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tomtenadia · 4 years

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Island Dreams - Chapter 4

Double feature tonight! Here's chapter 4 as well. Last night I was inspired and I did managed to write a few chapters.

As usual... some Gaelic for you:

A bheil Gàidhlig agad - Do you speak Gaelic? mo charaid - my friend

Some of Elias' words seem funny, but he speaks Scots as well. And he is so damn sexy while doing it.

All the locations I mentioned they are real. Rowan's bookstore it's the only fictional place.

Happy reading!

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Aelin woke up quite late the next morning. After her fight with Rowan she had spent the day at the marina and wondered around the town. She had felt empty and could not bring herself to do anything. She finally managed to speak with Lysandra and cried. She cried her heart out and her friend had listened. Like she always did. She had gotten home later in the afternoon and felt exhausted. She spent the rest of the afternoon in the living room reading her books. That brought her joy at least, although dreaded going back to shop to collect the last book. She could not face him. Not yet. But that morning she had woken with a renewed motivation. She had prepared breakfast for herself and admitted she missed Maeve’s apple turnovers but could not risk going back there at the moment. She had to put some distance. So she ate her own breakfast, prepared a couple of sandwiches and got her backpack ready for the next adventure. Today she was driving south toward Harris. She had learned that Lewis and Harris were one big islands but Lewis was the Northern part, full of moors and peat land. Harris, was the Southern part, much rockier and with some stunning beaches and a famous road called the Golden road. Ten minutes later she was in the car and ready to go. She set her sat nav and she left. Over an hour later the sat nav announced one last turn to her final destination: Luskentyre beach. She had a look at some photos online and she could not believe such a gorgeous place existed.

She parked the car and opened the door and got out. No internet image had prepared her for the view in front of her. The beach was massive, the stretch of sand never ending and the sand was so white that it almost hurt the eyes. And the sea. It was the purest green mixed with blue that she had ever seen in her life. She was speechless. For ten solid minutes she leaned against the open door of her car and observed the stretch of paradise in front of her, incapable of doing anything else. Trying to burn in her memories the colours. She would take pictures but doubted they would ever do any justice. Finally she moved and grabbed her backpack, locked the car and walked to the beach. Once she reached the sand she removed the shoes. No way she was going to walk on that sand with her shoes on. The sun was up and the sand was warm at the touch and she let the feeling sooth her. Around her there were a few people walking dogs and couples walking hand in hand. A pang of sadness hit her, and absentmindedly she touched the spot where her wedding band should have been hating herself straight after, for missing Chaol. He made his choice. She had given him his freedom. Tears threatened to appear once again but she fought them back and resumed her walk along the beach. She followed the beach and walked in the water ignoring that it was cold. She walked for hours then she decided to sit and eat her lunch. Her sandwich was gross compared to Maeve’s and in her packed there definitely was no chocolate cake. She sighed. A young man was walking his dog and she noticed the animal coming her way. The man called him a few times, but a moment later the dog was at her feet, his tongue lolling from his mouth and was staring at her sandwich. Aelin laughed and gave him a bit and he ate eagerly. “I wouldn’t do it if I were you. You might never get rid of him.” The man was now in front of her and was scratching the dog ears. “It’s fine I was done eating anyway.” And she gave the rest of her lunch to the dog. She lifted her eyes and stared at the man. He was wearing shorts and a navy blue polo shirt. His hair was black as the night and his eyes a light blue edging on grey. Her breath caught and she felt herself blushing. “You are not a local.” He said as a matter of fact. “That obvious?” “Your accent. Definitely not from here.” His smile left her breathless. He had dimples. On both sides. He was quite cute. “Where do you bide?” Aelin looked at the man puzzled “Bide?” “Aye, where do you stay?” Understanding dawned on her. The word must have a different meaning in Scots “I am staying in Stornoway.” “Bonnie place. I live in Callanish. Ye, ken?” Aelin was stuck again. Was he even speaking English? So far all the other people had done their best to speak English with her. “Sorry, bad habit. I didn’t mean to be rude. I meant if you know Callanish.” The man sat beside her on the sand while the dog was running free on the beach. “Yes I was there a couple of days ago. I went to the standing stones. Such a fascinating place.” “I have one of the smaller circles just outside ma hoose.” He confessed turning his head to her “There are actually few more different sites scattered around the area. The main one at the visit centre is Callanish I.” He explained, then he extended his hand “I am Elias by the way. I have been yapping non stop and forgot to introduce myself.” “Aelin,” she said taking his hand. “Aelin…” her name on his tongue sounded perfection “In Gaelic means bright or shining one.” “So, are you a tourist? Visiting friends? Family? Boyfriend?” Aelin giggled “Status uncertain at the moment.” She said, then looked at Elias and explained a bit further “Tourist at the moment, but things might change.” “So, where are ye fae?” She guessed his question and she hoped she got it right “London.” She replied. “Been there for work a few times. I am an engineer and I have been down there for a few conventions.” Aelin was too busy listening at his sexy accent to pay attention to what he was saying and she felt embarrassed when she had to ask to repeat his answer. “Nae worries. I said I am an engineer and I was in London a few times for work.” “Cool what type?” The guy was fascinating and seemed much more willing to chat that a certain grumpy one back in town. “Environmental. I am working with Calmac at the moment. That’s the company that runs the ferry you used to get here if you travelled by sea.” He explained while the dog came back and licked his fingers quite happily. “I am a doctor. I was…. Still am… it’s complicated.” She cut short and noticed the confusion in his face. “Long boring story.” “What type?” “Cardio thoracic surgeon.” He whistled “bad ass woman. Love it.” His grin reached his eyes and she felt heat spread inside her. Definitely more than cute. And those dimples… She was having a good time but she had to keep going, she still had a few things to do. “I am enjoying the conversation but I still have quite a lot to cover.” She stood and turned to him. The main smiled “Of course. Care for some suggestions?” Aelin nodded. “If you are driving south, right after Borve there is another lovely beach. Stop there as well. Not as famous as Luskentyre but amazing as well. Then continue all the way down to Rodel. It’s the village at the end of the road. There is a lovely church called St. Clements. Worth visiting. Once you are past Rodel make your way back via the Golden road. It’s a very narrow road but it’s a pleasure to drive if you want an Hebridean adventure. Once you are almost at the top before Tarbert, make sure you stop in Drinisiader. There is a fascinating wee museum about Harris Tweed. But just hide your purse. They have some amazing stuff and you might want to buy the entire shop. Then you are in Tarbert and from there it’s an easy drive back to Stornoway.” “Tapadh Leat.” She said and Elias gave her a huge grin in response. “A bheil Gàidhlig agad?” He asked and she realised she had to stop trying to use Gaelic. “I just know thank you and good morning.” She explained almost embarrassed. “That’s okay, lass. I am not a native speaker either. I learnt it later on in life. My parents don’t actively speak it, but my gran did. It was the only way I had to communicate with her. My parents were parts of the generation that grew being taught that speaking Gaelic was not proper, so they never did. My mum understands it because of course her mother was a speaker. But she used her dad to translate. It’s a very long complicated story.” He stopped and looked at her. “Looks like we both have a complicated story to tell each other.” Aelin’s stomach fluttered in excitement. He grabbed his wallet and removed a business card from it. “Sorry for being so direct, but you seem quite an interesting person. Call me or message me if you need a guide.” He held the card to her and Aelin debated for a moment whether to take it or not. Lysandra had told her to go to Scotland, enjoy herself and get a Scottish man in the process and forget her ex husband. She took the card “I’ll call you.” “Do it, mo charaid.” She smiled warmly, grabbed her backpack “It was nice meeting you, Elias.”

She was driving along the Golden road and she had to admit that the road was a real adventure. Large enough for a small car to pass, she had to constantly focus on the road to avoid ending in a ditch or in a loch beside the road. But no matter the stress, she was loving it. Until the sheep arrived. One moment she was alone on the road. The next moment she was surrounded by sheep. A massive flock stretched for some length along the road. She got off the car, she took a picture and sent it to Lysandra with the caption traffic jam in the Hebrides. A moment later the phone rang. “Are you kidding me?” “No Lys, I swear I am surrounded by sheep. They are everywhere and I can’t go anywhere. Guess someone will come and collect them soon.” She heard Lysandra laugh “Sounds like you are having a great time.” “I am.” she confessed not entirely convinced. The memory of the fight with Rowan still stung and she was wracking her brain to find a way to fix things with him. She was… intrigued by him. He was brooding, infuriating and handsome at the same time. Plus he was the owner of a bookstore which was not bad. She wanted to be his friend but it looked like he was not interested. He had made that abundantly clear. Nothing I want to give you. Tears threatened to appear once again but she fought, not willing to let sadness spoil such a lovely day. So she had decided to put some distance. She would go to get her book when it arrived and then limit her visits to his shop, for as much as it pained her. He didn’t want to have anything to do with her. Well, she was granting him his wish. “How is going with Aedion?” She changed the subject. “Well, we have only been on a date but he’s great.” “Already planning your wedding?” Aelin joked and Lysandra laughed in reply. “Nah, just imagining having sex with him for now.” “Eew. I didn’t need to know that” “Seriously… the man has amazing hands and I spent the evening thinking what he can do with them. And if all the other parts are just as big as the rest of the body…” “Eewww. Ewwww and eeeeew.” “Since when you are such a prude?” Aelin laughed she wasn’t but she had no interest in listening her best friend talk about her boyfriend’s body parts. “Get a move on finding a man of your own and then you can fantasise about his body parts.” For a brief moment Aelin’s mind thought about Rowan’s hands and… No, stop. She could not go there. That was dangerous territory. “We’ll see.” Was all that she added. “I need you to come back to me happy.” “What if…” she paused for a second “what if I am not coming back?” “What do you mean?” In the distance Aelin noticed a tractor and the sheep began moving again. “Sheep are moving. Gotta go back home.” “Ok. Keep me posted.” She say bye to Lys and she was positive she felt a note of sadness in her friend’s voice.

The sheep finally moved and she spent the journey home mulling over what she had said to Lys. She could not see herself going back to London. Something had broken inside her. Maybe it was her that was broken. With her skills and experience she could easily find another job in another hospital. So why the rejection from one place hurt so much? And Chaol… London was a very big place, the chances of her bumping into him on the streets were minimal. However, they had loads of friends in common. She would have to give up her friends to avoid him. Give up her gym, her favourite bookstore and cafe, because he was a regular in those places too. She would have to give up her life to avoid him and the pain that seeing again would bring. She had felt relieved after the divorce. She still had no regrets. But forgetting almost a decade together was proving more difficult than she expected. She pushed on the breaks quite hard, forced the door open and run to the field near the road. And then she collapsed on her knees and screamed, letting out all the frustration festering in her. Her hands began shaking and she felt the symptoms of a panic attack starting to manifest. Breathing was getting harder. So Aelin stayed in the filed, and cried and shook. Until she had no more tears left in her.

#rowaelin #rowan whitethorn #aelin galythinius #aedion x lysandra #lysandra #fluff #angst #throne of glass series #fanfic

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phoebehalliwell · 3 years

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Piper/Kyle, except it's an AU where Kyle's parents were never killed by demons, so he lived a perfectly normal, happy childhood and grew up to follow their footsteps into teaching and Kyle's a normal, maybe even a little boring archaeology professor who secretly dreams of having his very own Indiana Jones moment - up until the day he opens some dusty old chest and unleashes a demon that tries to kill him, and he barely gets away only to run into this petite brunette woman who proceeds to blow the demon the fuck up, and Kyle's never believed in love at first sight before, but he's pretty sure he can make an exception for Piper

wait omg mentally stable kyle au okay wait i gotta wrap my head around this kyle but not absofuckinlutely insane whatta picture omg. okay. i feel like he’s still gotta have this belief in the supernatural i feel like that’s a large part of the charm in literally any kyle dynamic with the sisters is Witch Who Gets It and Man Who’s Only Got Raw Data. there’s an appeal to that. seeing things from different angles all that. so we can say kyle ever good at puzzles has taken his parents notes and everything he knows and various texts and kinda pieced together okay magic does exist. but in this au he’s a professor and not an fbi agent so he can’t just walk around saying Magic Is Real because um he needs this job. also he’s never seen it. but like. the data does not like. like. like it’s real man like are you kidding me. and we’ll say he has one normal friend because he’s normal in this au and he’s like okay here me out tho magic is real and his friend is like ......okay. because like. it could be, i guess? i’m not gonna fight you on this. and kyle also definitely read a lot as a kid he reads a lot now and he’s always kinda like. like you know wondered what it might be like to be a man of action not someone stuck behind a desk all day seeing the world through books. so when he starts to see markers of the gathering storm,,, well. these are the times that make a man. he can either be a pussy about it and keep living his life through paper and ink, or he can follow his intuition. blah blah blah this leads him to get kidnapped by pirates which like. excuse me??? and kyle’s kinda kicking himself because he Wanted to be like a character in an adventure book and well like bada bing bada boom you get what you ask for. which. all due respect on his part. is smart enough to outwit them and escape. he might have dropped his wallet there tho. but when he goes back the same route wandering through the thick fog, all he finds is a solid wall of rock. so i guess he’s fucked in that regard. whoops. but!! magic is real. so that’s a dub. digs a little bit more into the blackjack cutting lore, maybe finds the x marks the spot on where their main hideout was, road trip to. seattle? i guess? port city that isn’t san francisco but is more reasonable to drive to that like. nola or boston. and lo and behold he finds it and find their documentation of the gathering storm accidentally trips a booby trap and jesus fucking christ pirate skeletons with sword which - respectfully - kyle is holding his own for the most part, not getting immediately worried, but there’s no way that would have lasted had the three skeletons not been blown to pieces. and he looks over and sees three brunettes and the one in the center is like who the hell are you? to which kyle really feels like He should be the one asking that question but after stammering out some kind of response about how he’s a professor and he was just looking for some soil samples something generic archaeological because hey. he doesn’t trust these women. he doesn’t know what side they’re on. and he’s not just gonna sacrifice the information he has on the gathering storm. and it’s obvious they don’t believe him, but they don’t kill him either. instead, the one in the center just says be more careful where you leave your stuff and tosses his wallet back to him.

and later at the manor paige is like we just let him go?? and phoebe’s like yeah how to we know he’s not a demon? he wouldn’t be the first to pose as a mortal in the mortal world (because phoebe went to the university to return kyle’s wallet because like it has is ID in it employee id all that under the guise of like. giving a lecture to some of the student’s there as the bay’s leading advice columnist oh hey is there a kyle brody here yeah haha he’s a friend of a friend anyone seen him no he’s on vacation right now? left real abruptly? and then immediately went into his office and touched every surface trying to get a premonition (au in which phoebe didn’t get her powers stripped) and concluded that he’s just Some Guy. like he like has friends and a nine to five and an apartment. so a guy). but piper’s like we don’t know. but we also don’t know what he’s up to or what his connection to the pirates was, which is why i cast a tracking spell on the wallet. and both phoebe and paige approve and in this au again phoebe didn’t get her powers stripped so in styx feet under it’s her and paige on mission and as paige is the one who cast the protection spell and as paige is also very stubborn and also refuses to let innocents die she is the one who gets to become death. she also has a very compelling relationship with death because like. she watched her parents die. and she’s prue’s replacement. the replacement for the dead girl. also fun paige/prue parallel! meanwhile right Should state in any piper/kyle au we just extend pleo’s divorce era by having him remain an elder and keeping that early s6 vibe. so piper’s definitely like a bit more neurotic than normal because you know things haven’t gone great for her and those pirates were warning about the gathering storm and honestly that better not be something that’s gonna hurt her boys because she really could not bear to lose another family member so she’s doing some digging which begins to imply that kyle knows more that he let on so where is he now? the university? great.

and kyle’s you know minding his own business in his office when the same woman practically kicks down his door and is like alright i’m gonna ask again who the hell are you and this time you better answer me honestly. to which: wow. like wow. she’s. she’s a force to be reckoned with and also kinda immediately gains points in kyle’s book for like a) kinda confronting him about knowing more because he’s pretty good at covering his tracks all that so if he’s been Found Out it’s by someone good and b) she also disintegrated evil pirate skeletons so like. 👍. But. he does not trust her for shit. no. absolutely not. he has no reason to. but piper’s not yielding blasts a hole in the wall near his head like quickly now or next time i won’t miss but kyle’s so fuckin stubborn he’s like 🤐 and piper’s. i mean, she can’t kill an innocent. she doesn’t know if that’s who he is, but she can’t run that risk. and kyle’s not saying shit, so she leaves.

then it’s the guardian angel episode where the charmed ones are there on instruction (though they don’t know what they’re looking for. maybe they were just scrying for information) and kyle’s there on a hunch and piper and kyle see each other and it’s um. mac charlie see each other from across the room reaction image. both like. what the fuck are you doing here? and in this one paige is still the one to get her guardian angel stolen and piper’s immediately on high alert because you know big sister/mom mode activated. but they don’t know what they’re looking for and kyle’s like it’s her guardian angel. and piper once again snaps to him firey look in her eyes but kyle’s really just trying to place nice here so he’s like guardian angels. they’ve been going missing being stolen whatever. he’s got the research on it. and piper doesn’t want to trust him but paige is really in grave danger. so, as the sister with the offensive power, she’s going with kyle, and phoebe has to make sure paige doesn’t like. pull a grams. (which for the record i do not accept prewitched as canon but like the elders definitely killed grams <3)

so blah blah blah piper’s now and kyle’s place which is ten times worse than his office because this is where he does his real work and he’s got all the guardian angel shit up and out and is explaining it to piper and it’s making sense but what catches her eye is something on the gathering storm that kyle left out now they’re talking about that they’re starting to realize they’re on the same side. blah blah blah save paige. next episodes what werewolf episode. skip. then!! idk paige still runs magic school right so she’s in the library and she calls piper and she’s like hey remember when you told me to keep an eye out on the gathering storm? and piper’s like yes yeah what is it? and she’s like well we’re inventorying the library and we have books on them and piper’s like that’s good news ! ? and paige is like yeah but we’re missing one. book five. in this something something series. and piper knows Exactly where that book is because she fucking saw it on kyle’s kitchen counter. so now she’s barging into kyle’s place which is getting to be a common occurrence at this point and kyle kinda wants to complain but this is by far the most interesting his life’s been ever and honestly? he’d be kinda bummed if piper stopped kicking down his door. wait actually scratch that you want my book no fuck you changed my mind. to which piper’s like look we’re looking for the same goal here right so give me the book because i have the rest of the series and this could be the missing puzzle piece and kyle’s like okay fine i’ve read the book cover to cover give me the rest of the series and i’ll get you your answers and piper’s like okay let’s get things straight here i’m the witch you’re some two bit archeology professor so when it comes to the handling of sacred magical tomes i’ll be taking the reigns here and kyle’s like fine then you won’t be taking the book. and piper’s like wanna bet and the next think kyle knows he’s hearing the door slam his book’s gone and he’s hearing tires peel out onto the street and he has no idea how she did it.

back at the manor piper’s got her reading glasses on an volume one open and god this fucking sucks. so she makes phoebe take a stab at it and she hates reading it too. paige also starts it and is like respectfully no. piper’s the only one who did the reading in high school. this is her turf. but my god she cannot make it through all eight of these fucking books. So. she calls kyle. he has to come to the manor because there’s no way she’s giving him the books and there’s no way she’s letting him in magic school so. hi. welcome to the house. but!! by a contrived plot device!!!! a gnome has been shot in magic school this book was the only thing at the scene and paige wants to investigate further but she can’t just leave it out there so she brings it back to the manor she’s gonna cast some spell to find out if there are already spells on the book how to reverse it she just needs to find the spell first and like. there’s no way in hell paige ever wears an outfit with big enough pockets to keep the book on her. so she leaves it on the table. to which kyle asks how this is relevant to the collection. to which piper says don’t open that!! whoops. see, this is why i said we don’t let two bit archeology professors near magical books! piper/kyle charmed noir..............

#love me a good piper/kyle ask 🤙🤙🤙#charmed #piper halliwell #kyle brody #piper x kyle #margaretsminiessays #haven't used that tag in forever whoops #should probs go back n backtag

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grapefruitsketches · 4 years

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Untamed Spring Fest - Day 9: Shower

A few months ago, the rain would have meant little to Mianmian - she would continue her usual activities inside instead of outside, but Carp Tower or whatever lavish accomodations the Jin clan had arranged for some journey would feel no more limiting than the outdoors when they were stuck inside its walls. She stood now under the leaky roof of a porch, shivering. She hoped someone was home, because if not, she would need to break in and she did not need that kind of hassle right now.

She had been on the road for a few months now, travelling from place to place, dealing with minor disturbances whereever she could. Sometimes, she would be paid when more wealthy families were being harassed by any variation of ghosts or demons, but most of the time, she didn’t ask for any money. How could she condition someone’s life and safety on their ability to pay her for skills she had no other use for anyway? Especially not now that she was starting to understand just how extravagant the Jin lifestyle was - and how difficult life was without the support of a clan with a seemingly bottomless wallet.

The first time she had been paid, instead of booking a room at an inn, like any reasonable person would have done, she had marched straight to the nearest market and purchased the first set of clothing that was anything but a shade of yellow or gold. She had given her old robes to the first person she had seen begging on the street - a woman whose eyes had lit up in shock at the extravagant fabric. She wanted nothing more to do with the Jin clan, with clan politics, but those robes had been warm, and, standing in this current storm, she hoped that the woman still had the robes, that someone was making use of them, that something good had come out of her life with the Jin clan.

Even this long after storming out of Carp Tower, thinking about the events of that day made her eyes well up in fury. What had happened to the clan she had loved? Why had Jin Zixuan - a man who only a few years before, had been the only one to challenge Wen Chao’s demands for their swords, been silent as she argued for reason to guide the clans’ decisions? What had happened to the friend who had defended her against the evil and sadistic attacks of Wen Chao and Wang Lingjiao?

She knocked at the door again, and sank to the floor, exhausted. She had been sleeping only under trees or, on occasion, in a stranger’s spare room. Neither of these were exactly recipes for a relaxing night. She hadn’t realized how much safer she had felt in her previous life merely because she had always travelled in a group.

She was just contemplating whether it would be better to try and get in through a window or to break through a door when someone approached down the path.

He had an umbrella, and while Mianmian couldn’t see his face, she could hear a gentle, happy humming breaking through the patter of rain. As he turned onto the short path to the porch, he looked up. He was homely, and would certainly not have been made part of one of the entourages of the clan leader and heirs at Carp Tower. He would have been, at best, one of the foot soldiers - cultivators there to make up the numbers, but hardly suitable to impress. Mianmian’s hands curled into fists, one gripping her sword out of habit. She had to stop thinking like that.

Ever since she had left Carp Tower, she had increasingly realized that her previous clan had been missing something fundamental. Beauty, extravagance, and grace - those were nice, but she would not have met half the people she had had the joy of meeting had she followed those principles. She would not have won half her battles if she had valued doing so elegantly over doing so effectively.

The man had stopped humming. “Do we know each other?” He asked mildly. It wasn’t impolite, just, surprised.

His innocent confusion comforted her. This man was not a fighter, was not someone who even contemplated the possibility of someone showing up on his porch to do him harm.

She gave her most diplomatic smile, and rose to her feet, dusting off her pale pink robes, “No, I don’t think so,” she said, unsheathing her sword and clasping her hands together as she bowed, “I am Luo Qingyang of…” she paused, knowing how she now introduced herself, but still not used to it, “Lanling.” No longer of the Jin clan.

She watched the man blink, gaze travelling from her face, to her sword. His eyes widened. The sword was the only thing she had left from her life before. It was extravagant, clearly not something just any traveler would carry. It marked her as a cultivator - and, at that, probably one trained with a fairly prominent sect. That she didn’t introduce herself as part of any clan had raised suspicions against her more than once since she left.

She readied herself to defend her presence, to try and explain why someone who ought to be supported by a clan was begging for free room and board at a random country house.

She wondered whether it would have been better if Wei Wuxian hadn’t saved her from Wang Lingjiao all those years ago. She certainly would not have been invited to be in Jin Zixuan’s entourage after the Sunshot Campaign if she’d had such an ugly brand across her face. Someone else, perhaps the woman she’d once considered a friend, who had been so quick to turn on her as soon as Mianmian saw fit to challenge the majority, would have been at Jin Zixuan’s side instead. If Mianmian’s face had looked like that, perhaps she would not have faced so much skepticism when people learned she was traveling alone. Of course the Jin clan would turn away someone like that, they would think.

To her surprise, the man didn’t comment on the absurdity of the situation. He merely clasped his own hands together and bowed, “I am honoured, my lady. Please, come inside. It is far too miserable for anyone to be alone out here.”

Soon after, Mianmian was seated by a freshly stoked fire, being offered a cup of tea by this rather nervous man. She smiled, and accepted the cup graciously. She took a sip. It was rather weak, but she told him it was delicious. He seemed pleased.

“I was just able to get some of that tea on my most recent journey - it is a specialty of Yiling, very hard to get locally, but - I’m a merchant you know.” He explained beaming with pride. She took another sip and was now able to recognize the tea as exactly what he said, only it had been so inexpertly brewed that she never would have recognized it if he hadn’t told her. She nodded in agreement, embarrassed at herself for even internal criticism of his best efforts to make her feel welcome after she had landed on his doorstep.

The house had only one other door that she could see, and whether it led to a bedroom or a closet, she couldn’t tell. Perhaps her host slept on the blankets piled in the corner. She wondered if the other Jin cultivators of her generation would laugh to see her in such modest accommodations. She took another sip of tea and decided she didn’t care. It was warm, she and her host were slowly drying from their impromptu outdoor showers.

“Tell me about Yiling?” She asked politely. She had overheard gossip at an inn back when she was traveling through Yunmeng that Wei Wuxian had formed a small colony there, followed by a number of details she was sure were exaggerations. She hoped this was not the kind of thing that interested the merchant.

To her delight, he launched into deep descriptions of the environment, the food, the accents, the people. She found herself leaning across the table, lured in by his vivid descriptions of a world totally absent the politics and frivolities of the cultivation world. After a solid 5 minutes of this, and without her wanting it to end, he cut himself off, laughing a bit as he rubbed the back of his head.

“But what about you? I’m sure my little adventures must be terribly boring to someone of your upbringing? I’m sure it all sounds silly to you.”

Mianmian shook her head earnestly, “No. No it sounds wonderful.”

The minutes passed, and they shared stories. The hours passed and they shared histories. Mianmian left the next day but found herself coming back to visit again and again until she thought of the adorably awkward merchant’s tiny house as something of a base. Years passed, and she thought of it as a home.

One day, she had mentioned the concept of cultivation partners in passing. He had looked to her then and asked, “Is that what you want? To go on night hunts with someone by your side? To not be held back by a mere merchant? I don’t want to hold you back. Go if you want.”

“No!” she had said, laughing and offering a quick peck on the lips, “I would never want anything that meant I would have to be with anyone but you.”

“Oh… I meant… well” he blushed, “I would go with you, of course? I mean I wouldn’t be able to support you in battle, but… I would go, I could even try other ways to make money! If you wanted me there, of course.”

Mianmian felt a smile stretch across her face, a smile far from elegant, a smile of pure, unmitigated joy, ungraceful in its genuineness. Such an expression, now familiar to her, would never have been possible in her old life, the one that now seemed a distant memory.

“Yes!” she breathed, “Yes, yes, yes. If you would come, if you would be there, if you don’t mind moving from dangerous place to dangerous place, of coming home only occasionally?”

He laughed, pulling her in close, “If I were traveling with you? As long as I am with you I will never be anywhere but home, safe and sound.”

Even though the cultivation world never spoke of her, and none would ever remember her name, she did not abandon her calling. She would never ignore the signs of a night hunt or cries for help. She traveled the world with her merchant, now her ex-merchant, now her husband, then soon a daughter as well. They would come into a village, leaving joy behind when they left, only seeming to grow their own in the process. It was a smaller world, a simpler world, than the one Mianmian had known in her youth, but ultimately, she thought, this one was far more noble, far more beautiful, than any major clan could ever hope to see.

#untamed spring fest #the untamed #mdzs #mian mian #mianmian #cql #in which I accidentally write about rainstorms two days in a row before the shower prompt #ah well such is April #my writing

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goodlucktai · 5 years

Note

If you're still taking requests, could you do Kitanishi please? Maybe Nishimura trying to hide a horrible secret or something really bad that happened with his relatives because Kitamoto is finally getting time with his family or something? Bonus points if Natsume finds out there's trouble, rats him out, and there's gang feels before Kitamoto comes to get him. Or if you had another thought in mind?

me: oops its getting late, i better get to bed *checks inbox* On Second Thought–

The thing is, nothing even happened.

Satoru got woken up early in the morning, beating the sun by a good margin. Kiyoshi’s frenetic energy was familiar in a dread-inducing way, enough to jolt Satoru wide-awake almost on its own.

He pulled his school uniform on while his brother shoved workbooks into his bag, heart pounding as he listened for the sound of footsteps in the hall.

Kiyoshi hustled him down the stairs, into the dark of the kitchen. He gave Satoru a few bills out of his own wallet, told him to buy himself breakfast at the combini when he stopped to get a lunch box.

Satoru pocketed the money numbly. Something in his face gave his brother pause.

“He’s only here for the weekend,” Kiyoshi said. It was a moment that felt stolen and daring in this house where their father could appear at any moment. “Just stay with Atsushi, alright? I’ll call you when he’s gone.”

It was their usual arrangement. Most times, mom would tell Kiyoshi when their father had a flight home, but sometimes even she didn’t know.

Satoru didn’t even sit down to put his sneakers on properly, just crammed them on so the backs were folded under his heels, and eased the door open as quietly as he could.

“See you,” he said, and took off into the cold morning.

What he didn’t say was that Atsushi had plans this weekend. His dad was well enough to travel, so the whole family was going away to visit Atsushi’s grandparents. Mana had asked Satoru to water her plants.

What could he say? Kiyoshi was already worried and frustrated. The absolute last thing Satoru wanted was to give his brother another reason to pick a fight with their dad. The best thing to do was keep your head down.

The lady at the combini was coming off an overnight shift, but she stayed long enough to ring Satoru up. She and the clerk coming in to take over for her chatted with Satoru for awhile, keeping him company while he picked apart a melon bread and the sky turned rosy and bright outside.

When the bell above the door rang, Satoru looked round to see Tsuji gaping at him.

“Masa-chan!” he said brightly, spreading his arms for a big hug.

The class president sputtered, but there was an involuntary smile starting on his face, and already Satoru’s horrible morning was edging a little bit closer to okay.

“It is way too early to deal with you,” Tsuji said, but the way he bumped Satoru’s shoulder on his way past said he didn’t mean it.

Satoru heckled him while he picked out a lunch box, and then endured a lecture about healthy eating that had him picking out the same one. The clerks were smiling as they checked out, and didn’t charge Satoru for his breakfast, since, the first clerk pointed out in a kindly way, he didn’t seem to enjoy it.

Tsuji was giving him a sidelong look as they walked to school together.

“Everything okay?” he asked. “I stop by that store all the time this early in the morning, and I never see you there.”

“My phone died last night, so I ended up going to bed super early,” Satoru lied cheerfully, swinging the plastic shopping bag back and forth. “Couldn’t get back to sleep! At least I had extra time to finish my homework.”

Tsuji rolled his eyes, placated by an on-brand excuse. There was a hollow pit in Satoru’s chest, and it was a miracle his hands weren’t shaking, but it did help having a friend to talk to about an upcoming school trip and the latest chapter of a manga they both follow and whether or not Suzuki from class three is going to muster up the courage to ask Adachi on a date.

By the time Natsume steps into homeroom, Satoru feels mostly okay. He greets Natsume cheerfully, leaning forward over his desk on his elbows, and invites himself over for the weekend. Natsume smiles at him as he sets his bag down, and tells him sure, of course he can come over, Shigeru is away for a work conference and Touko would love to have someone else to cook for.

Having a solid plan settles some of Satoru’s jangling nerves. He can’t focus during class, his mind darting away like a startled bird at every other second, but somehow he isn’t called on even once. He’s worried about Kiyoshi, he’s worried that dad might take umbrage with Satoru avoiding him, he’s worried that he’ll have to face dad before he leaves again.

Natsume turns around in his seat, tapping Satoru’s desk with his fingers to get his attention. He looks fondly amused when Satoru jerks back to the present.

“We’re meeting the others on the roof, right?”

Satoru grins woodenly. “That’s the plan! You go ahead, I’m gonna stay here and finish my maths homework.”

Natsume tilts his head. “Tsuji told me you finished your homework this morning.”

When had that conversation happened? A glance around the room proves Tsuji has already bustled off somewhere. Satoru says, “I got most of it done. I managed to forget my maths workbook though.”

“Why didn’t you just ask to see mine?” Natsume asks, reasonably enough.

“‘Cause I’m trying to turn over a new leaf.” He sniffs haughtily, digging through his bag for the appropriate workbook so he doesn’t have to look at Natsume’s thoughtful expression. “I can’t believe you want me to cheat. I’m telling Sasada.”

“A new leaf,” his friend says dryly. He seems to buy it, though, and settles back in his chair. “Well, I’ll just wait for you to finish.”

Panic shoots through him, white-hot, like electricity. Satoru’s fingers seize, bending the cover of his book. He gives himself a second to try to tamp it down.

“Come on, you don’t have to do that,” Satoru says, hoping it sounds casual.

It must not. Natsume frowns. “It’s not a big deal.”

Of course it’s not. But if they don’t go up to the roof, then their friends are going to find them here instead, and Satoru doesn’t think– he doesn’t want– it won’t be good. Natsume is still looking at him, and his frown is reaching into his eyes now, so Satoru pushes himself out of his chair with a grin.

“You’re right! I’m just gonna go get a drink real quick. Be right back.”

“Nishimura– “

Natsume’s bewildered voice follows him out the door. Satoru tries to convince himself he isn’t actively running away, and he doesn’t really manage it; he’s a pretty bad liar, as it so happens. He weaves through the busy hall and wracks his mind for somewhere he can go and be left alone. Not the vending machines on the first floor, not the roof– the library? The bathroom?

Wait. Tsuji mentioned an empty classroom, he was going to use it for a club meeting after school.

Satoru can barely get the door shut behind him, fumbling at the recessed handle so badly that it takes both hands. He’s dizzy, like he can’t get enough air in. He lurches over to the nearest chair, buries his face in his arms, and tells himself to stop.

Nothing even happened.

Kiyoshi got him out of the house, Natsume is going to let him stay over, everything is going to be fine.

The door rattles open and Satoru doesn’t hear it. Chairs are moving around, and the door closes again, but it takes a hand on his wrist to alert Satoru to the presence of others in the room. He jerks his head up, and Kitamoto’s worried eyes meet his.

Satoru quickly finds someone else to look at. Taki is right behind him, her arms folded tightly against her middle as if she needs the physical reminder not to reach out and snatch Satoru up in a hug.

“You’re missing lunch,” he says dumbly.

“Lunch has been over for five minutes,” Taki tells him in a gentle tone. “We’ve been looking for you.”

Tanuma and Natsume are here, too, looking anxious. They’ve pulled in chairs as close as they can, their knees and shoulders smushed together. Satoru is craning his neck to look around at them instead of Kitamoto. He’s quickly losing his grip on this situation, he can feel it getting away from him.

Satoru’s heart is still pounding. It feels like it’s going to give out at any moment. He’s senselessly, intensely afraid.

“I didn’t mean to,” Satoru starts, and to his horror, his voice loses strength and sort of tapers off. Clearing his throat, he tries again. “I’m being stupid. Let’s go back to class before we get detention.”

None of them budge an inch. Kitamoto says, “Satchan.”

Satoru bursts into tears.

It’s an ugly, gasping thing. Mostly silent, a trick he learned early on. He’s always been quick to cry, ever since he was a kid. Kiyoshi’s been protecting him for a long time. Satoru tries to make it easy when he can.

Kitamoto lets go of his wrist and wraps both arms around him instead. Taki makes a wounded noise and presses against Satoru’s back. The weight of them, the warmth of them, is grounding. It gives him something to focus on, something that pushes the lingering dread far away, then farther, until it finally falls off the edge of some precipice and Satoru can’t reach it anymore.

For the first time since Kiyoshi woke him up this morning, Satoru’s heart begins to settle. He’s breathing slow and deep and even, buried in the familiar smell of Kitamoto’s laundry detergent and shampoo. It’s what Kitamoto’s bed smells like on the nights Satoru sleeps over. It’s an instant comfort.

Kitamoto squeezes him tighter when the last little bit of tension in Satoru’s body finally goes away.

“Okay,” he says evenly. “Talk to me.”

It really is that simple. With Kitamoto, it’s always that simple. That’s the whole reason Satoru was trying to avoid him. They’ve known each other forever; no one loves Satoru better. All it takes is one word from his best friend and Satoru is spilling his guts. He doesn’t want Kitamoto to feel torn in two directions; Satoru knows he’ll feel bad about being gone for the weekend while Satoru’s father is in town, but Satoru doesn’t want him to miss a trip he’s been looking forward to.

“It’s only for the weekend,” Satoru says. “Natsume said I could stay at his house.”

“Of course you can,” Natsume says fiercely. “Touko would let you move in if you asked. One of us would probably try to smother the other with a pillow within one week of sharing a bedroom, but I’m sure we could work something out.”

“You could stay with me, too, Nishimura,” Tanuma interjects. “My dad loves having you around.”

“We haven’t had a sleepover in ages.” Taki is still nestled against Satoru like a barnacle, her voice a pleasant hum. “Isamu likes arguing about movies with you. You know my parents are overseas, there’s no one I have to ask for permission. You can just come over, any time.”

Kitamoto scoops the hair back off of Satoru’s forehead and plants a kiss there instead. He doesn’t care that Satoru is all sweaty and gross, or that their friends are watching.

“See? Even if I wasn’t going to take you with me this weekend, you would have plenty of other places to go,” Kitamoto says. He messes up Satoru’s hair, his grin crooked and affectionate. “But I am. You and my grandma are gonna get along like a house on fire. Text Kiyoshi and let him know, okay?”

Taki makes an annoyed sound. Satoru smiles a lot sooner than he thought he’d be able to.

When they get back to class, Nomiya-sensei just waves them to their desks. Tsuji is turned around in his seat to watch them cross the room, concern writ large across his face. He probably told Satoru’s friends where to find him. He probably let their teachers know they’d be a little late returning to class. He didn’t say anything, but he must have been worried since this morning.

“Alright?” Tsuji asks in a whisper as they sit down.

“All good, Masa-chan,” Satoru whispers back. The nickname makes Tsuji’s face wrinkle in that reluctant, can’t-help-himself smile; it makes Satoru feel a little more like himself. “Thank you.”

#natsume yuujinchou #natsuyuu #nishimura satoru #kitamoto atsushi #natsume takashi #tanuma kaname #taki tooru #tsuji masayuki #my writing #prompt #del-the-kitling #natsuyuu fic

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snow-slayer · 5 years

Text

A Bunch of Good Things from 2019

*I don’t do things consistently, so there’s chunks of time I just forgot to write. So the blank spaces are days where I could not recall the exact good things that happened.*

January 1: Started the year off right by hanging out with @nah-young, eating some delicious leftovers from New Year’s Eve and working on a puzzle. Also caught a shiny Delibird in Pokemon Go as the first catch of the year. 2: Had a headache at work, but went home to take care of myself. Dad and I talked for a long time about money and taxes without arguing. I have also discovered a future hobby I want to get into: 3D printing. 3: I cranked out four solid hours of studying. I’m going to ace the Auditing section of the CPA exam. I feel it in my bones (especially when I finally stood up and stretched). 4: My ‘other mom’ (one of my best friend’s mom) took me out for a belated Birthday lunch to our favorite Thai food place, and I enjoyed more mango sticky rice. It’s one of my new favorite desserts. 5: Did some epic New Year cleaning. Caught up on laundry, filed away my 2018 paperwork, and did some 2019 taxes. Finally on top of things! 6: A puzzle day! I connected a big piece of the sky to the side on the Lion King puzzle. I’ve still got a lot to go, but progress is being made. 7: As usual, I both surprised and pleased the teller at the bank when I moved some money from savings into my IRA. They wanted to know if it was for tax year 2018, but I could tell them last year was maxed out and it was for 2019. 8: Got to practice my training and supervising skills with @arrowhearts. 9: Spent the night at Lucy’s (she’s a cat). She’s the sweetest cat though, and was cuddling in my lap for so long! She even held my finger with her paw for like ten minutes. I love her. 10: It’s been forever, but I finally sat down and played some video games. I’m replaying Arkham Asylum again and really just exploring every nook and cranny I can find. 11: Might have started a new Francis story line ... Whoops :) 12: Helped Jane clear an apartment and acquired many new tools and art supplies to use. 13: Snow! It was snowing before bed, but I still woke up at 5 am to about 4 - 5 inches. Activated my dad gene and started shoveling at 5:30 am (sorry neighbors to the house I was dog sitting at). It’s so pretty out! 14: A quiet day, but I did some work for Jane and gamed some more. Can’t wait to start Arkham City when I get 100% on Arkham Asylum! 15: I took my coworker a basket of fun snacks from Lotte for her Birthday. She’s so excited to try them all! 16: Donated blood today and when I went to get dinner on the way home, I got a free salad! The entree was already free and I ordered a side salad. I pulled out my wallet to pay, but the coupon covered it, too! 17: Treated myself to breakfast on the way into preschool (my new volunteer place since the teacher I followed to several elementary schools is now at). Also ate some amazing home cooked food for lunch with @nah-young before going out for ice cream. 18: Did some very early spring cleaning to prep for my next yard sale and straighten up a bit. 19: Beat the storyline and finished gathering all of Riddler’s trophies in Arkham Asylum. I do still need to finish up the additional content for 100% completion. 20: Working with Jane to help clean out an apartment again and got stencils to use for my art (the ones with shapes of different sizes). I had wanted to get me a set, so I really lucked out. 21: Started reading a book for fun. Lol, I forgot that I can still read non-accounting things for fun. 22: Sent out 1099s at work. It’s always a dreaded part of the year, but it’s taken care of! 23: I started uploading my old Franmouche stories to AO3. I forgot that I’d written 185 pages of them. At least if someone else likes my rarepair, they have lots to read. No guarantees on the quality, but there is quantity. 24: Made fun penguin cutouts for the preschool class I volunteer at. Then studied for nine hours on campus. A busy, yet productive day. 25: Finished watching all my lectures for the next portion of the CPA exam! So much auditing knowledge!!! 26: Panic alleviated. My check engine light had been on for a few days. Usually it’s just a gas cap issue so I was worried, but after readjusting the cap again (which usually fixes it) and an oil change, the light went out! 27: Played some Pokemon Go for four hours with @arrowhearts and Lyla. No Kyogre, but at least we each got a Groudon. Plus, the weather was beautiful for this time of year. 28: I found a dollar today while sweeping the parking lots with my dad! I’m gonna be riding this wave for a week. (Fun fact: my dad and I used to go bike riding on Sunday afternoons/evenings in the local parking garages and look for pennies. We’d always get bragging rights when we found a quarter or more. We still get excited and tell each other of the day’s finds when we find a few coins while we’re sweeping). 29: Had a bit of a headache, but managed to get through it so I could finish the workday. Then I get some well deserved rest. 30: Met up with @nah-young for some fries and ice cream! 31: My annual physical went well! Took care of a couple test we’ve been putting off, too, and they weren’t quite as bad as I thought they’d be.

February

1: I had such a productive day in the office, even for a Friday. Special thanks to @arrowhearts for helping me move all (24 years worth) of our files. 2: Started off the day a little rough and feeling low, but I decided to go up to campus, and I’m so glad I did. I was able to help a bunch of people get to their destination. Also hung out with @nah-young and @arrowhearts in a sketchy room. 3: Technically today (starting at 1 am). Had a great talk with @nah-young about a lot of things including our friendship. Successfully avoided the Super Bowl (which I heard sucked, so that was a good use of my time). 4: Had a really good conversation with my dad for almost an hour. We had some fights earlier in the year, but it was nice to be able to connect some. 5: It’ll be silly to look back on, but I thought I lost a reference letter for a scholarship applicant, but realized I could find it on our shared drive. Such a relief! 6: I tried Duck Donuts for the first time today. One of our board members brought me and a coworker a half dozen each. 7: Caught a Miltank in Pokemon Go! I thought I missed my chance, but there was a special running, so I got it. 8: Just heard we got a new boss at work, so it’ll be nice to be full staffed again. 9: Started working on a painting for @arrowhearts. It might be my first completed artwork of the year. 10: A lazy day, but I flipped through a book on home decorating. You know, to plan for my future house. 11: Officially started working for Jane’s business. We’ll see how it goes, but at least it’s an extra couple of hours per week. 12: Finished a dog sitting job, and I’m super thankful to be sleeping in my own bed again. 13: I gave Lucy, the sweetest cat ever, a piggyback ride and it was the cutest thing ever. I was on my knees and forearms trying to get Lucy to boop my nose when she just climbed on my back and sat down. I rose up on my knees and hands and she did the “i’m not so sure but I’m going to stay here” stand and let me crawl across the floor a while before finally jumping off. I love this cat. 14: Took the auditing section of the CPA exam. I feel much better about this one than I have about the other two. We’ll see on the 26th. 15: Such a busy day at the office! It was productive, but just a lot of work. 16: Even though I just too the other exam, I managed to get a lot of studying done. 17: Mamaw and I got to chat and work on the puzzle for a while. It was nice to hang out with her since I haven’t done son in quite a while. 18: We had some really good food at our investment club meeting today. Sheppard’s pie (like meat and mashed potatoes), salad, this great cracker dip (I have no other details other than feels like sharp cheddar finally shredded with a hint of spice in some sort of sauce). 19: Our new executive director started today. I think I made a pretty good first impression! 20: Started playing Arkham City again. We had a snow day and even my office closed, so I made the most of my day. 21: Lol and today I finished the main storyline of Arkham City. Accidentally, because I was doing side quests, but Batman got mad when I tried to go finish some before the last mission. 24: I am obsessed with Excel, but I figured out a formula so that it would total certain categories even if they weren’t in order. Plus I learned how to make a drop down menu (on two versions of Excel). Guess who’s budget looks beautiful! 25: I caught a Latias in Pokemon Go. Not having much luck with the water legendaries. I wonder if they don’t like me because we picked the grass starter. 26: I passed the Auditing section! (and instead of keeping it quiet, I made a point to tell some people). Then @nah-young and I went to dinner to celebrate our successes of the day and just have a nice chat. 27: Good news: I starved off a migraine that was starting on Feb 26. Maybe this new method will help them from getting bad. Just took an Aleve with some hot tea. 28: Went on a Pokemon run, and I found $20 blowing across the yard when I got home! A nice find for the year.

March 1: I’ve been really getting into “Ghost Story” by Peter Straub and had so much time to just sit and read while it rained. 2: I watched “Spiderman: Enter the Spiderverse” today. An epic movie and I highly recommend it! I also have several new costume ideas... 3: Officially started working on my Library Comic Con cosplay. There’s not much to show, but it was nice to start costuming again. 4: Hiked up to the nearby bubble tea. It was good! I got a mango green tea creama. Next time I know I have to mix it up before I start drinking it. 5: 6: 7: 8: 9: 10: Started replaying Castlevania IV. It’s been a while since I beat it, so hopefully I can still finish it! 11: I have proven myself an Excel deity. Well, at least Jane thinks though. She needed a spreadsheet for something and had some ideas so I whipped it out in five minutes flat with a bunch of formulas she didn’t even know were possible. I’m quite proud of it. 12: Lol, speaking of excel, I was geeking out over my budget with one of our board members. She was showing me how she built her itinerary in excel for her next trip and I got to show off my budget. 13: 14: 15: It was fake St. Patrick’s day at work, so I got to show off my green Riddler suit. Apart from being mistaken as dressing like a leprechaun a few times, I received a bunch of compliments on it. I’ve gotten a lot of use out of that suit jacket. 16: Tagged along with @nah-young to her grandfather’s birthday party and watched Bohemian Rhapsody. Apart from the timeline inaccuracies, I really enjoyed it! Look at that: two new movies in one month. 17: First big leaf job of the season. I guess the first major landscaping job. Dad helped out, so it made life easier. 18: Investment club meeting went well, and I ended up staying late to chat and help clean up, but it was enjoyable. Also had some great tiramisu from Trader Joe’s. 19: 20: 21: It was a downpour today, but I also made a 20 minute Costco run. Parking was great, the lines were short, and I managed to balance everything without a cart. Success! 22: Finally got around to doing invoices. It’s such a weight off my chest to take care of them. 23: I had the house to myself, so got ample studying done, played some pokemon, and treated myself to some bubble tea. Got myself a bunch of good pokes from Community day. 24: Another lovely day to sit and hang out with @nah-young. I always enjoy our hour long conversations just sitting in my car in her driveway. I also finished the lectures for the BEC portion of the CPA exam. 25: I found a gift card loaded with $30 today. It had been thrown into the dumpster, so a little gross, but it washed off nicely. 26: Ran up to the local library to turn in my books (look @arrowhearts, I did it the day before they were due and didn’t have to make a midnight run). I wasn’t going to check out more books since I already had some checked out from another library visit (I go to many branches due to my job and often check out a book or two, resulting in cycles of books due at different times), but I did anyway. I started reading Area X, too, and so far, I’m really enjoying it. 27: Our family’s accountants think I’m a bit weird because I was so excited to get my tax papers back even though I owed money. I was just like “cool!” to all the facts and things on my sheets, which is apparently not what they’re used to, but one of the new tax laws works in my favor as small business income is taxed at a lower rate or something. 28: 29: 30: I love Annihilation in the Area X series! I haven’t plowed through a book that fast in years. 31: I was catching up on my business spreadsheets and it turns out I had the most profitable March since I started my business :)

April 1: No April Fools jokes, which is always a huge plus. 2: 3: 4: Took the BEC section of the exam and then clocked in a bunch of hours for the Foundation. Jubilee is almost here!!! 5: 6: The Jubilee is over!!! What a relief! A lot of things went well, and I heard it was a lot of people’s favorite. Not sure what actually happened because I was stationed at check in/out all night, but hopefully the silent auction results are good. Huge shout out to @arrowhearts and @nah-young for getting me through the night! 7:A quiet morning of returning the Jubilee to the Foundation. Plus some other landscaping. 8: I know everyone at work is saying I should take time off, and I didn’t, but I’m actually feeling blessed that I have the physical and mental stamina to keep working on things. Plus, I need to catch up with post Jubilee stuff. 9: 10: 11: 12: 13: 14: 15: 16: 17: 18: 19: Got to talking with my art dealer for a long while and we exchanged headcannons and ideas. 20: Had a nice Pokemon run with @arrowhearts‘ dog. Plus, enough work to keep me out of trouble X) 21: A very busy Easter. I moved a huge mound of mulch. It was half the size of my car. Hopefully the home owner will like it. 22: 23: 24: 25: 26: 27: 28: 29: 30: 31: I’ve been feeling behind, but I finally knocked out a really important thing at work today. Got our annual applications in!

May 1: 2: 3: My gauntlets for my comic con costume look so cool! They’re a little stabby (there’s staples on the inside, although I should be able to tape it down for safety), but overall look cool for a first draft. 4: A long day, but I feel like I was really able to help my friend and her family, which is nice considering how much they do for me. 5: The event that happened wasn’t good, but I’ve been humbled as to how well our house was kept and motivated to try and become more organized. 6: Dad and I were chatting today, and we could even touch on topics in a civil manner. It was quite nice! 7: Just found out I passed the BEC section of the CPA exam! I’m 75% CPA!!! And no cavities were found after my dentist appointment :) 8: Frantically working on my costume, but my head piece looks really good! 9: Mom even chipped in to help. We rigged up a steampunk mask I have (which doesn’t fit on my head right) so that I can actually wear it. 10: I’ve been fasting for Ramadan and I think my body and I are finally on the same page. It was a rough start this year, but I’m looking forward to focusing on being thankful for what I have and working on self discipline. 11: Library Comic Con! My costume is a bit rough, so no final pictures, but I have plans to make it better! 12: It was a busy Sunday. Lots of lawns, but thankfully the weather was cool. 13: 14: 15: 16: 17: Had a nice meeting with my boss. I keep feeling like I’m not on top of things or she’s disappointed, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. Plus, she said I did great at the finance committee meeting, so that was nice. 18: Although I scared everyone I worked with all day, I was able to donate blood even though I had been fasting. 19: I saw the tiniest inch worm while I was pulling weeds today. It was more like a quarter inch worm and it was just trying so hard to climb up my arm when I found it. I also saw the first lightening bugs of the year. As a bug type Pokemon trainer, I’m quite pleased with all of this (less so with the mosquitoes though, as I got my first bite of the season). 20: I have found a nice way to keep cool at the property Dad and I work at. I’m allowed to douse my head, neck, and hat with the hose, and man does it feel good! 21: I received many compliments at the executive committee meeting for all my hard work on the budget, the Jubilee, and finance committee. 22: Caught up on reconciliations at work (finally). It’s been just a nightmare, but I’m happy they’re done. 23: Another me day. I’ve been taking Thursdays off and got to game for a bit but also accomplish a lot of laundry and studying. 24: Had a good meeting at work to discuss the future of the nonprofit I work at. Plus I finally made a phone call I didn’t want to make. 25: Went to a foam helmet making class with a coworker. I’m super excited to start trying out this style, and I think the sample we made in class can easily be used to make a helmet for Vile. Might have purchased a few things to go with it :) 26: Found a new drink that I love from Kung Fu Tea! Also got to rewatch Coco, which is always good. 27: Part of my afternoon spent working with Jane was changing her screen saver. It was set up for one photo of pictures, but some were so fuzzy, so we set up new pictures and I got to add my fuzzball to the reel. 28: I visited one of Jane’s friends to discuss dog sitting and we had such a nice conversation afterwards. 29: I found a four leave clover today while mowing lawns. It’s been years since I’ve found one, so that was exciting. 30: I plowed through about 6 hours of studying for the FAR portion of the CPA exam. Only two more lectures and then onto multiple choice! 31: Filled out a form at work (finally). Now I just have to hope my boss will sign it and have it notarized.

June 1: 2: 3: 4: 5: 6: Took the (hopefully) last CPA exam. It was nice as I spoke to an elevator engineer before the exam and it helped to calm my nerves a bit. 7: 8: 9: 10: 11: 12: 13: 14: Wasn’t sure what day to put this on, but @nah-young and I hung out for hours just sitting and chatting on the cats’ back porch. 15: Successfully navigated into DC with the help of @arrowhearts (and had an interesting laugh about her being my son...? Oh well, at least we got to give the people sitting outside a show as we left the building with two rollie office chairs each). 16: Started working on my Halloween costume. I’ve abandoned the idea I originally had and will be switching to a different Mega Man X character (fun fact: it was a costume I originally intended to make before being introduced to Scaramouche back in 2017) 17: It was a scorcher, but had a slurpee for the first time in almost a year. I’m so thankful for the 7-11 within walking distance of where my dad and I work on Mondays. 18: I’ve officially passed the CPA exam! Now onto the next steps... 19: I have been struggling with telling people good news, but I did make an effort to inform some people about me passing the exam. 20: Told some more people about the CPA exam and just trying not to stress. I got celebratory milkshakes for my family after dinner. 21: My coworkers are so sweet. They brought me in a cake and we had a mini celebration. 22: 23: 24: 25: 26:Found a praying mantis while mowing. She kept standing where I wanted to mow, so I got to pick her up and put her somewhere safe (with lots of snacks for her!) 27: 28: 29: So glad I went to see Detective Pikachu with @nah-young and @arrowhearts! I really enjoyed it! 30: 31:

July 1: A new fiscal year! I did manage to get a good bit done on my latch hook. 2: A sudden thunderstorm took me off the weed pulling job early (i.e. a perfect opportunity to read). 3: It was quiet in the office. Too quiet ... yet super productive! I processed so many gifts and letters. 4: I don’t really celebrate, and spent a lot of it working, but played some pokemon in the rain. It was a warm day, so the cool rain felt so refreshing! 5: A jammed packed day with trashrooms, a bank run, and more pokemon quests! I completed another 15 and hatched a new pokemon. Plus I finished another book: Dr. Death. 6: A busy day, but I was able to finish everything so I can take the next day off completely (for once). Again, apologies to @arrowhearts for dragging you out and getting caught in a downpour so I could get some bubble tea! 7: 8: 9: 10: Unboxed my unicycle! Not sure when I’ll ride, but it’s ready when I am. 11: 12: 13: 14: The vanity is back in my bathroom! Dad’s renovating it, and it’s been a slow process, but I finally have a sink! 15: 16: 17: 18: 19: 20: Spent a few hours working on cleaning the basement, and I’m finally seeing some of the fruits of my labor. 21: 22: 23: 24: Officially finished the Vile helmet! 25: Just started a new dog sitting job, and the house is right on top of a pokestop. Guess I’m going to have a full item bag again! 26: Finally got myself a memory stick for my PSP. I’m replaying the Maverick Hunter X game ... because I can! 27: Got three team rocket grunts in one day at the one stop. 28: Plowed through the Vile portion of Maverick Hunter X. Lol, I probably make it harder on myself since I only use my favorites, regardless of if they’re good against the boss. 29: Had a huge crab and shrimp dinner at Jane’s house. 30: Hung out and ate delicious homemade butter chicken with my best friend’s mom (she’s basically like my other mother). We laughed and chatted, showed off our latest projects, probably kept the neighbors up, and just had a good time until like 2 in the morning. 31: Welp, it wasn’t a raid day for armored Mewtwo, but @arrowhearts and I did defeat more Team Rocket Go grunts in the rain.

August 1: Chatted with @nah-young for a few hours and I’ve got a new place to eat on my radar! 2: I kept feeling like I was letting my boss down because I couldn’t answer her questions/didn’t understand, but she insisted I was handling myself well, and found the information she needed later. Plus, she’s very complimentary of my work and appreciates my transparency and work ethic, both of which I work hard on and value. 3: 4: 5: 6: 7: 8: 9: 10: 11: 12: 13: 14: 15: 16: 17: 18: 19: 20: 21: 22: 23: 24: 25: 26: 27: 28: 29: 30: 31:

September 1: 2: 3: It’s official! We’re having a Halloween party at work. If my new schedule turns out, I’ll be at work on that day and will show off a costume. Not sure if it will be the one I’m working on, but I can always recycle an old one. 4: 5: 6: 7: 8: 9: 10: 11: 12: 13: 14: 15: I had such a good ripstik run. @nah-young and I practiced for a good while yesterday (and she did her first trick, too!). I guess it’s nice to see the fruits of our practice since we’ve been working off and on for about a month. 16: Had the investment club meeting at my house. I didn’t get to cook everything, but I picked the recipe and it turned out well! 17: I finished “Every Tool’s a Hammer” by Adam Savage (from Mythbusters) and I really recommend it. It’s such a great book for anyone who makes or creates. It’s a fun read and chocked full of helpful hints. 18: I decided to start reading the Naruto series. I’m enjoying it so far! Now I just have to wait for the next to volumes to be available from the library. 19: I started replaying Scooby Doo and the Cyber Chase. It’s amusing, although I’m a little rough. 20: 21: 22: 23: I’d been on the fence about taking a vacation early next year because I want to save up for a down payment, but after talking to my dad, I decided I’d do a little something. I still need to work out the plans (and make sure the people I want to visit are free), but I’m looking forward to it! 24: 25: 26: There’s a chance I might be going full time at my office job, so dad encouraged me to take the day off from trash rooms. I still got up early, but knocked out a bunch of chores, finished Scooby Doo and the Cyber Chase, finished a drawing, and cleaned in the basement a bit. 27: Lol, I just realized I have three cycles of books checked out again. I started reading The Wicked Years series. I’m trying to set aside time each night so I can read a chapter or two before bed. 28: I made the pattern for my gauntlets! I’m actually trying to do it the right way and making measurements, creating an accurate template, and just generally taking my time. 29: Part 2 of the gauntlets: They’re made! My template worked and I spent a couple of hours slowly forming and shaping them. I still need some practice on the gluing component, but at least they feel sturdy. 30: Started replaying DK 64 again. I really love this game. Besides Gauntlet Legends, it’s probably my favorite N64 game we own. 31: Got rained out at work, but managed to take it easy in the afternoon and just generally keep ahead with laundry.

October 1: Today officially marks the first day of working full time at my office job. They added ten hours a week, so now I’m working 4 days at 10 hours each. It’ll take a little adjusting. I’m happy for the extra hours! 2: I sent out invoices on time for once! 3: It was my fuzzball’s 16th Birthday today! Someone also brought in some really yummy snacks to work that were leftover from a meeting. I also managed to create templates for the leg gauntlets and cut them out of foam. I’m just rolling with the motivation now, and would like to have Vile finished by Halloween (keep reading to find out if it was finished). 4: Really just having a good time playing DK 64. Knocked out Gloomy Galleon, so all that’s left are my favorite levels! 5: 6: 7: I have leg gauntlets formed. Lol, I guess I should look up the name... All that’s left is the chest plate and cape! 8: I lucked out! My coworker can’t go to a book signing even this weekend and asked me to get her book signed since I’m going. It was the perfect opportunity to get my hands on a copy of “Where the Crawdads Sing” which I wanted to read before this weekend. 9: Making some headway on the costume again! Arm and leg gauntlets have the plating and base coat of plastidip. 10: I finished “Where the Crawdads Sing” within 48 hours of having it my possession. That’s such a huge accomplishment to read something so quickly and eagerly! 11: I was plowing through my to do list at work. I knocked out 11 items. Woo! 12: 13: 14: 15: 16: 17: 18: 19: 20: 21: 22: 23: 24: 25: 26: 27: 28: 29: 30: My Halloween costume is finished *gasp* before Halloween! Barely, but it counts. 31: I won the most creative costume at work! Well, tied for first, but that’s cool.

November (whoops, I really forgot to write this month) 1: 2: 3: 4: 5: 6: 7: 8: 9: 10: 11: 12: 13: 14: 15: 16: 17: 18: 19: 20: 21: 22: 23: 24: 25: 26: 27: 28: 29: 30: 31:

December 1: 2: 3: 4: 5: 6: 7: 8: 9: 10: 11: 12: My coworker is back! She had been on extended leave for a while, but now she’s back. She bring such a positive and fun attitude to the workplace. 13: 14: I’m officially 25! I worked a few hours in the rain, but got a lot done (and saw Lucy, my favorite cat I cat sit). Instead of going to a steakhouse for dinner, which I’m not a fan of, we ended up going to somewhere I did enjoy. Overall, it was a nice and quiet celebration. 15: 16: 17: I finished the Naruto series today! It was a good series, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Going to take a manga break to work on a few novels I have checked out and then decide which series to start. 18: 19: A busy day again. Knocked out two leaf clients for the year and went to see three bands perform at a local music club. I stayed out way too late, but had a great time hanging with a friend, one of the performers, and the performer’s friend. 20: 21: 22: 23: 24: Hung out with my brother and grandmother. I crushed them in several games! 25: Went to my coworkers in the afternoon and dueled for the first time in quiet a while. They wiped the floor with me, but I had fun with my deck destruction deck. 26: 27: Ended up hanging out with Jane for a while and just chatting about everything. We’re seeing eye to eye on a lot of things, so it was nice. 28: Finished my leaf jobs for the year! Time to relax. 29: 30: 31: Welp, ended up being sick and missing out on the intended New Year plans. I guess I did start the year with a migraine, so here I am ending it with one. After I rested up, I did start playing my favorite video game. Plus, I frantically read “Hey, Kiddo!” before the end of the year

Notable stuff

Highlights: Passed the CPA exam Officially hired full time

Books read: “Ghost Stories” “Every Tool’s a Hammer” “Where the Crawdads Sing” “Wicked” Naruto series “Hey, Kiddo!”

Movies watched: Spiderman: Enter the Spiderverse Mary Poppins 2 The Princess and the Frog Pokemon Lucario

#2019 in review #2019 #a year in review

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hakuimagines · 6 years

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Hi Chi! Thanks for running this blog! Can I request some confession scenes or HCs for Nomura, Motoyama, Takeda, and Miki Saburo? :'D

Thank you for the request and I apologize for the long wait. It’s a long post, so I’ve put it underneath the cut.

Enjoy!

TAKEDA

He doesn’t really want to admit it himself, especially not first. A few weeks prior to the confession, he asks the men of his unit for advice on how to get a woman to confess first. He jots down all of the advice he believes to be somewhat useful on a scrap of paper and drills himself.

Some of the other captains have pointed out how spacey he’s been the past couple of days, Takeda vehemently denying the allegations. In actuality, he’s been daydreaming about how the conversation would go but would never dare to admit it.

Finally, he manages to catch you one evening and strikes up a, err- interrogation conversation with you. Takeda attempts to word his questions and statements in a manner that would to get you confess first (if literally at all possible).

He’s trying very hard and frankly, it’s a little painful to watch. On the other hand, the hurt glare he shoots the scrap of paper hidden in his sleeve from time to time is kind of cute, so you decide to keep quiet and let him flounder some more.

Eventually, when he realizes that his point isn’t getting across and that he spent the better part of an hour talking in circle, his frustration gets the better of him. The attention of everyone nearby locks on to him the moment he snaps, Takeda practically shouting his confession of love to your face.

When he realizes that: the two of you weren’t the only ones in the area, the fact that he literally shouted “YOU THICK FOOL, I LOVE YOU!” to your face, and that the other captains were watching, his face turns dark red with embarrassment. He freezes up for a solid few seconds before silently leaving the scene to save face.

He then locks himself in his room for a week, turning away all visitors and sulking. However, during this time, he follows up by (hesitantly) writing you an apology letter and a calmer confession.

You found the note in front of your room one morning and read its contents then and there. To your surprise, the letter was more genuine and gentler than you thought possible, considering its author, even causing your cheeks to redden.

MOTOYAMA

He’s thought about this scernario over and over again, finally mustering up enough courage to finally ask you out. All he needs now is to find a good opportunity.

Motoyama decides to ask Iba for advice on how to make this go smoothly because he really doesn’t want to mess up his chances with you.

As a result, Iba sends him out with a small shopping list (flowers, sweets, and some sort of gift that Motoyama feels would suit you), that were to be given to you whenever Motoyama did confess.

Much to his suprise, you run into him when he first begins to shop. After a brief conversation, you ask to tag along on his shopping trip. He tries to turn you away at first but was quickly overwhelmed by the strength of your puppy eyes.

The two of you have a great time while you’re out: chatting, telling jokes, and haggling with merchants for this and that. You and Motoyama even share the occasional sweet treat (following Iba’s recommendations).

He leaves momentarily to purchase the flowers and notices you longingly staring at a nice accessory when he returns. He cheerfully walks over to the merchant (now standing beside you), asking them if you’d be able to try the accessory on first.

He helps you put it on the best that he can. When it’s in place, he takes a step back.

Motoyama is genuinely speechless. He never expected that such a small adornment could suit you so well. He can’t seem to look away.

“You’re beautiful.” He says, without even realizing it. When he’s able to process what he just said, his cheeks turn a visible, gentle pink.

At this point, he figures that he can’t take back what he said, so he decides to confess to you then and there.

With a practiced and suddenly nervous hand, he hands you the bundle of fresh flower he’d just bought and asks you to spend the rest of the day with him.

He walks you walk home late that night, holding hands. When you arrive at your home, he sees you off with a kiss to your cheek. He keeps waving at you until he sees you disappear inside.

MIKI

The first move Miki makes is when he tries to book a whole day in your schedule, just for you and him. He claims that he wants your full attention because he’s planning on making an important announcement that concerns you later that evening.

While finding fabric to fix a tear in his own outfit, Miki then decides to buy the necessary fabrics to make himself a brand new formal outfit (just for this date) and even makes a matching one for you too (I headcanon that he stress sews).

Although his public conduct hasn’t changed very much since he’s begun planning this, he is an anxious wreck in private.

In fact, he’s consulted Itou day and night, everyday for three weeks, worrying about how to phrase his feelings. Itou, as usual, said nothing helpful.

Finally, the day comes and Miki is practically sweating bullets. With your permission, he drops by your house to pick you up and walks you to the restaurant that he booked a table at.

He’s a little taken aback to see that you actually decided to wear the outfit he made you, internally very pleased with how it looks on you.

He’s very dashing in his new outfit, the folds and cuts of the fabric matching his figure. The style of it all also suited him to a T. You can’t bring youself to tell him though.

It’s a place well known in the area, specializing in your favorite food item. He tells to to order as much and whatever you desire, just wanting to treat you to a lovely dinner with Itou’s wallet.

During the dinner, he’s trying to play it cool but he steals glances at you (in the outfit he made) and blushes really darkly.

He hasn’t brought up the topic of your outfit just yet, which disappoints you a little bit, but you’re able to tell what he think through the intensity of his blush (that he tries really hard to hide).

After your lovely time at dinner, he then escorts you to a local and famous date spot for couples.

Miki attempts to set the mood for his so called “Big Announcement” by telling a story about the date spot.

However, he fumbles about two sentences into his story and accidentally slips right into his confession.

He vividly remembers that day and would rather die than talk about it. You, however, will never let him live it down.

NOMURA

Everyone except for you can tell that Nomura has a big crush on you.

You like him too, but can’t quite tell if he likes you back. Everyone can see that also and it drives those around you both insane (because neither of you will confess when it’s easy to see that you both like each other).

Seriously. It’s obvious given how he blushes whenever he’s around you. Not only that, but he always tries extra hard to make you laugh and smile, because he genuinely loves it when you your smile. Your laugh is the most beautiful sound in the world to him.

He even sticks around to help you with chores and tasks you could easily do on your own, helping whenever you give him permission to. He just really wants to help you out.

After copious amounts of “gentle coersion” from the other guys, Nomura finally gets the courage to ask you on a date. Rather, to quote him, “Do you think we could go on a- a… da- day out tomorrow?”

Regardless, you accept, feeling kind of nervous and excited about what this could mean because you suspect he actually meant to say date (which he did).

He does his absolute best in utilizing his master tier page skills to organize a day of fun for you both, asking Kondo and Hijikata for permission to take the day off.

He overworks himself in both work and his efforts in asking the locals about what activities could you two could do on your date.

When the day finally arrives and he sees you all dressed up for the date, he blushes so bad. He hides his face with his hands and all of his fatigue seems to just melt away.

Seeing this, you assume he’s sick, reaching out and feel his forehead. It’s burning up! He takes a step back and denies that he is sick, attempting to go forth with the original date he had planned.

Still concerned for his health, you press the issue and he pushes back.

Nomura eventually caves in, confessing with a shy stammer that the reason why his whole face was warm was because of the fact that he likes you and thinks that you look like a dream.

Your face flushes embarrassed immediately and you hide your face in your hands. When you slowly peek out from behind him, you notice how deflated he looks, hurt and dejected at your apparent refusal to he him out.

You quickly lower your hands from your face, your profuse blushing providing some comfort to him. Your hands are quivering and you can’t seem to help it.

Nomura gives his confession another, more coherent try. He was planning on confessing later on in the day, but its too late for that now. He gently closes his hands around both of yours, hoping to ease their shakiness.

His hands feel feverish against yours and you realize just how anxious he is. You give him your undivided attention while he speaks to you.

By the time he finishes, his expression has melted into something very soft and sweet. You haven’t said anything yet and that is making him very nervous. Although… Actions speak louder than words, right?

You lean forward and kiss him chastely on the lips, giving him the biggest, sweetest grin you can. (How’s that for an acceptance, buddy?)

He absolutely dotes on you for the rest of your date, but is still partially in shock at what the heck just happened today. His head’s even higher up in the clouds now and he isn’t coming down any time soon.

Kondo gets five ryō from Hijikata because he bet on Nomura successfully confessing to you. Hijikata is mildly displeased but is happy for you both.

#hakuoki #hakuouki #haku headcanons #haku imagines #takeda kanryusai #miki saburo #nomura risaburo #motoyama kotaro #request;#long post

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consulting-celiac-in-the-tardis · 5 years

Text

21 Easy (and Cozy) Self Care Ideas to Practice this Winter

New blog post! Now that winter is making days shorter, colder and darker, it's more important than ever to make self care part of your regular routine. And I'm not talking about the Instagram #selfcare that requires fancy bath bombs or expensive lotions. I'm talking about 21 easy ways that you can get cozy and relaxed this winter, whether you're a college student like me, a busy mother of two or a full-time worker with a demanding job schedule.

Some of these self care ideas may seem obvious, but others may surprise you - and many of them are scientifically-backed ways to tackle stress. So regardless of how busy you may be this holiday season, check out these 21 ways you can add more self care into your holly, jolly life.

1. Make yourself a warm, welcoming drink.

On cold winter days, it probably feels natural to reach for something cozy to warm you up. If you're really looking for help relaxing, though, fill your mug with tea. Research has found that drinking tea can help lower people's stress levels. Plus, it can be pretty dang delicious! (If you have celiac disease, just make sure it's gluten free).

2. Watch a sappy holiday-inspired show or movie.

Sometimes, we don't need an award-winning movie or TV show to enjoy ourselves. At least a few times this winter, embrace your silly or sentimental side by watching a bad Hallmark movie or bingeing your favorite holiday baking show. (And if you eat chocolate while doing it, that's obviously worth bonus points).

3. Go thrifting for cute and comfy winter clothes.

Updating your wardrobe for winter doesn't have to hurt your wallet. Instead, make looking for comfy hats, mittens or scarfs a fun adventure by hitting up your local second-hand store.

4. Be your own masseuse.

Massage has been shown to reduce people's physical tension and mental stress - and if you have a chronic illness or chronic pain like me, a good massage is always a good idea! You don't need to hire a high-end masseuse to reap some of these benefits, either. Give yourself a massage instead by rubbing your own muscles while lotioning up after your shower or using a tennis ball or foam roller to break up any knots and tension. Pair this massage with a relaxing bubble bath and you have the makings of a perfect self-date night.

5. Set aside extra time to read a book, just for fun.

I know that winter can be a busy time with friends and family, but don't forget to set aside some alone time in your schedule. Add a good book into the equation, and your quiet night in will be extra enjoyable.

6. Bake yourself something festive!

Besides getting to eat a delicious pumpkin or apple inspired treat, you'll feel nice and cozy when your kitchen is warm from the oven and smelling like the holidays. (And if you need some ideas for gluten free pumpkin desserts or baked goods, try out this recent round up of mine!).

7. Walk it out (outdoors or at a local gym).

Depending on the weather where you live, going for a walk outside might not be an option. Even if you have to go for a walk inside, though, your brain will still thank you. Research has found that exercise can drastically improve people's mental health, and even just walking will lower how often people have "bad days."

8. Take up a new, indoor hobby.

And if being outdoors is realllly not an option, starting a new hobby that takes place indoors is ideal. Start putting together puzzles, learning how to cross-stitch...or even practicing rock-climbing, like I did last year! Who knows - you may end up finding a hobby that you love doing year-round.

9. Try out hot yoga.

Because there's no better escape for winter weather than a relaxing, mantra-and-stretch filled session of hot yoga.

10. Light one of your favorite candles.

More research still needs to be done on the benefits of aromatherapy, but science seems to suggest that certain scents can help us chilllll out. Find a scent that you enjoy, like lavender or peppermint, and experiment with burning different candles and seeing which smells work best for you!

11. Purge your social media feeds.

You've heard of spring cleaning, but winter is another great time to set yourself up for a fresh start in the New Year. If you find yourself spending more time than ever on social media since it's too cold or dreary to go outside, pay attention to how each account makes you feel and ditch the ones that aren't doing you any favors.

12. Get crafty and let out your inner child.

Create a wreath to hang on your door, use colorful pens and papers to create homemade cards or just doodle in a notebook. These kinds of creative activities have been linked to improved mood and creativity the next day...plus, you might end up with some very cute gifts to give this Christmas. Win-win!

13. Pamper yourself with a face mask.

I've only started using face masks this last year, and the hype is worth it. My favorite is a simple mix of honey with cinnamon that I apply on "problem areas" for around 10-15 minutes before washing it off, but there are tons of safe (and even delicious!) face mask recipes you can find online. No fancy or expensive ingredients or products required. Plus, dry winter skin will definitely thank you for the extra TLC.

14. Dust off your crockpot and experiment with a new yummy recipe.

I know I've certainly been lax in using my crockpot lately, and it can be hard to feel motivated to start cooking dinner first thing in the morning. But your future self will definitely thank you for the little bit of prep you do earlier, and winter is the perfect time to whip up something warm and gooey. May I suggest my crockpot stacked enchiladas or vegan mac and cheese?

15. Throw a pajama party.

Whether you have a solo party or invite friends, spend a whole, blissful day hanging out in your PJs.

16. Do something nice for someone else.

Acts of kindness have actually been scientifically shown to improve people's physical and mental health, so passing it forward this winter is actually a win-win. Donate to a local toy-drive, send a care package to a solider or pay for the next person's coffee in Starbucks. Little acts can have a big impact.

17. Start a gratitude practice.

If you're the journaling type, you can start writing what you're grateful for every day in a notebook. Otherwise, sticky notes or just thinking about two things you're grateful for each morning or night will still give you a positivity boost!

18. Set aside time to play your favorite "pointless" game.

Whether it's Sudoku, Words With Friends or a video game that you used to play for hours every day in high school, give yourself permission to just sit back and play for a little while. I know that during most of the year, I'm a major multi-tasker and anytime I do get to play a game, it's because I'm traveling or waiting to start another chore. So chillin' (pun intended) with my gamer self during winter is one of my favorite ways to relax.

19. Declutter at least one part of your house.

Along with purging your social media feeds, on days when cold weather keeps you in the house, you might try purging cluttered corners as well. Decluttering can not only improve concentration, but it can also improve your mood, lower your stress levels and give you a better night's sleep. And if you play your latest Netflix binge, favorite podcast or an epic holiday playlist in the background, you can make decluttering feel a lot more fun too.

20. Stretch yo' body.

At least for me, finding the motivation for a hard workout feels a lot harder when it's cold, dark and dreary outside. So on days when you feel like you're in a funk but don't feel up for a full workout, do some gentle stretches (even in the comfort of your own bed!) instead. It will loosen up your muscles, slash your stress and might even help you be more productive at work.

21. Choose a mantra for the upcoming year.

Obviously, you shouldn't spend all winter pining for spring...but it can't hurt to spend a little time reflecting on what you want from the upcoming months. In 2018, my word or mantra of the year was "discomfort." In 2019, it was "open." And while I haven't decided exactly what word I want to keep in mind during the start of a new decade, I think something similar to "change" will end up winning. What do you want to get out of this Spring? You still have some cold weeks to help you figure out your answer!

The Bottom Line of Self Care During Winter

As the days get colder and our social schedules get busier, it's easy to let self care fall to the bottom of our to-do list. I know from personal experience, though, that you can't run on empty...and when you better yourself through self care, you're also empowering yourself to be a better friend, family member, and personal overall! So this winter, give yourself the gift of self care rituals...and if you need even more ideas, feel free to check out my previous roundups: How to Create Your Own Self Care Retreat in 5 Easy Steps; 15 Self Care Activities You Can Do Without Leaving Bed; and 21 Self Care Activities You Can Do in 15 Minutes or Less! How are you taking care of yourself this winter? Give me more of your own self care ideas in the comments below! via Blogger https://ift.tt/2OKlqR3

#Blogger #college #celiac #gluten free #coeliac #celiacs #paleo #primal #foodporn #foodart

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canadiankazz · 6 years

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The Seventh Time - An L.A. by Night Fanfic

Annabelle and an invisible Jasper go to a gothic vampire-themed bar so Annabelle can find someone to feed from. They end up having a rather erotic evening involving a mortal female bartender.

(Carries on directly from the end of The Sixth Time)

This is my L.A. By Night Alternative Universe where Jasper has been feeding from Annabelle for several weeks/months and they have developed a Blood Bond. SPOILERS for the end of Campaign 1 including the one-shots. This was written before Season 2, Episode 4.

It’s worth reading the rest of the series before this part:

The Entire ‘Feeds From’ Master List Can be Found Here

I lay no claim to owning any of the characters involved.

This fic was co-written with @cravatfiend, and really would not have been possible without their help. Special love to @gokaiyellow for the inspiration when they asked me "How could she NOT touch herself while he's biting her?" Thank you also to everyone else who has enjoyed this series so far.

Also posted to the author’s Ao3.

First posted Feb. 14th 2019 (Happy Valentine’s Day!)

The Seventh Time Jasper Fed From Annabelle

Annabelle stripped in her bathroom and left her clothes in a more or less neat pile next to the clean ones she had brought in to change into after her shower. She kept her ears perked for any sounds of Jasper moving about or doing things in her home, but she couldn’t hear him. Of course, if he didn't want to be heard by her, he wouldn't. That didn’t stop her from listening.

She had invited Jasper over this weekend to spend time with her while Mark and Elle were out of town. He had arrived last night. They had watched TV, and he had fed on her. She swallowed at the memory of it, thinking of his fangs in her neck, him pressing her hand into her groin and the very intense pleasure that had followed. Annabelle sighed. She was starting to think she might have a kink for this stuff.

She turned on the warm water and stepped into the shower. She tilted her face up and just let the spray hit her chest and run down her body for a minute. Her body was cold again, but she could feel it start to warm slightly in the heat and steam of the shower. Annabelle reached for soap and let her thoughts turn around in her head.

Complicated, that was definitely how she would describe her feelings for Jasper and their relationship. Very complicated. On the surface, they were friends, and one could make a very solid argument that they were also firmly in the friends with benefits category. What they did, with him feeding on her and her body reacting to it the way it did, it felt very much to her like sex. She supposed, to Kindred, it was basically sex. Sex without the sex. But she didn't consider Jasper to be her boyfriend, or even her lover, not really. She didn't know if there was a name for what he was to her. There might have been a fancy Kindred term for it, but she didn't know what it was. She wondered if Jasper thought of her as a lover, or any other term. She suspected he didn't, but she had never asked. She made a mental note to ask him about it.

Annabelle rinsed her body and started to wash and condition her hair. She thought about what Jasper had told her about their Blood Bond. A tiny part of her was tempted to test it, to see if he really would come if she silently called out to him, but a much larger part of her knew that was not a good idea. It would feel like crying wolf, and it would be an abuse of whatever power she might have over him now. She was honoured by how much Jasper trusted her. It made her feel a great affection for him. She wondered if he felt the same for her, and all the evidence she could think of told her that he did. He was increasingly physically affectionate with her – never in front of their coterie or anyone else, but in their private moments, especially after feeding, he seemed to enjoy physical contact with her. That may have been her Vitae influencing him somewhat, but Annabelle also believed that he might have cared strongly about her even without the Blood Bond.

She rinsed her hair and luxuriated in the warm water. She had offered Jasper a shower before she took one, but he had politely declined. In a great many ways, he was still a mystery to her. She was deeply curious about him, but respecting his privacy was more important. Everyone had their secrets, and she suspected he had always been a very private person even in life. That was okay. She could live with not knowing everything about him.

Annabelle turned off the water and stepped out of the shower to dry herself. She felt refreshed. She took her time drying and re-dressing. She had chosen black jeans to wear tonight and suspected that may have been Jasper's subtle influence. Her Beast growled at her, reminding her of her hunger. That was one of the biggest downsides to this relationship. Every time Jasper fed from her body, it made her Beast upset. That hunger could only be ignored for so long. It was a literal drain on her system. Annabelle promised herself that she would feed tonight. They would go out and she would find someone who would give her permission to drink a little of their blood. She had it all planned out in her head as she applied make-up in the bathroom mirror. Then, after she fed, she would come back home and... maybe she and Jasper could have some more fun. She smirked to herself as she winged her eye liner.

When she emerged from the bathroom, Annabelle found Jasper in the lounge. He was looking at a book of urban Los Angeles photography that Elle had bought. Annabelle sat next to him and smiled. “Hey.”

Jasper closed the book. “Hey.”

“I have a plan for tonight. Nothing set in stone, though.”

“Go on.”

“I'm going to go out and feed. You're welcome to come with me. And then we'll come back here and... hang out.”

“Hang out?” He inquired in mock innocence.

“Yeah... you know...” Annabelle touched his knee and bit her lip.

“Yeah... I know.” Jasper smirked and Annabelle knew he has been playing with her a little.

She smiled again. Tonight was going to be fun.

“There's a gothy, kind of vampire themed bar I found,” Annabelle told him, “and I'm going to try my luck there.”

“And you want me to come with you?”

“Well, yeah! Or you can go do your own thing for a few hours and I'll call you... or...” Annabelle shrugged. She did want Jasper to come along, even though she knew he would be hidden from sight the whole time. If he said no though, she'd be disappointed but understanding.

“I'll come if you'd like, but I'll have to be unseen,” Jasper said.

“Okay... don't feel like you have to come or anything,” Annabelle said, worried about the Blood Bond. “Like, I’m not forcing you to.”

He gave her a reassuring little smile. “No, it's okay. I want to.”

She smiled as well, relieved. “Well, I'm ready to go, so...”

Jasper patted himself, showing that he hadn't come with a lot. “Me too.”

Annabelle jumped up and grabbed her red leather jacket, keys, phone and wallet. This wasn't a date, she told herself, but she sure as hell had to admit it felt like one.

Jasper made himself disappear as she locked up the house. It gave her the chills. One second, he was standing next to her, but when she looked back after putting her keys away, he was gone.

“I'm... hoping you're still here?” she asked quietly.

“Of course,” he replied. She could hear him smile.

“Right. Good. Let's go.” She headed for transport to get them to the bar.

Annabelle activated both Awe and Blush of Life as she and an invisible Jasper stepped into the bar. It was small and dark, but with a very charming gothic aesthetic. It looked like it was a slow night, not surprising for a Sunday. Annabelle took a seat at the bar. The bartender was a curvy woman with a pale face and long, dark hair tied back in a high ponytail. She had several ear piercings, including a large safety clip through one ear. The bartender looked bored, but perked up when she saw Annabelle.

“Hey, hun,” she said, approaching Annabelle. “What can I get ya?”

Annabelle smiled. “Hi! Um...” she glanced at the wall of bottles behind the bartender. “I'm not sure. What do you recommend?”

“The house favourite's the 'Vampire's Kiss,' but we've got everything.”

Annabelle grinned. “Ooh, what's in that?” She couldn’t see Jasper, but she assumed he was nearby and also grinning.

“Berry vodka, berry liqueur, cranberry juice. It tastes deceptively non-alcoholic,” the bartender said with a wink.

Annabelle knew that with Blush of Life, she could drink or eat like a human, but she would have to throw it up again later. For a little while, she could keep it down though, to sell the illusion of life. “I'll take one of those, thanks.”

The bartender smiled. “Coming right up!” She got to work mixing the drink with a little extra showmanship. Annabelle watched her, but looked at her phone when it buzzed. It was Jasper texting her privately.

“She looks cute,” his message said.

“The bartender?” Annabelle texted back.

“Yes.”

“You think I have a chance?”

“She's checking you out. I think you're good.”

“Waiting on someone?” the bartender asked, sliding Annabelle the drink. The cocktail was a deep red.

“Um, no... not really,” Annabelle lied. “Just a girls' night out kind of thing, but I'm on my own, I guess.” She smiled a little awkwardly. She still didn't like lying. “I'd heard about this place and wanted to check it out.”

“Ahh, you're the curious type huh?” the bartender said knowingly. “We get a lot of people looking to flirt with the darkness a little.” She winked at Annabelle again. “Don't be nervous, hun. That's why we're all here.”

Annabelle giggled, as charmed by the bartender and she seemed to be by her.

“Although on Sunday nights it seems to just be the six of us.” The bartender chuckled and gestured to herself, Annabelle, the few staff members and meagre other bar patrons present.

“Yeah, slow night?”

“I guess this just isn't a hot feeding night in L.A. for vampires,” the bartender sighed. “Shame.”

Annabelle laughed. It was a little nervous and for a split second, she thought the bartender might have known about the Masquerade, but then she remembered she was in a vampire themed bar, after all. “Well, I don't know? Maybe we could change that?” Annabelle cringed to herself. That wasn't a very good line, and she knew it.

The bartender's eyebrow arched slowly at her, but she didn't seem put off.

Annabelle blushed pink. “Sorry, that was a horrible line.”

The bartender laughed. “At least you want to use lines on me! I'm flattered.”

Annabelle sipped her drink. It was good, but it did nothing to satisfy her Beast, and her Beast was hungry indeed.

“So...” the bartender leaned in towards her a little. “You're here looking for some mortals to play with?”

Annabelle swallowed. Did she know, or was she just playing? Surely she was just playing. “Uh, yeah. I guess. I'm Annabelle.”

“That's a cute name!” The bartender extended her hand for Annabelle to shake. “Lisa.”

Annabelle smiled and shook Lisa's hand. “Nice to meet you.” The handshake seemed to linger. Annabelle bit her lower lip. She wasn't sure if it was the Awe, or if Lisa genuinely liked her. Either way, she was definitely being flirted with.

“What do I owe you for the drink?” Annabelle asked.

“Oh, no, hun, don't worry about it,” Lisa winked. “It's on the house.”

“No, I insist!” Annabelle got her wallet out and put some money on the bar. It was more than enough to pay for the cocktail.

“Well... if you insist,” Lisa relented, taking the money and putting it in the register. “Thanks, hun.”

Annabelle glanced at the tip jar, thinking to add something there too. It had been almost empty when she had sat down, but there was a large note in there now. Annabelle blinked. She hadn't noticed anyone put anything in there... but that didn't mean that no one did. She smirked and texted Jasper.

“Where did you get that money?”

“Never you mind. Not from you though,” he replied.

A few more minutes passed, during which time no one else entered the bar. Lisa and Annabelle kept making eye contact with each other and smiling. Eventually, Lisa came back over to her.

“So, I think other than me, you might be out of luck tonight,” Lisa told Annabelle. “We'll be closing up early fairly soon if more people don't come in.” She smiled at Annabelle and lowered her voice a little. “Although, if you want to hang out while I close...?”

There was a secret proposal there that Annabelle picked up on. She blushed a little redder. “Sure... I'd love to hang out with you, if you'd like.” She couldn't believe her luck. Even with Awe, sometimes she had to work to pick someone up. Not this night. This night, she had hit the jackpot.

“You can stay as long as you like,” Lisa said.

“Thank you!” Annabelle sipped more of her drink and complemented Lisa on her bartending skills.

Lisa smiled and started to pack up, getting ready to close early. She checked in on security and cleaned, all the while shooting Annabelle flirtatious glances. With every glance Annabelle caught, she would smile or wave a little, keen on Lisa's attention. She texted Jasper again as well.

“Looks good,” she told him.

“I can see that,” he replied. She still didn't know exactly where he was in the room, but she imagined he was still smiling and watching with interest. After all, if Annabelle fed tonight, then he fed tonight too.

Annabelle felt a rumble in her stomach. Her undead body was getting ready to reject her cocktail. She got up and asked Lisa for directions to the bathroom and Lisa pointed it out to her.

“I'll be waiting for when you get back,” Lisa said.

Annabelle shot her a smile and went into the ladies' room. She entered a stall and let herself throw up the cocktail into the toilet. It looked like a bloody mess, and felt disgusting, but Annabelle felt better once it was out of her system. She flushed the toilet, took a few deep breaths and reactivated Blush of Life. Her Beast growled, but she calmed it down with a promise that yes, tonight she was going to feed, and not on any more alcohol. There was a pretty bartender waiting for her who seemed to have a thing for vampires.

Annabelle emerged from the bathrooms and approached Lisa, who was waiting with her purse. “Um... my place or yours?” she asked with a little smile.

“Mine's nearby, if you're comfortable.”

“Yeah, sure! Um... but I will have to get home later tonight though, so...”

To Annabelle's surprise, Lisa smiled. “That's fine, hun. No strings, okay?”

It seemed like Lisa was used to this kind of temporary hook-up. Annabelle knew there was an underground culture for this kind of thing, but hadn't really explored too much of it before. “No strings,” she agreed, excited.

Lisa took Annabelle's hand and they walked out of the bar together, Lisa pausing to lock up and set the alarm. Annabelle hoped Jasper got out okay, but assumed he did by the very briefest of his touches on her free hand.

Lisa led Annabelle down the street a few blocks towards an apartment block. Conveniently, she only seemed to live a short walk away from her work.

“So... you're obviously into vampire stuff,” Annabelle said.

Lisa laughed. “Yeah, how could you tell?” She smiled at her. “I don't know why, exactly, but all that stuff with embracing and blood has always seemed kind of... intimate to me.”

“Oh yeah, totally.” Annabelle grinned. “'Intimate' is definitely the word for it.” She hesitated, then chanced a question. Lisa did seem pretty heavily into the vampire kink. “Have you done... biting or blood stuff before?”

“Yeah, I've... dabbled a fair bit. It's kind of hard not to in this scene. It's been pretty fun!”

Annabelle was relieved. “Yeah, I have too.” She felt that a person with this kind of interest would have been more likely to have been in Nelli's extended social circle, so she was glad to have found one too. She took a deep breath and made the metaphorical plunge. “Um... would you like to? Tonight?”

A dawning smile appeared on Lisa's pale face. “Sure. It'd love that.”

“Yeah?” Annabelle smiled back, adding some sensuality of her own into it. Things were going very well. “Cool.”

Lisa's apartment was a tiny, studio-style space. It was mostly one room with a small kitchenette and another door that led to a bathroom. A large wrought iron bed took up a large chuck of space in the main room. Dark wood bookcases lined the walls, full of novels and other gothic paraphernalia, with the odd piece of pop culture or nerd stuff here and there. Annabelle was pleased to find not one, but two complete sets of the Harry Potter books, including the special Slytherin House edition. Most of the rest of the décor was in a black and red theme.

Lisa paused and frowned after inviting Annabelle in and closing the door. “Huh.”

Annabelle glanced back at her. “What?”

“Nothing.” Lisa shook off her sudden chill. “Just a draft or something.”

Annabelle nodded and glanced around the room. Her eyes landed briefly on the darkest corner, and it might have been her imagination, but the shadow there seemed a little bigger than it had been a moment ago. She nodded again, seemingly to herself, but mostly to the shadow, and had another look around the room.

“Anyway,” Lisa said. “I'll give you the tour.” She spread her arms and gestured to the room, taking in the kitchenette and toilet door as well. “This is it!”

She smiled. “I love your place!” She took a step towards a shelf to look at some obscure vampire novels and films she hadn't heard of before.

“Thank you.”

Annabelle turned back to Lisa after a moment. “Seriously, this is great.”

Lisa smiled. “I tend to collect stuff, which is not great when you live this small, but hey, I know what I like!”

“I like it,” Annabelle said. “I like you.”

Lisa smiled knowingly and sat on the bed. She patted a spot next to her for Annabelle to sit. She did and pushed her long, black hair back behind her ear.

“So,” Annabelle asked, a little shyness creeping back in. She could almost feel Jasper watching them from his shadow in the corner, but Lisa was unaware. She wondered if Lisa would have minded if she did know. “Do you like to bite, or be bitten?”

Lisa was not shy at all. This was obviously not her first time with someone experimenting with a blood kink. “I prefer being bitten, but I'm flexible. I have a blade if you want to make a little cut, or you can just bite...”

Annabelle's eyes widened a little, surprised at Lisa's initiative. She felt very lucky to have met this sexy, kinky bartender, and made a mental note to try to keep in touch with her after this. “That works for me,” she said, with a sensual little smile. She put a hand on Lisa's knee, which Lisa did not mind at all. “I usually prefer to bite, but... if you want to cut, I'm okay with that. Are you sure you're okay with me tasting your blood?”

“Yeah,” Lisa assured her, and blushed slightly herself. “It... kinda does it for me... and you're really cute.”

Annabelle felt her cheeks go warm again. “Thanks. I think you're beautiful,” she said honestly.

Lisa put her hand on Annabelle's.

“I promise I don't have any, like, diseases or anything,” Annabelle added softly.

Lisa smiled and chuckled quietly. “Good to know. Me too. I'm really careful and test regularly, otherwise, I wouldn’t do this.”

Annabelle nodded, reassured.

Lisa's voice got low and sensual. “Anyway, now that that's out of the way... feel free to play. Unless I say 'foxtrot,' it's not too far.”

Annabelle made a mental note of the new safe word as Lisa went in for a kiss. Annabelle welcomed and returned it tenderly, and any final nerves she had about the evening melted away.

The two women relaxed back onto the bed, kissing and touching each other. Soft sighs and gentle moans filled the tiny apartment. Annabelle felt herself getting lost in the moment, almost forgetting for a little while why she was there, including forgetting about the Nosferatu in the dark corner. Her Beast didn't let her forget for long though, and when Lisa deliberately exposed her neck to Annabelle, she bit her gently, giving Lisa a hickey, but not breaking the skin yet. She held back, like she remembered Jasper doing, to listen for the safe word. Instead of saying 'foxtrot,' Lisa moaned. Annabelle took that as permission to continue and bit properly into Lisa's throat. She felt Lisa tense in the pain, then relax into the pleasure as Annabelle fed. She let her hands roam again over Lisa's body as she did so. The blood was good, nourishing and sweet, and her Beast whispered at her to take a little more, just a little more...

Annabelle pulled back, as full as she dared, and licked Lisa's skin to close the wound. Lisa was near breathless on the bed with a dizzy, happy little smile. There was a very faint snarl from the shadows and Annabelle looked up, mildly startled. She realised that Jasper had just watched every second of that and blushed again. Lisa hadn’t seemed to notice at all, lost in her haze of pleasure.

“Damn...” Lisa mumbled. “You... you're very good at that...”

“Thanks,” Annabelle said, a little humble, turning her attention back to Lisa. “You're good too.”

“If you say so.” She tried to sit up, but her body betrayed her and she landed back on her dark pillow. “Woah... I doubt I'm getting up for a while,” she giggled.

Annabelle giggled too. “Yeah. I'll get you some water?”

“Aww... thanks!”

Annabelle got off the bed and headed to the kitchenette. Glasses were easy to find and she filled one with water to bring back. It was the very least she could do. Lisa took it gladly and drank some.

“This was good,” Annabelle said, genuinely. “I had fun.”

“I'm really glad.” Lisa chuckled. “I think it's obvious I did too. So... you said you'd need to get home? It's cool if you do.” She sounded a little like she wished Annabelle could stay longer. Annabelle kind of wished that too, but knew she shouldn’t.

“Yeah, I do, sorry. But... I'll be sure the come by the bar again another time,” she promised.

“Yeah,” Lisa smiled. She seemed to like the sound of that. “You know where to find me. Be safe getting home, okay?”

“I will! Thanks again, Lisa, and... um...” Annabelle's voice dropped to a whisper, hoping to convince Lisa to keep a secret. “Don't tell anyone, okay?”

Lisa smiled again. It seemed like she had had this talk with others before too. “Sure. Your secret's safe with me.”

“Thank you,” Annabelle said. She leaned in to give Lisa one last long, sweet goodbye kiss, then went to the door. “See you.”

Lisa waved goodbye. Annabelle opened the door and made sure to do it wide enough to give Jasper time to slip out too. The door closed slowly behind them with a click.

Annabelle welcomed the cool night air on her face when she and Jasper got back out onto the street. She heard a soft, snarly chuckle by her side.

“Looked like you had fun.”

She glanced at where she had heard his voice. She still had Blush of Life on and her face turned red again. “Yes, I did.”

“She seemed... nice.”

“Yeah...” Annabelle glanced back up at the apartment building, to where she thought Lisa's window might be. She definitely intended to make good on her promise to return to that bar at some point in the near future. “She was.”

“Into vampires too. That's convenient.”

“You know... she might have been into you too, you know.”

She could hear him snicker very quietly. “I doubt it.”

“I don't know... she was really kinky... and besides... I'm into you.”

Annabelle paused and blinked. She hadn't really meant to say that, but it was out now. She cleared her throat. “Jasper?”

“Let's get back to your place,” he said in her ear.

She shivered, as she always did when he did that. She nodded and hurried home.

Annabelle made sure the door was securely locked behind her after she and Jasper got back to her house. Jasper let his Obfuscate drop once he was safely inside. It was the first time Annabelle had seen him since they had left, several hours ago. He looked hungry. She squinted at him, feeling bold and aroused by Lisa's blood.

“If I didn't know better, I'd say you liked watching me feed on her just now,” she said.

Jasper licked his fangs and smiled in the way he knew did funny things to Annabelle's insides. “Maybe.”

Annabelle’s Blush of Life was still active. Her heart thudded in her chest. She was already turned on from earlier. Her mouth felt suddenly a little dry and she swallowed. “Would you... like to... have some too?”

“Yes, please,” Jasper growled.

Annabelle nodded. “Bedroom.” She hastened there with Jasper looming behind her, hot on her heels.

Annabelle's red jacket was off as soon as she got to the bedroom. She tossed it onto her chair, which was already laden with other clothing. Jasper took a step towards her, but hesitated when she held up a finger. She took her shoes off before getting onto the bed. She smiled at him and beckoned him over when she was ready. He crawled onto the bed and came up beside her. She reached towards his head, then stopped.

“May I?” she asked quietly.

“Sure.”

Annabelle gently pulled his hood off, exposing his hairless, black-veined skin. “I want you to be comfortable here,” she said softly.

“I am,” he replied. “You've been a lovely host.”

“Thanks.” She fidgeted a little. “So... how would you like me?”

Jasper smiled. “Like this is fine.” He touched her hand and trailed his hand up to her shoulder and throat. He could feel her goosebumps. He let his fingers linger on her artificial pulse, which was racing away. “You seem very excited,” he observed.

Annabelle giggled. His hands were cold, but she didn't mind. The contrast to her warm skin was exhilarating. She could tell he was dragging this out. The anticipation was killing her. Her jeans felt too tight. “I am excited,” she said.

“I would very much like to taste that.” Annabelle recognised the hunger in his growl. Her stomach twisted. She felt tingly.

Annabelle tilted her neck to give him easy access to the veins and arteries in her throat. She closed her eyes as she heard and felt him draw himself in. She felt his hands on her shoulders and upper arms. He held her close to him, his body firm against hers. He gave her skin a sniff, then opened his mouth and bit into her.

She gasped, feeling his fangs sink into her jugular again. Her Vitae flowed into his hungry mouth. She winced at the pain and bit her lip, but as soon as the pleasure hit she relaxed into his arms, clinging to him with one of her own. She soon became light-headed as the blood left her brain. As if it had a mind of her own, her other hand drifted down to the button and zipper of her jeans and undid them enough to slide her hand into her pants and under her underwear. Her fingers moved against herself in a delicious and well-practiced fashion. She moaned loudly as Jasper bit a little harder and drank a little deeper. The pleasure rolling across her body was strong, and getting stronger by the millisecond. Annabelle was soon quaking with it and couldn’t hold on for long. She clung desperately to Jasper's back and screamed her climax through gritted teeth.

She felt like she was floating afterwards. She was dimly aware of his tongue licking her neck and her Beast grumbling and growling within. She relaxed back onto the pillows, one hand still in her pants. Every now and then she shook with a little aftershock.

A minute later, Annabelle opened her eyes again. Jasper was watching her. He had a hand on her hip. She realised she was still touching herself and, with no small degree of embarrassment, removed her hand. Her fingers were wet. She wiped them on a tissue, her cheeks red. “Sorry...” she mumbled.

“What for? Enjoying yourself?”

“Um...” Annabelle looked at him. He didn't seem bothered in the slightest.

He relaxed beside her, stretching his long body out on her large bed. “I think it's really great that you get so much...” he grinned, “pleasure out of these feedings, Annabelle. It's done wonders for my ego.”

Annabelle suppressed a little laugh and snuggled into him. “Nice to know I can boost your ego?”

“Not many things do, any more.” He stroked her hair. She wished she could feel what he was thinking, like how he could feel her. She figured they might have to have another talk about the Blood Bond soon, but not right at that moment.

“Do you really have to go tomorrow?” she asked very quietly.

“Yeah,” he said, just as softly. “I've got... responsibilities. And besides... what would your girlfriend say when she came home to find me in your bed?”

Annabelle laughed at the mental image. “She might be into it?”

She could feel Jasper shake his head. “I think she'd be horrified, Annabelle.”

“Mmm... she'd be surprised, for sure.”

“Have you told her about me?”

“I've... mentioned you, but only in that I have friends who are vampires. She doesn't know about the feeding.”

Jasper gave a little disapproving snarl. “I still wish you hadn't told her anything.”

“I know... but I can't take it back now.” Annabelle sighed.

“What about Mark?”

“He’s not been around as much. Victor’s mostly kept him away.” There was a note of sadness in Annabelle’s voice. She gently traced one of the lines on Jasper’s hoodie with her finger.

“I've had a good time with you this weekend,” Annabelle said, changing the subject and telling the truth. “A very good time. I've missed this.”

“I've missed this too,” Jasper confessed.

“Let's... not go so long between breaks next time?” she said hopefully.

“We'll see, but it would be nice,” Jasper agreed.

When dawn arrived, the two of them remained snuggled in each other's arms as they slept. Annabelle's Blush of Life faded and her body cooled to its usual undead temperature. For a little while, she could pretend that Jasper didn't have to leave the next night. She promised herself to invite him back as soon as she was able to. She sensed he wouldn’t say 'no.'

#la by night #l.a. by night #vampire the masquerade #jasper/annabelle #blood drinking #vampire smut #times jasper fed from annabelle

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argorpg-blog · 6 years

Photo

CONGRATULATIONS and welcome to the crew of the Argo II, SOPHIE! The Gods have spoken: welcome aboard AMBITIO, known as LAUREL ZHOU, with a faceclaim of JESSICA HENWICK. Please take a look at our checklist, and send in your account in the next 24 hours.

ADMIN NOTE: Below the cut, you will find the first of our two sample apps. Hopefully this will be helpful in answering any questions you have about our application, as well as show you how acceptances will be formatted when we accept on October 26th. This is where an admin note regarding the application will be on acceptance day.

OUT OF CHARACTER

NAME/ALIAS: Sophie

AGE, TIMEZONE, PRONOUNS: 21, aest, she/her.

ACTIVITY & EXTRAS: I do have class and work, but I consider myself good at time-managing and can generally make it on for a few hours a day, particularly as I'm also an admin. That being said, I do have a break soon so hopefully my activity should be pretty good all around! Solid 8/10.

IN CHARACTER

DESIRED SKELETON: Ambitio

CHARACTER NAME: Laurel Mei Zhou

( LAUREL ) - Wreath worn on the head as a symbol of victory, dating back to Ancient Greece and Rome. Close family and friends may refer to Laurel as El or Ellie.

( MEI ) - Beautiful in Chinese, named after her mother Chia-mei Zhou.

( ZHOU ) - Family surname of Chinese origin, originating from the Zhou Dynasty, passed down on the maternal side.

AGE & GENDER: 26, cisfemale (she/her pronouns)

FACECLAIM: Jessica Henwick, Chloe Bennet, Katie Findlay

BIOGRAPHY:

FIVE YEARS OLD.

She cries a lot. She's small for her age and the slightest upset sends her running home in tears, pushing others in the playground. Her mother always looks vaguely confused, and her favourite phrases to tell Laurel are being a warrior is in your blood, and you'll grow out of it. Laurel is always doubtful of this, but her uncle isn’t. He's always concerned, in the way that makes her feel loved, taking her out for overpriced ice cream at the bodega down the street, always buying the bandaids with the cartoons on it. Laurel grows up always begging to go to her uncle's house, and when he dies, all she wants to do is crawl into bed and eat their favourite ice cream (mint chocolate chip).

Mama has other ideas - she wants to channel grief into productivity. She signs Laurel up for Brownies, judo class, swimming sports at the local events center. Before long Laurel becomes so busy that she can't even remember her uncle's face anymore. Just that feeling of love, and peppermint ice cream bursting on her tongue.

TWELVE YEARS OLD.

She's crying less now. She's too busy to cry, too grown up to cry. Her mother looks at her with pride and keeps photos in her wallet to show her friends. Laurel pretends to be embarrassed but privately she loves the attention her mother divides to her. Sometimes she still cries - once a year at Uncle's grave, under the covers after a nightmare, sometimes when she catches sight of something frightening out of the corner of her eye. Other adults always say Monsters aren't real, Laurel, but Mama never does, only, Don't be afraid, Ellie.

There are trophies lining her tiny little room in their even tinier New York flat, medals from kickboxing, certificates from Girl Scouts.There is never a dull day in the Zhou household, and one day her mother brings home a man and they turn from two into a compact little family of three. Laurel is a flower girl at their wedding, and she alternates between feeling pleased at all the attention and wondering why her real parents never got married, why Mama never mentions her father.

FOURTEEN YEARS OLD.

A monster launches at Laurel right after swim practice. She escapes by the skin of her teeth, thanks to all those years of self defense lessons, and when she runs into the house covered in cuts and monster dust, all her mother says is Get in the car, Ellie. She doesn't say a thing for the whole ride and it drives Laurel up the walls, but suddenly all she can think of is all the practices she's missing, all this time wasted that she could be practicing.

Her mother drives her to the Wolf House and doesn't say I love you, or Goodbye, or Be safe. She says, Make us proud, and by the time Laurel's figured out whether it's a choice or not, she's standing in the dust left behind from the car. She is fourteen when she trains with Lupa, and she gives up everything she has to prove herself - and then gives a little more after that. It isn't easy (nothing is ever easy) but when Lupa finally gives her a nod of approval, Laurel feels like she is flying miles high, grasping for the light of success among all the loneliness, and she doesn't ever want to let go. Make us proud, her mother said, so Laurel fights all the way to Camp Jupiter, and some more after that, because she learns to love it.

Laurel meets her father at the gates of Camp Jupiter. He is not smiling, but there is something amiss in the glint of his eye, and when he says Well done, she knows he means it. He claims her right after, and kneeling at his feet as his symbol glows above her, she pledges her life away forever. (Only she didn't know it then.)

SIXTEEN YEARS OLD.

The Cohorts leave to defend Mount Othrys, and despite everything, despite the way she trains and goes to bed sweaty, wakes up at the crack of dawn to get ready, Laurel is put in a defensive line. Mars hasn't visited since she was fourteen, and mother always said if you want something, earn it, so the choice is easy. Break out of rank, new battle formations, she plays every trick in the book - and she isn't revolutionary, but it's enough. When she lies bleeding out in the infirmary days later, Mars appears to her in a dream, and she knows that she's done good, that the knife she'd taken is a small price for that piece of recognition, that she’d do it over and over again just to hear him say I’m proud of you.

EIGHTEEN YEARS OLD.

She is shaping up to be one of the Legion's biggest and brightest. People fear her, nickname her hardass, talk about how she can't take a joke (or a break), but none of it ever seems to matter. She hasn't talked to her mother in a year, she has not so much friends but competition. She leads her first successful mission under Mars’ guidance, and comes home with six new scars and a fair bit of trauma. When asked about her success, she says it is the best year of her life.

TWENTY YEARS OLD.

Laurel votes for peace over war, and it is the first time she has seen Mars truly angry. When she goes home, it takes hours of tossing and turning before she can finally get to sleep. When she wakes up in the morning, her pillow is wet from tears, and the sensation is so foreign, like the last time she talked to her mom. (Don't cry, Ellie Mei.) She can't quite decide whether her mother would be disappointed or proud of her. She'd always encouraged Laurel to speak her own mind - but she also always thinks war is the right path, and suddenly Laurel can't bear to pick get on a bus back home and find out. When she steps outside the door, the third Cohort are all angry, and she knows it is a side effect from her father. One of the praetors comes calling later that afternoon, saying things in a condescending tone like we can't afford to have the god of war against us and you need to fix this, Laurel. She's not sure when it became her problem to solve, her burden to bear, and she tells herself she doesn't care, that her father's life and thoughts don't define her.

But the next morning, Laurel gets up early and goes to change her vote. War, it seems, always wins.

TWENTY THREE.

When Laurel is twenty three she tries her hand at dating. It's good for a while (it's better than good, but she would never say it), but it always seems to end the same way. You never make time for me. You're always busy training. I'll never live up to your expectations. Once, she is told that you're always going to put your other commitments first. It hurts - but it's not exactly untrue. Laurel stops looking for serious relationships after that.

TWENTY SIX.

When Laurel is picked for the quest, nobody is surprised, least of all her. There isn't a choice, not really, not for someone who's been raised to be the best at everything. Her life has been a series of accomplishments and sacrificing every piece of herself for victory - yet, looking in the eyes of her father, she knows if she fails this, no other accomplishment could ever matter. Now, boarding the Argo, she’s not sure whats more important: saving the world, or saving her pride.

FATAL FLAW/DEFINING CHARACTERISTIC:

AMBITION. Ambition has always been Laurel's downfall - she suspects as much, too, yet that doesn't make it any less dangerous. She would give up the world in a heartbeat if it meant she could keep her place as War's Daughter, if it meant it would make her father proud. In the past, her ambition has driven her to the brink of self-exhaustion, lack of communication, it has isolated her from the beautiful things in life. She is always thinking about the bigger picture, never about the small details that make it possible. She has jumped in front of a knife many times to satisfy her ambition... and she wouldn't hesitate to do it again. Even at the fate of the world. Even at the fate of herself.

EXTRAS

Playlist

#sample app

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thezeekrecord · 4 years

Text

GAGEGN ch21

[index/summary]

REPORT: Regarding D.Pepper's exploration of reality

Tommy was a morning person. Sometimes he’d work late into the night, but right as the sun began to rise, he’d be up—no hope of sleeping in to make up for lost time. Darnold, on the other hand, was a bit of a late riser; Tommy noticed without any particular reason to be up early, he’d quickly devolve into a late night sleep schedule. Sometimes, when Tommy was having trouble getting to sleep, he’d hear Darnold playing video games on voice chat or downstairs in the kitchen. It wasn’t like it kept him up; he was used to sleeping through other people’s noise, and it was reassuring to hear Darnold peacefully doing his own thing. He was a good roommate and a good friend. Hearing the evidence of someone he trusted being around, just in case he was needed, was usually a good way to fall asleep.

Tommy had been up for a couple hours already when he heard the stairs creaking. He looked up from the Beyblade set he was currently focused on set out at the table, watching Darnold yawn as he joined Tommy in the kitchen.

“Morning.” Darnold mumbled.

Tommy smiled at Darnold, politely not commenting on the fact that it was past noon as Sunkist was quick to greet him. Darnold leaned down to kiss her head sleepily. “Hi, baby.” He murmured, scratching the sides of her head before moving on towards the coffee machine. Tommy loved seeing him first thing after he woke up—he was always so cute when he was sleepy.

“I just made more coffee.” He pointed out.

“Oh, cool. Thanks.”

Darnold poured himself some coffee and sat down, picking up the book he always left at the table; he made a habit of having something set out at the table to read while he was drinking coffee or eating alone. They’d usually end up sitting like this around this time of day, quietly focusing on their own activities in each others’ presence. Tommy liked that quite a bit—he’d usually found growing up if he didn’t want to be alone, he had to either find someone sharing his very particular current interest, or sacrifice his own interest entirely to get involved in someone else’s. Or, as he usually ended up doing, just accepting the loneliness. This was nice, though; he loved being able to just sit with Darnold in almost total silence without judgment while they got to focus on their own things, save for the times Darnold would rant about how dumb a book he was reading was. Tommy enjoyed that a lot, too.

This time, though, Darnold set his book aside with a deep sigh after a few minutes, dragging his palms down his face. “I’m really fucking bored, Tommy.”

“...Right now, or in general?” Tommy asked.

“In general.” Darnold answered, tapping his fingers against his mug. “I didn’t expect being set for life and never having to work would drive me nuts.”

Tommy nodded knowingly. “Yeah. Me too, honestly.”

As if on cue, Tommy jumped in surprise when his phone began to vibrate in his pocket. Tommy fished it out, looking at the caller ID. Tommy held up a finger to Darnold and flipped his phone open. “Hi, Dr. Coomer.”

“Hello, Tommy!” Dr. Coomer greeted. “Are you with Darnold?”

“Oh, yeah. Umm, should I put you on speaker?”

“Yes, please.”

Tommy hit the speaker button and set his phone down between himself and Darnold. “Okay, you’re on speaker.” Tommy announced.

“Wonderful! Bubby and I have been planning a trip, and we thought we’d extend an invitation to everyone.” Dr. Coomer explained. “We’re going to the beach in California!”

“Ooh, California. That’s a long drive.” Darnold commented.

“Oh, no, we were planning on flying.”

Darnold immediately tensed.

“Bubby’s never been to the beach, so I thought it might be a fun first trip.” Dr. Coomer went on. “Would you like to join us? We’re planning on inviting Gordon, Joshua, and Benry as well.”

“I’d love to go.” Tommy replied. “It’s not like I, uhh—like I have anything else to do.”

“Excellent! Perhaps you two should come over in the next...say, half an hour? So we can buy all our tickets together.”

“Okay. See you in a few, then.” Tommy said, picking up his phone.

“Okay! I love you both!”

Tommy smiled. “I love you too, Dr. Coomer.”

Tommy flipped his phone shut, setting it aside and turning to Darnold.

“I, uhhh...might not go.” Darnold said, anxiously picking at the corner of his book. “The idea of flying kinda freaks me out.”

“Oh.” Tommy replied, trying not to sound too disappointed. “Well...that’s okay, if—if you don’t wanna go. But maybe, ummm...you and me could just drive there instead?”

Darnold gave Tommy a surprised look. “Oh, well, I mean—I don’t wanna make you suffer through such a long drive just for me.”

“I don’t mind! I’ve umm—I’ve never gotten to go on a big road trip or anything.”

“Really? Me neither.” Darnold said, rubbing the back of his neck. “I mean, I almost did. To Colorado, actually. It, uhhh...didn’t really pan out, though.”

“Well, we could—we could experience it together.” Tommy suggested with a smile.

Darnold’s face flushed as he looked away. “Y-yeah. That sounds cool.”

Oh, he was so adorable, Tommy couldn’t help but think as he smiled a little wider. It was too bad, really—Darnold probably didn’t feel the same way. He was just shy; that was probably why he’d get all blushy whenever Tommy did or said anything friendly.

Tommy and Darnold quickly got ready to head over to Dr. Coomer and Bubby’s house for trip planning, finding Benry was already there—probably staying with them for the time being, if Tommy had to guess. He hadn’t seen him ever since he’d kicked him out, he remembered anxiously. He was sat at the table with Dr. Coomer and Bubby, fully immersed in his Gameboy as Bubby scribbled in a notepad.

“Hi.” Tommy greeted as he took a seat at the table.

Benry finally looked up at Tommy. “Sup.” He replied casually, looking back down at his game.

“What happened to your coffee table?” Darnold asked, nodding into the living room at the coffee table, which was split in half down the middle.

“Oh, Bubby and I got a little too excited about a match.” Dr. Coomer replied with a grin. “He tossed me into the table and it broke.”

“You could probably replace it with something sturdier.” Darnold said with an amused laugh.

“But what’s the point of throwing him at the coffee table if it doesn’t break?” Bubby questioned.

Darnold didn’t seem to know how to reply to that as Benry and Tommy snickered. “Uhh, we were thinking of driving there instead.” Darnold said instead. “So I guess we’d just head out, like, a day before you guys and meet you there?”

“Oh, are you nervous about flying?” Dr. Coomer asked as he eased back down into his chair.

“Well—the flying, and also TSA, and also getting there on time, and...y’know, just generally every aspect of it.”

“See? I’m not the only one!” Bubby pointed out to Dr. Coomer.

Just as Tommy and Darnold were settling down, there was another knock at the door. Dr. Coomer stood to answer it again, predictably revealing Gordon and Joshua.

“Howdy.” Gordon greeted as they headed into the kitchen. “How’s it going, everybody?”

Benry finally set down his Gameboy, glancing between Gordon and Joshua. Tommy watched closely, curious how this would play out.

Gordon also pointedly looked between Benry and Joshua, brushing his hair back awkwardly before letting out a tense breath and speaking. “You wanna meet Benry, Josh?” He asked gently.

Benry held out his hand for a handshake. Joshua looked up at Gordon for confirmation before approaching, placing his tiny hand in Benry’s.

“Nice to meet you, sir.” Benry greeted formally. “You’re the tiniest little dude I’ve ever seen.”

“I’m two.” Joshua replied.

Benry’s face split into a wide grin. “Hi, two, I’m Benry.”

Joshua made a grouchy expression as Gordon burst out laughing. Tommy smiled a little. His own unresolved issues with Benry aside, it was nice to see them getting along for once. Soon, Gordon and Joshua sat down as well, Gordon setting up his laptop.

“Here, I can buy everyone’s tickets online so we don’t have to go through that whole phone call bullshit.” Gordon offered.

“Uhh—Tommy and I are driving.” Darnold informed him.

“Yeah, I think driving is a much better option.” Bubby agreed.

Gordon frowned, typing away at his computer for a second. “...You sure? It’s gonna be about 15 hours of driving.”

“What?!” Bubby exclaimed. “15 hours? How fucking big is this stupid continent?”

“Oh, man, trust me. 15 hours is nothing.” Gordon said dismissively. “Try driving from Seattle to here in a big old moving truck. That’s like, what, 24 full hours?”

“...Did you live in Seattle before?” Tommy asked curiously.

Gordon paused, staring out at open space for a moment. “...Huh. Yeah, I guess I did...?”

“Isn’t there anything faster that doesn’t involve a plane?” Bubby complained.

“Unfortunately, it’s either that or drive.” Dr. Coomer answered mournfully.

“...Fine. I guess I can try flying.” Bubby huffed, crossing his arms uncomfortably.

“Okay. So that’s...all of us, except Tommy and Darnold?” Gordon asked. “Give me your IDs so I can make sure I’m spelling everything right.”

Dr. Coomer and Bubby reached into their pockets, pulling out their wallets. Gordon turned pointedly to Benry, who hadn’t made a move to take anything out.

“You got an ID?” Gordon asked him.

“No, you fuckin’—you destroyed my passport, bro.” Benry replied, picking his Gameboy back up.

Gordon barked out a loud laugh. “Holy shit, now you’re the one without a passport?! Are you serious?”

“What am I supposed to do? It’s not like I can get another one.” Benry grumbled.

“You go to the passport office, man! We all went pretty much as soon as we got here from the game!”

Benry groaned for a solid 10 seconds straight as Gordon laughed at him.

“Actually, I—he might still be legally dead.” Tommy commented thoughtfully. “I’m not sure he can get another passport without—without, uhhh, a whole lot of trouble.”

“That’s a very good point.” Dr. Coomer muttered, putting his hand to his chin. “Perhaps Benry could join Darnold and Tommy.”

“Y’know, if so many of us are driving and Bubby’s freaked out by flying, why don’t we all drive?” Gordon suggested. “I’d feel bad leaving all that driving to Tommy and Darnold. If we rent a big car, we could share the driving responsibilities. Between like, you two and me and Dr. Coomer, that’d be...what, only three and a half-ish hours of driving per person?”

“That’s a good point.” Dr. Coomer nodded. “What do you think, Bubby?”

“Listen, you all clearly know better than I do on this.” Bubby huffed irritably. “Whatever we end up doing, I’ll survive.”

****

Darnold hadn’t had one of his strange anxiety episodes in a long time. He’d been thinking about it, now that he had the time and space to do so—or, rather, he had no excuse not to, anymore.

He’d wondered about the correlation between the void he saw in the game and his episodes. They were both, very broadly speaking, experiences that felt like he’d stepped out of what was considered “real”. Given the fact that he stopped having episodes when he started working at Black Mesa, and then Black Mesa turned out to be the setting for a video game, it was...

An interesting correlation, to say the least.

He hadn’t had an episode ever since leaving Black Mesa, too, but how much exploration had he actually done? He sort of just fell back into his old habits, sticking to a singular routine, anything that he’d already deemed to be safe. He found one nice restaurant he liked to go to and pretty much just stuck to that, avoiding exploring too much if he could help it. He always took the same route to the grocery store, even if there was traffic, and just turned around and went home if there was a road block. He hadn’t even thought about it; this had been his entire life, avoiding anything he’d deemed to be “unsafe” for him by purely sticking to his safe spots, so it came much too natural to him now that he was back in what could be considered a normal life.

His opportunity to explore his limits was coming up, what with the road trip. He pictured having an episode the minute they left the city, though, just like all those years ago, and having to demand everyone drop everything to take him home. That was embarrassing enough the first time around; he wasn’t about to let that happen again with new friends.

Darnold was currently lying awake in bed, contemplating this as he tried desperately to fix his sleep schedule before the trip. Making up his mind, though, he rolled out of bed and crept down the stairs, careful not to wake Tommy as he took only his cell phone, wallet, and keys out to his car.

Darnold stuck in one of his CDs once he was in the car—a classic, Abba’s Mamma Mia album—and started driving. He deliberately took the opposite turn once he hit the fork in the road he’d usually take to the grocery store, bracing himself for an episode. When it didn’t hit, he let out a deep, relieved breath, continuing down the road without trouble.

He kept expecting it to hit. He’d imagine some sort of threshold up ahead, where everything would stop existing if he crossed over it—just like a video game, he thought with a bitter laugh—but no matter what unfamiliar road he drove over, no matter how far from home, Darnold remained firmly rooted in reality.

Darnold kept driving. He left the city, crossed through the city next to it, and kept on going. He decided to drive a little more deliberately now, following road signs until he hit the interstate. He could see the sun beginning to peek over the horizon as he drove down the long stretch of road, nothing around him but wide open space and the occasional car zipping past on the other side. He’d hit so many false alarms by this point, he found it easy to just sit back a little bit, peacefully watching the sun rise and singing along quietly to Abba. It sort of reminded him of when he’d drive to the closest store for errands while he worked at Black Mesa—it was so far out of the way, he’d end up on long stretches of road like this before he finally reached the city.

It was weird to think back on that, he mused. If the game wasn’t real, what did that mean about the world they were in now?

It was sort of funny, actually, now that he thought back on it. What with his episodes and the way he ended up limiting himself to particular routes and a strict routine, keeping himself to specific interests and hobbies, he was sort of acting like an NPC all along, even outside of the game. Darnold laughed a little to himself, trailing off as he realized he didn’t actually find it very funny at all.

Darnold noticed the sign in the distance, the one he’d been waiting to see, reading “Welcome to Colorado!” Darnold braced himself, sat up in his seat, took a deep breath, turned up his music and put both hands on the wheel. He’d never been outside New Mexico—what if he wasn’t supposed to leave? He thought as fear began to rise up in his stomach.

Well, he was about to find out.

Darnold held his breath as he approached the sign, tightening his grip on the steering wheel as he counted down in his head. Three, two, one...

Darnold flew past the sign without trouble, nothing disappearing around him. The road still stretched out ahead of him, and he could still hear Abba. He let out a deep, relieved breath, pulling over and resting his forehead against the steering wheel. Everything was normal. More normal than it had ever been in his life.

That was sort of terrifying, right? What was stopping him from doing anything alarmingly stupid, now, if he had total control?

After a few minutes, Darnold pulled back onto the road, driving deeper into Colorado. Why shouldn’t he? He was free to do whatever he wanted, right? He wasn’t bound by the laws of being an NPC. He was just a guy, now. And anyone who was just a guy could drive through Colorado if they wanted to. That was his basic right as a regular person with free will.

Darnold drove for a while, stopping in a town with a nice little coffee shop. He felt a little bad about going in in his pajamas, but not bad enough to stop him; he sat there at one of the tables, sipping a really nice latte contemplatively. The place had some nice decorations. Somehow, it was picturesque of what he’d expected out of this state—they weren’t in the mountains just yet, but it was built and decorated like a little lodge by some sort of ski resort. Even now, towards the end of summer, he felt like he should be dressed up in his warmest clothes to brave the snow just outside.

Darnold jumped in surprise at the sensation of his phone vibrating in his pocket. He pulled it out and flipped it open, finding several text messages from Tommy coming in one by one. TOMMY!!☆♥☆: hey darnold where r u? TOMMY!!☆♥☆: i see ur cars gone i thought maybe u went to the store but its been a while TOMMY!!☆♥☆: u doing ok? DARNOLD: hey tommy! im fine DARNOLD: im just out for a drive TOMMY!!☆♥☆: oh ok TOMMY!!☆♥☆: r u driving right now? dont text and drive thats not safe :( DARNOLD: lol no im stopped for coffee rn DARNOLD: ill be back home in a little while TOMMY!!☆♥☆: ok TOMMY!!☆♥☆: have fun on ur drive TOMMY!!☆♥☆: b safe DARNOLD: thanks! i will

Darnold pocketed his phone and tipped his mug up to chug the rest of his coffee. Once he was finished, he hit the road again, driving further up into Colorado. He wasn’t sure at this point when he’d even make it back home; it was nice, though, not even having a plan. Just going for the sake of it, enjoying his music and taking in the sights. This was going to be a lot of fun with Tommy and the rest of the Science Team, Darnold thought as he pulled over at one of those scenic rest stops.

Darnold sat on the hood of his car, staring out at the mountains in front of him. He tried to take a picture, but the camera on his phone really didn’t do it justice—but maybe the real beauty of it was just that he could sit there and take it in, recognizing that he was right there in front of it, right then. He took in a deep breath of fresh air. The road trip with everyone else would be nice, but doing this on his own was so refreshing; he could just take his time, letting himself enjoy it until he felt like he was done, no worries about wasting anyone else’s time.

Besides, how much was he even wanted, anyway? Darnold couldn’t help but wonder. This was a thought process he tried very hard not to entertain, but it just kept popping up; maybe they’d have more fun without him, and it was just impolite not to invite him. Darnold let out a quiet sigh, fiddling with the drawstrings on his pajama pants. He wondered how much he would even be missed, if he just backed out at the last minute, staying home while everyone went and had fun at the beach.

Darnold looked down as he felt his phone rumbling in his pocket again—a phone call this time. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, surprised he was getting a signal at all, and glanced at the caller ID before answering.

“Hiya, Gordon.” Darnold greeted.

“Howdy, Darnold.”

“Hey, why do you say ‘howdy’?” Darnold asked impulsively. “You said you were from Seattle. That doesn’t seem like a Washington thing.”

“Huh? I don’t know.” Gordon replied dismissively. “I guess you’re out right now, but do you wanna come to dinner at my house tonight? I invited everyone else, too.”

“Oh, uhhh, I don’t know if I’ll be back in a reasonable time, but I’ll see if I can make it.” Darnold said, glancing up at the sky. It was early afternoon by now—it’d probably be pretty late by the time he got back.

“Damn, Tommy said you were out for a drive, how far did you go?” Gordon questioned.

“I’m in Colorado right now.”

“What? Why?”

“Iunno.”

“Well—I wanted to double check if you had any food allergies.” Gordon went on. “Tommy said he didn’t think you had any, but I wanna be sure.”

“Oh, I can’t have shellfish.” Darnold told him.

“Oh, fuck.” Gordon cussed loudly. “I was making shrimp scampi.”

“Were you really?”

Gordon snorted on the other end. “No, I’m kidding. I’m making lasagna.”

“Dr. Freeman, I assume you probably don’t have any food restrictions, if you think I haven’t heard jokes like that more times than I could even count.” Darnold said flatly.

“Oh, I’m lactose intolerant.”

“Yeah, I bet you are.”

“What?” Gordon laughed. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Darnold laughed too. “I don’t know. Uhhh, actually—can I ask you something completely unrelated?”

“Yeah, shoot.”

Darnold paused, looking back up at the sky. “Do you think I would be different if I had gone with you during the game?”

Gordon didn’t reply for a bit. “What, like...do you think that would’ve changed you? Yeah, probably, it was...pretty traumatic.”

Darnold frowned. “No, that’s not what I mean. You’re probably right about that, though. It’s more like...I don’t know. I feel like I was just the most regular, run-of-the-mill NPC you could’ve possibly bumped into that was still like, self-aware. If I had been intended to be someone who went with you, I probably would’ve been pretty different, right?”

“...Uhhh...how so?”

“Like...y’know. Tommy’s the son of an alien and has powers. Dr. Coomer has all those helpful cybernetic enhancements. Bubby’s a super powerful tube-grown guy. Benry’s...uhhh...I actually have no idea what Benry is. But you know, that sort of thing. That’s all, like, kickass backstory stuff that had significance in the game. It added to the experience of the story, right? So like, I wasn’t really anybody special, just because I wasn’t...needed, beyond giving you a new arm.”

Gordon was silent on the other end, long enough for Darnold to wonder if his call had been dropped. “I don’t know, man. Kinda hard to say. But what’s it matter?” He finally asked. “I mean—I don’t want to sound dismissive if this is something big that’s been on your mind for a while, it’s just like...we’re out of the game. You don’t have to base your significance on what the game arbitrarily decided you were supposed to be.”

“Yeah, I mean...that makes sense.” Darnold muttered. “I just sorta wish I’d been, like, more important. Y’know?”

“You are important, Darnold.”

Darnold sat there in surprise for a moment. All he could get out was a dumbfounded, “huh?”

Gordon snickered a little bit on the end. “I care about you, dude. We all do. Just because you weren’t there for the big fight doesn’t mean you don’t matter to us.”

“Oh. I—I care about you guys, too.” Darnold replied, awkwardly but fully earnest. “Thanks, Gordon.”

“Plus, like, y’know...the things everyone else went through were pretty fucked up.” Gordon went on. “I wouldn’t want you to have had to go through something traumatic just to prove your importance to the group. You’re not just a character, anymore, so your worth isn’t tied to any sort of...character arc or a backstory for why you have, like, telekinesis or whatever, you know? You can just exist, now.”

“...Yeah. Yeah, that makes sense.” Darnold said, looking down at his free hand and flexing his fingers thoughtfully. “Thanks, Gordon. Really. Sorry to like, drop that all on you.”

“Nah, that’s fine! Don’t worry about it.”

“I’d uhh, better start driving now if I wanna make it back at a reasonable time.” Darnold said, hopping off the hood of his car. “If you guys start getting too hungry, don’t worry about waiting for me.”

“Alright, I mean, we’ll survive if we have to wait a little while. If it’s like, 8 and you’re still gone, though, I’ll just save some for you.”

“Thanks! I’ll see you when I get back.”

Darnold said goodbye to Gordon and flipped his phone shut before climbing back into his car and turning around. He hadn’t even realized how tense he’d been before the call with Gordon; all that was gone, now, as he hummed and carefully made his way down the winding mountain roads.

[previous | next]

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fashiontrendyclub · 4 years

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11 popular things to buy from Lands’ End

We’re all familiar with Lands’ End. It’s been around forever! A reliable purveyor of comfortable, practical clothing for relatively outdoorsy moms and dads of a certain age and temperament everywhere, right? Well, yes—but not entirely. Lands’ End has become a go-to for well-made, classic, and—dare we say it?—stylish threads and gear for active folks of all ages. What we’re saying is, they have some really cute stuff. Below, a selection of 11 best-selling favorites.

1. A stylish slicker you can keep in your pocket

Weathermen can be so unreliable – good thing you’ve got a rain jacket in your back pocket. (Photo: Lands' End) They say that April showers bring May flowers but, this spring, we’d love to see that rain wash away this pesky pandemic. That said, staying at home has us jonesing for solitary walks and fresh air more than ever—even in a light drizzle. Enter: this cute hooded rain jacket, which comes in classic black or bright yellow for a pop of color and levity during even the gloomiest days. The hood and waist both cinch to adjust for more inclement conditions, and the whole jacket folds into a compact square to pack away when the sun begins to shine. Reviewers give this jacket a solid 4.7 stars, saying it's versatile, true-to-size, and lightweight. Get the Women’s Packable Raincoat from Lands’ End for $71.97

2. A versatile vest for stylish layering

Look ma, no sleeves. (Photo: Lands' End) You’ve got to love a layer. The name of this comfy puffer vest belies its multifunctionality—no season calls for layers more than spring. With frosty mornings that transition swiftly into toasty afternoons and back into chilly evenings, it can be hard to decide how to dress for the season, especially if you’re planning to be out all day for a long social-distancing hike. That’s where this cute puffer vest comes in, providing some extra coverage without weighing you down when the wind picks up. The vest has a fitted, feminine cut, setting it apart from its more shapeless, boxy counterparts, so you can layer up and still look svelte. Nearly 700 reviewers give this vest 4.5 stars, saying it's great for hiking, lightweight, and exactly what they expected. Get the Women's Winter Down Puffer Vest from Lands’ End for $26.98

3. This snuggly robe tailor-made for brunching in bed

Next level hygge achieved. (Photo: Lands' End) We’re all spending a lot more time at home these days, so we need to outfit ourselves accordingly. Consider this ultra-cozy cotton terry cloth robe the Netflix & Chill version of the Little Black Dress. There’s nowhere you can’t rock this snuggly statement piece. The kitchen? Nailed it. The couch? Make yourself comfortable. This luxe, shawl-collared robe comes with a belt for when you want to tighten up your lounge look, and roomy pockets to stash relaxation essentials—like tissues to get you through a tear-jerker romcom marathon, or extra snacks. Get the Women's Cotton Terry Long Spa Bath Robe from Lands’ End for $41.97

4. A crazy flattering one-piece bathing suit

Life’s a beach! (Photo: Lands' End) Bathing suits are tough to shop for, and one-pieces are even tougher. So when you find a really good one, you’ll want to hang on to it. This Draper James x Lands’ End number is a really good one. Draper James is a clothing line by Reese Witherspoon and, like everything else the powerhouse actress has been up to lately (Big Little Lies! The Morning Show! A book club to rival Oprah’s!) its wares are incredibly charming. This suit, which comes in three colors to flatter a variety of skin tones, features flattering lines, a soft cup bra insert for support, and a ruffled bustline that adds a flirty touch to a classic silhouette. And did we mention it’s Reese approved?

5. A rugby shirt to up your style game

Go sports! (Photo: Lands' End) Trends come and go, and while some deserve to be relegated to the annals of dubious fashion history (we’re looking at you, Ugg boots and light-wash flared jeans), there are certain styles that are pure Americana—and always in style. One of those is the rugby polo, a prepster staple that can be dressed up or down. We love this cheeky example, which features blocked primary colors for a classic preppy look and a boxy, unisex shape. Throw it on over some khakis and sneakers or kick up the look with denim and boots. Either way, game on. Get the Men's Long Sleeve Colorblock Rugby Shirt from Lands’ End for $44.97

6. A classic canvas tote, with a twist

You’ve got this one in the bag. (Photo: Lands' End) Consider the canvas tote a wardrobe staple. It’s versatile in both function and fashion—you can use it to haul everything from beach blankets to books, gym clothes to your laptops and tablets. This one comes in seven fun and feminine patterns that give a unique touch to a classic shape. Four interior pockets provide extra storage to the open-topped tote, and you can get your initials embroidered on the water-resistant fabric to make it your own. Nearly 1,000 reviewers have given their thoughts on this classic bag, with many even calling it the "best bag ever." Get the Medium Print Open Top Canvas Tote Bag from Lands’ End for $19.97

7. A deep and sturdy tote to carry your cold ones

Keep your cool this summer. (Photo: Lands' End) Even if the farthest you plan to trek this summer is from your living room to the backyard, you’ll need help transporting your spiked seltzer—and a way to keep them chilled throughout a long afternoon of sunbathing. This insulated, water-resistant canvas tote comes with a removable shoulder strap for extra support and keeps food and beverages cold for up to 2 and a half hours when you throw in some ice packs. Plus, it’s a whole lot cuter than your bulky old plastic cooler. Get the Insulated Cooler Tote Bag from Lands’ End for $41.97

8. A pair of rubber wellies to make you feel like a kid again

Rain, rain, don’t go away. (Photo: Lands' End) Make that a very stylish kid. Reclaim the simple pleasure of splashing in puddles when you don these rubber rain boots. These waterproof mid-calf boots come in a versatile black or cute navy stripes, and feature a removable padded footbed for extra support. An adjustable buckle adds an extra bit of flair when you’re out braving—or embracing—the stormy weather. Get the Women's Waterproof Rain Boots from Lands’ End for $41.97

9. A beach blanket big enough for all your buds

Consider it a blanket statement. (Photo: Lands' End) This soft velour beach blanket is 78" wide by 70" long. That’s big enough to fit you and a couple of your sun-loving besties. And hey, if we’re still practicing social distancing this summer, that just means more room for you. Perfect for beach bathing or backyard picnicking, this machine-washable blanket comes in two cheerful velour patterns, both of which reverse to sturdy, terry loops on the bottom side. Get the Printed Velour Beach Blanket from Lands’ End for $44.97

10. A versatile sheath dress (with pockets!)

Everyone loves a dress with pockets. (Photo: Lands' End) An earlier version of this dress was so popular among well-heeled working mothers it went viral among a style-savvy group of “Lawyer Moms” a few years back. Today, the dress’s flattering knit and silhouette are no less coveted. We like this style, which features elbow-length sleeves that make it a great choice for the office (or home office Zoom calls) or a backyard BBQ. Front pockets give the classic style a kicky touch (not to mention a place to store your phone and wallet) and the dark hues give the feminine floral pattern an edgy upgrade.

11. A kids’ hoodie that lets you leave the sunscreen at home

No more battles over sunscreen! (Photo: Lands' End) There are two things kids notoriously hate: eating their vegetables and wearing sunscreen. Unfortunately, both are integral to their health and wellbeing. This cute unisex hoodie can’t help you convince Junior to choke down his broccoli with a smile, but it can help reduce the time you spend engaged in battles over sunscreen. Made from comfortable moisture-wicking fabric, this hoodie has a UPF 50 finish to protect kids’ sensitive skin. Even better? It won’t wash or sweat off! Get the Kids UPF 50 Sun Protection Hoodie from Lands’ End for $12.49 Source Read the full article

#boots #LandsEnd #pants #PopularThings #shirts #stylishcoats

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oh-boy-me · 4 years

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Ok, how about this. MC is pushing her limits beyond what is possible in the art of baking and ends up making hyper-realistic cakes that end up everywhere in the House of Lamentation. The bros are desperate, they don't know what's a cake and what is not anymore. Feel free to go w i l d with this

I got to watch an episode of Sweets or Not Sweets as “research” which was amazing.

Also the “cake” concept kind of turned into a “sweets in general” concept; I hope you don’t mind!

It all started harmlessly enough. MC had been staying up later and spending more time in the kitchen, but none of them had thought any of it. It was good for them to stay busy in a safe and productive way, Lucifer thought. They could eat the results, all seven of them thought.

Maybe they made a themed cake to test the waters. Like a geode cake or a cactus cake. Asmo was in awe; he never ran out of praises about how real it looked. “It’s almost like I’m cutting into the real thing!” He cooed.

And that was the all-clear for things to descend into madness. If the visual STAR of the Devildom thought it looked real, there was no stopping them.

The others had no way of knowing. They had no way to know about the supply they had built up. The hours upon hours of spinning sugar, painting glazes, and meticulously hand-crafting exact replicas.

The fact that not even Beel knew is an attestation to how careful and thorough this was. How had not even Beel caught a whiff of this plan?

The next morning, Satan is on cooking duty, and everything goes fine. But then, after everyone sits down for their meal, a crack resounds through the dining hall, followed by a short scream from Mammon.

He had bitten straight through his fork, was the initial thought from everyone. (Which was certainly not impossible, but it wasn’t something that would normally happen without an effort.) Beel asked if Mammon was ok, and Asmo asked if his teeth in particular were ok.

Mammon is torn between being amazed and terrified at his own strength, when the piece of fork in his mouth melted a bit and he realizes--it wasn’t a fork, it was solid chocolate, dusted with a metallic coating to complete the illusion.

It also tasted very good, so he takes another bite, much to Asmo’s horror.

Beel saves the mood by saying he THOUGHT he smelled chocolate. Yes, all the silverware is chocolate. Where did their actual silverware go?? Only Lucifer and Belphegor bother to wonder.

With the combined power of seven (give or take) minds, it doesn’t take long for them to figure out that MC must be the culprit. That eases their minds a bit--MC wouldn’t actively endanger them for fun--but it also makes them even more worried, because MC is still a wildcard. They’ve known each other for thousands of years. They’ve known MC for far less time.

And the chaos begins.

Lucifer goes to school early because he has to sign some very important documents for the student council before classes, and he’s six documents in before he notices that something isn’t right. It… smells like chocolate in here.

Oh. Oh no.

The ink he brought from home is thick cocoa, heavily tinted with blue food coloring. He’s been signing these very important papers with chocolate.

He is going to kill MC when he gets his hands on them.

Diavolo also has a bit of a moment when he catches Lucifer doing what looks like drinking ink.

Asmo doesn’t even make it to school; he spends hours in his bathroom, opening and sniffing every bottle inside to make sure it isn’t edible now. Some of the perfumes are sugar water. His shampoo is strawberry milkshake. His conditioner is straight frosting. He’s so glad he checked or this would have RUINED his skin.

He decides that no, he cannot risk falling for any pranks, and he enlists Beel to also stay behind and sniff out every sweet in the house.

This is what Beel’s been waiting his entire life for. This is his calling.

Satan’s room was safe. The risk of misplacing or destroying one of his one-of-a-kind books, or honestly even just waking him up, was too high. Satisfied with the news, Satan stops looking at his messages and returns his attention to his Devildom law class.

Lucifer’s room was also safe, but the ink was in his study. How did they get in?

Something smelled good in Levi’s room, but Levi insists that there isn’t anything weird in his room or he would have noticed something out of place. Beel’s nose doesn’t lie, though, and the scream Levi lets out when he bites one of his limited edition Ruri-chan figurines straight in half would unsettle a banshee.

It was molding chocolate and fondant, they have to assure him, not actually his prized merch.

For that scare alone Levi is going to kill MC when he gets his hands on them.

Over at school, all of Belphie’s erasers are sponge cakes. He’s annoyed he has to cross things out, but he’s got a snack and Simeon and Luke are eyeing him as he munches on erasers, so in the end he’s ok with this.

Mammon’s actually bitter that his wallet isn’t filled with chocolate grimm that he can rip people off with. Trust him, he knows. He bit every coin to make sure it wasn’t chocolate. They were all real. His teeth hurt.

In their own classes, MC is blissfully unaware of the avatars of pride and envy, now out for blood. Although, they do have extensive plans with Solomon after school, so maybe they anticipated this.

When he gets home, Mammon finds Beel and Asmo standing in the middle of his room, seeming confused yet determined. Mammon bites back the line about “you tell me not to break into your rooms and yet here you are” and asks what they’re doing. Beel explains there’s a sweet somewhere around here, probably in the couch cushions, but he can’t pinpoint where.

“Well then let’s just take it apart and find it!” Mammon explains, picking up a cushion that promptly breaks in half in his hand. The couch. The couch was the sweet. The whole couch is cake. So is the table; the legs are chocolate and the top is sugar glass.

The three look at each other in a mix of amazement and horror (excitement, in Beel’s case). Do they… do they have to check EVERYTHING?

A quick message is sent to the demon brothers group chat: “Nothing is safe. Bite everything.”

And it’s true; nothing is safe, not even in rooms they previously thought might be ok. Lucifer’s favorite dress shoes? Chocolate over cake. The chandelier in the music room? Spun sugar. The dish rags in the kitchen are this edible, gelatin over rice paper concoction. Somehow Satan’s doorknob is now solid chocolate.

Belphie had originally decided to let them be and take a nap on the couch, but it turns out the cushion he was using was also made of sugar and it dissolved on his face when he drooled a bit. So that was annoying, but watching everyone fight over who’s going to bite the piano is still too fun for him to get angry.

In the end, sixteen pieces of furniture, half the flowers in the halls, and countless miscellaneous items in the house were replaced with cake and other sweets. Everyone in the house except for Beel has a stomachache from taking so many bites of both sweets and real furniture, although Lucifer won’t admit to his own.

And they know they haven’t found everything yet. There’s more cake somewhere. Is it the walls? The plumbing? Can Satan even get back into his room? Is it safe to go to bed? Paranoia settles in, even with Beel on their side.

When MC finally returns to the House of Lamentation, they are immediately cornered by all their roommates. Where are the cakes? Where’s the real furniture? Satan and Belphie take it upon themselves to lead the interrogation, mainly to protect them from Lucifer and Levi. Lucifer and Levi look like they’d still rip throats out first, ask questions later.

MC reassures them that their real items are all safe in the underground tomb. They can technically use this information to find all the equivalent cakes.

Satisfied with this information, Satan sends MC away to bed before Levi can say something he’ll regret in the morning.

And with that, it’s only a process of elimination with physical evidence, and the cake catastrophe comes to a tasty end.

One day, two months later, Lucifer fastens his cufflinks and they crumble in his hands. They were chocolate.

Masterlist

#obey me #obey me one master to rule them all #obey me shall we date #shall we date obey me #obey me swd #swd obey me #obey me!#obey me lucifer #obey me mammon #obey me leviathan #obey me satan #obey me asmodeus #obey me beelzebub #obey me belphegor #obey me headcanons #suchalovelypulga

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letsstayyoungforever-blog1 · 7 years

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If you thought you knew Dodie, then you thought wrong. (or exactly right)

note: everything’s written from her point of view except from the “A few situations” category

« ° B A S I C S ;

name ? Oh, it’s Dodie Grant !

nickname ? Someone called me Goldilocks once.

when’s your birthday ? I was born on the 27th of June, 1999

birth place ? Mum says I was born safe and sounds and that’s all that matters. Although I heard her talk with my auntie about the stain on our car’s backseat once.

age ? 18! Yay...

sexuality ? I like nice people but I want to kiss boys 😊

preferred pronouns ? You can refer to me as a “freshwoman”. Just kidding, you can use she and her

which grade are you in ? My first!

is your current hair colour your natural hair color ? if not, what is your natural hair colour ? It’s always been this blonde! Maybe a little blonder as I grew up from playing in the sun.

eye colour ? Well, I can’t really see them but normally they’re green!

height ? A solid 5 feet.

what are you complimented on most ( physically & persona-wise ) ? That I make people smile and feel young at heart.

do you have any tattoos or piercings ? Oh no, I definitely don’t. Not that there’s anything wrong with them!

if not, would you like one/some ? Okay, no... MAYBE I don’t like them THAT much.

what do you do for fun ? Loads of things! Skipping rope, talking to little babies and kittens, blowing soap bubbles, playing board games, making flower crowns OH- pillow fights! I don’t know, just loads of things!

what’s your preferred clothing style ? Bright colours! And I like clothes that have little doodles or a funny message on them, as well.

left handed or right handed ? Just right.

when free, people will most likely find you … up in a tree (that rhymes hihi)

« ° P E R S O N A ;

how would you describe yourself in five words ? Uh, let’s see... Happy, helpful, honest, hearty and... I’m looking for another word with an H other wise this will seem silly. Hm, high spirited! Does that count?

are you a flirtatious person ? Oh, no. No, no, not really. I get all nervous when I like like someone.

do consider yourself unique ? Yep, everyone is unique and so am I!

are you talkative or rather shy ? I love talking for sure!!

biggest dream ? I really want to help my family out with all their worries. Then maybe they’ll stop treating me like I’m too young to understand everything.

are you good at keeping secrets ? I really want to say yes, because I get so curious about secrets and I know others won’t trust me with them if they tell me! But some may have slipped my mouth already…

are you happy ? Very!

do you consider yourself book-smart or street-smart ? Books usually teach me things. However, the streets have learned me that the grass is softer to play on, does that count?

main character trait ? I guess I’m rather what they call… innocent.

worst habit ? I may or may not throw a tantrum every now and then when I don’t get my way...

biggest pet peeve ? People jumping the queue.

if your life would have a title song, what would it be ? Forever young!

who do your friends compare you to ? I honestly don’t know, you should ask them! Sometimes to Kimmy Schmidt from this TV show ‘Unbreakable’

life motto ? Well, on my closet back at home I had this sticker that said: “Life’s too short to wear boring clothes”. That’s something to live by, isn’t it?

« ° L O V E ;

are you in love ? Yep. I fell in love with Korrina’s dog.

do you have a crush ? No, silly! I was just kidding about the dog.

celebrity crush ? Ryan Gosling will always have my heart.

do you believe in love at first sight ? Oh, yes, it’s why I’m not afraid to make eye contact with people!

thoughts about marriage ? It’s lovely. I always cry when I see a wedding.

what does your ideal partner look like ( inside and out ) ? Oh... He should be charming and friendly, I guess. Someone whom I can do all sorts of activities with! I hope he’s taller than me and has soft hair... But honestly I don’t really care for anything other than his smile.

would you consider yourself a flirt ? Not really... Besides, I think the boy should flirt with the girl, as in the movies, right? Not vice versa?

cuddling or making out ? Cuddling is so warm and cozy!

when i was 18 i had my first kiss and it was unexpected

make out song ? Make what out?

turn ons/offs ? Uh, are you asking me about a light switch?

best love song ever ? Everything I do by Bryan Adams

dumper or the dumped one ? I have never had a relationship before but I hope neither?!

ever experienced heartbreak ? Not really, luckily.

« ° T H I S OR T H A T ;

tea or coffee ? Tea. Coffee makes me to hyper...

frozen yoghurt or ice cream ? Ice cream! Vanilla preferably.

chocolat or vanilla ? Oh, look at that, I answered a question before I got it! Hihi, vanilla, please.

shower or bath ? You can dance best in a shower. But you can have floating duckies in a bath. So both.

movies or books ? Movies for sure. I’m too slow of a reader to keep up with the story.

comedy or adventure movie ? Ah, I usually watch the romcoms so comedy it is, I guess. Laughing’s healthier than suspense anyways.

day or night ? I’m a day person for sure.

black&white or color ? Colors!

chinese or italian ? As people, I have no preference really. But when it comes to food, I’m gonna have to go with italian cause I love pasta.

hugs or kisses ? Hugs!

spring or fall ? Both are lovely! Maybe spring because then flowers blossom. But in fall you can jump around in the leaves...

tattoos or piercings ? Neither please.

money or fame ? Money, that way I can help my parents!

romantic cuddles or hot sex ? Oh, gosh, definitely romantic cuddles hihi.

fair or theme park ? Oh tough one! I’m going to say the fair.

love or lust ? L.O.V.E.

« ° F A V O R I T E S ;

song lyrics ? "Call 1-800-STEEMER, Stanley Steemer gets carpet (or 'your home') cleaner!" It’s just such a catchy tune! I can’t get it out of my head!

song ? Walking on sunshine

quote ? Youth is happy because it has the ability to see beauty. Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old.

actor ? Tom Hanks

actress ? Oh, I’m not very good with names actually. I only knew Tom Hanks because my mum praises him whenever mentioned. That lovely one from The Notebook perhaps?

movie ? Love actually

book ? Peter Pan

memory ? Oh that story about Halloween from 2000 always cracks me up! With the halo and feathers, oh gosh- and then that pumpkin! *cracks up laughing too hard to talk*

joke ? Knock Knock! Who’s there? Egg! Egg who? Eggcited to meet you.

guilty pleasure ? Making things rhyme

« ° A F E W S I T U A T I O N S ;

how would your character react if… (note: out of character)

if they walk into the shower and see a huge spider sitting right in the middle of it ? Give it a name and make a bit of small talk with it while walking to a door/window to put it outside. Maybe show it off to some people on the way as well.

they found out they won the lottery ? Trust her parents with it completely. Maybe keep a little to buy a popcorn machine.

if they find a someone’s wallet on the floor which holds lots of cash ? Go to the lost and found on campus, or the police station so that the person who lost it, may get it back.

they hear a knock on their door and when they say “enter” their ex walks in ? That would completely depend on how they became exes. She might get rather upset/sad though.

if their house was on fire and they had 60 seconds to leave ? what 5 things would they take with them ? The cat, her unicorn onesie, her flower crown, a fire extinguisher and the towel that she’d used in an attempt to save the cookies in the oven that had caused the fire in the first place

« ° O V E R - A L L ;

when was the last time you tried something new ? Was it that time I tried to dance on someone’s lap?

would you ever give up on your life if you could save someone else’s with it ? I actually think so, yes. I’ve got to enjoy life a lot already. So especially when it’s someone close to me and/or who still has his whole life ahead.

are you happy with yourself ? Very! Well, mostly.

what chances do you wish you had taken ? I once had a really good come back but it seemed a little rude so I kept it to myself.

what’s the first thing you think when you see yourself in the mirror ? Goodmorning me!

#about dodie #thegreekstask #ooc: this is still in time right

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