#soup and steaks were delicious though.

[http-tokki]

ʚ⁺˖ ↠ blue

ᰔ pairings: dabi/touya todoroki x fem!reader ᰔ content/tags: mha spoilers, childhood pov, abusive childhoods, childhood crush, blood, allusions to self harm/suicide, explicit language, smut, kinda not really, its smutty talk, angst, allusions to s/a, power dynamics, time jump to when touya is like 26, creative liberties have been taken with the original story, set in the century 2400 ᰔ wc: 10.5k ᰔ a/n: so there is a bit of a weird timeline with this one. instead of touya dying at 13, I've made it he dies at 16 and the subsequent events are a lil delayed, in the manga he is 24 atm but here i have him as 26, please suspend your disbelief for a sec cause the amount of work ive put into this so it makes sense, i almost went crazy

March 10th 2460 Touya: aged nine You: aged eight (and three-quarters)

Breakfast is at five, lunch at twelve, and dinner at seven.

The clock hands tick over the first five graduations and onto the sixth, meaning it is six minutes past seven and dinner is late.

Lateness is not tolerated by the Todoroki clan.

No reason, whether it be big or small, would be accepted nor understood by the head of the family, and punishment for being tardy ranged from groundings to lectures and in the most severe cases, a beating. However, those parameters do not extend to said head, who you think to be more akin to that of a prison warden than a father.

You watch the housekeeper slide the last of the food onto the table and take another look at the clock.

7:08.

The table had been set, food diligently prepared and presented, plates piled high with greens and dripping meat, three different kinds of fish, an array of soups, and other liquid foods. Mrs Todoroki often had trouble eating, so instead opted for warm broths and hot teas, and they were all going cold while you waited for Mr Todoroki to come in from Touya’s nightly training. Saliva coats your tongue as you breathe in the heavenly scents wafting from the mountains of food, your stomach growling in protest at not being filled with the delicious smells.

Ten minutes pass and just before the eleventh has a chance to be observed, the sliding doors to the dining room whoosh open. With the ease and casualness of someone who is above the law of the household, Enji Todoroki strolls in followed closely behind by the eldest sibling.

Touya trails behind his father, movements sluggish and slow, his frail body slumped in exhaustion and what you would only later realise as terror. You can almost see the muck that weighs on his body, dripping off sharp bones in big flat globs of swamp green mud, seeping into the reeds of the tatami mats below. Fresh wounds litter his arms, blooms of dark red blood pock the sterile bandages that were hastily wrapped around his limbs. The stark white began at his wrists and climbed up and up his arms until they disappeared beneath the sleeve of his t-shirt. You follow Touya, eyes lingering on his wounds as he sits down opposite you.

“Fuyumi. Is he-“ Your question is hushed, spoken from the corner of your mouth to avoid raising suspicion of the subject.

“He’s okay, we don’t talk about it.” Her answer comes in a rush, eyes darting towards her father like a prey animal watching their stalker.  “Just eat.” 

Fuyumi’s mouth pulls into a frown for a quick second before her attention moves to the food before her.

You nod, attention shifting from the boy across the table to the plate that had been prepared just for you. A small helping of meat and fish paired with a big serving of rice and vegetables, the nanny even going as far as to put it into a divider plate as though you were a toddler, but you thanked her regardless, smiling up at the haggard-looking woman as she nodded politely and moved onto tending to baby Shouto. The food only holds your attention for so long before you glance back up at Touya, watching as he cuts into his steak with the precision of a man far beyond his years. Each move slow and calculated; every shift of his arms or turn of his head deliberate and purposeful, small actions to avoid raising awareness of his person. Come to think of it, all the children, save for Shouto, moved like that. As if they were in constant apologetic states just for breathing, existing, and with their father you understand why, but it doesn’t stop you from staring at the boy before you.

"Stop looking. He doesn't like it when you stare." Fuyumi whispers, smacking her knee against yours.

"But it looks like it hurts." You whisper back, unable to look away from the red splotches on the white bandages.

You want to ask if he is okay. If he needs a doctor and who did that to him? Was it a bully at school? How was the school not getting involved if he was being bullied this bad?

"Fuyumi," Touya sneers from across the table. "Tell your friend to stop staring at me."

Unabashed hatred simmers in his blue eyes as his glare falls on you. Heat rises to your cheeks, stumbling out an apology, and vowing to never look at him again.

No one had ever looked at you like that. With such hatred and malice, you didn’t even know existed.

"He plays rough, always falling over at school," Mr. Todoroki’s voice booms throughout the room, so loud and sudden it is like a thunderclap on a clear day. "You've got to be more careful, Touya. What would people think if they saw you like this!"

The lack of care for his son’s well-being gives you pause mid-bite. The vegetables fall from your fork as goosebumps skitter along your skin.

What would people think if they saw you like this?

What would they think other than he had been in an accident? Is Touya’s broken body a regular occurrence that people would be so used to seeing that it would start to raise suspicion? Had he been hurt on purpose? Why would Mr. Todoroki say that? Did Mr. Todoroki do that to Touya?

Your attention is pulled outwardly as Natsuo starts to talk about his day, telling his mom and the housekeepers all about the latest games and toys at school, the newest edition of a card game you like captivates you and your thoughts are swept away from the strange boy across from you. 

Dinner ended as it always did.

Mr. Todoroki called the housekeeper over to deal with the mess and children as he retired to his office and Mrs Todoroki took her evening walk around the grounds of the estate. You can’t stay the night despite it being a Friday, you’re never allowed to stay the night. Fuyumi had stayed at yours plenty of times, your parents never saying no to another friend but never you at hers. You thanked both her parents and waved bye to her brother before the youngest housekeeper walked you home. That’s how every Friday night ended.

That routine had become a staple in your life, going on two years, before there was a change to the way of things.

------

July 1st 2362 Touya: aged eleven You: aged ten

The shift was subtle and gradual, like the way a house is warmed by a fire on a winter’s eve. Slow and steady, seeping into all corners of the once-frozen house until all you know is warmth and you can’t remember how the cold felt. That’s how you would describe Touya’s presence in your life. From the arctic interactions each Friday night at the dinner table to someone you would call a friend.

The first thaw of the ice wall that had formed around your friend’s brother, was an accident.

Knee deep in the heat of summer, you had rushed over after summer school, swimmers in your backpack and a dream of jumping into the fresh cold heaven that was the local pool. You had come looking for Fuyumi, hell-bent on getting your poor friend out of the stuffy old house and somewhere she could have fun without the risk of her dad making her or her siblings cry.

You had come to hate Mr Todoroki.

He hadn’t done anything to you personally to deserve the contempt you held towards your friend's dad but you had heard enough from Fuyumi. She had told you all the times he made her mom cry. How there would be arguing and then the sounds of breaking plates followed by her mom’s cries. Mrs. Todoroki never said anything was wrong, never alluded to anything other than a mild argument but there had to be something more, right? Adults didn’t cry over nothing!

“ ‘Yumi, let's go to the pool!” you call down the hall. “I’ll buy ice cream this time.”

The housekeeper had let you in, instructing that your friend was in her room finishing up some school work but after you checked her room and found no sign of her, you went looking.

That is how you found Touya.

Walking into the bathroom under the assumption you would find Feyumi, you are greeted with a situation you are not old enough to understand the severity of.

Touya slouched on the bathroom floor, surrounded by bloodied towels, unspooled bandages, and uncapped ointment tubes. A piece of gauze caught between his teeth as he attempts to bandage his bleeding hand.

He shouts at you to leave, his command broken as he hiccups around the sobs falling from him. Scorched skin covering the majority of his arms, fingers red and blistering as they shake.

That image sears into your brain. Imprinting itself onto your eyelids so that each time you fall asleep, you see Touya; broken and bloody.

There isn’t much you remember from that afternoon, only flashes and stills that live in the recesses of your mind.

The feel of the cold tiles on your exposed legs as you knelt before the once terrifying older boy who had never had a single nice thing to say to you.

The smell of salt and metal of his fresh blood.

The sound of Touya’s cries as you peeled incorrectly placed bandages off raw and exposed skin.

The acidic taste of bile in the back of your throat upon first laying eyes on the scene before you.

It had been too much for little you to comprehend so you just forgot most of it. Thrown it into a locked drawer in your mind and lost the key.

That was the beginning of the thaw, a gruesome and bloody beginning to a friendship that spanned years and ended just as horribly.

------

September 23rd 2463 Touya: aged twelve You: aged eleven

“So it's this really old movie that my mum used to watch” you explain as you click on the familiar title screen. “It’s about a girl who gets transported to this weird world and she has to solve some weird riddle to get out.”

Touya looks at you like you had grown a second head but accepts your weird movie recommendation. You sit down next to him, popcorn bucket jiggling as the couch sinks under your frame.

The beginning animation of Spirited Away starts and the familiar tune wraps around you like a warm hug. This was the movie you liked to watch whenever you felt sad, and you noticed Touya was a little sadder than normal these days so you offered to have a movie night. His siblings had all said yes but upon discovering that the movie was one from decades ago, backed out. So with just the two of you left, you sit in silence and watch as the beautiful world comes to life.

It’s a nice moment between the two of you, sharing something so personal with someone you would have never considered a friend and here the two of you were, watching a movie. Like friends!

“I’m gonna call you Chihiro cause all she does is cry and that’s all you do too,” Touya announces as the credits begin to roll.

“I do not!” you retort, slapping his arm lightly. “I cry a normal amount for a girl my age!”

Touya rolls his eyes. “Whatever, Chihiro.”

------

February 14th 2464 Touya: aged thirteen You: aged twelve

Spring is only a month away yet it feels as if it were the middle of December.

The cold of winter had sunk its claws deep into the city and it seemed as if it did not have plans to let go of it anytime soon. Everyone in Tokyo bundled up against the frost that coated the wind but it wasn’t the cold that had your hands trembling as you gripped a single rose.

It was Valentine's Day and you were about to ask Touya to be yours.

The nerves that had built in your stomach had taken over your extremities. It was as if your entire body was a live wire that every so often touched an exposed pipe and jolted.

In the two years since the bathroom incident, you had grown closer to the oldest Todoroki, sparking a friendship that consisted of more than smiles and shy hellos across the dinner table. Phone calls and text messages were the daily, walking to school and home together was the new norm, all things that one would consider friendly but there was a part within your heart that was growing to like Touya a little more than a friend. You knew it was a crush, you weren’t a little kid anymore, but you also knew that he was unattainable for many reasons. One was that he was a sibling of a close friend and the other being that he was not someone who thought about life that way. There was no room for crushes in Touya’s world. There was only hero work. How to become a hero and then how to become the number one hero.

You had heard this speech a million times. His plans to surpass his father in the rank of heroes and become the ultimate symbol of peace. Heroes had no time for girlfriends, only villains.

But you had no plans of becoming a hero so there was no real reason you shouldn’t try, right? Your mom had bought you the flower this morning, picking up on the crush that you had developed on your friend and very excitedly pushed you to give Touya a gift.  

“What do I do with this?” Touya asks, confused as he takes the flower from your hands.

You had stopped halfway through the walk home and turned to your friend, eyes wide with fear, and shoved the bloom into his hands. Originally the plan was to hand it to him as you said goodbye for the afternoon but you were swiftly running out of ways to regulate your breathing to counteract the anxiety wreaking havoc in your stomach.

“It's for you” you answer, eyes trained on your shoes. 

“Me?” 

“Yes.”

“Are you asking me to be your valentine?” There is a pause. “Do you like me?”

Yes.

“No!” you lie, shouting the word even though you didn’t mean to. “I felt bad that you hadn’t gotten anything, so I got you something and there you go, it doesn’t mean I like you.”  

You hear footsteps, watching Touya’s shoes move closer to yours. “Just admit, you like me.” He teases. 

“I do not!” balling your fists, you stomp your foot. “I already told you why I got them now shut up before I take them back!” 

Another pause. 

“Thank you,” Touya says gently. “Even if it's just cause you felt bad for me” 

Spring had come early for Touya Todoroki.

------

June 28th 2466 Touya: aged fifteen You: aged fourteen

Romance had blossomed between the two of you, then wilted, then blossomed again, then wilted again.

Teenage hormones had been unleashing havoc on your friendship for the past year. One day you were fine and the next, barely speaking but it wasn’t anyone’s fault.

“You two just need some time apart and then you can talk about it, you guys will sort it out.” Your mother had cooed, stroking your hair back as you cried one afternoon after you and Touya had had a ruthless argument.

The topic of fighting was always the same. His insane need to overtake his father and prove him wrong. The need within him had turned insatiable. Morphing from a dream that would one day be achieved with dedication and hard work into something that was turning your best friend into a ravenous beast.

“You’re not listening to me. I need you to listen to me.” Touya shouts as you walk home together.

“I am. You’re just not making sense.” You roll your eyes at your friend, turning your attention away from the raving lunatic walking beside you.

“Why would your dad have it out for you? He’s your dad?”

Touya huffs and stops, hand wrapping around your wrist to pull you back.

“My dad isn’t like your dad. He doesn’t love me or any of us. He just wants us to be better than All Might.” His words are slow as if explaining something to a toddler. “He knows that I am more powerful than him and now he’s scared that I might beat him so he wants me to stop training.”

You groan out his name, annoyed at the constant conversation topic. “Your dad wants you to stop training because you keep hurting yourself. He has told you that a million times, he’s just trying to keep you safe.”

“If he wanted to keep me safe, he wouldn’t have let me train like this. This isn’t about me being safe, this is about me outranking my dad.”

“Touya-“

He continues his tirade. “Enji has realised that I am better than him and Shoto but he doesn’t want his loser son who can only use fire to become the number one hero. I don’t know why you’re on his side. Why can’t you be on my side for once?”

“I am on your side!” you shout, yanking your arm away from his grasp. “I’m always on your side, why do you always make it seem like everyone is against you!”

Touya’s mouth snaps shut at your sudden outburst.

“I can’t keep having this argument with you. I feel like you don’t even want to be my friend so you come up with this stupid stuff to push me away and if you want that, fine. Just tell me so I don’t have to listen to you anymore.” You huff and turn around, starting on your way home without your friend.

You don’t hear his footsteps follow you.

His apology comes in a text later that night.

I'm sorry, Chihiro. Can we still be friends?

------

October 19th 2466 Touya: aged fifteen You: aged fourteen “Can you promise me something?”  Touya’s words become mist in the mid-autumn night.

“Depends.”

You turn to face your friend, feeling the dew-soaked grass squish beneath your shoulders. Hidden behind the garden wall, lost within the shrubbery the two of you hid from the housekeepers who had been tasked with wrangling the children in for dinner. Touya had run first, taking off down the hall the second he heard the call of his name and you followed, unaware as to what you were running from but you followed him everywhere so why wouldn’t you now?

“Please don’t forget me.”

“Forget you?” your brows crinkle in confusion. “Why would I forget you? Are you going somewhere?”

Touya is still on his back, attention rapt on the stars twinkling above him.

“Just when we get older and go to different schools and things change, you know.” He sighs. “Just don’t forget me.”

You sit up, concern overtaking your confusion. Why was he talking about this stuff now? Your friend turns to look at you, mouth pulled down in a frown as tears line his cerulean eyes.

“I won't.” You shake your head, scooting closer across the grass and grab his cold hand, interlocking your fingers together, you squeeze and swear an oath. “I promise, I won’t ever forget you.”

November 24th 2367 Touya: aged sixteen You: aged fifteen

Nights come quicker in winter.

Which means less time spent with Touya.

But at least there is a little extra time when he walks you home on an evening.

It is a little awkward. Walking so close together but not actually touching aside from the occasional brush of fingers that sent your heart into a sprint. There is something unspoken between the two of you, something that teeters on the edge of romance but not something that you are both ready to dive into. It’s not like you are kids anymore, if you are going to date, it will be different than if you just liked each other. You will have to act like a girlfriend and not his friend and you didn’t know how to be a girlfriend. Was it any different than how you acted now? Plus, kissing and hand-holding. God, you want to kiss him.

You both stop at the gate of your house. The lights in the living room are on which means your parents are up waiting for you.

Touya drops your backpack at your feet.

There is a beat of stillness between the two of you, the tension rising with every second. You had not spoken a single word to each other the entire walk home and you don’t think you will even say goodbye. Touya offers you a tight smile and steps back, confirming your suspicions of a silent goodbye.

"Hey, I need to tell you something." You blurt out the words, not wanting him to leave just yet.

"Yeah?"

"I…umm," you stammer, slipping your hands into your jacket pockets. "I know it's your birthday in a few weeks, so I wanted to know what you want as a present."

"That's a question, Chihiro” Touya's mouth lifts at the corners. “You said you needed to tell me something."

“I got mixed up." You amend.

"You sure? There isn't anything you need to tell me?" Touya pushes, taking a step to close the gap.

"I'm sure. I just got confused" You nod, affirming your choice of words. “What do you want as a gift?”

"Hmm,” He pauses and takes a few more steps closer, lips pursed as if deep in thought. “Well, I want some of those cookies your mom makes." 

Touya stops a few feet from you, close enough for a hug but not close enough that it was weird. 

You laugh. "Really? That's it? You don't want a proper present?"

He nods. "Wrap it up, and it'll be a proper present.”

“Okay, cookies it is” You mirror his nod and smile. Your palms start to sweat, cheeks and ears begin to burn as you look up at your best friend.

“Any more questions?” 

You shake your head. “Nope, that’s all.” 

“Okay, well I’m gonna go 'cause I should have been home ten minutes ago but you are such a slow walker” he teases, bouncing up on his toes. 

“I-Um,” you stutter, unable to come up with a snappy comeback due to his proximity. “Go home before you get into trouble.” 

“I’m gonna.”

He makes no move to go.

Silence fills the gap.

“Ahh, well I’m going to go since-“

You’re interrupted by a soft kiss against your cheek. 

You still, unable to move at the realisation that Touya had just kissed you. 

“Okay, I’m going.” He announces and takes a step back. “I’ll see you on Monday?” 

You nod, raising a hand in goodbye as he starts back down the street.

“I hope you like me too, 'cause that kiss made me late and my dad’s gonna kill me!” he shouts back, already halfway down the street. 

“I do…like you…back” you shout awkwardly, feeling every inch of blood your body had flood into your cheeks. “Good luck. Hope your dad doesn't kill you!” 

------

November 30th 2467 Touya: aged sixteen You: aged fifteen

You speak at Touya’s funeral. 

The third speaker of the ceremony, having been urged on by Fuyumi and Natsuo despite your protests, and the one to close off the day before his ashes were taken home. You tried not to cry, bottom lip wobbling all day and you would have made it had you not been shoved on stage, microphone held to your face as you unfolded the crumpled sheet you had stuffed into the pocket of your coat.

The rest of the day was a blur as was the week,  then the month and only after six full months of grieving daily, crying god only knows how much, did you finally start to see the light at the top of the hole you had buried yourself in but unlike the times you and Touya would play together, his warm hand wasn’t there to help you back up.

------

January 4th 2477 Touya: aged sixteen You: aged twenty-five

You think about Touya Todoroki often.

How your best friend had been killed in some freak accident. How despite his father rushing into the flames to save his son, had come out unscathed yet all that was found was Touya’s jaw bone. It didn’t make sense and you had driven yourself crazy with theories surrounding his death. It was an accident, they had all said. Even if it was an accident, Enji Todoroki was not innocent.

You think about the kind of man Touya could have been if he had lived, what kind of hero he would have become. How he would save the day then turn and smile at his adoring fans, blue eyes blazing bright with pride. You often think about his eyes, remembering how they softened whenever he would smile at you, brighten as you offered half of whatever snack bar you had that day. You think about him enough that you think you’re going crazy when you look up into the eyes of a stranger and see Touya staring back at you.

"Touya?" you whisper as you stare at the strange man.

You had walked headfirst into their chest while crossing the dark street, ducking under awnings to avoid the winter rain. Hoping to cut ten minutes from your usual walk home, desperate to beat your roommate home and into the warm embrace of your apartment’s limited hot water, you took the risk of walking down the alley; what you weren’t hoping for was to bump into your best friend’s dead brother. There was no way it was him, maybe he was a distant Todoroki. Enji did seem like the type to spread it around so maybe a few illegitimate children were running around with the eyes of Endeavour.

His hand reaches out to grab your arm, nails digging into your exposed flesh. You want to wince, to cringe away from him but something within you is telling you to hold your ground. The stranger pulls you closer, all false bravado leaving you as you realise what’s about to happen. Your body tenses, hands uselessly curling into fists at your side.

"Who the fuck are you?" a harsh whisper cuts through the quiet patter of rain.

The hand your arm tightens when you take too long to respond. 

“I’m sorry, I thought you were someone else.” Your answer whooshes from you, all air leaving your body in a single sentence.

The stranger ducks his head to get closer to yours and you turn your face away, afraid to look into the face of the man who had the eyes of a long-lost love. This had to be some sort of joke, right? You were not about to be assaulted by a guy who had Touya’s eyes, there was no way the universe was that cruel.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to I’m sorry, please.” Hot tears roll over your cheeks, your bottom lip quivering as you fight the frown wanting to form. You were not above begging despite knowing it wouldn’t do any good, if there was some way to get out of this situation alive and unscathed, you were going to try it. 

“Hey,” the stranger calls to you, shaking you gently. “Hey, I’m not gonna hurt you.” 

Great, he’s playing mind games now. You’ve seen enough true crime to know that there are no good people left in the world, especially the ones who lurk in alleyways.

A cold hand reaches out and grips your chin, lifting your face to his. The gesture is intimate, gentle and familiar.

“I’m sorry, I really didn’t mean anything by it. I'm sorry, I-“You’re sobbing now. 

“Look at me” he interrupts, fingers tightening on your cheeks.

He repeats his order when your gaze doesn’t move.

You sniffle, blink back tears that refuse to stop coming, and focus your attention on the man before you.

“I’m not going to hurt you so stop crying,” his voice is soft.

The hand that was on your arm now cups your cheek, thumb brushing away the tears that coat your cheeks. His skin is rough and warm, but there is a bite of something cold on his palm. He holds you with such tenderness you feel a tug at your heart not for any feelings towards the stranger but because you had never been held like this before. That a complete stranger who was probably a crazy psycho villain was holding you with the care you hold a baby animal with.

“I need you to stop crying and answer me, can you do that?” he asks, nodding as his thumb continues to brush over your cheek. 

You nod, taking in a shaky breath. 

“Good girl.” Heat floods your cheeks. “Now, why is a pretty girl like you walking alone at night?” he asks softly.

You blink up at him, surprised at the switch in demeanour. 

“I just finished work and this is shortcut.” you don’t have time to come up with an elaborate lie. “I’m really sorry about the whole name thing, you just look like a friend who died and I thought that maybe he wasn’t actually- I’m sorry” You feel the tears welling up again. 

“Well, he’s not me.” He sighs, removing his hands from your face. You kind of miss the warmth they had. “I’m sorry you lost someone, but I don’t think accusing strangers of being dead people is a good idea.”

You nod wordlessly, too stunned at his shift in tone to formulate a response. The man reaches up for the hood of your raincoat, pulling it over your head tight to shield you from the rain. 

“I need one more thing from you okay?” he asks, ducking his head to look into your eyes. “You gonna listen to me again?” 

“Okay.” Your voice shakes. 

“Don’t mention that name to anyone else, alright?” 

He waits for your nod and then releases your hood. “You’re such a good listener” The fact he is praising you has your heart spinning. Wasn’t he ready to attack you a few minutes ago?

“Now go home” he nods his head to the exit of the alleyway. You follow his nod and look back at the light-filled street. “And don’t walk down backstreets anymore, you could get hurt.” 

By the time you turn back to face him, he is already halfway down the alleyway arms raised in a farewell. You watch as he turns the corner and only when he is gone do you let yourself breathe. ------

March 6th 2477 Touya: aged sixteen You: aged twenty-five

"Let it go, dude," Natsuo sighs for the umpteenth time as he packs his books away. "You're lucky you didn't get hurt. He could have been a complete psycho."

Your friend is right and has been every other time you have brought up the strange man from the alley and you can tell by the way he shoves the textbooks into his backpack that his patience is running thin. Over the years, you had grown closer to Natsuo, looking at him like a little brother who you could force to hang out with and do things Fuyumi didn't want to. Unfortunately for him, he was the first person you called upon meeting the stranger (Knowing Fuyumi would have had a heart attack upon hearing about your encounter). Initially, Natsuo was concerned, terrified for your physical and mental wellbeing even going so far as to suggest letting his father know about the incident to launch a formal investigation but you were quick to shut that down. You hadn’t been hurt and the man didn’t seem to be skulking in alleyways to assault anyone so there is no reason you should get heroes involved.

"Dude, he looked so familiar! I know him," you press on, hands splayed on the library table as you lean in as if you were about to reveal a secret. "I think he was a childhood friend."

You had purposefully omitted the fact the stranger bore a striking resemblance to his dead brother or how his entire aura radiated familiarity and warmth something you only really felt from said brother.

Natsuo laughs and zips his bag closed. " 'Yumi was your only childhood friend."

"Fine, a neighbour, maybe I don't know, but I know him."

"Should I schedule you with my family psych, or will this fade by next month?" You frown at Natsu, sigh, and then give in to his pronounced lack of interest.

"I don't need to see anyone because I know I'm right," you start to pack up your things. "But, just for you, I won't mention it again."

------

May 17th 2477 Touya: aged sixteen You: aged twenty-five

You feel stupid.

Really fucking stupid.

So monumentally stupid with every single decision that has led you to this moment. Led you to stand before a thick metal door, the sliding peephole pulled back to allow the man guarding the entry a view as to who knocked like some girl scout. The box of cookies in your hands does nothing to evade that image.

“I have a meeting with…Dabi?” you look down at your phone, squinting at the blurry name on your screen then back to the man guarding whatever was in that building. “I think.”

You have no idea if you’re being set up. If the person you had been corresponding with was the infamous villain or just some poser but what you have deduced from your months long investigation is that you had in fact met Dabi in that alleyway so whether it was him or not you were about to meet, he is your only lead into finally figuring out what exactly happened to Touya

“You think?” You hear the smirk in his voice at the uncertainty in yours. “I think you might have the wrong door, sweetheart.”

It is the right door. The creepy encrypted message you received gave you this very location with the exact time to arrive. This was a giant risk on your behalf. Trusting strangers on the internet to give you accurate information as opposed to being lured into a trap for human trafficking but the need to know more about the mysterious man you had met weeks ago was gnawing at your insides so much that you were more need than person. The hunt had begun with a very broad search into Touya’s death and the records surrounding the tragedy before very quickly veering into villain records and archives. There was a small lead with a hospital admittance for an unidentified burn victim in a hospital a prefecture over from Tokyo but that went cold when the body of the patient was identified two weeks post mortem through dental records. You had all but given up when a weird email in your spam box caught your eye. It was from an unknown sender, hence the immediate spam allocation, and had nothing but a link to a chat site. There is no amount in the universe to quantify the stupidity in your subsequent actions from clicking the link to chatting with the stranger on the other side of the screen but they had the information you wanted and so you followed their instructions to a bookstore, then a bar and then finally an internet café where you logged into the already open discord chat that had the location of the final meeting point. You quickly snapped a picture of the chat before it disappeared and three days later, here you stand in a deserted alleyway surrounded by boarded-up doors and graffitied walls.

“This is the address I was given.” You explain, holding up the phone so the guy can get a look at the message. “I promise I'm not with the police or anything, I just have some questions for Dabi and I know that makes me sound like I’m a police officer but I’m not and I’ve been looking for him for weeks so please, let me in.”

Your mouth sets in a frown and despite wanting to look intimidating and rough, you know you look like a child pouting in an attempt to get more cake. “Please, I’ll give you some cookies if you want.” A shitty bribe but a bribe nonetheless.

The man snorts. “You really have cookies in that box?”

“Yes. Fresh and homemade made and some of them can be yours if you let me in” You wiggle the box.

There is a beat of silence then the sliding peephole slams shut.

Fuck.

You close your eyes, disappointed in the fact you had come so far only to be shut down by some guy behind a door. Maybe this was the universe stepping in and preventing you from getting killed or trafficked. Maybe you should let this whole thing go.

Just as the last of your hope leaves you, you hear the click of a lock and then the door is sliding open. The man who you had been speaking to not ten seconds ago stands before you, muscular tattooed arms crossed over his equally muscular chest.

“Choc chip?” he asks, eyes trained on the box in your hand.

You nod.

“Fine, come in” The man tilts his head in a gesture to welcome you in. “Leave some on the counter.”  

You nod again, your pace quick as you enter the building beyond the door.

The hallway is dim and damp, filled with cardboard and wooden crates stacked along the walls. The ceilings are high with exposed piping and hanging fluorescent bars that would have once lit up the entire walkway. Light bleeds beneath the many doors that line the hall, muted sounds following the flashes of colour that leak from the closed-off rooms. The smell is unpleasant, with mildew and mould growing along every available surface but what did you expect a dirty unoccupied building to smell like?

“Where’s the?” you turn to ask about the counter, but the man has disappeared. The door slides shut caging you in from the outside world, from an escape if need be. “Hello?” you call out and take a step back, dried leaves crunching beneath your feet.

Fuck. Fuck.

You turn on your heels, heading for the door you had stepped through a few seconds ago but are stopped by a familiar voice.

“Did you really bring me cookies?”

You whirl, fingers tightening on the box between them. “Yes, but if you don’t want them, it’s okay. I just thought that I might-“

You watch as the man you had met weeks before steps into the dim light. Breath catches in your throat as you are met with the face of the villain that has filled your screen for weeks now.

Dabi.

He is taller than you remember. Towering a full foot over you, his intimidating figure looms in the dim light. Your eyes follow the line of his scarred skin over his cheeks, down his neck, over exposed collarbones before disappearing beneath the neck of his shirt. Heat fills your face at your wandering gaze and you’re thankful for the lack of lighting.

“Who says I don’t want cookies?” Dabi smirks, taking a step out of the shadows.

“No one.” your answer is a broken stammer, earning a bemused snicker from your companion.

You take in a breath and square your shoulders. “I just don’t want to accuse you of anything.” A better delivery.

The villain hums and takes another step closer. “So, it is you then.”

Another foot closer, and when you don’t back away, one more. His steps are careful; small and reserved as if trying not to frighten you anymore than you already are. The routine is repeated, a hesitant dance of pushing proximity limits until he is less than a foot away. Blue eyes narrowed on you, brows furrowed in intrigue. Same blue as before. Same blue eyes as Touya.

His apprehension and fascination leave as quickly as it came, and you're left staring at a man who looks as if he wants nothing more to do with you.

“So, pretty girl, what can I do for you?” tone casual, pet name rolling off his tongue effortlessly. “You’ve gone through all this trouble to what?”

The thought of lying did cross your mind on your way over but you had already jumped through enough loops to get this meeting, you aren’t in the mood to play games and risk his irritation.

“I wanted to talk to you about something.”

Dabi tilts his head to the side the way an animal does to hear better. There is something so unsettling about the he moves, something not entirely human.

“Talk about what, angel?” his eyes blaze blue as he notices the twitch in your lips at the byname. “About the league? About you? Me?”

“About you.”

Heat pools in your stomach at his affectionate pet name, embarrassment following suit. You should not be letting him get to you the way he is, but it could also be a good bargaining chip. If you couldn’t afford his services monetarily, physical payment would not be entirely painful.

“We can talk about me but first, I want to ask you something.”

“Sure.” The false confidence you had summoned before has not left you yet.

The insincerity of your act is palpable, but Dabi lets you go, lets you take this small win.

“How long did it take you to find me?” his question is genuine, interested in just how exclusive access to him is.

An exhausted sigh leaves your body at the mention of the time that you had put into locating him and his lips quirk at the gesture.

“Four months and 2 weeks, I think.”

An irrationally long time but there are questions that demanding answers.

“So, you’ve spent almost five months thinking about me?” he taunts.

Me. The emphasis on the pronoun doesn’t evade you but you don’t have time to dwell on his excitement.

“Yes. And now I’ve answered two of your questions, can I ask one?”

Dabi shrugs and reaches for the box in your hands. Rough fingers brush against the back of your hands, goosebumps skittering over your skin at the contact. He takes his time opening the small white box, bottom lip pulled between his teeth in contemplation at the contents before him and after a full minute of silent deliberation, does he pick one. Slender unscarred fingers dig into the box, fishing out the biggest and most chocolate filled treat.

“Did you make these?” Dabi holds up the choc chip cookie, inspecting the biscuit in the low light.

“That’s three questions now.” you announce as the unofficial score keeper. “and yes, I made them this morning.”

The making of the desserts had been a coping mechanism on your part. Too nervous to sit still but not so overstimulated you were willing to exercise to shake off the extra energy, you turned to an activity you hadn’t touched since university. The recipe was one you know by heart, having it gifted to you by your mother on your eighteenth birthday, you were free to think as your body worked through the motions. However, the purpose behind you baking said sweets was not entirely self-soothing.

Dabi nods and bites into the biscuit.

“I know you already said you don’t know the guy I mentioned when I first met you and I haven’t mentioned him to anyone again just like you asked me, and I figured with you being a villain, you might have connections that I don’t have and you can access more information as to what happened to him and I promise that I can pay. I’ll pay whatever you want but I don’t really have that much but I’ll pay in food, and that’s kinda why I brought some cookies to show that I can bake but that will only be a small amount because I’m good for a couple thousand-“ you reach into your back pocket to fish out your wallet. “I promise, I won't ever mention this to anyone, but I just really need your help, Dabi.” The juxtaposition of your pastel purple Kuromi wallet holding thousands of dollars as payment for a villain’s services almost makes you chuckle but the lack of recognition from your companion causes you to pocket the purse.

Dabi’s stare is unamused as he chews.

“Why is this guy so important to you?” he asks around a mouthful of chocolate. “You’re willing to blow thousands on some dead guy, not to mention you’ve risked your life coming here, so why is he so special?”

Your fingers curl into a fist, nails digging into your palm before you relax and answer.

“Because he died in a really weird way, and I need to know if there was anything I could have done to prevent it.”

“That’s a stupid reason.” Dabi spits out.

A frown tugs at your mouth.

“He’s dead. Who cares how he died and whether you could stop it or not.” He continues, rolling his eyes as your pout forms. “What’s the real reason you’re looking for answers? There’s something else.”

“It’s stupid.” You mutter, suddenly embarrassed at the reasoning for your investigation.

“Ohh, it can’t be that stupid if you’ve put all this effort in.” Dabi croons. “Come on, angel. You’ve gotta tell me why if I’m gonna do all this work looking for him.”

You take in a deep breath in hopes of smothering the tears that are threatening to spill but the lump sticking in your throat has other plans.

“Because he was my best friend and I loved him and I never got to say goodbye.” You sniff, nose starting to run as the tears build. “Please.”

Dabi stares at you.

“You made these?” the question comes out of left field.

You blink at the villain, unaware as to where he is taking the conversation but answer him nonetheless.

“Yes, I did. It’s stupid I know, bringing cookies as a bargaining chip but I-“

“Your mom’s cookies are better.”  Dabi interrupts.

My what? My mom?

“What?”

He wipes his mouth with the back of his hand. “I’m sorry but her cookies will always be the best.”

Your jaw slackens as you stare at the man before you.

“My mother?”

“Yes. Your mom made better cookies, and it’s not for lack of trying. Yours are really good, but they’ll never beat your mom's.”

Is he fucking with you? Is this some elaborate psychological warfare that he enacted on all his victims? Are you about to die? How does he know about your mother’s cookies?

“Aww, don’t get upset Chihiro. I'm just being honest.”

The nickname rattles your soul.

Touya.

Before you can even register that you are moving, you have crossed the space between your bodies and swung at the villain.

Your clenched fist collides with his jaw, surprising him out of his teasing. Arms wrap around your waist as you collapse against the villain. Your knees break the fall, bones scream out in pain as they slam into the concrete, and you brace for further impact but it never comes. There is a moment when you truly believe you are going to be killed, incinerated into nothing but ash for your assault but nothing happens and so you are left with no other choice but to get answers from the man under you. There is no clear choice as to why you chose violence, some primal part within you acting out of instinct. There isn’t enough time for you brain to catch up or even process that information that had been thrown at you. . In most high-pressure situations, you would retreat inwards and carefully unpack each and every detail of the occurrence like you were a kid under a Christmas tree; not a package left untouched, but you don’t have that luxury in the current moment.

Hot fat tears stream down your face as you grip Dabi’s cheeks in your hand, his skin rough beneath your fingers.

“You’ve been alive this whole time?” you cry, fingers digging into the gaunt flesh and when no answer comes you ask again, the palm of your hand connecting with his cheek in a sharp slap. “You left me to think you were dead, but you’ve been alive?”

Below you, the villain stares up in disbelief. Eyes wide at the mad woman above him, screeching like a banshee let loose. His thin shirt is scrunched tightly between your fingers, pulling the material taunt against his body. You have no control over your actions, feral and bowing to your emotions. You watch as your hand slips to his neck, pushing at the base of his throat.

Finger wraps around your wrist, pulling your weight off his windpipe and then the world shifts.

You are flipped over as easily as a leaf in the wind. Now on your back, the dust that had been kicked up from the floor sticks in your lungs and you cough as you cry.

Dabi hovers above you. Legs on either side of your hips, hands pinning yours above your head preventing you from causing any more harm to him. You try to kick, to wrench your hands from his grasp, throw him off you with your hips but nothing. You fight back against your opponent, teeth gnashing as you desperately try to find purchase on skin but he has done this too many times before to leave anything to chance. All points of access to an injury on his behalf are sealed up, held high above you and there is nothing you can do to reach.

Your cries are loud and deep and aching. Air leaves you with each heaving sob and you fear you may never breathe again. Spit and tears mix in a hot mess across your cheeks and you would wipe away the mess if not for your hands held above.

“I hate you so much.” You seethe, teeth clenched as you breathe in. “I fucking hate you.”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” You hear Dabi apologising over and over again.

A hand brushes over your forehead, then your cheeks, then your jaw.

“You left me.” You wail. “You left me there, all alone.”

Your chest heaves, air being gulped down as if you had been held underwater to the point of drowning and it felt like you had been. You had been held under for so many years and now you were getting a moment of air, and your brain could not process it. 

You take a few more breaths, calming the blood roaring in your ears and pounding heart and finally when your breathing returns to a semi-acceptable rhythm, do you finally acknowledge the man above you.

Dabi glides his palm along your jaw, thumb brushing over your cheekbone before resting his fingers along the side of your neck.

“I’m so sorry.”

A frown pulls at the corners of his mouth.

There is no longer a villain before you. Dabi does not exist. The boy above you is Touya. Your Touya.

You knew it. You knew it was him all along.

“Is it really you?” your voice is hoarse from crying.

“If I answer, you need to promise to keep it a secret,” he whispers, free hand curling in the ends of your hair that lay splayed out beneath you.

“Promise.” You nod and hold out your pinkie the way you did so many times as children.

Touya interlocks his pinkie with yours.

Fresh tears prick at your eyes.

“Hi, Touya,” you whisper.

“Hi.” He whispers back, hand pulling away from yours to glide over your jaw and slot into the hair at the nape of your neck. “I missed you.”

You wrap your arms around his waist and pull his body against yours in a bone-crushing hug. A laugh leaves your friend as he loops his arm around the back of your neck, holding you close. You pull back, face now centimetres from him and wait for him to make the next move. Your body follows his breaths, following his lead just the way you would follow him all those years ago. A lump forms in your throat and you know you look insane; hair mused, cheeks flushed and soaked in tears, eyes still red and crying.

Touya closes the distance, mouth hovering above yours and you think he is going to kiss you but nothing comes.

“Did you really love me?”

A sob leaves you involuntarily.

“I loved you so much, you have no idea.” The truth spills from you. “I love you so much.”

At the confession, Touya kisses you.

His mouth is soft on yours in the gentlest of kisses, almost as if he was afraid that you would fall apart if he pushed any harder. You part your lips to test the waters and when Touya follows your lead opening his mouth against yours, you grip onto the shirt bunched up around his waist. He lets you lead, lets you take control and set the pace for the first few minutes. Following your moves and pressure against your body to not push you any more than you already had been but as you whimper beneath him, his demeanour shifts.

Fingers tighten in your hair and the hand that had been holding himself up comes to rest on your waist, slipping beneath your body to pull you closer to him. Your mouth opens wider beneath his and you feel his tongue trace your bottom lip before flicking into your mouth. Menthol and chocolate fill your senses and you scramble for more, hands gripping his face as you desperately try to get your fill of him; of Touya. The steel of the staples bites into your palm but you don’t care, don’t care what form you have him in, you have your Touya back.

You’re being lifted off the floor, hoisted to sit on his lap, feeling the entirety of his body against yours.

You pull away to stare at him, not believing this is happening and that at any moment you are going to wake up or snap out of your delusion.

“Are you okay? Did I hurt you?” Touya asks, eyes frantically searching for the reason you aren’t kissing him anymore.

Your chest constricts at his concern. The same sweet and caring boy you fell in love with all those years ago.

“I’m okay, I just-“You stroke his cheeks and he leans into your touch, inhaling a shaky breath. “I missed you so much. There was so much we didn’t get to do.”

He frowns and nuzzles further into your palm. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. I don’t want you to apologise, I just want..” You can’t form the words. Can’t articulate the need within you for him. All these years you’ve held a torch for your deceased best friend. All these years you could have had him with you and now that you do, you aren’t letting go. “I just want you.”

Touya’s frown deepens. “Even now?”  His thumbs stroke circles along your clothed skin.

You know he is referring to his crimes. All the bad he has done and probably will do. You do not care. You had long ago abandoned your hope in the heroes of society, having been granted a look into the past of the now top hero. There is nothing for you in that world, nothing on offer that could sway your feelings for the man below you.

“Even now, and tomorrow and the day after that and yesterday and the day before and the month before that” You smile, knowing you weren’t making sense but none of this made sense. “I never forgot about you.”

Touya’s eyebrows knit together in an expression you don’t know and for a moment you panic; worried you had crossed a line that you didn’t know existed. You want to apologise, take back the words that had so carelessly tumbled out but his grip on your body stops you.

“I never stopped thinking about you,” he sighs, hands sliding up to press into the small of your back.

“Really?” you beam, unable to stifle the excitement that grows in you at his confession.

You are no longer an adult woman sitting in a dirty and dusty warehouse; you are fifteen and hearing your crush confess words you had been so desperately wishing to be spoken.

Your best friend’s fingers trailing over your spine pull you back to the present.

“Never for a single second,” he tests the waters and slips one hand under the hem of your shirt. “I never wanted to forget you.”

When no protest on your behalf comes, Touya slips his other hand beneath the material and begins to trace shapes into your skin.

“What did you think about?” your question is breathless, head beginning to swim as you feel heat bloom in your stomach.

Touya hums in thought, fingers beginning to climb your ribs. “Good things. Great things actually.” hands splay over the band of your bra. “some bad things but that isn’t important.”

Your thighs slip further apart at the implication; weight now fully resting atop his hips. There is no doubt that he can feel the heat from between your legs, the warmth that had begun to pool in the seam of your panties.

“Bad things?” you ask the question without knowing what kind of answer you would get. “I was nothing but nice to you, what bad things could you be thinking of?”

You feel his cock twitch at your innocence. Perfect.

Your answer comes in the form of an action. Touya leans forward and captures your mouth in a searing kiss. All teeth and tongue as his fingers pressed hard into your spine, holding you against his body as if you are a buoy and he is lost at sea. Your own hands begin to wander, sliding from where they came to rest on his neck, into the hair at the nape of his neck and as he digs his teeth into your bottom, you pull at the strands between your digits.

Touya pulls away, breathless.

“I always kept an eye on you, you know.” he pants, pushing your body away only enough to ogle you freely. “And I’ve gotta say you grew up so well.”

There are two thoughts that cross your mind in that spilt second. One: to bring up the fact he has kept you within his sighs for years, has been in the shadows of you life and how there is a part of you, not that big but enough to plant a seed of betrayal, that you can’t forgive him for that. Two: to throw caution to the wind and give into the part of you that aches for him.

The latter wins out.

“I did always think that Dabi was really handsome” you admit, an air of nonchalance in your words.

“Oh yeah? Even with all the new mods?”

“New mods?” you laugh. “Why do you make it sound like you’ve upgraded a game or something?”

Touya laughs with you.

“I’m serious,” vulnerability swims in his eyes as he looks up at you waiting for praise. “Do you really think that I’m still handsome?”

You nod and duck your head closer to his. “I still think you’re so handsome and you will always be handsome, which is really unfair.”

His lips are pressed against yours in a soft kiss. It's gentle and sweet, with no hint of the darkness lurking just below.

“Even after all these years how do you manage to make me so weak?” Touya pulls away to admire you.”You, my pretty girl, are my weakness.”

He tucks your hair behind your ears, holding your cheeks in his cupped hands and pulls you back in for a kiss and you melt into his touch at the possessive compliment.

“All these years, I never thought I’d get to talk to you again let alone touch you.” His mouth moves to your neck, pressing sloppy open-mouthed kisses against your skin. “but, fuck, have I thought about it.”

Your skin flushes at his confession.

His teeth sink into your neck, hard enough to leave a mark but not enough to break the skin.

“Thought about kissing you like this” his words are slurred.

Slick begins to pool in your panties, the seam of your jeans dampening.

“Thought about having you in my lap, just the way you are and how good you’d feel on my cock.”

Your head swims at his words.

“When I saw you again for the first time a few years ago, it took everything in me to not walk up to you and kiss you right there and then.” He bites lower, nipping at your collarbone.

Rough hands make their way under your shirt, exploring the expanse of your back.

“Thought about holding you and kissing you and taking you home.” he bites again. “God, the amount of time I’ve spent imagining you under me or spread out just for me.” Breathing becomes hard. “All for me, just for me.” He chants your name as if it were a prayer.

You grind your hips over his, feeling his cock hard and aching beneath you. Touya groans against your throat, fingers digging into your skin. Hands begin to wander downwards until they find purchase on the buttons of his pants, stopping at the metal for approval from the man beneath you and when it comes in a rushed yes, please you flick open the clasp. Your movements are awkward and nervous, having never thought this would happen and you can tell Touya is just as jittery. His fingers dip under the waistband of your pants, toying with the soft elastic of the band. Your hands follow his and pull at the material, trying to pull it down but stop at the realisation there is no way you could do this and still look seductive.

“I’m trying really hard to make this hot, but I don’t think it’s gonna work.” You admit, giggling at the absurdity.

Touya shakes his head, removing his hands from your hips to hold your face again. “I don’t want to fuck you here.” He presses a kiss to your nose.

Before you can ask, he is answering.

“I’m not gonna have the first time I fuck you be on a dirty floor in a random building.” A kiss on your right cheek.

“But what if I want that?” you retort, hand reaching down between the two of you.

His breath catches as your fingers brush against his clothed cock.

“I know you want that,” he pulls your hand away and entwines your fingers. “and you know I do too,” A kiss to your left cheek. “But I had a plan back when we were younger,” he brings your hand to his lips. “and I’ve already had so much taken from us that I’m not letting our first time be taken too.”

Your heart squeezes. He really is the same boy you fell in love with.

“So as much as we both want it, please let me do this, okay?”

You pout, a habit you had formed long ago that usually got you what you wanted from him.

“Please, baby.” The pet name is a gut punch.

 You nod and hold up your pinkie.

“You promise?”

Touya grins wider than you had ever seen and entwines his finger with yours.

“I promise.”

May 17th 2477 Touya: aged twenty-six You: aged twenty-five

-------

ᰔ a/n: NOT PROOFREAD! ohmygosh, this was a long haul. I wrote it and then rewrote it and then rewrote it and so on and so forth till I got here. tiny TINY smut cause i didn’t wanna write a whole ass thing so I might do a one shot of it later. this exhausted me holy- also shout out to billie eilish lmao her entire new album helped me write this mainly chihiro, the greatest and blue but also harry styles' as it was and madds buckley's brother

[readychilledwine]

To Keep You From Breaking

Elain Archeron Week - Day 2 - Hope

Summary - When darkness feels as though it is approaching, Elain’s hope begins to spread to the Inner Circle through her small acts of kindness

Warnings - mentions of alcohol

A/n - A little late for @elainarcheronweek day 2, but alas, this went through heavily scrutiny and almost did not get posted. It does set up what I am about to explore heavily this week, so she got to stay. It's not my favorite thing, but it sets up the brother sister relationship I want to play with between her and Rhysand, which was ultimately the goal.

🌸Elain Week Masterlist🌸Master Masterlist🌸

“Whiskey…” she muttered to herself, rummaging the alcohol den Rhysand kept. “Whiskey.. whiskey.. yes!”

Elain seemed to glow as she grabbed the dusty bottle of amber liquor. She had kicked the Inner Circle out of the Moonstone Palace, telling them she would call for Rhysand or Feyre when they were allowed back.

She may not have had full control of her powers nor her situation, but Elain knew she could help. She could bring joy through her hope, her kindness, her talents in the kitchen. If this was how she could fight darkness until she gained the abilities she needed, then this is how she would fight alongside her family.

Even if she had to adjust some factors due to the Vanserra brothers being present, but she was always well prepared for a challenge.

Even if one of those challenges was a distracting one.

Peach cobbler with a whiskey glaze for Rhysand's complex tastes.

Ribeye steak with a rosemary butter to touch Cassian's love of all things protein.

Apple and feta salad to highlight Feyre's love of artistry in foods.

Butternut squash soup that was spiced with Autumnal flavors and loveliness for obvious reasons.

She touched everyone's tastes. A food, drink, or sweet to call to all of them. Something to let them know she cared, that she saw them, that she understood.

She set the grand table for a candlelit dinner with wine, spiked ciders, and hearty food, then moved to put the finishing touches on her dessert table, “Rhys,” she called for him mentally, choosing her newest best friend over her little sister. “I'm ready.”

She sent him that image. A table full of food with candle flame shimmering off the walls. Desserts so sweet they'd make your teeth ache from just a glance. Their arrival was immediate. Bodies taking seats with no care of who sat where or why.

The smell and sight was heavenly, healing parts of them untouched by anything else. Everything could wait.

There was no Beron in this place.

No Koschei.

No mortal queens raising an army.

Just family. Friends. Good food and strong wine aplenty.

Conversations flowed like the Sindra. Jokes being thrown in every direction and at everyone's expense. The mood was light for the first time in a very long time. It reminded them of safer days, or what could, and would, come.

They were strongest together and Elain knew this as she sipped her champagne. A soft calloused hand moved to hold hers under the table, squeezing softly as Rhysand caught her eye.

No words needed to pass between the two of them. The understanding was known and there. With just her inner spark, Elain brought them together, and with just her spark, she would ensure this meeting went smoothly as Night and Autumn met to discuss the change they were all ready to bring.

“Steak is good, El,” Cassian's mouth was half full. “Perfectly cooked.”

“The soup is also delicious, our sister should take notes,” Nesta put a brow up at Feyre, waiting for the new mother to sass her back.

“Says the female who offered a stale cracker.” It was Lucien. Lucien who fired back at Nesta to defend his friend before covering his mouth.

Silence quickly turned into loud laughter as Nesta immediately began justifying her choice to offer Cassian a cracker she'd carried in her pocket.

Her next act of kindness came in Rhysand's office. The House had gone quiet. Eris back in Autumn. Lucien at the Townhouse. Azriel the old Riverhouse. Cassian and Nesta at the House of Wind.

The High Lord was wide awake, though, ink dragging along parchment as he penned a letter to Helion and Thesan.

She entered the room slowly, a tray of cheese, fruits, and nuts in her hands. “I brought you snacks,” she moved to him. “A few different cheeses, fruits, your favorites.”

He glanced at her, smiling, “And you are up because?”

“Because you shouldn't be lonely.”

He helped her set the tray on the coffee table, taking a break to sit with her in his far too large office. “I'm used to being lonely-”

“Don't care,” Elain sat down, popping a chunk of cheese into her mouth. He sat across from her, studying her like she was a star ready to be mapped before him. She was an interesting creature. Soft, yet iron clad strength shined from within. Gentle, but an unmoving firmness.

“Your heart is still very human. Filled with hope,” he began. “Kindness. Curiosity.”

“You say these things like they are negative-”

“Never,” she whispered to him, her bottom lip trembling as she felt seen by him, felt her efforts paying off. “I promise.”

“No,” he immediately interrupted. “Contagious. They are contagious. Your kindness brings light, Elain. That light bring joy. That joy sparks hope.” He reached across the table, gently taking her chin between two fingers. “I told your sister this once, but be glad for your human heart, Elain. Never let it go. Never change.”

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@hnyclover @glitterypirateduck @slytherinindisguise @mischiefmanagers @bloodicka @starsinyourseyes @the-sweet-psycho @mariahoedt @rinalouu @sarawritestories @starryhiraeth @starswholistenanddreamsanswered @cumuluscranium @loneliestluvr @eternallyelvish @azrielsmate3 @daughterofthemoons-stuff @meritxellao @aria-chikage @hungryforbatboys @lilah-asteria @fandomrejects @sleepybesson @tayswhp @itsswritten @milswrites @littlest-w01f

[molagboop]

The following has been rotating in my head like rotisserie chicken for a while now:

What the heck did little Samus eat during her time on Zebes?? What plants and/or meats there would be safe for human consumption (unless Old Bird had human food imported)?

Most of Zebes' fruit and nut-bearing plants are safe for consumption. If you can deal with the thorns or chemically pacify them for a short spell, Cacatac bear fruit with a rather pleasant floral taste.

Flesh-eating bacteria introduced to Zebes by zoomers (which are native to Tallon IV) killed off a good chunk of edible animals, though there were still quite a few beasties that prime for chow time.

The Beetom possesses legs full of succulent meat not unlike earthly crabs. Their nutrient rich eyes are also a delicacy.

If you can find and neutralize them, Geega are edible. Remove the horns and venom sacs, and you can roast them like big grubs. The wings make a nice crispy treat.

Kiru Giru were hunted by the Thoha in the old days. Unfortunately, Samus hasn't had the opportunity to taste one: Norfair's just too far down for robots to reliably go hunting.

Kago are delicious skewered and roasted. Their soft red hives are delicious raw, but can also be used in a lush stew.

Every part of the humble Mellow can be eaten, save for the mandibles and carapace.

Tangle vine fruit is, in fact, edible: unfortunately, the Thoha have not had the opportunity to harvest it in years. With the correct kit, the vines ensnaring the fruit can be chemically manipulated into releasing their hold on it.

Owtch are prized for the tangy meat within their shells.

Puyo are sort of like amoeboid colonies or some form of slime mold: puyo slime can be used as a thickening agent or a catalyst in jelly creation. The puyo itself gives off a strange flavor: not disgusting, mind you, but certainly strange by human standards. Each color variant tastes different. Not exactly palatable to most on their own, but they have their uses. In the old days, they were domesticated in Maridia, and the mostly-docile white variant was bred. You can also grow puyo colonies like sourdough starter. The colony can be controlled by changing the environment in the enclosure, and separating globs from the bucket every now and again is vital to colony maintenance. Old Bird kept a puyo colony for culinary purposes.

Every part of the Reo (except the talons on the end of the pincers) can be used. Crispy sauteed wings, sour but nutritious eyes, and the juicy meat within the carapace make excellent fare for a hunter willing to deal with them.

Ripper meat can be difficult to reach due to that hard shell. Nabbing the tasty flesh inside is as simple as putting them in a pot, placing the pot in a freezer for several hours, and waiting for the shells to pop open. They're like reverse oysters. You can crack the red ones open like a coconut if you're strong enough.

Sbugs are tasty treats. Opportunistic scavengers, you can trap them by leaving smelly bait or fabricated meat out. Cook 'em or eat 'em raw: they're an all-rounder snack and a handy side all in one.

The sciser is a pushover crustacean with sweet meat. Put bait in a specially made cage-pot and wait for a few to fall into it. Boil or roast and enjoy with your preferred seasoning. Grey Voice enjoys them salted and herbed.

Skultera are a pain in the rear end to hunt for the Thoha these days, so they usually don't bother. In the old days, skultera were small potatoes. Would indubitably taste good with them, too. Get those taters buttered and mashed, filet the fish, and fry it or sear up a skultera steak with herbed honey garlic sauce or a buttery meunièr...

Squeept are edible, but not feasible for the elderly Thoha to hunt these days. Claw meat is soft, while the body meat, while gristly, makes good fare for soup. The body meat is commonly boiled for soup stock to infuse the meal with the flavor and nutrient profile, then discarded before serving.

Tatori are like real-life turtles. They can be fried bone-in (or out), cooked in stews and soups, roasted, barbecued... you name it. Tatori gravy is delicious with dumplings or grains like rice.

Waver flesh is nutritious and earthy. The muscles enabling them to open and close their shells are gamey with a bit of an umami tang. The eyes are jiggly and jelly: delightful to children. Discard the pincers from the plate and use them to make utensils later. Wavers can be roasted whole in-shell or taken apart.

Yards are small pincer-laden molluscs. Broil them in butter or sauce, in or out of the shell.

Meat is a little scarce under the zeela's hooded shell, but the eyeballs are soft and very appealing fried.

Zoa are like shrimp with large claws. Salty meat with a hint of sweetness: the eyes are a little bland, but seasoning makes them more palatable. Zoa were commonly boiled or roasted. The claw meat is the tastiest part.

This is what a zoa looks like, for those who can't make out the details from the tiny sprite.

In the absence of folks available to hunt down edible fauna, meat products can be synthesized. Many of the Thoha have trouble slaying living creatures, so they're content to make do with such things. Despite this, they have defense robots that can be programmed to bring back animals to be processed for culinary use (meat and eye removed from a fresh Beetom carcass by way of machinery, DIY with your hands, etc. It's easy for many Thoha elders to handle something that's already dead: killing it by hand is the hard part for them).

The Thoha are staunch pacifists, so they make a huge deal out of thanking any slain animals for the meat they provide, and try to use every part of the beast in some capacity. For example, once cleaned of organic matter and sanitized, Beetom shells can be used to make jewelry, and boiled to fashion other household objects or soap. Yard shells make gorgeous adornments, but can also be lacquered for use as vessels to hold fluids and other oddities.

Meaty food is a little limited by the time Samus is brought to Zebes (thanks zoomers), and the Thoha are too old to be cavorting in the more dangerous regions by themselves, but they had methods for subduing and cooking some of their native beasts.

[austin-in-taiwan]

June 29 - Kaohsiung - Free day - Beach

Today was our free day, which was on Monday instead of Sunday this week. Last night, we went out for a few drinks at nearby bars, so this morning, I didn't get out until around 10:45. Originally, Jacob, Jack, Eli, and I were going to go to a nearby mountain/hiking trail that Yeh Laoshi suggested that has monkeys. However, we missed the bus, so we decided to go when it's cooler tomorrow morning. Instead, we stopped for some scallion pancakes (which were delicious) and went to the beach. To get to Qijin Beach, you have to take a ferry. The ferry ride was pretty, and we could use our metro pass to get on, which was very convenient. Once we got to Qijin, there were several street food vendors, and the area was quite cool.

After a short walk, we arrived at the actual beach. The sand was black/grey, which was pretty cool when you first saw it. However, after researching, I learned that the sand is that color because of decades of oil and sewage discharged from the ships that dock in the nearby Kaohsiung harbor. What also surprised me was how dirty the beach was. I've rarely seen any litter in Taiwan, but on the beach, there was so much everywhere. I'm not sure why that was, but one theory was that it was because of the recent Typhoon, and nobody has cleaned it up yet. Also, we couldn't go far into the water because of rip currents and steep drop-offs in certain places. I did enjoy drawing "Go Gators" in the sand, though (see picture below)!

Once we were tired of the beach, we grabbed some ice cream from 711 and headed back. Once off the ferry, we stopped for some dumplings. The lady who worked at the restaurant was very nice, and we had a conversation in Chinese. Then, we headed back to the hotel to rest and do some laundry.

Jack, Jacob, and I went to Lingya night market for dinner. It was just two stops on the metro and a short walk away. This night market was slightly different from those I have been to before as there was running car traffic in the middle. We found a place with indoor seating and decided to try it out. I got a steak, egg, and noodle dish for only 250 NTD. The steak was good, and they also served us corn soup, bread rolls, and tea for free. I did my best to conversate with the waitress in Chinese. I ordered the food for us, asked if the soup was free of charge, and made sure there was no milk in the soup since one of my friends had a dairy allergy. Overall, I enjoyed the meal and the experience as a whole.

[lumine-no-hikari]

Dear Sephiroth: (a letter to a fictional character, because why not) #125

I'm still in a lot of pain today, but it's not quite as bad as it was yesterday. It's still a little hard to breathe, but I'm managing. Hopefully whatever's going on will be over and done with in just a few more days. I've taken some ibuprofen, though, and I'm well-hydrated. So don't worry about me, okay? I'll be just fine. 💖

I made myself a tea this morning. I made a toast-and-jam tea, and as a result of that, I get to show you one of the other ice creams I got! I'll show you the pictures I took…

This tea starts out as a beautiful shade of amber that resolves into a delicious shade of red:

This is the ice cream I put into it while it was still hot:

It's got a pretty drawing of a blackberry plant on the lid:

Here is what it looks like once the lid is taken off:

From there, we can put an amount of it into the tea until it feels correct:

Then once it's all melted, we can stir it up!

...I wonder if you would have liked how this turned out. I wish I could give you a mug and see...

I did my therapy homework today. In case you don't know, a good therapist is supposed to give the person seeing them homework to do over the week. Last week, he thought to capitalize on my tendency to write, and he asked me to write a letter to my inner child. And then he asked me to tap into my inner child and write back to myself.

It's generally in my nature to go above and beyond when people ask me to do things, whenever possible. And so I ended up writing three letters instead of just two. I ended up crying a lot during the process, but I came away from the exercise with a changed outlook on a variety of things. You can read what I wrote if you want to; it'll be the post just before this one. But if you're not interested, then that's okay too! 😊

I wonder if some such activity might benefit you. I imagine if you engaged your inner child with compassion, curiosity, and gentleness, it'd probably do you a world of good. I wonder what it would be like for you if you treated your inner child, and yourself generally, in the same tender, kindhearted way you treated the people you cared about, before your fall.

…You can return to that, you know. You can return to that anytime. And you can give your kindness and gentleness to people who are better able to reciprocate. Not everyone is going to treat you like a superhuman afterthought. I promise.

Anyway, in service to a renewed sense of resolve when it comes to caring for myself, I went ahead and got myself some soup and some macaroni and cheese with some yummy steak:

...Related, I think I'm going to try to make for myself the mac-and-cheese that my mother used to make. I am the only one who can make it for myself now, and I think I owe it to myself to figure it out. I will try to make a gluten-free version of it, so that Br can eat it, too. That's easy enough to do with brown rice noodles; it's basically indistinguishable from whole wheat pasta, in terms of its flavor and texture. Maybe I'll try to do that soon. And of course, when I do, you can count on me to walk you through the process so you can do it, too.

I also made it a point to sit for a while and watch one of my favorite cartoons. This one is called The Zeta Project; it came out when I was 11, which was... 23 years ago (wow, what the fuuuuck...). It's a beautiful show about a sentient robot named Zeta who was built to be a weapon, but who is trying to lead a life of peace. The government is trying to capture and reprogram him and put him back to work as a mindless killing machine. He's accompanied by a clever, savvy, and brave young girl named Rosalie. I really hope you'll watch this one someday; Zeta is very gentle and kind, and in a lot of ways, he reminds me a lot of you.

...The show was cancelled before it finished, though. I heard that it was because more girls liked it than the producers were comfortable with, so they pulled it off the air. I really hope they finish it someday. For now, though, the ending has to be left to the imagination. Zeta is beautiful, wonderful, and kind, so I like to imagine a course of events in which he can live in peace with Rosalie and with others who care for him.

...He really does remind me so much of you. I hope you'll look at his story. I think, in particular, you might find the episode called "Remote Control" relatable. You can find it at a place called... something like Watch Cartoons Online Forever? The first part is shortened to "wco", and it ends in ".net". Maybe you can find it...

Anyway. I took a bunch of other pictures for you today. One of them was taken at home because the morning light shining through the window was really nice. And when we visited Br's house today, I saw a great big huge bird-of-prey in the sky. I also took a bunch of pictures of Br's house, and the scenery outside. I thought you might like them. So here they are:

It's hard to take a picture of a moving object in a moving vehicle, but the black speck in the sky is the bird-of-prey I saw. I've seen an unusually large number of these lately. That, and crows. I wonder if the recent solar eclipse still has them kind of thrown for a loop. Hm.

Also, shortly after I did my therapy assignment, J took me out for a walk to decompress, and there was a crow in a tree that we've never seen crows in; our development is generally quite hostile to life (which is VERY unfortunate...), and hostile to crows in particular, because people don't like them (I've never understood why that is...). But he was sitting alone in the tree, making the "I'm with you" call; check out this video, at about the 40 second mark, and you'll hear what I mean:

...I can only imagine that this poor crow must have been very confused.

Here are some pictures of Br's house.

...I seem to have some sort of fixation with taking pictures of things outside of windows today. I'm not really sure why. But it turned out nice, so maybe the "why" doesn't really matter.

Oh!! I almost forgot!! A comet passed over my house last night. It's called the "Pons-Brooks Comet", or "Comet 12P". It only shows up once every 71 years. I wanted to see it, since I won't live long enough to see it again, but it was cloudy last night in the spot where it was supposed to be, so I didn't get to take any pictures. But J went online and found a live video that was tracking its movement; I can show you a screenshot that I took:

...It's not a very good picture, I know. But maybe you'll like it anyway; I don't know how often you get to see comets. Well, maybe you get to see them a lot, since you're over at the Edge of Creation and all, so maybe it's really not all that special to you. But maybe it can be special to you that someone would take the time to show you a picture of one anyway, if you want it to be.

Hey, Sephiroth? I'm pretty tired, so I'm going to stop writing before I end up rambling. Or maybe I rambled a little already, haha...

Please treat yourself nice, okay? I feel determined to treat myself nice, too. So let's do it together, all right? Because why not?

I love you. Stay safe. You'll get another letter tomorrow; just you wait.

Your friend, Lumine

[fuckkbrunch]

Here's a 3-fer.

I'm a slut for dairy marinated chicken. I hate yogurt, but I admit it has a handful of uses.

Thankfully I split this one in half, because I had baaaaarely enough cumin for the half recipe.

Very simple spiced yogurt, I even have the good olive oil.

Wrap that bitch up and toss in the fridge for a day. Minimum 2 hours, but in my opinion it's not a real marinade if it doesn't sit for at least a half day.

Tony suggests the use of a cast iron grill pan, but I'm not buying a new pan just for this, so I used a regular cast iron. I should have reduced the cook time due to the extra pan contact, and my chicken thighs were a little small. They ended up about 15 degrees over temp, but still very good. Would be great along side a salad.

I thought this would be a good side for the chicken, but I wasn't really a fan. The red wine vinegar was overpowering, I think rice wine vinegar might be a good substitute.

Tahini based dressing with some white miso soup concentrate, not exactly the real stuff. I miss living in Montreal, with that sweet, sweet Asian market just one block from my apartment.

Could have been the fake miso (Miso Easy brand) that put me off, I'll need to experiment with this one. I even pan toasted my own sesame.

I'll admit, I shoehorned this one in because I had mushrooms and butter in the fridge already. I had an arm injury that put me out of the game for a week or so. Felt the need to catch up. They were tasty, but not the right side for this dish. Gimmie a steak with sautéed mushrooms any day.

Very beige dinner. Very flavourful dinner. Luckily, I'll take delicious over pretty. I made the Boston lettuce salad the week after this one (post upcoming), and the chicken would go a million times better with it.

| Cast-Iron Chicken + Sides |

Taste is a 3.5 out of 5. The chicken is doing the heavy lifting.

Difficulty is a 2 out of 5. I made it in the afternoon before work. Simple weekday type dinner.

Time was around an hour. Add ten minutes for the prep to marinate the chicken the day before.

Good but middling. I'll definitely be making the chicken along side the Boston salad this summer, though.

[guvato]

Tamalog Day 8

We started the day pretty simple, at 7AM i just checked if they were ok and then called the sitter, figured it is the best thing to do to no end up forgetting what i've done after i wake up.

So at 5PM when i woke up i picked everyone up from the Sitter and since everyone was good i just went on to eat lunch, Picochutchi decided to sing for me and as always it's the cutest thing. Mofuwatchi evolved into Gunchitchi and not even 10 minutes later was missing from his usual spot, when i went looking for him, we found that he ate 4 Pots of Honey, and as he was bringing 3 more (i dunno where he found so much Honey), he saw that i'd seen his actions, but due to this being one of the cutest things i've ever seen, i gave him some pets as a reward for warming my heart up. (i freaking loooove the Smart's events like this one, they are super cute and have so much personality, it's amazing.) Himetchi went to the shop as usual for her Daily Prize Draw and we got 4th place, with the reward being a Lollipop, and hey, i with we'd get special items for 1st place instead of the 200Gs, it seems more interesting to be honest. After the prize draw we went to the restaurant and she had Fried Chicken for dinner and we cooked our daily meal, which was a combination of a steak and garlic bread, that turned into...a Shish Kebab!

In the evening, everyone was doing okay, but then Himetchi pooped and was feeling very sad with the mess she made, so i cleaned it and we went to the restaurant, she ate a Jumbo Steak and was back into her happy self again, i then went to take a look at Picochutchi, and she was a little hungry and a bit unhappy, so after a delicious Samgye-Tang Soup, we went into the TamaVerse to do our daily Tama Arena Match, which went great, but even though we played it pretty much perfectly, it was not enough to get us the 1st place, as a Bigsmile cleared the waves with 9300m over our 9100m run. But as always, all that matters is that Picochutchi had fun and that the event is really great and fun, i can't wait to see what the other games are. I reluctantly am trying not to give Gunchitchi much attention today as we want just one more Care Mistake so he can turn into Kuchipachi, but honestly it hurts me to neglect any Tama anytime, so even though i am not feeding him much or playing with him, i still take a look at him sometimes just to make sure he's not too bad.

I didn't even know it was already 8PM when i went to check on Himetchi and saw she was already asleep, so i checked on the other two and they were doing good, which is great, Gunchitchi basically didn't eat today but his hunger bar nearly didn't go down, since House-sitting is OP. Picochutchi was a lil hungry so i gave her some Somen Noodles and we went out to the Garden for some fresh air, and the stars shined on us on the near end of our 8th Tama Day. Gunchitchi asked me for some help to fall asleep, and we gave him some pets, so he surprisingly fell asleep quite fast. After that we gave PIcochutchi some love and played with her at the Arcade, after which i just waited for her to go to sleep, and when she did, our Tama Day was over.

[riverthebooknerd]

rating classic american foods (as an american)

brisket mac n cheese. 10/10, had this for dinner and it was fucking delicious. with bbq sauce? dear god, it's better than sex. bonus points if you make it into a sandwich, like a grilled cheese or somethin

cheeseburgers. are you fucking kidding? 10/10. i fucking love cheeseburgers. i'd sell my fucking soul for a cheeseburger. and, by the way, when i say this, i don't mean mcdonalds. mcdonald's can suck my ass. their food is barely even food, shouldn't have the right to call that lump of garbage plastic a burger.

biscuits and gravy. 9/10, delicious. surprisingly easy to make, and a really good brunch meal. reminds me of my grandma.

loaded fries. 12/10. i LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE loaded fries. are you joking? fries with cheese, bacon, sour cream, cheese, green onions- UGH SO SO GOOD

grilled cheese & tomato soup. 8/10. comfort food. very nice on a rainy day. easy to make and helps when i'm sad. i like to make my own sandwiches, though, because as a kid my parents would always burn mine

scrambled eggs and toast. 7/10. reliable go-to. perfect for a shitty morning or a late-night snack. requires zero effort. very nice.

chili cheese tots. 15/10. when i tell you that i would take these over coke, i fucking mean it. don't do drugs. get some good fucking chili cheese tots and it'll change your life.

cobb salad. 5/10. i'm looking at lists of "american foods" and this showed up??? um it's alright i guess. not the worst salad? i dunno.

twinkies. 7.5/10. delicious, perfect material for jokes, but also when i eat them i don't feel like i've eaten anything, so then i'll scarf down like five of them and uh oh! now i've had 10 billion calories! still good, but i feel like they're an acquired taste.

fried squash/okra/pickles/onions/etc. 12/10, perfect snacks. dip those fuckers in ranch. they're SO so good i could fucking kill myself. honestly, i hate to perpetuate stereotypes, but as long as i'm eating any fried food, i could die happy. idgaf if it makes me fat, i'm eating that fucking fried squash. (btw, if you haven't had fried oreos, they're actually really good. you should try them)

beef jerky. 8/10, minus points because it's too fucking expensive. also, it's dry as fuck. other than that, though, it's pretty good.

cornbread. 10/10. perfect balance of sweet/savory. eat it with chili or honey, tastes fucking scrumptious. love cornbread.

chicken fried steak. 9/10. very very yummy, also costs an arm and a leg for a decent one. fucking worth it though. especially when it's got gravy and a runny egg on top, yum

meatloaf. 8/10. everyone always shits on the meatloaf, but that's just cuz they haven't had GOOD meatloaf. it's actually very tasty when it's not from a school cafeteria. SPEAKING OF WHICH-

school cafeteria food. -253792/10. you've heard the stories, but they'll never do the food justice. listen to me. i am grabbing you by the shoulders. i once had a friend who drank straight ketchup packets because the lunches were so disgusting that they'd rather get their nutrients from ketchup, and they didn't have enough food at home. the running joke was about how the school just went to the nearest garbage dump and microwaved whatever they shit could find. nothing was safe. the food wasn't even food. it looked and tasted like if plastic was diseased. i feel bad for the plastic that the food gets compared to. students were constantly getting in trouble because they'd make fortunes off of selling chips and candy bars at lunch. there was a permanent line at the vending machine, which was broken half the time. everyone was hungry, but very few were actually desperate enough to eat the food. the only things that were eaten were the fruit (when it wasn't moldy) and the occasional hotdog (that i can confirm tasted like rubber). there was a shop set up by the school that sold sodas and candy, and you had to get there at the very beginning of lunch, because the line was so long and so slow that there would still be 50 people waiting at the end of lunch. food fights were so common because people would rather throw the food than eat it. you had to buy an entire lunch just to get an apple or a bottle of water, so there'd be piles of shitty food that looks like it was vomited up, because people would buy the lunch and just not eat the gross parts (most of the meal). some people have actually been sent home from stomachaches that they got from eating the food. do. not. trust. public. school. cafeterias.

[captainmartinisblog]

Captain Martini in the Mediterranean

Friday 1st September 2023 – Civitavecchia, Italy

The Last Word in Steak!

For our last evening Dinner aboard Silver Nova, we returned to ‘Atlantide’, the main open-seating restaurant and with an early show in the Venetian Theatre and most passengers needing to finish packing later, it meant there was a surge for dinner just after 7pm. But they were obviously prepared for the rush, because, busy though it was, service was still excellent.

I chose the Crab & Chilled Cucumber to start; it was a little weak on flavour for my taste - perhaps a bit too much cucumber but otherwise it was pleasant enough.

Andrew and I both went for the ‘Cider and Onion Soup with Gruyere Cheese’ next because we knew it would be rather different from the ‘traditional’ Onion Soup we have often had. And it was but also in a very nice way; quite sweet and much lighter but the perfect in-between.

While Andrew went for the Canneloni as his main dish, I had the Lobster Tail with drawn butter. Simple and understated, it was very good indeed.

The big surprise came when Rodrigo the Maitre d’ arrived with guess what – a well-done steak! After them not getting things right on two occasions earlier in the cruise, we had drawn line under things and moved on but Rodrigo was clearly not happy leaving it like that. His own words were, “I don’t mind losing but I do mind not winning” and true enough, Andrew’s ‘extra’ steak was perfect and more to the point, it was still bursting with flavour; I know because Angie & I both had to help him eat it and it was excellent – it was just a shame I never took a photo! My Orange Crème Caramel dessert will have to do instead!

All the desserts on Silver Nova have certainly been true ‘pictures’ as well as delicious and they have revived my usual disinterest in desserts on most cruise ships these days, most of which are prepared hours beforehand and fall into the categories of square, round or triangular!

So Silver Nova came through with flying colours in all departments and we arrived in Civitavecchia today, on our way home.

[elizainjapan]

June 18th- Anime and Manga Museum

Today my inner-weeb came out a little bit. This being the day of the Manga Museum, it felt only fitting that I could finally freak out a little. As always, I woke up pretty hungry and still skipped breakfast, so by the time we got to the museum, I was ready for a cafe. My cravings had to wait though, because there was a lot to see inside and not a lot of time. We walked through a huge library with Japanese manga on every wall, and each series was classified by year. There were a couple that I remember being surprised being written so long ago (like Banana Fish in 1985). I picked up a Japanese copy of Doraimon to see if I could understand any of it. Surprise! I barely could. At one pint, a kid came over, sat down next to me, and picked up the same manga to start reading. He was flying through it! With my Japanese skills failing me once again, I headed over to the English section to read Death Note. I completely forgot how good that series is, and it reminded me to rewatch it again. One of the coolest parts of today was the the paper theatre. I felt a little better about my Japanese after that because he was speaking for an audience of children. I know pretty much everything that he was saying from context clues too. We finished up at the museum and headed over to a nearby vintage cafe. It was here that I had the bets hot mocha of my life. Next we started walking to a sushi restaurant, but I don’t like sushi, so I stopped at a soup dumpling place instead. Best decision. I love soup dumplings so much, and this shop had a line outside of it, so I knew it would be good. After a delicious meal, Sam and I started wlalking to our kimono rental appointment that was scheduled for 3:00. It was a 35 minute walk to the one that Julie had sent in the chat, so we assumed we would get there 15 minutes early. Unfortunately, it was the kimono place that the boys had booked, so we had to run our kimono place that was 25 minutes away. Of course it was also uphill. We made it in time though and started getting ready. I wouldn’t say that I felt particularly pretty with it on, but I think I felt more feminine. I know it’s stupid, but I also felt like I was infringing on someone else’s culture, so I was kinda uncofrtabe most of the time. The pictures were pretty cool though. I ended the day with a wonderful dinner with my mom and Ethan. We had A5 Wagyu which was the best steak I had ever had in my life. It was a 6 course meal for 3 people that ended up being $130! And we had Wagyu! I was ready to hit the hay when I got a lovely phone call from Raj saying that we were going out. It was a very fun day!

Academic Reflection-

I could actually understand the readings today! A large part of this was that I thought the readings was super interesting as I love learning about things that are big parts of my life. My favorite aspect fo the reading was talking about how manga was used as propoganda during the war, and how drastically it changed in the post-war setting. I also had no idea that shoujo was specifically targeted for girls, and women writers began overtaking the industry. This made me pretty happy. I assumed that shoujo anime was just romance and that shounen was for action. I did not know how gender-specific the genres were.

The other thing that I thought was interesting in the reading was the use of soft power on other countries. Many Japanese people do not like the idea that manga is the largest cultural export from Japan because of how “low” of an art form it is considered. Many foreigners would not agree, and it remains one of their largest financial gains.

[fightingthetides]

[水]

Mizumachi didn’t know what she just said, but he assumed it had to be similar to KBBQ. It brought up a whole new factor to think about, and it was fun to mull over it for a bit longer. Vivian decided to sacrifice steak and he had to think on it a bit more. Steak was delicious and it was a large source of protein… but it was also quite expensive.

“Could I say goodbye to kobe beef forever? Hm…”

It was so tender and juicy, it was hard to say goodbye forever, but… there were many more convenient options. Though, a specific cut of ribs wasn’t specified… so that opened the door to a lot of different recipes.

“Chicken, shrimp, and ribs offer the most variety of recipes. I think I’d get bored of having too many steaks.”

He couldn’t easily tire of having shrimp or chicken with the various ways you could consume it. It wasn’t to say you couldn’t do something different with steak, but it was common to just have them as a steak dinner. Ribs could be consumed as bbq, or even in soups!

“I change my mind too! I’m going to sacrifice steak for the other three options. Haha, this is fun! Did you come up with this question yourself?”

Maybe it was one of those weird questions that went viral on social media and she wanted to get his input on it? Either way, it was a fun thought exercise!

“Is there a food you could never sacrifice? I really like chocolate.”

    Truth be told, she had to pull out her phone and look up Korean BBQ short ribs on Google, because there were many meat dishes that she only knew how to refer to in Cantonese, like how for the longest time, jellyfish salad from Chinese seafood restaurants was just 'Hǎizhē' to her; in fact, she didn't even know the protein she had consumed was jellyfish all along. ...And just as Vivian expected, the images she pulled up looked very familiar.

    "Oh, so they're called spare ribs in English... not gonna lie, I always just referred to those as 'noh jai gwat', because that's what my parents and relatives kept calling them," came her eventual admittance. Why, it was during times like these that Vivian remembered she didn't exactly have the 'ordinary White woman' upbringing and was accustomed to hearing Cantonese or Mandarin while eating out with her Chinese relatives growing up... so she was pretty much today's years old when she learned 'noh jai gwat' also counted as ribs.

    "Hm, with these, though... you have to hold onto the bone if you want to get every last inch of meat off of it, while with steak, you just need to use a fork and knife," she'll muse. "Still, considering I'm already a chronic hand washer, I guess having to wash my hands after eating spare ribs isn't all that bad; therefore, I've reached the official verdict sacrificing steak might not be such an awful choice..."

[secondofmany-blog1]

Second Posts:

After nearly a week of diplomatic meetings with ambassadors of all kinds of dangerous species, it is in the process of cooking that I finally injure myself. I have been shuffled to the Oonai to treat the cut and burn I received. 

Second very purposefully doesn’t mention said cut was administered while trying to open a bottle. Not does he mention the burn was received when he forgot hot pans are indeed a thing that exists. 

[rubykgrant]

(I found this bit I wrote, then forgot about, so here it is again; Church returns in a synthetic human, slowly getting used to being alive and junk... and Caboose making a discovery!)

“I smell food out there... REAL FOOD,” Church said, in a desperate and raspy tone.

“I hope you enjoy the smell, because that’s all you’re gonna get,” Tex told him.

“Nooooo... come on, this is TORTURE!” he whined, switching immediately from trying to sound like a parched vampire, to just being pathetic. “I bet I can have real food. How long did it take for YOU to have real food? I want some real food!”

“It was a couple months before I could keep solids down. I already told you this, and Doc gave you a meal schedule. You KNOW what you can have, and right now, all you can have is yogurt and soup!”

“I’m SICK of YOGURT and SOUP! Tell everybody they’re not allowed to eat real food unless I can, too!”

Tex smirked. She knew it was hard for him; his senses were all brand-new, he couldn’t help how strongly he reacted to the smell of delicious food he’s never had the chance to eat before... but she also knew that if he ate anything that required chewing or was too rich, he’d just throw-up.

This was a struggle, and she was trying to be compassionate... but it was also just REALLY amusing when Church got all pissy.

Tex now rolled her eyes, and sat down on the bed beside him. Church tried to keep pouting, but now he could smell something besides the food; Tex being next to him was more refreshing than opening a window. She had been outside, in the little garden area on the roof of the shared apartment, so she smelled like damp earth, cut grass, and various flowers. Tex gently nudged him with her forehead, leaning over so she was now propped up on her elbow, and he finally let out a sigh...

“Hi, Church! Hi, Tex!” a voice called out to them from the door. “I was having a steak with a baked potato, and thought maybe you guys were hungry too! We saved some steak for Tex, and Church- I got you your favorite! Chicken noodle soup!”

“Caboose...” Church groaned while Tex tried not to bust out laughing, leaning her face into his shoulder. “You are a terrible tease, you know that?”

“Hmm, no, I didn’t know that,” Caboose mused.

“Now I know how Grif feels... oh shit, this is just his life all the time, isn’t it?”

“I also got you some vanilla yogurt for dessert,” Caboose added, and Tex finally cracked up.

“Y’know what, Caboose? Yeah, I’ll have some soup... but can you pick the chicken bits out for me? They’re always all chewy and gross, I don’t like them,” Church figured his stomach was going to keep groaning unless he finally put some food in there, and he would just have to PRETEND it was steak with a baked potato.

“Sure, Church, no problem!” Caboose left the room... and then almost immediately returned.

“Well, that was quick...” Tex said to Caboose.

“I remembered the other thing I wanted to tell you. Before we got the food, I got something ELSE for Church...” Caboose explained, holding up a cardboard box. He set it down on the floor, and then pulled out a helmet.

An old, pale blue helmet.

“Holy shit...” Church said quietly. “Is that mine? Mine from Blood Gulch?”

“Yes, it is. Well, one of them. There was some other helmets from other armors from other places that were yours I found, but most of them were broken really bad. I threw those away, but this one was OK, so I kept it. I used to look at it when I felt bad, and it hurt to look at it, but after a while I could look at it and feel happy. Last night, I realized I haven’t looked at it in a long time, so I wanted to check if it still made me happy...” Caboose was slowly turning the helmet over in his hands. “It did. It also made me think of Epsilon too, and that also made me sad, but a little happy because I know he’d like that we’re all together again, and we’re here because he saved us, and even though you and Tex weren’t there in the fight, he kinda saved you guys too, and the rest of the Fragments. I thought about how Epsilon would be proud of me for remembering you AND him, because I’m the best at remembering every Church I know... and then remembered something else,”

Caboose finally stopped talking for a moment, still looking at the helmet.

“What was that, Caboose?” Church asked, genuinely unable to guess where this was going.

“Well, I remembered how he wanted to say good-bye to everybody, because he wanted to save everybody. He left us messages in our helmets to let us know how he felt. So I thought, maybe...” Caboose finally looked back up at Church and Tex, smiling in a soft way, like he understood that they also might feel hurt and sad looking at this helmet, but he seemed certain that this helmet would help them. “I looked inside the helmet, and there was a blinky-light!”

“A blinky-light?” Church’s eyebrows went up.

“Yes, a blinky-light! That means there’s a message in here!” Caboose walked over, and held the helmet out for Church to take (which he did, just barely strong enough to lift it up).

“Church...” Tex was surprised as well.

“It’s probably just an old message... or one of those stupid scam e-mails we always used to get about how ‘suspicious activity’ with our credit cards. None of us even HAD credit cards! Or those calls I’d get about ‘renewing registration’ for my vehicle, and the only vehicle we had was a tank! There WASN’T any registration for Sheila! Oh wait, should we have gotten insurance for her? Huh... y’know what, I bet this is just an old recording from Vic, telling us to kill the Reds, and I do NOT need to hear that stupid little chipmunk voice of his ever again-”

“No, it’s none of those. I didn’t listen to it, but I checked the date. It got sent to your helmet the same day Epsilon sent us all of our messages,” Caboose explained.

“Oh,” Church looked down at the helmet again. Well, that pretty much settled it. Something from Epsilon was here, in this helmet that Alpha used to wear, after he forgot he was Alpha and when he first started being Church.

“I’m glad I remembered about Epsilon... hey, that was his job too, right? Epsilon was memory! Maybe that’s why he needed my help to wake up the first time, he needed somebody who was good at remembering to remind him how to remember!” Caboose smiled again, and Church couldn’t help but smile back.

[misora-msby]

embarrassing moments with inarizaki

inarizaki always looks so cool but you know they’re actually dorks and i am here to provide you the content to show theyre clowns. enjoy the headcanons :)

Kita Shinsuke

firstly. kita shinsuke being embarrased? making a mistake? unheard of.

he’s a perfect man and we all know it.

anyways

you two were having a nice dinner out together. 

it was a pretty fancy place so you decided to dress in a different style today

but you were beginning to wonder if kita liked it or not because he seemed to keep looking past your shoulder instead of at you

he was an observant guy so you were wondering if something had happened behind you

but you couldn’t hear anything weird so you assumed not

you decided to just stay quiet about it at first but now it was beginning to become annoying! 

why wasn’t he looking you in the eye to speak?

midway through your dinner, kita finally spoke up tho

“y/n, your shirt is slipping... yer bra’s showing.”

oh.

right. you were wearing your off-shoulder top.

“o-oh. shin, it’s that kind of shirt, you know?” you had to explain your outfit to ur bf with a pink face.

“oh... that so... well it’s cold these days so if yer feelin’ cold lemme know. i’ll give ya my jacket.”

GOD HES SO PERFECT KITA SHINSUKE I HOPE U MARRY HIM???????

Ojiro Aran

another man with next to no flaws.

but nature says everyone has to make some mistake.

so it was a regular school day, our aran has just come to class from morning practice and there’s still some time left until class starts.

all the girls in class are gathered around a table

he’s not sure why, it’s probably watching an idol video

but ur man wants to be a little romantic!!

plus he just showered so he smells Great uwu

he goes over and hugs you from behind, placing his chin on ur head.

“hey, bb whatcha ya doin”

all the girls gasp.

he doesn’t get whats wrong, it’s not like it’s a secret y’all are dating

pda to this level aint bad either

especially compared to his teammate miya atsumu

“ojiro aran.”

why is your voice behind him

he looks down and nearly faints when he sees he hugged the wrong girl.

to be fair she looked a lot like you from behind, just maybe 1cm shorter.

“i’m so sorry!” he keeps apologising to literally everyone and all the class is giggling bc they never seen their school’s ace so red before.

“didn’t think i’d come back from the toilet and see my bf cheatin”

“IT WAS A MISTAKE! I’M SERIOUS! Y/N U KNOW I LOVE YA!” 

hes so funny i swear

the volleyball team hears of it and it gets even better 

Miya Atsumu

it’s not a secret that miya atsumu, setter of the inarizaki volleyball team and invited to national youth training camp, had a gf

he was very much in love with u 

the whole class knew it because he’d show it off whenever he could too

so here comes valentines day

last year he received like... 50 different gifts from girls and guys aiming to win his love.

you didnt even give him one lmAOOOOO 

but this year, he had been not so subtly trying to hint that “i better not receive any chocolates this year when i’ve got a gf!”

he reaches school and plops into his seat.

there’s an anonymous box of chocolates with “please accept my love, miya-kun! <3″ on it

“the hell’s this?!”

“oh? chocolates?” - osamu who just popped his head into the class to shove into his twin’s face how much chocolate he got.

especially since the blond was off limits, the grey-haired twin had a bigger following now.

“do they not know i have a girlfriend...”

“well, ya might as well eat it. ya dont know who to return it to.”

“that’s like receivin’ their love!”

“no it ain’t. it’s just food.”

atsumu couldn’t argue with that and popped a piece in.

it was very delicious. the chocolate practically melted on his tongue and was the perfect sweetness and was filled with a delicious ganache too.

it was perfect

but he couldn’t accept this!

“it ain’t even good. too sweet and the filling’s sticky.”

“ah. really? is that what you think, tsumu?” you ask from the door where you had been watching the exchange take place.

“y/n! look at this! some weirdo gave me some choco and like... samu said to test it but i’ll toss it out, promise.”

“tsumu, i made that... i wrote it anonymously because i thought you’d know it was me and i wanted to tease you a little.”

“huh.”

osamu: “yeah actually i went over to her place to teach her how to make it.”

atsumu: “you said you went to suna’s place?!”

osamu: “i went there later but i first went to help her.”

you: “anyways if it’s not good i don’t mind if you toss it out...”

tsumu: “NO NO BABE I PROMISE IT’S GOOD”

you: “you just said-”

“BABE I SWEAR IT’S GOOD I JUST DIDN’T WANT TO ACCEPT A STRANGER’S STUFF”

“you’re always so honest though... are you sure?” you were having your fun teasing him now.

“BB PLSSSSSS”

he still cringes at the memory 4 years into ur marriage

Miya Osamu

osamu would DEFINITELY make home made dinner dates a regular thing.

this alone shows he’s the better twin - miya atsumu stan

he loves cooking and eating with you so sometimes when he’s got a day off you guys’ll set aside the afternoon to make a real nice dinner

imagine candlelit dinner with miya dorito body osamu in a suit

of course some fun stuff happens after too ;)))

and today’s your third anniversary!!

so osamu adds lots of ‘natural aphrodisiacs’ to the meal

i’m talkin

garlic bread and soup for an appetiser, a nice juicy steak with garlic and red wine sauce for the main, and chocolate coated strawberries for dessert

mm yummy

you two cleaned your plates completely (it was very delicious) and as you were washing the dishes, osamu comes up behind and wraps his arms around your waist

“yes, ‘samu?” 

“i’ve already prepared us a nice bath with yer favourite scents.” he’s got his head resting on ur chin

“really? thank you~ i’ll be there in a bit”

but he doesn’t let go of you while you’re still scrubbing at the baking sheets.

“osamu, you can let go for now.”

“don’t feel like it.”

“i gotta wash the dishes since you did most of the cooking.”

“mmm, i’ll do it if ya gimme a kiss.”

you roll ur eyes bc what a cutie 

u turn ur head to give him a kiss but suddenly he 

he burps

that garlicy wine smell is just kinda there

“ew! ‘samu!!”

his face is real red but he’s also trying not to laugh because he’s still a dude and this is absolutely hilarious to him

“want another?” he starts teasing

“i’m not getting in the bath with you.”

“wait wait wait i’m sorry, i’ll go brush my teeth and give you a proper kiss”

Suna Rintarou

you two were taking the train home today

it was quite late due to practice going a little longer than usual, so he insisted he walked you back home today.

sunarin can be a good boyf sometimes ok

it was getting a little crowded on the train tho, since people were heading home or going out for dinner

luckily you had already grabbed seats so you were quite comfortable sitting side by side. 

you and suna have the type of relationship were you dont have to talk all the time

silence is v comfy.

he’s just scrolling through twitter on his phone while you’re looking around the car, lost in ur thoughts

suddenly you notice an old lady standing a little bit away from you and you stand up

“baa-san, please take my seat.” you whisper in the crowded carriage

“oh how kind of you. thank you, dearie.” she smiles and takes your seat while you stand in front of her and suna instead.

suna doesn’t realise this exchange has happened tho

(he’s on his phone as usual)

probably starting some fights on twitter

he decides to try to be a little romantic and pretends to stretch his arm around (who he thought was) you.

“rin.” 

why is your voice right in front of him?

“young man, i appreciate it but i’m married.”

suna jumps as he sees someone he did not recognise next to him.

he looks up and notices you had moved.

you’re giggling

the granny’s giggling

atsumu and osamu sitting opposite on the carriage look like they’re going to cry because they’re trying not to laugh

“i was just stretching. really.” he mumbles and crosses his arms, face red as a tomato

he’s so embarrassed.

Ginjima Hitoshi

sometimes the inarizaki vbc would go for an after practice snack at the nearby family mart

they were really hungry after an intense preparation for nationals which was in two weeks so kita insisted they all get something to fill them up on the way home

but lucky lucky ginjima hhehe

you (his classmate who he had a crush on) were working at the cash register today.

“welcome!” you greet everyone as they enter

he cant help but stiffen up a bit 

why are u so cute and cheery today

the 2nd years already know what to do.

“heyy, i think last week i bought ya that ramen right? ya owe me my konbini snacks today!” - atsumu

“yeah. you lost a bet to me last week so u gotta pay up. a pack of jelly fruit sticks please.” - suna

“forgot my money today, mind payin’ for my snacks too?” - osamu

“like hell i’m paying for all of you. especially you, osamu. you eat too much all the time.” 

aran’s noticed what’s going on,

“hey, if it’s just for today you can do it right? if ‘samu don’t pay ya back tomorrow i’ll nag him ‘til he does.” 

“fine...” his basket is full when he goes to the counter.

he’s trying his best not to have a red face while watching u scan the items, ur hair swaying slightly as u look back and forth between the objects and the screen.

“alright. 4,890 yen please!” GOD he hated how expensive it was, that’s almost all his weekly allowance but bc it’s u and ur voice saying it it’s kinda ok

“mm, ok.” he still has his eyes on you while he takes out his wallet and puts it on the counter.

yes

his wallet, not the money

“...” “...”

“excuse me, sir. this is...”

he almost slaps his face wtf he’s so embarrassed.

“s-sorry. just a little absent minded after practice.” he starts pulling out his cash.

“it’s fine! i know how hard you guys practice!” you smile while performing the rest of the transaction and pass him his big bag of goods. “good luck for nationals, ginjima-kun!”

he almost runs out of the store and is about to fight the rest of the 2nd years for watching and (suna) recording

[holylulusworld]

Courting

Title: Courting

Square Filled for @spnabobingo​​​ (Round 6): Opposites attract

Ship: Alpha!Dean Winchester x Omega!Reader

Characters: Sam Winchester

Rating: Teen

Summary: When a tall and handsome alpha moves to town, you do something no one would expect from an omega.

Warnings: angst, pining, courting, shy reader, a/b/o, a/b/o dynamics, sick reader, cuddling & snuggling, fluff

Word Count: 2,1 k

A/N: I found a cute headcanon about an omega courting for her chosen alpha on @omegaversethings​​ and turned it into a fanfiction. Thank you again. <3

Divider by @firefly-graphics​​​​​

You always were a ‘classic’ omega. Meek, silent and shy. You never dared to talk to a foreign alpha let alone introduce yourself to one.

But here you are, offering the new alpha in your neighborhood a homemade cherry pie. You hope Dean, that’s the name of the alpha giving you sleepless nights, will like it.

“Hi, uh-erm,” you stammer, eyes glued to the ground. “I know how it feels to be new in town and the neighborhood. I made a cherry pie. If you don’t like it, it’s okay.” Before the alpha can say anything you push the container with the pie in his hands to run off.

“What?” puzzled Dean watches you run toward your house. His eyes dart from the pie in his hand back to you struggling to unlock your door. “She just brought me pie…awesome.”

The alpha strolls back inside his house, grinning as you baked him his favorite pie. “Love me some pie.”

Over the next week, you spied on your neighbor. You tried to talk to him again, to give him more gifts but you’re not the only unmated omega in your neighborhood.

Last week Lisa offered her help with decorating his house.

Three days ago, Cassie parade along the street, wearing a skirt leaving little to nothing to your imagination, and right now, Bela tries to hit on Dean, purring for him.

You hate omegas like them as they always get the alphas you like. Being a shy omega, plain and meek, means a disadvantage when it comes to courting for an alpha.

“Not again, Bela-“ you growl low in your throat, rummaging in a paper bag. You bought random things for your chosen alpha to impress and court for him. “This one is mine…”

“Hi,” you whimper catching the tall alpha’s scent. You can feel his intense gaze on you and the heat creeps into your cheeks. “I-I,” for a second you look up at the alpha, give him a soft smile before you place a pair of socks in his hands.

“Hi,” he says but you are halfway on your way toward your house, whimpering as you can still smell his scent linger on your clothes.

“What?” Dean stands outside of his home, looks at the socks in his hands, puzzled. 

“Do you want to finish the kitchen now or not?” Sam asks, poking his head out of the door. “Dean? Is something wrong?”

“Last week she brought me a cherry pie and ran off, today it’s socks, with pie on them,” Dean huffs. “What’s going on?”

Sam starts laughing, he even holds his stomach at his brother’s puzzled expression.

“Dean,” Sam rolls his eyes at his brother’s question. “Did you really not realize you are being courted?”

“I get the pie, but why socks, Sammy? And since when do omegas court for an alpha,” Dean sniffs at the socks, growling low in his throat when he catches your scent. 

“Some omegas do court for an alpha. I just never thought Y/N would do so. She seemed to be shy and meek,” Sam smirks when Dean presses the socks to his chest. “Maybe you should talk to her?”

“Why? I got pie and socks,” Dean grins. “I will just wait for her to come back. Maybe she makes me food too.”

Watching Lisa talk to the alpha again you growl low in your throat. You waited patiently for Dean to come home and now that woman is chatting him up again.

“He’s mine,” you mutter. “Get your hands off my alpha. Can you just not be all over my alpha, all of you.” your hands ball into fists when Lisa giggles and her hands grip one of the tall alpha’s biceps.

“Hi,” you shuffle from one foot to the other, offering the container with food to the tall alpha. You still don’t meet his eyes, not even when he clears his throat.

“You know, you could just talk to me, Y/N,” chewing on your lower lip you lift your head to glance at the tall alpha. You don’t know why he knows your name, but your heart began to race when he said it. “Hi, I’m Dean and I liked your pie. What did you bring me today?”

“Uh-steak and green beans. Potatoes and sauce. I-I wanted to bring you pie too, but I can only carry one container,” nervously babbling you hand Dean the food, ready to run off again.

“Why don’t we share the food?” he offers, smiling softly. “You gave me all those nice things and I would like to-“ you dash toward your house, unbeknownst Dean just wanted to invite you. 

Your heart races and your head starts to spin when you slam the door shut to sink to your knees. 

“He-he talked to me,” you whine, sniffing at your hand. Dean brushed his fingers over your skin, and you can still scent him. 

Another day passes when you sneak toward Dean’s house. Right, when you try to knock he opens the door, offering a soft smile again. 

“Hi, Y/N,” he says, and you whimper when he says your name. “The food was delicious but I would’ve liked to share it with you. Why don’t you come inside?”

“I-I got a pie for you,” looking at the container with another pie and another pair of socks on top you bite your lower lip. “I hope you’ll like it.”

You try to hand it to Dean to run away once again but he steps outside, cups your face with two fingers to force you to look up at him. “Omega, come inside,” he says, and your heart does somersaults. “I want to share the pie with you. And,” he dips his head to catch your scent, “I cooked. Thought I should invite you over.”

“Y-you cooked,” you squeak when Dean moves his hand to your neck to brush your scenting gland. “I-I don’t know if I should-“

“Come inside, omega,” he says, voice deeper now, more commanding. You immediately drop your gaze and nod silently, knowing he just used his alpha voice. “I want to get to know you better, sweetheart.”

“O-kay…”

After you had dinner with Dean, you decided to think about better gifts. You assume he tried to be friendly and pay you back for your food, but you want him to know you courted for him.

“What can I bring him next?” pinching the bridge of your nose you sigh deeply. “Maybe new socks – no, I already did twice. Underwear – too obvious. Oh, maybe a hairbrush.”

A knock brings you out of your thoughts. You slowly get up, wondering who knocks at your door on a Sunday evening.

Sighing deeply, you make your way to the door, opening it to find Dean on your doorstep.

“Hi,” you gasp when Dean offers you a book and a chocolate box. “I wanted to come over and thank you for the delicious pie and food, and I’m wearing your socks.” He points at his feet. 

“A-are you-“ biting your tongue you look at the gifts in Dean’s hands. “Are you courting for me, alpha?”

“Thought you’ll never ask,” Dean grins, stepping closer to catch your scent. “Can we go out? I’d like to invite you for dinner, Y/N.”

“You are courting for me,” your heart flutters when Dean hands you the gifts. “Yes, uh-please. I’d like to go out with you, Dean.”

“How about Saturday?” he asks, demanding an answer. The alpha makes his interest known when he looks at your mating gland. “Omega?”

“Yes, I got time,” you nod eagerly, gifts pressed tightly to your chest now. 

“Awesome. I’ll pick you up at six,” he says, giving you a once over before he nods to himself. “I’ll be seeing you, Y/N.”

When he turns to leave you must stop your heart from racing. You watch him waltz toward his house, giving you a little show when he purposely stops at his mailbox to raise to his full height and rolls his shoulders.

“Damn,” you bite your lower lip, squealing when he turns around to give you a wink. “He’s so tall and handsome…and cocky. Oh-God-where-did-I-get-myself-into?” you babble, walking back inside your house.

“Omega, Y/N? Did you change your mind?” Dean mutters, knocking at your door. “It’s quarter past six.”

“Hi,” you cough, barely finding the strength to hold the door open. “’m sorry but I don’t feel good.” you whine, hating you must turn Dean down. “I got a terrible cold and I’m freezing and I’m hot all the time.”

“Jesus,” Dean immediately scoops you into his arms to carry you toward your couch. He looks you all over, presses one large palm to your forehead. “You’re burning up, sweetheart. I’m gonna help you out of your sweaty clothes. You’ll have a hot bath while I get you something, okay.”

“Uh-“ you sigh, eyes fluttering close, “you can’t see me naked, Sir…” you drift into sleep, mumbling something about pancakes when you suddenly feel like you are floating on air. “Wait!”

“It’s okay, Y/N. I will prepare the bath and you can undress. I’ll just go back to my house and get something for you. ‘K?”

Humming you rest your head against Dean’s shoulder, let him carry you upstairs to look for your bedroom. 

“Where’s your bedroom?”

“Second room to the left,” you whine, nuzzling your face in Dean’s shoulder. “I can’t scent you.”

“You’re sick, sweetheart. Lemme just get you comfortable, Y/N,” he ushers inside your bedroom, carefully places you onto the bed before he looks for your bathroom, cursing as you almost roll off the bed. “Careful, omega. Hmm…guess I must stick around…”

Dean came back when you finally made it out of your bathtub.

You barely had the time to walk out of your bathroom when he stormed into your bedroom, blankets, pillows, and a few of his clothes tugged under one arm while he balanced a bowl of chicken soup with his other hand.

“I changed the sheets and tried to get you my clothes, blankets, and anything fluffy I could find at my place. It’s not much, though,” you purr when Dean puts everything on your bed to create a safe nest smelling like him. “Lie on the bed and I’ll help you get comfortable. I brought you chicken soup.”

“Soup? You made me soup?”

“Uh-I asked my mom how to make it,” Dean shrugs, explaining his mother always made chicken soup for him when he was a boy. “Now let me help you, Y/N.”

“You don’t have to, Dean,” you sigh, snuggling into one of his soft plaids. “Smells like you, I like it.”

“Yeah, everything smells like me,” he purrs, watching you relax on the nest he made for you. “You’ll smell like me too.” Dean hides he feels his heart swell when you rub his scent into your skin.

The primal part, his alpha purrs in delight, loves that you are covered with his clothes and scent.

“I’m so tired…”

“You need to eat something first, sweetheart,” Dean insists. He helps you sit while you claw at one of his shirts. You press the fabric to your nose, inhale his scent deeply, finally purring when he sits next to you to feed you with the soup.

“I wanna sleep, Dean,” you protest but Dean pushes the spoon carefully past your lips, smirking when you swallow the warm soup.

“Good, isn’t it?”

“Good,” you cough. “And tasty…”

“I got my stuff for the next few days. Food. Clothes. Toiletries and my phone and laptop. I can work from home and take care of you,” Dean explains, while he covers you with a warm blanket. 

You are wearing one of his plaids, and he can’t help the smile creep onto his face when you snatch another from the nest to cradle it in your arms.

“I called in sick,” you whisper, closing your eyes. 

“Good,” Dean crawls under the covers, not missing your breath hitches in your throat when he lies behind you to bring you in his arms. “I’m gonna take care of my omega.”

“Your omega?”

“Mine,” he kisses your mating gland, purring when you tilt your head to grant him more access. “When you are healthy again, I’m gonna take you out, or make you dinner, sweetheart.”

“I didn’t think I got a chance,” you mumble. “I’m shy and meek, you are so—” 

“I like you are shy and sweet,” he noses his way along your neck, breathing you in. “You smell so good, like – home.”

“Home,” you whisper happily. “You smell like safety and adventure at the same time. Musky and like a warm apple pie.”

“Did I tell you I loved your pie?” Dean licks his lips, “I love me some pie. My omega bakes the best pies in the world.”

“Your omega,” you hum, liking the sound of it…

Tags in reblog.

[snufluffles]

First Restaurant

for @padfootastic who prompted: slice of life with Harry and Sirius.

Harry and Sirius’s first posh magical restaurant.

Grand chandeliers and warm-glowing lanterns. Flowers, white and pink, decorating ceilings; paintings and portraits covering every inch of the walls. Their booth is spacey; a wooden table between comfortable wine-red seats.

There is a portrait on the wall beside them, an old witch wearing heavy, sparkly necklaces. “Welcome to booth thirty one!” she greets with a wrinkly smile. “My name is Celina. The restaurant is named after me, the daughter of the Founder. Pleased to meet you young gentlemen.”

Harry nods at her, eyes wide as he takes in the slow music, beautiful landscape paintings, the laughter and chatter and aroma floating all around him.

It’s more like he has entered a different world, a timeless place, than a very posh restaurant. Sirius laughs when Harry tells him that. “It’s a bit much, I know. You might like the food though—if they are as good as before.”

“Of course they are!” The witch chimes in, a bit indignant.

A waiter comes to their table and after introducing himself, sets two large leather files. “The menu, sirs.”

Harry flips the pages in the menu slowly, eyeing all the pictures of mouthwatering food. Steam rises from a soup. A tumbler of iced cocktail sweats. A knife cuts a steak.

There are cuisines he doesn’t even recognise. So when the waiter returns with a notepad, Harry leaves the food ordering to Sirius, mind spinning with all the options.

The food comes by slowly. Bite-sized stuff called ‘amuse-bouche’. Soups. Appetizers. Salads and condiments. Cheese platters. Fish. Harry thinks the waiters are going to serve the food one by one, some sort of scheme to make them stay as long as possible, and has resigned himself to that, when three waiters arrive with dishes of food floating ahead and behind them, like a sizzling and steaming parade. The table creaks under the weight of all the dishes and Harry gapes as the waiters recite the food names. His stomach growls.

“We're going to eat this all?”

“Nah, I think we should just stare at it,” Sirius quips with an amused smile.

Harry huffs and digs in.

Flavour and warmth bursts in his mouth. The food continues to be delicious, even better than Hogwarts (except they don’t serve such rich dishes there) with Sirius’s taste being most supreme.

As Harry eats, Sirius takes pictures. At first, Harry thought the occasional flash was just a trick of the eye, but as it continues, he looks around and finally narrows his eyes at Sirius. He takes even a picture of Harry’s suspicious face, laughing.

“You must try the cheesecake for dessert, dear,” the witch in the portrait says. “A recipe of my own making.”

Harry, who has only heard of cheesecakes from Vernon’s posh office parties, politely declines, imagining a thick slice of white and salty cheese-cake. Chocolate cake, rich brown sweet goodness, tastes so much better.

A flash on his chocolate-covered mouth.

“Sirius.” Harry crosses his arms. “I’m going to banish the embarrassing ones, I promise you.”

“I’m going to permanently stick them on the fridge if you even dare.”

Harry sticks out his tongue and fortunately, Sirius is not in time to take a picture of that.

The waiter returns with the bill and after signing it, Sirius and Harry say goodbye to Celina and the restaurant named after her.

Outside, a refreshing breeze blows. Lamplight slants on the pavement. The street is busy still, people dressed in fashionable robes bustling about.

“So. Did you enjoy?” Sirius asks Harry, his hands in pockets, as they walk to his rented convertible.

“Of course I did!” Harry beams. “It was my first time in a restaurant, and there were so many tasty foods. I really don’t know how I managed to eat them all.”

“It was your first time in a restaurant?” Sirius asks, eyebrows flying on his forehead.

Harry nods. “Yes, and it was great. Thank you. I loved the chocolate cake. I don’t think I’ve ever tasted one so yummy.”

Sirius grins, his eyes bright and warm as he gets into the shiny red convertible. “Well, I’m glad you did.”

The engine purrs. Harry fastens his seatbelt. Soon, they will be on the road, beaming faces, wind slapping their faces and satisfaction seated in their bellies.