren’t took keen on letting you guys stay. You began to wonder, where else would your family go if you can’t stay here. The journey here was long and you’re sure that everyone was tired and hungry. 

“My husband was Toruk Makto.” You heard your mom say but what followed after seemed to go by as a blur. You couldn’t help but noticed the many stares you and your sister were getting. Most of those looks going to your hands, arms and tail. You didn’t like it. You don’t want to be here. You just want to go back home. 

The sea people eventually let your family stay, you had been shown the place at which you will stay at. It was different, obviously but if felt different in an uncomfortable way. You didn’t say it but you really wanted to go back home. 

Your father then called for a family meeting, Neteyam pulled you and Lo’ak down down to sit on either side of him. Your father went on about how you should all be on your best behaviour and that you need to learn quick. You weren’t worried about falling behind or being the one to start fights but the people not actually accepting you. 

“I want to go home.” You look up and see Tuk sulking. So even your siblings felt the same. You watched your dad comfort Tuk by saying that his place is your new home. 

You look around your ‘new home’, yeah you don’t think you could ever  call this place home and mean it. You felt someone nudge you and you looked to your left.  It was your twin brother. “What?” You asked. 

“Go on, say it.” 

“Say what?” 

You heard your mother sigh so you look over at her. “Try not to daydream so much Y/N. We can not afford to slack.” She told you. 

“Come on, now this time say it like you mean it.” Your father spoke. 

“Sullys stick together.” 

Oh that. 

You and your siblings were being taught by Tsireya and Ao’nung, sometimes joined by Rotxo who was a friend of Ao’nung. You didn’t mind Rotxo, he was nice to you and your siblings. Tsireya was sweet as well and neither you or Neteyam failed to notice how her and Lo’ak seemed to have something for each other. Ao’nung on the other hand, you know you shouldn’t judge someone so quickly but it was something about his smile that made you keep your guard up around him. Sure, he was teaching you but there would be times where he would give you this menacing smile when Tsireya was not looking. 

Both you and Neteyam shared a look when you first caught him giving you that smile. 

After a few days though, you and your siblings had learn’t quite a lot. To start, you could now hold your breath for much longer with this new breathing technique that Tsireya had taught you. You could also ride an ilu though it look a few tries to get it right. Neteyam laughing at you failing off of your ilu didn’t help but you got back at him when he fell off too.  Ao’nung was teaching the two of you, he was teaching you first while Neteyam watched. 

“Which one of you is the eldest?” He asked you both while you were getting on the ilu. You looked at Neteyam, you both are of the same age and you don’t know who came out first and never really bothered asking.

“We’re both of the same age.” You told Ao’nung. 

“You both can’t be of the exact same age though, one of you obviously must be older.” He spoke while looking down at you. 

“We’re twins.” Neteyam told him. “We were birthed at the same time.” 

Ao’nung looked a bit shocked while looking back and forth from the two of you. “Ah, I see it now. You both do look awfully similar. Just one happens to be uglier.” 

“Hey-” 

Before you could speak, your ilu jerked forward and got scared of something, throwing you off in the process. When you surfaced, you could hear Ao’nung laughing. Now he just makes your blood boil. You walked the ilu back and watched neteyam get on his. 

“You did that on purpose.” You blamed Ao’nung. “You did something to the ilu.” 

He just shrugged and and started to tell your brother what to do. You glared holes into his back and then you caught Neteyam’s eye, he shook his head at you, silently telling you to let it go. You let out a frustrated sigh and looked away at your younger siblings. 

Apart from Ao’nung, you suppose living by the sea wasn’t too bad. You liked swimming, though some of the creatures living in there scared you a little. You naturally were very curious of the sea when you first saw it all. You would go down to the coral and see all the different brightly coloured fishes. At first you didn’t mind the fishes, you thought they looked cute but there was this one particular fish that caught your eye. You swan closer to it to see it from a closer view. You then went to touch it. You couldn’t see Ao’nung watching you from a distance, he knew what would happen if you touched that particular fish but he decided on letting you find out yourself. 

As soon as you touched the fish slightly, the first immediately turned around, locked eyes with you and began to attack you. It nipped at your skin and you tried to shoo it away but it didn’t give up so you tried swimming away but the fish seemed to be a better swimmer than you. Ao’nung couldn’t hold back his laughter anymore so he swam up to the surface so he could let it out while Tsreiya and Lo’ak helped you shoo the fish away. 

You later learned while getting your fish bites treated that the fish you touched were not particularly friendly to Na’vi and attacked if you touch them first. If you were to touch them, they would memorise your face and attack you again if they ever see you again. You were peeved at Ao’nung since he kept chuckling to himself whenever he saw the fish bite still healing on your skin. 

Your anger towards Ao’nung only grew when you and Neteyam found him picking on Kiri. Lo’ak was already there by the time you both were close enough. Neteyam went up to Ao’nung, telling him to leave Kiri alone. You went and stood by Kiri, making sure they hadn’t physically hurt her. 

“Back off, now.” 

As you all walked away you threw a middle finger at Aonung and his friends, though they definitely don’t know what it means. You heard them mumbling words to each other, something about how your whole family were freaks. You tried to ignore them but Lo’ak couldn’t. You, Kiri and Neteyam watched as he walked back and began to talk to Aonung again. He caught Ao’nung off guard with a punch and soon it turned into a real fight. You looked at Neteyam and he smiled at you before joining the fight. 

You watched your two brothers fight, they were outnumbered but were still able to hold their own. Kiri let out a small laugh and you had to jold yours in while going in to break them apart before someone gets seriously injured. 

Well thats what what you intended to do, before one of Ao’nung’s friends accidentally hit you. You let out a groan of pain before glaring at the boy who hit you. All the boys stopped fighting and watched you. The boy who hit you mumbled out an apology, not actually meaning to hit you but then went on to say how it was your fault getting in his way in the first place. 

Before he could finish his speech you cut him off with a punch. Then your brothers continued fighting and you ended up joining the fight. 

The three of you ended up getting an earful from Jake. He told both your brothers off first before moving on to you. “Y/N, I get why these two knuckleheads would create a fuss but you?” You looked up at your dad and saw how displeased he looked. A sheepish grin appeared on your face as your shrugged. “Um.. sullys stick together?” You dad sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose while closing his eyes. 

 He told Lo’ak to go and make peace with Ao’nung. You felt as if it wasn’t fair, what your dad was saying but as you and Neteyam were on your way out, your dad stopped you both. 

“What do the others look like?” He asked. 

“Worse,” Neteyam answered and then pointing at you. “Especially the one she beat up.” You looked at him offended, he was trying to shift the blame onto you. 

“Good.” You heard your dad say before you could speak. You slowly smiled at him. 

“Wait, actually the one I beat looks even worse-”

“Get out of here, both of you.” Your dad shooed you both away. While you both walked away, you looked at Neteyam.

 “what did you say? ‘Especially the one she beat up’? You were trying to make me look worse.” You mocked him, making your voice go lower when recalling his words. He playfully told you to shut up while you laughed. 

Read pt.3 here

@luvlykrispy @minkyungseokie

[vdragon-creations]

Meet Kenai The Cheetah (2003 Version)

Heyo all!

I figured it was about time I formally introduced Sasha's older brother! I keep mentioning him in Sasha's lines for my fics, so what do you say we put a face to the name!

A little of his info his already written out on his sheet here, but just in case, I wanna run down a few facts about him with you folks!

Unlike Sasha's Kenai isn't in his teens, in fact, he's 26. Making him about 11 or 12 when he, Sasha, and their Grandmother where mutated.

Like Sasha, he had mystical abilities too. He can cast spells, make portals, and can control two elements of his own. Fire & water.

The one thing he can do that Sasha and His Grandmother can't is that he can see dreams. Sometimes this is on purpose, but most of the time he has no control over it. But he can only see the dreams of those he's close to.

Like Leo, Kenai is a sword boy! He's skilled with the Twin Gurades, but has trained with many swords.

Sasha describes Kenai to Leo as a mix of himself, Raph, and Mikey. Kenai is mostly an upbeat and easygoing guy. He's firm in his training and with his friends while helping them train, but he's always in the mood to have a good time. However, when he's serious, it's truly unnerving. When he's like this, he has the chance of snapping at whoever he's around. Thankfully, this isn't at all common.

He's a major show off, be it his musical talent, fighting skill, Dancing feats, or even showing off how awesome his friends or sister are! The man feeds of the awe of others, and loves to entertain when he can.

Kenai is highly skilled in magic, being a pretty high raking Magic Keeper. Which is pretty uncommon for someone of his age with no "Proper Training".

There's only one day a year that Kenai goes completely quiet and tried to fall off the grid, and it the anniversary of the death of his first and only lover.

He was the first to teach himself how to completely hide his "Savage Strength". He called it "Savage Taming", and has passed it down to his friends, hoping to keep them from making the same mistakes he made years ago.

He hasn't seen Sasha in years, but keep regular contact with her and his grandmother through letters they send back and forth via magic.

When it comes to his duties as a Magic Keeper, Kenai sorta does them reluctantly. Like Sasha, he resents the culture of the job and how it fucked up their lives. But unlike Sasha, he's accepted this as part of him now.

He's not related to Sasha or his grandmother by blood, he was found as a fresh adult cheetah by his Grandmother and her Coalition after he had been abandoned by his original Coalition.

He's very tall and big compared to the turtles and Sasha, proudly standing at a massive 6 feet tall.

Kenai didn't like the situation he or Sasha where put into after they were mutated, but he knew they couldn't really fight it. So, for years, before leaving to go out on his final training mission, he did his best to try and teach Sasha how to accept herself and be more confident.

He unfortunately had to leave behind and went out on his journey, where he would be training all by himself for 10 years in many different countries. While on said journey, he actually met other mutants like himself. they were lost and looked for guidance on who and what they were. Kenai taught them how to fight, and even a few mystical incantations. the Magic Elders tied to call them his disciples, as it was common practice for high raking Magic Keepers to eventually gain these fallowers and use them. But Kenai refused to see them like that! They were his friends, and they would always be that.

Eventually, after Sasha was forced to come back to Africa to complete her Magic Keeper training, Kenai made the case for himself to be her teacher. He really didn't want their grandmother trying to teach her as it clearly didn't go well originally. And maybe him and his friend could help her train much faster! Mostly so she could hurry up and get back to New York! (And be with that cute Turtle she seemed to gush over in her letters to him.)

That's really all I have for now, I'll talk more about his other versions later on, but for now, I hope you like him!

[chronicangel]

I actually think it would be really funny if Gotham had a reputation for being like, a really cool and fun place that you want to go.

Like I know the running gag in fandom (and a little bit in comics, too) is that Gotham is a cesspit, famed for its insane vigilantes and impossibly high rates of violent crime, but when I think about real-life cities with very high crime rates and sort of a smoggy aesthetic, they are often places that people want to go.

Like, New Orleans is in the top ten cities in the world for homicide rates according to the data from 2022 (all the other 10 are in Mexico, and I can't speak as much to them because I've never been, but I at least recognize Tijuana, which is #5, as a place other people seem to refer to as a tourist destination for Americans), and yet there is a very real and very large crowd of people fully devoted to going there every year for Mardi Gras. I know multiple people who fantasize about living in the French Quarter, and when my grandparents took me there once as a teenager, I remember driving around with my grandmother to look at all the old, pretty buildings.

People famously think of New York City as a dangerous city with high crime rates (although the last few years have really reflected those crime rates going down), and yet it is also one top 10 of the most popular cities in not only the US but the world for tourism. My Dad lived in upstate New York from 2021 until this year, and just moved to North Jersey (significantly closer to the city), and for a while, he would rent a hotel in Times Square for a weekend every time I visited. If a band or artist is touring the US, it would practically be a crime to skip NYC, and there are the huge drawing forces of tourist destinations like the Statue of Liberty and Broadway. In fact, I lived halfway across the country from NYC and I still knew people who went on high school field trips there with their theatre programs.

I grew up in a college town in Southwest Missouri, and for most of my young adult life, I must have gone to St. Louis at least a half-dozen times a year. We went on a field trip to Six Flags when I was in 8th grade. I took a mini-vacation there in July 2023 where I paid for an Airbnb for a week and went to the zoo three or four days in a row so I could really take my time with it. I went on a day-trip in May of this year with a friend from work where we walked around the city to the tune of 19,000 steps. And all of that despite the fact that I spent my entire life hearing about the gang violence permeating the city, and the fact that St. Louis was ranked as the most dangerous city in the United States for several years in my lifetime.

I just moved to Philadelphia, which is in the top 50 cities in the world for homicide rates (see the link on New Orleans), because I've been coming here since I was a teenager and it's always been a home away from home to me. And when I went on my first walk around the neighborhood after moving here, I proudly bragged to my friends about how I had only been catcalled five times, two of which were by the same dude (some guy on my block who yelled at me at the beginning and the end of my walk) and one of which was by a child, so statistically that was a pretty good walk.

My point with all of this is that there are lots of very dangerous places in the world that people still idolize and want to go to. Within the lore of DC Comics, Gotham is a city that was first established in the early 17th century, with beautiful Gothic architecture and the Delaware Bay framing its edges. It would also be the largest city in New Jersey by a long shot, and I can imagine that with the real-world affectionate rivalry between New York and Jersey, citizens of the state would loudly defend Gotham as the superior city to NYC, cesspit or no (the same way that Missourians will hold Kansas City over Kansas' head until the end of time, or until they give back what's rightfully ours).

I imagine people from all sorts of places and all walks of life would go on two-week trips to Gotham during summer vacation to see whatever iconic landmarks stuck out to them, or maybe even to try to catch a glimpse of Batman and the other famous vigilantes-- I think if I heard that there was a vigilante in one of the big cities only a few hours away from my hometown, I probably would have been drawn to it like a magnet the second I was old enough to decide where to spend my breaks.

Also, just looking at it realistically, most of Gotham's crime happens at night and in very specific parts of the city-- which is also true of big cities in the real world. So it's extremely likely that a tourist could spend weeks or even months in Gotham and still never be directly subject to the sort of crime that Batman and Robin and whoever else might be there at the time are dealing with. I can easily imagine plenty of folks from Metropolis deciding to take a day trip to Gotham, which is just across the bay and would logically only take a couple hours tops to get to (assuming there's an operational ferry, and why wouldn't there be?), walking around the city looking at gargoyles and trying famous restaurants, and then packing on up and going back to Metropolis to say, "Yeah, people talk a big talk, but I've been to Gotham and it really isn't that scary."

You know, the way we all do with real cities.

[machatheo]

so i run to you

pairing: enhypen jake x reader

genre: some angst, childhood friends to lovers, fluff

words: ~4k

warnings: mentions of death, sunghoon cameo

summary: a sudden death in your family brings your childhood friend back in the town, and now, you think, there’s a little more hope for you, if only because you now have something to think about other than what you lost.

a/n: hello hello, it’s been awhile :’) the story you’re about to read contains some of my own personal feelings since my own grandmother just passed a few months ago. i think it’s my coping mechanism to write something for it. enjoy and thank you for reading! :)

the sun is already setting, making some of the sun rays peak out from behind the trees and blind your eyes. it’s getting pretty late and not to mention chilly. summer is coming to an end.

a single tear rolls down your cheek.

with a heavy heart, you push yourself to stand up, turning around from the view your eyes found calmness at for the past few hours.

climbing down the hill turned out to be pretty challenging. you’d run down it when you were a child, basking in the softness of the grass that your feet would lay upon, laughing and giggling if by one, you’d slip and tumble down. now, you’re scared of that, your steps careful as you make your way down.

the forest is what you’re met with next, another happy memory for you as a kid yet quite mysterious as an adult. as you find the path you came here from, your head is filled with memories. there’s laughter everywhere and squeals all over the place and you wish for anything just so you could bring it back. those happy days went by so quickly. there was always another make-believe adventure waiting for you just around the corner, yet now all that’s it’s become is just fairytales.

you finally reach the end and come out on the village road. it’s got cracks, hence, been fixed once and never renovated since. but you don’t mind it, it only stands as a reminder that nothing lasts forever. only then do you see a familiar hunch of disheveled hair, sporting a tall figure, one that you recognize as your friend.

gathering what’s left of your strength, you jump over the last obstacle of weeds blocking your way and go into your friend’s view, waving your hand to catch his attention, “sunghoon!!”

the said one turns around and a smile paints his features, “where have you been? i have been looking all around for you” he runs up to you, hands flying to fix his hair.

sunghoon stands tall in front of you, catching up to his breath, “sorry,” you say, “i went to watch the sunset on the hill,” you point behind you, not caring to go too much into detail, already knowing sunghoon will know which one you have in mind.

the man nods in comprehension, “well then let me walk you home, it’s getting cold”

you nod and let him walk side by side. it’s silent yet calming. you hear some birds chirp and the wind pick up, sending chills down your bare arms. you cross your arms, hoping for some warmth.

“how are you doing?” sunghoon asks, his voice barely a whisper. it’s not much but you already know the hidden implications behind that question. it makes your lips quiver as you search for an answer. that’s true, how are you doing..?

you slow down your steps and soon stop, making the older stop as well. sunghoon turns around and looks at you, his face already indicating sympathy.

your eyes water and it doesn’t take sunghoon a second to engulf you in a hug, “it will be okay,” he mumbles into your hair, a hand softly rubbing your back.

involuntary sobs escape your throat and get muffled in sunghoon’s chest. you cry until there’s nothing but that heavy feeling in your chest again.

-

the news of your grandmother’s death rocked the whole town. the worst news anyone could’ve heard that day. maybe because it was too sudden. too quick. too unexpected. that one small bubble of happiness and joy suddenly gone, evaporated into the thin air.

nothing could’ve prepared you for the day your mother knocked on your bedroom door, for the way you felt when you saw her puffy eyes and shaking hands holding a phone, where you heard your dads voice calling from the hospital, telling you that she was gone.

you didn’t sleep that night at all. sitting on the windowsill, you stared at the hill you and your grandmother would always go to play and watch the sunsets. all you felt was coldness, the moon only illuminating the small part of the hill and the big oak tree that stood tall and proud on top of it, the one your grandmother planted along her mother when she was only a child.

your town was small and you’ve spent most of your childhood here. that’s why after finding out the news, the world felt like it shattered.

you only ever left the city to spend your summers here, enjoying the presence of your grandmother and helping her around the house. you knew the neighborhood well and nothing was more exciting than going around and asking how everyone is doing, meeting up with your childhood friends and camping somewhere in the forest. your grandmother’s death meant that not only will you come here less or maybe not even again, it meant that all of your happy memories will never repeat again. and that’s what was the most crushing.

the plans for the funeral were slow. you refused to participate in the process, the mere mention of your grandmother easily bringing you to tears. but long and behold, the day finally came.

not being able to sit in the room where the air felt like it’s been compressed, you leave to get some fresh air. your cheeks feel stiff from the tears that have already dried up. you go a bit further and sit on the bench that looks over a lake.

someone walks behind you but you are too tired to look up until they sit down and you feel warmness. looking up, you turn your head to the side and can’t hold in the gasp that escapes your throat.

it’s jake. your dearest childhood friend. the one you’d swear to clean the whole house for just so your grandmother would let you out to play at ungodly hours of the day.

your first ever friend and the only one you’ve felt like the best version of yourself when you were with him. the boy who would climb over your fence for both of you to lay on the grass and look at the stars. the boy who swore to defeat all the forest monsters and protect you from evil. the boy who looked the upmost jealous when you adopted the neighboring kid sunghoon into your small friend circle.

the boy who now looks nothing like the last time you remember.

“hi,” one word it takes for him to say and all the memories start flooding in. god, you’ve missed his voice so much.

jake was born in this town but left for the city once he turned sixteen. as far as you’ve heard, the boy grew up to be a star basketball player. you’d still keep in touch even when he left but once life kept barging at both of you, you lost him. four years had passed and not once did you not think of how he was doing. and now here he was. not a boy anymore though, a full grown man, sitting right next to you.

still in shock, you keep staring at him, not fully understanding if he’s actually here.

“missed me?” he jokes and you melt at his failed attempt of cracking a joke. you rush to hug him and your hands tremble as you pull him closer.

“jake, oh my god, what are you doing here?” you utter, still in complete disbelief.

jake hugs you back, “sunghoon told me about what happened, i had to…”

your heart clenches at his words. for a moment, you forgot. his hugs still feel warm, as if that never changed about him.

“you should’ve came back sooner,” you sniffle, trying your best from stopping the tears. but here you are again, crying, yet this time unbeknownst to what.

“i know. i’m sorry,” jake sighs into your hair, fingers tracing comforting circles into your back, “i truly wanted to but i couldn’t. i promise you i will explain everything, okay? just a bit later”

you nod, too afraid your voice will crack if you spoke. yet you try anyways, “i missed you…”

“me too. so much.” jake pulls you in closer if that’s even possible anymore.

you sit like that for a few minutes until you feel like it’s time to go back. as you make your way to see your grandmother one last time and say goodbye, jake holds your hand, his hold now seeping warmth into your own, comforting you in a way you’ve forgotten how.

-

jake had to leave once the funeral ended but he promised he will come back. and he did a couple of weeks later, awkwardly standing in front of your house, hands neatly stuffed in his jeans pockets as he looks around. sunghoon stands next to him, seemingly having more of his attention on the phone in his hand rather than his friend.

you walk out soon later, a bright smile plastered on your face as you come towards jake face to face. he opens up his arms and you engulf him in a hug, a small giggle escaping your lips.

“okay, let’s go,” you announce as soon as you force yourself out of jake’s hold.

sunghoon scoffs as he puts his phone away and glares at you, “where’s my hug?”

you slightly roll your eyes, “you’ve gotten them far more than jake had, deal with it”

they both laugh yet there’s some bittersweet look on jake’s face. you decide to ignore it as you begin walking down the road.

the original plan was to show jake around, remind him of the things he had missed upon from all those years. and then sunghoon being sunghoon, decided to tag along too. you don’t mind it but something deep inside you wanted to be selfish and only hang out with jake. you won’t tell this to anyone though, it would hurt sunghoon’s feelings.

you engage in a lighthearted conversation with both of them. you soon find out that when jake left for the city, his dad enrolled him into a sports academy where he picked up basketball and things just soared from there. you also found out that after changing his phone, he lost all of his contacts and only later, way later, found sunghoon on facebook where he contacted him once again.

“you still use facebook?” you snort and look at sunghoon.

“hey,” sunghoon frowns, pushing you slightly to the side, “i don’t use it, it’s mostly for emergencies like these to be exact. look he found me and now he’s here, you should thank me instead”

“whatever,” you shake your head chuckling. the boys continue the conversation but something irks you. how come jake never asked sunghoon for your number if he had lost it? it’s stupid, really, but you’re a bit hurt from this. again, blaming your fragile heart, you ignore it, rather going back to indulge yourself in the conversation again.

jake continues on about his life in the city and how much he has travelled the world due to the growing popularity of his sports achievements.

“damn, are we friends with a world superstar? should i ask you for your signature?” sunghoon rushes at his words, almost as if pretending to be jake’s biggest fan.

“aw c’mon man,” jake laughs, shoving sunghoon to the side, “i am not that popular”

except that he is once sunghoon pulls out his phone and goes on a searching spree. it doesn’t take him long to find countless of articles, all written about “…the rising basketball player jake sim, once again sets an example for basketball’s history with his upmost precision and-“

sunghoon’s attempt at reading one of the articles gets interrupted by jake snatching the phone away from him, “dude, you are famous,” sunghoon deadpans.

“okay, i might be a little bit, but please stop reading, it’s embarrassing,” jake sulks, deleting all the tabs of the articles sunghoon has opened up. he soon gives him back the phone but not without making sunghoon promise he won’t search for more.

“wah, y/n we’re friends with a star,” sunghoon pretends to be in an awe, as he nudges your shoulder with his own.

“yeah yeah, do you think there’s paparazzi standing right around that corner?” you whisper to him, pointing to a random corner. you’re mesmerized by jake’s achievements but putting on an act with sunghoon is much more funnier.

“guysss,” jake whines at the way you’re both acting, “please”

“okay okay we will stop,” sunghoon laughs, draping an arm around your shoulder. the seemingly small action sets something unknown in jake’s eyes as he shifts uncomfortably on his feet.

“weird question but are you guys uh dating or something?” jake asks and suddenly you get it. so jake thought you and sunghoon were a thing…

“god, no,” you push sunghoon away from you in light speed and the man dares to act wounded, “sunghoon and i are only friends”

sunghoon being the good friend that he is, decides to ignore how you got all defensive, a small grin appearing on the corners of his lips.

“yeahh, we are besties, jake,” sunghoon laughs, patting his back, “even still i wouldn’t date her if you paid me millions”

you let out a fake gasp, “are you saying i would be a bad date?”

“not exactly… but you do be a handful sometimes,” sunghoon raises his hands in a defensive manner.

you roll your eyes, “whatever rows your boat dude”

sunghoon snickers next to you and you focus your attention back to walking. you pass some of your neighbors and most of them seem to recognize jake as they catch him to indulge into small chitchats on how he’s been doing. it’s all fun and chill until you come across one of the old houses.

“oh my god, is he still alive?” jake gapes as he sees that said man sitting on a rocking chair, gaze turned to the fields.

“yeah,” you nod. when you were children, you’d always be scared of him for literally no reason. you and jake would always pass his house on your tippy toes, giggling among yourselves, thinking you were sneaky. you remember that one time the old man came from around the corner, scaring both of you to your cores so much that jake tripped while running down the road. you laughed, of course, before helping him.

it was just something about him that made you shiver. now that you’ve grown up, you realized it was all in your child’s head; the man was just lonely. now he barely leaves his house territory, usually just rocking on his chair, gaze stuck somewhere far far away.

sometimes you hate your younger self for being like that and wonder what would’ve happened if you were nicer. maybe you’d have made friends with the old man and brighten up his life more.

“he’s still scary,” sunghoon interrupts your spacing out on the memory lane moment, “didn’t change much”

“hm,” jake mumbles. you’re about to walk away when the old man turns slowly. very slowly in fact.

“god i just got the worst shivers ever,” sunghoon shakes his body, “let’s go before he runs at us full speed”

you laugh, “stupid, he’s too old for that.”

what you didn’t expect however is for the old man to wave his hand at you. not in a way where he’s asking you to come closer but merely just a wave of saying hello. weirdly you feel at peace as jake and you almost immediately wave back.

“what? he’s suddenly being nice?” sunghoon scoffs but nevertheless waves back because as much as he likes being a prick, there’s still some decency in his heart. the old man returns his gaze to whatever he’s been staring at and that’s how your short interaction ends.

continuing your walk towards the lake (in hopes of going full circle around the town), sunghoon suddenly gets a call from his mother, urging him to go back home. the taller tells you he might join you later for the sunset, and then shortly leaves after. now it’s only you and jake.

when you arrive at the lake, the two of you settle on the grass by its shores. when you look at the time, it’s almost six in the evening. a glance at jake reveals that he has been spacing out for a while. he seems to be thinking of something hard, so you wait for him to talk. he looks at you, his eyes glassy with a distant look on his face.

“is something wrong, jake?” you ask softly as you don’t hesitate to lay your head on his shoulder. he doesn't respond but his hand starts caressing the nape of your neck. his touch sends a pleasant tingling feeling down your spine.

you find yourself not wanting the touch to stop so when he moves his hand from your neck, you instinctively grab it. the sudden contact makes jake's hand tense up.

“god, sorry, i just-” you blurt out, retrieving your hand back as you sense that maybe you've gone too far but jake grabs your hand again.

your face suddenly feels very warm, and it spreads all over your body. the silence that follows feels so loud to you, you can almost hear every beat of your heart.

“i want to apologize,” jake breathes in a shaky voice. he looks away from you.

you frown and sit up, facing him. "why?" you ask, "you haven't done anything wrong, jake."

the look he gives you breaks your heart, and you feel an ache in your chest, “was leaving you behind not wrong enough? i always regret it every time. i don't think i can make amends for what i did, so i can only apologize to you, and say i'm sorry. for all this time, i never forgot you, i couldn't forget you.”

“jake, don’t say that,” you shake your head, "i understand that you had to leave. the city had way more opportunities to you and that was the right thing to do. i know it was a tough choice to make but it's okay. it's alright. i'm alright. you didn't do anything wrong," you cup his face in your hands.

“no, y/n, you don’t understand,” jake shakes his head making your hands fall to your sides, “it wasn’t a tough choice i had to make. i, fuck, i wanted to leave. i had grown so tired, so sick of this town. i felt suffocated here. and when my mom told me the chance to live in the city was open to me, i took it. i wanted to come home to you more than anything, but i thought i was better off in the big city. and you know, it felt amazing the first few years, i found my strength in basketball, i was living the dream. i had friends, a career, a future, i had it all, but i wasn't happy. i felt so miserable all the time, and i think it was because i left you behind, left this place behind, and i-“ jake’s voice cracks as he wipes a tear, and you do your best to hold back a sob, "i missed you so goddamn much. i felt so bad, god, i still feel so fucking bad. no matter where i went, how big i made it, you've always been the only thing in my mind. it was all you, y/n. you were always the one thing keeping me going. and it's hard, you know, it's hard being on your own out there when all i knew is how it was when we were young and stupid and together like two pieces of a whole, you know? it was just so much easier when i was here, i didn't have to be alone."

you gently caress his cheeks and give him a smile, "and you're not alone anymore," you whisper softly, "you're not alone, jake."

the words seem to pierce right through jake's heart. he falls forward into your chest, wrapping his arms around you. you wrap your arms around his head and stroke his hair as you hold him tight.

“i never thought bad about you jake. i just thought you left because you had to and it was enough for me to know you were happy out there. i never wanted you to stay here if you felt like that. you never owed me anything. you never owed this town or anyone anything. it was your life, your choice, you should never have to explain yourself.”

“but i hurt you, y/n. you had to be sad because of me. i never wanted that. i never wanted to make you feel bad, not you. you were my home, my light, my everything.”

your heart does a little twist.

home.

he said home, he said light, he said everything. and then your heart goes into overdrive when jake pulls away and you swear you can see little stars in his eyes. he stares at you with so much affection in them, you're scared to look away.

jake's eyes dart around, looking at you in wonder. you watch as his hand cups the side of your face, gently caressing it, as he leans in. your heart is going out of control, the speed of your heart making your hands tremble. before he can lean in any more, he’s whispering the words you thought you’d never get to hear.

"i love you."

and then his lips are on yours.

his kiss is sweet and loving, full of emotion. it's like he's pouring everything into you, all of his feelings, every feeling he had kept locked up for all this time. and you give everything back, in the same amounts of emotion.

"i love you too," you murmur in the kiss, feeling so alive you might burst.

when the kiss finally breaks, jake's cheeks are flushed pink, he's panting softly.

“god,” he murmurs, voice shaky. he lets out a hoarse laugh and burries his face in his hands, “i was so stupid” he mumbles into his palms, "i should've never left, i should've never let you go, i should've just fucking stayed-"

you put your hand over his and slowly remove it from his face.

“i could have had you sooner,” his voice breaks.

you take his hand and intertwine your fingers with his.

"but you're here now. and you have me."

he looks at you and you swear there's nothing more beautiful than the way he smiles at you right now. you swear on your life it's like staring into the stars themselves.

"and you'll always have me," you whisper, "always."

he closes his eyes as he brings your hand up to his mouth, giving you a gentle kiss. you close your eyes as well, relishing in the soft feeling of his lips against your skin.

“y/n this might be too soon but will you be mine? officially this time? will you be my girlfriend?" jake asks in a shy voice.

"oh my god," you let out a small laugh, "i was already yours, jake. all this time you had me”

and when you kiss him again, there's a feeling of relief that spreads all over his body. relief that finally, he has you back, finally.

“hey! i left you for like an hour and you’re already all over each other?!” you hear a voice call out from behind you.

you and jake immediately break away from each other. you turn around and see sunghoon a few meters behind you. he’s holding a plastic bag in his hand, while the other is placed on his hip. he looks like a bored housewife.

he throws the bag to jake, and he catches it with ease.

"what's this?" jake asks as he opens it up, and you scoot closer to take a look. it's a take out box from the small town's only restaurant, one that you both dearly loved.

"dinner," sunghoon rolls his eyes, "thought y’all would be hungry by now but not after seeing you eat at each other's faces."

“god, how much did you see,” you whine, face growing hot.

sunghoon shrugs his shoulders, "only half," he answers, and you groan in embarrassment.

“whatever, let’s eat please,” you groan again, hoping your cheeks won't burn forever.

sunghoon settles in beside you and you bask in the fact that finally, everything feels right again. even if you lost someone so dear to you and it will take some time to get used to it, you gained one person back.

you finally have jake back home.

[ds9-polycule-tales]

3 - 2375

Elim looked up as Julian came through the doorway, the faint blue flash of the antiseptic field momentarily creating a sketch of his thin shape, stooped with exhaustion, as an afterimage on the back of the Cardassian’s retina.

“How is he?”

“He’ll live. And keep the leg, even, though that was touch and go a few times before I managed to modify the chemical composition of the antibiotic a little. If his grandmother had waited a few more hours before managing to sneak him out to us…”

Some of the sag of the doctor’s shoulders was relief as well as crushing fatigue, Elim realised. He held out his arms to Julian; drew him down into his lap and folded his arms around him. The younger man’s hands were rock-steady as ever, but his shoulders shook a little as he slowly relaxed against him.

“I still can’t believe his parents didn’t bring him to us sooner. I know sepsis can come on suddenly, but the original cut itself was deep enough. If we can’t get people to trust Federation doctors, even…”

“The medical profession on Cardassia may not…quite have always lived up to your particular ideals, my dear,” Elim replied, savage irony heavy in his voice despite its softness. “And given the Founders’ fondness for biochemical control of populations under their figurative thumb, I rather doubt that has changed for the better in the last two years.”

Julian’s body sagged a little more as he considered the implications. Elim tightened his arms around him, but resisted the sudden, still-surprising urge to say something to comfort him. The kindest thing I can do here is tell him the bald truth of the situation, he thought. Letting him discover it for himself – and potentially make costly mistakes in doing so – will hurt him more in the long run.

He could almost smile at the realisation that he, Elim Garak, was genuinely weighing his options for kindness, of all things; might have laughed, quietly, to himself, at the sheer absurdity of it. Except that Julian had never had to learn the many tricks of irony and distance that he, Elim, had carefully cultivated since he was younger than the boy whose blood still speckled the doctor’s uniform; Julian’s empathy and compassion was genuinely as raw and authentic as an open wound, and, somehow, that seemed to be bleeding back to Elim too.

“We can’t even supply shoes to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” Julian said tightly into his shoulder; almost as much a raw vibration of pain and frustration in his flesh as sound. “We have adult footwear in Supplies, but they’d all be much too big for him, and the whole reason he cut his foot on the rubble in the first place was that he’s already grown out of his existing shoes. I’ve already checked; all the replicators we have are flat out keeping supplies coming to keep everyone fed and housed and the time to work out a replicator pattern for shoes that will be outgrown again in another two months would mean other children going hungry. It’s awful, and I can’t stop it being awful without making it more awful.”

Elim drew him closer; held him silently, and eventually lay down with him. A cot in an infirmary cupboard had its drawbacks, but Julian was only going to sleep at all within earshot of his patients, and it was worth it, every bit of it, to share those snatched moments with him.

*****

A couple of days later, as the boy’s grandmother came to bring him home, accompanied by a somewhat stiff younger couple who had probably looked very much younger six months ago, Elim slipped through to intercept Julian as he went to bring him out.

“One moment, please, my dear. Child – Arabrus, isn’t it?”

The boy turned large dark eyes in a too-thin face up to Elim. Children all had eyes like old women, these days. “Yes, sir.”

“Try this on, Arabrus. Just your good foot will be fine for now.”

He held out a shoe to the boy. It wasn’t his finest creation by a long shot, but he was strangely gratified that his guess had been close enough that it required surprisingly little adjustment. He had the child wiggle his toes and push his heel back against his hand just to make sure, but he was satisfied.

“When your toes start feeling pushed against the front, Arabrus, just unscrew this little bit here a little and loosen them until you have room to move them again, just like this. I think your grandmother will know what to do, but if you have any trouble, you can ask back here. My name is Mr Garak.”

After Julian had seen the family off with medication and instructions, he came back to Elim with the first smile in days splitting his face.

“However did you manage that?!”

“Oh, never ask me to explain all my tricks, my dear. You must allow me to keep a little mystery, after all.”

Elim smiled his most untrustworthy smile, spreading his hands wide. But as Julian embraced him, he looked over his shoulder. It was hidden in the ever-present clouds of dust, but he knew the direction of Mila’s small marker stone like he knew his own heartbeat.

She had been an incredibly thrifty woman, always managing to keep things running smoothly even when sudden dips in Tain’s political fortunes had meant he was unable to send resources for months or even years at a time. It had been more common in those early days than the pride of the Head of the Obsidian Order had later allowed any of them to remember.

But Mila would have been proud, he thought, that her old working-class mother’s trick for making shoes that always kept her unspoken son shod no matter how little money they had or how fast his feet grew was still keeping children safer now, even after the end of the world. She would have been prouder of that, he thought, than of any monument he could build for her.

[variskonna]

Here's another winx's oc Alecia she's one of Tori's and Lumi's roommate. Specifically she lives in the same room as Lumi wich is an interesting experience if you take in the fact that Lumi (for some reason) emits a cold breeze while she sleeps. It's kinda weird but Alecia got used to it after a while.

(btw nows probably good to mention that as long it comes to my winxs ocs only seasons 1-4 are canon and the two first movies are canon for these guys not because i don't like the rest of the seasons but mainly because i'm too lazy to watch the last four other seasons lol and also for continuity reason lol)

here's a hassingly written backstory for her

but anyways Alecia is a fairy of nature and also an earth fairy from Gardenia. Her hobbies are hiking, gardening and she's also really into dirt biking. (honestly it should have been obvious she was an nature fairy even before it was found out) Anyways her powers awoke due to a panic attack at a house party she really didn't want to go in the first place but got pressured into going. she really didn't want anyone know of the fact that she could use magic especially since she wasn't that sure if she even was a fairy and if she was a fairy chances are her family would want her to go to a fairy school. And she honestly didn't really want to leave her friend group behind or move some where far away from everything she knew and at the same tine she really didn't want to disappoint her family, well her she didn't want to disappoint her mother since she had always loved fairies since her own grandmother used to tell stories about how her own ancestors were fairies themselves but of course everybody thought she was just an crazy old woman and that her age was just catching up to her. But her mother as a child would still completely believe her and even as she grew up to an adult she would still, at least in the back of her mind still think to herself that what if her grandmother wasn't crazy, what if fairies really did exist? So Imagine how she felt when it actually turned out that fairies were real, after hearing about the winx she begged Alecias dad to move to gardenia with her and he agreed. After learning that earth fairies existed Alecias mother started really questioning if her grandmothers ancestors were really fairies.

So knowing Alecia immediately decided that she would never tell anyone that she didn't 100% trust. So she ended only up telling her friend group since even if she didn't want to become a fairy she figured that magic might still be some what useful. So thanks to that her friends started to ask her to use magic for different favors like rearranging furniture, holding heavy things with her magic when no one was looking and also even making one of her friends mothers gardens bloom etc. But of course she still did it even if she couldn't really lift heavy things without really focusing, after all she was happy to do this , but after a while it started to kind of feel like every time they would hang out with her they would only ask things about her magic and it got to the point that they almost outed her infront of other people multiple times but Alecia figured that they didn't do it on purpose after all she had known these girls for a long time they wouldn't do something that hurt her on purpose, right?

Anyways this one weekend her friend group invited her to go hang out in these woods near her house they had gone there when they were younger and it had been a while since they went there but since it was fall and this place had really tall trees this place became gorgeous during the fall they all agreed to hang out there. once she got there Alecia had a lot of fun they were all just messing around until at one point one of her friends disappeared she wasn't too worried until from she heard from up far above her head her friend calling out to her and the others. Alecia was immeadly worried even tough her friend was a talented climber she was still quite high up. ''Hey, I think you should get down from there!'' she yelled but her friend didn't listen to her instead she started to mess around in the tree it was like she wanted to fall from there that was until she actually almost did, but thankfully she caught herself on tree branch but she was still obivously struggling to stay up there so Alecia started walking toward the tree hoping she could catch her friend with her magic until she could feel her two other grabbing her from behind? she was confused ''Hey let me go she could seriuosly get hurt!'' her friend however didn't listen to her, instead grabbing her harder until she started hurting. But she couldn't really focus on that since her friend on the tree started screaming that she was falling , Alecia started to try to escape her friends grasps panicking until she simply tried to jump forward in hopes that she could escape her friends and as she jumped she felt rush of energy trough out her body wich she ignored only concerned in the fact that her friend was in danger then as she started to run toward until her friends grip slipped and she began falling. Alecias heart almost stopped until she jumped and almost flew toward her friend jumping high up toward her friend catching her mid air, and then smashing in to the tree back first.

As she smashed into the tree instead of hearing her ribs break she realised that nothing really happened. As her adreline rush started to wear down she realised how long she had actually ''jumped'' as fumbellingly tried to get up she truly started to grasp what had happened she had transformed into a fairy, She was a fairy she was right, chances are her great grandmother was right after all, she wasn't afaird for nothing. as she looked down she realised her friend on the ground was crying from shock. But that realisation got to set in it was interrupted by laughter? Her two friends were laughing and as they laughed the two of them high fived and then one of them yelled ''HEY WE DID ALECIA YOU TRANSFORMED!'' they looked at their friend "Hey we did it she finally did it!" Alecia stepped back you guys did this on purpose? "I mean yeah, It's not like you were going to do it your self?" at this point Alecia was so shocked and and feeling disturped she took off running she didn't even care where she went she didn't care who saw her she just wanted to get out away from her "friends" eventsually she found a park bench and the she ended up sitting there not even noticing that she had detransformed a while ago. Eventually realising it was starting to realise it was getting dark

As she entered her house she realised something was off as she walked in to the kitchen seeing her parents sitting around the kitchen table "So one of your friends stopped by" her dad spoke up. Alecia upon hearing her broke down and started telling everything out of guilt. Guilt out of what she couldn't figure that out but after talking for a while her mother admited she wouldn't have forced Alecia to do anything that she wasn't comfortable doing and as she heard that a sense of relief washed over her but at the same time she realised that one of the main reasons for her not wanting to go was now gone and thus she decided to ask her parents if it was possible for her to apply to a couple of fairy schools and they even if hesitantly , they agreed and after a little time passed she got acceptance letter from none other school than alfea.

Idk why I wrote this long of a backstory sorry for the boring ending but then again it's a winx oc. also sorry if the text is off i'm too tired to proof read this and also im not really a writer so that might also be why its written a little bit weirdly thats why

now I've only got to draw two of the five roommates the two that are missing are Princess Avdotia and Valerie

[tinyinvadr]

Next chapter!

Psychoborrower 2

Chapter 7

Traveling with the Aquato family, even for a short distance, is an experience.

Seeing such a big family and watching how they all interacted with each other was something new to me. I was an only child, and for most of my life, the only family I knew was my parents.

Well, them and my Nana, but she passed when I was little, and I couldn’t remember her too well.

It was a stark contrast to the parents, four kids, and grandmother packed into a relatively small caravan, all locked in a conversation while the adults had to simultaneously wrangle the two youngest who refused to sit still.

What they were talking about, I don’t really remember. It was probably about Raz, but I had my own issues with him to worry about. What was he up to and why couldn’t I know about it?

We arrived at the campgrounds, and I parted ways with the Aquatos there. I followed a trail of fresh tiny footprints in the sand into a tent that had already been set up. Inside, Dad was sitting on the ground while Mom stood beside him, holding his hand.

“Hi, Flint.”

She smiled, but the uncomfortable tension in the air was hard for either of us to ignore.

“So… What do you think of the place so far?”

She sighed. “It seems very peaceful, but we’re not suited to living outdoors like this. Once the weather gets cold, we would have to leave anyway.”

“I can talk to Hollis. The Motherlobe is already setup with accommodations for borrowers.”

“Man-made accommodations. Structures built by humans with the specific purpose to control our methods of transportation and force dependency on them. Do you have any idea how dangerous that is? The amount of power that they have over us?”

I understood her point, but I knew for sure that the Psychonauts had only good intentions. I just had to make her see that.

“They’re not gonna hurt us, Mom. They only want to protect us.”

“That’s also dangerous. Our fear of humans is instinctual for a reason. It’s how we survive. But if we desensitize ourselves to that fear, we could end up running into trouble if we encounter humans who don’t have our best interests at heart. It doesn’t matter how nice these people seem. We aren’t meant to live among them. Their attempts to help us are just going to cause more harm in the end.”

She was just as stubborn as I remembered her. But I got my own stubbornness from her. This argument could go on for a while.

“Who says we’re not meant to live among humans? This could be our chance to change things, make our lives better. If we have the Psychonauts on our side, we won’t have to be so paranoid all the time. We can just… live our lives.”

Mom went quiet again, her thumb brushing against Dad’s hand.

“Can you say with 100% certainty that everyone, and I mean EVERYONE here, is not going to be a threat to us?”

I didn’t want to lie to her, but if she knew about the mole, there would be no chance of her letting me stay. But it wouldn’t be a lie if I dealt with the problem before she could find out about it.

“Yes. There’s nothing to worry about. We’re perfectly safe here.”

Dad smiled. “That’s a relief. I’m really not built for traveling anymore. And the air is so fresh here. It’s nice to be out in nature and- OH GOOD GOD WHAT IS THAT??”

Outside the tent, Lili’s pet rat scampered by.

“Oh, that’s Harold. He’s harmless.”

I realized that Harold would be my best bet at catching up with Raz, so I said goodbye to my parents and stepped outside to ask him for help. Being the helpful little guy he is, Harold happily agreed to carry me on his back and take me to Raz.

I probably would’ve found him sooner if I hadn’t gotten sidetracked.

As we passed the waterfall, I noticed Raz’s older sister standing dangerously close to it. Then, I saw an arm made of water rise up and reach out for her. I signaled for Harold to stop, and I jumped off his back and ran over.

“Look out!”

She panicked, looking around as the water arm dissolved.

“Who’s there?! Who said that?!”

I waved her down, though it still took a second for her to notice me on the ground. It didn’t help that the tall grass hid me from plain sight. Never thought being well hidden would be a bad thing.

“It’s just me, Flint. Raz’s friend. Isn’t it dangerous for you to be this close to water with the curse and everything?”

She rolled her eyes. “Of course it is. But acrobats live for danger.”

“But I saw that hand reaching for you! Don’t you think it’s kind of stupid to get this close to something that’s actively trying to kill you?”

She smirked. “I dunno. Why did you become friends with my brother when you thought he was trying to kill you?”

“That’s different. I was wrong about Raz. You could seriously die here.”

She sighed, sitting down in the grass.

“A little water’s the least of my problems.”

I approached her, sitting down next to her knee.

“You wanna talk about it?”

“Why should I? I don’t even know you.”

“Yeah, but I’m a Psychonaut. Well, I’m training to be one, at least. It’s my job to help people with this sort of stuff.”

She thought it over for a minute, then nodded.

“Okay. But you can’t tell anyone about this. Not even Raz.”

“Of course. Whatever it is, it stays between us.”

I waited patiently for her to find the right words to say what she needed to say. Then, finally, she spoke.

“I’m psychic. Raz knows this, but the rest of my family doesn’t. I would tell everyone else, but I… discovered something a couple months ago. I have Hydrokinesis powers. As in, the same kind of powers that killed my grandfather and cursed my family. I know they’re not gonna take it well. I don’t want them to be afraid of me. But at the same time, I like having these powers. It’s just too complicated. It’s better if I don’t say anything.”

Her feelings were all too familiar to me. It was the same sort of thing that I went through with my parents. Well, not exactly the same, but I could understand where she was coming from.

“Whether you wanna tell them or not is ultimately up to you, but I think you should at least talk to Raz when you feel ready. I can’t say for sure how your family will react, but at least from the time I’ve spent with your dad and your brother, I know that at the end of the day, they love you more than anything.”

She smiled. “I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks, Flint.”

“Glad I could help, uh…”

“Frazie.”

“Frazie. Huh. I like that. It’s pretty.”

I hadn’t realized what I said until after I’d already said it. I ducked my head, making my bangs fall over my face to try and cover it as much as possible. Her expression turned into a smirk as she chuckled.

“Oh yeah? You think so?”

“I’ve gotta go see your brother now! C’mon, Harold!”

I hopped on my trusty rat steed and got out of there as soon as possible. God, that was embarrassing.

Harold brought me all the way back through the Questionable Area, and we found Raz inside a little abandoned diner. Sam and Lori were also in there, making pancakes while a bunch of terrified animals shuddered behind the counter.

“Hey, Flint! I got the internship! Coach Oleander didn’t mind having two, so now Sam and I are co-interns!”

“Want a pancake, little man?”

Raz locked eyes with me, shaking his head and silently begging me to say no. I could only assume her cooking hadn’t improved much. I remembered seeing her try to help Ford out in the kitchen one time back at camp, and it didn’t end well.

“No thanks, I’m in a bit of a rush. Got some important Psychonauts business to deal with.”

As I spoke, I retained eye contact with Raz, glaring at him. He knew full well why I was there, and he also knew that he wouldn’t be able to shake me this time.

“Aw, that’s too bad. Well, if you chance he your mind, we’ll probably still be here later! Coach asked us to make a LOT of pancakes. I wonder what they’re for? Maybe he’s planning a brunch?”

“Nah. I bet he’s building some sort of pancake-powered super weapon.”

“Haha! That’s funny. Where do you come up with this stuff, Sam?”

“That’s what he told me.”

Okay, whose idea was it to pair Coach up with Sam?

Moving on, I practically threw myself at Raz so he would catch me. I knew he would try to leave without me, so I made sure to stay two steps ahead of him.

“We should probably get going, right?”

He sighed. “Right.”

After we left the diner, I immediately went into interrogation mode.

“Alright, no more trying to ditch me. I don’t know what’s going on, but I do know that if we don’t catch the mole, it’s over for me. My Mom told me that if there’s a single person here who could be a threat to us, she’s making me go home. It’s obvious you know something that I don’t, so spill. I mean… come on. After everything we’ve been through, you can trust me, right?”

“Of course I trust you, Flint. I’m sorry. I didn’t want to keep this from you. I was told not to tell anyone, but you’re right. This concerns you, too. And… I could use the help. I’m sure Truman won’t mind if it’s just you helping me.”

“Okay, good. Now, can we backtrack? ‘Cause last time I checked, Truman was out cold.”

From there, he explained everything. Truman was only pretending to be unconscious so that the mole wouldn’t go after him again. While neither of us were sure how this was possible, Truman was insistent that the mole was capable of bringing Maligula back, and the only person who would be able to stop them is the man who defeated her in the first place: Ford Cruller.

Raz was able to bring Ford to the Motherlobe using their mental link, but his mind was still in a shattered state, so he had himself locked up in the bowling alley, mail room, and hair salon. Teleportation is weird.

We had to enter the minds of each of his personalities in order to piece them back together, but in order to do that, we had to get close enough for him to let us in.

The first order of business was getting a senior league membership card for the bowling alley. Raz had already talked to the only remaining member of the senior league, Compton Boole. He wasn’t willing to cooperate, though.

Much like his grandson, Compton had explosive tendencies when he got overwhelmed, so he had himself locked up in the Psychoisolation Chamber. However, he told Raz he’d consider giving him the card if he could help him find his old friend. In order to do so, we had to bring him a bee from the Forgetful Forest.

Finding the bees wasn’t hard, though we did get momentarily stuck in a trap Lizzie set for an animal. Compton had apparently also sent her to catch an animal for him, though we weren’t sure why.

She took that opportunity to try and scare us with the urban legend of the Green Needle Witch. It sounded pretty fake to me, so I wasn’t worried. Though, if she WAS real, then yeah, sounds pretty terrifying.

We made it to a big beehive in the middle of the woods, and to my horror, Raz pulled out a jar.

“Why do you have that?!”

“What? It’s just a jar.”

“Just a jar… and what do you think people use to trap borrowers in, huh?”

“Oh… I’m sorry, I had no idea. But it’s not for you, it’s for the bee.”

I scoffed. “I doubt the bee would like it in there either.”

“C’mon, Flint. We really don’t have a choice here. I don’t think any of these bees are gonna come with us willingly, and they’ll probably sting us if we try to pick them up.”

“Ugh, fine. But I’m not happy about it.”

With a swipe of the jar, he managed to catch three bees.

“Wow! I got three!”

I sighed, placing a hand on the glass as I looked in at them.

“I apologize for my friend. He doesn’t have the same sensitivity for bugs that I do.”

Suddenly, we heard something rustling in the leaves behind us. I figured it was just an animal. I could only hope it wasn’t a bunny. God, I hate bunnies.

Instead, we were faced with something even worse. Lizzie wasn’t kidding about the Green Needle Witch. She snuck up on us, ready to give us a hug and stab us with her needles.

Strangely, she seemed to have some sort of connection with the bees, because the moment Raz started to run, the bees swarmed together and chased us out of the woods.

And we got caught in Lizzie’s trap again.

“Seriously, Pooter? I just finished setting that up.”

“The Green Needle Witch is back there!”

Lizzie shook her head as she freed us from the trap again.

“Okay, I didn’t think you’d get THIS freaked out about that story. Look, it’s just a dumb legend made up by the locals. There’s no Green Needle Witch.”

“But we saw her!”

“Sure you did, shortstack. If you guys are this paranoid, maybe you should go.”

She didn’t have to tell us twice. Besides, we had more important work to attend to. There was no time to investigate the possible scary pointy witch sighting. My future as a Psychonauts was on the line.

[otterandterrier]

30s asks 6,18 and 22.

6. Most precious thing one of your pets has destroyed?

So during 2022-2023 I went to a pottery workshop, which I both loved and found a bit frustrating in some aspects, like the fact that they didn't have a kiln of their own, so they had to pay other people to burn the pieces, which led to problems such as the pieces breaking, getting the colours messed up or just not having enough capacity for all of our pieces. Which led to me bringing only a handful of finished pieces home after a whole year of work (rip kitty planter I'll see you in my dreams). Two of those pieces, a serving tray and a... sort of bowl thing, where on a low shelf in my bottomless bookcase.

Shortly after I brought in my cat Darcy home last year, I discovered he's hyperactive at night and will do anything to get my attention. So he got the zoomies one night, and zoomed right through the bookcase... through the shelf with the pottery pieces... which shattered against the floor.

I'd only been able to use the pieces once, on my birthday.

I glued them together, but I mean... they're still broken.

18. Pro or anti tchotchkes?

Consistent with my previous answer about minimalism and maximalism, I'm pro - up to a point. I have some on my bookcase, but they mean something to me/I like looking at them/they make sense where they are. Having lots of trinkets just to have them, aka my maternal grandmother's house, is a no for me.

22. Favorite grocery store?

I think this is one of the painfully USAmerican questions I was talking about in my tags lol, because I think I'm supposed to say something like Trader's Joe and... we don't have that kind of grocery stores here. So um. The tiny, locally-owned veggies and fruits store around the corner that I've been going to for almost four years because the owners are really nice and often gave me discounts or free veggies they couldn't sell.

Thank you!!

send me adult asks?

[deepperplexity]

Prompt: 11. Forgotten Gift

Pairing: Snape x Fem!OC

POV: Dual (Snape, Third & OC, First)

Setting: Hogwarts

Continuation of: 10. Gingerbread & Peppermints

A/N: I hope December is wonderful for you darling, over here it’s been a bit of a madhouse and my daughter is yet again sick (preschool life 😂) but we’re doing well. Except I seem completely incapable of writing short things and a fic a day is no easy thing to do for an entire month - so the length doesn’t really help but I hope you’re enjoying my shenanigans! 😅💚 Let’s dive right back in where we left off yesterday right away! 😍

Tags/TW’s: Emotional Hurt (No Comfort), Mutual Pining, Confusing Emotions, Revelations, Confessions, Low Self-esteem, Judged by Appearance, Slight Jealousy

Word Count: 4.6k+

Masterlist page // Masterlist post // AO3 // LINK TREE

≪ Rosanna’s POV ≫

I hugged myself as I stood by the large windows in my new, temporary office. The grounds spread out below, covered in snow that glistened in the moonlight. It felt strange to be back at Hogwarts five years after my graduation. To walk the halls, and see parts of the castle previously unavailable to me when I was a student. A lot of things had changed about me, very little had changed here though.

I couldn’t help but wonder if professor Snape ever even reflected on the holiday gift I had sent the first Christmas after I had graduated, three months after having become something other than a student. “Probably not,” I sighed and shook my head with a wry smile, feeling slightly dejected.

I wasn’t usually so… dreary in my mood or thoughts but seeing him again, coming to terms with what I thought had been a mere teenage crush being more, it put me in quite an uncomfortable state. What was I supposed to do about the feelings I had in my heart? I was nothing to him, he even looked at me with a grander coldness than before — when I was the invisible student professors usually glanced over. I wasn’t a brilliant scholar but I worked hard, I wasn’t loud or surrounded by friends but I had been quite happy about my life — which wasn’t quite normal when it came to life during these evolving years.

I was just regular, normal, overlooked but probably somewhat appreciated for being one of the kids the professors hadn’t had to think about really. It was different now, though. I grew up, my body evolved and I went from the flat teenager to the curvy adult. My hair grew thicker, like my grandmother’s, and my face lost the childish features only to take on the beauty of my mother. I noticed it, and so did others. But honestly, I preferred my looks before I became the one people took a double take on. Before I turned heads, before I couldn’t tell if someone was a friend or just looking to get lucky.

Honestly, it sucked. But I did learn to use it to my advantage when times were hard. Unfortunately, it also meant that people gave me a chance just for my looks, but didn’t keep me around after they knew there was nothing I was willing to offer of myself to them. None even cared enough to look at my work, or notice my ethics, or talk to me about anything of importance. “Snape did though, when I wanted to learn about more difficult potions… But, that was me just trying to get his attention so really, I’m as bad as everyone else. But I was a teenager,” I blabbered out to myself and shook my head once more before turning to get some order established around my new desk — currently cluttered and littered with books — just to distract myself from the cold feeling in my chest.

I gathered up a heap of books to put on a trolly when the door swung open, startling me enough to make the books clatter to the floor. I didn’t have time to think about it though. “You,” professor Snape said with a slight huffing to his breathing while standing in the doorway. “M-me, professor?” I asked, not knowing what to think while my heart sped up just from him being near. “It was you,” he continued while stepping in with long strides, his cloak swishing about behind him.

My eyes widened at his harsh but strange tone. “I-, it was me? I’m sorry, professor, but I don’t know—” “Five years ago,” he said and stalked up to me, “you sent me a Christmas gift, peppermints.”

I blinked at him, not understanding why he barged into my office, talking about the gift I’d sent all those years ago in hopes of-, well, something foolish. “I-, yes, I did,” I said, fidgeting with my hands in front of me. “You didn’t like them? Was it the wrong kind?” you asked, almost certain you had bought the exact kind he usually carried with him in a small satin bag. It was one of the things you had noticed while admiring the man from afar.

Snape’s eyes widened, his back straightening. “For months, I wondered who had sent me a Christmas gift, you left no note.” “Oh, I-, well I didn’t really want to-, umh, well I didn’t think-, I just thought you-,” I stuttered, unable to form any real meaning when he looked at me so intently, his onyx eyes fixated on me. “Are you always this eloquent?” he asked in a rumbled drawl.

My entire face burned, even the tips of my ears hidden behind my thick hair. Is he angry? “Miss Kindra,” he said harshly, “why did you send me that gift?” “Because I liked you-, because I like you.” WHAT AM I SAYING?!

Snape blanched, his lips slightly parting while his smaller eyes widened. “I’m sorry! I’m so sorry, professor!” I nearly shouted out while holding my hands up and out. “I shouldn’t have said that, I’m so sorry. I—” “This is nonsense,” he snarled.

Before I had time to speak another word he had spun around and stalked out of my office, the bookcase door left wide open while I watched him disappear with stiff shoulders and his cloak billowing behind him from the rapid pace to his long strides.

I took a stumbling step to the side, finding purchase on the side of the desk while my knees shook and trembled. The warm blush was replaced by cold dread turning my tanned skin paler than usual. What have I done?

≪ Severus’s POV ≫

The door to his quarters slammed shut while he strode ahead; his chest tight, his heart pounding. Her words rang in his head, unfathomable. Yet he walked right up to his bed, pulling open the drawer of his bedside table.

The content rattled and there, furthest in, it lay. The satin bag those peppermints had come in was as pristine as the day he received the gift. He reached out and took it, his thumb stroking the smooth fabric while lifting it up.

‘I like you’ rang in his head in her wondrous voice. The laugh he’d heard in Dumbledore’s office echoed in the back of his head, warming his chest which felt unnaturally tight. Why can I not remember you? He wondered while racking through his memories for any glimpse of you, surely he’d remember someone like you?

He spent the rest of the night wondering, trying to find out who you had been all those years ago when that gift had arrived in the Great Hall during the Christmas dinner. Minerva had spent quite some time teasing him about the secret admirer who’d gifted him his most favoured treat, that he incidentally always kept close. One of the few pleasures he afforded himself. He hadn’t thought anyone took notice of such a thing, it was never visible that he had one usually resting under his tongue when he wasn’t teaching.

When morning arrived he felt stiffer than usual. At the very least it was Sunday, meaning no classes and fortunately no detentions to deal with. So he dressed and headed to breakfast while doing his utmost not to think of what happened last night while he stalked through the halls decorated with garlands and other knick-knacks he paid no mind to.

The hall was nearly empty at the early hour, most students sleeping in and professors having breakfast in their own quarters. So he sat himself down and grabbed the mug of black coffee which appeared before him.

“Good morning, professor.” He damn near choked on the hot coffee when her happy voice took him off-guard. He glared up at her, her smile faltering and her tanned cheeks took on a hint of a blush. “Sorry, professor, I’ll just-, umh, alright,” she stammered out in a rush and moved three chairs away from him. “Snape’s at it again,” he heard a girl whisper. “Poor Miss Kindra,” another said, “she seems so nice.” “And so pretty,” a boy chuckled while Severus focused on his coffee. Disregarding the whispering students while he hardened his features as his heart had sped up from her sudden appearance by his side.

He still hadn’t managed to remember her from before. No matter how he searched the faces in his memory she wasn’t there. There was none like her he could remember. But, truthfully, there was something else about her that had nothing to do with her looks which he felt strangely drawn to. The laugh, her voice, the way her eyes positively twinkled and the sweet way she seemed to always blush when someone looked at her. Why she would do so when she was such a beautiful woman who surely got looked at plenty often he could not fathom.

“Miss Kindra,” a seventh-year boy who had dared step up to the teachers’ table said and Severus turned his head with a flurry to tell him off for disturbing the woman during her breakfast but his words got stuck in his throat.

She was smiling gently at the boy. She looked stunning, but not at all like she had looked a moment ago — flustered and nervous. Her fingers weren’t fidgeting, her eyes weren’t twinkling and her smile was sweet but not quite the smile he had seen her with before. It looked more friendly.

“Could I have some help with a book?” the boy asked while fixing the strap of his bag, the tips of his ears were bright red while he looked at the woman. “Mr Colin, certainly, you can find me in the library in an hour.” “Thank you, Miss Kindra, I’ll bring the others.” “Oh, others?” she asked, her eyebrows raised a bit and the boy pointed with his thumb over his shoulder where four more boys sat by the Hufflepuff table.

Something in Severus’s chest tightened while his mouth thinned at the eager looks they all sent towards Miss Kindra. Yet, she seemed thoroughly unaffected and simply waved to the blushing boys filled with teenage hormones. She’s been here less than a day and they are swarming to her, he thought and why it bothered him so much he couldn’t quite tell. She seemed like someone who could easily be taken advantage of with that sweet smile and inviting looks.

His hand hardened around the mug’s ear. But it wasn’t his place to say anything, the woman was old enough to take care of herself, being in her early twenties he guessed while he was just a month away from turning thirty.

He gritted his teeth, took another sip of the coffee and found it unappetizing while his entire body acted up as he tried not to look towards Miss Kindra. Nonsense, he thought to himself and stood up to leave. Not before he noticed the blasted woman looking towards him with that infernal smile that looked both nervous and inviting at the same bloody time. He simply arched a brow at her, hardening himself on the outside while his insides seemed overwhelmed by her. There was truly something about her that he could not help but be drawn to. Something about her that he felt different about than he’d done regarding anyone else before.

He strode off, not affording the beautiful woman who’d not long ago had said she liked him another glance — even if it took all his strength not to look back as he exited the Great Hall. The words still rang so clearly in his head and he did not know what to make of them, what to think of them. Or her. Just her looks were enough to turn every head when she walked by, and he found her absolutely enchanting to view but it was what lay in her, something he couldn’t term yet felt inexplicably drawn to. Something that resonated with him. Even the manner in which she looked at him was different to how she appeared to look at others — did he terrify her as he did all else?

≪ Rosanna’s POV ≫

It had taken over two hours to deal with the gang of teenage boys ogling her, not truly listening to her words but giving her their full attention. This was a bad idea, she groaned at herself while resting her head in her hands, elbows on her desk where she was hiding away in her office.

She drew a deep breath and tried to quench all the emotions raging in her. She had hoped Hogwarts would be a different environment to work in but of course not. She was surrounded by raging hormones. How stupid she had been to take the temp job, not that I did it for the work… I just thought-, hoped, ugh, I wanted to see him. Why lie to myself?

My eyes watered as I remembered the countless places I had found work, and each place had been the same. Drooling men, envious women, grinning boys and inappropriate comments coming from all ends — making me uncomfortable and all too aware of where I stood in society according to others. Was this how mum felt?

I pushed my fingers into my hair, snivelling as my tears began to flow. It seemed history was to repeat itself over and over, no matter where I went. Not even the place where I had been of no importance, where I had been just some student, allowed me to be something other than a walking ogle-attractor. “Why is it always like this? I have more than my looks to offer…” And he doesn’t even look at me, I thought perhaps I’d at least get that as a reward for living with this.

I sighed and straightened up, lacing my fingers and squeezing my hands to centre myself. “But he just glares at me, like he dislikes me more than anyone else…” The words felt heavy to utter and something in my chest hurt terribly at it. It was the one thing I’d hoped I’d gain from looking like I did. The one thing I could get out of it, having the attention of the only man I had ever truly liked… And he seems to hate me, from the second he saw me in the headmaster’s office.

I snivelled anew and dragged my hand under my nose before wiping my cheeks of the tears.

A knock came from the door and I hurried to shake myself out of the dreary mood, clapping my cheeks a bit to stop the tears while putting on a smile. “Come in!” I called while walking around my desk and the door opened slowly. Once more he was there, standing in my office like a tall shadow filling the room with his presence and snagging my breath with his dark eyes glaring at me.

≪ Severus’s POV ≫

His step faltered when her eyes found his. The chocolate colour seemed duller than a few hours ago, her eyes and cheeks reddened, puffy. Crying? Why did that thought hurt so severely within him?

He cleared his throat discreetly while the door closed slowly behind him. “Professor, I’m not in the right frame of mind to entertain at the moment,” she said and the way her voice sounded so bleak compared to before stirred something in him. Touched a memory long since forgotten. “Can this wait?” she asked while her arms came up to hug her own midsection. It drew his eyes to the ample breasts hidden behind a tightly fitted blouse. He flicked his eyes back up to her face with haste. She seemed to not even have noticed, thankfully.

“I have something for you,” he said and produced the satin bag he had been clutching behind his cloak. Her eyes widened as he held it out. “You-, you kept it? All this time?” she asked and the way her fingers reached out to touch it had his spine stiffening. “I did,” he said with a rumble far darker than he wished.

She looked up at him and made her hand retreat. “It was a gift to you, it’s yours, professor,” she said and smiled meekly at him. He wanted to step closer, study those warm eyes that he felt belonged to someone that wasn’t the woman in front of him. “I cannot remember,” he said, still holding out the bag for her to take back, “and someone like you should be impossible to forget.”

His eyes widened as a loud laugh burst from Miss Kindra, the reaction not what he’d thought. “Because of this face? These looks? This body?” she sighed out, almost exasperated while holding out her hands — showing all the beautiful curves of her shape. Yet his eyes remained trained on hers. There was something familiar about them in the state she was currently in.

“I hoped-, I thought-, but no, no of course the only man I’ve ever-, I should never have taken this stupid job!” she exclaimed while turning around and hugging herself anew while walking over to the windows, her shoulders drawn up for a moment before she exhaled deeply and they sank back down.

There.

In that moment.

He knew. He remembered.

“You wished to learn about healing potions,” he said in a low rumble while his mind finally managed to place her. An old student of his. But she had looked nothing like she did now back then, her entire aura was different. Closed off and… hurt. That’s what he had sensed, that was what he had felt resonating with him on the inside when he looked at her. A sense of deep hurt.

“Rosanna Kindra,” he exhaled as he connected the dots between the past and the present.

≪ Rosanna’s POV ≫

I exhaled, my lungs stiffening within my chest as he spoke my name for the first time. I hadn’t thought it would make me feel so discouraged. I had always thought I would have marvelled and loved it, but now things were different.

“I remember now,” he said quietly. “You asked to be tutored outside classroom hours, yet you never seemed to fully pay attention,” he continued harshly. “Of course not, I’m as bad as those boys,” you sighed while shame crept beneath your skin. I’m no better… “Boys?”

I spun around, finding him a mere step away from me with his brow lifted in a perfect arch. “I’ve just spent two hours being ogled by teenage boys,” you said while you tried to not think about how you found him so extremely handsome. “And I should be used to it, always being stared at and having the most inappropriate comments thrown my way with smirks,” I continued while I tried so damn hard to not allow my eyes to roam the man before me.

“And I did that to you back then,” I exhaled, having to turn my head as I couldn’t look at him with the raging of my heart mingling with the guilt I felt from all those years ago when I was young and foolishly blinded by hormones or what other nonsense have you — so what’s my excuse now? “Did, what?” he drawled. “Ugh, you’re going to make me say it?”

Snape nearly sneered at me. I sighed. “I had a huge crush on you, professor,” I confessed anew. “A crush?” he asked, apparently confused, or in disbelief. “Yes, I had a crush on you. A massive, foolish crush on my professor.” The words felt awful to speak out loud, even more so when spoken to the man himself who I still bloody liked beyond reason.

“I thought-, well, I hoped-, ugh,” I groaned and threw my hands in the air while pacing back and forth in the office, feeling his eyes follow me each step. “I thought maybe, now, when I look like this you’d-, I don’t know! I thought you’d notice me,” I said while deflating in the middle of the room. Snape still stared at me, unmoving.

“I thought, this damn curse of looking like this would at least give me a chance… But you-, you only glare at me. Stalking away from me, looking at me as if you hate me and now-, now I feel so stupid for having come here thinking you’d notice me like everyone else always seem to do and maybe these looks would finally be good for something.” “Curse?” he asked, his voice a bit stronger than before. “Figure of speech,” I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose with my other hand on my hip.

“You think me indifferent to your… appearance?” he asked and I looked towards him, my hands falling to my sides. “Of course you’re indifferent, nothing gets your attention. If it’s not a student breaking a rule or something,” I said with a humourless chuckle. “One of the things I like about you… You’re not swayed by anything,” I continued honestly. “You have no idea,” he said, sending shivers down my spine with that thrumming voice of his. “Clearly, looks aren’t everything, Miss Kindra. Yours being…” His eyes wandered up and down my body at that and my limbs stiffened under his eyes.

“Being, what? Not to your liking?” I asked, readying myself to hear those dreaded words as my looks felt like all I had left. “Most pleasing,” he said, and I blanched for a second. “You like how I look?” “I’m no blind bat,” he gritted out with a huff. “But looks aren’t everything, you said.” “Looks can be… deceiving.”

I threw my hands up into the air. “Of course, now I’m a deceiver too, fan-frikking-tastic! I just can’t win, can I,” I exclaimed and sighed, feeling myself turn sadder by the minute. “You know what, just leave, Severus. Just leave if you’re going to glare at me like that and say such hurtful things.” “I am not glaring at you.” “D’you need a mirror?” I huffed while crossing my arms under my boobs, resorting to a temper tantrum rather than to allow my tears to fall from the pain in my chest. Seven bloody years, five, bloody, years away from him and still...

≪ Severus’s POV ≫

She was infuriating. He couldn’t understand how the words he had planned to say never got a chance to be uttered and now he’d upset her something fiercely and he had no idea what he’d done to make her react in such a manner. That he himself was upset about seeing her in such a state he couldn’t quite figure out either.

“Miss Kindra,” he sighed, “I merely came to return the bag and thank you for the cookies.” “Of course you did,” she grumbled. “Will you cease with this-, this behaviour?” he asked while clenching his fists, feeling a terrible need to hold her. “What behaviour? I’m hurt, Severus!” she shouted but all he could do was marvel at the way her voice sounded his name. It sounded beautiful for the first time in his miserable life.

“By Merlin, my life’s gone to the dogs,” she said and he couldn’t keep from stepping up to her. She was in reach and he wanted to tell her that her looks were captivating but that was not what seemed to touch him each and every time he saw her; was close to her.

“Tell me, Miss Kindra,” he began quietly, “how did you plan for all this to go?” he asked with an arched brow, feeling quite hot and bothered in her viewing of him so up close. “How I’d-, what?” “Have you looked at me?” he asked, straightening his back but taking no pride in his appearance. He wasn’t handsome, wasn’t attractive in any manner really — that wasn’t anything new to him and it had been five years since the woman before him had been his student when he was younger, twenty-four years of age.

“I’ve done nothing but look at you,” she said quietly, her voice heavy and he took half a step back at the honesty in her voice. “And you-, like me? You?” he asked, feeling uneasy and off-kilter under that warm look she offered. “For a long time.” She’s playing me for a fool, he thought while his lips thinned and he leaned forward, getting up close to her gorgeous, blushing face. “You are a terrible liar,” he snarled. “You’re blushing and averting your gaze, unable to look me in the eye while you speak lies.” And I won’t be made a fool of.

A small gasp escaped her lips while she looked absolutely horrified, hurt again. And then something about her changed. Her shoulders squared and she appeared to bristle under his gaze, forcing him to straighten while she became positively thunderous a head below him.

She poked his chest with a slender finger, her nails perfectly manicured. “How dare you?” she hissed. “How dare you!” “I am—” “Oh no, no you seal those lips of yours and listen,” she scolded while pushing her sharp nail into the fabric of his frock coat. “I have spent years, years longing for you, thinking about you wondering what I could ever do to reach you,” she said while taking half a step forward, getting up close and personal while he remained ramrod straight.

“I have been attracted to you for seven years now, and I knew I could do nothing about it as a student, looking the way I did and being absolutely nothing special,” she said harshly while her eyes watered. “And here you stand, saying I’m not allowed to like what you look like? That I can’t like you because I look like this?” “I did not say—” “Didn’t you though? Didn’t you just say that, Severus?”

He opened and shut his mouth, twice, lost for words. For he had. He judged her out mostly for the way she looked, for surely someone looking like her couldn’t possibly like his appearance? Yet it’s not the looks, it’s that infernal feeling you are exuding when you look at me.

“You never even took notice enough of me to recognise my handwriting, which you spent seven years reading,” she said and pushed once with her nail before lowering her hand. “Maybe I should judge you out for judging me now that I look like this?” she nearly snarled at him and he felt his mouth dry up. For he had been judging her ever since he had laid eyes upon her in Dumbledore’s office.

“Leave,” she said coldly, “before another forgotten gift is dragged out of history.” “Miss Kindra, I—” “Just leave, professor Snape,” she sighed while turning around dismissing him completely. For once he had no words to speak. He felt like a scolded little boy for the first time in years, and rightly so. But the manner she held her shoulders up, how she seemed to tense more and more for each passing second, had his heart in a twist. For, perhaps, she had been completely honest and now he had managed to ruin yet another chance at something… beautiful. Something he thought himself not worthy of.

So, he turned and walked away, opening the hidden door. “I apologize,” he said quietly. “For not remembering and, now…” All he got in return was a deep sigh from her, her back turned against him. He closed the door and headed off towards his private quarters with thudding steps that seemed to turn heavier and heavier to further away from her he went.

Masterlist page // Masterlist post // AO3 // LINK TREE

A/N: Well, that certainly didn’t go as planned for either of these two love-birds, did it? Do you think they can figure it out tomorrow? 🤔👀💚

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[Dec:2022]

[stormgrl19]

𝐼𝑛𝑘 𝑄𝑢𝑒𝑒𝑛𝑠

Chapter one. 

Alexandra, called Alex by her family and friends, felt powerless. Not in the I-don't-know-what-to-do-kind of way, but in the I-have-magical-powers-which-are-almost-not-there-kind of way. She had powers. Alex knew that. They were just… really weak and she hated it. 

Her father's family came from a place called Edefia [explanation: a large place, which is hidden and no one knows where it is or can see it; no one knows how to get in or out except the Gracious], which was hidden away for humans. In Edefia, people have different magical powers, most plants, trees and flowers could talk and mythical creatures live there. At least that's what her grandmother Dragomira told her, when Alex found out. Her father Pavel didn't like all of this, which was the reason why he never told his wife and children about it. Even now, Alex's mother Marie and her little sister Oksa didn't know about the family secret.

Right now, Alex sat with her father, her Baba and other guests in the living room of her Baba. It was something like a meeting about her little sister, because there was an important sign that she would be the next Gracious [explanation: same thing as a queen] of Edefia. All the elders of this meeting have waited a long time for this to happen and seemed to be glowing with excitement. 

Alex looked out of the window, it was already dark outside, because of the rain clouds. The rain was pouring down and as Alex watched it, she felt calmer second by second. She loved it, when the rain was pouring down and there was thunder and lightning. How could anyone not love a storm? She liked to think that the thunder was the old gods showing the earth, that they were still there. Immortals raging above them, never forgotten.

Suddenly there was a loud thunder and the lights went out. Darkness surrounded them, but not for long. There were two boys sitting in the far back, whispering to each other. They both hadn't said anything to anyone else the whole time, except when Abakum, an old family friend, had asked them to introduce their names. One of them, Nikolai, if she remembered correctly, had made a fireball in his hand, so everyone could see at least something. The flame was burning bright and made his strawberry blonde hair look golden.

The light was back again, because of a magical being that was flowing above them and shining bright. The adults continued their discussion, which was her father being against telling her little sister about the secret: "I never hid my distaste about going back. We all have family here, we all became real From-Outsiders [explanation: the people, who are not from Edefia; who do not live inside Edefia]."

"You are right," Mercedica said, "But no one of us has forgotten who we are or where we come from. You are Dragomiras son, you should know, what that means."

The discussion was stopped by one of the Plemplems [explanation: creatures from Edefia, who are caretakers of the Gracious (and her family)], who loudly whispered something to her Baba, the current Gracious: "Excuse me, my Gracious, but you should be informed that there is someone looking through the keyhole."

That someone was probably Oksa. Alex knew her little sister and that she was curious, sometimes too curious. And even so curiosity killed the cat, we all know that satisfaction brought it back. Dragomira made eye contact with her son and called for her second granddaughter: "Oksa, my sweet child! Come in!"

Oksa entered the room and looked around. As her eyes fell on Leomido, the older brother of their grandmother, her face lit up and she flew into his arms: "I knew that it was you, Leomido!". Then her eyes fell on Abakum and she repeated her actions.

"Oksa, this is Mercedica de la Fuente from Spain. She is an old friend of mine," introduced Dragomira, her friend, to her youngest granddaughter.

"It is an honor to meet you," Mercedica said to Oksa, who only shyly smiled at her. Her eyes wandered once more and stopped when she saw her older sister: "Alex! You are also here?"

Alexandra only smiled at her, before she looked down on her hands. She never would have thought that they could be that interesting. Abakum cleared his throat: “These two in the back are Nikolai and Tugdual. They both stay with me for a while.” As he said their names he pointed to each of them and both, Nikolai and Tugdual, just looked at Oksa, who smiled awkwardly and Abakum.

"Well, I think I should go now," Oksa said and started to go, as she was interrupted by their father saying: "I think you should stay for a moment. We have to tell you something."

"Is it something bad?" Oksa questioned.

"Depends." their father answered, "But it is important, so please sit down."

Oksa sat down right beside Alexandra and leaned a little closer for (emotional) comfort.

"But first I want to ask you something, if that's alright?"

"Sure."

"I know I shouldn't have, but I saw something."

Their Baba only smiled and left to go to the kitchen. When she went back, the Plemplem, who told their grandmother about Oksa, followed her.

“The good evening-greeting is offered to you, littlest grandchild of my Gracious.” The Plemplem bowed before Oksa, who looked… shocked.

“What is that, dad?”

“This is the Plemplem of your grandmother, my love.” He spoke so casually as if he had told her that the sun would be shining tomorrow.

“What?”

“The Plemplem is something like a caretaker, he and the Plempline [explanation: female version of the Plemplem] help your grandmother,” their father answered again.

“That’s crazy! Where did you get them from? He is incredible! Is he an alien? Or did you bring him from Russia?” Oksa was really excited.

“The belief of the littlest grandchild of my Gracious is soaked in falsity!” The Plemplem shook his little round head.  “Indeed, he is not an alien or from Russia,” their grandmother paused and looked around, asking everyone silently for permission to tell. As everyone looked down, to show they were okay with it, the Gracious continued: ”The Plemplems are from a country, which lies far away. Your father, Nikolai, Tugdual, Alex and you, you all are born here. But the oldest ones of this round are born in Edefia.”

[kaesaaurelia]

Thinking about the temple I went to briefly in college where a minyan was "any ten willing adults who made it here despite the weather -- sometimes we only get eight, though" because it was Central Illinois and they were mostly interfaith families, vs the shittiness of my mom's childhood rabbi who said he'd marry my parents without requiring my father to convert, then like three months before the wedding said, "Oh, actually I don't do interfaith couples." Thinking about the girl who deadass got up in front of my French class and argued passionately that every country in the world should follow rabbinical law (which version? idk, her version) and try boys old enough to be bar mitzvah'd as adults so they would be subject to the death penalty. Thinking about how exposure to that one single Central Illinois temple's idea of a minyan would've killed her stone dead.

Thinking about the neighbors that lectured my parents about "not raising me right" because we had a Christmas tree so I was clearly not being raised Jewish, and the next year, thinking about how my parents got the most obnoxious neon blinky star and put the tree in the window that faced their house. Thinking about my dad's family that kept giving me Jesus-themed presents for Christmas until we stopped talking to them, who could never acknowledge that my mother had a law degree. (Thinking about how my great-grandmother on my mother's side got her doctorate in French literature after her first husband died and she married her second husband, who was a rabbi. Exposure to my mother's mother's family would've killed my dad's family stone dead too, maybe.)

Thinking about how I grew up being made fun of for not "looking Jewish" even though that's not how anything fucking works, but my mom was adopted and didn't convert, so to lots of people she's not really Jewish and neither am I. Thinking about how in middle school my best friend (also Jewish, no adoption history) and I used to be mistaken for twins (so I do look Jewish, even though that's not how anything works), and about how now she and one of her other best friends (white Latina, like my mom's biological mom) are mistaken for sisters. Thinking about how both of us signed my friend's ketubah when she got married even though her other look-alike friend is goyisch, because the sweet old lady from her temple who was going to sign it got lost on the way to the lodge and, it being an interfaith wedding in rural Illinois, all the other Jews who got there that early were related to her. The rabbi said she considered it valid as long as the signers were unrelated adults, and as a female rabbi I assume she also has faced her share of accusations of Not Good Enough.

Thinking about how recently I had to explain to my doctor how I, a white woman, could have sickle cell trait. My doctor seemed shocked and appalled that an interracial union could produce pale-skinned descendants. Thinking about how my whole life has been an exercise in arguing about how little biological ancestry matters until suddenly it does -- suddenly it's a medical issue you're facing, a mystery kidney condition where they can't diagnose it and you maybe get a kidney removed for no reason and continue to suffer on and off (what happened to my biological grandmother), or, if you're lucky, you have a heads up that the doctor isn't very good and can convince him to hold off on the operation long enough for the Afro-Caribbean intern who knows his shit and has seen this before, to diagnose you properly (what happened to my mom), or you're me, thankfully you just have chronic anemia, mention the sickle cell trait, are disbelieved at first, and then are lectured by your doctor about the primary danger of sickle cell trait: if you have children (presumably with a white man) you are going to have to explain this VERY CLEARLY to him beforehand so he knows you didn't cheat on him, because why would he trust you?

(Thinking about the nurse who told my mom I might "come out black" because she had sickle cell trait, and how my mom had to be prepared to defend her fidelity to my dad.)

Kidney issues? Anemia? Well. I guess angry husbands are a greater health risk to women, after all.

(Thinking about all the times my mom has had to fight for barely adequate medical care; about how many times she has argued with the doctors, half-conscious, about one of her various life-threatening conditions, and forced them to listen for once to the sick fat woman who thinks she knows things; about how many times I could have never been born if she hadn't argued. And thinking about how hard it was to be raised by someone who still to this day can never acknowledge she might be wrong, and I'm not saying this justifies what she did to me, but goddamn, if I'd been fighting for consciousness that many times to yell about insulin or whatever, I'd be hard-pressed to back down, too. I'm not planning to have kids, by the way; the kidney issues are way more likely. Not that he asked.)

Thinking about my great-grandfather the rabbi and his ham bone seder, there being no other bones available for the seder plate in that town in rural North Carolina, and then I feel I have to clarify, no, he was my step-great-grandfather, and my mom was adopted, I'm not really related enough to him to claim him as an ancestor. But then again, what kind of rabbi would look at a ham bone on a seder plate and say it was good, and then look at me and say we're not family? I might not look like him, I'll never know, but I know my mother takes after him because we had a dog toy on the seder plate once and if that's not likeness I don't know what is. I don't think he ever doubted his own Jewishness; some of his family fled the Spanish Inquisition. But I think he'd think I was Jewish enough.

I don't know Hebrew and I didn't grow up going to temple, because that one rabbi sucked and all the other temples in town -- and we were arguably spoiled for choice -- were much more rigid in their interpretations of the rules. I never got bat mitzvah'd or even confirmed. Most damningly, I hate arguing. But I can, and I will, and I come from a long line of people who had to argue to survive, and also one guy who got caught in the middle of hog farm country and had to put together an unplanned Seder. And so, I think, if the ham bone was good enough, and any ten adults who made it to temple in a blizzard can be enough, probably so am I.

(Thinking about the time when I was four or so and learning to set the table, and I asked my father -- who is not Jewish -- why it was important that the forks be straight, and he said, "It's so they know we're Jewish." That one isn't a deep thought, my dad is just a troll. But I was probably eight or nine before I was like "hang on, that doesn't seem right..." and when I got older and tried to read the whole Torah for myself, I kept a sharp eye out for mentions of silverware.)