#well I’m done ranting about a baby turtle | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

baby-grayson · 4 years ago

Text

Sweet Enigma|Part 9

Tag List: @wheezeatmedolans @styles-dolan @prettyboydolan @evergreendolan @baby-turtles @dolanstacoma @kombuchagray @not-gbd @graysavant @someonetogray @dolansficsandpics @batgirl009 @voguekristens @letsgoget-high @crossedbone-kat @thecoletomysprouse @graysonsbailey

tw: pregnancy and mental health discussions

Kate didn’t tell Grayson she was pregnant. At least, not that night. The emotional blows and exhaustive moments had knocked her around more than the tide had when she splashed into the ocean. She left the triage room and Dr.Ocasio as if she was leaving the trenches of a battle: moving, but feeling emptier on the inside (despite sharing her body with the fledgling traces of a new life). She was quiet as she slumped beside Grayson in the car ride back to his place. Tired and angry, he chattered on about paperwork and the nurse’s demeanor as a distraction from the searing hatred burning in his heart that was oxygenated by Sherry’s actions. Not yet ready to face that emotional storm, he settled on ranting about the hospital while Kate leaned her head against the windowsill and gently thumbed her hip, wearing a pensive look framed by dark eye bags and sullen skin.

She followed Grayson into his bedroom when they got home. He waved his hands madly in the air while he continued to rant. She dropped onto his bed, surrendering to the events of the night and instantly wanting to fall asleep and retreat the craziness that had become her life.

Grayson looked when she sighed audibly. He stopped ranting and laced his lips together, going dry at the mouth. “Hey,” he started softly as he went to sit next to her. He draped an arm around her shoulders and leaned over to place a gentle kiss on the side of her head, “I’m sorry...bunny” he mumbled the word with his lips pressed to her skin.

She tried to feign a smile but instead only lifted her mouth and let it fall again, as if it was weighted down by the tons of stress and trauma she wore from the past few weeks. She leaned into Grayson, letting her hair fall over his shoulder as she nuzzled into his neck. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in, letting her fall into his form and feel the warmth emanating from his body. She closed her eyes against his skin, letting her body relax as she gently played with her fingers against him.

In that moment, Grayson smelled the salt of the ocean on her hair. He would have liked to say that the scent reminded me of the stresses of the night: her sweet, citrus scent overpowered by the storm they had weathered together. In all honesty, he recoiled slightly at the smell of fish and sweat. He kissed the top of her head and mumbled into her hair, “Go take a shower, I’ll get your pajamas out of your bag.”

Kate nodded softly before dragging herself up to a standing position and moving into his on-suite bathroom. She slid off Grayson’s jacket, folding it neatly and placing it on the bathroom counter. She let her dress drop to the floor, kicking it aside. She turned on Grayson’s shower and sat on the marble bench, letting the water fall on her from above. She leaned back and rested on the bench, trying her best not to think about anything.

She laid naked and wet: her body housing two lives but feeling dead inside.

Grayson unbuttoned his shirt while sulking out of his bedroom and into the living room, where Kate’s backpack was still slung over the couch from yesterday morning. He started to shimmy out of the shirt when he looked up and spotted Ethan at the kitchen island, sitting next to their assistant, Isla. Isla was a full-figured, curvy Latina who spoke in a pointed, but caring manner. Her namesake was forever imprinted as a tattoo sleeve on her right arm and by a signature blue streak of hair in the front of her face.

“Hey,” Grayson’s tone was low while he approached his brother.

“You’re welcome,” Ethan’s tone was flat and his eyes were too tired to fully commit to the joke.

Grayson looked from Ethan to Isla and back to Ethan, “For what?”

“For saving your--your” Ethan held a a hand in the direction of Grayson’s bedroom and waved it, trying to find a word to describe Gray and Kate’s relationship. “-amor” Isla finished his sentence with a delicate smirk.

Ethan snapped his fingers in her direction and nodded, “Thank you.”

Grayson rolled his eyes slightly, “How are you holding up?” He leaned over the counter next to Isla.

“Damp” Ethan replied emphatically.

Grayson let out a laugh that partially relieved him of the invisible weight on his shoulders. His laugh slowly quieted until the room was silent once more: Isla, Ethan, and Grayson sneaking awkward glances at each other. “I’m glad you’re okay,” Grayson said before sighing, “What are we even supposed to do about this?” He was speaking louder than he would have liked, ever the booming presence in a room.

“Well you could--” “You should--” Ethan and Isla spoke over each other.

“Sorry,” Isla whispered.

“No you go,” Ethan started.

Isla shook her head softly and fiddled with her phone in her hands.

“We need to do something about Sherry,” Ethan started, “I’ll call the legal team in the morning.”

Grayson nodded and locked his jaw, “Is that just another add on to what happened to Kate’s apartment?”

Ethan gave a defeated shrug “Dunno- but have they even tied that back to her?”

“Who else would it be?” Grayson didn’t hide his anger.

“You know Gray,” Ethan started, “There are a lot of people who don’t like her- Kate- right now.” He sighed and gave another surrendered shrug, “She didn’t exactly give the world the best impression.”

Grayson huffed, “I know” he stated. He wanted to add: and that’s my fault. He was torn up by the fact that so many people openly hated the woman who single handedly brought happiness back into his life. He was utterly confused, caught in a rabbit hole of doubt and anger: wondering if he would ever wake up from this nightmare and angry at himself for bringing only dark clouds to Kate, when she radiated in his eyes.

By the time Grayson got to bed that night, Kate was already laying there. She was draped in one of his old sweatshirts and resting on top of the covers. Grayson tried his best to slide into the covers and pull her near him while staying silent. Little did he know, she was very much awake. In the dark, she didn’t even try to close her eyes.

The low grumble of Grayson’s snores did not lull her to sleep. On the contrary, they amplified the anxious voices inside of her: crying out about her life, her baby, her family, Grayson, Sherry, boats, nighttime, splashes, treading water, and washing away. She broke out in a cold sweat, the events of the night echoing in her head.

If sleep washed a layer of relief on Grayson’s soul, waking up energized him to seek a vengeance for the day before. He looked at Kate, who’s eyelashes were fluttering against her cheekbones while her mouth sat in a frown. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and used a large arm to grapple her into his chest and start placing a series of soft kisses on her head. He didn’t check to see her frown fade, “G’morning beautiful”

“Morning Gray,” her voice sounded almost hoarse.

“You sound sleepy,” he nuzzled his face against her soft dark hair.

She shrugged, “I’m still tired.” She conveniently left out the part about not sleeping a week.

“Stay in bed while I take a shower,” Grayson smiled against her hair before placing a final kiss on the crown of her head.

It was only once she heard the patter of Grayson’s shower again the marble bathroom floor that she finally closed her eyes and relinquished her body to it’s exhausted state.

She slept until the late afternoon, waking up to a dry mouth and a disoriented mind. Grayson was long gone, running between meetings and phone calls while trying to quell the chaos of the night before.

She lifted herself from bed and trudged into the bathroom where she smoothed out her hair in the mirror. She looked at her own face: wondering if that girl was ready to be a mother. Wondering if that girl could be a mother.

The fear of being recognized in public was not enough to stop her from ordering an Uber to the nearest drug store, where she promptly bought a box of pregnancy tests to verify what the emergency room doctor had told her.

She tiptoed into the house, the plastic of the shopping bag peaking out of her purse while she swiftly moved into Grayson’s bathroom. She was somewhat thankful that Grayson was working late and wrapped up in the chaos of their lives.She turned the lock on the bathroom door, not wanting to risk being caught.

Any good scientist knows the key to valid data is reproducibility: an experiment is no good if it can only be done once. The general rule of thumb, was to preform trials in triplicate to prove validity. Ever the doting, committed scientist, Kate took six pregnancy tests that night.

She stood, staring at the counter and her six positive tests staring up at her. They were daunting. Almost fearsome. Staring at her like a small army ready to attack.

She cupped her face in her hands, deciding that it was real: that it was true.

She heard Grayson enter his bedroom before he knocked on the bathroom door, “You in there?”

“Yeah! Just a minute” She did the smartest thing she could think of and quickly slid all six tests into her purse, not knowing how and when she would dispose of them. She looked in the mirror again, wondering if she looked difference: if housing a child had already started its barrage of physical changes on her body. Could Grayson tell?

She hoped not.

Grayson was emptying his pockets on his nightstand and sitting on the edge of the bed when she creeped out of the bathroom, “Hey,” he started, not even looking up at her as he tossed his wallet near his lamp.

Even Kate’s anxious mind could see the physical signs of exhaustion on Grayson’s face: heavy lidded eyes, a low mouth, and distinct creases on his forehead. She sat next to him, “Hey,” she started quietly.

Grayson sighed before he looked at the floor as he spoke, “Talked to Joe and Rob about what happened--”

“Who are Joe and Rob?”

“Oh- uh manager and lawyer-”

“-right.” Kate gave a small nod. She bit the corner of her mouth and decided against asking anymore questions: lest she be faced with all of the details she didn’t know about Grayson’s life. Should she feel guilty for being pregnant by a man and not knowing the name of his manager? Internal, she shuddered and reflected on just how weird a place Hollywood was, to make her ask such a question.

If Grayson could sense her inner struggle, he didn’t show it. Instead, he droned on for a few minutes about assault, battery, nautical laws, and the California jurisdiction. Kate gave small nods and folded her lips whenever he would look up to get her reaction.

“It’s a lot,” Grayson leaned his upper body down against the bed. He wrapped his face in his hands and moved his fingers through his hair, “I feel like I just went to law school in a day- I- this is crazy.”

“It is,” Kate’s voice was small and her posture erect as she sat on the edge of the bed, her hands folded neatly in her lap.

She jumped at the feeling of two large arms folding around her and Grayson leaning his head against her shoulder, “I’m so sorry bunny,” his voice was low. “I-I-” he sighed again and squeezed her tiny frame, “I can’t imagine how you must be feeling.” He placed a gentle kiss on her temple. Kate’s posture didn’t falter.

Grayson cleared his throat before saying the next part, slowly and deliberately, “After the break in-- the one that happened before we met-- I was really freaked out. Didn’t sleep for nearly a month. I felt like my even my own mind wasn’t safe anymore. The point is, I went to a therapist a few times. Talked a lot out and I think it really helped me. And this isn’t me sending you to someone else, I’m here for you, wholly, with everything you need. But if you need more” he reached out to hold her hand in his, “I’m by your side always.”

Kate’s lips slipped into a smile for the first time all day, “Thank you Grayson.”

He squeezed her hand once more, “We’ll get through this together mama.”

She stiffened in his arms, “What?!”

“Sorry,” he let out a low chuckle. He rolled his eyes softly at an angle she couldn’t see, “bunny.” he corrected with a loving but mocking tone, “I should know better, I’ll get better I promise.”

Kate gave a small nod before falling back onto the bed.

The second night mimicked the first, with Grayson snoring like a lion on the prowl and Kate rolling around, trying to find a space that felt comfortable enough to lull her to sleep but failing to find it within herself. How could someone sleep when their soul was too busy operating on decisions that would change their lifetime?

She feigned sleep while Grayson slipped out in the morning. She closed her eyes while he bent down to kiss her cheek and whispered, “Sweet Dreams.” Before she head the sound of the door close behind him.

She felt guiltier, that second morning. Once the door creaked shut, she instantly remembered the sullen and long face Grayson gave when he came home the night before. She felt guilty that he was out, fighting her battles and trying to protect her, in a mess of paperwork and legal times, his least favorite things in the world, while she got to stay home and contemplate their love child.

She felt twisted about the fact that this thought made her happy. In a weird way, it proved Grayson’s committment to her, his dedication, and his faith to whatever they had. It calmed some of her nerves that he would be the future father of her child.

Her musings were interrupted by a slurry of emails from her advisor: asking where she was, if she was okay, what was happening. They made her head spin. She felt that the fabric of her mind was being invaded by the complex task of balancing her personal future with the future of her own career and well being. Surely, she hadn’t wanted a child. But now that one was in her sights, and literally in her, maybe it was somehow fated to be this way.

She shut her phone off entirely in an effort to delete the emails.

She threw on one of Grayson’s wakeheart t-shirts and a pair of sweat pants and pattered out into the kitchen for a meal. The hardwood felt cold against her toes. She picked a banana out of the fruit bowl and opened a cabinet, in search of peanut butter when she heard a thumping noise coming from the other side of the house.

She dropped her banana. It bounced against the floor. Her mouth went dry. She picked up a pan from the top of the stove and held it at an angle in front of her and she stalked forward. She slowly pushed open the door to Ethan’s room: unsettled by the fact that it was already ajar. She knitted her brow together, still hearing a beating sound coming from his bathroom. Against her better judgement, she opened the door a crack, motivated by the fear of an intruder, and peered through the space between the door and the door frame.

She jumped back and immediately closed the door. From her crevice, she could see Ethan firmly, strongly, and expertly pounding the plump ass of a girl from inside of her shower, where a strand of blue hair bounced around as she picked her head up to say his name.

Kate blushed and pressed her back against the wall of Ethan’s bedroom. Feeling embarrassed about the whole situation. She quietly tiptoed out of his room and brought the pan back to the kitchen while reflecting on the ordeal. She was paranoid, afraid of monsters in the closet and scenarios she was building in her head: not real fears, fears that her mind was making up to keep her from enjoying the life that was being laid out in front of her.

She turned on Grayson’s own shower and quickly rinsed off, hoping the water and his Wakeheart bodywash would help wash away the negativity from her psyche and the embarrassment from the last 20 minutes.

She wrapped herself in Grayson’s large, cotton bathrobe and sat cross legged on his bed. She pulled her laptop from her backpack and began writing to her advisor, requesting a meeting to explain the timeline for the rest of her doctoral program. She took a breath before pressing send.

Grayson came home that night looking like more of a wreck than the night before. He slumped himself on the bed and rested his head on her lap while Kate gently brushed his hair away from his face. “Long day?”

“Yeah,” Grayson mumbled and nuzzled his face into her midsection.

She sucked in her top lip and sat up straighter, “Want to talk about it?”

He shook his head, “No,” he sighed and opened his eyes to look at her, “It’ll all change tomorrow anyway.”

Kate didn’t want to ask what that meant.

He held her hand from where he leaned on her, “What about you? What did you do today?”

She swallowed hard, touching her tongue to the outside of her lips and exhaling before speaking. “Actually Grayson--” she took a deep breath mid-sentence, “There is something I wanted to tell you.”

He raised his eyebrows curiously while she wished she wondered how fast she could run across the room and pull out the half a dozen pregnancy tests from the night before. She looked him in the eye, ever the direct speaker, “I’m pregnant.”

When Grayson’s mouth gaped slightly she added, “It’s yours.”

Grayson shot up, lifting his head from her lap and sitting up straight, “You’re pregnant?” At first, his voice held nothing but pure shock but it faded quickly into something happy.

Kate nodded surely, not letting a smile hit her lips. This was a factual conversation.

Grayson had started to flash a grin but quickly lost it when he looked her in the eye to ask, “Do you want to keep it?”

She maintained composure, “I do.”

Grayson’s entire face lit up. In a swift move, he jumped from the bed and began pacing around the room in front of Kate, waving his arms joyously in the air and starting sentences without endings about family, his mother, Kate, this year, the baby, him being a father. Kate could barely keep up with him, so she giggled and smiled at him: appreciating every ounce of whimsical, loving energy that was Grayson Dolan.

He made a sharp turn on his heel, stopping his arms from waving, “Do you want to--” he licked his lips as his face quickly transformed from happiness to anxiety, “Do you want me to-to-to marrryyeee you?” Kate didn’t know what word got so many extra letters.

She shook her head, “I uh- I didn’t think about that but I don’t think it’s” she moved her eyes from side to side, “necessary?”

Grayson nodded, “Right.” He bit his bottom lip and looked at her with large, kind brown eyes. He stared straight into her big brown eyes and saw the same gold flecks he noticed that day on the beach. She was his girl, his soul knew it. “I could still, ask you to marry me?” If she was the say yes, he would have dropped to his knee in that moment and started an impromptu speech about everything she meant to him. If she were to say yes, he would have changed everything in his life to make her as comfortable as possible. She was everything he wanted in his life, and now she was caring for a child that was nothing but the proof that they were destined to be together.

But at the offer of a proposal, Kate shot up from the bed and took Grayson’s hands into hers. She took a deep breath, “No Grayson. I don’t want that.” She wanted to say that they weren’t even actually dating, but that would break Grayson’s heart at the moment it was most full: so she didn’t. Instead she opted for pulling body close to his, so he could get drunk on her sweet citrus scent and saying, “I don’t need a boyfriend, or a fiance, or a husband.” His eyes held onto something sad before she added, “What I need, is a partner,” she squeezed his hands, “I need you to be my partner Grayson.”

He squeezed her hands before giving her a slow, gentle kiss and letting his lips rest on hers warmly before pulling back, “You’ve got me bunny.” He placed another kiss on her forehead.

#grayson #grayson dolan #sweet enigma #kate and gray #kind stranger #ethan #ethan dolan #fanfic #story #smut #fluff #angst #pregnancy #romance #youtuber #influencer

62 notes · View notes

lokilickedme · 3 years ago

Text

Submitted by @fudgemuffinanon

Ok I think I’m up to date….

1. HOLY SHIT WOMAN! You had Covid and just learned about it? How did you find out? Was it with a test? And you handled the asshat at the grocery store way better than I would have. I’m not patient, nor diplomatic, and I have major RBF syndrome… The temper goes with the face more ofter than I care to admit…

2. Your grandmother’s story was incredible. I know you don’t need another project but this could be a beautiful book. No fandom incorporated, just her story.

3. As @mollage said, the Universe is after you! But you may be one of the strongest woman I know, going through all your adventures with that attitude. Thank you Elizabeth for passing down your fiery spirit!

4. With everything that happened to you in the last few weeks, I can’t expect you to write anything. I’ll just wait and take what you give us. Fuck, I just have to deal with Baby Girl’s online school - Big Boy is responsible enough to deal with his class mostly alone - and I have to tell her to go back to the computer every 5 minutes and I’m going NUTS! And we have one more month to go…

Ontario has been in stay-at-home order since April 8th, and non-essential stores MAY reopen mid-June at 15% capacity and outdoor activities in small groups MAY resume IF we have 60% of population vaccinated with their first dose. We’re about 58% now according to Health Minister but they stopped giving Aztra as first dose, so all the pharmacies that could give it now can’t. There’s a lot less Pfizer and Moderna doses available so I don’t know how fast it will happen. But it means I will most likely get my second dose quicker than August. Yay me! Second phase won’t happen until we get 70% 1st dose vaccination. So we’re stuck for a while. We’re going out in the woods for walks once in a while so we don’t get too close to people but I want to go to a fabric store sooooo bad!! I’m done picking ticks off hubby everytime we get out. And I’m running out of crafts to learn on youtube.

Ok, enough ranting… gotta go finish knitting Baby girl’s bday gift. A 6" turtle. With clothes. And a shawl. And boots. Yeah… Love ya!

*******************************************************

Fudgey!!

Yup. All four of us had covid back in November of 2019, before it broke wide and before anyone really knew it was in the US. Husband was able to track it back to a coworker who’d returned from a family visit to China (he works with a large community of Asian Americans who travel back and forth a lot). The coworker came home sick, and shortly after that our household got the worst “flu” any of us have ever had (that was what we thought it was, a weirdly violent flu that hit each of us differently). I’ve never been sicker in my life, my husband thought I was going to die and he claims I told him to just let me go if it looked like I wasn’t going to make it. I’m pretty sure I meant it…it was that bad. I may have actually requested an assist to the other side at one point.

So anyway, a little while later it broke wide and when the symptom lists started coming out we started wondering if that wasn’t what we’d had. Husband finally a few weeks ago went and talked to the guy that had come back sick from overseas and the guy said “Oh yeah, I had the covid, did you get it too?”

By that time there had been approximately 150 known cases at husband’s workplace and six confirmed deaths from it. Grrrr.

At this point it was too late for us to get confirmed, but husband contacted a friend in Colorado who is a covid specialty ER nurse and described our symptoms and the timeframe of our illness to her. She said we absolutely had it - she’d had it too during that same timeframe, before it broke wide and before anyone knew what it was.

So now all my lingering weird-ass symptoms make sense. Big and Little are fine, they don’t seem to have any long-term problems, though I’m keeping an eye on them (especially Big). Husband is fine as well. Me? I took it in the seat of the pants, but like I was telling someone the other day, as soon as one of the longhaul clinics sets up here I’m gonna be there.

The putz in the grocery store was nothing unusual for here. What really gets me is the way people glare at us for continuing to wear masks - it’s almost scary. WTF is wrong with people.

Glad you liked my grandma’s story. Honestly I don’t know enough to write a book about her without having to speculate on a lot of in-between stuff because she was a very secretive person (probably for a good reason tbh) but what a tale it would be. She was a mess :D My mother has always been mad at me for taking after her - she never liked my grandmother much, there was some bad blood between them from decades back, and yeah that’s kind of a good story too lol

Ah, speaking of writing, I’m going to toss out a short chap of that silly self indulgent side-thing for The Department tonight (probably as soon as I send this reply off) and then I’m shooting for a chapter of the actual fic tomorrow at some point. Taking advantage of the husbandary absence (yes I know that’s not a word but it works)

I feel ya on the homeschooling - the boys finished their semester two weeks ago and the stress of that final week for Big (9th grade) was insane.

I wish we were under a stay-at-home order, but where I live hardly anyone obeyed it when we WERE. I love living here but I swear sometimes the people make me want to move off-planet just to find a higher intelligence demographic.

Anyway, I gotta see this turtle when you’re finished with it. You mentioned it so now you gotta show it. I’m going to bug you every day until you provide pictures because even though I can crochet a blanket like nobody’s business I cannot crochet a doll to save my own ass. Gonna have to rely on you for that ;P

@fudgemuffinanon

9 notes · View notes

zathechaosgod · 4 years ago

Text

Favourite Stream Moments!

Tuesday 5th of January

dream smp pog

dadza is gonna make a farm bc he’s been yoinking food from everyone

it’s gonna be one of those “i am ignoring everything going wrong” streams today huh

“hopefully no problems”

he’s got a button now :eyes:

dadza thinks he’s an introvert with extravert qualities

(i can go on an entire rant on how introvert doens’t equal antisocial and how a lot of people misunderstand it)

anyway fixing the honey farm once again

*zooms in on a baby zombie in the distance* glare *shoots him*

“i didn’t know there was a festival going on, if there is, I wasn’t invited”

villager basement has been expanded pog? it’s like a row of jail cells now lmao

phil talking about golden carrots and food and basic materials

meanwhile the game chat in the back: “why are you covered in blood?”

...techno doesn’t have a mine?

(that might be worse than being homeless, in a game called minecraft.. just sayin)

caving time pog!

techno logged on!!! it has begun

kristen ��could totally do it” but it’s “not for her” about streaming

phil would set up everything for her if she did

i kinda want a momza stream now

*singing* “nothing ever bad happens on this server”~~

techno has too many turtles now

“i’m heading to a festival today” “oh you got an invite?” *silent staring* “i’m going to a festival today”

forkza is loaned to techno for the day!!

they’re gonna burn the tommy/wilbur “house” at some point “but it’s not cold enough for a bonfire yet”

techno thinks tommy is a somewhat decent person pog?

villager trading hall in the actual village!

there’s a nitwit, but phil can’t kill him bc the prices would raise

tommy is here now

“this is mr beast-level of activeness” facts

“he’s an enigma” “STOP SPEAKING WORDS I DON’T KNOW”

“when i die, this world will be stupid” -tommyinnit, 2021

“i only jump on poor people” - tommyinnit, 2021

tommy lost the antarctic empire shield f

...did tommy know how a lodestone compass works?

emotional moment passing over the axe of peace

phil sending his kids off to war like it’s a school trip

“they wouldn’t do anything that i wouldn’t do”

“i’m a bad influence on them? nahhh, you’re crazy” *sideeyes*

poll: how does an old man spend his time? (okay so was that kristin or ian?)

phil really is only staying on so he can get his trident back from techno when he’s done

lmao all the scared pepe’s in chat

snow is gone crab rave!!! we can see now

phil is just,,, casually terraforming the area around techno’s house now

chat is traumatised phil stop playing

it’s gonna be a netherwart farm now?

nether time to get soulsand!

he’s still gotta fix the alerts, it really got out of hand on monday lmao

lmaooo phil only realised now he could’ve just raided techno’s secret vault for soulsand

dream just logged on “you know what that means”

...there’s a beacon with speed just chillin on a hill next to the house?

“i don’t think that’s worth finishing, i think it just needs to be burnt down to the ground” -phil about the ugly unfinished house, but also me about l’manberg

he got a heartattack and thought for a second it used his actual bow for the dispenser lmaoo

the suffering that is crafting redstone components

game-chat is so funny bc you can kinda see where the others are in the drama but meanwhile phil is just,,, placing soulsand for a netherwart farm

aria math pog!!!! bc we’re just chillin (:

T I M HAS RETURNED POG

f the water won’t spread correctly

rip this might just be a serverissue, in which case he’s gonna need all of the dispensers

F A CREEPER BLEW UP THE FARM

“it’s fine, i’m not thinking of resorting to chaos, i’m fine. Everthing’s fine.”

lol dream is here??? phil is so confused

the dude was just,,, standing there then hid behind the house?

techno is here pog!!

chill stream over lmao

dream is in vc here now as well ig

immediately it’s sellout time lol

triple bell-spamming lmaoooo

apparently they’re gonna go back tomorow? to destroy everything

DREAM IS GONNA TNT DUPE LMANBERG

lol techno is gonna show dream the vault

“oohhh he doesn’t know, he doesn’t know!!!”

lol techno only showed him enough heads for six withers

phil fixed the water issue!!

meanwhile techno is ranting to dream about his struggles building the vault door

minecraft tip: you can click on redstone dust to switch it from a line to a dot, which causes a lot of suffering when not known by the builder.

wilbur raid!!

rip tommy switched sides, still took techno’s axe and knows about the hound army

ghostbur is ghosting phil’s stream lol, pretending to be inside phil’s head.

and is now exposing phil for tax fraud

techno and phil’s entire relationship is just *cause chaos* *build unnecessary farms* *best friends*

techno has HALF A MILLION VIEWERS so he’s selling out more often now to compensate for the almost hour of plot

lol techno explaining that he hid most of the wither skulls because why would you think someone is hiding 2 ¼ stacks of wither skulls when they’ve got 18 hanging on the wall

f the community house

HOLY THEY’RE ALL UP THERE THEY CAN SEE THE NAMETAGS

good thing they got invis so their nametags aren’t visible bc OOF

techno named the people they’re up against, and ghostbur just went “ghostbur!” bc he thought they were just saying names

lol techno’s got a bunch of different dogs around the place

it’s time to move them tho bc tommy knows these locations

“ALL MEN DO IS BETRAY TECHNOBLADE, EAT HOT CHIP AND LIE

imagine the fight in the tunnel lmao people would just die to entity cramming

CHAT DON’T SNITCH NOBODY CAN CANONICALLY HEAR YOU

except ghostbur, who would 100% go “hey i know some dogs we can pet” and lead them to here

dogs can’t be there at the same time as the withers lol

time to go invis ran out rip

fundy’s like,,, right there above them rip

lol there was one dog left behind in the tunnels so techno risked the whole operation to bring that one dog back

“Run.”

rip fundy “dead men tell no tales”

EVERYONE KNOWS TECHNO’S HERE NOW

eret is just, right there

YMCA parody called DMCA pog???

jack manifold is just,,, mining glowstone/quartz in the ceiling of the nether???

time to sellout again now that they’re back lol

TECHNO TO 5MIL SO CLOSE

techno hyping up for primes for philza lmaooo

rip techno’s glasses still aren’t fixed

techno wants to brag about his viewercount but it actually might be higher tomorrow

PHIL GOT ALMOST 300 PRIMES FROM THAT

technoraid poggggg

NVM IT’S BEEN 500 SUBS NOW

AND TECHNO GAINED 11K SUBSCRIBERS POGGG

literally nobody knew when the festival actually was until like 20 hours in advance lmaoo

PHIL PASSED THE SUB GOAL AND GOT 1200 SUBS TODAY ALREADY

lmao techno bribing people with primes from his viewers lmaoo

“tubbo!” “But the primes, tommy!”

techno LEAKING LORE

Obama was the original predecessor on the server and everyone is his descendant except for techno

“It’s all Obama”

lol techno and phil clowning chat for being put in sub only bc phil was building his farms while the festival was going on

the thing is tho, that sometimes a “normal stream” ends up with wilbur getting murdered by his father, and sometimes it’s “phil builds a netherwart farm and ignores the rest of the world”

“do you have any repeaters?” “...i don’t know what those words mean”

techno is gonna read tweets now to find out how people think he betrayed tommy by sticking to his values and not lying

phil is losing his mind over techno hiding tommy’s reply with his twitch link

lol phil checking to see if techno ate

WERE ALMOST AT 13K SUBS ALREADY PHIL HAS ALREADY GOTTEN 1.2K PRIMES FROM TECHNO’S RAID

SNOOP DOG TIME TIMES THREE

techno tried to send an alert bc he was confused about the video and first of all, it won’t show on screen until two weeks later bc of the primes but also this is his fault for raiding phil

PURGE THE WEAK

WEED THEM OUT, LITERALLY

he’s lost 20k viewers lmao

partly is bc of techno leaving, but it’s still a very impressive number lmao

it’s quite a switch from snoop dog to concrete halls by c418 lol

phil is showing us what his alerts looked like rip

well phil can certainly afford that new gaming pc he wants now

phil is gonna build a monster of a pc lol

AND HE’S GONNA HELP TOMMY BUILD/PICK ONE OUT!

lol he forgot he removed redstone and got confused when nothing happened

“you didn’t see that chat, minecraft is my middle name and last name, philza minecraft minecraft”

PHIL CAN DESTROY THE TRAITOR TOWER TOMMY LEFT NOW

“awww look at people trying to say you can instamine cobble. Do you know who tf i am.”

momza is here!

lol she wants to do angry eyebrows now

PHIL MANAGED TO PEARL UP TO THE TOP OF THE TOWER POGG

“do you think you can do this while i do this” “uuhhh… not well, but i like the challenge?”

ANGRY EYEBROWS TIME

He actually looks like a cartoon supervillain lmaoo

f he’s so far from finished removing the tower so he’s really gonna have to sit here for 30 more minutes with those eyebrows

MOUSTACHE AT 13K SUBS

“why u mad tho” “i’m not mad!”

rip wisp is in chat “AVERT YOUR EYES, PLEASE”

twitch tips: streamlabs is slower in updating, but streamelements, altho quick, is a bit more glitchy

FOURTH SNOOP POG

WEED LA WEED

momza is here for the moustache!

he made her reassure him it’s gonna come off and it actually just made him more suspicious

he looks like a supervillain lmaooo

on to 14k!

wig pog? :eyes:

rip the alerts really are like an hour behind, phil is reading the recent ones out now

lol phil’s forehead is itching but he can’t scratch bc of the makeup

LIMITED EDITION VILLAINZA HYDRO CHECK

“i just joined wtf!” “i am so sorry”

villainza is not canon, sadly enough

sad he can’t twiddle his moustache

TOWER IS GONE CRAB RAVE

TIME FOR THE FINAL BOSS OF THE 420 VIDS

this scares people bc of tos but it doesn’t actually show anything lol

phil keeps losing his mind every time he sees his own face on stream lmao

end of stream now, this was both chaotic and chill lmao

lol he was gonna raid quackity but he’s hosting fundy? so it's gonna be a fundy raid!!

GARBAGE DAYYYYY

#philza #mcyt #dream smp #technoblade #dream #tommyinnit #philza livestream

29 notes · View notes

musicfeedsmysoul12 · 5 years ago

Text

Plague Rat Chapter 3

Three months later…

“Hello and welcome to Channel Eight! I’m Erica, bringing you the news!”

“Today we are speaking of what is now called ‘the Plague of Truth’, brought upon us by the Akuma Plague Rat.

Due to the Akuma’s powers of infecting people with a deadly virus resembling the Black Plague but targeting liars, many secrets came about. And many consequences have occurred. The most high profile ones are the former mayor, his wife and a dozen city officials who are now closing ranks and trying to-“ Marinette turned off the TV and closed her eyes.

After she had been purified, the girl had been horrified at her actions, feeling ill and disgusted. She had done that? She had attacked people? She had nearly…

Luckily there was a therapist employed by the hospital that sat with her and spoke with her. He was open and honest and she had a lot off issues she usually kept locked up.

He helped her speak of them and confront them. Helped her understand her issues. Helped her realize how many were people putting things on her and expecting things if her when they shouldn’t.

She still didn’t feel okay. Knowing what she did made her feel sick, but her classmates where there. Alix spoke with her softly, the girl knowing she had killed one. Kim spoke of rewatching his actions and feeling horrified. Rose shuddered at what she had done.

It helped.

More so, honestly, it helped knowing that her actions had exposed Lila and a lot of corruption. Not only had she hit the mayor, she’d hit the commissioner, Audrey, Nadja and a bunch of others.

Andre had been removed from office and was now facing trial for his crimes. The commissioner had been removed from office along with Roger being fired and were also facing charges. Rumors said they would probably get ten years at least.

Audrey was going away for child abuse, corruption and the abuse of her staff. She had admitted everything and Chloe had been removed from their care in a second, being placed with an aunt on the other side of Paris who hadn’t spoken to her sister in years and had never cared to. The aunt had agreed to take Chloe in but had warned the girl she would not put up with any of her actions.

Marinette hadn’t heard anything since as Chloe had been expelled by the new principal that had replaced Damocles when the fact he was being bribed came out. Bustier had also been replaced. Marinette wasn’t sad to see them go- even if it was only recently she could go back to school after the shock to her system becoming an Akuma had been. It wrecked her metabolism again and she’d been stuck in a bed for months.

Luckily, there was a friendly nurse around who was happy to take over for Akumas. Marinette has the best time hearing her rant about magic and how stupid it was she couldn’t tell who Ladybug was when she was in the hosptial. Often right in front of her door.

Tikki found it hilarious to.

But she had finally left the hospital and Tikki said she could go back to fighting, something she was glad about. She missed it, not that she’d admit it.

But before that, there was a trial to be had.

-0-

“So you willingly did it-“

“I did.” Alya interrupted the lawyer. “I willingly exposed her to sick children but that was at the urging of Lila who said she had to be lying. I believe the videos I’ve given show that.” Alya felt like a bug as everyone in the courtroom stared at her. She kept her chin up though. She would not be cowed by this lawyer Lila’s father got her. Apparently Lila’s nasty habits came from someone and that was her father. Her mother had been furious to know she was in contact with him and was not pleased by the lawyer but agreed to it.

She didn’t want her baby in jail either.

He was a good lawyer, knew how to come at things from all angles.

But Alya had been Rena Rouge. The Fox Miraculous left marks deep in her soul, which made her slippery and sly. She had forgotten and gotten caught in lies herself, but she remembered now.

And she would not yield.

“I wonder, if anyone actually knows that the reason she wants Marinette dead is because she called her out on her lies in college.” Snapped Alya, suddenly latching onto the thought. The lawyer blinked. “Didn’t know that? Lila is just angry that Marinette didn’t follow her around. That Marinette called her out.” The lawyer actually stepped back and turned to look at Lila who couldn’t hide her furious face fast enough. Alya smiled at her while the lawyer said he had to dismiss himself from the case now, his clients had been lying to him.

Alya hadn’t been a good person for a while. She had followed a liar and had blinded herself to truth for a long time. But she had once been a hero, once been a good person.

She was going to start again.

-0-

“So you thought it was like tabloids?” Dr. Shaw asked Adrien who sighed.

“Yeah I mean…” Adrien shook his head. “I don’t know. Maybe if I hadn’t known the truth I’d have believed hem but when I did I saw how stupid they were and they reminded me of the tabloids. I thought they’d figure it out themselves. I didn’t think she was hurting anyone.”

“But she did. Her actions almost caused many of them to miss out on incredibly important opportunities for their futures. It was lucky your friend Marientte managed to convince them it was a good way to show case their skills to the supposed contacts Lila had.” The doctor said and Adrien winced.

“I… I didn’t want her Akumatized again.”

“And yet Marientte was.” Adrien looked down. “Adrien, if I can be very blunt- you despise conflict and prefer a passive approach to it. While disliking conflict is fine, and I encourage you not to seek it out, not confronting people who you know are in the wrong isn’t always the best idea.”

“...” Adrien didn’t want to think about it anymore. But he had to. His father had made him go to therapy and Plagg had told him it was a good idea for him to do so. He needed to get over this. “It’s easier when it’s not me.” Adrien blurted our. “Online I mean.” He quickly covered. It was easy to confront people as Chat Noir.

“Then pretend you’re not Adrien when you confront people.” The therapist offered and…

That was really good advice.

Two months later…

“Hello and welcome to the new Ladyblog!” Alya grinned on the screen Marientte was watching. “As you know due to certain circumstances I left this blog for the last few months. This is due to Lila and her actions towards my classmate and my own actions. However, this is a new start. First and foremost- this blog will now only contain facts. I have three people to check over anything I post that’s an article and needed to be researched who will do so. I spoke with Ladybug and she’s agreed to an interview with all heroes providing they agree-“ that was the only small crack, a shadow of sadness. After Miracle Queen everyone know she’d been a hero, and seeing a new fox must hurt.

Marientte though was just amused that Alya was such a good actor. Sure she no longer used the fox but she fit the Turtle very well. And Nino was a fine Dragon, while Luka was a great Fox and Kagami was an amazing Bee.

It hadn’t been to hard to manage to have an interview with them- though all separate. It was enough to show Paris they were human to.

Marinette smiled, watching as Alya continued her speech.

Things had changed since she’d become Plague Rat. Lila was now in jail back in Italy. Youth jail but still. She would spend two years there before being released on parole for either ten years or for the rest of her life depending on her actions. While she had lost her first lawyer they had been assigned a second one who had managed to get a psychiatrist in to look at her.

The man said she was either a psychopath or a sociopath. They had tried to say that meant she was allowed to be free but that was ended when the doctor pointed out she knew what she was doing was wrong. She just didn’t care.

She wasn’t allowed back in France and apparently other countries had also banned her. She was forever stuck in Italy.

The former mayor was also in jail. Five years, chance of parole in two and a half, maybe less depending on behaviour. Nadja had lost custody of Manon after it got out she routinely used the girl to gather info and had put her in risk multiple times. Audrey was in jail, Roger had lost his job and was on probation.

Paris had experienced a revolution after Plague Rat. The new mayor was a woman who took no shit and was a hardass who was happily funding the police to find Hawkmoth, and bring him down. The new commissioner had fired all corrupt cops- Roger had been part of this sweep- and now Paris was thriving.

Adrien as well seemed to have changed. He had formally apologized to her for his inaction and he was taking steps to be able to confront people. He’d already had a fight with his father about being a model and had leaked to the press how Gabriel treated him. Gabriel was in therapy now and Adrien had a social worker doing random checks on him.

“I guess even Akumatized I’m a hero.” She remarked to Tikki who chuckled.

“Perhaps. But I like you as you.”

“Same.” She still has nightmares about what she’d done. She still freaked out about the hospital. Hell she was still recovering months later from the stress of being Akumatized while suffering from sickness and a horrible immune system.

But she was doing better. She was moving forward.

And that was all she could do.

Tagged: @anastasian-dreamer @magicalfirebird @kibastray @thesunanditsangel @virgil-is-a-cutie @marinettepotterandplagg @heaven428 @sofmimis @so-freaking-done-with-people @moonystars14 @slytherinhquinn @spartanxhunterx

#ml au #plague rat #akumanette #end of story.

228 notes · View notes

fantranslatorbychoice · 4 years ago

Text

Kakuriyo no Yadomeshi Volume 6 Chapter 6 - An Uncle and Pampas Grass and Moon Viewing Sake

T/N: Hi y’all, I’m back with chapter 6, how are you doing? I thought tumblr didn’t want me to post, kept getting error logs but here we are now. I got a bit unwell so I didn’t get to post this as soon as I wanted to, but I hope you still like it somehow.

As always, if you like this translation, you can heart it, share the link, reblog, I just respectfully ask that DO NOT REPOST ELSEWHERE. This is my contribution to the scant English content of this fandom, and I worked really hard to finish this thing, it’s not like I just copy-pasted everything. I even had to build the kanji in Jisho one by one. Try it and you’ll see what I mean.

You can rave about this, rant about this, reply, etc. but if possible please link back to this page. If you’re unsure how to do that, just copy the web address of this page. If you’re on a blogsite just insert the web address as a hyperlink as a link back to here. Honestly if this light novel was officially-published in English, I wouldn’t even be doing this right now... And if it did, I’d take this offline to support the publishers and Yuuma-sensei. Creators support creators, is what I believe in. I’ll prolly do 1-5 once 6-10 has been done, or however long I can manage to translate the raw texts, it can take a toll at times. As previously-mentioned in earlier chapters, if you stumbled upon this one, the two seasons of the anime covered volumes 1-5, so other than the extra details, you didn’t miss much stuff. OK, here we go, this chapter’s a racket lol

P186 Kasuga's resignation from Tenjin-ya has been announced. Aside from that, the guests were also a bit dreary that day. Many people came to ask if there's any beef stew or hamburger steak but there's none left already, and there were still a lot of the chestnut okowa** for the Autumn set meals... "It took a lot of pains to steam these in a bamboo steamer, the sweet and piping chestnut okowa though..." It's a waste, what will I do? I wonder if everyone from Tenjin-ya's going to come and eat... "Kasuga... would she be coming? There's so many terrible stuff tonight, she's probably not going here." I remembered Kasuga again, and I got even more gloomy. Today's no good. She's probably thinking about a lot of things due to her leaving. It can't be helped but be sad. As more time passes by, my heart feels more depressed and more bemoaning. When I came to Kakuriyo, Kasuga played a lot of tricks on me and some of the other Ayakashi that I got involved with. Then after that, when she came to my place a lot, she eventually became a very dear friend. T/N: okowa=steamed sticky rice with stuff like beans, nuts, etc. replaces plain white rice in some meals. P187 I wonder what I could do for Kasuga when she leaves...

When I went outside the shop curtain to wear my geta sandals, the lovely waxing gibbous moon floating in the sky lept out in front of my eyes. "Wahhhh" The moon is almost at its fullest. The autumn air that goes with it, it's heartrending. When I walked underneath the rustling willow tree, it was already twilight in the quiet inner garden. "Is there something wrong, Aoi Ojou-san?" In that moment, a young man was leaning over the wooden bridge and chewing on a blade of grass. Having a slender body, with his brown hair covering his eyes, and what seems to be a charming smile showing on his face... It was the Gesokubanchou, Chiaki-san. "Chiaki-san... This is unusual. For what reasons have you come here?" "Oh, Aoi-san, I have a little favor, to ask of you." "A favor?" It was different from Chiaki-san's usual sloppy presence, somehow his manner was solemn as he came here. He was Kasuga's uncle. Could he be talking about something regarding Kasuga? P188 "Errrr... Can Aoi-san expertly stir fry these?" "Say what? What are these.. Ah, ginko nuts!" Chiaki-san nodded eagerly and handed me a thin, drawstring bag that looked like it was filled to the brim, these were ginko nuts." "Today, Odanna-sama and Byakuya-sama, also Dr. Saraku who rarely leaves the underground facility, the three of them went to the mountain behind Tenjin-ya to watch the moon while drinking sake**. This time around, Tenjin-ya was troubled with the Bunmon Tanuki situation, so I decided to pick up some ginko nuts in the inner garden to stir-fry them and bring them to you, but I'm not good at stir-frying." "Oh, I get it now. It's OK, Yugao's already closed and we can go inside. Speaking of Odanna-sama, they went moon-viewing? Because it's nearly the full moon?" "Ayakashi like to drink sake while moon-viewing. Aside from that, those were the three seniors of Tenjin-ya. They probably had something important that they needed to talk about this time." "...oh, I see." If it wasn't the marriage of an employee, then it's likely something else. Likewise, the Northern Land's Hachiyo has been replaced, and Kasuga is going to get married to him, and this brings yet another huge issue and problems in the entirety of Kakuriyo. Previously, Odanna-sama announced his engagement to me while in Youto, and that caused a huge commotion. We entered Yugao, and sitting in his favorite seat, Chiaki-san immediately propped his chin with his hands on the counter.

T/N: Yep, it’s a thing, people drinking rice wine while moon-staring. When spring has the cherry-blossom viewing thing, autumn has moon-viewing activities. They say that when the moon reflects on your sake cup, spirits come out. Well, whatever lol I rather moon-stare sober P189 With that mannerism, somehow he resembles Kasuga during the day. But looking at them in their appearances, they don't look alike. Kasuga is springy and bouncy, and this guy is reasonably quick-paced. "Oh, Chiaki-san, are you hungry?" "Me? I'm good, I've finally had a meal." "You always have your dinner late, don't you?" "Oh, right. Gesokuban have so many minute and detailed jobs, and I also have to take care of the ogre kiddies. I have to put them to bed, and have dinner after that... Ah! Could it be, that you made something for me?!" He was already in a Japanese restaurant, and based on his reactions he only remembered about that now. Even though he explicitly came bringing some ginko nuts, with regards to me he's rather the uninformed type. "Hee hee. I only have chestnut okowa left, it that OK for you to eat? I still haven't had dinner yet." "Did you say... Chestnut okowa?!" Somewhat, Chiaki-san was taken aback. With such a strong reaction, I got anxious. "Is it likely, that you're not fond of chestnuts?" "No! It's not that, it's just that Tanuki love chestnuts and persimmons!" "Really? Thank goodness-- But that's the first time I heard it. That Tanuki love chestnuts" P190 "Yes. There's a huge chestnut tree in Bunmon's University Library, when autumn comes everyone goes out and gathers them." "Ehh?" A library that has a chestnut tree. That's somehow cool. "What side dishes would you like? There's some saury, how about salted and grilled saury? There's also miso soup, try it out, it's a reddish miso soup, it's a suitable accompaniment to the chestnut okowa." "What is that, isn't that the best autumn menu?" Hearing what the menu was, his empty stomach was remembered and it growled. While rubbing the back of his head, Chiaki-san's eagerness shone across his face. "That was embarassing. I uhm, haven't eaten anything since lunch." "Is that so? When Kasuga says that she's hungry, you should have come with her, it's OK." "It's fine, Odanna-sama and I had to go back and talk about other things too. In addition to that, it was necessary for Kasuga that time, to be with Aoi-san who is her friend. Since yesterday, we have been completely surrounded by esteemed Ayakashi." "..." While Chiaki-san wore a strained smile, he secretly let out a sigh. I didn't fail to see that, so I turned on the fire on the grill, and started preparing the salting and grilling of the saury. P191 And then, Chiaki-san weirdly seemed to become fidgety, and suddenly he stood up and took a broom in his hand, and started sweeping inside Yugao. "What are you doing, Chiaki-san?" "Oh, it's nothing, if I don't move I couldn't calm down. You seem to be in the middle of cleaning and tidying up Yugao, is it fine if I sweep here?" "Uhm, thank you, I'm grateful for that..." He might be a manager, but by nature he is humble and feels much obliged. "Ah-- It's Tanu-tanu-shaaan's voice-" For some reason, Chibi who was sleeping in the back room woke up, and that time when he heard Chiaki-san's voice he went out. He held the acorn he picked up during the day on his flank, and with a heave-ho climbed up Chiaki-san's counter seat. "Heyyy isn't that Chibi? Have you slept? Your beak is smeared all over." After saying that, Chiaki-san wiped Chibi's beak with his hand. Apart from being humble and obliging, he also gives off the vibe that he's used to taking care of children... "I'm a baby Kappaaaa. Baby Kappa are the cutesssht newbornssssh in the worrrrld." I have been taking care of him, but for some reason Chibi has returned to being a baby and shows how he's suckling on his thumb zealously. "So to speak, you know of Chibi, Chiaki-san?" P192 "Yes, I do, we went picking up some ginko nuts during the day." "Yesh we diiid. When I wasssh about to get eaten by Shoft-shelled turtle-shan in the garden'sss shmall pond, Tanu-tanu-shaaan saved mee. And for that, this Kappa returnsssh the favor." Chibi went "I presshent you my gift", and he brought out the acorn that he was holding on his flank for Chiaki-san. Even though he seemed to have no need for the acorn, Chiaki-san replied with a smile, "Thank you, Chibi", as Chibi acted morosely. Chibi...Isn't he spoiled by Tenjin-ya's male army? Now then, back to Chiaki-san's saury. To this extent, for anybody with a high-class taste there's probably no other food that is more famous than this one during autumn. Long and thin, rounded and fatty, the luster of the fresh saury, it has been caught off the coast of the Eastern Lands. I salted both sides of the fish. This removes the fishy stench, and improves the elasticity of the flesh. I lightly rinsed this in running water, and again lightly sprinkled salt over the dazzling flesh again, before cutting this into smaller pieces. After that I turned on the charcoal grill and slowly grilled this, steadily holding it over the fire. "Chiaki-san, is Kasuga's uncle, aren't you?" "Yes. Kasuga's father and mother in Youto have been estranged for a long time, I have practically took measures to look after her." "Really? You have been her father's replacement?" "Ahaha. Saying that I'm her father is too much. Well, I'm like a big brother who's older by some years, it's something to that extent. I think it's sensible that way. Kasuga P193 is the youngest daughter, and compared to her other siblings she hates studying... she's a naughty and troublesome child." While Chiaki-san was suppressing a laugh as he recalled some memories, he was sipping some warm sencha tea that I poured for him. That atmosphere, it was a bit different from the light impression that I have of Chiaki-san, he was somehow polished and elegant. "Ah... The fragrance of the grilled saury is good, right?" "Tee hee. When this saury is grilled at just the right amount of time, the skin and the fat just makes it more mouth-watering for anybody and you can't get enough of it's scent." While the saury was being grilled and the appetizing smell was wafting out, I placed the hot and piping chestnut okowa in a rice bowl, and checked out the taste of the reddish miso soup I was using. In a small bowl, I added vinegared miso with squid and scallion. I placed all of these in a four-legged tray, and when the saury was about to be grilled enough I grated daikon over a long and narrow plate, and beside this I placed the grilled fish. Wah, the fat is dripping, and the skin has been grilled to become crunchy, this saury is both delicious and really smells great. It's filled with all the tastes of autumn, and I served this like it was made at home. "Alright! This is Yugao's 'Nothing but Autumn' set meal. These directly echoes the tastes of a hungry stomach during autumn. Ah, kabosu, kabosu!** I'll cut half of a kabosu and if you squeeze that all over, the citrusy fragrance makes it even more appetizing." I sliced a kabosu in half and plopped it beside the saury. "Ahaha. How you smiled, that meant that it's really delicious." Chiaki-san put his hands together and said "let's eat", and as expected took a mouthful of the chestnut okowa. T/N: kabosu=香母酢=some type of citrus fruit, well to be honest anything citrusy goes well with fried or grilled fish, or just fish in general. gwah P194 Rounded and scattered, there's so much of the lovely yellow chestnuts. The steamed sticky rice I used for the okowa, it mildly envelops the chestnuts with sweetness, tenderly and endearingly, it was enjoyably warm and fluffly, and the springy texture have its finishing touches. "These rounded chestnuts, they're surely delicious. Chestnuts in plain rice** is good, and so is chestnut okowa." "Try eating that with the saury. It's also the best." That being said, Chiaki-san squeezed the kabosu juice over the saury's crunchy skin, and with the chopsticks neatly scattered this to soften the meat, and picked up the jiggly flesh. He ate it as it was, and closed his eyes as he chewed on it. "Oh.. This is good, this is good. This IS autumn. There is so much of this saury's fatty umami, even more so when it was salted and grilled and the skin got crunchy. The refreshing kabosu and the grated daikon over it, no other fish suits this the best. Also, the reddish miso soup really goes well with with everything, it worked the best." This time he tried the saury with the chestnut okowa. Occasionally letting out a sigh of relief and closing his eyes as he eats, it was charming and adorable. Kasuga was also like that, a Tanuki with a distinct gentle air about them, and I love how she's like that. "Kasuga said that when she's eating Aoi-san's delicious food, she goes to work cheerfully everyday." "Kasuga?" T/N: OK, so to make it a bit clearer since not all rice are equal, some rice when boiled or steamed have a texture that makes the grains scattered, and then there are some rice varieties that become sticky/glutinous when cooked, like your usual sushi rice, and then there are some super-mushy ones that need a lot of water-regulating skills to prevent it from becoming rice porridge. The okowa is somewhere in between the excessive watery stuff and the sushi rice consistency. P195 "Yes, she does. That girl, she seemed to have loved working in Tenjin-ya. Way back, she hated working in here." "...is that so? But that's curious. Kasuga's an Ojou-sama, isn't she? Why was she working as a waitress in Tenjin-ya?" "Uhm, that..." Chiaki-san's gaze lowered for a bit, and asked me "How much do you know of... the person Kasuga is engaged to?" I took out the newspaper that Juujirou-ojisan left behind sometime ago, and placed it in front of Chiaki-san. "This child on the photo, I heard that he was the next Hachiyo of the Northern Lands. Isn't he the one that Kasuga previously said that she'll get married to?" "Yes, that's correct. It's Kiyo-sama...He's grown to be very handsome." Chiaki-san looked at the youth on the newspaper, and somehow he seemed calm, he smiled as he drew his eyebrows together. "You know of him?" "Of course. When that child was quite young, he used to stay in the Land of Bunmon a lot. He was sickly, and he gets medical treatment in our University Hospital..." Starting to eat a bit again, Chiaki-san went "Shall I tell you a story from long ago?" and started to talk once again. "The Northern Land's new Hachiyo, Kiyo-sama spent so much time with Kasuga when they were children. Kasuga hated studying, and always hid in the hospital and the library and caused troubles to the adults.” P196 "Kasuga right now is a real hard-worker, I couldn't imagine she was like that. But then again, that was probably because she was still young." "That girl's pranks, as a kid she made those very ingenious and cunning. During that time, it was hard for me to even handle Kasuga at all." "Tee hee hee" Imagining Chiaki-san following around Kasuga in that situation, somehow I could only smile at that. "During that time when Kasuga has been fleeing a lot and entered a hospital's private room, she met Kiyo-sama. Kasuga and Kiyo-sama were almost the same ages, and they immediately got on good terms. Kiyo-sama read a lot of books, and Kasuga became influenced to read books, as well as growing a bit in working hard in studying. Kiyo-sama was especially interested in the culture and history of Utsushiyo, and those were the topics and books that those two talked about and read about, they had so much fun imagining things." Chiaki-san's expression gradually changed. He was just talking about Kasuga's childhood, but he was smiling a lot as he seemed to remember the past while I was listening, I wonder if there's nothing else other than that. "Kasuga started to have growing feelings for Kiyo-sama. But Kiyo-sama seemed to imagine that he wasn't going to live long, as his body was prone to sickness. Then one day, Kasuga and Kiyo-sama broke out of the hospital room, and the two of them decided to go to Utsushiyo together." P197 "Wahhh? Is that even possible?" "Because it is necessary to go to Utsushiyo, a Hachiyo is issued a travelling pass. Kasuga used her cunning skills to steal the travelling pass from my mother, the Institutional Director. It was preposterous, that wicked brat. But Kasuga, it was because she really wanted to take Kiyo-sama to Utsushiyo so badly..." What I heard happened after those events, was that Kasuga and Kiyo-sama wandered in Utsushiyo together, and after about three days they were discovered by the Bunmon Tanuki who went out on a manhunt, and they were taken to be returned. Because Kiyo-sama has a frail body, his condition deteriorated and took the turn for the worse. Kasuga received severe reprimands, and she was forbidden to meet him again. After that, Kasuga was punished by her Institutional Director grandma to work in Tenjin-ya, so that she would learn the harshness of the outside world. Work really, really hard. That was why everybody always asked Kasuga to do a lot of errands here and there, she was told off to do things for others a lot... But nobody knew that Kasuga was in that circumstance. When everybody learned that Kasuga was an Ojou-sama, it was impossible not to get shocked. It seemed that none of the management staff in Tenjin-ya knew Kasuga's personal history. "However, when Kasuga started to work a lot in Tenjin-ya, it became obvious that she has become changed. Her movements P198 have grown to be more responsible, when total strangers scold her as she was earning hard for her money by working, it was because she hasn't had much experiences. It was altogether different when she met O-ryo-san. She raised Kasuga with eagerness and zeal, the Kasuga who doesn't know anything. This was because it was before O-ryo-san became the Wakaokami." "Really now. So that is why, until now 'O-ryo-sama' is still how Kasuga calls O-ryo." "Yes, that's right. Well, since O-ryo-san is always acting with so much insolence, being with her eventually turned Kasuga into a grown-up." "Well, that's for sure..." O-ryo may have raised Kasuga, in a way O-ryo's bad example probably made Kasuga grow... I could remember when I first came to Kakuriyo. When she got demoted from being the Wakaokami, when O-ryo got a fever, Kasuga brought her here. That time it was somehow unimaginable, but Kasuga, even though she has her own issues to deal with didn't forsake O-ryo. "Kasuga was here, due to the things that she did during her childhood. After that, even though Kasuga can't see Kiyo-sama again... it can be said that it was their fate, wasn't it? When Kiyo-sama became the North's Hachiyo, Kasuga decided to get married to him. Even though they were separated once, this time because they were pushed to a marriage against their own will, it can be said that they have grown into mature beings. Although they may be childhood friends, aren't they having such a complicated idea?" P199 "..." Kasuga, with what she meant with her expressions and her words, I could only realize what her explanations were. She may be smiling because she was going to get married to her first love, but to that end there were still some unfinished issues not taken care of. I was worried. Because Kasuga is my friend. When I came here, I prayed for everybody in Tenjin-ya happiness, likewise I allowed to myself to go through anybody's sadness that they hold, and I couldn't imagine that in my dreams. "Kasuga, she's surely leaving, isn't she?" "Yes, that's right. I daresay that the engagement talks, it's going to progress from now. Aside from that, the Northern Land is not in the road towards stability, but it seems that Kasuga is fully aware of her position. But isn't getting married troublesome? Aoi-san, when you came here, didn't you have a lot of problems?" I peeked at Chiaki-san's face, and he asked. Surely, it was also that same reason why I came here... "But.. I'm not going to get married to Odanna-sama yet!" "Ahaha. While Kasuga was talking about it, she seems to constantly retort that, right?" "Wah, don't laugh at me--" Chiaki-san kept hitting his hand faintly while laughing. Anybody who's facing their worries and affections would eventually show their true feelings, in the end. P200 "Aoi-san. Kasuga has concerned friends such as Aoi-san, who saves her. If that's the case, from here on end... If I could ask for Aoi-san's permission as the need arises, please help us. I want you to help us..." "..." "Aoi-san and Kasuga, will eventually grow to have similar positions in the future, won't they? Being a Hachiyo's wife... Behind the political stage, becoming one is a huge role to carry on one's shoulder. It's because in Kakuriyo, that is the wife of a great Youkai." With an earnest expression he was making his request, but I can't say my routine answer of "No I am not yet married to Odanna-sama". Instead... "Awww... Ish Aoi-shaan crying..?" Chibi who was playing with the acorn lying around, suddenly stopped and pointed at me. He placed his flipper on my hand. "It's, it's not like that! The ashes from the charcoal grill got into my eye!"** "Eh?! Aoi-san... I'm so sorry, I was being weird..." "No, it's not that..." But why do the tears keep on coming... My eyes hurt from the stinging pain, I thought that it was because of the ashes that flew out of the charcoal grill, but at the same time T/N: Yeah right, sure Aoi, keep telling yourself that bwahahaha we all know what's happening here **Lenny face** P201 I was attacked by the merciless thoughts that words cannot describe. Kasuga may have already braced herself with her decision, but I barely have any awareness, that in Kakuriyo I allowed myself to be dragged here to Kakuriyo selfishly. Kasuga is going to leave Tenjin-ya with a smile, I wonder if I can have that... When she's going to be the Northern Land's Hachiyo's wife, meanwhile me here, I don't know... "Ah, uhm, Aoi-san please stop crying..." "Aoi-shaan. Aoi-shaan if you keep crying you'll get uglyyy--" "What the, I already told you I wasn't crying!" Chiaki-san was all consoling-mode, and while at it Chibi was consoling while saying so many things. It's perplexing, it makes no sense that I was crying and sobbing. Chiaki-san was explicitly, one way or another saying a lot himself, and was in a panic. He stooped down and as he pulled out his hand towel, he was saying "I'm sorry, are you alright? I'm so sorry.." In the corner of my mind, as I was wiping my eyes I thought about what O-ryo said before, that this amiable, good-natured young man takes others into consideration so much, no wonder he's absolutely popular. But a while ago, he was wiping off Chibi's drool... "Aoi-san, thank you for your hard work..." Ginji-san unfortunately saw that scenario, just as he came to Yugao. P202 "..." While Ginji-san was still wearing his smile, he quickly went over to Chiaki-san. "Hey Chiaki. What is this? Why did you make Aoi-san cry?" It was scary, Ginji-san grabbed Chiaki-san's collar by the neck, and a shadow fell across his eyes. "The mild-mannered Wakadanna-sama got so scary!" said Chiaki-san as he went pale, and in that moment he turned into a cute, brown Tanuki. Turning into a surprised and scared Tanuki, he's definitely like Kasuga right there. Thankfully, my tears had stopped flowing. "I'm alright, Ginji-san. It's just because some of the ashes went into my eyes. Chiaki-san was just worried for me." "Is.. is that so? I'm sorry, everybody. I may have misunderstood a bit..." Somehow due to that misunderstanding, for some reason Ginji-san's cheeks twinged, and his ears drooped. "Oh! The ginko nuts!" "Ah!" In that moment, Chiaki-san and I remembered what we were supposed to be doing. While I was serving Chiaki-san food, it went over our heads and we forgot about it. "Oh, could that be for Odanna-sama and everyone else, in the back of the mountain? I was about to go there too. P203 I wanted to bring sake and a large towel, and I dispatched an Ogre-fire so fast." "Sake and towel...?" "Because it's rare, let's bring the charcoal grill, and let's all go to the mountain behind Tenjin-ya, together. We'll roast the ginko nuts in there, we're going to have an elegant feast. It's surely going to be a really good appetizer** for moon-viewing sake." "Wah, that's wonderful!" Ginji-san's plan made me feel ecstatic. Just a while ago I was sobbing because of that, but now it's because we're going to cook.

There is a mountain behind Tenjin-ya, and it's a facility where hotspring-boiled eggs are made, has an open-air hotspring, a foot bath, a famous summer place where rice can be cooked in open air, among others, it was a facility with a lot of various uses and has complete furnishings. Odanna-sama was with Tenjin-ya's founding members Byakuya-san and Dr. Saraku, I wonder what were they discussing about... "Hey, this is different from the usual path..." Normally we would be walking through the path in the bamboo grove, but this time we climbed up. I thought that the pipe cats would come out squirming as we passed through the bamboo grove, but this time we turned through a narrow path in front of us, it was lined up with old Jizou statues** and hanging lanterns, and we walked on a small, unpaved path. T/N: Yeah I know it sounds absurd but if you've tried drinking liquor while eating nuts or even some salty junk food, it actually tastes good together. Broke college days cheap beer and cheap junk food lol Jizou=地蔵=patrons of children, you probably saw at least one when you watched J-dramas or anime, the people usually put on scarves and/or hats on them whenever it snows. P204 "This time the bamboo grove is not passable. Other than Tenjin-ya's facilities, since long ago it has been called the secret base of Tenjin-ya's management staff." "Really, a secret base?" "Be that as it may, I didn't say that others are forbidden to enter it. It gives off the feel of children's secret base, that's why it was called as such." If that's the case. my expectations have increased. It has tickled my childish mind. "This season's surely great. Don't you think so, Ginji-san?" "Yes... I thought that Aoi-san would like too. Saying that somehow... You're twinkling." "Twinkling?" While Chiaki-san and Ginji-san were talking, as we left the little road lined up with Jizou statues, there was... "Wahhhh! Amazing! It's pampas grass!" It was a wide field where the pale silver ears of the pampas grass were swaying. Under the clear, night sky where the the moon floats up above, it mystically rules this place and its scenery. Occasionally I've seen the pampas grass growing in the inner garden, but in this wide field there was pampas grass everywhere I looked, like autumn has begun. The ears of the pampas grass in Kakuriyo were specially fluffy, it seems to be enveloped by the fleeting light. Not only does the light dance in the sky but there was also a light breeze, and with the floating full moon above, the light seems P205 to soak it all up... it was an emotionally-moving spectacle. "The children in Kakuriyo play in the pampas grass fields and turn them into their secret bases, you know. Even back in my hometown I used to do that a lot." "Odanna-sama and everyone else, I think that they're in an old shrine after that pampas grass field. There is a hotspring over there that gushes forth with high levels of pure spiritual energies, and since long ago there were facilities that were used to boil things like hell..." We followed Ginji-san who lead the way, and from somewhere we heard the sounds of laughter. That laughing voice, it seems to be from the Thousand-Year Mole** Ayakashi, Dr. Saraku. We left the soft pampas grass field, and there was billowy steam popping out... Is that a hotspring? "..." Somewhat wearing nothing, soaking in that natural hotspring, were the three senior management staff members. Suddenly without warning, with that scene that leaves out the imagination, I got utterly speechless. "Ahhh.. for sure, the moon and the hotspring and the sake, this is the best! I haven't gone above ground after so long... Full moon banzai!" What the, a sake bottle jutted out of a rock, and soaking in the hot spring while holding the small sake drinking bowl, was Dr. Saraku. "Good grief. You've gotten so drunk Saraku. Drinking sake while on a bathtub is bad for the health. You keep saying that you're always hiding and cooping up underground, well now you only want to go above ground whenever you want." Then someone's face appeared to be extremely cautious, with the towel wrapped around his head in the style of someone who's already finished T/N: yeah this mole is a hoax, it's just an old badger with skinny legs lol link to that is here P206 soaking in the hotspring, it was Byakuya-san. "Come now, Byakuya. It has been a long while since we've opened up together like this.** Let's just talk about the really important stuff. Alrighty, let's toast to tonight's full moo---- what the, AOI!!!!!" Odanna-sama wasn't even thoroughly finished when he realized that I was standing out near the edges of the pampas grass field, and he madly dashed back to the hotspring with a splash. Incidentally, Dr. Saraku screamed in a hoarse voice "Gyaaaaaaah" while Byakuya-san quietly and furiously looked at me with his eyes as if saying "It's shameless to peep". "No, no, it's not like I went here on purpose! I was just coming out of the lovely fields of pampas grass here in the mountain, and I didn't realize that I was entering the men's bath!" "Ah, Aoi... Could it be that you.. Wanted to take a bath with me too?" "And how can that happen, how can that even happen, Odanna-sama?" Odanna-sama in his sluggishness did all that he can to make an admirable retort. "Oh, uhm... excuse me but, please use this fresh towels that I have!" In the most critical moment, Ginji-san drew them in to leave the hotspring and wear the towels. "It was because I was in the pampas grass field too." I wasn't really embarassed or blushing like a girlfriend, so I just stayed on the opposite side of the men. "Y-you unfortunately saw a bunch of indecent men, Aoi-san--" T/N: OK fam this part is actually nsfw-ish, as they were all naked together in an open-air hotspring, Odanna-sama's line in the original text was "it's been a while since we've all been naked together" but that just sounds so nsfw so I made a euphemism of some sort. I may be a potty mouth but I also have limits, of infinity lol also srsly I just tried my best to make the following scenes clean, srsly the original japanese text has so many uhm...word play that I deem nsfw srsly I did not expect this, jfc P207 With a forced smile, Chiaki-san followed us here. It was awesome that Chiaki-san somehow said that the bosses being naked was indecent. "It's fine. I have been used to washing Grandpa's back thoroughly." "...what" "Why that speechless expressio....n?" Behind the startled Chiaki-san, I discovered what seems to be an inconspicuous square gazebo. "What's that over there?" We went closer to where it was. There was something that looks like a cauldron, and from its rounded wooden lid steam was coming out. I wonder what they're boiling in there... "Ah, that's is Hell's Cauldron. In here, it's almost never used..." "He-- Hell's Cauldron?" “That cauldron is used to steam ingredients using the hot vapors from the hotsprings. Since the hotsprings also have hot vapors, when these are used to steam food, why, passing them through open fires make them even more delicious. Other than that, here is another thing I can say. When steam that comes out from Tenjin-ya's basements are used to steam ingredients, the steam's composition seems to make them less prone to spoilage." "Really... Isn't that interesting?" Finally, when Ginji-san said that "Alright Aoi-san, it's OK now", I went in front of everybody. P208 A while ago I could only side-glance and go past the three men who were soaking in the open-air hotsprings, but now I followed them for a bit in climbing a small shrine. "Well, Aoi, it's nice that you came." And as if it was nothing, I found Odanna-sama who was sitting in his usual overly-magnanimous pose. There also was Dr. Saraku who was wearing his round, black spectacles while smiling so brightly as he was holding a bottle of sake, and Byakuya-san who was tapping his fan to the corners of his mouth. But these three management staff members, even though they were comfily wearing large towels after taking a dip in the hotspring, they seemed to be delving into heavy matters. "What were you doing in such a place as this? Did the three of you came to bathe in the hotsprings?" "N-no. In the beginning we were talking about the matter concerning Kasuga. When we eventually thought of going into the hotsprings... Dr. Saraku here, in his drunkeness started pushing Byakuya powerfully into the hotsprings, it was a messy situation." "Byakuya-san wanted to get pushed into the hotsprings" At that point in time I have stopped trembling, and after Byakuya-san cleared his throat, Odanna-sama changed the topic of the conversation. "Kasuga's resignation this month from Tenjin-ya was caused by a lot of issues. That is the path that Kasuga personally chose. As for Tenjin-ya, as Kasuga's marriage is very fortunate, we can't just only give her support from the sides." "..." "...have you gotten lonely, Aoi?" P209 Odanna-sama read my changed expression, and pulling the corners of my eyes together, I smiled. I nodded deeply as I showed my true emotions. "However, there's this sole problem of Hachiyos that hasn't gone away. As Ougondouji-sama predicted, the faction of the Minister of the Left has been calling out the abolition of the Centralized Authoritarian Rulership along with the Hachiyo's Ruling System, hasn't it gotten a lot quieter, Byakuya?" "Hmph. Ougondouji-sama is backed up by the Minister of the Right, but Raijuu is backed up by the Minister of the Left. That guy's evolution doesn't appear to be good, but somehow he's probably making his flashy moves..." Raijuu, isn't it? Odanna-sama and Byakuya-san, they were talking about the movement of Kasuga's marriage, along with the politics of Kakuriyo, and I have no idea what they're talking about right there but... Raijuu making his moves, those words, I couldn't help but not hold on to that without worrying. As the charcoal grill was roasting and toasting the ginko nuts and other tastes of autumn at the shrine's entryway, I remembered the first time that I received Raijuu's maltreatment, and got anguished. "Are you alright, Aoi-san? Is the smoke getting over there?" "Hm? Oh, no.. That's not it, really. The ginko nuts look delicious, don't they?" Ginji-san was fanning the smoke outwards with all his might. Crackle, crackle, the husks of the ginko nuts splitting open were echoing all around. Ah, I could see that these have gotten transluscent, the ginko nut's lovely green color has appeared. When the ginko nuts were gathered they stank, but when they're cooked and ready to eat they seem so appetizing. Those differences were very fascinating. P210 Polishing them brightly, it's not an exaggeration to say that they're the jewels of autumn. Wahh, I wanna eat some... "Kasuga... She works cleverly and is a hardworking person, it's within her core. It's really unfortunate and regretable to lose her as our waitress. It also seems that as a granddaughter leaving by herself, it's so lonely..." Says Odanna-sama. He said it entirely as if he's Kasuga's grandpa. While Odanna-sama was restraining himself from the back, Kasuga's foster-dad Chiaki-san just started crying and sobbing at Odanna-sama's words. Odanna-sama just started patting Chiaki-san's knees, it mysteriously consoled him. "Hey, you know what, Kasuga Ojou-chan always runs so many errands for the basement team, I always give her the unsold manjuu to take home." Oh, so that's why Kasuga always brings in a lot of Tenjin-ya's unsold manjuu, those were given to her by Dr. Saraku. "But from now on, Kasuga's position has changed. Tenjin-ya will be protecting her from behind, and we'll make a lot of souvenirs and other things for her to bring when we send her off. Let's not talk about bad things, Tenjin-ya has its members marrying a Hachiyo one after another.” Byakuya-san opened his fan and while fanning his face, from the corners of his mouth he was somewhat stiffling a laugh. I wonder what souvenirs could those be... "Ah, that's right, Yomego-chan**! Speaking of souvenirs, our souvenirs, OUR souvenirs! Before, Tenjin-ya inquired about the hotspring manjuu, how are those coming along?" T/N: Yomego-chan=嫁御ちゃん=Dr. Saraku calls Aoi as Daughter-in-Law-chan. I've done enough speed runs to know why, so I'll just leave it like this. Don't worry fam, it's cute once that goes up, idk when though T_T dang it, my Nihongo learning skills couldn't keep up T_T P211 "Come again?" While talking about it, Dr. Saraku remembered the matter about the souvenirs, and he abruptly changed it. Everyone stared at me. "Ah, uhm... We're in the middle of our test trials, Dr. Saraku. It will get finished by the time we hold the Autumn Festival." "We don't want an expensive souvenir Aoi-kun." "Well now, Byakuya-san. My basic menu costs minimally. But one more step isn't enough... The usual manjuu as a newly-released product doesn't have enough impact, we have to change it into a striking product so people won't lose interest in it. When the Autumn Festival starts, we'll have it ready." While in the middle of talking about the souvenirs, I instantly had an idea. That's it. The new souvenir from Tenjin-ya...I should also consult Kasuga about it. Kasuga has eaten a lot of Tenjin-ya's manjuu, it seems that she'll have a lot of opinions on what kinds of suitable manjuu can Tenjin-ya make. More than anything, I want Kasuga to taste the new manjuu we'll make before she leaves. It's settled then. I immediately brought a bowl of roasted ginko nuts to Odanna-sama, and he oh-ed when he took one kernel, peeled it of its charred color, and ate the green seed. "Mmmm, this ginko nut tastes good" "It's because it was roasted on a charcoal grill. Roasting the seeds with their husks keeps in the fragrance, and the bitter after taste of the crumbly seeds get more tolerable, which are P212 uniquely the ginko nut's trait. Would you want to try adding coarse salt?" This is too easy to be called cooking, the flavors of autumn, enjoying these as they are, it's the best. Particularly the ginko nuts, just serving them with a bit of salt is exquisite. "Everyone, there's also grilled matsutake mushrooms, and some dried mackerel too. Please have these with the sake." Ginji-san grilled all of these on the charcoal grill, served them in a large platter, and placed them in the center where the management staff were seated. Seeing the flavors of autumn arranged together, my mouth started watering again. "Please take a seat too, Wakadanna-dono" Byakuya-san offered Ginji-san some sake. He only has been waiting to be called for and his expression became so bright, he brought his sake cup and entered the circle of drinkers. It seemed that he somehow, wanted to drink some sake. "Aoi, you come here too. I'm sorry that you have to work here even after Yugao's business hours." "Hm?" "...even your hand, it's full of cracks. She may be of a marriagable age, yet we're helped by such a hard-worker." Matching his concerned words, Odanna-sama faced me, and casually took my hands. Just a while ago the conversations were flowing, and that reminds me... After that Orchard Park date, after a long while we faced each other upfront, for one reason or another I felt embarassed. I flagrantly moved away my face, and the hand he was holding, I pulled it away. "Th-that is, because I work in a Japanese restaurant. Lately it has gotten cold, and my hands have gotten all worn out. P213 But today there weren't many customers, I thought that I needed my body to move some more." "Ahaha, Aoi is definitely a hard-worker, right?" Odanna-sama has always been extremely understanding.** I only realized, it seems that he's only weird with me. "Oh, right. Would you like to drink some of the sweet sake that I got hold of? It has no additives, and no alcohol." "What's that? I wanna drink that." Just a while ago I was all aloof and cold, now I just heard the phrase "There's sweet sake" and my bearing changed 180 degrees. Chiaki-san seemed to have realized my interest, and from the shrine's altar where a lot of the bottles were arranged, he took one and brought it for me. The package gives off a vibe of it being undeniably a high-class product, and my excitement was at its peak. Using the sake cup from the grilled foods plate, Odanna-sama triumphantly poured the sweet sake for me. The sweet sake's particularl trait, I peeked on it and its color is a bit like undisturbed milk, and on the clear top layer some malted rice were floating on it, I saw these as they were shining. "Tenjin-ya has always been in the care of OROCHI's work - The Ebitsu Liquor Products. They made these using only the newly-harvested rice for this year, this product isn’t released in stores to be sold." While Odanna-sama was talking about the product, I took a sip. Ah... Somehow the flavor gave me a sigh of relief. It wasn't too sweet, there wasn't any odor, this sweet sake is easy to drink. There were some grainy lumps left behind, T/N: this phrase is vague-ish, the transliterated version means that he's always glugging the liquor heartily but again, gah this chapter is just full of word plays, really P214 It was really delicious, the sweet sake is like home-brewed and hand-made. I like this grainy stuff too. I could understand why it's really enjoyable, it was hand-made and isn't sold to the public. "This is amazing... I always had the impression that sweet sake has a stench, but this one changed my mind." "It's not altogether a waste using this product, the sweetness of the malted rice helps the flavor to stick to it. That is probably why despite that there aren't so many people who like the sweet sake's unique odor, I like this sweet and mild taste, and every year, when the time comes they make this sweet sake, with a personalized note. I heard that it's also good for your body." "Really now.. Odanna-sama likes this sweet sake. And yet you hate the sweet pumpkin?" "Oh, aren’t the sweet sake and the pumpkin entirely different? A pumpkin is hollow, when it's boiled it gets stuck in the throat. It's soft and sticky, and that is why I find it difficult to eat it." Odanna-sama said those things while sourly turning his eyes away to the side. "That's why I thought somehow, that you were sneakily placing those in my bowl, Odanna-sama" "Byakuya! Don't reveal something that nasty to Aoi!" Odanna-sama was pnaicking and wailing a lot, but I have previously heard that from Ginji-san... On the other hand, Ginji-san has sunk into a drunken stupor. While Byakuya-san poured some sake for him, Ginji-san's nine tails would incidentally move a lot, and he has been extremely exhausted from drinking. It was like eating wanko soba.** "I also want to drink some sweet sake" "Ah, well then I shall pour for you" T/N: wanko soba=わんこそば= this has always weirded me out, it's like they put a bite-size portion in a tiny bowl and they'll keep giving this to you until you get full, like an endless stream of soba/buckwheat noodles. Personally just give the whole thing to me and I'll eat it lol P215 This time, I poured Odanna-sama some of the sweet sake. Looking at that scene with a laidback yet careful attitude, Dr. Saraku suggestively went "Hey, heeeey" while his face broke into a grin. "Yomego-chan pouring sake like that for Odanna-sama, somehow you look like a real husband and wife. After Kasuga Ojou-chan, it's also a good idea to write your marriage registration here too." "What?" "Hmmm... You have a point there. Following Kasuga's lead, pretty soon Aoi-kun will brace herself too." Even Byakuya-san. I could feel that the two higher management members have severely put me under so much pressure, I'm just thoroughly shrivelled. Well, isn't this vibe like what happens all over the country, when a girl reaches a marriagable age the parents just pushes her to get married? "Hey now, both of you stop that. I don't want to force Aoi against her will." "What's that?" "Until Aoi likely decides to have me for her husband, I'll... be waiting forever." "..." What the, this Odanna-sama is being meek. While sipping the sweet sake bit by bit, his face is just full of dejection. Even though before, he said that he had no intention of waiting forever... P216 I can't understand what Odanna-sama's intentions were, but if it's useless to push him, should I pull back? Might it be that, Odanna-sama already, vehemently, doesn't want to marry me anymore? I felt emotionally-struck a thousand times, I don't understand why there is this puzzling feeling of impending fears. Lately I have been... such an emotional wreck.

End of Chapter 6, Volume 6. Previous - Chapter 5 Next - Chapter 7

References:

Wonderful site for the youkai references

Other stuff I used to do this: Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Dictionary (you can buy here, I’m not sponsored btw). I was about to buy the older edition but then the newer one came out 2013 so I bought that instead. Worth buying since I was able to find nearly all of the words I needed just by stroke pattern alone.

Merriam-Webster's Japanese-English Dictionary (the red-covered 1996 version is apparently out of print right now). This is what I have been using for a very long time, I bought it when I was still a fetus (yes I am old so what lol), and after so many years, when compared to newer editions, I still prefer this one since its entirety is Japanese-English, the English to Japanese gloss are just 16 pages tops, so you get more Japanese words for your buck. But that’s just my opinion, maybe other people prefer the Jap-En x En-Jap IDEK.

Basic online dictionary, Jisho. Knowledge of verb conjugations and other words are necessary since not all have entries.

If you can read Japanese, you can buy the whole set in Amazon Japan, they’re shipping worldwide now, I think.

#kakuriyo no yadomeshi #kakuriyo no yadomeshi light novel #kakuriyo no yadomeshi volume 6 chapter 6 #kakuriyo no yadomeshi english fan translation #kakuriyo no yadomeshi light novel english #kakuriyo no yadomeshi light novel volume 6 chapter 6

57 notes · View notes

tmntastic · 5 years ago

Text

My ride or die💥

Pairing: Reader x Raphael

Plot: Raph starts carrying short and smol reader around on his back as a joke but then it turns into habit.

A/N: This is a special one (belated) for my birthday baby @txx-yxxng-txx-hxxntxd ❤️

Raphael’s voice, eyes or even his lips, which you time and time again found yourself caught up in, wouldn’t allow you to ever get used to his flirting. No matter the occasion.

He was known to throw the filthiest looks at you, especially when you’re hanging out in a group. Testing all that’s in you.

But Raph adored you and wanted to make sure you knew you were the centre of the room for him at all times.

Besides, seeing your blush, fidget and sneak looks back at him made his heart race. And well, Raphie-boy was an adrenaline junkie when it came to that.

However, at the same time, the red turtle also knew when to express himself with the cheesiest lines; he was a passionate romantic and only you seemed to experience that side of him.

To illustrate, his actions varied from blatantly asking you for your number to later on saying something along the lines of “I’m bad at texting first, so I always end up hoping you will.”

In sight of all this Raph was approachable, not the tough shell he seemed to be when standing in contrast to his brothers.

You always knew you could count on him, on his advice and his presence. Whether it’s unnecessary ranting about shitty friends, the need for some air and calm, or even the simple need of his presence, Raph never failed to be there for you.

You were open with one another, with the flirting always around the corner, however, one day Raph has had enough of playing around.

He’d occasionally point out his obvious height advantage by nicknaming you shortie, quite often.

It was a late night and you were, as usual, found sitting on the couch in the lair, your chin resting and eyes focused Raph, a few feet away in his gym corner, lifting and jumping and doing all the things that seemed to add up to his massive size. No complaints though you were starting to feel thirsty.

Standing up, you made your way to the kitchen passing Raph. Opening the fridge and bending down to look you were interrupted by Raph’s voice. “You won’t find any drinks, sugar. We all have our own stash, we rarely share.”, he spoke matter of fact. “I can tell you where mine is, shorty.”, you could practically hear his smirk but still decided to turn around and look at where he stood not putting his weights down. He simply pointed to a couple boxes on the top shelf. Ignoring the obvious disadvantage of your height, determination on your face.

“You could help, you know?”, you expressed after hearing a couple of sighs and chuckles from the mutant. “I could,” Raph purred, staring shamelessly as you struggled. “But that wouldn’t give me nearly as pretty a view.” “Do you always talk so much crap?”, you talked back, managing to climb the counter though not as steady as you’d hoped.

“Only when it works you up so much.”, he only smirked and took slow, sauntering steps towards the kitchen. Call it coincidence but in the same moment a slight imbalance in your feet and a bad grip caused you to fall back and straight into the hands of one handsome mutant turtle.“So yes, I suppose always then.” Too embarrassed to find words you just pouted and furrowed your eyebrows at which Raph couldn’t help but laugh before he placed you on his back, thighs on his shoulders. “Better, sugar?”

“I don’t like it when you’re so smug.”, you asserted. “Liar.”, he almost hissed as you took our the bottles out of the crate which was in your reach now.

Eventually, Raph starts making up excuses to carry you

“You look tired, peach, lemme help you relax.”

Or just a simple, “How ‘bout a ride around the city, babe?”

His willingness encourages your shyness and it turns into a habit

“Look there comes Mountain Man and Heidi.”, and “It’s like the strangely sweet love between King Kong and the only woman who understands him.” were only the beginning of the teasing you’d endure from the other turtles.

Raph loved to have you close, having previously failed at making an excuse to touch you in the smallest ways.

He was, to put it simply, overwhelmed by the amount of touching he received from your part.

With your hands never resting anywhere away from him. They were either on his neck, massaging out the sore muscles, twisting and turning his bandana (definitely braiding it at some point, “Don’t move! I’m almost done, Red.”), rubbing circles in his temples whenever he became his grumpy self or simply resting your head on his.

If you were a pain in th ass then, now you’re inseparable. You aren’t seen one without the other, and always Raph carrying you somehow.

At this point Leo, Donnie and Michael, occasionally Splinter, are all putting money on you two either ‘dating already’, ‘soon to be’ or (written in big red) ‘Raph messes up and we’ll miss Y/N’s cooking’

“I’m not moving, your shoulders are comfortable. This is non-negotiable.”, you whispering between you two once it’s brought up by the guys.

“Alright, sugar. How could I say no when you talk so sweetly.”, he’d tease back, not giving you a break.

Definitely laying on his shell, admiring him, talking or even napping while he’s working out.

He can’t be more thankful when the cold days come around and since he’s and aquatic replete, cold blooded, you’re his favourite source of warmth.

This only furthers your relationship which eventually leads to the confession of the inevitable, though unspoken truth, between you two. Namely, just how head over heels you two were for one another.

A/N: If you wish to be added to the tag list to any of my works, drop an ask or dm me! Thank you for all the support!

#tmnt 2k14 #tmnt 2014 #raphael #raph #raph x reader #raphael x reader #tmnt x reader #teenage mutant ninja turtles #tmnt #mine #tmnt headcanons #raph headcanon #raphael headcanon

1K notes · View notes

ace-in-a-shopping-cart · 4 years ago

Text

I Can Hear Your Voice

Summary: Analogical Soulmate AU! Where you can hear your soulmate’s voice no matter how far apart you are.

Word Count: 1,576

Taglist: (Send an ask to be added or removed!) @starlocked01 @spoopy-turtle @lizluvscupcakes @far-too-many-fandoms-to-die

Virgil had never met Logan, but loved him with all his heart. Logan had always been there for him, always been with him. The first time he was aware of him was in kindergarten. That was when the teachers told him of soulmates. He was told that the soulmate was just a few words away, they could hear everything you said. That was when he and Logan had been first introduced.

Over time, he got used to having a voice in his head that only he could hear. He also got used to talking aloud more often. Sometimes, he would just hum while he was doing something and Logan would send back an answering hum. Other times, he would sing and Logan would ask what song it was. Most times, he would speak aloud to an empty room and get responses.

As they grew older, they found times when they needed to be quiet, such as when Logan got into meetings in his career. But there were also times when they would deliberately talk, like when Logan helped Virgil down from an anxiety attack in the middle of a presentation. Sometimes, one would be driving and, instead of playing music, ask the other to read to them.

Virgil found it fun to be Logan’s audiobook, trying to put a voice to each character and a separate voice for the narrator. Logan did the same with him, voice coming alive with numerous accents in order to create a whole world with just his speech.

Today started off as a normal day. Virgil woke up and said a quiet, “Good morning,” to the empty room.

A chuckle sounded in a space that felt like directly behind Virgil but was actually a few hundred miles away. “Are you just now getting up?”

Virgil rolled over, bleary eyes trying to read the clock. “What time is it?”

“For you? Probably about eleven in the morning. By the way, how are we feeling this morning?”

Virgil smiled at the question. “More androgynous right now while leaning toward male.”

“So they/them for now, yes?”

Virgil smiled, grateful their soulmate accepted them as genderfluid. “Yes, please.”

“Alright, starlight. Time to start the day.”

Virgil stretched, releasing an unintelligible sound. “What chapter were we last on?” They asked as they rolled out of bed.

Logan began reading as Virgil went about their morning routine, grabbing the gym bag by the door on their way out and heading to the dance studio. Logan said he had to go into a meeting so had to stop reading and Virgil said goodbye, turning on the music. They stretched before they began, listening as Logan switched from the tone he used just with them to his business voice. Virgil smiled as they lost themselves in the unique combination of music and Logan’s voice, letting his body flow as a warm-up.

They lay on the floor, panting as Logan concluded his meeting. There was a smile in his voice as he asked, “Did you have a good session?”

“Yeah, I did, actually. You have a good meeting? You sounded frustrated towards the end.”

Logan sighed as Virgil imagined him running his hand through his hair. “Just people being idiots. Nothing to worry about.” They sat in silence together for a few minutes before Logan spoke again. “So, do we want to talk about last night?”

Virgil laughed, shifting his legs to be more comfortable. “No, I don’t think we do. You know how I can be.”

“Yes, I do. It was also very hard to keep my focus on my work with that going in my head.”

Virgil laughed. “You should have been asleep anyways, Mr. I’m only an hour behind you.”

Logan sighed. “Yes, I also realize that you have insomnia. That does not give you the excuse to rant about the merits of the written word and compare and contrast them to those of the drawn world. Nor does it give you the excuse to almost break into tears over the beauty of them working together to enhance each other.”

Virgil chuckled. “Alright, fair point.”

They stood and began to gather their things, the rest of the day progressing smoothly. The night rolled around, Logan having a lot of things to get done. So, Virgil decided that it would be a good time to practice his singing. Logan chuckled as he started but soon quieted as he focused on the papers he had to go through as Virgil faded into a very welcome background noise.

Finally, Virgil’s voice trailed off as they stared up at the stars and wondered if Logan was seeing the same stars they were, gazing at the same moon. They sighed. “Logan?”

Logan hummed. “Yes, darling?”

They watched an airplane fly by. “Can we pretend that airplanes are shooting stars?”

Logan paused. “Are you okay?”

“I could really use a wish right now.”

“Talk to me, baby. What’s going through that pretty head of yours?”

Virgil sighed. “I’m feeling more male right now.”

“Alright, dear. What’s wrong, my little prince?”

Virgil stood, shutting his blinds before he moved to the couch. “I don’t know. I don’t feel well but know I’m in perfect health, probably better health than you. I wish moments like this would stretch on forever, staying in this peace and serenity.”

“I know just how you feel. Sometimes, I don’t want to leave a moment that I feel safe in. Just wait a bit longer and you will find another safe moment.”

Virgil sighed, flopping onto his back. “I know. I’m just tired of being tired. I want something to change but I don’t know what. I guess I just need to sleep.”

“That’s a good idea. I’ll talk to you in the morning, okay?”

Virgil made a noise of agreement as he headed off to bed.

The next morning, Virgil was feeling feminine so put on a skirt, twirling as she liked the way it felt against her skin. She wandered over to her computer and ate breakfast while searching the symptoms of yesterday on the internet. “Ahhh.” She said.

“What is it?” Logan asked.

“I think I found out why I was feeling so bad yesterday.”

“And what would that be, starlight?”

“I was having an anxiety attack.” She said it casually, as if she were discussing the grocery list.

“Are you feeling any better now?”

“Yes, I think I am. How are you this fine morning?”

He chuckled. “Busy traveling for work. I’m having to work on moving to a new office so you might hear me muttering at the GPS for a while.”

Virgil laughed. “Would you like an audiobook? I can pick up where we left off yesterday.”

A smile invaded Logan’s voice, a sound Vigil had only ever heard directed at her. “Yes, please. Oh! Before I forget, which gender would you like to be perceived as at the moment?”

Virgil smirked. “Currently female. Leaning a bit toward agender today.”

“How shall I refer to you while agender?”

“You always ask me how I want to be perceived. Whenever I’m agender, I just want to be perceived as a threat.”

Logan laughed. “Alright, princess. A threat you shall be.”

Virgil giggled as she skipped off to get the book they were reading.

The sound of a car passing didn’t usually bother Virgil as they were used to it, living on a semi-busy road as they were. However, the sound of a car stopping outside their house did give them cause for concern. They got up, pausing mid sentence and went to look out the window.

“What’s wrong?” Logan asked, his concern evident.

Virgil paused. “I don’t know. A car just pulled into my driveway and turned off.”

“Isn’t that normal for you? You did say you live on a busy road.”

“It’s normal to hear them pull in, but that’s usually just to turn around. They don’t usually park on my driveway if they are visiting the neighbors.”

Logan chuckled even as the car’s door opened. “I guess the jig is up, as they say.” The man stepping out of the car was tall and well dressed in a neat black suit with a patterned blue tie. He smiled and waved at Virgil, who ducked behind their blinds.

“The person got out of the car and waved at me.”

Logan laughed again, a knock sounding at the door. “How about you answer your door?”

Virgil froze as the information Logan gave finally sank in. “You're actually here?”

“Yes, I am.”

Virgil slid across the floor in their socked feet, fumbling with the lock before throwing the door open.

Logan stared as his eyes traveled the length of Vigil’s body, taking in the bright skirt and socks before going back up to linger just long enough on the band t-shirt to read it. His eyes finally made it back to Virgil’s and he smiled. “You’re gorgeous.” Was all he said.

Virgil threw themselves into his arms, smiling widely. “I can’t believe you’re really here!” Pulling back, they paused. “Were you lying about having to go on a business trip?”

Logan smiled, shaking his head. “No. My company recently opened a branch here and I volunteered to go help out. I also still need a place to stay, so-”

“You can crash here, I don’t mind at all.” Virgil rushed before Logan could finish.

He chuckled, pulling his soulmate closer. “Nothing would make me happier.”

#analogical #virgil sanders #logan sanders #soulmate au #ace writes

74 notes · View notes

moonlightflower21 · 5 years ago

Note

How would each turtle react to their daughter telling them that she was cheated on? Also, I hope you have a wonderful day / night!!

thank you babe, hope you have a good day too! hope you like this <3

leo: "honey..." leo wants to punch the jerk out cold but his daughter needs him now. he lets her cry on his shoulder and rant about it all. he's such a good listener, allowing his daughter to speak her mind. he's so angry but he masks it well, it's not the time to let his emotions run high. "i'm so sorry, i know how much this relationship mattered to you..." he knows how much it can pain for a heartbreak especially when the other cheated. he allows her to speak what's on her mind, to be able to talk without judgment. "it will hurt and sting now, but it is not permanent. i promise you, you'll find the right one. the one that treats you as you deserve to be treated" he makes his special tea, careful to not make it too hot and gently placed it in her hands. "thank you dad" she gives him a small smile, her face still red. "not a problem. why don't we do something today? whatever you'd like?" leo asks, sitting besides her on the couch and she shifts, raising a brow curiously. "what about the patrols and everything? it's okay-" "they can wait for a while. i want to take a little break anyway" he shrugs and she laughs sweetly. "i got a list of things we can do" "bring it on"

raph: "gimme a name or number" raph is angry because what kinda asshole do you have be to play with someone's heart like that?? he'll see her face and hug her tight. "whoever that disgustin' guy was, he'll be wishing he never cheated. i don't want ya to blame yourself because of his actions okay?" he wipes her tears away, kissing her forehead. "yeah...." it's clear her mind is overrrun by thoughts and raph takes a step back grabbing some hand wraps. "what you doing?" she asks, trying to stop the flow of tears running down her cheeks. "we're goin' to hit the gym. you'll be able to think with a much clearer mind after it" he looks at his daughter who has definitely cheered up a little. "is that why you're always there?" she lets out a soft chuckle, wrapping the hand wrap. her giggles increases when she sees her father's face drop. "i'll let that one slide because you're hurtin'. you're lucky..." but even raph can't help but laugh. "thanks dad. i needed it" she smiles at him and leans in to hug her papa. the big cuddly bara hugs back immediately. "no probs, i've gotchu"

donnie: "what happened, sweetheart?" he opens her arms and out come the tears she's been holding. donnie's heart breaks a little, hearing her sobs and her words all in a jumbled mess. "i know this is hard...." it's comforting little sentences, to make her understand she doesn't need to got through it alone. he's got her back, now and for always. "i feel so stupid..." she wiped her tears away, sighing at the situation and donnie smiles a little. "your feelings are valid. you have every right to feel what you're feeling now. i know how difficult it must have been to hear that. he wasn't the one, but you'll find them. i promise" he pats her knee and for the first time that night, her smile widens a little. "thanks dad. means a lot" she hugs him again, forever grateful. "wanna do something today? we can do whatever you like" donnie steps up from his seat at the computer and looks at his daughter. "really?? your work-" "can wait. we can have some fun and i needed to take a break anyway" he laughs sweetly and she grins, standing up.

mikey: "oh baby, i'm so sorry...." his heart hurts for her, and he just holds her immediately. if she cries, he's murmuring comforting words while he gently strokes her hair. if she's angry, he fully stands behind it. one thing he doesn't stand for is when his daughter blames herself for it. "you are a beautiful young woman. any guy would be lucky to have you. this idiot didn't know what he had. don't you dare belittle yourself. he couldn't respect your boundaries then he's not a man. he's a coward" he gives her a talk and she lets out a small chuckle at the end of it. "thank you dad, i'm just done with it...." she sighs, her eyes red and cheeks puffy. it's clear it's been a long day for her. "how about this? we can make sundaes today with whatever toppings you choose. and you can choose whichever dinner you'd like too?" he asks, smiling when her eyes lighten up a little. "really?? thank you dad!" she hugs him tight and mikey laughs softly, embracing her back. "anything for my sweet baby"

hoped you enjoyed! 💙❤️💜🧡

#tmnt x reader fanfic #tmnt x reader #tmnt dad!turtles #tmnt dad!turtles cute moments #tmnt dad!turtles x reader #tmnt dad!leonardo #tmnt dad!raphael #tmnt dad!donatello #tmnt dad!michelangelo

158 notes · View notes

thelostandforgottenangel · 4 years ago

Text

Nightmare AU: Part 5 - Trip To Town

@under-the-scarlet-reign88 @fyreball66 @betelgeusessonajblog @blossom-skies @narwals14 @bluesakurablossom @kokokatsworld @midnightrebel669-deactivated202 @lonelyheart-clubband @missbeautyandherbeast @midnight-chocolate-turtle @myheyheyheystuff @nikitaboeve @mistyroselove @waterstar2016 @nights-legacy @janna-the-breaker @missmagellanic @darksaphire2002 @aurora-the-kunoichi @moonlightflower21 @queendice98 @infintyfandoms @ravn-87 @bmntgirl @vixie-chan233 @galaxy-dusk @nikkilove-universe @angelcatlowyn @nittleboo @just-straight-up-chaos @kokokatsworld @ask-mona-lisa @tmntindustries @cyberpunk-girl @iiamber9090 @caelyns-blog @leetah2999

The drive to get off the property took a bit given the road wasn’t really defined other then a path through the trees from years of pulling up and down it loving how beautiful it was out there

There was nobody for miles which they liked; just trees, wild animals, and nature to see as far as her eyes could

She knew she had heard it somewhere from either in a movie or a song but – there was no place she would have rather been no matter how hard the worked to survive here she loved every second of it

Finally getting down the incline that led up to the house and feeling her tires hit the flat meant the first bridge was coming up, getting ready to grab the controller she jumped slightly when her phone went off from Donnie reminding her to be careful and that they loved her giggling to herself knowing he was in his room watching his camera screens

Even if she felt safe on their property it always left a warm secure feeling to know he was watching her

A smile pulled at her lips upon getting to one trail cam facing towards her blowing a kiss in that direction hoping he was looking right then; she knew he watched those screens even if she tended to play dumb from time to time knowing he was there made it easier to go

After ten minutes she was hitting the first button on Donnie’s remote before she even got to the creek not wanting to stop for long but still drove slowly over the metal grate hearing it lowering once she was over; the satisfying crunch of gravel shortly later meant she had reached the private road checking the way she was going even if nobody had ever used this road before it was just a habit

Pulling off she had to wait until she was a bit closer to the next receiver pressing the second button just before reaching the main bridge having to stop to let it lower and make sure it didn’t get stuck after Donnie had just fixed it a week ago holding her thumb up to the camera that was blinking letting him know it was working properly before waving a final time

The last button was tapped as soon as she was on the main two lane road seeing the barrier camouflage the way she had just came as she pulled off now looking like a dead end of trees and shrubs at the slight curve; heading off a bit faster the girl breathed in the fresh air that whipped through the cabs open window

There was never anyone out this far thankfully; the road just hers for nearly thirty minutes before ever seeing any houses to her right some far and in-between given the size of the properties outside town

A while later she was smiling once she was turning onto the elderly woman’s property seeing her on the porch in her rocking chair looking up in surprise as she heard somebody driving up; a wave from the excited woman was all the young woman needed to know she was happy to see her like always as she pulled the truck in the yard parking in her normal spot “Hey Granny!”

Once out of the cab she heard a eager baying coming around the truck being greeted as always by the old hound Misty who loved following the younger woman as she worked ruffling her droopy ears cooing as she walked; meeting the woman halfway she squeaked out a laugh upon getting a big hug like every time she was there cackling as she was squeezed tight “Welcome back baby” her cheeks were smothered in kisses giggling more at the woman’s affections having learned to love them with time “O-Oh you look so pretty today justa glowing and radiant as ever and - who’s cologne is that on you child? Got you smelling so good”

She had never imagined feeling loved from anyone but her family – at least until she started working here

Mary Malone was the sweetest lady she had ever met; a bit on the heavy side her hair was jet black peppered with strands of white for her age, of course she didn’t look to be in her late seventies and given she still got around pretty well on her own and liked to do the lighter work around her place she was a lively person, she did have a mouth like a sailor and the sass of a teen, but could cut diamonds with her tone when correcting somebody

But none the less she was a sweet old lady

Mary was like a grandmother to her and when there she was treated like her granddaughter given she didn’t have much family still around

Following her up on the porch she took a seat in her normal wooded chair across from Granny taking the fresh sun brewed sweet tea offered and laughing as Sheila; Mary’s strange little tabby jumped into her lap curling up and purring at the scratches to her ears as they talked on a few things before seeing the woman waiting to hear why she was there on her day off

As much as Mary loved seeing her it was unusual to see her outside of work days unless she was checking on her in the winter months

“I woke up to start my chores after getting a bit of sleep and some breakfast only to find a wolf got Cream Puff… tore him apart, there was almost nothing left by the time I found him” she saw the woman shake her head mumbling out about her troubles with the packs in the area over the years saying it was a damn shame she had lost him before the girl slowly sat up hoping this wasn’t too forward “Granny I know it’s a lot to ask and I’ll understand if you don’t want to go for it but – I want to do any extra work you have here with no pay; work up a credit and maybe – when your girl has her litter I could have two piglets this year? Looking to have a male and female but you know I will pay for them if you need me too”

She saw the woman waving for her to stop shaking her head thinking she was about to get lectured on trying to take advantage of her but like always the old woman started in on her normal funny rant playfully reprimanding the girl while laughing “Oh now you stop that this instant! Child you work too much as it is; give you more work, no pay - it’s ridiculous! No you young lady will do the normal amount I give you take the pay and quit the worrying, you do so much around here two piglets ain’t nothin I’m worried over their yours baby, you pick them out - hell take the whole litter if you want!” a small smile lifted the corners of her mouth still planning to work harder to cover the cost before her chin was lifted seeing Mary had sat up further in her chair looking her in the eyes “You need to worry less on working and start living baby, a beautiful lady don’t need to work her life away when she’s got a fire like yours find you a man have some fun your only young once… Life passes us by if you blink; your young go be crazy. In my day we did our chores but once they were done we went out and had fun with friends, flirted with boy’s our daddy’s never approved of, and got in trouble with the law for stupid shit… do something crazy, take risk… hell sleep with a few nice muscled up hunky guys to make a mistake!”

That had her laughing falling back in her chair giggling wildly shaking her head as the old woman looked proud of herself to have the girl in happy tears never seeing her smile much it was her goal to get at least one smile out of her even a good laugh occasionally

She thought on the guys back home a loving smile on her lips as she looked over fond of the woman’s crazy antics looking out over the pasture where the mares were running the fence “I have someone Granny – and he makes me very, very happy, actually he told me this morning I work too much too” she never mentioned she had four men at home waiting on her but her words were true

They made her very happy

After a bit of time just talking over what all she had accomplished the day before she knew she needed to get going not all that surprised the old woman walked her to the truck giving her one last big hug “Start living before it’s too late – and you better bring that young man to see me sometime so I can tell you if I approve then whoop him for letting you work so hard!” another good laugh and she jumped up in her cab waving to the woman before she was gone heading towards town

That time had her reflecting on the woman’s words wondering what living was if what she was doing wasn’t it

Making a quick stop she dropped off the package Raph had done up for Mr. Prods relieved when his grandson met her outside smiling as he paid for the jerky giving her an extra tip for putting up with the man who didn’t understand how weird he could be giving him some of her sweet bread for them to try before heading to deliver the other four boxes and cookies

Luckily people didn’t seem to want to talk too much and they went much faster then she had thought

Once in town the woman sent a message soon as she pulled past the only gas station to let them know she had just got there safe, turning straight into the hardware store she made a small list on a piece of paper before going in and searching for everything Donnie needed until she was sure she had it all

Placing it on the counter she beamed as he held out his hand already knowing the woman’s routine “Uncle Jerry! Hey our favorite costumer is here get John to gather up this for the lady” she shook her head knowing they enjoyed the business handing over the paper to the teenage boy who was ringing her up as she waved at his uncle before grabbing three big rolls of duct tape waiting for her total and paying; giving him extra for the extra feeds she knew they needed

He was about to finish as she slid a small package of jerky for their troubles across the counter “Here I know it’s a lot to get on short notice so – I remembered you three loved this last time-” his uncle snatched the package making her giggle as he ran to the office

“Darling you are a god sent” she waved understanding they would get to it when they could heading off going to pick them up before she headed home so he could get it loaded in the bed once she was done “We’ll have it ready to go in an hour when you come back Miss Dee” she nodded giving them a small thumbs up as she left placing the bags in the front floorboard picking up the large box in the seat carrying it across the street groaning as she pushed the door open sighing

“Smoke I’m here!” stepping in the front door she wasn’t surprised to find a table already sat up for her stuff placing the box in the center “Smokey? Hey it’s Dee Dee you here?” a large burly man walked out of the back carrying three wooden crates of stuff moments later as she moved to help when he greeting her

Considering she couldn’t spend all day in town he had made a place in his store and sold her item hating everything where it needed to be nding off the order forms that had to of just came in as she laid everything out in front of him to let the man pick what he wanted for the stand this weekend happily filling a few new request while they worked filling the orders from the last two weeks letting her sit it up with the price tags while he made them and setting everything where it needed to be

Given her booth space wouldn’t be open until Monday when her days would start earlier then ever he usually set it up in his shop for a small fee and ran it for her giving her the money the next time she was in town, although she wasn’t looking forward to it she’d be getting up to head to Mary’s by five am until the frost set in and at the booth by one until she sold out of her stuff meaning the next few weeks were crucial given she’d be out of work until spring

“I think this is enough – although I’m sure it’ll sell out by tomorrow afternoon with the crowds we’ll have” she only nodded as he eyed one of the beautiful boxes with a intricate engraved floral pattern between vines never understanding why she didn’t just open her own business instead of working a stand

Once everything was done he left to the back leaving her to browse his inventory alone not seeing anything she needed then quickly calling her goodbyes before heading to the market stands set up in the gated off area beside the building seeing they had set up a bit early this year but appreciated it none the less since it meant she could buy the smaller things they might not have thought about

She was cautious around the people she had never seen there, sticking to the ones she knew had good quality items buying anything that would come in use like tools, some fresh honey from the local bee keeper, and fabric to start making her stuff while talking with a few of the women she usually sat up shop with around this time of the year

To her surprise she found a few new books for Donnie at one merchant knowing he hadn’t gotten any in the last three years made them a big must collecting several that seemed interesting enough for her genius, and she was more then delighted when she saw handmade candles getting some for the nights they just wanted to relax knowing Leo would love them, lastly was stopping to look at the flowers that wouldn’t be there much longer paying for a bouquet to be picked up after she was finished with her errands

The thrift store owner saw her coming and already had a bag of oversized clothes prepared for her before she placed his order on the counter grinning as he had to get a cookie right then groaning they were the best she had made yet; a compliment he gave every month even if the recipe never changed

Given he had her stuff ready she still took the time to look around finding some boots that were in her size, some jeans she could easily fix for her, a double layered jean jacket with a hoodie she couldn’t pass up, and a couple thick jackets that could be altered to fit the guys

Off to the back of the store were toys and other miscellaneous items she always found interest in; the antiques were her favorite touching several angel statues she really wanted before an old glass doll in a green Victorian style dress and white ringlets falling from the little up do caught her eye, picking it up she thought on Luna – how she wished her baby sister could be there with her to beg for toys and clothes before carrying it up to the front wanting to place it on the memorial shelf for her sister to see

Normally she wouldn’t bother with something so nice but she couldn’t pass it up

As always the man didn’t charge full price having never seen her buy anything for herself besides the essentials of clothing he wrapped it up as she looked at the small box of jewelry on the counter

He told her to be careful going home as she was leaving but something caught her eye having to stop to look at a massive leather jacket that for a small thrift store was pretty nice super thick with pockets and buckles on the side looking at it for a moment longer before doing her measurements in her head thinking there was no way it would be in that great of a condition and in a place like this “Danny – how much for this?” she looked at it again as the man stepped towards her looking at it not finding a tag meaning it had either fallen off or had just been placed up front not priced yet

“Tell you what – you got two more boxes of those cookies I’ll throw it in in the bag and we won’t tell the boss lady” he winked as she looked up her face showing her shock but without question turned running out to the truck and bringing in the two boxes he asked for as he took it and hid it in the bag

Inside she was praying it would fit Raph like she thought it would because he had always wanted one

Her treasures being placed in the seat so nobody would take them she finally made it to her last stop backing in to a spot close to the door

She stepped into the grocery store not seeing the owner for once; being small they didn’t have much but she knew from years of going there they had everything if she took her time and looked grabbing two baskets she gathered up the supplies on the paper she carried until she was walking to the front to hand over what she couldn’t get on the floor needing the man there that day to get it from the back

It wasn’t much but included ten sacks of flour, two sacks of beans, forty cans of coffee because they were going to run out if she didn’t double what Leo had wrote down, three big cases of bath tissues and paper towels each, eight cases of the mason jars to be sure they had plenty, and five cases of bottled water for emergencies

Not much if the person getting it had known that was going to be stretched over the next few months

While he was back there she picked out some candy for Mikey and the others knowing they would like it and hurried over to look at the crafts shelf finding six new colors of paints to hold Mikey over

Once she had paid for her load and got several annoyed glances from the worker she pulled the five carts out and started loading it up to be sure she could fit the feed in feeling something tugging on her leg as she shut the back tailgate

She looked down as a small fur ball slipped under her tied plaid shirt looking inside to see a set of bright blue eyes looking at her where it had cuddled up in her warmth looking around before noticing a little girl sitting near the corner of the building searching franticly for something

Stepping over she pulled the kitten from it’s place rubbing it’s back as she tried to give it back “Uh - I think your cat is trying to hitch a rid hon” she was about to hand it back when she saw the little sign beside the small cat bed ‘Kitties to good home’ looking at the orange puff in her arms she petted it for a second really looking it over before sighing wondering why it reminded her of Mikey “This the last one?”

The little nod she got made her look at it again “Mommy said I can’t keep her – can you take her home with you I’ve been out here forevers and evers” she needed to say no; Leo would strangle her for bringing it home but the longer she played with the floffster it got harder

Looking down at the sweet face she was caught by the child giving her the biggest puppy eyes unable to not smile as for a moment as she pictured Luna doing the same thing to get her way finally waving the girl over to the truck after picking up the little bed and the hand sewn fish toy opening the last box of goodies she had placing a few in a paper bag handing them to her

“Here, I’ll give you these and she can go home with me but I get her bed and the fish; deal?” it was unexpected but she was suddenly wrapped in a tight hug from the excited child ruffling her blond curls before she was gone bolting down the road to a house not to far from where she had been sitting looking at the kitten with a sigh as she placed it in the bed next to her on the seat only for the kitten to immediately crawl in her shirt again “I am going to be in so much trouble… lucky your cute”

Pulling off she stopped long enough for the florist to hand her the flowers she had just finished wrapping in paper before backing up to the rear door of the feed store where she saw everything sitting out ready to be loaded walking in as the older men loaded up her order going ahead and adding on cat food laughing as the kitten stayed in her shirt but occasionally peaked out seeing the teenage boy behind the counter seemed to recognize the little creature laughing that she was a softie as it wiggled back to curl into her side making the guy laugh as he carried out the bags for her placing them on t0p then tying everything down patting the back to let her know she was ready to go

She pulled off heading through town but something in her made the woman scan the area to be sure she wasn’t being followed; even after all this time she still worried they would be found even if this place was in the middle of nowhere and several hundred miles from the city

She was about to pass the laundry mat when a woman almost ran out in front of her car having to slam on the breaks fast to not hit her before pulling over when the female didn’t stop running

Concerned even though she didn’t want to be late getting home she jumped out leaving the kitten in the car to follow the woman who had disappeared behind the building wanting to just check on her having seen blood when she passed

When she came around the corner it was clear something wasn’t right; stepping closer to the frantic sobbing woman who was huddled on the ground shaking she could tell there was something really wrong; lifting her face Deanery was shocked to see her lips was busted and her eye was swelling shut wiping the frightened woman off carefully with the corner of her shirt “You okay sugar? Who hit you?” an answer didn’t come but from behind her she heard somebody walking up fast looking back seeing a large man who looked a bit agitated

“There you are Susie- uh come on lets go back home we can talk this out… I’m sorry it won’t happen again-” as he stepped closer she felt the woman pulling away pressing closer to the wall only seeming to anger the man more who raised his voice telling her to get up and go with him only upsetting her more as she cried out pleading him to leave her alone “Get up now and lets go home, you’re such an over dramatic bitch I barely touched you”

Her eyes shifted in instantly glaring daggers over her shoulder at the man who immediately backed up off them before she took the woman’s arm gently looking at her with a small smile helping her up, she didn’t have to ask she could see it

The woman needed help

She guided her past the man still glaring at him as she passed pointing for her to head for the truck when he screamed for the woman at her side “You got somewhere to go Sugar? Want me to drive you there?” a quick frantic nod made her move holding the woman up keeping her at her side while walking to the truck as the man yelled at them but she didn’t look back opening the door to let her in before a hand was grabbing her hair tightly yanking her back roughly before slamming her into the door feeling pain lancing across her face

“She isn’t leaving me! Get back to the house now” she wasn’t one to be handled like that from a stranger and wasn’t one to take it; guess she could blame that on her upbringing or the fact that for the last fifteen years she had dealt with four crazy active rowdy males who liked to spar and wrestle over random shit and she had learned early on to fight back

Reaching behind her his wrist popped as she twisted around forcing it in a weird angle while grabbing him fast by the shirt as her weight shifted knocking him off balance shoving him up against the truck then throwing him to the ground with a small growl waving the woman in before shutting the door to keep her from further harm wiping a drop of blood from her lip where she had bit it

A smile forming as she licked over the small wound feeling a rush swimming through her veins

The commotion had drawn attention from a few people around the area looking on as he got up red in the face “So we like hitting women? Come on dare you to try hitting me” he was moving towards her almost on cue swinging blindly as she shifted enough he punched the solid metal truck hard hearing him howl in pain as no doubtedly something broke in his hand before trying again slugging him once across the jaw when he stepped too close

The men from the feed store came outside after hearing the yelling; seeing what was going on they came running to help her but didn’t make it five steps before she clocked him again

At that point she thought he would give up but when he grabbed her shirt trying to get a good grip only for his elbow to be forced in the wrong direction feeling something crack on impact of her blow, using the momentum she had built up the woman twisted the arm behind him mercilessly planting her foot in the seat of his pants putting him back on the ground

He was back up on his feet in seconds full out attacking her in a full blown rage

She didn’t know why she was smiling but he was amusing, looking like a foal that was learning its first few steps as he tried again to hit her but didn’t have the footing he thought so it just sent him sprawling to the ground, rolling her eyes thinking he was done she turned around to leave “Touch her ever again I won’t hold back on you”

Before somebody could grab him he snatched her arm going for her hair again managing to graze her cheek as he finally landed his first hit looking shocked as she cold cocked him in the nose feeling it break on contact before he went down hard holding his face crying out in agony

“Stay down you piece of shit! Somebody call the cops” her normally calm voice came out in a snarl as one of the men grabbed him keeping him from trying to take hold of the woman again who was shaking the ice that had formed over her knuckles in her anger of being touched off so nobody saw, a few bystanders laughing at the idiot who was still trying to grab her before a loud voice broke it up

She looked over to see one of the officers walking up easing back towards the truck as he tipped his hat to her but it was easy to see he was staring not liking the way he looked at her “I wanna press charges on this woman – she attacked me Bobby”

He was silenced by the wave of a hand as she stood there finding the feed manager at her side standing up for her as the woman in the cab told the officer he had hit her again meaning this wasn’t a one time thing, the voices of everyone who had witnessed it getting silenced again before he was pointing to her wanting her side of things

His brown eyes tracing over her body had her ready to retch

“Officer she ran in front of my truck as I was heading out I saw her bleeding and went to check on her worried for her wellbeing, this guy ran up coming off threatening and yelling so I offered to take her somewhere safe away from him. When she was getting in the cab he grabbed me from behind” her eyes met the man who lunged at her being held back fast but she showed no intimidation at his action “Guess by looking at him you can see where that went… he’s big and mighty when hitting women but a little bitch when one can hit him back”

He laughed what she said off acting like this was no big deal looking the man over joking that he let a woman hit him realizing now this officer knew the man personally hearing somebody mumbling it was his baby brother

“Look – I ain’t got time for this stupid crap. All of you go back to work. Joe, you and Susie stop this lame bickering get back to the house, and you little missy need to keep your nose out of others business she’s always starting crap with him” one of the men in the crowd spoke up angrily telling him he needed to take his job seriously as she called the station deciding what he was saying needed to be heard by his boss and seeing it had been answered she kept going

“Then I want to press charges against him for assault” again she was laughed at making her brow irk as she was denied mumbling he wasn’t going to allow her to give his brother a bad rap over some stupid disagreement looking the woman over waving for the other female to get out of the truck but as he went to pull the door open she placed her hand in the way smiling at him like he was really going to ignore what happened “So – what you’re saying is a man places his hands on a woman, hurts her then attacks somebody who stops to help said beaten woman and your not going to do anything like your ‘job’ which is to serve and protect the innocent… so he just attacked two females and he was just doing ‘what a man is supposed to’ but now your trying to enter my vehicle with no reason… man guess that means I should have just pulled out my gun and fired a few rounds into him since the law means nothing here”

He was starting to look just as angry as the man still being held back meeting her eyes as he got in her face “Listen here you little bitch-” she leaned in waiting for his answer not expecting the hard hand that landed across her cheek sending her into the door hard

“Hey!” hearing the feed store manager John shoot forward pushing the officer back from her as she wiped her face feeling the warmth of blood dripping down her chin all she could do was smile to herself “She ain’t getting out that truck and you ain’t going to ignore your brother is an abusive piece of shit just like you”

Before he could say another word a bigger man stepped over pushing him back before the third man was there cuffing the one who had attacked her “You! In my office now this was your last warning! Magg’s book this trash in - put his brother in there with him while you’re at it until I get there!” the older officer turned to look at her before taking his hat off his eyes landing on both of the young women lingering on the bruised up girl who had locked the truck hiding inside, then back over as the two men were loaded in the back of the cruiser “Miss Dee I am truly sorry for him, are you hurt?” her eyes stayed on the two men until the police car pulled away before shaking her head wiping her nose on her sleeve “Sue, let her take ya over to momma’s I’ll be out there to get your statement I got all I need to charge both of them your free to leave ma’am” she nodded smiling slightly before coxing the woman to let her back in the truck taking out her last box of baked goods handing them to him

“Your wife ordered these I’m guessing I can trust most of them will get to her” the chief chuckled taking it patting the box making most of the people still there laugh as he nodded happily helping her up into the vehicle.

Soon as he was gone she leaned over grabbing a napkin from the dash motioning for Sue to put on her nose, she was just happy she didn’t have to drive out of the way to make her last delivery for today not too worried over what would happen to the men at this point knowing the sheriff would handle it

She took off quickly knowing she might be a little late getting back but took the woman where she was directed smiling seeing the kitten curled up in Susie’s lap napping until it was moved as she pulled up in front of a cute little white farmhouse helping her out and up to the door before an older male and female came out fast fussing over their daughter’s condition, after giving them the information they asked for it took her a bit by surprise hearing them thanking her but was more then happy to do it if it meant she didn’t have to go back to the abusive bastard, finally taking her leave once she knew the woman was safe

She got out of town before anymore could happen calling the guys just needing to hear their voices but instead leaving a message to let them know she was finally heading back when they didn’t answer guessing they were busy trying to get everything done so she wouldn’t have much to do when she did return taking the drive slower to calm down her nerves and feeling the frost developing over where she could feel the bruise surfacing from being hit until she was driving through the barrier

She almost forgot to slow down before the first bridge just wanting to be home now driving up the hill forcing a smile on her face not wanting them to see she was in a mood as she finally pulling into the yard

She had been about to honk when she saw the chickens going in every direction; feathers flying all over the place as they parted enough to see Raph on the ground with a dark form on his shell, they scattered again as Luca bolting into the tree line behind the barn able to hear the feral snarls even over the engine rolling the window up going to get out before hearing a growl she didn’t recognize

Coming through the trees with Luca on it’s tail was a large black and gray wolf with a dark liquid around it’s jaws going after the mutant that kept trying to chase him off before she heard the guys yelling from the back of the house grumbling under her breath as she jumped from the cab “Oh today just keeps getting better-”

She had the rifle off its hooks and in hand loaded seconds later “Get back in the truck! I got the bastard!” the man yelled but she didn’t listen well muttering if he had it he wouldn’t still be chasing him, pushing the kitten back as she slammed the door taking off running across the yard as he grabbed Luca’s leg dragging him towards the edge of the hill trying to take his limb off before pouncing going for his neck

“Over here mutt!” the woman yelling rung out through the yard making silence fall as a cold ice spike formed in her hand; not fully gaining it’s attention she threw the cold barb like she had learned with a knife hitting the huge animal in the side making it yelp releasing the male fast “That’s right big boy this way” she shifted once the animal was looking in her direction whistling to keep it’s attention on her as she held her ground

After all the time up here she had to accept if they were to live they had to do some things they never wanted, she loved the animals that passed across the property thought they were beautiful and this wolf was no exception; he was nothing short of beautiful and majestic and had she been in a safe area this would have been perfect to watch

But she wasn’t; she was in the middle of the yard standing in its sights as she tried to hold her ground not wanting to become prey by running even for being so small she kept her body standing tall

Clearly something wasn’t right with the animal to begin with, wolves were more frightened by people then anything sure there were meal options in their livestock but usually they didn’t come this close to the house if they did they would take off if anyone came outside

Usually only going after the deer’s rather then the animals they kept they had never been a problem for the family, the unused carcasses and inners were always dumped naturally in wolf territory to keep them from coming into their place then Luca would again mark to keep his claim

No matter how cautious she was doing everything she had learned to not become prey the woman was standing in it’s way and she couldn’t help remembering the time a slayer got in the building right before they escaped, her arms trembling panicking in the way the wolf was staring her down keeping her eyes on it but never looking him in the eye

She remembered pushing the kids behind her seeing it as if she were there again feeling the tiny hands clutching to her as it tore and yanked at the bars trying to rip them from the hinges and how she had stood there that way if it came through the door the kids might have time to run for the next enclosure going to be the only one to get hurt if that happened

Shuttering frost started creeping across the grass where she stood frozen not hearing Luca yelling her name before Raph and Leo’s voice cut through the fog snapping the woman to attention

She had barely lifted the barrel firing as he lunged for her missing him by a few inches before Luca was on it again to keep her from getting bit

The wolf tried for her ankle when she scrambled back as its jaws snapped near her thigh next taking aim as it turned on the mutant man firing at the ground to get it to back up but by then it had found soft flesh hearing her friend screaming as it ripped into his shoulder shaking him roughly

Without really considering trying to get the wolf’s attention again she moved in fast firing the shot hitting him directly in the chest smiling in relief as he fell to the ground on top of the man who went still the second the shot echoed around them “Are you-” Luca pushed the large animal off him before getting up realizing she had hit only inches from him checking himself for wounds before looking over at the woman moving closer “Are you mentally deficient you could have shot me!”

She giggled as the other’s came running but her eyes were still wide with fear

Mikey was at her side first hugging her up tight shaking from the experience they had just had laughing at the shocked look still plastered on their friends face not noticing the broken one on hers “If she was mentally deficient she’d have missed” Leo spoke up taking the gun from her trembling hands as the youngest turtle hyped him up high fiving her as she joined in halfheartedly

“Ya gotta admit pipsqueak might be a little bit I mean – she missed half the target” Raph joined in with the razzing on the mutant wolf but he was instantly holding her checking to be sure she was okay nuzzling her once he was satisfied

He was the first to notice she still had said nothing

Almost too slowly she moved forward kneeling down beside the wild dog petting it’s fur down making sure it wasn’t playing coy with them, Mikey moved closer touching her shoulder before kneeling down nuzzling her cheek knowing he was telling her it was okay but she still felt bad; she had to do what she had knowing her views on killing but inside somewhere she knew he could have killed Luca maybe wiped out their livestock had they let him go

This was survival and whether she liked it or not she had to do it “Sorry big guy-”

Leo moved over rubbing her back before helping her to her feet looking her over luckily not asking anything about the bruise probably thinking she had just got it, taking the wolf to the back of the house she didn’t catch what he said as Luca limped off to round up the chickens even though Raph told him to leave them

“Come on guys it getting dark – lets get all this inside…”

10 notes · View notes

inspector-montoya-fox · 4 years ago

Text

#13 - Menace from the North, eh!

Setting part 1: i mean......... whatever, right? at this point, India got 2 levels and Prague got 2 levels so i’m like ok, let’s get this over with. and i genuinely believe this and Anatomy for Disaster are the game’s two weakest episodes, despite the great conclusion. look, SP... they fucking delivered. they served absolute excellence with episodes 2-4, but it’s getting redundant and Menace from the North, eh! is just Menace from the North, meh? (please forgive me Lord). the game takes a weird environmentalist turn, which i fully appreciate but am ultimately confused by, seeing as He Who Tames The Iron Horse had absolutely nothing to do with Jean Bison’s pollution aspect. it feels weird to return to a Canadian outing after the gang had such a successful run in the previous episode, which felt like a conclusion even with the absence of a bossfight. like, SP could have easily inserted a Bison bossfight at the end of He Who Tames The Iron Horse in order to add another Klaww Gang member for an extra episode or maybe replace Menace from the North, eh! with the lost Monaco episode. it sounds like i’m bitching a lot, and i actually am. what really takes me aback every single time i play this game is that after you complete the Rajan/Contessa saga, it all becomes so anticlimactic. and i can’t comprehend why. by the end of this episode, the stakes are so high but the drive just isn’t there. and it’s not because the gang is demotivated. Sly has been having so much fun throughout the game, even with Neyla’s backstab being a huge obstacle. so getting down, dirty and serious is a much needed mood change. but i feel like i speak for all of us when i say that episodes 5-7 are overshadowed by episodes 2-4. with a few alterations to the order of the episodes and some changes to the script, i really think we could have had an awesome Contessa vs Clock-La final showdown episode and have Bison come right after Dimitri. because, honestly, Canada feels like ‘second episode’ material.

Setting part 2: i’m splitting it up because i don’t want my rant above to spoil the actual writing. the gang sticks around for another Canadian caper after some kooky stuff goes down with the environment and, mainly, the Northern Lights, which as we’ll soon find out, play a rather unexpectedly significant role in the grand scheme of things. and we’re treated to a log-chopping area, an off-the-maps secretive camp which really ups the ante, because Jean Bison is being such a jerk to nature. we’ve got deforestation, we’ve got melting ice, exploitation of wild animals, and Bison getting a raging red boner by literally destroying the environment in order to flex in the Lumberjack Games..... both the player and the gang have had enough of this dude, and i think SP used the fact that his only traits are being an angry idiot and a bigot to their advantage. instead of providing the necessary character development as they did with the Contessa and Rajan, Bison and his actions (especially his communication with the mYsTeRiOuS Arpeggio) are used as a prelude to Anatomy for Disaster. there’s not really a lot of dialogue apart from the final mission and bossfight, because the overall Klaww Gang plot begins to unravel, and particularly so by the time we find out about the lighthouse and its technological contents. in fact, if you think about it, Anatomy for Disaster starts with Clock-La’s shitshow and an info-dump at the beginning, which, if you’ve been paying enough attention to the details (i know that until i turned 12 and replayed the game as a young teen i hadn’t been paying attention to shit so it was all gasp!), is just the connecting of the dots. Menace from the North, eh! is essentially the last piece of the puzzle, before it’s all given to us in full detail by Arpeggio. i mean, apart from Dimitri serving dishes with drugs in them (i still can’t get over that at the age of 21), the rest is all things the player could pick up. and that’s this episode’s main focus. trying to prevent the inevitable under countdown, before Arpeggio’s blimp arrives to collect the Northern Lights energy. so it feels very anticlimactic and strange to put in all this effort without purpose. if you’ve played it before, you know it’s all for nothing since all the parts will be gone by the end of the episode. and it’s even more anticlimactic (although hilarious in tonal shift) to see how the gang scrambles under the pressure of preventing the Klaww Gang’s doomsday by hacking boats and having all these grandiose plans involving the lighthouse, just to then resort to taking part in the Lumberjack Games, without even a clever scheme but actually just cheating, and finally have Bison, an idiot, foil their plans by finding out where they’ve been hiding. and the bossfight is fine, but again, meh... i mean, woohoo Bentley! or whatever the fuck.

Characters: let’s talk about Jean Bison and his mistreatment as a character. we first meet him at Rajan’s ball, where Bentley introduces him as a Canadian shipping baron and says that he owns half the trains in Canada. later on, during the introductory cutscene for He Who Tames The Iron Horse, we get his backstory and how he’s risen from being practically dead, frozen since his time, and back with a vengeance against the environment. in my previous #episodeproject entry i said: SP plays up Bison’s savagery and gruesome nature by spotlighting how his plans affect the environment and even going so far as to call his house ‘the lair of the beast’. this is all true but is never put into practice. like, Jean Bison is all tell and no show, y’know? even the cutscene that plays when Sly gets caught in Bison’s cabin during He Who Tames The Iron Horse’s first mission shows Bison getting angry, but hunty, that’s about it. apart from the Lumberjack Games and his bossfight, it’s all oh Bison will get angry and oh Bison will kill us with the talons. well, where is it? where’s the fucking Canadian shipping baron with a vengeance against the environment? my baby heart was legit quivering when we had to steal Rajan’s blueprints as Bentley, and the Contessa was such a grand sleazebag of a woman, like what a douchebag - and you see that, although i’m often flamboyant in my writing (!!!), the way i describe these moments with these villains is both effective and relatable, because they showed up and lived up to their descriptions. Bison was written to be a ferocious beast of a villain but never showed that. and that’s on SP. whatever... let’s talk about the gang. now, despite the gang looking seriously badass in the opening cutscene for this episode (image below), they’re actually in a pretty good headspace. they’re only missing the talons and whatever Clockwerk parts Arpeggio had before collecting all of them. so it’s only natural for them to feel a bit cocky, and that’s actually gonna be their demise. before that, i just wanna mention that almost all the missions here (as with He Who Tames The Iron Horse) are group missions: Sly and Murray infiltrate the moose club in RC Combat Club, all three of them work together in Lighthouse Break-In, Boat Hack, and Old Grizzle Face. what really stood out to me every time i played this episode, is how, at the end when they take down Bison and they rush to the battery, each member has a different way of entering it, which is a small detail but important nonetheless. this further reinforces how united the gang has become since the Contessa levels and how their bond has strengthened. now, lemme circle back to how they’re cocky. i mean, apart from Jean Bison, Menace from the North, eh! doesn’t present any immediate danger or like trouble, seeing as both Neyla and Carmelita are absent. without any interference, the gang had lots of breathing space to plan ahead, even under countdown before Arpeggio’s blimp arrived. and they kinda wasted the opportunity because, as i’ve already mentioned, the operation was an absolute train-wreck. there’s no plan b, or like something clever or whatever. and usually, the operations tend to get disrupted by third parties, such as Carmelita or Neyla, but here, it failed because it was never smart. and it’s only natural for them to fall hard (by losing all the Clockwerk parts) after feeling all cocky (maybe i’m being too harsh). and all this directly leads to some more Bentley character development.... again. look, i’m all for character development, but the turtle already faced his demons when he busted Sly and Murray out of jail. i know we got Murray vs Rajan, but i don’t know, Murray was always kinda just there throughout the game. the hippo had his ups and downs (face-off with Rajan, imprisonment, losing the van), but not a fully realised story arc. that’s why, when Sly 3 starts off with his enlightenment and return, that story arc is instantly so iconic. i could go on about how Bentley gains self-confidence after defeating Bison, but um, we’ve already done that sis.

Themes: He Who Tames The Iron Horse and Menace from the North, eh! should have been one episode and i truly believe that. they could have shared the same themes. for the former, i said there’s the speed theme, and that applies here too because the gang are under pressure. the countdown lights a fire under their asses and it’s all very destructive. again, there’s an antithesis between the calm Canadian atmosphere and the chaotic energy of the missions. but it’s not just speed theme anymore, it’s more like theme of ferocity. everyone’s kinda on edge??? Old Grizzle Face is a motherfucker and we get up close and personal with the eagles, lasers destroy huge ice pieces, there’s a mammoth, the destroyed oil manes create fiery air drafts... chaos. and it all results in the disastrous events and outcome of the Lumberjack Games, which make Menace from the North, eh! the straightest episode in the game. yuck. it only makes sense for the missions to become less sneaky and more destructive as the stakes get higher and the gang is in a hurry, and that kinda embodies the pollution motif/ environment motif. it’s less of a theme and more of a motif because it’s so story-centric, but that’s the other things the comes into contrast with the calm environment. saws, the buzzing, chopped-up logs flowing down the river, tree stumps spread across: these embody the pollution and the harm Jean Bison has been doing even though it’s a forced storyline in my opinion. and finally, size theme. it’s not major, but it feels like everything’s bigger in Canada... Sly feels so puny in this episode, like especially when climbing the lighthouse. the wild animals are huge, the structures are huge, Jean Bison’s house is huge. it’s just lots and lots of nothingness. if you took absolutely nothing and enlarged it by 10 times, you’d have this episode’s hub. and this is also seen in the bossfight when tiny Bentley takes on Jean Bison. so yea.

What I Like: gliding off the lighthouse and throwing fish onto already stinky guards before Old Grizzle Face rips them to shreds. also, those cute lil catfish-lookin viruses in Bentley’s hacking! they’re so adorable.

What I Don’t Like: erm... it’s not that i don’t like this episode, but i find it kinda boring? apart from interacting with the wild animals, the missions are meh. and i hate the Lumberjack Games...

Quote: Get too close and old Grizzle Face will be eating barbecued raccoon for dinner.

#He Who Tames The Iron Horse and Menace from the North eh! should've been one level #good morning #episode project #sly cooper

17 notes · View notes

yamithediaperdork · 4 years ago

Text

Dragon’s roar (YGO)

Joey had a sinking feeling in his gut as he was on his way home from work. normally on a Friday night, and a payday at that, he'd of been happy to make his way back to his new home he shared with his loving boyfriend and his semi new little brother, the Kaiba boys, but he'd caught a glimpse of Mokuba and Yugi in a car heading for the turtle game shop. which meant if Mokuba was having a sleepover and it was date night.. "Aw fuck. I'm gonna be in huggies t'night." Joey groaned, getting a look of confusion from a nearby corporate type who was on his cell phone. "Mind yer own business." Joey huffed and sulked. Seto was a loving boyfriend, and spoiled Joey rotten in so many ways. Joey didn't need to walk to and from his security job at a mall, or even needed the job itself truth be told. But Joey liked to be able to be independent which sadly was a concept his loving boyfriend had some problems with. 'Ya would think someone who was taking collage classes and running a billion dollar company would get it.' Joey thought, slowing his walk down now that he knew what was waiting for him. Despite being seen as a cold and distant person by 90 percent of the world, Joey knew that under that layer of ice was..well more ice. but under THAT layer..well OK more ice. But if you dug down deep enough, there was this giant teddy bear that just wanted to hug you and pamper you. literally. and when Seto got in daddy mode, only one thing would get in his way of whining and begging Joey to let him pad him up. Mokuba. There was a reason Joey had been trying to start a Friday night tradition of pizza and movies but apparently Seto had been able to bribe his brother out of the house. 'And now I'm gonna get home and he's gonna have a pack of those freaking pampers out..and how the hell did he manage to get pampers to make diapers in my size anyways?! ...No you know what? I'm putting my foot down this time. I'm gonna go, have a beer, enjoy a few slices and maybe then I'll think about it!' Joey thought to himself, picking up the pace and walking though the front gate of the mansions yard, then slumped again. "...Oh who am i fucking kidding. it's gonna be milk and baby food and crapping myself tonight. He's taking me clubbing tomorrow night now though!" Joey muttered to himself. walking in he didn't even get a chance to call out that he was home before Seto was standing in front of him, holding up one of the thick massive pamper brand diapers. "Pleassssse?" Seto said and gave joey puppy eyes. "..I'm gonna draw up a list of demands and you're gonna cave into everyone of them. but yes. just let me get a shower first." Joey said, wondering again if the sweet and loving and rational boyfriend Seto was 90 percent of the time was worth the other 10 percent. "Deal!" Seto squealed and went to go and finish getting things ready.

Seto hummed and was grinning ear to ear as he laid out the diaper, some boosters, and a cute little outfit for the cutest big baby in the world, thinking about just how easy it had been to get Mokuba out of the house. One little fake rant about how he'd destroy the pharaoh and the like and Mokuba had asked to stay out for the night, tired of the crazy. The servants were given the night off so him and his adorable little big toddler could just cuddle and play and Seto was so lost in his thoughts he missed it as Joey tried to get his attention, till the wet towel hit him in the back of his head. "...really?" "hey, you want a big toddler, better learn ta pay attention." Joey said and shrugged and held up his hands. "...Your lucky your cute you know that?" "excuse me, but out of the two of us here, who's pushing their luck more?" Joey asked and winked, strolling over and then jumping up and turning mid jump to land on his back on the bed. "heh. Ok I'll give you that. Now did you go poo poo or pee pee at daycare today little guy?" Seto asked, getting into character and lightly tickling Joey's tummy. Joey rolled his eyes,he still wasn't on board with referring to his job as daycare, but taking a deep breath he switched on that baby tone that made Seto melt. "I went pee pee in the potty dis many times t'day daddy." He said and held up three fingers as a blush came to his face. "and I went all by myself!" "Oh my! Such a big boy!" Seto praised. "Daddies still gonna diaper you though since you have a stinky present in your tummy tum just waiting to come out." Seto coo'ed and then leaned down and tickled Joeys tummy more. "Who's got a big stinky present in his tummy tum? you do! yes you do!" knowing full well just how ticklish Joey's sides were Seto targeted them next, making the blond 20 year old yelp and burst into a fit of giggles. "ah! No fair! Cheating!" Joey cried out, trying to get free. "Noooo tickles!" "Sorry little guy, But i"m channeling the tickle monster, and you're monster food!" Seto chuckled. "Ahahahaha n-no stop ahahahaha W-wait I'm gonna!" Joey tried to wheeze out a warning between his laughs and Seto realized seconds to late maybe he should of stopped. Of course by then Joey was peeing on the front of his shirt and Seto stopped. "..I uh..had a big gulp on the way home." Joey said sheepishly, poking two fingers together as the flow finally stopped. "...I'm gonna choice to believe that was done to give me the full experience." Seto said and then lifted Joey off the bed, and onto a back up changing mat on the floor.

Joey was mortified as Seto powered him and got him tapped in the bulky white diaper, and found himself sucking on his thumb and blushing while Seto got out a different outfit for him. while his little accident had managed to avoid the diaper, the light blue short-alls and white diaper shirt hadn't of been so lucky. 'Now der's irony fer ya.' Joey thought, slurping away at his thumb. it was a bad habit he was picking up for all the date nights that turned into baby nights and it was starting to spill over to his big boy time. just the other day at work he'd had to claim he'd banged his thumb when busted by a co-worker. it was also a case of irony that even Seto wasn't a fan of the thumb sucking, which was shown as he turned around with a dark purple t-shirt and a pair of dark green shorts and scowled. "What do you think o- Little man! what have I told you about sucking your thumb?" Seto scolded Joey, coming over and setting the clothes down and pulling the thumb out with a pop. "Uhhh dat's good eating?" the diapered 20 year old tried, really feeling like he WAS just a 2 year old. "strike one." Seto said, trying not to smirk, as he reached into the diaper bag. "Thumbs like boyfriends are made for sucking?" Joey said and gave his best 'I'm so cute you can't be mad' smile. "Maybe tomorrow if your good tonight. Last chance." Seto said and his mouth was twitching badly as he tried to stay stern. "...Little boys thumbs has germs on it and they should be sucking on paci's." Joey huffed and pouted. He just couldn't explain it, but Joey was of the view that hands down, his thumb tasted and felt better in his mouth then any of the many different pacifiers that they had tried. It was a semi holy quest of Seto's to find one that Joey wouldn't have a fuss about. Opening his mouth for the large nipple of the new paci, and noting it was at least black like his red eyes, Joey gave it a few experimental suckles. "well?" Seto asked. 'shit..dis one actually feels pretty good.' Joey thought, though he made a show of it and shrugged but kept nursing as Seto helped him sit up. with the paci in his mouth Joey instinctively became a lot more willing to play along, raising his arms for daddy and letting him tug the shirt on. then letting daddy help him stand and putting his hands on daddies shoulders while he stepped into his shorts, which were then tugged up. Then he sat on a bed of the bed he hadn't of soaked and raised his feet up as Daddy tugged up some white socks with the red eyes black dragon on them and grinned around his paci. "heh, I'm sorry we haven't gotten your red eyes shirt back from the dry cleaners left after last time. I still wanna know how you managed to turn your pasta into a paste and got it all over yourself though." Seto chuckled. Normally a statement like that would of had Joey all blushy, but again, this time.. He just smirked and flexed his arms. "oh i see. and here i am without tickets to the gun show." Seto teased and tapped a finger on Joey nose. Seto held out a hand for Joey to take, since normally Joey insisted on walking (or crawling if Seto triple diapered him) rather then be carried but he just felt all small and little and held out his arms for uppies. "...You..You sure?" Seto asked, grinning ear to ear, and Joey nodded. "...I'm buying the company that made that pacifier." Seto chuckled and lifted joey up and sat him on his hip, a arm under Joeys well padded tush. Joey leaned in and snuggled into daddy as he wrapped his legs around him and gurgled softly behind his paci as daddy carried them downstairs.

Seto couldn't get over the change in behavior from Joey's normal big baby time to this time. there was no eye rolling, no smart ass remarks.when he'd sat Joey on a blanket on the floor with some toys, he'd gone and grabbed a stuffie of the red eyes and then scooted on his diaper butt, not even crawling, scooted, over to the couch and crawled up and snuggled into him. "you sure you don't wanna play with your toys little guy?" Seto asked. Joey shook his head no and snuggled in more and Seto for a second was worried about melting into good and getting sucked up but the couch's cushions. Seto put on a episode of Lil duelers for Joey and just kept looking at the little guy who was watching the show sure, but also seemed to be getting a little sleepy. about half way though Joey started to squirm a little bit and started to look up at Seto and then at the screen then back up at Seto and whined softly behind his paci. "whats wrong buddy?" Seto asked. if Joey was gonna keep the paci in his mouth this was going to get a little bit vexing to drag out what he wanted all the time, but Seto figured a few minutes of back and forth with the big baby was well worth the price of this cuteness. Joey whined again and then with one hand hugging his stuffie to his chest, he reached up and grabbed left hand and put it on back of his shorts, so his hand was on Joey's butt. "heh, I thought someone hated bum pats?" Seto asked, and Joey whined and gave him a pleading look. "ok ok, patting! don't give me that look again! You made me feel like a monster for not patting right away!" Seto said, half joking. the little guy giggled behind his paci and as Seto started patting and rubbing his butt Joey closed his eyes in bliss and snuggled in as much as he could. "So I guess this means anytime I wanna stop argument with you all i need to do is pop a paci in your mo-" Seto was saying when a muffled fart came out of Joey's behind, and Seto swore he could feel the heat from it. "heh, did you just wanna fart on daddies hand?" Seto asked, and Joey shook his head no, but his eyes were shut tight. it didn't look like his 'I'm so ashamed' face and Seto went to say something else when a second, louder and more forceful fart came out, followed but a rapid fire series of smaller ones. "Ohhh I see. Somebody wants bum pats while he makes daddy a present." Seto chuckled, and Joey nodded. His eyes were still closed but as Seto realized now, it was because he was bearing down and trying to speed up a bowel movement, or in baby term: make daddy a present as soon as possible. More farts now and Seto was thankful for the oder guard in the diapers, though he was still thinking he should of doubled diapered Joey as his hand was getting a little toasty. Joey was staining and pushing, and starting to work up a little bit of a sweat and Seto frowned. "Joey buddy, I know you wanna be a good boy and make me a present, but you can't just force it like this. you're gonna hurt yourself an-" Seto was saying in a gentle voice when with one mighty effort, the back of Joey's diaper started to expand. Normally Joey would of tried to hide, or pouted to use the potty before taking a dump in a diaper, but this time he was being such a good little boy even as the living room filled with the funk of his gift to daddy. The diaper and shorts by extension took on a interesting shape as Joey grunted and pushed. instead of just puffing out like it would normally do, it was making a semi triangle shape as it pushed out, causing the shorts to slide down. '...what the hell did he eat?' Seto thought but kept that to himself even as the smell had him taking shallow breath. 'Ok, no more food court lunches for him. I'm packing his lunch from now on.' As the bowel movement finished up, Seto rubbed Joey's back (he had switched from the boys butt when the lump had started to form and coo'ed softly at him. "All done now champ?" Seto asked. Joey looked more tired then before, his eyelids struggling to open up but he nodded his head. "Ready for a diapie change then?" Seto chuckled, and to his shock, Joey shook his head no. Normally Joey hated staying in a poopie diaper, and it was Seto who had to beg him to sit in it just for a few extra minutes. 'Go figure, the one time he's actually stinking the place up..' Seto thought. "Ok buddy. we'll let you take a little power nap, then change you, ok?" Seto asked. Joey gave a sleepy nod and then shut his eyes, gurgling and coo'ing as he drifted off to dream land. "...Your a toxic little mud butt. but your worth it." Seto said, stroking Joey's hair and smiling till anther loud fart came out into the back of the blond waste filled diaper. "But don't push it." Seto chuckled.

The end

2 notes · View notes

shittyfandomimagines · 5 years ago

Text

Always Fix It

This is sloppy. I’m tired. I don’t wanna work tomorrow.

GIF creds to owner

“Ahh, my favorite person!” Manny opened the door after I knocked. “What’s up!” I hug him and he kissed my head. “We’re just waiting on you and Shawn, who isn’t with you?” He seemed just as confused as I was.

“Yeah, I think he’s at the studio still, I just decided to come over here without him.” I put my jacket on the rack, Manny leading me to the dinner table.

“My girl!” Karen yells and I hug her tightly. “Where’s Ali?” I ask and they both give me a look. “Wanted to go out with friends, family time is annoying at this age.” Karen rolls her eyes and it makes me chuckle.

I absolutely love Shawn’s family, they let me come to their house when Shawn’s on tour, they constantly invite me out for supper, they check in on me at least once a week, I couldn’t ask for a better relationship with my fiancé’s family.

“Well, let’s sit down. Want anything to drink?” She asks and I hesitate before I sit down. “I’ll get a glass of water.” I turn and Manny stops me. “I got it!”

I smile warmly and sit down with Karen, Manny comes back soon with a glass of wine and water. I give my thanks before sipping on it slowly. The food on the table looked absolutely wonderful, roasted chicken, mashed potatoes, beans, rolls. I mean the whole shebang.

“It looks amazing Karen, sorry Shawn isn’t here yet.” I pout a little, I wasn’t surprised honestly. It’s been like that for weeks now and I don’t know how he wanted me to feel about it. Maybe it’s been months, I don’t know, I’ve just learned to cope with it.

“He’d show up late to his own funeral if he could.” Manny joked and I felt like it was Shawn here, I missed his sense of humor and dad jokes.

“How’s the planning going?”

“Oh you know, slowly but surely. Shawn’s been so busy, it’s kind of hard to come to an agreement.”

“He is helping, right? Don’t let him make you do it on your own.”

His mom's scolding was cute, but I still felt the need to lie for him. He didn’t help a bit on the wedding plans, even when I asked and I never realized how much I’ve done alone until now.

“He helps when he can!” I lie straight through my teeth and I see her give me a weary smile.

I look at my phone shortly, hoping Shawn had sent a message to my previous one asking if he’d show up. There was absolutely no response and it was not even seen.

“Y/n, tell us about your promotion! Your mom had mentioned it at work the other day.” I smiled at the friendship between both of our moms, it was amazing. It also helped that they worked together at a real estate company.

“I get to go to the firms and work with the lawyers now, instead of just sitting on the sidelines. I’ll most likely do paperwork or assistant type things, but it’s still the idea of sitting with the council. I finish law school soon so this is just perfect training.” I explain and Manny’s eyes widen.

“No way! That’s amazing hun! Is that why Shawn posted that picture at the club the other night? A good celebration?” He asks and my smile faltered. “Um, well no. He, he went out with his friends to celebrate the song they finished. I worked at the restaurant that night.” I explained and their faces fell too. Truth was that I didn’t even get the chance to tell him, he was so excited about that song that I didn’t want to try to outdo him on it. He had been in a lyrical bend for a week prior to that day.

“Well, you two got to celebrate right?”

“Not exactly, but it’s okay! I celebrated with my mom and dad, though. It’s nothing that big! I mean once I graduate law school, it’ll be a big deal.”

“That’s not right, you worked so hard to get moved up. We’ll throw a party for Shawn’s side. You deserve all the praise.”

—

“Well, it’s been 20 minutes, let’s dig in. No sense in the food getting cold.” Manny said and I made a small plate of food. The nerves of tonight made my appetite decline.

We all ate in almost silence, I had sent Shawn a few voicemails and texts. The knots in my stomach were mostly from overthinking a lot of things in my life.

I felt like everything had been downhill since the proposal, which sounded completely awful. I feel like he did it to just keep me at bay for a while, make sure I was content so he could stay in the studio. I had nothing against his music and I love it fully; but if there ever came a day to wed me or wed his music, I’d be afraid of the outcome.

He’s such a hard worker and I would never want to make him choose, but I feel like I’m a little baby and giving me a ring was like giving me a pacifier; it kept everything at bay with planning and I didn’t have time to realize his total absence.

I felt like I could vomit just at the thought, so I slowly halted my eating. “Everything okay?” Karen’s eyes danced with worry and I nodded quickly. “Ate too fast.” I lied. They tried to ignore it and I just continued to look down at my plate sadly.

My mind went back to what Manny said about the clubbing, my heart hurt that I didn’t even get the chance to tell him. I knew I couldn’t be mad at anyone but myself because I could tell him at any point, but my good heart just tells me to let him have his moment.

“I made your absolute favorite dessert, Peanut Butter Pie, with cookie crust because you hate pie shells!” Karen was thrilled and I smiled warmly. “You’re too good to me.” That wasn’t was a lie for sure; they were both gracious and wonderful.

I took a small bite of the pie, my heart was so happy to have them but my fear of losing them made my heart soar. All of the doubts I was having right now made me panic internally.

The thoughts of Shawn maybe not wanting me as a wife and only doing this to satisfy me made me worry.

The front door opened and my heart hoped it was Shawn for sanity sake, but it was his beautiful sister. “Y/n!” She came to my side to give me a hug.

“Where’s Shawn, he bailed again?” She groans and I felt tears spring to my eyes. I kept my head low as I nod. “Yeah, I guess he’s just so busy.”

I felt all of them staring at me, I didn’t want to let them see me bawl my eyes out, so I shot up quickly to hide in the bathroom.

—

After a good 5-8 minutes of crying softly, a knock was placed on the door of the downstairs bathroom. “Hey doll, it’s Karen. Can I come in?” She asks so sweetly, I turned the lock carefully.

“Sorry about that.” I wiped the tears off and sniffled loudly. “Hey, there’s no need to apologize to me. I raised two kids and I’ve seen plenty of tears.” She got on the floor with me, I felt awful about that.

“Can you tell me what’s wrong? Was it us?” She asks and I look at her scared eyes. “No way! Your family is beyond amazing to me and my family. I just feel a little bad today, no biggie.” I brush it off to make her feel better and she pouts.

“My son is the problem, talk to me so I won’t have to punish my grown man-child.”

“I’m just not enough for him, you know? I’m average, I work a crappy internship and at a small restaurant to feel validated to him. I’m overly clingy and my heart is too sweet to let someone I love know they’ve absolutely crushed me. I’m average looking, I could lose some weight and I’m actually trash. I don’t like all the fancy things like Shawn, I don’t really fit into his lifestyle. Honestly, he probably doesn’t even want to marry me! I mean it’s like there's a ring, please stay hopeful that I love you and try to plan a wedding for a superstar and his mid-average fiancé.” I was ranting and blabbering, my tears had resurfaced before I had the first sentence finished.

“You don’t mean that. There’s no way you could possibly not be enough for him. I remember the day he came home from your first date, the whole hour prior to leaving he hated that I set him up with a coworkers daughter. Then, he came home with those sparkly eyes and was talking to Manny about how unrealistic you were. How crazy that something that good could possibly show up in his hectic life. He told his dad that he couldn’t wait for the next second he got to spend with you.” She explains and I smile at the memory.

“Yeah, that was then though. I’m still below average and I really don’t fit in anymore. That boy is constantly changing and I don’t know if I can keep up with me being my boring self.”

“I thought the same with Manny, he was a business owner and I sold houses, I wasn’t that special. I was afraid I couldn’t keep up but it turns out a good team knows how someone has to carry the torch a little bit further ahead. Some days you’ll be at the same pace or there are other days where someone is the turtle. It isn’t about who is ahead or behind, it’s about how you cross the finish line together.”

“I understand what you mean, I just don’t know how to ever approach him. I lied earlier, Shawn doesn’t even know I got promoted. I was going to tell him but he was so happy to finally get a song done, I knew he was in a rut. I can’t even make him happy and I know music does, I knew I could’ve told him anytime after that but I thought it was dumb too because it’s insignificant to his happiness. I wouldn’t want to bore him.”

“He loves you, he would be happy to hear that you’re happy. He brags about you constantly, he even bragged when you made it through your first tattoo session. He loves you.”

“I guess, I can’t remember the last time he said it nor can I remember the last time he slept in bed with me. I mean I know he’s asleep in the house because he’s thinking of a song but I miss him. I can’t ask him to give up music, I’m not that important compared to that.”

I tried so hard not to sob my eyes out in front of my soon-to-be-mother in law. I really didn’t want to even talk to her about it because I shouldn’t load my drama onto her about her son. I should’ve just cried myself to sleep like any other Thursday night.

“The night before he proposed, he came over to show us the ring. He bought it somewhere in Italy months prior because he knew that was the ring he wanted on your finger. I know he’s an idiot sometimes, he’s my spawn so I can say it, but he does love you. Manny talked about me that way when we were dating, engaged, and still now. I know he’s a mess but he does love you.”

I give her a hug and pull back to grab some tissues off the counter. I wipe the rest of my tears off for the sake of Karen and I’s relationship. I was still hurting so bad because his mom was telling me this but not him. It’s held minimum value even though I loved her.

We both stood up and I had a weak smile. “I shouldn’t have even done that, I’m so sorry. I’ll see ya Karen, love you bye!” I zipped out of the bathroom and bolted to the door.

“Wait!” Ali’s voice stopped me and I turned to her worried face. “Are you and Shawn do? Is everything okay?” She asked quickly and my heart broke. I didn’t even think that far. “It’s all good sweet girl, I just need to go home. I love you okay?” I kiss her forehead, bid Manny goodbye, and made it back to my car before the 4th round of tears.

—-

I found my way to the old walkway behind our old apartment. It wasn’t as awkward as it sounded because behind our old apartment meant 2 miles down the road yet it was accessible somewhere close to the house. Not important. I walked up to the trail, the stars were shiny and the slightly red moon was beautiful.

My phone was buzzing off the hook; between my mom, Shawn’s mom, Ali, and then Shawn. I could only imagine that his mom went off on him.

Deciding to turn off my phone seemed to be the best bet for now. I know it’s hard to love in our generation, even more so when my love is displayed online. And between such a caring family. Therefore, it’s so much for satisfying to just breathe.

I hadn’t even noticed that an hour had passed, I just felt so at ease with the cool air and pretty sky. The tears were off and on but they weren’t as bad. I had to at least face Shawn, even if it was cliche, we never left things hostile or rough between us.

When I pulled up to the house, Shawn’s car was parked there and I could see all the lights on. I took a deep breath before unlocking the door.

“Y/n?” Shawn’s voice was traveling down the stairs as ran down them. “Yeah, it’s me.”

“Where’ve you been? My mom told me something wasn’t right and she was concerned for us. Ali said she’s afraid you’re gonna leave, dad wants to murder me. Baby, please tell me what’s goin’ on.” He tried to take my hand and I pull it away, sticking them into my pockets.

“W-we need to talk.” I stutter out and I could see every ounce of fear soak through his body

He leads us to the dining room table and I see the flowers there, I try not to smile. “I picked them up before my mom yelled at me over the phone.”

“I’m not good enough for you.” I rip the bandaid right off and his eyes widen. “Are you insane? You’re more than enough.”

“I could probably never make you as happy as music or touring can. I don’t really have anything interesting about me anymore. I got promoted at work and the more I think about it, the more I realize that it isn’t that special.”

“Babe-“

“Wedding planning is very stressful. I don’t think you want to really marry me, I mean it’s not like you are right? I mean it was probably just a way to settle me down so you could work on music. Don’t get me wrong, I support you like I support eating chicken nuggets, but you don’t even help. I can’t remember the last time you said you loved me and I tell myself that you're busy with work so you don’t want to sleep with me, but maybe I’m just not something you want to wake up or fall asleep to anymore.”

“Can I plea-“

“I used to always be afraid that you would wake up one day and realize that I’m not enough. I-i think we both see that now. So I get it if you want to leave me, I’m not meant for your constantly changing lifestyle. I don’t like the same fancy things as you and maybe you’re meant to be with someone fully committed to the same things you love. I’m sorry.”

I had tears rushing down my face as I cried loudly, I didn’t even like to cry in front of him, but it didn’t help that he also had tears in his eyes.

“Baby, I love you more than I think anyone has ever loved something. I’m so sorry I neglected you and you are perfectly validated in my eyes. You never ever have to question if you’re enough because I’m the one questioning if I am. I literally don’t know how you love someone constantly on the move. You give so much of yourself to me and I could never thank you enough. I love you so much and I guess I never realized how absent I’ve been in our love.” He stopped his speech for a second to let out a very pained choke of air, I wanted to reach for his hand but it felt like mine weighed a thousand pounds.

“I wanted to marry you after our 3rd date. That sounds so silly but I wanted a ring on your finger for years now, but I knew I needed to wait when the time was right. I- I can’t believe I have made you think I didn’t love you or want to be with you solely for the reason that I get to be a family with you. It was never ever the reasoning you think, I did it solely because the love I feel for you couldn’t be contained to just a boyfriend. I’ll help you restart planning or help you find someone to plan it, whatever you want, I’ll do. You’re my fucking soulmate. I’m so sorry.”

He cried and never looked me in the eyes, I honestly have never seen him cry this hard. It didn’t matter how sad I was over our relationship, I couldn’t stand to see his pain this intensely.

“I didn’t lay with you because I didn’t want to wake you up, I knew how hard you’ve been working to get promoted at the firm, I didn’t want you being sleep deprived because of my constantly moving figure. Which by the way, I am so happy you’re promoted. You literally deserve it all because you are the hardest working woman I know. I wish you would’ve told me sooner. Oh God, I love waking up to you and id do some questionable things just to get to hold you at night. I could never love my music as much as I love you, music makes me happy but you make me live. You know me like the back of my hand, I could never possibly unlove you. I am so sorry, please understand.”

“I do understand and I should’ve come to you sooner, I’m just afraid Shawn. Always.”

“I am too, but I know there is no one else I’d rather face every tomorrow with. Can we call it a truce and let me make you a bowl of ice cream? I can put on Mulan and hold you.” He raised his eyebrows.

Nothing made my heart soar like that mischievous smile that also held so much love. “Fine, I could care less about anything m we watched or ate, I just want you.”

“So you don’t care about anything we get to eat?” He smirked

“You’re on thin ice buddy, thin ice.”

#shawn mendes #shawn mendes imagines #shawn mendes blurb #shawn mendes masterlist #shawn mendes preferences #shawn mendes posts #shawnmendesblurb #shawnmendesimagines #shawnmendesmasterlist #shawnmendespreferences #shawnmendes #shawnie boy

180 notes · View notes