#three cheers for sleeping in train stations at 3 in the morning i guess

[you-will-return]

-----

[miamlfy]

Gryffindor Scum

A/N: WOOH PART THREE IS FINALLY OUT! There was so many ways I could have written this part and I actually rewrote it a few times. This part is more centered on Draco rather than the reader but I guess this series is mostly on Draco. Feel free to give me feedback/ideas!

Pairing: Draco Malfoy x Fem! Reader

Summary: Draco has an unwelcoming experience with Blaise and Pansy. 

Warnings: Implied depression, Pansy, and a few swear words. Perhaps spelling/grammar mistakes as well. 

Word Count: 1,9k

Series Masterlist

Masterlist

Enjoy!

(Not my gif, credit to whoever made it)

Draco laid wide awake on his bed, staring onto the ceiling. He spent hours tossing and turning, just wanting to fall asleep just like everyone else in the house, however, his body refused to shut down. Draco continued to glance down to Harry’s muggle alarm clock he had on his nightstand, 3:46am it read. He let out a sigh, your mum wanted everyone up by 6am. So much for a good night’s rest, he thought to himself. 

His stomach was filled with the nervous feeling, his whole life had changed for him during the summer and he knew life at Hogwarts would also change. If someone told his past self that he would be dating a half blood or better yet living amongst Gryffindors, he would’ve laughed in their faces and told them to fuck off. Draco would have never imagined that this would be his life now, not that he hated it. He loved it, every second of it. He loved being in a household which held warmth, love, and security. He loved having parental figures that asked him on the daily if he was okay but most of all, he loved having you at his side. 

You were there for him for anything he needed the minute he stepped foot into your house. At first, Draco was scared your relationship would have declined when he moved in but instead it got stronger and the love was blooming more than ever. They spent many nights together alone, talking about the present and the future. 

“If I become a professional Quidditch player and you a healer, you can help with any injuring I get.” You said while picking on the grass you were laying on. 

Draco chuckled besides you, “I’ll also be on the stands cheering you on and being the loudest there.” 

Those moments the two of you had are what kept Draco going. You were his world and his yours. He got so used to spending each day with you that he wasn’t sure if he’ll be the same spending less amounts together at school. Now, Draco wasn’t much of the clingy type but after living in the same house for almost three months only to go back to school and being separated by house rivalry but going to take its toll. 

Draco scoffed to himself, whoever created such things and made him believe them were children, he thought. House rivalry was nonsense. Draco looked over to the clock once again, not much time has passed since he last checked it. He rolled onto his side and decided to at least get some sleep to avoid being an awful mood the in the morning. 

Draco was woken up by the smell of breakfast cooking in the kitchen. He looked over to Harry’s bed to see it empty and unmade, no doubt already waiting for the delicious delights Lily was cooking.

Draco was still getting used to seeing a human cook rather than house elves. Lily wasn’t the only person who cooked in the Potter household, he also learned that you, along with Harry were taught some things. James, however, was often kicked out of the kitchen after his many, many, failed attempts on cooking. 

He got up from his bed and quickly made it along with Harry’s. Although your twin brother was fully capable of making his own bed, Draco hated a messy room and often opted into making your brothers bed. Heading downstairs, he saw your luggage packed and ready to go by the front door. Lily made the three you do it the night prior. 

“Ah, he’s up.” He heard you say, you stood on your tippy toes to place a kiss on his cheek. You always complained about your shortness to him, and how it wasn’t fair the Harry got the tall gene. 

“Come sit down, there’s pancakes, eggs, and bacon on the table already. Help yourself.” You said to him. 

Draco nodded and took an empty seat next to James. He began adding foods onto his plate, before he could start eating, James began speaking to him loud enough for him to only hear. 

“Draco as you know, the trial between your parents and us is still happening.” Draco nodded as James spoke. 

The trial was taking longer than expected and although it was unrealistic to think it would end with an agreement immediately, Draco wish it was over. Both parties refused to step down. Not that Draco wanted your parents to give up, he knew they wouldn’t. He just wished his own parents would come to terms that Draco wasn’t returning to them and to drop whatever they doing to claim themselves as the best wizarding parents out there. 

Well, he just wished his father would stop. He knew his mother couldn’t do much, she was just there to be a wife of a pureblood and a mother to heirs. Draco knew she tried to be there for him but the way she was raised proved that the only way she could try to show her love for her son was to buy him things and spoil him with anything and everything he asked for. 

Narcissa still sent him letters once a week, whether it was sending him money, treats, or asking a simple ‘How are you doing?’. 

Draco stared at James and nodded his head allowing James to continue. 

“Word has gotten out and it’ll most likely be in the papers soon which means people will say things to you. Don’t let them get to you and force you to pick a side, in the end it’s you who decides.” 

Draco already had a side picked but he knew Mr. Potter was right. His ‘friends’ will no doubt try to make him change his mind about everything and force him back into being the self-centered prick he was. 

Once everyone finished the very delicious breakfast and got into the muggle car Lily owned, with complaints from you for having to sit in the middle seat, the five of you headed towards the train station. 

“Harry move your bloody elbow!” You yelled out to your brother. “It’s stabbing me in the side!” 

“Maybe it’s you who should move, my elbow is fine where it is!” 

Draco slightly laughed at the interaction, leave it to the two of you to cause some sort of chaos in any given situation. He sat back in his seat and looked out the window, watching all the cars drive by. 

His stomach was getting the same feeling it had during the night. He began chewing on his lip, a habit he had of doing whenever he was nervous. Taking notice of this, you took his hand into yours. 

“Are you okay?” You asked looking at him. Concern was written all over your face as he looked at you. Looking at you is what made him more present and calmer. He loved looking at you, you were always so beautiful to him. 

“Yes, I’m fine.” He responded, giving you a genuine smile. You reciprocated the smile and leaned your head on his shoulder. 

Draco let out a yawn, his lack of sleep getting to him. Perhaps he’d be able to nap on the train. 

Arriving at the station, the three of you said goodbye to your parents. Lily was making sure everyone had everything they needed while James looked ready to cry. Regardless of this being the fifth year of doing this, he was never ready to say goodbye to his children. 

Draco noticed some Slytherins giving him weird looks as he stood with the Potters, a few gasps were heard from others when he hugged James and Lily goodbye. He didn’t care though; it was a bit amusing to see some of his peers sporting confused looks. 

“Alright kids be safe and be good, I don’t want to hear about any more pranks on teachers or students,” Lily said, looking directly at you and Harry. “Includes you now, Draco. These three gremlins can be quite the influence.” 

“Three?!” 

“Yes James, three.” 

“Now that’s not fair, Sirius should be in that list too!” James said. Lily shook her head as if her point was proven. 

Draco followed Harry and you onto the train, he saw a few first years still waving goodbye to their parents through the windows. He saw you poke your head out of one as well, he wanted to laugh at the fact that you looked no different than a first year, but he knew it was best not to as he didn’t want to make you mad. 

“Tell Uncle Moony that I say hi!” He heard James yell. You replied with a ‘will do’ and pulled your head back as the train began to move. Draco could’ve sworn he saw James wipe a few tears from his eyes. 

“Are you going to come sit with us? Harry already went with Hermione and Ron to find an empty compartment.” You asked your boyfriend. 

Draco shook his head, “It’s best if I go sit with the others, Granger and Weasley aren’t much used to having me around unlike Harry and you.” 

“Alright well if anything happens, you can come find us.” 

Draco nodded, allowing you to place a kiss on his lips as a short bye. Watching you skip as you went to find the others, Draco went on his way to find the people he calls his friends. 

The compartment in which they were in wasn’t hard to find, upon entering it Draco placed his luggage above and sat down next to Blaise. 

“Strange,” he heard Blaise say. “We didn’t think you’d be joining us.” 

“And why is that?” Draco asked turning his head to look at Blaise. 

Blaise continued to look down at the book he was reading, “It seemed to us that your alliance has changed.” 

Draco scoffed but before he could speak back, Pansy had already taken the stage. 

“You left us Draco.” She said, forcefully making herself sit in-between Draco and Blaise. She placed her arms around Draco’s neck. 

“Come back to us Draco, we know you’re still in there.” She shook him as she spoke, “We know they brainwashed you now come back.” 

Draco threw Pansy’s arms off of him with a bit of force, making her pout. “No one has brainwashed me.” 

“They clearly did, you don’t even want to be with me anymore!” She screeched. Draco rolled his eyes at her delusional self. 

Blaise closed his book and made Pansy go back to her original seat. He looked directly at Draco as he spoke. 

“We don’t want you here anymore, Draco. You made it clear to us that you no longer want to be in this friend group the minute you hugged that mudblood and her blood traitor husband. Not to mention how friendly you’ve gotten with Y/n Potter.” 

Draco felt his body becoming hot with anger as Blaise targeted the slurs towards your parents. 

“Now leave us and perhaps you’d want to change your house tie as well, seeing as you’ve become Gryffindor scum.” Blaise finished. 

Draco angrily stood up, glaring at Blaise as he grabbed his luggage and stormed out slamming the compartment door with such force. He stood there for a few seconds, taking notice that his hands were shaking as he rubbed his eyes with them.

“This is going to be one long fucking year.”

[kylorengarbagedump]

Little Bird: Chapter 40

Read on AO3. Part 39 here. Part 41 here.

Summary: Out of curiosity, is it possible to have a party in Gilead that doesn't end in disaster?

Words: 5600

Warnings: emotions

Characters: Kylo Ren x Handmaid!Reader

A/N: Hello! Welcome back, again, to my weekly updates. Haha. I think the last few chapters may go a couple weeks in between updates, if only because I want to get them exactly right--just as a heads up.

I am hoping this chapter seemed correct in its pacing and length--these are two things I am trying to get a better feel for as I write, hence the extended length of the chapters, but I'm wondering if it feels too draggy?

Anyway, I love y'all very very much, and I love your thoughts and kindness and generosity. I am truly so lucky. <3

The Night Buzzard was hardly the most comfortable sleep you’d had, but it had easily been the deepest in weeks. Between the exhaustion of being fucked within an inch of your existence and the knowledge that a veritable army was only feet away from you, you felt invulnerable enough to slip into what apparently was complete unconsciousness for six hours. Nothing--not the rumbling of the terrain, not the voices of the Knights, nor the wailing of the engine--had roused you. Only a firm pressure on your shoulder was enough to finally drag you from your blissful semi-coma.

Your eyes fluttered open, still hazy with a film of sleep, coming to focus on the morning-kissed face of Kylo Ren.

Light filtered through the black-tint windows, splitting him in shadow, his expression soft and stern. His hair was filthy with sweat, clumped in frizzy locks over his forehead and ears, his chin and upper lip peppered with a hint of stubble. As you met his gaze, you could see nothing but tired, guttered rage in his pupils, an umbra under his eyes. His attention flickered over you, examining you, a warm, gloveless hand cupping your cheek, thumb tracing over the still-tender skin. You winced, and his head tilted, his hand skating down your arm, sparking affection in your chest. Affection you did not want. Frowning, you shrugged him off. 

His lid twitched, his jaw tensed. He glanced to the side. “We’ve arrived home.” Toward the front of the Buzzard, the Knights were shuffling, the door whining as it opened. “Once you shower and dress, we’ll be departing again.”

You blinked, tugging the robe to your chin and propping yourself up on an elbow. “Again?” you asked. “Why?”

“City hall,” he replied. “Tying loose ends.”

“Okay.” You shrugged, rolling over, looking at the wall. “You enjoy that. I won’t be going.”

Pressure on your shoulder again, turning you toward him, and you shook him away. “You’re coming.”

“If you’re concerned about my safety, leave a Knight or two outside.” A tiny smirk on your lips. “They’ve become pretty familiar with me by now, anyway.”

Kylo grumbled, gripping your arm. “You don’t have a choice.”

Spinning on him, you seared him in his spot. “What else is new?” you spat. “Go ahead, then. Make me.” You grit your teeth. “I’d really like to see you try.”

He stared at you, studying your face, lips pinching together. The last Knight stepped off the Buzzard, and the door closed, drenching you both in silence. You held him in your gaze, unyielding, breath stalled in your lungs. Kylo swallowed, and then averted his eyes, his conviction melting in the ferocity of your fury. The hold on your arm loosened--you grabbed two of his fingers, plucked them free, and tossed his hand to the side.

“Right,” you said. “That’s what I thought.”

Huffing, you clambered out of the bunk from the end of the mattress, pulling your robe--his robe, technically--over your body and cinching it tight. You felt Kylo’s gaze linger while you gathered your shoes and underwear into your arms, flouncing barefoot down the steps and into the front yard of his home. The sun was peeking into the sky, spilling newborn light through dawn clouds, the air still woven with the wool of summer heat. Sighing, you paced to the front door, arms folded with your belongings, trained on the floor as you escaped to your room.

When you shut the door to your tiny cell, you burst, hurling your clothes into the air with a howl, throwing yourself on your bed. It didn’t matter if you wanted to cry--you would continue to refuse, content to bask in rage instead, to let yourself simmer in it. You would tolerate no more kindness from Kylo Ren, no more exceptions in his design, no more delicate baths or malted whisky eyes or hope-hollow words. If he was to never let you go, you would never let him hold you again.

It was about a half-hour before the Buzzard peeled from the driveway, and the Audi with it. You allowed yourself a moment of respite in his absence--now was your chance to bathe and catalogue the thoughts flipping through your mind. Another long, soft sigh escaped your lungs, and you rolled out of bed, grabbing a change of clothes and new uniform before heading to your door, only to be met with the sound of footsteps in the hallway. You swallowed, paused, heart flipping. It could only be a Knight--you just hadn’t expected to be met in your room. When the boots stopped outside of the threshold, but went no further, you shook off your nerves and opened it.

One of the Knights--helmeted, as usual, God only knew what they looked like--stood in front of you, silent, as if it was totally normal for him to be waiting outside of your door like a sentry. Warmth rushed your face in memory of the previous night, acknowledging that he’d not only seen you naked, he’d stroked his cock to the sight of you being fucked, and he’d shot hot jets of cum somewhere onto your body. You supposed it’d be awkward to ask which load had been his.

“Um.” You cleared your throat. If only there was a way for you to glimpse his mind, to know what he was recalling--or imagining--in this moment. “Excuse me.”

“Apologies,” he sputtered. The voice was familiar--Ushar, you guessed. “Wasn’t expecting you to be leaving.”

“Oh.” Perhaps getting his semen blown onto your face afforded you the privilege of a conversation. Or he was concerned you’d be afraid, and then mention it to your Commander. “Don’t worry about it.”

You stepped toward him, and he pivoted, back to the wall, allowing you a wide berth as you passed. Fear seemed more likely. 

It wasn’t until you’d made it approximately twenty feet down the hall that he moved to follow, trailing behind while you snuck down the steps and to your bathroom in the annex. You opened the door and slipped inside, tossing your uniform to the side and running your bath. Seconds later, Ushar arrived at the door in silence. 

As alone as you could get inside Kylo Ren’s home, you shrugged off your robe, and scanned your body, seeking evidence of your evening. There was no mirror in your bathroom, just as there was not one in your bedroom--so you improvised, pressing your palms to your cheeks, mapping the topography of your skull with your fingers. Pain tingled at your touch, the lumps and bumps that had burgeoned overnight still thumping and soft, the bruises on your face stinging with latent life. 

They were all trophies, to you, little souvenirs from your holiday at his hands--and you hoped by the time you’d lost them, the feelings packaged with them would be lost, too.

When the bath was halfway full, you sank into the water, shuddering as tension and ache was vacuumed from your limbs. You gazed at your stomach beyond the surface, imagining it as an island in the bath--your skin stretched tight, belly button protruding like a tiny hill--and coasted your hands over it, as if this would manifest your illusion. When it finally did become reality, there was no telling where you’d be, what you’d be bathing in, or who you would have come to trust. But you knew that wherever you landed, it would be by the strength of your own wings, in a nest that, no matter how humble, was crafted by only your design.

After you were clean and the water had cooled, you hoisted yourself from the bath, arms and legs heavy from relief in buoyancy. You stumbled onto the tile and steadied yourself with the sink, taking a few breaths. Balanced, you dressed into your uniform and tucked your hair away before tossing your leftover items into the hamper and exiting the bathroom. 

Ushar was still stationed outside--your cheeks burned again when you walked past him, returning to your room. You’d had plenty of encounters with men--your red dress was proof of that--but in the past three years, the only person whose release you’d handled had been your Commander’s. The sudden fact that seven men had anointed you with cum within the past 24 hours sharpened the post-engagement awkwardness to a knife. Not that you regretted it. 

You shut your door behind you and flopped onto your mattress face-first. The sky was bright, but it was still early. There was nothing else for you to do but continue to sleep.

The sun had passed mid-point when a squealing cheer from somewhere in the home startled you awake, eyes opening into a blank wall. A little hint of dread poked your brain as you recalled what Johana had mentioned the day before. A party to celebrate. You grunted, wanting to bury yourself in your pillow--but cramped, stomach seizing in hunger, informing you that you hadn’t actually eaten in over 24 hours. Between the doctor, the Buzzard trip, and getting your brains fucked out and then jizzed on, your appetite had been whittled to nil. Unfortunately, you were still human.

Sighing for the five-hundredth time that day, you trudged out of bed, adjusting your bonnet before you opened the door to Ushar, steadfast as ever. He sidled against the wall again, and you once more plodded through the hall, down the steps, with him in slow pursuit. 

Another peal of laughter ricocheted off the walls, and your neck prickled. They were in the parlour room, whoever they all were, and it was required you pass the parlour room to reach the kitchen. Turning to Ushar, you cocked your head in a silent plea, to have even a sliver of a chance to be invisible. Perhaps, again, out of fear, he nodded, backing into the hall--and you willed yourself to be a scarlet spectre, unseeable unless you wished to be seen, in the hopes you could escape their eyes.

As you crept to the archway, one of the women clapped her hands.

“Oh, Johana!” she said. “I had one of those too! Perfect for the baby room.”

“Do you think so?” That was Johana, sounding concerned. “No choking hazards?”

“No way!” said another woman. “You just hang it up above the crib and they fall right asleep!”

“Yes, it doesn’t go in the crib!”

Johana laughed. “Oh, give me a break, I’m a new mom.”

The group erupted in giggles again. Your stomach churned--but not from hunger. As their chatter escalated, you stepped forward, visible through the threshold, and every word on their lips died. 

In the center of the room was Johana, perched on the edge of the leather Chesterfield with a mobile in her lap, buried in a mountain of handmade baby clothes, toys, and room decor, a bevy of neatly wrapped boxes still unopened. Surrounding her were at least a dozen Wives, none of whom you recognized apart from Dolpheld Mitaka’s--you supposed the others had become Widows. They scrutinized you in confused disgust for a long, quiet moment.

It was almost shocking, how quickly they’d pulled this amount of material together, but you also knew most Wives stockpiled baby things in anticipation for their day. Perhaps the only truly surprising fact was their willingness to share.

“Ofkylo.” Johana’s cheeks glowed, but you couldn’t tell if it was from joy or embarrassment. “Good afternoon.”

“Um.” You folded your arms over your chest, like you could hide the knowledge that you were pregnant from everyone in the room. “Hello.”

She placed the mobile to the side. “I trust you had an uneventful evening.” There was no edge of malice in her tone--your pregnancy appeared to have at least one tangible benefit.

Pinching your lips between your teeth, you ignored the swarm of blood to your face. “Yeah,” you said, and then corrected, “yes. I, um. I did.”

One of the Wives, plump with dark hair, snorted, rolling her eyes. “You let your Handmaid out during the day?” she asked. “I can’t stand to see them crawling around like that.”

“Oh, I know!” replied a blonde-haired woman. “They’re like rats. Conniving, selfish things.”

“The one I had would always be making eyes at my husband, I swear.”

“Wasn’t she blind in one eye?”

“Well, yes, but she was still looking at him with her good eye--”

The back of your neck bloomed with sweat, your fingers burrowing into your arms. Venom gathered on the tip of your tongue, the most foolish part of you wanting to test out just how absolute your Commander’s protection was. 

“--and all I knew was, she better have been sleeping with that one eye open, or I was going to--”

The dark-haired Wife shushed the rest, leering at you as she spoke. “Be careful what you say,” she said, “you know Jo’s husband has a soft spot for Handmaids.”

The others nodded in agreement, supplying Johana with looks that ranged from pity to complete contempt. 

“That’s right!” This woman, a red-head closest to Johana, patted her knee. “Oh, I don’t know what I’d do if I were you. I don’t think I’d ever put up with everything you do.”

“It’s kind of stupid, isn’t it?” said another. “Benefits for Handmaids? Who cares? They’re literally whores!”

A gaggle of them laughed, and you licked your lips, teeth crushing your tongue into submission. Johana met your eyes, glimpsed your whitening knuckles, and her jaw stiffened.

The red-head patted her knee again, like this was comforting instead of patronizing. “You’re being quiet!” she said. “You don’t share your husband’s… preoccupation with Handmaids, do you?”

Johana blanched, scowling. “What? No.”

“That’s good.” She sighed. “Because I was just thinking the other day, you know, this never would’ve happened if Moden were alive.” A spoiled-fruit sweetness tinged her tone. “Don’t you think?”

For a sharp, clear second, Johana froze, and the last restraint on your mouth snapped.

“I think that’s pretty inappropriate,” you said. “Ms. Johana has no say in what her husband does.”

Silence swallowed the room, every muscle motionless. A low murmur of disbelief vibrated through the Wives as they glanced at each other, and then at Johana. She was looking at you like she’d looked at you at the dinner party--only this time, bathed in familiar light.

“Actually.” Back straight, she cleared her throat. “Ofkylo, why don’t you. Come... sit with us.”

The Wives flipped on her like a dozen switches, their brows drawn back or raised, before gazing at you, waiting for you to make your choice. There was some delight you’d take in staying, in deliberately making them uncomfortable, just as Johana wanted--but God, you were hungry. You shook your head, put up your palms in deference.

“Oh, no,” you said. “That’s, um, that’s fine, Ms. Johana, but I was just going to get something--”

“Nonsense.” She scooted over, patted the seat next to her on the couch. “Sit.”

You rolled your tongue over your teeth, ready to turn and leave, but something in her expression was tight, needled with pain. As if she was pleading. A current of pity rippled through your mind--in this room, surrounded by gifts, supposed friends, and social and legal superiority, she was still left depending on you. With a shrug of agreement, you waded through the crowd until you reached her, sinking onto the sofa, squeezing between her and the building hill of presents.

None of the Wives spoke. Johana clapped her hands on her thighs. “So!” she said. “Next gift?”

They surveyed each other for a moment, and a small hand crept into the air.

“Um.” It was Mitaka’s Wife, her mousey face peeking through the crowd. “You can open my gift next, Johana.” She offered a floppy paper package, eased it toward the couch. “I, um, I made it awhile ago for… someone else. It’s not much.”

Johana took it into her lap with a small grin. “Oh, I’m sure it’s just lovely.” 

You watched, like you were beyond a screen as she opened a gift meant for your child as if it was hers. She looked out at the other women, peeling the wrapping back, exposing a small, knit sweater. The room gasped, shrieking in restrained glee when she held it up, flipping it in display. 

“Adorable!” said the blonde-haired Wife, clapping her hands. “That’s perfect.”

Johana released a nervous chuckle. “But it’s so small.”

“No way!” said another woman. “That baby’s taking after you. He’s going to be tiny!”

“Yes! Precious little man!”

“Oh,” Johana said with a laugh, “we’ve decided it’s a boy, now?”

Another jubilant interruption, the lot of them breaking into smiles while your muscles locked, your focus drifting to your stomach. You hadn’t really considered its gender, or its appearance, or its actuality at all. Something twisted through your heart--a swell of repulsive affection--as you imagined it in your arms, every feature blurred, save for one clear detail: a feathery mop of thick, dark hair. 

“What are you going to name him?” 

The baby in your arms disintegrated, and you snapped to the parlour room. 

“He won’t be a Junior, will he?”

The first thought through your head--Kylo would never want a Junior--before you realized that Kylo would never meet his child, and the question hadn’t been directed toward you at all.  

Johana shrugged, her shoulder brushing yours. “You know, I’ve thought about names, but I can’t decide. My husband doesn’t really have a preference.” 

“He’ll be just as handsome as your husband, I’m sure,” said the dark-haired woman. “But let’s hope he gets your manners.”

“What do you mean?” asked the blonde Wife. “Her husband is polite! He’s so quiet.”

The room dimmed with stifled muttering as the women who had spent more than five seconds around Kylo Ren exchanged sardonic smiles. Johana tensed at your side.

The blonde woman blinked. “What?” she said. “What is it?”

“Polite isn’t the word I’d use,” said the dark-haired woman. 

“I’d use the word ass--”

“Shh! Don’t say that, Jo’s right here.”

“Well, she’s the one enabling all of his--”

“It’s fine!” Johana’s face was pale, fists bunching in her dress. “I--I mean, he’s rough around the edges,” she said. “But I’m sure he’s… I’m sure he’s going to be a great father.” She pursed her lips, looking at you, that same plea in her eyes. “Right?”

Your stomach roared in protest--the thought of remaining in a room, listening to Wives discuss your child and its father’s involvement as if you were exempt from the equation had bubbled nausea to your tongue. Clearing your throat, you stood, dusting off your skirt. Johana grabbed your wrist.

“Hold on. Where are you going?” 

Grimacing, you wagged free of her grip. “I, um, really have to eat.” Your face was on fire. “Excuse me.”

Focus fixed to the floor, you scrambled from the group of Wives, whisking through the hall, wiping your palms on your sides. A great father. Even if you thought that was true--which, given everything you’d come to know about him, you now admitted you’d be delusional to think--Kylo Ren was never going to know if his child was even born. 

When you arrived in the kitchen, you met with Emma and Rose, preparing some sort of hors d'oeuvres. You wondered how many of these they did, given all of the parties Johana seemed hell-bent on forcing on this home. At the sound of your boot on the tile, they spun from the counters, and you offered a small grin, easing past the threshold.

“Hi.” You looked around the kitchen. “I was just. Um. Coming to get something to eat.”

Rose sighed. “Can you come back later? We’re a little busy.”

“Oh.” An angry growl somewhere in your abdomen. “I mean, I was just going to maybe have a sandwich?”

“Just let us finish this up,” Emma said, “then you can make yourself whatever you want.”

On the counter were dozens of cucumber slices, handfuls of cherry tomatoes, and a tub of shiny cream cheese. It couldn’t have been that much more work to do. And you didn’t want to be rude. You chewed your lip, folded your hands behind your back.

“Would you like help?”

They paused, glanced at each other, then back at you. Rose stepped to the side, providing you space in the counter, and you joined them, looking over the spread. 

“Here.” She opened a drawer, pulled out a knife, and placed it in front of you. “Finish up the cucumbers.”

There were only a few more to cut. You nodded, scanned the counter for a cutting board. “Oh, um. Do you have a spare…”

“There should be one in the bottom of the pantry.”

You nodded and crossed to the other side of the kitchen, opening the bottom drawers and searching through them, pushing aside the aluminum sheet pans and sets of kitchen utensils. No cutting board.

“I can’t find it?”

Emma sighed. “It should be under the muffin tins.”

“Oh.” You pried up the set of muffin tins, revealing a small wooden slab. “Got it. Thank you.”

Bending down, you wedged it from underneath the plethora of unused accessories, wiggling it from the drawer. As you pulled it free, the cresting rumble of the Audi’s engine coasted into the driveway. Your grip wavered, and it crashed to the floor. 

“Shit!” you hissed. Emma and Rose looked at you, brows pinched in concern, and you swallowed, heat building in your cheeks. “Um. I mean. Sorry.”

When you picked it up, the door to the Audi closed, followed by the scrape of boots through the front path, and you paused, your grasp on the board so tight you were surprised the wood hadn’t splintered. With you in the corner of the kitchen, your Commander wouldn’t see you as he passed through the hall--but it wasn’t seeing you that had your heart in your throat. It was the impending discovery of the party around the corner, full of women--and his Wife--whom you feared were guaranteeing their casualties under his design.

The front door opened, and you heard Kylo march through, shutting it behind him and striding into the hall. Chest tight, you returned to the counter, cutting board in hand, and placed it down before drawing in a slow breath. You plucked a smaller cucumber and laid it on the slab. His footsteps stopped.

“What is this?” 

Hands quaking, you lifted the knife, the handle heavy in your palm as you recalled how to wield one. 

“Oh! Commander,” Johana said. “It’s a party! For us!”

You lined up the blade with the tip, lips pulled in between your teeth. Sliced.

“Us.”

Fresh cucumber wet your nose. Beside you, Emma and Rose were chopping away, as if they didn’t sense the impending mushroom cloud just meters beyond the walls. 

“Yes. For our baby!” A ripple of laughter through the group. Then silence smothered the air.

Slice.

“I mean, look at everything everyone’s brought for us.” 

Kylo Ren said nothing. The sound of your rocking blade was thunder in your ears as it hit the board.

Slice.

“We’ve, uh, actually been joking that it’s a boy. That he’s going to have my manners.” 

Only a few women forced a laugh.

“But don’t worry!” Rustling of something, like paper. “We said he’ll have your looks.”

Still not a word. This time, not a single mouth managed a noise.

Slice.

“Well?” Johana breathed a mock-sigh. “It’s our baby! Aren’t you excited, Sir?”

No response. 

“Commander?” 

Slice. Slice.

“Sir--”

“This is over.”

Your breath stalled and the knife slipped--you hissed, dropped it in pain. A sliver of blood leaked from your thumb.

“What?” A tentative snort of disbelief. “What’s over?”

“You. Me. All of this.” 

A choked laugh--none of the other Wives made a sound. “Ky--Commander. What?”

Rose and Emma paused, too, staring at you. Face tingling with flames, you were unwilling to meet their eyes--you glanced around the kitchen, seeking out a towel. Red drops speckled the cutting board. 

“I want everyone out of this house. I want you gone by the weekend.”

Your hands trembled, littering the counter with blood. Breath failed to find your lungs. 

“Gone? You can’t… you can’t be seri--”

“Out. Now.”

The Marthas muttered something to you, their voices muffled by the hammering of your heart. Part of you was stuttering in disbelief that your Commander was actually doing this. The other part was busy filing its nails, having predicted this the second the doctor slapped your thigh with the news. Behind you, you heard the Wives filing out, whispering to themselves as they fled through the door. Meanwhile, you flitted around the kitchen, thumb curled into your fist in an attempt to staunch the flow, still unable to find a single goddamn piece of cloth.

“Hey.” Rose grabbed your shoulder, shoved a dish towel into your chest. “I was trying to give you this.” 

Your lids widened, and you nodded in thanks, thumb throbbing as you fumbled to swathe it closed. The last Wife shut the door behind her, your breath shallowed. The parlour room was quiet. A frustrated, feminine sigh.

“I mean. What do you expect me to say? Are you serious?”

A dark crimson daub blossomed through the cloth. You needed to get a fucking bandage. Those were all the way in the washroom. Past the parlour room.

“Yes.”

Johana huffed. “And where exactly do you expect me to go?”

“I don’t care.” 

Another pause. You and the Marthas had ceased moving, ceased talking--only in awe of the crumbling foundation of your home. 

“How do you--”

“You have until the end of the weekend to collect your belongings.”

“Kylo, that’s only four--you asshole, where are you going--”

His steps disappeared into the home, turning the corner toward the staircase. You stood there, for a moment, squeezing your thumb in its makeshift tourniquet, each of you looking to the others.

Emma bared her teeth in a strained grimace. “Is he really kicking out his--”

A piercing screech ripped through the air, followed by a tearing of paper, the toppling noise of boxes, hollow wood, piles of clothes hitting the floor. Second later, a feral growl clawed out of Johana’s chest, her little feet shaking the ground as she stomped through the halls. You looked between the Marthas and your thumb.

“I’m going to, um, take this chance and grab a bandage.”

They said nothing, urging you on, and you tip-toed through the halls, wary of crossing either your Commander or his Wife, neither of whom you wanted to see or speak to in this particular moment, each for their own reasons. You passed the parlour room--Johana’s gifts were terrorized, spewed across the room in busted heaps. The little sweater was entombed by a set of boxes, the mobile fractured on the floor. 

It made sense, of course, that this would be his response--Johana’s presence threatened your own. As long as she laid claim to your child, your life was irrelevant. And while you didn’t feel bad for her shattered delusion, you knew that her only liferaft in Gilead’s storm had now been engulfed and drowned by the tidal wave of Kylo Ren. Barring her life, there was nothing more for her to lose. 

Head spinning, you continued to the washroom, ready to turn the corner, only to be paralyzed by the sound of Johana’s voice, serrated like a predator wail, shredded as you had never, ever heard it before. 

“We’re not finished yet, Kylo!”

You heard him stop, and you whirled around, pressing your back to the wall, holding your breath. She’d caught him at the bottom of the staircase.

“Move.”

“No.”

“Johana.”

“No! What the actual hell is wrong with you? Have you lost your mind?”

“I might ask the same of you.”

“Oh, can it, smart ass. You think you can kick me out and still expect me to treat you like my husband?” A disgusted laugh. “You’re more delusional than I took you for.”

“Delusional.”

Johana deepened her voice in mockery. “Delusional--yes, delusional. This is Gilead, Kylo. The nation you helped found? There are laws. You can’t dispose of your Wife for your--God, I don’t know--little pet!”

“Careful.”

“Or what?” she asked. “What, you’ll, you’ll--humiliate me again? Order me in the middle of a party to leave the only home I’ve known for three years in front of my friends?” She laughed again. “You’re a fucking idiot.”

“Move--”

“Don’t! Touch me!” she screeched. “How do you see this working out? Huh? Do you see yourself telling the Council your plans to divorce your Wife, something Gilead doesn’t even allow? Do you see them letting you play house with your Handmaid?” 

“Don’t assume my plans.”

“Please! It’s so obvious how obsessed with her you are. You don’t even need eyes to see it.” She grunted. “Don’t touch me.”

“Then move.”

“Moden still has friends in the Council,” she said. “When they hear about what you’re doing, it’ll be over for you! And you know what that means? It’ll be over for her, too.” The sound of shuffling. Coming toward you. “Get back here--”

Adrenaline erupted, and you darted off, skittering like a squirrel down the hall and dipping into the parlour. Throwing yourself against the entry wall, you sucked in a breath to silence yourself in hopes they would pass the archway and miss you entirely. Your pulse throbbed in your thumb, blood pumping into the towel, soaking to your skin.

Kylo’s tromping feet barreled forward, but you heard Johana on his tail--the sound of a squeal, a grumble, the squeak of a spinning heel. 

“Johana--”

“Do you have any idea how long I defended you? How many excuses I made for you? Do you know I used to fucking feel bad for you? And you’re kicking me out?” That squawking laughter escaped her. “You’re demented!”

“I was generous to give you four days. You tempt me to make it four seconds.”

“Go ahead. You’ll be stuck here with her, and she’ll hate you too, just like I do, just like your parents did, just like everyone in the world fucking hates you!”

Something slammed the wall, and you jumped, clapping your hand over your mouth, towel flopping to the floor. 

“Punch all the holes you want!” she snarled. “You think just because you call yourself Kylo Ren that you’re not the same pathetic asshole that Ben Solo was, you’re wrong--you haven’t changed, and you never fucking will. It’s no wonder they fucking sent you away!”

“Get out.”

“Oh, go ahead and try.”

“Get--”

Johana screamed, and a sharp smack, skin on skin. 

“Serves you right, asshole! Fuck you!” She leapt into your line of sight, snatched the mobile from the floor, unaware you were behind her, and cracked the wooden frame in half, brandishing the broken rod like a sword. “I swear to God, if you try to touch me I’ll--” 

Her eyes caught you in the periphery. You froze. 

Chest cycling with rapid breath, she crystallized, gaze flashing between you and her husband beyond the archway. Tawny locks of hair curled out like smoke from her scalp, face flush with fury, her chin trembling as she drew a long breath into her lungs. For a moment, she held it there, and exhaled, shoulders sagging, fingers loosening, the mangled mobile clattering to the floor. Johana trapped you in her stare, inspecting you inch by inch, until her face fell, eyes flooding with fat, wet tears.

She nodded, focusing past the threshold. “Okay. I’ll leave. But not until the weekend.” Chewing her lip, she glanced at her feet, then back to you. “I give up,” she said softly. “You won.”

You wanted to tell her that the only thing you’d won was a fatherless child. But she tore out of the room, a whirlwind of empty apologies shrinking like shucked leaves on your tongue. 

Shaking, you looked to your thumb, pulsing with pain; creeks of blood stained your sleeve. One footstep, and another, and your Commander crossed into the parlour room, dressed in his boots, black slacks, a matching dress shirt. His hair was washed and wavy, his face free of shadow, a pink mark on his cheek. For all of Johana’s mistakes, you couldn’t justify this particular punishment she’d received--and yet, your heart clenched in his presence. You were afraid you would never stop loving him. 

He examined you, his lid twitched when he spotted your still-weeping wound. Frowning, he stepped toward you. “You’re bleeding.”

Jaw tight, you retreated, glaring at him. “I know.”

“Come.” He reached for you. “You need a bandage.” 

“No, I don’t.” You dodged, snagged the towel from the floor and circled around him, his eyes shimmering with shielded grief, following you until you met the archway. “I’ll let it bleed.”

Kylo Ren said your name--but you had escaped to the hallway with the towel around your thumb, unable to stay, unwilling to hear what came next. Your appetite had disappeared. In the dash to your room, you passed Ushar by the annex staircase, but he did not follow you up the steps. Instead, he remained a statue, stoic as you fled, a red wraith of rage, behind your door.   

[myelocin]

REQ #6, #7, & #8 | Stories in Passing

synopsis:

Req #6 | @hoshino-a​ : The stranger always standing across your platform never failed to leave you both amused and irritated all at once. What you didn’t expect, was to actually come to stand face to face with him.

Req #7 | @souheii​ : Doritos, capri suns, and midnight talks with a stranger at a half empty grocery store parking lot wasn’t a common occurrence, but you suppose not all bad either.

Req #8 | Linette : Your spontaneous trip to the nearby 7/11 didn’t usually end up with conversations with a monochrome-haired man with golden eyes shared under a starless sky with strawberry ice cream, but perhaps there’s a first for everything. 

 characters: Miya Atsumu, Iwaizumi Hajime, Bokuto Koutarou

#6 Miya Atsumu | For Lena | Platform 2, Ginza Line, Tokyo

He wasn’t much of a stranger to you at this point considering how you’ve filed him in your brain as the “fake blonde bitch who thinks train schedules are a competition,” for the past week or so.

Jumping into a new schedule meant that you had to take an earlier train than usual to the busier side of town to clock in at work on time.

What’s interesting on your new schedule, though, is the guy you always see standing at the platform opposite of yours across the train tracks. To be fair, he was pretty good looking, and you would be a liar if you didn’t admit that. Side swept bleach blonde hair, a dark undercut, prominent brows and a fairly acceptable fashion sense. Save for the checkered fanny pack he always wears though; you figure he could do better than that.

Then again, to each their own.

He was there every day and stopped right across you every time so you figured the two of you must be running on a similar schedule. That wasn’t much of a problem considering the fact that you’ve known yourself to be rather observant and by the third day already could pick out a few familiar faces in the morning crowd.

What was the problem though, was the stranger who always managed to stand across you on the opposite platform made it seem like his lifelong mission was to smirk at you every time his train arrived first. The glance with the telltale smirk was quick, and could have been just chalked up to a trick of the mind—but the way his eyes glinted as the corner of his lips lifted into a smirk when you looked straight at him on the days your train approached first confirmed your suspicions.

So just like that, the bleach blonde stranger had quickly become a fixture in your morning routine. Your eyes met at least twice every day, but you still didn’t know his name nor he—yours.

What you hadn’t expected though, was stepping into the train at 3:02 PM headed to Shibuya and seeing him, checkered fanny pack and all, staring straight at you as he took one of the fully occupied seats in front of the only available area for you to stand in.

And like a normal person with a sane mind which you consider yourself to have: you ignored him completely.

From your peripheral vision you could practically see him scoff before he looks straight at you and says, “For the record I arrived first.”

You nod, not sure whether you want to answer or not, but the grandmother stares at him in a way that even has you feeling bad, that he motions to stand up, quickly saying, “Take my seat.”

You shake your head and tell him, you’re getting off soon anyway, so he stays.

He looks at you, then at the grandmother shrugging when she shakes her head towards him (really, you still feel bad), and tells you, “If I didn’t know any better I’d take that this is just a ploy so I feel bad and take ya’ out for coffee or somethin’ after this.”

You roll your eyes, “Only if we get off at the same station.”

He smirks, and you fight the urge to roll your eyes again because it looks just as pompous as the one from earlier this morning.

“That’s a deal,” he says again and for the rest of the train ride you ignore him, quickly taking a seat on the opposite side when one opened up. The seemingly unending rush hour of Tokyo filled the train back up in less than a minute, so you suppose the stranger would think he just lost you in the crowd.

And because fate decided it wasn’t on your side that day, of course, the second you make it three steps out of the train, you see him from the exit next to yours waving at you.

“Well,” he says, “Wouldja’ look at that. If I didn’t know any better maybe fate’s on my side today after all.”

He’s still laughing when he shoves his hands in his pockets and fully faces you.

“Miya Atsumu,” he says, introducing himself with a smile that feels familiar despite it being the first time you’re seeing it.

“Lena,” you reply. His eyes crinkle again in a way that has you thinking maybe fate’s trying to tell you something today after all.

 -

#7 Iwaizumi Hajime | For souheii | lmao pls just think random grocery store but at like, 04:07 AM

A half empty grocery store parking lot on the other side of town at four in the morning wasn’t exactly your best idea up to date, but you guess the quiet it provides could be a redeeming factor.

The past night had simply been another one of those nights where the sandman decided to completely skip over your house, so in result, sleep could not find you even as you toss and turned for a solid hour or so. And if there was one good thing about midnight (or really, early early morning at this point) runs to the grocery store it was the feeling of aimlessly walking around the aisles and feeling so separated from the world.

The thing is, aisle three with the Doritos and Capri-suns looked the exact same whether you were there at 4AM or 4PM. The same redundant music plays over the speakers as the same monotonous beep of the cash register molds together as background music. But something about walking around there at 4AM just felt other worldly.

So you suppose that’s the reason why you hopped in your car after deciding you were far from sleep and the reason why you’re spending dusk leaned against the trunk of your car munching on doritos and sipping from your juice packet.

But the gods must have decided it was high time for some company because eventually the owner of the car parked across yours came back from what looked like his midnight run and did the same.

On a regular day (and under daylight) you would have jumped back in your car and drove away because one: you’re wearing a faded tshirt that looked 3 sizes too big for you, and two: your hair at this point hasn’t made acquaintance with a hairbrush for the past 10 hours maybe.

But, it may have been his stance that had you relaxing immediately, the fact that this dude was fucking hot, his superior choice of Doritos flavor (it being cool ranch), or your belief about grocery stores under moonlight being otherworldly that had you staying put in your spot.

Though really, it was just him settling in a position similar to yours and popping his bag of chips open while telling you, “Don’t worry about me, just do your thing,” that made you throw a thumbs up in his direction and stay.

Apparently his name was Iwaizumi Hajime and that his roommate had come home drunk so he decided the best option was to leave the apartment all together.

“Cheers,” you call out, raising your juice pouch in offering.

“Cheers,” he replies, doing the same with his Gatorade bottle and laughing with you.

You spend the next few hours making comments about nothing in particular, sharing the mutual silence as the two of you tear through the packaging of the snacks in your respective plastic bags.

In moments like these, you don’t really bother to learn much about the stranger sharing the hours before daylight with you, but curiosity makes you ask tidbits about him anyway as he does to you.

And as the eastern side of the sky begins to light up with touches of the burning sun’s flames, you come to know that Iwaizumi Hajime is a gemini who used to play volleyball in high school, that he loved catching cicadas as much as he loved to release them, and noticed that his mouth pushed up to a pout whenever you said something that teased him.

He, on the other hand learned that you love the rain as much as you love the sound of wind chimes, and that you crack your knuckles when you’re nervous—which he teases at that has you pouting.

Though only the skies witness how the both of you spent the minutes watching the sunrise by stealing glances at each other whenever the both of you thought either was looking.

When you dust off dorito crumbs from your shirt and unlock your car door Hajime calls out your name telling you he’ll shoot you a text soon.

This time you smile. Because despite the break of the day and the rising chatter of people driving in and out of the world waking back up—Hajime’s smile on your mind still makes the moment feel otherworldly.  

 -

#8 Bokuto Koutarou: Linette | 7/11, 01:14 AM

The best conversations happen with strangers you meet because of the uncertainty of how long they’ll stay.

Then again, people are generally like that. But in this case, strangers that you meet at 1 in the morning while you stop by a 7/11 for ice cream means that it feels a little safer to be more unfiltered.

Much like he was, you suppose. It took no more than three steps in the store, and a nod of acknowledgement to the part timer who welcomed you for him to bellow a loud “hello” in your direction. And much like you expected, your greeting in return had been more on the awkward side.

“Late night munchies?” he said as he stood up, brushed off the crumbs on his shirt and followed you to the freezers in the back.

You nodded, and tried to limit your focus to which kind of ice cream you even wanted before jolting in surprise as he stood right next to you—perhaps a little too close and pointing at the strawberry flavored tub on the left side. He only laughed at your response before picking up a tub and gesturing to the counter.

“My treat,” he said, and up until now, you still have absolutely no clue what possessed you to agree. But you did, so now ten minutes later, you’re sitting across Bokuto Koutarou, the stranger from the 7/11 right outside your apartment unit sharing an ice cream tub he bought for the two of you to share.

Conversation with him was, for one, interesting.

He didn’t exactly pry but when you did talk you could practically see the focus glint, striking and evident in whirlpools of gold. You didn’t know much about him either—most of the things he said was information you really could have done just the same without but he put it out there anyway.

“Any reason why you’re out here at 1 in the morning buying strangers tubs of icecream and eating them outside a 7/11?” you ask and he shakes his head, laughing. You think about how fitting relaxed laughter is for him.

“Not really; just felt like eating shit tonight,” is his reply and you nod your head, not really curious enough for further explanation.

“You usually say yes when strangers offer to buy you ice cream at 1 in the morning?” he asks, returning your question with the same tone as you face him pointing your spoon in his direction in your defense.

“Not really,” you say, laughing, “just felt like trusting strangers tonight.”

“That’s deep,” he comments, nodding before scooping up more ice cream and popping the smooth in his mouth.

“Midnight conversations tend to run deep,” you reply, then scoop up and do the same. You smile, strawberry ice cream always reminded you of nostalgia.

The man across you laughs exhales, slumping further down his seat as he looks up at the sky. There’s not much stars in the city, but the way he smiles when he closes his eyes would make you think like he’s looking at the Milky Way itself swirling the secrets of the universe into the sky.

The silence you shared with him felt profound, almost.

“I don’t think you’d have the same conversation if you met me here at 1PM, though,” he tells you.

“You morph into a different person or something?” you laugh, responding.

“Something like that,” Bokuto says again and continues to face up; he’s still smiling, and you take note of that too.

“Different person or different thoughts?” you ask, and he nods at you, face scrunching up in thought at your question. He looks a little silly, you think.

“Different person, same thoughts, but usually with a filter,” he answers after some time, laughing.

“Then should I be glad I’m talking to you now?” you ask.

Bokuto sits back up before leaning on the table with his elbows, his eyes locked on you. The spark in his eyes look somewhat like the reflection of the streetlights behind you with how bright they are, but the flicker tells you it’s just a trick of the eye. Though, regardless of that, you find yourself entranced as you stare back at him.

“That depends on you,” is his answer to the question, so you counter with, “Does that mean I’ll get to meet this other person?”

Bokuto laughs and you notice how it echoes in the quiet street. “I guess so.”

When he turns to face the starless sky again and smile as if he’s watching the universe unfold, you do the same.

Strangers really do have stories to tell; in this case, you find yourself suddenly intrigued to learn all about his.

 -

[animeniacss]

6 Years - Hoseok x Reader - Chapter 8 - The Seoul Zoo

Synopsis: 6 years. That’s all it can take to take another look at someone and see that they have completely changed. You were once an eager 20-year-old, with your dreams all in view, and Jung Hoseok at your side to view them with you. However, after a break up the end of your junior year of college, everything seemed different. Now, you’re a recently divorced single mother of two, and your life is nowhere near what you thought it would be. However, after reuniting with Jung Hoseok, you may just be able to capture a little bit of that exciting youth you once knew so long ago.

Feat. BTS Members, Nayeon (TWICE), and Yuna (itzy)

Genre: Romance, SingleMother!AU, Past Relationship, Drama, Some Depictions of Violence/Domestic Abuse

Length: approx. 5.1k words

Chapter 8 - The Seoul Zoo

The morning of the zoo trip arrived. The girls were a challenge to put to bed last night, begging you to read “one more story about the zoo! Please Mommy/Mama!” You had to tell them over and over to go to bed, or else they would be too tired to really enjoy their day tomorrow. It took time, and a lot of desperate pleas, before the girls settled down and fell asleep. You collapsed into your bed, not long after them, and slept peacefully through the night. However, as soon as the light began to wake up the citizens of South Korea, your daughter was up and anxious.

           “Mommy! The zoo! The zoo today!” You heard her shriek in absolute glee, before diving into your bed. You groaned as you felt the mattress shift with the introduction of her tiny, yet impactful body slamming onto it. Attempting to cover your eyes with a pillow failed miserably, and Min Ja pulled it off your face. “Mommy, wake up!”

           “Min Ja…” you groaned, your eyes cracking open to see your daughter hovering over you. You didn’t want to move just yet, so you groaned. “Read me the numbers on the clock, sweetie.” You begged. You saw Min Ja peer over to your bedside table, before turning back to you.

           “0…7…3….2…” She said softly, looking back at you. You couldn’t help but chuckle.

           “Honey, it’s so early.” You said. “Mr. Hobi won't’ be here for another few hours.”

           “But Mommy…” Min Ja pouted. You lifted your arms up, wrapping them around your daughter and pulling her close to you. She shrieked in surprise, giggling a bit as she tried to escape. “Nooo, Mommy! I wanna goooooo.”

           “And we will.” You said softly, your strength overpowering hers. She realized she was never going to escape you, and finally stopped squirming. “Give Mommy and Hyo Bin another hour to sleep and then we can get up and get ready.” Min Ja pouted, turning towards you as you rubbed her back. “Why don’t you sleep for a little while longer, too?”

           “I’m…. not tired…” Min Ja hummed, the feeling of your hand running along her back making her yawn. You smiled down at her as you watched her eyes close, her little body nuzzling closer to you as you eagerly welcomed the silence and managed to get in just a few more winks.

           An hour passed before Hyo Bin woke up and began calling for you. You stirred at the sound of your toddler calling for you groggily and glanced down to see that Min Ja was starting to stir too. Rolling over, you saw the clock tick away every moment closer to 8, and you sighed.      

           “Guess I should get up now and start the day.” You mumbled, getting out of bed. Min Ja sat up, her hair a bit of a mess from her squirming beside you, and she rubbed her eyes. “See? Didn’t it feel good to sleep a little longer?” You asked her playfully as you sat on the edge of the bed. The little girl nodded as she crawled over to you, nuzzling into your lap. You scooped her up before heading into the bedroom to get Hyo Bin up and ready.

           Once Min Ja woke back up, her excitement quickly returned to her. You managed to get the girls dressed, putting Hyo Bin in a light pink tee shirt with a panda bear face on it, and a pair of matching pants. You adorned her hair with a little pink ribbon too, and she looked absolutely adorable as she glanced up at you. Min Ja was eager to find something perfect to wear. After all, she had to look her best to run around looking at caged animals, and that was a fact! You sat beside the dresser for about 20 minutes as Min Ja pulled different clothes out, which you picked up and folded, before setting right back in. Finally, Min Ja pulled out a red and white polka dot tank top and a pair of jeans.

           “Mommy, this is perfect!” She said, a bright gleam in her eyes. “Can you braid my hair, too?”

           “Sure.” You smiled. Min Ja scrambled out of her pajamas, which you had to remind her to put into the hamper to be washed, and tossed on her outfit for the day. She spun around a few times, trying to get a good look at herself in the mirror. “Come here. I still need to make sandwiches for lunch and get myself dressed.” Min Ja sat in between your legs, and Hyo Bin sat beside her, watching curiously as you took Min Ja’s hair and tugged it into two high braids. Once your girls were ready, you stood up. “Okay. You girls can play or watch TV while I get ready.” You said simply as you headed out the door. “I’ll let you know when breakfast is ready.” You saw the girls hurry into the living room with some toys, Min Ja turning the TV on as they both plopped down in front of it to watch. With them distracted, you headed into your room to get ready. It was a warm day, so you were trying to find something more flowy than normal. Nayeon and you had gone shopping a few more times since the first one, and you had begun to collect a nice wardrobe for yourself. There were more options than there were a few months prior. “Oookay, let’s see here.” You mumbled, pulling out a few different options. It wasn’t long before you ended up deciding on a short-sleeved yellow spring dress, decorated with flowers. You fixed your hair from its current bed-head state and made it look presentable. “Perfect.” Checking the time, you saw that it was already 10 o clock, and you needed to get started on lunch. “Hobi should be here soon. Crap, I need to get moving.” You got up from your little vanity and headed into the kitchen.

----

           “MOMMY! Mr. Hobi is here!” Min Ja shouted from the living room. You were still in the kitchen; you had spent a good hour making a nice big lunch for everyone. Sandwiches, drinks, snacks, whatever you could think of. You glanced up when you heard the doorbell, and saw Min Ja get up from her spot on the floor. Setting down the ingredients in your hands, you followed Min Ja to the door and helped her open it up. Hobi was standing in the doorway, hands in his jean pockets and smile on his face. His white shirt was a bit over-sized, but he still looked really good. You smiled a bit.

           “Hey~.” You said happily. “Come in.” Leading him inside, you closed and locked the door. “I’m just finishing with the lunches and we’ll be all set.” You exclaimed. “Just give me a few more minutes.”

           “Don’t rush.” He assured. “We have an hour before we need to catch the train.” He glanced towards the TV to see the girls nestle themselves back down in their spots. “Hello, girls.”

           “Hi, Mr. Hobi.” Min Ja cheered, and Hyo Bin followed right after her. “Come watch TV with us!”

           “What’s on?” he asked curiously, walking over and sitting in between the girls. Hyo Bin crawled into his lap almost immediately, and he couldn’t help but smile.

           “Pororo!” She beamed. “I love Pororo!”

           “I know you do.” Hoseok chuckled. You headed back into the kitchen once you saw that the girls were settled and occupied with Hoseok. This gave you enough time to finish preparing everything and setting it into a little basket that you borrowed from your mother.

           “There.” You huffed, smiling down at the basket full of delicious foods. “Okay, the food is all prepared.” As you walked back into the living room to tell them, you heard the sound of singing. Loud, obnoxious singing of the Pororo theme song. You heard the sound of your daughter belting out the lyrics will full gusto, but you also heard the loud, high-pitched voice of Hobi, singing with her. You raised an eyebrow as you stood in the background, watching Hoseok sing the song with Min Ja, who was on her feet and dancing in glee with the little blue penguin who was dancing and running around on-screen with his friends. You smiled a bit as the theme song came to a close and Min Ja sat back down, giggling.

           “You sing funny.” Min Ja said, looking up at Hoseok.

           “Do I?” He asked curiously, a small pout on his face. Min Ja giggled a bit.

           “Min Ja, be nice.” You said, and you saw the three heads by the TV turn to you. You had an amused smile on your face. “You just have to hear Mr. Hobi sing the right song, and it’s very, very nice.” Hoseok’s cheeks turned a bit red and he turned away from you.

           “Have you heard Mr. Hobi sing, Mommy?” she asked curiously.

           “Yes, I have.” Your smile widened a bit. “Now, I just finished making lunch. Are we all ready to go?” Min Ja nodded, standing up and hurrying to turn off the TV. Walking over with the basket in your hands, you grabbed your small pocketbook off the counter and slung it across your shoulder. Hoseok stood up with Hyo Bin in his arms, who was still singing the Pororo theme song as best as she could. “Ready, Hyo Bin?” you asked. She clapped her hands eagerly, looking to Hoseok with wide, excited eyes. You took Min Ja’s hand and you all headed out the door.

           Min Ja was a little ball of energy the entire walk to the train station. She got even more excited when you got onto the train, spending the entire trip staring out the window with Hoseok, pointing at the different things that she saw go flying by. Hyo Bin was distracted with your phone because the minute the train started to move, she began to sob in fear of the unknown. The phone helped calm her down when looking out the window with her sister proved not to. The train took you near the zoo, and it was only a few more blocks to go before you arrived.

           “Mr. Hobi! I’m so excited!” Min Ja said happily, her hand now clutched tightly in his as the four of you excited the train. Hoseok glanced down at the excited little girl as they headed in the direction of the zoo.

           “What are you excited for the most?” He asked.

           “The red pandas!” She shouted. “And the llamas! And the big bears! All of it!” Hoseok chuckled a bit. “I wanna see the monkey too, and the foxes, and the-.”

           “Okay Min Ja, settle down or you’ll make yourself tired before we even get to the front gate.” You hummed, chuckling as your daughter settled down. After walking for a few more minutes, you saw the big gate entrance to the zoo. Min Ja squealed in delight, holding Hoseok’s hand as she jumped up and down. You couldn’t help it, you pulled out your phone and snapped a few pictures of her. You were glad to see that Min Ja excited about something like this. When arrived at the gate to head in, Hoseok pulled out his wallet and paid for you all to enter. You tried to stop him, but he ignored you, grinning at the middle-aged male attendant as he paid the necessary fees. Hyo Bin got in free, but still, that was three tickets he had to purchase.

           “Hoseok, you didn’t have to do that.” You said as you walked into the zoo entrance. Hoseok set his wallet back into his pants pocket and gave you a reassuring smile.

           “It’s no big deal. I am the one who invited you all out, after all.” He said. You huffed, pursing your lips. “Buy me some popcorn or something and we can call it even, okay?” he chuckled.

           “Fine.”

           “MOMMY!” Min Ja shouted, pointing directly ahead. You and Hoseok followed her gaze, seeing that she was pointing at a little pond enclosed behind a fence. There were fish in the pond, and some turtles crawling around the rocks. Min Ja hurried up to it, hoisting herself up onto the fence to get a better look. You approached as well, seeing other parents and children standing around the fence looking curiously. “Woooah, so cute!” She grinned. “Hyo Bin, look!” You rested against the fence to show Hyo Bin, and she pointed towards the turtle that was walking out of the water.

           “It’s a turtle.” You said.

           “Turtle.” She repeated happily. You glanced at Hoseok, who was standing on the other side of Min Ja, leaning down slightly and pointing out some of the fish with her. It was a good start to the day, and eventually, the group of you moved on to the next group of animals.

           “Mr. Hobi! Mommy, look! The red pandas!” Min Ja shouted in glee, letting go of Hoseok’s hand as she raced over to the gate.

           “Don’t run too far!” You shouted towards her, though it fell on deaf ears due to how excited she was. You watched her look at the pandas in awe, her eyes sparkling. “Min Ja.”

           “Ah, let her go.” Hoseok said, putting his hands on his hips. “I see her.” He saw Min Ja turn when her name was called, and he waved to her, signaling where they were. She waved back, before turning back to the pandas. You glanced around, seeing a small enclosure of different types of birds nearby. Walking over, you set Hyo Bin down and allowed her to look around at the different birds. You squatted down beside her, smiling as you pulled out your phone. Hoseok watched you, smiling a bit. “What are you looking at Hyo Bin?” The little girl looked up at Hoseok, pointing.

           “Birdies.” She said. You couldn’t help it, you had to pull out your phone. You began snapping pictures of Hyo Bin looking at the birds, and made your way to Min Ja. You got a cute picture of her giving a wide, toothy grin in front of a red panda that was resting in a tree. You saw Hyo Bin walking towards you with Hoseok following behind.

           “Hyo Bin, go take a picture with Unnie.” You said, looking down at her. Hyo Bin looked over to her sister, who was waiting patiently against the fence. “Then we can go look at the bears.”

           “C’mon, Hyo Bin!” Min Ja called. Hyo Bin was a bit hesitant to get near the red pandas, who were starting to approach the fence. Min Ja took her hand, holding her little sister in front of her. She turned around to see if the panda was still nearby. “Mommy, now!” She said in a whisper-like plea, thinking that if she got any louder, she would scare off the panda. Lifting up the phone, you got a good angle.

           “One…two…smile!” You grinned. Min Ja flashed another big grin, but Hyo Bin was looking off to the side, to nervous about the panda nearby to react to the picture. You smiled a bit, glancing at it before setting it in your pocket. “Alright, what else is there you want to see?” You saw Min Ja rush over to you, and Hyo Bin quickly followed her, begging in a child’s language not to be left behind. Watching her hurry up to Hoseok, he scooped her up with ease as you all gathered around your phone to look at your photo. “Ooooh, how cute!” You squealed, grinning a bit. “Okay, where to next?”

           “You said the bears! The bears!” Min Ja pointed out. “Let’s go!” She grabbed hold of your hand and practically dragged you down towards the next section of the zoo.

           For almost the next two hours, you and Hoseok were taking the girls from animal to animal, watching as Min Ja stared in awe at all of them, and pestered you both with questions about each one. By the end, you had read over 25 different plaques of information and probably knew more than any zoologist could ever dream of knowing! By the time you knew it, you plopped yourself down on a bench by the front petting zoo near the entrance. Hyo Bin was nervous to go pet the tamed red pandas and the alpacas, but Min Ja took her hand and tried to lead her towards them. You had a good view of them, so you were able to rest your trembling legs while they were occupied.

           “Are you guys having a good time?” Hoseok asked curiously, glancing over at you.

           “Hm? Oh yeah. My legs are having such a blast, they might explode.” You hummed, and Hoseok chuckled. “But the girls seem to be enjoying themselves. Especially Min Ja…” you both let out an exasperated sigh as you thought about the hyperactive four-year-old who was walking up to an alpaca resting underneath a tree, Hyo Bin following after her as quickly as she could.

           “Ummieeeeeeee…..(Unnie)” she shouted, grabbing hold of her sister's hand tightly. You watched Min Ja start petting the alpaca, and trying to get Hyo Bin to do it too. She began whining. “Noooooooo…” she whimpered, hiding behind her big sister.

           “Hyo Bin, do you want to pet the alpaca?” you called out, seeing her look over to you. The girls turned to you, and Hyo Bin called out to you in hopes you would rescue her from this terrifying monster that was the alpaca. Sighing, you tried to get up, but Hoseok stopped you.

           “Wait here.” He said, getting up. “I…. sort of want to pet it.” You chuckled, an amused grin on your face as you watched Hoseok get up and make his way towards your girls. On his journey, a big pig came out from hiding and headed towards him. It startled him, and he backed away from it, before continuing his journey to the alpaca. Kneeling down, he took Hyo Bin’s hand and tried to help her put the “scary” animal. She didn’t look convinced and hid in Hoseok’s chest. He smiled, looking over to Min Ja, the duo joining forces to show Hyo Bin that this alpaca was not as scary as she thought. You were unable to tell how well it was working, with Hyo Bin just pressed against Hoseok’s chest, watching the animal intensely as it sat there, enjoying the pets that it was getting. It was nice for you to watch your girls enjoying their time, not worrying about things that they didn’t really understand. Instead, they were enjoying their childhood in ways that they deserve to. Satisfaction washed over you as you watched your little girls have the time of their lives.

           After the girls continued to look around the petting zoo and play with the animals, Hyo Bin finally being able to pet an alpaca so long as Hoseok or you were holding her hand, you decided that it was time for lunch. It was a late lunch, but you were too occupied with the animals to think about hunger. Gathering your kids, you headed towards the little picnic area on the zoo’s property. Families had gathered around under the trees, sitting and enjoying lunches brought from home or bought from the handful of small vendors. The area was surrounded by beautiful trees and flowers that really gave the little area some color. You all managed to find a table that was empty, and you all sat down to eat. Min Ja couldn’t stop talking all throughout the meal, and you had to remind her to chew with her mouth closed more than once.

           “I liked the lynx!” Min Ja beamed happily, after swallowing a bite of her sandwich. Ripping off the little bit of a sandwich, you gave it to Hyo Bin, who sat eagerly beside you eating. “What about you, Mommy? ���      

           “Hmmm, I think I like those red pandas.” You admitted, looking down at her. Min Ja giggled, looking at Hoseok.

           “What was your favorite, Mr. Hobi?” She asked. He glanced up from his sandwich, blinking as he took a moment to think.

           “I think I liked the super big bears!” He grinned. Min Ja grinned as she let out a roar, Hoseok following close behind. Embarrassment washed over you, especially after Hyo Bin followed suit with the loud roaring. However, despite how embarrassed you felt initially, you couldn’t help but laugh as you quieted them down moments later.

           “You guys are ridiculous.” You said, smiling a bit. “Finish your food. That way we can go look at the reptiles.” Min Ja grinned a bit in anticipation. Almost immediately, you saw Hoseok tense up. He glanced over towards you.

           “…Reptiles?” he asked curiously. “Like…snakes?”

           “Those are reptiles, so maybe.” You nodded. “Why?” Hoseok blinked, pursing his lips together. “Do you not like snakes?”

           “Mmmmm…not really.” He admitted. “But I’ll just keep my distance.” You nodded, taking another bite of your sandwich, wondering if anything interesting would happen when you went to the reptile exhibit.

           Lunch ended almost as soon as it began, but mostly because Min Ja shoved her food down her throat in order to get more time to look at the animals again. You packed up the extra food in your basket, you opened the zoo map and headed towards the reptile exhibit. It was in a little shed-like building, the walls lined with different types of snakes, turtles, and lizards. Since it was enclosed like the petting zoo, you didn’t mind letting Min Ja roam a little bit, but you still kept your eyes locked on her as she went up to each different case. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw Hoseok walk with Hyo Bin to the turtles, lifting her up to see them. He kept looking left and right, to make sure that there was no possible chance of snakes coming out of their enclosures and attacking him. Seeing Hoseok a bit jumpy was kind of hilarious.

           “MOMMY!” Min Ja shouted, alerting your attention. “Come here!” You hurried over after taking another look at Hyo Bin and Hoseok. “Mommy, look.” She gasped, pointing at the long snake in a big, glass container. “It’s sooooo long!”

           “How long do you think it is?”

           “A million!”

           “A million what?” You asked curiously.

“Just a million, Mommy. That’s already too long.” Min Ja said, turning to you with a serious face. You couldn’t help but laugh at her logic. As you lifted up Min Ja to allow her better access into the glass, you heard footsteps approaching.

           “What’s this?” You turned to see Hoseok, carrying Hyo Bin in his arms. When you allowed him access as well, you saw his eyes widen. “Oh, God…”

           “It’s so big!” Min Ja grinned. Hoseok leaned back a bit, instinctively holding Hyo Bin closer to him. She was a bit confused as to why but didn’t put up any resistance.

           “It won’t hurt you.” You pointed out. “It’s behind glass.” Hoseok glanced at you, and you snickered at how afraid he was. “You’re holding my daughter. Would I put you in harm's way?” Nodding at that point, Hoseok hesitantly took a step closer to the glass. Hyo Bin looked at the snake as well, both of them following it with their eyes as it slithered around the enormous enclosure. You lifted up your phone to take a video of this, hopefully, to use it in the future as a fun memory of Hoseok conquering his fear of snakes. As you were recording, the snake continued to slither, until it made its way around the case and back towards you. Hoseok was so busy focusing on it, that he didn’t realize it most likely caught him staring so intensely. So, the little, slimy rascal lifted his body up, raising his head up high. It was almost as if he was trying to look directly at Hoseok. The male blinked, trying not to have any reaction, but it was likely he was too afraid to even move. Just then, the snake slowly lowered itself back down, and you saw Hoseok’s entire body relax. Just as it seemed the snake was moving away again, the snake hit itself against the enclosure right by Hoseok and Hyo Bin.

           “AH!” Hoseok shouted, jumping back almost 20 feet with Hyo Bin tightly in his arms. The noise startled Hyo Bin as well, and she began to cry almost instantly. People turned at the high-pitched scream that rang out, echoing in the room. “Oh my God, Ohh no I don’t like that-.” He said. Quickly, he tried to soothe the sobbing toddler in his arms that was clinging to him for dear life, while he himself was trying to calm himself down. Seeing him so shocked by that pesky snake, who was most likely trying to play, made you feel a bubbling sensation in your chest and headed towards your throat.

           You tried. You tried so hard not to laugh. Hyo Bin was hysterical, Hoseok was terrified, Min Ja was confused, but you couldn’t help it. You had to turn the video off, covering your mouth as a fit of laughter overtook you. Not because they got scared, but their scared reactions were not etched in your mind and caught on video. It was killing you a little. After Hoseok regained his composure a bit, he saw you laughing.

           “Are you laughing at me?!” He asked in a dramatic fashion. That only made you laugh more. “I’m so hurt by that! Oh my God, that was so scary and you’re laughing?!”

           “I-I’m so-.” You tried to stop yourself but you were to far gone. “I can’t help it!!” Hoseok pouted as he watched you rest against the wall, cracking up and holding your stomach. “The faces were too funny!”

           “Your daughter is in hysterics.” Hoseok pouted. “You’re so mean to me, laughing…” Finally, you managed to catch your breath and stop your laughing before walking over towards the duo. Hyo Bin was still hysterical crying and latched onto you like a koala does a eucalyptus tree.

           “I think…I think it’s time we go home.” You said, another chuckle escaping your lips.

           Min Ja didn’t want to leave, but you promised her one more look at the lynx section, bought the group some popcorn for the walk to the train station, got Min Ja a souvenir, and headed out. Hoseok was still being a bit dramatic, saying how he hated the snake and never wanted to go back. How they should go somewhere like the movies next time, which was something he suggested as well! Hearing him ramble and ramble made you have to struggle to contain your second round of laughter. However, when you failed this time, Hoseok couldn’t help but laugh along with you.

           The four of you got dinner at a restaurant near your house. Hoseok insisted on paying, but you managed to argue him into splitting the check. He said it wasn’t right, but after using the snake video as a new form of playful blackmail, Hoseok gave in with a chuckle that brought him back to those five minutes of absolute hell. With the girl’s belly’s full and the day coming to a close, you all headed home.

           “Did you have fun today, Min Ja?” Hoseok asked, glancing down at the little girl who was holding her new stuffed red panda tightly in her hands.

           “Yea! I’m gonna tell my daycare all about it!” She said happily. “Mommy, can you show them the pictures?”

           “I can send them over to Miss. Yun Yun and she can show everyone, okay?” you smiled, and Min Ja nodded, grinning just at the thought. “Now when we get home, it’s straight into your pajamas and into bed, okay? We’ll take a nice long bath tomorrow.” As you approached the apartment, Hoseok closed the door behind him and watched you lead the kids inside. “Are you staying, Hobi?” you asked curiously, turning towards him.

           “I can stay for a few minutes, if you don’t mind.” He smiled.

           “Gimme a few minutes to get the girls changed.” You said, leading them into the bedroom. Hoseok plopped himself down on your couch, groaning as he allowed his body to finally relax. He knew taking two young girls out on a day trip would be tough, but damn was he tired!

           “I should give her more credit…” he murmured to himself, resting his hand over his face. He heard Min Ja and Hyo Bin in the bedroom as you got them into their pajamas. After about 20 minutes, you headed out the door, both girls at your sides. Hoseok sat up. “Hey girls. You look cozy.”

           “The girls just came to say goodnight.” You stated.

           “Goodnight, Mr. Hobi…” Min Ja said. It was obvious she wasn’t ready for bed.

           “Night night…” Hyo Bin said afterward, rubbing her eyes. He smiled.

           “Goodnight girls. I had a lot of fun today.” Min Ja nodded before you led them back into their room. It took another few minutes, but you soon walked back out alone. “God, what a day.” He huffed as you plopped yourself down beside him.

           “Tell me about it. Do you want something to drink?” You asked. Hoseok nodded as you got up, entering the kitchen in search of some waters. As you scanned your empty fridge, making a note to go food shopping, you heard the girl’s bedroom door open, and footsteps padding out towards the living room.

           “Mommy, I can’t sleep…” Min Ja called. You sighed, closing the fridge. “Can you read me a story?”

           “Min Ja, I’ll be right in.” You said gently. Min Ja turned to Hoseok, who offered her a nice smile.

           “….Can Mr. Hobi read me the story?” You blinked, eyes darting immediately towards Hoseok. He didn’t even flinch at the mention of reading Min Ja a story.  

           “Uh, Min Ja, Mr. Hobi is-.”

           “I don’t mind.” Hoseok said, standing up.

“But you don’t have to-.”

“I said I don’t mind. It’ll be fun. What book do you want me to read?” Min Ja took his hand and led him into her bedroom, instructing him that he had to read two; one for her and one for Hyo Bin. He chuckled in amusement as he agreed to her terms and followed her into the bedroom.  Sighing, you turned to the sink and filled two cups up with some water. Setting them onto the counter, you rested against it. Only one thing was able to come into your mind as you thought about Hobi, snuggled up in Min Ja’s bed with your whole world in his arms, reading a children’s book and, knowing him, doing a multitude of different voices:

When the hell did Weong-Bin ever do that?

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[primatechnosynthpop]

I can't choose between "you should have said that yesterday" and "maybe in another world" soooo I'll let you decide :)

Hmm... what about... both? :3 (Since you didn't specify which characters to write about I'm just doing Hiro and Ando; they seem like a safe bet where you and I are concerned)

*

For a person with superhuman abilities, particularly one who has taken it upon himself to be a hero, it's amazing how quickly life can change. One day, you're having fun, and the next...

On Sunday morning, which thanks to differing time zones was evening for their Americans friends, Hiro and Ando were invited out for drinks at a bar in New York. Hiro was initially unsure if it would be responsible, since they had work the next day, but Ando talked him into it more easily than he would have liked to admit. (Ironically, when it was revealed that it was a karaoke bar, Hiro's enthusiasm increased while Ando's diminished.) Still, both of them had a great time, especially after a couple of drinks. Hiro even managed to talk Ando into singing a duet with him.

"Ohh, you're the best friend that I've ever had!" Hiro swayed slightly on his feet as he sang. "I've been with you such a long time, you're my sunshine..."

He leaned forward, tripping over his feet in the process; without missing a beat, Ando caught him and set him back on his feet while singing the next line of the song.

"And I want you to know that my feelings are true," he crooned, holding Hiro's gaze over the top of the microphone. "I really love you~"

Hiro's cheeks, already flushed from the alcohol, grew a darker shade when Ando batted his eyes at him. Giggling, he gave a playful swat at his friend's head, like a kitten batting at a piece of string, then turned to face the other bar patrons and struck a dramatic pose as he and Ando sang out in chorus: "Ohh, you're my best friend!"

When it was creeping up on 4 AM in eastern daylight time and the bar was closing, they bode a cheerful goodbye to their friends (all of whom were in varying stages of drunkenness) and Hiro teleported them back home. Although it was only mid-afternoon in Tokyo, Hiro was exhausted after such a raucous outing, and the two glasses of cherry wine he'd gulped down were beginning to churn most unpleasantly in his stomach and dull his higher senses. Groaning, he flopped facefirst onto his bed without even taking his shoes or jacket off. He probably would have immediately fallen asleep were it not for the sensation of Ando poking him in the side.

"Oi, Hiro, this is your bedroom."

"Mm? Yeah, it is," Hiro mumbled around the fabric of his pillowcase. "So what?"

"So, take me back to my own apartment before you fall asleep."

Hiro rolled over onto his side to face Ando, who was standing over him with his arms crossed. His expression was a mixture of frustration and bemusement. Hiro gave him a sleepy, half-lidded smile.

"It's not a problem," he said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Just sleep here with me."

"What, like in your bed?" Ando shook his head. If he'd been thinking more clearly, Hiro might have better understood the strange look that came over his friend's face, or why he suddenly averted his eyes. "That's not happening."

"Don't sleep, then. Just go watch TV in the living room or something."

With that, Hiro rolled back over and closed his eyes. From behind him, he heard Ando sigh. A few seconds later, the weight of the bed shifted as Ando sat down next to him on the edge of the bed. He was silent for a moment before speaking up, his tone weary and almost vaguely wistful.

"That song we sang at karaoke tonight... apparently it's really about a married couple." For a moment, Hiro thought he felt something brush against his cheek, but when he opened his eyes and looked over his shoulder Ando had his hands folded in his lap and was fidgeting with them. "...Maybe in another world..."

"What?" Hiro asked, squinting in confusion. The cogs in his mind spun in an attempt to work out the meaning behind his friend's words, but those proverbial cogs were rusted from the alcohol in his system, and he had no idea what Ando was talking about. "You say strange things, Ando."

Ando laughed at that, and the bed's weight shifted again as he stood back up.

"Yeah, I guess I do," he said. "Good luck sleeping off the cherry wine, Hiro. I'll see you whenever you wake up."

*

The rest of Sunday afternoon and the following night passed in a haze. Hiro woke up at around 7 PM with a mild hangover and got up to make some instant ramen; he shared a bowl with Ando and they sat on the couch together watching reruns of an old shojo anime show until both of them fell back asleep.

When Monday morning rolled around, they were a little late getting into work. Hiro got into the shower first, and Ando yelled at him from outside to hurry up. They made each other turn around while they were getting dressed (Ando borrowed an outfit from Hiro, and it didn't fit him very well, but Hiro wasn't going to complain about the slight glimpse of midriff allowed by the hem of his top when Ando wore it). While heading out the door, Hiro stuffed a piece of toast into his mouth, and Ando joked that he looked just like the protagonist of the show they'd been watching the night before. They took the train across town to the office together, pressed snugly up against each other. With the alcohol out of his system and his mind clearer, Hiro was a bit flustered by their proximity, but somehow he found that he enjoyed it. There was something almost domestic about the whole situation, and for reasons he was currently unwilling to name, that brought him a thrill of excitement.

Kimiko arched an eyebrow at them when they arrived at Yamagato Industries, but she refrained from commenting. Hiro waved at his sister over his shoulder as he and Ando scurried down the halls to the Dial-A-Hero office. He let out a sigh of contentment as he slumped into the cushiony office chair at his desk. Ando pulled up his own office chair and took a glance at their answering machine to make sure they hadn't missed any calls before sitting down beside him.

"No calls?" Hiro asked, readying himself for the inevitable pang of disappointment that would be brought on by the response. As time went on, a few more people called to ask for their services, but they still only got one or two calls a day if they were lucky, and most of the jobs were small things that their clients just as easily could have called the fire department for.

"Actually, it looks like someone called us just a couple minutes ago," Ando said. He sounded surprised--understandable, considering the aforementioned rarity of people calling them. "But they didn't leave a message."

"Let's call them back," Hiro said, leaning eagerly across the desk to press the redial button on the answering machine. He lifted the phone off the hook and held it to his ear. It buzzed twice before someone picked up.

"Hello? Is this Dial-A-Hero? Oh, thank god you picked up!" The voice on the other end of the line sounded urgent; Hiro stiffened with alarm upon hearing shouting and what sounded like gunshots in the background. "Someone's robbing the bank! Quick, you have to stop them!"

"Who is it? What's happening?" Ando asked, leaning over to listen in on the conversation.

Hiro lowered the phone and put his hand over the mouthpiece to address his companion. "It's a bank robbery." Then, bringing the phone back up to his ear: "Where is the address? We'll be there in a moment!"

The person told them the address, and Hiro hung up the phone and grabbed his sword from where it was displayed on the wall. Putting his hand in Ando's, he squeezed his eyes shut and teleported them to the address their client had given.

Sure enough, there were three masked people standing in the middle of the bank, brandishing guns; two of them hung back while the third was aiming his weapon at the woman behind the bank counter. The other bank employees and customers were crouching down behind desks and teller machines, muttering anxiously amongst themselves. When Hiro and Ando appeared, gasps sprung up amongst the civilians; two of the robbers spun around to aim their weapons at them.

"Put down your guns and leave this building now," Hiro commanded, brandishing his sword with a stern glare. "Or my partner and I will--"

Before he could finish that thought, a rapid series of bangs rang out as the robbers fired their guns. The gasps and murmurs of the civilians broke into screams, and at his side, he heard Ando scream as well. Those sounds were abruptly cut off when Hiro froze time. Four bullets froze in midair, one of which was barely an inch away from Hiro's forehead. His heart skipped a beat at the sight of it; gulping, he lowered the bullet and then moved the other three out of his and Ando's way as well. He deposited the bullets into the trash can by the desk, where they found their place amidst a pile of crumpled receipts and candy wrappers. Then, brushing his hands off, he marched over to the robbers and pried the guns out of their hands. With the robbers unarmed, Hiro grabbed each of them in succession and teleported them to a police station, where he unfroze time and shoved the robbers toward the nearest officer.

"These men were robbing a bank," he said. "'Lock them up before they can hurt anybody else."

The police officer looked rather startled, as did the robbers, one of whom immediately spun around and tried to shoot Hiro with a gun that he no longer had. Hiro smirked, feeling quite pleased with himself as the officer looked the robbers up on their computer and announced that they had previously been charged for several counts of theft and attempted robbery. Leaving the police to take care of things, he teleported back to the bank to make sure everyone there was safe.

When he reappeared in the bank, he knew immediately that something was wrong, and it brought a sharp twisting sensation to his gut. The employees and customers who had previously been hiding were now clustered around the spot where Hiro and Ando had shown up, muttering things like "Oh my god" and "Is he going to be okay?!" Heart spiking with alarm, Hiro pushed past the gathered crowd to find Ando sprawled out on the ground, blood pooling around him. Hiro froze at the sight of his collapsed friend, blood running cold.

"Ando, what--what happened?!" he stammered, dropping to his knees and laying a hand atop the dark red stain on the front of his friend's borrowed shirt. "I stopped time before the bullets could hit us!"

"Before they could hit you," Ando corrected him, raising his head to meet Hiro's gaze. He spoke through gritted teeth, but he didn't sound angry so much as scared. "One of them had already hit me."

"What? No," Hiro whimpered, shaking his head.

It was a stupid thing to say, he knew, because the irrefutable evidence was laid out before his eyes, but... no! His mind refused to wrap itself around the fact that he, the master of time and space, had been too slow to stop the man he cared so deeply for from getting hurt. Ando must have understood that to some degree, because he didn't bother offering a retort. Sighing, he laid his head back down on the cold tile floor of the bank, while around them the civilians parted and he heard someone in the background talking about calling an ambulance.

Hands trembling, Hiro pushed up the bottom of Ando's shirt so he could see the injury. Sure enough, a bullet was embedded in his upper abdomen, exposing a grisly mess of blood and flesh that made Hiro gag. All the while, blood continued to pour from the wound, seeping between the tiles of the floor and soaking through Hiro's pant legs as he knelt beside his friend.

"You... you'll be okay," Hiro told him, and it came out sounding like a command. "You have to be okay!"

Ando began to open his mouth but then closed it again, as if changing his mind about what to say. He brought his hand up to lay it atop Hiro's, threading their fingers together, and gave him a sad smile.

"Hiro... I love you."

The words pierced through Hiro as though he were the one who'd just been shot. He understood the finality concealed behind that confession. And the worst part was that, now that he heard those words spoken aloud, only now could he put a name to the feelings that flared up in his heart whenever he was with Ando. The feelings he had harbored for years now. The feelings he had been too scared to acknowledge, for fear that they weren't reciprocated. And in that moment, when the palm of his hand was wet and sticky with Ando's slowly draining lifeblood, a jolt of misplaced anger surged through Hiro.

"You should have said that yesterday!" he blurted.

The melancholy expression on Ando's face didn't waver, even as a trickle of blood dribbled out the corner of his mouth. "What difference would it make?" he asked, words coming out slightly slurred as though it were still the day before and they were drunk and partying with their friends.

"Because if you told me then, I would have known what I felt, too," Hiro said, although he could barely choke the words out around the thick lump of emotion swelling in his throat. "And we could have taken today off so I could--I could kiss you, and--and we could date, and... and I never would have let you put yourself in danger again."

As he spoke, Ando's hand grew limp atop his own, and his skin gradually became cooler to the touch. That sad, regretful smile was still on his face when his eyes fell closed and his head lolled to the side. Cold, harsh dread clamped around Hiro's heart like the steel of a hunting trap closing around its prey, and he desperately grabbed his companion by the shoulders, lifting him off the ground.

"I love you, too!"

The confession was swallowed up by a sob that wracked Hiro's body, so he yelled it out again, and then over and over again as hot tears welled up in his eyes and poured down his cheeks.

"I love you, Ando. I've loved you for a long time. I should have told you... I love you, I love you, I love you!"

He rocked back and forth on his heels as he made his declarations, clutching his companion's unmoving body to his chest. But no matter how tightly he held Ando's body, no matter how passionately he cried out his feelings, Hiro knew it was too late. He had failed the man he loved, and now... and now...

Maybe in another world.

Ando's words from the previous day echoed in his mind, and now Hiro understood them. In another world--another timeline--if either of them had been bold enough to confess their love, they could have been together. Whether or not that would have changed the outcome of this day, Hiro didn't know. It didn't make a difference now anyway. In this world, he sat alone on a cold tiled floor, soaked through with the blood of the man he loved, with nothing to show for his love other than a lifeless body in his arms.

"I love you," he whispered through his tears one final time, just in case it would somehow make a difference or change what had happened.

It didn't.

[kitsune-translates]

SCI 谜案集 English Translation Case 1: Number Killer

Previous  

Number Killer 01 Mouse and Cat

It’s still early in the morning, but the police headquarter at city S has already been buzzing with discussions. Everyone is standing in groups whispering to each other, gossiping about the newly formed S.C.I.

The moment Wang Chao and Zhang Long walk into the building, they feel that something is wrong with the atmosphere, what’s everyone doing?

The two of them were just up all night yesterday wrapping up a big case, as a result are sporting huge black circles. Scrolling to the lift, the two of them notice a white flyer sticking to the wall. Zhang Long rips the paper off and scolds, ‘which brave idiot has the guts to stick flyers into police station?’

Wang Chao takes a look from the side, ‘It doesn’t look like advertisement… Hmmm, the commissioner issued it?’

As they enter the lift, the two of them begin to study the piece of paper more closely.　　

Ten seconds later, two yells resonate from the lift, scaring the crowd waiting for the lift outside to step backwards.

Ding. The lift door opens at level 7.

Zhang Long and Wang Chao dash out like animals, yelling ‘Holy crap!’ They head straight for the criminal police office, causing the surrounding officers to stare.

The office door slams open from the two’s kick, and causing the officers inside to scramble behind the tables for cover.

The two do not even bother to spare a glance for the scrambling officers, and went straight for the captain’s office.

The office door opens at the moment of impact. As a result, the two of them couldn’t stop themselves in time and fall straight in and onto the floor.

Thud.

Someone from downstairs screams, ‘can’t you criminal investigation people give it a rest for one day? At this rate, if earthquakes really happen one day, the whole building wouldn’t know to evacuate!’

Zhang Long and Wang Chao pick themselves up from the floor, and notice that Bai Yutang is holding a cup of coffee, standing next to his working desk and looking at them with a an almost smile.

‘Captain, is it true?!’ Zhang Long asks, holding up the piece of paper.

‘What do you think?’ Bai Yutang takes a sip of coffee, sounding rather unconcerned.

‘So… it is true?’ Wang Chao confirms carefully.

Nodding, Bai Yutang continues to drink his coffee.

After a few moment of silence, the entire criminal police office is rocked by wailing.

‘Captain, you can’t leave us.’

‘Captain, you can’t go just like this.’

‘Wang Chao, Zhang Long, you guys can’t go.’

‘What will the rest of us do if you guys left?’　　

The other departments look in curiously.

Vice division: ‘What happened to criminal investigation unit? Did their captain Bai got killed in the line of duty?’

Economic division: ‘Impossible? I just saw him this morning, still lively as ever.’

Narcotics division: ‘you wish, as if the lord of underworld wants to receive their captain Bai.’

Bai Yutang finishes the last sip of his coffee and told Zhang Long and Wang Chao, ‘Pack your stuff. We are moving upstairs to level 11.’

At exactly 10 minutes before one, Bai Yutang, flanked by Zhang Long and Wang Chao steps into the lift and press for level 11, surrounded by the wailing of criminal investigation unit and the cheer of the rest of the officers at level 7.

The moment the lift door opens, they are greeted by the sight of a brand new office. The glass door was already printed with the word S.C.I. It really somewhat has the feel of FBI. Just as they are stepping out of the lift, they hear the adjacent lift door opening. Turning around, someone with one hand in his suit’s pocket, the other holding a file, walks out of the lift gracefully.

Zhang Long and Wang Chao tense up immediately, looks around at Bai Yutang careful. Just as they thought, their captain’s face hardens for a second.　　

Gongsun scrolls in from afar and sees Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang staring each other down in front of the lift. He smirks to himself, thinking, ‘there they go again.’

‘Xiao Zhan, Xiao Bai…(1) why didn’t you guys go inside?’

Wang Chao and Zhang Long swallow their spit, ‘more trouble incoming!’

The three of them are not your average Joe, they are considered to be the three geniuses of the police force, the crème de la crème of City S’s police force.

Bai Yutang, those who are close to him call him Bai five. It is not because he is the number fifth kid in the family, but because he is the fifth generation police in the family

Bai family has always been famous for great detectives; Bai Yutang’s grandfather, father and uncle are all famous criminal police. Even now they still hold positions in the police and armed force. And Bai Yutang himself has all the good genes from the previous generations. After graduating from the army academy, he joined the air force and received special trainings. After retirement from the air force, he returned to City S as the captain of criminal investigation unit. This few years has been good to him, having solved numerous major cases.

Bai Yutang is extremely daring and has the physical combat skill to match, but his temper is rather odd. Under his lead the whole criminal investigation unit has been extremely dominating. No one dares to mess with them in the entire police force. When the others walk past the criminal investigation division’s front door, they don’t even dare to breathe.

On the topic of Bai Yutang, the other genius, Zhan Zhao must also be mentioned.

Or the graceful man who just walked out of the lift. The three geniuses are famous, not just because of their exceptional ability. But also due to another important reason, that is they are all extremely good looking. This has made so many other police officers resentful. Especially Zhan Zhao, his refined looks combined with his lean figure and a well-fitted navy suits, will attract the attention of females from 80 years to 8 years old. When he smiles at you softly, to quote mama Bai, it’s an instant kill.

Zhan Zhao is a world-renowned criminal psychology doctor, young but already an authority in the field.

Zhan Zhao has an exceptional high IQ. During his school days, he skipped many grades. But he is not good at physical combat, so he usually provides consulting services to the police force to help with cases.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang in fact go way back, to quote mama Zhan, the two of them didn’t like each other the moment they were born.

Why is mama Bai and mama Zhan always mentioned? Well, because Zhan family and Bai family are actually neighbours. The mums have been good friends since primary school. In addition, the two boys were born together, just that Zhan Zhao was born an hour earlier than Bai Yutang. Because of this one hour gap, Bai Yutang was forced to call Zhan Zhao, Xiao Zhan Ge Ge (2). That was a grudge Bai Yutang has been holding.

So the two of them are really childhood best friends, but why do they dislike each other so much? Well, it has been like this since kindergarten, the two of them were both very competitive since young. When they eat, they would try to steal each other’s food. When they sleep, they would try to snatch each other’s pillow. Later, it escalated into that they fought for number one in exams, and who can skip more grades in school. Xiao Bai won the champion for Sanda (3), Xiao Zhan got the distinctive achievement scholarship. The two of them have been at it, until one of them went into the army, and the other went out of the country. However, the two of them still come back full circle in the police bureau, isn’t it just the case of enemies meet more often than they wish.

In Bai Yutang’s eyes, Zhan Zhao is not as well-mannered as everyone thinks, he is a devious cat!

In Zhan Zhao’s eyes, Bai Yutang is not as capable as he appears, he is an annoying white mouse (4)!

In his white lab coat, looking cultured and intelligent with a pair of frameless glasses, is Gongsun Ce.

Gongsun is a bit of a legend of forensic pathologist. He is a famous Anthropologist. He taught Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang when they were still in university. But in their eyes, this man who goes everywhere with his scalpel, has the face of a psycho murderer.

The three of them stand outside of S.C.I. staring at each other, until Commissioner Bao finally had enough and roared, ‘what are you all standing outside for? Come in! Time for meeting!’

Translator’s Footnote:

(1)    Xiao = small, a common prefix used in Chinese to address each other informally

(2)    Xiao Zhan Ge Ge: Ge Ge means older brother. Usually if people say Ge Ge, I guess it sounds quite cute (?)

(3)    Sanda: also known as Sanshou, Chinese kickboxing. Chinese self-defense system and combat sport.

(4)    White mouse: In Chinese, the word for white mouse is the same as lab rat. Zhan Zhao will call Bai Yutang white mouse/lab rat quite a few times throughout the whole novel. Depends on the context I will try to use the more fitting translation.

Next

[millennium-thejiaqiverse]

Chapter 0: A Pilot

Summary: It’s up to a 15-year-old birthday boy to save the day! How exactly is he involved? What could be rapidly ripping his home universe apart? And how on earth is he going to stop it? Let’s find out!

21:30, Miles is lying in bed, ready to catch some sleep.

Today’s his bday. Before school ended Meg handed Miles a “Happy Birthday!” card coated with glitter. It was beautifully hand made. She had a big smile. She stood a little in front of lockers 51, 53, and bottom row 52, 54. Some glitter stuck to her hands. Elly and Rose were busy with their lockers (48 and 49, a piece of lime green sticker stuck out from locker 49, which was placed there by Rose exactly 3 days ago), while they too wished him a happy bday. At the same time Rodney Lee Jr. flashed a smile at Miles, opened his locker 54 by a crack and dug his jacket out with an almost inaudible “excuse me” then quickly vanished out of sight. Whilst recalling details of his day at school, Miles thinks about his plan to hit the bowling alley with a late bday party after midterms, ah what fun awaits him. If only everything is fun and simple on his bday.

Without fail, Miles has the same dream every night of his bday. In this dream he will be approached by this girl he’s never met face to face before, ever, still, she seems strangely familiar; she will always ask him to play hide and seek along this peaceful little creek. However, every time Miles covers his eyes he ends up waking up. Well, Miles is in full control of his dreams, but not this one. Of course he is curious as to what happens next but one, he somehow can’t avoid covering his eyes, two, he can’t stop himself from waking up, and three, he can’t pick up from where he left off afterwards. Not only that, the dream leaves a strange feeling, like he should be expecting something in the near future, or he missed something important that the dream is communicating to him. Eventually, Miles reluctantly learns to shrug these feelings off, because nothing unusual follows, pretty anticlimactic.

21:50 rolls around fast. Well, must get some sleep, time to jump right back into this routine of receiving the same dream, trying to take control, failing and being confused plus weirded out. With that on his mind Miles sighs as he shuts his eyes.

“Guess who I am?” A cheerful feminine voice sounds from behind him.

“Oh, I dunno,” but Miles knows where this is going. “Let’s play a game!” The girl suggests. “Like tic-tac-toe?” Miles tries. “No, like hide and seek!” She laughs. “Then I’ll go h...” Miles didn’t get to finish. “I’ll go hide, cover your eyes,” the girls cuts him off, “no peeking!” Miles covers his eyes before he realizes and he’s ready to beat himself up for it (I mean he had certainly lasted longer in this game of trying to avoid covering his eyes before), except he doesn’t wake up this time. It appears that he’s sunken into another layer of this dream, the sight of the city he lives in submerged in crystal clear water appears a little after he covers his eyes. Now this is new!

Miles sits straight up in bed, very startled. It’s morning already—and the city is not submerged. 15 years of curiosity and that was his answer? Really? With a glimmer of hope Miles groggily decides to carry on with his day and see if anything else is new. It appears that he doesn’t have far to look.

Each physical item in the house is right where he remembered it should be, the energy of the place is not off, but somehow it’s all wrong; and the grogginess... is he really awake at this point? Miles believes this place he now perceives is like a holographic image projected from his own photographic memories of the reality he is familiar with. Bizarre. Right as the thought comes to him, which brings him to see this place differently, this projection appears less and less vivid. All this seems to be happening in his head. Remembering what he’s learnt on the subject, Miles considered a possibility that he’s now stuck in a mental concoction of his home out of information carried in a loose piece of energy; this could happen when lots of energy from a universe is loose and rearranging into a new balance, Miles knows that events like this never happens unprovoked. He also knows that he’ll be more and more disoriented if he doesn’t snap out of whatever this is right away.

The feeling of being lost in a debatable state didn’t last too long. The sound of something pushing its way through the wall caught Miles’s attention. There’s water again, pushing out from the ground and flowing erratically throughout the house. Awake or asleep, it is clear to Miles that this isn’t just part of his bday dreams anymore, all this is some sort of vision, it’s as if his mind’s been trying to confirm something with himself, unknowingly leaving a clue—water, why all this water? With absolutely no time to loose, Miles has to figure out what caused his home universe to lose it’s former harmony and fix the problem.

To do that, he needs a vantage point to set his foot down and examine the situation, and fortunately he’s always had one. He just needs to visit the Junction to check things out—that’s his own up-to-date mental image of universes and such, therefore the perfect vantage point for him. Miles’s Junction is a train station, and his home universe is represented as a train stopped at one of the boarding platforms. Major parts of the train are falling apart rather quickly and contorted into a bare dark branch growing into other carriages. It is all crystal clear to him once he discovers this, therefore this deduction is made: a new plane has grown from this universe, a cancerous plane, relentlessly consuming everything it’s rooted on, if it’s not stopped it will pry loose and take away all the energy this universe needed for itself to exist: this universe will disappear; without this universe the overcharged cancer will then blow apart or get planted onto another unsuspecting universe and continue it’s destruction. Whoever planted this plane clearly knows what they’re doing and must have a foolproof plan (they must have thought of everything in order to not be stopped ahead of time). What exactly is their end goal? Why target his home universe? Miles decides the best course of action is to go to said plane and work from the inside out, once this is done there’ll be plenty of chances to get everything else back on track.

With his fingers crossed, Miles boards the train through the cracks of the branch, and he freezes for a sec as he arrived at the plane, stunned by the sight. There it stands, a growing tree—the cancer draining all that energy away.

Surely, Miles has expected retaliation as he knows for sure he’ll be spotted instantly once he entered the plane (part of the foolproof plan by whoever built this plane). The tree branches started to grow a lot faster, taking up space with a surprising pace. Miles establishes a forcefield to blast away branches growing towards him, but that’s obviously not a lasting plan, not that he would eventually cave in once there’s no space left and get crushed (trust me he wouldn’t), but more because this plane will be draining up energy much faster to combat him. Hmm. Not a problem, he thinks to himself, just have to wrap it up right now before this escalates any further. Drawing out the stolen energy from the tree and returning it to the universe does the trick nicely, soon this nightmare plant is no longer able to support its already grown branches and crumbles into pieces. “Problem solved.” Miles nods, “though I have to admit the person who planted and developed this plane did a pretty impressive job, all that wouldn’t have been easy.”

Hold on, what’s going down there? Mixed in with the crashing branches is what appears to be a dark humanoid figure. Miles sees this and rushes over to check it out. He makes it just in time to catch this figure he’s seen—surprise, surprise, emerging from the dark tree sap is a young woman, she had been cramped inside a branch all along. Miles recognizes her instantly, this is the girl from his dreams, but she definitely looks older than that version of herself. An odd plum flower is rooted into her skin, and by the looks of it possibly deep into her skull. That’s probably the reason why she’s unconscious. Miles lays her down onto a broken off branch to inspect the flower.

Except this is not a flower!

It’s in fact a rare single use artifact that customizes itself to its victim, it grants full control of one’s mind as long as needed and no one affected is able to get it off by themselves up until now. The victim will also be very worn down. Whoever’s got their hands on one of these would not want to waste its power, it is rumored that one of these artifacts can be passed down through generations without being used just because of the lack of a suitable target. Apparently the “plum tree”—the cancerous plane came to exist because of her; she appears uncommonly lively after this ordeal too. At this point Miles had a choice to make, either pull the “plum flower” out or leave it there. Needless to say whoever used this young woman to build the plane would do harm, but she is a force to be reckoned with herself, her identity is still a mystery for now, she could be evil.

A gut instinct keeps telling him that freeing her is a priority, as long as the artifact is still attached to her, she might be forced to carry on with the mission to destroy. On top of that, Miles starts thinking long and hard on his bday dreams. It feels that not only does he know her from somewhere but he was quite close to her as well. Deep down he trusts her somehow, he cannot explain it but he does.

Hesitantly, Miles yanks off the flower from her forehead, and right after he does, she opens her eyes.

[tact-and-impulse]

Eating Together, Drinking Alone Omake 3

And this is it. I went back and forth over how to execute it, until finally putting it together last night. I only wish I could have written it earlier, but I’m glad that I can at least give the story this epilogue. Thank you to the readers around the world, for loving this story just as much as I have. I truly appreciate all the support I’ve received over the past two years. And for one last time, here are the links to this story on FF.net and AO3.

Omake: Kasutera

Sunlight warmed the porch, as Hiko removed the lid from the box in his lap. Six teacups were nestled within, each in its own compartment. There wasn’t a single flaw in the off-white ceramic. The underglaze had turned out well: a painted maple leaf in the bottom of each cup, as if it had fallen straight from the branch, and below the rim, delicate red lines crossing each other. Like the so-called strings of fate, like the vessels that carried the blood of life.

Carefully, he examined every cup, to ensure no breaks had occurred during the journey. Indeed, they remained pristine. As expected of his own handiwork. It had been sixteen years since a set of matching cups was given to his apprentice’s family, and this time, he would be the one to personally gift it.

Satisfied, he closed the box and tucked it under the porch. There, it would be concealed until he presented it tomorrow. They were going out tonight, so it was best to keep it safe.

Hiko rose, and entered the house. It was completely silent, and he had to enjoy it while he could. He had arrived in Tokyo with the morning sun, and naturally, the Himura family had been eager to see him. Then, his idiot apprentice and the tanuki woman had gone to the train station, to pick up their friends. The older brats had left for the fish market, to purchase tonight’s dinner. Well, he deserved a break from their attention anyway.

Something stirred in the hallway, and Hiko quietly moved to the front door. Then, he stood on the first step, directing his full attention to listening. The footsteps were light, the ki practically bursting with intent.

The door opened.

“Stop.” He warned, and the presence did pause. “Where are you going?”

“…out.”

“Is that so?” He had to bend his head downwards, to glare at the child. Long red hair was tousled from sleep, and little hands gripped the edge of the door. No matter how much Tae cooed over Himura Sumire had grown so big, the girl brat would always be small to him. She was as small as her brothers had been at four years old. “Well, at least you were honest, representative of the flower you were named after. And you know why you were left behind.”

“I can be good!” She protested and stamped her foot in indignation. It only disproved her point. “And I don’t want to nap anymore.”

“In life, it doesn’t matter what you want. Go back to bed.” Otherwise, she’d be even more annoying in the evening, during the cherry blossom viewing. The taste of sake would be ruined.

“No!”

Of course, his apprentice’s only daughter had to inherit his stubbornness, along with his coloring. “I’ll tell you an embarrassing story about your father, if you do.”

“Which one?”

“The story in which he fell into a patch of poison ivy and then ran to the nearest stream, only to be swept along with the current.”

“Keita-nii told me that. You were watching the whole time, but you brought Tou-chan out of the water.”

To him, the stream had been shallow enough to walk in. “Ah, brat three has a good memory. I told him that one when he was your age, and to brats one and two before him. If you’ve heard it, then I give up.” He opened the door wider to let himself in and pushed Sumire’s shoulder with two fingers. She took a few steps before stopping again.

“Wait!”

“What is it now?”

“I want to hear the one where he saw Kaa-chan in your pottery house.” She meant his place in Kyoto, and when his idiot apprentice came to him, to learn the final techniques of Hiten Mitsurugi.

He laughed. “It sounds like your mother already told you.”

“But I want to hear what you saw.”

“What I saw?” He propped his chin on his hand. “Hmph. Your father looked like a fish, his mouth was open like one. He just stared at her, he was making her nervous with how speechless he was. In short, he was an idiot. An idiot, who was loved. And he’s still a loved idiot, which is why we’re having this unnecessary amount of celebration with too many people.”

“Oh.” She pouted. “I don’t like the way you tell it. Kaa-chan tells it much better.”

“You were the one who asked for it, girl brat. Now, before I get annoyed. Go. To. Bed.”

“Aww.”

***

Tae hummed to herself, as she carried the kasutera.

She had been in Tokyo for the last two weeks, managing the Akabeko. Tsubame’s little daughter was teething and her impatience was reminiscent of a young Yahiko. He was guest teaching at another dojo with their son, Tsubame hurriedly explained as she struggled with the flailing toddler, but the four of them would arrive on time for tonight’s outdoor picnic.

“Hello?” She stepped into the Himura household, and realized she had to raise her voice above the noise. When she entered the dining room, they greeted her. “Oh, all four of you are here.”

With his copper hair in a high ponytail and a wooden sword in his belt, Kenji was sixteen and would have made for a young samurai in the old era. He was trying to steer Sumire away from his cup of black coffee.

“Add sugar.” She insisted.

“I won’t, so shut it.” He was forcing down sips, trying to toughen up.

“You should, it’ll help with your terrible temper.” Eight-year-old Keita didn’t even look up from his book, as he gave the sharp remark. Of the children, his hair was the darkest, and his demeanor the calmest.

“Okay, let’s behave. Tae-san’s here.” Shinpei was wearing the Kamiya dojo’s uniform, and it was likely he would inherit his mother’s teaching position someday. He gave his characteristic, cheerful smile. “Is that kasutera?”

“Kasutera! I love that, it’s fluffy and delicious.” Sumire looked as if she was going to drool.

Tae set the cake on the kitchen counter. “I brought it from the Akabeko. We can share some of it, for a snack.” It seemed that a sweet tooth came with red-tinted hair. When the plate of cubed kasutera was served, they instantly quieted, savoring the treat.

While she poured herself some coffee, Hiko appeared, nonchalantly sitting next to her as if he had seen her an hour ago, and not half a month. “Well, I had to find a new hiding place.”

“That’s alright. I’m sure they’ll like it.” She thought the cups were beautiful and symbolic. Fitting, for this family they both held dear.

“How have things been here?”

“Better than I expected, I think two more weeks will be enough. Then, I’ll return to the Kobeko.”

“Good. Let’s go back together.”

Tae smiled. Despite their own places in Tokyo and Kyoto, she was also fond of the house on the Tokaido road. It was an art-loving home, with her favorite paintings displayed on the walls and some of his works arranged in the rooms. Natsuko’s last letter was framed on the altar for her family, so “it wouldn’t be lost again”, as he said. Sometimes, he stayed there by himself if he needed to sell his pottery. When she had to assist the Kobeko’s staff, she was there alone. They had their own lives to lead, but when they could, they always came back to each other.

“Of course. I missed you too.” She said, and at that, he smirked.

In the distance, there was the sound of faint chatter.

“Oh, it sounds like Tou-chan and Kaa-chan are home.” Keita set down his chopsticks. “I can definitely hear Misao-san and the girls…poor Aoshi-san. It must have been endless on the train.”

“Then, they must be tired. Megumi-san and Sano-san are probably here too, so let’s properly greet everyone.” Shinpei suggested and took the hand of his younger sister.

“Guess so.” Kenji shrugged, but he followed his siblings, catching up to them with his longer strides. Tae looked at Hiko, who only stared back at her.

“Why don’t we join them?”

“It’s a pain to get up.”

“You don’t mean that.” She paused. “Dear.”

She continued referring to him as Hiko-san in public, but at the start of their relationship, she was unsure of how to address him in private. He had given her an incredulous look at Seijuro-san, snorted derisively at Sei-san, and didn’t respond to just Seijuro. Giving up, she had tried ‘dear’. And always, he told her not to repeat it. But he never rejected it, his face turning red without fail. After all this time, it was still satisfying to get a reaction out of him.

“Fine,” He grumbled, and Tae beamed at the growing color in his face. “But I’ll stay here if you say that again.”

“It’s a deal.” She stood, feeling very happy.

Their group crowded onto the front steps, watching as the gate slowly opened. And in one voice, they called out. “Welcome back!”

[yeats-infection]

this is the product of my delirious week and i apologise for it. a prompt: any pairing of your choice as members of opposing sides of an ideology, political (Marxists v. Maoists) or philosophical, in a public debate that leads up to an occasion of frightening sexual tension. i hope your mlarg ends in a sudden explosion of light behind your eyes. ⭐️

buddy empire building fic) and so i did that again but tried to make it short. so here is a small thing. it might show up someplace else later. anyway -- 

~~

When Remus came running up from the beach one of the mod boys was up on the boardwalk on his Lambretta. “Get on,” he said.

“What?”

“I said get on!”

He had an army green mac with all these patches ironed on over a fitted brown suit and sleek loafers. His tie was pale-pastel perfect but there was a drop of blood on it. But most interestingly he had long hair. Remus hadn’t thought any mods had long hair, which was why, he supposed, he got on the Lambretta. That and he could hear the cops’ footfalls behind him on the stairs. The engine rumbled and under them the ground moved. He held on with one hand to the seat under him so as to avoid wrapping his arms around the driver. It was dusk and there was rain in the air not really falling but sitting.

“You have priors, don’t you?” said the mod.

“What?”

“Are you deaf? I said, you have priors, don’t you? That’s why you were running from the cops.”

He stopped at a light and propped up the bike with his foot against the asphalt. There was a little mud spattered on the back of his suit pants. “Yeah, I do,” Remus said.

“So do I. That’s why I left. It’s fucking bullshit. All those cops around.”

They were around to keep you all from rioting, Remus did not say. The light changed and the mod picked up his foot and revved the little engine of the Lambretta and the bike jumped forward through the pools of streetlight. “Drugs, then,” Remus asked, over the street noise.

“Yeah — purple hearts. Stealing them from a druggist’s to be precise. You?”

“Drugs,” Remus lied. He thought wildly. “Um, marijuana.”

“Really!”

“Yeah.”

“Well have you got some?”

“Jesus — no. Being arrested, you know, kind of turned me off.”

“I’ve never tried it actually,” said the mod thoughtfully. “It’s really just amphetamines.”

“I’ve never had those.”

“They make your brain work too fast really I think.”

“Sounds like a nightmare.”

“Yes. It kind of is. Is anyone behind us?”

Remus looked. The streets were quiet. Down along the violet-thick shoreline police lights cut the blackening dusk. But there were no cops following. “We’re safe,” he told the driver.

“Where’s your bike?”

“I haven’t got one.”

“I thought all rockers had bikes.”

“That’s an egregious lie.”

“Well how’d you get here?”

“You can just take me to the train station.”

They stopped at another light, and pulled uphill and inland toward the center of the city. A police car passed them sirens wailing heading down toward the beach. “There won’t be any trains til the morning,” said the mod.

“I can sleep at the station.”

“How about a pub?”

“I’m not going to any fucking mod pub — ”

“It’s not that. It’s just a regular old bloody pub. We’ll get out of the rain and have a nightcap after the evening we’ve had. And then I’ll take you round the train station. Alright?”

The kid was clearly crazy. But also, he was buying, and he looked rich, inasmuch as most mods looked rich. So Remus said, “Alright.”

-

After three or four Holsten Pils the mod brought Remus back to his. It was a nice enough apartment in an estate on the edge of town and there were posters of the Who on the walls and it was past midnight. The mod went in the kitchen and put the radio on and found more beers in the fridge. The announcer on the BBC was saying there had been arrests in a mods versus rockers fight on the Brighton Pier signaling no doubt the moral decay of Britain’s youth.

The mod sat down on the couch beside Remus and clucked his tongue. “Cheers mate,” he said.

They had a couple more beers each whilst arguing about nothing then the mod put Miles Davis on the stereo and they danced. He had some of those purple hearts in an antique makeup case in his bedroom of which they each took one and then they kept dancing. It was so very late Remus didn’t know what time it was. There was a clock on the wall but he couldn’t be bothered to try and read it. The mod touched his hair and tried to rearrange it but it wouldn’t move for all the Brylcreem. So they went in the bathroom and rinsed it out in the shower laughing and laughing.

“You should do it like this,” the mod said. Sitting on the damp tile floor. He was very gentle, and the cuffs of his shirtsleeves were wet, and his hair was starting to curl a little in the humidity. The cold water dripped over Remus’s neck and collar and soaked into his shirt. “You really do look quite lovely.”

“You didn’t think so before?”

“Fuck off.”

Remus kissed him. They kissed there on the floor for a while and then they went to the mod’s bedroom which was decorated with even more posters of the Who and a Union Jack and one of those stupid blue and red and white targets. He looked around at it all with a kind of disgusted drunken intrigue and he understood what the mod had meant when he’d said the amphetamines just made your brain work faster for better or worse ie. for worse. Then the mod came up behind him and wrapped his arms around Remus’s belly and put his face in his neck and swayed a little to the tune of the Miles Davis record on the stereo.

“The truth is actually I was arrested for this before,” said Remus.

“What, for — ”

“Yeah for just kissing someone outside a club.”

“Well there’s no cops here. They’re all on the beach.”

“Yeah. I guess they all are on the beach.”

They kissed and put the lights out and got in the bed. The comforter was worn so soft Remus understood the mod had probably had it since he was a child. The streetlight outside was flickering and wan through the rain and the lacy pawn-shop curtains. Their skin was like fabric and undifferent. He hadn’t really ever done it like this before with all the touching and the skin, kissing, Vaseline, hand at his throat, dawn in the window, so elastic at the end of it, shattered, shattering, holding this other body close, feeling, feeling —

[utahabroad]

My No Sleep 5 Day Cusco Itinerary

By: Jessie Jolly, Social Media Scholarship Recipient Spring 2019, Global Entrepreneurship in South America 

 Day 1- Acclimate

On my first day here some of the girls from the uglobalentp program and I set out to explore the historic city of Cusco. We weaved our way through the streets becoming acquainted with what would be our new home for the next few days. Cusco has an elevation of 11,152’ and I knew I had some big hikes ahead of me the following days, so I choose to take it easy this day as an attempt to acclimate to the altitude. We did some horseback riding, saw the Saqsaywaman ruins, enjoyed some artisan ice cream (this had become a tradition for everywhere we travelled together), and played with alpacas and llamas in the streets.

Day 2- Machu Picchu

Day 2 our entire group went to Machu Picchu. The day started way too early in the lobby of our hotel. We needed to meet at 4:30am to start our journey to Machu Picchu that would consist of two busses and a train ride that equate to over six hours of travelling. Luckily the route is known as being one of the most beautiful in the world and we knew the destination was going to be well worth it.

Upon arriving to Aquas Calientes, we had a bit of time to explore the town before hopping on the shuttle that would take us up to the ruins. This allowed us to walk along the river and learn a little bit about the city that sits right at the base of it all.

The entire morning had been pretty cold, and rain was in the forecast, yet somehow we lucked out and were blessed with beautiful weather to tour this wonder of the world with. It was so neat to walk around and learn about the legends of the ruins and the Inca Empire. We were also told that the Machu Picchu is an energy vortex and that was a big reason why so many people would travel to it previously.

After our guide left, we all took some time to explore on our own and meditate for a bit before meeting at the train station for our long commute back to Cusco.

Day 3- Rainbow Mountain

After touring Machu Picchu the day prior, I went and visited the hot springs of Aquas Calientes. I had done this a few years prior when my mom and I backpacked Peru together, so I went to the hot springs in her honor. Thankfully I did because it was there that I met a group of British travelers who invited me to join them the next morning on a hike to Rainbow Mountain. I had been wanting to do this for years and had tried to reserve a tour for myself but ran into so trouble because of the lack of WiFi. I was so excited when I learned that they had an extra seat in their van and wanted me to join them.

This called for an early rising as well. I met at their hotel at 5:00am where we started our three-hour commute to the trail head. I loved talking to each of them on the car ride and learning more about what their ‘why’ for travelling was. One of my favorites was this Scottish man in his 60’s. Steve is his name. His youngest brother had been murdered when he was only 20 years old. Steve told me that he had committed to summit Mount Kilimanjaro in his brother’s honor. He has attempted the hike three different times now and has had to turn around each time because of altitude sickness. Mount Kilimanjaro is 5,895 meters and he has never been able to make it past 5,000m. Rainbow Mountain is 5,200m. It was so special to be able to hike along side of him and cheer him on as he approached 5,000 meters and then embrace him and cry with him at the top when he had made it to 5,200m. He carries a picture of his brother with him at all times and told me how he has traveled the world with him. He died too young to see the world, so Steve has made it his mission to see it for him. He plans on attempting Mount Kilimanjaro again now that he has finally successfully pushed himself beyond his elevation limit. It was one of the most inspiring encounters I had ever had.

Day 4- Lake Humantay

On day 4 I had planned to explore Lake Humantay. Another destination that had been on my bucket list for a while. Can you guess what time I needed to wake up for this excursion? That’s right, 3:30am again! With another three-hour commute. I was so exhausted from travelling, hiking, and an extreme lack of sleep from the previous days that it was really easy to just sleep the entire car ride to the trail head. We started this hike by hiking to a nearby village and sharing a meal with other hikers. Then it was only about an hour and a half hike up to the lake. Although it was shorter and a lower altitude then the hike, I had done the day prior, I found it to be a lot harder for some reason. During breakfast I met two sisters from Dubai. They noticed I was travelling alone and decided to take me under their wing. I loved hiking up with them and hearing about their adventures together and life in Dubai.

The hike up to the lake was breathtaking. I couldn’t keep my jaw closed because of how impressive the surrounding Andes mountains were. I thought it wasn’t possible to get any better than all of the colorful Peruvian guides that were hiking beside me, the majestic glaciers in front of me or the waterfalls flowing from each dip in the peaks everywhere I looked, but I’ll never forget the way I felt when I first laid my eyes on the lake. Yeah, I had seen photos of the lake prior, but I figured they were photoshopped and over saturated just like most nature tourism photos are. However, once I saw this in real life, I knew there was no need for anyone to over work a photo of it because it truly was just as beautiful, if not more beautiful, as all of the photos you see of it elsewhere. The mountains surrounding Machu Picchu are known to hold a special energy, but in my opinion, this location’s energy was more apparent.

At the end of the hike we regathered in the same house we had breakfast at and now shared lunch. During breakfast we all sat with some distance between us and kept to ourselves. However, our group who had once been a bit segregated previously was now acting like one big family. When you travel to places like this and share such special experiences, I think it is nearly impossible to leave without feeling a deeper connection with those you encountered it with. Not only did I get to see one of the most beautiful landscapes this day, but I made a ton of new friends from all over the world.

Day 5- Souvenirs

Hooray for day 5! Yes, I was so sad to be leaving Peru, but I was so happy to sleep beyond just a few hours. Day 5 was my recovery day. I slept in, packed and spent the day wandering the streets of Cusco shopping for souvenirs to bring home to family and friends. My friend Laurel and I stopped for some lunch at a little hole in the wall restaurant we found and liked it so much that we ordered a second meal to take with us on the plane.

A few lessons learned from this trip would be:

1- You can sleep when you’re older, just say yes!

2- Don’t be afraid to venture out on your own. You never know who you might meet.

3- Peruvian cuisine is just as worthy of being a world wonder as Machu Picchu. It’s so good!!

[jessiejollytravels-blog]

My No Sleep 5 Day Cusco Itinerary

Day 1- Acclimate

On my first day here some of the girls from the uglobalentp program and I set out to explore the historic city of Cusco. We weaved our way through the streets becoming acquainted with what would be our new home for the next few days. Cusco has an elevation of 11,152’ and I knew I had some big hikes ahead of me the following days, so I choose to take it easy this day as an attempt to acclimate to the altitude. We did some horseback riding, saw the Saqsaywaman ruins, enjoyed some artisan ice cream (this had become a tradition for everywhere we travelled together), and played with alpacas and llamas in the streets.

Day 2- Machu Picchu

Day 2 our entire group went to Machu Picchu. The day started way too early in the lobby of our hotel. We needed to meet at 4:30am to start our journey to Machu Picchu that would consist of two busses and a train ride that equate to over six hours of travelling. Luckily the route is known as being one of the most beautiful in the world and we knew the destination was going to be well worth it.

Upon arrive to Aquas Calientes, we had a bit of time to explore the town before hopping on the shuttle that would take us up to the ruins. This allowed us to walk along the river and learn a little bit about the city that sits right at the base of it all.

The entire morning had been pretty cold, and rain was in the forecast, yet somehow we lucked out and were blessed with beautiful weather to tour this wonder of the world with. It was so neat to walk around and learn about the legends of the ruins and the Inca Empire. We were also told that the Machu Picchu is an energy vortex and that was a big reason why so many people would travel to it previously.

After our guide left, we all took some time to explore on our own and meditate for a bit before meeting at the train station for our long commute back to Cusco.

Day 3- Rainbow Mountain

After touring Machu Picchu the day prior, I went and visited the hot springs of Aquas Calientes. I had done this a few years prior when my mom and I backpacked Peru together, so I went to the hot springs in her honor. Thankfully I did because it was there that I met a group of British travelers who invited me to join them the next morning on a hike to Rainbow Mountain. I had been wanting to do this for years and had tried to reserve a tour for myself but ran into so trouble because of the lack of WiFi. I was so excited when I learned that they had an extra seat in their van and wanted me to join them.

This called for an early rising as well. I met at their hotel at 5:00am where we started our three-hour commute to the trail head. I loved talking to each of them on the car ride and learning more about what their ‘why’ for travelling was. One of my favorites was this Scottish man in his 60’s. Steve is his name. His youngest brother had been murdered when he was only 20 years old. Steve told me that he had committed to summit Mount Kilimanjaro in his brother’s honor. He has attempted the hike three different times now and has had to turn around each time because of altitude sickness. Mount Kilimanjaro is 5,895 meters and he has never been able to make it past 5,000m. Rainbow Mountain is 5,200m. It was so special to be able to hike along side of him and cheer him on as he approached 5,000 meters and then embrace him and cry with him at the top when he had made it to 5,200m. He carries a picture of his brother with him at all times and told me how he has traveled the world with him. He died too young to see the world, so Steve has made it his mission to see it for him. He plans on attempting Mount Kilimanjaro again now that he has finally successfully pushed himself beyond his elevation limit. It was one of the most inspiring encounters I had ever had.

Day 4- Lake Humantay

On day 4 I had planned to explore Lake Humantay. Another destination that had been on my bucket list for a while. Can you guess what time I needed to wake up for this excursion? That’s right, 3:30am again! With another three-hour commute. I was so exhausted from travelling, hiking, and an extreme lack of sleep from the previous days that it was really easy to just sleep the entire car ride to the trail head. We started this hike by hiking to a nearby village and sharing a meal with other hikers. Then it was only about an hour and a half hike up to the lake. Although it was shorter and a lower altitude then the hike, I had done the day prior, I found it to be a lot harder for some reason. During breakfast I met two sisters from Dubai. They noticed I was travelling alone and decided to take me under their wing. I loved hiking up with them and hearing about their adventures together and life in Dubai.

The hike up to the lake was breathtaking. I couldn’t keep my jaw closed because of how impressive the surrounding Andes mountains were. I thought it wasn’t possible to get any better than all of the colorful Peruvian guides that were hiking beside me, the majestic glaciers in front of me or the waterfalls flowing from each dip in the peaks everywhere I looked, but I’ll never forget the way I felt when I first laid my eyes on the lake. Yeah, I had seen photos of the lake prior, but I figured they were photoshopped and over saturated just like most nature tourism photos are. However, once I saw this in real life, I knew there was no need for anyone to over work a photo of it because it truly was just as beautiful, if not more beautiful, as all of the photos you see of it elsewhere. The mountains surrounding Machu Picchu are known to hold a special energy, but in my opinion, this location’s energy was more apparent.

At the end of the hike we regathered in the same house we had breakfast at and now shared lunch. During breakfast we all sat with some distance between us and kept to ourselves. However, our group who had once been a bit segregated previously was now acting like one big family. When you travel to places like this and share such special experiences, I think it is nearly impossible to leave without feeling a deeper connection with those you encountered it with. Not only did I get to see one of the most beautiful landscapes this day, but I made a ton of new friends from all over the world.

Day 5- Souvenirs

Hooray for day 5! Yes, I was so sad to be leaving Peru, but I was so happy to sleep beyond a just a few hours. Day 5 was my recovery day. I slept in, packed and spent the day wandering the streets of Cusco shopping for souvenirs to bring home to family and friends. My friend Laurel and I stopped for some lunch at a little hole in the wall restaurant we found and liked it so much that we ordered a second meal to take with us on the plane.

A few lessons learned from this trip would be: 

1- You can sleep when you’re older, just say yes! 

2- Don’t be afraid to venture out on your own. You never know who you might meet. 

3- Peruvian cuisine is just as worthy of being a world wonder as Machu Picchu. It’s so good!!

[bosstoaster]

Prompt 15 gen for Hunk, but it's the team cooking for Hunk instead of Hunk cooking for the team

It’s the 1000 Followers Special!  Based on these prompts.  Prompts are now closed.  Don’t want to see all 35 of these?  Block ‘1000 Followers Special’.  Can’t read on mobile?  These will slowly be posted to AO3 starting in a few days as ‘Hold Up Half the Sky’.  A huge thank you to Xagrok for the beta’ing!

Today was just unlucky.

Hunk was never the sort of person to wake easily or quickly.  He set himself three different alarm clocks to make sure he didn’t just smack them off in his sleep.  So when the alarms went off in the awful, wee hours of the morning, Hunk always found himself disjointed and out of it.  When there was a real purpose for it, the adrenaline kicked in and he was ready to go.

When there wasn’t, Hunk was just grumpy.

By now they were all used to the exercise - and the real version - so they managed to make it to the control room in the allotted time.  But their time was basically identical to the last few times, so they still got told to work on it and set to practicing with a scowl.

After that, it was agility training, which Hunk hated.  He could manage, physically, once he got started, but Hunk just wasn’t a ‘do it in a second’ kind of person.  He wanted to double check his calculations, wanted to think everything through.  And, yeah, he got that he didn’t have those things in the real world, fine, whatever.  Didn’t make it more fun in the moment.

Between Keith, who was naturally speedy and never second-guessed himself, Pidge, who was a bonafide genius and could recalculate on the fly, and Lance, who was fairly fast and incredibly competitive, Hunk managed to consistently finish last all morning.

By the end, Hunk was tired, he was sweaty, he was irritated and his pride was wounded.

“Did you see that!  Snatched victory right out from under Keith’s nose!”  Lance threw up his arms in jubilation, ignoring the way Keith visibly bristled from the other side of the room.  “Awesome, right?”

Hunk hunched his shoulders in.  “Yeah.  Great.  Good job.”

The lack of enthusiasm made Lance pause, and he frowned at Hunk.  “Something wrong?”

“No,” Hunk replied.  “It’s just a long day.”

Lance’s brows jumped up and he tried for a smile.  “It’s not even lunch yet, dude.”

“I know.”

(Read More Below)

Visibly hesitating, Lance glanced back, then rested his hand on Hunk’s shoulder.  “Hey, it’s alright.  You want to take a couple of hours to relax?  We were up really early.”

Hunk considered it, then shook his head.  “No,” he replied, just a hint of a sulk to his voice.  “If I don’t get to making lunch soon, Coran will do it.  And I’m not having this bad a day and also eating what Coran makes.”

Normally, cooking was soothing.  It was something Hunk was good at and something he loved.  But right now, he was just tired.  It was too much effort and took energy Hunk didn’t have.

“I’ll keep Coran out myself,” Lance replied.  “It’ll be waiting for you in two hours.”

Hunk shifted from foot to foot.  He wasn’t sure Lance could manage when Coran had a stubborn idea, but Lance was pretty tenacious, too.  And he was so tired.  “Alright.  Just a couple.”

“Atta boy.  You go rest up.”  Lance clapped him on the shoulder.  “In the meantime we’ll- oh, hey, Shiro.”

Glancing over, Hunk wilted again.  Oh boy.  After his performance today, he could imagine what Shiro was about to say.

“Good job today, Lance,” Shiro said as he stepped up, and Lance’s beaming smile at the praise nearly perked Hunk up too.  “Do you have a minute, Hunk?”

“He’s going to go rest up,” Lance replied immediately, pressing his shoulder to Hunk’s.  

Shiro glanced between them, then his lips quirked up.  “It’ll only take a moment, Dr. Lance.  With your permission?”

The easy tone seemed to make Lance relaxed.  He glanced between the two, but he didn’t really have the authority to tell Shiro not to talk to Hunk.  “Okay, but keep it quick.”  It came out more like a question, and then Lance stepped back over to Keith and Pidge, speaking to them in low voices.

Hunk would be worried about that, but Shiro was watching him, brows up, and he wilted under the stare.

“Sorry, I know I did badly,” Hunk told him.  “I’ll work on it, I know.”

Shiro’s brows jumped up.  “Actually, I was going to tell you that your scores were better than last time, so good job on the improvement.”

What?

Staring at Shiro, Hunk tilted his head.  “But I sucked.”

“Sucked how?  Compared to Keith?  Maybe, but if we were doing a head to head on engineering, Keith wouldn’t fare half as well.”  Shiro put his hand on Hunk’s shoulder.  “I don’t expect everyone on the team to be good at everything.  This isn’t how you operate.  But you keep trying and you’re improving.  That’s all I ask for.”

Swallowing hard, Hunk stared down at shoes.  “Oh.”  He still felt bad, because being at the bottom of the list all day sucked, but that did help a lot.  “Okay.  Thank you.”

“No problem.  And Lance is right.  Go rest up.”  Shiro ruffled his hair, and paused when it nearly knocked off his headband.  “Oh. Sorry.”

Shiro sounded so honestly contrite that Hunk cracked a smile.  “It’s alright, I’m taking it off in a minute, anyway.  Thanks again.”  As he made his way out the door, he saw Lance gesture Shiro over as well.

Yeah, definitely something to worry about.

In two hours.

***

After a nap, Hunk did feel better, or at least less bad, which was basically the same thing.  Which meant it was time to relieve Lance of his guard duty and get to work.

But when he got to the kitchen, he found Shiro in the doorway, using his bulk to block it.

“Is something wrong?” Hunk asked carefully.

Shiro looked up from the pad in his hands, startled, and then shot Hunk a smile.  “Oh, good afternoon.  No, everything’s fine.  I was just helping out in a way that wouldn’t be a disaster.”

What?

Stepping aside, Shiro gestured for Hunk to step in.  Immediately, he could see that his poor kitchen was chaos.  Pidge and Keith were each manning a station while Lance directed like someone who didn’t actually know what they were doing, but at least knew better than anyone else in the room.  The sink was full of used pots, a couple of which had contents that still looked faintly charred.

“We told Coran that it was a special holiday today, and that we wanted to surprise you,” Shiro told him, still leaning against the doorway. He seemed to be content to cheerfully ignore the increasing chaos of the room.  “And that it would be completely inappropriate for us to accept his help.  So when he brings it up, play along, would you?”

Hunk smiled again, this time wider than he had before.  “I’ll try.”

“Hey!” Lance called cheerfully, proudly decked out in Hunk’s pink apron.  “We figured for once, we’d be the ones to cook for you.  We made your favorite!  Or, close to it.”  And, true to Lance’s word, Hunk could see candied fruits and pastries cooling on one of the specialized racks.  Something that smelled amazing similar to coconut wafted in the air, and he could see the remains of where they’d been frying.

That was...

Hunk felt his eyes prickle as he was ushered down to a table and chatter sprung up about what Lance had been making them cook, about training earlier and how much everyone hated the alarm wake-up calls.  The atmosphere was light and cheerful, and Hunk smiled through his watery eyes.

Lance had been right.  He’d judged too early.

It was a pretty good day after all.

[miniliew-blog]

Date:  Dec 15, 2019

Finally, it is our turn to go to vacation.

We will spent 3 days in Tottori, 3 days in Osaka and 2 days in Kyoto.

The following few blog entries will summarise our trip and itinerary.

This is the first time I get to test out my AirFly too.  A bluetooth device that will pair with your new AirPods 2.0 with noise cancellation feature.  For full review of this AirFly, search on my blog for the keyword “AirFly”.

We took the red-eye flight.  So, when the sun just come out, the moon is about to go down.

Zoom in.  I can’t see the moon.

This photo is taken at the Kansai Airport terminal when we touched down.

A security guard quickly walked towards us and demand me to “Delete” the photos that I just taken few secs ago.

Without arguing, I did so.

Few minutes later, Jay said: “Daddy, you know you can recover the photos from the Recent Deleted folders, right?”

I pretend I knew and actually I forgot totally about it.

So, I did so, recover the following photos.  Yeah, we arrived at Kansai Airport.

There is a small Pokemon shop at the Kansai Airport.  Don’t miss it.

We are taking this Airport Train to Shin-Osaka JR station.

After I changed my JR Pass (Kansai Wide 5-days Area Pass) which I bought it from Klook.  Very convenient.  You can walk to the JR office and change the pass.  They even print out the travel itinerary for you.

I didn’t even bother to take the reserved seats as I knew it will be quite empty the train.  Cart 1 and 2 are the free seatings.

And from there, we took the JR train to Tottori (鸟取).  Why tottori?  Well, I found out that tottori and surrounding is famous for it’s Sand Dunes and Starry night sky.  That is why I allocated 2 days to try my luck during winter time to see if I can capture the Starry nigh sky.

And off we go.

Took a we-fie before we board the train.

Got to take all these happy big smile photos.

OK, one thing in Japan is … the bento set meal are very popular.  Make sure you get a few of these from Shin-Osaka station before you board the train.

We have the Sukiyaki Bento of Omi beef, one of the three best beef in Japan.

It sure looks delicious.

I am having this.

Also very nice.  Got a “fake egg” too.

Happy face!

Very tasty meals.  But the one we took is cold meal.  Some meal have the heat pack underneath to heat it up.  Will introduce a few days later.

Lim ah….

Wow, along the way, Jay was shooting time lapse using his iPhone.

See what we found.  A “San Francisco Golden Bridge” look alike.

Frankly, I have not researched where we want to visit before booking the trip. I only know I want to see the Sand Dunes and the Starry sky.

So, mind as well take this time to serve the Internet on the things to see in Tottori.

Look what I found…

One of the largest Astro Observatory has a very big telescope lens.

Too bad, we not visiting there.  Not enough time.  Next trip perhaps.

Judging from the amount of clouds in the sky, I think my chance taking the photos of the starry sky is very very slim.

This is how many stop we pass thru to get to Tottori station.

Actually there are quite a number of places to visit in Tottori.  But because I only allocated two nights here with the first day being the traveling day, so, we won’t cover all these places.

And the Tottori state is really big.  From here to our hotel is 1 hour drive.

My mistake.  I thought it is very near, from the map, that is why I booked that hotel.

It is the most nicest hotel of the whole trip.  🙂

I have arranged a rented car from Nippon Rent-A-car.  The office is just about 700 meter away from the Tottori station.  So, we will be walking there with our luggages.

Along the way, we saw some flowers.  Or rather, cabbages.  hahah

It looks so pretty.  I already like this place after seeing these flowers on the street.

Nice.

And don’t forget that you need to have a International Driving License so to drive in Japan.  I didn’t get a chance to do mine, so, I will just use my wife one.  Means, my wife is the only driver for the journey.

You can rent a car any where, and it is good choice because you can see more things when you drive.  Instead of take buses, or trains and walk.

The only thing is we are lucky enough to fit those two big luggages into the car boot.  So, all these factors needed to be considered before you drive in Japan.

Rent a Prius is a good choice as it is hybrid.  For 3 days, we only uses 1000 yen of fuels.  Our hotel is 1 hour away and all point of interests is 30 min and 1 hour away.

We found AEON and of course, let the kids play the Pokemon arcade machine.  For 30 minutes.

Kids are good at gaming.  Even every thing is in Japanese, the kids some how will learn and know what to do in playing it.  Cool.

They played this 1-2 years ago and they remembered to bring their Pokemon cards along too.

Haiz.  Look at the sky.  Not much chance to see Starry Sky tonight.

Here we go.  The serious looking driver wife, and 3 happy boys.  Hahahaha

Oh ya, there is this App I strongly recommend.  But only will work on iPhone XR, XS, 11 and 11 Pro (i.e small and Max).

This app will take videos and photo using the front and rear camera at the same time.  Very cool.

Using Dualgram, I can make comment, see my own face and show you what I see in front of me at the same time.  Very cool.

Actually this program was written by one of my business partner during my Mediaring days.  And I found it a great idea and I have been using it ever since.

Passing by White Rabbit beach.

An hour drive to hotel and the view of sun setting is nice.

We driving on the coastal road.  So, being able to see the sea is very nice.

Look at the waves.  I bet you there must be people surfing the wave here.  And my hunch was correct.  See tomorrow blog journal to see the surfers.

The sunset is spectacular.

Sunset.  Without using the Dualgram.  Not so nice ya.  Better use Dualgram again later, so that I can see my own face and expressions.

Almost reaching hotel.  Driving on small roads now.

And we finally reach our hotel.  望湖楼 (See Lake building).  i.e. Hawai Onsen Hotel Bokoku.

It’s 5pm plus we reached the hotel.

Look what Kay Kay found.  A crab hat.

And this is our room.  Japanese style room.  And there is a window to look at the lake.  So, it is Lake view room.

There is a lake in front, so, we suppose to see stars.  But just too much clouds in the sky.

Hey, onsen is there.  The male and female onsen.  On the lake itself.

Since the weather is quite cold, I decided not to bring the kids out to that onsen.  We stay inside the hotel onsen.  Only mommy go to the outdoor onsen.

This is what I can see from the hotel.

And I can either open the windows to take photo or I can close the window to take photos.  Later I tell you how.

The scenes and the Japanese room.  And Jay is counting the ducks on the lake.

OK, getting darker.

Without delay.   Let’s go do Onsen.

Kay said the onsen is very nice as 1) it does not have very strong metallic taste and smell, 2) the temperature some how is around 37-38 degrees.  Not so hot.

Here comes mommy joining us.  She went outdoor to do the outdoor onsen.  There are 4x onsens in this hotel.  2x indoor and 2x outdoor.

As we ordered two nights of Kaiseki Dinner.  Better go to the restaurant on time.

And the dinner room has already been waiting for our arrival.

Let’s eat.

This is the menu.  Prepared by the master chef of the hotel.

Wow.

Everything simply looks delicious.

Some fusions.

This is the Tottori beef.  We going to grill it.

Another type of beef awaits for steaming.

The sashimi.

Chawanmushi.  So smooth.

The side dish.

Ordered this Sake.  Very nice.

Happy face.

We all wearing our onsen sleep wear and kan-bai!!!  Cheers.

Ya, Young Kai Kai also wants to cheer with me.

More food on the way.

This is the correct way.  Put the flowers into the soya sauce.

Here comes the tempura.  Very nice.

Start to grill my Tottori beef.

A bit over cook.  85% cooked.  But still taste nice.

Will not let that happen to my sukiyaki.

Wow, the beef onion soup.  That’s french.

Very nice.

The oden.  Not so fancy about it.

I guess we all are hungry.

Got jello too.

I guess we are thirsty too.  Ordered the second bottle.

After a full meal, let’s take a stroll.  Actually, I did that before the dinner with the kids, now, walk with my wife.

Sky is cloudy.  Could not see a star.

That’s our hotel.  Night view.

Before go to sleep, hang around at the lobby area, reading the magazine.  Wow, it seems like we going to miss all these point of interest.

So, we pretty much have in mind what we going to do tomorrow next day.

3PM in the morning

Somehow, my instinct woke me up at 3pm.  I move my lazy body and open the curtains.  Wow, there are some stars.

So, in the dark, I slowly bring out all my gears.

As it is cold, so, I intended to take the photos inside the room.

See that big huge rubber thingy?

That is the ULH.  Ultimate Lens Hood.  by Josh Smith.

What does it do?  See for yourself.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jsdesigns/the-ultimate-lens-hood

Yeap, I am taking photos from inside the room, using the ULH.

See how big it is?  It reduces the reflection to almost zero reflection.

No joke.  The sky is full of stars.

Mis-calculated my shuttle speed.

500 rules.  I am using the 9mm lens on Fujifilm X-H1 with crop factor of 1.5.  So, the maximum time I can expose my photo is 500/(9×1.5) = 38.46 seconds.

Why did I have an impression I can shoot for almost 60 seconds.  See, my stars are trailing inside the photos.

Our well, let’s process it anyway.  hahaha  This is the best photo I taken that has these stars.

So, imagine, if the clouds are not there?  What will you see, a sky full of stars.

This is another photos I take which is nice.

About to sun rise.

Playing with the settings.  Lights become stars.

That concludes our first day.

2nd day coming up soon.

  Japan 2019 – Tottori (Day 1) Date:  Dec 15, 2019 Finally, it is our turn to go to vacation. We will spent 3 days in Tottori, 3 days in Osaka and 2 days in Kyoto.

[missytina1974]

Marathon Day

It's taken a while to set about writing up perhaps the most important entry in my blog. There are a number of reasons for, firstly, in the few days following the marathon I was in a bit of a daze to be honest and then unfortunately developed tonsillitis which has knocked me out. Secondly, I knew it was going to be a long entry and I'd need time to do it properly. Anyway I'm starting to feel a bit better in body and mind so here goes for what could be a long post. Marathon morning I had a reasonable night sleep on Saturday evening but still woke up about 5.30 and eventually got up about 6 to start preparing. I'd bought several tubs of instant porridge with me to have in the hotel room for breakfast. I managed to eat one tub and thought I'd better try to eat a second as they're not that big. Half way through, I started to feel a bit sick so gave up. I did manage a banana and a cup of tea before I left too. I'd previously agreed with my family that I'd travel to the start line on my own as we understood that it can get really busy there so I said goodbye to them in the hotel room. It was quite emotional and I was practically in tears when I left them. As soon as I left the hotel I saw others on their way to the start, quite a strange sight early on a Sunday morning, even for London I'm sure. Heading into the underground, the number of runners everywhere seemed to multiply before my eyes. The tube was packed and we all sat there nervously for quite a few stops until the train pulled into Bank station and most of them got off, I had a moments panic, until I realised that they were obviously on the red start, not the blue like me. A handful of us were left on the train so I stuck close to another female runner so that I didn't get lost. I had a change of train at London Bridge which involved quite a walk to an overground station alongside the rather impressive Shard building. I have to say that getting to Blackheath for the start was really easy and stress free in the end. I left the hotel around 7.30 and arrived at 8.15. I was touched by the good luck messages I received on both social media and text, it was a real boost that morning. The Start A walk up the hill from Blackheath station and the start was in sight, it looked very different from how it looked yesterday! I passed through the security barriers and into start area, it was already full of runners. I duly posed for pictures from the official photographers who were pouncing on everyone as they entered. One of the lasting memories I will take away from the start area is the hysterical laughter from myself and fellow female runners when using the female urinals provided. Under no other circumstances would most of us have even contemplated using them but needs must. Words in my head when I think of them now; cardboard funnels, plastic buckets, bare bums, foofs, laughter, squatting.... Anyway I used them three times whilst at the start area. I sat on the grass and had a free cup of tea and another banana before depositing my kit bag on one of the many lorries lined up on the side. I listened to the start of the wheelchair and women's elite races on the big screen before heading off to my start pen (via the urinals again). I was in pen 9 which means I was at the back of the pack, accompanied by other slow runners and those in fancy dress but was more than happy with that. With helicopters overhead, discarded sweaters strewn everywhere and a general air of nervous anticipation we slowly edged forward. It took me 16 minutes to actually cross the official start. The Race I didn't see any Royals, I guess they'd already left by the time I went over the start. It was quite crowded to start with but not as bad as I anticipated. The nervous air was broken within the first few hundred yards when an zealous supporter shouted out 'keep going, you're nearly there', we all burst out laughing and it certainly relaxed the mood a little. The first few miles of the course are primarily through residential areas, there were masses of people cheering on from the pavement and their gardens. It became apparent to me very quickly that I should have put my name on the front of my running vest rather than the back because I didn't get many cheers at all for quite some time, lesson learned! I had to stop for a toilet break at mile 2, I think I queued for about 5 minutes so not too bad. The weather wasn't kind to me on the first half of course and by that I mean that the sun was out in full force and it felt incredibly hot, something that I'm not used to running in and made it feel very tiring. I also noticed a slightly uncomfortable feeling in my left shoe quite early on but tried to ignore this. The blue start merged with the red start runners around mile 3 on a downhill stretch, there were certainly a greater volume of numbers coming from the red area to the blue. I made a calculated decision in my head to take advantage of any downhill stretches and let the gradient do the work for me, there weren't that many though as the course is relatively flat. I couldn't wait to see my family around mile 5 and was on the look out for them from about mile 4, determined not to miss them. Thankfully I didn't and managed to spot them and got a hug too. One of the most noticeable things about the first half of the course is the amount of pubs there are. Us runners can actually smell the booze as we plod past! Another marathon moment I will take away, is the first sight I had of Cutty Sark. I always remember watching the marathon on the TV as a child and seeing the runners file past the iconic ship, so when it came into sight, my whole body when tingly and goosebumps for a few seconds. This is also the first place I encountered a blind runner running with a guide which was quite humbling. I seem to recall that Greenwich was also the first place that many of the charity supporters pitched themselves so the noise going through Greenwich village was tremendous. I gave a wave to the Hospice UK gang here. Just before the half way point, I crossed Tower Bridge, another charity cheer point and absolutely amazing in terms of noise and support. Another runner was just behind me, Morris Dancing his way across the bridge to masses of applause, I heard him before I saw him. As I came off the bridge, there were course photographers but I didn't see them until it was too late so sadly didn't catch any. I saw my family and friends just after this again which was fantastic and gave me a real buzz. I was at this point feeling quite tired, although apparently I didn't look like it in the video they took of me. I left them feeling a little down hearted as I didn't expect to see them again until mile 25 which felt a long way off. It's also this point where the course overlaps with itself and you get to see other runners who are at least 9-10 miles ahead of you on the last stretch, I can't tell you how much your mental toughness needs to come into play at this point. I saw a pace maker on the other side with a flag stating his pace was 3.30, I also noticed a red pace maker in front of me going in my direction with a time of 5.15, which for a second I thought was amazing until I did the maths and realised the pace maker must be running really slow (or as I worked out post race, didn't cross the start line until well after I did). After the half way point, something in my head decided to walk a little, apart from my toilet stop I'd run up to this point. It's like breaking the seal, once you've broken it, you have to keep going back so I spent the rest of the race run / walking which in hindsight perhaps I didn't need to do as much as I did. From mile 13 to mile 18, the course heads down to the isle of dogs and Canary Wharf area and from everything I'd heard beforehand this was a quieter area of the course in terms of spectators. I have to say though, apart from a couple of short stretches where you run through a road tunnel, I didn't notice any drop in support and in fact one of the noisiest points on the course was the stretch in front of Canary Wharf. I also got a lovely surprise in seeing my family and friends here when I wasn't expecting to, again a fabulous boost. As you'd expect, one of the noticeable things on the course is the multiplying number of runners needing first aid as the course progresses. I had to try not to think about this too much as I ran, I'm sure it could seriously damage your mental robustness if you pay to much attention to them. I do recall a particular runner in a dog costume, who I'd also seen at the start line, being given first aid, I guess the heat got to him. The admirable St Johns Ambulance workers were also throughout the course offering Vaseline to runners, fortunately I never felt the need to take this up. During the second half run/walking, I must say that at times it felt more comfortable to run than it did to walk. For some reason when I'm running I can't feel the aches and pains as much as when I'm walking and once I'd walked for a bit, it was much harder to get into a good running rhythm again. When I hit the stretch where the course overlaps itself again, I didn't see other runners heading in the other direction, I saw the road sweepers cleaning up the streets. With the exception of one lady who was running alongside the road sweepers with a medical nose tube in, absolutely in awe of that. I'm not sure how I can say this but I didn't hit the dreaded wall, in fact, once I'd got past about 18-19 miles I got much more relaxed, I guess because at that point I knew I'd finish. For the long stretch of the embankment I spent much of it feeling sick, the sort of sick when you've eaten too many sweets, the sports gels were biting back! I was expecting to see my family and friends here somewhere but sadly didn't. I did get offered a glass of Pinot Grigio by a spectator who had shouted out that we were close enough to the finish now it wouldn't matter, I declined. The Finish The noise of the crowds along the last few miles is deafening particularly as you approach parliament and Buckingham Palace, the distance seemed to disappear beneath my feet and before I knew it I was heading down Birdcage Walk and on to The Mall. It's slightly disappointing that the crowds did thin out right near the finish but I guess this was inside the security area so understandable at the moment. I'm glad to say that I ran for about the last mile and then across the finish line. My medal was given to me almost immediately, which I duly posed with for the course photographer. I also took a picture of my medal and sent it straight to my husband and my friend. It amazing to think that all those hours of training boils down to a piece of metal at the end which everyone wants more than anything else. I collected my goodie bag which was surprisingly heavy, then on to collect my kit bag and out of the finish area in less than 10 minutes. The End I had arranged to meet my family in the meet and greet area where the Hospice UK would be meeting, after a quick phone call with my husband I headed out to find them. It was at this point, I realised how much my feet and hips were aching, my legs weren't too bad. Seeing my family and friends was fantastic, I'm so thankful to have had such good support and they also bought me fizz and chocolate. One of the first things I wanted to do was remove my trainers so with the help of my daughter and friends they took my shoes and socks off. It was at this point I realised what I had noticed way back near the start; a blister the size of a large grape of the side of my foot, ouch! I sat down on the ground and devoured an apple from my goodie bag, best apple I've tasted in a long time. Post Race After being pulled up from the ground, we walked to find a pub, apparently I'd earned a drink! We managed to find somewhere not too far and I did enjoy that glass of wine, oh and a packet of slat and vinegar crisps. Whilst sat in the pub, I did notice a strange smell every now and then and thought at first it was the pub until I realised it was actually me, pretty darn gross. It was at this point, I sadly said goodbye to my friends but still overwhelmed that they came to cheer me on. My family and I headed back to the hotel where I had a much needed shower and glass of champagne. Sadly we didn't plan dinner very well and ended up with takeaway pizza in the hotel room but not before walking a few miles to an unopened Pizza Express. For Fitbit friends, I ended up doing 73000 steps that day. I had over 80 notifications on my Facebook page that evening but was so spent I couldn't read through them, it wasn't until tea time the next day whilst waiting for plane home that I finally got to read them all. Blown away by all of them, particularly by one from my husband that I'd no idea he'd written. Lastly, I'm astounded by how much I've managed to raise for Ty Hafan, I had no expectations beforehand but so far have over £1100 in donations, which is so amazing. I can't thank those people who sponsored me enough, in fact, some of them I can't thank personally so if you did donate anonymously, I really do appreciate it. Thinking of the money I'd raised was one of the many things that kept me moving around the course. I'm signing off for tonight, it's late...

[runningaddiction]

The Endless Hills - Trail des Gueules Noires Race Report

Going to start off this race report with a PSA about integrity. Cutting the course or cheating is still cutting the course no matter if you’re in 1st place or 100th place! This may have happened in races I’ve done in the past, but I was never an eye witness or had direct knowledge of it. In the Trail des Gueules Noires (Trail of the Miners) I witnessed ultrarunners knowingly cut the course because they didn’t want to back track and do the right thing.

I couldn’t believe it. I did realize that the group of runners I was with was in approximately 90-100th place and didn’t have much of a chance to win at that point but that still doesn’t matter when it comes to integrity or sportsmanship.  

There was good group of us following the “main” trail and passed several Red/White striped flags and that should’ve been the first sign for me to stop and turn around. However, I chose to keep going with the crowd. We went off course for about four minutes according to my Strava. Then we hit the course again. Every other runner that was with me, choose to do the wrong thing and just continued on with others in the race that had been on course.

I choose to turn around and try to find where I went off course. Understandably, I probably lost a few places in the race, but I didn’t want to compromise my integrity. I also was able to catch a few others runners that had only been off course for a minute or two; they choose to go back and find the course with me.  

Throughout the whole race I went off course three times. It was really messing with me because this is the first race that I have gotten lost even once. Getting off track definitely taught me the lesson of making the hard right decision to go back and get back on course, plus who wants to go the wrong way?

The next thing I wanted to bring up was that this race, “Alex Bridgeforth’d” me. If you have ever trained with me for more than a day, then you’ll know that some (probably my only) good stories are from what I like to call “adventures” with previous training partners. These “adventures” are generally really hard or stupid training runs/rides/hikes/death-marches that I’ve pulled/pushed old training partners through. This may make this post longer than it needs to be but I am going to list the ones I can find in my training record.  

Might have to write a post that dives deeper into each one of these or you could just ask me when we go out for a run together.

Robbie and I supposed to be doing an eight mile run for our scheduled Sunday training run, but turning it in 26 miles;

Keith and I running eight and half miles from home in Lakeside to School in El Cajon starting at 12:18 in the middle of the day at the end of May. This resulted in one of my more inspirational pictures.

Zion and I supposed to be doing an 8ish mile trail run that turned into 16 miles because we got lost; somehow running off of Fort Gordon.

Jerad, Chris, Brad, and I doing our own marathon around Fort Gordon. I completed a 50km that day, needed add a bit extra on the end apparently.

Zion and I deciding to do our own duathlon. We road 9 miles through Fort Huachuca to the base of Huachuca Mountain, ran 5 miles up it with 1,680’ of gain, 5 miles back down, and a 9 mile ride back home.

Derrick and I doing 12 mile trail run in Phoenix starting at 9:28am in August, and Derrick having no water…

Me talking Zion into a 64 mile bike ride around the Huachuca Mountains.

Zion and I doing the Surge Saturday 53 mile ride in Sierra Vista, AZ. Zion didn’t eat dinner or breakfast prior to the ride and only brought 1 Gu…

Doing a 50k Race with Keith and Joseph, 1 week after my wedding.

Doing 14 miles at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait with Angel E. in a Sand storm.

Eric, Matt, Michael, Zion and I riding 77 miles around Augusta, GA to complete the Strava Gran Fondo challenge. Only a few cramps later and we all got it done.

Tony, Chris, and I riding 70 miles around the small towns west of Sulzbach-Rosenberg and Amberg.

Bottom line is this race “Alex Bridgeforth’d” me well. Whoever the course designer was made this course as hard as it could be. If you ever gone out for a “hard” run with me you would know that I generally try to string together the hardest climbs or hills in an area, because why not. This race would not stop, the hills didn’t stop coming until the very end.

Stepping back a bit, I want to bring up our stay at the Radisson in Liege, Belgium. I have to include this story if only for my future sanity. 9 times out of 10, Angel and I will stay in an Airbnb with the boys. One of the reasons that we will choose that route, even more now, is the reaction of our “neighbors” and one of the employees. We arrived into the town late the night before the race and Ashur was super tired and didn’t want to stop crying. This resulted in the people staying in the room next to ours pounding on the connecting door then meeting me outside and telling me that she can’t sleep because of the crying baby.  

I have not been that upset at a random person in a long time. I was just thinking like what do you want me to do? Choke him? So I felt like I did the right thing and took him to the stairwell, where even though the sound may bounce, he’ll have a chance to calm down without ruining any more Belgians’ precious sleep. But no, one of the employees came up and asked me if I could get him to stop crying because it was bouncing off the walls. That was it, I finally just put on a YouTube video for Ashur and told Angel what happened when I got back to our room.

Back to the race: With my nutrition for the race, I chose, well I didn’t really have a choice. In the morning I had a local european “energy” bar. We were kind of late getting up, trying to get both boys up and out the hotel door.

I was planning on using Tailwind and 33 shake during the race. I planned on the normal 200 calorie Tailwind pack with one 16oz collapsible water bottle per hour and also take in a 90 calorie Chia Seed “Gu” from 33 shake every hour. I had tried 33 shake before once in training, so I guess that counts as not trying something new on race day.

I think my nutrition went pretty well, I probably need to start bringing something to eat in the middle of races. I wanted real food by the time I got to the two aid stations in the 33 mile race. The first aid station I was at about 2.5 - 3 hours into the race and I definitely needed fuel at that point. I also need to get more collapsible bottles, Angel could’ve had some and we could’ve easily switched out at the aid station. The 33 shake worked well, but I didn’t have enough to take it in the latter stages of the race, that was a failure on my part.

 I saw potato chips at the first aid station and of course those are my favorite "bad for you" aid station food. So by the time I was getting close to the second aid station I had my mind set on getting some. The problem with that is that I definitely had too many there. One handful of chips is probably enough, but I had probably four to five maybe more. I need to find some kind of salty snack that is more healthy that will get me through my urge to have chips. Also, I drank 2-3 cups of Coke, which I don’t think hurt me. I generally drink Coke the last 25 to 33% of every race. It helps settle my stomach and gives a nice caffeine boost as well. I may have had only one stomach cramp throughout the race which came near the end. Overall, I think I was pretty solid nutritionally, which was surprising. I think a lot of that had to do with my pacing though.

Pacing, I decided before the race, I wanted to do the first 2/3 of the race at MAF, or for me (180 minutes your age) is 142-152 heart rate range. My goal was to keep it in that range on the flats and downhills. For the uphills, I knew there was going to be a lot of them, but I had know idea how many, my goal was just to push as hard as I could power hiking, which most of the time meant I was higher than my MAF.  

I feel that is ok in my mind because one of the ideas of MAF is that you’re saving blood from having to always be pushing  to your legs and you can let your stomach actually process some fat while your running. When you’re just hiking, your stomach isn’t jostling as much. Your stomach is able to settle and calm down more. I power hiked a lot, there seemed to be no flats. Maybe... maybe, 10% of the race was flat enough to get any kind of rhythm going.

I planned to pick up the pace starting last 33% of the race at mile 23. That didn’t happen, there was so many vertical or straight up and down hills. If you can imagine a big hill to your left with no trail then that was probably where the race was headed. I felt it was impossible to get a faster pace going. I just kept working at the MAF on flats and downhills and power hiking the uphills as fast as I could go. At that point my legs were so shot it was just a fight for every step to pass people or just having the terrain slaughter my legs even more.

I need to use Angel and the boys as more of a race cheer leading crew rather than a race pit crew. In the past, we have struggled, causing Angel stress dealing with the boys and dealing with my nutrition. So this race I decided that I was going to bring all my nutrition in my Salomon pack with me. Instead of using her to help me focus on making sure I had everything I needed, I could do that and she could focus on the boys and getting to the next aid station to see me and relaxing and hanging out and helping only when I actually got to the aid station versus having to try to fight to remember everything that I needed

I think it worked out almost perfect. If I had some extra bottles, I could’ve given those to her with some extra tailwind with no expectation that she have it ready unless she felt that she had the time when she got the next aid station. But I would still maintain all the nutrition I need. I plan on keeping that strategy for the next race. I think the aid stations being spread out like they were and even if there are more than I need to choose some for her that are at about the 2- 2.5 hour mark, so she doesn’t feel so rushed.

Another big thing in all the races I’ve done here in Europe is that everyone else speaks a different language which makes me feel like I’m running solo. At least there are other runners around, but it still catches you off guard because I’m used to being able to have a full conversation with the other runners around me. Also, since I’ve been living in Germany, I’ve gotten better at listening and speaking it, I know some questions to ask and certain things to say. This race was in Belgium, where they speak primarily French and I speak/know almost zero french. Like, zero zero.  

   One of the hard things with all these races is breaking through the language barrier, because you can’t expect everyone to speak english. That’s just the way it is. Even running along with people they will speak German or French to you and look at you like you’re crazy because you have no idea what they just said and because I don’t even know what to say back to them. A lot of it is trying to convey to them that all I can speak is english, so if they want to converse at all then its going to have to be in english or broken english. I was able to talk to a few different people about where they were from but its difficult for me and them to converse.

   It’s always difficult running a race and not having anyone to talk to except your crew at the aid station. The race really becomes about trying to focus and stay internal. Another big thing I did this race was the last 33% I put my headphones. That always helps deal with the time. Using music as reward has always helped me out, holding out on listening to it till a certain point will be motivation to get to that point quicker. I use an app called Pace DJ which sets most of the music in my iTunes to a specific cadence that I chose, which helps keeps my feet moving.  

Now a little section about gear. Start from bottom to the top. I decided to run in my Pearl Izumi Trail N1. If you don’t know, then Pearl Izumi recently decided to stop producing running gear in 2017. When I heard the news I went out and got two pairs of the Trail N1s. These were my work horse shoes a couple of years ago, so I figured I would give them a chance again. I wore them in my 100 mile race in 2013 and they worked well then. They worked out fine here in Belgium, no blisters, although from all the ups and down there is some tenderness in my forefeet and just normal foot fatigue. However, that can also come from the miles that Angel and I walked around Brussels that evening and the next few days as well. Shoes were no issue and I will continue to use them until it’s time to change them out.  

For socks, I always stick with Swiftwick, I have used Injinji before and I know a lot of friends use them, but Swiftwick has never let me down, and I like that they are made in America and I rock the American flag on them. I don’t really have to mess with my feet, no cream or powder, I still got no blisters, Just throw on Swiftwicks and shoes.  

The race was about 35-40 degrees the whole way. Early on I decided to wear tights, but as the sun started to come out in the morning and with how hard I was planning on going throughout the race, I decided to go with shorts. I had brought my reliable Lululemon ones, with sewn in compression shorts, body glide in the nether regions and shorts work like a charm. Legs didn’t too cold going as hard I was the entire race.  

On the top I chose to go with my Ink 'n Burn christmas sweater tech t. I had originally planned on wearing my lightweight jacket from Salomon, but about 5 miles into the race I took the jacket off. I was able to pull it off through my pack and stuff it away. By the end of the race when the sun was going down or when I was farther back into the woods, it did start to get a bit chilly, but that probably helped push me. A lot of people were wearing jackets, but not this guy.

I had my normal Merino Wool, Smart Wool liners on for gloves, they work well, my hands will sometimes get cold in them, but they wick moisture pretty well. I brought Julbo glasses, put them on for a bit and then put them on my head which probably looked dorky because the sun only came out for a few minutes the whole day. I started off with my Mountain Hardware fleece cap to cover my head, but that came off early in the race as well, I put on one of my Buffs on as a headband. My head did get cold by the end of the race, but again, more motivation to get to the end of the race.

The last big thing I wanted to talk about, which I kind of alluded to in the “getting Alex Bridgeforth’d”, is the hills. You can look at the course profile online and see some hills, but it felt way worse than it looks. It reminded me of some of the parks in the hill county of Texas where it's hill after hill and they never give you a break. This race course felt like if you just continuously pointed at the hardest hill you could see and chose to go run up it. When you got done with that hill, you look for the next hardest one and you were on your way they and it never stopped.

Overall, I always feel bad here in Europe, compared to in the United States, I am much slower against the field here. At this race I finished 102 out of 192. Which is part of the bottom half, in my mind I don’t like. I am not happy with that result. Normally in the states, I run in the top 25%, and it is not like I have lost a lot of fitness. There is nothing against being slow, it just seems “slow” people don’t run ultra marathons here in Europe. I need to keep working on climbs with my “A” race next year being Zugspitze Ultratrail, super hilly, super technical. I definitely need to get back to hill training rather than just doing loop trails.

If you made it this far, thanks for reading all 3,097 words. Probably my longest post yet.

Call for Comments: How did your last race go?

- Alex

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