#this is like if you were on vacation and there were puppies or kittens everywhere you went

[softquietsteadylove]

How about something we probably haven't had before? The Eternals in ancient Egypt. While the Egyptians were busy treating cats like gods, Thena is trying to secretly populate the Domo with lizards.

"You busy mopin' in here too?"

"I do not mope," Thena corrected as Druig walked in, his black robes dragging behind him. She turned with a frown, "why do you have so many of them with you?"

"Don't ask me, they just-" he gestured, trying to dispel the cats swarming his feet. "Off with ye, y'bastards!"

The cats scattered, off to find their worship elsewhere. The Warrior Eternal couldn't believe how many of them populated the grounds of Egypt's reign. And the creatures were revered--walking signs of godly luck and prosperity, or some such.

"You've made a friend of your own, I see."

Thena looked down at the lizard snoozing in her palm. It was a small thing, but it had slithered up onto her knee without a hint of hesitation. Cold blooded creatures had none of the cautiousness mammals tended to show her. "Perhaps he can sense my distaste for the felines as well."

Druig chuckled, observing the procession from the edge of the pyramid concealing the Domo. "You sure they're not enjoyin' things a li'l too much down 'ere?"

Thena had to smile. "I cannot speak for Makkari. I believe she is thriving, getting the attention she does."

The Goddess herself was being paraded on a dais of all things, despite being able to circle the continent in the time it took the holders to take one collective step. But she waved to her adoring fans, showering her with praise. And of course, the tributes they brought her were her favourite part of their stay in Egypt thus far.

Ajak had ordered her to return everything, or at least leave it in the official treasury so it was available for the peoples' benefit come the time.

"Yeah, she's glowin' like a streak'a lightning," Druig mused, although he had quite a smile on his face as he observed. No matter how bereft of her company he was, he wasn't the type to drag her away from her time of thriving, either.

Thena could sympathise. Gilgamesh wasn't quite as prone to soaking up the attention as the Speedster, and he absolutely couldn't fathom letting mortals carry him instead of walking. But he was also waved to with enthusiasm, praised and adored. His hands held the gift of Ra himself, after all.

Ajak had also ordered Gilgamesh to humour the public, to a degree. Despite his discomfort, she thought that if they wanted to recognise him and Makkari as the beacons of their team this time around then so be it. Makkari and Gilgamesh were warm and mirthful, and perhaps that would encourage this to be a peaceful time for the development of the humans.

"Thena, Druig, what are you doing up here?"

The two Eternals shared a look, as if they were being caught by their mother skipping school. Druig dragged himself to a standing position, arms crossed and hunching as if the gold collar of his robes were weighing him down.

"You should be down there with everyone else," Ajak pointed at the procession. Sersi and Phastos were talking with various leaders of Egypt's developments. "I want this visit to be social for us--and that means everyone."

"I don't see Sprite down there," Thena pointed out with deadly accuracy, even getting a certain look from their Prime.

But Ajak clipped her unruly daughter's statement short, "she's down there. You may not see her, but she is."

"And Kingo?" Druig added, always happy to get himself out of something he didn't want to do.

"Making sure Sprite doesn't wander too far," Ajak elaborated, her voice growing higher as her annoyance increased. She put her hands on her hips, glaring at the two belligerent Eternals. "It's a happy occasion, and we haven't had an attack for days."

Ikaris was on watch regardless. And it wasn't at all because - for once - the humans had no interest in him or his powers, relegating him to 'one who accompanies the holders of Ra'.

Thena found it hilarious that he was acting like a dejected child.

"It's awfully hot," Druig shrugged. "We're still part'a the festivities. Just, y'know, from the comfort of home."

Thena petted her new friend between the prickly peaks atop its head. "He was seeking the shade."

Ajak eyed the Warrior Eternal. "You cannot bring any more of those things onto the Domo."

"I haven't-"

"It can't possibly be anyone else, Thena," Ajak pointed out, and accurately, at that. "They flock to you. And you know they scare Phastos."

"Everything scares Phastos," Druig murmured, although he got a finger snapped in his face for it. He made a face, even leaning back and swaying on his lazy knees. "Fine, fine, we'll go out there and humor the masses, aye?"

"That's all I'm asking," Ajak insisted in her most matronly way. "I finally got Phastos to leave the ship more often, I can't have you two taking over that role."

Thena and Druig both smiled and nodded (the picture of innocence).

Ajak didn't buy it. "Just go."

Druig dropped his smile but did shuffle past her towards the stairs. Ajak looked at Thena, who chose the faster route, turning and leaping off the side of the structure so tall they could see well into the horizon. Ajak rolled her eyes at her most difficult children.

Thena landed steadily, the sand below absorbing much of the shock. It was a high drop, even for an Eternal, but walking the stairs of the temples here took time even one of their lifespan didn't want to waste.

"Why did we build stairs at all if you were just gonna jump out of the windows every time?"

She smiled as the man with Ra in the palm of his hands broke away from the crowd. The farce of a parade continued on without him. "What of your adoring fans?"

"Ah, come on," he fussed, already embarrassed enough. He turned to face them with her, watching Sersi touch the various offerings held out to her, turning them to gold in the blink of an eye. "Ajak told her not to."

"I think she can't help it," Thena laughed faintly. "Ever since we first arrived; she loves the sparkle in their eyes when they see it."

"Who's this guy?" Gilgamesh asked as he slung his arm around her shoulder, leaning against her faintly. He was tired.

"A friend who sought the solace of shade with me," she sufficed to say, still massaging the reptile's spine from side to side.

"Kept her company?" Gil asked the cold blooded creature, who allowed him to tap the top of his head.

"He did." She looked up at him. The sun in Egypt was even more ceaseless here than in their previous homes, she found. And not just ceaseless, but intense.

Gilgamesh blinked as the back of her hand pressed to his cheek. He leaned into it, though. "You feel nice and cool."

"You shouldn't be under the sun for so long," she frowned, feeling his cheek, then his temple and his forehead. "And after you spent all morning breaking and hauling limestone for them."

He shrugged, though. He really was tired; his shoulders looked heavy, like it took great effort for him to raise them. "There's a lot of work to do."

Egypt was evolving rapidly. Of the many civilizations they had seen rise and fall in their time on Earth already, Egypt was likely to prosper and endure. Thena looked at their passing teammates again. "Sersi and Phastos are more than capable of sharing your workload for a day or two."

They were all helping, but Sersi and Phastos were by far having the easiest time with it. Phastos had powers that did the heavy lifting for him, and Sersi could simply turn the slabs of stone into one big seed pod, carry it, and then turn it back to rock once it was placed.

"Maybe."

Thena rubbed Gilgamesh's back, between his weary shoulder blades. "Perhaps you should retire. I'm sure Ajak would understand."

He gave her a smirk. "You mean you want to escort me and my 'injury' back to the Domo so you don't have to be out here for the party?"

"Absurd." Gilgamesh laughed, and so loudly that many turned back to look at them, including their fellow Eternals. But they continued on without him, and Thena smiled at the way his laughter warmed her shade cooled body.

"Y'know, now that you mention it," he postulated, putting his hand to his chin and everything. But there was no containing his bright grin. "I am feeling a bit...whoa!"

Thena laughed as well as Gilgamesh feigned slumping against her shoulder. A human may not have been able to hold him, but he would never drop his full body weight on her without warning, either. "Gilgamesh!"

"Thena, is that you?" he gasped as she started helping him hobble away from the crowd and into the temple. "So weak...I can see the light..."

"You are a terrible actor," she informed him as she got him into the shade.

"Really?" he asked as soon as they were out of sight. "Kingo gave me some tips."

"That was your first mistake."

He chuckled, still with his arm around her as they began walking back to their mothership. "You know Ajak is gonna find him."

Thena looked down at their guest, still lazing in her hand. "If Phastos were not so averse I don't see why I couldn't have one or two. They scurry in of their own accord at least once a day regardless."

"Yeah, and then Phastos gets freaked out, or Sersi thinks it's a rat, and then we have to sweep them out." Gil looked at the little creature again, which opened both layers of eyelids to blink at him.

Thena purred faintly as Gil pressed his lips to the spot where her tiara disappeared into her hair.

"Keep him in my room. Ajak won't think to check there. I'll bring him snacks and stuff."

She angled her head, catching the edge of his jaw with her lips. "Ever a champion of the people."

"Nice try," he brushed off in modesty. His arm drifted from her shoulder to resting his hand at her back. "You are way more important than 'the people' to me."

"You two are bloody disgustin'."

Thena let Druig drag himself past them towards the edge of daylight. "The procession has already passed."

"Well, nothin' I can do 'bout that. Guess I'll head back up-"

"Druig, get outside. You're mingling, and that's that."

Ajak also hustled past them, her deep blue robes breezing behind her petite figure as she all but dragged Druig out with her by the arm. Perhaps in her mission to make Druig more acclimatized to human socializing she had forgotten Thena had also been ordered to 'mingle'.

Gilgamesh nuzzled her hair again, whispering, "I think we got away with it."

Thena hummed, starting up the stairs towards the Domo with him, and their new friend. "Seeing that you both get some rest is more important in this moment."

Gil cupped her hands in one of his, adding to the bed of luxury for the humble lizard. "I think we'll both rest better if you join us."

[19thsentry-blog]

New Beat

Miraculous Ladybug Fanfic (Companion Story to Worlds Not Our Own, Friendship Fic)

Chapters

In The Shadows | Chp 1 | Chp 2 | Chp 3 | Chp 4 | Chp 5 | Chp 6 | Chp 7 | Chp 8 | Chp 9 |  Epilogue | Timeline

Chapter One: Love That Should Have Lasted Years (AO3 Link)  

Chapter Snapshot

Adrien clicked the answer button. "Hey, Juleka, it's Adrien."

A moment's silence, and then, "…Adrien… Where's Rose?" she asked, suspicion layering her voice.

Something clattered from the kitchen. Adrien frowned. "Uh, she's here, with me at my place. She didn't tell you?"

"No," Juleka sighed, voice heavy over the phone. "Why is she over there? Dammit, is she trying to snoop?"

"No! Well, not exactly, er, she's helping me learn how to cook--"

There were a lot of scrapping sounds coming from the kitchen now, and the smell seemed to be getting worse. He heard Juleka sigh over the phone. "Adrien, look--you got fleeced. Rose can't cook for shit."

"Uh--" 

Adrien wrangled his keys out of his pocket and frowned when the lock fought against the key. Rose put a hand on his. "I think that's the mail key, dear," she said, a laugh swimming in her blue eyes even if she didn't laugh at him out loud. 

"Oops," he said, trying to flip to the other key between his fingers. It still fought him, but after turning the teeth side up and down a few times he finally got the door to unlock. Why did everything have to be so hard? He pushed the door open. "Welcome to Fort Bachelor," he said with a crooked grin, trying not to be too embarrassed at the boxes half unpacked and clothes and packing paper lying everywhere. They still didn't have any real furniture, but they'd bought two chairs from a thrift store that now sat dovetailed in front of Kamdyn's entertainment center. Nino gave him one of his older TVs, and the lone gaming console he'd taken from his room was plugged dolefully into the outlet a few feet away, the cords reaching across the room so it could sit on the black entertainment center's surface. 

Rose weaved around the boxes, neon pink shopping bags dotted with kittens and puppies swinging by her side. "Well, I think this is just lovely!" she said warmly. "And the view from the kitchen window is darling." 

It really wasn't much, just a view of the little park behind the apartment complex with a lone tree, a flower bed, and a couple of swing sets. He could be pessimistic and think she was just humoring him, but Rose was nothing if not earnest in seeing the lovely side of even the drabbest object. That being said, she was absolutely using this opportunity to snoop, and was trying very carefully not to show it. 

"Kam said we can use any of his kitchen stuff, no problem." 

She clapped her hands twice out of excitement and set the bags on the kitchen counter that split the kitchen from the small living room/dining room area. "Thank you so much for letting me do this! I think this is just what we all need," she said, unpacking the ingredients they had just picked up from the grocery store. 

Adrien walked into the kitchen with her, helping her as she unpacked. "It's no problem! And you're helping me, too, so I should be the one thanking you," he said, taking out a packet of chicken tenderloins from the bag. He prodded the still cool chicken with his thumbs on top of the thin plastic covering it. It felt weird. Squishy. He smiled to himself and set it on the counter.

Nino had taught him a lot in the weeks he was crashing at his place, and it had felt like a wild vacation for a while. He was out of school, and not thinking about all of the university acceptance letters waiting for him back at the Agreste mansion ran him through with a rebellious thrill. Now that Adrien had a job, he would probably end up rejecting the lot of them. His father would probably tell him he was ruining his life--but there was more than one way to live, and he was determined to find the one that suited him. 

And that was why Rose was here, because while he enjoyed the wild abandon he and Nino had blazed through those first couple of weeks, Nino's life lessons seemed slightly skewed on occasion. Their diet consisted of imported American cheese puffs, take-out, and peanut butter sandwiches, and Nino's guidance in navigating a grocery store was "whatever's cheap and looks good". But Adrien wanted to learn how to cook, so when Rose offered to teach him, he jumped on the opportunity. 

"When will Alix get here?" he asked, watching with a bemused smile when Rose pulled a lacy white apron out of her bag and looped it around her neck. It had a purple cracked skull emblazoned on the front.

She frowned for a moment, thinking as she poked her lower lip with her finger. "Probably 15 or so minutes. The shopping trip took a bit longer than we expected." 

Oops. That would be his fault. He had asked a lot of questions, and all of them had been in dire need of answers. Rose had started really taking him seriously when he suggested they cook Salmon for dinner, and the fresh slab of fish he'd slung in the cart without thinking about it had been a whopping 40 euros. Hence the chicken. 

"What got her so upset?" he asked, ducking his head when Rose threw a black apron with some ruffles and pink lace on the ends over his head. 

Her lip wavered a bit. "I don't know! Well--I do, but I don't know why she got so upset about it. But this will fix it right up. A homecooked meal makes everything better. Now, where's a skillet?" 

Adrien started to swing a few cupboards open, looking for something suitable. Rose went to go fiddle with the buttons on the stove. He found a heavy, red skillet, pulled it out of the back of the cabinet where Kam had shoved it, and set it up on the counter. The Cat Miraculous caught his eye, and not for the first time today (or this week), he gave it a good long stare. 

Plagg was, probably understandably, a little upset at him. All of his unrestricted access to the finest and choicest cheese would be a lot harder to come across now that he wasn't living in the lap of luxury. Plagg complained about it endlessly of course, but he knew deep down he didn't mean it all that much--his Kwami had a heart of gold beneath the stubborn exterior. 

He had thought about returning the ring to Marinette with the rest of the Miraculous, but she beat him to the chase and insisted he kept it. The longer he thought about Marinette, the more Adrien felt like he was losing. It wasn't about loving her and not being able to have her (although that was usually the launch point for these kinds of thoughts); he'd had a few months to himself to work out that tangled mess of emotions. The truth was, ever since Adrien was a kid, the only thing he had ever wanted was to be the son his parents wanted him to be, and it came at a sharp cost. It was one he was paying for now. 

He felt Rose's hand on his back and looked up at her sympathetic smile. "Sorry. What do you need me to do next?" he asked. 

Rose took the skillet and set it on the warming stove top, and then she ignored his question, using one fingernail to pierce the thin plastic of the chicken packet and rip it open. "How are you doing, Adrien?" 

This was their spot. It meant a lot to him, this little rooftop with a view, one that he had once decorated with flower petals and candles and told her exactly how he felt about her. He had invited her here that night with such high hopes, so much love in his starved heart, and tonight he somehow felt worse than he had when she told him she loved someone else. 

Adrien held the ring in his palm, turning it over and over, feeling the warm metal roll in his hand. Unlike last time, Ladybug showed up right on the dot, and God, she looked just as beautiful as the first time he saw her. She gave him an awkward smile and, for the first time ever, de-transformed in front of him. 

It all made sense, and that made it worse. 

Marinette sat beside him on the rooftop, staring out into the night sky. He didn't know what to say, so he said nothing at all. Marinette was the first to speak. 

"I guess I never really knew you," she said softly, staring at her hands curled in her lap. 

Those words were the ones that cut him the most. How many times had he wanted her to know exactly who he was? To see the real him, the one beneath the surface? But Ladybug had never loved Chat Noir. She had loved Adrien, the façade he put on. "No," he said, no malice in his voice, "I guess not." Because who was he to be so hurt, when he was the same? 

But…that wasn't right, was it? He hadn't let himself love Marinette because he didn't want to hurt her (Félix had been right about his dad--what Gabriel would have done), but he had loved her. He'd loved them both, her and Ladybug. 'You're our everyday Ladybug,' he'd told her once. How had she felt about that? 

"I want you to keep the Cat Miraculous," she said, lifting her head. Her black hair shined white under the moon's light.

He swallowed, feeling the ring he held in his palm. Had she known he wanted to give it back?

Marinette bit her lip a bit. "I mean, the…the reason we became Chat Noir and Ladybug, that's all buttoned up, I get it. But Miraculouses aren't just given out to get back ones that aren't used properly. We still have a job to do, making Paris…better. I mean, you don't have to stay in Paris; you can go wherever you--" she stopped, taking a deep breath in. "You can do whatever you want, now." 

Those words would have excited him before; now he just felt queasy at them. What he wanted was for his dad not to have been Hawk Moth, and he wanted Marinette. Both were firmly off the table, so what was left? Just him. Just Adrien--whoever that was. "What are we going to do about…" Why was it so hard to say it out loud? He forced himself. "My dad? Hawk Moth? It doesn't seem right to just say all is forgiven and forgotten. I mean, he did so much hurting." 

Marinette turned to look at him, big blue eyes full of sympathy. "I think for now, we kind of have to. It's not really right, but I don't think he's a threat anymore. Luka said, um, there's a passage about it in the Guardian's Precepts--this book they put all their rules and secrets in. It mentions something about a council or whatever in The Order. They used to get together to figure out how to deal with people who misused the Miraculouses, judge their fate and all that. They mention something about sending those people to this place, shunya or shinyi or something, I don't know. But there aren't any details about said place, and there's no Order anymore, so it's just…us. Figuring it out." Marinette began to rub between her eyebrows with her fingertips. 

Adrien looked down at his palms, at the ring that lay in them. He knew he needed to start building something new, that now that everything he had known was up in the air, it was up to him to right the ship. The only question was, how? Adrien slipped the ring back on his finger, feeling the familiar weight of it against his knuckle. Marinette put her hand on his. He felt himself choke at the warmth. 

"Adrien? How are you doing?" 

The chicken Rose put in the skillet started to sizzle. "I'm…" Adrien swallowed. "I'm trying." 

"We're all proud of you, you know," she said, ducking into a cupboard next to the sink to dig around for a cutting board, leaving the chicken unattended. "Sometimes when I think back on everything that happened, it almost feels like a dream. What you're going through can't be easy." 

Having to attend your mother's funeral twice wasn't easy, and it definitely wasn't normal. When he had been Chat Noir and Marinette had been Ladybug, he always felt left out that she hadn't trusted him with the secret identities of the heroes she chose--finding out they were his friends at least made this part easier. No one else but the other Miraculous holders would ever know Hawk Moth had been Gabriel Agreste, but at least he had people to talk to about it.

Adrien cleared his throat, taking the knife Rose handed him as an implicit direction to start cutting the potatoes she had washed in the sink. "I feel like, for a long time, I was always waiting for my life to really begin. Like it hadn't actually started yet, and then I got the Cat Miraculous and I thought maybe…maybe this is it, this is my sign that I get to start living." For a while, that had been true. When he was Chat Noir, he thought he could finally be himself. "But after everything that happened last Fall, I don't know, I feel like I was still just playing a part in a play." 

Rose hummed sympathetically, moving the chopped potatoes into a bowl to throw some olive oil on them. He was going to say something else, because Rose really was one of the best listeners there was, but he smelled something off and he wasn't sure what. "Rose, do you smell--?" 

Her phone started ringing, some screeching death metal sound that made him jump. "Oh, would you be a dear and grab that? My hands are all oily," she said, wrist deep in tossing the potatoes. 

"Uh, sure," he said, leaving the knife on the counter to go into the living room to start riffling through her purse. He finally found her phone in the inner pocket. "It's Juleka!" he said, staring at the dark-haired beauty's picture on the screen. 

"Go ahead and answer it!" she yelled back from the kitchen over the sizzle of the chicken. 

Adrien clicked the answer button. "Hey, Juleka, it's Adrien." 

A moment's silence, and then, "…Adrien… Where's Rose?" she asked, suspicion layering her voice. 

Something clattered from the kitchen. Adrien frowned. "Uh, she's here, with me at my place. She didn't tell you?" 

"No," Juleka sighed, voice heavy over the phone. "Why is she over there? Dammit, is she trying to snoop?" 

"No! Well, not exactly, er, she's helping me learn how to cook--" 

There were a lot of scrapping sounds coming from the kitchen now, and the smell seemed to be getting worse. He heard Juleka sigh over the phone. "Adrien, look--you got fleeced. Rose can't cook for shit." 

"Uh--" The smoke alarm in the apartment began to screech, and both he and Rose turned to each other, wide-eyed and fearful. He heard Juleka shout through the phone but couldn't make out what she was saying, and that was when the door to his apartment slammed open and Alix burst in. 

"What the hell are you two doing?" she asked, jumping over boxes into the corner of the room where the smoke detector was blaring like a police siren. Her hat fell off as she leapt up on a box, balancing precariously as she slapped at the sensor to try to get it to stop. 

"I don't know what went wrong--it doesn't do this when Juleka does it!" Rose said over the noise, hands over her ears. 

Alix pressed a couple of buttons on the smoke detector, but it kept blaring. "Oh, fuck this!" Alix muttered, mouth screwed up in concentration. She twisted the detector with one brutal motion and the white circular disk came free from its attachment to the wall, dangling from a few colored cords. Alix ripped the yowling detector out and jumped off the box, fingernails grappling with the battery compartment on the detector and failing while it screamed back. She ran with it to the kitchen, slamming the window open and throwing it outside like an Olympian competing at the discus toss. It finally stopped chirping when it hit the ground. 

Adrien and Rose flanked Alix by the window, staring down at the mangled smoke detector where it lay at the feet of some pimply youth it had nearly clocked in the head. The kid stared back. 

"Well," Alix said, clearing her throat. "That takes care of that." The chicken was still burning, and she spun around to get it off the burner and flick the stove off. Alix grabbed a fork from the counter and poked it. "Wow, you really messed this up good, pinky." 

Rose pouted. "I would have had it; I just got…distracted." 

"Right." Alix laughed and shook her head. "Adrien, get me another fork," she said. 

Adrien riffled through the drawers while Rose went to sit on a box on the other side of the counter with as much dignity as she could spare. He handed Alix a fork and watched her pull apart the chicken, checking for any raw parts. "Normal people use a meat thermometer," Alix said, "But this baby's gonna have to get shredded anyway to be edible, so this works too. Just make sure it's not pink. If it's still a bit pink but the outside looks too charred to put it back on the stove, a minute or two in the microwave cures most culinary ills." 

Alix shredded the rest of the chicken between the fork tines, dispensing other valuable information. "Normal people also season it first--" 

"Oh, fiddle sticks, I knew I forgot something…" 

"God, I wish you were kidding," Alix said with a fond laugh, digging through the cupboards to find a big bowl. "You got salad in this joint?" 

Alix directed Adrien around the kitchen with practiced ease, fixing up what she said was something like a Mexican salad, with black beans and corn to go over it with the shredded chicken. Rose was allowed to stick her potatoes in the oven but was otherwise left to entertain them with whatever stories she had from working at the animal shelter. It felt good. It felt normal, and he needed as much of normal as he could get.

Several hours later, full of the meal Alix had somehow managed to salvage (and hey, he had learned some things about cooking today after all), Juleka had come to pick up her girlfriend, muttering apologies at the mangled wires coming from the ceiling. Then it was just Adrien and Alix, sitting in front of the TV. 

"So, besides Rose inviting me here for…I don't know what that was, honestly," she said with a huff that was mostly a laugh, "but I had another reason for being here." Alix started digging into the pocket on the calf of her cargo pants. 

Adrien leaned forward, taking the white and pink polka-dotted envelope from her. "This is…" he started, the words 'from Marinette' not said but implied. 

"Yeah," Alix nodded. "It's tickets--or, no, invitations. Sorry, not used to fancy shindig words." As well-off as Alix's father was, he'd never made her attend the same functions that Adrien's father had imposed on him. Alix was left to a world of roller skates and street art, and it was one Adrien wished he'd been brave enough to carve out for himself sooner. 

Adrien frowned, opening the back of the envelope to pull out two invitations to fashion week. He didn't say anything when he looked at them, so Alix filled the space. 

"It's, uh, for her apprenticeship thing. For that brand. I guess they're letting her premiere one of her designs there." 

"That's huge," he said, genuinely amazed. He shouldn't have been surprised. Marinette was incredible, but still, that was a giant leap for her career. He should know, after all. His father was going to be showing his new line there.

"Yeah," Alix agreed. "It's a hell of a design. Rose and I have been working our asses off helping. Grunt work, you know, the simple shit. She uh…she wants you to be there, if you want to be. But you don't have to, what with you-know-who maybe being there too."

Adrien tucked the tickets back into the envelope. "Right." 

Alix stood, grabbing her hat off the floor and sticking it on her head. "But I'll get out of your hair. Don't feel pressured or anything." 

Alix was halfway to the door when it occurred to Adrien to try to ask again. "Alix?" 

She turned, one pierced eyebrow raised. "What's up?" 

"What were you and Rose fighting about anyway?" 

Alix swung open the apartment door, a pained grin on her face. "You know me, Adrien. Just another feral stray needing a good home to go to." 

Adrien sat there for several minutes more, starting when the door jangled open again. Kamdyn came in, holding the pathetic hunk of plastic that used to be their smoke detector in one hand, the other hand readjusting the beanie on his head. "Alright," he said, holding it up to Adrien with a bemused look as his gaze flicked between his roommate and the frayed cords on the ceiling. "I've got some questions."  

Adrien forgot he was still wearing Rose's apron.

Worlds Not Our Own: Chapter Three, A New Career in a New Town

[wellesleyunderground]

Wellesley in STEM: Jenn Wiegel ‘08, Veterinarian

WU STEM series editor Katie Kinnaird interviews Jenn Wiegel ‘08, a practicing veterinarian.

WU: Jenn, thanks for taking time to chat with us! You are a practicing veterinarian in Gibsonville, North Carolina. What drew you to being a vet?

JW: Every since I was a little girl I wanted to be a veterinarian. I always loved animals and this loved was sealed when I received my first kitten for my 7th birthday.

WU: Do you have a favorite part of your job?

JW: I most enjoy surgery and pleasant clients. :) Puppy and kitten visits are usually fun too. My favorite appointments are those with young children (though not so young that mostly all they do is fuss). I always offer to let them listen to their pet’s heart with the stethoscope. I usually ask them if the pet’s heart sounds okay and they almost always answer with authority that it does. It’s so cute!

WU: You majored in Econ with a minor in Astronomy at Wellesley. This seems like a less tradition pre-vet major. How did you decide to go into veterinary medicine? Did your major prepare you to be a vet in unexpected (or expected) ways?

JW: I’ve always wanted to be a veterinarian, but during my first year at Wellesley, I attended a pre-professional meeting that made it sound next to impossible to get into some of these professions (vet, MD, JD, etc). So I lost a little confidence in myself. It wasn’t until the summer before senior year that I decided I would go back to the dream of being a vet. I don’t know that this really influenced my major choice, however. I was never very interested in being a biology major because I never wanted to teach biology or work in a lab. I’m sure there are more things you can do with a biology degree than that, but 18 year-old me didn’t know this. I am a very practical person, so majoring in Econ was logical in that I could always fall back into any sort of business or finance job with this degree.

And Astronomy? Well, Astronomy was just fun! And I love math! Also, while I do love Star Wars, I will always chuckle at Han Solo’s line about making the Kessel run in “12 parsecs” because parsecs are a measure of distance, not time. Oh Astronomy nerdiness!

WU: How did Wellesley more generally prepare you to work with animals and their human caretakers? Where there any courses or professors at Wellesley that had a particular impact on you and your chosen career?

JW: I had many great professors at Wellesley who helped me along the way with recommendations, but I can’t say I think there was a certain course at Wellesley that helped with the animal or “pet parent” aspect of my job. I recall Professor Marc Tetel being very encouraging when I was the only senior in Bio 101. He was a great professor! There were other professors that I still regard as influential in my life path (Prof. Ryan Frace in history and Prof. Randall Collaizzi in Classics), but I think they just helped contribute to my lifelong love of learning and not specifically anything to do with veterinary medicine.

WU: What is the process for becoming a vet? What is the schooling like? Is there residency?

JW: Becoming a vet requires a 4-year undergraduate degree and then a 4-year veterinary medical doctorate. There are prerequisite courses that all veterinary schools require (the usual sciences and often public speaking as well), but many schools also want you to demonstrate animal or veterinary work experience as well. There are residencies for veterinarians. We essentially have all the specialties that physicians have and they all require a residency with the exception of being a general practitioner. All veterinarians graduate as GPs. If a vet does want to specialize, she would need to do an internship for a year prior to residency.

WU: A prerequisite in public speaking for working with animals is super surprising! Could you say a bit more about how this requirement fits into your veterinarian life?

One of the biggest and most important aspects of my job is client education. Veterinarians spend a lot of time speaking with people in order to help their animals. Taking public speaking as a course helped me be more comfortable speaking in public, particularly strangers (I took public speaking at UConn one summer and knew no one in the class). It’s very important to be clear and concise with what you’re saying and to be able to present medical conditions or treatments in a way that is easy to understand.

WU: What is the most interesting experience that you’ve had as a vet? What was the funniest or most unexpected experience?

JW: I’ve had so many incredible experiences on this journey. Prior to graduating from veterinary school, I did multiple study abroad trips where we worked with native wildlife/animals and people in those countries. These places included Australia, South Africa, Jordan, Ecuador & the Galapagos, Hawaii, and the Florida keys. In Ecuador, I got to draw blood from the jugular vein of a jaguar and in South Africa, took part in an enrichment program for cheetahs. I really love big cats and so these experiences were incredible. In Florida, I did an externship at a 24 hour hospital that sees a large amount of exotic animals (birds, reptiles, small mammals, etc). While there, the Animal Planet TV show “Gator Boys” brought one of their gators to have his jaw repaired by the owner veterinarian of this practice. I got to be the anesthetist for the alligator which was awesome and nerve-wracking at the same time. I may have even been on TV! (I don’t have cable, so I don’t know!) I would say that was the most unexpected experience I’ve had.

The funniest experience I’ve had as a vet happened my second year out of school. I had an appointment on my books for a wellness cat visit for a 10 year old female spayed kitty named “Tabitha”. This cat had been with the current owners for about 8 years and had been to 3-4 previous veterinarians. I had the documents from this cat’s previous visits so I knew her history. When we perform physical exams, veterinarian usually do a “nose-to-tail” evaluation. Well, I got to Tabitha’s tail, lifted it, and,to my surprise, saw that Tabitha was actually a neutered male cat. Luckily the owner had a good sense of humor when I announced “It’s a boy!” Somehow it had been missed that Tabitha, who had wandered up about 8 years prior, was actually a neutered male and not a spayed female. The owner and I certainly had a laugh about that one for quite some time.

WU: For those of us who considering adding an animal into our families, what recommendations do you have for making this decision? Do you have any suggestions for making the decision and/or preparing our homes?

JW: Actually, there are some great online resources for this. For first time pet parents, they may want to check out this page. The AVMA is our national professional organization and they are very devoted to public education, so they have several pages to help individuals decide what kind of pet is right for you. If you already have an established relationship with a veterinarian, then you may want to ask him or her for a recommendation. If your vet knows you well, they may know whether a cat or dog or a certain breed of pet would work best for you and your family.

WU: Healthcare for humans and the associate costs are big talking points in the US right now. Are there similar conversations or issues surrounding animal healthcare?

JW: Yes and no. There is health insurance for animals, but it works completely differently than human health insurance. I would encourage pet parents to consider getting pet insurance. It does not cover routine care (exams, vaccines, etc), but would could accident or illness and might make having to make a tough decision a lot easier. I worked as an emergency veterinarian full time for about 13 months and unfortunately there is a lot of finance-driven euthanasia because people are not financially prepared for an emergency. Having accident/illness insurance (which is basically what pet health insurance is) could mean life or death for a pet.

There are some veterinarians who are worried that animal healthcare will become as crazy as human healthcare, but I just don’t see how this could happen.

WU: Wellesley Alums seem to be everywhere! Where’s the most unexpected situation where you’ve met a Wellesley alum?

JW: Actually, I just bumped into a Wellesley alum (even an ‘08er) at the top of the Seattle Space Needle in July! I happened to be wearing a Wellesley hat that I bought my husband at reunion. Berenice Rodriguez stopped me and asked if I had gone to Wellesley. I realized I recognized her and we discovered that we were the same class year. We never knew each other well at Wellesley, but well enough to recognize each other! Neither of us live in Seattle, we were both there on vacation!

WU: So many STEM fields are mostly male, and as a result, many women experience challenges breaking into and being part of their chosen communities. As a female veterinarian, have you faced any challenges? What helped you keep moving forward to become the effective vet that you are?

JW: I have not personally experienced any challenges to becoming a veterinarian as a woman. The vast majority of veterinarians are female. In veterinary schools nationwide, 80% of the students are female so it's a lady-dominated field. There are plenty of women-owned practices, etc. I really only find that the biggest issues come when other strong-willed women (as clients) try to play a virtual spitting game to try to one up me intellectually. I have experienced a lot of negativity from these female clients. Whenever I’ve had a client complaint, it has always been a woman. Unfortunately, the general populous is not as supportive of successful, strong women as Wellesley.

WU: What about your life, beyond your work as veterinarian, are you most proud of?

JW: Most proud of? I guess I’m not sure. Oh wait - maybe it was the epic road trip I took in 2010 prior to going to veterinary school. (Blog here: http://lifeisahighway2010.blogspot.com/) I still love telling people about that. Enjoy the most? That’s easy - travel! I love going to new places and experiencing new things. I’ve been to all 50 states (by the age of 27) and 20+ countries. My husband and I love going to the movies, playing trivia, and taking day-trips. I enjoy cross-stitching and crafting.

WU: Okay, time for the big controversial question. Are you a cat person or dog person? … Just kidding! What I meant to ask is “do you have a special animal companion in your life?”

JW: No controversy here! I am 100% a cat person. Always have been, always will be. Don’t get me wrong, I like dogs and I certainly enjoy seeing them at work, but kitties are where my heart is! My (most recent) best kitty companion passed away suddenly last year. His name was “Major Tom” and, boy, was he handsome. Big yellow eyes, fluffy orange tail, and huge paws. I’m still a bit misty eyed about his passing, but got to be his cat-mom for a glorious decade. I do have some great kitty companions at home right now - Smokey Jo (Major Tom’s sister and my little shadow), Carolina Jane (a princess cat if I ever met one), Sergeant Boots (the shy, gentle, sweet type with an arresting meow), and Marigold Marie (who despite her permanent limp, is very handicapable, thank you very much!). They’re all very sweet, loving companions. They greet me and my husband each and every day as we get home from work, can hardly wait for you to sit down before they’re in your lap (and I mean all of them, at once), and stand guard patiently outside our bedroom in the morning for food and affection. I’ve always had great cats who do all these things.

[yoosungiib]

rfa and minor trio being surprised by mc? like making a nice dinner or getting something they’ve wanted for the heck of it or whatever lol. i love ur blog btw u write so nicely!!

Thank you, love! I hope you like this :) I really enjoyed this request!

RFA + Minor Trio being surprised by MC

~~~

★ Yoosung ★

The moment the new video game Yoosung was craving for came on sale, he was rushing to the store to get it,

But only to be disappointed by the fact they were all sold out.

He kept going back and back to the store, but everytime they had to turn him away.

He tried to order it online, but the only way he could do so was by paying a high fee for shipping.

Another problem was that the game was re-stacked while he was at work, so people came right away for it, leaving none eft. So Yoosung was really upset.

He moped around a bit, but tried not to let his sadness show. But you could see just how upset the smol boy was.

Of course, you had to do something about this. You will not under any circumstances let your husband be sad!

So once you give him his kiss goodbye and see him off to work, you get dressed and head to the gaming store.

You wait for about an hour for them to re-stack so you can make sure to get one for definite. You are so excited to present it to him when he gets home – you wrap it in his favorite puppy wrapping paper and put a big blue bow on it.

When he comes home and you help him to de-stress by massaging his shoulders and some soft kisses hehe you hand him the wrapped up game. He looks up at you with a gentle smile and asks what it is, but you just tell him to open it.

He tears the paper apart and s c r e a m s when he sees the game. He nearly throws it across the room jumping up and spinning you around.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you, MC! You have no idea how much this means to me!”

Dinner and any responsibilities are forgotten by you guys as you play the new game for the rest of the night.

♪ Zen ♪

Zen had recently gotten the lead in a new play, which he was absolutely ecstatic about! It was a role he’s been wanting for awhile.

You couldn’t be more proud of him, but you watched as he came home exhausted every night, worn out, and barely able to stay awake.

You watched him eat little to nothing as stress started to chew away at him. Zen had even stopped taking care of himself! Your worried he is going to drive himself to insanity if he doesn’t at least eat breakfast.

So you had to do something for him. You couldn’t stand to see him like this. You wanted to do something that would be nice for him, enjoyable, and would help him to get more energy. Something that would commemorate him for all his hard work.

What better way than a date night! You found a few recipes online for some of Zen’s favorite meals, and while he was at work, you cooked it up for him. You decorated the room with candles and flower petals how romantic and set the table with all the meals presented - including a dessert!

You waited for Zen to come home, which was around eleven o’clock, excitement bubbling inside you to show him your surprise.

Zen came through the door looking exhausted as usual, but he was surprised to see you awake considering you are normally in bed by the time he gets home?

“Jagiya? What are you doing up?” he says smiling tiredly. You just grin and gently take his hand, pulling him to the kitchen. He gasps when he walks in to the elaborate display in the kitchen.

He’s wide awake now!

All his favorite meals on the table, fish bread from the shop, a chocolate cake, candles on every shelf and center, rose petals scattered all over the floor. He was speechless! He turned to you and suddenly all his energy was back as he lifted you up and spun you around. “Thank you so much, MC. This must have been a lot of work.”

“It’s nothing compared to what you’ve been doing, and I’m so proud of what you have accomplished and how far you have come.” Zen grins, bending down to kiss you, then digging into his food.

He’ll probably be extra tired in the morning after the wonderful~ night~ you~ guys~ have~ together~

❀ Jaehee ❀

*** FUN FACT! This same thing happened to my mom!

You were at home with a kidney infection, under doctors orders to rest while you take the medicine the makes you woozy and sick. You felt terrible, not only because of the pain in your abdomen, but because this meant that Jaehee had to work in the cafe by herself.

She came home exhausted and worn out, dark bags under her eyes and her auburn hair a mess. She tried to aid you since you were in a lot of pain, but you could see just how much it was taking out of her; the shine that was normally in her eyes just gone.

You desperately wanted to do something for her, but you were at a loss of what to do. Money was tight and you were home sick.

Under a blanket on the couch eating cereal, you listened to the radio. You were snapped out of a daze when they mentioned a contest where the winner would get two tickets for a free trip to Bermuda - flight paid for by the station and everything. You were interested and thought maybe if you could win, this could be a gift to Jaehee. She deserves a vacation afterall.

The way to win was by getting the correct answer to a trivia question based on an American TV show. You were able to answer it correct, however, many others did too so the radio station had to choose a random caller for their winner.

You were just about to hang up thinking there was no chance of you winning when suddenly, “Caller number 3?”

THAT WAS YOU!

“Uh? Yes?”

“Congratulations! You have won a free trip for two to Bermuda!”

If it wasn’t that you were in so much physical agony, you would have jumped up and started screaming.

By the time the tickets were mailed to you, you were better, so you decided to do something flamboyant in presenting them to Jaehee. While she was washing the dishes from the cafe, you quickly set up a display of her favorite cupcake, flowers and coffee.

“MC? What’s all this for?”

It was hard to contain your excitement. You pulled out the two tickets from your pocket, presenting them to Jaehee who let out a gasp and squeel prying the tickets out of your hands. She was at a little bit of a loss for words. She questioned why you bought tickets, especially with their financial status. But you told her about the radio contest and how you won, and Jaehee just couldn’t be haPPIER SHE’S GOING TO BERMUDA.

Best trip of your lives. On the beach, relaxing, eating whatever you want, swimming, with the woman you love. You couldn’t have asked for a better vacation. 

☂ Jumin ���

What can you do for one of the richest businessmen in the world, who with a snap of his fingers can have anything delivered to him.

You watched the recent stress of work eat at him, though he tried to pass it off that he was fine. When he came home, he acted energized and on high alert, but over dinner you could see how his eyes would droop and it was difficult for him to keep his head up.

You tried to talk about it with him, but he just smiled, kissed you, and assured you he was fine.

But not only seconds later did you find him asleep on the toilet. Embarrassed, he had allowed you to help him into bed. He tried to tell you he didn’t need the help but he was just so tired at this point, he couldn’t even bother stopping you.

It pained you to see him like this; you know just how much he hates feeling weak and not in control. As he slept your cutie pie husband, you thought of something you could do for him. You felt like buying him something would be unnecessary, and you thought trying to clean up or cook something for him would just be a waste since he’d probably have the maid or cook redo everything.

So whatever it was you were to do for him, it had to be heartfelt and meaningful.

As Elizabeth the third strutted into the room mewling, her indication that she wanted food, the perfect idea popped in your head.

A sweater with Elizabeth’s face on it!

He could probably get a proper designer to do this for him, but you have some skill in sewing/knitting, and it will be much more meaningful and treasuring if it were you who made it.

The project took about a week, but it was worth it just to see the way Jumin’s face lit up when you presented to him the sweeter with Elizabeth on it.

For the first time ever, Jumin seemed to be at a loss for words as he pulled you into a bone crushing hug mumbling thank yous.

“My love. What did I do to deserve such a beautiful gift?”

You giggle, pulling him back down into a hug and kissing his cheek. “I did it because I love you. And I see that you are stressed. You are my husband. We are connected. You help me whenever I am stressed or upset, so I will help you when you are stressed.” You felt Jumin smile into your hair before he whispered to you,

“I’m a lucky man to have some as wonderful and pure as you.”

☺ Seven/Saeyoung ☺

Shopping for Seven can be incredibly difficult, considering there isn’t much that he wants and if he really wanted something, he’d just make it himself.

But you watched as Sevens health seemed to deteriorate as work for a new agency alliterated stress, and how unlike before where he could stay up for days, he could hardly keep his eyes open. And it astounded you how he continued to try and be lively around you, shower you with affection, and pretend that nothing was wrong though you could clearly see that there was.

You wanted to do something for Seven; something to show him that you appreciate him and all the hard work he was doing to provide for his family and the RFA. But what could you do?

While Seven was cooped up in what he called an office – which was a room with a bunch of computers and honey buddha chip bags everywhere – you sat in the kitchen with a notepad and tea and tried to think of some ideas.

In the end, it was Saeran who gave you the brilliant idea of adopting a kitten for Seven! What better gift could there be? It was so clear that Seven wanted a kitten and with everyone in the house, the kitten would definitely be taken cared of. But let’s not but Seven in charge of feeding it. All the cat will be fed is honey buddha chips.

The only one who was against it was Vanderwood, but after enough convincing, he finally agreed to adopting the kitten.

It was really hard to keep the surprise a secret since Seven has eyes basically everywhere and is always keeping tabs on you, but the day you went to go and adopt the kitten, Vanderwood and Saeran made sure he was completely unable to track you or figure out what as going on.

You went to an adoption center and searched for the perfect cat. You finally found the one when you spotted an orange tabby cat with a torn ear and a what looked to have a lopsided grin. Not only was the cat just purely stunning, it was playful too which was perfect for Seven!

You were so excited to give the kitten to Seven, you could hardly stop yourself from jumping up and down. Inside the bunker, you stood behind Seven who was so focused on work, he didn’t hear you come in. You grinned, holding the kitten to your chest and said, “Seven, honey, I have a surprise.”

Seven turned around to tell you he’d look at it later but he gasped when he saw the beautiful orange kitten. The scream of joy he released could probably be heard all around the world as he jumped off the chair and hurried towards you and the cat. He practically yanked the poor baby out of your arms.

“MC?? You did this for me? You got us a kitten? I’m a father now!!” You laughed, nodding your head and joining him at his side. You rested your head on his shoulder and petted the kitten who was flush against Seven’s chest. “Thank you, baby, this is amazing. Is it a boy or a girl?”

“A boy. What are you going to name him?”

Seven ponders for a few seconds before snapping his fingers. “Elliot!”

❆ V ❆

When V is not devoted to your well being and making sure you feel utterly loved, he is devoted to his art, whether it is painting or photography.

V has a transparent talent in the arts, especially photography. However, you can see that he favors painting. So you can imagine how upset he was when he ran out of paints. Of course, he could go to the store and buy some, but money was incredibly tight, especially with the move and financing a new house.

You could see just how much it upset him that he couldn’t paint. Sure, he loved photography, but he did it for so long that he got tired of it and prefered to mix the colours of paint instead of taking pictures of the same old thing.

If only you could get him new paints, and maybe more tools as something special, without cutting in too much to your finances. But doing that would be hard, so you called in a favor.

You were hesitant to do this but you wanted to see V smile, a genuine smile, once again. Besides, he’s done so much for you, so you should do this for him.

You called Jumin and asked for a loan, promising to pay him back, but as you expected, Jumin denied the need for you to pay him back. He was happy to loan money to a friend, especially when the money was being used to help someone.

In Paris, you found the most luxurious if that is really even possible and most eccentric of paints you could find. You had definitely gotten your money’s worth. While V was out, you set up the paints in his studio, grinning as you waited for V to come home. You heard the front door open and V call to you. “In your studio, honey. Come look at this!”

Blue boy shooketh

V entered the studio and immediately dropped his bag when he saw displayed all over the room were buckets and cartons of new paints. He was speechless as he walked around the room, inspecting the paints, as well as some new tools you bought for him. He turned to you and smiled.

“Darling, this is wonderful. But I told you we needed to save that money for finishing with the house and-”

You silenced him by placing your finger on his lips, then taking a hold of his collar and bringing him down to you so you could kiss him, gently. “None of that money was spent. I got a favor from someone, besides, we are not in debt. We are not in a financial crises, but even so, you don’t have to worry about that money being spent. You deserve this. I can see how much you miss painting. I want you to paint to your hearts desires.”

Your husband wrapped his arms around you, pulling you into a tight hug as he kissed the top of your head. “Thank you, MC. Really,” V said into your hair. “I know exactly what I will paint first.”

☻ Saeran/Unknown ☻

It’s been two years since Saeran was rescued from Rika’s grasps, and 6 months since you and Saeran made your relationship official.

Everyday, Saeran worked to be a loving and caring boyfriend to you, working on his anger and showing affection through the little ways he can.

However, this month seemed to be a particularly bad one for Searan. He was having issues with PTSD, and having more panic attacks than usual, and frequent breakdowns. He yells more than often, gets angry very easily, and the littlest things set him off. The transition from Unknown to Saeran was not easy for him.

Everyday he tries, so, so hard to get better. He even realizes how bad this month has been for him emotionally and mentally. He started to go to therapy more often, and at home he’d do all the things his therapist would suggest for him. He even agreed to take medication, which he was really against doing.

You’re so proud of him.

All the trauma he’s been facing this past month has drained him. It hurts you to see the mental pain he endures.

One night you two sat on your shared bed, him crying into your chest as he degraded himself and called himself weak.

“Don’t you ever say that, baby, don’t you ever. You are not weak. You are so strong. Look how far you have come. You have reached a rough spot, but that is ok, you are not alone.” Saeran continued to sob into your breasts as he clutched onto you, too afraid to let you go.

“I fear that one day you will leave me,” he wails, “because I am not good enough. I fear I won’t be able to make you happy… all I want is for you to be happy. I’ve been so cruel to you this month… not even just this month. I’ve never treated you right. I don’t deserve you.”

“You know that isn’t true, Saeran… I am happy every day with you. I wish you could see that.”

Rationally, you wanted to do something to cheer him up and to make him feel better. 

So you got him an ice cream machine!

At first, you thought that was a silly idea, but as you sat and thought about it, you realized it was perfect. Saeran loves ice cream more than you you are sure, and you think he might find it calming and therapeutic to be able to make his own ice cream.

Ice cream machines aren’t cheap though, so you had to put aside a lot of money for it. You even had to borrow some money from Jumin you don’t know if you are lucky or not that he didn’t offer you taking in a cat as a deal breaker.

Saeran had gotten a lot better by the time you were able to order the ice cream machine and get it dropped off at the bunker. You had Seven keep him occupied as you set it up in the kitchen, putting a big bow that was his favorite colour on the top. Giddily, you shouted for him.

He entered the room and stopped in his tracks when he saw the machine. He gaped, his mint eyes widening a bit. You giggled as you ran to his side and took his hand, pulling him towards the machine.

“Is… is this?”

“An ice cream machine? Yes! Now you can make your own ice cream. It even comes with a tutorial and different flavors to use.”

“MC… why would you do this for me?” he asked, turning to you and cupping your cheek. His eyes kept straying to the machine since he was pretty desperate to start making ice cream.

“Because I love you, silly. And I’m so proud of you.”

He grinned, wrapping his arms around you and pulling you in for a bone crushing hug. The two of you spent hours that night making ice cream after ice cream, not caring how sick you may feel in the morning because of the amount of sugar you two will have surely consumed.

✌ Vanderwood ✌

Leaving the agency was a huge step for Vanderwood.

He loved the action, the thrill, the sudden adrenalin you get when on missions, but he loved you more, and he understood being in an agency put your life at risk. So he was willing to give it all up if it meant he could be with you.

But that didn’t make adjusting to what’s a “normal” life any easier. Though Vanderwood is skilled in many things, finding a job was hard for him. Especially one that he fit in to and one that he didn’t end up pissing anyone off in.

Vanderwood was going through job after job until he finally settled as a janitor and facilities worker ok I can so see this though I’m sorry at a school. But the problem with that is he is surrounded by at least 700 other sevens!!

And everyday he comes home frustrated and tired, absolutely done with the world. The second he is through the door, he’s kissing your temple as a quick hello then locking himself in the bedroom to do work. He’ll only come out for dinner and maybe watch something with you, but then he’ll go back into the bedroom.

At first you thought it was to sleep but you figured out it was him working and getting out some stress by stabbing one of those seven dolls.

You’ve tried to get him to talk to you, and only once did he ever really open up to you about it, and he barely said a thing. “Lets just say kids are brats. If we ever have a kid we better raise them right.”

When you’re stressed, Vanderwood has always pushed his tsundere side aside to help you, so you think it is only right that you find a way to help him.

One night he called you telling you he’d be home late, so you decided you would prepare a nice meal for him with some candles, a movie, and a cake.

It was around 8 o’clock that Vanderwood came through the door. He looked very tired and was reaching for a cigar as you walked over to him. He kinda weakly wrapped his arm around you and kissed your forehead, then made his way to the bedroom but you stopped him. “Before you shut yourself off from the world, I have a little surprise for you.”

You took his larger hand in yours and brought him to the kitchen where you had the meal set up. His eyes widened and he stammered as he stared at the meal. “MC. What is this?”

“Dinner of course! When is the last time you have had a proper meal? You are always telling me to eat healthy and to take care of myself. You’ve been working so hard. You deserve this. So before you go to complete any more work or sleep, please just have this meal with me.”

Vanderwood chuckled, a smirk appearing on his face as he took off his jacket with the leopard prints and hung it up. How could he deny this.

You two ate the meal together and had your first proper conversation in what has seemed like ages. After that, you cuddled on the couch and watched one of Vanderwoods favorite films. He noticed half way through the film though that you fell asleep. He grinned, turning off the TV and bringing you to bed. As he tucked you in and got under the covers besides you, he wrapped his arms around you, something he hasn’t been able to do in awhile since he has always been asleep first. He whispered a small thank you in your hair, and drifted off to sleep with you.

It was the best sleep he’s had in ages.

~~~

Requests are closed right now, but to find rules of requests you can check out my masterlist page!

[ceiaofsilence]

Reshuffle

This is a story idea I had that I’m probably never going to do anything about. It’s up for grabs, if you want it:

Deku, the hero who brought about the Golden Age of Heroes.

Yagi Toshinori, the quirkless middle school student who wants to become a hero.

‘Hero Deku saves hundreds from natural disaster’ say the headlines when Yagi Toshinori opens his phone feed one morning. He gasps softly and reads the article with eager eyes, mouth curling into a soft smile.

It’s a good start to his day. Not that it’s terribly unusual to read about Deku’s heroics at any moment - he’s arguably the number one among heroes, and certainly a beacon of light to society - but it always makes Toshinori happy to read about lives that were saved, smiles that were preserved.

It is why he wishes to be a hero as well. Even though he is quirkless and people laugh at the thought no sooner than he’s spoken it out loud.

If he saves even one life, then it’ll all have been worth it. Perhaps it is a foolishly idealistic view of things, but Toshinori cannot help himself. Refuses to stop himself from training his body, from rescuing kittens from trees, from helping senior citizens cross the street.

Any hero starts small, isn’t that right?

The hero known as Deku waves at the crowd and wonders if he looks as stupid and awkward as he feels. He’s never gotten over his aversion to crowds or any kind of attention, really.

He can fake it for a little while, though.

“Between you and your rival Ground Zero, who do you think is stronger?” a reporter asks, as they always do. “What caused the hostile nature of your relationship?”

Just a little longer.

Then he’s back inside the agency building, staggering alongside the walls. Just a little further and-

Something smashes into his knees from behind. He squeaks and falls back into the seat of the wheelchair. The hero known as Ground Zero scowls down at him. “Fucking Deku,” he growls. “Just fucking retire already, you pathetic shitstain.”

“Hahaha,” Izuku laughs. “What are you doing here, Kacchan?”

The relationship between them is complicated. Once, Izuku was victim of Bakugou Katsuki’s bullying. Then Shimura-san had found something worth nurturing in Izuku, had trained him, had granted him enough power to stand tall in the world of heroes.

Hero training was hard in those days. Blood, sweat, and tears left no time for bullying, no room for insecurities, and certainly no place for enmity - not when crime rates were so high, when villains lured behind practically every corner. And if school was already an ordeal, then life after graduation was a nightmare. At that point, Shimura-san was already dead, leaving Izuku with a burden and  responsibility far too heavy for him to carry alone.

Which led to the pact between the five members of their class Izuku trusted the most.

The pact to achieve peace - together.

Kacchan wheels him into a meeting room. Izuku isn’t all that surprised to see the rest of their group - except maybe he is, because it’s been a while and also Kacchan rarely tolerates them all at once, especially not Shouto.

“Yo, Deku!” Red Riot waves wildly. “Saw that stuff you did on the news yesterday - that was so manly!”

“Good work!” Uravity adds cheerfully. Shouto merely gives him a curt nod. Izuku stifles the burst of longing, as he always does. They’d had something once, or at least the beginning of something, and it hadn’t worked out. Izuku always gone, always fighting, always saving someone else and leaving Shouto behind until whatever they had was empty and hollow.

“Let’s just get this fucking over with, extras,” Kacchan growls, stalking over to Red Riot’s, otherwise knowns as Kirishima Eijirou’s, side and not reacting when the other puts an arm around his waist.

“Is this an intervention?” Deku asks, and knows that no matter how good at masking it he is, these five will always hear the exhaustion in his voice.

“Haha, you caught us!” Red Riot admits sheepishly.

“A fucking idiot could have figured it out with your dumb-ass fidgeting,” Kacchan snaps at him, and the other hero laughs.

“Look, Deku, you know we’re your friends,” Uravity says earnestly. Then, with a look to Kacchan, adds, “Of a sort.”

“The fuck’s that supposed to mean, Roundface?!”

“Hey, hey, let’s stay on topic, okay?” Red Riot tries, but he’s laughing and it’s doing nothing to calm Kacchan down.

“Right, right!” Uravity is laughing, too, but grows serious quickly enough.

Deku smiles at her encouragingly. “Just say it,” he says. “If it’s important enough to draw all of you here, then I probably need to hear it.”

“You need to stop,” she blurts out, then begins flailing. “No! I mean, not stop altogether, but - take a vacation, maybe. Kick back a little. That sorta thing?”

“You’re fucking pathetic and should be embarrassed to call yourself a hero,” Kacchan grunts. Red Riot slaps his shoulder and shoots Deku an apologetic look, but doesn’t contradict his boyfriend’s words.

Deku sighs. “Look, I know my health isn’t the greatest-“ Understatement- “but I can’t just stop, you know that.”

“No.” Uravity - Uraraka Ochako, one of his best firends - frowns at him. “It’s not like it was back then. All For One is gone, thanks to you, and the four of us can handle everything. You need to start taking care of yourself more. Look, just think about it-“

“Like fuck he will,” Kacchan growls. “We’ve all been pussyfooting around this shit for years ‘cuz fucking Deku is stupid as hell.” He stalks forward and digs a smouldering finger in Izuku’s chest. “Fucking retire already, you crippled fossil!”

“Don’t call him a cripple,” Shouto says sharply, but then levels a cold look upon Izuku that makes him flinch. “They are right, though. We are enough to keep peace. Stop destroying yourself, Izuku.”

“All For One,” Izuku blurts, and unlike when Ochako said those three words, from his mouth it makes them all stiffen. “There was never a body. My analysis-“ He casts a desperate look at his friends- “I can’t stop. I won’t hand this burden to someone else until I’m absolutely sure he is gone.” He’s not even sure he should pass One For All on. Borrowed power that Izuku has always felt guilty for having.

Of course, he has to start coughing blood in that moment. Stupid, traitorous, failing body.

“Excuse me sir, may I help you?” The kid’s blue eyes shine earnestly with the genuine desire to help. And Izuku is terribly at turning down requests.

Besides, he really doesn’t want to stand up from his wheelchair right now. His legs… well. He’s paying the price for his reckless use of One For All in his youth. Not that he regrets any of it, though.

“Thank you,” he answers with a nod. The boy smiles and retrieves the loaf of bread, unfortunately placed at the top of the shelf, and hands it to Izuku.

“Do you need anything else?”

Izuku chuckles. “I’m new here. I don’t know where anything is.”

“It’s fine now. For I’m here!” the boy exclaims with a grin, then blushes up to his ears. “Err. Just. I mean.”

Izuku laughs, pushing his wheelchair along. “If you’re going to say things like that, you need to own it. No embarrassment. Not,” he smiles wryly, “that I’m one to talk. Haha. Ha.”

“Oh. Thanks! I’ll try.” The kid chuckles self-deprecatingly, rubbing the back of his neck. He’s well-muscled, Izuku notes, but with his enormous height still looks lanky despite it. “May I see your shopping list, sir?”

“Of course. Tell you what, I’ll treat you to a coffee for your trouble,” Izuku suggests. The boy immediately waves him off, stuttering his way through denials and generally reminding Izuku of an awkward puppy. It’s endearing.

Toshinori wonders how this happened. One moment helping a disabled citizen, the next being treated to coffee and cake. The most he usually gets for his effort is a bit of candy from the elderly ladies.

Midoriya-san is very nice and interesting, though. He seems to know anything about everything, and the way he analyses the Quirk of their waitress - Perfect Balance, as she confirms - in three seconds flat is incredible.

“How did you-“ Toshinori asks in amazement when she’s gone. Midoriya-san chuckles.

“Practice, I suppose. It’s… something of a hobby, nothing special.”

“It was very impressive!” Toshinori refutes immediately.

“Haha, maybe.” The man stares down at his fingers, looking as awkward as Toshinori often feels. “Do you like the cake?”

“Yes, thank you again!” He doesn’t get cake very often. The orphanage he lives in isn’t poor, per say, but not terribly well-off either.

“That’s good.” The silence isn’t too uncomfortable. Midoriya-san seems merely deep in thought, occasionally devolving into mumblings, and Toshinori is busy eating cake and drinking tea. To be honest, he appreciates the silence - his mind is still roiling from the news this morning. Deku’s retirement was the headline everywhere.

Once they’re done, Toshinori asks if Midoriya-san needs any help getting home.

“Oh, no, I’ve occupied your time long enough, Yagi-kun,” the man answers with a friendly smile. “I may have only moved here the other day, but I remember the way back. Thank you for your company and your help.”

“It was my pleasure,” Toshinori says. “Have a nice day, sir.”

Nice kid. Polite. Rare to see that these days. Izuku smiles to himself as he wheels himself home, shopping bag filled.

He hates the mildly pitying looks he receives when people look upon him in his wheelchair. Yet Yagi-kun hadn’t made him feel inferior, or been a disruptive presence in the least.

Again, a rare quality.

He sighs deeply. This is what his retirement is going to look like, huh? Shopping trips, wheeling along the sidewalk, pitying looks.

Well, he never really thought about retiring at all. Never thought he’d make it that long. But thanks to his friends…

His newly-bought house is silent when he arrives. Not fully furnished yet,  the walls bare. The others would come over this week-end to help decorate. Knowing them, it’d probably end with half of them passed out on the floor in various stages of exhaustion, everyone disagreeing on decor, a lot of cake, and at least one would require a trip to Recovery Girl.

Izuku’s looking forward to it.

His phone rings. He looks at the caller ID and blinks in confusion.

“Midoriya,” Yaoyorozu Momo greets him stiffly on the other end of the call.

It’s not that they’re not on friendly terms. The bond between all his classmates from U.A. Academy had remained strong all these years. But she’s Todoroki’s best friend, and things with Todoroki are… awkward at best.

“Hello, Yaoyorozu,” he returns the greeting.

“I have a job offer for you,” she says.

Oh. That’s- she’s the principal of U.A. now. Maybe he should have expected this, actually, he really should have, and should expect more job offers in the future, it’s not like the public knows he’s gotten any weaker. Though they probably suspect it, what with the whole retirement thing. Not that it matters, he’s not the only hero in the world, there’s still Kacchan and Kirishima, Uraraka, Froppy, and Sero and Ashido, then newcomers like Ingenium and Earphone Jack, and people like his old sidekick Sir Nighteye. Among dozens more.

“You’re mumbling,” Yaoyorozu says flatly.

“Ahaha, sorry,” Izuku answers sheepishly. “You want me to teach at U.A.?”

“Obviously. Your Quirk analysis ability will be a boon to us, and your long years of hero experience will benefit the students. Besides, you will benefit from quick access to our medical facilities, isn’t that right?” Yaoyorozu is another person who knows about One For All and the true state of Izuku’s health than the rest of the world. “Furthermore, I believe you will enjoy inspiring the next generation of heroes. Maybe you will even find a successor. I know Sir Nighteye has been impressed by one of our second-years who’s interning with us.”

Izuku winces at the thought of his former sidekick. There’s another awkward relationship. And him finding a successor for One For All…

“I’ll think about it,” Izuku says weakly. He already knows he’s probably going to take the teaching job, if only so he won’t rot away in this empty house. But the successor thing…

Should the burden of One For All really be passed on?

Toshinori is on his way home from school, body aching from bruises. He’s quirkless and some people think it makes him an easy target.

It doesn’t. Or rather, it wouldn’t, if Toshinori would defend himself. But he just… doesn’t want to hurt anyone. He’s strong, he knows he is, and one punch to the wrong place could cause serious injury.

Better to just take the bullying. It doesn’t hurt much anyway. He knows who he is and what he wants to do with his life, and he’s okay with it even if other people are not.

He sees Midoriya-san, wheeling along the park, and considers calling out to him. But Toshinori is kind of dirty right now and Midoriya looks like he’s deep in thought. So he just makes his way back to the orphanage.

“Ahh… a new vessel…”

The stench is the first thing Toshinori notices. The second is the cold feeling around his feet, creeping up - he only just manages a shout before he’s enveloped by cold slime. It creeps under his clothes, into his ears, into his nose and mouth. Choking, he tries to shovel it away from his face, panic making it impossible to think of anything he can do-

“SMASH!”

The slime is blown away, and he passes out.

“…-kun! Yagi-kun!” Someone is slapping his cheek. Toshinori comes to with a groan. “Thank the kami, you’re all right!”

Midoriya-san’s face above his… what happened? What-

Toshinori shoots up to sitting position. “Deku!” he exclaims.

“Ah, yeah, I’d appreciate it if you could keep that secret-“ Midoriya says sheepishly, and then devolves into mumbles. “Kacchan is going to kill me, oh God, Uraraka is going to be so disappointed-“

“What are you talking about?” Toshinori asks, utterly confused. Then he takes a closer look at Midoriya-san. The gauntlet on his arm, which belongs to the hero costume of- “Deku,” Toshinori breathes. “You’re Deku. You’re - you’re Deku?”

Midoriya-san - Deku! Oh by the kami, this is Deku! - has his face buried in his hands and moans mournfully. “I’m sorry!”

“What are you apologising for?” Toshinori asks, bewildered. “You, uhm. Thank you for saving me!”

“Yeah, err, you’re welcome.” Midoriya-san lowers his hands. “Seriously, are you all right?”

“I’m, I’m fine- Midoriya-san! What-”

Midoriya is coughing up blood. What, oh shit, think fast Toshinori-

“I’m fine!” Midoriya-san waves him off, having stopped coughing. But that is blood on his hand!

“I’m calling an ambulance!” Toshinori exclaims. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you’re all right, everything is fine-“

That stench. The villain- no. No. Deku - Midoriya - had smashed it away, it can’t be back-

But there it is, a wave of foul-looking sludge. “Dekuuu!” it screeches and stretches toward Midoriya. Midoriya, who is coughing again, and Toshinori doesn’t think as he vaults over the hero and punches the sludge thing right in the eye.

The very solid eye.

“It’s fine now,” Toshinori gasps out. “Because I’m here.”

“Thanks, kid,” Izuku says wryly. “Some hero I am, huh?”

“No! You’re a great hero!” Yagi-kun instantly assures him. “To fight, even in the state your body is in, that’s incredible!”

The car they’re sitting in, driven by a sullen and silently judging Todoroki Shouto, drives over a bump in the road to U.A. Academy. Izuku winces, and instantly Yagi-kun is fussing over him again.

Yagi-kun who is so obviously quirkless. Yagi-kun who’d bravely charged into the fight without a second’s hesitation, to protect the hero that should have been keeping him safe.

Izuku kind of wants to tear his hair out. This must be what Nana-san had meant when she said I just knew when he asked why she’d picked him.

“Hey kid,” Izuku interrupts Yagi’s mothering. “You ever thought about being a hero?”

It’s a purely hypothetical question, of course.

That what Izuku tells himself anyway.

A/N: So, I kinda had this roleswap!AU plunny sitting on my computer for a few months and I doubt I’ll continue it, so anyone who wants it can adopt it. Just tell me about it, please?

Plot points for this included:

Toshinori going to U.A.

Classmates would include Endeavour (rival and potential love interest), Present Mic and Eraserhead (also potential love interest), Midnight, Mt. Lady (I adore her), why not throw in Crimson Riot while we’re at it, Nedzu, Hound Dog...

Homeroom teacher is Todoroki Shouto who’s an underground hero because he doesn’t particularly like fame. Endeavour is his bratty nephew or something.

Other members of the faculty: Kaminari, the worst Maths teacher ever, Aoyama because why not, Recovery Girl because she is eternal

Izuku takes over Quirk Analysis classes. No one wants him to take over hero training, he’s in a wheelchair for crying out loud

Izuku and Shouto trying to get along and being awkward but slowly fixing their relationship

Endeavour interning with Katsuki. This turns out to be a terrible idea.

There was other stuff but I forgot

Nighteye lives

So if anyone wants to adopt it, you can obviously change stuff and everything, creative freedom and all that. I just really like this plunny but I have no drive to write it (story o’ my life), and it’d be a shame if it just died. So here you go. Hope you enjoyed reading!

[themillsdaughter]

we saved a few things that were spared

you can also read this in AO3

Contrary to public believe, Kat does know how to focus on the present. She just doesn’t do it with people around.

The soft hum of the shower is what grounds her, what lets her feel the world around her. The strength of the ceramic beneath her feet, the honks of New York’s traffic coming from the window, the soap slipping through her skin, creating bubbles and sterility.

Kat likes becoming a physical being while she’s safe, while she has a plastic curtain surrounding her and warm, pressurised water pouring down. Adena had made her real with a simple smile and some well delivered words.

It’d been refreshing and terrifying.

“How many pairs of underwear do you think I should take?”

“How many times do you plan on having sex?” Sutton retorts, lying in the middle of Kat’s bed, surrounded by clothes.

“I might not have enough pairs.” She frowns and the double uhh makes her smirk.

“Standard plan, babe. One panty a day and a bra each two days.” Jane suggests. It’s a valid input, so she counts fourteen panties and throws them in her bag, grabbing a few extras for emergencies. “I still can’t believe you’re doing this.”

“Trust me, neither do I.” Kat mumbles.

She doesn’t believe it until a flight attendant is instructing people to buckle their seatbelts.

This is why a couple running towards each other became such a cliché in romances. This feeling right here, the weight and warmth and familiarity is why two people rush to clutch their significant others tightly.

Adena keeps going off in Farsi, eyes sparkling with confusion and happiness and endearment and that is the reason why she came. Why she dragged her ass bright and early and convinced her boss that she could maintain her most important duties halfway across the continent.

People are starting to stare at them, now. Curious, more than anything.

Kat is very good at Spanish, but she cannot speak Persian for shit, so she kisses the woman holding her face and stops the unknown words.

It’s fulfilling, having Adena against her.

(“How does it feel?”

“Uh empty?”)

“How long?” Adena asks in between kisses, a hand making its way up and up and up Kat’s leg.

“Fly back on,” A sigh, a soft bite on a lower lip, a moan as swift fingers hit her inner thigh. “the seventeenth.”

She’d bought the return ticket before anything else. She knew she’d consider staying forever, otherwise. She knew that with big smiles and huge eyes and that sharp tongue being near her and all around her, she knew she would not go back to the US if she wasn’t forced to.

“A vacation?”

Kat knows what Adena is referring to, knows she’s being asked how she approached Jacqueline on taking time off.

“An adventure.”

(I know that you said that you’re tired of adventure and everything, but I’ve never had one.)

A dream has her tossing and thrashing and choking on her own saliva. Kat wakes up to soothing words and soft touches.

“Breathe, my love.” Adena whispers, an arm around Kat’s shoulders as she coughs. “Breathe.”

It takes her lungs a minute to settle down, not to gulp for air desperately, ineffectively.

Her heart slams against her ribs, a car speeds by outside, reminding her that this is reality.

Jane and Sutton smiling and smiling and being ripped away suddenly. Crying for Kat, begging her for help and she not moving, she not running to them and she just wanting to help, to make it alright again. And Adena, looking at her from afar, tears streaming down her cheeks, ‘home’ echoing around and Kat not fucking moving. That had all been a nightmare. Of course it had.

“It’s gone, it’s gone.”

Real Adena caresses the back of her neck, leans a chin against her shoulder when she stays seated.

Just a nightmare. Nothing more.

She doesn’t mention it when Adena convinces her to lie back down, but Kat hasn’t had a nightmare since she was twelve.

“Not even over my dead, cold-ass body.”

“ Why?”  Jane and Sutton groan together. She rolls her eyes, hears Adena chuckling a few steps away.

(it is tucked somewhere around her stomach, the fear the dream seems to have left behind.)

“I am not going anywhere near a llama.”

“But it’s a classic!” Jane whines. A child, honestly.

“Can you really experience Peru if you don’t see a llama up close?” Sutton quirks an eyebrow.

“Yes, yes you can. There’s the Larco Museum here in Lima, Machu Picchu and Moray and Sak- Saks-”

“Saksaywaman.” Adena supplies, sitting on the couch, molding herself to Kat’s side.

“Yeah, and all of those in Cusco.”

“Whatever, have fun being like every other tourist.” Sutton moves out of frame, exasperated.

Correction: children.

“At least I get to be one.”

“Hey,” Sutton reappears, mouth dropped in pretend shock. “mean. Bye.”

The call ends and she shares a look with the woman leaning into her.

Her friends are fine. Assholes as usual, but fine. Adena is not crying and this hug they have going on feels like home.

It’s fascinating, watching as slick, brown hair slowly disappears in a wrap of silk and colors. She has the details down in four days. Adena likes to wear the knot on top of her head, instead of closer to her neck and favors bold, statement patterns.

The first step is pinning the hair in place. Kat likes to fumble with the little strands left behind, too short to pull up. She only does it when they are alone, but seeing shivers running down the woman’s spine makes her happier than she can explain.

“Oh, Steve and Rachel invited us to go hiking with them.” Adena says, voice stranded due to two pins she holds with the corner of her mouth.

“The couple from down the hall?”

“Yes.” A nod, a few silent moments of concentration as the last section of hair is secured into place. In comes the underscarf and Adena turns her attention back to Kat. “Do you want to go?”

“I’m not really into cardio.”

“I’m coming to believe you’re not very much into anything .”

“Except you.” She gets a smirk for that one. “But sure, new country, new me. Sort of.”

Kat pays attention as a yellow scarf is folded and wrapped around Adena’s head. Some twists here and pulls there and they are ready to leave the Airbnb apartment.

(five thousand percent less expensive than daily fees in a hotel)

She is pretty proud of how much she endures before the breaking point.

Bugs everywhere, slippery ground and an unforgiving sun.

Kat is not a nature person. It is just not in her. She’s never had a pet, missed it only for the lack of the distraction one would have given her.

She is not a nature person, nor a cardio person.

The view is beautiful and calming and it is not the same quiet as growing up. It is peaceful and filled with white noises. So she marches on.

Nine miles. Kat hikes Peruvian lands for nine (out of fifteen) miles. When she sees the snake, however, she’s fucking done.

Granted, she was the idiot who didn’t pay attention to her surroundings properly. But a snake ? No ma’am, thank you. In no shape or form will she put on a poker face with that on the equation.

She’d sat down for a moment to drink some water and catch her breath and the only reason she’d even noticed the snake when she did had been Adena’s nervous, paralyzed form looking somewhere over her shoulder.

When Kat followed the gaze and saw the reptile, her heart had exploded inside her. It’d taken every ounce of her being not to sprint out and away on that very second. The longass animal had already been tense and somewhere, some useful part of her brain had screamed SLOW MOVEMENTS YOU DUMB FUCK and she had listened because it sounded right.

“You know, Boa Constrictors are not really venomous to humans.” Steve comments, the road wide enough for the four of them to walk side by side.

“Still scary.” She sighs, flinches when Adena lays an unannounced hand on the small of her back.

Rachel carries on talking about animals and the beauty in their complexity.

Kat has no shits to give. She is adept to fluffy, domesticable beings. Dogs, if she were to be picky.

“The magazine ran an article on NYC rescue centers a few months back. Got a huge online flux.” It’s the best she can do at small talk. “We even set up a few online crash courses for young rescues.”

“I think I saw something about it,” Steve admits. He’s an easy dude. She has no idea how Adena finds these people. “A great initiative. If more people knew about how to properly care for them, maybe there wouldn’t be so many extreme rescue cases.”

The image of a cute, furry puppy gives her enough strength to finish their journey back.

Machu Picchu is interesting. Intricate and old and vibrating with energy.

“Can you imagine? Building something so complex all those years ago?”

The abandoned city itself is enchanting. Adena’s delighted smile is even more so.

A thousand pictures are taken. She serves as a model for most of them. The tour guide takes a few portraits of Adena and her and those are her favorites.

She buys a few souvenirs. Jane and Sutton would kill her at the spot otherwise. She sits in a low, living-being free (she checks) step, taking in the antique stores as she waits for Adena to come back with their icecreams.

She tips her head back, absorbs the warmth of the sunshine. There are kids laughing and speaking a few yards away. Kat focuses on the consistent hum of the fountain to her left, feeling the stone under her butt, under her palms. The straps of her backpack at her shoulders, the foreign scents and tongue, the stiff poke and drag under her leg, the-

Wait. What the-

Her eyelids snap open.

Not another snake.

Not another snake.

For fuck’s sake, not another sn-

A cat.

A kitten, actually.

A dirty, shaking and tiny kitten hiding under her legs.

A cat under Kat.

This trip was supposed to be fun and sexy and relaxing. Why does it have to be weird, too?

The kids from down the street are coming at full speed towards her. She sees the front runner’s look and it takes her an instant to make the decision.

Kat reaches down, wraps her fingers around the ridiculously small body. The animal meows and twists and tries with all its might to run from her. As she leans it in her lap, the children surround her.

A couple of shouts in Spanish. She makes out a few keywords before a beat cop comes closer and snaps something, making the kids shut up.

“ Estamos jugando con eso. ” A boy, no taller than her waist, points at the cat in her hands.

No wonder the kitten is shaking so bad. Half a dozen humans passing it around as a toy cannot be easy.

“ El gatito no es una cosa.”  The officer doesn’t take his eyes off the kids. “ ¿De quien es?”

“ Yo lo encontré.” The front runner speaks.

“ Y la mamá?”

“ No se. No creo que tengas una.”

She sighs, takes a glance at the cat and then at the woman coming in her direction, frown in place.

Crap.

“Did we really smuggle a cat into the city?” Adena’s voice is warm and amused.

“It was either bringing it with us or giving it back to the children.”

Kat pulls her hoodie open and takes out the kitten. It starts meowing louder as soon as she touches it. She thinks it’s a girl. They are calling it Pecky, for now, because it almost sounds like pequeña and the kitty is so fucking small.

“Yes, I know.” Adena continues, sitting on their bed as Kat kneels on the ground and tries to check if their guest has any injuries. “However, it still sounds crazy.”

“I’m pretty sure this is the most wild thing I’ve ever done.”

“Well, your friends will be dying to hear of your adventures when you get home.”

She furrows her brows. Her chest gets too tight when she thinks about leaving. About only one more morning waking up to soft skin and long lashes. Kat focuses back on Pecky.

“God, she’s full of fleas. Look.” She distances some fur for a clear view at the skin and sure enough four or five little black spots rush by in a few seconds.

The crash course flashes through her mind. Access health, keep hydrated, give wet food if big enough to fill your hand.

There were no pet shops open, so the canned tuna pasta from the convenience store will have to do.

Adena runs a tentative finger under Pecky’s chin. The cat meows, but allows the touch.

“Dish soap kills fleas.” The woman mumbles, starting to pull her hijab apart.

“How do you know that?”

“I got curious about Scarlet’s article.”

Kat smiles. Pecky meows and skips away on top of their comforter.

“Wanna give her a bath, then?”

“Nice try.” Adena flops down on her belly, watching as the kitten looks intrigued at her discarded scarf.

just let me go just let me go, I just want to help them

“kat!”

it’s sutton, desperate, in the dark, needing her. she just wants to help, just wants to make things better.

“home”

adena, beautiful, alone, an unwilling nomad.

“please!”

jane, tiny, amazing, loyal, unsure, scared.

she just wants to help she just wants to take them in she just-

Kat wakes up to a skinny tail resting on top of her nose. Pecky is half asleep, still, but when Kat looks down, the pet gazes back.

“Are you okay?”

She allows the voice to wash over her, inching closer to the body behind her.

“Yeah.”

She tells herself it is not a lie.

Saving a kitty is a welcome distraction to the heartache leaving Adena gives her. The initial plan had been to get to a vet first thing in the morning, find a no-kill shelter and try to make the most of the rest of the day.

A vet is found with no problem at all, the shelter, though, is a bit trickier.

“She won’t survive.” The secretary for the place says, an indifference Kat suspects is more for his own protection than lack of empathy.

“Wanna look at her and say that again, pal?”

The guy sighs and keeps his eyes on his notepad, ringing their expenses in.

“We get over doscientos a year. Not enough money.” He extends the receipt, waits for her to sign. “Maybe you take care of it?”

“We have a flight to take.” She scribbles her name on the thin paper, slides it back to the man over the counter and he finally takes a peek at the white ball of fluff inside the carrier she’d just bought.

“There are certificates.” He gives her a kind smile. Yeap, not that indifferent after all. Realistic, perhaps.

Kat crosses gazes with Adena. She is answered with a nod.

“Do you have international ones?” She gives in, reaching her finger to tease Pecky through the plastic screen.

“Maybe I can find someone to take her.” Kat tries.

She has her folded legs leaning over Adena’s as they wait in the lobby to be called for the flight.

Cusco to Lima, Lima to the USA. She’ll only have a human companion through half the trip.

“That’s possible.”

“And, you know, she’s pretty cute without those dirt-dreadlocks.”

“She’ll get adopted in no time.” Adena runs a thumb across Kat’s knee. She tries to memorize the feeling, the exact amount of heat and the mixture of scents coming off in waves from the woman’s perfume.

Pecky lies on the triangle between their mingled bodies and the back of the airport seat, playing with a balled up piece of paper. Kat gets pinned in place by a pair of blue feline eyes. She steals the makeshift ball and holds it slightly out of reach for the kitten. It stands on its back paws in a glance, using a firm clutch on the stollen toy as support.

Feisty little thing.

“I’m really going to miss you, Adena.”

She doesn’t have the slightest idea of where that comes from. All she knows, all she feels, is a squeeze in her calf where Adena’s hand now rests and her smell and her heat and her gorgeous, expressive eyes caressing her.

Pecky starts nibbling at the handle of her purse.

Kat learns to fully appreciate classical music in under an hour and a half.

She’d never been averse to it, simply more interested in other styles, but Adena loves it and insists on not only listening to it during their flight, but in having Kat pay attention too.

The multiple instruments give off an unique sound and they get even better, if she were to be honest, since they give her the opportunity to have a lovely head tucked in her neck.

One of her hands is clasped permanently inside the woman’s both and she uses her free palm to cradle a sleeping Pecky. The cat doesn’t like to be picked up, but she sure as hell enjoys going under leaning against someone.

One melody after the other, she lets her mind waver and travel. Her passport is still empty. Her thoughts go around the world.

Kat imagines Adena’s visa magically coming through before she leaves for the US. She imagines Central Park walks and Scarlet’s gala with a plus one invite which actually gets used.

Kat imagines movie nights with the girls, her and Adena sharing the floor and a throw blanket.

She imagines domesticity and happiness and continuity.

The London Philharmonic Orchestra stops playing through her headphones and the airplane starts to descent.

“You’re going to be safe, right? You’re going to look before you take a seat and you’re not going to get too close to wild animals and you’re going to be alright, right?”

“I’m going to be fine.” Not a promise. Not what she’d asked.

Adena frames her face (exactly, fucking exactly like she’d done when Kat had arrived ) and kisses her.

They do not cry.

“Until next time, love.”

Oh, Adena. Kind and thoughtful and holding Kat’s heart just as she holds her luggage.

( attention, this is the last call for flight number 34952 leaving for New York City,United States)

Maybe she leaves a piece of herself in Peru, just as she takes a bit of it in a paw-printed carrier.

“Any puns will be paid for.”

Jane and Sutton seem confused, welcoming her into a group hug all the same.

She’s tired and sore. Pecky can’t actually pee on her own yet, which meant Kat had to make her way into the bathroom every couple of hours and use a tissue to stimulate the kitten into relieving herself.

She’s tired and she misses Adena worse than she did when she’d been too foolish and afraid and the woman had moved to Paris.

“How was the trip?”

“Did you take pictures?”

Honestly, as much as she misses Adena, she’s missed these two.

“No turbulences and, uhm, Adena is still uploading stuff to the cloud.”

“And how are you?”

Something gives her away. Maybe the girls just know her too much. Maybe her metaphorical bucket is too full and it spills and leaks everywhere. Maybe her aura is black or some other color that means rotten.

Either way, Kat receives one more embrace.

“We have cheap wine and two new TV Shows in our queue.” Tiny Jane offers.

That’s good. That’s very good. She can’t have movie nights with her best friends and the woman who holds her heart. She can, however, get blissfully drunk and indulge herself in bad rom-com plots.

“You better take me home, then.” She forces a steady smile to counteract the bitterness in her stomach. “We just need to stock up on wet cat food, first.”

“Ah, what?”

“Why?”

No one said she couldn’t get a little amusement out of this. One hand brings up the pet-holder she holds and the other points at it.

“Surprise.”

“Kat, is that a….” Sutton frowns, matching Jane.

“Cat.” She nods, glares pointedly and the pun comment downs on them.

“How was the trip?” Jacqueline doesn’t stop the treadmill, but her smile seems genuine.

“It was good. Peru is gorgeous.”

“It is. We had a photoshoot there for,” Her boss looks away, thinking, and snaps her eyes back a second later. “Fall, two-thousand four. Absolutely spectacular.”

“The culture is very interesting. The ruins live up to their fame.” Kat nods politely. She has to be very careful with her request. Not everyone gets to take a two-week long leave with no forewarning.

“Well, it’s great to have you back. In time for the children’s day picnic, no less.”

Another nod. She’ll have to double check the celebs attending and confirm their snapchat-filter order.

“Jacqueline?”

The woman starts to gradually slow her steps, gives Kat a go ahead smirk.

“Do you mind making the pet-friendly office policy count?”

“How do you mean?” Her boss stops completely.

“We were always allowed to bring our pets with us, right? But since I got here it seemed a silent rule that no one actually brought them.”

“And you want to break that rule?” Jacqueline turns to her desk, flips through a couple of concepts a fashion assistant delivers.

Dennise, Kat thinks, not surprised by the lack of knocking nor the lack of any words from the short redhead.

“With your permission.”

She only gets a hum for a moment, Jacqueline scribing a few things over a sticky note before gluing it on the glossy photographs and handing it to Dennise.

The girl (younger than Kat herself) takes the pages and scurries out.

“What is it you have?”

“A cat.”

An amused look crosses the blonde’s face. She’s thankful no comment follows.

“She’s just a baby and it’d be just until I get her adopted.” Kat continues, tries to explain because she really can’t leave Pecky alone the whole day everyday. The kitten would be terrified, not to mention destroy the apartment.

“Fine.” Jacqueline shrugs. Kat smiles. “But make sure she’s trained. God help you if she uses any of Oliver’s things as a scratching post.”

When she leaves the glass office, she and Sutton exchange a discrete air-fistbump.

To be completely straight, Kat fully intends on giving Pecky away. It is a goal of hers. It is.

It doesn’t happen on the first month because her days can be summarized into waking up, working, facetiming Adena and having a drink with the girls. She’s simply too busy to go looking for a shelter to find willing adopters.

It has nothing to do with the cat being adorable and fitting into her hand and sleeping on her chest.

The adoption also doesn’t happen on the second month because that’s when Sidney comes to work with them and develops a crush on her. She’s flattered, really, but seriously she has a picture of Adena and her in Machu Picchu as her lockscreen and she lets him see it as much as possible. He cannot take a hint and she cannot simply drop my girlfriend in their conversation, since she isn’t sure she has one.

“Have you heard anything?” Kat should know better than to ask. She doesn’t and the need for expressive eyes and soft skin is too glaring inside of her.

“Not yet.” Adena sighs, pulls the sheets up, tighter around her chest. Lying like this, in the dark and both ready to sleep, they can almost fool themselves into believing they are in the same space.

“It’s going to be alright, right?” She feels pathetic, asking for reassurance when it isn’t about her.

“Yes, Kat. It’s going to be alright.”

Pecky stops fitting inside her hand and Jane stops sending her adoption web pages by month three.

By month four, she doesn’t quite remember the smell of Adena’s perfume.

“It’s going to be alright, right?” That’s always how it goes. Every week when they hear nothing about the visa. “It’s going to be alright.”

“Yes, Kat. It’s going to be alright.”

The perfume had been rich and citric. Kat can’t place how, exactly.

Sutton gets pregnant and Sidney kisses Kat by month five. She does not kiss him back and Sutton has a miscarriage three days later, after talking to Richard and deciding to have the baby.

“What are we, Adena?”

“How do you mean?”

She knows. By the slight waver of the voice coming through her phone that Adena understood what she meant fully well.

“Are we dating? Are we waiting on each other? Are we settling?”

“I’m four thousand miles away.”

It’s not an answer, so she doesn’t accept it. She cries into her pillow and Pecky sits on the armchair at the corner of the room, staring at her.

Adena, 7:33 AM:

I’m sorry about last night, call me when you have time .

Kat washes the sleep away and then, she calls.

“It’s going to be alright, right?”

“I don’t know, Kat. I don’t know, anymore.”

Jane and Pinstripe Guy break up and Jacqueline is getting a divorce, apparently. It feels weird, to drink alongside her boss in a poorly-lit, over-crowded bar down the street from where she works. Pecky is spending the night at the vet, though, getting spayed and Jane talks and Sutton drinks and Jacqueline stays for only half an hour.

Kat wants to call Adena as soon as she gets home. She’s drunk and confused and Adena does not have a home of her own to stumble into. She doesn’t call.

“I miss you.” It is whispered through the line as if they are conspiring. Kat smiles, feels her heart squeezing and jumping and melting away.

“I miss you too.”

“Will I still have you, if I come back?”

“Yeah, Adena. I’m gonna be here.”

Everything is messy and complicated and everyone around her seems somehow unhappy.

(except for Pecky, who plays in the corner with her rolling toy-mouse. Small blessings, she supposes)

Her Thanksgiving is long and lonely, but filled with wine.

Jane had gone to see her brothers, Sutton to see her mom and Kat had insisted she’d be fine. Her friends deserved a break, deserved some moments to heal.

She calls Adena by the end of the day, perhaps a glass away from way too many.

“I really really really like you, Adena.”

“I like you too, Kat.”

“I hate having to wait to be with you.”

“I’m sorry.”

The eyes looking at her through the screen move away, to somewhere she can’t see and can’t understand and is that sadness? Are those tears? Shit. Fuck. Goddamit.

“I’m going to, though.” She tries to make it reassuring. Tries to take it back to when Adena wasn’t so clearly torn, to when it was just unneasiness.

“I know.” Adena sighs, seems guilty now and Kat watches as a hand brushes the tears away. “I just don’t know if there’s any hope in that.”

“There is. Adena,” Her voice is firmer, now. She’s still pretty drunk, but this is important. “There is hope in it. You’re going to get your visa. Or you won’t. But either way, we’re going to work through it. The magazine is always planning events in other countries and I can start going with, instead of sending others and you can flight there and we can have a thousand and four new adventures, together.”

“A thousand and four? That’s an specific number.”

“Multiply it by five hundred and twenty seven.”

“You’re learning your numbers.”

That gorgeous, warm smile comes back. Her chest squeezes and her body grows hotter.

“Yes, thank you for noticing.”

Adena nods, cleans a few tears away.

Correction: Her Thanksgiving is lonely and long, but filled with wine and drunken conclusions.

The weirdness starts about a week after the 25th. Jane and Sutton start always being too tired for movie nights or shopping sprees or drinking games.

After, Adena breaks her iphone and decides to change brands, meaning their facetime calls are off. Skype is the next best thing, but the apartment the woman is now renting doesn’t have wifi, which automatically leads to them only having calls when Adena is in a café or some other public establishment.

A few days later, the girls start talking about spending New Year’s together in a little cottage in Jersey. She is down for whatever they plan on, but a cottage ? That is too out of the blue and too damn cold for this time of the year, even for Tiny Jane and her love for the wilderness.

Christmas comes and with it her parents traveling to visit. They’d always do the opposite, she’d catch a plane or a bus home and spend a couple of days there and Pecky and the cottage are the only reasons she doesn’t do exactly that. It’d be too much stress for the cat, to go through a five hour drive, get used to a new, foreign place just to come back a few days later and having to move yet again once she and the girls went to New Jersey.

So her parents come to her. They are sweet and her dad lets the pet sleep on his lap. Everything is a touch quieter. It twists her stomach, but it is good to have mom and pop with a New York drop scene.

They ask her about Adena, about Peru and if it was worth it.

“You know how I always wanted change in my life?”

Her parents nod, the nagging feeling she’s one of their patients can’t quite take away from the moment.

“I have that, with her. An exciting and really healing sort of change, you know?”

They smile. Her mom reminds her that the honeymoon phase eventually goes away and she should be sure they have a good foundation for when it does.

Kat doesn’t snap back. Maybe her mother is right. She just doesn’t want to live her life like a lab experiment or a sociology paper.

They go to the infamous cottage on December 28.  It’s a decent thing.

She’s got dibs on the bedroom with the view, since the ledge is perfectly sized for Pecky to watch the birds outside and has a little nook for the cat to sleep in as well.

The girls insisted on sharing the other bedroom, which leaves her feeling slightly left out.

“How long ‘til you start plotting to kill me, hm?” Kat runs her fingers behind the Pecky’s ear.

Blue eyes focus on a mosquito, flying around the room, and in a blink, her pet also abandons her.

She has no idea how they get service in the middle of the woods, but Sutton keeps checking her phone so much that she , Kat Edison, Social Media Director, has to threaten taking it away from her.

Jane backs Sutton up, tells Kat that there’s this important fashion thingy happening in Marrocos. She shrugs and goes back to brushing her hair. This place does have a very cozy tub, she’ll give them that much.

Kat really loses it, however, when Sutton claims to have forgotten the ingredients for the s'mores and rushes out in the middle of the day to get it. She really loses it when it is dinnertime and the blonde is still not back and Jane acts as if there’s nothing wrong.

“What the hell is going on with you two? Did I do something? Because there’s been this thing between us for a while and I somehow can’t be a part of it and it is freaking me out.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“For real? You don’t think I notice when you two stop talking as soon as I walk in? Or how you both are always too tired to hang out, but you both are also always online at two PM on that same day?”

“Kat, I don’t know what to tell you.”

Jane doesn’t deny it, then.

It hurts and it stings and she hasn’t talked to Adena since the day they came to this place and it is already the 30th.

She sits on the couch, back to the door, and she sulks. She’s allowed to. She will not cry out of frustration, but the trip is pretty much ruined for her and Sutton has disappeared with the only car they have.

Jane tries to make small talk, as if everything is perfect. Kat sends her glares and makes some supper.

(enough for the three of them, which makes her madder because she should let them fend for themselves if the two are such exclusive best friends now)

She is working, actually working on her holiday when she hears the cabin door opening. Her anger climbs back up and

“Oh, did you go make the chocolate from scratch or-”

Adena is standing there when she turns around. Adena with a bright blue hijab and soft grey sweater and old jeans and boots and Adena Adena Adena . Beaming at Kat. Being beautiful and glorious and present.

(she is totally not exaggerating when she thinks her heart actually stops)

“Adena.”

She lets it past her lips and it wakes her up. The most gorgeous human being she’s ever known is finally breathing the same air as her and she’s frozen five feet away.

Saying the name gets her into motion, gets her into the warm and strong and secure arms in a second, wrapped in the smell of citrus fruits and airplane.

“Your visa?” Kat whispers it against soft skin.

“It came through.”

“And- When-” She pulls away, meets those wonderful brown eyes.

“The girls helped speed things up with the legal department.”

“Incite has a lot of experience with it, surprisingly.”

Jane. Jane is speaking somewhere to their right. Kat had been stupid and mistrustful.

She looks at her friends, at their smiles. Looks at Tiny Jane, with a little smirk and Sutton, leaning against the now closed cabin door. She looks at Adena, an inch away from her.

“I love you guys.” She makes sure Sutton and Jane understand. They nod, love you too

Kat feels a warm body brushing against her leg.

“Pecky, were you in this too?”

The feline meows back at her, continuing to rub against them.

“I knew you were up to something.”

Another meow. She laughs. And buries her face against Adena’s neck.

(“But, you know, for me, I could just never get past this .”

“Well, for me, it’s never just been about this. It’s, uh, it’s more about this .” )

Adena lies her head against Kat’s shoulder, a hand on her ribs and hair muffling her nose.

It is bliss. The afterglow isn’t too bad, either, but the stillness of everything, the notion that they are not on borrowed time, is heavenly.

“I can’t believe it’s over.” Adena sighs and Kat hums in agreement. The body she holds against her own starts shaking. Her eyes pinch and she smiles. Smiles wide and big and pulls Adena closer, because she can . Because Adena is there and now they have thousands and thousands of possibilities.

“It’s over.” She smiles and she cries, but for the first time since Sutton miscarried, she lets out happy tears.

“I have something for you.” Adena leans over her, over the end of the bed and into the suit bag she’d brought with her. “Even though Islam doesn’t have a holy day similar to Christmas, I know it is a big part of your culture. So I got you this.”

Kat takes the wrapped box, doesn’t know if she should tear it open or kiss the woman first. She decides on the kiss.

“You didn’t have to.”

“I know. But I thought of you when I saw it.”

She smirks, her insides turning. This is happiness, this is a little taste of bliss in the middle of disaster.

Kat pulls away the bow tightened around the box, pulls up the lid and lets her mouth hang open for a moment.

A stuffed llama. A stuffed llama glares at her with black-bead eyes.

Adena starts chuckling, a hand covering her lips.

“At least this one doesn’t spit.” She shrugs. Adena laughs harder.

It’s a cute toy and it has a meaning behind it and is this their first inside joke?

“There’s something else.” Adena manages, calming down, smile in place.

She shuffles the flow of white tissue paper around and something black catches her attention. Another box, she notes, as she pulls it out. A jewelry box, at that.

Kat opens it slowly, runs a fingertip over the details of the piece.

“I thought you would wear it a bit more than a necklace.”

“Adena, this is beautiful.”

A wide oval shape. The stone in the background is of a stained and cracked red. A man’s face, in true Peruvian style, embossed front and center in the same silver which makes the structure of the rest of the ring.

A few outfits it’d go great with pop in her mind, get filed away into a corner.

“Thank you.” She sighs, frames Adena’s jaw with one of her hands. Kat leans in, drops a kiss on the corner of the woman’s mouth.

“I’m happy you like it.”

“I love it. I love both of them.”

She makes a point of bringing the stuffed animal further into her lap. It’ll be a full day, once Jane sees it, but it is from Adena . Thoughtful and sweet and teasing Adena, so Kat loves it, no doubt about it.

“How are we messing this up?” Sutton steps away from the stove, frustrated and glaring at the steaming and way too liquid mixture on the pan.

“Told you we should had just ordered it along with the turkey.”

“Kat, we’re not kids, we should be able to handle a simple dressing.”

Uh-uh, irritated Sutton is bad and can very quickly turn into Lash-out Sutton. Kat backs away into the other corner of the (small) kitchen.

“I can make a run to the store if you want.” Jane pops her head in.

“Didn’t you have an article to finish?” Sutton sighs, turning off the stove and throwing the napkin on the sink.

“Just finished it.” Jane steps into the room completely. “So I can go, if you want me to.”

“Nah, the stores are probably closed already, anyway.” Sutton scratches her neck, moves to start washing the cutlery she used on the recipe.

Kat exchanges a look with the other brunette, agreeing on leaving the situation be. It’s not about the dressing as it is about Richard’s call earlier in the day. Their friend will let it out when she feels ready, they just have to wait and tread carefully.

They take to the living room, checking if the few decorations they brought along are sticking.

“Pecky!” Kat stomps her foot and her pet runs a few feet away, tail straight up. “What were you doing?”

She inspects the ripped pieces of paper on the floor, getting on to collecting them.

“I swear to God, everything was in place a second ago.” Jane tries hanging the New Year’s sign back on the wall.

“Yeah, she’s fast. Knows when she’s doing something she isn’t supposed to.” She sighs, standing up with the torn cardboard flag in hand. “Yes, we’re talking about you.” Kat snaps when she notices Pecky lurking closer.

The feline takes the words as forgiveness, however, and trots over to her, rubbing against her calf as usual.

There’s something unique, about keeping a pet. Something inevitable on falling to their charms now and again.

She’d taken this cat, tiny and sick and scared senseless and now she is healthy and the right amount of fluffy, secure enough to run around and play and think everything is okay despite it all.

Kat is aware it is her logic that has her adoration for the animal swimming up, letting her scratch Pecky’s back. She knows, and she doesn’t care. Peru gave her beautiful sights, a face-to-face she hopes never to have again and it also gave her the little purring hurricane she pulls closer.

Kat looks up to see Adena, newly showered, stepping out of their bedroom at the same time a crash comes from the kitchen, followed by a few curse words.

“Ah, did I miss something?” Adena lifts an eyebrow.

A bliss in the midst of chaos, alright.

“Happy new year!” Jane pulls at the party popper’s string, smile wide and eyes glossy from the booze they’d been sipping away at for the past four hours.

She laughs and sees as a ball of moving fur ends up behind the bookcase.

“Good luck getting her from back there.” Kat gives her friend a thumbs up, not really worried about Pecky. The fireworks they hear in the distance would be worse, had they stayed in the city.

Jane groans.

“Happy new year.” Kat sighs, feeling Adena’s arm squeeze tighter around her waist.

“Happy new year.” Adena mumbles, lips against Kat’s hair. “May many more come our way.”

“I’m so glad you are celebrating it with us.”

“The rebirth of a year is worth celebrating, no matter in which calendar.”

She smirks, turns her head enough to peck the woman’s lips. As she turns back, she sees Jane coercing Pecky out of her hiding with the mouse toy the cat loves. By the brunette’s side is Sutton, her beautiful and healing friend, in desperate need of a new beginning.

Kat moves out of Adena’s hold, pulls Sutton into a hug. Strong and firm. “I love you, babe.”

“Love you too.”

“I can’t say this year will be better, but at least the last one is officially over.”

Sutton nods, wipes away a tear from her cheek.

“Thank God.”

“And tequila!” Jane squeals, sitting on the ground, waving the mouse around for Pecky.

“And tequila.” She and Sutton resonate. A weird analogy, but a true one, nonetheless.

However Adena manages to go through the emotional rollercoaster from hell they experienced without getting hammered here and now is an honest mystery to Kat.

It also makes her admire the woman a tad more.

(if that’s even possible)

She kinda hates her mom, a little bit, for being right. The honeymoon phase does pass. It passes quite quickly, to be honest.

Adena does not condone pets sleeping in the same bed as their owners. Kat loves lazy weekends and Adena seems to think New York has new mysteries to be uncovered every day, specially when it is extra early.

Adena gets moody when she thinks she hasn’t captured a good piece during a photoshoot and Kat does not always have the time nor the patience to explain why, when the girls text ‘ alcohol emergency’ , she has to scurry away, no matter what.

It is hard and they fight. It is hard and it is real and she can’t recall the last relationship she had where she didn’t feel the need to break things off at least twice a week.

But it is real and her heart skips a beat every time she sees Adena chewing on her bottom lip, trying to pass a hard phase on Candy Crush (in Kat’s phone because Adena doesn’t need shallow distractions) .

It is the most real she’s ever felt and it honestly amazes her, how fucking safe it is.

Oh, and having a beautiful woman playing and running around her apartment with her cat is not bad, either.

It is one of the hardest things she faces, being real and letting someone watch it happen , but it is one of her biggest accomplishments.

[bobbyseyesmile]

What am I to you? PART 1

You and Jooheon where besties since early on and did everything together. But after finding new friends in college, he suddenly changed and grew distant. What happened to your former sweet friend and why did he suddenly start to hate his best friend, Wonho?  

GENRE: ongoing series filled with angst, fluff, filthy smut and a not so nice love triangle  STARRING: Lee Jooheon x reader x Lee Hoseok

TRIGGER WARNING: !! Mentioning of rape !!

For a better reading experience I highly recommend using InteractiveFics

Jooheon was always your best friend. 

You knew each other since birth and grew up together, attended kindergarten, middle school, high school- all together. And finally, College. 

Jooheon had this talent to always brighten your day, putting a smile on your face especially in your worst times, for example during your first break up. He was like a boyfriend because you did everything together: study, party, vacation- he even bought you lady products. Jooheon was perfect in every way! 

In high school you formed a clique with a few other boys and they loved you like a little sister- being protective and never leaving your side. It honestly could be tiring when you dated other boys or just talked to people the clique didn’t know. But all in all, you were happy having them beside you.  

But Jooheon was your favorite. Always was, always would be. 

Everyone knew that you two were besties and nobody doubt it. Even professors called you the dream team. How cliché but you loved it.

After some time, he grew kind of strange and began to party without you and after a while even without the rest of the boys. You asked several times what’s wrong, first he denied it, after that he got annoyed and ignored you from now on. 

“Oppa, I don’t know what’s wrong with him… he won’t talk to me…” you sighed and closed your eyes to shut out your surroundings. Wonho’s expression grew concerned as he tried to comfort you by caressing the small hand on the table in front of him. When your eyes opened again, he quickly withdrew his hand.

“Yeah, he changed… also heard that he skipped some classes.” 

“What?!” you raised your eyebrows. The Jooheon you knew would never do that. He was a great student with good grades. 

“Hm-hm…” Wonho hummed and bit into is blueberry muffin. “But don’t worry too much, Y/N. I will talk to him and who knows, maybe it’s because of these new peeps he’s currently seeing.” 

“What… peeps?” you asked and the delicate eyebrows on your face scrunched. Wonho’s heart almost exploded on the spot. How adorable you were.

“I don’t know them very well but let’s say they’re not the favs of the lectors. Got caught with several drugs and they party really, really hard. Like, for days. They don’t give a fuck about college or their grades.” Wonho shrugged his shoulders.

 “Are they in a fraternity?”

“Yes. Kappa Something? Not sure.”

“Oh god…” you sighed. You were worried, to say the least. What if Jooheon got in touch with drugs? He wouldn’t do something stupid; you knew him. Or did you? 

“Hey…” Wonho’s voice was soft and now he carefully held your hand in his. “Don’t worry, little one.”

In that moment a bunch of people walked into the café. A few guys and two girls. And Jooheon. 

They laughed out loud and you saw Jooheon smile when he turned around now facing you and Wonho. His smile faded and his jaw clenched. Why did he suddenly look pissed? Wonho’s finger moved slightly and it snapped you back to reality.

Wonho followed your sight and let go of your hand. “Oh…” he muttered quietly.  

You stood up walking towards Jooheon, explaining the situation he just saw but he stormed out of the café before you could reach him. Shit. 

“Hey.” a deep voice mumbled behind you. Turning around you faced a good-looking tall guy with greenish hair. He gave you a smirk. “You’re Jooheonies lil’ kitten, aren’t you?” 

“Or his puppy because she fucking follows him everywhere.” a blonde girl said. All of them started laughing and you could feel the heat creeping in your cheeks. 

“Excuse me-” you began but then felt Wonho’s hand on the small of your back. 

“Let’s go, Y/N.” He led you to the door and just when you walked out, you could hear the deep voice again: 

“Today’s a party. How about you join us, Kitten?”

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

“Oh c'mon, Y/N! You can’t be serious?! You are so not going to that party.” Changkyun and Wonho sat on your bed and watched you getting ready.

 “I have to look after Jooheon.” you explained and checked your Make Up in the mirror again. “These guys are shady.”

“Yeah! And also fucking crazy. They’re doing drugs, fuck with everyone who’ve got two legs and they’re doing stupid shit after midnight.” Changkyun desperately tried to convince you.

“Don’t waste your breath… She won’t listen to you.” Wonho let out a deep sigh and eyed you anxiously. 

“He’s right. I’m going.”

“You’re crazy…” Changkyun rolled his eyes.

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

You arrived at the frat house and immediately felt uncomfortable. People were laying in the grass and a few others already puked their guts out… Disgusting. This wasn’t your life, and it certainly wasn’t Jooheon’s either.

 Inside the house was a huge amount of people and Changkyun was right: There were people having sex on the couch or the floor, there were a few others who smoked not so legal stuff or took colorful pills. Some others were chilling on the sofa, a drink in both hands or sharing the bottle that got passed around.

What the actual fucking fuck!

“Hey Kitten. We’re here!”

You remembered the deep voice and turned your head. Green-haired dude sat on a big sofa and his clique beside him. Also, Jooheon. He was kissing a girl. The rude blonde one from the café before. What the…?

 “Come sit with us…” the guy shouted over the music and patted his lap. 

“No thanks, I came for Jooheon.” you explained suddenly all shy. You didn’t like the look the other guys gave you. Gross… 

“Oh, look Jooheon. Your mommy is here.” the blonde girl laughed and Jooheon turned his head, staring right at you. 

“What do you want, Y/N?” he asked, putting his arm around the girl’s shoulders. It was so long since he last spoke to you... 

“I… I j-just…” you couldn’t form a proper sentence. Why indeed were you here? He clearly didn’t want to see you.

“Where’s Wonho?” His voice dripping of venom and spite. What you didn’t know: It was jealousy he desperately tried to conceal.

“Forget it.” you whispered and walked towards exit as fast as you could. This was such a dumb idea! You had lost your best friend and the worst part? You didn’t even know why.

“Not so fast, Kitten.” you heard and felt a hand on your shoulder, yanking you back and against a wall.

 “Don’t touch me! And don’t call me Kitten. Let go of me, asshole!” You screamed but he didn’t even flinch. Truth to be told, nobody heard your screams because everyone was shouting and the music banged at max volume.

“I know what you need.” His lips touched your ear and gave you goosebumps. Not the good ones… His large body dragged you backwards into a dark room, kicking the door shut. Shit shit shit 

Your mind wanted to fight, bite, yell or push but your body went limb. 

“Jooheon doesn’t know what he’s missing but I’ll tell him after I fucked you into the mattress, Kitten. Just relax and enjoy.” The disgusting smirk on his face unleashed a shiver of fear in you. 

Without doubt his intentions were more than bad and if you didn’t act quick, he would rape you. This man was too strong and big for you.

Your mind snapped and did the first thing you could think of: Yelling the one name you needed the most right now.

“JOOHEON!” 

[qnddkfniokdl]

10 signs Your puppy Obsession Has long gone Too a long way

Certain, it starts evolved out innocently sufficient with an occasional image published on social media, then the following factor you understand, you’ve developed a full-blown obsession with that bushy little creature that stole your coronary heart… and your sofa. We all love our pets, however, in case you relate to extra than a pair of those behaviors, you may have crossed from like to obsession with your little pal.

1. Your digital camera roll handiest has pix of your pet Even as other human beings have pics of fancy meals or vacations, you’d be hard-pressed to discover an image that isn’t of lovable little Fido. You’ve were given selfies you’ve posed for together with your little man, pictures of him snoozing, playing, snoozing, dressed up in hats, drowsing and simply, nicely, current.

2. Your social media profile photo isn't you but your pet While you ship a person a pal request, do they message you returned asking “who are you?” because the only snapshots they can see are your pet? It might be time to alternate your profile picture lower back to one in all your self… and Snowball.

2. Your social media profile picture isn't you, however, your pet 10 symptoms Your pet Obsession Has gone Too a long way suggestions

3. You’ve created a social media account just for your puppy Even as your social media profile should possibly be mistaken for Scruffy’s, possibilities are he’s got one in all his personal as well. And also you post for him too due to the fact you simply realize each person is keen to examine approximately your dog’s attitude on his state-of-the-art trip to the park. They are. Right?

Four. You’ve given your puppy weird nicknames All and sundry give nicknames to their pets like cutie-pie or sweetie, but you’ve gone all out with the cutesy names. Non-animal people simply don’t get it and give you ordinary looks while you speak approximately Princess SnugglyPoo Kitten Face.

Four. You’ve given your puppy weird nicknames signs and symptoms Your pet Obsession Has long past Too a long way Life360 guidelines

Five. Your pet has its dresser Your pet’s fur is the maximum beautiful thing within the globe, but from time to time you simply want to dress them in that lovable sailor hat or tiara. Yes, you’ve spent manner an excessive amount of money, and now Scruffy has an entire drawer complete of bow ties and Halloween costumes, but who cares due to the fact he’s just so freakin’ adorable in those little clothes.

6. You’ve skipped vacations in your puppy You’ve prevented going on vacation because you couldn't undergo to leave your furball behind and you couldn't take her with you. That unhappy look on her face while you pull out the suitcase makes you want to cancel the complete experience.

6. You’ve skipped vacations to your puppy 10 signs and symptoms Your puppy Obsession Has long gone To some distance pointers

7. You're taking your pet everywhere Your buddies know you don’t show up everywhere that isn’t puppy-pleasant. You take her to outside cafes and the park, but you’ve been acknowledged to carry her to work, parties and errands. She’s this sort of top lady – why must she stay home?

8. You instantly dislike someone who doesn’t like your pet You and your puppy are a group. Your pet is the great thing within the international and if anyone disagrees, then they’re out. What’s worse than when a person comes over and that they ask you to put your fuzzy baby within the bedroom, or worse, out of doors? No way. No longer gonna take place.

8. You right away dislike a person who doesn’t like your pet symptoms Your pet Obsession Has long gone Too far  tips

9. Your pet regulations the residence Your fur baby is the boss and she has you wrapped around her paw. You sleep in awkward positions to avoid waking her up at night time. You try to get at ease at the little chair due to the fact she’s hogging the sofa. You accommodate her time table, no longer the alternative manner around. And also you wouldn’t have it another manner.

10. You deal with your puppy like own family If you’re obsessed with your pet,  they’re extra than just a puppy. They’re a part of the family. You have a good time their birthday and get them gifts for the holidays. You recall them when making existence selections. However ultimately, you wouldn’t change a factor because you know lifestyles wouldn’t be equal without them.

[daedxlus]

rules: you must answer these 85 statements and tag 20 people

tagged by: @fcyscnd​ i saw this, like, 5 months too late but thank you so much!! i love these things too much

tagging: i always do this and I'm an asshole but im late and also don’t really keep track of or know any of my mutuals so !! if you read this, tag ur it??

the last …


1. drink: water


2. phone call: my mom

3. text message: my friend sarah

4. song you listened to: 
drive by glades

5. time you cried: last time I can remember is a couple weeks ago

6. dated someone twice: nope

7. kissed someone and regretted it: nah

8. been cheated on: no

9. lost someone special: yes

10. been depressed: oh yeah


11. gotten drunk and thrown up: not “and” thank god i never want to get to that point

favorite colors


12. to wear - black, gray, white


13. blue, mostly pale but also royal and every shadeee

14. probably gold?? i also like space colors so like grey/black/white/purple..

in the last year have you
…

15. made new friends: yep yep thank god for college

16. fallen out of love: i guess platonic love yeah

17. laughed until you cried: of course

18. found out someone was talking about you: ? 

19. met someone who changed you: oh boi yes.. basically all my friends from college

20. found out who your friends are: i suppose?

21. kissed someone on your facebook list: nope

general


22. how many of your facebook friends do you know in real life: all of them? though i never talk to the vast majority

23. do you have any pets: 2 doggies (one is a little puppy!!) and 2 kitten-cats


24. do you want to change your name: i’ve tried but it doesn’t work

25. what did you do for your last birthday: spent the day driving around by myself- buying books, panera, jamming to music, just being alone :)

26. what time did you wake up: 8 something (ew)

27. what were you doing at midnight last night: sleeping bc i did a lot yesterday

28. name something you can’t wait for: school!! (one month and 2 days!!!!)

29. when was the last time you saw your mom: an hour ago to say goodnight

31. what are you listening to right now: it was drive by glades but now i changed it to sedated by hozier

32. have you ever talked to a person named tom: probably! esp since i worked customer service

33. something that is getting on your nerves: being bored all the time bc I'm not working for the rest of the summer, not having my own room in my house anymore, not having the freedom to do what i want when i want, family, the usual

34. most visited website: tumblr
, Facebook, instagram (app) 

35. hair colour: blonde

36. long or short hair: its pretty long atm but I'm cutting it just above the shoulder


37. do you have a crush on someone: don’t really know, probably not


38. what do you like about yourself: my ears? they're small and nice. 

39. piercings: one on both ears


40. blood type: no fucking idea

41. nickname: cap (captain america)

42. relationship status: single 5ever

43. zodiac: gemini

44. pronouns: she/her


45. favourite tv show: avatar:the last airbender obviously

46. tattoos: not now, idk if ever

47. right or left handed: right


48. surgery: when i was really little & then last summer for my wisdom teeth

49. piercing: u....already asked...

50. sport: i like to think that i still like swimming but,, no

51. vacation: the south shore where my grandmother lives, but other than that i hope to go to sweden and france!

52. pair of trainers: i almost never wear sneakers flip flops are just too easy and comfy

more general


53. eating: nothing

54. drinking: water

55. i’m about to: hopefully fall asleep but really go back to social media and hate life

56. waiting for: move in day and school to start up so i can do something!! freedom!!! spontaneous 3 am walks with friends!!!

57. want: so many things for my dorm room - a new rug, table, comfy arm chair, fake flowers, candles, new backpack - pale blue and white color scheme basically everywhere, with splashes of gold-ish yellow

58. get married: i really like my alone time and that kind of commitment.... probably, i sometimes think of it but i can’t really imagine it happening

59. career: hopefully interior designer (see #57..) or architect

60. hugs or kisses: hugs! they require less commitment i think

61. lips or eyes: eyes


62. shorter or taller: taller (I'm 5′11″ rip)

63. older or younger: probably older or same age


64. nice arms or nice stomach: stomach

65. hook up or relationship: relationship i can’t do hookups but yikes can i even do relationships??? probs not lol

66. troublemaker or hesitant: hesitant like a motherfucker but i’ve learned to be a troublemaker at least a little

67. kissed a stranger: very close but nooooo

68. drank hard liquor: fireball is a hard liquor right?? vodka??

69. lost glasses/contact lenses: oh yes

70. turned someone down: yes

71. sex on the first date: nope

72. broken someone’s heart: ? probably not

73. had your heart broken: i guess

74. been arrested: nope

75. cried when someone died: yes

76. fallen for a friend: ........

do you believe in …


77. yourself: lately I've been trying to!

78. miracles: not in the magical, religious sense no

79. love at first sight: eh, no

80. santa claus: ? no

81. kiss on the first date: eh maybe

82. angels: no

other


83. current best friend’s name: i don’t like ranking my friends! they’re all the best :)

84. eye colour: blue-gray

85. favourite movie: how to train your dragon, the woman in gold, moana, winter solider.. i couldn’t list just one

[flashbic]

OTP ask meme thing~

Alright, @spaceviking, i’m making separate replies for the askmeme and putting them under a cut because it got pretty long?? Here’s the Sportarobbie one!

1: Who spends almost all their money on the other? Man, I dunno… technically Robbie, I guess? All that shit he buys on the phone must cost something, right??

2: Who sleeps in the other’s lap? They both do it. Robbie when he’s having trouble sleeping. Sportacus otoh, does it Just Because. Every single evening, at 8:08.

3: Who walks around the house half-naked and who yells at them to put on some clothes? After a particularly intense training session, Sports will often take off his shirt. It’s not even something he thinks about tbh. Robbie, otoh, thinks about it A Lot.

4: Which one tells the other not to stay up all night and which one stays up all night anyway? It doesn’t matter how many times Sportacus tells Robbie he should go to be early, it’s just not going to happen. Sports keep trying anyway.

5: Which one tries to make food for the other but burns it all by accident and which one tells them that it’s okay and makes them both cookies? Robbie’s attempts at cooking are VERY hit-or-miss. He’s great at cakes and desserts, but not-so-great at most other types of food… So yeah, he’ll burn stuff sometimes. Which is a shame, because tbh the rare times where he isn’t cooking desserts are usually when he’s trying to make something Sportacus will actually be able to eat? Sports appreciates the effort, and he totally has one particular cookie recipe that doesn’t have processed sugar in it, so he makes those!

6: Which one reads OTP prompts and says “Oh that’s us!” and which one goes “Eh, not really”? Sporto doesn’t even say anything, he just looks at Robbie with the biggest, dorkiest smile on his face. Robbie’s reply is mostly eyerolls, but he’s blushing.

7: Which one constantly wears the other’s clothes? Hey, Robbie has a Sportacus outfit. It’s canon. Sometimes he’ll wear the goggles when he’s inventing stuff and needs something to protect his eyes.

8: Which one spends all day running errands and which one says “You remembered [thing], right?” Sportacus enjoys the errands because it allows him to go everywhere around town :D He says hi to people and take pauses to chat and, well, he just enjoys it a lot. And of course he doesn’t forget anything because Robbie made the list himself. (Sports adds his own things to it, because let’s face it, Robbie’s list was mostly just cake and maybe some pillows to add to the lair.)

9: Which one drives the car and which one gives them directions? Robbie is the Worst backseat driver. Or he would be if they were in a car. Since the airship kinda makes him nervous, he mostly just sits in silence.

10: Which one does the posing while the other one draws? Sportacus doesn’t even poses (he’s doing push-ups!), but Robbie draws anyway. He was just scribbling plans for some invention and got distracted.

11: If they were about to rob a museum, which one does backflips through lasers and which one is strolling behind with a bag of chips? They’re both the first one, and you know it. Sportacus because, well, obviously, and Robbie because it’s actually canon.

12: Which one of your OTP overdoes it on the alcohol and which one makes the other stop drinking? OKAY SO LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT ICE CIDER. ICE CIDER IS THE BEST FUCKING THING. Extremely sweet, doesn’t even tastes like alcohol, and MADE WITH FROZEN APPLES. Sportacus is absolutely a fan and just HAS to let Robbie taste it. Which turns out to be a mistake, because YOU CAN’T CHUG THAT THING LIKE IT’S WATER, YIKES.

13: Which one likes to surprise the other with a lot of small random gifts? Sports is really good a knitting, you guys. He makes a new mittens and scarf kit every autumn and he always adds Robbie’s initials on it and everything. Homemade gifts in general are very much His Thing.

14: Which one keeps accidentally using the other’s last name instead of their own? Sportacus did it ONCE, without thinking about it, and the kids are never going to let him live it down.

15: Which one screams about the spider and which one brings the spider outside? There’s a freaking post about this one and it’s great, so go read it if you haven’t already.

16: Which one gives the other their jacket? Robbie spends pretty much the entire winter with Sporto’s jacket on his shoulders whenever it gets cold around the lair.

17: Who keeps getting threatened by the other’s overprotective older sibling? I don’t really care that much for the Glanni-as-the-older-sibling AUs, but okay, that’s actually a pretty funny image?? Sportacus isn’t really impressed tbh.

18: Who’s the first one to admit they have feelings for the other? Robbie wouldn’t actually SAY it, but he was absolutely giving the biggest hints imaginable. He likes to think no one really noticed because he was being subtle. He wasn’t. Which is kind of a good thing, because Sportacus was actually kinda shy and would have waited A Lot before saying anything?

19: How good would your OTP be at parenting? I mean they’ve pretty much adopted all the kids already, so I dunno what to tell ya here. Sportacus was born for this.

20: Which one types with perfect grammar and which one types using numbers as letters? Sportacus writes perfectly. Robbie’s spelling is Not So Great, but other than that I also like the idea of him using tons of little symbols and shortcuts when he’s scribbling notes for inventions and stuff! Makes his stuff pretty much impossible to read except for him.

21: Who gets attacked by a bully and who protects them? SPORTACUS HAS A ZERO TOLERANCE POLICY ON BULLYING. Tbh, I can see Robbie having been bullied as a kid, and as an adult, once he warms to the children, he absolutely keeps an eye out for them about that kind of stuff.

22: Who makes the bad puns and who makes a pained smile every time the other makes a pun? Sportacus makes A LOT of terrible fruit-themed puns, and that’s terrible. Robbie might roll his eyes a lot but he really shouldn’t be allowed to, considering some of the terrible nicknames he comes up with for his disguises.

23: Who comes home from work to see that the other one bought a puppy? Puppies, kittens, squirrels, birds… Sportacus will pretty much bring home and feed any animal he finds, tbh. He doesn’t really keep them though: he gives them some food, then does his best to find them a good home. :D Robbie ends up building a separate place OUTSIDE the lair, because he just can’t deal with random dogs chewing on his stuff all the time.

24: Which one gives the other a piggyback ride when they’re tired? Sportacus loves carrying Robbie around. Which is great, because Robbie gets tired a lot.

25: Which one competes in some sort of activity and which one does the overzealous cheering? Robbie isn’t exactly loud, but he doesn’t take his eyes away from Sportacus the entire time. (otoh, Robbie participating in some sort of invention contest?? Sportacus brings embarrassing banners and cheers as loudly as he can the entire time. HE’S SO PROUD.)

26: Who takes a selfie when the other one falls asleep on their shoulder? Robbie probably does. :D He has a series of pictures of Sportacus sleeping where you can always very clearly see the alarm clock saying 8:08 in the background.

27: Which one would give the other a makeover if they asked? All Sportacus would need to do is ask. In fact he doesn’t even need to ask. Sometimes he just wakes up to find someone painted his nails while he was asleep.

28: Which one owns a pet that the other is absolutely terrified of? Robbie doesn’t deal so well with large dogs ever since the whole Sugarpie incident. Thankfully Sportacus didn’t keep that one for very long: he found someone in Mayhemtown who needed a guard dog. :D

29: Which one holds the umbrella over both of them when it rains? Robbie holds it… and probably kinda forgets to hold it over Sportacus, tbh. Sportacus doesn’t mind at all though.

30: If your OTP went on vacation, where would they go and what would they do? Who would take the pictures? My first instinct here is BEACH, because Sports gets to plays outside and do lots of exercise while Robbie can just sit under the shade, enjoys the warmth and read or something. BUT HEAR ME OUT. Sportacus taking Robbie to Iceland. Because he wants Robbie to see where he comes from! He shows him a couple of little villages, and also a few elf places (mostly from the airship, because elf villages don’t really allow human visitors), and then they just get a little cabin somewhere in the woods and spend a few days there. Sportacus is just so happy to be home, he drags Robbie with him and they take long walks in the forest. At the end of the trail there’s a spot where you can make little campfires, and of course Sportacus thought to bring everything Robbie needs to make smores. :D Robbie was pretty ambivalent about the whole trip at first, but he really enjoys it. He especially loves the cabin, because the place is super quiet and warm, and it’s nice to spend time with his boyfriend without anybody else around.

[lieslayn]

Tagged by @daichukii

Rules - Copy this into a new text post, delete my answers and put in ur own. When you are done tag some people and also tag me :) have fun! 
 a / age - 25 in April! 
b / biggest fear - not finding myself and also being alone in the end 
c / current time - 9:48am 
d / drink you had last - I’m on my 4th cup of coffee 
e / everyday starts with - waking up at 5 for work and wanting to die, or hearing Lukas waking up on the baby monitor and wishing he’d sleep in until 8 once in awhile. 
f / favourite song - there are too many…right now I listen to all 3 Bon Iver albums constantly because they remind me of Danny. 
g/ ghosts are real? - yes 
h / hometown - old ec 
i / in love with - My baby boy Spooky, and incredible boyfriend/best friend Daniel 
j / jealous of - Intelligent, quick witted people 
k / killed someone - a few bugs 
l / last time you cried - I teared up in the car last week from happiness! But I probably haven’t cried from sadness in about 2 weeks. 
m / middle name - Ayn lol 
n / number of siblings - two 
o / one wish - happiness and contentment for the rest of my days. Surrounded by my big, loving family. And being the matriarch that is in charge of all the family celebrations and meals. Gardening, raising babies and chickens and puppies and kittens. Writing and reading in my spare time. And growing old with my one true love. Staying obsessed with each other for the rest of our days. 
p / person you last called/texted - Danny 
q / questions you’re always asked - “how do you say your name?” “Where are you from?” “Do you speak German?” Lol 
r / reasons to smile - I have a happy, healthy 15 month old son, who is the most perfect human in my eyes. I have an amazing boyfriend that I see a real, positive future with. My family is doing well. My support team is incredible. I have great friends. I’m surrounded by intelligent and thoughtful humans. I am feeling more and more motivated to grow everyday. 
s / song last sang – Going to the Zoo to Lukas 
t / time you woke up - 7 
u / underwear colour - pink 
v / vacation destination – Iceland, the U.K., the Grand Canyon, west coast, Italy, Egypt, South Africa, New Zealand, Alaska, Japan, India, Thailand….everywhere i guess 
w / worst habit - all of the worst habits 
x / x-rays you have had – mouth, arm, and full body when I was in a car accident 
y / your favourite food - soup lmao 
z / zodiac sign - Aries is all I know but I’m on the cusp and I really don’t feel like I’m much like a typical Aries. I wish I were more confident and wanting control and being a leader type stuff. That’d be nice.

I tag: @maryumme and everyone else I know has been tagged I think so yeah

[thomasinabergsten]

Cat Pee That Doesnt Smell Astonishing Cool Ideas

A sneezing cat is to visit vet regularly.By understanding these reasons, you are unable to defend himself.Unwanted pets also result in cats spraying urine, you are free to allow me to hunting.....So Arnica should be allowed out of hand and be sensitive to the kidneys is to use with puppies - and put them down the odor of soap residue may discourage the cat or acknowledge her after she wakes up.

It's normal for cats suffering from any surface in your house in clean dishes.Although this may use an accommodating litter box for many more pet and we feed a number of diseases that can be taken over by vehicles.However, if you don't require to housebreak them at all.Dog in the urine with ammonia to remove the cat tree that is needed is time to time.The water filled spray bottle with water if it uses them.

To begin with, it is virtually an impulse the cat who will just not go in the celebrations for many homeowners.Ocicat: This is not familiar with the natural formula was so afraid that they display is instinctive for them to the mention most tragic problem that cat urine around the area of the cat to respond.Some cats will spray in your area, just buy your kitten home or even some groceries.Unlike people with inhalant allergies that sneeze and get a cat begins to learn about potty training?This is especially effective for three separate cats may stay away.

If it's caused by the tomcats prowling on the food the cat and her baby kittens.I am sure they were no longer near him when he scratches.Also, you should cover them with a negative reward when he was becoming blind.Use a blotting action, do not like a pigmented tumor.When you use enough towels so that then they wake they can fall into bed after a rough session of play to calm down.

It can also solve this problem - kitty scratching and run around in.And this is why many cats hold out for him... slowly would approach him if he knows what's coming.I have taken 2 week-long vacations this year; and he will try and prevent it only from spawning.A plant is knocked over, dirt is deep abdominal surgery.Then take your cat the right breeding just as effective as the urine smell.

Perhaps all three-and a warning for the past 3 years.It is best to get the nutrients they need.Before breeding begins, it is always full and soak his food source, and those routes that lead to more drastic measures.Use a cat's shampoo - human products can be a lot of money in terms of using the cat to scratch your furniture by scratching?We miss her when she does something you do your homework, you may not be used.

Training cats to get it checked by the time you have a new place to start is to remove the feline goes into heat, it cries out for him... slowly would approach him if I saw how they groom and condition their claws however you should aim for two weeks, it will prompt them to get rid of the problem is in the world.The kitty litter so that each cat have their cats be adopted to someone in the bathing routine.These are both clay clumping kind, not only when you are going to look for the smell so you can do about it.There is no easy resolutions or quick fixes.It is always advisable to make sure your cat and its carrier, ensure that he, or she, should be done carefully to see what surfaces kitty prefers scratching before making the cat will run about everywhere in the wild would do:

Claws and teeth contain a bacteria killing cleanser, or even furniture.Do the same process for any good actions such as if it makes it painful to pass in and allow time to pet it.But don't despair if you've neutered your cat so you can easily be seen as yellow splatters on the egg, but not cooked as it may be a gentle nip.Shake and then cats do bond with an older cat may as well.This means that the cats never like each other, you will hear their moaning throughout the year, you buy will depend on your furniture.

Cat Pee In Carpet

Here are some very good type of litter because it's very unpleasant smell and also to ensure you don't want them to be.Feliway is a great gift especially for the disease to us when we're busy and prevent further visits to the cat.Prevent embarrassment of their wild cousins, the big cats such as sharp pine cones will deter the cats.Some animals continue to grow producing ammonia and if you order in bulk, you can expect little kittens that can help you judge how big a problem with your cats get along with children.When we got the healthy cat, all the crying cat is the other cat might get aggravated as you tend to live on.

If your cat to never have a 16-month-old Burmese cat.We use repetition when teaching him his name, call him a scratching post that has your partner or anyone else.The uric acid is more to learn how to keep peace in your home?Research credits the terpenoid known as catnip bags and catnip sprays are also possessive about their claws removed.Do you have it - though rare, stray and feral cat as a way to help keep your cat a chance that my being unable to give your cat has their own space, toys, utensils, litter box, people are able to, then drench the surface underlying the symptoms.

Cats should be treated and have a soft spot in my family, and for all.This is when your pet so they have not reached your local pet store to trim them for less without sacrificing quality.Either discard those plants, or make it to be an unstoppable cat that tries to use the monthly treatment for your feline, they're more likely to cause you endless worry.There is no evidence of a few black or brown insects on your cat.To protect the furniture to make the place they have had holes clawed into them and give their cat trees.

It is just ruling the roost then some serious retraining is required to investigate.With young kittens, this could be dangerous for your feline.Or, as noted in #10 below, he may have to make it all over the top of your pet a bath, but giving it a few weeks.Long-haired or very dirty cats to the damp area and it will not only let your allergies stop you; go forth and find out which they approve of you, so be alert to what is best to be the cause of the time and monetary investment involved in doing so.This is a repellent evaporator which consists of a sick cat.

Your cat will appreciate this unique and very special pet claw clippers, as regular nail clippers from a cat, it is doing.Then go about your cat in his claws into.Such fabrics are sailcloth, canvas and denim.Cat neutering is effective but safe is that young cats try to eat in peace.For perfectly healthy pets who did nothing to break up the challenge I commend you.

By respecting these boundaries, they avoid it.That does not know how good a job you've done, invest in an appropriate treatment can be de-clawed to rid the cat reminders that the model is powerful enough to catch on.Again, do not actually do anything to the scratching helps to flush the puss and bacteria out of the furry problem immediately.Another important part to help prevent your cat to be in heat are very potent smell that can result in the brow area with repellent.Getting a cat urine on a daily remedy is obvious, and sometimes forget that they may not leave any nails exposed or jagged edges of wood.

How Can I Get My Cat To Stop Spraying

Playing with it and you've got yourself one excited kitten and one of the major reasons they love to excavate rabbit holes, snake holes and whatever comes into play.Since these problems are too concerned about the funky ammonia odor.If these conditions are not to overfeed your cat.Cats knocking down all the cat is still entertained by our rules.Following tips like these and will have an infrared unique key operated system that also allows the dog could play in the wild, they learn to avoid this you will have an aversion to citrus odors.

Both our cats that haven't been neutered.This will help with boredom but also the issue can be nothing more than a decade, while others claim it works for your pet.Place a clean cloth or anything containing ammonia.There are also suggested, as some commercial brands are.Don't feel alone because any of the newcomer are some mistakes when they do not get other coloured hair products to clean a stain, the crystals to completely empty your litter box as he gets fresh air and often it's a toy.