#tried one of the recipes he highlighted and it turned out great

[chopshajen]

12-1.

I’ve been watching a lot of B. Dylan Hollis’s vids on YouTube and he has such a fun, expressive face I wanted to sketch it :D

Alrighty the first daily drawing of this month is a day late but we’re still doing it!! Excited for December and making things regularly again :3

[rebelliousstories]

Cranberry

25 Days of Ficmas

Relationship: Pete “Maverick” Mitchell x Reader

Fandom: Top Gun

Request: No

Warnings: Fluff, Mentions of Death, Light Angst

Word Count: 2,100

Masterlist: Here

Summary: A certain unusual flavor that has held a special spot in the Mitchell and Bradshaw family every Christmas.

Christmas 1985

“Alright! I’m here! I’m here! I’ve got the goods!” Pete’s loud voice rang out into the government issued housing known as, the Bradshaw abode. A two foot tall blur came barreling towards his knees, and it was only a split second decision that still kept them in tack. He grabbed the youngest Bradshaw and hoisted him hip on to his hip.

“Uncle Pete!” Bradley exclaimed, hugging his favorite uncle. The man hugged him close, never once letting go of the boy or the bags in his hand.

“Hey bud! Oh, I missed you.” His words were music to the woman’s ears as a certain blonde haired lady rounded the corner.

“Pete!” Carol exclaimed, piling on to the hug that was started without her. Maverick took one arm and wrapped it around her, while pressing a brotherly kiss to her cheek.

“Hey Carol.” Pete took a deep breath in, finally enjoying being able to relax a bit with his closest friends.

“Oh, so this is where everyone went.” One more set of arms piled on to the group hug and encompassed them all.

“Hi sweetie.” Pete teased at his taller friend.

“Hiya hun.” Nick threw back at him. The one great thing about their friendship, is that each one could give as good as they got. But they were there to enjoy time as a family. Slowly but surely, each layer peeled away to reveal the bags that were still in Pete’s hands.

“Oh, I’m so sorry. Should’ve taken these first, Pete. Here let me get those.” Carol tried to reach for the bags, but Maverick went head and stepped towards the kitchen to set them down. As he did, he felt Bradley being pulled from his arms by Goose, allowing him to move freely.

“I got it, Carol. Just tell me where you want stuff.” He offered, watching the woman fight every bone in her body not to take over.

“I just… well, alright.” While Carol and Maverick were busy in the kitchen, Bradley and Goose were busy playing with each other in the living room. A huge tree sat in the corner, complete with lights, ornaments, garland and other pretty decorations. It provided endless hours of entertainment as Bradley was still so little. He was amazed by the lights and colors coming from the tree.

Meanwhile in the kitchen, Pete and Carol were having a blast doing the last minute preparations for their big Christmas dinner. Turning the giant turkey in the oven and basting it, toasting up some Hawaiian rolls, making the side dishes, and most importantly making the cranberry sauce. It was the one thing that Carol always insisted on making from scratch herself. An old family recipe that had been passed down for generations. It had become a staple of any holiday meal, or even one made on special occasions.

The family sat down for their meal, and Carol set the cranberry sauce delicately down on their table. For the rest of the night, there was conversation, laughter and entertainment in general. The cranberry sauce was always the highlight of the meal. No one was allowed to know exactly what or how much of anything was put into the sauce, but none of them cared. No one cared what she put in the sauce, only that it was delicious and a staple of their table.

//

Christmas 2020

“Babe! I’m back from the store. I got everything you needed.” A feminine voice rang out, carrying bags into the home. Pete wiped his hands down on a rag before stepping out into the foyer to help her with them.

“Thank you for getting these, dear. It really helped.” Maverick grabbed majority of the bags and pressed a loving kiss to his partners lips, before moving to the kitchen to prepare the very last thing they had to make. An old, and worn recipe card laid on the counter amongst all the ingredients that they needed for this particular dish.

“You’re welcome, Mav. Do you need or want any help?” She wrapped her arms around his body and pressed another kiss in between his shoulder blades. Maverick pressed his hands to her arms, yet shook his head.

“No, I got this. You go ahead and get ready for company. I’ll take care of this.” And with that, Maverick stayed in the kitchen while his lover went off to go get ready. He tried to follow the recipe as closely as he could, but these were written in not quite so accurate measurements. Finally, he understood when she used to say, “southern measurements.” It confused him to no end. A pinch, a smidge, a helping; these did not make sense. How much were each of them? By the time he finished the batch, his lover appeared from their bedroom, looking refreshed and festive in her brilliant red sweater.

“Mav, you okay honey?” Her hands trailed up his arms while he was standing over the pot on the stove.

“Will you taste this?” Pete gave the spoon with a small helping of the sauce to her lips. When she tasted it though, her face scrunched up in displeasure.

“How is it both too sweet and too salty?” She questioned, staring at the offensive cranberry sauce.

“I don’t know. I can’t understand these measurements so it didn’t turn out like I had hoped.” Maverick admitted, thrusting the card in front of her eyes. They scanned over the card and turned to her partner with a certain mischievous grin.

“Would you like me to help?” She teased, already getting to work on restarting their work station.

“If you think you can do better, be my guest.” He waved his arm to the mess he had made. She worked to first clean and dispose of the cranberries that had been used already, before setting up to try again.

As she read the recipe card, and followed the corresponding instructions, Pete was suddenly thrust back to all those years ago. Every Christmas and Thanksgiving where he watched Carol move around the kitchen to make this simple dish. He had a hard time shaking the memories of Carol and her loud, obnoxious singing that would inevitably bring him and Goose into. The way she would dance with Nick in the kitchen as she finished up their meals, or after them.

His mind blended them together, unable to discern one from the next. It brought him a sense of comfort that he had not felt since her untimely death. She seemed to understand the writings on the small piece of paper, as her movements never slowed preparing the dish. Turning off the stove, she set the pot off to the side to cool and grabbed a new spoon to scoop out a bit of the sauce to try. She blew on it to cool it down even faster and after several attempts to eat it, it was finally the perfect temperature for her to sample. Letting out a pleased hum, she grabbed another spoon and gave it to Maverick. He, too, stuck it in the cooling pot, and blew on it a few times before bringing it to his lips to enjoy. But he could not enjoy it. All that he could do was keep tears at bay. Noticing her lover bent over the counter with the heels of his palms in his eyes, she set her spoon down and wrapped her arms around the pilot.

“Mav, what’s wrong?” She asked, and he heard, but he could not bring any words to his lips.

“Pete?” She pried once more, and got an embrace in return. The man had turned around and brought her into his arms, while placing his head into the crook of her neck. There was no noise from the man, but there was a wet spot slowly forming on her sweater from where his head laid. She did not try to get him to talk anymore, just stroked a hand through his hair and over his back as he worked through whatever he was feeling at the moment. His tears slowed, as did the shake in his shoulders, to a point where he felt comfortable enough to pull his head from her neck. Pete wiped his hands across his face, trying desperately to remove the evidence of tears, however her hands caught the few stragglers that were still falling.

“I’m sorry. That just… that tastes exactly like how Carol made it every year. And your mannerisms are so similar in the kitchen. I’m sorry.” Tears welled up in Maverick’s eyes, but none dared fall. That was until she returned her hands to his face to cup it so gingerly.

“You have nothing to be sorry for, Mav. It’s okay to miss her. It’s okay to still hurt when you think about her.” She assured him, stroking gently over his cheeks. Pete grabbed her hands in his, and turned to place a soft kiss to each palm, before taking the hands from his face and holding her close.

“Thank you.” He whispered, leaning in to steal a kiss straight from the source. She wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders, and enjoyed the feeling of closeness with her lover before they both were drawn away by the sound of a door opening. Turning in his arms, the couple watched a young mustachioed pilot walk through the door, taking off his boots, and removing his sunglasses.

“Mav?” He called out. The couple turned back to each other, and disengaged to go greet the man. Bradley stood in a Christmas patterned Hawaiian shirt, which Maverick was shocked he could even find but he guessed anything was possible with the internet now. Once the couple came into view, the woman ran up and greeted him.

“Bradley! So good to have you here.” She hugged him close, and he allowed himself the small bit of affection.

“Good to be here, Mrs. M.” He responded, only drawing back when she did.

“Bradley.” Pete now greeted, with a handshake, but that quite got drawn into a hug as well.

“Uncle Pete.” Both men knew what he said, but neither dwelled on it for too long. They pulled away as well, and went to the table. Both men grabbed plates of food, and set them down on the table. However, Bradley was stunned to notice the homemade cranberry sauce on the table. It looked so similar to-

“Alright, boys. Dig in.” Everyone went to work plating and serving themselves the bountiful feast before them. The couple placed a little bit of cranberry sauce on their plates, but when Pete passed the dish to Bradley, he refused.

“Sorry. I don’t like cranberry sauce.” He dismissed the plate that was still in the older pilot’s grip.

“Just try it, Bradley. Trust me.” Thy stared into each other’s eyes for a moment, before the younger pilot took the dish from Maverick, and dished some onto his plate. The couple watched Rooster as he tore off a chunk of bread and reluctantly ate the cranberry sauce on his plate; wanting to get it out of the way to hopefully wash down the store bought taste with the rest of his food. But this did not taste store bought. This tasted homemade. This tasted exactly like the cranberry sauce he ate growing up when his mom was still alive.

He could not believe what was in front of him now. In disbelief, he stared at Pete, who simply nodded his head with a wide grin plastered on his face. Turning, Pete’s lover was staring nervously at the man, hoping she did it justice.

“Did you make this?” Rooster whispered, fearing if he raised his voice even a little bit, that he would break whatever spell this one little dish had over him.

“Mav found an old recipe card that your mom had when she would make this. He tried to make it but he can’t read southern measurements like a woman can.” She joked, jabbing her eyes towards said man teasingly. Bradley vaguely heard a, “they’re so confusing,” and “not real measurements,” from the man, but his ears were rushing, drowning out all sound. Eventually, he took another bite, and another, and another, till there was no more sauce on his plate. It tasted like home. A home he had lost and never found his way back to yet.

“Thank you.” Bradley looked the woman in the eyes, hoping that his sincerity came across as much as he felt it. She rubbed his shoulder from here she sat, and everyone turned back to their meal.

[starrygnome]

Hi, Everyone ^__^

I recently started the Joy of Life challenge, after watching some gameplay on youtube. I wanted to give it a try. Here are some Highlights so far :)

The House is by Nae - i recently watched her JOL series (fairly new) and I really loved how they made the house and wanted something similar to the size and having the bakery on the lot before moving to a bigger lot. I tried to build myself the house before i found her. So, I tried to recreate the lot. Credit is to Nae :)

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

Meet The Baker

Name: Thea Daily  

Age:Young Adult  

Aspiration: Master Baker  / Home Chief

Traits: Ambitious, Outgoing, Clumsy, Foodie , Cheerful and Pretty 

Star Sign: Scorpio

Career: Baker / Entrepreneur  

Homeworld: Tartosa

Backstory:

Thea Daily has always been enchanted by the magic of baking. Growing up in a small town, she spent countless hours in her grandmother’s kitchen, learning the secrets of creating delectable pastries and mouth-watering breads. Her grandmother’s warmth and wisdom shaped Thea’s dream of one day opening her own bakery. Now, as a young adult, she’s ready to turn that dream into reality in the idyllic town of Tartosa, a place known for its romantic ambiance and vibrant community.

Thea’s bakery, "Sweet and Spice Bakery," is set to become the heart of Tartosa. With its charming storefront and inviting aroma of fresh-baked goods, it promises to be a haven for locals and tourists alike. Thea pours her heart into every creation, infusing her treats with both sweetness and a hint of spice, just like her personality.

When she’s not busy perfecting her recipes, Thea is out and about, embracing Tartosa’s lively social scene. She loves meeting new people and is always up for an adventure. Her outgoing nature leads her to explore the town, attend local festivals, and go on blind dates, each one filled with the possibility of finding true love.

Despite her bubbly exterior, Thea is deeply ambitious and driven. She dreams of not only running a successful bakery but also of finding someone who shares her passion and zest for life. However, life in Tartosa is full of surprises. Will Thea find her forever partner who appreciates her for who she is, or will unexpected turns lead her down a different path?

As Thea navigates her career and personal life, she faces the possibility of single parenthood. While this prospect is daunting, her resilient spirit and supportive community give her the strength to embrace whatever the future holds. Whether she finds love or forges a fulfilling life on her own, Thea’s journey is one of passion, perseverance, and the pursuit of happiness.

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

Living her best life...

Thea signed up on Fruity Sim Dating App. To meet friends, and casual one night stands. She met her first best friend turn boyfriend and during their time together it was great and fun. But Thea thoughts of what is our relationship? where do we go from here? So, she sat down Callen to have that conversation and decide to temporary separate. Only a few weeks later she ended things with him through a break up text.

Now during this time she actually met her Soulmate, Paolo Rocco a townie from Windenburg. She had a fling with him for awhile but nothing more came from it. Thea went on more blind dates and casual outings. She met a few guys, one became a friends with benefits Vance Nicholson.

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

Thea & Nasir untold Future?

Thea and Nasir had always known they were different in some ways, but their love for each other bridged those gaps. One evening, after a particularly lively celebration of Thea's bakery's first anniversary, Thea started feeling unwell. Concerned, Nasir insisted they visit the doctor. 

After the initial rounds of tests and checkups, the doctor dropped a bombshell: Thea was pregnant. Nasir's initial reaction was shock. He had been clear about not wanting children; the risks of his profession were too high, he argued. Thea, on the other hand, had always dreamed of having a family. 

Their conversations grew strained as Nasir withdrew, grappling with the news. Thea, torn between the love for Nasir and her desires to bring up children.

-----------

Nasir Randolph created by simkhira

Sorry for the long post xD

[sshbpodcast]

Well, Season 2 of Enterprise deescalated quickly

by Ames

After an extremely underwhelming season one of Enterprise, your hosts here at A Star to Steer Her By were over the moon to see season two start out with some material that got us actually excited. New ideas? Character moments? Actual stakes? Was this season going to make up for the recycled ideas, boring premises, and missed opportunities of the first?

And then the season went immediately downhill with some of the worst Trek we’ve seen since The Animated Series. Archer might be our pissiest captain to date. T’Pol is so constantly sexualized that it makes our stomachs turn. Every time Mayweather tries to get a line, he’s conveniently injured so we don’t need to have him appear in scenes. Are we being too hard on Enterprise? There is some good stuff, as you’ll see below and in our discussion on this week’s podcast episode (jump to 1:03:49) as we wrap the season with our usual top and bottom episodes, but we’re feeling frustrated. I guess we don’t have faith of the heart.

[images © CBS/Paramount]

Top Three Episodes

We’re starting with Tops this time because we have stronger emotions over this season’s Bottoms list, so we’ll get to those in a minute. There were still some highlights (or at least higher-lights), and you’ll notice that the best of them are clustered around the beginning of the season:

“Judgment”: Caitlin Like in season one when we got episodes with Jeffrey Combs, Ethan Philips, and Fionnula Flanagan, a Trek-experienced guest star can redeem an otherwise standard plot. Sure, “Judgment” treads a lot of the same ground we’ve trod before, but J.G. Hertzler as Advocate Kolos is something new for Klingon culture and he chews the scenery so well!

“Regeneration”: Jake We love us a good Borg episode, and this one pulls it off. You could argue that Borg don’t belong in a prequel series, and you’d probably be right, but the tension created throughout this episode, the creepy environment we find ourselves in, the clever way the writers got around the canon issue, and the sense that there were actual stakes for a change are all commendable. Resistance is futile.

“Singularity”: Chris Like a “The Naked Time” or a “The Naked Now,” this one really thrives on how committed all of the actors are to their respective bits. Most of the plot feels like filler – an anomaly of the week affects the crew in weird ways; we’ve seen this a million times – but there’s just something about watching Trip fixate over a chair and Hoshi obsess over her soup recipe that’s just so charming we can’t help but enjoy it.

“Minefield”: Ames Of all our main crewmembers, Lieutenant Reed remains the most vague, and this episode makes us fully okay with that! We get a glimpse into his stiff-upper-lip brand of British Gumption™ paired with the stress his family put on him to succeed, and he just works! So this sweet little character piece about Reed preparing to sacrifice himself for the ship is just the right amount of character insight we need into our pineapple-loving security chief.

“Cease Fire”: Caitlin Andorians are just fun. A large portion of the appeal of the blue baddies rests on the shoulders of Jeffrey Combs as Shran, who is so capable of playing just about anything. But this episode deepens the culture of our antennaed friends by adding some infighting to the mix with the addition of Lieutenant Tarah, played so hypnotically by the ever-great Suzie Plakson! Always a good day when you get to see her!

“Carbon Creek”: Ames, Chris, Jake The episodes that we see agreement for among your SSHB hosts are also those early episodes I was referring to when we still had hope for the season. This bedtime story of Vulcan lore succeeds in showing us a different side of our pointy-eared allies, basically pulling a Coneheads. Nothing wrong with that. And we get such fascinating new characters out of them that I actually amended my Favorite Vulcans list!

“Dead Stop”: Ames, Caitlin, Chris, Jake The one we all put on our Tops list this season is also one of the more original stories from Enterprise. The idea of an enigmatic race of aliens who created an automated repair station is interesting enough on its own, but the creepiness builds throughout; the clean, white design sets an appropriately offputting tone; and everyone is left on edge. And we already know Roxann Dawson rocks at voicing homicidal computers.

—

Bottom Three Episodes

And now for the nerd rage portion of our wrap up. We had such hopes when we started this season, but then the rest alternated from “this has been done before and better” to “well, that was unsatisfying” to “cringe cringe cringe cringe cringe!” Here are this season’s biggest offenders, in every definition of the word:

“The Expanse”: Chris We can see the season finale is trying to set something up with the Xindi attack on Earth, but what we get are a lot of expository scenes, an entirely disjointed sideplot with the unfathomably present Klingons, and a not-at-all-subtle 9/11 allegory that is going to taint a lot of our future watching. Why are the Xindi stupid enough to test their probe on Earth and then do nothing for months? Find out next season on Enterprise!

“Bounty”: Caitlin While the A-plot of this episode is fine, it warrants inclusion because the B-plot is so enraging. We’ve already had enough of pon farr after train wrecks like Voyager’s “Blood Fever” and the uncomfortable Saavik scene from The Search for Spock. So we’re all the more done with it when Enterprise forces T’Pol to writhe around erotically in her underpants and sexually assault Phlox and Reed. YUCK.

“Cogenitor”: Chris If you were looking for more reasons to be angry at Archer, we’ve got an episode for you. It could have been successful if we could be sure what its messaging was. We fume at the Vissians for how they treat the cogenitors and assume that’s the point... Until Archer just starts screaming at Trip for standing up for a marginalized person, and refuses to grant Charles asylum after they begged for it. So. Whose side are we supposed to be on? Because it can’t be Archer’s, right? Right?

“Vanishing Point”: Caitlin, Jake What a let down. What could have been an interesting new concept about early uses of the transporter, in an era when they were even more terrifying than usual, gets entirely negated by the conclusion that “it was all just a dream.” These cop-out ending pull the rug out from under you and make everything you watched feel like a trick. As if we needed more to hate about dream episodes.

“Stigma”: Ames, Jake Just when you thought last season’s rape-happy episode “Fusion” was behind us, it rears its ugly head again in this HIV/AIDS allegory that comes decades too late. Yet again, T’Pol gets stripped of her agency so that various Men In The Room can decide what’s best for her. And to make matters worse, the incongruous B-plot seems to suggest that Trip is close-minded for not wanting Phlox’s wife to sexually assault him all day!

“A Night in Sickbay”: Ames, Chris I disliked Archer and Phlox enough after season one – and things were looking up for season two – when this episode comes crashing down. Archer is just a Big Baby all episode long because he refuses to apologize for Porthos pissing on the Kreetassans’ sacred tree, Phlox is nothing but obnoxious and disgusting the whole time, and we get even more objectifying T’Pol in Archer’s dreams for no reason!

“Precious Cargo”: Ames, Caitlin, Jake But the worst of the worst this season just has to be this rehash of TNG’s “The Perfect Mate,” which we hated enough to begin with! Another Kriosian woman is being transported in cryostasis, allowing for an episode of Kaitamma and Trip running around in their underwear until they predictably make love by a stream. Add to that Padma Lakshmi’s awful, awful acting and you’ve made it to the bottom of the season. Woo.

—

It’s been a long road, but we’re already halfway through Enterprise. Season three promises to at least shake things up a little, for better or for worse, so we have that to look forward to as we’ll have SO MUCH to discuss over on the weekly watch-through on SoundCloud (or wherever you podcast). You can also tell us your favorite and least favorite season 2 episodes over on Facebook and Twitter. I, for one, welcome our new Xindi overlords!

[esoehh]

Her Pretend Amish Boyfriend (Surprised by Love Book 5)

Book Details: 

Title: Her Pretend Amish Boyfriend 

Series: Surprised by Love Book 5

Author: Rachel J. Good

Publisher: Zebra Books

Pages: 320

Release Date: June 27, 2023

Genre: Amish Romance

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Book Description:

Hiding a painful secret, valley newcomer Noah Riehl is looking for a fresh start with few complications.  He hopes his job at the Farmer’s Market will give him the quiet life he craves. But light-hearted Caroline Hartzler has other ideas. She practically falls in love with him at first sight. And when she asks Noah for a not-so-simple favor—and won’t take no for answer—he finds himself reluctantly agreeing . . .   Caroline refuses to listen to the gossip that has followed Noah into the valley, or even to her own daed’s warnings. She’s taken with Noah and his gentle, generous spirit. In fact, he’s the perfect person to help her discourage an unwanted suitor—by pretending they’re courting. Yet the more time they spend together, the more Caroline must remind herself that their relationship is just a temporary ruse. But she’s not the only one struggling. . . . Secretly, Noah’s feelings for Caroline deepen more than he thought possible, helping him renew his faltering faith. But when rumors about his past threaten to ruin them both, they must pray that the truth leads them to the blessed union they long for . . .

My Thoughts: A Great Story 

This was such a great story and one that had me connecting to its wonderful characters right off the bat.  

While some may disagree, Caroline was an absolute breath of fresh air. I loved how she had a directness of saying whatever came to mind while also having such a deep and caring nature. That may sound like an oxymoron, but in her case it’s true. Reigning in her directness and impulsivity causes her some difficulty, but watching her grow in doing so was sometimes funny and sometimes painful, but also inspiring. 

Noah touched my heart from the get go. There was some mystery revolving around him and his story, and I really wanted to find out what that was all about. Getting to know him and his story caused me moments of sadness, but also moments of joy, especially as I watched him and Caroline develop a beautiful friendship. 

Noah and Caroline’s story kept me turning pages to see how their relationship would continue to develop especially when some unexpected issues crept in. However, a major highlight for me was a revelation that Noah experienced which was unexpected and left me completely in awe. I was touched beyond words as it had me reflecting on how great God’s love and faithfulness truly are. The story is a wonderful combination of many rich elements that deeply touched my heart and will stay with me for quite some time. I highly recommend it. 

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book.  All comments and opinions are voluntary and completely my own.

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

About the Author:  Rachel J. Good

USA Today bestselling author Rachel J. Good grew up near Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, the setting for many of her Amish novels. Striving to be as authentic as possible, she spends time with her Amish friends, doing chores on their farm and attending family events.

Rachel loves to travel and visit many different Amish communities. In searching for the best Amish soft pretzels, she's visited many Amish markets, auctions, and mud sales. Because of her love of Amish food, she tries to include recipes in her books as often as possible. When she's not traveling, she spends time with family and writing.

In addition to her Amish novels, she's written more than 60 books, including children's educational books, adult nonfiction, and fiction for children and teens under several pen names. To find out more about Rachel and her books, you can sign up for her newsletter: http://bit.ly/1qwci4Q

Rachel enjoys meeting readers and speaks regularly at book events, schools, libraries, churches, book clubs, and conferences across the country. She also loves talking about Amish life, using authentic Amish clothes and goods, and/or doing coloring parties.

You can connect with Rachel on her website (http://www.racheljgood.com) or Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/racheljgoodnovels).

[marvelmusing]

Inseparable

Steve Rogers x GN!Reader

My Masterlist

You’ve been offering the Avengers legal advice for years. You helped them authorise their missions, and make sure they were protected from the government. In all your time working with them, you’ve never seen anything like the Accords.

“How’s it going?” Steve leans against the door frame of your office at the Avengers compound. You look up at him, the lamp beside you providing little light for you to see him properly. Sighing, you hold up the heavy document, as he sits beside you,

“I’ve highlighted everything I have an issue with.” Steve shifts closer to see the ridiculous amount of yellow highlighter as you flick through the pages. “As you can see it’s not looking great.”

“Thanks for reading through this, sweetheart. I really appreciate it.” You reach out and take his hand.

“Hey, it’s my job to protect you guys. You fight the bad guys. I make sure you keep your human rights.” You joke. Though after reading the Accords you realise it’s not too far from the truth. He gives you a small smile. You squeeze his hand gently. The news of Peggy’s death affected him much more than he let on. It breaks your heart to see him like this. “How’re you doing?” He sighs quietly.

“Not too bad.” You trace your thumb over his hand.

“When’s the funeral?”

“In two days.” You nod. The day of the Accords signing.

“I can come with you?” You offer, though it’s likely he’ll want to be alone. He shakes his head,

“You’re needed here.”

“Not if you need me.” He smiles at your insistence.

“Sam’s offered to come with me. I’ll be okay.” You nod, glad that Sam will be with him.

“I love you.” You whisper, as you pull his hand to your lips. He gives you another smile,

“Love you too.” You look down at the Accords.

“You don’t have to sign this, Steve. You can wait. Wait until I’ve made sure it’s safe, for everyone, to sign it. In the meantime you’ll just have to lay low. Be a little more domestic.” You smile at him softly, “We can have date night on Fridays, movie night on Saturdays, then we can have a roast on Sunday. You could try out some of your Ma’s old recipes.” He seems comforted by your suggestion.

“Is this a sneaky way of getting me to cook you dinner?” You smirk at him, glad he’s smiling more.

“Perhaps?” You rest your head against his shoulder, and he places a kiss against your forehead. “We’ll sort this out, my love.”

“Thank you, doll.”

You’re thinking of Steve when you’re in Vienna, when politicians mention how they wish he was there you agree with them. You do wish he was here. Though you know he’ll never sign the Accords as they are now. You stand at the back of the room, among the hoards of diplomats, assistants, and translators. Then the bomb goes off, and the chaos erupts. You soon find Natasha, and the two of you make it out. You both help with evac before finding out King Chaka is amongst the casualties. And that the main suspect for the bombing is the Winter Soldier. Bucky Barnes. Steve’s best friend. Natasha goes to sit with Prince T’Challa. You decide to take a walk along the street, to clear your head. You look down at your phone, seeing Steve’s name flash up on the screen. You answer quickly,

“Hey.”

“You alright?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I was near the back, so I got lucky.” You hear Steve breathe a sigh of relief, in the background of the call you hear a police siren. You hear the same siren as the car pulls up across the street from you. You stand up, looking around for Steve. You can’t spot him. “I know you’ll want to find Bucky. But please, stay home. I can sort this out.”

“You saying you’ll arrest me?”

“No. I won’t. But someone will. We said we’d lay low after the signing. You’re not going to are you?”

“Doll, if he’s this far gone. I should be the one to bring him in.”

“Steve. Stay safe, please.”

“I love you.”

“Love you too, Rogers.” You hear him hang up. You look around, hoping to see him somewhere. No sign of him. You sigh, hoping he won’t do anything drastic.

Then you find out Steve’s been arrested. Along with Sam, Bucky, and King T’Challa. So you head to the Task Force Headquarters in Berlin. You watch as they bring Bucky in, locked in a large metal cell. You frown in annoyance. You head towards the black van that’s just parked up. The door is opened and Steve gets out, with Sam, and T’Challa behind him. You stand next to Agent Carter and Agent Ross, a large number of soldiers surrounding the area. Steve looks towards Bucky before turning his gaze to you.

“What’s gonna happen?” He asks as he strides towards your group.

“Same thing that ought to happen to you. Psychological evaluation, and extradition.” You frown at Ross.

“This is Everett Ross,” you introduce him. “Deputy Task Force Commander.”

“What about a lawyer?” Steve asks. Ross smiles,

“A lawyer, that’s funny.”

“I’m working on it.” You tell Steve. Ross gives you a hard stare, which you return.

“Agent Carter, see their weapons are placed in a lockup. We’ll write you a receipt.”

“I better not look out the window and see anybody flying around in that.” Sam comments as the group follows Ross. You stay close to Steve’s side, as he glances back at Bucky. Bucky’s eyes meet Steve’s then glance to you momentarily. He looks almost resigned to his fate. You take a breath before calling out to Ross,

“Why isn’t Sergeant Barnes with the rest of the group?” He laughs quietly,

“You’re kidding?” You shake your head at him. “You’re asking why one of the world's deadliest assassins isn’t walking next to us?”

“The Winter Soldier is one of the world’s most deadly assassins. Sergeant Barnes is America’s longest serving prisoner of war. If this is the respect you give our veterans you should be ashamed of yourself.” Ross isn’t laughing anymore.

“He blew up the UN.”

“Innocent until proven guilty.” You counter. “What proof do you have that he did it?”

“He was photographed at the scene.”

“One grainy photograph is hardly substantial evidence, Commander.” He sighs, knowing that you won’t drop this,

“I’m not the one you should be taking this up with.”

“Who is then?” He gestures towards the glass windows of the office you’re approaching. Where Tony is standing, talking on the phone. After a brief exchange between your groups, Steve sits in one office with Tony. Whilst you stay with Sam and Nat in another office nearby. You look over to Steve as he and Tony talk. It doesn’t take long before their voices are raised at one another. Steve soon heads out and joins you and Sam. Nat goes to stand with Tony whilst the UN psychologist talks with Bucky. You press a button on the intercom which allows you to hear what’s going on. Steve looks down at the photograph taken of Bucky, supposedly when he was in Vienna.

“Why would the Task Force release this photo of him anyway?” Sharon tries to justify it. You have an awful fear that something’s about to happen. Then the power goes out. You tell Steve where they’re holding Bucky, and with that Steve and Sam rush off. You don’t know at the time, but that’s the last time you see Steve for some time.

He gives you one call. He explains that he’s still in Berlin. That he has to go to Siberia, to stop the doctor from releasing the Winter Soldiers. You tell him you understand, you know he has to do this. He tells you to take care of yourself. You tell him to be safe. That you love him. He loves you back. You hear about the fight at the airport. That Sam, Clint, Wanda, and Scott have been arrested and sent to the Raft. Secretary Ross ignores your demands to see them. You hope that, wherever Steve and Bucky are, they’re safe. Then you see Tony. He seems uncomfortable around you. Like he’s seeing Steve everytime he looks at you, and when that thought crosses his mind, he seems guilty. Like he hasn’t told you something.

Months go by. You don’t hear from Steve at all. Random government agents keep stopping by your apartment to ask you about Steve. It makes you consider leaving, going somewhere else, away from everything that’s happened. But you stay, in the hope that it’ll help Steve find you. One morning you’re woken up by someone hammering at your door. You pull yourself out of bed, and head to the door. It’s some more government agents. They seem new to the game, their threats are half hearted and once you recite all the laws they’d be breaking if they entered your apartment they soon lose their mojo.

“Listen, I have no idea where Captain Rogers is. I assure you, if he happens to swing by, you will be the first to know.” Like hell you’d tell them. They see that you’re not budging, say their goodbyes and leave. It’s not even half an hour until there’s another knock at your door. Granted it’s more gentle than your morning wake up, but it still grates at your nerves. You head to the door, calling out, “For the last Goddamn time, I have no idea where Steve,” you pull open your door. “Rogers is.” You whisper out the last part, shocked by the sight in front of you. It’s him. It’s Steve. You throw yourself into his arms, pulling inside the apartment. He breathes your name against your neck, holding you as close as possible. He pulls back, cupping your face in his hands, looking you up and down.

“Are you alright?” He asks. You laugh a little,

“Am I alright? Steve, what happened to you? I heard Tony say you fought, nobody told me what happened. I feared the worst.”

“I’m okay, I promise. I’m so sorry for leaving you.” You shake your head,

“You did what you had to do. It’s okay, my love.” He nods, pulling you close again.

“I broke our friends out of the Raft.” You look up at him. You know he’d never leave them to pay for standing with him. You nod,

“Bucky?”

“He’s safe.”

“Good.” He squeezes your waist, wanting you closer than ever. He sighs,

“I know you wanted to fix this. I’m sorry, doll. But I don’t see how we can work this out legally anymore.” You shake your head,

“We can’t. That doesn’t matter to me anymore. As long as I have you, that’s all that matters to me.” He sighs,

“I’ll be running from the law now. I’ll let you know how I am when I can. I-” You pull away from him, frowning. You head to your kitchen. “Sweetheart, I know it’s not ideal-” You reach into the cupboard under the sink and pull out the emergency bag you kept hidden there.

“I’m coming with you.” You turn back to him as his eyes widen in surprise.

“It’ll be dangerous.”

“I know. But you’re not leaving me here.” He knows that look on your face. There’s nothing you can’t argue your way out of. He smiles at you,

“Wouldn’t dream of it, doll.”

[inarizakibabe]

Beginning

After weeks of testing and studying hard you finally made it into class four. Now time to make friends with your classmates and shoot up the ranks into popularity. Swallowing your nervousness you approached a group of people to introduce yourself.

"Good morning. I'm (l/n)(f/n) it's nice to meet you all." you gave them the biggest smile you could muster.

The group acknowledged your presence then continued their previous conversation ignoring you. After a few minutes you decided they'd be a lost cause and moved onto a different group. After successfully managing to make no friends you cut your losses and took a seat.

"Well that went well." a voice beside you said.

"Oh shut up. I don't see you trying to make friends." you replied irritated.

"Nah too much work. I have a team full of people to tolerate already."

"Wait why are you even here?" you asked the boy beside you.

"Rude. This is my class if you must know." he said annoyed.

"Hold on. You? Suna Rintaro? Class four? Is the world ending?" you asked apprehensively.

Suna grunted and ignored you. Slowly a smirk formed on your face, "Your mom threatened to come see you again didn't she?"

"You're in my business princess. Don't do that." Suna booped your nose.

You stuck your tongue out at him right as the teacher walked in to start homeroom.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Half the day and three periods later it was that weird period right before lunch and Suna's attention span couldn't keep up any longer. At this point you were taking notes for Suna to steal later when he could be bothered to write them down. The clock on the wall showed there were five minutes left until lunch so you decided to zone out.

Your thoughts ranged from getting homework on the first day of school to what you might be having for dinner tonight. Eventually they strayed to the boy napping beside you. You two had been friends for a long time. You met your second year of elementary school when Suna thought it would be funny to see how hard he could tug on your pigtail. After filling his shoes with sand you two became inseparable. Years later in your last year of junior high Suna was scouted by the coach of the Inarizaki High volleyball boys club in Hyogo. It was a great opportunity for him but it meant you guys would be separated. Unfortunately the club you joined didn't have a way for you to be recruited and even though your grades were good they weren't good enough for your parents to pack up and move all the way to Hyogo.

For your entire last year of junior high you mentally prepared to say goodbye to Suna until your mom's job decided to transfer her to Hyogo. Eventually your family moved to Hyogo, with a promise to the Sunas to take care of their eldest son, and thus your high school story began only it's not going the way you hoped. Suna was still your only friend and it seemed all your classmates knew each other since junior high leaving no room for you to shoot through the ranks. The bell rang interrupting your thoughts and your teacher dismissed your class to lunch.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

After a boring lunch period your next class felt like it dragged on. So far your dream to take over high school seemed more and more impossible to achieve. Maybe if you joined the right club some magic might just happen. The big question now was which club would you join. You were a woman of many talents but none great enough to make you the star of a club. Cooking club would give you the chance to perfect your recipes but cooking wasn't something you enjoyed to do. Maybe one of the sports clubs? Definitely not. Was there anything else to do?

Before long the school day ended and it was time to either head to your club's first meeting or go home. You turned to ask Suna if he wanted to stop at the convenience store before going home until you saw him loosening his tie. Right the volleyball club had its first meeting today so you'd have to go home alone today.

"Don't look so disappointed. I'll save all my homework for you to do." Suna said looking at you.

"Whatever Rintaro! What do I have to be disappointed about?!" you huffed and picked up your bag to leave.

"Don't get lost on the way home." Suna chuckled and watched you leave before leaving for the gym.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Stupid Rin. I got lost one time. And what the hell would I be disappointed about? If anything he should be disappointed he won't have company to walk home with later today. I should go to bed before he gets home too." You grumbled while trying to find the school's gate. "Maybe it's in the other direction. Man this school is huge."

Up ahead you saw a guy with brown hair going in the opposite direction. Maybe he knows the way out of this school.

"Excuse me? Do you know which way the gate is?"

The boy stopped and at looked at you funny. "Keep going straight and you'll see it."

"Thank you." you bowed and continued going in the direction he told you. After taking ten steps you stopped and gaped at who was in front of you. The exact same guy was walking towards you again. You looked behind you quickly but the guy from before had disappeared already. Was it a daydream or did you finally lose it?

"Something wrong?" The guy stopped in front of you. "Are you lost or something?"

"I'm sorry but didn't you just tell me how to find the gate less than a minute ago?" you asked.

The guy in front of you looked confused until a look of understanding crossed his face. "I doubt it was me but keep going straight and you'll find the gate."

You thanked the guy once again at least you think it's the second time and finally made it to the gate to leave for the day.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* The next day in class you remembered the run in you had after school the previous day and turned to ask Suna about it.

"Hey Rin this may sound crazy but I got directions from the guy twice yesterday."

Suna pouted trying to figure out what you were talking about. "You asked the guy to repeat himself?"

"No he helped me then I walked away and all of a sudden he was in front of me again and gave me directions again." you explained.

"So he chased you? Wow the year just began and you already got a guy to fall for you. Nice work (y/n)-chan. What do you plan to do with this new found information?" Suna asked with amusement in his voice.

"You are the worst human to walk this planet I swear. I'm serious. Maybe I accidentally walked in on someone's prank or something. I hope it wasn't recorded." you huffed.

Suna shrugged and checked his phone for new notifications, "Who knows. Maybe that was your ticket to popularity you were looking for. Did you pick a club yet or are you gonna let our homeroom teacher do that?"

"I don't wanna think about clubs right now. I can't think of one I wanna join. Help me find one. Please?" you put on your best puppy eyes and begged. Maybe for once he'll take mercy on you.

"Why should I? Just join the music club. You did it in Jr. high. I'm sure you can survive three more years." Suna said not looking at you.

"I would prefer if I didn't have to go through all of that again. I expected music club to be about music not how much spit I could clean out of a tuba." you shuddered remembering the unspeakable things you went through in music club.

"Don't do this to me (n/n). The stories were the highlight of my day. You gotta do it again for the fate of mankind." Suna gave you the saddest look he could produce before he laughed at how ridiculous he thought he looked. "Anime joke. I don't know what to tell you princess. I haven't picked a club since we left elementary. Why don't you see if one of the sports clubs needs a manager."

"Rin you're a genius! Does the volleyball club need a manger? I promise I won't screw up."

Suna stared at you with a deadpan expression and sighed. "Remember when I went to visit family one summer break and asked you to watch Bubbles? I came back and we all attended a fishy funeral that same day. Or when I asked you to pick up Asami because I couldn't and I came home to my parents yelling at me because she called them crying cause nii-san forgot her? I could go on but I think you get the picture. I don't trust your promises anymore."

"Yeah but Bubbles was a special case. Who knew he'd eat until he burst if I put all the food in the tank? He was suppose to eat it little by little. And I apologized to you and your that entire year and you guys forgave me. Bottom line is I was young and dumb, now I'm a high school student and I've learned a lot in my fifteen years of life. Just talk to the coach and see what he says. I could probably really help you guys."

Suna sighed for the umpteenth time and ran a hand through his bangs. "It's not really the coaches I'm worried about. I met some of our upperclassmen and some of the third years are kinda intense."

You frowned at his tone and tried to think of what they could've done to him. "i'm sure they're not as bad as you're making them sound. Maybe you need to look at them from a different angle."

"I doubt it. There were two first years that made me question my sanity. If they weren't fighting they played really well together. There was one other first year that could already do jump serves. The entire team is pretty good. Looks like it's gonna be an interesting year for volleyball. I hope I get to play in some official matches." As the last sentence left his lips Suna's eyes widened and he turned to look at you so quickly you almost thought he'd get whiplash. "You didn't hear that."

"Oh that's what the problem is. I'm sure you'll get to play in some matches and if you don't then there's no way the team is going to nationals." you smiled at him.

Before Suna could respond the bell rang signaling lunch was finished.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*

At the end of the day you followed Suna to the gym.

"Remember it's not a guarantee. We don't have a manager and Coach Oomi does what you would do." Suna reminded you when you were almost at the gym. "Talk to coach Kurosu he's the head coach and old enough to be our father so if you ware him down enough you might just get the position."

"Alright. I can definitely do this." You sounded more confident than you felt but there was no turning back now.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Hello sorry it took so long for this part to be uploaded but it's here now. Hopefully you enjoyed this and the next chapter comes out sooner than this one did. Until then don't hesitate to let me know what you think or if you just wanna say hi I don't bite I promise.

[foodbytesback]

The Rise and Fall of Bon Appetit

Sometimes life comes at you fast.  Sometimes, that means stories in the food industry break in such rapid succession that you have no time to blink in between.  Sometimes, it means someone found out about something racist you did a few years ago.  What happens when it’s both?  Ask the fine folks at Bon Appetit.

In recent years, Bon Appetit made a name for itself, rising from the ashes of dying print media, through its Youtube channel featuring a diverse cast of personalities.  But over the course of this past week, many of the publication’s executives have been found to foster a toxic workplace culture, rife with racism, sexism and homophobia.  

Before I get too deep (because this is going to be a long one), I feel the need to point out that while this story’s breaking happened to coincide with Black Lives Matter protests across the country and gained traction from people’s outrage towards inequality, the events that have unfolded should not be blamed on “cancel culture,” “political correctness run amok” or any other reactionary dismissal of critical thinking.  Adam Rapoport didn’t lose his job because Black Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter came to be because of the damage that many in positions of power like Rapoport have done in both mainstream media and society as a whole.

[Also, yes, there are going to be a lot of links to Instagram posts that have been screenshotted and uploaded to Twitter.  Clearly the real takeaway from this debacle is that I need to get an Instagram account.  Also also, thanks to Tumblr’s new rules about offsite links, you’ll have to go to my main site for the full receipts.]

Preamble

Shortly after the killing of George Floyd, Adam Rapoport, Editor-in-Chief at Bon Appetit, wrote an editorial highlighting some of the coverage they’ve given to black chefs.  Many criticized this as being superficial and performative, with others saying that BA has, on numerous occasions, shut down articles relating to black culture for not being “trendy” enough or otherwise was discriminatory towards black employees. (Also, the repeated use of “uprisings” instead of “protests” seems a little suspicious.)

An article from Eater criticized the role BA played in the appropriating and whitewashing of many cultures’ ingredients and cuisines (gochujang, Aleppo pepper, and sumac seem to be some of BA’s favorite ingredients) that had become prevalent in food media in recent years.

While it’s a fairly minor offense in comparison, it may also be worth bringing up the time Rapoport accidentally called Priya Krishna “Sohla,” the name of his other Indian employee.

Monday, June 8th

Food writer Tammie Teclemariam posted a screencap of an Instagram post made by Rapoport’s wife, which depicted the two of them donning Puerto Rican stereotypes as Halloween costumes, brownface and all.    

Many were quick to declare their outrage and demand that Rapoport either resign or be fired.  Meanwhile, Sohla El-Waylly, one of the leading stars of the Youtube channel, was one of the first BA employees to speak up, and disclosed that this kind of behavior was just the tip of the iceberg.  She said that BIPOC workers have been paid disproportionately for their work, including not being paid a per-video commission that the white stars of the Youtube channel receive. 

Molly Baz, one of the aforementioned white stars, announced that she would no longer make videos for BA until all of El-Waylly’s demands were met.  One by one, their white coworkers chimed in in agreement.  

Former staff photographer Alex Lau also wrote an extensive tweet thread about his experiences at BA, including how he had futilely tried to fix the system from within.

By the end of Monday, Adam Rapoport had resigned from his position as Editor-in-Chief.

Tuesday, June 9th  

Since Rapoport’s official resignation did little to fix many of the systemic problems in place at BA, many began to turn their attention to other senior members of the staff.

Some came for Andrew Knowlton, the Restaurant Editor, for behaviors such as gaslighting an employee for trying to bring up racist practices in the offices.

Others called out Matthew Duckor, a VP at Conde Nast and BA’s former “Head of Video” (Did a 3 year old come up with that job title?), for a series of old racist and homophobic tweets.  He tried to apologize by saying that he was young and didn’t know any better at the time, but many were quick to point out that he was, at the youngest, 20, aka for all intents and purposes An Adult when he wrote those tweets. 

Tammie Teclemariam returned to ask current and former BA employees to DM her information about Duckor that they didn’t want to go public with themselves, ranging from his hand in the aforementioned pay disparity to making inappropriate comments towards women.

Teclemariam also did even more social media muckraking and found that Drinks Editor Alex Delany had once decorated a cake to look like a Confederate flag, while others found things like a Vine where he says the f-slur and some questionable comments about women on this Tumblr.  He later deleted his Tumblr and Twitter, and issued a cookie-cutter apology on his Instagram.

She also vague-tweeted that Brad Leone, one of the most beloved stars of the Youtube channel, is “possibly not a great guy,” but later added, “don’t fret.” At that point, some began to accuse her of just trying to stir the pot.

Ultimately, Matt Hunziker, director and camera operator for Leone’s show, reported that the higher ups were ignoring the situation regarding the pay disparity, and that they were not “learning and growing.”

Wednesday, June 10th

By this point, journalists were able to do more thorough investigations and put together exposés that were more than a blurb about an accusation followed by a nut graph.

Business Insider published an article where they interviewed 14 current and former BIPOC employees of Bon Appetit.  In addition to information already discussed above, it also described events such as an incident where several BIPOC staffers were told they weren’t allowed the test kitchen. (Carla Lalli Music, the Food Director at the time, would later defend her stance in the affair on Twitter.)  Ryan Walker-Hartshorn, a black woman who served as Rapoport’s personal assistant, recalled that she would often spend her day doing menial tasks like polishing her boss’s golf clubs or trying to teach his wife how to use Google Calendar.  In another incident, Knolton called Rick Martinez a “one trick pony” for only developing Mexican recipes, which is what he was being forced to do so BA could tout “diversity” bonus points.  Martinez would also say that the magazine under Rapoport’s tenure “went from old and irrelevant and white-washed content to young and trendy white-washed content." (Martinez would also upload a more graphic description of the treatment he received  to his Instagram that same day.) Later that day, Business Insider would also report that Duckor had left the company.

Vice would liken Rapoport to Michael Scott from The Office, but noted that that kind of bumbling, endearingly insensitive bad boss archetype isn’t as charming in the real world where real employees are being affected.  Parallels were also drawn between the Youtube channel and The Office itself, stating that the “quirky workplace” facade put on in the videos helped hide the more sinister practices that lurked beneath the surface, and that the notion that they were “one big family” often pressured BIPOC into doing more than their fair share for the greater good.

Jezebel showed email transcripts where Rapoport argued the semantics of having his costume be called “brownface” when he wasn’t wearing makeup, and had to be explained to, like a child, that the term refers to the racist caricature and not the literal act of putting brown makeup on one’s face.  What a douche.

Bon Appetit published an official apology on their site, a whole two days after the controversy began.  Many believed that their empty promises of “learning from their mistakes” were a day late and a dollar short.

Meanwhile, on Twitter, former BA writer Alyse Whitney said that senior editor Andy Baraghani had, on several occasions, used his influence to undermine her efforts. Whether this had to do with racism, sexism, or just Andy being petty is up for debate, but still constitutes as unprofessional behavior to say the least.

Thursday, June 11th

As interest in the story seemed to wane for many in the industry, Claire Saffitz, arguably the face of the Youtube channel, released another statement on her Instagram.  She said that her relative silence was due to taking time to find the right words, and that the same-old promises to “learn and grow” that most had been giving felt empty and performative. Unlike many of her white coworkers, she directly apologized for being complicit in the toxic environment  and for not using her status to try to leverage even pay for her BIPOC coworkers.  

Another BA Youtube personality, Amiel Stanek, also released a statement in response to BA’s official press release, where he demanded Conde Nast to stop avoiding action by setting vague timelines for changes or making excuses for not giving BIPOC workers raises like “the money just isn’t there.”

Associate editor Christina Chaey also opened up about her experiences with being pushed into more and more videos to “diversify” them- all without compensation.  

Friday, June 12th

The biggest scandal of the day was that, as Teclemariam predicted, Brad Leone is possibly not a great guy.  A leaked screenshot of an Instagram DM showed him making callous, almost Trump-y comments regarding El-Waylly’s demand for better pay.  He also allegedly said that if Delany were to be fired (as of that day he had been sent on leave), he would quit.

Saturday, June 13th

The New York Times published an article suggesting that the issues prevalent in BA’s management may go all the way to the top of Conde Nast.  Highlights include Chief Executive Roger Lynch chastising the whistleblowers within the company for raising their concerns in such a public manner and an account of an incident where he gave his black assistant a guidebook on how to speak “proper” English.

The Sporkful released a special episode of their podcast containing interviews with several current and former BA BIPOC workers.  Nikita Richardson divulged that after she was laid off, a story she had already done all the leg work for was picked up and credited to Amanda Shapiro, a white staff writer who is now acting Editor-in-Chief in lieu of Rapoport.  Sohla El-Waylly confirmed that the self-congratulatory editorial Rapoport wrote in the wake of George Floyd’s death was the real beginning of the end, and that the racist photo was just the final straw.  She also described a company-wide Zoom meeting held after the photo began to be spread around where Rapoport issued a half-hearted apology, and began talking about how he would “fix the brand” before El-Waylly demanded he resigned.  Furthermore, she revealed that after her Instagram posts began circulating rapidly, Duckor had offered her a new contract with increased pay, but she is refusing to sign it until all BIPOC have received similar compensation.  She also said that she had a hand in the wishy-washy statement that BA had published on Wednesday, and said that it originally had taken much firmer stances on the issues but their PR office made them tone it down.  Also, she commented that Leone, for the most part, just seemed like she “genuinely think[s] [that he] just found out racism is real.”  Ultimately, she was glad that the story was getting as much coverage as it was, since it made her feel that her voice was finally being heard.

Sunday, June 14th

Baraghani released a statement on Instagram apologizing for his behavior, saying that trying to achieve his personal goals in BA’s toxic, competitive environment made him lose sight of solidarity with his fellow BIPOC.  

While that may seem like the end of the story for now, it’s important to note that, even with the resignation of two executives, nothing has truly been done to fix the systemic problems at hand.

[thishintoflove]

“This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things” - A WW84 Fanfic

TSwift Songfic Week Day 4

Pairing: Maxwell Lord x F!Reader

Warnings: 18 + Explicit (Language, possessive behavior, P/V sex, unprotected sex, slight boss/employee relationship (reader is a hired caterer), elements of sex pollen because the dreamstone messes with Max)

Summary: After Max secures the stone, he throws a party to celebrate. He also chooses you to help him test it out.

A/N: I’m not even a Max Lord stan but something about the way the dreamstone slowly fucks him up over the course of the movie really does it for me. Also this isn't a popular t-swift song but I happen to really like it and I think it fits??

It was so nice throwing big parties

Jump into the pool from the balcony

Everyone swimming in a champagne sea

“So are you one of Max Lord’s foreign associates or are you just another pretty face for the party?”

The man in the tuxedo slumped towards you and you had to jump back to avoid getting champagne on your dress as he tipped his glass.

“I’m here to work,” you said through clenched teeth. This wasn’t the first drunk guest to proposition you while you were working, but Maxwell Lord’s parties seemed to attract the worst of them all. You turned on your heel and walked away before the man could make a real pass at you. Maybe he’d fall in the pool later-- he was certainly drunk enough for it to happen. Incidents like that were the highlight of your weekend.

You smoothed your navy dress as you stepped off the patio and back into the house. You weren’t a guest, but as the owner of the catering company working this function, you felt you had to dress with the crowd so that you could blend in while you kept everything running smoothly.

When Maxwell Lord first hit the DC scene, he'd been a boon for your company. You catered a few of his first parties, mostly after his big commercial aired and his name was growing. They were huge, outlandish affairs but it allowed you to bring on more staff and test out new recipes. But the gaps between parties had grown longer and longer recently, and you’d wondered if he’d switched to a rival catering company. But there was no gossip about it in the service industry rumor mill, so you assumed the man was just cutting back on his party habits.

It had been at least six months since you’d seen him, but now you were back in his large home managing yet another one of his wild events. The music was particularly loud and the crowd particularly large tonight.

And there are no rules when you show up here

Bass beat rattling the chandelier

Feeling so Gatsby for that whole year

The man himself caught your eye when he started waving in your direction from the kitchen door.

“Darling, may I speak with you a moment,” he called in that faux host voice of his. He was standing with another tall man in a tuxedo, this one with glasses and slicked-back white hair.

You smoothed your dress and approached the pair. When you were close enough, Maxwell grinned and placed a large hand on the small of your back, “This is DC’s finest caterer! She’s the genius behind those delicious spinach puffs you were just raving about.”

“Is that so?” the man replied quietly, eyeing you up and down. You tried to give the rude man a disapproving glare but Max seemed to notice it too. You felt his hand clench where it rested on your back.

“Yes, she’s quite the specimen, but I’m afraid I have to pull her away for something. Do you have a moment, my dear?”

“Of course, Mr. Lord,” you reply, pointedly ignoring the other man, “Let’s step into the kitchen.”

He followed you through the busy kitchen that he probably never used himself, until you found a quiet spot in the back near the pantry. You turned to look at him, quirking a brow and waiting for him to speak first.

“How do you think it’s going tonight?” he asked, his soft brown eyes suddenly revealing his vulnerability.

“It’s going quite well from my perspective,” you replied, curious as to why he interrupted his celebration for this, “The trays have been evenly spaced, we have plenty of hors d'oeuvres and alcohol left, and no one’s thrown up yet. I’d call it a success.”

“Good, good. So do you think you could take a short break?”

He ran a hand down your back again but this time he reached further, only stopping when he reached your ass to give it a firm squeeze.

Yes, you’d slept together once after one of the earlier parties you’d catered for him. You didn’t make it a habit of sleeping with clients, but the party was over, your staff had finished cleaning up, and he’d looked so lonely standing there by himself in the foyer of his large home. He’d asked if you wanted to stay for a drink and there was something soft in his eyes that told you he wasn’t the leering type, he just wanted some companionship. So you’d stayed, and after a couple glasses of wine you’d given into him easily.

The sex was great but you didn’t spend the night, both of you understanding that this was a one time deal. You’d catered one more party for him after that, but then he’d never called you again. Until now.

“I want to show you something,” he continued, grabbing your attention again. His eyes bore into yours. You couldn’t help it. Maxwell Lord intrigued you.

“Lead the way,” you replied.

This is why we can't have nice things, darling

Because you break them, I had to take them away

You could feel the base vibrating through the floor as you followed him upstairs, down the hall, and into what you assumed was his private bedroom. If this whole thing was just a request for sex, you were confused as to why it couldn’t wait until after the party.

“Mr. Lord, you have a house full of guests downstairs, is this really the best time to-”

“Yes it is. I have a proposition for you and I can’t wait anymore.”

He led you over to the end of the bed and gestured for you to sit down. You’d be lying if you said you weren’t extremely confused, but you followed his direction out of pure curiosity. He sat beside you and angled his body so he could meet your eyes head on.

“I’ve recently found myself on the receiving end of some very good fortune. Let’s just say I’m about to become a very powerful man. By tomorrow, Black Gold Cooperative stock will be through the roof. And there’s so much more that I plan to do.”

You hesitated as you studied his face. His eyes sparkled with excitement but you didn’t really understand what he was saying. “Congratulations? Why are you telling me this?”

“Because I trust you.”

“You barely know me,” you replied, surprise coloring your tone, “I’ve catered a few of your events and we had sex once, but I hardly think that’s enough to establish a real foundation of trust-”

“Hush,” Max said, quieting you by placing one large finger against your lips, “I trust you because you’ve never lied to me. You’ve always treated me fairly. And right now, I need someone who isn’t going to yell at me or tell me exactly what I want to hear.”

“Ok-ay?”

“You’ve treated me well, so now I want to offer you something in return,” he continued, “I will grant you one wish. One wish for anything in the world. You can have anything you want, and in return I can make sure that the power truly works.”

You frowned. “Are you high right now? Did you take something downstairs?”

His words didn’t make any sense. Wishes? Powers?

“No! No, I didn’t,” he responded, running a hand through his hair in agitation. He sighed but then he reached for both of your hands and held them in his own. “Just believe me, I’ll prove it to you. Wish for something.”

His grip was strong but you didn’t feel threatened, just confused and maybe a small sense of pity. You figured there was no harm indulging him once, and then you could leave.

“Fine. I wish I had a Motorola DynaTAC. It’d be great for business but I could never afford one.”

Max grinned at you, “Your wish is granted.”

He leaned forward and pulled your joined hands closer as his body curled up. You were about to pull your hands away when he groaned, low and long. It sounded like pleasure turning into pain. You felt him shake and then a light breeze blew through the room, ruffling your hair. Strange. The window wasn’t open and there was no fan in the room.

“Max? What was that?” you asked slowly, glancing around the room. “Wait, are you okay?”

He was still doubled over, breathing heavily. When he heard you speak, he glanced back up and caught your eye with the wildest look you’d ever seen. His hair had fallen across his forehead and he had a sheen of sweat on his skin. But what shocked you the most was the flash of gold you saw in his eyes. You lifted a hand without thinking and brought it to his face, resting it against his cheek as you searched for the gold again, but it was already fading. Then Max shut his eyes and leaned into your palm, releasing a long sigh.

“What was that?” you asked again, softer this time.

“That… was your wish being granted.”

You looked where he pointed and your mouth dropped open when you saw the world’s first cell phone sitting beside you on the bed.

“This is real? How did you-”

You were cut off by Max’s lips crashing into yours. He grasped the back of your head and pulled you close, devouring your mouth. You moaned in surprise but then immediately gripped his shoulders to gain more leverage. You shifted against him so you were almost in his lap, and you quickly noticed how hard he was. You pulled back for a moment, your lips separating with a pop, and he gazed at you with a delirious expression.

“So you actually have powers. You can grant anybody’s wish?”

“It seems so, yes.”

You hummed. Whatever just happened… this wish granting. It seemed to physically affect Max in a big way. Your curiosity piqued again. “What does it feel like?” you asked, “Tell me. I want to know.”

He smirked and one of his hands tightened its grasp on your hip while the other held the back of your neck.

“Well, when the magic first washes over me… when the words ‘I wish’ fall from your lips… it feels, orgasmic,” he growled, leaning forward to whisper in your ear, “I can feel the power coursing through my veins, like hot fire running out from my spine to every nerve ending in my body.”

He shuddered as he said this, as if the mere thought of it caused his body to react, “It feels… uncontrollable-- as if a pleasure is being ripped from your body after you’re already over-sensitive. And I feel the power leave and spread. Then there’s a hint of pain at the back of my head, but it’s worth it.”

His words sent a rush of heat to your core. There’s something about the unpredictable mix of power and lack of control that has you growing wet as he speaks. You move so that you’re fully seated in his lap and you immediately get to work on the buttons of his dress pants.

“It sounds remarkable,” you mumbled, feeling drunk on secondhand power. You finally managed to release his cock and gave it a few pumps while he groaned.

“It is. I can feel the power coursing through me. The Dreamstone wants to be used. It urges me. I want more. I need more.” he groaned, grinding against you.

“I’m more. You can have me right now,” you heard yourself moan.

Max chuckled darkly and used both hands to drag your dress up your body and over your head, leaving you in your bra and panties. “Yes, I think I will.”

You gasped as two thick fingers plunged into you without warning. Max hummed, “So fucking wet already. Were you waiting for this, darling?“ He slowly pumped into you, drawing several gasps and moans as he hooked his fingers deep inside. Your hips ground against his hand, aching for more.

“Yes, please fuck me!!”

He growled and removed his hand, only to grasp his own cock and run it against your slick folds. You groaned when he finally pushed in, shuddering at the slight burning sensation of being filled so completely. Max pushed deeper until he was completely seated inside you, but then he stopped, holding you on his lap and letting you warm his cock. His head fell to your shoulder as you wiggled your hips, ready for him to move.

“Come on, Max,” you whined, feeling your muscles clench around his solid length. You thought you were getting what you wanted when he shifted his hips and lifted you up but he moved agonizingly slow.

“Tell me how much you want me,” he said, his chocolate brown eyes mostly black as he stared up at you. He held you just above his lap, and his hands squeezed your hips so tightly that you knew there’d be bruises there tomorrow.

“I want you Max. I need you.”

“And no one else?”

You didn’t say anything, your mind begging you to focus solely on the sensations. But Max wouldn’t relent. He pulled almost all the way out, leaving only the tip of his cock inside you as he stilled his hips. “Say it. Say there’s no one else like me.”

One hand snaked up and grabbed your breast, his thumb tweaking the nipple painfully.

“Only you!” you gasped, arching against him, “No one can do what you do!”

Max growled and plunged back into you, driving as deep as possible, “That’s right. Don’t you fucking forget it.”

You cried out at the feeling of him pounding back into you, setting a new fast and rough pace. You bounced on his lap, moaning his name as he fucked up into you. Neither of you lasted long. Soon enough your orgasm hit you like a truck, your walls fluttering around his cock as you grasped at his back and his hair. He followed after a few more rough thrusts, coating your walls with his release as he bit into your shoulder to quiet his groans.

You were so satisfied and blissed out that you didn’t remember crawling up towards the head of the bed and cuddling into Max’s warm, soft body to fall asleep.

This is why we can't have nice things, honey

Did you think I wouldn't hear all the things you said about me?

But the morning after served as a wake-up call.

“Max?”

Your eyes fluttered open when you realized he wasn’t still in bed next to you. You sat up, running a hand through your disastrous hair. He must have heard you call out because Max appeared in the doorway of the ensuite bathroom, already fully dressed for work.

“Ah you’re awake. I have to rush off, you don’t mind seeing yourself out do you?”

He glanced down when he said it, fiddling with his cuff-links. Your heart clenched painfully at his words, but this wasn’t your first foray into casual sex. What surprised you more was the fact that he seemed to want to ignore what he revealed to you last night. His new powers...

“What about last night?”

Max paused. He waved a hand in the air as he searched for the right thing to say, “I’m not sure that I have room for a relationship in my life right now. I’m-”

“That’s not what I’m talking about,” you said sharply, fully aware that he was being evasive on purpose.

“Right. Of course. Well I have big plans for that too and they’re about to start today.”

“I don’t understand. What plans? Are you going to use this new power to-”

“Listen, I showed you what I showed you because I assumed you’d be discreet,” Max cut in, his face hardening, “I’d appreciate it if you didn’t say anything to anyone. And I’m sorry, but I can’t explain right now.”

“Max…” you said slowly, “What are you going to do?”

“I have to go.”

He made his way to the door, not sparing you another glance as you sat in his bed, completely bewildered and more than a little concerned.

“What about me?”

“I’m sorry, honey. This is bigger than you.”

This is why we can't have nice things

[dunkindestieldonuts]

Soft and Warm

700 words, rated G (read on ao3) It’s raining! Bake gingerbread cookies! Part of my anniversary series!

Drizzly December mornings are the best time to try out new gingerbread recipes. That’s just a fact. Dean pulls the latest batch out of the oven for a knife test to see if they’re ready. Satisfied, he puts the cookie sheets on the counter. He turns down the soft rock playing from the bluetooth speaker next to the stove so he can make notes on the printed recipe he’d been working from.

“Tried…more nutmeg, less…cinnamon,” he dictates as he writes. “Smell good so far.”

When the cookies are cooled off enough, he tries one. Yup. That was a lot of nutmeg. They definitely smell better than they taste. Maybe Cas will like them, though. He sticks his head through the kitchen doorway to look for his husband. “Cas?”

“In the nook, dear.”

Dean steps into the dining room. Cas sits in a powder blue knit sweater, clutching his tea-filled mug. He’s nestled in the newly-painted breakfast nook that Dean had added to their house, specifically for this purpose (and to cuddle). The window behind Cas highlights his ruffled hair. He’s is covered in multiple blankets: a crocheted purple and blue one (a gift from one of their new neighbors), a gaudy gag gift to Cas from Eileen that has something about the power of the bond between brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law stitched on it, and a few plain gray or tan ones Cas had bought from Pottery Barn (“It’d be silly not to use all the coupons, Dean.”).

Dean leans against the doorway, appreciating the view. “I love you like this.”

Cas smiles up at his husband. “Like what?”

“Y’know,” Dean shrugs, gesturing in Cas’ general direction. “Warm. Comfy. You look cute.”

Cas looks down at himself and his sweater. He sets the mug on the windowsill and opens his arms towards Dean. “Would you like to share in the warmth?”

Dean automatically steps towards him but stops, remembering what he was just doing. He holds a hand up to Cas and says, “Hold that thought.”

Cas pouts a little but Dean returns quickly, freshly baked gingerbread cookies on a plate in his hands. Cas lifts the blankets up for him and Dean tucks himself into the space. He wiggles a little to adjust the throw pillows at his back as Cas shifts closer. Once they’re settled, Dean offers the plate to Cas.

“Thank you,” Cas says, taking a cookie and kissing Dean on the cheek. Dean lets out a huge contented sigh. 

“You’re welcome.” He watches as Cas takes a bite, catching the blink-and-miss-it grimace. Not letting on that he saw, Dean asks, “So?”

“Mmh, these are…great,” Cas very obviously lies.

“This is an experimental batch, Cas. Don’t lie to me.”

“Ease up on the nutmeg.”

“Yeah I thought so. There we go.” He eats another one himself in solidarity. “Dammit, I thought I had it this time.”

“They’re almost there,” Cas says encouragingly.

Dean places the plate on the windowsill to the side. He gives Cas’ mug back to him and rests his head on Cas’ shoulder.

He nuzzles his cheek into the sweater. “Thing’s soft, too.”

“I know. That’s part of why I chose it.”

“And?”

“You once said blue is my color.”

“Yup. Brings out your eyes.”

They sit there for a while as Cas finishes his tea. Just enjoying each others’ warmth and presence. The room is cast in a soft gray light. Shadows are muted and everything looks…soft. Dean feels like he’s overused the word but that’s the best word for it. Soft. Slowly, incrementally, as if the sun had come out behind them, Dean feels even more warmth envelop him. Cas always runs a bit hot (sometimes in direct contrast to Dean’s need to be under the covers when they sleep) but even more now. As if, without moving, Cas is hugging him close. Maybe he is, with his wings. It’s hard for Dean to tell. Not that he really cares, though. It’s so comforting Dean feels himself start to fall asleep.

“You’re so warm,” he says. He feels Cas kiss the top of his head. He thinks he hears Cas say ‘I love you’ before he completely nods off.

[thoughts-on-bangtan]

Let’s talk about: RUN! BTS episode 125

by Admin 1 and Admin 2

So, episode 125 of RUN BTS aired yesterday and we thought it’d be fun to talk about it, share our favorite moments, things we noticed, and other miscellaneous things we thought would be nice to mention. The episode was filmed at their dorm and featured a special guest in form of Baek jong-won who is a famous Korean chef. The episode was special because of that, but also due to the fact that it was used to highlight Korean pork ham which uses the parts of pigs that usually don’t get chosen by restaurants and the average consumers, and also to honor Korean pig farmers in times of COVID.

The members were split into two teams, though Yoongi was missing in the episode which leads us to believe that the episode was likely filmed sometimes in December 2020 (as well as the fact that Tae had that pimple on his cheek which he also had in his birthday vlive). The teams—Tae, Jimin and Seokjin vs. Hoseok, Namjoon and JK—consisted of one person per team who knows what they are doing—Seokjin and JK—and two people with limited or a complete lack of knowledge in the kitchen. Each team was given a recipe they were supposed to cook using the aforementioned ham and that’s what they did, driving Chef Baek slightly crazy (but also making him seem endeared by Bangtan’s cluelessness and kind of lack of confidence within the kitchen) with their constant questions and requests for assistance.

Now that we have the general gist of the episode down, lets jump into the actual point of this post (it turned out quite long, if you don’t want to read the entire thing, perhaps at least read the last couple of paragraphs since they’re kind of important):

One thing that made both of us very, very happy was the fact that Tae was in an outstandingly good mood, cracking jokes and smiling the entire time. We’ve seen his quieter mood in episodes filmed in the first half of 2020, so seeing him this happy while filming this episode was truly amazing and once again made the episode even more special in that regard.

We also had Tae turn to Chef Baek and tell him about how his mom learned how to cook from him and if he could potentially get an autograph from him for his mom. This had Chef Baek all surprised and flustered, since he likely didn’t expect a member of the biggest group in Korea to want his autograph, saying that if anything shouldn’t he be the one asking this question. At that also Namjoon spoke up and quietly asked if he could get one for his mom as well since otherwise he wouldn’t be allowed to come home. In his vlive after the RUN episode was posted, Namjoon mentioned how yes, he did get that autograph in the end and that he also gave the knife to his mom as well since a knife like that is dangerous. Adorable.

At some point JK asked Chef Baek the golden question of whether or not he likes mint chocolate ice cream, followed by the question of pineapple on pizza, yes or no, and how that’s a question they are, for some reason, asked quite frequently when abroad. This was followed by Tae asking if he can eat eight crackers in a minute which led to the following commentary from Jimin:

Another detail we thought was quite funny was how instead of doing something related to cooking, Tae spent some time moving around the kitchen space cleaning away trash or washing dishes, therefore evading having to cook since it seems that isn’t his forte or he simply knew that Jimin and Seokjin would manage to do it just fine. But he did attempt to make rice, which though it turned out well, still was accompanied not only by him asking Chef Baek if he should use cold or warm water, but also Tae grabbing Jimin to ask him for help with the rice cooker.

Speaking of the rice cooker, the very one they used in the episode seems to be the same one they’ve been using since about 2014 and, if I remember correctly, might’ve been a gift from ARMY. This isn’t the only kitchen item they got from ARMY and still own and use to this day, since they also (among other things) have a set of colored bowls that can be seen standing on the shelves.

2014

2020

Something very endearing and cute though was Namjoon peeling a potato in tiny, which reminded me very much of that time around the campfire in Bon Voyage 4. Knowing Namjoon, looking at him peeling it so carefully, we were both kind of worried he might somehow hurt himself while doing it, which by no means is us trying to portray Namjoon as too stupid to do it or anything like that, but he himself said he isn’t that great in the kitchen after all.

After waiting for it since summer 2019, we finally also got a look at JK’s forearm and all the tattoos on it in HD, a big step up from looking at the blurry shots of it in Bon Voyage 4 or their refection in some microwave. ARMY on sns went crazy over it, most staying respectful while also curious, though of course there were also some idiots who felt the need to voice their negative opinions no one asked for. I think it’s an interesting step, and perhaps a really valuable one, that he felt confident and assured enough to show them to us instead of having the editors blur them like they’ve done so in episodes of In The SOOP (both the TV and Weverse versions).

At the end of the episode they all sat down together so that Chef Baek could try their dishes, with someone asking him if maybe they could all win those special engraved knives after all but Chef Baek seemed adamant about how only one team can win. While he tried their dishes Chef Baek complemented different things that the members had done well, leading Seokjin to turn red as he does whenever someone complements him, as well as Jimin looking fond and proud of Tae when Chef Baek complemented something Tae had done and they even high fived each other. Very cute and supportive, love that.

Before he chose a winner, everyone in their respective teams held hands and waited in anticipation to see who won. Thanks to editing we didn’t see the moment of Chef Baek raising the winner’s hand, which created a comedic moment where Seokjin stood up yelling triumphantly just to be very confused when also the other team was cheering. Meaning in the end all of them won and received the knives, including Yoongi despite him not being present. The teams stood up for group hugs where, I don’t know if you noticed, but we thought it was quite cute how vmin hugging seemed so natural and like something they’ve done this way a million times already with Jimin slotting his shoulder below Tae’s arm and his body against Tae’s “automatically” while being a little unsure what to do with his other arm before moving it to pull Seokjin into the hug as well. It’s these little things about Tae and Jimin that get us, you know.

Also someone pointed out a cute parallel between a famous vmin hug picture and Jimin’s arm/hand on Tae’s back during the group hug that I thought we’d show you as well.

Something I think this episode showed us in terms of vmin content is that, even if there aren’t many obvious “moments” (due to obvious reasons I kind of really don’t like that term but for a lack of a better one…), it’s still clear to see in the background how they gravitate toward each other, which of course you can argue was because they’re in the same team, but that doesn’t change the fact that Tae or Jimin could’ve just as well interacted with/asked Seokjin for things or giggled with him, but instead they still had their little moments with each other, while of course also interacting with Seokjin. We’re definitely curious if the Behind cut will show us some more of the vmin moments that we just got glimpses at in the background in the main episode.

As for namjin, since they were on different teams, there weren’t really any interactions between those two but that’s okay. Their interactions with their own teammates were great enough, Namjoon’s team trying to include him in the process even if he himself said the only thing he actually did was peel those potatoes.

A final thing we’d want to mention is a glimpse we got of the sheer number of cameras and people that were present in the background while they were filming this episode, which are likely also present during every other episode and piece of content they film. Looking at that, it doesn’t surprise us in the slightest that vmin (and even namjin, and the other members) might not be as eager/willing to show the true version/amount of affection they have for each other. I mean, who would want to showcase themselves in such a manner in front of so many lenses and eyes, even more so since for the filming of this episode surely also staff belonging to Chef Baek were present?

I think it’s important to keep these things in mind when we discuss vmin (and namjin) interactions in most of their content. Since we usually don’t see their staff and cameras, it creates this illusion of it just being them present and doing their thing, when in reality they are constantly being watched by a number of staff and cameras. Would you really want to be all over your soulmate while you’re being watched like that? Especially in more meaningful ways? Surely these things were easier for them when they were younger, a little greener and more inexperienced, so to speak, and not yet quite so (potentially) emotionally involved with each other, but now? After?

It certainly explains quite a bit of what some insist on classifying as “cold” or “distanced” behavior, doesn’t it? It’s easier to play the role you created for yourself and, in a way, use as shield (BTS V and BTS Jimin, BTS RM and BTS Jin) instead of showing your private (Kim Taehyung and Park Jimin, Kim Namjoon and Kim Seokjin) emotions and behaviors with each other, you know what I mean?

All in all, it was a really, really fun episode that had us howling with laughter.

[beauvibaby]

soup - a.matthews

request: maybe for auston, like maybe when his team loses against the blue jackets and he comes home rly upset and frustrated and the reader tries their best to help him and calm him down by getting him his favorite things, like snacks, ice cream, and movies for them to watch and letting him be the little spoon???

a/n: idk why but this request made me so excited and I instantly had a vision for it! Set in current events bc it just was the only way to make sense of her not being with him

You adjusted the mask on your face as you walked into the grocery store, grumbling to yourself about how hard it has been to find the proper ingredients for the soup. Over the two years you’ve been together you’ve slowly mastered his moms chicken tortilla soup recipe and it’s rare that you make it, but every time you do he nearly melts, every time he thinks he can’t love you anymore, you do something to prove him other wise. You were practically speed walking to the seasoning aisle, sighing in relief when you saw the last bottle of chili powder, tossing it into the cart and letting out another breath you hadn’t realized you were holding in. You wondered around a little bit, picking up a couple of things here and there, grabbing a couple of you and Auston’s favorite candies, you knew he was going to be devastated about the loss, so you decided to go out now, while he was traveling home, that way you’d be prepared for any mood he had.

You were loading the few bags of groceries into the trunk when your phone rang, you answered the FaceTime call from your boyfriend with a smile. “Hi, babe.” You grinned, before seeing the background he was in, “you’re home already?” You gasped, and he nodded with a forced lopsided smile, “where are you?” He asked, trying to look at least a little excited, but you knew the fact that he got home early and you weren’t there to greet him didn’t help. “I was grocery shopping, but I’ll be home soon, like ten minutes.” You assured him, getting a little giddy at the thought of seeing him after weeks of being apart. “Alright, drive safe, it looks like it’s gonna rain.” He mumbled, moving around the living room. “I will, love you.” You smiled at him, finally a genuine smile on his face as he whispered and I love you too. It was a quick drive from the store but it felt like an eternity as you just wanted to see him, and hug him, and kiss him.

You shut the door a little louder than usual, hoping Auston would be listening out for you, but when you moved to the trunk, grabbing the bags and he didn’t come out, you knew he had himself so absorbed in something that he didn’t even hear you. Somehow you managed to twist the knob on the front door, skillfully carrying the bags in your arms, kicking the door shut after you. “Auston!” You called out, hearing the tv on in the living room, you heard him moving around slowly and so you continued the trek to the kitchen, wanting to set the bags down as they began to hurt your arms. Thankfully nothing you bought had to be refrigerated, the chicken for the soup already in the fridge so you made your way towards the sounds of the living room. “Auston.” You spoke again, seeing him sat out on the couch watching the highlight reel of the game they just lost, as if he’d be able to change the outcome. “Baby.” You said again, finally getting him to hear you and he stood up in an instant, not expecting you to be right there, you stared at each other for a minute before you walked over to him, wrapping your arms around his neck, pulling him in for a deep kiss, he didn’t hesitate to oblige as his arms went around your waist, holding you close to him. “I missed you so much.” You sighed once you finally pulled apart, he nodded against you, “I missed you too.” He responded, smiling softly.

“Aus, you know you shouldn’t be watching this.” You chastised him softly, reaching for the remote on the couch and turning it off. He groaned, removing his hands from you, “I know, but damn it! We could’ve done so much better, I could’ve done so much better.” He snapped a little, and you patiently waited for him to look at you. When he met your eyes, you pouted at the pained look in his own. “It’s a team sport, and you all did great, baby. I promise, it just wasn’t the right timing, you’re gonna get there one day, I know it.” You assured him, holding your arms out for him and he practically melted into them. You toyed with his growing out hair, “I got all of your favorites.” You mumbled after a short silence, “the soup too?” He asked, making you laugh under your breath. He sounded so innocent the way he asked, so childlike and quite frankly, it was adorable. “Yeah, I’ll make the soup too.” You told him with a smile, he kissed the skin poking out of the top of your shirt, his lips lingering for a moment before he stood back to his full height. “Why don’t you go get cleaned up while I start cooking?” You offered, knowing he had a long day and most definitely could use a hot shower to de stress. “I don’t want you to feel like you have to cook.” He mumbled, you shook your head. “I know I don’t have too, I want to do it for you, silly.” You teased lightly, gently pushing him towards the bathroom. “Alright, alright.” He put his arms up in defense, stopping to look back at you when he heard you going towards the kitchen. He smiled, wondering how he ever got through anything without you.

You were in your own little bubble, shredding the chicken with two forks, lightly bouncing around to the song you had stuck in your head, Auston laughing from the doorway to the kitchen made you jump. Nearly dropping the chicken on the floor. “You scared me!” You whined with a small laugh, hearing him walk towards you as you slid the now shredded chicken into the pot, stirring it together with everything else. “M’sorry.” He teased, resting his chin on your head as he stood behind you, lazily wrapping his arms around your shoulders. “You feel a little better?” You asked, turning in his hold, biting your lip as you looked up at him, he shrugged, pushing some loose hair from your face, leaving his hand on your cheek for a moment, you leaned into his touch, kissing the palm of his hand before resting your cheek back in it. He smiled at the action, “you don’t have to be instantly okay, I know you’re angry and upset, Auston, but I can’t help if you don’t want me too.” You explained to him softly, seeing the slightly distant look in his eyes. “You are helping, baby.” He sighed, releasing his grip on you to walk over to the fridge, grabbing a beer from it. He grabbed two bowls from the cabinet as you turned off the stove top. “Thank you.” You mumbled, taking the glass from him, he laughed at your politeness, as if you hadn’t been together for two years. As if he didn’t grab the dishes every night. You scooped soup into each dish and brought it to the table, going to sit beside him but he grabbed you by the waist pulling you to sit on his lap, you smiled at the action, leaning into his hold. “Not such a tough guy anymore, huh?” You retorted, he shook his head, taking a spoonful of the soup. You did the same, sighing in content as you finally got to sit down and eat with him for the first time in weeks.

The rest of the night consisted of munching on junk food and watching a couple of your favorite movies, now as you were climbing into bed, you smiled at the sleepy look on his face. You laid on your back, opening your arms and gently pulling him over, nearly every time you guys cuddled, you were the one on him, but tonight you just wanted to hold him close and silently tell him how much you loved him. He rested his head on your chest, nearly nestled into your neck, his arm draped across your torso as you started playing with his hair again. You could feel him starting to settle down, his breathing falling into an even pace. “Thank you, baby.” He whispered, nudging his head further into you, gently squeezing your side, “of course, bub.” You replied, glancing down at the boy who was nearly asleep, “I love you.” You added, carefully moving to kiss his forehead, you felt him smile against you, he mumbled an incoherent response, but you were certain he was repeating the words as he drifted off into his first peaceful sleep in weeks.

[sun-moon-stars-jedi]

Batfam Ficrecs – Fluff Edition

Part 1

Everything is kind of crazy right now, so I thought some wholesome Batfam fanfics would be a great way to take people’s minds off it for a bit. I tried to mostly include fluffy/funny gen fics that are maybe not as widely known as the big fanfics of the fandom. Hopefully you find something new that brings you some joy.

Find Part 2 here.

The Happiest Place on Earth by Team_Alpha_Wolf_Squadron (Gen, 11.3K, Rated T): Bruce and the kids take a trip to Disneyworld and it is just so cute, I legit cried at the end. The Batfam doing normal family stuff is always great and every kid gets a day with Bruce, highlighting each relationship beautifully.

Lost At Sea, And I’m Having A Time by whaleofatime (Gen, 16.1K, Rated T):  On a mission with Jason to deal with pirates in the Caribbean, Bruce finds himself ejected overboard and accidentally lost at sea. This is one of the funniest stories I have read in my life, the humour is superb. If you need something to make you laugh, go read this.

Best Served Wet by RandomReader13 (Gen, 2.3K, Rated T): Dick and Bruce teach Jason how to swim during his Robin days. Years later he gets revenge. Super sweet, I’ve read this one probably a hundred times. Perfect if you need something to make you smile.

Don’t Read Into It by RandomReader13 (Gen, 3.5K, Rated T): In which Jason is a literature nerd and helps his siblings. Very fluffy.

Call Me Hopeless by incogneat_oh (Gen , 3.3K, Not Rated): Dick and Jason bond after Jason’s first gala. Slightly drunk Dick is a treasure and Jason realising he now has a brother always makes me feel so warm inside.

But we’ll carry our brothers (oh, we’ll carry them home) by AutumnHobbit (Gen, 1.6K, Rated Gen): Bruce asks Tim to find Damian during a gala. Damian gets to act his age, Tim is a good older brother and it is super sweet. Mentioned Bruce/Selina.

Ensemble Performance by lowflyingfruit (Gen, 4.8K, Rated Gen): Damian has a dark secret and only Jason can help him. This is peak good big brother Jason, so sweet and fluffy.

Fatherhood in the New Millennium (or, Use a Great Ball, Stupid) by 8sword (Gen, 4.3K, Rated T): The Batkids get into Pokemon Go and Bruce is suffering. Very wholesame Batfam content.

Listen by CrimeAlley1048 (Gen, 2.7K, Rated Gen): Damian finds a new target for his aggressive care-taking. Some Tim and Dami fluff.

Paperwork by starknjarvis (Gen, 3.6K, Rated T): Jason thinks Bruce will kick him out because he failed a test at school. Starts out angsty but turns so fluffy and definitely leaves you with a warm feeling of happiness.

Carry by Ptelea (Gen, 4.9K, Rated T): Dick gets kidnapped and Jason rescues him. Lighter than you think and has some very good jokes.

Butts by hearslogos (Gen, 1.0K, Rated T): The Batkids debate what signifies a nice butt and it is hilarious.

Cat’s in the Cradle by TheResurrectionist (Gen , 3.4K, Not Rated): Tim gets his wisdom teeth removed, wakes up super loopy and bonds with Bruce.

Conflict Resolution by AnicomicQueen (Gen, 1.5K, Rated Gen): It started off as a quiet Sunday morning, until Timothy and Damian decided to take their argument outside. Batkids being normal kids, very light and fluffy.

Eye for an Eye by LueurdeLaube (Gen, 2.8K, Rated T): In which Jason makes the horrifyingly startling discovery that his youngest brother is...cute.

Peppermint Winter by RascalJoy (Gen, 11.9K, Rated Gen): Jason’s first Christmas at the Manor is spent bonding with his new big brother and Dick comes back to the family. Jason and Dick are super cute together. Then comes Christmas after Jason comes back with new little brothers and old traditions.

Home Movies by fanfictiongreenirises (Gen, 3.9K, Rated T): Tim unearths a box of videos from when Dick used to create and perform magic shows for Bruce and Alfred.

Just the Same by Sohotthateveryonedied (Gen, 2.1K, Rated Gen): Jason is sick and Bruce takes care of him and it is so fluffy.

Bedraggled by gypsydancergirl (Gen, 0.6K, Rated T): Tim gets rescued by his brothers and Jason shows Damian how to treat a pinata.

A Father’s Love by Mayarene Rose (Gen, 1.6K, Rated Gen): Jason has a habit of stealing the Batmobile's tires. It's tradition.

Biphasic Reaction by renecdote (Gen, 2.5K, Rated Gen): Damian has an allergic reaction and Tim takes care of him. Lovely little story about the two of them simply being brothers.

bred in decency and order by OkayAristotle (Gen, 3.2K, Rated T): Bruce finds an injured Jason in his study and helps with hot chocolate.

Boy I’m Telling You by fishfingersandjellybabies (Gen, 1.4K, Rated Gen): After a teamup with other heroes Damian finds himself standing alone - until his brothers join him. Very good Batbrothers content.

Fluffy Socks and Batman Onesies by chibi_nightowl (Gen, 1.5K, Rated Gen): The Batbros get deaged and use their time as kids to do what kids do - have fun.

Good Samaritan law by ShariDeschain (Gen, 2.2K, Rated Gen): Damian's not very good at comforting children. Jason's a little better. Just some nice Jason and Dami bonding.

Flutter, Flutter Little Bat by audreycritter (Gen, 6.2K, Rated T): Jason comes by the Manor to hang out with Alfred on Halloween but instead meets Bruce at the door. It’s a suprisingly nice night from there.

how many bats jumping on the bed by noctelle (Gen, 1.1K, Rated Gen): Everyone comes by to cuddle Jason because they love him.

if i’m going down i’m taking you all with me by spider_momo (Gen, 9.6K, Rated T): The Batfamily Group Chat is a recipe for disaster and so hilariously funny, you can’t read this without laughing out loud.

Honourable mentions for fanfics most of you have probably already read:

In For a Pound Series by Cdelphiki (Gen, 240+K, Rated Gen): An AU in which Damian came to live with Bruce as a baby and how that changed the entire Batfam. One of the best series out there with good dad Bruce and adopted sibling relationships that make you melt. If you like wholesome Batfam, you will love everything written by Cdelphiki.

The Dark Knight Strikes Back by audreycritter (Gen, 8.2K, Rated T): Bruce plays Minecraft and it causes havoc in the Manor. Very funny story about Bruce actually showing his playful side with a dash of feelings thrown in.

Fair is Fowl by Lysical (Gen, 4.3K, Rated T): Jason has the chickenpox, which is the ideal time to bond with Dick. I absolutely love baby Jay in this fic and Dick learning to be an older brother always has me so weak. I can’t even count how often I’ve read this fic, it always makes me feel happy.

And we will find a way home by AutumnHobbit (Gen, 1.9K, Rated Gen): A group of sick Robins sleeping off a virus gives Bruce the chance to remember how much he loves his boys.

batcoons by drakefeathers (Gen, 6K, Rated Gen): Jason adopts the racoons living outside of his safehouse with some help from his family (even though he didn’t ask for it).

Diversionary Tactic by audreycritter (Gen, 1.9K, Rated T): Jason has a unique talent, that is very useful, but also kind of gross. Hilarious little fic, always reread it with a smile.

Grow and grow till tall by AutumnHobbit (Gen, 2.3K, Rated Gen): Jason hangs around the Manor for some R&R, which winds up involving some carpentry.

[mamabearcatfanfics]

Dani updates something. The world must be truly coming to an end. Read below or here on AO3

Like most great wars, it was started by something small.

Kagome picked up her laptop from where it had been sitting on the coffee table and carried it into her bedroom, rubbing her eyes tiredly. Perhaps it hadn’t been a good idea to invite Inuyasha over for movie and pizza, but when she’d texted him earlier in the day and heard about his crap day at work, she’d extended an impromptu invite. Sango hadn’t minded, and it had been fun, even if he did spend most of the night using her laptop to debunk theories in the spy thriller they’d watched.

When he’d first arrived, he’d been his usual grumpy self, but by the end of the movie, he was in an excellent mood. It was nice to see him happy, although she wasn’t exactly sure what had caused the change in attitude. The pizza had probably helped. She’d never seen anyone consume pizza like Inuyasha could. It worried her sometimes, the types of food he ate, even though he argued that an inuhanyou’s metabolism was very different to a human’s and you couldn’t compare the two.

Anyway, it didn’t matter. If her friend was happy, then so was she. He had such a nice smile, and she tried to do her best to help it come out at every opportunity. They were just friends, she knew that, but his smile was just… it gave her butterflies.

Calling out a sleepy goodnight to Sango, she wandered into her bedroom yawning, wishing she could flop straight onto the bed and close her eyes. But unfortunately, she still had the proposed media releases for the Starlight Foundation’s upcoming fundraiser event to read through before a breakfast meeting tomorrow. She knew if she’d stayed to go over them at work she’d have to walk home from the train station in the dark, so she’d emailed them to her personal laptop before she’d left for the day.

Slipping into her comfy pj’s and snuggling under the covers, she opened up her laptop, then blinked slowly, her head tilting slightly as she tried to make sense of what she was seeing.

Everything was upside down.

Her whole screen was the opposite of how it should look. She exited out of her email program, noting with apprehension that her desktop was also upside down, then opened it up again. Still upside down. Crap! Was this a virus? She’d let the virus protection on her laptop lapse because she’d had to buy a new dress to wear to the fundraising ball, and she’d seen the perfect dress and there’d been a sale, and she had to get the extra money from somewhere. What if it the virus somehow got back to her work computer? Shit, shit, shit!

Quickly googling ‘everything on my computer screen is upside down’, and tilting the screen and her head so she could read the upside down words, she breathed a sigh of relief when she worked out it was an easy fix. Using the Ctrl, Alt and arrow keys she quickly set it to rights, sending up a silent thank you prayer to the IT gods, with a promise that she would update her virus protection asap. She wasn’t sure how her screen had got that way, but right now she was too tired to care.

The next evening, when she sat down with Sango to watch the latest episode of Masterchef, the tv remote refused to work. With their cider going warm and the avocado dip congealing on the cheese platter they’d prepared, they both tried to get the remote to work, giving it a tap and shake to no avail.

After repeated attempts at removing the batteries and rotating them, while Sango went through the junk drawer in the kitchen in a fruitless search for new batteries, Kagome finally noticed the tiny scrap of black tape over the sensor on the remote.

She removed it, and the remote worked again. She looked suspiciously at Sango, narrowing her eyes. She smelled a prank. But Sango loved watching Masterchef as much as she did, and was complaining bitterly about them missing a souffle failure. Masterchef was one of the highlights of their week. Nope, it wasn’t Sango. But someone was definitely having fun at their expense.

Two nights later, when she bit into an Oreo from her secret treat stash in her bedside drawer, and found the sweet creamy filling had been replaced with toothpaste, she knew there was a prank war going on. And as far as she knew, there was only one person who knew about her secret stash, because he’d busted her one night stuffing her face when he’d popped his head in her room to say good night.

Inuyasha.

He’d had time to do all these things on their movie night. He’d used her laptop. He’d had access to the remote. And now that she thought about it, there’d been that suspicious amount of time he’d spent in the bathroom, which neither of them had questioned because he’d muttered a warning about steering clear of the bathroom for a while to give the air a chance to clear. But that would have enabled him access to both the bathroom and her bedroom while her and Sango were engrossed in the movie. No wonder he’d been so cheerful that evening when he left. Inuyasha had pranked her.

But what he didn’t know, was that Kagome was a seasoned campaigner when it came to prank wars. Her and Souta had it down to a fine art, coming up with bigger and better pranks all the time, to the point that one year her mother hand banned them totally, because things were getting out of hand.

The corners of her mouth turned up in a sinister smile, and she let out a chuckle worthy of a cartoon villain. Alright. If he wanted a war, he’d get one.

It was on, like Donkey Kong.

Inuyasha sighed moodily. It wasn’t that he disliked his job necessarily, it was just a job, and it paid the bills, and gave him enough time off to do all the other things he enjoyed doing. But on days like today, when the shop was empty as a tomb, and his phone battery had gone flat, he was ready to expire from boredom. He was just toying with the idea of using a charging cable from the one’s in stock, when a familiar scent drifted across his senses as the shop bell rang.

“How’s my favourite hanyou doing?” Kagome grinned, watching his ears perk up as she walked in.

“I’m fucking bored to tears”, he said, standing up from where he’d been slumped against the counter. He glanced at the clock on the wall, then looked back at her with concern. “Hey. Aren’t you home from work a little early? You’re not sick are ya?”

“No, no, I’m going to work from home this afternoon, seeing I’ve been going into the office so early this week”, Kagome answered breezily. “I just popped in to bring you something.”

“Huh?”

“I tried out a new recipe for chocolate chip cookies, and I know how much you like them, so I saved some for you. That should make your afternoon more interesting.”

Inuyasha sniffed the tupperware container she handed over appreciatively. Kagome was a good cook, and even though the plastic blocked most of the smell, he could tell they would be tasty, because everything Kagome made was delicious. And chocolate chip cookies were his favourites. Fucking sweet!

“Thanks Kagome! You’re the best, you know that?”

His conscience twitched slightly as he thought about the toothpaste oreo’s he’d hidden in her drawer. He’d had a crap day that day, and playing those little pranks on her had cheered him up immensely. He’d often played pranks on his half brother Sesshoumaru back when he’d come to visit Dad during school holidays, to see if he could budge the stick that the older youkai seemed to have permanently wedged up his arse. The oreo trick had been one of his favourites. But here she was baking for him. Maybe she hadn’t found them yet. Perhaps he could replace them with a whole new packet before she ate one, seeing she’d bought him these. He grinned at her.

“You wanna stay and eat some with me Kittycat?”

“I’m afraid I can’t”, Kagome said with a sorrowful expression. “Lots to do. But I’m sure you’ll enjoy them!” With a cheery wave, she walked out of the door.

Inuyasha smiled, looking down at the container in his hands. She’d put a post it note on the lid, with ‘For Inuyasha’ written in curly swoopy cursive. She was a good friend, had fit into his life so completely that he didn’t know what he’d do if she suddenly disappeared. He was so glad he’d helped her that day she’d walked in to the shop with her bad cold.

Taking off the lid and not even pausing to take a sniff, he picked up one of the delectable looking cookies and stuffed the whole thing in his mouth, chewing appreciatively, until a distinctive taste hit his tongue. He nearly spat the contents of his mouth out on the floor, but ended up swallowing the mouthful with distaste, knowing he’d be the one that would have to clean up the mess. Those weren’t chocolate chips…

 Fucking raisins!

The wench knew he hated them. What the fuck? Who would replace innocent chocolate chips with fucking raisins, the worlds most vile dried fruit – that was… was evil!

The post-it note fluttered off the lid, and he noticed a smiley face drawn on the back with some more of Kagome’s swirling cursive.

 ‘That’s payback for the Oreos dog boy!  ❤ K.’

He snorted, about to tip the cookies in the bin, then deciding to put them aside to give to Myoga. The old man had taste in his arse, he’d probably love them, especially if he told him Kagome made them. But Kagome. What was he going to do about sweet little innocent Kagome? It looked like he’d finally found a worthy adversary.

It had been two weeks since she’d given Inuyasha the cookies, and there had been no retaliation. She sniggered, remembering his face when she’d asked him how he’d liked his cookies – the rolled eyes, the huff of irritation. Sweet manna to her soul. But then he hadn’t done anything about it. Frankly Kagome was a little disappointed. It was a shame, because she’d really enjoyed baking the biscuits for him and imagining his face when he bit into one, but she guessed that not everyone liked pranks. The Oreo incident had probably been a one off.

She flicked on the lamp next to the sofa, ready to sit down and enjoy her book and her cocoa with the last of the tiny little marshmallows, and shrieked, slopping the hot liquid down her pyjama shirt. Sango came running.

“Kagome, are you okay?!”

“Cockroach!”, she shrieked, pointing at the lamp, ready to hurl her book at it. The shadow of the insect was clearly visible on the inside of the lamp shade. “Quick Sango, get the bug spray!”

“On it!” Sango hollered, running into the kitchen, clearly ready to unload half the can on the offending interloper. Kagome kept her eye locked on the insect, wanting to be ready in case it flew towards her, holding up her book like a shield. The insect was still. Very still. So still in fact she bravely moved closer to take a better look.

She pulled the cut out picture of a giant cockroach from the inside of the lamp and held it up for Sango’s inspection as she approached with a jumbo sized can of spray. Sango looked incredulously at the paper insect, and then back at Kagome, who was looking at the cut out with a strange expression of glee.

“Inuyasha?” asked Sango hesitantly, unsure exactly what was going on, but making an informed guess.

“Yup!” replied Kagome happily, popping the ‘p’ with relish. Looked like Inuyasha was playing a long game. She could do that.

They were strolling along the High Line, or rather Kagome was strolling, and Inuyasha was following along reluctantly. It was only the promise of beer and a burger at the end of this outing that had made him go along.

“Isn’t it lovely here?”

“Kagome, it’s a bridge. With plants on it. And tourists.”

“But it’s so nice! Isn’t it amazing? All these green things growing in the middle of the city.” She twirled around with her arms out wide, nearly taking out some backpackers, then grabbed his hand, dragging him over to a small garden filled with purple daisies.

“Can we take a selfie here together? Please?” She pulled her phone out of her pocket, and then pouted dramatically. “Aw, I’m all out of battery.”

She looked up at Inuyasha and gave him a sweet smile, and he rolled his eyes, shoving his hand in his jeans pocket to pluck out his phone.

“Fine, use mine”, he drawled, unlocking his phone and handing it over to her. “But don’t go filling it up with cutesy photos, alright?” He didn’t mind really though. Kagome was always taking photos of them together on her phone, and he didn’t have any on his. It might be nice to have at least one of them together.

Kagome smiled up at him, and they did the usual shuffle so they would both fit in the confines of the screen – her standing on tiptoes, and him curving his body downwards.

“Say cheese!”

He grinned automatically, his lopsided smile revealing one fang, his cheek resting on the top of Kagome’s head. She’d told him she was using a new shampoo, one that didn’t smell quite as much, after reading up on different scents that bothered youkai, and he appreciated the fact that she’d done something like that for him. He sighed, breathing in her sweet smell, which blocked out the usual stench of the city.

“Thank you” said Kagome softly, mindful of how close she was to his ears. She kissed his cheek gently, and he couldn’t help the sappy grin that crossed his face. “I’m just gonna message the photo to my phone, okay? That way we’ve both got a copy.”

“Uh sure.”

He straightened up, feeling his heart beating a little faster for some reason. He obviously needed to get to the gym more often if walking along a bridge and dodging tourists got his heart rate up.

She handed him back his phone and then tugged on his hand. He slipped his phone back into his pocket.

“C’mon! I promised I’d buy you a beer and a burger. There’s a pub just under the bridge that’s meant to be awesome. I was reading reviews about it last night.”

He smiled fondly at her, taking in her wide grin and the spring sunshine bouncing off her dark hair. Such a bubbly person. He honestly didn’t know what Kagome saw in him. But he was very glad that she liked hanging out.

He had such a fun afternoon talking, laughing, eating, then walking her back to her apartment, that he realised he’d never looked at the photo she’d taken. He pulled his phone from his pocket and unlocked it, then snorted when he looked at his screen. He didn’t know how she’d done it, but somehow, she’d changed every single app icon to different pictures of kittens. Nice one. His lips curled into a smile, already planning on what he could do to get her back.

He flicked open his photo app and stared at the photo of them together, standing in the sunlight surrounded by purple daisies in the middle of a bustling city, the wind blowing their hair so the white and black intermingled. He saved it as his lock screen.

Kagome hated dusting. But she loved knick nacks, so dusting was a necessity. She just couldn’t bear to throw things away, and kept all sorts of little mementoes that wouldn’t mean anything to other people, but meant a lot to her. Spraying a little bit more polish on the rag, she ran it over the shelves of the bookcase in the hallway, picking up a photo frame absentmindedly so she could dust underneath. And then she double blinked.

Taking a closer look at the photo, she snorted with laughter. It was a photo of the four of them, one someone had taken when they’d won the pub trivia championship.

She didn’t know how he’d done it, or when, but somehow Inuyasha had used a photo editing program to replace all their faces, hers, Sango’s, Miroku’s and his own, with the features of Nicholas Cage. Not entirely original, but funny all the same.

She turned the frame over to find the original photo stuck to the back. Miroku had his arm carelessly around Sango’s shoulders and Sango was blushing – no doubt Miroku had just whispered something perverted in her ear.

She was standing next to Sango, and Inuyasha was standing directly behind her, bending down so his chin rested on the top of her head. It made her smile, the way he draped himself on her for photos – it was often the only way they both fit, because he was so much taller than her.

He was so amazing, he took her breath away sometimes, just like he had that first time in the store. It was like he didn’t know how beautiful he was. She turned the photo around again, giggling at how ridiculous they all looked. She had to hand it to him, that was tricky. Time to up her game.

Inuyasha was pulling his boots on when there was a knock on his front door, but it was expected. He’d ordered a box of Krispy Kreme’s to bring to Miroku’s regular card night, and it had arrived right on time. Salted Double Caramel Crunch. He always ordered a box, knowing the girls liked them, and having a not so secret love of them himself. Kagome was always at him to eat healthier, worried about all the salty and sugary foods he enjoyed eating, but he was half youkai – his metabolism could handle nearly anything.

Carrying the box carefully, he walked the two blocks to Miroku’s house, a tiny bit late because he’d had to wait for the delivery, but it wasn’t like anyone would care. They were already there, Miroku shuffling the cards, Sango sipping a beer, and Kagome sitting on the sofa, her eyes lighting up when he walked in the door. Sometimes she was so fucking cute, he couldn’t stand it.

He plonked the box down on the centre of the table, and walked across to Miroku’s fridge, opening the door to snag himself a beer.

Sango opened the box eagerly, and then laughed uproariously.

“Are you on a health kick Inuyasha?” she sniggered.

“Huh?”

Opening up the sides of the box, she revealed carrot, celery and cucumber sticks, along with a plastic container of hummus.

“What the fuck?!”

Kagome came to stand behind him. “Oh, good boy! You finally listened to me about eating healthier foods. You’re gonna feel so much better!” she said, patting him on the shoulder.

Inuyasha turned his head, raising an eyebrow.

“Really Kagome? Kidnapping innocent donuts?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about”, Kagome said, her expression all wide eyed and innocent. “Bu-ut if you wanted a donut as a little treat for being a good boy, after you’ve eaten some healthy veggies of course, there’s a plate of Salted Double Caramel Crunch ones in the kitchen. I know they’re your favourites.”

Kagome was tired. So tired. It had been a hectic week at work in the lead up to the fundraising ball, and all she wanted to do was curl up on the sofa with a nice cup of sleepy tea before heading off to bed. She opened the cupboard to reach in for her favourite mug, but her hand clutched on empty air.

Huffing impatiently, she stood up on tiptoe, unable to quite see onto the shelf. Sango was taller than her, and sometimes she pushed the mugs back too far in the cupboard for her to reach. But her hand still grasped at nothing. Were they all in the dishwasher?

She opened up the dishwasher, but it was empty. Sighing impatiently, she went into the hall cupboard to fetch the little step stool she used to reach the higher shelves, but it wasn’t there. Or in the bathroom.

Smelling a rat, or rather a dog, she walked slowly back into the kitchen, her eyes roving around for anything amiss. And then she noticed them. Every single mug, cup and glass was placed on top of the cupboards, way out of her reach. Kagome frowned.

This… this one hurt a little. Inuyasha knew she was sensitive about her height. At 5’2” she was the shortest person in her family, with even Souta towering over her now, and her height was a family joke.

When they first met, Inuyasha used to tease her about it all the time too, but he didn’t any more, knowing that it upset her. The only thing that had stuck was her nickname, Kittycat, which she didn’t mind so much, she kind of liked the way he said it. But…

She sighed, climbing up onto the bench top and balancing on her tippy toes, one arm stretched up to reach for a mug, the other windmilling frantically as she almost lost her balance. This game. It didn’t feel quite as much fun anymore.

Inuyasha sipped his beer silently, sitting alone in their regular booth at the pub. Miroku had tried to engage him in conversation, but had eventually given up when every answer was a surly one syllable reply, and had gone over to the pool table to join a game.

They were waiting for the girls to arrive for their regular pub trivia night, but his heart wasn’t really in it tonight. He was annoyed at Kagome. She’d called him a ‘good boy’. Offered him a treat, like a dog. In front of other people. And it rankled, especially since she was usually the one who would defend him when others poked fun at his ears or his inuyoukai heritage. Somehow it hurt ten times worse coming from her, because it was unexpected. She did call him dog boy sometimes, but that hit different, because it was a nickname, a term of endearment. Being called a ‘good boy’ felt derogatory.

Maybe it had been petty, putting all the things up out of her reach, especially when he knew she was sensitive about her height, but he’d felt like being fucking petty. This game they were playing wasn’t as much fun as it had been.

His ear twitched as he heard the raised voices of Sango and Kagome over the general noise. Sango was disagreeing with her over something, asking her if it really was a good idea, and Kagome was shushing her, moving through the crowd towards them. She seemed a little off balance somehow, like she was walking differently, leaning slightly to one side.

As soon as he got closer he saw why. Her arm was in a sling.

The mugs. The fucking mugs. He’d put them all up out of her reach and hidden her step ladder under her bed. And of course because she was the clumsiest woman on this side of the planet, she’d managed to hurt herself. And it was all his fault. Fucking shit. He was the worst person alive.

Gulping, he pushed himself out of the booth, moving over towards them. Sango was still glowering at her, probably telling her it was a bad idea to be out at a pub when she was injured. And she was right. Maybe he should take her home. He couldn’t see a cast, so maybe her arm wasn’t broken. But even if it was just sprained, that was bad enough, because he knew it was coming up to the busiest time of year for her at work.

When he got closer, Sango greeted him shortly and then moved off to find Miroku. She obviously was angry at him, because she should be. Because he was a shit friend, who’d done something to someone who he cared about very much.

“Kagome…”

“Hey Inuyasha”, she said, looking downwards, her voice dejected, her arm cradled against her side carefully in the sling. “How are you?”

Unable to stop himself, he wrapped his arms around her carefully, like she was made of glass, avoiding her injured arm. She was so tiny, so fragile. So breakable.

“Kittycat, I’m so sorry. I just didn’t think.” He stroked her hair gently, running his clawed fingers through her dark curls. “Does it hurt too much? Have you had it x-rayed? If you want, I can take tomorrow off and take you to out patients. What ever you need, okay? I’m such a shit, I can’t believe I-“

Kagome cleared her throat. “Inuyasha?”

“Do you need to sit down?”

“No, I’m fine. I’m okay, really.” He watched as she pulled her arm out of the sling, and he flinched, his own hands moving reflexively, ready to steady her. “I really am fine. I almost fell, but then I didn’t. I didn’t get hurt. This is just to… to prank…um, gotcha?” she gulped as the concerned expression on Inuyasha’s face turned to ire.

He blinked at her, stony faced, then marched out of the pub, uncaring about Kagome calling after him.

He marched down the street, anger fueling his long strides, uncaring that Kagome’s voice was getting further and further away. He could hear her running to try and keep up, and he was bitterly amused about her tiny little human legs not being long or strong enough, until he heard her misstep and almost fall. Fuck. If she really did fall, which was totally a possibility because she was the biggest klutz on both sides of the planet…

He turned and marched back towards her, then waited, his arms crossed. She ran up to him, panting, leaning over to catch her breath.

“That wasn’t fucking funny Kagome.”

“I’m sorry”, she gasped. “I should have listened to Sango. She said it was too much. I was just annoyed about you putting everything up so high. And when I almost fell it gave me the idea.” She sighed. “But you’re right, it wasn’t funny.”

“Damn right it wasn’t!” he snarled. “I thought you were injured, and you know I’d never do anything to deliberately hurt you. Between this and the ‘good dog’ comment, I’m fucking-“

“What! I’d never-“

“It was implied. I was a ‘good boy’, who could have a ‘treat’? And then I suppose when you faked an injury you thought the good dog would whine about it and look after you? What did you do, read up on Inu youkai protective instincts or something? I bet you had a good laugh about it, huh?” He huffed out a heavy breath. “I don’t like this game we're playing anymore Kagome.”

“Inuyasha, I never meant it that way. I was teasing, but I’d never…” She was openly crying now, hugging her arms around herself. “Please, I’m so sorry. Please.”

She looked so pitiful that he relented, wrapping his arm around her shaking shoulders.

“I’m still annoyed Kagome”, he sighed. “But it’ll be okay so stop crying. No more pranks, okay?”

“No more”, she sobbed, pushing her face into his side. “I promise.”

Seeing a bench close by, he tugged her hand over to sit down beside him, patting her on the shoulder as she continued to cry.

“Hey c’mon now. Stop crying. I said it would be okay.”

“I really am sorry”, she sniffled. “I guess I don’t know when to stop. Maybe that was why Mama banned me and Souta from pranking each other.”

“You used to prank your brother? Hey, me too.” He rubbed her shoulder as she leaned into him. “Not all of them were bad. Look see, I still got kittens on my phone.” Kagome smiled, her cheeks wet with tears, and pulled out her own phone.

"Look, our lock screens match", she said softly, showing him the photo of them both standing in the sunshine surrounded by purple daisies. She wiped away her tears, taking a deep breath.

“I put the Nicholas Cage trivia team photo on the fridge so Sango and I can see it all the time”, she said shyly. “It makes me laugh. Are you gonna tell me how you did it?”

“Nope, I’ll take my secrets to the grave”, he grinned, then sighed. She still smelt like guilt and sadness. “C’mon Kagome. Cheer up.”

“Inuyasha, please believe me when I say that when I said ‘good boy’ I didn’t mean it the way you thought I did”, she hiccuped, looking at him intently. “I promise. I just didn’t think. I promise I won’t call you that again. And if I ever say anything that hurts your feelings like that, please tell me.”

“Okay. And I promise I won’t hide your things up high again. That was kinda mean too.”

“Okay. Are we good now?”

“We’re good.”

Kagome reached out her arms and hugged him around the waist. “Good. Because I hate fighting with you.”

He squeezed her back affectionately, then pulled her to her feet. “You ready to go kick some trivia butt Kittycat?”

“You bet.”

"Oh, and you need to make some more raisin cookies for Myoga. The old coot hasn't stopped raving about them."

[timextoxhajima]

Pastries and Royalty (WRITTEN BY YU)

Member: Haknyeon

Genre: fluff - royal au; baker!reader - prince!haknyeon

Word Count: 1.7k

A/N: this is part of the 12 days of christmas collab hosted by @timextoxhajima

snow had blanketed every exposed surface like dusted sugar on any type of pastry if possible. and while it’d been a sight to see for some, many were cocooned in their homes as the clock counted its first seconds of the morning.

but wading through the layers of ice, there was you, with one destination in mind while the cold air rushed to your eyes like maidens on a ballroom dance floor rushing towards you, in awe of the elegant wear you’d put on. there was a reason why you went to bed just when the sun had started to set. you wished to put your best work out for the royal family to get a taste, even if that may only be admired from a distance.

several hours later, the last swirl had been perfected and the display of your art was ready to be transported to the castle where they all shone like they’d caught the first rays of sunshine in the morning. cakes and cookies, nothing had been left untouched.

the prince had heard about the bakery that served the best pastries and bread in the village but never had he seen the mastermind behind numerous art works and flavors he had the privilege of tasting. unbeknownst to him, you’d always watched the smile slowly appear on his face after his eyes had gone wide. it was the type of reaction you looked forward to, the type of reaction you’d like to take with you along your journey as a baker. 

~

in your childhood, cookies were made out of sand, as well as cakes. but back then they’d either be too runny or filled with cracks as water had been the only base to bind the different colors of sand together. flowers and leaves served as your piping work - messy, but a work in progress. you’d be nagged at by your aunt since she’d been annoyed at the clear missing scoops of sands and clay littering her yard, deeming your creations as useless. during drier seasons the sand would be hosed down to deter you from digging away your ingredients, but you always escaped with a giggle.

as you grew up, your childhood antic had slowly transformed into passions and realisation would strike when the real tools had to come out of your own pockets.

you remembered getting nagged at, playing around with real ingredients when you tried creating your own recipes. the skin bearing inspired recipes started shedding off when the taste keep straying from the original ones and the decoration reflected all that is you.

~

one day the curtain that hid you away from the prince’s knowledge had to be drawn. the bakery was only manned by you when he’d made an appearance. you’d been on your way to flip the sign so you could close up. 

“i apologize, your highness, but i have to close up shop.”

“i heard about the bakery that usually opens till late and sometimes it is the first shop with a lit corner,” he looked down at his watch as if to calculate the time, “hours before opening.” 

“many do have lights on hours before opening, your highness.”

“at 2 am ?”

you fiddled with your fingers, “we’re really passionate about our products.” you added a smile, showing off your pride. but something told you that he wasn’t fully convinced.

“is there perhaps something i could assist you with ?” prince haknyeon was known to return late whenever he’d been out and it mostly stems off the fact that he’d like to be back as soon as he finished something, rather than sleep away the remaining hours of the day to return the next day. you’d think that at times, it may have been safer to return the next day, but the prince had always been very fond of his friends and disliked being away from them too long if he was able to get back soon. unless he’d been abroad. 

haknyeon nodded, “i’m here to place an order for the upcoming christmas ball.”

“i see our last order was well received.”

“very well,” he smiled fondly, “but do tell me, who do i thank for such scrumptious treats ?” you were suddenly shrouded by shyness knowing that the prince himself had loved your deserts. your first try at that too!

“that’d be me.” you voice was tiny, but still audible enough for haknyeon to hear.

“excellent! have you gotten many orders since then ?” you’d only been employed for several months and you could only be grateful your recipes had been approved to take part in baking for the royal party.

“i’m trying to take it slow, we can only do so much with the piping set we have.” the bakery was small, possessed several seats and only two ‘piping artists’ who could tackle the work since the supplies weren’t grand. “as soon as i’ve saved up enough, i can come with my own piping set!” 

you tried not to sound so desperate in front of the prince but as soon as the words had left your mouth, you could only cry in silence behind the gentle grin you gave him. 

“hard work pays off doesn’t it ?”

“i’d like to believe so, your highness.” 

the prince’s presence wasn’t a secret for long as the order had to be given for preparations and of course others would linger around you like ants around a fallen sweet treat. throughout the days leading up to the ball, you had seen prince haknyeon several times and every smiles you had exchanged felt like a breath of fresh air and it seemed like you felt a lot more comfortable in your skin. working on the pastries came with buckets of joy and a couple servings of enthusiasm.

the cherry on top just had to be your invitation to the ball as the prince’s guest of honour for after all, the prince had quite a love for food.

but nothing compared to the struggle of finding the perfect outfit to wear as the room you’ve know before as your had suddenly become something you barely recognized as clothes lined up your walls like any wardrobe of a fashion show. 

~

your first time inside the castle was worth all the hassle you’ve put yourself through and seeing haknyeon come down the stairs just secured that feeling. 

unfortunately, it’d been quite a night to be wandering around the ballroom on your own since your companions hadn’t received an invitation, but haknyeon found ways to keep you company. be it his friends or even relatives who’ve gotten to know about the one being responsible for the desserts.

“you know what makes this all baffling ?”

you turned to him, eyes filled with curiosity and a mind that forgot the register his question with a response in the first few seconds.

“you know my name,” you sensed where this was all going, which made you laugh, “..but i don’t know yours.”

“you never asked, your highness.”

he waved you off, “oh stop it, if i’m going to be supporting you with your creations in the long run, there is no need for formalities..”

“but it’s barely been two months since you entered the bakery, it’s not like we’ve become buddies all of a sudden.”

“haven’t we ?” he challenged and you didn’t know what brought the situation to a point where you talked to him like you’ve known him since your childhood.

you pulled your neck back and stuck out your hand, only to retrieve it upon realizing that it might have been a rude gesture.

“i’m y/n and i guess, if you are willing, this marks the start of our friendship.”

haknyeon stuck out his hand towards you, glove-covered palm slightly facing up, “it’s nice to meet you y/n and i believe i have something for you.”

couldn’t miss the opportunity, he muttered, gently pulling you along to follow him towards the table that housed the food. he only had to duck slightly before pulling a carefully wrapped box in front of him. its wrapping looking far too intricate to allow yourself to even tear off a piece of tape.

“correct me if i’m wrong but did you say you had something for me?” he nodded.

“and the one you are holding now..” he nodded again even if you hadn’t finished your sentence, “is.. for me ?”

“every bit of it.” he pulled out a bag for easy carrying. “feel free to open it now.” he’d looked more excited than you have been, besides, you didn’t know what to expect.

“in front of all these people ? no way!”

“you could open it in the hallway if you don’t mind a few palace guards witnessing your surprise.” with how eager he was to see you open your present, you didn’t want to deny his request and by the looks of it, he’d really wanted you to see what he’d gotten you even if you barely knew of each other longer than two months.

and opening the present sure had been the highlight of your night as every inch of steel that your eyes had seen, was enough to make you want to shed some tears.

“this is.. this is not just a few..” the packaging were left on a nearby table as you gawk at your new possessions, “this is a whole set!”

“your new and very own piping set, just like you wished for!” he let out a giggle you were sure you never heard of, but didn’t complain about. “now you can even bake at your own pace and who knows.. open up your own dessert bar.”

“this is.. this is a lot, thank you, your highness.” tears brimmed in the corners of your eyes and haknyeon pulled out a handkerchief to help clear your vision again.

“you can call me haknyeon, you deserve each one of them, you really are great at what you do and i’d love to see what else my new friend can come up with.”

and sure enough, the kitchen was not only filled with joy and passion for your work from then on, but the determination to spread your wings slowly until it is known - far and wide - about your capabilities with flour, sugar and much more ingredients someone with a sweet tooth can imagine about. and with your newfound friend by your side, it was bound to be quite the adventure of your life.

[thiswasinevitableid]

68 from the winter prompt list seems Very sternclay and I would love to see your take on it, nsfw if it fits would be great too, thank you!!!

Here you go, it is indeed NSFW!

68. you’re obsessed with my homemade soup that I serve at my cafe and I’m too embarrassed to tell you that I’ve only been trying out new recipes to see you get excited for the soup of the day

Stern tries to avoid being rude in public, or in general, really. But right now he’s wondering if he can get away with shoving his face into this soup bowl and licking out the bottom. The food at Amnesty Lodge has always been stellar, but lately the soups are the highlight of his day.

Reluctantly, he leaves the last delicious dregs at the bottom of the blue ceramic bow and heads to the counter to pay his bill.

“How was everything?” Dani rings him up with a smile. 

“Incredible. I swear, Barclay out does himself every time I come.”

“Great! I’ll tell him you said so. I know he loves getting feedback on new recipes.”

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

“You did not say that.” Barclay drags the rag down the counter top. 

“Okay, so I didn’t add ‘especially from guys who he thinks are hot,’you got me.” She smirks as she clocks out. 

“It’s not my fault he’s so cute when he gets excited about food.”

“Barclay, just ask him out already.”

“But he’s a customer!”

“Who you also see once a week at game night at Duck’s. He’s for sure in friend territory at this point.”

“She’s got a point. Besides, sometimes flirting with customers ends well.” Aubrey leans against the kitchen door, twirling her car keys and winking at her girlfriend, “right, honey?”

“Absolutely, firebug.” Dani loops her arm around Aubrey’s waist, then levels Barclay with the look that routinely makes people mistake her for his little sister, “ask him out, or I am going to leave your number on his check the next time he comes in.”

“Okay, okay” He holds up his hands, chuckling, “you win.”

He waves goodnight, finishes locking up once the two women are gone. Then he climbs the stairs home. Amnesty Lodge was a real lodge, once upon a time. But as the city grew and buildings were divided and repurposed, only the restaurant and the rooms above it, plus the small house next door, remained. Mama, the owner, lives in the house, and Barclay has the apartment. It’s nice; he has no commute, he can run up and change if he gauges his layers wrong, and he likes being able to hear the river running nearby and the traffic humming through his window. 

Maybe Joseph would like to come up here after closing some night for coffee? Or is that too forward? Would he be interested if it was forward, or if they took it slow? Would he be interested in Barclay at all? Does he just like him for his soup?

God, the soup. He never meant for it to become a thing. His usual menu had three or four soups of the day in rotation, but then Joseph ordered a bowl of the corn cheddar chowder to go with his club sandwich and ate it so joyfully that Barclay caught him licking his spoon. Which did nothing to quash his budding crush on the guy. So he started trying out new recipes just to see Joseph get excited, and now it seems like Joseph is coming in just for the soup, and the upshot is he may be stuck forever in a soup-loop because of the way Joseph’s eyes crinkle when he’s happy. 

He knows that Joseph agreeing to a date would make him happier than a fresh produce delivery. But he has no clue if he really stands a chance with a guy who’s always well-dressed and friendly, when he himself is an often quiet, scraggly looking cook. 

Well, if nothing else, he has to try. Dani is not a woman of empty threats. 

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

“How do you do it?” Joseph rests his chin in his hand, spoon sitting in his empty bowl. He’s at the counter seating, so he can see Barclay working at the grill. 

“Do what?”

“Come up with such good recipes. And don’t try to say it’s cookbooks; you said last week that you’ve come up with a lot of them on your own.”

“It’s, uh, it’s nothing special, just a lot of tinkering.” He gets an idea, one that flashes over him so hot and fast he’s afraid the stove caught fire. 

“Would, uh, would you like to help me out with the newest one? I get off in an hour since I was on the early shift today.”

“I’d love to! I have some errands to run downtown, so as much as I’d like to hang around for an hour and watch you show off, I’ll see you at seven.” He sets down the cash to cover the bill and a tip, winks, and heads out the door. Barclay really hopes he stays in the suit when he comes back.

“Uh, dude?”

“Yeah, Jake?”

“Toast’s on fire.”

“Fuck!”

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

Barclay finishes setting out his mise en place right as there’s a knock on the front door. He swings it open and finds Joseph waiting patiently, a grocery bag slung over his shoulder. He’s still in his suit; Barclay can just spot his black tie with little ufos on it peeking out of his winter coat. 

“Dani said I should just come on up.” He slips off his shoes, revealing socks with Bigfoot on them, “and I brought some wine, and a fancy beer I found at Jenny Street Market, since I wasn’t sure what kind of soup it is.”

“My take on a traditional Irish stew, so let's do the beer.” Barclay grabs two pint glasses and pours as Joseph finishes hanging up his coat and joins him in the kitchen. He’s down to his dress shirt and slacks, eagerly rolling up his sleeves before taking the glass. 

“Right, what do we do first?”

Barclay takes a prolonged sip to avoid blurting out his real answer, then starts explaining that they need to figure out the right ratio of vegetable to lamb and which spices work best in the stock. 

They talk as they work, Joseph sharing his theories on the plausible plot twists in this season of Agent X and Barclay teasing him whenever he gets going on a tangent about the monster of the week episodes. The easy back and forth, the warmth of the apartment as the air fills with spices and butter, the way the kitchen lights plays off Joseph’s face; it feels like a home, and his stomach twists whenever he remembers that the other man will leave in an hour or two. 

“Barclay, I have to ask; why the sudden zest for soup?” Joseph sets his glass down, still half full because they’re talking too much to drink more than a sip at a time. 

“Uhhh, just, uhh a good fit for a winter menu.” Barclay sets the lid onto the dutch oven; it’ll take at least forty-five minutes for this batch to thicken and develop flavor. When he hazards a glance at Joseph, the man is studying him, one eyebrow raised. 

“Is that all?”

He washes his hands to buy time to build up his courage, then sighs, “Nope. It started after the first time you ordered it. You just got so excited whenever I had a new soup of the day, and I liked making you feel that way, so I just kept finding or making new recipes I hoped you’d like. Heh” he rubs his wrist, anxious, “sounds hella weird when I say it out loud like that.”

Turning, he finds Joseph with his hands covering his mouth. 

“Fuck, sorry, probably shouldn’t have confessed that when we’re alone-”

“What? Oh, Barclay,” Joseph steps forward, taking his hands, “I’m not upset, I’m shocked. That’s, um, that’s one of the sweetest things anyone’s done for me, going to all that trouble, you didn’t have to.” The words are a bit stuttery and jumbled, Joseph going pinker after each one. 

“I wanted to. I’d make a whole new menu every day if it’d make you smile that way.”

His lower back bangs into the counter as Joseph crowds him, fingers digging into his hair so roughly that it starts coming loose from its tie. He tastes like beer and stock he kept sampling, and Barclay licks it up, pressing his tongue between his welcoming lips, desperate to bring them as close together as possible. 

Joseph pulls away, resting their foreheads together, as he undoes Barclay’s shirt with ruthless efficiency, “Do you have any idea how hot that is?”

“The...doing nice things for you part?” He cups Joseph’s cheeks, trailing his thumbs over the hints of five o’ clock shadow. 

“You went to all that trouble, just for me.” Joseph drags his mouth up Barclay’s neck as he continues, “just to make me happy.”

“I mean, made me happy too.” He mumbles into black hair.

“I’m trying to compliment you, big guy.” Joseph nips his bottom lip. 

“Oh fuck.” He whimpers at the nickname, at the way the other man doesn’t hesitate to shove his hands up his now-bare chest, demanding and adoring, “guess all those jokes about the way to a man’s heart being through his stomach are true.”

“While the food helps, there’s so much more about you that I like. For instance” he drags his hands down to Barclay’s stomach before palming his hardening cock through his jean, “you’re the most handsome man in town.”

He whimpers louder this time, Joseph keeping up the light pressure on his cock. 

“Bedroom?” It’s both an encouragement and a question, the ton letting Barclay know he’s welcome to continue but not obligated to.

“The, can’t, can’t leave the stove unattended.” He gropes Joseph’s ass through his slacks, kisses his neck as he tries to calculate if turning off the stew will mess up the recipe. 

“I love how responsible you are.” It’s another compliment, a dead serious one, “and I have an idea.” He steps back, hurries over to the grocery bag, and pulls out a small, rectangular box. 

“I couldn’t tell if this was a date, so I decided to be on the safe side.” He surveys the kitchen, “feel like picking a surface to bend me over?”

Barclay practically knocks a stack of cookbooks off the tiny kitchen table, dragging a laughing Joseph over to shove him across it. 

“This okay?” He pants as he covers the back of his neck with kisses. 

“Better than okay. Barclay please, I’ve, um, I’ve been thinking about this for weeks, and basically non-stop for the last two hours.”

“Fucking-A” He’s amazed there isn’t a cartoonish boi-oi-oing  when he gets his pants and boxers down, his cock--his whole being, really--aching for the chance to fuck the man in front of him. Getting Joseph’s pants down takes two tries, and opening the condom takes three because he’s shaking so hard from excitement. 

“Need a hand, big guy?” 

“Nope. Just need this.” 

“FUCKohfuck, shit” Joseph reaches forward, gripping the far edge of the table as Barclay sinks into him, “yes, need it too, need you so bad.”

“You got me babe” he loops one arm around Joseph’s hips, sets his free hand next to his on the table for balance, “and I got you.” He starts slow, relishing every little sound he gets in reply to his thrusts, kissing any exposed skin he can find, then rucking Joseph’s shirt up his back to find more. 

Joseph’s hand moves down towards his cock, but Barclay gently guides it back onto the table, “No need to babe. Like I said, I got you.” 

He doesn't mean to start railing him the instant after his fingers find his cock. It’s more that feeling him soaking and hard, all because of (and all for) him, the grateful moan he lets out at the contact, the way he grinds his hips back and forth, it sets off every part of Barclay’s brain at once, and all he wants to do is take him, make him cum, break the fucking table showing him how much he wants him. 

“Ohmylord” Joseph gasps, raising his head, “oh my fucking--Barclay yes, like that, lord you don;t disappoint.” His smile is ecstatic, more than the worlds clumsiest hand-job deserves, and Barclay forces his fingers to find their professional finesse, rub and stroke in the ways that make Joseph beg for more. 

He growls as he feels his orgasm building; not yet, no fucking way, he wants to feel Joseph cum around him. With Herculean effort, he stills his hips and focuses, growling again as Joseph tightens around him. When the man beneath him cums, the last of his restraint evaporates and he hammers into him, table scraping forward inch by inch in time with his grunts and Joseph’s weakening moans. 

His climax doubles him over, and he spills with a muffled moan, mouthing at Joseph’s shoulder through his shirt. 

Then his legs give, ten minutes of furious fucking after a ten hour shift enough for them to peace out. He lands with an “oof” on the floor, and Joseph is laughing again as he turns to stare down at him. 

“Are you okay down there?”

He gives a thumbs up, “Cute guy just shorted out all my circuits, no big.”

Joseph fixes his pants and shirt, joins him on the floor and pulls him into his arms, “I’d say it was very big.”

Barclay snickers, rests his head on his shoulder, “Walked into that one. Gimme sec, then I can make us some dinner. Don’t know about you, but I’m starving.”

“We’re not having soup?”

Barclay kisses his cheek, “Nah, you can have that for dinner tomorrow at the Lodge.”

Joseph’s smile is full of delicious trouble, “How about for breakfast?”

He holds him close, smiling at him, “Babe, you got yourself a deal.”