#very happy to be munching on some little cheese sticks though

[legisaskerator]

just had to beg for help from my dad and his girlfriend to be able to afford groceries. Feels bad, man, but I’m happy to have food in the fridge again.

[le4ftea]

So, uhh how would Tanjiro Inosuke and Genya act after having sex with their s/o for the first time? Would they be protective? Shy? Lovey-dovey? Thank you ^^

OWO HONEY. I'll tell you.

Demon Slayer Boys after being Intimate. G/N!Reader

Tanjirou

When he found out about you liking him back...

He was shaking with excitement, his hands shaking and his fingers going numb.

He was so happy that he felt that he could die and know that at least he had you.

But when you both had sex

He was very passionate and kind with each thrust, the world spinning with every deep pound into you.

After you both had lose your innocents to one another

He was shy and very gentle with you the next day, and felt as if he fell in love with you all over again.

°◇°◇°◇°◇°◇°◇°◇°◇°◇°◇°◇°◇°◇°◇°

You softly hummed as you felt like the day had been washed in vanilla and cinnamon, the morning was somehow more lovely then before. Slowly rising up from the bed, you felt a bit of soreness in the lower half of your body.

Groaning quietly to yourself, you sat up.

A fuzzy bath robe wrapped around you yet slipped off your shoulders due to the fact it was a little bigger then usual.

Both of your bare shoulders shining with a pink blush.

Still half closed, you looked around the room almost drunkly.

Confused of why you were alone in the bed you passionately shared with the hero to all himself.

Tanjirou.

Without another minute of worry of his where abouts, the sliding doors open in a clumsy way.

A soft gasp leaving whomever it was, as the sound of dishes cling together.

"Oh oh no!" He whispered shouted as they struggled with the door and what seemed to be a tray.

You stumble onto your feet and quietly walk over to the man at the door, gently holding the door open for him to enter.

A soft smile on your face as you spoke to him, silky and smooth.

"Need help love?"

Tanjirou squaled and almost fell back from your sudden presence.

"D-Darling! Did I wake you?" Sounding worried about being to loud.

Giggling and shaking your head you replied with a 'no'.

Tanjirou had brought a tray of rice eggs and bacon that had sliced green onion and some yellow mashed potatoes that had some cheese inside, with some tea.(I wish I could eat this.)

A small blush on your face at the cute gesture.

You sat next to him and kissed his cheek.

Turning to face you immediately, his face burning a bright red. Almost whimpering at you.

Both of you grabbed your chop sticks and started to eat while you asked why he brought the food himself.

He looked away as he scratched his cheek, a blush still visible.

"Well... I just felt bad that I went to rough on you last night, I got selfish near the end and gave into my needs and probably hurt you a bit. So I asked if I could take our food here today as an apology."

His mood at change the atmosphere in the room, his face also turned into a sad frown.

You gently crested his cheek drawing his attention to you.

"You didn't hurt me love, all you did is make me fall in love with you more."

His frown jumped into a smile as a small tears popped from his eyes.

He would never be able to let you go now.

○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●●○●○

Inosuke

He was very obvious with his crush on you, yet you seemed to be denser then a brick.

When he start up told you he loved you.

You had no other choice but to know.

And when you both finally got intimate.

Holy Hell.

This man was going really hard and rough with you, gentle groaning as you screamed his name. It was like he had been waiting forever to pound you into the bed.

Like a beast breeding his mate.

The next day he was in a daze almost for a week.

Not speaking to anyone but only staying by your side with flowers dancing around him.

°◇°◇°◇°◇°◇°◇°◇°◇°◇°◇°◇°◇°◇°◇°

Laying on his chest, you would occasionally snuggle into him. His arm underneath you holding you closer to him.

His other laying on his toned stomach.

You both stayed like this for a while till you had the feeling of hunger, stomach grumbling quite loud now.

You pushed yourself from his warm body and saw his state that you didn't notice before.

He seemed to be a melted puddle of happiness, his aura a heart warmed glow as he had finally had you.

A dopey grin on his face until he saw you about to leave, gripping your wrist he sat up too. Looking you in your eyes deeply.

"I'm going to get food Inosuke" you whined almost at the growing hunger.

He pouted and almost asked you to stay with his eyes alone, his body language begging for you to not leave him yet.

Sighing you stood up but helped him up too and hugged him.

"Just come with me, we can eat together." His aura rising back to a heart warming glow as you felt hims nod, grabbing his bore hat he placed it on and walked with you to find food.

Sitting outside together, munching on bean buns. Humming at the yummy flavors, you turned to look at Inosuke.

A soft smile on his mouth as he ate his bun, still happy as a puppy that got a treat.

You giggled and sat closer to him as you both enjoyed eachother presences.

The wamr spring breeze blowing soft smells of nature, it was a perfect morning with Inosuke.

○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○

Genya

This man was so rough when it came to all but you. He just silently stays by your side and always make sure he gives you enough attention.

When he confessed to you, he was a stuttering mess which was quite out of character.

And when you both decided to have sex

O my God.

You would think he would go crazy

But when he put himself in.

He would slowly pound into you, with each thrust he would whisper how much you truly meant to him.

Telling you how long he waited to be connected with you.

And he made sure you had at least four orgasms.

So in the morning he was more prideful then ever and actually acted happy to others which made people scared for their lives.

He also marked you up quite a lot on your neck to make sure they all knew you both were together.

°◇°◇°◇°◇°◇°◇°◇°◇°◇°◇°◇°◇°◇°◇°

"Ouch! G-Genya that hurts!"

You whined as Genya gently pressed each hickey that was a beautiful purple on your neck.

Small tears forming at your big loveable eyes.

The morning was bright and fresh as the two of you woke form your long night of love making, the both of you were hugging one another when you guys opened your eyes.

Genya quickly moved away from you and wore blush of crimson while yelling at you to not get the wrong idea.

Even though the two of you basically saw eachother naked.

You both chatted about how silly he was acting but Genya smirked when he saw your neck that looked like you came back from a fight.

Blushing at how many you had, he kissed each one with a cute smile on his rough face.

"You look so beautiful."

He made sure you did not hide any of his marks with your cloths and walked with you around the temple where all of the demon slayers stayed.

The others asked if you were okay since you looked like you were in a fight to the death.

You waved them off, saying it was nothing serious and they shouldn't worry to much.

As you drifted off to the reality of what gave you such mark in the first place.

Blushing and shaking the heat from your face, you saw in the corner of your eye.

Genya grinning like an idiot. But you found this quite charming.

Running to him after saying your goodbye to the others you were talking too

You hugged Genya and hid your face in his chest, a soft groan at the sudden impact.

He frantically tried to get you off him as you could tell he was blushing at your embrace, you laughed to yourself quietly as you heard his heart beating faster then anything in the world.

He was adorable in his own strong way.

[blogger-yura]

Entry #27 Oct 23rd '21

#YurasLife #DailyYura #SweetSaturday #Food #Cooking #Recipes

𝐃𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐘𝐮𝐫𝐚 - 𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐞𝐬 (Carrot cake)

*contact Yura for removal of any food related posts taglist

Hello hello my beautiful muffins~. Happy Saturday! Wow, I don't think I've ever actually posted on a Saturday, have I? It feels so surreal somehow hahaha! I just missed everyone so much!How is the weekend treating you? Are you guys having fun? Or alternatively are you guys relaxing and recovering from a busy week? Whatever it is, I hope you enjoy today and take good care of yourselves! Do something nice for yourself, would you? Treat yourself to something you like. You deserve it for working so hard!

Ah you might be wondering why am I posting food if its not Friday too, aren't you? Well, I've been away for so long! I just want to make up a little to you guys and everyone likes a nice recipe from time to time~ Plus this is such a good cake for autumn! Don't you agree? I made some carrot cake again the other day for a friend's birthday and I just thought it'd be nice to share it with you guys ♡ So you can try it out whenever you feel like it!

I've been trying out lots of new recipes lately, I told you this! So of course I want to share some of my favorites so far and hopefully we still have a lot more autumn days for me to show off my cooking and baking skills hahaha! I hope you guys try it out and enjoy it~.

Prep: 25/40min - Cook: 40min - Level: Super easy! - Makes: aprox 9 portions

Ingredients-

▪400gr (3) Carrots ▪ 2-3 Eggs ▪ 150ml Vegetable Oil

▪250gr Sugar (mixed if possible)▪ 225gr Self rising flour

▪Orange/Lemon

Optional:

▪Waluts, pecans, raisins...

▪ Spices (cinammon, nutmeg, ginger...)

Steps-

1- As always, our first step will be preheating the oven! Very important step, no one wants to wait longer than needed when cooking!

2- While the oven heats up, we're gonna get started with preparing our ingredients! We're going to shred our carrots and a small amout of orange/lemon. If you've decided to add anything like nuts or alike to the mix, get started on chopping if needed too!

Shredding carrots takes longer by hand, obviously, so if you have a food processor with a shredder attachment that'll be faster and save you the orange hands aftermath. Also, keep in mind carrot cake has bits of carrot in it, obviously! If you don't really like munching on it, try to use the smallest size you can get when shredding!

3- As I said before, this is an extremely easy recipe! Once the ingredients are ready, all we have left to do is mix them all! Remember to always mix dry and wet ingredients separately to begin with and add your carrots last! You can decide whether you'd like to prepare the carrots with the spices first or add them in the mix too. I personally like preparing the carrots on the side and add just some cinammon to the flour mix.

5- Once you've added the carrots and mixed it all together, yes, it's butter time! As always, make sure to butter your trays, pans, or molds properly! Otherwise your cake will stick! You can always use some parchment paper too, as it'll help take the cake out of the mold once cold!

6- We're going to bake our carrot cake for around 40 minutes at 330-350°F or your ovens lowest setting. Carrot cake is SUCH a delicate cake, if overcooked it'll dry out too fast! Make sure to cook just until it's baked through and not longer "just in case"!

I like to decorate my carrot cakes with cream cheese frosting and flavor it with some citric sometimes! Do you like cream cheese frosting? Basic buttercream is so good too, though! Icing is a bit harder, carrot cake is already so sweet! But paired with a nice citric icing it can be wonderful too!

What was the greatest carrot cake you've tasted? Have you ever tried making some before? Let me know on the rbs! I'd love to try out some new places too (^-^)

This is it for today my angels! Take good care and enjoy your weekend to the fullest, whether it means partying hard or sleeping 12 hours straight! Ok then! I'll see you around~ -Yura ♡

🧡: @madmanwoodam @vitoria-oc @archangel-oc @shin-haneul @lunaaofthemoon @moongoddesselene @jinju-oc @ochouse @cbville @esmeralda-oc @jihan-oc

@cb-museclub @achillesunwoo @ares-bc @warblerchangmin @mafia-chae @unseelie-dejun @skzcbspam @betrayerjongup @ppg-3ye @moonlightchn @temptationcb @demigodnct @vampiremomo @suburbanbots @antiromantic-jun @roommates-bot @modelyonghee @floristyujeong @literature-bot @eunwoo-bot @hopelessromantic-juyeon @silvernightcb @choipaths @botuniverse @modelsora @adorbsana @richsocietybot @runawayscb @godly-bots @hwangxmaximoff @velvetparadise @berryjinnie @revengebots @urown-im @azieville-institution @7deadlysins-chan @journeythroughtime @mverses

[garbagevanfleet]

Brightest Blue (series)

PART EIGHT

Pairing: Josh x reader Warnings: snuggling, tiny amount of bodily injury  Summary:  Things are changing. New state. New school. New roommate. You just pray things are going to click into place. Notes: I’ve been on a tiny bit on a hiatus, but here you go! Thanks for all of your support! I love you 

taglist: @valleyd0ll @satingrass-maidensfair @guitarfingers @thebohemianpenguin @peaceisouranthem @oblvions @hansonobsessed @myownparadise96 @lara-gvf @anditsmywholeheart @kill-fear-the-power-of-lies @bigblack-catattack​ @myownparadise96​

MASTERPOST 

Kate was missing from class on Friday, to your deep dismay. You had been hoping to tell her about how shitty Trevor had been, but instead, you received a text that she had overslept her alarm and decided to just stay home.

That left you and Josh alone at lunch, just like you had been at the beginning of the year. He was excitedly explaining that there were a few kids in his production that you would “absolutely love”, and you had to agree.

“They’re catching on so fast. Rachel gave them some not-so-easy routines to the choreography, and they’ve almost got it down. I feel like that’s tough for kids so young, you know?”

You couldn’t help but grin as he spoke with such candor.

“I was doubtful that they would be able to get it, but she insisted that they could,” he finished, grabbing his bottle of water and lifting it to his mouth.

You had your lips open to reply until you caught sight of his hand; the knuckles were bruised just lightly enough that you couldn’t tell if it was just the lighting or not. As soon as he caught you eyeing it, he went to set the bottle back down.

“What happened?” You laid your hand down on the table, palm up as a gesture for him to take it. Reluctantly, he did, and you took a moment to inspect.

“It’s nothing, I’m just clumsy,” he said, pairing his assurance with a sweet smile.

You frowned at him in disbelief. “No, you’re not; I saw you make that shot across the room with your sucker stick the other night. You’re very well coordinated.”

He stared into your eyes for a moment as he gauged your reaction, and then hummed amusedly. “It’s really not that bad, it just looks gross. Just a musical mishap.” You shot him a look, to which he quickly replied, “Don’t worry about me, ‘kay?”

Not sure what else to say, you pushed forward the ziplock baggie of apple slices you had been munching on. He reached in and plucked one out for himself.

“Do you want to have a movie night with me tonight? You could invite Kate if you want.”

The offer made you genuinely smile, though you hadn’t quelled the long list of questions you still had.

“That sounds lovely. I think we have string cheese, so we could make homemade mozzarella sticks or something.”

He was looking at you in an oddly serious fashion, and you weren’t sure what he was going to say until he opened his mouth. “Hell yeah.”

+++

You hadn’t considered that you’d have to see Trevor again so soon, or rather - you did, but you had been pushing it to the farthest corner of your brain, not at all ready to think about it. So that’s why when you were sitting in class and he walked in, your stomach lurched.

You tried to keep looking straight ahead, but it only lasted so long before you couldn’t help yourself. He was sitting as far away from you as he could get, but it still wasn’t terribly far.

He had his eyes firmly on his desk, head tipped down. His posture was crumpled in on itself, and you could only imagine how embarrassed he was - or at least you hoped he was. At the very least, you knew he should be.

Until the end of class, you kept yourself busy - even tried to actually pay attention, but when you were dismissed, you let out a relieved breath.

You stood and collected your things, then promptly headed for the door.

On the way out, he looked up and met your gaze, and the sight of his face made the air catch in your lungs.

The skin around his left eye was stained a purplish-grey, his brows tipped down into a scowl.

You hadn’t hit him that hard, had you? A whole cocktail of emotions flooded your brain, and you bit your bottom lip, ripping your eyes away from him as you exited the room.

Your pace was a bit faster than usual, which is why you beat Josh to the B doors by a couple of minutes.

Could slapping someone give them a black eye? You thought yes, but there would have to be some real force behind it. You were pretty sure that you’d have to wind up to get him that good.

“What’s wrong?”

You hadn’t even heard Josh approaching you, so it made you startle just enough for him to notice. He put his hand on your back in a comforting gesture.

“Ah, sorry. I was just thinking,” you replied, giving him a weak smile.

“About what?” he chanced softly.

“Nothing - not a big deal.” You started off walking, him right by your side, matching your pace.

  “How are things going with the play? You haven’t even told me what it’s about yet.”

His face lit up. “You haven’t asked. We’re doing Alice In Wonderland. Some of the songs are original.”

“What, like you wrote them?” you asked, looking over at him with a shocked expression.

He nodded, laughing under his breath. “Rachel is working on the wardrobe; costume design and all of that. I have the sculpture class working on the props and set, but they can only come like once a week.”

“Do you need any help?”

He looked over at you, surprised. “Do you want to? Can you paint?”

You shrugged. “Kinda. I mean, I can make it work. I’m not perfect, but it’s manpower, at least,” you admitted.

“No, no - any help would be amazing but don’t overexert yourself. You need to still work on your stuff.”

“I won’t,” you promised. “I’m happy to help.”

+++

You had texted Kate at lunch asking if she wanted to come for a movie night, as Josh had suggested, and she had eagerly agreed. You were still surprised, however, when she showed up with a handbag full to the brim.

You watched her pull out a bag of kettle corn, a few little glass bottles of nail polish, some packets of face masks, a stack of DVDs, and a bottle of white wine - all while chatting you up about her morning.

“This looks like just a girl thing, so I’ll leave you guys to it,” Josh said, not a shred of animosity in his tone, but you frowned up at him from the couch as he stood.

You went to open your mouth to protest, but Kate beat you to it. “Oh, no, you should stay. I brought three masks.” She fanned them out like a deck of cards in her hand.

He raised his eyebrows at her, looking rather impressed. “Oh.”

“You do want nice skin, right?” she prompted.

“He has very nice skin,” you replied in his defense, making her shoot you a look.

“Everyone has room for improvement,” she quipped back, as Josh just shrugged at you.

“I’m down,” he agreed, taking his seat again on the couch. “Are we watching a chick flick?”

“Well, I brought some choices. Otherwise, I’m open to suggestions if you guys have any good ones.”

“Maybe we should let Josh pick,” you suggested. “Since he’s going to be the one really watching it while we do nails.”

She smiled at you and then him. “You heard her - gentleman’s choice.”

“So, if I pick Human Centipede,” he started through a shit-eating grin.

You lovingly rolled your eyes at him. “If you own Human Centipede, I’m going to be moving out.”

He tipped his head back and laughed unabashedly.

In the end, he picked a rom-com, which you knew he would, and took a seat next to you on the couch. About a quarter of the way through, you realized that Kate didn’t have a lot of intention of actually watching a movie, per se. It seemed that she was more interested in using it for background noise.

The night was therapeutic. Everything felt easy. You found yourself laughing genuinely, leaned in to watch as Kate dabbed a wet washcloth over Josh’s nose, causing him to scrunch it up in distaste. She immediately scolded him, explaining that it had to be wet for the mask to work right, and he needed to sit still.

Once it was on, you couldn’t help but snap a picture of him as he play-pouted at you, his bottom lip jutted out.

It wasn’t until your nails were finished that you started to feel a chill. “Does it feel cold in here to you?” you asked.

Both of them looked at you questioningly.

“Maybe just a little bit,” Kate agreed.

Wordlessly, Josh stood and grabbed a thick blanket from the basket by his side of the couch and then spread it out of your laps. You had thanked him, and that had fixed the problem for then, but by the time Kate was packing her stuff up and ready to leave, you had a chill you just couldn’t shake.

As soon as she was gone, you turned to him and frowned. “You really aren’t cold? Like at all?”

“It’s a little cold, yeah,” he agreed, but you sensed it was mostly to make you feel better. “Do you want a sweatshirt?”

You nodded, giving him a grateful look.

“I hope I’m not getting sick,” you mumbled.

He frowned at you, rubbing at your shoulder. “Hang on, I’ll check the thermostat.”

His feet made a patting sound as he crossed the hardwood; a sound that had become a comfort to you.

“Hmm, it is colder than usual in here. I’ll turn the heat up,” he replied, and then a moment later, he finished. “The heat isn’t kicking on for some reason.”

You shot him a concerned look, suddenly terrified you were going to freeze.

“Hang on, I’ll be right back.”

“Wait, where are you going?” you asked as you watched him make his way to the front door.

“Just into the hall, sit tight.” With that, he disappeared.

You pulled his sweatshirt on and sat back onto the couch, your knees tucked up to your chest and the blanket up to your neck.

When he got back in, he gave you a sympathetic look. “Apartment 4 said that theirs is working just fine, so I think I’m going to call the landlord.”

“It’s 9:30 at night,” you reminded him, brows tipped up in concern.

“Yeah, but heat is kind of an emergency here in the winter.” The phone was already up to his ear as he spoke. You could hear the line ring and then someone pick up on the other end. He explained the situation to her with ease at first, but he seemed to quickly lose his patience with her.

“That’s absolutely ridiculous,” he snapped, filling a tea kettle with water. “It’s going to get freezing in here tonight.”

Then a pause, and you could hear her responding pointedly.

He let out a huff. “We don’t have the money for that. What are we supposed to do?”

You could hear him relent, just by the tone of his voice. He thanked her and then promptly hung up. You waited for him to come over, two cups of tea in hand, before you threw any questions at him.

“Well?” you asked, knowing full well that nothing had been accomplished.

He exhaled a long breath. “She said she’ll get someone on it later tomorrow, and if we wanted it fixed tonight, we’d have to pay for it upfront and she’d pay us back minus the emergency fee.”

You frowned but still reached your hand out of the blanket to set comfortingly on his knee. “It’s okay. Thank you for trying.”

“We’ll pile the blankets on you tonight,” he promised.

But even with - what you were sure was - twenty pounds of blankets, you were cold in your bed. You laid, staring at the ceiling for nearly an hour, trying to will yourself warm. You even tried moving around a bunch under the blankets, hoping to produce enough heat from friction, but it was no use.

You had known what you were going to have to do just moments after settling under the covers, but you couldn’t bring yourself to do it until you started to shiver involuntarily.

You let out an annoyed huff and pushed the covers off. It wasn’t until you were out in the open air that you realized how much warmer it actually was under the covers.

You crossed the hall, poking your head into Josh’s doorway.

“Josh,” you whispered into the dim room, and he stirred instantly.

“Yeah,” he responded, a rasp in his throat.

It took you a second to work up the courage to ask, “Can I sleep in here tonight? I cannot get warm for the life of me.”

“Yeah, of course.” His reply came after a moment of him shifting over for you.

You rushed back to your bedroom, snatching the blankets off of the bed. They were too thick to really bunch them up in your arms to carry, so you ended up half-dragging them over. When you returned, he held the comforter open for you.

“I hope I’m not intruding.” You climbed in, quickly pulling all of the blankets over you as he helped you situate them comfortably.

He shushed you assuringly.

“Why is your bed so warm?” you complained, shuffling down until the blankets were up to your chin.

The smile on his lips could be heard through the hum he let out. “I’m used to the cold. I’m sorry to tell you that this isn’t even close to the coldest it’ll get here. You probably haven’t had to make your own body heat much back home.”

“This is literally like body heat donation for the needy,” you teased, turning in bed until you were facing him. “Can I lay where you were laying?”  

“What, no,” he said through an incredulous laugh.

“I bet it’s so warm though,” you whined. “Feel how cold my feet are.”

You shifted until you could press your toes against his bare ankle, making him jolt.

“Jesus,” he hissed. “If you want the heat you’re just going to have to come over by me.”

You took a second to gauge that response, trying to find any evidence of teasing in his tone. “Really? You wouldn’t mind?”

“How do you wanna do this?” His tone sounded like it was inching toward disbelief.

Through a frown, you asked, “What do you mean?”

The sound of him quietly clearing the sleep from his throat filled the otherwise quiet room. “Just. I don’t know, do you wanna put a blanket between us?”

You giggled breathily at him. “No, I’m too cold to be worried about modesty, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“Okay, I’m just going to lay here and you just situate yourself however feels comfortable for you.”

Without any hesitation, you scooted toward him until your chest was flush to his side, your chin rested against his shoulder.

“Is this okay?” you inquired, snuggling deeper under the sheets.

The warmth was heavenly.

“Your skin is fucking freezing,” he mumbled, clearly close to sleep again already.

“Good, so you see that the situation is dire,” you quipped, wriggling your fingers until he let you slip them between his chest and his bicep. His muscles jumped, and you could tell just how cold your skin was just from the way he felt hot to the touch.

He breathed a laugh, and in a teasing tone, agreed, “Life-threatening, I’d go so far as to say. Wake me up if you need anything, okay?”

You agreed, pressing your nose against the sleeve of his shirt, and drifted off.

+++

When you woke, it was to the sound of his alarm. You felt him reach a hand out of the covers and flick his phone off, putting a stop to the shrill ringing instantly.

It took you a second to realize you were borderline hot. You couldn’t figure out why it was so dark until you realized that one of the sheets was almost completely over your head, blocking out the sun that shone through the slats in his blinds. You wiggled until your head was out from under the blanket, but quickly pulled it back up to your chin when you felt how the cold room made your skin prickle.

Once you got your wits about you, you wiped the sleep from your eyes, popping them open in shock when you realized the position you were in. You weren’t sure if it was him, or you, but somehow he had shifted in the night so that your chests were pressed flush together.

In his sleepy state, he placed his hand on the back of your head, pressing your face back into his neck where it was positioned - unbeknownst to you.

With your nose touching his skin, you could feel his pulse on the tip of it, slow and steady - like he wasn’t really awake. The smell of his cologne was familiar to you now.

“Josh,” you whispered, tipping your head up until you realized the limited mobility you actually had.

He hummed, and you knew the second he was conscious because his muscles tensed all at once before loosening enough to release you.

“Sorry,” he mumbled as you untangled your legs from his. “I must have really been out.”

“It’s okay, I was too.” You looked up at him with a smile. “We survived the night.”

He hummed through tilted up lips. “That’s good; I would have been really upset if you died in my bed.”

After a moment, you groaned a complaint. “I do not want to get out of bed. I know it’s going to be fucking freezing. If we move out of here, can we go somewhere warm?”

He tilted his head over to meet your eyes with a subtle smirk.

“What?” you asked.

“Nothing,” he replied. You were contemplating pressing further, but he spoke again. “I’m staying home today from school so I can be here when the repairmen come.”

You frowned. “Do you want me to stay instead? Or with you to keep you company?”

“No, I’ll be good. You need to go to school and stay warm.”

You grimaced at him, secretly wishing he had asked you to stay so you didn’t have to get out of bed.

“Okay, you’re sure?”

He laughed at you. “Yes, you should get moving. Feel free to wear any of my warmer clothing.”

You shot him a grateful look before closing your eyes and throwing the blankets off of yourself.

[random-mha-thoughts]

Boy in Luv (Midoriya x Reader)

Pairing: Midoriya x fem!Reader

Genre: Fluff/crack

Summary: Midoriya has a crush on a girl in his class, but he has no idea how to confess to her, enlisting the help of his two good friends.

Inspo: Based on BTS “Boy in Luv” MV

Word count: 1,802

Tags:  @liviitehe @iamsoftsodonttoucheume-blog @bunnythepipsqueak @yuki-osaki

a/n: As promised, here’s the post!  And with this, I’ve officially added Midoriya to the list of characters in the Touch Starved collection.

Enjoy the cuteness and, mostly, the crackhead friendship between the main 3 characters!  And even though I’m really late, happy 6th anniversary to Skool Luv Affair!

Midoriya, Bakugou, and Todoroki sit on the front stoop of their dorm building, enjoying the good weather since it was raining the past few days.  They've been practicing all day and decided to take a break and snack together.

Midoriya munches on his stick of string cheese.  "Do you guys get the math stuff?  I'm still having trouble with integrals and stuff."

"Tch, you're falling behind again, Deku," Bakugou scoffs, ripping open a bag of spicy chips.

Todoroki, the only one of them who decides to snack healthy with some fruit, chews for a moment before offering, "I can help you if you're stuck, Midoriya."

"Like you're any better, Icyhot.  You went completely frozen trying to figure out that problem in class yesterday," Bakugou points out smugly.

"I was simply calculating the answer mentally before writing down my work," Todoroki answers, cool and collected as ever.

"Don't make me laugh!  Just admit that you can be dumb sometimes too!"

Midoriya laughs awkwardly, stuck between his two friends as they argue - more like one of them screaming while the other brushes them off calmly.  The boy raises his eyes out to the distance, widening his eyes at what, or who , he sees.

The girl jogs towards the dorm building with Yaoyorozu beside her.  Her face lights up into a smile at whatever they're talking about.  A black windbreaker jacket is thrown over her golden honey colored sports bra that shows off her lean abdomen, and black leggings with a matching yellow stripe tracing down the side hugs her toned legs.  Midoriya doesn't want to admit it, but he can't stop staring.

The two girls slow to a stop in front of the group of still-bickering boys.  "My, they're always fighting, aren't they?" Yaoyorozu shakes her head.

The girl lets out a few chuckles.  "That's just how they are, I'd be more surprised if they stopped, honestly."  She turns to the green-haired boy and offers him a beaming smile, her eyes crinkling up.  "You still holding up, Midoriya?"

At first he's dazed, staring at the way her chest heaves as she breathes and the thin sheen of sweat on her face glistening in the fading afternoon light.  At his name, he sobers up and his cheeks flush from what he was staring at.  "Oh, uh, yeah, somehow," he sputters.  "Did you guys just come back from training?"

"Yeah, we had a pretty good session."  She stretches her arms over her head, letting a few hums of pain escape her.  "I'd love a good shower and my bed right about now, but I still have homework to do.  See you tomorrow!"

The boy watches as the girls retreat back into the building.  I never thought yellow would look good on someone besides Kaminari, he finds himself thinking.

"Midoriya, are you okay?" Todoroki's concerned voice scatters his thoughts.

"Huh?"

"Your cheeks are red and hot like you have a fever."  The heterochromatic haired boy leans forward, about to touch his face.  "Are you coming down with something?"

"No, you clueless idiot, he's in love," Bakugou barks, "He's got the hots for (Y/n)."

Midoriya jolts up.  "Is it that obvious?"

"Maybe not to Icyhot, but yeah, you look at her like she's your entire world or something."

The boy's emerald eyes drop to the ground and he hugs his knees to his chest.  "She's a really down to Earth person, and she's really easy to talk to.  And...the way her smile lights up her entire face."  His goofy smile and warm feelings fade as he sinks his head down to rest on his knees.  "I don't really know how I should tell her though."

Todoroki takes a bite of his orange slice, pondering the situation.  "Give her a lamp?  Since you said she lights up easily?"

Both boys shoot him a confused glance.  "I don't think that would impress her."  Midoriya gives it a thought.  "She likes coffee, maybe I can get her a thermos for the morning?"

"Give her a new set of pens, she has a bad habit of always losing her own."

"Maybe buy her a new pencil case to match?"

"Buy a plant for her dorm to brighten it up, like a cactus."

Bakugou finally throws his head back and groans at their stupidity.  "You guys are such idiots!  Neither of you know the first damn thing about romance?"

The two other boys slowly shake their heads dumbly

The ash blond groans again.  "Okay, let me tell you what you should do, Deku, since you're obviously clueless."  After explaining a somewhat elaborate plan to the two other boys, he leans back, a triumphant grin on his face.

Midoriya's eye widen, blush coating his cheeks again at the thought of the scenario unfolding.  "Wow Kacchan, I never expected you to be a romantic."

"Yeah, it's because you idiots are totally clueless.  You need me to educate you."

"If you're so good, why are you still single?" Todoroki asks simply.

Silence.

"SHUT UP ICYHOT! DON'T MAKE ME KILL YOU!"

Two days later, the three boys decide to go through with Bakugou's scheme.  After class, Bakugou silently follows the girl, waiting for her to stop talking to the rest of the girls to get her alone.  After spending an annoyingly long amount of time outside their classroom talking to Mina and Tzuyu, she finally bids them goodbye and makes her way to the library to study.

Unfortunately for her, she never makes it.

Just before she opens the door, she notices a shadow looming behind her.  Turning around, she's startled to have Bakugou's piercing crimson eyes boring into her's.  She backs into the door and he slams an arm by her head.  She's shaking like a leaf.  "W-What do you want, Bakugou?  I didn't do anything to you."  Despite trying to seem strong, her voice comes out feebly.

A sinister smirk crawls across Bakugou's face.  "How'd you like to go on a little trip?"

Before she can scream bloody murder, he grabs her arm and pulls her away on a little "joyride."

Meanwhile, Todoroki and Midoriya move all the chairs and desks of an empty classroom towards the walls to make a clear space in the middle.

The nervous, freckle-faced boy nervously paces around the room, going over the lines in his head while his fears wreck his quivering body.  "I can't do this, Todoroki!  What if she says no?  What if she laughs at me?!  What if she tells everyone?!  I'll be absolutely humiliated!"

"Midoriya, calm down," he stares at the jittery boy with a level gaze.  "Bakugou said he's very confident this will work.  He's sure she also harbors feelings for you too."  He places a warm hand on Midoriya's shoulder to stop his anxious habit.  "Besides, since she likes you, she would appreciate your nervous stuttering because she would find it endearing and think it's genuine of you.  Sounding too practiced ruins the natural anxiety of the moment."

The boy stares back the Todoroki's stoic expression, letting his words sink in.  "So I need to make sure I don't overpractice or else she'll still reject me?" he whines.

The half-hot-half-cold boy sighs, being cut off by his phone ringing.  "It's Bakugou, he says they'll be here shortly.  And he says, 'Don't mess this up, Deku.'"

The boy cries out, feeling his entire body suddenly lose all heat to hysterical cold.  Todoroki turns off the lights and closes the window shades, plunging the room into darkness only to light the few candles scattered across the room, casting a dim golden ambiance.

For the final step, Todoroki produces a single rose out of the inside pocket of his uniform jacket.  Walking over to Midoriya, who's mumbling strings of inaudible, neurotic fears to himself, he juts the rose out in front of him, cutting off his speech.  "Relax, Midoriya.  Just say what comes naturally."

Midoriya blinks, delicately holding the rose by the stem, Todoroki moving to stand behind the door to be out of the way.  The smaller boy feels sweaty, shaky, sick.  His uniform tie is suffocating around his throat, stomach heavy in anticipation and fear, heart hammering in his chest and ears.

Finally, the door swings open and his heart almost stops completely.

Bakugou walks in first, holding the girl by the arm.  The first thing Midoriya notices about her is her insanely windblown hair and dazed eyes.  Bakugou said he would take her out on a ride around school, hitching her on his back, jumping out a window, and using his quirk to rocket them around the school building once.  He says it would get her blood pumping, adrenaline rushing, and cheeks blushing; the perfect primer for riling her up for the big finale.

"Take it away, nerd," Bakugou makes a dramatic sweep of his hands towards Midoriya, and he knows it's his turn to shine.

The girl blinks back into focus and surveys the layout of the room, scanning the messily pushed around desks, the candles, and finally resting on the boy with the rose in his hands.  Her blush intensifies at the last thing.  "M-Midoriya, what's all this for?"

The boy goes cold all over again, perfomance anxiety getting to him.  "I... Uh, (Y/n)- You-"  All the different ways he could possibly start his monologue jumbles together to produce a mishmash of word vomit.  Pull yourself together, don't mess this up!  He takes a deep breath in and clears his throat to start over.  Whatever comes natural.  "(Y/n), you are the most amazing,  bright, fun, cute person I know.  Just seeing you smile makes my day and manages to tongue-tie me.  I'd really like to be...more than friends."  He holds out the flower with both shaky hands and dares to look in her eyes.  "W-Will you...go out with me?"

Her silence seems to last agonizingly forever.  Her entire face seems to lift as she flickers back and forth between the boy and the flower he clutches to keep from coming undone.  She finds it endearing.  In a swift movement, she gently grips his hand, leans in close, and places a kiss on his freckled cheek.  "Yes, I'd love to go out with you, Midoriya."

The boy lets out a strangled yelp of excitement, before slapping a hand over his mouth in embarrassment.  "I'm sorry, I'm just really happy!"  Sheepish chuckles bubble out as he throws his arms around her, and she welcomes his embrace with her own delighted laughter.

The other boys look on at the scene before them.  "The nerd did better than I thought he would've," Bakugou mumbles, shoving his hands in his slack pockets.

"At least his confession was accepted.  Don't know what would happen if you tried this, though," Todoroki comments, his dig smoothly executed.

Bakugou grips the boy's shirt.  "YOU WANNA DIE ICYHOT?!"

[i-dream-of-twilight-sparkle]

Chapter 7 - Good Mourning, Fluttershy

When Fluttershy left the castle, she decided she’d take her time for a bit before heading out to invite who she wants to. Besides, she had animals to feed both at the sanctuary near her cottage and in her home first. She shopped at the markets in Ponyville for vegetables and other kinds of pet food. Even visiting a fish store that while Ponies did not eat fish, they’re still sold as food for many ponies who have pets with carnivore diets. While fish are animals too, and Fluttershy enjoys seeing fishes when she’s swimming. She understands that she can’t force the carnivores to become herbivores. Depriving dogs, cats, bears, etc. of the diet they’re naturally attuned to would be wrong even if Fluttershy feels bad for the poor fish.

To be a nature lover like Fluttershy. you sometimes just have to understand that nature isn’t always kind. Even as the element of kindness, she can’t bend nature to her will. Though perhaps to the comfort of Fluttershy, for many of the fish that are sold as pet food, the very nature of those species is to be so plentiful as to allow the ones that avoid being caught or eaten survive to eventually give birth to more.

After finishing up her shopping, she flies over to the sanctuary and gives all animals she come across food to eat, to all kinds currently in her sanctuary. From amphibians, to birds, to insects, to mammals, and reptiles. The sanctuary gives Fluttershy a way to observe the animals she loves as they should be out in the wild rather then being confined to her home or for some of them, risking having to trek the Everfree in order to see them. Though Fluttershy still lets many of the smaller animals take shelter in her home, as many parts of her cottage include birdhouses, mouse holes, etc. She moved most animals she had to the sanctuary, but she still very much has her own little animal neighborhood to come home to whenever she walked in. Speaking of which, it was time to head in to her cottage to feed said little neighborhood.

She heads to the front door of her cottage, and opens the door to greet her many, many, small roommates.

Fluttershy: Goooooood morning! I have fresh treats for all of you.

Many animals comes out of their hiding places and approach Fluttershy to receive food and/or care from the loving pegasus that has let them seek shelter in her home. Suddenly she gets a few pokes on her flank from what definitely is an impatient bunny rabbit.

Fluttershy: Oh don’t worry Angel, I didn’t forget about you. Here’s a nice bowl of carrots for you.

Fluttershy leaves the bowl of carrots, and the feisty little bunny starts munching. Fluttershy gives a generally pleased look as a good majority of her animals are fed. Though she does notice a rather odd absence of a certain group in her household.

Fluttershy: Say, I don’t suppose any of you have seen any sign of Mr. Mousey or anyone in his family have you?

The animals listening to her either shrug or shake their head from side-to-side. Mr. Mousey is one of the ol’ veteran animals that’s been in the house around for years and barely ever missed feeding time even when he’s confined to a tiny wheelchair. Either his wife or his child who has grown up now helping him when it was time. Fluttershy walks on over to the mouse hole she knows Mr. Mousey and his family lives.

Fluttershy: Mr. Mousey? Are you doing alright? You’re starting to worr- *peeks into the hole* GAAAAASSSSSSSSP

Fluttershy screams, in the hole is… Mr. Mousey slumped in his chair having passed away in his old age, his light-grey wife Mrs. Mousey covering her eyes with her tiny claws and crying. Their grown-up white son holding on to his old mother in comfort and mutual grief for the death of his father.

Fluttershy: MISTER MOUSSSEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYYYYYYY NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Fluttershy averts her eyes from the hole . Lays down on the ground and just starts tearing up heavily. Once again, a beloved animal resident has died in her home. Fluttershy’s been through this many times as an animal caretaker. But it never really gets any easier to see, she can never be numb to the death of an animal she raised in the house.

The other animals seeing the grieving Fluttershy immediately come to her to comfort her as best they can.

Fluttershy: t-t-Thank y-you a-a-all… *sniff* It’s j-just s-still s-so -s-sad… Mr. Mousey’s life was just a little bit longer then the friendship with my other friends here for the exception of Rainbow Dash! *sniff* I-i-i remember when h-he… w-was just a k-kid m-m-mouse that was looking for f-food… I-i-i gave him a piece of cheese… a-and t-then he started c-coming back for m-more. In time s-showing up one time with a m-mate. A-and t-that’s when I d-decided to g-give them a m-mouse hole h-home… had their c-child h-ere and e-e-e-everything *sniff*

Fluttershy putting her face back on the ground and continues sobbing. Eventually she’s going to have to pick herself up. Put the body of Mr. Mousey in a nice box and bury him in an area near the edge of the everfree where Fluttershy buries all her deceased pets. She’s wobbly and still weak in the knees from the sheer sadness she feels. But she proceeds to start to do so. She finds a box, pulls out some cotton floof from her pillows, puts it in the box and leaves it just outside the hole. Signaling Mr. Mousey’s family to bring the wheelchair out of the hole for the last time to bring his body for Fluttershy to put in the box. Fluttershy carefully holds the body and lays him to rest in the cushioned box that now serves as a coffin for her beloved old mouse pet. She takes one last look at the body of Mr. Mousey, noticeably she actually sees that Mr. Mousey has a smile on his face. Sort of actually comforting Fluttershy, as she at least views that he lived quite abnormally long for a mouse, and he died happy. Fluttershy closes the box and ties a ribbon around it. Meanwhile, Mrs. Mousey and her son get up onto Fluttershy’s back using their claws to climb Fluttershy’s long tail to take part in the funeral.

It was now time to take the long walk to her pet cemetery again.

((Story continues after the break))

Moments later, Fluttershy reaches the cemetery of all her pets of the past, she reaches for a shovel she leaves there, and makes a small hole big enough to bury Mr. Mousey. She places the box down, and proceeds to bury the box. Once that’s done, Fluttershy, Mrs. Mousey, and Mr. Mousey’s son put their hooves/claws together in a praying position. Paying their last respects for the old mouse.

A few minutes later, suddenly Fluttershy feels what seems to be rain.

Fluttershy: Is it starting to rain? I didn’t think the weather patrol had rain scheduled today… but I guess perhaps even the planet is crying for Mr. Mousey...

But then Fluttershy see something a little odd about the rain, it was brown, and when she gave it a lick it tasted like… chocolate milk! Fluttershy looks above her is a big pink cotton candy cloud. Cotton candy clouds and chocolate rain could only be the work of…

Fluttershy: Discord, I know that’s you up there…

Sure enough a neck cranes down from the side of the cloud and goes down to Fluttershy’s level on the ground.

Discord: Hello dear, Fluttershy, How are things with you today?

Fluttershy: I’m not sure I’ll be in any mood for your antics today, Discord. Mr. Mousey h-has.. p-passed a-away… you happened to interrupt during my f-funeral for him...

Discord: Mr. Mousey kicked the bucket today? Shoot, he made one heck of a cup of tea.

Fluttershy: Wait, you’ve drank tea with Mr. Mousey?

Discord: Yes, I actually taught him how, and then he proceeded to make better tea then I ever could. Granted he can’t make a lot of tea given he was a mouse. Though it certainly feels like more then it is, when I’ve shrunken myself.

Fluttershy: I wish I knew that sooner, I would of liked to shrink myself with you to Mr. Mousey’s hole at least one time… *sniff*

Discord: Well I think thankfully his wife knows how to make tea as well, so there’s always that some other time.

Fluttershy: I suppose that’s true, but it also would of been neat to be at Mr. Mousey’s size as equals for once before he passed.

Fluttershy briefly goes back into a praying position. Discord ponders for a little bit before proposing something to Fluttershy.

Discord: You know Fluttershy, I COULD probably revive Mr. Mousey and the other pets in this cemetery if you wante-

Fluttershy: NO ABSOLUTELY NOT!

Discord: You didn’t even let me fin-

Fluttershy: Discord, I know how your chaos magic works by now. I’m not letting you turn all my beloved pets from my entire life as an animal caretaker become a zombie army that ravages through Ponyville!

Fluttershy wasn’t quite giving Discord “The Stare” but she nonetheless was not having any tolerance for Discord’s suggestion

Discord: What? It’d be an exciting episode of this sh-

A ringtone rings.

Discord: Hold on, I think that’s my agent

Fluttershy: ...Your what now?

Discord picks up the phone

Discord: Yes….? 

Wait, what do you mean the show ended after the 9th season?!  I didn’t even get to have a chance to make up for what I was written to do in the finale! Apparently some hated that...

Well what am I doing here then?! 

Oh? I’m in a blog or website fan fiction that continues where things left off? 

Bleh, this is just going to be full of namby-pamby dramatic twists & reveals, and chock full of the emotional drivel that fans like to call “feels”. 

I’ll stick around, but you better be taking calls for some better gigs right now!

Fluttershy just stands there confused

Discord: Ok Fluttershy, now I know what we’re in. What direction do you want to go in? Should we share a sob story each of what life we had with Mr. Mousey, perhaps an arc about his little son picking up the mantle? or perhaps... a plot twist that Mr. Mousey was actually murdered and we look for suspects!

Fluttershy: …I have no idea what you’re talking about

Discord: Really Fluttershy, it us all so simpl-

Fluttershy: DISCORD! Enough shenanigans, a dear pet to me just died and you’re making things worse when you’re like this as I’m grieving…

Discord: Oh… I guess you’re right, Fluttershy. I’m sorry, let me do something to try to make it up to you.

Discord makes a grave that’s ‘like 100x larger then the actual burial spot where Mr. Mousey’s body is. Fluttershy takes a close look and reads the epitaph “Here lies Mr. Mousey, a husband, a father, and the kindest, best tea-making, wheel-chair bound mouse who shall forever be eating his favorite cheeses to his heart content up in the sky”. She admits that it was at least a little touching.

Fluttershy: Thank you Discord, that’s much better.

Discord: You’re welcome, Fluttershy.

Fluttershy: I think I’m ready to get back home, wanna go with m- whaaaaaa!

Discord snapped his claw hand, and him, Fluttershy, along with what’s left of the mouse family are already teleported back in the living room.

Discord: Why walk, when you have me!

Fluttershy: Well maybe it could of been a nice stroll, you know? But oh well… I have something to ask you Discord.

Discord: Oh no, is this the moment of the fan fiction you confess your love to me and ask me on a date? And does the author of this want me to be happy about that or not?

Fluttershy: What? No, I was inviting you to a royal ball!

Discord: Where’ll we end up dancing in the ballroom together singing a song like a certain romantic fairy tale. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know the drill.

Fluttershy: *facehoofs* Ugh, you’re impossible sometimes. I’m offering an invite to you just as one of my friends to take to Saddle Arabia.

Discord: Saddle Arabia? Wasn’t that the place you and the others almost were killed by an insane stallion who mind controlled Twilight?! Perhaps, I should actually come just for your security…

Fluttershy: Well, Twilight and the royal family there are taking extra precautions. But if you feel you could provide more security for us you’re free to.

Discord: Perhaps, though say what was the name of the bad person you girls defeated there?

Fluttershy: Zathir

Discord: Yes, I could also come over there to haunt Zathir’s dreams for daring to try to harm a single feather on you.

Discord suddenly wearing a black hat, red and green striped hat, and gloves with sharp knives protruding from them

Discord: This… is Chaos

Fluttershy: Heh, it wasn’t so funny at the time given it was a life or death situation. But I was the one that ultimately brought him down because I knocked the lamp down as he was battling with Spike.

Discord: Ah yes, perfect! I can have him replay that moment of his life over-and-over again. Mua hahahaha!

Fluttershy: *giggles* Well, anyway just to be sure. You DO want to go, right?

Discord: Of course.

Fluttershy: Good, now I can go find a few more friends to get here. I can use my gum portals to…

Discord: Why bother? You got me, tell me who you plan to invite and I can just snap them here, and snap them back once they’ve said yes.

Fluttershy: That sounds kinda rude… but uh if say I came across Bulk Biceps in Ponyville…

*SNAP*

Bulk Biceps: YEEAAAAAA- Oof

Bulk Biceps lands on the floor of the cottage.

Fluttershy: Uh hi Bulk, sorry for that. But I guess I get to invite you Saddle Arabia for a royal ball. You want to go?

Bulk Biceps: YEEEEAAAAA-

*SNAP*

Bulk Biceps is teleported back to where he was

Fluttershy: Um, Discord if you’re going to teleport my invitees here at least allow me some time to talk to them.

Discord: I mean, to be fair it’s his gag that YEAAAAA is all he says. So I’m not sure the conversation was going to be much anyway…

Fluttershy: Anyway… next is my parents and my brother.

*SNAP*

Fluttershy’s parents and Zephyr Breeze are teleported to the cottage.

Posey Shy (Fluttershy’s Mother): Whoa!

Gentle Breeze (Fluttershy’s Father): Huh? What are we doing in Fluttershy’s cottage?

Zephyr Breeze: Sis, just what in the name of Celestia is happening?

Fluttershy: Sorry, all of you. I’m inviting friends and family to an event I’m going to, and I guess Discord wants to speed things up a bit by simply bringing who I want to bring here. Don’t worry, he’ll bring you right back to whatever you were doing before.

Posey Shy: Where are you going?

Fluttershy: There will be a royal ball in Saddle Arabia all my friends are bringing their families as well as some of their own friends they’ve met around the world. You don’t have to go if you don’t want to, just thought I’d offer.

Gentle Breeze: Well sure, I suppose. A nice trip to somewhere new could be nice.

Posey Shy: I’m interested

Zephyr Breeze: I’ll gladly go, another chance to make my move on a certain wonderbolt friend of yours… *wiggles his eyebrow*

Fluttershy rolls her eyes, she’s going to enjoy the moment Rainbow Dash bucks him in the face again.

Fluttershy: Ok thanks, all of you! I’ll see you later! Discord, you can take them back now.

*SNAP*

Fluttershy’s family disappears and are sent back to their home in Cloudsdale.

Fluttershy: Ok, now there’s only only one more invitee, Discord. I need you to get Tree Hugger here.

Discord: Heh, with her coming at least I get to say I was invited before her this time.

*SNAP*

Tree Hugger is brought to the cottage but it seems she was in deep meditation where she was, because she seems to have not noticed.

Fluttershy: Um, Tree Hugger?

Tree Hugger hears a familiar voice and breaks out of her meditation trance.

Tree Hugger: Whhoooooooaaaaaaa dude, did my meditation give me such enlightenment that I can travel the world now?

Fluttershy:  No it wasn’t your meditation, Tree Hugger. That was Discord that brought you here.

Tree Hugger: Oh hey, yeah I remember you. You… sent me to some weird sock puppet dimension…

Discord: No hard feelings?

Tree Hugger: Nah, I ain’t mad, dude. That’s not my style, though I at least hope all your bad vibes from your jealousy are gone.

Discord: Nah I’m good, besides. Fluttershy invited me first!

Tree Hugger: Ah, so you don’t have bad vibes of jealousy this time. But now you have some pouring from a big ego.

Discord deadpans and crosses his arms. Fluttershy giggles.

Fluttershy: Anyway, Tree Hugger would you like to come with me, Discord, and many of my other friends to Saddle Arabia for a Royal Ball?

Tree Hugger: Sure thing Flutterdude, I’ve heard Saddle Arabia has some nice meditation techniques that I can see firsthand.

Fluttershy: Great! I’ll see you there! Discord, go ahead and get her back home.

Tree Hugger ohms and goes back into meditation just before Discord sends her back

Fluttershy: Ok that takes care of every pony, I guess thank you, Discord. Even if this method was a little forceful…

Discord: Hey, if it moves the story about. So what do we do now.

Fluttershy: We just wait for the others to finish.

Discord: Wait, you’re saying that like we’re not even the main characters of this fiction?!

Fluttershy: Wat

Discord: Hold on, I need to call my agent back…

Fluttershy: …….

Confuzzling as always, Fluttershy and Discord now simply await word for when the ball starts

UP NEXT: Chapter 8: The Pink Pony Party Preperations

[tf2hcs]

the mercs take you on a date to olive garden (imagines)

Soldier: soldier wears his uniform to the date, complete with a WWII veteran baseball cap that he clearly bought at the state fair. he loudly informs you that you look lovely before replacing both of his grenades with breadsticks. he is delighted with this. there are now two grenades on the dining table. later he decides to test the true limits of limitless breadsticks by continually asking for more despite the growing pyramid of uneaten breadsticks before him, until it’s just you, him, and this bread wall he built between you. he does tip, though. 

Scout: scout thinks this restaurant is extremely fancy. he’s never been inside. he wears a clip-on bow tie (he wanted a real one but Medic wouldn’t help him, saying “it’s the olive garden, wear a t-shirt, you animal,”) and tries to fold the cloth they wrap the utensils in into his shirt to use as a bib. you know that feeling you get when you’re in a snooty store that you’re lowering the stock value of the place just by being poor inside of it? he has that the whole time. he’s sweating like crazy and he thinks he has to order for you (”and for the gentleman/lady/etc”). as for his order, he gets two appetizers (mozzarella sticks and soup) and attempts to politely scarf them down. emphasis on scarf.

Medic: medic is VERY excited to eat all this Italian food. he gets that smoked cheese dip thing. he shows up in the classic “gay man in olive garden” look--button-up unbuttoned to the second button, collar popped, sleeves rolled up, fun pattern, hair combed back over his mild male-pattern baldness. a king, truly. he makes comments about every single item on the menu and orders a dessert to-go.

Demo: remember when demo wore that “civilian outfit” in the comics and just dressed exactly like a gay dad? he re-purposes that outfit for this date. he instantly orders the long island iced tea and probably bottomless pasta. sit-down dinners at chain restaurants aren’t really his thing, but he appreciates that you wanted him to take you. halfway through his second long island, he contemplates stabbing his fork into his eye patch as a joke. it’s up to your interpretation whether or not he goes through with that.

Heavy: heavy feels sort of awkward in a place like this, but after some convincing he agrees to go with you. he’s wearing a white t-shirt (what he wears under his work clothes), a button-up, and some blue jeans. he takes full advantage of the unlimited soup and breadsticks, but still orders a slice of lasagna, along with whatever beverage looked most pronounceable. he spends a solid third of the date looking lovingly over the table at you while you eat your eggplant parmigiana. 

Spy: spy is appalled and disgusted by the olive garden to the point that he finds it almost offensive, but you absolutely begged him to take you here (”as a child, I was denied the privilege of an olive garden dinner experience. it was always my dream that some knight in shining armor would save me and buy me an unlimited pasta pass.”) he tries to be polite since he knows you love it there, but he can’t contain his looks of contempt at every piece of decor there. he grimaces at your order no matter what it is. ultimately, all he orders is unlimited salad; after that he just makes the waiter grind Parmesan onto an empty plate until he says “when” for his own entertainment.

Sniper: you and sniper are on the road when you notice the olive garden. you’re both hungry, so he offers to stop for dinner. if you two started dating more recently he orders for you, but otherwise he lets you order yourself. you two share an appetizer (fried mozzarella and toasted ravioli sampler) and Sniper gets a glass of red wine, despite the fact that he’s going to be driving for the next several hours. he gets the cheese ravioli, with a completely unabashed side order of kid pizza “for the road”. on your way out he steals an extra handful of mints.

Engineer: engineer asked you where you wanted to go for dinner, and this was your choice. he’s happy to take you there, but he does shoot a couple of wistful glances to red lobster along the drive. in general, he’s a joy to go out with; he’s polite to servers, he has good table manners, and he doesn’t leave a mess. he orders herb-grilled salmon and a sweetened ice tea. he’s charming.

BONUS

Pyro (platonic): pyro is extremely excited for that dessert menu, but they’re not exactly sure about the finer points of getting it under their mask. eventually they figure out that they can hold up their napkin to shield their face while they munch on their apple crostata. they’re also very entertained by tapping their breadsticks against yours like glasses in a toast. it’s a good date, and Miss Pauling is there to pick them up after and take them back to base.

Miss Pauling (F reader): Miss Pauling wears an outfit only slightly different from her work clothes to this date (purple dress shirt, black pencil skirt, short heels). she gets a wine cocktail and shrimp alfredo, and spends a fair amount of time making jokes about the other people in the restaurant. she mentions how relaxing it is to spend some time off work. it feels good to know that she wants to spend the little time she has relaxing with you. knowing she won’t have a lot of time for more dates later, she goes for the kiss in the parking lot outside her car.

[izayoichan]

Rylan reaching upstairs finding Hayden in his tub filled with cold water and some ice cubes just for good measure. 

“How’s things?” “Pretty Chill!” “Ouch, that was bad, even for you! Why don't you go downstairs dad, I'll help Hayden.” “Alright, we'll get everything ready down there then.”

Hayden looks at Rylan wondering a little why he is there, as he knows all he had to do was shout and Chris would have taken him down to the others. Vy looks at him and whispers as if saying it out loud would break something. 

“I believe you... “

He squeezes his hand, looking down.

“I would miss you all so much. And I believe you, that's why I am scared because I believe you and I want everything you tell me to be true. You're my family! I feel like you're my family.” “We feel like family because we are family”

He remembers the pizza, turning his head quickly. 

“A family about to have homemade Pizza “

He gives Vy a quick hug before he goes to take the Pizza out as Chris walks in. 

“Oooh, this smells nice!”

Rylan helps his brother out of the bath and over to his bedroom, finding him some light pants and boxers, standing with both in his hands, suddenly stopping, just looking at Hayden.

“Rylan...? Hey, nono, don't go there”

He pushes himself off the bed and walks over to him.

“Hey, look at me, come here... “

he leads Rylan back to the bed sitting him down, understanding why he came up now, Hayden being the best at snapping him out of his panic attacks. 

“Rylan, tell me about Flynn, and how he loses his soul?”

Rylan takes a deep breath, looking at Hayden, anxiety making him shudder, then starts rambling quickly everything that jumps into his mind... 

“Slow, I can't understand you.”

He has done this a few times now and getting him to focus on something, often going into detail on it, and forcing him to speak slowly. Rylan looking at him, their eyes locked as he slows down, breathing deeply, starting over, while handing Hayden his clothes. 

Vy smiles at Chris. Suddenly realizing just how tired he is, both physically and emotionally. It took him a fun day to realized he missed normality, he missed having fun and good days. 

“I think after pizza... I might need to go to bed”

He stretches and looks at the pizza that Hayle is taking out of the oven. 

“You’ll have to cool a few slices for Hayden, mister Hayle…” “I will, and you should do that, get a good night’s rest. 

He takes the pizza over to the table, taking two slices, cooling them on a plate, the temperature in the room lowering, yet oddly not just around the pizza he just took out.  “Rylan, Hayden, Dinner!”

Hayden looks at Rylan who nods and lifts him up.

“Pineapple?” “On your side, yes. Weirdo!”

He smiles, happy his brother helped him out of it, impressed by how he does it. It seems to be by far the most effective way of handling it.

“Coming dads!”

Vy watches the pizza, starts zoning out again, smacking his face on the island counter and waking up with a yelp.

“Sorry!”

He blinks eyes repeatedly and rubs face.

“Owwww…” “Maybe you should just go get some sleep? I'll save some pizza for you if you want?

Hayle looks a little worried at him as Rylan enters the room carrying Hayden, putting him on the chair next to Vy. Hayden just looking at them wondering what he has missed, as he has clearly missed something.”

“More pizza for us! I'm joking Vy, sorry.” “No... no! I'm okay! I can have pizza!” “Well, I say let’s dig in!”

Rylan grabs the chips and the bearnaise as well, putting it so they can just grab some when they want, wishing that River was here, as he grabs a pizza slice, Hayden, looking at Vy as his dad brings him the chilled pizza slices, taking a bite.

“Oh, nice! You guys are getting good!” “Well we have a very good teacher”

Vy picks a slice himself

“I saw another pizza recipe I wanna try, where the dough is made of broccoli and it looks delicious!”

He smiles, taking a bite into a piece of pineapple pizza.

“Like, green pizza!” “I'd try it, have to test if its tasty cold. “Broccoli pizza... I am not convinced!” “Figures mr I hate my vegetables!” “ I don't need to eat, why eat icky things!?”

Hayden laughs and shakes his head at his brother and his dad’s banter.

“Doesn't mean you aren’t what you eat!”

He sticks his tongue out at his brother as he takes another bite of the pizza.

“Says the one who has pineapple on Pizza!” “ Vegetables are good and tasty! I'll make broccoli pizza for you! It has a lot of cheese!”

He smiles, finishing his slice and reaching for a second one.

“Just serve it and don’t tell him what it is, we had vegetables in his favorite meatballs when he was a kid, a picky eater is what he is!” “Oi!”

Hayden just shakes his head chuckling them, enjoying another family dinner together.

“I'll tell him the truth. You'll learn to like veggies with me!”

He chuckles, and drinks a bit of soda, taking one more bite of his pizza, watching them eat. As they eat and talk, he slowly starts dozing off, laying his head against Hayden's shoulder, unfinished pizza slice in hand. Hayden looking at him as he feels the weight off his head on his shoulder. Putting an arm around him just so he can sleep like that for a little while.

“So who is sleeping with me tonight then?”

He notices both Hayle and Rylan raise their hands.

“Wow.. both of you huh.” “Yeah, I need someone to bounce ideas off when you’re awake, and try and keep dad from it, I dare you.”

Hayden just chuckles, gently playing with Vy's hair, a little worried with him, knowing he used way too much energy to just keep him going.

“I'll take him to his room, we have done some changes to it, he probably hasn't noticed since he is always in yours.”

He gently lifts the sleeping dragon into his arms, letting his son kiss his cheek gently before he takes him upstairs. Smiling as he hears a chirp escape Vy noticing he is clinging to him, wondering if he thinks perhaps it is Hayden carrying him, deciding not to ask for now. His room now has a fully open roof, no glass, instead, the cold is kept out with a magic shield Hayle had set up. That way both sun and moon could shine in and help charge him up. The room was also slightly warmer than the rest off the house so he could sleep without freezing.

“Now then, you have a good sleep”.

He sits on the bed like him and his husband had talked about, noticing that Vy looks at him when he puts him down, clearly, a bit confused at first, but then he sees him and calms down.

“Sleep Vy, I'll wake you if I feel the slightest change in Hayden.”

He smiles at Vy, wanting to do what he would have done with his own kids, but a little uncertain Vy would take that well.

“You can use me as a bed if you want, my kids do that so, you are welcome to as well.“

Vy looks at Chris, then at the sky, seeing all the stars, pretty sure this was not in his room when he first moved in there.

“I have nightmares sometimes... “

He scoots closer to Chris, so he can feel his presence, though he doesn't entirely hold on to him, a bit awkward, not knowing if it would be alright, but just being close enough to calm him down

“please wake me up if I have nightmares... “ “I will.”

He closes his eyes, quickly dozing back to sleep. While he sleeps he actually scoots closer to Chris, clinging to the side on his shirt. Chris adjusts his position slightly and lifts him so he can hold him to make him feel safe, doing just what he does with all his kids when they are upset.

“You sleep well Vy.”

He looks up at the stars, half pondering on making one of these for him and Hayle’s bedroom, in the kitchen Hayden sits quietly having finished his food, not really feeling like eating any more than two slices knowing his stomach didn’t like too much food at once.

“I wish he didn't…” “We all do, which it's why it is good he gets a night’s sleep.” “Yeah…”

He knows he will miss him, but with his dad and brother there, it would be good. Not that he would ever say it out loud, but after being told his heart had stopped on several occasions, he wasn't exactly feeling like sleeping alone.

“So you get to help me plot and plan instead.”

He takes another pizza slice, munching on the chips and the sauce, noticing his dad looking at them.

“Plot and plan?” “Yeah, we decided to start up D&D again. Have some fun.” “Oooh, good, then this time we can have homemade dinners!” “Oh wow, that's going to be a shock for them.” “A good one though.”

Hayden watches as Hayle and Rylan start to clean, before he finds himself in his brother’s arms and Carried up to his room, where the tv comes on with a movie, as he and Rylan discuss d&d until Hayden falls asleep.

“I like your idea, with River’s character.” “It was Vy's idea actually.” “It's a nice idea, imagine the surprise when he comes back.”

Rylan looks at his dad and nods, this day has been the first in a while where he has forgotten all about the dream world, and stayed in his real world. And he had to admit, it did feel quite nice. In general, this entire day, or well evening had been nice, they would need to do more off them

Beginning - Previous - Next

[artificialqueens]

nobody knows where we might end up, chapter eleven (branjie) - holtzmanns

(read on ao3) | (tumblr: plastiquetiaras) | word count: 4828

AN: Thank you so so much for the continued lovely response to this fic, reading reviews makes me the happiest ever. I appreciate it so much <3 thank you writ for betaing and being the best.

(then)

“Ready? One, two, th-”

“No, I can’t click it, it’s too scary! It feels too real!”

“You’re acting like we’re watching a horror movie, B.” Vanessa tries not to laugh at the sight of her girlfriend peeking through squinted eyes at her computer screen. “We gotta finish the registration for the MCAT. The time has come.”

“How are we here already?” Brooke groans, resting her cheek on her hand. “It feels like we’re still babies.”

“We’re halfway done second year. Not so baby anymore.” Vanessa double checks the credit card number she’s entered onto the MCAT registration website and tries not to wince at the price displayed on the screen. Why is an exam that they’re forced to write if they want to apply to medical school so damn expensive?

“You’re always my baby, though.” Brooke gives her a cheeky look, and Vanessa grins, tapping her leg against hers under the table.

“And you’re mine. Now c’mon, we gotta finish or all the spots for this date will be taken.”

Brooke lets out a sigh of relief and nervousness both when they get their respective confirmation emails for the MCAT. Vanessa’s mind is already spinning over summer plans, how they’re going to have to study even more than they already do in the months leading up to the exam.

But hey. It’ll be worth it if they both get into med school. Especially if they can do it a year early.

“D’you think we can do it?”

Brooke looks at her with an adorably furrowed brow. “Do what?”

“Third year entry.” Starting medical school a year early by entering after their third year of university rather than after they graduate in their fourth year, a practice permitted in medical schools across Ontario. It seems like a fever dream to Vanessa right now, a concept that feels so far away but so exciting that she doesn’t even want to think about it too much.

“Dunno, Ness. Barely anyone ever does.” Brooke bites her lip. “It sounds so difficult.”

“We’re smart, though. Both of us.” They weren’t at the top of their respective classes for nothing.

“So is every other student that’s planning on applying to med school for third year entry.”

Vanessa sticks her tongue out at Brooke. “Shush. Don’t stifle our dreams. We can beat them all. I could probably take some in hand-to-hand combat, too.”

Brooke snorts. “Last time I checked, the med school application process wasn’t actually a literal Hunger Games.”

Vanessa scoffs, opening up a medical school application forum that she’s begun to frequent recently. “Sure feels like it sometimes.”

Brooke looks at her screen and tuts. “You know looking at that’s gonna freak you out even more.”

Vanessa sighs. “I know, I can’t help it. I just wanna know everything and be on top of everything, you know? And just know that we’re both gonna get in, and to the same schools, too.”

Brooke reaches out a hand, grabs Vanessa’s and strokes the top of it with her thumb. “Hey, no matter what, we’ll figure it out, okay? And become badass doctors in the process.”

Vanessa squeezes back. “Imagine if we both get into med school here, and can stay in Toronto. Keep our apartment, do all of our clinical placements here too. Kill it together.”

Brooke smiles. “That’s all I want, Ness. Though we still gotta be ready for it to not happen. Cause we never know. It’s so hard to get in.”

“I know, I know.” Vanessa sighs. “I just want it so bad.”

“Me too, baby. I want it, too. I hope we get it.” Brooke stands up, comes to stand behind Vanessa and bends down so that she can wrap her arms around her. Vanessa covers Brooke’s hands with her own. “Which is why, starting tomorrow, we’re on full MCAT studying mode. I’m gonna make a schedule tonight.”

Vanessa sputters at Brooke’s declaration. “Already? Bitch, we have midterms coming up first next week!”

“Do you want to get into med school or not?”

Vanessa huffs. “Fine. I’m already tired, though, just so you know.”

Vanessa can feel Brooke’s laugh on her back, from the way Brooke is leaning against her. “Okay, Miss ‘I’m tired,’ come and help me with the tacos for dinner. I’m hungry.”

Vanessa grates cheese at their kitchen island while Brooke tends to the taco meat on the stove, and Vanessa is struck by just how domestic they’ve become. Making dinners together, studying, catching kisses here and there as they come and go from their respective classes and volunteering positions and work in the labs on campus. Their tiny one bedroom apartment feels like a mansion to Vanessa sometimes, because it holds everything she could ever want - Brooke, their pets, a sense of security. A feeling of home.

Vanessa doesn’t want to lose it, ever.

Apollo jumps up onto the counter, suddenly very interested in the tomatoes that she’s begun to chop. Vanessa sticks her hand out to keep him away from the knife, and can’t help her giggle when Apollo nuzzles against it instead.

“Lemme finish chopping and I’ll give you all the attention you want, kitty-kitty.” Vanessa picks him up and lowers him to the ground, away from the knife and chopped vegetables spread on the counter.

Brooke pulls the pan off of the stove, and spreads out the different toppings they’ll need for their tacos. Vanessa can’t help but let out a noise of delight.

“I’m fuckin’ hungry. I’m gonna eat at least, like, five.”

Brooke snorts. “Five?”

Vanessa nods as she begins to already fill up her first taco. “At least.”

“You’re approximately the size of a Polly Pocket, babe. Five?” Brooke grins at her and Vanessa sticks her tongue out.

“Not my fault you’re some sort of tall Amazonian goddess.”

Brooke comes around to Vanessa’s side of the kitchen island and puts her arms around her waist, pulling Vanessa in closer. Vanessa looks up at her and can’t help but rise on her tiptoes to kiss her, feeling the way Brooke smiles into it. Brooke breaks the kiss, bending down slightly to scoop Vanessa up underneath her thighs and it makes her yelp, wrap her arms around Brooke’s neck tighter. Brooke sits her down at the edge of the counter, and it makes them closer in height, more eye to eye.

This Brooke is Vanessa’s favourite version of Brooke - the one with sparkling eyes and a calm heart filled with so much love that it’s threatening to spill out. Brooke presses kisses all over her face that make Vanessa giggle, and she can’t help but think about how lucky she is.

It scares Vanessa sometimes, that she feels like she’s found her person when they’re both so young, still in university. They still have so much to go, so much to weather through before they’re even established in their careers at all. Sometimes, she feels like she’s preemptively losing Brooke, thinking about the future and the possibility that they may not be able to last.

But they will. They have to.  

Brooke reaches around for Vanessa’s plate and grabs one of the tacos that she’s already made, making her protest immediately. “Hey!”

Brooke steps out of her grasp, giggles as she starts to eat Vanessa’s taco. “You snooze, you lose.”

Vanessa jumps off the counter. “Bitch, if your fine ass touches another one of these tacos after that one, I swear to-”

Brooke presses a kiss her lips, effectively making her trail off with a mmph, and snickers when Vanessa bats at her shoulder.

“Hmph. You taste like salsa.” Vanessa grabs another taco from the plate and starts munching on it herself.

“I’ll make you an extra taco once these are done, promise.” Brooke finishes the last bite of her taco with a flourish and Vanessa huffs.

“You better. Out here stealing my food and shit.” Vanessa huffs, though can’t help her grin.

Brooke makes everything so much more fun. The late study nights, the early classes, the television show marathons that they have on their couch every other weekend. She hopes that it will never, ever have to end.

Vanessa’s phone rings while they’re doing the dishes, Vanessa washing while Brooke dries. Vanessa runs over to her phone, letting out a delighted squeal when she realizes that it’s her mom on the other end of the line. She puts it on speaker so that they can keep cleaning up.

“Hi, Mami!”

“Hi to you too, mija.” Vanessa’s mom has a loud voice and it projects throughout their small apartment, making Vanessa grin.

“You at work?”

“Taking a fifteen minute break. Freaking Donna took so long on hers and made me cover her patients for thirty minutes so I chewed her out and she felt guilty about it, and that’s how your mama earned an extra little break for herself.” Vanessa can hear the smugness in her mother’s voice without even having to see her face.

“I’d expect nothing less.” Vanessa snickers as she looks over at Brooke, who seems to be attempting to hold back a laugh as well.

“Enough about Donna. How’s your week going? Are you eating well? Are you sleeping?”

“Week is good. Haven’t eaten a vegetable in weeks. Not sleeping a wink.” Vanessa grins as  Brooke raises her eyebrow at her answer. Vanessa loves goading her mom for the sheer entertainment value that she provides when she’s riled up, not unlike Vanessa herself.

“You want to die of scurvy, mija? Is that what you want? Out here trying to become a doctor and not eating any vegetables?”

“Don’t worry, mami. Eating and sleeping well both.”

“You better be.” Vanessa can hear the sounds of the hospital on the other end of the line. Despite the fact that her mom is working the night shift, she still hears snippets of conversations and rhythmic beeps faintly echoing in the background. The hospital never sleeps, not even at night.

“How’s Brooke? Put her on the line.” Vanessa’s mom hasn’t met Brooke in person yet but has already taken a liking to her from their short phone conversations, something that makes Vanessa want to dance around with happiness.

“It’s on speaker. Hi, Mrs. Mateo.” Brooke’s voice is squeaky as it always is when she’s talking to Vanessa’s mom, intimidated and desperately wanting to make a good impression. Brooke’s nervous state wants to make Vanessa crack up every time, because what does Brooke even have to worry about? There isn’t anyone who doesn’t immediately love her upon talking to her.

“How are you doing, sweetie? Vanessa not bothering you too much?” Despite the crack directed at her, Vanessa softens at nickname. Her mom is loving, fiercely protective when she wants to be, and seems to have a sixth sense of when someone may need it.

Brooke’s cheeks are pink, and Vanessa can see from the smile that she’s struggling to hold back that she’s pleased. “Doing okay. Vanessa’s perfect, as usual. We registered for the MCAT today.”

“Nuts, the two of you. Writing the MCAT. I’m telling you, nursing school-”

“We ain’t gonna apply for nursing school, Mami!” Vanessa can’t help but interject, and Brooke snickers.

“You two just like the harder route, huh? At least you have each other to lean on. And Brooke?”

Brooke perks up. “Yeah?”

“Good luck on that organic chemistry midterm you said that you have coming up soon. You’ll do wonderful.”

Vanessa melts when she sees the smile that takes over Brooke’s face, the way her eyes are shining slightly. “Thank you, Mrs. Mateo. I appreciate it a lot.”

Vanessa’s mom hangs up after the two of them promise to sleep earlier and take care of themselves, and Brooke turns to Vanessa as they finish up the dishes.

“Your mom is the absolute sweetest.” It comes out as a sigh, and it makes Vanessa reach for Brooke’s hand and squeeze it.

“She loves you more than me, I swear. Once she meets you this summer in person she’s gonna lose her mind.”

Brooke looks at Vanessa with wide eyes. “Do you think she’ll still like me?”

“Of course she will, dolt.” Vanessa swats at her arm. “She’ll use the opportunity to give you a million hugs that she can’t transmit over the phone.”

“You’re so lucky. Your family is so lovely.” The longing in Brooke’s voice tugs at Vanessa’s heart.

Vanessa develops grudges too easily, but the one that she can feel building against Brooke’s family is valid, and is one that grows more and more as time goes on. Vanessa’s seen Brooke come back from visits to home with her shoulders slumped too many times, seen her try to avoid crying by biting her lip as her mom chews her out over the phone. She hates to see how much they’re capable of hurting her without even having to try. Vanessa tries, at those times, to make things better. Extra cuddles, more encouraging and soft words than usual. She’s not sure, however, if it’s a good enough substitute.

“They love you, babe.” Vanessa leans up to kiss Brooke’s cheek. “Well, my mom does. Julio’s too invested in his computer games to care about anything else.”

Brooke cracks a smile despite herself, leaning into Vanessa’s touch. “I’m excited to meet them both.”

“You say that now. Wait till she’s roasting you too. Won’t take long for it to happen.” Vanessa grins. “She’ll have plenty of opportunities to gently bully you this summer while we study for the MCAT.”

“Somehow, I’m really looking forward to it.”

It’ll be good for Brooke. Both of them, really. Vanessa knows it.

(now)

“Brooke, open the fucking door.” Vanessa’s fist raps on Brooke’s office door as she pleads. Vanessa ignores the fact that they’ve flipped positions, that she’s the one trying to get Brooke to open up. She’s going to keep knocking because they need to talk, and they can’t keep doing this anymore.

The door swings open while Vanessa’s fist is still raised in the air, ready to knock again. Brooke’s face is cold and hardened, the annoyance on her face visible and it almost makes Vanessa take a step back. Almost.

“Do you fucking mind?” Brooke hisses the words at her, nearly shutting the door in her face again but then Vanessa sticks her foot in, preventing her from closing it. Brooke’s hold on the doorway lessens for just a millisecond and Vanessa takes the opportunity to slip inside, ignoring Brooke’s protests.

“We need to talk.” So what if Vanessa sounds like she’s pleading? They need to talk, actually talk - not fuck their way through things, or avoid feelings because it’s not working out for her. It isn’t for Brooke either, from the dark circles underneath her eyes, the slump of her shoulders as if she’s being weighed down by too much for her to carry.

“We really don’t.” Brooke turns away from her, walks towards her desk. Vanessa follows on her heels, undeterred, because she’s not going to give in that easily.

“Yeah we do, B! Things are fucked and I don’t know about you, but I ain’t having a good time like this. We need to.”

Brooke turns around suddenly and Vanessa realizes that she’s right there, right in front of her and Vanessa has to look up to make eye contact. The sharp rise and fall of Brooke’s chest matches the hidden fire behind her eyes, a heat that rises in steam across her skin.

“You’re not having a good time, huh?” Brooke’s laugh has no humour laced through it, veering on the side of bitter. “That sucks for you. Really does. Sorry to hear that.”

Vanessa knows Brooke’s tendencies to lash out when she’s cornered, but it’s not going to stop her from provoking her further. “Bitch, you’re the one who went home with someone else last night.”

Brooke takes the bait, like Vanessa knew that she would. “Oh, so suddenly I’m not allowed to do so?”

“That’s not what I said-”

“You made yourself pretty clear the other day. That you were done with whatever this is. I got the message with the closed door in my face.” Vanessa can hear the hurt, the anger in Brooke’s voice. They’re subtle cues that wouldn’t be noticeable to the average person but Vanessa knows (used to know) Brooke well enough that they shine through, no matter how much Brooke wants to hide them from her.

Vanessa deflates, because how can she explain it without sounding stupid? “I thought you just wanted something physical, since that’s what we were doing, hell, I still don’t know if you do and I freaked out, I know, ‘kay?” She takes a deep breath, continues because once she starts she can’t stop and Brooke needs to know that she still cares. “Because I realized that I still like you, really like you and miss you a fuck ton and couldn’t do it if that was just what you wanted.”

Brooke looks like she’s gotten the breath knocked out of her, as she takes a step backwards but hits the back of her legs on the desk. “Are you kidding me?”

“And I get it if you don’t feel the same-”

“You can’t just say that.” Brooke’s voice trembles in a way that Vanessa hasn’t heard in years and it makes Vanessa wince. Maybe her delivery hadn’t been the best, but she’s not good at talking and feelings and it’s hard. “You can’t just cut me out then waltz in here and say those things after leaving me to pick up the pieces.”

Vanessa doesn’t say anything to stop Brooke as she continues, because a part of her needs to hear where this is going, even if it’s going to leave her a mess. It’s like she’s become a sucker for punishment, needing to see it through to satisfy some sick need in her brain for catharsis.

“You always do this. You just come and go whenever you want, and I can’t do it. I can’t do it anymore. That’s not me. It wasn’t me back then, either.”

Vanessa can’t stop herself from interjecting, cutting off Brooke’s story because she’s saying it all wrong. “That wasn’t the same thing and you know it.” It wasn’t. That was different. The way they broke up was not like…this.

“Why not? You play by your rules now and you did then too. You run when you’re in trouble and things get difficult, and I get it, I really do.” Brooke’s laugh is bitter, marred by a tinge of sadness that contrasts with the set of her jaw. “I wouldn’t stay either.”

The words twist at Vanessa’s heart, turning it around and making knots and she feels heavy, weighed down, as if they’re anchors in her soul.

“Fuck off. That’s not true. I don’t run, I didn’t then either.” Vanessa can’t help her voice from raising because it’s not true, and Brooke’s being unfair because she’s the one that slept with someone else and didn’t even say anything about the voicemail and-

“I found out from Silky when you left back then, you know that?” Brooke’s voice breaks as she cuts off Vanessa’s train of thoughts, and it makes her freeze. Brooke wipes the tear threatening to leak from her eye as if it’s personally wronged her, and Vanessa wonders if it’s possible to have her heart torn without anyone actually touching it. “Why the apartment was half empty and Riley was gone and you were gone as if it all had meant nothing.”

No, no, no, Vanessa doesn’t want to talk about this, they can’t talk about this and she has to fight every cell in her body that is telling her to leave. “It wasn’t nothing-”

“I’m not doing it again. I get that you want to play by what works for you, but I can’t.” Brooke draws in a ragged breath, avoiding her eyes. She picks up her clipboard, her notes scattered around her desk. “I have to go.”

“Brooke-”

“Please let me go.” Brooke doesn’t wait for an answer, pushing past her and leaving the door swinging as she exits.

Vanessa’s frozen in Brooke’s office, the ticking of the minute hand of the clock on the wall coinciding with the way that her heart shatters just a tiny bit more with every passing second.

She’s fucked up.

“Office hours ended half an hour ago, come back tomorrow.” Silky’s voice floats through the English department office corridor as Vanessa knocks on her door. Getting through the workday felt impossible, like she was ricocheting off the walls of the hospital and no amount of work could calm her down.

“Silk, it’s me.” Vanessa can’t help the panicked edge in her voice as she peeks around Silky’s office door, her friend surrounded by stacks of papers and her glasses slightly askew.

“Vanj! You’re early!” Silky holds up the paper that she’s reading through. “Look at this. This kid spelled ‘allegory’ as ‘Gregory’. Who does that?”

Despite the nervous energy that’s lighting up her insides, Vanessa can’t help but snort. “Honestly, that was me back in uni. Dumb as hell in English.”

Silky waves her off. “You’re lucky that I was your roommate, bitch. Fixing all your stupid ass typos. You’re welcome.”

Vanessa takes the opportunity to collapse into the chair in front of Silky’s desk, grabbing the nameplate that says Dr. Ganache and turning it over and over in her hands. “Silk. Dear Silk. I have a problem. Big problem. Big, big, big, problem.”

“What, that you’re working with Brooke?”

“What? No, not that. Wait, how do you know that?”

“Bitch, you wouldn’t tell me which hospital you got hired at when you first moved back here and you always change the subject when I bring her up. Who else?”

Vanessa sputters. “Okay, well. Maybe true.”

“Also because Miss Brooke and I are still pals and have a longstanding monthly coffee date and you bet she was bitching about you.” Silky looks smug, too smug, by the turn of conversation.

Vanessa sits up in her chair. “She was? Rude.”

Silky points a finger at her. “Aha! So it is about her.”

Vanessa shifts. “Maybe. I have a problem. A big problem.”

“More than working with your ex?”

“Kinda?” Vanessa bites her lip, because if it’s anyone’s advice she needs it’s Silky’s, but she also wishes she could just push it away and not talk about it.

Silky sighs, taking off her glasses and laying them gently on her desk. “Okay, talk. Dr. Ganache is here to listen.”

“You ain’t that kind of doctor, Silk.”

Silky is unperturbed. “You want advice or not?”

Silky’s eyebrows get closer and closer to her hairline the more Vanessa goes on, recapping the past few months working at the hospital with Brooke. Vanessa’s certain that she sees her rubbing her temples at one point, but is too distracted by the memory of Brooke’s face when she had walked away to comment on it.

“Vanj. You a dumbass bitch.”

“I know, Silk.”

“Real fucking stupid.”

“I’m aware.”

“Whole ass idiot.”

“Are you just gonna sit there and insult me?” Vanessa grumbles and folds her arms because Silky is not helping her at all.

Silky leans forward in her seat. “Let me get this straight. Y’all started fucking.”

“Mhm.”

“Then you went all runaway on her.”

Vanessa winces. “Mhm.”

“Then you drunk dialled her ass.”

“Maybe?” Now that Silky recaps it, everything really is a mess. She’s a mess.

“No wonder she’s pissed at your idiot ass. Did I not raise you well?” Silky rubs her temples, looking exasperated.

“You’re not my mom, Silky.”

Silky scoffs. “Evidently not, with these stupid ass decisions.”

“Ugh.” Vanessa groans, dropping her head down onto Silky’s desk. “What do I do?”

“She’s gonna run like a startled deer or some shit if you bother her too much now. You gotta be careful.”

“How?” She doesn’t know how to, she’s as subtle as a bull in a china shop and doesn’t know how to watch her actions. Usually she’s unapologetic about it, not bothering to care but now she’s knocked too many things over and doesn’t know how to pick up the pieces.

“Give her time. She’s probably hurting. If you still feel all lovesick after a few days, then try again. But let her be for now.”

“I’m not lovesick.” Vanessa huffs, because she’s not. But how can she let Brooke be? How can she hold back from trying to talk to her, fix things?

“Potato, pot-ah-to.” Silky waves her hands, turning back to the papers on her desk. “Let me finish this last one, then we can eat and you can tell me all about how hung up you are over her.”

Vanessa lets the days pass one by one, biting her lip and wringing her hands and fiddling with the hem of her scrub shirt because she doesn’t know what else to do.

Nina calls a meeting for all of the surgical departments first thing on a Wednesday morning, and the only reason that Vanessa gets there early is because she may have possibly woken up at five a.m., unable to stay in bed. Maybe she hasn’t been sleeping well at all in the last few days. She tries not to think about it.

The conference room is empty when she opens the door, as are the chairs that surround the large table in the center of the room. Vanessa claims a spot towards the back, saving seats beside her for the other cardiothoracic surgeons. It’s the first time that she’s beaten anyone to a meeting, and she can’t help the smug sip that she takes of her coffee as she waits for the rest of the staff to arrive.

Vanessa’s ready to let out a wisecrack as soon as the door opens next, expecting Asia and Kameron because they’re disgustingly early for nearly everything. Vanessa still hasn’t forgotten the time that Kameron showed up to her apartment at seven thirty p.m. instead of the specified eight for a jaunt to Ralph’s, interrupting Vanessa’s getting ready routine and nearly causing her to flash the poor woman while just in her towel. The two had agreed to never speak of it again.

Except this time, it’s not Kameron or Asia who walk in the door next. The blonde hair, the lab coat, the navy blue scrubs, the large coffee in hand? Vanessa can’t help the way that her breath hitches at the sight of Brooke, and how has to hold herself back from saying anything. The circles underneath Brooke’s eyes are beginning to deepen and her movements looking more weary, more worn down. Vanessa ignores the gnawing feeling in her stomach that repeats to her over and over again that it’s her fault.

Vanessa hadn’t even thought about the fact that what’s happening now mirrors what had happened to the two of them back then. The way things ended. Not that she even stuck around long enough back then to see Brooke’s reactions. Now, years and years later in the hospital, she sees it. Sees how the armour that Brooke’s built up over time is starting to gain chips in it, cracking underneath the pressure that she’s using to hold herself up.

It’s what Vanessa’s good at doing, apparently. Breaking the two of them down over and over again, leaving nothing but misunderstandings and broken hearts that don’t seem like they’re ever going to mend.

Vanessa catches the pause in Brooke’s step once she spots her, the way that Brooke’s eyes flit towards all other corners of the room and away from her, how she bites her lip as she sits down. Brooke opens her notebook and buries her face in it as if she’s reading the most riveting of text to ever exist.

Vanessa leans forward in her seat, elbows resting against the table because the position makes her closer to Brooke, even if it’s just by mere inches. She wants to say something, anything but she doesn’t know what will make it better. What can even fix them?

Are they even worth fixing?

She opens her mouth to make a crack about the weather because the silence feels suffocating, imposing on her from all sides and all she needs is for Brooke to look up at her right now. But the door opens once more, Kameron and Asia spilling in followed by the ortho team, and some members of Brooke’s neuro team.

Vanessa can’t say anything. Not with everyone else there, not knowing about anything between them or the boulders worth of baggage that they’ve placed on each other’s backs.

It doesn’t stop her from hoping, wanting, waiting. Wishing for more chances to fix things. Vanessa doesn’t know what she’s going to do, or how she’s going to do it either. She just hopes that Brooke will be open to it, willing to crack again once she does.

[cheryllcher]

happy new (tears) year

welp the new year (and decade) is here, so i thought i write a little something, and why not a mishmash of angst (dont worry it’s barely there lol) and a big bunch of fluff it’s crazy. wanted to go for marichat but then this came to mid so yea :) anywayy hope u enjoy this lil short thing and happy new year!! :))

—-

The Dupain-Cheng household was colourful. No kidding, the house is just filled with multi-coloured fairy lights and glow sticks. New Year’s was just around the corner, and hour walk down the path of time and there it would be. And so, a party is held, to send off the current year and welcome the new one with family and friends.

A whole lot more people came then expected, humans interacting with other humans and laughing with even more humans. This didn’t deter Tom and Sabine though, they continued hosting the party with elegance. The more the merrier they always say. The table had a selection of food laid out on it, each item contributed by the different families that attended. Cider flowing, video games playing, faces smiling, the party was in full swing. A Dupain-Cheng celebration never fails to disappoint, this one included.

Marinette buzzed around the house, making sure all the guests are enjoying themselves, letting her parents relax with the other adults for a bit. Rose and Juleka were huddled by the warm fire munching on pastries, Kim and Alix were currently half-drunk from all the dares(the sober, responsible grown ups were not amused with the children with their underaged drinking *ahem* Roger *ahem*), and Nino and Alya were currently in the corner whispering among themselves suspiciously, which Marinette was sure she knew what it was about. The others were sitting on the ground cheering on a game of Mecha Strike.

Adrien-who was miraculously (pun not intended i swear) allowed to the party with Kagami (also a surprise)- was covered head to ankle with glow sticks. Seriously this guy went crazy he finished a whole box himself and that was like 50 sticks. He was currently conversing with Luka about Jagged Stone and the instruments they play. Kagami was sitting by the side clearly awkward and trying to camouflage with the wall behind her cuz ohmygod there are two hot guys in front of me. The pigtailed girl who was watching from afar deflated slightly at that due to how close her crush and one of her other friends were, wishing it was her who stood beside him instead. But she can’t. It was way too awkward and sort of tentioney to go there.

The clock sure ticks fast, as soon the long hand’s ran close to the 11 mark, indicating that it was slightly more than 5 minutes before the new decade began. (wow a new decade already. time really does fly :) ) Adrien and Kagami were left talking in a corner, seemingly getting closer by the second, Luka long since away from the conversation. Marinette’s heart couldn’t take it, her chest slowly constricting in on itself at the sight. So instead of being with everyone else for the countdown, she snuck up the stairs to her attic-turned-bedroom, before heading to the balcony. Uneasy thoughts swirled around her mind as she looked up at the barely there stars, mostly erased by light pollution from the city below.

Adrigami’s gonna be alive soon, well pretty much alive now, and Adrienette’s dead for good now. What will i do, Monsieur Stars, how will i ever move on?

Adrien and Marinette actually got together after the ‘just-a-friend-zoning’ shenanigans was over, pure sweet, gooey cheesiness around them. So their breakup came as a huge surprise to everyone, disappointing the Adrienette shippers around the city. It was mutual though, both of then clearly not ready to have a relationship in their lives. And they were still friends, hanging out with everyone together except alone with the other. But no matter how hard to tried, how long she took, she couldn’t get her ex and friend out of her head.

Tikki, who had been perched on her shoulder trying to offer comfort to her friend suddenly buzzed away, leaving Marinette conscious of her surroundings. She didn’t turn when the skylight on the floor of the balcony opened, and internally breathed out in relief. At least it’s not an akuma. She assumed it was Alya though, in her too sad to even acknowledge you fully mood, and started speaking to the presence behind her.

“Alya if you’re here to try to get me in on one of your ‘seduce Adrien and make him fall for me again’ plan, I’m not in. He’s clearly with Kagami.”

“Well, I’m not very sure I’m up for being seduced,” a chuckle followed, “but I am now very curious about this plan.”

A shriek nearly slipped out of Marinette’s lips if not for the fact that she placed her hand over her mouth, a silent scream the only thing that remained. She couldn’t speak, couldn’t blink, couldn’t move. Adrien was afraid he’d be seeing her eyeballs fall out, so he continued.

“Sorry for just coming out here, I saw you being sneaky and decided to follow.” Then he did that cure little thing were he rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. Oh god he was adorable.

“Wh-Wha...Aren’t you- gah?”

He heard the many questions in that unintelligible nonsense, understanding everything she was trying to put into words without success. He always did.

“I’m here because I want to talk to you. Yes,

I was with Kagami, and no, we aren’t a thing. I heard you talking to the stars young lady. I... don’t feel that way for her, so I had to be honest with her.” The teasing smile never left his face even if it got a touch shy and awkward.

Oh no I said my thoughts out loud.

“Yes, you did.”

Darn it!

“Anyway, I just wanted to try to confess about how I can’t move on no matter how hard I try and to get some kind of closure or something if you’ve managed to move on with life... but I see the feeling’s mutual?” Hope. Spilling out from his voice, so much.

“You’ve got a minute, hot stuff. Tell me what you wanna say before the year’s over and we’ll see where to go from there. I want to hear everything so speak.” Her confidence is somewhat there, something in her heart fighting it’s way up against the sadness from before. The young man gladly followed the demand.

“Marinette, I know we’ve parted ways thinking it’s for the best as we weren’t up for it, but I still think of you every moment, still falling deeper and deeper into your trap as each day passes. You’ve stolen my heart long ago and it’s so deep in your clutches I simply can’t get it back anymore.

“I want to treat you like the princess you deserve to be once more and make up for all the time we’ve lost. I want to hold you again, shower you with affection and gifts and love. I want to make you smile that smile that I miss so much. I want my best friend back.

“I’m ready now, and I’m not going to choose anyone else, because I can’t... So, Princess, if you are ready as well and are willing... Will you have me? Again?”

The countdown’s starting in the living room.

10! 9!

Her brain short circuited.

8! 7!

His doubts starts streaming in.

6! 5!

She nods her head quickly, tears slipping from her eyes. He laughs out his relief, tears leaking out of his eyes as well.

4! A step closer.

3! Heads tilting forward simultaneously.

2! Eyes fluttered close and breaths mingled

1! Happy New Year!

Lips pressed gently against lips as cheers erupted from downstairs, completely unaware of the sweet fluff happening upstairs. The bells of the Notre Dame rang loud and clear but were not heard by the two teenagers. It lasted for a minute, both parting in need of air.

“Happy New Year, Princess.”

“Happy New Year, my Prince.”

—-

Bonus:

“Geez, my cheese can’t cover up the sweetness here!” A cheese-loving cat kwami grumbled from a shelf in Marinette’s room.

“Well, I guess you wouldn’t want your own New Year’s kiss?” His counterpart asked slyly.

“Nonono, come here sugarcube. I need that kiss to survive the suffering until they figure out their identities.”

[mina-mauveine]

Dens Leonis: Lion toothed, but Petal Soft

A bouquet of words for @merclucio​ for this year’s gift exchange hosted by the lovely @fieldsofvesuvia blog. 

Summer came early to Vesuvia. The temperature and humidity had rose until anything more than the sheerest of fabrics meant clinging heat and sweat. Magdalene had spent an arduous hour trekking up to her spot. The rocky outcrop allowed her to view both the luscious greenery and frothing seas. 

The sunny skies had splashed the verdant fields with a thousand sproutings, displaying flowers in their brightest shades. The vibrancy of the landscape made it seem more a painting than reality. 

She sighed in relief when she dropped her pack onto the stony ground. Setting up took little time. Here she didn’t mind using her magic, smoky greys and white lit and unraveled the blanket, set up the fine china and filled it to the rim with the season’s favoured drink. She sat down as her magic weaved above her like a spider’s web, providing shelter from the scorching sun. 

She could finally breathe out here, have a moment uncrowded. The air was a bouquet of sea salt and flowery fragrances, she opened her charmed picnic basket and pulled out this morning’s bread.

A bush to her left rustled, but nothing emerged. She crushed the bread in her hand, the crackle of its perfectly baked skin made whatever was hidden within the shrubbery jostled excitedly about. 

Magdalene smirked and broke the bread in half. “You do know what wanting to be alone means, right?”

Volta’s head rose sheepishly from the hiding place. Magdalene could almost imagine the little bird wings settling anxiously over the smaller woman’s eyes, reaching towards the pink heart-shaped nose. But that was then and this is now. Volta’s pallor was no longer tainted by a sickly grey and she lacked the ravenous hunger linked to the demonic possession. 

Though with the famished expression on her face, it seemed Volta had forgotten that aspect of her freedom.  

“I was helping in the kitchen when you rushed by.” Volta licked her lips and stared longingly at Magdalene’s picnic basket. 

“Does ‘helping’ actually mean sampling?” 

Volta snapped open her eyes and quickly moved her head ‘no’. “I didn’t take anything in that basket, I swear it.”

“I’m guessing because the chef was guarding it from you?”

Volta gasped, her index finger catching at the corner of her lips. 

Magdalene laughed, and offered out the piece to Volta, only to yank it away when the tiny coutier tried to take the morsel back with her to the foliage. “Uh ah ah, you have to sit with me here if you want food.” 

Volta’s eyes gleamed, she scurried free from the bushes and plopped herself next to Magdalene. She happily perused the basket for more treats even as she chomped into the bread. 

“Hungry?”

Volta nodded, her lips covered in crumbs and yolk as she munched into a soft boiled egg.  

Magdalene grabbed Volta’s face, her companion squirmed until she used a cotton handkerchief to wipe at the mess. “Your mouth is a tad smaller now, huh?”

Volta giggled and looped her hands to rest on top of Magdalene’s wrists, content to be fussed over. “It’s just all so good.”  

“I bet,” Magdalene twisted Volta’s face this way and that and felt satisfied, “there’s no rush, the basket is charmed to be practically endless.”

Volta beamed up with such uncontained joy that it made Magdalene’s face heat up. 

“Ahhhh, you’re amazing my lovely magician!”

Magdalene felt her blush grow. She coughed and quickly pecked Volta on the forehead before focusing on setting out the picnic as it was meant to be served. She laid out a serving platter of cheeses from across the country and numerous other condiments and assorted cured meats.

She kept her eyes on the cutting board as she sliced the bread into thick chunks. “Go ahead, put whatever you want on.”

“Any combination?” 

Magdalene shrugged, watching as Volta splattered on as many options as she could overload onto her toast. 

“It’s going to fall over if you’re not careful.”

“I’ll eat it anyway.”

Magdalene rolled her eyes fondly. “Of course you would.” 

A gust of wind picked up with the tides, whirling loose petals and dandelion fluff into the air. The sky snowed down vibrant shades and downy puffs. The ascended bits drifted over the outcrop, piling onto the magical shelter Magdalene had formed. 

Most of the petals stayed free floating, finding other perches, but the more tenacious dandelion fluffs managed to land into Volta’s stack of food. 

“Oh, it’s ruined!” Volta said even as she took a hearty chomp into her tower of food, making any of the earlier cleaning moot. 

Magdalene waved her hand, her magic removing most of what had settled in the area.

“Valdemar is allergic to it and nothing they do ever helps,” Volta picked at the seedlings that remained in her meal, “Vulgora hates them, just hates them, ‘stupid, little, monstrous’, and then they would punch at the things until red in the face.” 

Magdalene looked at the courtier, her expression closed. 

Volta sighed to herself. “I tried to calm them down, but they wouldn’t hear it, the chambers almost got burnt down to rid the place of the weeds.” 

“How wasteful.” 

Volta tilted her head, looking a perfect resemblance of a confused pup. Whatever ire had started to build in Magdalene was calmed enough for her to take a lighter approach. “Why call it a weed?” 

“Uh… because…it is one?” Volta tried, food momentarily set down to wait in her lap. 

“Because it grows well no matter the location? Because it’s endures?”

Volta could only listen, trying to note the meaning of this discussion. 

“Dandelions are tenacious and rooted deeply to provide one of the most nutritious and versatile little plants and what do we do with it? Hate it and try to get rid of it, but guess what, it doesn’t get eradicated instead it dominates.” Magdalene waved her hand out to indicate the field of lush growth. “It’s admirable.” 

It seemed to click for Volta, her eyes suddenly knowing. “I guess we just call them weeds because we want to… There’s nothing wrong with the flower itself, the yellow makes me very happy and… it makes me think of the colour of your hair.” 

Magdalene could feel her blush return in full force, she grumbled out a thanks and looked over the cliffside where it sounded like someone was doing a horrible job at scaling the side wall. “There’s a path around the back, Lucio.” 

“Ah, hello my sweet Magpie, and no I don’t need some little side route.” Lucio grunted as he made another feeble stretch for a handhold. “I’ve got this just fine, this is the fastest way I’ll be…” he found himself half a perch and draped dramatically along it’s edge. “If only…if only someone would assist my own magic then I could just float on up.” 

“My king, you don’t have any magical abilities.” Volta also peered over the edge, speaking with her mouth full and nearly dropping crumbs onto lucio’s finely coiffed hair. 

“I do too!” He coughed. “Maggie,sweetie, you wouldn’t mind just…” He snapped his fingers and gave a whirl motion with his hand. 

“There’s. A. Path. In. The. Back.” 

“Now now, don’t be a sourpuss Mag!”

Magdalene stared. Lucio pouted his lips. 

Magdalene crossed her arms and moved away from the edge, making it so Lucio couldn’t see her anymore. 

“Babe?” 

“You’re ridiculous, I don’t know why I…” Magdalene summoned her magic, and tossed the King to land in a heap on the ground next to her and Volta. 

“Is that the aged Formaggio Imbriago?” Lucio straighten out. “You knew, that I knew, where you’ll be going and had my favourite wined flavoured treat readied.” 

“My king, you’re lactose intolerant!” Volta fretted. 

“Am not.” He said already serving himself a piece. 

“Why don’t you try the Bastardo del Grappa, that’s more your style, goat boy.” 

Volta let out a chortle loud enough to surprise the group, but she quickly returned to the basket, pilfering another treat. 

Lucio squinted at Volta, but then turned his eyes onto Magdalene. “Sticks and stones, Dollface.” 

“You’re awful.” 

“Ah, before I forget!” Lucio reached into his cape, and tugged free a bouquet of slightly crushed dandelions. “They’re almost all in puff form during this time, you don’t know how many people I had to order around to get these.” 

Magdalene took the bouquet, smiling at Lucio until he tried to give her a kiss. “No, your mouth is covered in food!” 

“How about just one kiss?” Lucio looked over to Volta, giving her a sly wink. “Maybe one from each of us?”

Volta clambered onto Magdalene’s side, leaning up to peck a kiss onto the other woman’s jaw. Lucio tried much the same. 

The serene naturescape was overshadowed by guffawing laughter and Magdalene promising bloody consequences, but her mood had certainly been elevated.

[footballfinns]

Friends or Foes

Summary: Finn and Rachel go to dinner with Puck, but things don’t pan out perfectly.

Finn was glad that Rachel agreed to go to dinner with Puck. The relationship between his wife and best friend was strenuous lately and Finn wanted nothing more than for the three of them to be able to hang out happily again. He was getting off of work a little earlier than usual that night, so dinner wouldn't be extremely late. When he entered the apartment, he walked through to the bedroom so he could get to Rachel and change his clothes. “Hey baby.” He gave her a kiss.

Rachel stood in front of the bathroom mirror, pulling all of her hair up into a bun. She’d never imagined feeling so anxious about a dinner with her husband and her childhood friend. But she chewed on her bottom lip as she fussed with her updo and her outfit, wondering how badly things could go and how that would affect Finn. As much as Noah’s rebuffs hurt her, what hurt her more was knowing that any strain in her relationship with him caused the same in Finn’s relationship with his best friend. Sighing, she finally gave up on her appearance - it wouldn’t affect the evening’s outcome - she shuffled into the bedroom where she was met with a kiss from her husband. “Hey you.” She wrapped both arms around his neck, glad he was home. “How was your day?”

“It was good. Nothing special happened. I'm glad to be with you now.” He smiled down at her. “You look beautiful.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead.

Hearing her favorite ‘b’ word made Rachel’s resolve to go through with this dinner waver. All she really wanted to do was snuggle up in bed with him but she didn’t want to be a stick in the mud. Especially when he’d given her that option and she’d passed it by. “Thank you. I try sometimes.”

“You are beautiful every day.” He chuckled as he let her go. “Okay, I'm just gonna change and then we can go. Puck and I decided on this pizza place that we went to when he first moved here. They have really good hot wings and stuff. And there is an air hockey table. I might need a teammate.”  He said playfully as he stripped his clothes off and searched through his clothes to find a plaid button up and some jeans.

Rachel sat on the edge of the bed, waiting while Finn changed. “That sounds like fun. You know I'm always game when carbs are on the menu. As for air hockey, I make no promises. I doubt I'm any better at tabletop sports than traditional ones.”

“You’ll do fine.” He shrugged as he finished buttoning his shirt. “I just gotta find my coat and we can go.” He said and moved to grab his coat and pull it on. “Ready?”

Rachel recalled them playing once or twice before on a date, and her finger ending up bruised in the process. But she wasn't going to fret over it. Especially when there were other things taking hold in her mind. “Ready.” Keys in one hand, Finn's hand in the other, she locked up behind them. “Can we walk there or do we need a cab?”

“Walking sounds nice. It's not too far. Plus, I haven't seen you all day, I could use some Rachel time.” He squeezed her hand.

Rachel couldn’t object to the proposition of alone time with him. Especially when her leggings were fleece lined and the wind wasn’t blowing to hard. “I always enjoy a walk with my husband.”

“I love walking with you too.” He gave her a smile. “So… have you talked to Puck recently? You two are cool again, right? “

Rachel hadn't spoken to Noah since he'd last been in their apartment, partly out of self-preservation. Mostly, she just hadn't wanted to stir the pot and make drama that would put Finn in a difficult spot. “We haven't but I'm sure everything is fine. As we well know, moving to a new place can be hectic so I'm sure he's been busy adjusting.”

‘Yeah, for sure.” He nodded his head, wondering if he should have let Puck know that Rachel was joining them tonight. He was pretty sure that Puck knew they were a package deal at this point though. “So what do you think you wanna do after we eat?”

“Maybe walk some more. You said something about looking at holiday stuff in Times Square. We can do that if you want. We'll just catch a cab after we eat. I'm pretty open to anything.” Reaching up, she kissed his cheek. “I have the most handsome man in New York on my arm so I am open to all possibilities.”

“Remember the first time we were ever in New York and we went and looked at that huge Christmas tree?” He asked her, giving her a little grin. “We could do that.”

Rachel always melted a little when Finn remembered their dates or the things they'd done together. Visiting the tree, and revisiting a happy place for them, was a given. “I do remember and I would love to do that. That whole trip was magic. No one had ever done anything so special for me.”

“Then we can relive that little date later.” He said with a nod as they approached the restaurant. He opened the door for Rachel and walked in after her, getting them a table because Puck hadn't arrived yet.

Rachel slid her arm through his, feeling happy as they approached the restaurant. She spotted a nice both toward the back that would accommodate them easily and politely asked to be seated there. Noah wasn't there so she asked the waitress for a water and a few minutes to wait for him.

Finn ordered a coke and then wrapped his arm around Rachel. He her a kiss on the cheek, pausing when he heard “you two better not make out all night while I'm trying to eat.” And looked up to find Puck slinking into the booth. “Hey dude!” He greeted his friend and picked the menu up, though he already knew what he was getting.”

Rachel was about to turn and kiss Finn when the harsh reproach of Noah made her feel scolded. And embarrassed. The fact that he had that power frustrated her. “Hello.” Rachel slid her menu across the table so her friend could look.

Finn held his menu where Rachel could see. “Breadsticks and a personal pizza for you?” he asked.

Rachel subtly brushed her arm against Finn's, her appreciation hopefully apparent. “That does sound good. Extra cheese with mushroom would hit the spot.”

“That sounds really good. Do you want a personal or do you want to get like a medium so you have leftovers?”

“Or we could get a large for everyone to share?” Rachel snuck a glance in Noah’s direction, hoping he would feel included even if he didn't want to share pizza with her.

“That might work since we're getting wings.” He also looked to Puck, who nodded. After ordering their food, Finn and Puck started talking about their jobs and Puck about the girls he had been meeting. Finn held Rachel's hand under the table, not wanting to make his friend uncomfortable by being affectionate with her.

Rachel smiled a little when Noah agreed to share the pizza. After that, she settled into a comfortable silence and enjoyed listening to the boys chat while she munched on bread. Finn’s hand warm in hers under the table made her feel like they were dating again and being sneaky about it. She'd have giggled if it wouldn't arise questions.

When their food was set in front of them, Finn ate like he hadn't eaten in a few days and Puck wasn't far behind him. As he finished, he put his arm around Rachel. “How is your side?” He asked her.

Rachel was no match for the boys when it came to eating so she took the two pieces she knew she'd barely finish and let them enjoy. “It's good. I see neither of you is going to starve tonight so I guess you feel the same.” She leaned into him a little after sipping her water.

“I was hungry.” He chuckled. “Air hockey? “ Finn asked with a grin and Puck shook his head. “Nah man, I've got shit to do tonight. I didn't know I was crashing date night.” Finn scrunched his nose and looked down. “It's not date night, we are all friends.” He brought his hand to his side.

Rachel felt the heat crawling up her neck as Noah rebuked Finn’s offer, then insinuated… what? She wasn’t entirely sure but she knew she didn’t like the way it made her feel. Like she was intruding on their boys club. “You have things to do even though you made plans with Finn? That’s incredibly rude. At the very least you should have let Finn know that you’d made other plans instead of blowing him off this way.” Her eyes flashed, what little gumption existed in her body surfaced rapidly. “I don’t know what’s going on with you but you need to stop acting like a spoiled child about Finn and I. You were so supportive the day we got married and now you act like the fact that we’re together is some inconvenience to you. And I’m tired of feeling bad for loving my husband too much for you. Like Finn said, we’re all friends and it’s nice that we can get together this way. It’d be nice if you could appreciate that we have each other but if you can’t, then I don’t really know what to say otherwise.” Rachel stood, her hand sliding across Finn’s shoulders as she moved around his chair. “I’m going to the restroom. I’ll be right back.”

Finn’s eyes got big as Rachel started in on Puck. He knew it was only a matter of time of Puck making comments before it happened though. As Rachel left, Finn sighed. “I just want us to all hang out again, dude. Rachel and I both work and go to school, we don't get too many nights where we can both go out like this so I'm sorry but it will always be the two of us. You're hurting her feelings, which is really not cool.” Puck nodded his head “I don't want to have some kind of chick flick moment, but it feels like I most my two best friends. Everything with you is about Rachel. The only time you'll go out and do something cool is if you two are fighting. You both pushed me out and it fucking sucked. I'll go apologize to Rachel or whatever though.” Puck got up to follow after Rachel.

Rachel was glad the bathroom was empty. She rested both hands on the ledge of the sink and took several deep breaths. She didn’t think she’d been unnecessarily harsh to Noah - she hadn’t wanted to hurt him, after all - but she hadn’t really expected to lecture him either. It left her feeling a little unbalanced and she had needed this moment to compose herself before going back out. Puck was standing outside the door, making her jump a little as she hadn’t expected him. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to go off on you but it’s been difficult lately with you. I want you to be part of our lives. Not just both of us but as individuals. We’ve always been family, you and I, even before Finn. I don’t want that to change. Just like I don’t want you to think Finn isn’t your family too. I understand if you’re not okay with that but… you’ll always be family to me. No matter what.”

Finn stayed back at the table as Rachel and Puck talked. He hoped that this all meant everything could be normal again and that Finn could stop feeling like he was walking in eggshells between the two of them. He couldn't help but wonder if some of this was stemming from jealousy. As the waitress came by, Finn paid for their dinner and scrolled through his phone.

Puck shrugged and repeated what he'd said to Finn, Rachel listening intently as he did. “No one's going to stop you from having bro nights, especially not me. I encourage them as long as they don't end in bail money. And if you want to come by the restaurant some time, you and I can have lunch or dinner.” Puck nodded in agreement then mumbled something about not this not being a chick flick when she hugged him. “Now, let's go back to the table.” She slid her arm through his and even though he rolled his eyes, he didn't pull away.

When his wife and Puck approached the table again, Finn looked up from his phone. “All good?” He asked hopefully. “I went ahead and paid so..”

“All is good.” Rachel let her arm slide away from Noah’s, catching the tiniest small creasing his lips. “Thank you for taking care of the bill.”

Finn nodded his head “Well, should we call it a night or…?” He wasn't sure how badly he wanted to continue their night after things had gone sour.

Rachel looked at Noah, concerned that if they left him now, any progress they'd made might be undone. “We were going to head downtown to look at the tree. You're welcome to come.”

He felt a little disappointed that Rachel was inviting Puck on something that was supposed to be a reminiscent moment with her, but he stood and led the way out so the three of then could get a cab.

Rachel was surprised when Noah agreed to go with them but she was happy for it. She gladly flagged down a cab and curled into Finn once they were settled in. “Thank you for being good about him coming. I know it was supposed to be us.” The words were barely a whisper but she wanted him to know it meant a great deal to her that things were going better.

Finn shrugged in response, his attention on watching outside the window. He had only wanted to take her to see the tree to try to be romantic, and that allure was killed with Puck alongside them. He had wanted the two of them to make up and hang out again, so decidedly he knew he couldn't follow behind them and be a bummer. He cleared his throat “I don't feel too great… Maybe something in the food at dinner. I think I'm just gonna take the cab home and you two can go look at everything.”

Rachel took Finn’s ambivalence harder than she expected. She'd done what she had so they could all be together, so that they'd all be friends again. So when he wanted to abandon their plans for the tree - an excuse she saw right through - a hard knot settled in her own stomach. “Are you sure? We can do this another time. I don't want to send you home alone if you don't feel well.”

“Yeah no, I'll just go home and shower and fall asleep. It will be fine.” He shrugged again.

Rachel wanted to say something but she didn't want to start a fight in front of Noah. She simply folded her arms and stayed quiet until the cab stopped.

Finn paid for their cab ride, knowing he was wasting what little he had left for extra money but he didn't care. He would get paid soon and it wasn't like he and Rachel went out that often. “Have fun.” he told them softly as he got comfortable on the seat.

Rachel climbed out of the cab without a word. She didn't want to be there without him but he'd decided not to be part of it. To say he feelings were hurt would've been an understatement. Still, she waited on Noah and walked alongside him until he got distracted by two girls who smiled at him.

Finn took the cab back go the apartment building, but decided to walk around and look at the stores nearby out of boredom. He knew if he sat at home, he would probably start getting mad so he decided to enjoy his night alone.

Rachel sat down on a curb, her elbow resting on her knee as Noah talked to the girls. If Finn had come, they'd be snuggled up together by the tree, kissing and exchanging ‘i love yous.’ Instead, she was sitting alone, her legs and feet becoming colder by the minute. She didn't know who she hated most - Noah, Finn, or herself.

Finn eventually got bored of walking around and headed home. After taking a shower, he lay down and decided that he should probably call and check on his wife. He dialed her number and lay down with his phone as he waited.

Rachel was getting ready to stand up and tell Noah she was going home when her phone began rattling around in her bag. “Feeling better?”

“A little bit, I guess. Are you two having fun?”

Rachel's face grew hot with anger but she kept the conversation casual. “Noah met some girls so I've been sitting on a curb for the last half hour. I'm patiently waiting for him to tell me he's leaving with them.”

“well that sucks. Thought he was going to actually hang out with you.”

“Noah is effectively a child and breasts are like shiny toys to him. I'm not entirely surprised.”

“Well.. Boobs are pretty cool.” He joked. “I don't think he'd care if you ditched him now.”

“He already ditched me for the most part so I doubt he'd miss me if I went to see the tree.”

“You guys still haven't even made it to the tree? Geez.”

“No, we haven't. Obviously.” Rachel looked around, noticing Noah looking her way. It was clear he wanted to go so Rachel gave him a wave of approval. “But he's off with his new friends so I'm heading that way.”

“Okay…” If Puck wasn't with her, he would rather she come home but he could tell she was mad at him. “When will you come home?”

Rachel toed the crumbly curb to distract herself from the lonely feeling creeping up her spine. “I won't be long.”

“Alright… l will see you later then. Be safe.”

Rachel nodded, then said the same back to him and hung up. She felt no inclination to go to the tree so she walked until she was tired then climbed in a cab. She thanked the driver as he pulled up in front of the apartment then stood as he pulled away. Not wanting to be home too soon, she walked around the block a time or two before taking the elevator home.

Finn tried to focus on the movie he was watching but he hadn't expected Rachel to stay out so long by herself. When he heard her walk in, he stayed in bed for a moment before walking out to meet her. “Have fun?” He asked her.

“Not really.” Rachel unwound her scarf and hung up her coat. “Are you feeling any better?”

“Yeah, I feel fine. I'm just ready to go to bed, I think.”

Rachel gave a noncommittal shake of her head. “I'm glad to hear you're better. It seems to have come and gone quickly.”

“I just didn't feel like doing the Christmas light thing.” He shrugged.

“You did what you needed to do. That's all you can do.” Rachel kissed his cheek as she moved passed him. “I am going to take a quick shower to warm up.”

He nodded his head and moved back to the bed to finish his movie. He was glad that a fight wasn't happening with the two of them and planned to keep it that way.

Rachel took her few minutes in the shower to cry a little and get the hurt she felt over Finn bailing on her then Noah abandoning her out of her system. Not that it worked entirely but enough that she might be able to sleep. Toweling off, Rachel pulled on her pajamas and slid into bed quietly so she didn't disturb his movie watching.

When Rachel got into the bed with him, Finn made a point to move closer to her. He was frustrated that most of his romantic endeavors with her tended to fall flat, but he didn't want to cause too mention over it.

Rachel turned toward Finn when she felt him move in close to her. Really, it was all she'd wanted all night - to be close to her husband. Even if the night hadn't been ideal she'd take what she could.

Finn put his arm around her and kissed her forehead. “I'm sorry I left. I love you.”

Rachel knew her lack of immunity to her husband's apologies could read as pathetic but she didn't care. She loved him and fighting over something he was saying sorry for was ridiculous. “I love you too. All I wanted was to see the tree with you.” She buried her face in his shoulder and held him close.

“That’s what I wanted too. I felt like maybe it wasn't special for you to see it with me and relive that memory though because you invited Puck…  I don't know, I'm stupid.”

Rachel looked up at him, her eyes big and slightly wet. “That trip was one of the most special times in my life. It means everything to me that you did that for me. And that you wanted to reminisce tonight. I just didn't want to leave him out after he'd admitted he felt that way lately.” Rachel stroked his cheek, her lips touching his. “But I should've made plans to do something, the three of us, some other night. Especially when this is our thing.”

He nodded his head “it was hard for us to communicate any of that without him hearing so I think we did it the right way, even if both of us felt a little butt hurt.” He ran his hand down her back. “At least we are both here right now and we can make plans to see the tree together another night.”

“I look forward to that. Because all that matters is that I'm with you. Honestly, I don't even care where. The tree is nice though. Almost as nice as here.”

“I feel the same way.” He gave her a kiss.

Rachel smiled into their kiss, genuinely happy things were back on track. “That being said, we are going to need to spend time with Noah, both together and apart. He said he feels quite left out.”

“Yeah, he told me the same thing. We were trying to hang out with him before though and he kept being stupid. He would always make jokes about how whipped I am and stuff.”

“Maybe a little boy time, just you two, would help at first. We'll ease him back into the three of us.”

“We will figure it out. I'd father just focus on you right now.”

Rachel didn't know how to make him less ambivalent about Puck without potentially making him feel like she wanted less time with him. So she dropped the issue. “I like the sound of that since focusing on you is pretty important to me too.”

“I just feel like… Our relationship has a lot going on so maybe we shouldn't focus on the other stuff. I know I started it, but..” He shrugged.

“No, it makes sense. We have so little time outside of work and school that focusing on us when we are isn't the worst idea.”

“Exactly.” He pressed another kiss to her lips. “Besides, I miss you all day every day that we aren't together.” he peppered kisses to her neck. “Every night we can be together before we sleep is important.”

Rachel sighed as he kissed her neck. “I miss you too. So I look forward to our evenings together.”

“I love you, baby.” He whispered against her skin.

Rachel could feel all the tension of the evening melting away. “I love you. More than anything.”

He pressed another kiss to her neck before resting his head on the pillow again. “You tired?” He asked softly.

Rachel was sleepy but she wanted to stay up as long as he was. “I'm still trying to get warm from being outside so I can’t sleep just yet.”

“I can warm you up.” He said playfully. “Do you want me to grab another blanket?”

Rachel nudged him lightly before snuggling up closer to him. “No, thank you. You're arms will do just fine.”

He cuddled her, pressing another kiss to her cheek. “So let's plan our date to see the tree. Where do you want to eat first?”

“Hmmm… a place that has really good eggplant parmesan. It's been awhile since I've had it and I've been craving it lately.”

“You're gonna make me take you to an Italian restaurant? Dang, I thought I'd get away with cheap.” He joked. “I'll find you the best eggplant parm in New York. What else do you want to do?”

“It doesn’t have to be any place fancy. I am amenable to a smaller, more reasonable place. Even if it isn’t Italian, but still has what I want.” Rachel let her fingers slide through his, curling lazily once their palms were settled together. “I don’t have any outrageous demands. I just want to see the tree. Maybe we can get some hot chocolate, find a nice bench around there and watch the ice skaters too.”

“We went ice skating last time… I don't think you liked it all that much. “ he chuckled. “That sounds good to me. Now we just gotta figure out a night we both have off.”

“I have Thursday night off this week. Tuesday and Wednesday next. Any of those work for you?”

“Um…” he looked up as he tried to think of when he had to work. “Let's do next week…  get paid on Friday and I kind of used the last of my extra money tonight.”

Rachel felt bad that he’d used up what little extra he got but she didn’t dare suggest she take some of her tip money to pay. He’d always been sensitive about those sorts of things and it was yet another argument that wasn’t worth having. “That sound like a good plan. I think going on a weeknight will be good. It won’t be as crowded at the tree or the restaurant.”

“Yeah, that's true. We won't be able to stay out as late but that's okay. We've been going to bed kind of early anyways… probably the cold.” He said with a small laugh.

“Or the tiredness of it all. I’m more than ready for the school semester to be over after this week. The break will be nice.”

“Me too.. We should have planned something for winter break but I think just hanging out is what we need anyways.”

“Hanging out sounds good for our budget too since I did my holiday shopping and barely kept it under the amount I set for myself.” Rachel sighed. “I hate money sometimes.”

“I do too. I wish we were rich. Then we could just work for fun.”

”If we were rich, we'd probably have sex all the time and work one day a week so it wouldn't cut into all the lust.”

“We could have like a sex room with a huge bed and… not like weird 50 Shades stuff but…” he laughed. “No one would ever see us.”

Rachel's nose crinkled slightly at the idea of a sex room, then smirked when he amended the idea. “I wouldn't mind a bigger bed. But what would be the point of a special sex room? Knowing us, we'd do it everywhere. With all that space, we'd never have time for anything else.”

“I dunno, just to say we have one.” He joked. “That's true… Man, one of us need to win the lottery!”

“So we have more sex space?” Rachel pecked his lips and gave his side a gentle poke.

“Exactly.” He grinned. “And we could go on cool vacations.”

Rachel's eyes closed for a moment, visions of warm, white sand beaches flooding her thoughts. They weren't poor or broke by any means and they were lucky to have a nice place in a decent neighborhood. Still, she understood wanting more. “A vacation or two would be nice. Nothing too fancy. Just somewhere with sunshine and clear water.”

“Someday I'm gonna take you on a really good vacation.” He pressed a kiss to her cheek. “I wish I could give you all that now.”

“I know you do and will.” Turning her head, she caught his lips in a gentle kiss. “And it will be wonderful. But I didn’t marry you for the trips. Truth be told, it was the arms. They sold me.”

He chuckled, tightening his arms around her. “Good thing i like to hold you so much.”

Rachel smiled. “It truly is. Especially on the days I need it more than anything.”

“Well you know I'll do it any time you want me to.”

“Exactly, because you spoil me like a good husband does.” Her fingers traced the curve of his cheek, then the slight hitch in his lip that pulled his smile slightly crooked at times. “That’s why I love you so. Well, that and a million other reasons.”

“I love you for a million reasons too. Best wife ever.” He smiled.

“I had better be for as much as I sleep naked.” Rachel left a soft kiss on his shoulder, then his neck. “I’m like you, though. I just love seeing you happy. If I can help facilitate that, I do.”

“I do get naked cuddles a lot..” He smirked. “I know you do. That's what makes you a good wife.” He gave her a kiss.

“You get a lot of naked everything.” But Rachel didn’t mind, since she enjoyed that closeness with him. And the fact that he always kissed her like he was at the moment. No one would ever hear her complain about feeling like he didn’t dote upon her enough. “Because you’re a good husband.”

“Good motivation to be good.” He teased.

Rachel rolled her eyes without ever losing her smile. “So you wouldn't be good if I wore clothes. Naughty, naughty.”

He laughed “It’s hard to say… I would probably love you the same but knowing I get to see you naked gets me through the day.” He joked.

Rachel turned her head, playing at irritation. “Mean. I may never get naked again because of it.”

“You love being naked as much I do.” He scoffed.

“Literally no one on the planet loves being naked as much as you do. And that is a fact.”

He laughed “I'm sure there is someone!”

Rachel moved her face so close that his breath tickled her lips. “Not even Noah does. And that is saying something.”

“You don't know that for a fact. Maybe he spends all of his free time naked too. I'm wearing clothes now, aren't I?”

Rachel had to concede the point, inclining her head slightly. “You are. Are you sure you are feeling okay?”

“I decided to give you a break tonight.” He said playfully.

“How charitable if you? But what happens if I get used to it?”

“If you're concerned, I can fix this.” He shrugged.

Rachel's fingers traced a path along his forearm. “Maybe not tonight. I am enjoying just being comfy with you right now. And teasing with you makes everything in life feel a little lighter.”

Finn sighed dramatically “oh fine.” He teased. “I'm enjoying just laying with you too. We don't get to often.”

“Just think of when we were first dating, this is what we did. I mean, we were laying together the first time you told me you loved me.”

“We were. I remember thinking how easy it was to tell you that. I thought it was supposed to be scary but it felt so right.”

Rachel couldn't help but kiss him, the sweetness behind such simple - and obvious - words inspiring that in her. “Loving you really was the easiest thing in the world. It still is.”

“It is for me too. Even when we are driving each other crazy. “ he teased lightly.

“Oh, I don't drive you crazy. I am always perfectly pleasant and adorable.” Rachel grinned.

“Yes you are.” He chuckled. “You never get on my nerves at all ever. I'm sure I don't for you either.”

“Nope. Not ever. You're are the embodiment of only positive male traits.”

He shrugged “what can I say.” He gave her a smile, his eyes staying on her for a long moment. “Do you work tomorrow?”

“I have a lunch shift after my final presentation in my last class. I should be home around five or so.”

“Oh, I was gonna tell you I'd make you dinner but I think you will be home before me.”

“You can still make me dinner!” Rachel knew she sounded over eager but she wanted to be swept off her feet a little and having him make her dinner would do the trip. “I'll come home and take a nap so it'll be like I'm not even here.”

He laughed softly “Okay, I’ll make you dinner baby. What do you want?”

“Surprise me?” Even against her growing fatigue, Rachel couldn't hide her excitement. “I know whatever you male will be good.”

Finn thought about it for a moment before nodding his head “I'll come up with something. I'll blow your freaking mind.”

“That sounds promising. Maybe if you do.” She nipped at his neck teasingly. “I’ll have to return the favor afterwards.”

He smirked “Well that will definitely make me work harder to make dinner amazing.”

“It was going to be amazing regardless, just like you were probably going to get your favorite kind of treatment too.”

He gave her a kiss “Maybe true. Maybe I was planning Mac and cheese before you said that.”

“You know I love it when you talk dirty.” Rachel's lips curled into a smile as they kissed. “I almost wish I had the energy to give you an advance on the spoils of your labor.”

“Well now I'm wishing that too.” He nudged her playfully. “I guess I'll have to wait until tomorrow.”

“I think you'll survive it. You have in the past.” Rachel snuggled against him in a losing battle with sleep. “I'm really excited about tomorrow now.”

“Then go to sleep baby so I can spoil you tomorrow.” He kissed her forehead.

“I just might have to.” She yawned a little. “I love you.”

“I love you too. Goodnight.” He cuddled in and closed his eyes.

Rachel murmured a response then fell asleep almost immediately.

[justanoutlawfic]

Domesticity prompt Thanksgiving for Red Snowing please ! :) (You could literally make up what a thanksgiving is like and I'd believe you no matter what as my general perception of them is through Brooklyn Nine-Nine lol)

Here is a bit of Thanksgiving from me to you! :) This ended up being a bit more Daddy Charming than I expected haha. I’ve set this as a divergence of season 2, where Red Snowing didn’t find out about Neal being Henry’s dad until they got back to Storybrooke (and obviously in a world where Red Snowing is together).

This was submitted from this prompt list. Send me a number and a pairing and I’ll write a ficlet. :)

Also on AO3/FF

“It’sa good thing we don’t have Thanksgivings in our land, because that dinner wouldsuck.”

It was a joke, one made under shock. When Emma hadcome off that boat with a strange man in tow, they didn’t know what to think.Neal was Henry’s father, which meant that they were all related to Rumpelstiltskinin some way. At the time, they still had some odd feelings for him, beingrelated to Regina was weird enough as it was.

In time, though, things had changed. Ruby, Snow andDavid had gotten closer with both Henry’s adoptive grandmother and hisgrandfather, not to mention his father as well. Things weren’t always happy, infact there would always be squabbling, but they were still a family and wouldn’thave it any other way.

What they didn’t realize was that Emma had overheardDavid’s words about Thanksgivings. The truth was, in Storybrooke, they didn’t havethat holiday over the curse. Regina had only incorporated the ones they had inthe Enchanted Forest, modernizing them however she could. Henry had read aboutit, though, and he wanted to have it.

“Come on, Mom, it’d be so much fun. We could have abig dinner at Granny’s,” he said.

Emma shook her head. “I don’t think your grandparentswould be okay with it, at least not your Grandpa David.”

“Gramps loves holidays, he always goes all out forthem.”

“I once heard him say that Thanksgiving would suck,”Emma said, not wanting him to know the full version of that sentence, she feltit wouldn’t help. “Look, I’d like to have one, I never had a real Thanksgivinggrowing up. I just don’t think it’s their thing, kid.”

Little did she know, Ruby had been listening in on theconversation as she had come up to tell them that dinner was close to beingready. She turned on the stairs and headed back down to the kitchen. Snowlooked up from the roast she had pulled out of the oven.

“Weren’t you getting Emma and Henry?”

“I was.” She turned to David. “You screwed up.”

David raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“Do you remember what you said about Thanksgiving,after Neal came to Storybrooke?”

“Um…no.”

“You said dinners with the whole family would suck. Atthe time, I thought it was funny, but it turns out our daughter overheard. Shealways wanted to have a Thanksgiving, but now she thinks you don’t want one.”

David tilted his head back, shutting his eyes. He hadsaid those things out of shock. How many people would react well to finding outthat the Dark One was their son’s other grandfather? That the man who had abandonedhis daughter was back in her life? Of course now he liked both Rumple and Neal.He hadn’t ever meant for Emma to overhear.

“We need to fix this,” he said.

“How?” Snow asked.

Henry’s voice came from the kitchen doorway. “OperationTurkey,” he said. His grandparents looked up in surprise. “Don’t worry, Mom isstill upstairs, she didn’t hear a thing. We can plan the best Thanksgiving forher.”

Ruby grinned and ruffled his hair. “I like the way youthink, kiddo. But we don’t know much about Thanksgiving.”

“I have a plan for that too.”

The next day when Emma headed out to the station,Henry sat his three grandparents down. He held up a bunch of tapes. Snow tookthem, studying the sides.

“FRIENDS, Will and Grace, How I Met Your Mother, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, CharlieBrown…what are all of these?”

“Some of the best Thanksgiving specials,” Henryexplained. “We can learn a lot about the holiday from these.”

David beamed. “That’s a great idea.”

They marathoned the tapes, with Snow insisting ontaking notes of course. They did find it funny that one of the How I Met YourMother episodes included an actress that looked very much like Emma. They got afew good recipes, though Snow and Ruby promised not to make any trifles likeRachel did in FRIENDS. David found the meal in Charlie Brown the best and feltthat Emma would like a dinner of popcorn, pretzel sticks, toast and jellybeans,only to get shot down.

Henry was in charge ofthe guest list. He invited Regina, Rumple, Belle, Neal and many of the otherresidents of Storybrooke. Ruby got Granny to agree to shut the diner down forthe afternoon, since they couldn’t fit everyone into the loft. Snow and Rubytold her they’d help her cook the meal and would provide a lot of the food.David was given the shopping list and he headed to the store, grabbingeverything they would need. Luckily, despite the town not celebrating, they hada lot of the usual Thanksgiving treats. As he was heading out, he got an idea…

Emma woke up on Thanksgiving morning, feeling asthough it was just another day, as it always was. There had been a few homesthat actually celebrated, but didn’t allow her to take part in the festivities.She knew her father’s feelings on the holiday and wasn’t about to make him feeluncomfortable. After changing into a comfy sweater and some jeans, she headeddownstairs. Henry was on the couch with David, the Macy’s Thanksgiving DayParade was on the television. She did her best not to give him a scolding look.

“What’s this?”

“Seems like a parade,” David said. “You guys seem tohave these for every holiday.”

Emma shrugged. “It’s tradition.”

“Have you ever been to one, Mom?” Henry asked.

“Once, when I lived in New York City. It was okay.”

“Maybe we could go to one, one year,” David suggested.

Emma raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

“Yeah, it looks like fun. Look at that, a Garfieldballoon, that’s my favorite comic.”

Emma couldn’t help but smile a bit as she sat downnext to her dad. She almost didn’t notice that her moms weren’t in the loft.That was until she looked around and didn’t see them anywhere.

“Where’s Mom and Mama?” She asked.

“They had to help Granny with something,” David said. “We’llhead down there later for lunch, I’m sure you could use a grilled cheese.”

“Sounds good,” Emma said with a slight nod.

Once the parade was over, David and Henry went tochange. When they were done, they headed down to the diner. Emma noticed thatit was pretty packed, with Regina’s Mercedes and Rumple’s Cadillac in theparking lot. Maybe she could convince them to have a family lunch, even if it wasn’tan official Thanksgiving meal…

She walked inside the diner and her mouth droppedopen. There was a large table set up with all the typical Thanksgiving foods:turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce and mashed potatoes. There was even Regina’sfamous lasagna. On the counter were various pies and cookies. Everyone seemedto be in the diner from Regina and Neal to Rumpelstiltskin and Belle. Even Novaand Leroy were there along with Geppetto, August and Archie.

“Happy Thanksgiving!” Snow exclaimed, walking over andwrapping her arms around Emma.

“I…I don’t understand,” she sputtered out. “I didn’t think…”

“We’re in this realm now,” Ruby pointed out.

“Plus, any excuse to eat turkey,” Neal joked with agrin.

Emma couldn’t believe it. The entire crazy family treewas present. She had never had a meal with this many people, let alone aThanksgiving dinner. Everything smelt absolutely delicious. Ruby wrapped an armaround her and lead her over to her seat at the table. Everyone dug into the magnificentfeast that was prepared. Emma had never tasted a turkey that had tasted sogood. She even agreed to eat some of the vegetables, everything was delicious.She wasn’t sure if it was her mothers’ and grandmother’s cooking, or just thefact that they were all there together. They all talked, bickered and laughed,sharing stories from over the years.

After dessert, Emma felt it was time to take a break.She loved hanging out with everyone, but it was still a bit overwhelming. Sheheaded outside as the sun was setting and settled down onto one of the chairs.She heard the door open behind her, followed by her father’s voice.

“Too full for one more meal?” He asked.

Emma turned around and found him holding a paper platefilled with jelly beans, toast, pretzel sticks and popcorn. “Charlie Brown.” Shegrinned. “Let me guess, Henry had you watched it?”

“I happened to like it,” David said, sitting next toher and setting it down.

“I grew up watching it.” She popped a piece of popcornin her mouth. “I used to envision a meal like that. As much as I loved theturkey and all, I think this is my favorite.”

“I’m glad.” David was quiet for a moment as he munchedon a jelly bean. “I just wanted to apologize.”

“Apologize? For what? This day has been amazing.”

“I know you overheard what I said about Thanksgiving whenNeal came here.”

“Dad…”

“Look, Em, at the time, I was caught off guard. For awhile, I had been the only man in Henry’s life. Suddenly, he had not just hisfather, but another grandpa. Plus, I didn’t know either of them very well. Nealhad hurt you, I didn’t want him to do that again. We just barely trustedRegina. I couldn’t picture us having a meal together,” he explained. He gaveher a soft smile. “You changed my feelings about that.”

Emma raised an eyebrow. “I did?”

“Emma, you’re such a good person. You always want togive people a second chance. You stood up for Regina when no one else would.Heck, even with me.”

“What about you?”

“During the curse, you gave me the benefit of thedoubt. You trusted that I hadn’t hurt Abigail. You felt the same about yourmother. Even with your mama, she told me how you gave her a job when she quitGranny’s. You believe in others, you’re a true hero.”

Emma felt herself blushing, still not used to suchpraise. She leaned into him and he wrapped an arm around her.

“Maybe it’s genetic. After all, I’m the daughter ofthree amazing ones.”

“Your moms, but me…”

“Dad, you risked your life for all of us, severaltimes, myself included. You’re my hero. The weird thing is, when I was younger,the Prince Charming from Disney’s Snow White was too. I guess the whole time Iknew the truth.”

David beamed, kissing thetop of her head. Emma let out a deep breath, feeling very content. Little didthey know that Henry, Ruby and Snow were watching from the window with a smile.Operation Turkey had been a success.

[icecreamandknishes]

Auntie Flo’s Shortbread Cookies

What is your signature dish? Something you love to cook and people love to eat over and over? Even people who don’t often cook  have that one dish, maybe it’s only a perfect cup of coffee or a cheese toast.

I’d say mine is cookies. I have baked thousands and thousands of cookies over the years for hundreds of people, as a home cook and as a preschool instructor at my local community centre. I have been told I should sell them, but thanks but no thanks, they won’t taste the same mass produced.

There is something humble and homey about a cookie, it brings back memories of childhoods when we could munch on a sweet little baked item without guilt, just for pleasure, when our lives were innocent and full of adventure.

My cookie baking calling started when I was studying in Israel, at university for one year. In those days in 1974 -1975 the Israeli economy was a highly regulated socialist one, and between currency regulations and an international boycott of Israel, many foods could not be purchased. As a student in the overseas program, so far away from home we missed the foods of North America, such as peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies.

The only places where chocolate chips and peanut butter could be bought were at one store in the Migdal Tower, far from where I lived, so I didn’t have a chance to buy them. They were also very expensive.

To replace the chocolate chips I came up with the idea to buy some Elite Milk Chocolate bars and chop them up and use the chocolate chunks as cookies. Needless to say the cookies came out pretty good.

This was before chocolate chunk cookies became popular or even heard of. I guess I was an early adaptor of chocolate. Although I have been known to use real chocolate chips on occasion. 

At work I taught cooking to preschoolers, the children were as young as three years old, many were anxious and dealing with separation anxiety from their mothers. I always started a session with chocolate chip cookies, something most children love, starting off the class giving them a few chocolate chips to eat helped calm them and get them interested in baking.

I also liked it that when the mothers came to pick up their children, the room smelled of freshly baked cookies, hoping to inspire the Mums to bake at home with their children.

Today I don’t need to look at my recipe to make chocolate chip cookies, I know it off by heart.

What I do when baking cookies is I try to use top notch ingredients, good quality chocolate, butter, real vanilla that now costs more than a bottle of whiskey, and organic flour. I believe that ingredients count, even if only going into humble cookies.

As a food blogger, I don’t come across many pastry chefs. They don’t have the same star status as savory chefs, although all pastry chefs start off cooking savory food first.

I have though seen Martha Stewart demonstrate cake decoration at the Delicious Food Show. She stood up on there on a stage in front of hundreds of people and calmly iced three cakes for Halloween without batting an eyelid and doing a perfect job. Whatever you can say about her, she is an amazing cook.

Later on at another show, Taste of Toronto I managed to finagle a spot for a demonstration given by Christina Tosi, the pastry chef of Momofuku Milk Bar in New York. They also have a bakery outlet in Toronto, at Momofuku in the ShangriLa Hotel.

I knew she was important because she had elevated home baking to the coolness of Chef David Chang’s Momofuku brand. She had created the naked cake, an iced cake where the icing is left off the sides of the cake so the inner layers of cake and icing can be appreciated. This style of cake is still very popular today.

And she loves sprinkles.

Netflix has a documentary series called Chef’s Table, about the top chefs in the world, many in unique locations, all at the top of their game. This year four new episodes of Chef’s Table were added and Christina Tosi is the subject of one of them.

As I watched the episode it brought back memories of me at her cooking demonstration. We made her birthday cake truffles, which were truffles made out of scraps of birthday cakes. When Milk Bar makes their birthday cakes, they bake the layers in sheet pans and then cut out perfect circles for each layer. The leftover pieces from the sheet pan are crumbled, and rolled into truffles balls which are coated in milk chocolate. As usual at the demonstration I was busy taking photos and talking too much and Christina Tosi came over to get me moving and helped me make some of the truffles.

So that’s how I had a lesson from one of the top pastry chefs in the world!

Christina Tosi at her demonstration and in the Netflix show talks about how her baking brings her memories of her childhood, but how she uses her professional skills to update the quality of her baking, making humble foods elevated.

My late great aunt Flo gave me her recipe for her family’s shortbread recipe. She was married to my grandmother’s brother Jay. Flo’s parents lived in Scotland for twenty years before they moved to Toronto and this was their recipe. I baked the cookies to bring to Flo’s shiva after she passed away. At the shiva after tasting the cookies I heard comments that the cookies tasted like their family recipe. I told them it was, happy being able to honour Flo’s memory in a simple way. That’s what baking does.

Shortbreads

1 cup butter (two sticks), softened

½ cup brown sugar, packed

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups flour

Put all ingredients into a bowl and from into a ball. Make into one inch balls on ungreased cookie sheet and press down with a fork. Bake at 325F for 10 – 15 minutes until the bottoms of the cookies are golden brown.

[nozoroomie]

Burger Queen or Bomino’s?

Summary: After graduation, the third years decide to move in together and share an apartment as they attend university together. Nico loves living with her friends, but as more time passes, the more her feelings for them grow from friendship to something else. When Nozomi and Eli start becoming a little distant with each other, Nico worries the reason might be because of her. With that on her mind, Nico contemplates whether she should leave so Nozomi and Eli's relationship isn't strained, or stay and watch it fall apart in front of her.

Notes: HELLO EVERYONE! I realize I've past the date I said I would update my latest ongoing fic with, but I just had to write this story while I still had it on my mind. And boy has it been difficult, but so worth it. My need for domestic NozoNicoEli fluff has been satisfied and I can't wait to upload the rest of the story for you all to see.

Thank you to my friend Hannah (@ Fireflypendants on twitter) for the hilarious knock off name for a certain pizza place.

Because I have most of this fic done already (just not in order) updates for this will be very fast and probably done within the week! Please look forward to it!

Thank you for reading, liking and reblogging! I hope you enjoy the story!

word count: 3124

[A03] 

The sound of a key turning in the lock echoes through the apartment cluttered with boxes. Shortly after, the door knob twists and the door opens just a smidge. From the other side, Nico carefully pushes the rest of the door open, holding a stack of boxes that climb just a bit higher than she is. All of them aren’t incredibly heavy, but carrying them up the stairs to their apartment takes its toll on her tired arms.

“Finally,” Nico sighs, balancing the boxes carefully as she closes the door behind her. “Oi Nozomi! Eli! I’ve got the final boxes!”

“Great!” Eli calls from down the hall. “What’s written on them?”

“Uhhh,” Nico twists her head to try to find a label and instead just finds Nozomi’s name scribbled on the side. “I think it’s all Nozomi’s? Nozomi why didn’t you label what the boxes were?! I don’t know where to take them!”

“Because those are probably my personal belongings!” Nozomi calls from the kitchen, “Take them to Elichi, she’s in our room right now!”

Nico grunts and adjusts her hold on the boxes before making her way down the hall to the last room. She walks through the doorway, finding a nice clear spot out of the way and placing all three boxes down there. She exhales a tired breath and stretches, happy to be done the difficult parts of moving. When her back cracks she hums contently and relaxes, looking over to Eli as she examines the placement of the boxes.

“What are you thinking about?” Nico asks, noticing Eli’s frown.

Eli turns to Nico and brings a hand down from her chin, giving her a soft smile.

“I was thinking about what wall to put the bed on.” She explains, sticking her hands in her pockets. “Nozomi and I won’t be able to pick it up for another few days, but I felt planning ahead wouldn’t be so bad.”

“Ah. Well, you have fun with that.” Nico says, waving her hand. “I’m gunna go see whatever Nozomi’s up to. Have we figured out what we’re having for dinner?”

“God, I haven’t even thought about that.” Eli groans and sighs. “I’ll just go with whatever you two decide.”

“Got it.” Nico flashes her a thumbs up before heading to down the hall towards the kitchen. She finds Nozomi with an open box in front of her and a lot of different kitchen utensils scattered around the kitchen, including her pig tea kettle in its new home on the stove top. She steps closer to her to peer into the box only to find it’s empty.

“Getting the kitchen set up?” Nico asks with a curious stare. Nozomi nods.

“I was hoping that the move would be faster and we might have time to go to the store to make something for dinner, but halfway through emptying this box I became too tired to even think about cooking.” She laughs a little as she holds up a ladle. “You’d think that after so many moves I’d remember something like that.”

Nico frowns a little and reaches over to her, poking her hard in the upper arm.

“Hey. You know what makes this move better?” Nico asks and Nozomi hums, waiting for an answer. “Me. I make it better.”

Nozomi chuckles softly and shakes her head.

“You certainly do.” She says with a smile. She keeps her hold on the ladle and glances to stove, focusing her attention on the burners. She turns the ladle a couple times in her hands before speaking in a quieter voice. “If you told me three years ago I’d be moving in with my best friends after graduation, I never would have believed you.”

Nico sidesteps closer to Nozomi, nudging her gently with her arm. Nozomi turns towards her with slightly watery eyes. Nico gives her a tender smile and reaches up, poking her cheek lightly.

“You’ll never have to come home to an empty house again, alright? You’ve got me and Eli here, and if you do end up coming back to an empty house, the only reason will be because Eli and I are already with you, so we all get to arrive home together.”

Nozomi’s eyes water some more and Nico pokes her cheek a little harder.

“Ah! Hey! No crying! Today is a good day and we’re gunna spend it doing nothing the moment we decide what to have for dinner.”

“R-right. Dinner.” Nozomi says with a wet laugh, reaching up to wipe her eyes from the bit of tears that pooled at their rims. “I guess we’ll be ordering take out?”

“Yeah, looks like it. Eli said she’ll have whatever we decide so what are you feeling like?” Nico asks. She pulls her phone out of her pocket and opens it up to the browser, looking for close by restaurants they’d be able to run to.”We’ve got a Burger Queen and a Bomino’s pizza down the road if we want something fast and greasy.”

“Ooh, did you say pizza?” Nozomi decides to peer over and look at Nico’s screen to see what else may have popped up in her search. “We could always get pizza. It’s an easier clean up, and they deliver!”

“Oh my god- you’re right, okay it’s settled we’re getting pizza.” Nico immediately clicks on their website, browsing the online menu. “What do you want for toppings? I’m pretty okay with everything but pineapple. If you two want it, we can get separate pizzas because I don’t need that in my life.”

The green eyed girl starts laughing loudly, the sounds of it echoing off the many blank walls in their apartment

“I’m serious! It sounds like I’m kidding but I’m not!” Nico glares her way, which only makes her laugh harder.

“What’s going on in there?!” Eli calls to them. Nico’s quick to reply.

“We’ve decided on Bomino’s but stupid Nozomi is laughing because I said no pineapple!”

“What’s wrong with pineapple?!” Eli shouts, much closer than before. Nico does a one eighty and peers out the entrance towards the blonde, narrowing her eyes at her.

“What do you mean ‘what’s wrong with pineapple’?! Everything! That does not belong on pizza! It’s disgusting and mushy and unappealing. The texture is as horrible as it’s tastes and the only place pineapple belongs is on its own, in a fruit salad or in some kind of pineapple dessert.” Nico’s retort is passionate and firm. Nozomi wheezes in the background. Eli frowns as she reaches the kitchen, quickly noticing Nozomi as she clutches onto the counter top for support.

“I mean, it’s not my favourite but it’s not that bad.” She reasons and Nico frowns. “It’s alright when ham is on the pizza too.”

Nico makes a face of disgust. Nozomi’s laughter begins to wind down into smaller giggles as she pushes herself away from the counter. There’s a brief moment of silence from her before she covers her mouth to hide some final chuckles.

“Are you telling me you’ve willingly eaten pineapple on your pizza, Ayase Eli?” Nico asks, her voice laced with nothing but abhorrence.

“Y… yeees?” Eli draws out her answer, hesitantly continuing. “I don’t understand the huge deal about this?”

Nico turns to Nozomi with a pointed stare.

“I pity you, Nozomi.” She says sympathetically. Nozomi’s laughter finally subsides and she sighs contently.

“It’s okay, If Elichi didn’t like pineapple on her pizza, it’d make her almost as perfect as you are.” She jokes as Eli pouts, crossing her arms and staring at the two of them. Nico smirks a little.

“A fair point.” She laughs at how Eli glowers and she goes back to her phone, opening the pizza creator and looking at the toppings list. “Seriously though, we can all agree on no pineapple, right?”

“I’m sure we’ll all live without pineapple.” Nozomi answers with a smirk.

“Good. Eli, what do you want on it?” Nico turns to the pouty blonde, “Bell peppers? We know how much you like those.”

“I do enjoy bell peppers on my pizza.” Eli grumbles. “...can we get mushrooms too?”

Nico nods, tapping a few things on her phone.

“Okay, Nozomi? What do you want?”

“Meat.” Her reply is quick and simple. Eli smiles and Nico shakes her head at the vague answer.

“Okay genius, there’s like 7 different meat toppings. Which one?” Nico shows Nozomi the list and she scans it, tapping on the one she wants. Nico turns the phone around and glances over the photo of the pizza they have in the pizza creator.

“So we’ve got bell peppers, mushroom and beef. I’m adding extra cheese and some red onion. Is that good?”

The other two nod and Nico finishes the rest of the details for the order. The online tracker gives them an estimate of when the delivery will arrive and she smiles, slipping her phone back in her pocket and looking at her new roommates. Nozomi’s gone back to fixing up the kitchen with Eli helping out by placing dishes in the cupboards. They playfully bump hips every now and again and Nico shakes her head at the weird gestures of affection they give one another.

Nico decides to offer additional support in tidying the room, taking the stacked pots and pans and moving them into a different cupboard. Once the kitchen is mostly done, their dinner arrives and the three of them set up a makeshift table with some boxes. They sit around it, munching on their pizza and talking between bites about what they want to do with the big space.

“Should we get a couch? I feel like our living experience will only improve from having a couch.” Nico suggests, looking at the wall most of their boxes rest against. “We can put it on that wall since we’re throwing the TV on the opposite one.”

“Good idea!” Eli beams, “Nozomi’s table is small, so we’ve still got a lot of space from the dining area and the kitchen too.”

“Maybe if we get more books we can have a bookshelf?” Nozomi proposes, glancing at the dining room area, “Or maybe we can just use it as spare storage space. Like if we invite the girls over and we need more chairs. We could put them there.”

Nico finishes chewing on the bit of pizza, swallows it and nods.

“That’s not too bad. Actually, maybe it’d be a good spot to keep our laundry rack too.” she contemplates out loud. “Well whatever, we’ve got a lot of time to figure out how to make this place look the best.”

The other two hum in approval as they continue to eat. At one point Nozomi shuffles over to the side of the room, digging through one of her bags excitedly. Nico and Eli watch with curious eyes as she pulls out her camera. Nozomi carefully takes the lens cap off and looks towards them with a broad grin.

“Picture time~” She grins, moving back towards them. Nico looks at Nozomi incredulously, wondering why picture time is now, of all times.

“Seriously!? Can’t it wait until we’re done eating?!” She asks, watching as Eli puts her half eaten piece down and moves to Nico’s other side.

“Time waits for nobody, Nicocchi~” Nozomi replies sagely, “Now, say cheese~”

She squishes herself against Nico, causing her to push into Eli. Nico’s aware of the way Eli pushes back against her and how her face leans closer to hers. She looks up to the camera just in time as the flash goes off and Nozomi captures the first official group photo of the three of them in their new apartment. Said girl sits up, turning her camera around and looking at the image preview displayed on the small screen. She smiles and turns it towards them, humming contently.

“Look at that. A perfect picture.” She laughs.

Nico examines the photo and to her dismay, Nozomi’s right. Nozomi’s to the left of her, a bright grin slapped on her face while Eli on her right side has that picture perfect closed mouth smile she always has. And her? Well she’s perfect in every photo, but this photo’s lighting and the surprised expression suits her. Even the little ‘o’ shape her mouth is in is perfect.

“Well, it is impossible to take an unflattering photo of me,” Nico reasons, earning a chuckle from her roommates, “This one is probably the best spontaneous picture of me though. Good job Nozomi.”

“Thank you~”

They finish up their dinner and Nico and Eli clean up the garbage while Nozomi searches for a deck of playing cards. They decide to spend the rest of the evening playing different card games, Nozomi somehow winning more often than not. Nico and Eli temporarily team up to take her down for a few rounds. By the time two hours have gone by, their exhaustion hits them and Eli suggests bringing out their blankets and camping out in the living room together to end the move in day celebration. Tiredly, Nozomi and Nico push themselves out of their spots on the floor and tidy up the small mess of cards thrown at each other to make a clean spot for all the comforters and pillows. Nico places the poorly made stack on their makeshift box table while Nozomi trudges towards the hall, moving to help Eli grab all their blankets. Nico follows afterward, going to her room and grabbing her own for the massive blanket bed they intend to make.

When she comes back with blankets and pillow in hand, she finds Nozomi’s wrapped herself in one of them and rolled into one corner of the bed space they began to make. Eli stands with one hand holding a blanket and the other pinching the bridge of her nose. Nico snorts and shakes her head, deciding to help Eli out.

“Wow that’s a pretty lumpy blanket.” She says, poking it with her foot. “I guess we’re using it as pillows?”

It takes Eli a moment but she catches on, bringing her hand down from her face and smirking a little.

“That’s exactly what I was going for Nico. You know me well.” Eli gives her a playful wink and Nozomi rolls, peering up at them through her blanket. Nico drops down onto the floor, resting her head on Nozomi and sighing contently.

“Well your idea is great. This might be the best pillow I’ve ever used. So lumpy and warm, you could-” She pauses her speech to give a big, fake yawn and squishing her head into Nozomi more. “Practically fall asleep instantly.”

Nozomi’s muffled laughs can be heard and Eli follows Nico onto the floor, resting her head on  the Nozomi blanket mound as well.

“You’re right. I feel like with just this big lumpy blanket pillow, I might have the best sleep of my life. But there’s one thing missing-” She says with a hint of laughter in her voice. She grabs one of the blankets she held earlier and drapes it over the both of them. “There we go. Now we’ll stay warm and have the best sleep of our lives.”

Nozomi’s laughing so much she’s shaking, but Nico and Eli go along with it some more.

“A massage feature?! Eli, where did you even find this lumpy blanket?!” Now Nico’s laughing along with Nozomi, and Eli can’t help but laugh with them.

“It was a gift! From our lovely friend Nozomi. I have no idea where she went though, she’s really missing out on the experience.”

Nozomi begins to squirm and rolls herself away from them, letting their heads fall to the floor. Nico and Eli wince from the contact, but continue to laugh. Nozomi pushes herself onto her knees, the blanket still wrapped around her as much as possible. She looks at them and moves the blanket off her mouth so she can speak.

“Really Nicocchi, if you wanted to experience a real massage from this blanket, all you had to do was ask.” The area where Nozomi’s hands are moves ever so slightly and Nico pauses for a short moment before laughing harder.

“Oh my god you look so dumb-” She says between wheezes, “Eli- s-stop her, get her out of there!”

Eli’s still on the floor but she does as requested, moving onto her knees and looking at Nozomi eye to eye. She’s still laughing as she begins to unwrap Nozomi, letting the large blanket fall to the floor and freeing the other girl from it’s warm confines.  She laughs again and looks at Nico.

“Can you believe our lumpy blanket pillow was Nozomi this whole time?!” She asks a little too excitedly.

“Honestly, we may have never known until she started talking.” Nico jokes, earning a few more laughs from them.

With Nozomi free from her blanket, the three of them decide to actually get the bed set up this time. They set a few blankets on the ground as a makeshift futon, then set their pillows up in the spots they wanted to sleep in. Eli remembers something and hurriedly scans through one of her personal belonging boxes in her bedroom and returning with a small night light. As she heads off to plug it in, Nico and Nozomi place the final blankets down and look at their creative bedspread.

Afterwards they head to their furnitureless bedrooms, scanning their clothes boxes for pyjamas. They each change there and begin getting themselves prepared for bed. Nico takes her ribbons out of her hair carefully, reaching into a different box for a brush to brush her hair out. She smiles satisfied and puts her brush down before heading back to the living room.

She’s the second one there after Nozomi, who’s put her hair into one side ponytail. She smiles and waves Nico over, patting the spot beside her. Nico makes a tired sound and doesn’t waste any time in making her way to her spot in the middle (it was unanimously decided because she gets cold easily and will benefit in the center.) She worms her way under the covers and sighs contently as Eli makes her entrance, hair down and blue nightgown on. She flicks the big light on the wall off and revels in the warm glow of her night light as she makes her way to her side of their bed, crawling under her covers and humming happily.

“Goodnight Nicocchi. Goodnight Elichi.” Nozomi says, yawning afterwards and lying back on her pillow.

“Goodnight Nozomi. Night Nico.” Eli replies, pulling her blanket up higher and Nico yawns.

“Night. See you two in the morning.” Nico finishes, closing her eyes and letting her long awaited sleep take her.

[bighandslittlefeet]

Catching up part II

Hello Everyone!

So more catching up! We headed out to Byron Bay. This was the one that had me most excited! A small Surfer town that came to prominence in the 60’s and 70’s when the soul surfers came into town. A group of practiced pros who came not for the amazing waves, but for the fact that they were long and steady. So a practice known as Soul surfing was born. The point was to reconnect with nature, taking the time to surf for 40 - 60 seconds instead of the usual crash and broil 10 seconds of the big surf. Surrounded by a sweeping coast that rolled up into tropical foothills in the distance, the lighthouse stood proudly on the headland, one was meant to take time and appreciate the art of surfing again instead of being wrapped up in the ego of catching the biggest and baddest of the waves. Not only this, but Byron has a rich Aboriginal history - for many years before the europeans came, this bay had a sacred meaning that meant it belonged to no single tribe and folk agreed to come and meet here each year, talking through the troubles of the year and leaving when your soul was healed. Hence Byron has a reputation of somewhere that you don’t live but merely come to as long as you need it.

We pulled into our campsite and were immediately pleased to see the option of not one, not two, but three pools to choose from. It was hot and we needed to cool down. We parked up Val after checking in and elected to make camp properly after cooling off. As the day day wore on and google maps showed us the relative walking distances between places so we decided to hit up a place called the Treehouse that evening. Halfway between the campsite and the centre of town it seemed like a good place to go to stretch our legs and listen to some live music. The road lead us across a railway line and as we crossed the sound of waves crashing on the shore greeted us. We walked along the road and soon passed a series of very flashy and modern beachside homes. As we drew closer to our destination we passed a restaurant that was heaving, a sign advertised it as closed for a private function - a wedding. As we passed the speeches were being made, the proud parents of the the two brides stirring laughs and awws from the seated and smiling guests. Further on a row of pristine chopper bikes in pastel blue announced the presence of a trendy backpackers hostel and next to it a bar - the treehouse! It was humming with activity and we bought a couple of Aperol Spritzes, our favourite summertime drink! We found some outside sofas, year round sunshine affords the exteriors of bars this far north the luxury of using upholstered indoor furniture outside, lending a very bohemian vibe to the vine festooned venue. We settled in, sipping and chatting and people watching, young trendy kids with their cropped trousers and funky mirrored sunglasses guzzled moules et frites and quaffed chilled white by the bottle. Soon the band were tuning guitars and pointing red spotlights at ominous askance angles across the stage, or should I say curtained wall with two feet of jutting decking? It was cosy and fun. Then they started playing - I’m not going to say they were the best band in the world but boy they had spirit. We left when we finished the drinks and walked back to the campsite under the stars.

The next day we wanted to explore Byron town proper. We walked in along the cycle path and much like driving, Australians have no idea how to cycle. The amount of times a hushed verbal ‘beep beep’ would be heard moments before being run down by a trio of bikes with hipster folk barely balancing would bear down on us was far too many to count. Suffice to say we walked on the grass next to the path even though it was a shared space. Byron itself is the best town to date for walking around that we’ve found. Its bijou, boutique, and characterful. You can walk easily around its streets as it seems to be the only place thus far in Oz where pedestrians have priority - this makes it a joy to walk around. Navigating bustling streets drifting from shop to shop, and all unique independent places filled with the passions and products of the crunchy granola hippies who own them. A pistachio gelato here, a slap of suncream there and soon we were sitting on the beachfront again. We arrived when the famous monthly market was on so we wandered around in the light drizzle listening to various musicians, blue grass one moment, drum circle the next, youth singer/songwriter indie stages decorated the rows of marquees, we grabbed a turkish wrap here, and a spiralized potato stick there, and soon found ourselves buying Christmas presents! Fab!

Becca, when in London, had worked for a very cool bar/restaurant/cafe and an old colleague now owned and managed a vegan restaurant on the far side of town. We popped over to say hello and it was like a hug from home. We hadn’t seen Yaz in a year, since she had moved over here with her partner Mark. She was in a great mood, regaling us with the ups and downs of opening a restaurant in a thriving foodie town such as Byron. She insisted we do brunch someday and that one evening we should come and dine at No Bones, her restaurant. We concluded that we would and left her with the preparations for the evenings customers. We walked further around the backstreets of Byron and soon found our favourite thing in the world. A bookshop. And what a bookshop. Independent, cool, coffee truck outside, multiple well reviewed sections twistingly laid out and with flying books hung overhead. Maybe not as cool as Barter Books in Alnwick, you'll always be my first and last love in the world of books my dear, but damn it was good. Christmas was coming up and so we split up to buy gifts (again, we are both ditherers in this department) and a few hours later we rendezvoused and decided to walk back to camp.

A hot day by the pool was slowly frittered away until it cooled in the late afternoon and we thought we really ought to do something. We took val for a drive up to a parking space just shy of the lighthouse and went for the coastal walk up to it. It was great with stunning views alway the way long, small coves and hidden beaches but as we made our way along a stretch just 2 Kms from the lighthouse Becca's sandals broke AND SHE HAD BLISTERED FEET AND A SPLINTER (emphasis Becca’s not mine). We decided to head back to the van and return to the lighthouse when we returned to Byron in the new year. We had planned to be up in Queensland for Christmas but to return here in the New Year for the next stint of work and saving.

That night we went to No Bones and had the most stunning meal. We descended the steps to the covered outdoor eating area and spoke with Yaz as customers piled in. For a Monday night it was busy - we were very happy for her! She introduced us to her charmingly grizzled and hipsterfied bartender who made us some nuts cocktails. We opted for tapas and were soon munching on vegan calamari, kojac is a revelation, vegan mac and cheese, truffle and god knows what else, seitan duck, and a whole range of other faux meat products that were really incredibly tasty and awesome! We were stuffed well pleased.

The next morning we walked into town and met Yaz who took us along the way to a beachfront Brunch spot. We talked and reminisced and the sun grew hotter and hotter. I’m sorry to report that we were a little saddened by the fair at the Beach Cafe. I opted for oat waffles with mascarpone and strawberries as I had not had a sweet breakfast in some time, but was left sorely wanting. The same was true for Becca and Yaz, but hey, nothing ventured nothing gained, and they did have a good view. We chatted some more and told her of our Christmas plans and said we’d be back in the new year! The rest of the day was spent by the pool, making preparations for the journey ahead.

We needed to be in Brisbane by the 20th as our friend Holly would soon be landing. Hot off the west-end she would have finished work, 9 shows a week for two years, only two days before flying out to meet us and Christmas in Oz. We were massively excited to see her and have her stay with us for 20 days. We knew it would be a stretch with Val but figured hey at the end of it, we’d be able to appreciate all the new found space at being only two in a van again! We had figured out the awning, bought the air mattress for the tent, got the routine of setting it all up down, save for inflating the mattress (watch this space) and were really looking forward to seeing her! We left Byron and drove up to the airport ready to receive. Some time before, in Sydney in fact, we had bought Christmas hats and soon had them donned at the arrivals gate for international flights. Now Becca and I had a 26 hour journey from London to Sydney and were jet-lagged out of our arses for three days - you’ll recall how kind Dave and Clare were ensuring we were up and about in the sunshine and going walks during the day and supplying us with Melatonin for easy resets for our circadian rhythms? Well we were just as ready for Holly’s imminent bout of jetlag. We had a campsite booked just two hours up the road in Noosa. We had meals planned for the next three days, we had the pools sorted, the walks ready to go. Holly - walks off the plane looking like she had just got out of a five minute cab journey through central London. Not a baggy eye. Not a yawn. Not a misplaced hair. And to boot, over the next three days would experience zero jetlag. We were dumbfounded and maybe even miffed!? Only joking, we were super glad for her and were soon on the road to Noosa.

We had elected to stay in Noosa for a few days and then really cane it up the coast to arrive in Airlie Beach in time for Christmas. Earlier in 2018, Easter Time in fact, we had all decided to book ourselves a tour of the Whitsundays between Christmas and New Year as a sort of early Christmas present to ourselves. However, two long days of driving stood between us and that destination. And that was a few days off yet as we wanted to see what Noosa had to offer. But first we had to contend with the weather. I should really ought to have mentioned that we had crossed the state border between New South Wales and Queensland when we made our way up to Brisbane. We were now three hours further north and the heat had started to escalate. As the midafternoon sun beat down upon us we decided to set up camp but gave up halfway through and just jumped in the pool. It was savagely warm. As the day wore on and the sun dipped behind some late afternoon cloud cover that emerged from the endless blue skies, we finished setting up tent which was when we found that the airbed did not fit inside the tent. The careful measuring, the hunting for the correct dimensions, the checking and double checking had all been for nought. This bed was huge. The tent would not zip up. I am proud to say by this point in the journey Becca and I had largely shaken our years of spurious British conditioning that beneath each blade of grass in Australia there lay a deadly creature or insect waiting to kill us - it is simply not true. But Holly had just arrived and the fear was still strong with this one. The prospect of sleeping in a tent which would not seal shut and with clothes pegs holding some mosquito netting over the opening was not a fun prospect for one who had just travelled 27 hours via Bangkok to arrive in the antipodes. Becca and I gallantly gave up our comfy bed in Val and fell on that particular sword. But hey! It was really damn comfy! You forget how comfy air beds can be when freshly filled and never before slept on. We all cooked together, drank some wine and settled in to sleep after looking up at the amazing stars.

An ominous sound filled my hazy sleep wracked skull. You’ll recall the mention not two sentences ago of stargazing implying a clear nights sky? Now thunder. Not 8 seconds away. A large, deep earth shaking roll. Then 7 seconds. Then 6. Then another boom. Another roll of the empty oil barrel of the gods. Suddenly it was a permanent aural landscape. I shit you not - there was suddenly no gap between the thunderclaps and the staccato light of the forks in the sky juddered and shuddered into an almost epileptic strobing. Becca's hand slowly crept towards mine. My heart began to beat harder in my chest. ‘Damn its loud, I can’t sleep!’ I murmured. ‘Huh?’ Becca shouted. ‘I SAID IT'S BLOODY LOUD’. Then the rain started. And it when it rains in Queensland it pours. Above our small two man single skin pop up tent there was a pretty makeshift awning made of a tarpaulin punctured by two collapsible rods and a pair of guideropes. We were not too confident in the ability of our camp to withstand a literal tropical storm. We listened and we waited. The storm did not abait. It grew. Louder and louder, faster and harder, soon we were sat up, listening, feeling the floor of the tent, intent on scouting out leaks and wondering at the integrity of the now sodden ground and its ability to hold tent pegs when it was now more liquid than solid. The sound I should add was at this point cacophonous, then the wind hit. The door of the van slid open and a tentative ‘Guys…’ emerged from Holly. ‘OK Hols, we have literally not seen a storm like this before’ - suddenly a light goes on behind us illuminating the tent from behind. I’m all like, damn, it's the campsite wardens asking us to evacuate, ‘let's head to the toilet block gang.’ We sprint across the maybe twenty feet from our pitch to the toilet block, from which literal sheets of water are pouring. There is no one from the campsite asking folk to evacuate, maybe our British fears of Australia haven’t quite been dealt with yet. We wait it out. Its three in the morning - Becca gives her family a ring and let them know whats up. We’re literally huddled together in the loos. I step outside occasionally trying to gauge if it's any worse or any better. Between the bullet like raindrops I can make our val and the tent withstanding the heavenly bombardment - nothing seems to have slipper or slumped yet. Slowly the thunder spits into two directions, I begin to count again and it seems to be getting further away, suddenly the rain is no longer lashing down, its merely steady and strong. My ears begin to detect thunder coming from two directions. I tell Becca and Holly that I reckon two stormfronts came in from different directions and collided literally over our heads, listen, boom from over by the pool, boom from over by the campsite entrance. Soon it was only a thunderclap every minute. We went back to bed and after a few moments of baited breath, fell back to sleep.

Two conversations were had with neighbours, both caravan owners,the following day. One served initially to ice the stomach and seize the heart, the next would defrost and make supple that vital muscle. ‘Oh yeah mate - that was a Queensland drizzle.’ The first mullet toting conversationalist threw our direction as they hauled leather armchairs out of the back of a Ute, a sort of Australian pickup truck but tricked out in the style of early noughties fast and the furious racer boy body worx, and into their capacious tin abode. ‘You must have shat yourselves last night, hey?’ ‘Yeah it was pretty nuts, do you think we’ll get that again’ ‘Awww yeah, it's the season for it mate’. My face drew a chuckle and I relayed the news to the ashen faces of Becca and Holly. You wouldn’t have thought that half an ocean was dropped on us from a height of 3000 feet last night but the campsite was already beginning to dry in the very hot heat of the morning. We breakfasted on sourdough toast and avocado - when will we get that mortgage - and pondered the next few weeks of more northerly expedition and the prospect of ever increasing odds of nightly runs to shelter in toilet blocks. The neighbours to our right then emerged with their granddaughters - ‘Hey guys - we saw you at about three last night legging it through that belter or a storm to the amenities block!?’ ‘Yeah it was pretty heavy and we haven’t seen a storm like that before’ ‘Yeah neither have we - and we’ve lived here for thirty years - nothing like it!’ ‘Oh really? Nothing like it, so that wasn’t run of the mill!?’ ‘No guys, you’ll be fine, its further North that you’ll get bad weather like that up around Cape Trib and Cairns, not round here - where you headed?’ ‘Airlie Beach?’ ‘Eh - should be fine! You did well running to that toilet block,we saw you from the caravan and wondered whether you were going to wash away!?’ I grimaced. However, with that resounding rebuttal of the earlier horrendous forecast we felt much relieved.

We decided to head into town and check out Hastings street and the main beach. We drove in, windows fully down trying to catch as much breeze as we could and were soon parked up in a side street up a hill from our destination. The car parks nearer were all full up and we couldn’t stomach a ridiculously priced parking ticket anyway. The walk down the hill under dappled shade was delightful and we were soon walking up and down a very trendy modern street filled with galleries, restaurants and cafes. We were hot and so when I spotted a large swirling bit a of graffiti proclaiming nitro ice cream and saw the insulated duers of my lab days being tentatively hefted by teenagers into spinning food processors filled with cream and crushed chocolate bars, I suggested we get an ice cream. For those who don’t know liquid nitrogen ice cream is the best ice cream in the world. Water forms crystals that have a special packing that makes solid water less dense than liquid water - hence icebergs. But if you cool it down quickly enough, it doesn’t have time to form this special shape. No time, no crystals. Therefore you get super smooth ice cream. Voluptuous, tongue coating, gorgeous ice cream. Liquid nitrogen is one such substance that can do this and be used in food prep, as it is very cold and literally boils back into gaseous nitrogen when it touches something room temperature. Its cheap, abundant and if the right sort of energy is used to make it, completely sustainable and green. Now another thing that you may or may not know about me is that I love a coke float, for the uninitiated, this is a glass of poison water (coca-cola), shout-out to Captain Fantastic, topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. However, here, in the land of the upside down, for some unfathomable reason, this delightful refreshing combo of soft drink and ice cream is called - wait for it - a Spider. Why!? Coke Float makes sense, the ice cream FLOATS on top of the COKE. It's even a partial rhyme! Spider. Maybe to put off europeans from ordering it? In any case we enjoyed the cold snacks in the shade of the awning and then made our way to the beach.

By this point the sun was swelteringly hot. I opted to sit by the wall of the boardwalk that backed the beach and Becca and Holly slapped bikinis and suncream on and descended to the sandy stretch proper. I love a good read and the shade is my friend. With a large Asian family on my left covered from head to toe in UV protective clothing passing a large bottle of Cola between themselves and a group of kids with scooters slurping slushies on my right, I dove into my book. And it got hotter. By the time I had blisters on my hands from the drive back to the campsite, the late mid afternoon heat had me beat. I dragged a camp chair over to the shade of the nearest wall and sat there sipping water, sweating profusely. A dim sound entered my thinking and Becca was stood next to me asking if I was OK. Early onset heat stroke was midstroke, one blisteringly hot finger poised delicately in the cleft between the two hemispheres of my brain radiating a throbbing heat - filled thud. We spent the rest of the day in the shade by the pool drinking icy water.

That night we found an absolute stunner of a Sunset River Cruise! We got a cheeky uber in with a dude who was British and raised in New Zealand and have lived in OZ for twenty years which had left him with a rather interesting accent which Becca and Holly picked up on straight away, I was left wondering at their aural sensitivity - the uber was so we could have a drink - and were soon aboard the Party Boat! I say party boat - imagine a strange mishmash between Italian restaurant, wooden rafters empty bottles and candles, crossed with a boat, portholes and metal walls, and Australia, wide brimmed hats, beers in styrofoam stubby holders and obligatory loud 80’s music pumping out of the speakers. We cruised down the river swigging G&T’s and watching the Kites swoop alongside us as someone tossed food for them overboard! They would hover above, wait for the toss and then catch the meat chunk before it hit the river! As we rounded the river bends we soon came to a very shallow basin bounded by mangroves and in the distance three mountains made a break in the otherwise flat horizon, behind one of these peaks the sun slowly settled. It was really quite good.

So - poised on the next trip up to Rockhampton, thence to Airlie Beach, I shall leave you at the end of this installment dear Reader!

Much Love,

Sam and Becca

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