#sparky talks about yarn

[coffeeghoulie]

Cumulus and Sunny my not-so-secret beloveds for #7?

#7: to shut them up

sunny's a nerd and cumulus loves that for her, hope you enjoy <3

from this prompt list

It's a quiet Saturday in the band ghoul den, a rarity, and Cumulus means to take advantage of the temporary respite from the chaos. She curls her legs under her in one of the large armchairs in the common room, turning a skein of yarn over in her hands.

It's impossibly soft, a variegated thing that fades from deep, rich navy to a light silver, and she thinks it would be perfect for a scarf for Rain. The poor thing doesn't fair well in the cold Abbey winters.

She pulls one of her hooks out from where she tucked it behind her ear and pulls up a video on her phone; she'd been meaning to teach herself a new stitch. If it didn't turn out quite right the first time, oh well, she can always frog the thing.

Cumulus chains for a few moments until it's long enough for the short side of a scarf, pausing the video as the woman explains how to form the stitch, how many chains to skip and where to work the next one. She hums, following along slowly until she begins to get the hang of it.

It doesn't take long for the peace she's taking advantage of to be broken. Pounding footsteps echo down the hall, and if Cumulus couldn't pick up the citrus and fresh air smell of one of her packmates, one of her girls, her hackles would have raised, ruffled feathers and pinned back ears.

Instead, Sunshine bursts into the common room, copper curls bouncing as she looks around, eyes alight as she makes eye contact with the air ghoulette.

"Lu! Songbird!" She calls, grinning ear to ear and giving Swiss a run for his money.

"Hi, sparky," Cumulus says, eyes flicking back down to the yarn in her hands, not quite confident enough to do this new stitch blind. "You're done for the day?"

Sunny bounds over, tail wagging like an over enthusiastic labrador retriever. "Yep, just finished session zero, everybody's got their characters made. We start actually playing next week."

Cumulus hums politely. She knows that Sunshine's playing Dungeons and Dragons with some of the other ghouls; Special running the table and Cowbell one of their regular players since before she had been summoned. But in recent years, Sunshine's joined in, as well as two especially brave Siblings, and their newest player, Aeon.

"I'm playing a wild magic sorcerer named Aveline, she's human but that gives me a plus one buff to all of my ability scores-" she rambles, clambering into Cumulus's lap like an excessively needy cat, nudging the top of her head underneath Cumulus's chin.

The air ghoulette laughs, reaching around her lapful of multighoulette to pause the video on her phone as Sunshine keeps talking. "Aeon's got a half-elven rogue named Vox, stereotypical, I know, but it's easy enough for them to keep track of, no spell slots to worry about, just gotta get behind people and rack up that sneak attack damage."

Cumulus hums, grinning as she tucks her hook back behind her feathered ear. She watches for a moment as Sunshine gestures loudly as she keeps talking, rules and stats that she's explained a dozen times over but Cumulus has never been able to keep straight in her mind. Her eyes go soft as Sunny keeps talking, tail wagging so fast the spade thumps against the armchair, nearly knocking Cumulus's phone off of the arm. Something warm swells in her chest, a feeling that's never far off when Sunshine enters the room.

Cumulus can't take it anymore, acting on that warm feeling and grabbing Sunny's cheeks, pulling her down to cut off her ramble with a big kiss. It's worth it to see Sunny's brain shut off, train of thought completely derailed. Her feathers ruffle with a smug grin at the dumbfounded expression on her face.

"What was that for?" Sunny complains, whining. But Cumulus knows better, wrapping her arms around Sunny's waist and pulling her more securely onto her lap.

"I love it when you're passionate, Spark. Tell me more."

Sunny, ever eager, is happy to comply.

[fbfh]

domestic cozy moments with leo - an anthology

i should really be asleep

aged up to 18+ obvs,,,, rlly wishing this was real rn lmao,,, also it’s fluff if u couldn’t tell 

1600 words

You set down your last box, hearing a thump in the next room as he sets his. You will your legs to carry you into the next room where he’s waiting, standing, looking at you. The glaring over head light still somehow makes him look good, and you can tell, by this point, that he’s thinking something similar about you. He pulls you closer with one strong comforting gesture, and you both flop unceremoniously down onto the bare mattress on the floor. You tuck the crook of your elbow over your face to block out the harsh light, and gently rub your face into the material of his shirt; a dark flannel over a deep red hoodie, some quote splashed across the chest. The arm wrapped around you bent, his hand brushing the hair at the top of your forehead. 

“We did it,” he breathed.

“Yeah,” you replied, “now we just gotta unpack everything.”

“And organize.”

“And decorate,” you add. There’s a beat of silence.

“God, this is gonna be a nightmare, isn’t it…” he laughs, head resting on top of yours. A slow, tired chuckle rocks your body. 

“Yeah, probably…”

You’ve both been up since about 4am, and have only just finished moving into your apartment. It’s around one or two in the morning. You’re beyond exhausted, the thrill of the move and shitty, delerious humor keeping you running for the last few hours. 

“Y’know what,” he moves, kicking off his shoes, “I say we just crash for the night. Deal with the rest of it in the morning.” He’s already mumbling, his voice groggy - groggier than before - and you can tell he’s losing orbit. Against your wishes, you make yourself sit up. You kneel over to a box a few feet away, and rip the tape off. You pull out a duvet, and shuffle back over to him. 

“Yeah,” you say, already slipping out of your sneakers and throwing some of the blanket over him, “sounds good.” You curl back into him, into a slightly more comfortable position, and start to settle down. 

“Shit,” he hisses, “the light.” You realize the light’s still on and groan.

“Oh god… we’re really that dumb,” you can feel the sleep deprived laughter taking over.

“Wait, wait,” he giggles, the infectious laugh spreading. He leans over, fumbling for the mop next to the broom and vacuum, and holds the flat head, the pole in between his fingers. You feel him shift, and pry your eyes open. He’s almost got it. You make some encouraging ‘oh, ooooh!’s as he lines up the loop at the top with the light switch on the wall and darkness engulfs you. He lays back down in a heap, setting the mop on the floor next to him. 

“Nice!” you press a kiss below his ear, the closest place you could reach, and he mutters sleepily, “Thank you, thank you, I’ll be signing autographs in half an hour,” laughter seeping into his words like a teabag in hot water as he pulls his hood up. Your limbs are already tingly with sleep. He mutters something you can’t make out, and you’re pretty sure you tried to ask what, but you don’t remember anything after that. You don’t know who fell asleep first, but you both slept really well that night. 

~

Your piping was migraine worthy. 

That’s what Leo had said after about a minute under your bathroom sink. 

You had noticed the water pressure in the sink got really weak after a day or two. Your apartment was pretty old, so it wasn’t surprising. 

“Should we call the superintendent?” you asked through a mouth of ramen. A smile hit his eyes, and you finished the thought he hadn’t said.

“To let him know,” you shoved his chest playfully, “I know you can fix it, that wasn’t a question.” It backed off, and instead he said, “You can try, but I’m pretty sure he’s one of those three-to-five-business-days types.” 

“Well, at least he’ll know what’s going on.” He still had that look. “I’ll tell him not to call a plumber. My boyfriend’s an engineer and can more than handle it.” He seemed satisfied, and grabbed his tools. 

“I’m just saying, I think I know a thing or two about this stuff…” You pulled the still ringing phone from your face. “Duh, you’re the-” the phone stopped ringing. Voicemail. You rolled your eyes as the beep sounded, and left a brief message explaining who you were and the situation. After you finished talking, you hung up. 

“God, I hate talking on the phone,” you mutter. You turn the corner to the bathroom doorway. 

“How’s it looking?” you lean on the door frame, and suppress a chuckle at the sight of your boyfriend laying on a skateboard under the bathroom sink. 

“This makes… no sense…” he muttered. “I mean, who- why would you put a dual check there?” You smiled, loving when he talked about his hyperfixations, even if it barely made sense to you. You decided to check back in a bit, and went to transfer some laundry. 

It had been a while. You had checked on Leo two or three times, and he was still doing something under there. He had come out once or twice to get some parts or piping from his supplies, then went straight back to work. If only you had a dollar for every time you heard him sigh, “there’s gotta be a better way to do this…” It’s been two hours and he needs a break. 

You walk back into the bathroom, step over him, and sit down, your hips right on top of his.

He stops.

He pushes you both out from under the sink, skateboard rolling slowly, his eyes locked with yours.

“Hello,”

“Hi,”

~

You just wanted to take out the trash, that was all. But when you entered the back alley and saw a little kitty cat looking so scared by the dumpster, you couldn’t stop your instincts. You set the trash down slowly, scooped up the cat, and marched back inside. You set her - or him? You weren’t sure yet. You set them in the bathroom, made a little nest of towels close to the radiator, and left, closing the door behind you. You came back in with a small storage bin with cat litter - which Leo luckily had on hand for absorbing oil spills in his garage - paper bowls with some tuna and water, and a small ball of yarn from a long since abandoned craft project. The kitty ate all the tuna in record time, and looked at you, asking for more. 

“Wait for that to digest, then you can have seconds.” you said, softly. You gave them a little head pat, and they skittered away, unused to affection. It made your heart a little sad. But it’s okay, you reminded yourself, kitty’s gonna get lots of love from now on. You adjust your seat on the edge of the tub, trying to stop your butt from going numb. You pick the cat up to put them in their makeshift bed, and check under their tummy. Yup, girl kitty. She lets out a high pitched meow, and you can tell she’s still pretty young. You pet her back, and she arches up, her tail curling. She moves away from your hand, still not used to it yet, but a loud purr resonates through her chest and off the walls. You hold back a delighted squeal as she curls up into a ball. Oh jeez, do you have any blankets? You could cover her with a towel, but do you have anything softer? You leave to check, closing the door securely behind you. You dig through the linen closet for a few minutes before you hear the door open and close. 

“Honey, I’m home,” Leo quipped, putting his jacket on the coat rack. You picked up a small fleece decorative blanket you had no use for until now. 

“Hey,” he turned the corner, and placed his hand on your face, and your free hand rested on his. He pressed a warm kiss to your lips, and pulled away even though he didn’t want to. “Hey, Sparky,” you replied, a smile only he could give you blooming on your face. 

He started to tell you you two could catch up in a minute, he just has to wash the stubborn leftover machine oil off his hands, but you stopped him before he could.

“I have a surprise.” You said.

“Okay,” he replied, smiling, “what is it?”

You bit your lip, and quickly pulled him into the bathroom, closing the door quickly behind you. 

“Woah, babe,” he smirked, “if you wanted-” his voice cut off when he saw you kneeling next to a small kitty. 

“Her name is garbage, cause that’s where I found her!” you giggled, quoting the episode of The Office you two had watched just last night. 

“Aww,” he cooed, and began to wash his hands hastily so he could pet her, “she’s adorable!” his voice was soft, and higher than normal, and it was the cutest thing you’d ever heard. He dried off his hands, and bent down to give her a cuddle. You stayed like that for a while, watching her play with string and baby talking her. 

“By the way, Estrella,” he said, breaking his baby voice to look up at you, “we’re not actually naming her garbage, right?”

“No!” you laughed, “She’s too cute, that’d be mean…” 

He giggled at your face, and you two batted names back and forth for a while, trying to find the right one, and eventually settling on Jackhammer, maybe Jack for short.  “She’s definitely as loud as one,” Leo mused when he’d first heard her purr.

She purred a lot more after that.

[sparksearcher]

twelfthstreet replied to your post “I think I just made a plan to knit and then take a pair of scissors to...”

fun!! what pattern?

It’s Pinebank from Malabrigo Book 8.  My tension for colorwork knit flat sucks, but I can rock 2-color stranded knitting in the round, so I’m going the steeked version.  Thankfully the pattern is written so I don’t have to worry about cutting holes for sleeves.

I found a great video on YouTube about how to do a crocheted steek, which seems less heart-attack-inducing than some of the other methods I’ve heard of.

[sparksearcher]

I used to get annoyed about tumblr recommending blogs on my dash. But now that they've started only recommending knitting blogs it's actually quite pleasant. Turns out I can stare at yarn for 8 hours of work, take out my own knitting when I get home, and still say "hey look yarn!" when it unexpectedly appears on my dash.