#we got a 3 day pass for the metro but there was a spot where i had to scan it to get out

[im-a-freaking-joy]

There's a difference between as accessible path and an alternate path. And I'd vastly prefer an accessible one but it seems like there's only fucking alternate ones.

[ayliamc]

Italia

Day 5 - The Smell of the Ocean

Steps walked: 16,283

Flights climbed: 13

Vehicles ridden: 3 (two by land, one by water)

Points of interest visited: 3

Leonardos spotted: only bastardizations in tourist swag

We took our time having breakfast and checking out of the hotel, opting for comfort and taking a taxi to the train station rather than the metro. We got to marvel at the skill and audacity of Italian drivers as he cut through solid walls of traffic to get us to the station with plenty of time to spare. We strolled directly onto the train for the nearly three hour ride to Venezia. ‘Twas a relatively uneventful train ride, mostly pleasant, aside from the little boy who sat next to me for 30% of the ride who watched stuff on his phone with the volume on.

We arrived in Venezia, a sinking city, hungry. We tried two cafes at the train station who reportedly sometimes had vegan croissants but no such luck. Dan was noticeably worried because as my hunger grows, my moods become more mercurial. I insisted I’d be ok and that we could head to our hotel and maybe we’ll find something on the way. I was determined not to be the problem, as I usually am.

It was a half hour walk through Venezia to our hotel and along the way we passed a Chinese restaurant listed on Happy Cow (our vegan restaurant finder app, a necessity for every traveling vegan). I was not about to resist another break from Italian food so we had a very satisfying lunch there and I have no regrets about our first stop in Venezia being to a Chinese restaurant.

The rest of our walk to the hotel was uneventful, providing us a nice walking tour of the city, encumbered only by our luggage.

Some observations/thoughts about Venezia:

* For all intents and purposes, there are no roads. No cars. No vehicles. We walked exclusively through alleys, for lack of a better word. Ranging from wide to impossibly narrow, weaving with no apparent rhyme or reason thru the multi-story ancient buildings housing apartments, hotels, restaurants, and shops. Modern kitsch sold from crumbling brick store fronts and tourist traps next to local markets.

* How could anyone live here? It’s just fine to visit. Kind of surreal to experience. But people live their lives in this city where Amazon deliveries are brought by rolly cart and courier and emergency services take a boat to the nearest canal. Their day-to-day is spent navigating through a sea of tourists who seemingly outnumber them.

* It feels less like a real place where people live as it does a run down amusement park where there’s only one ride: a 30 minute gondola ride that costs €80. It’s all in need of a good scrubbing to get rid of that algae/fish/sea salt smell.

* You pay for water at restaurants here. They don’t do tap water.

Our hotel was directly next to a canal and gondola “start point”, of which there are many. The gentleman who ran the hotel greeted us at the door and was outrageously friendly and nice and Italian. “Buongiorno! Ciao! Welcome! You have-a my favorite room-a!”

‘Twas indeed a very nice room with windows that overlooked a canal. We unloaded our bags and went for a walk to the Piazza San Marco and the Doge’s Palace and meandered around, taking in the sights and sounds. Without having much interest in actually paying for admission to any of the museums or historic landmarks, there wasn’t a whole lot for us to do.

And here we are sighing at the bridge of sighs.

We eventually found ourselves in a gondola not far from our hotel (but not the one right next to the hotel entrance). I’d noticed that all the gondoliers were male and I did a bit of googling to confirm that in Venezia’s history, only one “female” gondolier has ever existed, and even then not really. Alex Hai became the “first female gondolier” a few years before he came out as trans. As far as I can tell, he still works as an occasional gondolier but by appointment only. He also works as a filmmaker. So we couldn’t support any women or trans-men, and were left with a traditional gondolier. He was still great and pointed out a few things on our half hour tour. My initial thought that 30 minutes was too short a ride was replaced after about 20 minutes when I decided “yeah, 30 minutes is plenty.”

Many of the gondoliers chat with each other as they pass, their long oars on the right of the boat while they use their left leg to kick off the building walls on either end of the narrow canals. It seems like an exhausting job. I don’t know how they do it. But it’s fun to watch.

We had some time to kill before our reservations. (Too late we discovered there’s exactly one vegan restaurant in all of Venezia and it was far and required reservations which we had not made. An email revealed to us that they were fully booked for the night. Our next best option was a very expensive restaurant that had a vegan menu.) We wandered aimlessly through our little corner of the city while I marveled at some of my aforementioned observations and went to our reservations a half hour early. They seated us immediately on their patio* and we immediately became aware that we were much too poor for this restaurant. We ordered two dishes each, aware that one dish would not be enough food despite the cost. Anyway it was all good. Not as good as the best meal I’ve had, and not good enough to justify the cost. But quite tasty. We had a nice leisurely dinner, hampered only by the French woman sitting next to us who lit up a cigarette right after we had our appetizers. Europeans, amiright?

I’ve also been starting to respond to every dog sighting with an ever increasing yearning for our babies back home. The best part of a vacation is knowing you’ll be ready to finish it at the end. We’re about halfway there, and that feels right.

Our hotel had given us a complimentary bottle of wine which was a sweet, mild Chardonnay which we happily enjoyed before bed, falling asleep to the sounds of splashing water and boats passing by in the canal below our window.

*the alley behind the restaurant

[umichenginabroad]

Week 10: Arrivederci, Sorrento + Reflection

Ciao, 

This last week was bittersweet, to say the least. I really miss my family and friends back home, but I’m not sure I’ll ever feel fully ready to leave Sorrento and Europe. Since I do have to say goodbye however, this week was a pretty good one to end on. This post might be on the longer side, as I had a great last weekend trip to Austria, saw fireworks, finished finals, and ate several goodbye meals. I’m flying out of Rome later this afternoon and even had some time yesterday to explore the city!

Last weekend, my friend and I had a great time in Vienna, Austria. We left Thursday night and got back Sunday afternoon, with surprisingly little issues (fingers crossed that good travel luck continues for my trip home). We explored the Schönbrunn Palace gardens first, making both of us feel like we were about to run into the Bridgertons. The grounds were gorgeous and expansive–we were walking around for a good 2-3 hours seeing all the paths, fountains, and statues. We didn’t go into the palace itself as we would’ve had to buy tickets and we were quite content with our free garden stroll. Later that afternoon (after a quick siesta back at the hostel), we found a free pop music festival in front of one of the main churches. It was so fun to listen to some Austrian artists while eating some delicious street food and a churro. 

(Top two picture from the palace, the left is of some of the flowerbeds and a greenhouse, the right is my friend and I infront of the palace building. The bottom picture is of a band playing on a staying with a domed church in the background)

Saturday morning, we headed into the center of the city to explore the historical district. We had bought a 48 hour pass, making getting around Vienna super easy as there were so many buses, trolleys, and metro lines running frequently. We simply wandered around for a while, seeing churches and other cool, historic buildings at almost every turn. Vienna was, by far, my favorite city to walk around as there were trees everywhere and a bike/pedestrian lane separate from the road. 

After walking around for a while, we decided to go to the Freud museum as we both find psychology interesting. The museum was in his old apartment and clinic space, with many rooms restored to accurately show what he and his patients were accustomed to. It was very interesting and I enjoyed learning more about Freud and his life. That afternoon, my friend and I went thrifting before getting food and heading to bed, as we had an early flight back to Italy.

(Two building with trees in front)

Monday started off with my last physics lecture of the term and continued with lots of studying, writing a final paper, and making a final presentation before ending with a bang (literally). Sorrento had a festival all weekend to celebrate Saint Anna, the patron saint of the town. Monday night was the last night of festivities, which meant a firework show on the water! Lucky for us, the terrace of the institute proved the perfect viewing spot. 

(Left picture is of Marina Grande at night, lit up with arches of fairy lights for the festival. Right is the start of the firework show in the marina from our view on the terrace)

I had my first final Tuesday for Archeology, as well as more studying for physics and homework. That night, CIS Abroad hosted a farewell dinner for us at a nice restaurant. I ate some delicious pasta while we listened to some traditional Southern Italian music. The next day I had my physics final and my final Archeology paper due. I was very relieved after turning both in as I was nearly done with classes, just a presentation in Archeology the next day. A few of my friends and I went out for a last dinner together in Sorrento before getting gelato and watching the sunset and trying not to think about saying goodbye. Thursday brought my final class where I presented on medicine in Pompeii and Herculaneum and the farewell dinner from Sant’Anna institute. After dinner, my friends and I went out for gelato for the last time. I was leaving for Rome the next day, though it still didn’t feel like our time was up. We reminisced on the last 2 and half months, including how there was no way we had been there over 2 months when it felt like only a few weeks had gone by.

(Left picture is of my friends and I at our favorite gelato place for the last time, the right is the sunset view over the water from our farewell meal)

The next morning, I hopped on the circumvesuviana train out of Sorrento for the last time. I could tell you I wasn’t holding back tears, but I’d be lying. I was very sad to be leaving the place that had become home the last several months. I keep reminding myself how excited I am to see the people back home in order to hold myself together. My train to Rome was slightly delayed, but I wouldn’t have expected it any other way and I still got to Rome mostly on time. I checked into my hostel and had a quiet night in, which was much needed after the busy last week with several late night study sessions. I woke up bright and early Saturday morning, as I had tickets to the Vatican City museums for 8:30 am (with a hour and 20 minute walk to get there). Though I don’t like getting up early, this ended up being perfect as the streets were cooler and much less crowded early in the morning. I gave myself some extra time, allowing me to stop by Trevi fountain and the Panthenon on my walk to the city-state. Though I am not as big a fan of the layout of Rome, the sheer number of monuments and the depth of history makes the city truly unforgettable. 

(A few pictures from my day trip around Rome; Top left is the Pantheon, top right is the sunset over a plaza with an obelisk, the bottom is Trevi fountain)

Reflection:

As I am waiting to board my plane home, I keep getting waves of conflicting emotions. Sad to be leaving, excited to see my family, but most of all grateful for this summer. I’ve been thinking back to all I have done this summer and I can’t help but smile. An opportunity like this has been my dream since I was little, and I am so beyond grateful for it. I have grown so much from when I first landed at the end of May. I have seen so many wonderful places and made some great friends.

Before arriving, I was nervous about making friends and finding my way (as most people typically are when starting a new adventure). Turns out, I had nothing to worry about. Sure, I didn't make friends with everyone I met, but that's normal. I found a good couple of people that I enjoyed spending time with, and that's all I could ask for. Some advice I have for others getting ready to go abroad, or getting ready to start anything new honestly, is to not be afraid of going alone. I did not know anybody coming into this program, I am really glad for it. I met some incredible people that I probably wouldn't have gotten close to otherwise.

Additionally, don't be afraid of a solo adventure or two. While I made some amazing memories with my friends, I learned the most about myself (and grew the most) when adventuring on my own. It is very freeing to be held to no-one's schedule or expectations expect your own.

Lastly, take the time to know yourself. If, like me, you grew up with people-pleasing tendencies and were always trying to accommodate other people in your life, you might not actually know what you want and like and need. This trip has taught me so much about myself and I am leaving feeling much more self assured, secured, and settled in I way I have never experienced before. Along with this, know/learn your limits. While traveling around Europe every weekend was amazing, the real reason I was there was to take classes. This meant taking a day off from exploring every now and then to give myself time to rest and time to study. Traveling may be high on your priority list, but succeeding in the classroom has to come first.

While I wish I had more time, I am so happy I studied abroad. I learned so much about physics, new cultures, Italy, Europe, navigating public transport, and myself. It was an experience I will truly never forget and will cherish always.

Marika Ruppart

Mechanical Engineering

Engineering in Sorrento, Italy

[lizamango]

Finding You (Bucky Barnes x Reader) 3/?

 A/N: Hey everyone, sorry this took so long!! This chapter was kinda hard to write, I felt like there wasn’t much that I could add but I did my best! I wanna get to Bucky as much as you all do! 😭😩

Summary: You’ve been one of SHIELD’s top spies for years but what happens when the organisation you’ve put your trust in crumbles and Captain America gives you a mission to help him find his best friend? The last thing you expected to happen was to fall in love with your assignment and become best friends with a witch.

Taglist ~ just comment if you wanna be added

@buckylokisimp​​, @white-wolf-buckaroo​​, @austynparksandpizza, @markandlexies​

Word Count: 2098

​Masterlist

Chapter 1 ~ Chapter 2 ~

Warnings: none

Chapter Summary: You and Steve run from HYDRA

Chapter 3: TOMORROW ISN’T PROMISED TO ANYBODY

I enter a shopping mall where I buy a hoodie for myself and a jacket, glasses and a hat for Rogers using cash. I pass by JD sports and see some Supra Vaders I know the Captain will just love so I go in and grab a pair, and get a pair of Nike Dunk Sky His for myself. I leave and meet him where he waits, away from any crowds and we put on our simple yet effective disguises.

“First rule of going on the run, is don’t run. Walk,” I say, recalling my operations training.

“If I run in these shoes they’re gonna fall off.”

I smirk. “Sorry, thought you’d be bigger.”

Ignoring my innuendo, Steve huffs. “They’re ridiculous, why can’t I lace them up?”

“It’s a fashion statement.” I glance at a map as we pass by. “Apple store’s upstairs.” We ride the escalator and enter the store.

Finding an empty laptop, I get to work. “The drive has a Level 6 homing program so as soon as we boot up, SHIELD will know exactly where we are.”

“How much time will we have?” he asks, surveying the area not so subtly.

“About 9 minutes from…” I insert the drive. “now.” I enter the coding commands to unlock the intel but something inverts each one… now comes in my training from the Academy of Science and Technology. “Fury was right about that ship. Somebody’s trying to hide something.” As I look through the coding script my inputs are rewritten to counter the commands. “This drive is protected by some sort of AI.”

“Like Stark’s robot voice? Can you override it?”

I raise a brow as I type away. “The person who developed this is slightly smarter than me. Slightly. I’m gonna try running a tracer. This is a program that SHIELD developed to track hostile malware, so if we can’t read the file, maybe we can find out its origin.” The map tracks a location and pinpoints it as we are approached by a store employee.

“Can I help you guys with anything?”

I react quickly and give him my best charming smile. “Oh, no. My fiancé was just helping me with some honeymoon destinations,” I giggle, placing my hands on Rogers’ shoulders.

“Right,” he adds awkwardly. “We’re gettin’ married.”

“Congratulations! Where are you guys thinkin’ about goin’?”

I go back to the laptop and the state has been pinpointed.

“New Jersey,” the Captain reads aloud.

“Huh,” the employee lets out, surprised. “I have the exact same glasses,” he says after a pause.

“Wow, you two are practically twins,” I remark as I type away.

“Yeah, I wish!” he chuckles. “Specimen. Uh, if you guys need anything… I’ve been Aaron.”

“Thank you,” Rogers rushes out. “You said 9 minutes,” he checks his watch. “Come on.”

I shush him. “Relax… I’m working.” The screen reads Wheaton, New Jersey. “Done.” I look up at him and he has a frown on his face. “You know it?”

“I used to. Let’s go.” He pulls the hard drive out of the laptop and we walk out of the store. “Standard tac team. Two behind, two across,” he turns to face forward. “two comin’ straight at us. If they make us, I’ll engage, you hit the south escalator to the metro.”

As he speaks I roll my eyes, this guy was definitely not meant for the spy world. “Put your arm around me and laugh at something I said,” I say.

“What?” he sounds utterly confused.

“Do it.” I feel his arm rest on my shoulder and he gives the most awkward laugh I have ever heard come from a person. “See, Captain? No need to make such a scene.” We work our way to the escalator and I spot Rumlow on the escalator coming up. I turn to look up at Rogers. “Kiss me.”

“What?” he says again, flustered.

“Public displays of affection make people very uncomfortable.”

“Yes they do!” he whispers.

I put my hand to the back of his neck and push him towards me so our lips meet and I feel his hand fall on my waist. I open my eyes and pull away slowly after enough time has passed.

“You still uncomfortable?” I ask turning and walking down the escalator.

“That’s not exactly a word I would use,” he murmurs and quiets down as we get to the parking lot.

“We could get bus tickets to New Jersey, think I’ve got enough cash for the trip,” I suggest.

“Keep a look out,” he says approaching a truck as I frown but do as he says. In no time I hear the start of an engine and whirl to look at him. “Come on, we don’t have all day,” he says smugly.

I get into the passenger’s side and he starts to drive to the Garden State.

“Can’t believe Captain America can steal cars…” I say striking up a conversation.

He chuckles. “Kind of a necessary skill when you’re fighting a World War and you’re in enemy territory.”

I hum and he glances at me. “And it’s not stealing if we give it back so get your feet off the dash.”

“Bossy,” I remark but do as he says. “I like that,”

There’s a pink tint to his cheeks and his jaw clenches but he doesn’t say anything.

“So I have a question for you…” I start with a raised brow. “But you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to, although no answer is an answer in itself so-“

“Get to it, L/N,” he interrupts authoritatively.

“Was that your first kiss since 1945?” I smirk.

“That bad, huh?”

“I didn’t say that!” I laugh.

“Well it kinda sounds like that’s what you’re saying.”

“I was just… wondering if you’ve had practice… since going… into the ice,” for a super secret agent, that answer lacked finesse. “It’s just, I don’t know how you did it in 1945 but guys normally move their mouths for a long kiss like that,” I shrug.

“I don’t need practice.”

“Everyone needs practice.”

“It was not my first kiss since 1945. I’m 95, not dead.”

“Oh?” I say, curiosity piqued. “Who’s been kissing Captain America then?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“Someone special?”

He chuckles. “It might come as a surprise to you but it’s hard to find someone with shared life experience,” he says sarcastically.

“That’s okay, you just make stuff up.”

“What, like you?” I know he doesn’t intend for it to sound mean so I shrug it off.

“Not everyone can handle the truth, can they? I wouldn’t mind a few white lies to keep something good going… and you don’t need shared life experience, right? Not really… there’s that whole opposites attract notion, after all.”

“But it’s good to have someone who understands what you’re going through, right?”

I shrug… sometimes not knowing is better. Safer. “Maybe. But in this occupation…” I sigh. “Well I wouldn’t know. I’ve never been in love.”

“You’ve – you never had someone?” Looks like I threw him for a loop.

Shaking my head I turn to look out my window at the trees we pass by. “I don’t hate love or anything… it’s just dangerous to love someone like… us. Isn’t it? They’d either get hurt by people we go after or… ya know, if we don’t come back… it hurts them too.”

“But tomorrow isn’t promised to anybody,” he reasons. “So why deprive yourself of something as great as love on the off chance you die?”

“Because it’s easier.”

“For who?”

“Why the interest Rogers? You wanna fill that spot? Play a little house? Imagine we don’t have to save the world from domestic terrorists?”

He hums at my decision to not answer the question. “No, that’s not what I need right now.”

“And what do you need?”

“Just…” he sighs. “a friend.”

Of course. “Well, there’s a chance you might be in the wrong business, Rogers…”

“Maybe we could start with not calling each other our last names?” he offers.

I smile. “Maybe.”

We arrive at the location the tracer indicated as the sun is setting.

Camp Lehigh is on a sign but it seems to be long abandoned.

“The file came from these coordinates,” I say as I pick the lock on the chained fence.

“So did I…” Steve says looking up at the sign in nostalgia. “This camp is where I was trained.”

“Change much?”

“A little…”

I wonder around, scanning the area for any thing to indicate a power source. “This is a dead end. Zero heat signatures, zero waves. Not even radio. Whoever created the file must have used a router to throw people off.” I tuck the scanner in my back pocket and the Captain looks up at me then shifts his gaze to behind me, frowning. “What is it?”

He starts walking and I follow. “Army regulations forbid storing munitions within 500 yards of the barracks. This building’s in the wrong place.” He breaks the lock with his shield and we enter as it leads us underground.

I turn on the lights and it reveals the insignia painted on the wall. “This was SHIELD. The early days, after it evolved from the Strategic Scientific Reserve,” I say, recognizing the outdated logo.

We wander around, finding a wall of three portraits. “The three founders.” He looks at me. “What? The history is one of the things they teach at the academies. Colonel Philips, Howard Stark and Margaret Carter.”

“There are academies?”

“Three. Very tough admission.”

Rogers spots something and looks closer. “If you’re already working in a secret office…” he pushes the shelves apart. “Why do you need to hide the elevator?”

Using my SHIELD issued code breaking device I type in the code for the elevator which takes us down even further to a room of computers, monitors and servers.

“This can’t be right… this equipment is ancient how could it be used to make the files?”

There was one place that looked like it came from this century and I decide to take a risk and plug in the usb drive. The servers whir and more lights come on.

“Initiate system?” a computerized voice says.

Yes, I type. “Creepy.” As we wait for the system to boot up I smirk. “Shall we play a game?” I laugh at myself. “It’s from a movie that was really pop-“

“I know,” he interrupts. “I saw it.”

A camera moves to Rogers and a voice recites his name and year of birth. Then it turns to me and does the same.

“Is this the AI that was blocking my commands back at the mall?” I say looking closer.

“I may not be the man I was back when the Captain took me in 1945 but I am.” A photo appears on one of the other screens.

“You know this… thing?”

“Arnim Zola was a German Scientist who worked for the Red Skull.”

“He’s been dead for years,” I add, remember something of the history lessons.

“First correction, I am Swiss. Second, look around you. I have never been more alive.” The robot voice recounts his end of life story and how he uploaded his consciousness into databanks.

“How did you get here?”

“By invitation.”

“It was Operation Paperclip after World War II. SHIELD recruited German scientists with strategic value. Always thought they shoulda just locked them all up… we probably wouldn’t be in this mess if they did.”

“HYDRA would have died with the Red Skull.”

“Cut off one head… two more shall take its place,” I recite their mantra aloud.

“When history did not cooperate… history was changed.” A flurry of photos of the Winter Soldier in the back ground of significant political events appear on the screens.

“That’s impossible, SHIELD would have stopped you,” I say, moving closer.

“Accidents would happen.” News of Howard and Maria Stark’s car accident shows up next.

Rogers punches the screen as Zola provokes him.

Does that mean…? I don’t finish the thought as the mad scientist explains what the drive contains.

“What kind of algorithm? What does it do?” I ask.

The doors begin to close as Steve is too late to throw his shield. A beeping comes from my communicator, detecting something. “Steve, we got a bogey. Short range ballistic 30 seconds tops.”

“Who fired it?”

“SHIELD.” I pull out the drive and Steve pulls a grate from the floor. I jump in and he follows, putting the shield up above us as rubble rains down on us. He strains against the weight of it all and the debris settles.

💖💖

Thank you for reading!

I'll be gone until Monday again but I'll try to write on my phone!! I have literally never been so busy throughout this summer until now!

Chapter 4

[bbygirljuvi]

Gruvia Week 2021 Day 3 - Discovery

Author’s note: This emotional roller coaster turned out longer than I intended. Hope you enjoy ^^

Summary: It take place several hours after Alodron’s defeat, on the way of Drameel.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Group had stoped over in a small yard inside the forest before continuing their path to Drameel. It was the excuse they gave the army. They were campers which had been attacked by some wild animal on thir campsite. They would head to Drameel right after dressed their wounds. Aldron was just a town’s name they knew. To their surprise, army really bought that.

It was really small yard, just enough to lit a campfire. So everybody was spread around the forest. Less injuried members were gettering up wood and food to prepare dinner while Wendy was running around, healing big injuries with last drop of her magic.

Everybody was tired, injured and confused yet happy. Small victory smiles were visible on every face. Joyful whispers were rising from everywhere. Fairy tail was safe and together again.

Gray leaned on a tree which wasn’t too far away from campsite but private from other sights. He closed his eyes with a big sigh while Juvia went to get health supplies. The nauseous feeling had been crippling inside him since the event with Metro kept getting stronger and he was at his limit at this point. His head was aching, there was a still fresh wound end of the dried blood track, his left shoulder was at least dislocated and without adrenaline rush, he was feeling like fainting.

He opened his eyes with two different footsteps coming to his way. Juvia was carrying dressing matterials while Wendy was carrying a bowl of water. Both of their faces was twisted in worry. Was he looking bad as he felt?

“Gray-san what’s wrong, where did you get hurt ?” Wendy asked in rush. “Just my arm and head, not big deal” he said with a ressuring smile but nobody bought that.

Juvia was sitting in the corner, giving Wendy enough space to do her stuff. It wasn’t easy tho. He looked like a mess. She’d been aware that his condition was getting worse every passing minute as they walk but he wasn’t looking half as bad before she left, had he’s been faking it not to worry her? Her heart twitched with another wave of affection.

Wendy checked his head first and gasped a little. It was worse then she initially thought. “Do you feel dizzy or like vomiting Gray-san?” she asked. He gave a small nod then hissed in pain. That hurted, he thought.

“You’re probably having a concussion, I will heal it right away. You should still rest tho.” she said while using her magic. With that ice mage started to feel alive again. “Shit, I’m feeling awesome Wendy, you are amazing!!”

She mumbled something like thank you with one of her cute blushes on and tend towards his left shoulder, fixed it instantly too. This time Juvia talked “ We are so luck to have you Wendy-san~” she said with a bright smile. The gloom had been radiated from her was long gone. “I’m glad I can help my friends. Juvia-san what about you, Did you get hurt too?”

“No, just some scratches, Juvia is okey.”she said while giving an impish look to Gray. Which led him to blush and turn his head. Wendy didn’t know what was that about but she had a guess. “Is that so, than I’m heading to Erza-san. Don’t hesitate to call me if you need.” And left while ice and water mages were waving goodbye, warning her for not to overuse her magic.

Idiot,idiot,idiot he repeated himself as Wendy’s footsteps faded. She’s my power to live?? What will you do next time, kiss her in the battlefield? You extra little-

His inner scrolling cut short by a wet cloth. Juvia was cleaning his face. “Dressing time” she said, trying so hard not to grin like a cheshire cat. She knew it would scare him if she teased him about it longer than she already did. But remaining calm was hard when all she heard was her beloved’s voice echoing in her head. Juvia was his power to live!!

With that she bit her lower lip in an unsuccessful attempt to stop a smile from forming. Gray rolled his eyes to that but relaxed a bit. Her dramatic reactions were so familiar... Yeah, he had practically confessed but it wasn’t something new. Things wouldn’t changed between them. With that realisation he even smiled when she covered her mouth to muff her slipped out giggles.

“Oh,shut up” he said while rolling his eyes once again. But this time he was chukling too. “Juvia’s mouth is sealed.” She said while switching to his arm, cleaning the area with a bright smile. She had almost finished bandaging his right arm when he stopped her. “Wendy healed me, I should have done dressing to you first.” “Not until Juvia finishes mummifing Gray-sama” she said, pushed him back and continued her job. “Hah, I knew it, you had come out of nowhere to kill me. White mage was just an excuse, wasn’t it?” He said playfully. So he was comfortable enough to joke around again? He usually needed more time for his awkwardness to fade off. Progress, she mentally noted.

“Of course it was.” She put her best yandere impression on: “ She missed her Gray-sama too much while he was away, she come here to make sure he won’t leave her ever again!” Than laughed grisly.

“Okey, that was terrifying. You are terrifying Juvia” he played along. “Oh and you should be terrified, Juvia is dead serious, see?” she said, started wrapping his abdomen faster while touching that soft spot she knew Gray was ticklish more than she had to.

His response was immediate. “Stop, no, Juvia sto-“ his words cut off with a laughter. His eyes began to fill with the effort not to burst out. He was crawling in different shapes to save himself but Juvia was merciless. She cornered him between her body, large tree that he was initially leaning on and ground he was currently laying. And tickled him more aggressively as she finished bandaging his wounds. “I have a reputation damn it, stop.” he said between laughters and hold her wrists together in a, successful this time, attempt to stop her. But instead of trying to tickle him more or accepting her defeat, she hissed in pain.

He got up fast, questioning what was wrong while rolling up her sleeves. When he saw weird, bruis like wounds covering her whole arm, he yelped.

“Juvia!! Why didn’t you say anything?” Juvia was looking pretty surprised too. “Where Juvia had been pinned inside Metro was stinging a bit but she didn’t think it was something important...” Her voice kept getting lower once she saw his angry expression. “Your whole arm and-“ he checked under his long boots “ leg are covered in red bruises and you didn’t think it was important!?” Juvia opened her mouth but Gray was just started. “You never take care of yourself. Can’t I even trust you when you say I’m fine?” He started to unbuttoning her coat aggressively since bruises were going beyond her upper arms. He’s stripping me, she mentally noted and placed it aside for later. It wasn’t the right time, he was really angry.

“And you bandaged me with those arms! Always depriving yourself, UGH” She opened her mouth once again when he paused his silent yelling to search right ointment in first-ait bag. But before she could found an excuse, moment passed. He continued scrolling her while angrily rubbing oinment on her left arm.

“What should I do, do I need to strip you every time after a mission to make sure you are okey-“ he paused once again when his eyes slightly crossed over the scar on her abdomen, the one he couldn’t stand seeing. Oh-uh Juvia thought, knowing this would make him grumpier. And she was right, his grip tightened on her wrist. Continued his speech angrier which was about how reckless she was, how she was not listening her physical needs, how she should get her priorities right...

And at that moment, it hit her... She knew her feelings were not as unrequited as it was before. She had known it before that sweet words from several hours ago, she’s my power to live. She had known it before he had claimed her body by saying it’s his. She had known it before unpleasant encounter with Invel. She even had known it before he had promised an answer to her on starry night.

But at that exact moment, while he was grumbling about how reckless she was and angrily wrapping bandage above her elbow; she realised he may care her more than she dared to assume. And at that exact moment she felt loved, more loved than she felt her entire life.

He stopped when he saw her eyes were shining with tears. His expression softened with guilt. Lightened his grip. “I’m sorry. Did i hurt you?” She shooke her head and hugged him carefully, trying not to ruin his effort by rubbing ointment off.

“Juvia will take care of herself more from now on, she won’t act reckless, promise.” She said with a touched voice. It was obvious she was crying. “Hey, hey what’s wrong?” Gray tried to push her, to saw her face but she tightened her arms and buried her face deeper in his neck. “Nothing, really. Can we stay like this for a while please.” she said. Gray was about to object when he felt her tears in his neck, followed by a smile. That was a genuine smile. Gray had never been good at reading people’s emotions but Juvia was different. He would understand if she faked it.

So he mumbled “What is this for all of a sudden?” but still wrapped his arms around her waist, rested his blushed cheek on her hair. They were out of sight anyway.

They stayed in that position until Mirajane declared it was dinner time.

[thehotboxsocial]

Shorty B & Pee Wee of The Dangerous Crew

Much respect to Shorty B & Pee Wee, two of the many unsung musicians of mid 90’s Cali rap. Shorty B was already an OG musician by the time he landed in Oakland, CA in 1990; he played in D.C. go-go bands throughout the 80’s and even played spot dates as a fill-in Funkadelic member during this time and first introduced Shock G to his lifelong hero George Clinton.

Shorty B got his on wax start as a brief member of Digital Underground during the Sons Of The P album in 1991, contributing some bass and guitar to the record and was given a lead role on the magnificent “Tales of The Funky”. From there he met Too Short who very impressed and quickly added him to his Dangerous Crew band that helped produce his peak Shorty The Pimp - Getting’ It album run in the mid-90’s. After the Dangerous Crew petered out he kept making hits with T.I. among others and is still active to this day.

Shorty B: Bass, Guitar, Productions & Raps

Tales Of The Funky [Digital Underground] 

Out For The Props [Shorty B]

Cocktales [Too Short]

I'm A Player [Too Short]

Never Talk Down [Too Short feat. Rappin' 4-Tay & MC Breed]

Playa Jay Tee [N2Deep]

Back Up In Ya! [MC Breed]

Prostitute [Goldy]

Funk Session [Shock G & Too Short]

Buy You Some [Too Short & Erick Sermon]

Smoke 'Em Like A Blunt [Spice 1]

My Life [T.I. feat. Daz Dillinger]

Belly Of The Beast [Da Connect]

Call Me [Too $hort & Lil' Kim]

Pimp Life [Too Short feat. Devin The Dude, Bun B & Big Gipp]

Here Today Gone Tomorrow (Remix) [Tucole]

Can You Feel Me [II Foe Tha $]

Loop Holes [Rappin' 4-Tay feat. Playa Metro]

We Do This [Too Short feat. 2Pac, MC Breed & Father Dom]

Player [Criptanite]

Only The Strong Survive [Too Short]

Ride With Me [Little Bruce feat. Shorty B]

Racia [Pooh-Man feat. Too $hort & Ant Banks]

yt           dl

Much like Shorty B, Pee Wee was also a Sons Of The P-era member of Digital Underground and even had his own spin-off group Gold Money with fellow D.U. member Big Money Otis. And like Shorty B, Pee Wee too was a part of Too Short’s mid 90’s Dangerous Crew band and production squad. There is much overlap between the 2 playlists; Shorty B played on a number of the Pee Wee compilation tracks and vice versa. Pee Wee’s music career was much shorter however as he exited the business in the late 90’s. All those fly ass squiggley keyboard lines come courtesy of this former musician turned pharmacist.

Pee Wee: Keys, Guitar, Productions & Raps

1. Gone With The Wind [Pee Wee] 2. The Game Is Sold Not Told [Goldy feat. Too Short] 3. 2 Kill A G [Ant Banks feat. Spice 1 & Too Short] 4. Giving Up The Funk [Too Short feat. MC Breed, Pee Wee, Goldy, Ant Banks] 5. Never That [Goldy feat. Pee Wee, Ant Banks, Ant Diddley Dog & Rappin Ron] 6. How The Gangsters Do It [Rappin' Ron & Ant Diddley Dog] 7. Clownin' Wit Da Crew [Ant Banks feat. Rappin' Ron, Pee Wee, Ant Diddley Dog, Father Dom & Too Short] 8. Gotta Get My Mail [Goldy] 9. Get In Where You Fit In [Too Short feat. Rappin' Ron & Ant Diddley Dog] 10. It's Getting Hard [MC Thick]   11. Rollin A Drop [Pizo feat. Spice 1] 12. Kill Mi Dead [Raw Fusion] 13. Soulja's Story [2Pac] 14. Youngblood [Gold Money] 15. Heartbeat Props [Digital Underground] 16. Crazy Juice [Funky Aztecs] 17. Recognize Game [Spice 1 feat. Ice-T & Too Short] 18. Pulls Out My Flamer [Rappin' Ron & Ant Diddley Dog feat. Mr. Ill] 19. Pass the 40 [Raw Fusion feat. Pee Wee, 2Pac, Saafir, Stretch, Mac Mall, D The Poet 151 & Bulldog]

yt        dl

[purplesurveys]

981

Name 10 Of Your Friends

1. Laurice 2. Angela 3. Luisa 4. Andrew 5. Kate 6. Gabie 7. Tina 8. Jo 9. Liana 10. Jane

Are you related to number 1?: I’m pretty sure we are not, not even distantly.

Do you love number 2?: Like a sister. She means everything to me.

Is number 3 older or younger than you?: She’s older by literally a few days. We were born in the same month, same year; but she arrived around a week earlier.

Are you romantically involved with number 4?: No. I’ve never been interested in them in that way.

Do you wish you could see number 5 more?: Absolutely. She was one of the best friends I made in college and I wish we had/have more opportunities to see each other. I don’t think I’ve hung out with her since the Christmas season last year :(

How did you meet number 6?: Mutual friends introduced us to each other and it was best friend-hood from there.

Would you ever kiss number 7?: Eh, she’s more like a sister to me so pass.

Does 8 share the same taste in music as you do?: We share some favorites as far as I know, but ultimately we have different tastes. Her favorite is the Vampire Weekend, a band I’ve never listened to.

Would you tell a secret to number 9?: I’ve met her irl only once, but sure. I find her reliable.

Would you ever live with number 10?: I think we can be roommates, but I also think we’d drive each other crazy. Also I’m a little intimidated by her so that might ruin my experience living wherever we’re staying in.

Have you ever dated any of the 10 people listed?: Yep.

Would 3 and 7 make a good couple?: Ooh I doubt it. They have very different personalities; I’m pretty sure they’d clash all the time and that they would be simply incompatible. It doesn’t help that Luisa’s gay and Tina’s straight, so.

Do 2 and 5 get along?: As far as I know they’ve never met. They could probably get along; they’re both super friendly and can fit in any crowd.

Are you secretly in love with number 6?: Well, it hasn’t been a secret for a very long time now.

When did you last see number 8?: :( :( :( Don’t do me like thissss. Oh man. I genuinely have no clue. Last year? January of this year? It’s been ages.

Does number 2 know number 6?: Very well. They’re my two best friends so we’ve been in the same room, same car, same bar, same house, etc. plenty of times.

Have you slept in the same bed as number 4?: I don’t recall ever doing so. We’ve lied on the same bed, but neither of us fell asleep that time.

Is number 7 single?: Yes. She’s had her fair share of crushes through the years that I’ve known her but she’s never had a boyfriend.

What do you like to do with number 5?: Drink, smoke, catch up, laugh.

Has your mom met number 6?: Like a million times.

Are number 4 and 8 friends?: I wouldn’t call them friends. I dunno if Jo’s opinion of them has changed in the last few months, but the last thing I’ve been aware of is that Jo does not like them too much. I vividly remember how Jo’s crowd and Andrew’s crowd had to sit at completely opposite tables during our Christmas party last year. Because I was friends with both groups, I spent the evening moving from one table to another before settling at Jo’s because I was closer to that group haha.

What does number 9 look like?: To be honest with you I barely know her. Covid kept us from hanging out but I’m so ridiculously sure that we could’ve ended up becoming great friends, so I’ll always feel crappy about that could’ve-been. From what I remember, she has curly hair and braces, but that’s pretty much all I was able to note down about her appearance in the one time we met in person.

When did you last talk to number 10?: The other day. I needed the contact number of someone who works where she works, so I asked her if it was possible to retrieve the contact details from her.

What was the last thing you said to number 2?: I showed her this meme, hahaha.

Have you ever hugged number 1?: SO MANY TIMES. She is such a hugger. Absolutely no complaints about it.

Is number 2 in a relationship?: Yes, with Hans.

Would 3 and 5 ever get in a fight over you?: I have no idea why two people would ever fight over me. I’m not desirable at all...so no.

How old is number 4?: They are 22, same age as me.

When will you next see number 6?: I don’t know. We have completely opposite work shifts and it’ll be that way for a while, so it’s really hard to tell.

Have you ever hooked up with number 9?: Oh wow, no. That feels wrong.

Do 7 and 8 live in the same place?: No, they’re a few cities apart.

Do you want to talk to number 10 right now?: Not really. I’m not annoyed with her or anything; there’s just nothing to say to each other at the moment.

Is number 3 in your phone contacts?: Yes.

You caught 7 and 9 kissing, your reaction is?: bruh what

Does number 2 smoke?: Socially.

You throw a party and invite 2, 3, and 4, would there be any problems?: For the most part not really, except Andrew tends to get really rowdy and raucous when they’re drunk and that might not go over well with Angela in particular. But who knows? They could also end up being a fun trio; they all have great personalities so I can definitely see that happening as well hahaha.

You're on a roadtrip with 1 and 7. Is it awkward at all?: Not at all. Those two have a great dynamic and are the bubbliest and friendliest people I know. It would be such an entertaining car ride and I wouldn’t complain about driving at all if they were my two passengers.

8 just kissed you. What do you say?: Ask her what it was for. But idk, I feel weird thinking about it actually.

3 and 9 just got into a fight. What might it be about?: They probably just disagreed on something ideology-wise. Luisa is a hardcore red and is very radical; Liana shares the same ideals but is several notches lower. It wouldn’t be a full-blown fight and they’ll most likely end up having an intelligent debate.

Does 7 hate 9?: No. That would be such a tricky spot to be in considering they’re part of the executive board for the org. They should make it a point NOT to end up hating each other lol.

How is 4 today?: I think they’ve been doing alright for the most part! They recently launched their new passion project, a podcast, and so they’ve been super excited and giddy over the last few days. As they should. The podcast looks so promising and I can’t wait for the first episode.

Where does 8 live?: In a city in Metro Manila.

Have you ever liked 6 more than a friend?: Yes.

Would 2 and 4 look cute together?: Not a fan. I’d rather they stick to their current significant others.

Would you ever borrow any of 2's clothes?: Sure! She has a lot of cute pieces. They’d be a size or two larger for my frame, but I’m willing to experiment if she’s willing to lend her clothes to me.

Is 3 taller than 10?: Yes. I think everyone is taller than Jane. HAHAHA

Are you taller than 7?: She’s taller by a few centimeters.

Would it surprise you if 9 got arrested?: I don’t know, actually. Like I said, I’ve barely gotten the chance to know her. At this point in our relationship I can’t really tell if she’s the feisty type.

Could you live with 3 and 4 for a year?: Sure. I thnk it would be the two of them who’ll end up having a blast living together as they’re obsessed with everything sports and sports will definitely dominate the TV and dining table discussions. I can be like their mom, I guess hehe

Do you like number 6's hair?: Yes.

Does number 1 know something about you that most people don't?: I’ve probably shared a secret with her here and there, yes.

8, 6, and 1 are hanging out together. Likely or no?: 8 and 1, for sure. They’re pretty much best friends. With Gabie, not so much. The only time Gabie will be in the picture is if I hang out with them as well.

When did you last hear from number 10?: Again, the other day when I asked for help about something work-related.

Could 3 and 8 be friends?: They already are; we’re in the same college friend group, the daydrinkers ha.

Who do you have more in common with, 4 or 9?: We’re both similar in different ways though...Andrew and I enjoy wrestling and Liana and I share a few interests like The Crown. Just because I know Liana a lot less, I’ll go with Andrew.

What do you usually talk to number 6 about?: Everything under the sun. She’s my best friend. There’s nothing she doesn’t know about me.

Is number 1 a good dancer?: I haven’t really seen her dance, so I wouldn’t make for a good judge.

Have you ever gone swimming with number 5?: Yes.

Would you ever have a sleepover with number 2 and 3?: It might be awkward at first as they’ve never met, but sure! We can give it a try. I don’t necessarily think they’re incompatible; they just haven’t met ever so it might just take some time for them to warm up to one another.

Could you see yourself having kids with number 7?: No. That is kinda weird to think about; I’ve never thought of her in that way.

Do you find number 1 attractive?: She’s pretty and has a nice, big smile, so yes.

You're in trouble. Who do you call first?: Gabie.

Is number 2 a good shoulder to cry on?: Absolutely. If I needed someone to run to and cry it’d be her or Gab.

Will you talk to 9 tonight?: Nope. I don’t really talk to her, but I’d love to be closer with her.

Does 10 have any irrational fears?: She probably does, but it’s never been raised in any of our conversations so there’s no way for me to know of them.

Do you know something personal about number 4?: A lot. They trust me with a few of their secrets and I’m honored that they do.

Do you text number 5?: Not really. We communicate mainly on Messenger and we talk at least once a month.

Does 8 have a nice body?: For sure. Jo is 5′7″ – which is gargantuan in this country – and I’ve always thought she was such a badass for being so tall. We all deadass look like ants next to her.

Do you approve of the people number 9 dates?: I’m not aware of her love life history, if there is one.

Would number 6 look good with facial hair?: I mean if she wanted to grow facial hair, I wouldn’t mind. I’d find her attractive all the same.

Would you ever date one of number 7's siblings?: Noooooo, her brothers are a little old and as far as I know one of them is already married lmao.

Would you go to number 10's wedding?: I would love to.

How would you react if you found out number 8 had a drug problem?: Try to reach out. And ask the other people in the EB if she’s been getting the help and support that she needs.

Did you go to school with number 1?: Just university, though she’s a year level lower. We went to different schools in grade school and high school.

How did you meet number 2?: I was class number 9 and she was class number 10 in Grade 1. And then I stabbed her palm with a pencil; the rest was history.

Would it surprise you if you found out number 4 was stalking you? It would surprise and anger me, yes.

Does 3 make you smile?: All my friends make me smile. That being said, yes Luisa sure does.

[umichenginabroad]

Week 5: Holiday Travel Part 1 at Qingdao

On the Friday night before an early flight to Qingdao, I stayed up filled with excitement for the many things we can do there, worried about what to wear for the crazy 90 degrees Fahrenheit at Yantai, anxious for the upcoming EECS216 midterm, and busied myself in an ongoing battle with an unyielding mosquito. There is no way I'm letting the mosquito get to me when my left eye is still swelling from its previous bite. Being so occupied, I didn't sleep all the way to 3AM, when the alarm finally sounded and signaled me to get ready. Half an hour later, I was waiting at the east gate outside of the dorm with Ramona and my cousin Christine. We were waiting for one last person in our traveling group— my uncle Kelvin, who I need to emphasize is very young and having just graduated, this summer in China is his last vacation before he begins working. Imagine setting up countless 5 minute interval alarms on 3 different devices and oversleeping all of them. Thankfully, he did not mute WeChat text notifications. Cutting close, Kelvin arrived at the same time as the car did and the four of us took off.

The weekend's theme places are two coastal cities in the Shandong province north of Shanghai. The plan was to spend Saturday at Qingdao and save Yantai on Sunday and come back on Monday, which we have off because of the Dragon Boat Festival. I will cover the full day at Qingdao in this blog and save Yantai for next week as there's a lot of content.

After flying for one and a half hour, we arrived at Qingdao's airport at 8:30 AM and spent another hour on the metro, where I got really excited to finally see the city. Qingdao is a super popular tourist vacation city, and there have been many shows filmed there, including a Chinese pop idol show that got me into c-pop back then. Following Plan A of Ramona's detailed itinerary, (she was up at 1AM crafting three potential itineraries, respect), we dropped off our stuff at an airbnb conveniently located at the city center and headed out for lunch.

Qingdao looks like an anime world— there's the uniformly painted peach and orange colored apartments on the main road, cute street decorations and cartoon graphics along clean alleys, and big comic fonts on the restaurants' signs. Our hotel is a walkable distance to the anime street so after lunch, we trudged uphill and I found myself marveling again at the cute aesthetics. The anime street is a popular place to take pictures and with each block of stores we passed, I would see people claiming a spot at both sides of the streets giving their best poses. We had to line up a bit for the popular Totoro wall and there's us roasting under Qingdao's welcoming sun.

And of course, nothing's more exciting than trying out new food. For lunch, we had dumplings color coded with different fillings inside and underneath the dumpling picture is a simple dessert made out of yam coated with blueberry sauce (tasted minimal in sugar like most sweets in China) . The restaurant also kindly served us free Zongzi, which is the holiday food for the Dragon Boat Festival. Zongzi is glutinous rice that can have sweet or salty fillings tightly wrapped in leaves. They are in the picture at the top right of this mini food album. After lunch, we visited a coffee shop at the anime street where I got a rose flavored latte, and it was good good.

Next up on our itinerary is the beer museum, where we were about to have a sip of the local Tsingtao Beer. I should mention that the legal drinking age in China is 18. Although I'm not an alcoholic, I'm willing to give Qingdao's local specialty a try. We bought the tickets in advance in the museum's official mini program available on WeChat and off we went.

Taking shelter at the museum during the hottest time in the afternoon, we scanned over the beer's history, watched the assembly line factory where bottles and caps move around at fast speed and came out as packaged products on the conveyor belt, and experienced the loss of balance inside a drunk house designed for recreating the feel of getting drunk. When I finally get to try the beer, I have to say it did not taste very appealing. I'm better off drinking my mixed drink that is half fruit mix, half sprite, and a few droplets of alcohol. None of us had the courage to finish the drink, so we all dumped it and returned our glasses.

After we got done with the museum, we lost some time taking the metro to Laoshan, only to be dropped off at some ticket gate far away from the mountain trails and eventually decided we're not up for hiking so we took an hour subway to May Fourth Square instead.

Quoted from wikipedia, May Fourth Square is a public square in Qingdao's central business district that borders the Yellow Sea. The red spiral sculpture is called May Wind. Its color being Chinese red, the sculpture commemorates the patriotic spirit of the May Fourth Movement during World War One. One of the proposals in the Treaty of Versailles had involved transferring German concessions of the Shandong province including Qingdao to Japan. In response, mass student organizations gathered in Beijing on May 4th, 1919 and protested against the treaty. Their determination influenced the Chinese delegation to refuse to sign. Hence, a separate treaty was signed to return Shandong back to China. That's the history of the May Fourth Square. The May Wind stood as proof of the people's collaborative effort in a patriotic movement to get back the coastal province.

Credits to Ramona for taking the beautiful picture of the tall straight rose at the right.

After May Fourth Square, we headed back to our hotel and I fell asleep soon after settling into the comfy bed. The mattress was softer than my dorm's bed and the pillow was plumper. Most of all, I need to make up for the lack of sleep last night and replenish my energy for Yantai the next day. I needed rest so much I managed to block off the sound of the speaker down the street that repeatedly called out soufflé for sale. Goodnight to Qingdao.

That's it for Qingdao.

See you all next week for the upcoming Yantai, which embraced us with 90 degrees Fahrenheit but the fun of pedaling across the beach, the view of the glowing sun settling in the beautiful dusk, and the food patrol is so worth it.

Vivien Lin

Computer Engineering

UM - Shanghai Jiaotong University Joint Institute

[smkkbert]

We ended as lovers (11/13)

Summary: Three years ago, Felicity’s life was perfect. She was offered a job at two great companies. Her boyfriend just started his own fashion label, and they picked a perfect apartment to live in together. The more heartbroken she was when Oliver got cold feet and it all ended. Now, Felicity is coming back to Starling City, well aware that she is destined to run into her ex-boyfriend there. While old feelings revive quickly, the pain still goes deep. Besides, for some reason Oliver seems to be angry with her. 

Previous Chapters: 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  or read on Ao3

* * *

Chapter 11: Like a second skin

If she didn’t know Oliver and his passion for contrasts as well as she did, Felicity would probably assume that the driver was a serial killer that was trying to abduct and kill her. Although she knew that most of the things she had heard about the Glades and the people living here were prejudices, she doubted there was much else you could do in a dark and shady alley like this. Well, there wasn’t much else to do here if you weren’t Oliver Jonas Queen.

Releasing a low sigh, Felicity leaned back into the soft leather seat and stroked her hands over the skirt of her dress. Her muscles relaxed and a soft smile spread on her lips.

Two weeks ago, she had had feared getting ulcers just from being back in Starling City. She had been even more nervous on the flight than she usually was. She had basically counted down the days until she was back in Hub City from the moment the plane had landed here, and she had been on edge every minute spent in Starling.

This time, it was completely different. Felicity had still been nervous on her flight. It had been partly because of the turmoil, but it had also been because she was excited for her short stay here. She had looked forward to it. Seeing Sara and Nyssa again and catching her breath after the troublesome week of work was a good idea. She knew that she didn’t rest enough.

Of course, there was also Oliver.

These past days since their date, Felicity had missed him. She had connected the lamp he had bought for her to the wi-fi as soon as she had woken up the next morning, and she hadn’t been surprised when the light had started burning shortly later. All week, she and Oliver had texted again and again. Despite all the work he had had to do, he had always made time to text her.

There was a little part in Felicity that thought it was stupid. She wasn’t a teenager anymore. She didn’t need a text every hour to feel safe or whatever. Still, it had just been nice to know that Oliver had been thinking about her just as much as she had been thinking about him. When it came to love, maybe people never stopped being teenagers.

Eventually, the car that Oliver had sent to the airport to pick her up and take her to her hotel as well as to wait for her there and bring her to the location of the fashion show stopped. Felicity looked out of the window nosily and perked up her eyebrows when she saw where they were. A long red carpet led down the path to the open doors of a disused metro station. The location was unusual, but it was exactly Oliver’s style.

While the driver hurried around the car, Felicity spotted Sara in the crowd. She was wearing a white jumpsuit with a red leather jacket. With the flashlights of the cameras hailing down on her, she posed for the cameras. Felicity felt a tight knot forming in the pit of her stomach just watching her, but Sara smiled naturally. She was used to the attention.

When the driver opened the door for her and reached out his hand, Felicity hesitated for a moment. Of course she wanted to support Oliver today, but she wasn’t exactly pleased to pass all those reporters. She knew exactly that it would cause a lot of attention given the history that she and Oliver shared.

“Ma’am?”

Sighing, Felicity put her fingers into the driver’s hand and let him help her out.

“That’s Felicity Smoak.”

“His ex is here.”

“She’s here and she’s wearing his design.”

Felicity felt her heart starting to race. She wasn’t used to this kind of attention because the few magazines that had asked her for interviews were professional journals. They were interested in her career and her work rather than what she was wearing and who she was sleeping with. This was something completely different.

Luckily, Sara caught sight of her and quickly approached her.

“I still can’t believe you are here,” she said, hugging her close, “first, I didn’t see you in months and now twice in less than two weeks.”

“I know.” Felicity chuckled. “It’s a good change, isn’t it?”

“The best.”

Sara leaned out of the hug, still keeping her eyes on Felicity’s face. She was watching her with a lot of attention, trying to read her face. They had texted each other a couple of times in the past days and they had had a long phone call at the weekend. Sara had wanted to know everything about the date, so Felicity had told her everything.

Right now, it wasn’t the time to talk though. With all the reporters there, one wrong word could be turned against her and make her the cover stories in all the gossip magazines currently available. It was the last thing Felicity wanted.

She shook her head lightly. It was all needed for Sara to understand. She linked her arm with Felicity’s and led her down the red carpet. Instead of continuing to pose like she had before Felicity’s arrival, Sara walked down the red carpet without a single stop. She knew that Felicity didn’t like to be in the spotlight like that.

“Are you going to tell me what’s the current status of you and Oliver?” Sara asked as soon as they were inside of the building, hidden from all the reporters. “I mean you haven’t really said what exactly you are yet.”

Felicity sighed as she walked down the stairs next to Sara.

“I wish I could tell you, but I honestly don’t know.”

“And what do you want to be the status of your relationship?”

Once more, Felicity sighed and shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know.”

These past few days, she had been thinking back and forth about this. She had tried to figure out what she wanted and whether or not she and Oliver could still have a future. As much as she had missed Oliver and as much as she had looked forward to seeing him again, she was hesitating to let in any thought of being with him. There were too many unsolved problems that would come with any future together.

“I tried to figure it out, but- wow.”

The moment they arrived at the foot of the stairs, the conversation she had just had with Sara just faded from Felicity’s mind. She was completely distracted from the beauty of the place here. The track had been set up as a catwalk. The seats for the viewers were placed in neat rows on panes of plexiglass that had been fastened over the rails. Curtains made of black velvet were separating the tracks from the tunnel, hiding where everyone was probably getting ready.

It just looked stunning. Oliver and whoever had helped him with this really had a feeling for making the darkest and ugliest places look as beautiful as paradise.

Sara seemed to sense what Felicity was thinking because she squeezed her hand lightly. Felicity turned her head, looking at her. Sara’s soft smile affected her. It made her smile too.

“I will wish good luck to Nyssa. She’s modeling tonight,” Sara explained, nodding towards the curtains, “you should come with me.”

Felicity bit down on her bottom lip. Since Nyssa’s specialty was the catwalk, and Sara’s strength were photoshoots, the two of them never got in each other’s way. Instead, they could really support each other and be there for each other. It was exactly what Felicity felt was what marriage should be like.

There was a part of Felicity that wanted to step behind that curtain and wish Nyssa good luck too. They weren’t as good friends as she and Sara were, but they were friends after all. It would feel right.

Felicity just didn’t want to meet Oliver just yet. Those last minutes before a fashion show were still critical. Oliver had to make sure that every single design fit perfectly. He never let any model out on the catwalk before he hadn’t made sure that she was looking perfect. He had a recommendation to lose there after all.

“I think I should take my seat,” Felicity said quietly, “I don’t want to distract Oliver and cause him to ruin anything here.”

“He won’t ruin anything,” Sara said, tightening her hold on Felicity’s hand, “and I am sure that he would want to see you.”

Before Felicity could protest, Sara already pulled at her hand and tugged her towards the curtain. A security guy shot them an angry glare when they neared the curtains. Realizing who they were – whether it was Felicity or Sara – he quickly pulled the curtain aside and let them pass.

In the hidden area behind, it looked even more busy than Felicity had thought it would. Two dozen small working areas had been set up for the stylists to make sure that every model was ready to go out onto the catwalk in time. People were running around, nervous or excited or whatever else they were.

Despite all the chaos, it only took seconds for Felicity to find Oliver. He was rushing around, hurrying from one working area to the other to check that every hair and make-up worked with what he had in mind. It had probably been talked out and agreed on before, but Oliver had to control it. He had to be in absolute control when it came to presenting any of his designs.

Watching him while he was ordering the stylists around, encouraging the models to give the best they had and putting the last touches to his designs, Felicity couldn’t help but smile. Everything looked incredibly hectic and chaotic, but Oliver was clearly in his element here. He loved all the business and the noises.

“Felicity. Sara.”

Hearing the familiar voice behind her, Felicity turned around. Moira approached them with her arms spread already.

“Hello, Moira.”

Oliver’s mother hugged Felicity first and then Nyssa. She was wearing a steel blue dress that looked incredibly good on her. It brought out the colors of her eyes. Her sweet perfume embraced her in a little cloud.

“Sara, Darling, Nyssa is right over there if you are looking for her.”

“Oh, perfect.” Sara flashed Felicity a brief smile. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

Felicity nodded her head and looked after Sara. She just stepped next to the window in front of Nyssa, whose face lightened up the very moment she saw her wife. Nyssa reached out her hand, and Sara put her fingers into her wife’s palm immediately. Without losing touch, they started chatting. Their eyes were locked in a loving gaze.

There was something incredibly enviable about the way Sara and Nyssa were around each other. They were so close with each other, and they looked so content with it. Felicity could only imagine from far memories what it was like to feel that way.

“They are a beautiful couple, aren’t they?”

Flashing Moira a smile, Felicity nodded her head in agreement. She quickly turned her head back to look at Nyssa and Sara once more though. They were smiling at each other, and it seemed like for them there was nobody else. Despite the three people working on Nyssa’s hair, make-up and nail polish, there seemed to be only them in their little world.

“They really are.” Nodding her head once more, Felicity released a sigh, but she pushed those thoughts away. “So, is everything ready for the big show?”

“As ready as it should be at this point,” Moira replied and nodded her head, “but it’s been a long way to here.”

Felicity nodded her head. “I am sure it is.”

“The fact that Oliver changed almost everything he had originally planned within those last two weeks robbed at least twenty years of life.” Moira chuckled, but her nervousness and exhaustion definitely sounded through. “I had to color my hair this morning for the first time in my life because the grey was shining through.”

Usually, Felicity would laugh about the fun Moira was making about herself right before she would tell her that it didn’t take away any of her beauty. Even if her age would be shining through, she would still be one of the most beautiful women Felicity had ever met. Despite the make-up and everything else, she was just a natural beauty.

Felicity couldn’t focus on any of that though. She was too distracted by the fact that Oliver had changed so many things about the fashion show within the last two weeks. Oliver was often chaotic, even when it came to work, but he would never decide on something like that lightly. Putting all the designs for a collection together took months. He must be completely sleep-deprived if he had designed and tailored all those dresses in only two weeks.

“He changed everything?”

“Well, he would have to tailor new designs anyway because he tore them apart the night of… well, you know what night.” Moira cleared her throat quickly, trying to hide the awkwardness of the moment. “Instead of tailoring new dresses with the help of the design sketches, Oliver drafted a completely new collection. He worked night and day, at least as long as he wasn’t in Hub City and-“

“Sorry for tempting him away from Starling.”

Moira smiled as softly as Felicity had never seen her before. She hesitated for a second before she put her hand to Felicity’s shoulder.

“My son has a soft spot for you to say the least,” she explained, “and although it distracted him from work at the wrong time, it also gave his work a special touch that his last collections were missing. If you ask me, this is going to be the first collection to really catch up to the first’s success. Maybe it’s even better than that one. Either way, Oliver is clearly past his anger. He didn’t call this collection The Return of Happiness for no reason.”

The Return of Happiness. The words echoed in Felicity’s mind, and she couldn’t help but feel that they were absolutely beautiful. They might also hold quite some meaning if Oliver really meant them.

Felicity felt her heckles rising and quickly turned her head back over her shoulder. She wasn’t surprised to find Oliver’s eyes on her. He was taking her in intensely, letting his gaze travel up and down her body. The corners of his lips twitched slightly at the sight, and Felicity could feel her heartbeat quickening at the way his gaze made her feel.

When Felicity lifted her hand and waved at Oliver awkwardly, he said some last words to the stylist he had been talking about and hurried towards her. Although his eyes were focused on her and only her, he avoided any possible hurdle in his way.

“Hey.”

There it was again, Felicity thought with a smile. That little hey just felt like it was only ever meant for her. Just like that soft tone of his voice and the warm smile on his lips seemed to be just for her.

“Hi.”

Oliver’s arms wrapped around her, and he held her tightly. Felicity could feel his nose pushing against the crown of her head as he breathed her in. With a low sigh, Felicity closed her eyes and leaned even more against Oliver. She let herself enjoy the hug and took in a deep breath until she felt all her muscles relaxing completely.

When Oliver eventually leaned out of the hug, he let his hands stroke all the way down her arms. His fingers tightened around hers then, and he lifted her hands to pull them a little bit to the side and look her up and down. He took in the red dress he had seen in her closet last week, the dress that he had designed and that they both liked so much. Even if he’d try, he wouldn’t be able to hide his smile anymore now.

“Nice dress,” he said, meeting her eyes again. “Who’s the designer?”

“Oh, you actually know him,” Felicity replied, “your mom even meant that-“

Felicity stopped when she realized that Moira was no longer standing next to them. She hadn’t even realized that she had left them. With a quick look around, she found that she had already reached the other end of the room though.

“I guess she thought that it was better to leave us alone.”

Looking back at Oliver, she felt her heartbeat skipping a beat before it started racing in her chest once more. Just like she had seen with Sara and Nyssa before, Felicity felt like all the bustling activity just faded away. All there was were Oliver and his deep blue eyes that she could so easily get lost in.

Only now Felicity realized that Oliver was still holding her hands. His thumbs were rubbing over the back of them slowly, drawing small circles into her skin and-

“Oliver?”

The moment Oliver heard the sound of his name, he clenched his jaws. His shoulders tensed. His fingers tightened around her hands.

“Can’t someone have a moment here?”

Felicity smiled comfortingly. “No, not when you are about to rock a fashion show, so I should go and-“

“Will you still be there after the show?” Oliver asked. “To… talk? Or something?”

Or something, Felicity thought to herself and couldn’t bite back an amused smile. She’d ask Oliver what exactly he had in mind for that if she thought that she could hear his answer. She wasn’t sure that this was the right time or the right place though.

“Oliver, I came here for you,” she said instead and squeezed his hands, “so of course I will still be there after the show.”

“Promise?”

The little word made his heart beat just as high as his hey before.

“Promise,” she whispered. “For now, good luck.”

With that, she straightened up to the tips of her toes and brushed her lips against his cheek in a gentle kiss. Oliver’s eyes were unbelievably soft when Felicity stepped away from him. She squeezed his hands one last time before she turned around and headed back towards the curtains where Sara was already waiting for her.

“If you ask me,” Sara said as they both left the area, “you shouldn’t decide on what status your and Oliver’s relationship has yet because I am sure it’s going to change very soon anyway.”

Felicity shot her a brief glance, trying to look annoyed. Sara held her gaze easily though. She stood with what she had said, and Felicity couldn’t hold it against her. Sara was probably right after all.

 * * *

 “So,” Robert addressed Felicity, turning towards her the moment Malcolm Merlyn left their side, “what did you think about the fashion show?”

“I still can’t believe I gotta watch this from the front row,” Felicity said, shaking her head in disbelief, “it’s been incredible, right?”

The designs had reminded her a lot of Oliver’s first collection. Although every single design had been unique and no copy of the prior designs, the style had the same soft touch the last few collections had seemed to miss. Oliver was still playing around with mixing fabrics that didn’t seem to work together well – leather and lace, velvet and linen, silk and metal – but it was still much softer and really beautiful. Felicity wasn’t surprised that Moira thought the collection was going to be a success.

“You can definitely see how much Oliver has grown as a designer,” Robert agreed, his smile giving away that he knew little about fashion and it was mostly his pride speaking out of him there, “and as a brother. Did you know he was going to do that?”

“If with ‘that’ you mean using Thea’s accessories on his designs and calling her out on the stage to honor her work,” Felicity said, smiling at the memory, “no, I didn’t.”

Felicity couldn’t even deny that she had been surprised when she had recognized some of Thea’s designs on Oliver’s models. She had been even more surprised when Oliver had called Thea onto the stage and thanked her for the work she had contributed. He had also advertised for her designs, reminding everyone how well they fitted with his designs as well as others.

“All I did was asking him to check out Thea’s designs one day soon,” Felicity added eventually and took a sip of her champagne, “I never expected him to do this though.”

“Well, you obviously have a good influence on him,” Robert replied with a smile, “it’s never been different.”

Felicity smiled, but she lowered her gaze. She didn’t know what to think about that. In the few years that she and Oliver had been together, she had often heard that she had been a good influence on him. Although it had certainly always meant well, Felicity couldn’t help but feel awkward about it. Being a good influence on someone meant that you were changing them, and Felicity wasn’t sure that that was what relationships should be about.

When Robert cleared this throat, Felicity lifted her gaze to look at him. Robert was looking at her with pursed lips and a hesitating expression in his eyes. There was something about the way he looked at her that told Felicity there was something on his heart.

“I am sorry, Felicity,” Robert said before Felicity could ask him about it, “for not telling you that your dad was invited.”

Felicity shrugged her shoulders. After everything she had learned about Adrian that night, her father had basically been forgotten. After all, she was used to him being an ass and not really caring about her or about what she was doing.

Besides, if her father hadn’t shown up, she might not have run outside. If she hadn’t run outside, Oliver wouldn’t have followed her. Maybe, they would have never known that there were inconsistencies in the story of their break-up. Despite everything, her dad’s insensitive visit had had some good things to it.

“Don’t worry about it,” Felicity replied, shrugging her shoulders once more, “it did have some good things to it. At least it helped Oliver and me to see that something was wrong.”

“Do you think that you two are going to get back together?”

Felicity almost choked on her champagne at Robert’s question. She hadn’t taken him to be this direct when it came to her relationship with his son. When they had been together, he had been the one that had been more reserved. Moira had been the one to push a little with her questions, asking about their intentions for the future, including weddings and kids. She had been a little nosy although she had still been quite pleasant.

Eventually, Felicity got a hold on her coughing. She took a deep breath and looked right at Robert. He looked a little amused like he had only wanted to tease her with his question anyway.

Felicity shrugged her shoulders. “Who knows?”

From the corner of her eyes, she could see something that called her attraction. Only when she turned her head, she saw that it was Oliver. She wasn’t surprised about it though. They always seemed to know where they were and what they were doing.

Cocking her head slightly, Felicity watched him. Oliver was smiling politely, nodding his head to whatever his opponent was saying. He really did his best to look patient and interested. People who didn’t know him as well as Felicity knew him would probably fall for it. Since Felicity knew him as well as she knew him, there was no way she’d fall for it.

Poor Oliver, Felicity thought to herself. He loved his fashion, and he loved these fashion shows. He hated the after-parties though. They stressed him out because he didn’t really like to talk to people, especially when it was small talk. Sometimes, Felicity was still surprised that this man here was the same man he was when he was around her. They usually seemed like two completely different types of people.

When Oliver’s eyes met hers briefly, he rolled his eyes. He obviously had trouble getting rid of the guy that was talking to him.

“Since I owe you one,” Robert said, clearing his throat, “I will take care of that, so you can steal Oliver away from here.”

With that, he beckoned the waitress to come closer. He stole two glasses of whiskey from the tray and stepped right towards Oliver and the other guy, thrusting the second glass of whiskey into that guy’s hands. Within seconds, Felicity watched Robert urging more and more between them until his back was turned towards Oliver. Leading one hand behind his back, he gestured for Oliver to just run away as quickly as he could.

Oliver didn’t need any further invitation. He turned on his heels and headed right in her direction.

“Finally,” he whispered, wrapping his arms around her without hesitation and brushing his lips against her temple, “I thought I’d never make my way to you.”

Felicity chuckled, rubbing her hands up and down Oliver’s back. It felt so good to be back in his arms like that. There was something perfectly natural about this. Felicity almost wished that she never had to let go again.

“Congratulations on your success,” she said as soon as they pulled out of the hug, smiling at each other, “the show has been amazing. Everyone will love it.”

“We’ll know tomorrow,” Oliver said nervously, “when I read the critics.”

Felicity nodded her head slowly. She knew that Oliver did most of his work for himself. He loved designing and he loved tailoring as far as he could tailor at least. Still, he was always nervous about the critics. He wanted his work to be acknowledged.

“They will be good,” Felicity assured him, putting a hand onto his heart, “or they will be wrong. There is no in between.”

Oliver looked at her intensely like her words were his lifeline. Felicity knew that those few hours between presenting his work to the public and reading the critics in the newspapers were always difficult for Oliver. He was feeling like he was in some kind of void, unable to do anything but wait, and patience had never really been one of Oliver’s virtues.

“Thank you for including Thea by the way.”

“Yeah, I didn’t really do it for you.”

Oliver frowned at his own words. Felicity pressed her lips together and rolled them into her mouth. She didn’t want him to see her smile. It was too much fun to see Oliver struggling for words after his last attempt had sounded so wrong. Usually, she was the one having struggles to find the right words for anything.

“I mean of course I’m happy that you helped me see Thea’s talent. I would have missed it if you hadn’t tipped me off on it,” Oliver hurried to explain quickly, “but I did include her designs in the show and I did invite her on the stage because she really got talent there that shouldn’t be overlooked. Otherwise, nothing would have gotten me to do that, not even you.”

“To be honest, if you had Thea’s talent, someone else would have seen it eventually,” Felicity explained, “so she would have made her way either way.”

Oliver nodded his head. “Yeah, I guess she got the Queen Family’s-“

“Oliver?”

“I will definitely kill somebody before this day is over.”

Poor Oliver, was all Felicity could think once more. For the last three years, he had dedicated himself to his work completely. All he wanted to have now was some kind of break, so he could catch his breath and do what he wanted to do. The people around him just wouldn’t let him because they couldn’t see that things had changed for him. To their excuse, Felicity had to admit that Oliver had chosen the worst timing to take his time.

“You should go,” Felicity whispered, nodding towards the woman that had called Oliver, “we can still talk later. I won’t leave before tomorrow afternoon, so talk to these people here. We can still meet up tomorrow for lunch. I don’t mind.”

“I mind,” Oliver replied, grabbing her hands and holding them tightly, “because I want to spend time with you. That’s more important to me than anything else that is here. Let’s run away.”

Felicity already opened her mouth to reply, but she didn’t really know what to say. She couldn’t ask Oliver to run away with her. If the roles were reversed, she knew that she couldn’t do this. The success of her company meant so much to her because so much depended on it that she couldn’t risk it easily.

“We can’t do that,” Felicity told him and shook her head, “I mean all those people came here for you and-“

“You came here for me,” Oliver interrupted her firmly, shaking his head, “that is what you said to me before the show. You came here for me. Everyone else came for the reporters or my parents or the fashion show itself. You came here for me, so you are the person I want to spend time with tonight. I even got a new phone, so I can put it on mute. It’s so cool.”

Felicity chuckled, but she soon cocked her head at Oliver again. She wanted to go somewhere with him, somewhere where there were no interruptions and where they could have their moment without anyone calling him away. She had come here for him and not because of the fashion show or anything else, so she wanted to spend time with him of course.

“I-“

“You should go,” Moira whispered as she stepped towards them and put her hands to both of their backs, “I will handle all of this.”

“Are you sure, Moira,” Felicity asked, “because I know that-“

“She said we should go,” Oliver said urgently, already grabbing Felicity’s hand, “so we should go before she changes her mind.”

He said those last words right into her ear, tightening his fingers around her hand. Looking at him, Felicity saw how serious he was about it. He really just wanted to leave. Who was she to disagree with him on it?

“Okay,” she said quickly, “let’s go.”

“And take the back exit,” Moira whispered, “or you’ll have your photo printed on the front cover of every tabloid.”

Oliver nodded. He shot Felicity a brief glance, making sure that she was ready. As soon as Felicity nodded her head, giving her consent to go with Oliver wherever he wanted to go right now, he pulled at her hand and led her away. Hand in hand, they hurried towards the back exit wherever exactly that was. At least Oliver seemed to know.

“My parents love you, you know?” he asked, whispering those words into her ear. “They are pushing for us to be together.”

“They think that I have a good influence on you.”

“You do,” Oliver agreed with a chuckle and kissed her temple, “because you chased away my bad mood. They wouldn’t have been able to stand it any longer.”

Felicity smiled at the way Oliver grinned amusedly and replied, “Well, in that case I will do my best to keep your mood at a high level.”

“You don’t have to do much to achieve that,” Oliver said and winked at her, “all you have to do is be there.”

Felicity felt her heart skipping a beat and smiled at his words. Whatever would happen tonight, she was sure that it would decide where their relationship would go. The thought made her stomach flutter as tingle spread all over her body.

Let’s see where this night would take them.

 * * *

 “There we are.”

“There we are,” Oliver agreed with a long sigh and pushed his hands into the pockets of his pants, “unfortunately.”

Felicity smiled softly, cocking her head. Oliver looked honestly sad about the fact that they had finally arrived at the door to her hotel room. He had done his best to prolong this night for as long as possible. He had even made the ten minutes it should have taken from Big Belly’s to the hotel take almost one hour because he had taken quite some detours. Now the soles of her feet were aching, but she didn’t mind.

The evening had indeed been great. For the first time, she had had Oliver all for herself. There hadn’t been any other people around them, and nobody had even called him on the phone. Even if someone had, they wouldn’t have heard it thanks to Oliver’s new phone. Hence, they had been able to have dinner, chat and walk home without any interruptions.

She was just as sorry as Oliver was that the evening was coming to an end, but she really couldn’t be on her feet for much longer. She was tired and exhausted. She just wanted to fall into bed.

“So…”

Oliver lifted his gaze, looking at her. He nodded his head slowly. “So…”

They looked at each other intensely. Neither of them really wanted to say goodbye just yet, but they had arrived at her hotel room, so there wasn’t anything else left to do other than saying goodbye. It was time.

“So…”

The third time that syllable was said, the corners of Oliver’s lips twitched into a smile. If they continued like that, they’d still be here tomorrow. The thought made Felicity chuckle and shake her head.

“Are we going to see each other tomorrow?” Oliver asked, pulling his hand out of the pocket of his jeans and lacing his fingers with hers. “Before you go back to Hub City?”

Felicity nodded her head. “Sounds good.”

“Lunch?”

“Sure.” Again, Felicity nodded and felt a tight knot forming in the pit of her stomach. “My flight leaves at five, so we shouldn’t eat too late, but yeah.”

With how far apart they lived, she and Oliver shouldn’t be dancing around each other like they did. Their past was complicated, and their future, if they had any at all, wasn’t going to be any easier either. Who knew when they had time to see each other again?

“I’ll pick you up at twelve.”

“Okay.” Felicity smiled. “Sounds good.”

Oliver nodded. “Okay.”

“Okay.”

Felicity guessed that okay was the new so. No matter what little word they continued to say just to prolong their time together, it didn’t help. At the end, they would have to say goodnight and goodbye.

“Goodnight, Oliver,” Felicity whispered as little as she wanted to say this, “sleep well.”

“You too.”

Oliver wrapped his arms around her, pulling her against his chest. Just like earlier this day in the show’s backstage area, his nose pressed to the crown of her head and he breathed her in. A moment later, his lips brushed against her hair. Some single hairs got caught in his stubble when he pulled away, but Felicity didn’t mind the slight twinge.

Lifting her gaze to say goodnight to Oliver once more, she realized how close he still was. His breath ghosted over her face. The tip of his nose almost brushed against her forehead when he took in a breath. His chest was still pressed to hers, so she could feel the rapid beat of his heart.

While Oliver angled his head and slowly leaned in, Felicity felt everything around them fading away. It was just Oliver and her, and this time nobody could change that by breaking through their little bubble. There was really just them.

Oliver’s lips were only a breath away from hers when he stopped moving. His eyes were locked with hers, his desire to kiss her visible there. Still, he didn’t close the distance, giving her the time to lean in or distance himself. She should make the final decision of what she wanted.

There wasn’t much of a decision to make though. Felicity knew what she wanted, and it was about time that she finally got it. She had waited three long years and two unbearable weeks.

Angling her head back a little, Felicity straightened up and brushed her lips against his. Their lips touched gently and carefully at first. It only took a brief moment until their lips pressed down a little more firmly into a real kiss. Finally!

Everything inside of Felicity was tingling from the touch of his lips and from the way his short stubble tickled the sensitive skin around her mouth. Oliver lifted a hand to her face, cupping her cheek. His thumb stroked along the line of her jaw while he was continuing to hold her so, so gently.

The kiss was perfect, even more perfect than every single kiss they had shared two weeks ago. This time, the kiss wasn’t filled with anger. It didn’t happen solely from a mixture of lust and bottled-up rage. It was a kiss full of softness, a kiss that came from deep in their hearts. It tasted like love.

Felicity didn’t know how much time had passed when their lips parted. They didn’t pull very far apart, just enough to look at each other. Oliver’s hand stayed at her cheek, holding her like she was a treasure he didn’t want to get hurt. His pupils were dilated, his lips spread into a soft smile of content and joy.

Smiling, Felicity leaned her forehead against Oliver’s. Her arms stayed wrapped around his chest. She used her hold on him to push herself as close to Oliver as possible. Although it wasn’t cold in the hallway, she was seeking the warmth of his body. It warmed her inside and outside.

“Goodnight, Felicity,” Oliver whispered eventually.

“Yeah,” Felicity took in a deep breath and angled her head back a little, “goodnight.”

Instead of moving apart, they only leaned in for another kiss. Their lips opened to each other, their tongues meeting in a slow dance. Oliver lifted his second hand to her face now too, holding her head between his palms.

“I should go,” Oliver whispered against her lips, “like right now.”

Felicity hummed in what sounded like agreement. Her hands moved to the front of his chest at the same time. Her fingers tightened around his leather jacket, pulling him even closer towards her. Her words and her actions just didn’t work together.

“Goodnight, Oliver,” she whispered her reply, “see you tomorrow.”

“Yeah, tomorrow.”

The goodbye stayed in their words though as they continued kissing. Felicity really didn’t want Oliver to go, now even less than a couple of minutes ago. She wanted him to stay. She wanted to pretend that she could just hold him and never had to let him go again. Of course she knew that it wasn’t really possible with her job, her friends and her entire life really in Hub City, but at least she could pretend.

The last three years had been filled with so much sorrow and so much anger, they deserved to pretend that everything was going to be easy from here on. At least for one night, Felicity figured that they were allowed to. It was all she really wanted right now.

With that thought, Felicity reached into her purse and grabbed her key card. She knew that as long as Oliver’s lips were on hers, she would never have the focus to get that card into the little slit meant for it. So she stroked the card over the back of Oliver’s hand on her face. He got it immediately, grabbed it and unlocked the door within two seconds.

As soon as they had crossed the doorstep, Oliver kicked the door shut between them. The key card fell onto the floor with a low clattering sound. Felicity kicked her shoes away, sighing contently when the soles of her feet touched the floor. Oliver swallowed the sound eagerly, tightening his arms around her.

Felicity wanted to lead him towards the bedroom, unwilling to wait any longer to feel all of Oliver. She wanted him to be in her and all around her. She wanted to feel him and only him, nothing else. The little bubble that was around them already should grow even smaller, so there was nothing else to focus on than them.

When Felicity took the first step away, their lips parted though as Oliver just stood where he was. His hands were holding hers as they were standing the length of an arm away from each other. His smile was taking over his entire face as he was looking at her. He looked as happy as Felicity hadn’t seen him in a long time.

“What?” she asked, cocking her head, when he showed no sign of following her. “Are you playing hard-to-get? Or shy? I have to disappoint you, Oliver, that train had left the station a long time ago.”

“It did?” Oliver asked. “Really?”

“Yeah, kind of.”

Chuckling, Oliver pulled at her hand until she was back in his arms. His lips brushed against hers in a gentle and even playful kiss. As soon as Felicity straightened up to deepen the kiss and start another attempt of getting him into her bedroom – really, her thoughts made her feel like she was a femme fatal, trying to tempt her next victim into the darkness with her – Oliver broke the kiss once more.

Felicity grumbled unhappily. After all the time they had wasted hating each other, she didn’t want to wait any longer. They had lost so much time. They should try to catch up now.

With one look at Oliver’s face, Felicity felt her heart losing its rhythm. It was beating irregularly, stumbling in her chest helplessly. There was just something in Oliver’s eyes that told Felicity something big was coming. Oliver hadn’t stopped because he was playing around. He hadn’t even done it to heighten their desire for each other. He just needed to say something, and it was something meaningful, something that had to be said now. It had to get out of him, so he could breathe and it could breathe.

“Felicity,” he whispered her name like it was a prayer and lifted his hands back to cup her cheeks, looking at her as softly as he was holding her, “I love you.”

She shouldn’t be surprised. Deep down, she had known that Oliver still loved her. She had seen it in the way he had looked at her when they had had sex. She had felt it in his rage when he had freaked out the night of the rehearsal dinner. She had known it from everything he had done after that.

And still Felicity couldn’t help being surprised at hearing Oliver say those words out loud tonight. It just came unexpected because Oliver didn’t necessarily carry his heart on his tongue a lot of times. He was quiet and broody, especially when it came to his feelings. Big gestures and meaningful words just weren’t his. He showed his lips rather than saying it unless it was a quick Love you between two goodbye kisses.

“I love you, Felicity,” he repeated his words, “and I have always loved you and I probably will always love you. If the last three years didn’t do anything to change that, nothing ever will. For me, it’s going to be you no matter what.”

If her heart would beat any more quickly, Felicity was sure that it would just escape her chest. Her throat felt tight, and she was sure that no sound would come from it. With the way Oliver was looking at her, waiting for her to say something after this big declaration of love, she cleared her throat though.

“That’s intense.”

Her voice was lowered to a whisper that she could barely hear over the rushing of blood in her ears. If Oliver’s slightly amused smile was any indication, he hadn’t missed it.

“True,” he said with a sigh, looking at her gently, while his right hand was stroking over her cheek, “but I don’t want to lose time dangling maybes or something. I have gotten a second chance to show you how much I love you, so I will use it. I know there won’t be a third chance, so I have to make this work. I want to use this chance to its best.”

Felicity nodded her head. Wasn’t that exactly what had been on her mind before too? That they had to make up for the missed time by going all in from the start instead of waiting around for life to make things easier for them?

“I know you aren’t the same person you have been three years ago,” Oliver continued, “neither am I. We have to get to know each other again, but I just know that, whoever you are now or whoever you will become in the future, it will never change my feelings for you. I will always, always, always love you.”

The heaviness of his words got her. The repeated declaration of love crawled under her skin and spread in every cell of her body.

For a second, Felicity felt panic building at that feeling. She had sworn herself never to fall that deeply in love again. She had left like she had been burnt once and the pain of it had been with her for so long that it wasn’t worth it. No matter how happy love could make you, it wasn’t worth the pain that came when it was gone. It was too much for her to take once more.

Since she had never really fallen out of love with Oliver, it wasn’t like she had much of a choice here. Even if she didn’t want to fall in love again, it didn’t matter. She still was that deeply in love. And it would be worth it.

“I love you too.”

Felicity hadn’t realized how much Oliver had needed to hear her say those words. He released a strangled breath. His chest heaved and the tension she hadn’t noticed in his shoulders before seemed to ease.

He loved her. She had loved him. That easily, the world seemed to make sense again and everything inside of her seemed to have found its place again. She had fully found her place again because that little emptiness that not even Helix Dynamics could have filled was taken again.

Not breaking the lock of their eyes, Oliver stroked his hands down her body. His right arm wrapped around her back, while his left arm pushed beneath the back of her knees. He lifted her into his arms easily, holding her like she was as light as a feather. All the while, he just continued to look at her like she had just given him the most precious gift he had ever received.

Felicity lifted her hands to Oliver’s cheeks, holding his face the way he had held hers before. While her fingertips were stroking through his short stubble, Felicity watched Oliver’s in. She wanted to take him and memorize him in this moment that they had found their way back to each other. He looked so happy and so at ease. He looked like he had found his home, just like she had.

They leaned in at the same time. As their lips brushed together, Felicity stroked her fingers into the short hair at the nape of Oliver’s neck. She could feel goosebumps spreading on his skin, and she smiled into the kiss at that feeling. She loved knowing that she could do that to him with just as much as an innocent touch.

Oliver carried her into the bedroom. Thanks to the few doors there were, he didn’t have any trouble finding the bedroom. Even if he did, Felicity wouldn’t mind. It was a nice feeling to be carried by Oliver like this. She could easily get used to it.

In the bedroom, Oliver lowered Felicity to the floor right next to the bed. His arms stayed wrapped around her though, stopping her from distancing herself. It wasn’t like Felicity had had any intention to do so in the first place. The closer she was to Oliver, the better.

Scraping his teeth against her bottom lip, Oliver broke the kiss. He didn’t pull away. Instead, his lips peppered a trail of kisses from the corners of her lips to the soft spot right under her ear. His lips lingered there a little longer, almost turning Felicity’s legs into wobbly jelly. Her fingers tightened in his upper arms.

“Finally, I gotta do what I wanted to do a very long time.”

Oliver stroked his fingers up her back towards the topmost button, leaning back a little. His eyes locked with hers, and he smiled softly. One by one, he undid the buttons of her dress. His fingertips brushed against her soft skin, and Felicity was sure that his touch caused goosebumps to spread from the nape of her neck all the way down her back.

As soon as he had undone the last button, Oliver put his hands to the naked skin of her back. The warmth of his skin warmed her and relaxed the slight tension she always carried in her muscles. With a content sigh, she leaned all the way against Oliver. She angled her head back as far as he could, so she could look at Oliver’s face.

“You do know what you undressed me two weeks ago, right?” Felicity asked. “It’s not been that long.”

“But I didn’t take any of my designs off you.”

Felicity perked up her eyebrows. “My dress for the wedding?”

Oliver looked at her, unable to find something to say. He opened his lips, but he closed them again. He frowned for a moment before he chuckled. Although it was certainly mean to sound light, Felicity couldn’t help but think that it actually sounded a little sad.

“I didn’t realize that until now,” Oliver said, shaking his head, “I guess I was too focused on my anger and on beating myself up for being that weak that I couldn’t even resist you for 24 hours. I wasn’t able to focus on the fact that I was undressing you, never mind what I was taking off from you.”

The sadness Felicity had heard in Oliver’s chuckle was visible in his eyes too. Their past probably wasn’t going to leave them anytime soon. There was still a lot of regret there, no matter how much they told each other to leave their past behind themselves.

Felicity lifted her hand to Oliver’s heart and let her palm rest there. She could feel his heartbeat beneath her hand. It was beating slow but unevenly, just like hers.

Their lips met in another kiss. It was just as slow as their heartbeats, but it had more harmony. Their lips just moved in perfect synch. Their tongues danced in that slow and familiar way. Their bodies fit together like two pieces of the same puzzle.

Slowly, Felicity moved her hands to Oliver’s shoulders and pushed his leather jacket down his arms. Oliver unwrapped his arms from around her just long enough, so he could shake off the fabric. While it was dropping to the floor, Oliver’s arms already wrapped back around her waist. He leaned forward, angling her back, so she was almost lying in his arms. If he let go of her now, she’d lose all balance and fall to the floor.

Felicity had never really liked not to be in control of everything. She loved tech because she could control it. Letting herself fall and trusting someone to catch her was not something she did easily. With Oliver, it felt incredibly easy though. She’d let herself fall around him a thousand times. She knew he’d always be there to catch her.

Pushing her chest against his, she prompted Oliver to straighten back up. Once she was safe on her feet again, she grabbed the hem of his shirt and started tugging at it. Oliver got the hint and lifted his arms over his head. Since Felicity was too tiny, he helped her take that shirt off of him completely.

When Felicity’s body pressed against Oliver’s now, all the naked skin touching, she felt heat pooling in the pit of her stomach. She knew that it had only been two weeks since they had had sex before, but it was different now. Just like with their fist kiss tonight, the sex just wouldn’t be tainted by broken past. In the light of their I love yous, it was just something completely different. It was something much better.

While Oliver was slipping out of his shoes, Felicity unbuckled his belt and undid his pants. She pushed them down quickly and Oliver kicked the pant legs away one by one.

Oliver tightened his arms around her waist and turned them around, so his back was turned to the bed. He said down on the edge of the mattress, his lips parting from Felicity’s. Although the desiring expression in his eyes was something to get lost in, the only thing Felicity wanted more than to lose herself in Oliver’s eyes was losing herself in Oliver’s kisses and his touches.

She crawled onto his lap. While her arms wrapped around his neck, her hands stroking through his hair, her legs wrapped around his hips. That way, she opened herself to him. Her sensitive area rubbed right against his erection. He was already hard for her, ready to make her feel all the pleasures in the world.

Moaning against Oliver’s lips, she grinded herself against him. The feeling of his cock rubbing against her clit already felt so good. The bare thought of feeling him back inside of her now that there were no more real hurdles in their way, or at least none they wouldn’t do their best to get out of their way, made Felicity want Oliver all the more. The movements of her hips sped up in response.

Oliver moved his hands from her hips to her back and up her spine until he reached the clasp of her bra. With a simple movement of his fingers, he unclasped the lacy fabric and took it off her body. As soon as he had dropped the bra to the floor, his hands came to rest against her back. They covered it almost completely as her back was so much smaller than his hands were.

With a quick movement, Oliver turned them, pushing Felicity down into the mattress. His body covered hers. His naked torso rubbed against her nipples. Her open legs encompassed his hips perfectly, allowing himself to continue rubbing against her like she had done before. The firm strokes of Oliver’s hips heightened Felicity’s pleasure only more.

Oliver stroked his tongue against hers one last time before he broke the kiss. His lips never let her skin though. Instead, he brushed a couple of kisses against the line of her jaw before he kissed down the side of her neck. Kissing, licking and biting, he explored her body once more, taking so much more time than they had taken the two times they had had sex during her last stay in Starling.

Opening her eyes, Felicity stared at the ceiling. Although she could feel Oliver’s body on hers and she could feel his lips against her pulse point, sucking a hickey into her skin, it still felt incredibly unreal. It felt unreal that she was back here in Starling and that she was happy to be back here. It felt even more unreal that Oliver was in her bed, taking his time to explore her body before they would unite.

It felt unreal, but it was the best kind of unreal. It felt like she was caught in a dream that she really didn’t want to wake up from.

The feeling of Oliver’s tongue pushing into her belly button distracted her from her thoughts. She giggled, unable to hold back that girly sound. Her legs kicked around, trying to make Oliver stop. He leaned his stubbled chin against the inside of her thigh and smiled at her warmly. It made Felicity stop and just look back at him.

Everything about the way he looked at her relax Felicity and made her realize how happy she was to be here with him. As unreal as it felt, it was real. This was her dream come true, and she wanted to use every second of it. The thought made Felicity put her hand to Oliver’s cheek and stroke her fingers through his stubble.

Oliver continued to look at her for a moment longer. With his eyes still locked on hers, he brushed his lips against the inside of her thigh. His fingers hooked into the waistband of her panties, and he pulled them down her legs with one quick movement. Throwing the fabric somewhere behind him, Oliver made himself comfortable between her legs.

Felicity felt her breath getting caught in her throat at the way Oliver looked at her, his pupils dilated and an expression of pure desire taking over his face. Without any warning, he lowered his head between her legs and rubbed his tongue against her clit.

“Oh, god!”

Desperate to hold onto whatever self-control she had after all this time that nobody had done this for her, Felicity reached her hands over her head and held onto the headboard of the bed. Her back arched off the mattress. Her hips pressed closer to Oliver’s mouth, urging against his tongue that continued to make waves of warmth go through her body.

He licked a long stripe from her clit down to her opening. His tongue snuck between her folds and thrust right into her. Felicity gasped for breath, her back arching off the mattress even more. Oliver pushed her legs over his shoulders and pressed his forearm down in her hips, keeping her from moving. She was completely lost to whatever he did with her, but she didn’t want it any other way.

To say that Oliver was talented with his tongue was an underestimation to say the least. He teased her in the best way possible, rubbing the rough top of his tongue against her clit again and again. Within seconds Felicity felt like she had no more control on her body. Her head was turning from side to side in the pillow. Her fingers were tightened around the head of the bed so firmly that the knuckles had probably turned white. Long moans of pleasure were falling from her lips.

No man had ever made her feel the way Oliver made her feel in- and outside of bed.

When Oliver turned his attention back to her clit, Felicity felt her toes starting to tingle. She loosened a hand from the headboard, grabbing Oliver’s forearms over her hips instead. Her fingers dug into his skin, her nails scratching him lightly. It took a lot from her, but she opened her eyes, wanting Oliver to see how close she was.

As soon as their eyes locked and Felicity saw the desire in his eyes, saw how much he enjoyed eating her out, she felt the pleasure washing over her. Heat spread inside of her, making her feel like her body was set on fire. There was a small line between pleasure and pain, but the first outweighed the other at the end.

While her body spasmed from the pleasure that was rushing through her, Oliver continued to stroke his tongue against her clit slowly. He tried to tickle the last of her pleasure out of her, making her enjoy this for as long as possible.

Once Felicity had come down from her high, Felicity moved her fingers into his hair and tugged at some strands. Oliver got the hint immediately and moved up her body. Pressing his body to hers, his lips met hers in a searing kiss. They were even hungrier for each other now than they had been before.

Felicity pushed down Oliver’s boxer briefs. Her hands cupped the cheeks of his ass. Smiling against Oliver’s lips, she pinched his ass slightly. Oliver growled against her lips, causing his chest to vibrate against hers. Felicity deepened the kiss, pulling Oliver even more against him.

Oliver stroked his tongue against the roof of her mouth before he rolled off her. Sitting on the mattress next to her, he reached down to grab his jeans and started searching the pockets. Felicity watched him for a moment. Sucking her bottom lip between her front teeth, Felicity took a brief moment to consider her options.

Just when Oliver pulled a little foil package out of the pocket of his pants, Felicity climbed onto his lap, wrapping her legs around his hips. Her folds brushed right against Oliver’s erection. The sensation made both of them moan out loud. Oliver dropped his forehead against Felicity’s shoulder, pushing his nose against her skin and breathing her in.

They stayed like this for a long moment, not moving and just enjoying how close they were. They were taking their time, not hurrying through this like they had done two weeks ago. Tonight could be endless.

When Felicity reached out her hand and took hold of Oliver’s erection, his head snapped back. His eyes found hers immediately, locking with hers intensely. Felicity could almost see the thoughts processing in his eyes. They went from lust to understanding to surprise and finally determination. He knew what she was trying to ask without saying the words out loud, and he understood it very well.

The slight nod of Oliver’s head was all the assurance Felicity needed. She knew that he had been sleeping around these past years. He hadn’t lied about it or tried to hide it from her, not that it would have even possible with the attention his sex life got in the tabloids. Felicity also knew that Oliver wouldn’t lie to her about being healthy. He would never lie to her about anything.

Getting up onto her knees, Felicity positioned his cock at her entrance. She locked eyes with Oliver before sank down slowly, taking him all the way in. Her lips fell open in a soundless moan, while Oliver’s fingers dug into her hips.

Once he was all the way inside of her, stretching her inner walls perfectly while they were accommodating him tightly, they rested their foreheads against each other’s. Without moving their hips, they wrapped themselves in each other to get as close as possible. Felicity tightened her legs around Oliver’s hips, letting him sink in even deeper. Her arms wrapped around his shoulders, one of her hands brushing through his hair. Oliver’s arms wrapped around her back, his warm hands stroking up and down her spine.

If time froze and caught her in this moment forever, Felicity knew she’d be happy. This was perfectly perfect, everything she wanted and needed and more.

Locking eyes with each other once more, their hips started moving together. Felicity sank down on Oliver every time he was thrusting up. His cock moved in and out of her slowly, pushing against her inner walls and rubbing against that sensitive spot inside of her that increased her pleasure so very quickly. Every thrust made her heart beat a little higher.

Felicity didn’t want this to end too quickly though. They had rushed through their pleasure two times before. This time, she wanted to take every second and enjoy it. The more they could prolong this, the better.

Pulling at some strands of Oliver’s hair, she angled his head back and caught his lips with hers. Their lips and tongues moved together just as harmonically as their lips. Felicity tightened her hands around his hair, scratching the other all the way down Oliver’s back gently at the same time. Oliver moved his hands up her back to her shoulders and down against over her rib cage. His fingertips grazed her breasts.

It wasn’t long before the pleasure grew inside of Felicity so much that she couldn’t control it anymore. Her hips lost their rhythm, chasing their relief wildly instead of answering to the thrusts of Oliver’s hips. Hot heat was spreading inside of her, making it hard to breathe. She tried to tear her lips away from Oliver, needing more oxygen, but he put a hand to the back of her head, keeping her where she was.

One particularly had thrust of Oliver’s hips were enough to send her over the edge. She let herself fall, losing herself in Oliver completely. She felt as light as a feather, like a gust of wind could just take her away. She had her head in the clouds, all worries and problems forgotten. For now, the only thing that mattered was this moment right here.

The last tremors of pleasure were still running through her, her walls fluttering around Oliver’s cock, when Felicity noticed the slight sting in her shoulder. Oliver had rested his head there, his teeth buried in her flesh slightly. His hands were holding onto her hips tightly, He was holding onto a small thread of self-control, doing his best to stop himself from coming. Just like her, he didn’t want this to end too soon.

Felicity stroked her fingers through his hair soothingly, but she did her best to stay unmoving apart from that. She wanted to give him the time he needed until he was back in control.

It didn’t take long. Soon Oliver angled his head back to meet her eyes. There was amazement and desire spread there, mixing with his deep love for her. It made her heartbeat quicken and her a new wave of heat running through her.

Their lips met once more, moving together in a slow and gentle kiss. Oliver turned them around, making them both lie down on their sides. His legs were stretched out, and Felicity moved her hand down his strong calf before he wrapped her leg back around his hips.

They adapted another slow rhythm, moving together even more slowly than they had before. Their lips broke apart, so their eyes could lock. They looked at each other, sharing their love for each other just with the expression in their eyes. For Felicity, there was only Oliver. There was nothing and nobody else this was all there was, and it was all she wanted.

The new position didn’t make Oliver go particularly deep, but the changed angle allowed his cock to push against her inner walls even more firmly. She was holding him in a tight grip and he stretched her perfectly. Their arms were still holding onto each other tightly.

Felicity was so very sore from her first two orgasms that she could feel herself getting close to another wave of pleasure soon. She angled her head, bringing it even close to Oliver. Their noses were brushing together with every single one of their slow thrusts. She moved her hands to his cheeks, holding his face in her hands.

It was good that there were no words needed here because Felicity didn’t have any to say how happy she was that Oliver was back in her life. She had never felt as appreciated, as loved or as grounded as she felt during every second that they were together. Whether they were having dinner together or make love, he made her feel things that nobody else could make her feel.

“Oliver.”

His name escaping her lips in a feverish whisper. She knew that her next orgasm wasn’t far away, and she wanted to make sure that Oliver knew exactly how he made her feel. She wanted him to know that the waves of pleasure running through her were all on him and that he was everything she had on her mind and in her heart in this moment.

She could see in his eyes that he got it. He understood her even when she didn’t say a single word. And he felt exactly the same way.

When the pleasure washed over her this time, Oliver captured her lips in a long kiss. He swallowed the sounds of pleasure falling from her lips eagerly, wanting to feel everything he made her feel. It turned him on all the more.

Felicity was still caught in her pleasure when she felt Oliver’s hips stuttering. They lost its rhythm. Turning Felicity on her back, he thrust into her firmly just a couple of times more. Pushing himself onto his forearms, he opened his eyes and looked at her. His pupils were dilated, his lips opened in frantic panting.

Lifting a hand to Oliver’s cheek, Felicity stroked her fingertips through his stubble and whispered, “Cum for me.”

“God, Felicity.”

With one last stuttering movement, Oliver came. His cock jerked inside of her, spilling into her. Felicity was still aroused, and the feeling of having Oliver cum inside of her made another small orgasm run through her. Her legs tightened around his hips, preventing him from leaving her though she doubted that he’d try even if he could.

They continued to move together lazily while the last waves of pleasure were running through them. Their lips were moving together in slow, loving, teasing kisses. Felicity’s hands were roaming over Oliver’s back until he grabbed one of her hands, laced his fingers with her and rested them on the pillow next to her head.

Their lips broke apart when the need for air became too much to bear. Their eyes met, and their fingers tightened on each other.

Oliver’s eyes were intense, crawling under her skin like they always did. Felicity felt goosebumps spread all over her skin. A wave of warmth ran through her, making her feel content and at ease.

“I love you,” she whispered before he could say it, wanting to be the one to say it first this time, “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

They both smiled at the words and their lips met in another kiss. Maybe not all problems have been solved yet. There was still a lot to discuss when it came to their future. None of that mattered tonight though.

Felicity turned Oliver onto his back. She covered his body with kisses, going from his lips to the side of his neck and eventually down his chest. Oliver played with some strands of her hair, enjoying the gentle caress. Felicity could almost feel him turning into putty beneath her. All tension left his muscles.

He knew as well as she did that tonight was all theirs and that was all that mattered.

* * *

* * *

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[sasuhinasno1fan]

I think I’m starting to like you- Klance Week Day 1

I've got filming for a virtual musical coming up, this and Zutara week are the only things keeping me alive and sane. @klanceweek Summer/Beach Day/Swimming

“Welcome everyone to Metro Island. It’s 3 pm and a gorgeous 30 degrees Celsius outside. On behalf of the whole crew, we thank you for trusting us with your flight. We will touch down in a few minutes.”

Lance felt groggy. He blinked his eyes open, seeing Keith waking up himself from across him. Hmm, what was Keith doing here? He barely looked around to see Adam waking up, Shiro stretching and Pidge leaning over in her seat.

“We’re here! Wake up!”

Here? Oh wait, he remembered.

Keith, his…boyfriend, had practically kidnapped him and Adam from work – thankfully on a Friday – and after dressing them in clothes for warmer weather than was left in their city, shoved them on a plane to New Caledonia. In a normal situation he would love being spoiled but his…relationship with Keith was, odd.

For one, he was part of this famous social group, the Paladins. 4 teens, all children of famous and influential people. Keith’s mother was the CEO of the biggest company that had fingers in every pot. Shiro was a famous potter, the son of one even more famous. Pidge’s parents owned the biggest tech company and she headed one of their sectors at 16. Hunk’s grandfather was a well-known and well-liked former President of the State. Hunk kept the same kind air, known for his amazing cooking and his love life with geologist Shay Balmera. Lance by chance, was offered a scholarship to the school they attended Garrison Academy. He had apparently saved an important member of Keith’s company. All Lance remembered was seeing a guy close to fainting in the middle of a changing crosswalk and just ran. People turned their noses up at him, all children of famous, influence and rich parents, but Lance didn’t care. He did catch the attention of the Paladins though.

Thing about the Paladins, everyone wanted to please them and they could change their tune in a second. Someone bothering them at school? No problem, that person just committed social suicide. Someone under the protection of the Paladins? Everyone wanted to be that person’s friend, whether they wanted it or not. Some words had gotten mixed up and somehow, everyone thought Lance was the new target of ridicule. Attacked at the swimming pool, his desk defaced every day, getting tomatoes thrown at him? His life was starting to become hell and he snapped, finding Keith and screaming at him in the middle of the hallway. Once Keith said out loud he never said to do that, people got silent and then disappeared. He offered to make it better and announced that they were dating to keep people away from him. It meant that he had to let himself be dragged around by the 4, feeling like a pet.

Keith must have found getting yelled at hot because he started to take their fake relationship seriously. When an attack had gotten bad, bad enough he had to spend the night at Keith’s mansion, Keith personally went to his home to let his parents know he was taken care of. When he wasn’t being a rich jerk, Keith was actually kinda…nice. Of course, it didn’t help he was still dealing with his minor feelings towards Adam, his best friend. They were starting to fade though, with each event that lead him to spend time with Keith.

He could do without the excessive spoiling though. He was starting to feel like a bought woman or something. He liked it better when he took Keith to experience life without spending every cent. But they were at a tropical island, if the view outside was anything to go by, so he’d let it slid. This time.

                                                 _____________

Their rooms were overlooking the water, the gleaming sun making it shine. Lance almost couldn’t keep his eyes off of it when Keith handed him the key to his room and sent him off. Of course, it was right next to Keith’s, but he was able to forget that when he saw the room. It was big and expensive and beautiful. He couldn’t help but love it. The bed was covered in flowers, as well as the bath and even though he didn’t love how Keith would spoil him all the time, the way he felt so relaxed here was making up for it.

He was sitting on his bed when he noticed someone had come in standing next to him.

“This is pretty amazing, I’ll admit.”

Keith sounded smug. “I know.”

Lance rolled his eyes but stared out at the water, “I feel like I’m floating on water.”

“Technically we are.” He must have seen the look Lance was giving him because Keith gestured for him to follow. They went out to the balcony and he pointed to the set of stairs. That lead straight into the water. The room – houses really – where on stilts obviously, but they were on the water. Lance remembered a picture that had been the family computer, that looked just like what he was seeing now. He always dreamed of wanting to go to a place like that.

“Where are we?”

“Metro Island. It’s our vacation spot. I know you wanted a beach day, so I thought I’d bring you.”

“Our? Wait, beach day? You remember that?” he had mentioned that in passing ages ago, when he went to Keith’s house for the first time during a charity auction. Keith had won him the goggles of one of the best swimmers in the world.

“Yeah, ours. The Blade Corp. owns most of Metro Island. And of course, I remembered.”

The way he said it, like it was a known fact. Lance didn’t know what to say to that. It was starting to get hard to not like Keith like that.

“Come on. We’re going to have a tour of the place before we head to our favourite hidden area.”

“Hidden cause you guys found it or hidden because ‘my mom payed for it, go away’.”

“I’ll let you take a guess.”

Lance rolled his eyes. Rich people, he swore.

                                               ________________

Lance couldn’t seem to keep his eyes off of Keith as he played volleyball with his friends, letting Lance just relax with Adam. Keith was usually poking to get his attention all to himself so this was, interesting to say the least. He kinda wanted his attention now. What did that say about him now?”

“I can hear your mind going a mile a minute.” Adam said, face still turned to the sun. “What’s wrong?”

Lance pushed his sunglasses up and huffed out a sigh. “we’re here because of me.”

“Um, yes Lance. I know that. Kinda hard to not know when your ‘boyfriend’ is one of the richest people in the world.”

“No, I mean, I told Keith I really wanted a beach day a while ago, and how I just wanted to I don’t know, float on the water. He remembered and brought us here.”

“ohh, sounds like he likes you.” Adam teased. He was expecting a rebuttal like usual but this time Lance was silent. He finally looked at Lance to see him biting his lip, looking guilty. “And you clearly like that. Lance, wow.”

“I know, I know! When I first met him, I thought he was like all the other students and I didn’t want anything to do with him, especially seeing how he treats people sometimes, me included, even if unintentional. But…every moment I spend with him, where I think I’m going to hate it, I don’t. I like it and I’m starting to like him.”

“Heads up!” Hunk called and Lance looked in time to duck the oncoming ball that Adam caught.

“Lance, are you ok?” Keith called, looking like he wanted to run over.

“I’m fine.” He took the ball from Adam and threw it back to them. “Be more careful.” Keith looked guilty at that.

“If you want my advice, if you like him, then just go for it. I can’t see it going wrong, at all.”

Lance looked over at Keith, who’d been happening to be looking at him before he was hit with the ball by Pidge. Maybe there could be something.

[the-settingsun]

Batman x reader

Hey! It's me starter fanfic writer...yay. I just want to say if you find any mistakes inform me please!. Feedback is welcome, but so are requests!

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Oneshot: Bruce Wayne×fem!reader. Soulmates AU, where soulmate can feel your pain.

Warnings: none (As far as I am concerned)

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Today felt slow and pointless for you. You knew that tomorrow and the day after and another day after and so and so will be the same. Slow and pointless was your movement, slow and pointless were your thoughts and your emotions. Everynight you would try to fall asleep, just to wake up. At first it was small things like pain in knucles of hit in the shoulder. But after first month of that it became worse. You would feel awful pain stinging you all across your body, all night every night.

As child you thought you would bs extra careful to not hurt yourself, only because your soulmate would feel the same pain. So everytime you fell or burned youself on the stove you would quietly say sorry. Unfortunately the habit stayed with you and you still feel sorry for every bit of pain he or she must be going through because of you. Ofcourse you also had little accidents like dropping something on you foot. But what happened to him was questionable, it was like every other calm and quiet night you were actually getting sleep you would usually recieve a sharo pain on cheek. Wich led you to believe that your soulmate was good with women, I mean what else then a slap could that be?

Everyday, thats how many times you found yourself wondering about who is your soulmate. At first it could be anyone, but when you add information you gained, your soulmate was either really shady person or living at opposite side of world. Having in mind that pain would mostly strike at night.

Since you knew Gotham wasn't the safest place for woman to be walking alone, you would take subway or bus but that wasn't an option since the roads and metro were under construction. So you had to walk, it wasnt pleasant having to change route because of every smoker or couple of men. But ou managed to get to your block. After a few minutes of standing under the last headlamp in the area you decided to get it over with. It was dark, and the last alley you had to cross was even darker since the moon wasnt shinig there due to tall buildings. You looked back, relieved there was nobody there, looked back once more, and once more when all of a suddent a bright light hit you, headlights of a car. You stumbled back pushing youself against a wall out of shock. Falling into some cardboard boxes.

The boxes provided a good hiding spot, but curiousity got into you and you moved one box and letting you see a man in purple suit got in the car, the Joker. You've never met him before and knew what was this man, scratch that this monstsr capable of. He could easily kill you, smile and not remember you next day. Stunned, you watched as the car moved forwards. It was all black, by this point you knew what car it was...rather who's car it was. It was batmobile, the batmobile. And if the batmobile was here, then batman must be nearby. And if batman was nearby, and also Joker was nearby, that means fight. Big fight. And fight equals trouble. Trouble near you.

Still, you watched as Joker turned around the corner. He turned off the engine, there was silence. Either batman was waiting for him or he has seen you. But you werent going to find out.

With one quick push you forced all boxed away, in swift movement you stood up and ran for you life. You were getting paranoid, he was following you, he was going to get to you. You quickly glanced back. Oh how you wish you didnt, he was there. The dark became light, and you were infront of your apartment building. Your first instinct was to just run straight inside. But is that really what you want? Joker knowing where you live? After he chased you? No! So you just keot running, your legs felt heavy, the known pain in the chest was slowing you down and you breath wont last much longer. You turned around, and before you saw anything. You felt your body hit something.

He got you, your body is going to be found next mornig and with no one to identify you you'll be just another paperwork for police officer. Or so you thought, until the figure you were hoping for revealed himself. The one and only dark knight.

It was all happening too fast too slow at the same time. One second you were falling, next thing you know you are standing watching Joker and Batman fight. It was furly mesmerizing and terrifing at the same time. You just stood there dumbfounded. You watched as Joker took some hits. But that was unimportant. Everytime batman got hit you felt it too. Whoever batman was, your soulmate just saved your life, he is saving lives everyday. Now it all made sense, thats why you felt enermous pain at night. He was beating bad guys. It was amazing feeling, meeting your soulmate. Everything was perfect for 3 whol seconds- until you felt someone grab you from behind. You screamed, it was natural reaction and you couldnt helo but scream more. Until a hand was put over your mouth.

You were being dragged away, with our brain shocked and scared you couldnt think of anything but that one of Joker's goongs is dragging you away. So you just watched how did your surroundings move. You saw how the two fightting men were becoming smaller and smaller as you unwillingly went further and further away. All hope was lost, you knew superheroes couldnt always save everyone. And this was batman's chance to catch his arch-enemy. You eyes widened, this gave you hope and maybe even more streght. What you ask? Joker was left behind by batman, who was running towards you.

He immiediately took down Joker's goon, with jut couple of hits. He pulled out his grapple gun and aimed it up at the sky. It seemed like he was going to leave you lying on the floor. But what type of hero would that be? He leaned down and grabbed my arm. This was it, all the pain will be gone. I touched my soulmate for the first time. Now I will no longer feel his pain, and so he'll not be able to feel mine. Our eyes locked, but before I could say anything he put his arm around my waist and we got out of there.

It was refreshing feeling, almost flying through Gotham. The wind was playing with your hair and you could see Gotham how no one else could. It wasnt long after you took off that you landed, rather crashed. You both landed on lower balcony of the Wayne tower... It was beautifull but you fell on some stairs, bruning pain echoed throught your body. But you kept quiet, shock kept you quiet. There was some ringing in our ears, but a loud thud could be heard close to you. With your right hand ou lifted yourself yourself up and saw that your soulmate was lying on the floor. As fast as you could you got up and went over to check his pulse. He was alive. But passed out. You started panicking, you knew that soulmates dont have to last long. One moment you could kiss for the first time and 5 minutes later you would be alone.

The lights, someone turned on the lights. You ran over to the glass door and started banging as yelling. You knew they heard you, becauss there was a man running towards you. He opened the door and looked what happened. He was older, tall and had suit. Lucius Fox, his nametag stated.

,,What happened madam?" Lucius started asking questions and you just made yourslef answer ,, Joker, he saved me and then" while you talked Lucius came closer to Batman and kneeled down ,,he bought us here." Tears started forming in your eyes, you just lost your soulmate. You turned around and wiped your tears with your dirty sleeve. It was freezing and tears were cooling down your gace even more. ,,May I ask you, why are ou crying. Uhmm?" You wiped your tears away again and looked into distance ,,(Y/N), my name is (Y/N) and I think that-" 

,, I am her soulmate." It was voice you recognized, batman. In one swift motion you turned around. And saw batman, holding his head and Lucius helping him get up.  Your eyes met and you smiled at eachother. It was the most amazing moment. But something was missing. Batman leaned against railing. Lucius ran inside, going to get some help. You came closer to him. Never breaking eye contact.

,,Im sorry" he said. You wanted to be angry. You wanted to be mad. But you couldn't, he felt as much pain as you did. But every bit of pain you two went throught saved one life. ,,I feel like something is missing" you said and kissed him. It was amazing, kissing your soulmate. You never had kissed anyone before, it was like youexpected. Only about million times better. You pulled away, he had smirk on his face, your face turned red. Then he answered question eveone asked.

Who is batman? Answer? Bruce Wayne, the playboy, bussinessman, millionaire and most importantly...

Your soulmate.

[xodaniellevictoria]

8 Days in Paris

I’ve been wanting to visit Paris for as long as I can remember. 2 weeks ago my life long dream, CAME TRUE! My fascination with the city began with my love for ballet. For those who don't know I was a ballet dancer for 16 years, and the type of ballet I was taught, originated in Paris. I have envisioned myself walking amongst the city streets for years and to finally cross this off my bucket list was an indescribable feeling. I want to share everything we did while we were there, and any quick tips to help you out if you’re wanting to visit this amazing place for yourself! 

Alright lets start with planning. I searched for EVER to find affordable flights. Typically out of California round trip tickets to Paris are around $1200 each. By some miracle I was able to find round trip tickets for $500 each. (Because it’s off season for tourism and once the weather gets colder, the ticket prices drop) I didn't use any specific sites or cheap airlines, I was just always looking for a deal. So I definitely recommend going on off season (Fall to early spring) to avoid high ticket prices. 

While you're planning, I would also really recommend staying at an Airbnb over a hotel. We really felt like we got the true Parisian experience and most Airbnbs are cheaper then hotels is what I noticed while planning.

HERE IS A LINK to the cute private apartment we stayed at while we were there. It was PERFECT for what we wanted. The iconic Parisian windows, a great view to a little courtyard, in the city center, and 3 minute walk to the subway. (Photo below for the ideal Parisian windows I was talking about.)

We decided to break up our trip by spending the majority of our time in Paris at the Airbnb, and then the last 2 nights we splurged and stayed at a hotel I’ve had my eye on for awhile now. Hotel Providence is the Parisian hotel of my dreams, and it did not disappoint. The stunning lush decor and rich color palette of the entire hotel checked off all my aesthetic points. We had champagne waiting for us in our room, and they were accommodating for early check in and leaving our bags at the front desk after we checked out, since we had some time to kill before our flight. I found the hotel on Instagram and I’m so glad I did. They have an amazing bar downstairs that was great for pre and post dinner drinks. They serve food as well but we unfortunately never got to try any. The front desk and service at the bar was amazing, super friendly, spoke great English and would absolutely recommend staying here if your budget allows. See below for pictures of our beautiful room and the outside seats of the bar / restaurant! CLICK HERE FOR A LINK TO THE HOTEL

Another thing I would highly recommend is getting the PARIS CITY PASS. This pass will get you into the Louvre, Musee d’Orsay, Versailles, you name a Parisian attraction, and this pass will most likely get you in, and the best part is you won't have to wait in ticket lines. At the Louvre, there was a 2 hour wait to get tickets, and we literally walked RIGHT in... Sorry everyone in line! Should have done your research! 

CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE SITE TO GET YOUR PARIS CITY PASS

While planning, something else to think about is transportation. Basically the entire trip, we took Paris’s subway system ‘Le Metro.’ If you have an iPhone, using apple maps is going to be your best friend. Switch your directions to transit instead of walking or driving. The apple maps directions will tell you exactly where to go for the train stations, which lines to take, and which direction you need to be heading. There are signs in English in the subway so don't worry about not being able to understand French signs. There are trains right at the airport, and everywhere you will want to go in the city. Its truly amazing and so affordable compared to trying to Uber everywhere. We honestly preferred taking the subway way more than taking Ubers, because traffic in the city is.... Intense, and most of our Uber drivers didn't speak any English. The trains were always much faster and just easier in general.

Now I want to share the things we did that were noteworthy, and that we would recommend to anyone who is coming to Paris for the first time.

1. Eiffel Tower. Just as magical as you would think it would be. Head to the Tracadero across the river Seine to get an amazing view and its a GREAT picture spot. Another amazing picture spot is on the same side of the river as the Eiffel Tower and its a little dead end street with the perfect view of the tower with some French buildings in the line of view as well. 

Heres the address: 228 Rue de l’Universite (the picture below was taken HERE)

2. Versailles. The grandest palace in all of Europe. It is breath taking. Especially if you're a history nerd like me. I got an audio guide so we didn't have to take a tour, and it was perfect. Also highly recommend renting a golf cart to get around the gardens and to see the other buildings and Marie Antoinette’s little village she created. PICTURE SPOTS: Hall of mirrors, Petite Trianon, and the Grand Trianon. Advice for getting pictures here, PATIENCE. Just wait for people to move so you can get cool shots with no one in them.

3. Crazy Horse. Ok this one won't be for everyone, but when I think of Paris I think of burlesque. Crazy Horse was one of the coolest burlesque shows we’ve seen and its a must if you're wanting a sexy night out. ( We preferred this over Moulin Rouge. )

4. MontMarte. MontMarte is the cities highest point. resting on a hill, there's a gorgeous old church, the Sacre Couer. MontMarte is also the cities historic artist district. Artists such as Van Gogh, and Renoir, found inspiration in this quaint part of town. Behind the church is the cutest little area where local artists are still paining city scapes and personal portraits. Seeing this area was a highlight for me. It felt so like what I thought Paris would be like. Good rooftop bar with the view of the city and the Eiffel Tower: Terrass Hotel, the rooftop bar is open to the public, you don't have to be staying at the hotel.

5. Le Marais. This is where you need to go if you're wanting to shop. Clothes, local pastries, apothecaries, you name it this area has it. Our favorite stores were Blue Garage, System Vintage, Luka Luna, 

6. Notre Dame. A Paris staple. Currently closed for renovations but still worth seeing from afar. The streets around the Notre Dame are covered with vintage magazine / book stands. They make for great home decor. Make sure you have euros pulled out though because they don't accept credit cards!

7. Musee d’Orsay. Paris’s second biggest and most famous museum. Is in an old train station which makes for a cool setting for a museum. (See picture below) We liked this museum more than the Louvre...Way less crowded, and more modern artists that we actually knew. Holds famous paintings from Monet, Degas, Renoir, and Van Gogh. Highly recommend grabbing a drink on the 5th floor cafe behind one of the old clocks!

8. The Catacombs. Super interesting walk through some of Paris’s old Limestone quarries that they filled with bones from the cemeteries, when the cemeteries were getting too crowded in the 1700′s. I didn't get any spooky vibes. Just felt like a museum.

9. Palais Garnier. The Opera house in Paris. Reminiscent of Versailles, this grand Opera house is soooo extravagant and gorgeous. The first real Ballets were put on here. How cool is that?

That wraps up the things to see that we loved most. Now lets move on to my favorite part... THE FOOD!

Basically everywhere you look in Paris there are little cafes. Sometimes as many as 4 on a block. Eat at as many of them as you can. They're all pretty incredible. If you're from America and have never traveled to Europe, something to note is that in Europe, slow service is good service. You have to ask for your check. dining out in Europe is an experience and they want you to relax and enjoy your time dining. There is no rush with food there. Its pretty life changing coming from a country where you are accustomed to being in and out of a restaurant within an hour and getting angry if your food hasn't shown up in 15 minutes. 

Things you need to try at any Parisian restaurant: bread, butter, wine, and cheese. They're all usually locally sourced and man let me tell you... It just tastes DIFFERENT over there. The butter is the best butter I’ve ever had. When we got home I legitimately looked up where I can buy French butter here in San Diego... The wine? INSANE. One night I had 6 glasses (which is WAY way way too much for me) and the next morning I didn't wake up with any sort of hangover... I don't know what they're doing in France but wow it is amazing. The cheeses are also wonderful. All so different depending on the restaurant, and all taste soooo much fresher then any cheese I’ve had here in the US. It’s hard to describe. 

Some of our favorite restaurants we came across while we were there:

BREAKFAST / LUNCH-

Any cafe usually has a Croque Monisuer or a Croque Madame which is basically a grilled cheese sandwich with ham and egg, they're amazing and make a great breakfast sandwich. We also ordered Cafe Au Lait’s everywhere we went for breakfast (Coffee with steamed milk.) And croissants are always a good idea.

La Terrasse Des Archives for an amazing avocado toast eggs Benedict

Hollybelly 5 for some americanized / English style breakfasts and some amazing lattes

Hardware Societie for another amazing Americanized / English breakfast

Breakfast in America is a full on American diner in the heart of Paris.

DINNER-

My favorite meals we ate in Paris were our dinners. There is endless amazing food options but here are some of our favorites.

Sacree Fleur did not disappoint. Located in MontMarte, this cozy restaurant will blow you away. We started with the cheese course, wine, and bread. Had steak and mashed potatoes as our main course, which by the way, continues to cook at your table on a hot slab of rock. SO COOL! And we finished with the creme brûlée, which actually made me CRY, it was so good.... (Terrass Hotel is walking distance away, the rooftop bar is open to the public and you get an amazing view of all of Paris including the Effie tower while enjoying some after dinner drinks, and you don't have to be staying at the hotel to enjoy the rooftop bar.)

Le Petit Italien is an amazing option if you're wanting some Italian food in Paris.

Le Sancrerre in MontMarte was another stand out. I got the beef bourguignon and it was incredible.

Chez Janou was also outstanding. Perfect French dishes, great service. Our waiter was actually living in San Diego for awhile before he moved back home to Paris so it was a super random coincidence to eat there and have him as our waiter!

[ecofinisher]

The Adventures of Super Nathan 3 - Chap 15

Chapter   15

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13531960/15/The-Adventures-of-Super-Nathan-3

https://archiveofourown.org/works/23301076/chapters/57601615

https://www.wattpad.com/877062926-the-adventures-of-super-nathan-3-chapter-15

The trio walked together in the unfinished hall of the metro line passing by lamps, that belonged to the construction zone lighten the place, where the three friends were walking by.

“Those two railways there, that are crossing this space here have already been here,” Super Nathan pointed out. “That’s the same line we took when going to the concert the other day”

“Good point” Viperion mentioned. “I don’t know. Should we splitt up and check those old tunnels too or just focus on the one, we are going now?,” Viperion asked earning a nod from Super Nathan. “What do you say, Cat?” The older superhero asked watching Cat Noir stand back with a shocked face.

“Did you hear that?” Cat Noir asked seeing the two friends shake their head.

“No” Viperion and Super Nathan answered, then a honk was heard from the tunnels, that was crossing the way of the trio.

“Oh, you meant the metro, right?” Super Nathan asked watching Cat Noir’s twitch, making him tilt his head in confusion. “Or not?”

“I’m coming!” Cat Noir shouted getting down on his four crossing the railway getting into the dark area, which had fewer lights, that belonged to the construction company.

“He must have heard someone” Viperion theorized seeing his friend shrug his shoulders, afterward the two ran together over the rail following the way Cat Noir went.

Super Nathan observed during their run the many metal and wood used to keep the earth around them steady, then he looked back at their way as they were following the more experienced superhero.

“Isn’t it astounding how much work the people invest in such a tunnel?”

“Yeah. I really hope we won’t have trouble getting out of here later”

“Same” Super Nathan agreed. “Wow, I don’t remember him being that fast”

“Don’t worry about it. We’re not that bad in catching him” Viperion mentioned grabbing Super Nathan on his hand running faster behind the cat-themed superhero.

“Thanks” Super Nathan thanked the friend, then both slowed down as they saw Cat Noir stopped near a bucket excavator, then leaned his back against its wheels and looked down at a deeper path of the tunnel, where he saw a giant boring machine and a large space with a few pushcarts filled with earth. Cat Noir glanced over the whole place to spot on the side a red-dressed supervillain holding his sword against the ground like a walking stick and a few meters in front of him a mini excavator with a blue-haired woman tied on the shovel of the vehicle having her face turned down while she was sobbing over the lifeless body of a blonde man, which was bleeding from his chest. Cat Noir squinted his eyes to recognize the person and he shot his eyes up in shock as he discovered it was the body of his future civilian self, that was stabbed.

Viperion and Super Nathan approached the dark-dressed superhero, which pointed down at the supervillain and the two nodded.

“I’ve got an idea” Viperion whispered. “Nath you hide here and help me and Cat with your drawings” Viperion suggested, then Cat Noir looked down seeing the villain raise his sword holding it in front of the blue-haired woman, which turned out to be Kagami, causing Cat Noir to hiss like an actual feline and jumped down, taking his staff out landing on top of the villain, causing him to fall down.

“Take your hands off her!” Cat Noir shouted holding his staff towards the supervillain’s head, afterward smacked the sword off the villain's hand and looked down at Kagami to see her tied up on the machine with tearful eyes.

“Adrien?” Kagami whispered, then Cat Noir leaned his forehead on hers and the woman started to sob louder.

“Everything will be back as it was before,” Cat Noir said while behind him the supervillain got up and raised his sword up in the air, followed by a red fist appear from the side throwing the supervillain against a wall.

Viperion landed on the ground near the supervillain, watching him get up and ran with the sword towards Viperion, which took his sword out and deflected the attack and tried to fight him with difficulty as he wasn’t used in sword fighting.

“I need a little help” Viperion warned earning a nod from Cat Noir, which took his baton and jumped over the two, getting the attention of the cat-themed superhero, that landed behind the villain and extended the staff to use it as a sword and fought the supervillain leaving Viperion behind, which observed the two fighting.

“Viperion take his back!” Cat Noir shouted, then the supervillain turned around spinning his sword at Viperion shrieking him after that he raised his sword up to deflect the attack and Cat Noir hit the supervillain right after the attack on the head making him fall down.

“Hold him down!” Cat Noir ordered watching Viperion hold the man down by his back, while Cat did the same on his feet.

Super Nathan jumped down approaching the friends a little bewildered at their fight.

“Was that all?” Super Nathan asked.

“Tie his hands, quick!” Viperion ordered earning a nod from the redhead, which held his tablet’s camera over the villain’s hands to draw a rope around them.

“But he’s right, it went so fast” Cat Noir added watching Super Nathan tie the legs of the supervillain and got up while Viperion held the head of the supervillain down.

“This is the dragon miraculous?” Viperion asked looking at Kagami, which nodded. “What happened?”

“I didn’t have my choker on as I went for a shower” Kagami explained. “And as I left it was gone”

“And that happened weeks ago, right?” Cat Noir asked earning a nod from the blue-haired girl.

“As I found out, someone stole the miraculous to get rid of my friends I couldn’t find a solution on how to solve this situation. All this chaos in here happened, just because I left the miraculous unsafe,” Kagami explained making Cat Noir sink his ears down and approach the future version of his girlfriend.

“And how did you know, he was here?”

“Super Nathan had spotted him going here and wanted to penalize him for his deeds and while he tried to fight without any experience of sword fighting, he managed to take him down and damage his miraculous and he ran away from here and I don’t know, what happened to him afterward,”

“What about Adrien?”

“I don’t know if Nathaniel contacted him before or after he left, but he appeared here and announced he knew who was behind his mask and…..during the fight, he managed to push you…...him to the ground and remove the miraculous…..and…...he got stabbed as he tried to get the sword off his hands…..” The Japanese woman whimpered making Cat Noir feel sad.

“I’ve got the miraculous” Viperion mentioned getting up, then Cat Noir smiled at the friend and widened his eyes surprised as he saw the villain’s head covered with a box.

“Well, now that’s a way of covering his identity” Cat Noir joked earning a nod from Viperion.

“I took the chance after the removal to cover his head,” Super Nathan mentioned. “We can’t know who he is”

“Sure” Cat Noir mentioned, then a portal opened and Bunnyx looked out at the heroes, that had defeated the villain.

“Well done guys” Bunnyx complimented. “Super get them some of these nice hat-boxes”

“Sure, I can copy them without any problem” Super Nathan answered and Cat Noir helped Kagami getting up after he untied her off the shovel.

“Get ready to go boys” Bunnyx warned the trio, which stood in front of the portal along with a box in their hand, except for Super Nathan who had two instead and gave it to Cat Noir.

“We have to go,” The blonde superhero said earning a nod from the Asian woman.

“Goodbye” Kagami said waving at the superheroes, which entered into the portal.

In the present timeline, Lila sat in the living room along with Kagami on a couch drinking together tea. Rose Lavillant sat across them along with Juleka Couffaine drinking too.

“Don’t get too much into stress because of this Lila. Nathaniel will be back in full pieces. It’s just a matter of time until they get back”

“I know, I’m just angry no one could say me anything” Lila complained earning a nod from the blonde woman. “What if he dies? I don’t want to be a widow!”

“You know Bunnyx just appeared instantly and needed them right now,” Kagami added. “I just could see Adrien for short as he picked my miraculous to use it”

“Why did he need the miraculous?” Rose asked.

“I was the main referee at the basketball match and couldn’t just run out from there”

“Okay makes sense,” Rose said, then beside her, an aqua-colored portal opened making Rose jump at Juleka’s arms, then the women saw Bunnyx walk out along with the three men. “They’re here!”

“There you go, girls. All safe and sounds” Bunnyx announced followed by the superheroes taking the boxes off their head.

“Nathaniel!” Lila shouted running into the arms of Super Nathan, then started to cry. “I thought I would never see you again”

“Now that escalated quickly” Bunnyx replied as she saw the brunette hugging the husband.

Super Nathan pecked Lila on her cheek keeping his arms around the woman. “I’m glad to be reunited with you,”

“Was it worse, than the other time?” Kagami asked as Viperion transformed back, then removed the choker off his neck and handed it out to the Japanese woman.

“More, what we saw was worse, otherwise I don’t think the fight was that hard” Luka explained. “By the way, I don’t know if you take your miraculous off for showers or anything, but I suggest you to keep an eye on it in many cases,”

“Okay, I keep that in mind” Kagami answered putting her miraculous around her neck, then looked back at Cat Noir, which transformed back into Adrien Agreste, and then he took out from the interior of his jacket a piece of Camembert for his kwami to eat.

“I need a nap” Adrien mentioned yawning, then saw the girlfriend place her hand over his shoulder.

“Isn’t Raiden coming over tonight?” The Japanese girl reminded the blonde, then Adrien took his smartphone out from his pocket, then nodded.

“I almost forgot it” Adrien confessed. “I forgot to tell mom and dad about it”

“We still have two hours in front of us” Kagami mentioned. “And his visit is not that important as of the mayor or something,”

“Yeah, you’re right”

 The bell of the house rang, then Lila walked out of the living room and as she opened the door she spotted Marinette waiting there with a worried facial expression.

“Did you hear anything about Luka?” Marinette asked earning a nod from the brunette.

“He’s right here with us” Lila answered watching the blue-haired woman enter into the house to find Luka there talking with Juleka and his sister-in-law.

“Luka, why didn’t you tell me you were gone?”

“It was an emergency. Bunnyx needed us immediately” Explained the Frenchman. “I would have told you if I had the chance to”

“I just don’t want to lose you forever. I couldn’t live without you” Marinette whined placing her arms around the boyfriend, which placed his arms around her.

“So…..this are these mood swings, that women have during pregnancy?” Adrien asked looking at Kagami, which gazed at the two along with the boyfriend. Kagami smiled at their reunion, then leaned her head on Adrien’s shoulder, which smiled angelic at her move and he placed his arm around her back.

[go-redgirl]

Leaked Draft Letter Reveals Michigan Hospital’s Policy to Ration Ventilators for Coronavirus Patients

A draft letter by one of southeast Michigan’s major hospital systems was leaked online Thursday revealing the hospital’s policy to prioritize care for “patients who have the best chance of getting better” in the event of a shortage due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The letter was drafted by officials at the Henry Ford Health System and is addressed to “our patients, families and community.” It outlines the criteria for which patients will be eligible for care if the hospital reaches capacity and is forced to ration limited resources. “Patients who have the best chance of getting better are our first priority. Patients will be evaluated for the best plan of care and dying patients will be provided comfort care.”

The letter explains the policy in the event of a shortage of ICU beds and ventilators: “If you (or a family member) becomes ill and your medical doctor believes that you need extra care in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) or Mechanical Ventilation (breathing machine) you will be assessed for eligibility based only on your specific condition.”

Some of the conditions that may make a person ineligible are listed as “severe heart, lung, kidney or liver failure; Terminal cancers; Severe trauma or burns.”

A statement issued Thursday night by Dr. Adnan Munkarah, executive vice president and chief clinical officer of Henry Ford Health System, confirmed the authenticity of the draft letter, but stressed that it reflects a “worst case scenario.”

“With a pandemic of this nature, health systems must be prepared for a worst case scenario,” Munkarah said. “Gathering the collective wisdom from across our industry, we carefully crafted our policy to provide critical guidance to healthcare workers for making difficult patient care decisions during an unprecedented emergency.”

He added, “These guidelines are deeply patient focused, intended to be honoring to patients and families. We shared our policy with our colleagues across Michigan to help others develop similar, compassionate approaches. It is our hope we never have to apply them and we will always do everything we can to care for our patients, utilizing every resource we have to make that happen.”

He added, “These guidelines are deeply patient focused, intended to be honoring to patients and families. We shared our policy with our colleagues across Michigan to help others develop similar, compassionate approaches. It is our hope we never have to apply them and we will always do everything we can to care for our patients, utilizing every resource we have to make that happen.”

The draft letter was leaked online Thursday when Nicholas Bagley, a University of Michigan law professor, tweeted out an image of the letter on what appeared to be official hospital letterhead.

The full contents of the letter was printed by the Detroit Free Press (emphasis in original):

To our patients, families and community:

Please know that we care deeply about you and your family’s health and are doing our best to protect and serve you and our community. We currently have a public health emergency that is making our supply of some medical resources hard to find. Because of shortages, we will need to be careful with resources. Patients who have the best chance of getting better are our first priority. Patients will be evaluated for the best plan of care and dying patients will be provided comfort care.

What this means for you and your family:

1. Alert staff during triage of any current medical conditions or if you have a Do Not Resuscitate (DNR)/Do Not Attempt Resuscitation (DNAR) or other important medical information.

2. If you (or a family member) becomes ill and your medical doctor believes that you need extra care in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) or Mechanical Ventilation (breathing machine) you will be assessed for eligibility based only on your specific condition.

3. Some patients will be extremely sick and very unlikely to survive their illness even with critical treatment. Treating these patients would take away resources for patients who might survive.

4. Patients who are not eligible for ICU or ventilator care will receive treatment for pain control and comfort measures. Some conditions that are likely to may [sic] make you not eligible include:

severe heart, lung, kidney or liver failure

Terminal cancers

Severe trauma or burns

5. Patients who have ventilator or ICU care withdrawn will receive pain control and comfort measures.

6. Patients who are treated with a ventilator or ICU care may have these treatments stopped if they do not improve over time. If they do not improve this means that the patient has a poor chance of surviving the illness — even if the care was continued. This decision will be based on medical condition and likelihood of getting better. It will not be based on other reasons such as race, gender, health insurance status, ability to pay for care, sexual orientation, employment status or immigration status. All patients are evaluated for survival using the same measures.

7. If the treatment team has determined that you or your family members does not meet criteria to receive critical care or that ICU treatments will be stopped, talk to your doctor. Your doctor can ask for a review by a team of medical experts (a Clinical Review Committee evaluation.)

Michigan has become an emerging hot spot for the coronavirus pandemic in the United States. The state’s top health official, Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, said hospitals in southeast Michigan are “at or near capacity.”

The Henry Ford Health System is one of the major hospital providers in the Metro Detroit area, along with the William Beaumont Health System. Both providers have said they were caring for more than 1,000 COVID-19 patients at their 13 hospitals. 

Due to the sudden surge, operating rooms were being converted into intensive care units, and clinics had been turned into rooms for patients needing other medical care.

On Wednesday, Beaumont Health said its hospitals were swamped with 650 patients who had tested positive for the COVID-19 virus and more than 200 with tests pending. It said it would transfer more people to its hospital in Wayne County and get help from other health care providers.

“The number of patients coming to our emergency rooms continues to grow rapidly,” Beaumont CEO John Fox said.

Fox told the Detroit Free Press on Wednesday that the pandemic is proving to be healthcare providers’ “worst nightmare,” noting that Beaumont is admitting 100 new coronavirus patients per day, at that time.

“What we all need to remember is that we got our first patient two weeks ago. So this is coming on hard and fast. This is definitely a biological tsunami,” he said.

“In my lifetime, we’ve never had a pandemic like this,” Fox said.

“Across our system, we are facing limitations and nearing capacity with our staffing, personal protective equipment, and mechanical ventilators,” said Beaumont’s chief operating officer Carolyn Wilson.

“The numbers are changing and increasing even in two-hour intervals,” said Bob Riney, the chief operating officer at Henry Ford, whose flagship hospital is in the city of Detroit.

Dr. Betty Chu, the chief clinical officer and chief quality officer at Henry Ford, predicted an “upcoming surge.” Chu noted that the hospital was already reallocating resources because the Henry Ford hospitals in West Bloomfield and Detroit have reached capacity due to COVID-19 patients.

“Today our capacity is quite full at those two hospitals — West Bloomfield and Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit,” Chu said Wednesday. “We fortunately have the luxury right now of having additional capacity at some of our other campuses.”

On Wednesday, Mary Macdonald, an Oakland County ER nurse, posted a viral video on Instagram detailing the harrowing conditions at southeast Michigan hospitals where medical staff are combating shortages of essential supplies and equipment to care for this surge of coronavirus patients.

“It’s getting to the point now that it’s going to be just like Italy,” Macdonald said. “From 10:00 PM last night to this morning, we intubated two of my patients within a half-hour. And upwards of 10 patients were put on ventilators. My patient took the last ventilator available in the hospital,” she said.

“Normally, if a patient was to pass away, it would be because we tried everything that we could, we did everything that we could, we had all the resources and all the people that we needed to help save this patient’s life, and it was just their time. And now we aren’t giving the patient the time to choose whether it’s their time or not. We’re choosing for them,” she said.

Macdonald also noted that the hospital is short of even basic supplies.

“Resources are very slim. We have no medications to keep these patients even ventilated, let alone ventilators,” she said, adding that they are out of medications like propofol to keep people sedated when they are intubated. She said they are even running out of Tylenol.

“There are no masks. There are no gowns. They’re running low on gloves because everyone has panicked and stockpiled this, so that medical staff doesn’t have it,” she said. Macdonald then showed the disposable N95 mask she was required to stow in a brown paper bag after every workday to be reused for the rest of the year.

Macdonald urged her fellow Michiganders to take the social distancing instructions seriously in order to protect themselves and their neighbors from spreading the virus, otherwise the overwhelmed hospital system won’t be able to care for all the sick.

“We don’t have any ventilators to put these patients on,” Macdonald stressed. “So, we’re going to start making life or death decisions in regards to people’s care. So you’re going to come in, and you’re going to get tagged whether you [are] deem[ed] necessary to even get intubated or are you being sent home to die. This is truly scary, and nobody is taking it seriously.”

Khaldun, the chief medical office for Michigan’s Department of Health and Human Services, said the state is “probably a few weeks out” from hitting a peak in coronavirus cases. Michigan reported nearly 2,900 cases by Thursday and 60 deaths, both an increase of Wednesday’s statewide numbers.

Wayne County, home to Detroit, accounted for nearly half of the cases. Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, called Wayne a “hot spot” nationally and said she was concerned the county was “having a more rapid increase.”

Southeast Michigan, like New York City, is a hub for international travel. As the capital of the world’s auto industry, Metro Detroit has daily direct flights to and from major cities in Europe and Asia.

Although the virus is hitting the entire metro area hard, the city of Detroit is uniquely vulnerable to the pandemic. Despite its dramatic economic rebound in recent years after its municipal bankruptcy in 2013, the city is still one of the poorest in the nation, with a poverty rate nearly three times higher than the national average, and the city’s population suffers in greater numbers from underlining conditions like diabetes and heart disease.

“Part of what we’re seeing in Detroit is that there’s such a high number of individuals who have those underlying conditions, who have diabetes and the heart disease, who may have obesity,” Khaldun explained.

On Tuesday, Marlowe Stoudamire, 43, one of the young entrepreneurs involved in rebuilding the city, died from complications from COVID-19. According to health officials at Henry Ford Health System, Stoudamire had “no known underlying health conditions or recent travel.”

Detroit’s police force has also been hit especially hard by the coronavirus pandemic. Two members of the force died this week due to COVID-19, and 331 Detroit officers and 70 civilian police employees have been quarantined since the outbreak, including Detroit police chief James Craig, who tested positive for coronavirus on Friday.

READ MORE STORIES ABOUT:

Health Politics coronavirus COVID-19 Henry Ford Health System hospitals Michigan William Beaumont Health System

[emmettspeakz]

WLW story (in progress)

Warning: Graphic sex scenes at times

This is an original work of fiction that I’m working on and hope to publish one day.

Please give me any feedback on this, I really appreciate it thanks <3

Fucking Aira was the best time I’ve ever had. Why did I have to ruin it? Why couldn’t I just continue to have meaningless sex while high on adrenaline of the last heist we went on? 

It’s not until we’re in the moment, lying on the hotel bed, both of us naked, her body over mine as she stands outlined against the moonlight filtering in from the large window that it happens. I feel this warm prickle just beneath my abdomen and I know what it means. My focus changes to being all about her. I look at her as she’s lying there, my eyes moving along her smooth frame in total awe. 

Then, although she’d never admit this happened, she sort of shifts her body away from the window nervously. It’s completely irrational because we’re on the fourth floor and the dark curtains are mostly drawn, but the way she moves away makes her seem that much more human to me. She looks at me with those gorgeous pale-blue eyes of hers, with flushed-pink cheeks that trigger a smile to creep upon my face just by glancing up at her. She’s like a greek goddess, the way her silky black hair falls daintily down her shoulders and the way she just stares straight ahead at the headboard, into space, as we’re having sex. She meets my eyes and her body sort of hiccups, dipping down as she lets out a hushed chuckle. This is already different from our usual hooking up. She always tells me when we hook up that this is just purely lust, that no matter what our brains may think because we’re both women and emotions are inevitable, that we have to fight against them, that we can’t let them take over. I can tell, however, that this time there is something different is at play. 

“What?” She asks, gasping out a laugh when she speaks. 

I mimic her laugh, and she grins like it’s the cutest thing she’s ever heard. 

“N-nothing, it’s just--” I stammer, trying to find words that won’t ruin the mood or this arrangement we have going. This isn’t love, I tell myself. This is lust. It’s purely nature talking, nothing more. I can’t ruin this moment. I can’t. 

Aira looks down at me expectantly though, waiting for a response. She does that signature-Aira slight head tilt where her long, black hair flops to one side. It’s so enduring it always catches me off-guard. I know she wants me to tell her what I’m thinking, but staring up at her makes forming the right words difficult. 

“I-I think I’m falling in love with you.” I gasp out, regretting the words as they fall in a heap out of my mouth. 

I can’t read her expression when I tell her, but nothing changes, not really. She leans down and attaches herself to my neck like she always does and moans fill the room as we begin to ride out our pleasure together. 

Nothing seems to have changed, except really everything has. 

When we’re together we seem more fluid, more connected than ever before. We’ve had sex countless times but it has never felt so passionate, so--loving. It is the first time we make eye contact during, the first time we’ve truly ever...dare I say, made love.

I often drift off when we have sex, because it reminds me of when we first met. When I was a recently-out lesbian girl who got kicked out of the house by dead beat parents, along with any plans of going to college going right out the window. Having no friends available to me or any ideas of what to do, or really any money lying around, I simply rode the New York metro every single day until I was kicked out. Then I slept in a sleeping bag on the steps outside of the Christler building. 

I was lonely and alone. I feel like people think those things are the same thing and they’re not. You can be alone without ever feeling lonely. Having been an introvert all my life, I know this all too well. Never got invited to parties, never went out drinking with friends, never made out with someone just to have them take my virginity all in one night. I’m only 18 years old but I feel like everything that I could have accomplished in high school is over and done with. I graduated, it’s the summer, which was why I had decided to come out in the first place. I wanted to get it off my chest before college. I never expected my life to take such a drastic turn. Everything became so new to me all over again, wild and unknown, like being out in the woods at night. It was like I had to relearn everything I thought I knew about how to survive, how to deal with being alive. 

Then came Aira. It’s kind of a funny story how I spotted her, or when I guess I should say. I’d been listening to music the last couple of days since I left home, listening to emo music, music from musicals, and the occasional double whammy of emo music from musicals. In fact, the song “The Bitch of Living” from the musical Spring Awakening was blaring in my headphones when Aira stepped onto the train. I remember exactly what she looked like too. She had longer black hair back then, hair that went down past her back, but it was sort of hidden by her long rust-colored trench coat. I’m sure it had been raining that day. 

Even dampened by rain, Aira somehow looked radiant. She wore silver silhouettes, with silver hoop earrings to match that looked about the size of small bracelets. She had on a long sleeveless blue dress with tiny white stars etched in a random pattern throughout the smooth material. She carried a large clear umbrella that looked like a small pyramid that she laid at her feet. She must’ve caught me staring at her and made eye contact with me, which was the first human interaction I’d had in a long time. 

    “What are you doing on the train today?” She had asked, her voice so high and polite that it surprised me. Usually girls who asked questions in high pitched voices to total strangers were not ones who waited around to hear the answer. 

But I could tell even back then that Aira was the kind of woman that wanted, or even required, an answer to her questions, and that she would actually hear the answer. 

     “Uh, not much.” My answer came out raspy, my voice somehow hoarse from three days of misuse. 

       “That’s not an answer!” She replied cheerfully. “I mean, where are you headed? What do you planning on doing next?”

My face went white, my mind blank. I’d been asking myself the same questions for three days now. I just stared at the floor, unsure of how to respond. I didn’t want to reveal the fact that I was homeless. I didn’t want to talk about my sob story. I wasn’t trying to elicit sympathy from a total fucking stranger.

Aira seemed to understand me and responded for me instead.  

      “Oh, if you don’t want to talk that’s alright. But I’ll tell you what I’m doing on this train, just to fill time. I hate the silence of an early morning train, y’know?”

I nodded to show I understood, even though I was quite content with a quiet morning train, but I let her continue. 

      “This doctor botched my niece’s surgery and I’m going in to give him a piece of my mind for my sister. She’s too soft to do anything about it because she says ‘cancer is difficult to deal with, I’m sure he tried his best, blah, blah, blah’. But that’s my sister for you, she doesn’t see anything but the good in people. That’s always been her issue, too soft on others, too hard on herself. I’m just the opposite, I suppose. That’s how we keep each other in check.” 

Aira looked at me when she spoke and seeing as I didn’t chime in, but was keen on listening to her talk, she kept going. She talked so professionally about everything, especially the sad subject of cancer, about how her niece's death was really hard on her whole family and how her niece had always been this girl fighting for her life, having had measles at birth, since some anti-vaccer hadn’t vaccinated their kid and infected a third of the hospital before they could contain the outbreak. She sounded like a woman beyond her years back then, so proper and elegant you couldn’t tell that she was only twenty. 

Now that we’re so comfortable with each other, she just sounds like Aira, like anyone else, like a friend that I’d known since birth, and to me now she was a literal partner in crime. 

Days had passed by here and there and I kept seeing her on the train. She’d tell me stories about her family and I’d silently miss mine. It was nice to have someone to talk to, even though it took me a few weeks to get out of my shell and actually confess to her about my situation, or really talk to her in general as she was the more talkative one, something that grew apparent to me very quickly. I remember her being sympathetic about what happened to me and opening up to me about her sexuality as well. It was a weird sort of bonding moment for us, apart from the fact that it reminded me that she had her family even though she was gay and I didn’t. 

But the instant that things changed for the both of us was this one day in particular. I remember it so vividly, though besides the subject matter of our conversation being so out of the blue, I can’t seem to think why the day is so clear in my mind.

She got on the train so exasperated I thought she’d been sprinting to catch it in time. But she wasn’t breathing hard—just speaking hurriedly as if time itself would run out on us. 

      “Come with me somewhere at my stop. I need to talk to you about something.” 

It was a weird conversation to say the least. I guessed correctly that she wanted to have a conversation in private without the evening rush hour of people overhearing. It felt odd to hear “I need” and “you” in the same sentence too from someone who I barely knew a few weeks ago and I wondered what this was all about. 

As soon as her stop came, she grabbed my hand and pulled me and what little luggage I carried with me out of the train. We raced up stairs and down hallways and through doors until we reached a small hotel. It felt odd to be at a hotel with a woman who just wanted to tell me something, but I I knew that this was New York and nobody truly got privacy unless they were willing to buy it. And hotel rooms were cheaper than a loud, crowded apartment building with thousands of wandering eyes and attentive little ears that could hear everything we wanted to say. 

Once we had a room, Aira got me a glass of water and sat me down on one of the chairs. As I sat she braced her hands together as if in prayer, but I’ve come to know this pose as “Aira has to air some shit out”, no pun intended. 

     “Okay,” she said, sighing a little. “I hate capitalism.”

I blinked at her. Of course I agreed, but this was the big secret she had to tell me? The one that we couldn’t be around other people to discuss? No one in America cares about people hating on capitalism, except if they also mention the ideas of socialism and communism in the same conversation, so we were safe for the moment. But after a long pause, Aira continued. 

   “My niece was like my own child in a way, and they made us pay them out the ass to keep her alive only to have her die on the operating table and...and then we had to pay more money for the surgery even after it failed. It nearly bankrupted my sister! I just can’t believe we don’t have healthcare that can pay for everything we need, I can’t believe capitalism, money, became more important than saving that little girl. I hate capitalism and I’m taking revenge. You understand me right? You must understand why. You can’t go to college because you can’t afford it. Isn’t education supposed to be free? Well, I want revenge. On all of it. On the doctors, on capitalism, on the government especially. I want to be like robinhood, steal from the capitalist rich, give to the poor, take down capitalism from the inside, y’know? Wanna help me?”

I was so startled by all of this. I barely knew this woman. We had talked less than 10 times. What did I really know about her? Not a lot. I started ticking off things in my head: She cares for her family above all else, she seems nice, she values her privacy, she doesn’t want to get caught for wrongdoing but-- and then it occurred to me. Sometimes the law isn’t always on your side. Sometimes society isn’t either. My family was taught by society and their religion that gay people don’t deserve to live as people. Those doctors in that hospital decided that Aira’s niece was less valuable than the money for her procedure. This moment in time was when I started relearning things I thought I had known. I learned that sometimes laws--and life frankly--was unfair and that sometimes, you needed to take it into your own hands. 

“Deal.” I declared and stuck out my hand to her as if this was a contract I was about to sign. And I’ll admit, it was to some degree, I just didn’t know it yet. 

She took my hand and shook it. And that began our series of heists. 

The first one we ever did was trying to hack into a bank to steal money from rich trustees and investment banker millionaires who wouldn’t even miss $500,000 missing from their virtual vaults. We wanted to be virtual robin hoods. 

I remember our first heist, the adrenaline, the frantic keyboard clacking, watching the monitors as Aira made her way into the bank vault. I remember the screeches of joy followed by the shrieks of panic. We had almost gotten caught when the police when someone silently dialed them. I know right? Rookie move. They tried to ping our address from the security cams we rerouted into the bank, but only figured out we were doing it from a hotel. Even if they known the IPN was coming from our particular hotel, they’d have to search over a thousand rooms. We might as well have gotten off scot-free. No one came knocking on our door but the mere thought of someone coming in and arresting us had gotten us drunk with power. 

And something else too. 

For the first time ever, Aira looked over at me with this look that I can’t even describe. She’s panting after a long moment of relief when we realize we haven’t been caught, that we won’t get caught, or at least we won’t this time. It’s like she’s staring into my soul, or into my very being. That sounds kind of dramatic but two years ago, when I was 18 and had never held hands with a girl, let alone kissed or had sex with one, the look she gave me sent me into a daze. It sent shivers up my spine. 

I remember a rush of loneliness hit me like a ton of bricks. The next moment passes by and Aira has this wild look in her eye. I know that back then, deep down, she had been  aroused by what we’d just accomplished. 

She’d still been looking at me, her eyes locked on me--her target. She gives me a once over, bites her lip, then she started to walk over to me. She moved some of my messy hair out of my face and then her lips are on mine. It’s a weird, wet feeling but god do I need it. So much. The loneliness that I’ve felt for the last few days before meeting her, before this heist, is completely wiped away and replaced by nothing but wanting. God, I want her so badly. 

But I don’t know what I’m doing. I’ve never done anything like this before. I can tell she knows this because she removes her shirt and I just stare at her, unmoving, my arms crossed over my chest, my hands cupping my elbows nervously. I think I even started shaking involuntarily. 

She reaches over to place a hand on my shoulder to ease my worries. Then, realizing she’s only wearing her bra, she begins to put her shirt back on while speaking, so it was slightly muffled but I could hear the gist:

“Hey, you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable.” 

But it’s not that I’m uncomfortable. I’d definitely tell her if I was uncomfortable.  I wanted to have sex with her, in fact I craved it at the time. But how was I supposed to convey that to her?

While she had just put her shirt back on over her bra, I went over and placed a kiss on her lips. She kissed back passionately then pulled away and that’s when I took the opportunity to take her shirt off. 

A bold move on my part but she didn’t even seem phased. She gave me a sly smile and chuckled lightly. 

“Eager aren’t we?” She teased.

“Yeah, but I-only if you want, obviously. A-And I don’t know what I’m doing so I hope that it’s still enjoyable for you and--”

She cut me off with a finger to my lips. 

“Oh sweetheart, I’ll get off if you’re having a good time.” 

Her voice is like honey, sweet and sultry, and I feel like I could melt into a puddle right then and there. 

“Let me know if you want me to stop.” She tells me, making eye contact so intensely I know she’s serious. She wants me to have a good time and I know she’ll stop if I tell her to. She’s making a promise to me with those eyes and a realization crystallizes in an instant. I completely, 100% trust this woman. She’s the first real friend I’ve made in a long time. Well, maybe she was more than a friend now. 

I nod simply and she’s kissing me again, more passionate this time. She waits a bit to make sure that I’m okay with this, doing so without any words and when I don’t show any sign of refusing, she shoves me backwards onto the bed. I fall back hard, hitting my head on the hotel mattress rather abruptly and immediately her hands fly up to her face. 

“Oh my God! Are you okay? Fuck, I shouldn’t have been so rough!” 

Her words kind of ruined the moment we had going and it forces me to chuckle a little bit. She’s so worried about hurting me, about being gentle and sweet with me, like I’m a fragile baby bird. It’s the first sign I get that she’s this down-to-earth, human person, and not just someone to rob bank vaults with. She’s someone I could see myself being with long-term. She’s so damn genuine. After dealing with fake people all my life, she’s just what I needed. 

“I’m fine,” I say, smiling up at her. “Just caught me off-guard, that’s all.”

“Oh.” She says, surprised at my composure. “Is it okay if we continue?”

I nod and bite my lip. God, I want her even more now. And it seems like she wants me too. 

She crawls on top of me, digging her knee ever so slightly into my crouch and I involuntarily let out a small moan. 

“Oh come on girlie, we haven’t even gotten started yet.”

With that, she’s on my neck, biting and sucking at just the right spots. I tilt my head back and moan and grind my hips upward to meet her knee and it rubs at just the right spot. She moves her knee down so her hips meet mine when I move them upward and that triggers a loud groan to erupt from deep inside me, like something that’s been wanting to burst forth for years. She grins an evil, devilish sort of grin and presses my hips down to the bed and pins them there with her hand as she grinds her hips against mine, without letting me move. The friction makes me light-headed and she keeps going, getting faster and faster and I keep moaning louder. She cups her hand over my mouth to keep me quiet and that turns me on even more. 

“Fuck,” I groan out, though it sounds muffled behind her hand. 

All of a sudden she stops and I whine from lack of friction until she tugs on my jean shorts, asking with her eyes if she can remove them. My face feels flushed, as again I’m so nervous that I’ve never done anything like this before but I nod to show that I’m okay with it. She lifts my legs and starts pulling my shorts down slowly, agonizingly slowly, and it’s making me frustrated. She gives me a wide smile and I groan in exasperation as my head goes backward and hits the pillow.  She knows this is torture to me, but that’s all part of the fun for her. 

Finally my shorts are off and she doesn’t waste time in moving my underwear out of her way. Again, she checks to make sure this is okay and I just tell her to get on with it. She slides me that sly smile again and starts touching me underneath my underwear. First with her fingers then with her mouth, then both. I’m in complete bliss. At some point she’s on top of me again, completely naked, and we’re pleasuring each other, wrapped up  together wonderfully. I remember my eyes rolling back into my head as we ride out our pleasure together. 

I’m no longer a virgin. And God, I’ve never felt so amazing in my entire life. When we’re done she kisses me, then tucks me in beside her to get some sleep. 

***

It’s the whole “it’s just adrenaline and lust, not love” conversation which brings me back to reality, about what I was talking about before. 

As I said, I often drift off during sex, but not this time. I make eye contact with her the whole time and when we reach our climaxes, we’re staring directly into each other’s eyes. It’s such a raw, almost frightening feeling for minutes that stretch out into what feel like hours. I know I’ve said this before, but I just love seeing her like this—completely exposed, and just so...human. 

The next morning, the morning after I confess to her, I’m not nervous. 

I didn’t know what was coming for me in the morning then, but I know that future Oakley is up for a surprise.

The next morning, Aira is already up, which isn’t like her. Usually she waits until I get up and kisses me awake, then makes us breakfast and is talkative the whole time.

The next morning Aira isn’t talking to me. It’s weird, hearing nothing but silence when being around her. It can’t be like this tomorrow when we do our big bank heist. 

“Hey A, why are you so quiet this morning?” 

She continued to give me the silent treatment. 

“Hey!” My voice was louder this time when I talked to her, trying to get her to snap out of whatever trance she was in.

[glutterandgallivant]

My First Trek..

During the first week of December 2018, I took a step that changed my life.

By reading different trek experiences, digging into different treks ran by different trekking communities, desiring for a tent stay to journeying in Himalayas is what I do to kill my time for few months back then. December is when I decided that I should do it, I should take my first Himalayan trek by March.

So my next decision was to figure out which trek it is. Is it Kedarkantha? Or is it Dayara Bughyal? Or is it Brahmatal?. Brahmatal was the last choice among the other treks I’ve listed out, but considering trekking in March Bramatal was the only good option among others. I started to read more about Brahmatal, and the more I read the more I started to fall in love with the place before I even visited it.

I started hitting the gym in the morning, managed two of my best friends to hop in with me and it further extended to another two(friend of friends) joining us. I was on cloud nine when I completed my first 5km jog in 35-36 mins with my friend who was constantly motivating beside me whenever I stopped to sip water or needed a break. From booking our flights to and fro Delhi followed by our train journey to Kathgodam, our stay in rishikesh everything was looked into and my excitement for the trek increased day by day. It was all “Yay!!!” moment for me. Whenever I feel low or don’t feel like going to gym, a picture or facts on whatever I read about Brahmatal flashes my mind and I instantly get back to the “Yay!! I’m going for a trek” moment.

There was only a week left for the trek when my friend started falling ill and we are yet to buy our trekking gear. Finally I decided to visit Decathlon store with two of my friends, Aarthy and Savitha. Aarthy came to help us pick the right gear(she went to Kedarkantha during December, had she informed earlier that would have been my first trek) and Savitha on the other hand is all clueless on what to buy as much as me. Then came my sick friend Vivek who was all sluggish af to buy his trekking gear. Finally each of us purchased and swiped Aarthy’s credit card with a smirk on our face. 

Meanwhile I received an e-mail from my trek co-ordinator that we won’t be reaching the summit stating the bad weather condition and instead replaced a day with our visit to Kukhina top.

The day before my trek, Vivek called to inform me that he wont be able to make it to the trek and asked me to cancel his part on behalf of him. I started to feel numb and all my mixed emotions started to gush from my toe to face. I started to remember the time when he made a surprise visit to my office and how I convinced him to join the trek, though he was reluctant to show his excitement I always knew he is looking forward to this whole trip. Well, I made up my mind or at least thought I did and proceeded to cancel all his bookings after re-confirming with him that night. 

So finally the day is here!! 

Day 1: Delhi - March 16th

We boarded the flight to Delhi after formally introducing ourselves and finally landed Delhi around 4:30-5 pm. Following that we boarded the Metro to reach the Chandni Chowk station, got down checked in our baggage in the cloak room and came back near Paranthe wali gali in Chandni Chowk. The minute I landed there I planned to binge eat whatever I find and I executed it :P Every food vendor in Delhi has some special history and unique taste which is hard to find elsewhere. From soaking in with paani poori to sweet tasting big fluffy rasagulla to stuffing myself with Paranthas and tanking myself with Lassi I ate whatever I could find and did a little bit of cloth shopping in between. 

Then we marched towards the end of the street to witness the awestruck beauty of the historic fort - The Red Fort. We stood there clicking few selfies in front of it whilst a random trespasser asked us if we are from Andra/Telegana. We hesitated to reply him as we sensed some negativity going around and out of thin air he started to curse the current ruling party when a Police Officer came to check on the situation of him disturbing us. We vanished from the place in a blink of an eye when he pointed that we belong to his hometown as well. Wait. What?

Delhi - Kathgodam -> Ranikhet express

 The worst train journey I’ve ever had in my life. 

When all my friends moved from RAC to confirmed seats they were allocated in the same compartment except for me. So I moved to my seat and settled myself in upper berth where two guys were lying on each other smoothing towards my right, a guy staring continuously lying towards my straight and another person who was throwing wrapper in my place towards my left. I in-turn threw the wrappers including the paper waste I had back to his place, started to stare the guy back who wasn’t resting to blink his eye and ignored all the gay drama going on the other end. (Get a room idiots!!)

Day 2: Kathgodam - Lohajung - March 17th

We reached Kathgodam by 5am, refreshed ourselves and looked for our cab. The place was too cool and I wore my jerkin immediately after placing our luggages in the car which will take off around 6:30 when the fellow trek-mates arrive. So we took a small walk rambling to the start and end of the street and finally started to Lohajung.

I had egg maggi and lemon tea for my breakfast while my friends had masala noodles and bun omlette. Later we introduced ourselves to rest of the crew and parted in our cars to reach Lohajung.

Initially we were passing a stream with crystal clear water which accompanied us to lead to the freshly blossomed rhododendrons. Driving past that we saw the snow capped mountains covered behind large green mountains smiling at us from distance & atleast I thought it whispered “Welcome Keerthana!!” 

We reached Lohajung, met your trek leaders, unpacked our bags ate our dinner(tasty rotis with paneer mutter masala and dal ~=p) and dozed off real quick.

Day 3: Lohajung - Khukina Top(Wan village) - Lohajung - March 18th

This day planner was a replacement of cancelling our summit day so I wasn’t much excited about it. All I had in my mind was 3km up and 3km to the down returning back to our base camp, an excursion kind of day. But I was proven wrong on the very few minutes. While most of them started to walk fast, my pace was very slow enjoying my path towards the snow, and few stream walks. Savitha and Divya seem to have disappeared in about 20 minutes as they were focusing towards their trek and I got to know about Vicky (Savitha’s friend) who had the same pace as mine. Soon we reached a spot, gathered around and had our packed lunch. To be frank, I hated the lunch however the view I was surrounded by made it the best lunch I’ve ever had. 

Few locales were celebrating Holi with drum beats while we clicked few pictures and started to descent our way back to the basecamp. On the way down, we witnessed few locales whose backyard was full of mules and the young faces were fresh and active. My hyperactive photographic ass started to ask them to pose for my photographs which they did :) A few seconds later, I tried to strike a conversation with my broken Hindi to a young girl who expressed her wishes to move to a city life surrounded by big buildings and I wondered how many of us from the city crave to live in the mountains with a view like this but there she was with an unadulterated smile on her face dreaming about the city life.

The grass is always greener on the other site, isn’t it?

With this thought I descended, petted a dog on the way and drank Black Coffee for the first time :) 

Day 4: Lohajung - Bekaltal - March 19th

Started my day with a bright smile on my face. My bag was heavier than I thought and I couldn’t reduce it despite my repacking efforts. Had a mild back pain the other night and asked Savitha to apply an ointment to ease the pain. Divya told me to offload the backpack considering the weight however I was reluctant to do it. The start 20 mins was very steep and my backpain started to show up gradually increasing on every step. I didn’t want to offload my backpack, and tried to move forward but I was pulled back and finally I gave in and sat in the corner to rest when I knew I couldn’t carry the backpack with the backpain. My friend Vicky and Asst trek leader Afreen were walking beside me (Well, I was technically the last trekker) and a local guide took my backpack. Though my pace was not normal, I was not pulled back either so I started to self motivate and took every step I could. Though I asked my friend Vicky to carry on, he was accompanying me throughout every step for which he later got a day bell awarded to the best trekker of the day :D We reached the Khopdalia tent (I reached the last) and I sacked in to have a small sleep. 

Bekaltal is a ten minute trek up from the tent and we started by evening. My friends thought of letting me rest, but I guess something woke me up and everyone were leaving to witness the Bekaltal lake. I immediately wore my trek shoes and started with them. The path was entirely surrounded by Oak trees, I was certainly sleepy and active at the same time (guess the backpain was a bit subsided by then). The Bekaltal lake was half frozen and very very beautiful. 

We had our dinner sometime later, got to know everyone names through a small game and went back to sleep.

Day 5: Bekaltal - Khorurai - March 20th

Since our summit was cancelled due to bad weather, we were trekking to Khorurai via Jhandi Top instead of Brahmatal lake. I offloaded my bag and was superactive today. After our breakfasts, we packed our lunch and started to walk. On the way Savitha, Vicky and I were chit chatting and as the time went by we reached the Jhandi top. Fortunately we got our signals and everybody video called their family after halting for few minutes. We captured many pictures here and took few boomerangs (including Baahubali backstabbing scenarios). Later we had our lunch (I guess Vicky fed me and savitha mostly to shut our trash talking mouths). I was really happy and even experienced the snow slide which I missed the previous day. My pace was good and I didn’t want to speed it up either. 

We reached the basecamp, got to know a few other trekkers and witnessed the sunset together. Best times!! Best times!!

After few minutes, Savitha and I were upset about each other (not really sure why, but leave me and her alone for a day and what else do you expect? we were really at each other’s neck :D). I started to miss Vivek more, and few drops of tears started to roll down my cheeks which I didn’t realise. Thankfully I was alone in the tent and no one noticed :D I left to the dining camp to have some soup, and Vicky was already there clueless among the Hindi speaking trekkers. Soon everyone started to mingle and they made me to sing Rowdy Baby!! :( :P After sometime everybody joined in and we had our dinner together. Aashay (our trek leader) narrated few stories about Mt Nanda Devi and Mt Nanda Ghundi, we were about 5-6 trekkers listening to them hoping to hear about atleast one mountain ghost. To our disappointment we got to know only about a nuclear reactor planted in Mt Nanda Devi. As the chitchats prolonged, we shared about our crushes, childhood love stories and finally bitching about Savitha as she did me. The night ended on such a fun and memorable note.

Day 5: Khorurai - Lohajung - March 21th

Holi hey!!!!!! The typical Balam Pichkari moment <3

Imagine waking up from a tent, stepping outside on the snow when the fellow treks color our face and make you dance to your own tunes letting your hearts out. This was my morning, and this is why this trip still stands so special to me. 

With a heavy heart, we started to descend to our basecamp witnessing the beautiful rhododendron trees throughout. We sat in a circle during a rest point and Aashay asked us what we were grateful for. I didn’t get a chance to speak there, but I wanted to yell “This, this moment”. I had this subtle feel, “oh, I wish this moment would freeze, wish it never ends”. Guess every trip has one of those moments on why we needed it in the first place and this was mine.

We reached our basecamp, packed our bags and were ready to leave the next day.

For some reason I isolated myself during the dinner, guess I was missing the idiot again and the damn bloody tears started again. I didn’t want anyone to find out, so I sat in a place and had super good custard missing my friend in the dark. Later, I called Vivek and somehow speaking to him made me to weep my heart out and this time in front of Savitha, Divya and Vicky. I was pretty embarrassed later but felt light after speaking to him. I always have my mixed feelings towards myself, and hate to be a teary eyed person. But this idiot made me cry more than thrice so gradually the missing turned into anger B-)

Day 5: Lohajung - Rishikesh - March 22nd

We bid farewell to everybody and started to Rishikesh. A fellow trekker Rhea joined us to Rishikesh and we booked her the same hostel as us. On the way  Savitha and I realised we were badly sunburned (result of no cream attitude) and tried applying all kinds of oil. Meanwhile my hair started to worsen considering the climate, I had become Season 10 Monica all of a sudden with a sun burned face :”>

We reached the Hostel which was really good to be quite frank and my first Hostel stay experience. Everyone were smoking weed and pot in the dinning area of the hostel and seeing the No sex with sound instructions made me feel like Queen Kangana’s Amsterdam experience. Savitha, Divya and I took a girls night out walk to buy some products to soothe our skin while Vicky was enjoying rather a view I’d not like to discuss in public :P

Day 6: Rishikesh - March 23rd

The Bungee jumping day!! I thought of overcoming my fear of heights by taking a leap but fate has something else planned for me. 

I stood there, saw the yellow mark. They asked me to focus on the yellow mark alone and take a jump. Don’t look down they said. But my curious ass and mind peeped down and I started to shake, however I wanted to jump too. I wasn’t sure about the belt so I came back and sat again, asked the person to tighten it. While he did, he tightened it so hard that my back pain started again. I was already demotivated with the heights and the very thought of jumping alone. And the person advised me not to take the jump considering the pain might increase or worse, permanent till I get the right treatment. So I backed out. I was relieved and embarrassed at the same time. But I guess that’s for the good, the jump might have definitely increased my back pain. So the Bungee experience is until next time!!!

The back pain started to reduce slowly, and we proceeded with the river rafting. This was a super cool experience, altogether. We had a small cliff where we could jump directly to the river in a break spot of rafting. That seemed very small from a distance, but I started to panic when I reached the top of the cliff. Savitha was reluctant and ready to push me, so after delaying everyone’s time from my panic expressions, I stepped forward and they pushed me. :( Unfortunately there is a video of this being used as a blackmail tool.  

Day 7: Rishikesh - Delhi - Chennai - March 24th 

We started to Haridwar early morning 4am to board our Shatabji train to Delhi. I slept during my entire train journey and was annoyed most of the time by the lady who sat behind. She let her kid scream loud near by ear, and stretched her legs towards my side bars. My every single train journey is annoyed by these kinda passengers, not sure if this is happening only to me though!! We reached Delhi, had juicy burgers in McDonalds and left to Airport immediately.

Vivek came to the arrival point to my surprise to pick me up. We dropped Savitha in her home and headed to mine. 

This trip was a whole Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani package but sadly, I didn’t get to have a Ranbir Kapoor :(