#what is a french door refrigerator

[proctocheck]

Deal with Hitachi French Door Bottom Mount Refrigerator

A French door bottom mount refrigerator is a type of fridge with two doors that open outwards, and the freezer located at the bottom. It is a popular choice for modern kitchens due to its stylish design and convenient storage options. For more information please visit the website now. 

[cera-writes]

your gambit fics are so good you write him amazingly 💕 gambit or magneto x reader fluff pls?

Merci, mon ami! <3 For real though, thank you that is such a great compliment!! I'll definitely write for both requests! Erik x Reader will be in a separate post. But I do plan on writing for him <3 Pairing: Remy "Gambit" LeBeau x Reader Prompt: Remy shows the reader how to make his famous creole gumbo and a confession with lots of fluff ensues tags: sfw, fluff, and Remy just being his lovable ragin' Cajun self.

"Let ol' Gambit show you how it's done."

You were busy prepping supper in the kitchen of the mansion, taking over dinner duties that afternoon. Thing was though, that you couldn't quite figure out just what you wanted to make.

You'd pulled out every cookbook Professor Xavier had stored in the kitchen but nothing was quite to your liking.

You flipped through the pages, eyes scanning over every recipe on every page but nothing spoke to you. You really just didn't know what you specifically had the taste for.

You sighed, growing frustrated with your lack of a decision for picking something to eat.

"Geez, this should not be that hard," you scolded yourself. "Screw it. I'm just gonna pop a frozen lasagna in the oven."

You had just opened the freezer and pulled out the frozen food and closed the door when you nearly had a heart attack seeing Gambit standing on the other side.

You nearly dropped the frozen lasagna before Remy grabbed it out of your hands.

Gambit took one look at the monstrocity you were about to make before tossing it back into the cold tundra. He then made a disgusted face.

"Gambit know you ain't about to cook that, petite!"

You folded your arms over your chest raising a brow at him. "You have any better ideas?" You asked, daring him to give you his suggestions.

"As a matter of fact I do, chere. Let ol' Gambit show you how it's done."

You watched as he started pulling out different types of ingredients from the pantry and refrigerator.

"Help Gambit out darlin' and grab that big pot out from over there," he pointed to one of the bottom cabinets that held all the cookware.

You huffed before doing just that as he laid out all the ingredients on the counter.

"Gambit gonna show you how to make his famous gumbo."

You had no objections. "Be my guest, monsieur."

He grinned at the use of your French vocabulary.

"It may take a while to cook but this'll have everybody comin' back for seconds," he smirked, grabbing a knife from the cutlery set.

He then motioned for you to stand in front of him, guiding the knife into your hand as he helped you chop some of the ingredients up.

Your back was pressed flush to his chest and you could feel the warmth radiating off of him. It was no secret that the two of you had unspoken feelings towards each other. He always found ways to brush up against you or use some excuse to get close to you. Right now was no exception either.

"Just like that, chere..." Remy trailed off, helping you slice up the food and put it into the pot. He was so close to your ear that you felt his breath tickle the sensitive skin there. It made your heart rate quicken.

"You're doin' a mighty fine job of that," Gambit praised you, causing your cheeks to heat up. He then moved away, letting you catch your breath. He knew exactly how to rile you up. And it always seemed to work.

Soon, he had the pot boiling on the stove. "Now we let it simmer to perfection," he made a little chef's kiss motion, bringing his fingers to his lips. "But in the meantime, Gambit can find other ways to pass the time with you ma petite." He tossed you a playful wink.

His eyes then trailed over your frame, noticing what you were wearing. "Not gonna lie chere, you look delectable in an apron."

You rolled your eyes, not being able to hide your smile at his compliment. He was such a shameless flirt.

He moved closer to you again, wanting to just be near you. He loved your presence. You somehow always had a way of lighting up the room when you were around. He backed you up against the counter, placing his hands on either sides of you.

"You wanna know somethin' ma cherie?" His gaze lowered to yours, face just mere inches from kissing you. You swallowed hard, wondering what he was about to say.

"Gambit has, well, liked you for a while. And ain't referring to like in a friend sort of way. You do somethin to me and I need to show you what that means..."

He cupped a hand to your cheek, leaning in as his stubble brushed against the skin there. His lips melted into yours, causing sparks to fly in a figurative sense. You gasped softly, wrapping your arms around his neck, bringing him in closer to you.

Once you both finally pulled away for air, the pot had started boiling over.

"Merde!" Gambit cursed under his breath, reluctantly breaking away from you to tend to the food.

Once he got that settled, he immediately turned his attention back to you only to find you with your hands on your knees laughing at the whole situation. "What?" He smirked. "We almost let the food burn from makin' out."

"Exactly," you grinned, face flushed red with happiness and humor.

He couldn't help but sweep you off your feet this time as he sat you on the counter. He moved some stray hair from your face before he gazed into your eyes.

"I need to know if you feel the same for Gambit..." his voice was low and husky now and suddenly all seriousness returned back to your features as he trailed his thumb over your bottom lip.

"Do you even need to ask, Remy?"

You grabbed his shirt and crashed your lips into his this time. He kissed you back eagerly, until you both heard the sound of someone clearing their throat awkwardly.

You both turned to look and see Wolverine, Morph, Cyclops, and the rest of the X-Men standing at the entrance to the kitchen.

"Uh, It's dinner time. Or were we interrupting something else?" Cyclops raised a brow.

You both smiled sheepishly.

Remy scratched the back of his neck and smirked, "Dinner's ready," before giving you a wink as if to say we'll finish this later.

[starkwlkr]

Pleasee could we have Ruby's favourite uncle, Pierre, babysit her and its just chaos

uncle duties | pierre gasly

uncle pierre <3

Ruby couldn’t wait to see her uncle Pierre. She had a whole list of activities she and Pierre were going to do from making brownies to playing outside in the backyard. Y/n and Charles had a doctors appointment to get an update on their baby. Arthur and Lorenzo were busy and Pascale was working so Pierre was their only option.

“Uncle P!” Ruby ran to Pierre as he entered the Leclerc household.

“Ma beauté! Ready to spend the day with me?” Pierre picked up the girl.

“Can I paint your nails? Papa lets me do his.” Ruby asked.

“Good luck mate.” Charles said to Pierre. “Say bye to maman and the baby. We’ll be back soon, okay? Be good for your uncle or I’m selling your toys.”

“Bye maman! Bye baby! Bye papa!”

Pierre and Ruby waved the couple goodbye and once they were gone, Ruby asked Pierre to put her down. “Okay baby Leclerc, what do you want to do?” Pierre followed Ruby to her playroom.

“Maman and papa said I have to practice french. You’re French. What do you say? Say french things! What’s my name in French?” Ruby excitedly asked.

“It’s Rubis. But how about we practice the easy words. Je t’aime, have you heard that before?” Pierre asked.

Ruby nodded. “Papa says it to maman all the time. But then maman says it to papa and I heard her say it to the phone but papa was next to her so she wasn’t saying it to him! I don’t know who she said it to!” She ranted as if her life depended on it.

“She said it?!” Pierre gasped. He knew how little kids were, they overshared and exaggerated pretty much everything so he played along.

“Yes! And papa didn’t say anything! Do you say it?”

Pierre nodded. He noticed some toys scattered around Ruby’s playroom so he picked up a small replica of Charles’ Ferrari and rolled it around the floor. “Yeah, I say it to my friends and family and your Aunt Kika.”

Ruby gasped. “I love Aunt Kika.” She whispered it like a secret.

“Me too.”

“No, I love her.” Ruby frowned when she heard Pierre. “I think she loves me more. She told me.”

“Lies. I love her more. She’s dating me.” Pierre felt silly for even arguing with a child but he wanted to see where the conversation would go. “And I kiss her.”

“Ew.” Ruby mumbled. “I can do a flip. Want to see?” Ruby stepped aside and cleared a path so she wouldn’t hurt herself during her landing. She then did her ‘flip’, but Pierre still clapped for her.

“Wow! Who taught you that?” The Frenchman asked.

“I saw it on tv. Papa told me to not do it because I could get hurt but I know how to do it. I’m going to do it again.” She announced but Pierre stopped her. Charles would kill him if Ruby ended up with a broken bone.

“Come on, let’s go see if your parents left you any snacks.” Pierre grabbed Ruby’s hand and led her to the kitchen. Once he reached the refrigerator, he opened it and saw pudding cups next to a container of cut up fruits. Ruby spotted the pudding cups and pointed to them.

“Maman gives me those.” Ruby said, hoping Pierre would give her one. “I like them.”

Pierre grabbed the container and closed the door. “Fruit is better.”

“Says who?”

“Everyone. Your maman and papa eat fruit and they love it.” Pierre told the girl. “Here, eat it.” He opened the container and picked up a cut up strawberry.

“You eat it.” Ruby pushed the strawberry towards Pierre’s mouth.

“If I eat it will you eat one too?” Ruby nodded. Then Pierre bit into the strawberry. “Okay, now you eat it.”

“I’m not hungry.”

Ruby didn’t end up eating anything so the uncle and niece went outside to play. “The neighbor has a pretty dog. Her name is Harry.”

“Harry? Who names a dog Harry?” Pierre chuckled.

“Or bailey, I think it’s bailey. But I like Harry better.”

“Bailey is a better name.” Pierre watched “You want me to push you on the swing?”

“No, you get on.” Ruby suggested. “I’m strong. Papa said so.”

Pierre walked to the swing and debated whether or not the swing would be able to hold him. “Are you sure? I’m not small.”

“You’re giant. Get on!” Ruby raised her voice then gasped when she realized she had yelled. “Please?” She smiled at Pierre.

“Okay but if I break it I’m not buying you a new one.” Pierre said hoping that would change her mind.

“It’s okay, papa can use his number card to buy me a new one.” Ruby had different names for normal everyday things so she referred to Charles’ credit card as a number card.

Pierre got onto the swing and waited for Ruby to push him. He felt a her tiny hands on his back, but no matter how much she pushed, he wasn’t moving.

“I thought you were strong?” Pierre teased.

“I am! You’re big!” Ruby groaned. She wiped away some fake sweat and returned to pushing. “Why can’t you be like Yuki? He’s small.”

“I’m sorry, at least I can reach the top shelf? Can you do that?”

“I can, I just don’t want to.” Ruby walked to the other side of the swing to face Pierre. “I’m taller than a girl in my ballet class and she’s sometimes mean to me.”

Pierre listened to her. Someone was being mean to his niece? That was unacceptable.

“What’s her name?” Pierre asked.

“Sarah. And she pulled my hair one time!”

“And do your papa and maman know?”

Ruby nodded. “Yes and Sarah’s maman knows but she didn’t want to talk to my maman. She wanted to talk to papa. And then she touched his arm and smiled at him.”

“Oh no, and did your maman see?”

If someone had told young Pierre that in a few years he would be gossiping with his best friend’s daughter then he would call them crazy.

“No, but I did and I told maman.”

After more gossip was shared in the backyard, it was time to go back into the house. Ruby raced to the house after Pierre told her that the first one to the door was the winner. Once she was inside, the doorbell rang. Pierre was still outside so she decided to open it to reveal a blonde girl with the neighbor’s door.

“Oh, hi, little girl. Is your papa home?” The girl asked. The Leclerc’s neighbor was an old woman whose name was Patricia. She was nice and always gave Ruby cookies and let her pet Bailey the dog.

“Why do you have Bailey?” Ruby asked completely ignoring the girl’s question.

“She’s my grandma’s dog. I’m visiting her.” She replied. “Is that your papa?” She pointed to Pierre, who had finally come inside.

“No, that’s my uncle. Who are you?” Ruby asked.

“Ruby, don’t open the door when I’m not here,” Pierre scolded his niece. “Can I help you?” He asked the blonde girl. Ruby didn’t like her one bit. She reminded Ruby of Sarah, the mean ballerina from her class.

“My grandma was talking about Ruby and how much she loves Bailey so I just thought it would be fun if I brought Bailey here to play.”

“She asked for papa.” Ruby told Pierre.

“Well I haven’t introduced myself to your papa and I wanted to be nice.” The girl replied. “Ruby said you’re her uncle? I didn’t know Ruby had such an attractive uncle.”

Pierre cringed at the girl’s attempt to flirt. “Well sorry to say this but we were actually going to the store.”

Ruby grabbed Pierre’s hand. “Yeah, and we’re going to see Aunt Kika! And she loves my uncle.”

Pierre tried to hold in his laugh. “Nice to meet you.” Pierre told the girl and locked the house with the key that Charles had given him a year ago. Ruby and Pierre walked to the car lightly laughing at the whole situation.

“Are we going to get ice cream?” Ruby asked.

“Yes, you deserve it.”

[lovegalor333]

fresh start

part six (chapter 16-18) previous part • next part

word count: 6.1k

content warnings: paiges nasty ass ex

Lily

Paige had begged me to stay over at her place last night and even tried guilt tripping me by saying that she'd wake up alone on birthday. "You won't be alone P, your roommates will be there." I reminded her before she reluctantly let me go back to my apartment.

It was 6AM on Paiges birthday and even though I was half asleep, I was buckled into my car with a trunk full of balloons and banners and Paiges gift safely in the passenger seat.

I text Azzi under her instruction to let her know I was outside once I reached their apartment. She must have been on her phone because she opened the door no more than ten seconds later.

"Morning Lils." She greets me, looking unfairly fresh faced at this time of the morning.

"Morning." I groan, hugging Azzi to the best of my ability with a handful of balloons and multiple bags in my hand.

I enter the apartment and hand Azzi the bag of decorations and balloons that have been stored in my apartment all week and she immediately begins hanging banners.

KK strolls into the living room moments later looking just as tired as me, "Morning KK." I laugh and I just get a grunt in response as she makes her way to the refrigerator, grabbing an energy drink.

"Where is the birthday girl then?" I ask wondering if Paige was awake yet, she was notoriously not a morning person so I doubted it.

"Channeling her inner sleeping beauty of course." Azzi replies as she sprinkles confetti over the table.

"Something I should be doing." KK mutters from the place curled up on the couch.

"No, you're helping me - french toast time!" Azzi chirps as she skips to the kitchen and I'm amazed at her energy this early in the day.

I leave the girls and make my way to Paiges bedroom, her door is closed so I slowly open it and step into her dim room.

I place her gift down before sitting on the edge of the bed. Paige is fast asleep, eyes shut with a slight frown on her face, hair splayed across her pillow, chest rising and falling peacefully. I almost feel bad waking her.

I run my hand down her face and along her jaw, she doesn't even stir.

"Paige..." I whisper softly as I tuck a piece of hair behind her ear.

The soft frown on her face deepens and her eyes flutter open.

"Good morning, birthday girl." I smile down at her.

"Morning." She replies, her voice low and husky.

"Not a good morning? It's your birthday." I say softly before leaning down and pressing a kiss to her lips. She catches me off guard, wrapping her arms around my waist and pulling me down on top of her.

"Paige!" I squeal and I place a hand at either side of her head to steady myself.

"Now it's a good morning." She smirks up at me and I blush immediately, between her morning voice, messy hair and lack of clothes Paige didn't have to try hard to make me flustered.

"How about you skip classes and I skip workouts and we stay here but you take this off?" Paige says, her hands fiddling with the hem of my sweater before sneaking under and trailing up my back, her fingers grazing my skin as her hand moved up and down.

I lower myself so I'm no longer propped up but so my body is flush with Paiges, head on her chest, "I would love that," I say taking in her scent, knowing exactly what moisturiser she used last night, "but you have a season starting in a few weeks and I have assignments to write."

Paige huffs from beneath me, deep down she knows I'm right so she won't argue but I placate her anyway.

"Besides, we get to be together the entire weekend, starting tonight." I smile, leaning up once again, getting a good view of Paiges face. Despite the room being so dark, her blue eyes were as piercing as ever.

"And I got you something." I say leaning down to where I had placed her gift.

I push myself up off Paige so she can sit up too and I hand her the gift bag that had tissue paper stuffed in the top to stop her from peeking in and seeing what the present was.

"Lily, I hope you didn't spend a lot of money of this." She says looking at me seriously.

"Oh shush Paige, if I did, it's because you're worth it. Now open it." I say.

I watch as Paige removes each layer of tissue paper before reaching her hand in the bag. She pulls out her card first, tucked away in a soft lilac envelope, her name written in cursive on the front, a small heart replacing the dot on the i.

Paige doesn't read the card out loud but I remember exactly what I wrote.

Dear Paige,

Happy 22nd Birthday!

I hope your next year of life brings you everything you've ever dreamed of and more.

Words cannot explain how thankful I am to have you. I left Boston extremely broken and lonely and I was scared I would stay like that but meeting you has been the best thing that has ever happened to me.

I look forward to spending more time with you, making more memories and watching you fulfill your dreams.

I love you, happy birthday.

Your Lily x

Paige looks up at me from her card, eyes rimmed with tears, "Hey, no crying on your birthday." I warn.

"I love you, Lily." She says blinking to clear the tears.

"I love you too." I reply and I reach my own hand into the gift bag and pull out a small, neatly wrapped box.

"I hope you like it." I say as I present it to Paige.

She takes the box from me and pulls the ribbon to untie it before opening the box revealing a sliver chain, with a mini carabiner on it that held three charms.

"A five, a cross and an L. It's perfect Lily, I love it. Thank you so much." She says bundling me into a hug and we almost topple over.

"Put it on for me?" She asks handing me the necklace and I take it, standing up and going behind her looping the necklace around her neck before clasping it together.

My hands linger on her bare shoulders, "There, all done."

"Hey, stop kissing and come out here, breakfast is ready." KK barges in the room, the energy drink has definitely kicked in.

"We weren't even kissing." Paige defends as we follow KK into the living room where there is a perfectly presented table, clad with confetti, flowers and balloons, not to mention the pile of french toast and fresh fruit.

"Did you have fun last night?" I ask Paige as I hand her a mug of hot coffee and she nods while taking a sip.

"So much fun, just having everyone I love around one table makes me feel so blessed." She says and I sit facing her on her bed with my own mug of coffee in my hands.

The team, Paiges family and I all went for dinner last night to celebrate Paiges birthday and then we moved on to a karaoke bar. We kept things pretty lowkey and completely sober knowing that we had the party tonight.

"I'll have to go home soon P, I need to shower and get ready for tonight." I tell her. I had ended up coming home with Paige last night and staying at her apartment but it was already midday and we'd only just gotten out of bed.

"Time for an episode of Greys?" She asks fluttering her lashes and how can I say no to that so I scoot over to Paige as she turns on her TV.

Paige

"Y'all one more tiktok before we leave!" KK pleads, propping up her phone on the counter.

"Uh uh!" Azzi argues grabbing KKs phone on her way to the door, "The Ubers are here, lets go." She says and we all obey, not wanting to get on the wrong side of Azzi Fudd.

No one was a designated driver tonight because we would all be drinking so we piled into multiple Ubers to take us to Huskies.

"Lily meeting us there?" Nika asks me as we make our way to the bar.

"Yeah, she's coming with her roommates." I tell her.

It doesn't take us long to get to Huskies and Azzi insists on leading me inside with one hand on my arm guiding me and the other covering my eyes.

After walking a few steps with my life in Azzis hands she counts down,

"Three...two...one...open!" and she removes her hand from my eyes and I'm met with a room full my friends, teammates and people I know from campus. Party poppers are let off and everyone cheers before the music kicks in and the bass takes over.

Before I know it, I'm being handed a shot and then another shot and then another. Tonight is going to be messy.

"Hi gorgeous." I hear a soft voice say as two arms wrap around my waist from behind.

Lily.

"Hi pretty girl." I reply turning around and coming face to face with my girlfriend. "You're really living up to that nickname, look at you." I say as I take in her appearance.

She has her hair pulled back into a half up half down style, her makeup is natural as always but still accentuates her features perfectly and shes wearing a black mini skirt with a white shirt and black heels.

She blushes at my compliment and dips her head, "Don't be shy with me." I say lifting her head so I'm looking into her eyes again.

"I can't help it." She says a small smile on her lips.

"You look amazing." I say, my hand stroking her jaw.

"So do you." She replies as she fiddles with the necklace she bought me around my neck.

"SHOTS!" We're interrupted by Ice with two shots in her hands and she hands one each to Lily and me. We take them and clink them together before knocking them back, looking at each other with the same grimace at the sharp taste of alcohol.

As the night goes on, things get less and less clear. I keep looking around for Lily and I spot her easily each time, at first she was dancing with Kelsey then with Kayla at the bar and now she's sat talking with Nika.

"Here, drink up birthday girl." Aubrey says handing me a red cup and I wave my hand, "Not right now, I need a moment." I say feeling drunker by the second.

I manoeuvre my way through the crowd of people towards Lily and Nika, "Mind if I steal her for a second?" I say to Nika and she nods, "All yours."

I take Lilys hand and lead us to the exit, "Are you OK, P?" Lily asks once we're outside in the crisp October air.

"I'm good, just wanted you alone for a minute."

"What for?"

"For this." I say taking her face in my hands and pressing my lips to hers. I feel her giggle and then lean into the kiss and I move us back so that Lily is against the wall, our mouths move together perfectly and her hands tangle in my hair and I swear I could leave this party here and now.

After a while Lily and I realise we can't spend the whole night outside making out so we compose ourselves and go back inside and as soon as we do I immediately wish we didn't.

I stop dead in my tracks at the sight in front of me, it takes a few seconds for Lily to realise, "What?" She asks looking at me concerned, I must be as pale as a ghost.

I don't say anything but she follows my eyeline to where Azzi is stood hands on her hips, a deep frown on her face as she shouts at the girl in front of her.

I can't believe this is happening.

"Who is that?" Lily asks but I'm frozen in my spot.

It doesn't take long for all eyes to be on Lily and me and I instinctively pull her closer to me, my arm hooking around her waist.

"Paigey, your friend is trying to kick me out." The girl says approaching us and I flinch at the voice I haven't heard in years and I feel Lily stiffen beside me.

"I'm not trying, I am kicking you out. Goodbye." Azzi says following behind and forcing the girl past Lily and me but she reaches out and grabs my arm stopping herself.

I find my voice but it comes out quiet, "Get off me, Marianna." But she doesn't let go, "It's your birthday, don't be like this." She continues.

"She said let go!" Lilys voice is loud and stern and she prizes Marianna hand off my arm and I watch as Mariannas face contorts into a scowl.

"Who are you? Her bodyguard?" She spits and I look at Lily who's also scowling and I step in front of her protectively, "She's my girlfriend," I say, "And you need to leave, now."

Marianna laughs and I know her well enough to know she didn't find anything funny.

"Girlfriend? Last time I checked you didn't do commitment."

"And the last time I checked, you didn't know who I was, so what's changed?" I ask but I don't really care for the answer.

"I've grown up Paige, we both have. I just want to speak to you about everything." Marianna says and now I'm the one laughing, "That's never going to happen."

"Oh now you've got your little slut-" Marianna is cut off by a drink being thrown directly in her face and for a second I thought I could have done it but I never even had a drink in my hand.

"You just crossed the line, you've got to go." Kelsey interjects, empty cup in her hand as Marianna shouts about her hair and outfit being ruined. Kelseys hands me the cup and I take it and watch and she pushes Marianna with two hands towards the exit.

"Well, someome had to do it." Kayla says and I turn around to Lily, "Are you OK?" I ask putting my arm over her shoulder and she nods, "Yes - are you?" And I nod back, "As long as you are."

˖ ᡣ𐭩 ⊹ ࣪ ౨ৎ˚₊✧˚ · .

Lily

I woke up to the incessant pinging of notifications. I felt around the bed, my eyes still closed until I came into contact with my phone, I pried my eyes open, squinting at the bright light, No New Notifications.

Beside me Paige stirred, also looking for her phone in the bundle of sheets. She finds it and quickly silences her notifications before closing her eyes again.

"Who is it?" I asked now propped up on my elbow.

Paige shrugs sleepily, "I don't know. Just ignore it, let's go back to sleep." She says pulling me down to lay beside her. I don't argue but I also don't go back to sleep, I stay snuggled into Paige until I feel her breathing even out telling me she's fallen back to sleep.

I carefully slip my body out of Paige's grasp and tiptoe my way out of her bedroom. Once I'm awake, it's hard for me to get back to sleep so I usually give in and start my day.

"Morning Lily." I'm greeted by Nika as I enter the living room, she's curled up on the couch with her hood up and sunglasses on.

"Morning Niks," I smile, "Feeling last night's festivities?" I laugh.

"Uh huh." She nods laying her head back to rest on the back of the couch.

"I'll make coffee." I offer, stepping into the kitchen and starting to prepare the drinks.

I've spent so much time in this apartment, I can navigate it as though it's my own so I know where everything is, it doesn't take me long to make Nika and me an iced coffee each.

"You're an angel." She says as I hand her her glass.

"How do you feel after last night? I cannot believe Marianna showed up." Nika says inbetween sips.

"I feel fine," I say honestly, "I just hope Paige feels the same, I know she was really hurt by what happened between them."

Nika nods, "Yeah it was not a good time for Paige. I honestly thought Marianna had transferred out of UConn, that's how long it's been since any of us have seen her." She explains.

"Really? I wonder what made her show her face last night, do you think she wants Paige back?" I ask only now realising that this could be an issue.

The way that Paige spoke about her made it sound serious and if she was Paige's first love and there was a lot of history, what would stop those feelings arising again now that Marianna is back on the scene?

"Even if she did, Paige doesn't want her back. I saw the way she defended you last night and made it clear you were her girlfriend. Marianna is in the past, you and Paige are right now."

I think back to last night when Paige protectively stepped in front of me, shielding me from her vicious ex and realised Nika was right, Marianna was the past.

"You're right, I'm just overthinking." I say as Ice and Azzi emerge from their bedrooms looking just like Nika with their hoods up.

Azzi flops beside Nika and takes her glass of iced coffee out of her hand and takes a sip for herself, "Ugh, I need like three of these." She groans.

"I'll make you one, you too Ice." I say to the girls and get up from my place on the couch.

Paige

I felt Lily get out of bed and listened as she spoke to Nika, I couldn't make out exactly what was being said but I knew they'd be talking for a while so I grabbed my phone and scrolled through the numerous notifications that had woken us up.

They were all iMessages from a number I didn't have saved but I knew exactly who it was.

i knew you'd understand

thank you

i'll come round in the morning and we can talk

What?

I click on the notification to open the full message thread and I want to scream.

What have I done?

Like some sort of sick game, another text comes through and I lock my phone and quickly make my way into the living room.

Lily is sat with my friends on the couch talking and drinking coffee. Despite having barely slept, she still looks beautiful, she's wearing one of my t-shirt and my pyjama bottoms and her hair messily frames her face.

"Good morning." She says noticing me stood in the room and she smiles big and wide and my heart sinks a bit.

"What time are you leaving?" I ask and I regret the abruptness almost immediately but she needs to leave and sooner rather than later.

"I don't know." She says and the smile slowly fades from her face, "Now?" She asks lowly, standing up.

"Yeah, OK." I agree and she walks past me into my bedroom and I hear her gathering her stuff.

Without looking, I already know I have multiple sets of eyes glaring at me.

"Just don't." I say looking up at Ice, Azzi and Nika all scowling at me.

"Um...bye, I guess." Lily says awkwardly beside me.

"Yeah, bye." I say pulling her into a quick side hug before she hurries out of the apartment, not saying anything to the girls.

"Paige, what the fuck?" Azzi is the first one to speak.

"Rude much?" Next is Ice.

"What the hell is your problem?" And lastly Nika.

"Guys please, not now." I say joining them on the couch putting my head in my heads.

"Um...yes, now. You're girlfriend just left on the brink of tears." Azzi says.

"I'll deal with Lily later but Marianna is on her way and I couldn't have Lily here when she showed up."

"What?!" All three girls exclaim in unison.

"She text me last night about talking and I must have drunkenly replied and agreed to talk to her, I don't even remember doing it! And she just text me to say she's on the way." I blurt, suddenly feeling very hungover.

"Paige, you should have been honest with Lily." Azzi says and as always, she's right.

"I panicked." I say running my hair through my hair in frustration.

"Call her right now." My best friend says and as I stand from the couch to go and get my phone there's a knock at the door.

"It might be Caroline, she said she was coming over too." Azzi says as I look at her.

Only one way to find out.

I take cautious steps to the front door and open it slowly.

“Hi Paigey."

"Hi." I reply monotonously and actually look at Marianna properly for the first time. She looks different, her shoulder length hair is grown out and scattered with blonde highlights now and she's definitely had some degree of lip filler since I last saw her.

She walks into the apartment and sees my roommates, "Am I at risk of getting another drink thrown at me?" She asks sarcastically.

"Well that depends." Azzi says before throwing her hands up in defence, "We'll leave you to it." And the girls all get up and retreat to their bedrooms.

"Thanks for agreeing to talk." Marianna says making herself comfortable, sitting on the couch where Lily was just minutes ago.

"Um yeah, I mean I don't actually remember agreeing-"

"I'm sorry Paigey, for everything I did back then. I was confused and young and didn't know what I was feeling or what I wanted. I should have never treated you like that." She says and I feel winded by the words that have come too little too late.

"You were confused? Imagine how I felt." I say back still stood by the door.

"I know and I said I'm sorry. I want to make up with you, go back to how we were."

"I don't think that will happen."

"We haven't even tried." She says now standing up and walking over to me.

"Marianna-"

"Paigey, come on. Do you remember what you said to me all those years ago?" I stay silent because I said a lot of things, she was the first girl I ever loved.

"You said it was me and it would always be me. Does that not stand for anything?" Her hands are on my arms now almost as if she's begging.

"Whatever it stood for became irrelevant when you forgot who I was."

"I could never forget you, how could I?" She moves her hand up to my face and before I have time to process what's going on her lips are on mine.

I push her away with maybe too much force because she topples back before regaining her balance.

"What the fuck! I have a girlfriend, what are you doing?" I spit, wiping my mouth where hers just was.

"I just thought...you agreed to see me Paigey..."

"You thought wrong. I was drunk when I replied to your text and quit calling me Paigey. In fact, you need to leave." I say sternly, turning to open the door.

"Don't do this, I miss you." She pleads.

"I don't miss you. I've moved on and I love Lily." I tell her and her face drops in realisation that I'm being serious.

"Leave. Now." I demand and she scurries past me without a final look and I slam the door behind her and let out a frustrated groan.

Azzi appears in the living room and I just look at her blankly and she knows me well enough to be able to read my expressions, "What happened?"

I everything explain to Azzi and wait for her response.

"Yeah, you need to tell Lily. Like right now." She says and I nod, she's right. The sooner I tell Lily and explain what happened and how it happened, the better.

I get my phone from my bedroom and open up mine and Lilys messages, "What do I even say?" I look to my best friend for advice.

"The truth Paige. Lily will understand."

With my phone still clutched in my hand, I throw my arms up in frustration, "How did I tell my girlfriend I kissed my ex?" I huff.

Swoosh.

I freeze and look down at my phone.

Lily

Paiges weird behaviour had me on edge and going through every single possibility in my mind.

I tried to calm myself by saying she was just hungover and grouchy but that didn't even sound right, Paige never acted like that.

I was layed in my bed, trying my best to go to sleep, a nap would make me feel better and then I would speak to Paige.

A notification on my phone made me open my eyes, it was a voicenote from Paige. I click on it and press play.

"How do I tell my girlfriend I kissed my ex?"

My stomach dropped immediately and I felt as though I was going to be sick there and then.

Paige kissed Marianna?

When?

I drop my phone losing all strength to hold it and my eyes blur as they fill with tears.

Deep down I knew this was too good to be true. I knew I wasn't enough for Paige and it was only a matter of time before she realised that.

I'm sobbing now, to the point of not being able to breathe.

How could I be so niave?

My ringtone plays out over my sobs and Paiges contact flashes on my phone screen, I let it ring out.

Paige calls me another four times before I decide to turn my phone off.

I force myself out of my bed and wipe the tears from my face even though they're still spilling. I grab my car keys and leave the apartment, I knew if Paige couldn't reach me, she'd come here and I don't want to see her.

I climb in my car and begin driving with no destination in mind.

˖ ᡣ𐭩 ⊹ ࣪ ౨ৎ˚₊✧˚ · .

Paige

Waiting for Lily to get home was physically painful. Her phone was off so no calls were going through and she didn't tell her roommates where she was going, all we knew was that she had taken her car.

The thought of Lily driving around confused and probably crying hurt so much and I hated that I had caused that.

"Try not to worry, Paige." Hannah tries to comfort me as I pace their living room. Hannah had been the one to open the door for me when I came frantically looking for Lily, a few hours ago now.

I try not to snap at her but that doesn't exactly work, "How can I not? Anything could have happened and none of us would know." My mind goes to places that I don't want it to but I'm trying to be realistic. I know Lily and the way her brain works so of course I'm worried.

"Hey, you never know, Kelsey may have found her and they could be on their way home right now."

“I told Kelsey to message me if she found her." I lift up my phone, "And nothing."

As if she heard us talking about her, Kelsey walks through the front door, "No luck. I went to all the places she knows and drove around campus, twice." She huffs sitting next to Hannah on the couch as I continue to pace around the room.

"You're making me motion sick Paige, please sit down." Kelsey says.

"I can't. I can't rest until I know Lily's safe." I snap and Kelsey raises her brows as if to say who are you talking to like that?.

"Not to point out the obvious but we would know where Lily was if it wasn't for you." She snaps back.

"You think I don't know that Kelsey? And you think I don't hate myself for it?" I'm shouting now and although this isn't going to make Lily come home any quicker shouting at someone is making me feel slightly better.

"You should have thought about that before kissing your ex!" Kelsey shouts back.

"It wasn't like that. She kissed me and as soon as she did, I pushed her off." I defend myself.

"OK y'all, we are not getting anywhere by shouting at each other. Paige just sit down and Kelsey, hush." Hannah orders both of us and we obey.

I'm not sat down for long before I start pacing again, I can't sit still and just do nothing.

"I'm going to look for her." I announce picking up my keys and phone from the table.

"Where?" Kelsey asks knowing she's exhausted all the place Lily knows in the area.

"I don't know but I'll drive around all night if I have to."

"No one will be driving around all night." A voice says from behind me.

"Lily." I turn around and I'm met with an extremely puffy eyed, red cheeked girl standing in the doorway.

"You need to leave." She says looking at me blankly.

"I want to explain. Please let me explain." I plead as Lily walks into her apartment and straight past me towards her room.

I follow her, "First of all, that voicenote was a mistake-"

"Oh, so if you never accidentally sent that I'd be none the wiser and everyone would think I'm an idiot who's girlfriend kisses their ex!"

"No Lily, I was going to tell you. I was about to text you to come over and I must have accidentally pressed the voicenote button and I was asking Azzi what to say and it just caught the worst part of the conversation." I ramble out.

"Paige, nothing changes the fact that you kissed your ex." She says with a gulp and she looks like she's about to cry again.

"I promise you, I didn't kiss her. She kissed me and I pushed her off straight away and told her to get out."

"Get out of where?"

"My apartment."

"Oh my God. Was it this morning? You practically kicked me out because she was coming over?"

I stay silent because now that Lily is saying it out loud, it sounds bad and I don't want to admit that I did that.

"Paige! Was it this morning? Is that why you wanted me to leave?" She repeats herself.

I nod, "Yes but it wasn't planned. Well, it was..but I don't remember planning it. She must have text me last night while I was drunk and I agreed to talk to her and she text again this morning saying she was on her way and I panicked. I fucked up, I know that Lily."

"I just can't believe you've done this Paige. I trusted you and I feel so stupid right now." Lily says and any anger in her voice has been replaced by sadness.

"You're not stupid Lily. I'm stupid. I'm stupid for not telling you straight away, I'm stupid for even allowing this to happen."

"Yeah. Yeah, you are. But it's already happened now. You already didn't tell me the truth, she already kissed you, that can't be taken back."

"I'm sorry Lily, I'm so sorry. I never wanted to hurt you. Please forgive me, this shit will never happen again, I promise you."

"Don't make promises like that. You don't know what's going to happen in the future."

"I do and I know I'll never hurt you again for as long as I live. You mean everything to me Lily, you're my girlfriend, I love you. I love you so much."

"I can't do this right now Paige. I'm confused. You hurt me but I love you too, I love you a lot. I always lead with my heart rather than my head but maybe that's not for the best because here I am crying," She sobs out, "I came here for a fresh start but this is just...painful."

"Please don't cry." I say softly wanting nothing more than to hold her but as I take steps closer, Lily moves back.

"Do you want me to laugh?" She says, her words dripping in sarcasm.

"You know that's not what I mean. Come here." I say opening my arms and she hesitates but eventually walks over to me and I wrap her in an embrace.

"I'm sorry baby. I really am." I press a kiss to her head as her face is buried in my chest.

I feel her breathe in deeply and exhale, "You need to leave Paige." And she slips out of my grasp refusing to make eye contact.

"Lily, please."

"I'm tired and I have a headache." She says turning from me.

"If you need space, I'll give you space." I say, "But we're not over Lily. I love you too much to lose you."

She stays turned away from me and I wait for a response but it doesn't come so I reluctantly leave.

I walk through the living room and Lilys roommates must be in their bedrooms because it's empty so I let myself out of the apartment.

I'm grateful that I walked here because I need the fresh air, the thought of losing Lily because of my stupidity is suffocating.

I spend the walk home going over everything I said and did in the past twenty four hours wishing I could turn back time.

Nika, Ice and KK are in the living room when I enter my apartment but I just walk straight past them and go in my bedroom and flop onto my bed.

"How did it go?" Nikas voice is cautious as she enters my room.

"Not good." I mummble and I can't stop the tears that roll down my cheeks.

Lily

Asking Paige to leave was hands down one of the most difficult things I've done but I had to do it.

I believed her when she said she was sorry and I believed her when she said she didn't kiss Marianna but that didn't stop it hurting. It didn't stop the feeling of betrayal. It also didn't change the fact that Paige didn't tell me truth from the beginning.

I wouldn't have cared about a stupid drunk text. I also wouldn't have cared about Paige seeing Marianna to talk about things, she deserves closure. I cared about everything happening behind my back. It made me feel stupid. The same type of stupid I felt all those months ago when my relationship was outed and I thought my ex-girlfriend would stay by my side and she never did.

For the first time since moving to Connecticut, I didn't want to be here. I wanted to be in Boston with my best friend so that's why I didn't think twice before packing a bag.

I tell Kelsey, Hannah and Madison that I'm going home for a few days. I need space and I need to think about everything away from campus, away from Paige.

"Promise you'll come back." Kelsey says as I get into my car, my roommates had walked me downstairs to see me off.

"Of course I'll be back." I smile genuinely at the girls that I've grown so close to.

"Drive safe Lils." Hannah says as I buckle myself in.

"We love you." Madison blows a kiss as I start my car.

"I love you guys." I wave goodbye to my roommates and begin the long drive back home.

I connect my phone to the aux and Paiges playlist starts playing automatically and I can't bring myself to change it and when the tears start to pour, I can't bring myself to stop that either.

˖ ᡣ𐭩 ⊹ ࣪ ౨ৎ˚₊✧˚ · .

[natspookie]

book worm

warnings, …stalker nat? LOL

an, kinda bad but i had the idea??? also, i’m working with the reqs soon!!!

it was rare natasha had time to go out for leisure, more so, to shop. but here she was, natasha romanoff shopping at thrift shops and markets.

this one road in new york was slammed with sellers and all sorts of things to buy.

natasha had bought a few vests she thought yelena would like, also some for her to match. she’d bought little trinkets to fill her room up. she had been dragging her shopping bags for about two hours when she reached the end of the market, a book stall.

hundreds of books were stacker on top of each other but the one of top caught natasha’s eye.

pride and prejudice

in the red room, sure natasha had read books. well.. books how to seduce men, and basic knowledge. but never for her own enjoyment.

she picked the book up, flipped through its pages seeing annotations here and there but she didn’t mind, handing the shop owner a couple of dollars before she made her journey back to the compound.

it was a quiet weekend at the avengers compound, not much missions. “hey nat! ohhh, what did you get?” wanda immediately eyed the eco bags on natasha’s wrist.

“just saw like a flea market or some thrifting- i don’t know honestly.” “the one near that shawarma shop we go to?” “precisely. i also got you this lamp, you said you broke yours”

natasha handed wanda a clear pink tinted lamp with crystals hanging from the top. “oh nat i love it! thank you!” wanda jumped across the couch and hugged natasha “no problem, witchy” natasha laughed, making her way to her room.

she took a quick shower before unloading all the things she got on her carpet. she put all of yelena’s things in one bag and started to put her things in her laundry bin.

when everything was sorted, she picked up the book and sat on her bed.

it was a book with good condition considering she paid 2 dollars for it. she got her reading glasses out and started to flip through the pages, immediately seeing clean and beautiful cursive black writing.

on the cover page it says, “01/01/2023 my love, i have my whole heart to give to you and it starts by the pages of this book. with little annotations, i hope you love this book as i do you.

all the love, y/n”

love was never in the cards for natasha but boy, would it not be nice to receive this.

as natasha ventured through the pages of this book, she found a certain comfort in the cursive writing she knew she was not meant to read.

little comments like “i bet she’s as beautiful as you” “you remind me of this line” “i want us to experience this” were enough to get her hooked till dinner time.

“nat, dinner” wanda knocks on the door before rushing to the kitchen. natasha had made it more than halfway through the book.

she reached the confession in the rain and one writing in red caught her eye. “no love is ever the same. but know my love for you is bursting with all kinds to give” natasha had fallen in love with the words from a person she doesn’t even know.

she made her way to dinner, nose nuzzled in the book. “nat, you read classic romance?” yelena points out “mhm” natasha sets the book down, remembering her page.

“i got you vests and left them in your closet” natasha stabs a french fry before eating it as natasha does a little ‘yes’ air fist.

natasha didn’t stick around for dinner conversation. instead, she grabbed a milk tea in the refrigerator and retreated to her room to read.

it was 1 in the morning when natasha finished, reaching the last blank page. the words took her by surprise.

“09/01/23

it’s been 9 months without you, you didn’t read this book. i’ll be giving this to the book shop down the block and you will never read the words i longed for you to hear. i hope you’re happy with your new life, truly.

to whoever is reading this,

i wish you a love as strong as darcy and elizabeth. you’ll get there;)

all the love,

y/n”

natasha shut the book with a deep breath. along the pages, she had been looking forward to that annotation in the end. natasha took it as a sign to sleep with all the excessive thinking.

yet all the black cursive words swirled around in her head that night, painting numerous people to who could be the face of these carefully said words.

the next morning natasha went on a personal mission to find you. why? she doesn’t know.

she realized an hour in that it was pointless looking for a y/n if she doesn’t even know what you look like. hence, her going back go the market.

she asked the seller when the book came in and if he knew who.

“oh yes, around last week monday a young woman with (y/h/c) donated a whole stack of books! only that one had annotations though” natasha nodded and thanked the man before going back to the compound after getting shawarma.

natasha accessed the city cctv footage from last week monday and saw you struggle with a pile of books.

you turned before turning back to the person and walking the other way. nataha rewinded the footage and paused it when you turned, she knew what you looked like now!

natasha ran face scanners and finds you — y/n y/l/n.

fresh graduate and working at a little cafe not too far from the market.

natasha didn’t really have a plan so when she stepped foot in the cafe. but when she saw you, she immediately lost track of her words.

“hey, what can i get you?” you smiled at natasha “um- a drink” natasha said as you laughed “what kind of drink?” “coffee” “black coffee?” natasha nodded

“alright, can i have a name?” you grabbed the cup and a marker “natasha” “thanks, that’ll be 3 dollars” natasha handed you the money. “i got that book” you tilted your head at her “pride and prejudice.. the one by the market” you sighed

“oh. yeah… sorry for the annotations” you laughed “no! i actually loved them. you have a great way of words” “thank you.. did you stalk me here to say that or something” you joked, putting the drink in front of her. “sort of” natasha shrugged and you paused

“that was a joke but… thanks?” “i mean this in the nicest and less creepy way but i really was curious by you. as i said, i was kind of enthralled by your words.” “are you saying you want to take me out on a date, natasha?”

“hoping to do so” natasha leans on her heels. “7 o’clock.. don’t be late or be a stalker” you chuckled, walking back to the counter “you bet”

[missjoolee]

just thinking about an au where Julie works for her Tia's housekeeping company. they have contracts with one of the prominent labels in LA

it's a summer job maybe?

but she's getting the hang of dusting, cleaning glass, collecting trash and recycling, restroom maintenance, breakroom scrubbing, the works

when one day, one of the higher ups at the company seeks out her Tia for an unorthodox tasking

They need someone to go to an apartment and clean it up ASAP

Tia selects Julie because she knows she can trust her to work unsupervised as well as she can get the T-E-A later after the workday is over.

Once inside, it's got the musty smell of a place that hasn't been entered in a while and there is a light layer of dust on everything, including a very nice sound system connected to a high-end combination cd/tape/turntable with impressive library of cds, records, and the occasional tapes

Deciding that she doesn't have to work in silence, and whoever lives here won't be back before she's gone. she picks out a record to jam out to while she cleans, then throws open the windows she can and gets to work. She washes the linens, dusts, scrubs the bathroom, dusts, wipes down the kitchen, dusts, and when she finishes with all of that she can vacuum!

As she dusts in the living room, there are guitars on the wall and she can't help but notice 2 are missing

when one record ends, she switches it to something new, excited by the selection whoever lives here has curated

it's honestly hard to pick what's next but then in the CDs, down in the S's, she notices a rare gem from the music world!

They have Sunset Curve's first ever EP

It's a no brainer, she puts the CD into the tray and hits play as she picks up the rag she was using to wipe out the refrigerator. The guitars sound out the beginning of Now or Never and she's leaning inside the fridge, the french doors splayed open as she sings along to the song when a loud THUD startles her out and THERE IS A MAN and she is YELLING, and then he is yelling

and that is how she met Luke Patterson of Sunset Curve, freshly returned from their european summer circuit, as she explains to Flynn later

Once they'd stopped yelling, she had apologized, rushed to turn the music off and explained that she was almost done and to "please, settle in and pretend i'm not here. I will be gone in 10 minutes"

and he had, looking dead on his feet, probably from the time change (also very stunned from hearing a wrecking ball of a voice singing his lyrics from inside his fridge, but she doesn't know that) and then she was gone.

time passes and she keeps working the normal duties from the contracts at the company, only once did she see Sunset Curve and she did an about face and took an alternate route to the task she was doing.

but then Toby gets tendonitis or something and now Tia needs someone to cover the part of the building that features all the studios for the different bands in LA that are signed to the label and it has to be someone trustworthy because they might see or hear music that CANNOT be leaked or the whole cleaning service loses the contract. So trustworthy niece gets picked

Given a schedule each week of what bands will be in and when (ish) she is able to clean unobtrusively for the most part

It's the end of the day and she just needs to gather trash from the rooms that were used that day when she gets a bit thrown off by the set up in SC's studio. Everything is pushed to the edges of the small room and a keyboard is set up front and center.

Looking for where they'd moved the trash can, her eyes keep flicking back to the keyboard and she can't help brushing her fingers over the keys gently before she leaves. Only for someone to be in the doorway, making her jump!

It's luke and he apologizes for startling her but she is in "oh crap oh crap don't bother the clients" mode and so she apologizes and skidaddles out of there

and then and then

Suddenly on the schedule of when bands will be in, there is a request for her to clean SC's room at a specific time during the lunch hour that day. and when she arrives, the rooms is well, not spotless, but cleaner than it should be and there is a note on the keyboard saying to have fun for an hour maybe

and it keeps happening?

julie starts taking luke up on the opportunity to play around on the piano

and then suddenly luke is there but like "don't mind me, keep doing your thing!" and she very much does her own thing but that is grilling him about what is happening annnnnnnnnnnnd

they get closer as time passes

and eventually it becomes helping luke with a song which then becomes working on a new song together

and then excited about the song, luke shares it with the guys and they begin workshopping their instruments into it and Julie happens to hear it happening and thinks that Luke just used her for the music and stole the song they'd been working on for his band

so she stops showing up during that hour, instead working in a room somewhere else where he can't find her

annd she avoids him in the hallways, always turning and going the opposite direction if she sees him or the band

and finally Toby's arm is doing better and can come back to work so she is quick to relent the studio section back to them

Tia notices she doesn't even hum while working anymore and then one day she is cleaning a conference room, and

The door opens behind her. Reggie and Alex walk in. She can't run out, so she just keeps wiping down the windows.

"Did Luke do something wrong?" It could be just his friends trying to help a guy out but there is steel in alex's voice that lets Julie know that they will 100% be on her side if she told them Luke did anything royally stupid and offensive.

"No."

"Oh...okay. Do you think you'd want to write with him again?" the question is unsure. like alex doesn't know if he should even ask it.

Now Julie is mad. "I'm not paid to write songs. I'm paid to clean. I don't have time for this."

"a shame. That was a killer song you two wrote" Reggie hesitantly says.

"yeah. I heard you guys playing it. Hope it does well on your next album" she fails to keep any of her anger out of her voice. and since she doesn't want to get fired for fighting the labels talent, she grabs her supplies and leaves out the secondary door.

and then the guys realize that Julie may have a misunderstanding about what's going on with the song she wrote with Luke

but before luke can fix it, SC has to travel again, this time to Australia and then Canada.

so it's at least 3 weeks before they are back in LA

I don't know how this ends. How does Luke make things right with Julie? Any ideas? Would love to see your thoughts.

[trivialbob]

Last night Sheila and I went to a seafood place. For a cheeseburger.

Coastal Seafoods in Minneapolis is a fresh seafood market. It's a neat little place. When @littlerunnergurl visited us years ago she and I shopped there for ingredients of a seafood stew LRG made for us.

There's a small counter for hot food in back. Two four-tops and a small row of bars stools next to a cold window is the complete dining room. A Facebook page devoted to smashburgers had mentioned this place's burger recently. That's what got us over there.

We ordered one Coastal Burger. "Two 4oz Wagyu Beef Patties, Caramalized Onion Jam, Pickles, American Cheese, & Dijon Mayo on Toasted Brioche!" (images from the Coastal Foods website)

I also ordered the wonderful looking Connecticut Style Lobster Roll. "Warm Lobster & Seasoned Butter on a Toasted Tom Cat Bakery Roll"

The cook cut them in half so Sheila and I could try some of each. Both were fantastic. We didn't order French fries or any sides. The older I get the wiser I am about not ordering too much food. For sure if there had been a serving of fries in front of me I wouldn't have left until the plate was clean. As it was, we walked out feeling satisfied yet not needing to adjust the car seats back so we could fit in the Subaru.

I'd been wanting to see some dive bars. A block away is the Fraternal Order of Eagles #34. It's an appropriately dimly lit place where most of the customers seemed to know each other. We didn't order food, but I almost did just to purchase a cheeseburger for under ten bucks, a rare thing these days.

The bartender was friendly. She knew what to pour for people a few times without asking. I chuckled when she asked us if we'd be okay for a bit unattended when she went outside for a quick smoke.

It's located at the intersection of two similarly named streets. When I was a kid it was mind-blowing when I saw Minneapolis street signs with the same numbers. Sure, the Av and St make a difference, but it still seemed like division by zero to someone not yet accustomed to how cities named numbered east/west and north/south roads. Similarly, I was amazed when my dad pointed out the named streets in some places were in freaking alphabetical order.

After a bottle of beer (and a sunset) we drove south a short distance through the cold and dark night to the Schooner Tavern. It too is at an intersection of numbered streets.

It was a bit louder, but no less dimly lit, than the previous place. The two bartenders were very friendly. Sheila and I again sat at the bar for one beer.

We listened to conversations around us. It was only 5:30 PM but some folks appeared to have started the evening early. A frazzled looking guy (who was probably 15 years younger than he actually appeared) must have gotten the happy hour special on "fucks" which seem to have been a 20-for-1 deal. Whew, I got tired of hearing that word used as noun, verb, adjective, preposition, pronoun, article, and adverb.

The bottles behind the bar appeared to glow. If the bar had been quieter maybe I would have heard them hum.

Sometimes I want of those tiny Red Bull refrigerators with the glass door (as seen in the left side of this picture I took). Sheila doesn't think it would look appropriate on our coffee table no matter how well it fit. People would probably trip over the power cord she also claims. I still want one though.

We still enjoyed the atmosphere while we had one beer. After that we headed to the brewery by our house. It's at the intersection of one named and one numbered street, more to the sensibilities of my suburban mind.

We met up with one couple we know and another couple who were on a second date. The guy is a regular, the woman is new to that crowd. At first she seemed like she wanted to move to a private table. Soon though she warmed up to us, and the six of us had a great conversation.

I'm going to start looking up some more dive bars for another weekend.

[unicornery]

if you need to mentally substitute icebox or another local term, please feel free. If you have a mini fridge but also access to a larger communal fridge, pick one or the other :)

types 1-4, for reference (type 1 may have more than one drawer on bottom)

[unfortunatetheorist]

The Complete Works of Contradictory Logic in ASOUE: Volume I (Quote Debunk 10)

Part 7 - The Miserable Mill S1 E7

Quick Intro: Surprise! I'm back after what I know has been quite a long while - life's been keeping me busy! As Voltaire once said: "Life is thickly sown with thorns and I know no other remedy than to pass quickly through them."

Time to carry on where we left off...

And of course we're jumping straight in with Mr Poe-ntless:

01:49 - "We must act now! We must act without delay! We... (sniffs)... need... (sniffs again)... We need... (sniffs some chowder because why not?) Oh! Oh, my! Oh, my, this is excellent chowder. Mmm, mmm, good. Oh, God... [chugs the entire thing - again, why not?]"

How did we ever believe this guy cared about the Baudelaires?

05:06 - "Pink Floyd's "The Wall"... Although Mother wouldn't let me watch that one."

Not contradictory per se, but a beautifully subtle reference to the lyrics of the song 'Another Brick in The Wall, Pt 2.' particularly the chorus:

We don't need no education

We don't need no thought control

No dark sarcasm in the classroom

Teacher, leave them kids alone!

So I guess it's contradictory, in a way, to the underlying principles of V.F.D.

07:06 - "They have to do what I say, even my partner here." ~ Sir

Luckily Klaus responds quickly and correctly to this one.

10:06 - "...who joined you for years on a sequence of heists and schemes until the two of you were forced apart by circumstance, and also because you ran off in the middle of the night with a bunch of her valuables?" ~ Olaf. to Evander the Truck Driver

What a way to lose a lady. Something tells me only Olaf would do something like this!

The chocolate bar scene at 10:26 is funny, but not really the kind of contradiction we're looking for.

14:45 - "I'm just an old friend" *sniffs flowers and writhes in disgust* ~Olaf to Georgina

"Um, Dr Orwell's not here right now." ~ Dr Orwell (Georgina) to Olaf.

Sheer genius. Neatly covered with the hilarity of Olaf's facial expression after smelling the flowers.

15:06 - "So he isn't just knocking on Dr Orwell's door because he needs something - for himself?" ~ Georgina

Olaf: *chuckles*, *pulls angry face*, *chuckles*

It's brilliantly timed and brilliantly filmed. Also better/easier to understand when viewed.

15:27 - "...who shares one's brilliance, one's charm, one's dubious moral code in a world gone gloriously wrong." ~ Olaf

Olaf was just trying to find alphabetical words; 'brilliance' and 'charm' have quite different meaning and connotation to 'dubious'.

Also, a world gone 'gloriously wrong', eh, Olaf? I wonder how it got that way...

15:48 - This gem:

Georgina: "I took a solemn oath that my office would be closed to you forever even during regular business hours."

Also Georgina: "How big a fortune are we talking?"

22:22 - "I took a chance on treating you like grown-ups, don't make me regret it." ~ Sir to the Baudelaires

A classic phrase often said to children to enforce good behaviour now twisted to benefit Sir's bank balance. Respect, Handler! This kind of thing goes unnoticed very easily.

25:25 - "You, me, an evil scheme, a little death." ~ Olaf

"La petit mort" ~ Georgina

"You know I love it when you speak Spanish." ~ Olaf

Ok. First off, 'la petit mort' is, in fact, French not Spanish. Secondly, 'la petit mort' literally means 'the little death' but in French slang, it means something else entirely... [Hint: not child-friendly...]

26:10 - "It represents the eyes of God staring down and judging society as a moral wasteland." ~ Klaus

"Oh, that sounds like a fun book." ~ Phil

Not really sure how fun this is... but the same could be said about ASOUE to be fair. Each to his own, I suppose.

37:24 - "We've fought a host of unsavoury characters, including a most unfriendly refrigerator repair person. We've flown a plane into a hurricane. We've been to Peru and back to get home to our children. And today, finally, we'll all be together. What could be wrong?"

Gotta love the sarcasm when it's there.

There's also the piece related to the final scene about Sir mentioning the 'probable' (yeah right) conditions of the Baudelaires, which are actually his own... this isn't as contradictory as it perhaps could've been so not worth writing in full.

~ Th3r3534rch1ngr4ph, Unfortunate Theorist/Snicketologist

[iboatedhere]

Dialogue Day

Thank you for the tag @cold-blooded-jelly-doughnut ❤️

—

“What’s wrong?”

Wordlessly TK shows him the screen and Carlos swears.

“That’s—.”

“Mitchell, yeah,” TK says as he flips the phone around. “I blocked Alex so I guess he gave him my number.”

“That’s completely out of line.”

“Yeah, well, so was cheating on me.” TK swipes away from the text and sets his phone on the counter. “What do you want for breakfast?”

“TK—.”

“Carlos, it’s fine, really. I already knew that they were together. All this tells me is that they’re a little more together than I thought they were. I can make French toast.”

“Did you at least block him?”

TK nods. “Yeah. French toast, yes or no?”

“You really don’t have to—.”

“Carlos,” TK snaps, “I swear—.”

Carlos throws his hands up. “Okay, fine. French toast is fine.”

“Good,” TK tells him as he throws open the refrigerator door and grabs three eggs. “You can start the coffee if you want.”

[christinescupofcoffee]

Kinkmas | day viii.

“the lights will guide you home” (as the seasons grey ‘verse)

It was around a quarter to five in the evening by the time Christine had taken the bus down to Alex’s street, and she was eager to try the chocolate bread that he had brought with him on the second night of Hanukkah. She had arrived there early for the first night, but time had gotten away from her for the second night. She nearly stumbled onto the bus and gathered herself on the ride over to Brooklyn.

She hoped that he would be alone again that night, as she knew there was no way she could bear the thought of him being with Captain Howdy as he had mentioned it to her the night before.

The bus lumbered up to the curb, and she was more than eager to climb off and hurry out into the incoming darkness. The incoming darkness, as dark as the chocolate bread which awaited her. 

The chocolate babka, and what he referred to as a step up from Hanukkah gelt.

With a glimpse both ways up and down the street, she padded across the darkening pavement to the other sidewalk. The scraggly trees of the block rose up into the inky sky in twinkling fashion courtesy of the golden and white lights strewn over the branches. Right outside of his apartment, she made out the soft blue lights on the tree: their bluish tinge seemed to blend in with the white twinkling lights at first. She glanced up at his front window, at the silhouette of the menorah looming behind the curtain.

With a quick fetching of her breath and a tucking of a lock of hair behind her ear, she scurried up the steps. She knocked on the door panel, whereby she was met with momentary silence.

The door lock clicked, and the door itself creaked open. Alex emerged out from behind the panel wrapped in a red wine-colored fitted shirt and black pants: it took her a moment to realize that the shirt was made of velvet. He greeted her with a lopsided little smile and a nudge of his glasses up the bridge of his nose. The warm aroma of something cooking flowed out from behind him like a lush wave, a warm welcome under the soft candlelight casting down from up on the top of his baby grand piano tucked in the far corner of his apartment.

“There’s my Strawberry Girl!” he declared. “Come on in.”

Christine shivered and adjusted the sides of her long green coat as she padded into the warmth of his cozy apartment. But then she hung up her coat on the hook right next to the front door, and all the while, she caught a whiff of what he was cooking in the kitchen.

“Smells like French fries in here,” she remarked.

“That would be latkes, my dear Christine,” he told her. “I’ve got those with applesauce and sour cream as well as a little brisket for the two of us.”

“And you also got—” She stopped, and she bowed her head a little bit and showed him a playful little grin.

“The babka,” he said in a low voice. Indeed, he led her into the kitchen, where he had finished making the latkes, the potato pancakes fried in a cast iron skillet and tucked back into the warm oven with the brisket in question, both of which were to remain warm for the time being. He opened his little refrigerator and took it out of the top shelf, the little double helix coil tucked into a little loaf shape, the rich browned enriched bread entwined with decadent dark chocolate perched on a glass plate under a protective lid from the cold of the fridge. Alex lifted the lid and Christine brought her nose to the top of the loaf for a whiff of the chocolate within there.

“Oh, my,” she remarked. “I feel we are going to be so spoiled on this second night.”

“You and me, and we are going to have some fun with some other things, too,” he assured her with a wink and a return of the lid to the plate and the babka, of which he tucked back into the fridge. He then fetched her and himself a pair of plates for their dinner, at which he gave her a pair of latkes and two slices of tender brisket, the latter of which he had seasoned with salt, pepper, olive oil, minced garlic, and a little bit of chili powder.

“This smells amazing, baby,” she told him as she sat down at the little table there in his kitchen.

“You should smell my parents’ house right now,” he pointed out as he set his plate down on the table; he then doubled back to the shelf next to the fridge, the shelf that acted as his wine cellar. He returned to her with a pair of porcelain wine glasses and a bottle of what appeared to be Port wine.

“I’m kind of surprised you’re not at your parents’ house right now,” she confessed with a slight shake of her head.

“I’ll be going over there on Friday night,” he explained as he handed her a glass so he could uncork the bottle. “Friday and then I’ll be back home on Sunday. I just… you know.” He showed her that lopsided smile again, even when he held onto the corkscrew.

“You wanted to spend this time with me,” she finished for him, and she couldn’t help but smile as well.

He popped off the cork, and the warm aroma of the Port wine filled that corner of the kitchen.

“A little bit of the kiss of Lisbon for my girl,” he declared as he poured it into their glass first, followed by his own. Alex kept the bottle up on the counter as he returned to the table for their intimate dinner. “Hanukkah sameach, dear Christine.”

“Hanukkah sameach, baby,” she returned the favor.

They raised their glasses to each other for a quick toast and sipped it down in unison.

Christine was stunned by how hungry he was as he scarfed up the slices of brisket as well as the latkes, the latter of which he ate with applesauce as well as sour cream. And yet, even as he feasted on his own cooking, he would glance up at her from behind his wiry glasses with something of a twinkle in his eye. He would slip in a bite of latke with a little bit of applesauce and a little bit of sour cream at a slow pace, as if he was seducing her.

Indeed, Christine returned the favor with her own latke covered in some lush sour cream. She never thought that pan fried potatoes in vegetable oil topped with some soft sour cream could be sexy, but when she locked eyes with him and held her fork off to the side all the while, she could feel it within her once again, that same feeling that he would gave her after he would eat a great deal and show off his body to her. She knew it was coming, but she wondered as to when it would come for her.

He had seconds as well as more applesauce by itself, but once she was done, he took another sip of wine and he returned to the fridge. She could see his belly being hugged by the crushed velvet shirt wrapped around him. His thick, shapely body seemed much thicker and fuller than usual, and he was about to fill himself a bit more with a slice of the tender babka.

Christine herself was feeling warm from their dinner as well as the fresh wine, but she was eager to try some of the babka. He picked out a serrated knife and carved out a slice for himself as well as one for her.

After a quick heating in the microwave, he handed her slice to her with both hands as if he beheld her a silver platter. The chocolate within had melted and imparted her with that lovely aroma of confectionery.

“Beautiful,” she breathed out, but she waited for him to have a warm slice for himself. She straightened her spine a little bit so she could tempt him with the good view of her breasts accentuated by her soft blue sweatshirt once he came back to her. Indeed, he showed her a smile once he sank back down in the chair once again.

“I love that shirt,” he told her.

“As do I,” she promised him, and she picked up her fork and sloughed off a piece of the babka to try for herself. The chocolate was warm and the dough was light and tender, much like Alex’s body when he lay down next to her on a cold night such as that. She once again kept her gaze locked onto him as she slowly relished in every bite of that sweet chocolate bread.

She watched him. She watched him fill himself to the brim with that decadent slice of babka.

He leaned back in his chair with his hands clasped onto the sides of the seat. She could see that his jeans and his shirt were both snug against his body with the full feeling within him. She couldn’t help but smile at the sight of him there before him.

“Shall I light the menorah for us?” she offered him.

“Please,” he breathed out with a gentle massage of his belly, and he followed it up with a low whistle. “Matches are… on the windowsill.”

Christine licked the tines of her fork the rest of the melted chocolate there, and then she padded out of the kitchen and back to the front room of his apartment for the stiff wooden matches next to the base of his silvery menorah.

She struck one, and the flame erupted out from the head. Once it calmed down, she held it to the shamash before her. The wick ignited, and she doused the match with a flick of the wrist. She then held onto the shamash and brought it to the two candles on the right side, the one on the far right followed by the one next to it. The apartment grew much warmer from the added singular flames before her.

Christine returned to Alex and the punch drunk look on his face, at which she put her arm around him and kissed the side of his neck followed by the side of his face. She placed her other hand on his belly to feel his warmth and his softness.

“You wanna go cuddle?” she offered him in a breathy whisper into his ear.

“What do you think?” he asked her as as his eyes drooped closed. She kissed him on the lips and gently ran her fingers through his hair. “I’ll take that as a ‘yes.’”

[im-not-thinking-confetti-cannons]

Day 14: Cooking/Sharing Food

Warnings: none

Rating: T

Pairing: Boyd x Tim

Boyd is categorically unable to sleep past sunrise.

It’s a habit he had before Kuwait, but it got drilled into him well and good in the army. Sunlight bleeding through his eyelids is enough to get him rolling out of bed, joints creaking, ready to start the day.

Tim is the same way. He will beat Boyd to it, most days, his insomnia driving him from their bed before the sun even begins to turn the sky pink. Most of the time, Boyd will find him downstairs, perched on the counter in the kitchen with a cup of coffee in one hand and his phone in the other, the glow from the screen illuminating his face.

The routine they fall into is a comfort to the both of them. Or, Boyd likes to think it is. They don’t talk about it. Boyd doesn’t need to ask why Tim is up, and Tim hasn’t ever felt the need to fill a silence with small talk. But Boyd will putter around the kitchen, moving around Tim, as he gathers what he needs to make breakfast.

Tim won’t stick around for french toast or omelets – Boyd learned that early on. Anything that requires a plate, that ties him down to one spot, he balks at. He’ll sit with them if they all manage to be together in the house for a meal, but Boyd noticed quickly how his shoulders would hunch if they put a plate in front of him, how he would go quiet, answering questions with monosyllabic, flat responses if he answered at all.

(He’s apologized for it, more than once, though he mostly cut it out after Raylan sighed and said, “Tim, stop saying you’re sorry for shit that ain’t wrong.”)

It took a little trial and error, but Boyd’s figured out what doesn’t trigger that withdrawn, shrinking response.

“Morning,” Boyd says when he comes into the kitchen, and Tim glances up from his phone, offering Boyd a soft little smile. He lets Boyd kiss his cheek, and lets Boyd tilt his chin up for another kiss, too, brushed gently across his mouth.

“Morning,” Tim murmurs, and then nudges Boyd toward the stove with one bare foot, his smile going a little cheeky.

“So demanding.” Boyd squeezes his thigh before turning away to turn the stove on to heat. “Do you have anything in particular you’d like this morning?”

“We still have that salsa Raylan picked up in Louisville?” When Boyd hums in affirmation, Tim nods at the fridge. “Then, if you’re taking requests, breakfast burritos?”

Boyd tugs the refrigerator door open and scans the contents with a critical eye. “Well, I suppose I can make that happen for you,” he says, and gets a quiet thanks, Boyd in return. 

Tim’s request is an easy one, and cooking is relatively mindless. After a few minutes, Boyd hears Tim slide off the counter (hears him, he knows, only because Tim wanted to be heard), and then there’s a cup of coffee set down next to him, close enough to know that it’s his but out of the way of where he’s cutting up an onion and a bell pepper. Tim kisses the back of his neck, and, despite himself, Boyd feels a little shiver run down his spine. Tim isn’t casual with affection – not often enough for any of them to have gotten used to it, at least.

Tim lingers, and Boyd can feel the way the lips pressed to the back of his neck curve into a smile. “Maybe later,” he murmurs, one hand coming up to rest lightly on Boyd’s hip. “Feed me first.”

“Demanding,” Boyd repeats, but his voice is dripping with so much damn affection that the word just comes out fond. “I do hope you’re aware that the boys are going to have our asses for not including them in this.”

Tim laughs under his breath, squeezing Boyd’s hip before he slinks away, levering himself back up onto the counter – a little closer to Boyd and the stove, this time. “Not my fault they’d rather stay in bed until someone drags them out,” he says, before taking a sip of his coffee. Then, with a little bit of a softer voice, he adds, “We’ll set some aside for them, yeah?”

He almost sounds reluctant, but Boyd knows the hesitancy in his voice isn’t from any sort of true selfishness – Tim’s not used to having attachments, other people in his life he feels the need to look after. It’s a new feeling. It’s a vulnerable feeling.

“We can do that, baby.”

It’s impossible to miss the way Tim twitches, his bare toes curling, his knuckles whitening around the mug in his hands. It’s muted surprise, carefully controlled, and Boyd knows he only sees as much as he does because Tim is home, safe, with just about as few guards up as he ever has – which is the only reason Boyd used the endearment in the first place. It’s not for anyone else but them.

“Never thought I’d like that,” Tim says after a noticeable pause, and Boyd suspects it goes a little past never thought I’d like it, maybe more towards never thought I’d have it. “Like it from you, though.”

Boyd thinks he can be forgiven for the way he pushes the pan back, barely remembering to flick off the burner before turning to Tim, stepping neatly between his knees and reaching up to cup his face with both hands. “Baby,” he murmurs, but Tim is the one who drags him in, abandoning his coffee so he can fist both hands Boyd’s shirt and kiss him, hard, licking into his mouth like he’ll be able to taste the word there.

Two hours later, Raylan stumbles into the kitchen to find the two of them sitting on the floor – both of them missing their shirts and sporting not a small number of love bites over the necks and shoulders – eating cold breakfast burritos.

He opens his mouth, pauses, and then shakes his head. “Did one of you make coffee before all this–” He waves his hand vaguely. “Devolved?”

“Raylan,” Boyd says, his voice gently chastising. “Whatever aspersions you might cast on my character, I do happen to understand that coffee always comes before sex.”

“Menaces,” Raylan grumbles under his breath.

He still ducks down to kiss both of them on the tops of their heads before pouring himself a cup of coffee.

find this fic on AO3 here:

[anthrofreshtodeath]

— hugging and absentmindedly kissing their neck, resulting in mortification for one of them

Again, several people asked for this prompt, but I am placing it here! I saw each request, thank you.

___

“Don’t approach, I smell like sewer water,” Jane said as she walked through Maura’s door, finally, after eleven pm. She held up her hands when makeupless, robe-wearing Maura shut the refrigerator door and squealed at the sight of her. The hands stopped Maura midstride, but only because Jane appeared both serious and forlorn.

“I don’t care,” Maura replied honestly, impatient fingers drumming against her own hips. “I haven’t seen you in days.”

Jane dropped a spackle- and plumber’s putty-covered bag to the foyer floor, and trudged toward that closed fridge door. “Trust me, you’ll care when you get close,” she sighed. Maura watched her stare at the contents of the beer shelf for long seconds, more from exhaustion than from indecision. “A pipe burst and after we got the water turned off I almost killed Tommy,” said Jane. She grabbed a Peroni and dropped her shoulders with a huff. “This is the last job I help him with.”

“Is that what the stains are?” Maura asked, and when Jane turned around, lip of the bottle to her mouth, Maura arched her brow. “They look like salt.”

Jane held her arms out and looked down. “That would be a terribly unfortunate wrong guess,” she said, but the opening was all Maura needed to swoop in.

She hugged long, and firm, and deep - the way she’d intended since Jane first walked in. Hugs had become this way between them, more boundaryless, less friendly. More satisfying. And Jane was right, the smell of old standing water and all manner of waste lingered as they embraced. 

And Maura was right, too: she didn’t care. 

Her toes, bare and clean from her evening shower, the one that stripped her of the deco smell, wiggled against the thick soles of Jane’s workboots, just as spotted with gray as her toolbag. 

Jane fell forward into the hug like she always did. Right after stiffening, she melted into a puddle around Maura, arms tight, shoulders slumped, head bending like the rest of her into the crook of Maura’s neck.

Maura’s little secret for the previous few months was that she turned her head to allow Jane more space, because when she did, every time she did…

Jane grasped against the small of her back and inhaled with gusto against Maura’s thumping jugular. Maura even wore the French perfume Jane liked, that she knew Jane liked because of moments like the one they shared now. 

But this time, one tiny thing changed, and before Maura could hide her second squeal of the evening, Jane kissed Maura’s neck when she turned to get a better whiff. 

“Oh!” Maura yipped in surprise; though, when she thought about it, hadn’t she been preparing the both of them for it since they shifted into these types of hugs? Hadn’t she intended to draw Jane out?

Jane stood ramrod straight as soon as she heard it, and the color drained from her face. “Oh, my god,” she said, mouth agape. “Maura, I am so sor-”

Maura yanked Jane closer when she tried to pull away. “No!” she shouted, then quieted when Jane’s eyes blew open. “No. I don’t care.”

“You don’t-”

“Stop, that’s not right, either,” Maura revised her echo, “I care. What I mean to say is… this is a development that pleases me.”

This time, Jane’s brow arched upward. “Is that right, Sherlock?”

Maura pursed her lips in confusion at Jane and her barely-there smile. “I think out of the two of us, you’d be Sherlock, and I’d be Doctor Watson. But yes, it is right. I’m tired of you not kissing me.”

“Tired?” Jane asked, like she still could not believe Maura’s mortification didn’t match her own. “Wait. Is this… is this what the perfume is about right before bed? You’ve been doin’ it all the time.”

Maura blushed. “Did it work?”

Jane lurched forward, leaning into their embrace again, this time pulling Maura off the ground before sniffing the side of her neck with gusto. “Oh it worked, alright. I am going to scrub all this grime offa me, and then show you how much it worked.”

Maura’s third squeal fluttered through the living area as Jane carried her past the kitchen and to the bottom of the staircase.

[syrena-del-mar]

5, 31, 42

Hey Shan! Thanks for dropping these in my ask. 5. Least favorite chore.

Mopping my floors. The type of linoleum? vinyl? planks that my place had installed never gets clean, it's incredibly irritating. I can be mopping, swiffering, and brooming my floors and it always holds dust.

31. Do you still own your old car?

I don't! I had a 2007 Acura MDX that just gave out on me after carrying me for about 350k miles (200k of those being my own.) I just started leasing a 2024 Mazda CX-30 back in April, so def a major upgrade.

42. What's an unjustifiably expensive appliance that you really want?

I'm in the middle of renovations, so I've been looking at appliances a lot recently. I keep going back to the Zline Autograph 60-inch French Door refrigerators. The price tag is ridiculous, $12k+, and I'll never own one, but they sure are damn pretty.

Ask meme for people in their 30s

[heavier-than-average]

I gotta say, I think that it’s incredibly hot that you exceed the weight limit of most things 😍

You moved out of the territory of normal human size limits. This got me thinking about what else weighs about 300lbs. And there happens to be a list out on the interwebs. These are a few of my faves.

1. a french door refrigerator

2. a pool table

3. a cast iron bathtub

4. a three seat sofa

5. a newborn elephant

Hey Anon, haha wow those are some interesting comparisons. I am surprised by the pool table and tub, those feel like they would weigh more lol

[haveihitanerve]

The sun was just barely setting in Queens when Peter Parker knocked open the back door to his local McDonalds. “Hey Jeff.” He greeted tiredly, dropping his backpack behind the refrigerator and slipping on his staff uniform. “Hey Pete. I’m heading out. You locking up alone tonight?” His coworker asked, slipping off the uniform. Peter nodded. “Yep. Have fun at your girlfriends birthday party. Tell her I said hi.” Jeff smiled, slinging his bag over his shoulder, a bouquet of flowers in the other. “Will do. See ya man.” Peter lifted a hand in a wave, moving to the front of the store. Like clockwork, the door jingled open. “Hi welcome to McDonalds how can I-” Peter sighed. “Guys. What are you doing here?” Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes grinned at him. “Hey Peter. Fancy seeing you here!” Sam greeted. “You work here?? Since when?” Bucky gasped innocently. “Hardy har har.” Peter muttered back, punching in their order without waiting for them to say it. “To go or for here?” He asked, printing out their receipt. “Here.” Bucky smirked. Peter rolled his eyes. “Such joy.” “Hey wait,” Sam held out two ten dollar bills. “Add something to our order that you like. I don’t want change.” Peter raised an eyebrow. “Sam..” “Pete.” Sam countered. Peter smiled, taking the money. “Alright. Go sit down you pests. Your food’ll be out in a sec.” They nodded at him and picked a marginally clean booth, settling down. Peter headed to the back, fixing together their order and throwing in a few things he liked as well. The two heroes were quiet when he brought the food out to them, watching the sun set. “Here you are.” Peter set the tray down in front of them. “Thanks kiddo.” Bucky patted his shoulder, grabbing his food and taking a bite. Sam scooted over. “Have a seat.” “I gotta work.” Peter protested. Sam gave him a look. “No one else is here. Take a break. Eat.” Peter tried to stay standing, but finally relented, sliding into the booth next to him. “You’re worse than Tony.” He grumbled, obediently taking a bite of his burger. “Good.” Bucky retorted, sliding his fries over. Peter obliged, eating them. “I swear kid, your metabolism is worse than James’, eat.” Sam shoved one of his burgers over as well. “I’m starting to think you guys don't like half of them food you order.” Peter muttered through a bite. Bucky snorted. “Us??? No we love the food. Its why we keep coming.” Sam said aghast, feigned innocence. Peter shook his head, but he couldn't stop his smile. “Whatever the reason for you guys being here all the time,” Peter swallowed. “Thanks. Its- probably the best part of my day.” He admitted. Bucky knocked their knees together. “We’re glad to kid.” Sam wrapped an arm around Peters shoulders, throwing a french fry at Bucky. “The old mans right. We’re happy to be here. Spending time with you. Its probably the highlight of my day too.” Bucky snorted, throwing a fry back. “You guys have sad lives. I don't think this makes the top ten.” Peter laughed, leaning his head against Sam’s shoulder. “Yeah sure Snowflake. We all know the true highlight of your day is cuddling with Alpine.” Sam snorted. Peter smirked. “Or flirting with Sam’s sister.” “hey!” Sam pulled away, shoving him. “That's low brat!” Peter laughed as Sam and Bucky continued throwing fries at ach other, growing more aggressive as their smiles grew. Maybe it wasn't exactly the highlight of any of their days, but sitting here, in a shitty, half cleaned McDonalds booth, cracking jokes and just being with each other while the sun set, it was pretty awesome.