#which was basically sitting in a not clear swimming pool with a great white in it and

[akascow]

my dreams are so interesting to me sometimes im like wow i should write a fic based around one

then i think about it for like two more seconds and remember not only are dreams so inherently hard to describe or even make sense of but also

if i try to explain a dream i immediately forget anything that happened in it

[the-roo-too]

oh haewon x reader; highschool au

warnings: angles and demons: the novel; i kinda hate this

your high school experience was… a little bland. sure, you weren’t expecting to be in the popular groups or whatever, but you thought being a weird theatre kid would get you into trouble with said people. in your school, the cliques didn’t really mix with each other and you just were there.

you still held a little restraint towards the sporty kids—they seemed like the perfect type to bully a kinda smart, arts kid like you. so naturally you kept your distance for most of your years spent in the school.

now in your final year, you were hoping to avoid all of them as much as you could. there was this one girl in particular, a part of the woman’s volleyball team—oh haewon. you two never exchanged a single word, but you had a personal vendetta against her.

she was one of the sporty kids, yet she didn’t seem to be failing any of her classes like in the movies. she was ticking you off, almost as if she was trying to rile you up and prove she was so much better, which she of course maybe was? wasn’t. a big part of you detested haewon and her suspiciously good school performance.

there was a rumour about her probably seducing some teachers to let her pass… but that seemed more like a cheerleader thing than a swimmer.

out of your thoughts knocked you the sound of the bell ringing, signalling the beginning of the literature class. the teacher walked in slowly, sending all of her students a small smile before she tried to shut the doors to the classroom. after her ran in a panting haewon, her hair damp and cascading down her shoulders chaotically.

she must’ve just ran there from the swimming pools, you thought. the team was kind of know for having practices in the middle of the school day, wasting the members lunch period.

haewon quickly apologised to the teacher for being late before scurrying to her usual seat, in the back with some random cheerleaders. you couldn’t be bothered to know all of their names, but lily morrow—a friend of haewon’s—was actually nice, she played in a musical with you on your second year.

you saw the swimmer sit down next to the one popular kid you knew, before you turned your attention back to the front of the classroom, berating yourself for even wasting time thinking about the girl. you wouldn’t admit it out loud, but trying to prove to yourself you were better than haewon was like an obsession to you.

when everyone finally settled down, the teacher cleared her throat to get the student’s attention. it was basically the middle of the school year, so you were expecting her to give out some kind of a big assignment. of course you were right, she soon started writing down topics she’d chosen for the projects on the blackboard. the teacher mentioned you would get your subject assigned by her, yet you only saw about 10 written down on the board, which meant that either some people would get the same topic or-

“for this assignment, i want you guys to work in pairs.” before people could start asking her questions, she quickly continued. “i’m choosing the partners.”

quiet groans of disappointment resonated through the room. the teacher didn’t seem too bothered about it though and she just nodded her head to herself.

“i tried to pick it out so that the pair could work on a topic that’s familiar to them.” and she started calling out names.

your eyes scanned the words on the blackboard. which one could be yours? ‘jekyll & hyde; the study of human mentality’ seemed like something you could be connected to… because of the musical, of course. maybe you’d be partnered with lily? she was a nice cast mate…

just then, the teacher called out your name.

“l/n y/n and oh haewon.” you could imagine your face slowly turning white. “angels and demons; the inaccuracies. that’s your topic, girls.”

the teacher moved on, calling out other names while you sat there, frozen in your place. sure, angels and demons is a great novel, but…

you threw a subtle glance at haewon. she didn’t seem like she’d enjoy a book like that. or understand it. even if she was doing good, almost as good as you you didn’t think she’d understand the complicated matters of antimatter nor the symbology in the series.

your eyes suddenly met, and the athlete sent you a small smile. in her awfully expensive clothes, dark makeup and still wet hair, she didn’t seem all that inviting to you. were you going to argue with the teacher over her partner choice for you? yes. did you think you’d be successful? not really.

trying never hurt anyone, right?

trying did hurt some people, clearly. or maybe not hurt directly, but you got laughed at by your teacher. in the end, she just gave you some bullshit about making new friends and ‘seeing how the two of you were actually quite similar’.

that last part was, in your opinion, complete bullshit. yet you obediently set a quick meeting time with haewon. you thought you could maybe get the material divided between the two of you and then only see each other again to finish the assignment.

now you sat in the library, a comfy hoodie on and the book in front of you. haewon wasn’t late by any means, you just arrived there 20 minutes in advance because of the stress.

you started scrolling through a pdf of the book on your phone, trying to remember more of the details. then, with a soft thud, something landed on the table in front of you. you jumped in surprise, looking up to see haewon placing her laptop down. only she wasn’t wearing her usual lavish clothes, but an oversized and a little worn out sweater tucked into a pair of equally baggy pants. she was also sporting a pair of nerdy glasses—not very in character for her, or maybe?

she gave you a small grin and opened her laptop. “so, how do you wanna do this, y/n?” she knew your name! and she seemed awfully cheerful for an athlete forced to work with a theatre kid.

“uhm-“ you quickly pulled out your notes, not wanting to seem unprepared all of a sudden. “have you read the book?”

haewon bursted out laughing. you awkwardly looked down at your notes before glancing back at her.

“is that a no…?”

“of course i read it, dummy.” she leaned back in her chair and started searching through a bag she brought to the library. then, she pulled out a little worn out copy of the book. if you weren’t really mistaken, that looked like the first edition of the book’s cover.

“oh.”

“who do you take me for?” she continued, placing the book on the table. “there was a reason we were assigned together, you know?”

“right.” you coughed lightly and placed you phone on the table too. now your pdf seemed a little bland compared to her book. there was a couple colourful notes sticking out from it—she must’ve had her own admirations there. “yeah, you’re right. so, i was thinking maybe we could do like a comparison essay-“

“and explain the inaccuracies. that’s what the task is, silly. lily mentioned-“ lily morrow talks about you? “that you were into musicals when i asked her about you. i’d say that’s more historic than scientific so how about you take the church inaccuracies and i’ll do the physics?”

you were annoyed by her interruption, making a small frown appear on her face. before she could notice and correct herself, you slowly replied through gritted teeth. “are you saying i can’t do the science stuff?”

haewon tilted her head with a surprised smile on her face. “the profesor told me so. can you?”

“i can.” you noted down in your phone to do the physics part of the assignment. “you do church. enjoy.”

you stood up and quickly left the library, leaving the athlete all by herself.

a couple days passed from your first meeting with haewon. she slowly worked on her part of the project in the mean time, while also complaining about you to one of her friends.

“that girl is so full of herself!” haewon angrily placed her gym bag on the bench in the locker room. it was the time for (yet another) practice for the swimming team. one of her fellow teammates, pham hanni, chuckled at her and lightly hit her shoulder.

“i thought you liked that band nerd?”

“she does theatre, not band.” haewon slowly swatted stray hairs sticking to her forehead. “and that’s not the point. i was being nice to her! i offered i’d take the harder part of the assignment, cause i wanted to be nice-“

“i don’t think band nerds like when you try to outsmart them-“

“she’s not in a band!” she sat down on the bench, glaring lightly at the vietnamese girl. hanni was making light jokes of her, but she knew she wasn’t truly poking fun at her. “i just feel like she doesn’t like me, you know?”

“you’re so likeable though!”

“you’re the one to talk?”

hanni gasped in offence before punching her teammate in her shoulder. “how dare you. you are my friend so i’d say you like me.”

“shut up. lily said she was nice, so i tried to be nice too. i dunno what’s with her.” with a small huff, haewon reached for her bag, looking to get her swimsuit and water bottle out. upon not finding the second thing, she cursed under her breath. “hanni, you have a water bottle?”

“you just said i’m not likeable.” the korean girl rolled her eyes but before she could make a smart reply, hanni shrugged her shoulders. “but even if you didn’t, i don’t. i forgot mine today.”

“i think i did so too. i’ll just run to the vending machine and get myself some water. be right back.”

she stood up, leaving her bag there and only taking her phone to pay.

“hey, you didn’t even ask if i want anything!”

“oopsies.”

just your luck, the vending machine wasn’t working. or at least, the coin slot wasn’t. your phone was charging in the library and you didn’t have a habit of carrying your card around when you could just pay with your mobile. sitting after classes in the school library made you thirsty, so you were hoping to just get yourself some water. it seemed you wouldn’t be able to do that after all.

then, as if the gods above were mocking you, you heard the familiar voice of a certain swimmer approaching you.

“hey, y/n!” she quickly jogged up to you. you subconsciously scanned her appearance, noticing her clothing style yet again. she was back to the tomboyish clothes, but without her usual dark makeup. you noted silently that she must be going to swimming practice if she’s bare faced.

she’s pretty without makeup. …what?

“didn’t think i’d see you there.” she mumbled, standing next to you in front of the vending machine. there was a short second of awkward silence between the two of you, before she glanced at you with a raised brow. “you’re buying something or..?”

“it’s not accepting cash.” you answered truthfully. one hand in the pocket of your comfy hoodie, you fidgeted with the coins, feeling her gaze on you.

“hm.” the small hum escaped her lips before she gently pushed you to the side, choosing something for herself and paying for it with her phone. “you want something?”

your eyes widened a little at her question. watching as she reached to pick up her water bottle she just bought, you tilted your head awkwardly. “me?”

“duh.”

“oh.” you cleared your throat before nodding in a semi shy manner. “water, please?”

“sure thing.”

…

“you know, i wasn’t actually doubting your smartness or anything.” you blinked slowly as the athlete handed you the water bottle.

“what?”

“with the assignment. i asked to take science because i honestly am not very well informed in that field. i came off the wrong way.”

“oh.” your short answers almost made you cringe internally, but what could you do? as you were about to hand her the change the vending machine wouldn’t accept, as a payback for the water, she stopped you.

“it’s fine. listen, this will sound really stupid but lly talks a LOT about you and i think you’re really cool? we could work on the assignment in some coffee shop outside of the campus if you’re up for that.”

the way her cheeks were coated with a subtle blush made you smile a little. “i guess we started off the wrong foot. sure.”

“so, it’s a date?”

“woah, not so fast-!”

[keanureevesisbae]

The alluring charm of Henry Cavill - Chapter 3

Summary: During a trivia game, Adelaide impresses people with her knowledge.

Henry Cavill x Adelaide Park (ofc)

Wordcount: 3.5k

Warnings: None

A/N: For the people who have send in character asks and I haven’t answered it yet: I’m working on it 🤗 Because of school, I haven’t gotten to it yet. But somewhere this week I’ll answer them. Also: I love the responses to this fic. I want to let you know that these comments make my day 💕 Also, did I use the twitter accounts from the characters of my other fics for the tweets at the end? Yes, I did.

Masterlist // Previous chapter // Next chapter

Why am I in bed?

I look around and see that I’m in the middle of the bed that Henry and I share back on the show, but the improvised wall between us is gone.

Back when I was growing up, we had one bedroom and one bed, where we had to squeeze in if we happened to be all home. That rarely happened. It was usually just me, or later on my dad joined, when he got back from work. On mom’s days off, she’d be in bed all day, resting from all those hard days at work. Sharing beds isn’t something that I really mind, even if the person I’m sharing with, is Henry Cavill.

‘You’re awake,’ I hear Henry’s deep voice and I look to my left, to see him standing up from a chair. He sits on the edge of the mattress, sinking into the soft material. ‘How are you?’

‘I don’t know,’ I mumble, pushing myself up straight. I’m not in the muddy clothes anymore and I look at Henry again, slightly worried and ashamed. Did he undress me?

‘Don’t worry,’ he calmly says, ‘Jennifer went with us. She changed you.’

I clear my throat, as I start fidgeting my hands, one of the many nervous ticks I have. ‘I’m sorry.’

‘Why?’ Henry asks.

‘We were leading and then…’ I sigh deeply, trying not to think about what happened to me. I never learned how to swim, but I always avoided waters like the plague. During my acting career, I only had to swim once, but I was with David Castañeda, who played my love interest. I let him know that I was scared of water. He promised me he wouldn’t let go and the director actually loved the twist we gave to that swimming pool scene.

However, David knew I was scared of water, but didn’t know I couldn’t swim. Now I told Henry and in a matter of days, the rest of the world will know too, when this episode will air.

Henry doesn’t say anything. I bet he is mad, I think to myself. Fuck, I really let him down, didn’t I?

‘I’m sorry,’ I say, ‘that I let you down.’

His gaze softens. ‘You didn’t,’ he tells me. ‘I shouldn’t have pushed. I should’ve calmed you down. It was obvious that it really scared you.’ Henry sighs deeply. ‘But Adelaide… Why can’t you swim?’ he asks.

I could tell him. The whole world will know I can’t swim in the near future, why not tell them the entire story? ‘We didn’t have the money back when I was younger to go for swimming lessons,’ I say. ‘And I haven’t had the chance to do it now.’

Henry nods. ‘There is a pool in the backyard,’ he says, a telling smile toying on his face. ‘How about, over the course of these two weeks, you and I try it. It’s not deep and I’m there with you every second.’

‘Why?’

He shrugs, as if he is a little embarrassed that he offered, but he shouldn’t be. It’s just that I’m surprised, because the last time someone offered something like that to me… That was so long ago. I think it was when I still lived at home. I always do everything myself and people on set know that I tend to be very independent, so they don’t try. But Henry doesn’t ask or offer, he just does it. In the days that I’ve come to know him, he has been nothing but a gentleman. He made me breakfast and when we were cooking dinner, the oil was splashing over the pan. Before I could step aside, Henry grabbed another pan to shield me from the hot oil. The way he lifted me up during the obstacle course when I couldn’t reach the bars and how he caught me when I fell.

‘Well,’ he says, ‘because I think everyone should know how to swim.’

I smile and say: ‘Well, let’s consider it,’ I say. ‘We finished last, didn’t we?’

‘Yeah, we did,’ he says. ‘But don’t apologize for it, please. I don’t want you to feel bad about it. We were really great during this first challenge, so we’ll climb our way back to the top.’ Henry sends me a dashing smile and I can’t help but blush a little bit. ‘How about you get ready for tonight, then I’ll go and make you something to eat.’

‘Ready for tonight?’

‘Trivia night,’ he says.

I nod. I can’t seem to tear my eyes from him, as I look into his soft eyes. When I first met him, I thought he had that stern look in his face and I still did think that from time to time, but in those days that we spend together, it never looked like this. ‘Right, I’ll get myself ready.’

After a fifteen minute shower, I get dressed in a jeans skirt, with a simple black shirt that I tugged in. I paired it with the same white sneakers I wore the first day. I keep my hair and make-up pretty simple.

Henry made some sandwiches. I never knew that I thought it was attractive that a man could cook, but I sure do know now. Come to think of this, I never really thought about what I wanted for traits in a man.

My parents were happy with one another, but I feared that one day, I ended up like them. Poor, overworked, with two kids and a husband, who maybe felt—just like my dad—that he had to take care of us. Besides, I never experienced love. I never fallen in love, I only had on stage kisses and sex scenes. It was never real.

Maybe I’m way ahead of myself, but I feel something. I feel cared for. I feel noticed. I feel appreciated. Like I’m worth it. And that’s all thanks to Henry Cavill.

◎ ◎ ◎

Everyone seems concerned about me, but after I reassure everyone I am okay, we take place at three different tables, one for each duo. I take a seat on the chair. It’s a little colder than I imagined and I curse myself for not bring a jacket with me. I rub my upper arms as the crew is setting everything up, checking if our mics are working well enough, making sure the screen works.

Henry stands up as he wiggles out of his cosy vest, before placing it without a word on my shoulders.

‘Oh, that’s not necess— uh… needed,’ I say to him.

‘I’m not cold,’ he tells me, as he sits down next to me again. I want to stop my smile, but I can’t help it.

‘Thank you, Henry,’ I say in a soft tone, as if I don’t want him to hear me, but seeing how the corners of his mouth curl up, I know that he heard me.

The game is pretty simple: there is a host who asks a question and you have to answer it. It’s fairly easy and I almost feel like they are taking it easier because of me.

Every team has a button in front of them and ours meows like a cat.

‘What country won the first FIFA World Cup in 1930?’ the hosts asks.

Meow. ‘Uruguay,’ I answer, as I retract my hand from the button. .

Even the host seems impressed. ‘That is correct.’ On the screen behind him, I see that we are actually first now, with only one point, but it feels nice to be ahead of someone else, because of what I did. ‘Okay, next question. Which boxer was known as “the Great—’

Meow. That is not because of me, but because Henry slammed the button a little harder. Guess he doesn’t know how strong he is. ‘Muhammed Ali,’ he answers.

‘Correct.’ Why does the host not seem impressed now? Okay, this is nothing to be surprised about, so I should stop letting the subtle differences in reaction get to my head. It’s true, I’m pretty stupid according to the public.

And besides, we only had two questions and I had one right.

‘What animals have the longest gestation period?’

No one presses the button and I tap Henry on his leg. He looks at me and I usher him closer. ‘What is a gestation period?’

‘Pregnancy,’ he whispers, his hot breath against my lips, that start to tingle as a response. I shouldn’t get distracted because of that.

Meow. ‘An African Elephant,’ I answer.

We are ahead now with three points. I can’t help but beam with pride. Maybe the public will think a little more highly of me now.

‘What does HTTP stand for?’

Meow. ‘HyperText Transfer Protocol,’ Henry says with a smile.

‘What year was the first model of the iPhone released?’

Meow. ‘2007,’ Henry answers with ease.

He knows a lot, I think to myself. I look to the side for a second and I wonder what goes on in his head, right now and basically every single time we’re just alone. He can look at me in a way that I can’t explain and I don’t even understand why he looks at me like that.

We continue to answer multiple questions correctly and the meow is one of the only sounds that we hear. By the time we reached ten points, I discovered that Charlie and Jennifer’s sound is a bark and when we reached fifteen points, I found out that the Biebers’ sound was a chicken.

Who were the founders of Adidas? (Rudolf and Adolf Dassler—I knew this one.) Some Greek mythology questions that I knew nothing about, but Henry did and he seemed so giddy to explain it all to us, though no one seemed cared, besides me probably, because I could listen to this man for days on end. Together we knew the seven world wonders, who the Danish author was who wrote many fairy tales and they even asked us what Superman’s birth name was…

While Superman is in the room.

We are way ahead of everyone with twenty points, Charlie and Jennifer have ten (who knew that babies weren’t born with kneecaps—for knowing that alone I feel like they should win) and Justin and Hailey have nine. But the next question we can think about for a few seconds and it’s worth fifteen points. So we either become second or first, depends on how well we do.

‘Name these chemical elements of the periodic table. Ge, Sn, Rf, K and Ba.’

Henry places his arm on the back of my chair and leans over. Gosh, he is really close. Not that I’m complaining, but feeling his body heat so close to mine and it’s not even acting… Why does that make me feel all sorts of things?

‘Ge is Geranium,’ he whispers, ‘and Ba and Barium.’

‘K is Potassium,’ I say in a soft tone. ‘So we only have Sn and Rf left. Sn is Tin.’

‘You know a lot,’ he says with a smile.

Does he mean that? Did he just say I know a lot? Me, the Hollywood ditz? ‘Rf is Rutherfordium,’ I whisper.

Meow. Henry presses the button and he looks at me, non verbally asking me if I want to answer this, but I simply shake my head. He names them in order and everyone seems impressed, but before they can give him a compliment (I know the host is desperate to call him ‘Handsome Henry with a Brain’ again. He did it seven times already and it was annoying the first time, let alone the seventh time), Henry says: ‘I only knew Geranium and Barium. Adelaide is the real genius here.’

◎ ◎ ◎

It’s twelve ‘o clock when Henry and I are in bed, both staring at the ceiling. Normally I’m in bed long before he is, but today we’re awake in the bed together. The only reason why I get into bed early, is that I hope I can fall asleep before he gets in.

But not today.

‘I have something I want to ask you,’ Henry says. ‘I’ve been thinking about this for awhile.’

‘Okay?’

‘Are you dyslexic?’

He could’ve given me a slap across my face and that wouldn’t have shocked me as much as this question. I push myself up, so I’m sitting. ‘Why?’

‘Just wondering.’

I simply shrug. ‘I don’t know. I never got tested back in school.’

‘Why not?’ Henry sits up straight as well and from the corners of my eyes, I see him placing his pillow on the headboard. That one curl covers part of his forehead and it’s almost a signature look when we are in the cottage.

‘The teachers didn’t care and we didn’t have a lot of money,’ I explain. It feels weird and uncomfortable to open up to him, however on the other hand, it feels right to have this out in the open. ‘And I don’t want to get tested now,’ I whisper. ‘I’m an adult, I can manage.’ I finally force myself to look over my shoulders, only to see that same soft look in his eyes, that I almost grown accustomed to. ‘What?’

‘Nothing,’ he whispers. ‘I just want to say to you that I underestimated you and—’

I can’t help but chuckle. ‘You are not the only one,’ I interrupt him. ‘It’s okay.’

‘No, Adelaide, it’s not okay.’

The sternness in his voice, make me turn around on the mattress completely, so I can look at him. ‘I did it myself, Henry. Really, it’s okay, don’t worry about it.’

Henry moistens his lips, before he clears his throat. ‘Then I won’t worry about it. Just know that I—now—think very highly of you.’

‘You don’t need to,’ I say as a frown appears between my brows. ‘Henry, what is really the case?’

He rubs his face, resists even and he actually looks really frustrated. ‘It’s just that I’m trying to figure you out, but I can’t seem to actually get to know you.’

‘There is not much to know,’ I say, but he shakes his head and says: ‘There is. You are so intriguing, Adelaide, you don’t even know it.’

I don’t really know what to say. He thinks there is much to know about me and that I’m intriguing? ‘Oh.’

‘And I get that it can be hard to open up, truly, I know, but… We have to work together. Wouldn’t it be better if we knew something about each other?’

Okay, that’s a fair point. ‘You tell me something first,’ I say to him.

‘Like what?’ he says, genuinely looking relieved that I’m going along with it.

I tilt my head as I look in his eyes as I take in the brown spot on his left eye, that is surrounded by a beautiful blue. ‘You want to win?’

Henry frowns, probably confused by my question, but when he sees I’m dead serious, he nods. ‘Of course,’ he says, ‘I’m competitive. Why was that your question?’

‘Because now I know that I have to work extra hard not to let you down. It doesn’t really matter to me if I win or not.’

‘You won’t let me down, Adelaide.’

‘I did already,’ I say, ‘and don’t try to convince me otherwise. Now, what do you want to know about me?’

He tilts his head and says: ‘You have a nickname?’

And he thought my question was a bit weird? I snort. ‘My parents called me Dasom. That’s my Korean name.’

‘Really?’ he asks. ‘I didn’t know that.’

No one knows that. ‘But other than that I don’t really have a nickname. People call me Park every now and then, but that’s it.’

‘What does Dasom mean?’

‘Love,’ I whisper. ‘Because, as my parents always say: I was born out of pure love.’ I roll my eyes, because I hate the cliché, but thankfully I was born out of love. It meant that I was welcomed in their lives, though they were poor and barely had anything.

‘That’s sweet,’ he says. ‘So, no one called you Addy for example?’

‘Come to think of it, Keanu Reeves called me Addy every now and then. Especially when we were doing stunts for the movie and he had to encourage me.’

‘Can I call you Addy?’

The fact that he asks me if he can call me Addy, shows me that he is so much more than the news outlets let him to be. Of course, he is handsome, but there is more than just looks. He is intelligent, caring and a real gentleman. Though he can look slightly intimidating, he is a big softie. ‘I would like that, Henry.’

As much as I want to sleep, I can’t. I’m too awake for that, maybe because of the thrill that we are actually ahead of the others now. Who knows how long that will last…

‘You want to do something?’ Henry suggests. ‘I’m not as tired as I figured I would be.’

‘Like what?’

‘You want to swim?’

◎ ◎ ◎

Henry is already swimming laps in the pool, as I try to build up the courage to actually walk out of the door to the pool. I have a large towel wrapped around me, to hide my red and white striped bathing suit.

I can do this, I think to myself. I wore a skimpy bikini for a movie, I’ve been naked on sets with the crew around me. This isn’t too hard.

I walk out of the cottage and see that Henry leans with his under arms on the edge of the pool, placing his chin on one of them. ‘There you are,’ he says with a smile.

I dip my toe in the water and start to shiver, goosebumps appearing on my entire body. ‘It’s cold,’ I mumble. ‘And it looks too deep.’

‘It’s not. It’s only one meter sixty.’

‘I’m one fifty,’ I retort. ‘What if I drown?’

‘I’m not letting that happen,’ he says. ‘I promise you, Addy.’

The use of that nickname, makes my feel all sorts of things. Normally I’m not too keen on nicknames, but I could get used to this.

I fold the towel, before I place it on the floor and I sit on the edge of the pool, as my legs dangle in the cold water. Henry bumps his elbow against the side of my thigh and he asks: ‘Ready?’

Maybe it’s because of the dim lighting of the lanterns outside, or the reflection of the water, but he looks even more ethereal than other times. My eyes fall on his beautifully formed lips, that curl up in a smile.

‘I am,’ I say.

He stands in front of me and I place my hands on his broad and tight shoulders. I shimmy myself off the edge, into the cold water. Despite the fact that his large hands in the dips of my waist, makes me all warm from the inside, the water is really cold. Henry starts to laugh, probably because I scrunch up my entire face like I’m a Sharpei dog. ‘Maybe you should keep breathing, because I can’t have it that you pass out on me twice within one week.’

‘Shut up,’ I shiver, as I hold on tightly to his shoulders. ‘You’re not going to let me go, right?’ I ask, just in case.

‘Of course not,’ he whispers.

For a second I envision we’re having a moment together, but then I realize that’s not the case, because he takes a step backwards and we are further away from the edge. I can still reach over to my left, so I’m directly at the other edge, but it does terrify me a bit.

‘Henry,’ I say.

‘Yes?’

‘I’m scared.’

‘I know,’ he tells me, squeezing my waist to let me know that he is there. ‘But there is no need for you to be scared. You just have to grow comfortable in the water and that takes time.’ Henry’s voice is soft and I have to take a deep breath. ‘You’re doing great.’ He slowly takes more steps backwards and smiles at me, as if he knows that that comforts me.

After two laps of him walking backwards and me moving my legs (I don’t know why I do that, but it just happens), I feel more and more accustomed to the water. Still, I don’t want to let go of Henry for one single second, because the fear that I might drown is still there. For the other two laps, he wraps his arm around my waist, as I hold onto the edge and my other arm around his shoulder.

Henry lifts me on the edge, before he hoists himself next to me. He reaches behind him to grab my towel and wrap it securely around my shoulders. ‘How was it?’ he asks.

‘It was good,’ I admit. ‘I mean, I still don’t want to swim myself, but it’s not that scary anymore.’ I look to the side, only to discover that he was already looking at me. From the looks of it, he is looking at my lips, but I must’ve hallucinated that. ‘Thank you,’ I say, to break the silence between us.

‘You’re welcome,’ he says, his voice low.

I smile, before I stand up and hurry back inside. I was making that up, wasn’t I? He wasn’t totally staring at my lips?

Or was he?

◎ ◎ ◎

After the first episode was aired, showing the first few days of the duos together, these were the favorite tweets of the producers of ‘the Celebrity Project’

Taglist: @thelastsock​ // @jolly-polly​ // @henrythickcavill​ // @maan24​ // @diegos-butt​ / @agniavateira​ // @onlyhenrys​ // @turkish276​ //

[murdershegoat]

nothing's sweeter than summertime and american honey

(written under the influence)

(also on ao3)

lena thinks she might be hallucinating, because there is no way kara danvers is skateboarding in the luthor family pool.

wait. go back a step.

why is the luthor family pool empty??

it’s the second last week of summer, and lena stands on the back porch, her arms now self-consciously folded across her half-naked body. she stares in confusion as kara danvers appears on one side of the pool and then promptly disappears, only to pop up at the other end moments later.

‘kara, can you quit it?’ comes a gruff, familiar voice. alex danvers from ap bio is fiddling with some pool equipment at the edge of the yard. ‘this is a huge job for dad and you’re gonna get us fired.’ neither girl has noticed lena yet, for which she is very thankful.

‘take a chill pill,’ comes kara’s reply. ‘you just wanna finish quickly so you can go see maggie.’

even from her distance, lena can see how red alex’s face goes. ‘shut up! we’re just friends.’

kara snorts. ‘sure, jt and britney are also “just friends.” just admit you like her.’

lena assumes they’re talking about maggie sawyer, who had transferred into alex’s grade late last year. alex grumbles something in response that isn’t a denial, and lena feels her heart soar. alex danvers is a l-- she likes girls?? lena bites her lip.

this summer has been a nightmare of loneliness, even more so than usual. her mother hasn’t been home in a month and lex had flown in yesterday and spent the day with her, only to fly out early this morning before she woke up. she’s spent the summer sending emails to her penpal jack, lazing by the pool, and clearing her search history of questionable googles. she’s also been grappling with a huge secret, something she can’t tell anybody (not that she has anybody to tell in the first place.) her secret is this: she really wants to kiss somebody. and that somebody happens to be in her grade. and that somebody happens to be a girl.

it happens to be the girl who is now skateboarding in the suspiciously empty luthor pool, the girl who’s impossibly smart and funny and kind. the only person at Midvale High who’s not seemingly shit scared of lena.

the realization has been haunting her all summer, refusing to give her a single moment of peace. and now, knowing that alex is, is also like she is, and hearing the way kara gently teases her about it... well, lena doesn’t feel as lonely anymore. she wants to say hello to the sisters, to ask alex a million questions and ask kara how her summer is going and if she wants to maybe, like, hang out together or something. but just the thought of either thing makes lena’s heart race uncomfortably fast and her mouth go all dry. she turns around and slams open the sliding glass door, but apparently she doesn’t know her own strength. as she steps into the doorway, the door ricochets against the the end of its track and bounces back, hitting her in the side of the head.

‘FUCK,’ she screams, before turning white and whirling around.

both danvers sisters are staring at her. kara looks concerned and alex looks livid.

‘yo, luthor,’ kara calls out. ‘you okay?’

lena wants to say yes, but then she feels something sticky on her temple, and brushes her hand against it.

great. she’s bleeding.

next thing she knows kara has her sitting on one of the deck chairs, and lena’s not sure if she’s got a concussion or if kara just looks extra.... phenomenal today. she’s wearing a basketball jersey and shorts and lena keeps catching glimpses of her sports bra. kara takes off her baseball cap and wipes her brow. 

lena frowns. ‘you cut your hair.’

kara’s gorgeous long hair is no longer, instead it’s short around the sides with a messy tuft on top. 

‘you don’t like it?’ kara asks, running her hand through it. 

‘it looks... dope,’ she replies, immediately regretting her choice of words.

‘i did it out of solidarity with alex,’ kara says, grinning. ‘she wanted to get a buzz cut but she was a bit self conscious.’

alex comes back into view, carrying a first aid kit with her. her hair, too, is shorter than lena remembers it being. alex cleans up the side of lena’s head.

‘look, i don’t think you have a concussion, but you can hang out with kara and i while we finish the pool and i can keep an eye on you.’

‘alex is a junior EMT now,’ kara says proudly. ‘she’s also pretty much single handedly running our dad’s pool company this summer.’

right. the pool. that’s why they’re here.

‘why were you skateboarding in it?’ lena asks.

‘it won’t leave any marks,’ alex says quickly. ‘i promise. don’t worry about a thing.’

‘no,’ lena says, wincing as alex keeps prodding her tender head. ‘i mean, why is it empty in the first place?’

alex averts her eyes. ‘it was empty when we got here. we just gave it a scrub and an acid wash to get rid of some of the, uh, stains at the bottom.’ 

okay. lena thinks she knows what that means. and it also explains why lex left so early this morning. he fucking killed someone in the pool and needs to clean up after himself. fuck. she’s so damn stupid, thinking he’d actually come home to spend time with her. and she feels so embarrassed, having to explain how she’s used to her brother killing people so she’s not surprised or shocked by this.

kara lays a hand on her shoulder and smiles down at her. lena thinks she’s about to comfort her in some way, and she feels her heart start to race again.

‘can i grab something to eat?’ is what kara says instead, and lena’s face falls at the same time Alex whacks her sister’s arm.

‘kara, that’s unprofessional.’ but lena just smiles.

‘what do you want?’

///

lena didn’t think her day would be spent watching the danvers sisters fill her pool and eat sandwiches prepared by bertha the luthors’ cook, but here she is. kara sits on the grass across from lena, her toes digging into the green grass. she has what lena can only assume is a birkenstocks foot tan -- four fat white strips of skin on an otherwise perfectly browned body.

the pool is filling behind them, and alex sits on the other side of the yard, whispering into her cell phone.

‘how’s your summer been?’ kara asks with a mouthful of turkey sandwich.

‘quiet,’ lena replies. ‘my family’s been busy and not around much. i’ve hung out with our staff, but i don’t think it counts if they’re paid to spend time with you.’ she laughs, trying to detract from how sad it sounds. ‘how is yours?’

‘busy. my dad’s been, uh, he’s sick. so alex and i have been doing all the pool jobs. not much time to hang out with friends.’

‘and alex... she’s... with maggie sawyer?’

kara chokes on her sandwich. 

swallowing painfully, she lowers her voice. ‘could you, like, not say anything? i was teasing her and she’s freaking out because she’s not sure if you heard anything or not and it’s still... new and our parents don’t really know and if the school finds out---’

‘don’t worry,’ lena assures her. ‘i won’t say a word.’ her chest swells at the way kara smiles gratefully and lena realises she’s an absolute goner, head over heels for someone who could never like her back. lena almost wants to tell her the truth. maybe it’s the sun beating down on them or the welcoming scratch of grass against her legs or the summer feeling that has finally settled over luthor mansion. but before she can say anything, alex calls out.

‘kara, come help me finish treating the water!’

///

‘it should be good for swimming after about twenty four hours,’ alex says, packing the last of their equipment into the truck. lena hands them both the envelope lex had left, plus a hefty tip for each of them.

‘we can’t accept this,’ kara says, shoving the notes back into lena’s hand. alex doesn’t follow suit.

‘don’t be dumb,’ lena rolls her eyes. ‘my brother left it here for you, and i don’t want it.’ she hands it back to kara, who pockets it angrily. alex looks pleased her sister’s conscience hasn’t cost her the cash.

they climb into the truck and it rumbles to life.

‘catch you later, luthor,’ alex says, giving her a little salute.

‘hey,’ lena says, before she can talk herself out of it. ‘did you guys wanna come hang out tomorrow? the pool’s all clean and it feels like it’s a waste if i’m the only one using it. and you can bring ma-- a friend, if you’d like,’ she directs the last part to just alex.

alex’s eyes bore straight through her, trying to size her up.

‘we should be finished work by the afternoon,’ she says finally. ‘we’ll see you then?’

lena grins. ‘awesome.’

///

the last few weeks of summer fly by with a new routine in place. the danvers sisters finish work in the early afternoon and make their way to lena’s house, picking up maggie on the way. they lounge around the pool and bertha makes them mountains of food and her husband michael teaches them how to barbecue and lena finally understands what summer is supposed to feel like.

alex and maggie give up whatever pretense they were holding onto a few days into the routine, holding hands and stealing kisses whenever they thought the others weren’t looking. kara pretends to be grossed out but lena sees the happy gleam in her eyes as she does so. she wonders if kara can see the wistful look in hers.

spending time with kara feels like a dream. she tries to teach lena how to skateboard on the long, winding driveway that leads up to the house. lena stands as rigid as can be on the board and kara holds onto her waist and guides her along, assuring her that she won’t fall, catching her when she inevitably does. in return, lena teaches kara the basics of fencing because kara seems oddly excited to learn, and it’s the only thing that lena can actually teach her. kara’s skill-set seems exhaustive and incredulous. it’s like she’s a superhero or something. after just a couple of afternoons of practice, she’s better than some of the people lena’s been fencing with for years.

kara, lena is learning, is impossibly great. like, she’s known that for years; they’ve been in the same homeroom for two years, and are in lots of other classes together. she’s seen kara’s brain in action, and her humor and her kindness. but now she’s learned of a different kara, one that isn’t always in a great mood, one that isn’t always trying to please people.

kara still has walls up, lena’s sure of it, but she’s letting lena into the inner fortress, one layer at a time. and in turn, lena welcomes kara into her own heart, desperate to know the girl, and in turn, be known by her.

///

‘you know i’m... i’m... gay, right?’ 

it’s the first time lena’s said it out loud, and the sound of it alone makes her feel warm and comfortable in a way she’s never imagined. it’s a few days before school goes back and they’re floating alone in the pool -- maggie and alex taking the afternoon for themselves. she doesn’t quite know why she’s telling kara; maybe it’s because she knows how accepting kara is of alex and maggie, maybe it’s because she needs kara to figure out her big, overwhelming feelings.

‘i didn’t know,’ kara says with a small smile. ‘but thank you for telling me. i’m glad you feel comfortable enough to tell me.’

‘nobody else knows,’ lena confesses. ‘i mean, i barely know. i only really figured it out earlier in the summer.’

‘what made you realise?’ kara asks, before shaking her head. ‘sorry. you don’t have to answer that.’

‘it’s okay... i just... i realised that the feelings i had for this girl felt more... urgent? than i’ve felt about people before? like, i needed to be near her in a way i don’t usually need to be around friends.’

‘what’s she like?’ kara asks, and lena blushes.

‘she’s beautiful. and she’s wickedly smart. i feel like she would’ve been a handful as a kid, but she’s learned how to balance out that recklessness a bit. and she makes me laugh a lot.’

‘she sounds great,’ kara says, and lena laughs.

‘you have no idea.’

a lull settles between them as they float side by side. the sun begins to disappear behind the woods at the back of the property, and with it goes the warmth of day.

‘you know...’ kara says. ‘alex told me she thought you were gay. said she got a vibe.’

‘really?’ lena doesn’t know if she should be embarrassed or scared or proud.

‘yeah. she also said something else.’

‘what’s that?’

kara leans forward, no longer floating on her back. lena does the same and faces her.

‘she said... she said she thinks you like me.’

lena wonders if drowning herself is a viable way to get out of this conversation. or maybe she can just... swim to the other side of the pool.

‘lena?’ kara prompts.

‘yes?’

‘is she. is alex. is she right?’

lena looks at the water, unable to meet kara’s eyes.

‘yes.’ she says, in an impossibly small voice.

kara closes the space between them. she rests a finger under lena’s chin and tilts her head up. lena bites her lip as she looks into kara’s annoyingly blue eyes.

and before she can register anything else, kara is kissing her. she tastes like chlorine and sunscreen and cola lipsmacker and lena has never tasted anything quite as good. lena’s hands find kara’s neck and kara’s find lena’s hips and they stay like that -- making out in the pool -- until the sun is no longer in the sky and they’re both just slightly shivering.

‘do you want,’ lena says, slightly breathless. ‘do you wanna maybe go up to my room?’

kara grins and kisses her again, chaste and quick. ‘can we stop by the kitchen first?’

[duckseamail]

Break It - a short story

Here’s the short story I wrote for my english class!!! It’s about 2.5 k words, and kinda sad (it has a nice ending though!!!). I’m really happy with how it turned out, and would love any feedback!

Winona’s bangs are plastered to her forehead, rainwater sprinting its way past her eyes and over her lips. Her shoes slap on the saturated gray pavement.

Half a block away, she can see the faint glow of the porch lights from her apartment building. She grabs the edges of her raincoat tightly, hoping it's still wholly spread over her backpack, and sprints through the puddles and up to the front walk. Unfortunately, her face is assaulted with a smack by the large, unkempt bush that she can avoid on a good day. 

With a fierce kick at the stoop, Winona pushes into the small entryway.

She makes her way through the second pair of doors and goes to the stairwell. With a sigh, she starts the trek up to the seventh floor.

When she reaches her floor, she crinkles her nose in disgust. The thin carpet is thoroughly soaked and gathering little puddles of muddy water from all the people who have been coming in during the late afternoon downpour. 

She gets to her door and puts the key in the lock. It sticks a few times before finally, with much cursing and trying to force the locked door open, the locking mechanism catches and smoothly turns. Winona glares at the key as she pulls it out and enters her home. 

“Yeah...yeah, waiting for the rain to clear out next week sounds do-able.” A voice coming from the kitchen says.

Winona slips her soggy tennis shoes off and into the wicker basket by the door. She should ask her mom to take her to get some new rainboots soon.

“I actually did have a couple questions about the burial to ask you, Mr. Moro.”

Winona is about to hop past the square of harsh white light illuminating the hall when an arm shoots out in front of her. Busted. Mom is still on the phone with Mr. Moro, but the way her mouth is pursed conveys the “stay there and wait for a conversation” perfectly fine without words.

Mom walks around the small kitchen as she talks. She grabs a large, pink and green mug from the rack next to the sink. Winona watches as she takes out the ceramic jar labeled “calm” in a flowing cursive script and places a teabag from it into the empty mug.

“Thanks again for your time; I’ll call you soon.” Mom hangs up. Neither of them says anything.

The high, screaming whistle of the teakettle breaks the momentary silence.

Winona wishes she’d had time to change out of her wet clothes before having this conversation. The cold and sticky feeling of the bottoms of her jeans clinging to her ankles is almost as bad as the fact that her socks are basically little swimming pools. Rivulets from her hair drip over her ears and down her neck, soaking into the shirt collar.

“I got an email from your math teacher this afternoon,” Mom says

Winona ignores the insinuation that she should be explaining herself about now and asks, “What did it say?”

Her Mom’s hands tighten around her mug, and an angry flush breaks out high on her cheekbones. She seems to be so overcome that she can’t speak, so Winona unzips her dry backpack and pulls out the failed test and hopes it will explain itself and she can leave.

“Here,” she says, handing it over.

Mom sets down her mug with a dull thunk and takes the papers.

After a minute spent flipping through them, she says, “You said you spent all of last weekend studying for this.” Mom brings a hand up and rubs across her forehead that’s lined with tired wrinkles and fixes Winona with a disappointed sort of glare. 

“Yeah, well. I tried for a bit. But it’s not like anyone else cared about this test either, okay?” Winona says flippantly. She bites the edge of her hair, then continues speaking around it. “It just wasn’t the sort of test you’re supposed to study for.”

“What do you mean the sort of test you don’t study for?!” Mom asks incredulously. Her voice is creeping up, louder and louder. “You need to take responsibility. What would your grandma have to say about this if she were here?”

“ I am taking responsibility!” Winona shouts, her hair falling entirely out of her mouth and smacking her jaw.

“Obviously, you’re NOT!”

“You don’t even know how to organize a funeral! How can you talk about responsibility?” Winona yells back. All of a sudden, the frustration in her mom’s brown eyes freezes over. 

“Just. Just go.” Mom says, seething. She turns her back and dumps her over-steeped tea into the sink.

Rage at this icy dismissal floods through Winona’s blood and exits in a strangled roar. Before Mom can say anything back, she spins on her heel, storms out of the kitchen, down the short hall, and into her bedroom.

Winona grips her heavy wooden door with as much strength as she can muster and slams it closed.

“WE DON'T SLAM DOORS IN THIS HOUSE!” Mom shrieks from where Winona left her in the kitchen.

“I DON’T CARE!”

Her ears ring, and she flicks the overhead light on, only to turn it back off immediately. Though the anger simmering in her body is no longer boiling over, the bright light is too cheerful. The lightning that flashes through the window, however, is perfect.

Balling her hands up, Winona thrusts them under her arms in a half-pout half-hug and paces in circles. “This isn’t even a house. It’s an apartment.” She mutters snarkily to herself. She considers opening the door to send the comment her mom’s way but decides to keep stewing on it. She can come up with something better.

On her fifth lap around, her eyes catch on her grandmother's glass figurine, sitting primly on her cluttered desk.

It’s of a young woman lying back on a log, propping herself up on her elbows. Her tiny glass face looks up with a beautiful expression of wonder; the clear eyes seem to see everything and hold infinite wisdom. They’re surrounded by minuscule eyelashes that look too fluffy to be glass. The woman’s smooth glass lips are parted like she’s just seen something she needs to share immediately (more than once throughout her life, Winona had spoken to it in the hopes that maybe one day it would talk back). The woman’s hair is long and curls gently, sitting lightly over the figure’s shoulders and bouncing a few centimeters above the top of the log.

But Winona’s favorite thing about the glass figurine isn’t her face. It’s the sloping curves of the carved dress. It folds softly down to the ankles, each sweep lined with small creases, and the hem is covered in miniature flowers. The back fabric of the dress drapes over the log's rough ridges in a fantastic clash of textures. The sense of fluidity changing into firm resolve, the cracks and knots carved into the log holding strong. It knows exactly what it is; no room for doubts. It’s a log, each uncountable twist and turn working together to hold up the woman on top of it.

It’s fitting, though, because Winona’s Grandma Helen had gotten it the day she graduated college. Winona had been told the story of her family’s most prized possession many times. It was her favorite thing to do as a kid when Grandma came to visit. She and Mom would take turns telling the story, and when it was done, Winona always begged to hear it again.

Winona’s great-grandfather had been an extremely old-fashioned man and hadn’t been willing to help send her grandma to college. It had caused a massive fight between them that ended with Grandma leaving and vowing to only come back with a diploma in hand.

So, she’d left and spent the time working towards a degree in American history.

On the day of Helen’s graduation, she’d gone home to see her parents. Now, Grandma had kept in contact with her mother, but just like she had promised, this was Helen’s first time in years seeing her father again. 

He’d been sad and apologetic, begging for his daughter’s forgiveness. Apparently, there had been tears shed on both sides. And, of course, Grandma had missed her father desperately, and once she received an apology, she was quick to forgive him.

But an apology wasn't all Grandma had received. Her father also wished to congratulate her on her achievement in college. So he'd commissioned an artist to create a glass figurine of a young woman lounging on a log, looking ahead to the possibilities before her. It was based on a picture he had of Helen just before their fight, which made it all the more special.

Then, when Mom was a little kid, Grandma had given it to her. Mom brought it with her to every place she’d ever lived.

And finally, after a childhood spent pestering about when it would finally be her turn, Winona was given it for her sixteenth birthday just over seven months ago. 

Winona snaps from the torrent of memories to thunder booming. She takes a few steps up to her desk and runs her fingertips over the skirt of the dress.

Mom often comes into Winona’s room just to sit and look at it for a while - never touching - a habit that’s increased in the past few weeks since Grandma died.

She must find it comforting.

The thought of her mother feeling anything but sadness and pain swirls her remaining anger into a tempest. She wants her mom to hurt, to regret what she said about the stupid test.

Her head and her heart ache, and she wants her mom to feel that.

So, Winona wraps her hand around the glass figure and picks it up.

It’s surprisingly heavy for how delicate it looks, but Winona pitches for softball in the spring and has a good arm. She faces the plain door that Mom had just yelled at her about slamming and takes aim.

One of the ridges on the log catches against her palm as the figurine launches into the air. She doesn’t feel the cut, though.

The figurine tumbles over and over in the six feet it has to travel to hit the door, glinting a bit in the dark room. Adrenaline rushes through Winona’s brain, and with a crash, it collides.

The log bursts apart, tiny glass crystals falling like snow to the carpet. The young woman’s head breaks off and drops down in three chipped and scratched pieces. The body, surprisingly, is comparatively intact. The arms are gone, shattered among the carpet fibers; the dress's light folds are broken off, and there are deep cracks along the front. There is a large chunk missing from the upper back where the shoulders used to be. But, when Winona looks at where the body of the figurine rests, she can tell that it had once portrayed someone sitting.

And for a moment, standing and looking over the wreckage, calm and satisfaction is all she feels.

Then, the reality sinks in. Her mom’s, her grandma’s, her most special possession is gone. Winona broke it, and from the way it’s spread out over the floor, it can’t be fixed.

It feels like all the air has been knocked out of her. Winona opens her mouth, but she can’t tell if any sound comes out. It’s like all her senses are covered in a staticky fuzz.

Suddenly, her bedroom door flings open, knocking aside some of the larger pieces of glass.

“Are you okay? What hap-” Mom cuts herself off abruptly, and Winona wrenches her gaze up from the floor.

Mom’s eyes are fixed at her feet. Her mouth wobbles around words that die before making it out. Winona watches the tears drip down her mother’s cheeks, and everything feels terribly wrong. This shouldn’t be happening.

“Mom,” Her throat clenches, stopping her. She tries again. “Mommy, I- I didn’t mean- I’m-”

Her mom turns and leaves the room. The door is still wide open, and light from the hallway dances among the shards.

Winona finally notices her own sobbing. She isn’t sure how she missed it before because everything about her face feels wet. Her eyelashes are clumpy, and there is no break in the water streaming down her face. It goes past her nose, collecting snot on the way, and then parts. Some tears fall off her chin, and others collect in her mouth, coating her tongue with the taste of salt.

Slowly, she takes a blanket from her bed and curls up under it on the floor. Wiping her nose with her sleeve, Winona waits for the crying to stop.

-----------------

She wakes up to a pounding headache and a hand softly shaking her shoulder. Winona shifts the blanket off her face and sees Mom peering down at her.

Arms carefully reach around Winona’s shoulders and lift her so that she’s perched on the edge of her bed. Her clothes are removed and replaced with warm, dry pajamas. They’re the fluffy, purple polka-dotted ones - her favorite.

A plastic cup of water is pressed into her hands, and she takes grateful gulps of it ‘till the cup is empty.

The bathroom sink across from her room turns on, and Winona realizes her mom has left again. It’s only briefly, however, and Mom comes back with a wet washcloth in hand.

Winona takes it when it’s held out and rubs the sticky, overwhelming feeling of dry tears off her face. The water is warm and soothing, and even after she's clean, she takes an extra moment to press the cloth to her worn-out eyes.

She hands it back, and Mom places it on the bedside table before taking Winona’s right hand in hers. Winona wonders why she’s doing this when she notices a sharp red line crossing most of her palm. A throbbing heat is building there, but quick as a flash, her mom wipes a soaked cotton pad over it and then rubs on a layer of cooling antiseptic. Lastly, she places two large bandages over the entirety of Winona’s palm. Then, Mom helps her stand up.

Walking across the room into the now dark hallway, she realizes all the glass on the floor is gone. Mom must have taken the time to thoroughly clean up every last shard and speck while she was sleeping. Winona isn’t sure why, but as she’s walked over to her mom’s bedroom, she wishes she had been able to clean it up. It was her mess, after all.

But, her brain is moving too slowly to think up the words to best express that out loud, and moments later, she’s being herded onto one side of her mom’s bed.

The digital clock blinks at her. It’s 9:53 at night. Mom tucks the covers securely around Winona’s shoulders.

“I’m so sorry, Nony. We’ll fix things in the morning, okay?” Mom’s voice is hoarse when she says this, but the time for thinking is over now. Winona nods her head sleepily in reply and closes her eyes for the night.

[bubble-tea-bunny]

pool flamingo

[rohan kishibe x reader]

author’s note: idk why i’m so obsessed w rohan but i’m not tryna fight it

word count: 2,188

In the midst of summer, the heat grows to levels of moderate discomfort before the clocks even strike noon, so that when it finally is twelve o’clock, with the sun in the center of the sky, the temperature is nothing less than absolutely sweltering, and it would remain as such until the later hours of evening. A reprieve from the relentless intensity is never truly achieved until the skies turn orange and then black, and the sun is replaced by the moon.

The weather gives Rohan the perfect excuse to remain inside, working tirelessly on the newest volume of Pink Dark Boy. Though it isn’t as if he needs an excuse, and he has no shame in turning down invitations to lunch or whatever else comes his way, with the blunt explanation that he much prefers to spend his time continuing his manga.

He hunches over his desk, pen flying, sectioning out each page into the appropriate number of panels, drawing scene after scene. The first draft is the final draft, the shading and the line work clean the first time around, as is to be expected. His deadline is the end of the week but he’ll be able to send it in for publishing before then.

His focus is broken at the sound of footsteps padding down the hallway and he pauses, careful to lift the nib of his pen from the paper to avoid leaving a dark spot. He listens closely as the thud of bare feet on wood flooring becomes louder while passing by the door to his study, then fading as they move away. They come back, however, now accompanied by a knock on the door.

“Rohan, come out and join me!”

Your voice is chipper, easy to surmise even though muffled. Rohan shakes his head despite the fact you can’t see, and speaks up to be heard from across the room and through the door.

“I’m busy.”

It’s quiet on the other side for a few moments, but you’re not one to be discouraged. You push on. “It’s not so bad today! There’s a breeze!”

You really are trying, aren’t you? Rohan will never tell you that had been the only prodding required, that he is already convinced and yes, he’ll go out and join you, because that would go to your head, the realization that you don’t need much to convince him of anything. And he couldn’t be having you get supercilious. There is just room for one like that in this relationship, and he had already taken it for himself.

He replaces the cap on his pen and sets it to the side before he stands, stretching his arms and rolling his shoulders. His muscles seem to sigh in relief, for his posture when he’s deeply concentrated is nothing short of atrocious. He doesn’t notice how long he sits, hours flying by like seconds. You’d scolded him more than once on the occasion you had come into his study with a snack and a reminder for him to rest his eyes, lamenting that he was much too young to start giving himself long-term back and neck pain. He would always wave you off and tell you he’s fine, but your soft admonition to at least do his best to take regular breaks sits in the back of his mind. He’s working on it.

As he steps away from his desk, he glances at the clock, which shows him that it’s mid-morning. If he had to guess, he had been drafting the new volume for a couple of hours so far today. That was time for you to wake up, make breakfast, and decide this was another perfect day for your summer activity of choice.

Rohan’s hand curls around the doorknob and he pulls it back, revealing you on the other side, still standing patiently, watching him expectantly. He feigns disdain, huffing loudly, but you’re undeterred, and perhaps he is wrong and there is indeed space for both of you to be smug, because the look in your eyes makes it clear you know exactly how tightly wound Rohan is around your pinky.

“Must I?” But Rohan can’t help but tease, tugging on the reins a bit, if only to see your reactions.

You scoff at the absurdity of the question and laugh. “Yes, you must! I don’t want to be out there by myself!”

The corner of Rohan’s mouth lifts, a small smile betraying his amusement. “Fine then. I won’t let you flounder around on your own.”  

You smile too, satisfied that he is finally agreeing. “Thank you,” you respond playfully.

“Where would you be without me?” Rohan muses, staring down at you.

“I dunno.” You shrug. “But I’d be a lot lonelier.”

Perhaps it is the matter-of-fact tone with which you say this that makes his heart jump with something like love, and there is the nearly imperceptible melting away of a small piece of his haughty facade. You pick up on it of course—you are nothing if not observant—but you stay quiet because you know such fondness is entirely unbecoming of the great Rohan Kishibe, and you wouldn’t embarrass him by addressing it and forcing him to admit it out loud. His heart skips another beat and maybe it isn’t with something that is just like love.

“I’ll be out there in a few minutes,” he informs you.

“You better!”

He watches you walk down the hall and disappear around the corner, and chuckles as he turns back into his study to grab a few materials to bring downstairs with him.

Even if Josuke had done him the disservice of burning down his house, Rohan hadn’t been particularly bothered. Well, not about the house. Witnessing the structure go up in flames had further fueled his hatred for the high schooler, yes, but the matter of rebuilding left him indifferent. He had the money to do it and to make any new renovations he so pleased. One such addition to the Kishibe residence, version 2.0, was a pool.

He had it built for you. You would frequently visit the community pool, spending a couple of hours swimming, until your fingers were pruned and the chlorine had thoroughly seeped into your hair, prompting you to make a beeline straight for the shower upon arriving at his house. You basically live in the water, and he wanted to give you a space to swim privately, where you could have the whole pool to yourself.

And when he says it had been just for you, he meant it. Once the others had discovered what he did to the backyard, he promptly shut down any of their ideas of having a pool party. It was only at Koichi’s insistence that he had allowed it, on a particularly hot Saturday a couple of weeks ago. Thinking back on it now, he supposes it wasn’t awful, since you seemed happy to have everyone there. But even despite that, he isn’t keen on having another party anytime soon.

The light blue water glistens blindingly due to the sun and Rohan has to squint as he steps outside. White pool chairs are positioned in the shade, and he settles down in one as he observes you where you kneel on the flagstone, right at the edge of the pool, pushing giant floats into the water: first a dinosaur, then a unicorn, and lastly, a flamingo. You bought them because of the pool Rohan added, for there would never have been enough room at the community pool to use anything bigger than a simple tube. Now, you like to keep your eye out for more fun ones to add to your collection.

You watch the flamingo drift into the center, leaving gentle ripples in its wake, and then you stand, shedding your shorts and loose shirt to reveal your red one piece swimsuit. You leave your clothes in a small pile on the ground, then waste no more time diving in. Your fluid form and smooth descent make merely a quiet splash, and your figure is wavy and unfocused beneath the water, simply a group of colors moving beneath the surface. Several seconds later, you pop your head up.

“Are you sure you don’t want to come in?” you inquire.

Rohan sits back and shakes his head. “I’m fine here.”

You grin. “Suit yourself.” You dive back under.

The heat is considerably less severe in the shade, but it’s still warm enough that Rohan’s thoughts are on the air conditioner, and how wonderful it would feel while he works on his manga. He has no qualms about keeping the air on full blast, as it was currently, the rooms kept cool for your return back indoors. Better to be too cold than too hot.

His newest volume is almost finished now, a few pages short, and he’s itching to get back to it. He tries to feel exasperated about being outside, playing it off as if he’d been dragged out here by no will of his own, just as he feels whenever someone asks if he’d like to go out (And bear this weather? he asks, upfront about how stupid he thinks the suggestion is. Forget about it.) But you aren’t just someone, and Rohan wouldn’t ever be irritated with you. So for once, he forces himself to relax and endure the warmth. And you’re right—at least there is a breeze today.

A quiet clack grabs his attention and Rohan opens his eyes to see you reaching out for your sunglasses which you had set on the side to keep dry. You set them on your head and drift over to the flamingo, clambering on a little clumsily due to the wetness of your skin. The pink vinyl squelches as you maneuver your way onto the flamingo, and once you’re finally on, you roll onto your back, sighing contentedly and sliding your sunglasses over your face.

They’re heart-shaped and a shade of red to match your suit. Rohan likes them. He thinks they look good on you. And he also thinks you belong on a magazine cover or a two-page spread, a picture to complement the paragraphs dreaming of a perfect summer, of the hot sun and cold water, of wet hair and the smell of chlorine (or salt, if one finds themselves at the beach). He can’t tell if you’ve fallen asleep, but you look so peaceful, so at ease, and deep down he will admit, though scornfully, that Josuke’s screw-up did have an upside.

Rohan reaches down to the sketchbook and pen he had brought outside with him, and flips to a blank page. His gaze shifts from the paper up to you then back down again, as he recreates the scene before him in black ink, smooth, clean lines trailing across the expanse until it all comes together—clothes discarded on the stones, the blinding water, the flamingo float. Then the subject, the main focus, the sum and substance: you stretched out and relaxed, coaxing the viewer to follow your lead, to let the stress melt from their shoulders and to join you in your stillness.

All he has left is to sign the bottom corner, but while drawing had been the initial distraction from the heat, you’re the main attraction, and he stares at you instead. Rohan prides himself on his accuracy when he draws but when it came to you, there was nothing better than the real thing. And he’d attempted to before, to capture the full essence of your person—the light of your smile and the inexplicable charm you exude when your hair is wet and tangled and drops of water cling to your lashes—as evidenced by the previous pages of the sketchbook he holds, filled with pictures of you. He might never get there, might never reach the point he’s satisfied with his depiction, but he’d never stop trying.

You notice how closely he is watching you and you turn to look at him. You lower your sunglasses slightly, until your eyes are visible, and you smile, asking what it is he’s drawing.

But you know. Of course you do. So rather than teasing, he lets you have this one and tells you exactly what he is drawing. Your smile widens and you hum, returning your sunglasses to their original position. Even from off to the side, he spots the flush of your cheeks, reddening from laying in the sun, your natural blush the most beautiful one.

“Make me look good please!”

At this, Rohan chuckles and shakes his head. You always look good, he thinks. You need no assistance there. And you are the perfect summer, floating languidly out on the water with your heart-shaped sunglasses. Maybe one night he will dream of you with a mermaid’s tail, emerald scales glistening in the sunlight because you take to the water like it’s your second home and wouldn’t that be something, to have a mermaid hidden away? His ultimate secret, his ultimate muse, lounging atop a pretty pink flamingo.

[mexicancat-girl]

Another for @bnhawlwweek! Day 2 Prompt: Clothing: Swimsuits

Fuyumi Todoroki/Miruko (Rumi Usagiyama)

ao3: link

It’s ridiculous that Rumi’s so nervous right now. Really. It is.

 She’s used to wearing stuff that shows off a lot of skin. A swimsuit should be no different.

 She runs around every day in a leotard as her hero costume, after all. She’s out there in the world as Pro Hero Miruko, wearing what is essentially a swimsuit while she literally kicks people’s asses, because the higher-ups and the public wouldn’t consider her ‘viable’ enough as a heroine without showing off a little skin.

 “You’re not feminine enough, Miruko.”

 “You’re too muscular, Miruko.”

 “You’ll never get popular, Miruko.”

It’s all a fucking ridiculous balancing act, honestly. If she shows off too much skin she’s ‘inappropriate’ and a slut, but if she doesn’t show off enough skin she won’t win popularity polls because she’s not playing the fanservice card like it’s expected for most female heroines.

 And then there’s her ‘abrasive and mannish personality’, which apparently also doesn’t do her any wonders.

 “You need to smile more, Miruko.”

 “You’re too violent Miruko.”

 “Your merch sales are down, Miruko.”

 Rumi takes in a breath and lets it out, counting down from ten just like her anger management specialist told her to do time and time again.

 Thinking about her managers and the sleaze-balls in charge of the hero system will only piss her the fuck off. Thinking about the misogynistic fuckwads that she has to save on a regularly basis and pander to for her to keep her ranking will make her want to punch a wall.

 She has to keep calm. She can’t step out of the changing room wanting to kill a man. She’s on a date. She’s wearing a swimsuit. She’s going to go swimming and flirt with her girlfriend, and then maybe buy a piña colada if she’s feeling too restless before realizing that she’s more partial to margaritas, downing both of them because she doesn’t want to waste the drinks.

 Yeah. Okay. Alright.

 She can do this.

 Rumi slowly opens the dressing room door, taking a cautionary peak out.

 Fuyumi is standing right outside. Abort, abort!

 She squeaks and instantly shuts the door again, heart jackrabbiting her chest and face flushing hot because oh God, she can’t do this.

 Especially after catching a glimpse of her girlfriend in her swimsuit. Just. God. God, she’s so fucking gay, and such a huge fucking disaster.

 Fuyumi was wearing a one-piece swimsuit. White and simple, with red trim, a red ribbon acting as a halter top to keep everything in place and modest.

 It was the most gorgeous sight Rumi’s ever laid eyes on in her entire life, she’s sure. Like. 1000% sure.

 With a groan, she puts her hands on her warm cheeks and tries very, very hard not to melt into a puddle of goo.

 “Rumi-chan…?” Fuyumi’s voice drifts through the wooden door, sounding so sweetly concerned it should be illegal. If it was illegal, Rumi would have to arrest her on the spot, and—yeah, no, her brain’s going down the drain fast. Abort.

 She tries to reply, but all that gets out is a strangled noise that sounds like a dying rabbit, which wow if that ain’t a huge Mood…

 “Rumi-chan, are you okay in there?” Fuyumi asks once more through the door, tapping it lightly in a knock. “Are you having trouble with your swimsuit…?”

 “No!” Rumi squeaks out, just a bit panicked. Oh fuck, she’s made her girlfriend worries now. Shit. “I-I’m fine! It’s fine! Everything’s fine! Ahahaha…”

 Gah, it’s so obvious she’s not fine! Christ, she’s such a bad actor! It’s no wonder she barely gets into commercials nowadays, much less any huge roles in TV or movies! Ugh.

 “Are your clothes damaged? Did a seam rip?” And now Fuyumi sounds a little panicked and frantic. “That’d be awful! It’s no wonder you don’t want to leave the changing room. I-I could get you an extra set of clothes, if you need it—”

 “I don’t—it’s fine, nothing’s ripped!” Rumi reassures her quickly, still feeling flustered, but not wanting her girlfriend to panic and worry even more. It must be her heroic instincts kicking in, even with a situation as ridiculously mundane as this.

 Though, it’s admittedly a little dumb that she’s being so chicken-shit, hiding and talk-yelling through the changing room door…

 Aw, fuck it. She’s gotta have to put her big girl panties on and just. Open the door. And let her girlfriend see her in her swimsuit.

 Her very frilly, sorta tacky swimsuit that she’d decided was a good idea to buy two weeks ago and is still sort of regretting.

 Rumi crosses her fingers behind her back for good luck, hoping she looks less dumb than she feels, and opens the changing room door.

 It almost takes her aback, seeing Fuyumi right in front of her in all her gorgeous ice sculpture-esque glory. Fuyumi blinks back at her, seemingly equally as stunned and startled.

 Her girlfriend’s hair is pulled back in a little ponytail with a red ribbon matching her swimsuit. And it takes Rumi a hot second, but to her astonishment, she notes that Fuyumi has hairclips in her hair.

 Little bunny hairclips.

 Rumi has to stop herself from clutching at her chest as the realization hits because oh my God, her girlfriend is so fucking adorable.

 “B-Bunnies?” Rumi squeaks out, cheeks aflame as she spastically gestures at her own temples, emulating where Fuyumi’s hairclips sit.

 Fuyumi’s already pink cheeks flush into a deeper pink as her hands fly up to said hairclips. “I-I, um…It’s—it’s going to sound so stupid, but, I…” clearly hesitating, she finally stutters out, “N-Never mind!”

 “They’re cute!” Rumi blurts out, voice way too loud in her effort to assuage her girlfriend’s worries. Clearing her throat, she forces herself back into a normal volume. “I mean, er…They’re…I like ‘em, is all.”

 Fuyumi’s embarrassed grimace wavers and is quickly replaced by a shy smile. “Oh! Um. Do you really…?”

 “Yeah. Yeah, they really suit ya,” Rumi says with a cough, awkward and trying to push through it. She was going to compliment her girlfriend, damn it, and her own terrible social skills weren’t gonna stop her! “Your swimsuit’s nice, too. You look good.”

 Wow, someone get a goddamn camera to catch this spectacular failure of Rumi Usagiyama giving basic compliments. She sounds so eloquent and convincing, she should win an award for Worst Flirting Ever.

 While Rumi beats herself up in her head over her less-than-stellar comments—seriously, could she only think of ‘you look good’?! Who even says that?!—she nearly misses Fuyumi’s answer.

 “Thank you! I…I don’t tend to wear swimsuits very much,” her girlfriend admits bashfully, idly fingering the red halter strap. “Haven’t exactly had many situations where one was needed, honestly…”

 “That so?” Rumi asks, quickly trying to scramble for a decent reply. “Can’t see why you wouldn’t. You must’ve gotten people flocking to take you on a summer date to the beach or pool. Sure thing for someone as smart and nice and pretty as you.”

 Ah, hell, she was rambling now.

 Rumi avoids Fuyumi’s gaze, scratching the back of her neck, smile awkward. Is she coming on too strong? She’s probably coming on too strong. Fuck.

 She hears a giggle, and carefully glances to see Fuyumi flushed and smiling.

 “I was never exactly popular as a person, really, so I didn’t tend to go out much… But thank you,” her girlfriend says, voice soft and warm, but with a sad look in her eyes.

 Rumi decides instantly that she hates the bittersweet tint in those sea-blue eyes and tries for a joke to lighten the mood. “Eh, I dunno. Sounds fake, but okay, babe.”

 This seems to startle a laugh out of Fuyumi, who clamps a hand over her mouth to ride out her ensuing giggles. Her eyes are bright and crinkled, happy; Rumi’s done her job.

 “C’mon, let’s head out. We’ll never get to swim at this rate,” Rumi says, a lopsided smile in place as she nudges her girlfriend. Fuyumi nods, an occasional giggle still stuttering out, and Rumi wraps an arm around her shoulders to guide them outside the changing rooms.

 The action seems to make Fuyumi go pink and duck her head, peering up at Rumi through her clipped-back bangs. Her skin is soft and slightly cool to the touch, surprisingly. Rumi’d always figured that it was just her hands that got cold. Maybe it’s got to do with her ice Quirk…?

 “I really like your swimsuit, by the way,” her girlfriend says, snapping Rumi out of her mesmerized state. Yeesh, she’d spend a whole day staring, if she wasn’t careful.

 “Eh? Really?” she asks, blinking dumbly, a pleased flush rising up her neck.

 Fuyumi giggles and nods. “Yes! It’s really cute. I think you look perfect in it.”

 Rumi feels herself puff up in pride, her confidence coming back full force from the compliment, assuaging her previous fears of her choice.

 She hadn’t been sure about her choice in swimsuit before now. It was a white two-piece, the top a sort of tankini that stopped mid-stomach. The bottom was a skirt made of ruffles. It showed more stomach than she was used to, but that wasn’t a problem; after all, she had a pretty great set of abs, if she did say so herself.

 The problem was that it was…cutesy. Ruffles usually weren’t her thing. And neither were bows, which were decorations scattered across her swimsuit. Even a huge bow decorated the front of her bust. But it fit her well, and it showed off her abs, and it wasn’t too flashy or too provocative. It gave her decent mobility as well, so she could take a swim and not have to worry about accidentally flashing anyone in the process.

 All Rumi had wanted was a swimsuit that was practical, but she’d left the store with the ruffled swimsuit thinking that it looked cute, so it might just help her look cute, too.

 Looks like her pick was right after all, huh?

 “Hell yeah I’m cute!” she hoots, bumping hips with her girlfriend. “But not as cute as you in your swimsuit!”

 “Oh, stop it,” Fuyumi waves her off bashfully, a hand on her pink cheek but still smiling goofily.

 “Just tellin’ the truth,” Rumi says seriously, eyes bright as she gently tugs on the other woman’s bangs. “Specially with those clips of yours? You’re the cutest girl around.”

 Fuyumi was thrown into another fit of giggles and Rumi grinned wolfishly.

 “I, ah…I-I actually got these hairclips to, um,” her girlfriend starts, smile soft and embarrassed. “To match with you…? Sort of.”

 Rumi stops in place, and blinks once, twice. It takes her a few seconds, but then she’s grinning so hard her smile nearly splits her face, and her ears twitch excitedly.

 “You wanted to…match with me?” she asks, still a little in disbelief, pointing at both her rabbit ears. “Seriously?”

 “I know, I know…” Fuyumi sputters out, waving her hands wildly in front of herself in defense, face nearly matching the red streaks in her hair. “It’s…It’s really cheesy and kinda dumb, and—”

 “Babe,” Rumi starts, serious, gently taking her girlfriend’s flailing hands in her own. She leans down and quickly pecks Fuyumi on the nose; if the other woman’s face wasn’t already the shade of a tomato, the public display of affection probably would’ve done it. “Babe, that is the sweetest fucking thing I’ve ever heard in my life. I love it.”

 Her girlfriend’s nervous and mortified smile wobbles, and in just a second, she’s breaking out into a radiant smile so bright that it rivals the sun.

 “I’m…I’m glad,” Fuyumi murmurs softly, leaning forwards to rub their noses together. “I just wanted to show some way of supporting you.”

 “Babe, you’re always supporting me,” Rumi reminds her, but it gets a wide smile from her anyways, her ears perking up.

 “And I always will,” the other woman confirms with a light peck to her lips. Rumi makes the approximate noise of a teakettle and gets a peck on a burning cheek as a reward, the sweet sound of Fuyumi’s giggles in her ears.

 She feels so mushy and soft and warm, like she’s just sunbathed for an entire day. And she hasn’t even been outside for ten minutes, yet.

 Fuyumi’s just got that sorta power, though. Even if she’s got an ice Quirk, she always makes Rumi feel warm and comfortable and oh-so-fond.

 Being with her is worth a hundred—no, a thousand summer days.

 And, honestly? Rumi can’t wait to spend each and every one of them with her.

[thewineauctionroom]

New Post has been published on https://wineauctionroom.com/pyramid-valley-vineyards-featured-in-country-calendar/

Pyramid Valley Vineyards Featured in Country Calendar

An American couple’s chosen this unique site in Canterbury to make world-class wine.

Claudia: “You know we took the old world model and brought it to the new world, this wine tastes like wine from nowhere else in New Zealand; nowhere else in the world and that’s precisely what we set out to do.”

Mike: “It’s always a risk, it’s farming you just can’t control mother nature and you’ve got one chance every year to get it right.”

At Pyramid Valley Vineyard in North Canterbury they do things the traditional European way and that takes a lot of people power.

Claudia: “We’ve got a team about 10 people here today we’re just shoot positioning and lateral thinning. They’re going through with snips or with using just their hands and pulling off the laterals like you do with your tomatoes, and that’s exposing the fruit to wind air sunlight everything moving through to prevent disease from happening.”

Claudia and Mike Weersing have their own way of doing things, they’ve planted their grapes close together and low to the ground in the French style and it’s taken some kiwi ingenuity to ease the backbreaking work.

Claudia: “When you have vines that are so low to the ground, it was really hard for us to constantly be bending over. So we’ve kind of over the years created these trolleys, we started with skateboards which was kind of funny, but they’re not great when you’ve got muddy soil so we came up with these aluminium frames — everybody grabs a pad and you can sit on that really comfortably. There’s no back injury and it also brings you into the fruit zone, it brings you right against that fruit and that canopy so that you could have a really close look at what you’re doing and feel more comfortable about doing it.”

Claudia: “Fruit sets just really in balance, yeah it’s probably a little bit more meticulous than what you would see in a normal vineyard but we’re aiming for quality here and we’re aiming for a very low yield and we can’t take any risks on detritus so we’ve really got to get it right the first time.”

Claudia: “Everyone here at Pyramids are part of our family and I think that’s one of the nice things when you come to Pyramids there’s that people talk about the energy here and it feels like home and it’s a place that we share and we’ve shared from the beginning. And mike and I didn’t have kids so it’s really nice to see the next generation thinking about viticulture and what’s here for them. It’s wonderful.”

Claudia and Mike have established their vineyard using biodynamic principles which focus on creating healthy soils.

Mike: “Well we know for a fact that in a vineyard ninety percent of the biomass is from the soil surface down. We see a vineyard as being what’s up in our part of the universe up here, but if you get your 90 percent wrong your 10 percent is never going to be what it should be. It’s like asking to have lustrous hair on a corpse, so you farm your soil first and we we found our soil first and now we farm it and the vine just happily follows along. You know we’ve made mistakes along the way but biodynamics is something we would never take back and we would never abandon.”

Claudia: “So this is fresh manure I collected this morning and we’re just going to put a little bit into the horn like that and then we’re going to use our stick to push it in. I just use my fingers because I don’t worry about it you’ll be eating lunch with your forks and not your hands today.

Claudia: “People think it’s a little crazy that you fill it with cow dung, but once you’ve got that vessel and you fill it with the manure and then you put it in the ground six months later you lift it and you’ve got that really amazing compost with all that microbial activity.”

Claudia: “This is six months on so what I’ve got here is this incredible compost. It’s got more microbial life to it than you’d ever find in a compost. We then put this into a drum, we stir it for about an hour with a stick and we put it into the sprayer and then we spray it onto the land just like you would a normal fertilizer. It’s really the magic of biodynamics this is just feeding the soil you know, looking after the land caring for the land and this just keeps everything alive and everything going.”

Vineyard manager Stuart McDuff has adapted to using biodynamics too.

Stuart: “The only word that’s guaranteed to get you fired around here is weed killer. And it is it’s just something all of our weeding done by hand. There are times honestly where the crew would just love to get out there with the weed killer because it’s not a flash job but it’s a great environment. It’s the people basically, it’s a good place to work and it’s a hell of an office, it really is.”

Claudia and Mike moved from California 18 years ago following a dream to create a wine unique to the site.

Claudia: “It’s funny when we first met each other, he used to have his nose and a Pinot Noir book every single night and I thought oh this guy’s having an affair with Pinot Noir you know, it was kind of weird but um I got attached pretty quickly. There’s something really special about being in the wine industry and I felt like this was a really good direction for myself.”

Mike: “It’s so lifted this year, it’s so violent, it’s really pretty. This wine tastes like wine from nowhere else, nowhere else in New Zealand, nowhere else in the world and that’s precisely what we set out to do I can’t imagine wishing to be anywhere else.”

Their love for the land has seen them turn a former swamp paddock into an irrigation pond and native wetland.

Mike: “So we had to do was simply dig it out like a swimming pool essentially. And then because our clays swell when they get wet it lined itself and it filled itself. Of course all the neighbors were laughing saying those crazy Americans, they’re digging this gigantic hole and it’s never going to fill. But we had one big rainstorm in the winter and it was full.”

But the Weersings needed a solution to deal with algae and weed that could take over the pond.

Claudia: “With the challenges of having the pond, we knew that we needed a management system and we needed to find someone to do that for us and that’s when we came across Gray. He drives all the way from Takapuna down here and we catch up with him about four times a year. He checks on the pond and make sure the levels of the algae aren’t getting out of control.”

Gray Jamieson has introduced two new species of fish to manage the water quality naturally.

Gray: “We use grass gap to eat the weed and the filamentous algae, and silver carp to filter out blue-green algal blooms. I just wanted to show you this time the silver cup they’re now in size. So oh right that’s the silver carp, we’ve had the grass carpet in the past but this is the first time that we’ve actually put the silvers, and the silvers now are of size and they’re the ones that are going to swim around in the water and filter feed out all the algal blooms, so the water will start to go clear. One of the biggest issues we have putting them in different places is that they’re confused with the koi carp, silver carp and grass carp aren’t that at all we we’ve actually changed the name to white and silver and muir they can’t breed in New Zealand that’s been proven and they can be easily managed i mean you look at a pond the same as you look at the amount of stock you put in a paddock you work out your stocking rate and then you put them in and you just adjust it to suit. Well here they are,  here’s the first of the silvers to be released in here. They’ll probably go about 10 kilos minimum, they could even get as much as 18 to 20. Also the freshwater mussels they filter feed on blue algal bloom, they’ve got toxic blue green algal blooms as well. That’ll take a couple years to build up the numbers but then it will actually turn your water clear. Well what we’ll do when we put them out is we try and keep them together so that when they spawn, it’s easy for them to fertilize each other so we’re just going to chuck them out in the water.”

Mike: “He’s so committed to what he does. And he really does believe that there’s much we can do to help clean so many polluted waterways in this country that if it requires a non-native carp to do so and there’s no danger in releasing it that seems a better way than many.”

The pond may be getting cleaner but with some of the jobs around here you’ve got to get your hands dirty.

Vineyard worker: “It’s not as bad as I thought.”

Mike and Claudia Weersing grow grapes on a former sheep farm in North Cnterbury.

Mike: “The farm is 200 acres, we only have two hectares five acres planted. We wanted to concentrate on just the areas that had the correct soil mix and the right sort of aspect. We have four different blocks, two of pinot and two of chardonnay in those two hectares. To be perfectly frank we haven’t even planted our best ground yet because I didn’t want to make mistakes on what I considered to be the very best plots.”

A specific soil type is at the heart of this vineyard.

Mike: “The soils are a mix of clay and limestone that’s very important. … full content could be viewed in below video clip.

[nuttydefendoryouth]

Are stinky inflatable pool toys putting your kids at risk?

The researchers expressed concern that some of the products contain potentially hazardous chemicals that could pose a risk to children’s health, depending on the degree of exposure and concentration levels in the products.

The researchers conducted tests using an inflatable beach ball, a pair of swimming armbands and two bathing rings they bought off the shelf from local stores and online suppliers in Germany.(Shutterstock)

HEALTH

Are stinky inflatable kids' toys putting your kids at risk? Here’s what a study found

The researchers expressed concern that some of the products contain potentially hazardous chemicals that could pose a risk to children’s health, depending on the degree of exposure and concentration levels in the products.

Washington D.C. | By ANI

UPDATED ON APR 13, 2017 08:46 PM IST

Turns out, there are many dangerous chemicals lurking in your swimming pool that can risk your children’s health.

Inflatable sprinkler and swimming aids, like bathing rings and arm bands, often have a distinctive smell which could indicate that they contain a range of potentially hazardous substances.

Some of these compounds, which include carbonyl compounds, cyclohexanone, phenol and isophorone, might be critical when present in higher concentrations in children’s toys, said authors Christoph Wiedmer and Andrea Buettner.

Lead author Wiedmer from Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging IVV in Germany and his team conducted tests using an inflatable pool, a pair of swimming armbands and two bathing rings they bought off the shelf from local stores and online suppliers in Germany.

A small piece of material from each sample was analysed using a variety of material analysis techniques, including one that takes infrared measurements, and it was concluded that the inflatable objects were all made from polyvinyl chloride (PVC).

The researchers then investigated the molecular make-up of the distinctive smells arising from the pool toys. They extracted detectable odours from each sample using solvent extraction and high vacuum distillation methods, and then identified the main odorants using a combination of sensory and common analytical approaches.

Between 32 and 46 odours were detected in each sample, of which up to thirteen were quite intense. The majority of these odorants were identified and among these were several fatty smelling mono- or di-unsaturated carbonyl compounds and their epoxidised derivatives, but also odouractive organic solvents such as cyclohexanone, isophorone, and phenol.

As part of the study, a panel of trained volunteers sniffed each product, and ascribed common odour attributes to these. They also rated the intensity of each odour, and had to guess whether these could be hazardous. Three of the products reminded the panellists of almonds, plastic and rubber, while the fourth more pungent one reminded them of glue and nail polish.

Wiedmer expressed his concern that some of the products contain potentially hazardous chemicals that could pose a risk to children’s health, depending on the degree of exposure and concentration levels in the products. Cyclohexanone can be harmful if inhaled, phenol is known to be acutely toxic and to presumably have mutagenic potential and isophorone is a category 2 carcinogen, which means that this is a suspect substance in the development of cancer in humans.

“A range of these substances are not yet resolved in their chemical structures. Likewise, potential negative effects on humans, such as irritation, smell nuisance, or other physiological or psychosomatic effects still need to be resolved,” said Wiedmer.

“Modern products such as toys and children’s products are sourced from a wide variety of chemical and physical manufacturing processes, and this complexity often makes it difficult for us to identify those containing contaminants and unwanted substances, and to determine their causes,” noted Wiedmer. “However, we found that in a number of cases our noses can guide us to ‘sniff out’ problematic products.”

The study appears in the journal Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry (ABC).

Backyards and patios have been working hard all year because of the pandemic, and this summer they can provide new ways to cool off and have fun in the water.

Whether you have a lot of space or a little, there’s gear ranging from water tables and tubs for kids to floating loungers with drink holders for adults.

One company, Minnidip, makes inflatable “adult kiddie pools” that aim to transport you to some exotic travel destination. Patterns on the Marrakesh pool reference Moroccan architectural details, while the Amalfi is a nod to the blue, yellow and white tile of the Italian coast.

“Because for me, having a pool on our urban Chicago rooftop felt like being transported to another place,” says company founder Emily Vaca. “I wanted to capture that feeling through design and pattern. “

Minnidip also offers inflatable drinks coolers and glam pool balls filled with gold confetti, among other offerings.

The only water table that lets you make waves, Little Tikes’ Island Wavemaker has a water wheel, plus cute sea creatures and a wee pirate to send paddling around the waterway or down the waterfall. Toddlers can practice their fine motor skills with Little Tikes’ Spinning Seas Water Table; small balls, a cup, a funnel and a water wheel set up the fun.

Step2’s two-sided Waterfall Discovery Wall has adjustable toggles, spinners and chutes to send the water tumbling in lots of different ways. And Lakeshore Learning’s Watch It Flow water table features three plastic logs that can be configured however you wish. Fill the logs using a hose or bucket; gates control the flow and can close up to make long tubs.

Foamo, also from the folks at Little Tikes, creates mountains of easy-to-clean-up foam when you add the nontoxic, biodegradable foam solution to water.

HOSE HAPPY

Turn on the hose and attach it to West Elm's inflatable car bed or giant shark mouth sprinklers. Fat Brain Toy’s Hydro Twist Pipeline Sprinkler has a couple of fountains, plus a bunch of wiggly worm hoses. Or hook up to BigMouth’s giant 6-foot-high unicorn, who shoots water out of her horn. There’s a ginormous ape, giraffe, dinosaur and giraffe here as well.

SWIM AND PADDLE

Giant inflatable water wheels let you find your inner hamster. You can find ones online for toddlers, while Wow Watersports has a grownup version they call the Aqua Treadmill.

Don’t forget the family pets; a nonporous, puncture-resistant floating dog bed at Frontgate comes in a bunch of colors and three sizes.

Chewy has ZippyPaws Floaterz sturdy turtle-shaped water toys for dogs, as well as rope-handled bumpers and a variety of floating balls.

A hard-sided kiddie pool can be a good non-inflatable option for cooling off; just hose it out and stow away. Other pluses: The doggos will also have fun splashing around in it, and it makes a great sand or snow play zone in colder weather. The Sun Squad Wading Kiddie Pool is inexpensive and has an embossed bottom, so it’s less slippery.

SLIDE AND RIDE

A basic heavy-duty plastic water slide or “slip and slide” can be set up in most backyards; if yours doesn’t come with an attached barrier at the bottom, make sure to put something soft there.

Studio 21 Graphix’s slide has a crash pad at the finish line, plus two lanes for racing and a sprinkler curtain to pass thru on the way down. Wow Watersports’ Strike Zone Water Slide is 25-by-6 feet of slipperiness; zigzag sprinkler patterns assure a wet ride, fat pontoons on either side keep riders inside, and two sleds are included. Got a really long yard? Get two; they can be interconnected.

If you’ve got lots of space, consider Costway’s inflatable Bounce House and Water Slide, with a bounce area, water gun, two slides, a basketball hoop and several balls. It comes with a storage bag for easy transport.

POOL STYLE

Marisa Issa of Los Angeles says her family’s favorite pool games are corn hole and a floating basketball hoop, but her favorite is a floating mat from Frontgate “that only mom can use,” she says. The sleek, minimalist white float has a headrest, and is made of marine-grade dense foam, suitable for chlorine or saltwater pools.

If you prefer sitting up a little, Frontgate’s got a floating armchair with attached ottoman. Choose from aqua, blue or flamingo pink. Or splash out on a full-size pool chaise kitted out with drink holders.

Want to hang out with a handful of friends in a backyard pool? Funboy has a 9-foot-wide floating metallic crown with drink holders. Or lounge luxuriously in the company’s Bali Cabana Lounger, with a curved integrated shade, a tropical leaf print, cup holders and handy grab ropes.

BigMouth has some food-related inflatables like a giant ice pop, pizza slice, donut, watermelon slice, cheeseburger and taco.

At first, glance, laying on an inflatable toy in shallow water seems pretty safe. After all, the water isn't deep, and there is a floating toy right there. Recently, a family's trip to the beach in Nova Scotia proved to be a harrowing reminder of why this is not the case. In August, two 5-year-olds played in shallow water – one in an inflatable ring, the other on an inflatable roller. Because the girls were in shallow water, their caregiver assumed the inflatable toys were enough. It wasn't until the girls began to drift away from that the complete danger of the situation became clear.

Inflatable toys can be dangerous

Because they are so light and buoyant, they tend to drift in the water or deflate when they get wet. That's when it's a problem. Kids don't know when their toys are deflated and cannot compensate when they're in the water. They can get trapped in the holes or strangle. When the girls got stuck, their caregiver did the right thing by calling for help. First responders rescued the girls and took them to the hospital to be treated for their injuries. While it's infrequent that inflatable toys are the source of injury to kids, it's good to know that they can pose a hazard. The numbers aren't obvious, but it seems that they're responsible for 1 in every 100 boating-related deaths in the U.S. and are one of the leading causes of drowning for children aged 4-6.

Why Inflatable Toys Can Be Dangerous

The giant inflatable was much bigger than the girls and began to drag the mattress toward shore, according to the parent of one of the girls who spoke with CTVNews. However, the inflatable ring wasn't nearly as big or heavy and was drifting with the current. The girls eventually lost hold of both and drifted a considerable distance. The girls' parents rushed to the scene and tried to retrieve their children, but the current was too firm, and the military eventually rescued them. The girls were found to be unharmed. Since this incident, many parents have expressed concerns about the safety of inflatable toys.

[i-am-very-very-tired]

The best things to do in Malibu, California!  Discover the most picturesque beaches, celebrity hot spots, and natural hidden gems.

When you want to escape the hustle and noise of Los Angeles, head up the Pacific Coast Highway to explore the spectacular cliffside shoreline of Malibu, California.

It’s hard to believe this laid-back coastal town is only 40 minutes away from the big city lights of LA.

Malibu might be most famous for being the place that many celebrities call home. It is an exclusive town with a lot of privacy hedges and million-dollar homes nestled on the Pacific Ocean.

If you’re lucky, you might even run into a celebrity as you explore the city.

Nicknamed “the ‘Bu” by surfers and locals, Malibu residents will boast that they have “21 miles of scenic coastal beauty” for all to enjoy.

This photogenic coastline is loaded with little nooks of pocket beaches that will dazzle your senses. The climate is consistently comfortable and usually stays between 76 F and 49 F degrees year-round which makes it perfect for beach time.

These are our picks for the best things to do in Malibu, whether you’re visiting for the first time or you’re a local.

Head to the Beach

Zuma Beach

Zuma Beach is one of the largest (1.8 miles) and most popular beaches in Los Angeles County known for having long, wide sandy areas and excellent surf.

If you plan on taking a swim, know that the water here tends to be a little cooler than the other Malibu beaches.

You’ll be comfortable at the family-friendly Zuma Beach with easy access to restrooms, two food concession areas located on each end of the beach, and eight parking lots with 2000 parking spaces to accommodate the crowds.

One of the best things about Zuma Beach is that they have beach wheelchairs available for beach enthusiasts who may need additional assistance enjoying the sandy shores.

Surfrider Beach

Surfrider Beach takes up about a mile of California coastline and is a little less than an acre of land. This beach has some of the best surfing and swimming in Malibu and was made popular by surfing movies of the 1950s and 1960s.

The beach is also part of the Malibus Lagoon State Beach area which houses an estuary for over 200 species of native and migrating birds. So if you’re a fan of birdwatching, this is one of the best places to visit in Malibu after you’re done with the beach.

Just note that the swimming areas at Surfrider Beach are limited and there are only 90 parking spaces available so it can get a bit crowded in the summer months.

Point Dume State Beach

The features of Point Dume State Beach are likely what you picture when you dream of those gorgeous panoramic cliffside views in Malibu. This beach has it all – cliffs, rocky coves, tide pools, and large sandy areas.

If you drive to the end of Westward Beach Road, you’ll find yourself on a cul-de-sac which is the access point to the Point Dume Nature Preserve. On a clear day, you may even be able to see out to Catalina Island in the distance.

TIP: If you are visiting between December and mid-April, be sure to hike up to one of the Malibu cliff sides to watch for the California gray whales during their migration season.

El Matador Beach

Get ready to be in awe of the caves, sea stacks, and arches that make this area a very popular Malibu spot to take photos.

Robert H. Meyer Memorial State Beach is made of a few smaller pocket-beaches along the west end of Malibu. As you drive down the Pacific Coast Highway, you will see clearly marked signs naming: El Pescador, La Piedra, and El Matador.

You don’t want to miss El Matador Beach. It’s a popular Malibu spot and one of the best places to watch the sunset in town.

Paradise Cove Beach

Paradise Cove is a public beach that is located in front of the locally owned, Paradise Cove Beach Café. Be sure to make a pit stop at this family-owned gem to enjoy the best beachside dining in Malibu.

This cool café gives off the ultimate Southern California beachy vibe with all of the wooden Adirondack chairs, palm trees, and thatched umbrellas. You might even recognize the building once you arrive, it has been featured in many beach scenes in Hollywood movies.

Enjoy dipping your toes in the Malibu sand while munching on some delicious cinnamon French toast and a BBQ pulled pork benedict, or while sipping one of Bob’s Fresh Fruit Boba Rum Drinks.

TIP: Ask them about their picnic packages for a unique lunch on the sand.

Go Hiking in Solstice Canyon

Solstice Canyon sits inside the picturesque Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area and offers several options for hikers at all different fitness levels. This is also a great spot for avid bird-watchers.

Enjoy a beautiful hike on the popular 3.2-mile Solstice Canyon Loop. This trail takes you past a waterfall (although a very small one) and the oldest existing stone building in Malibu.

Another option in Solstice Canyon is the 3.7-mile Escondido Falls Trail. This is a fun hiking trail that takes you through a residential area before opening up into shaded paths and then to a waterfall that may or may not have flowing water depending on the time of year.

Lastly, the Grotto is a cool rocky area along the Santa Monica Mountains that is found at the halfway point of the 3-mile Grotto Trail.

This trailhead is located at the Circle X Ranch Visitor Center in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation area. It has incredible views of Malibu and ends in a spot where you scramble through some boulders to reach the short waterfall and enclosed pool area.

Shop & Eat at Malibu Country Mart

After a long day of hiking and surfing, drive to the best seaside shopping destination in Southern California, the Malibu Country Mart.

This is a prime destination for upscale shopping, dining, celebrity spotting, and spa-life. The Mart is open from 10 am – 7 pm and has plentiful parking.

Grab a tasty and nutritious Acai bowl at SunLife Organics, buy a “California-chic” outfit at M. Fredric or Cynthia Rowley, or grab some sage and crystals at the Malibu Shaman metaphysical store.

For a unique high-end car washing experience, hit up the Malibu Car Wash where you might rub elbows with a local celebrity giving their Ferrari the royal treatment.

Tour the Adamson House Museum

The Adamson House is a gorgeous 1929 Spanish Colonial residence, estate, and gardens area that’s located along the Pacific Coast within the Malibu Lagoon State Beach Park.

Taking a tour of the Adamson House Museum is a great way to learn more about the history of this unique area of California and to get a close-up look at this gorgeous house. The interior still has most of its original furnishings and stunning tile work from the 1930s.

I highly recommend visiting this Malibu attraction during the holidays when you can check out the Adamson House and Pier decked out in vintage style holiday décor. They even have holiday tours led by docents with live holiday music and refreshments.

Learn How to Surf or Standup Paddleboard

If you’re looking for a fun but challenging water activity, one of the best things to do in Malibu is to take surf lessons. Check out the Malibu Surf Coach, they have hour-long lessons starting at $100.

Looking for a more chill way to experience the Pacific Ocean? Standup paddleboarding, otherwise known as SUP, is for you. It’s also one of the best ways to experience the tranquility of the ocean and even see dolphins, whales, or seals up close and personal.

There are some basics that you should read up on, but once you master standing up on your board you will be ready to start exploring. The Malibu Surf Shack offers paddleboard rentals for $45 for two hours.

Enjoy Lunch With a View at the Malibu Pier

Built in 1905, the Malibu Pier is the most recognizable landmark in all of Malibu, California. You will likely recognize its double white towers and long wooden pier from some famous Hollywood films.

This is one Malibu spot that is oddly a favorite of both fishermen and celebrities. To fish, you can rent a rod and grab your tackle at the Ranch at the Pier located at the end of the pier.

Also at the end of the pier, you’ll find the charming Malibu Farm Café. It doesn’t get much cooler than eating a fresh farm-to-table lunch with some of the best views in Malibu.

This counter-service café is typically open from 8 am to 4 pm Monday through Thursday and on weekends they are open from 8 am to 9 pm.

At the land-end of the pier is another nice dining spot that serves scrumptious seafood, the Malibu Farm Restaurant & Bar. This full-service hot spot is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and is the perfect spot to enjoy the sunset.

TIP: There are a lot of beautiful views to enjoy while dining near the ocean but the breeze can get chilly, so be sure to wear layers and bring a jacket.

Visit the Getty Villa

The Getty Villa is a work of art unto itself and is the “little sister” to the world-famous Getty Center in Los Angeles.

Explore the ancient art exhibits, the stunning architecture of the Getty Villa, and the four gardens that blend Roman architecture and open-air spaces. Admission is free but parking will cost about $20.

Sign up for the 40-minute garden tour that takes you through a unique and very fragrant herb garden. In the garden, you’ll find a variety of fruit trees including pomegranate, apricot, fig, and pear trees as well as familiar herbs such as mint, basil, thyme, and sage.

TIP: If you are looking for unique things to do in Malibu, make a reservation for “Tea by the Sea”. The price is a bit steep at $44 per person, but the delicious tea party and meal inspired by the herbs, vegetables, and fruits that grow in the villa’s garden just steps away makes it a very cool experience.

Tips for Visiting Malibu

Don’t be fooled by bogus “Private Beach” signs posted near Malibu beach trails. Every beach in California is open to the public up to the mean high tide level. What that means is you are legally allowed to be there as long as you don’t venture onto private property. Walking down from an adjacent beach is 100% legal.

There is an App for that. Download the “Our Malibu Beaches” app for planning your Malibu beach excursions. You’ll find insider info, details for parking, tips for finding those secret stairways, and navigating your way around all of the nooks.

Check out the fancy homes of Malibu – If you want to check out some of the most expensive homes in Malibu, head to Broad Beach. Be sure to explore during low tide or you may not have any sand to walk on, as this strip of beach is super narrow.

[miavortice]

QWE: The Man She Left Behind - 6

Title: The Man She Left Behind

Summary: Eight years earlier, Ursa divorced and left a man she thought could not love her or their children and returned to the arms of her first love.  Unfortunately, things did not work and Ursa decided to leave Ikem.  When the jilted man comes back for her while she is staying with her friends, Ozai - the man she left eight years ago - reappears.

“I want to see them!  Put them on the screen!” A throaty, rough voice filled the room as Lu Ten set up his phone beneath a large flat screen.  He was fiddling with the touch screen, trying to get it connected.  

“How’s that?” he asked.  Behind him, Azula was sitting on the couch with Katara. On the floor before them were Zuko and Sokka.  “Can you see them now?”

A laugh came from the speakers.  “Not with you standing in front of the camera, my boy.”  

“Sorry, Dad.”  Lu Ten had a lopsided smile on his face as he stepped away.  On the flat screen, they saw a man with hair more gray than black and a neat beard.  He was seated in what looked like an office building, wearing a suit.  A rotund old man, but he looked happy and kind, just like his son.  “Can you see them now?”

“Ah!  Yes, I can.”  Iroh laughed once more.  “Hello, everyone.  I’m sorry I couldn’t join you tonight.”

“You’re in the Fire Nation, Uncle Iroh,” Sokka said.  “It’s okay.”

Katara raised her arm, as if to answer a question in class.  “Uncle Iroh, thank you for letting us stay at your family’s villa in Ember Island.  This year, we’re going to bring Azula and Zuko.  Is that okay?”

“Of course it is, Katara,” Iroh said.  “I would be very happy to have my niece and nephew visit.”  

“Un...Uncle Iroh,” Zuko said, blushing.  “I sorry I don’t remember you much, but I hope we can meet you soon.”

“Yes, Uncle!” Azula said.  “I left here when I was just a baby, so I don’t remember either.”

“I hope to meet you two in person soon, as well,” Iroh said, his voice softening.  “But looking at you two...ah...  Zuko, you look just like your father when he was your age and Azula...I can already tell you have that Souzin fire in you.”  

Both children seemed to sit up straighter with pride.

Out of view from the camera, outside, on a wooden deck with the other parents, Ursa sighed at the scene.  Part of her wanted to go in and greet Iroh, too, but a larger part of her was ashamed to show her face to him.  Iroh was such a good man and treated her like his own sister.  She didn’t want to face his disapproval for keeping her children away for so long.  

In addition, she divorced his precious younger brother and, if Lu Ten’s words were true, broke Ozai’s heart - which she still doubted.

“And you’ll be joining us then, right?” Kya seemed to prod at Ozai from where she leaned against the wooden railing.  

Ozai didn’t budge.  “I can’t.”

“You always say that.”  Hakoda sounded tired of excuses.  “Come on, Ozai.  This will be the first year Azula and Zuko will go since Zuko was born.  You have to be there.”  

“Besides, we always feel bad going.  It’s your family’s place,” Kya said.  Ozai gave her a dull look.

“My brother sent me photos of you all having a BBQ on the beach last year, having the time of your lives.  How badly can you feel?”

“Okay, somewhat guilty,” Kya said.

“It just gets really good waves on your family’s beach...,” Hakoda added.  “Anyway, that’s not the point.  The point is that this year, you’ll all be joining us.”

“Wait, not me, right?” Ursa said, lowering the her glass of white wine and placing it on the patio table.  She looked from her friends to her ex-husband with uncertainty.

“You’ll be there, too,” Kya said so confident that Ursa wondered if she already agreed to it and simply forgot.

She shook her head.  “Kya, I can’t.  I’m still looking for a place and then I have to move things in, not to mention start looking for a job.  My prenup will provide just the basics and I won’t get it until after the divorce is settled.”

Kya wrinkled her nose and Hakoda rubbed his chin; a sign that they were both mulling over her valid point.

“Don’t you think you should go with the children.  Won’t they feel uncomfortable with you present?” Ozai asked.

Ursa lowered her eyes.  She doubted they would.  “I’m afraid they may be used to it.  I was away more often that I would’ve liked.”

“All the more reason for you to go, don’t you think?” Hakoda asked.  “It’ll be good quality time with their mother.”  He gave a pointed look at Ozai.  “And father.”  

“Hakoda-”

“It’s just for a few days and it’s a few weeks away,” Kya said.  “At least think it over.  Seriously.  Ozai.”  She gave him a slight glare and he rolled his eyes.  She turned to Ursa with a more pleasant expectant look.

“I’ll give it a look, but in the off chance that I get a job-”

“If,” Kya stressed.  “Until then, we’ll count you as going.”

Ursa sighed and conceded.  “So stubborn.”

“I’m a determined woman,” Kya said, agreeing as she walked towards the open doors.  “Iroh!  Good news!”

“Kya!”  Ursa ran after her, leaving the two men alone on the deck overlooking a freshly cleaned and filled swimming pool illuminated in the dark.

Ozai scowled and turned his irritation to Hakoda seated on a hammock chair.  “I told you when you met her that she was trouble.”

Hakoda grinned and lifted his half empty scotch glass.  “And what an amazing ride it’s been, my friend.  You should get back on.”  

Ozai grumbled and snatched the glass from Hakoda’s hand as he stomped back into his house.  He paid no mind to his brother’s enlarged head on his flat screen on his way to the kitchen, but couldn’t ignore the humbled joy of Iroh’s voice.

“But Ursa, you must come,” Iroh said with clear insistence.  “It would be a good change of scenery for you.  I’m sure you’ve been so busy with getting re-settled.”

“Iroh, I’m still so busy.   I mean, there are a few drama department positions I’ve applied to for the fall and not to mention looking for a new apartment.”

“Wait, wait.” Lu Ten stood up straight from where he was leaning against the wall.  “Didn’t Uncle tell you that you can stay at my townhouse a few blocks from here.  It’s not too far from Yang Chen Academy and it’s mostly furnished.”  

Ozai looked up from the kitchen island where he was rinsing dishes.  Ursa looked cornered and he almost felt satisfied.  It would be difficult to reject such an offer now that it was out in the open.

“We can stay with cousin Lu Ten?” Zuko looked excited at the prospect.

“Well, at my place, yeah.  I’m usually at my girlfriend’s.”  

“You have a girlfriend!?” Zuko looked so impressed, Ozai was almost envious of the attention his nephew was getting.  

Lu Ten’s face reddened and his eyes darted away.  “Yeah...she’s from the southern Earth Kingdom and is finishing up her studies to be a wildlife veterinarian.”  

Sokka was looking up at him with awe.  “Is she pretty?”

“Sokka....” Kya frowned.  

“Sorry...I mean, does she have a good personality?”

Katara sighed and shook her head at her brother.  “See, this is why Suki doesn’t like you.”

He gave her a glare as Lu Ten laughed.  “Very pretty and with an even better personality.  We get along great, so the town house is yours.”

“That’s very kind of you, Lu Ten, but we still haven’t even discussed the rent-”

“Rent?” A confused look filled his face.  “Auntie, I can’t charge you rent.”

“You’ll have to pay for utilities on your own, but no rent is needed,” Ozai said as he wiped his hands on a dish towel.  “Besides, the town house has been paid off for years.  It’s just property tax that’s due.”

Ursa took a step back and shook her head.  “No, I won’t accept any such charity-”

“No one is saying anything of charity,” Iroh said, drawing everyone’s attention back to him.  “Zuko and Azula will live there.  They are my precious nephew and niece and you are their mother.”

“Didn’t I make it clear?” Ozai asked.  “I take care of my own.”  

The cornered look on her face fell as she paled and tore her eyes away.  She wrung her hands together as a feeling of guilt swept through her.  After vanishing from this family’s life, they would still offer her a home?  How could she accept it?  

Ursa could see the awaiting looks on Azula and Zuko, the concerned expression Lu Ten’s face, and Ozai’s look of calm expectation all fixed on her.  

Everyone wanted her to say yes to taking over Lu Ten’s town house.  Even Kya and Hakoda, who joined his wife at the doorway behind her, seemed to be waiting for her agreement.  

But she bring herself to couldn’t agree.  

She felt her eyes dampen.  She didn’t deserve their kindness.

“Give her time to think about it.”  Kya broke the silence and Ursa snapped her head back to her friend.  A serious look was in Kya’s blue eyes as she met Ursa’s.  “It’s close to the school, but there is still a work commute to take into consideration.  It may be better to wait until she finds a job before committing.”  

It was an excuse.  

Ursa never thought about her commute; only that her children remained close to their friends and now, Ozai.  However, it was a valid concern and while it didn’t matter to her, she was grateful to Kya for saving her once again.  Kya gave her a slight nod of her head, a subtle que to agree.

“I’d like to be able to spend as little time in traffic as possible,” Ursa said, turning back to Lu Ten.  She offered him a weak smile.  “Not to mention get home at a reasonable time.”  

“Well, at least come take a look,” Lu Ten said.  “Check out the area and see where it stands.  When you get a position, you can decide if the location works for you.”  

That was the best she was going to get.  At the very least, it bought her some time.

“That is a good idea, my boy,” Iroh said.  “But in the meantime, Ursa, where will you and the children stay?”

“They can stay with us as long as they need to, Iroh,” Hakoda said as he put an arm around Kya, who nodded in agreement.  

“But they can’t stay with you forever,” Ozai said.

“I don’t mind if they stay forever,” Katara said.  “I like having them around.”  Azula looked pleased by this and Zuko nodded.  

“Yes, Kat, but you can’t be greedy,” Ozai told her, his voice a bit softer as he addressed the little girl.  “I’d like to spend time with them, too.”

“Then we should move in with Dad as soon as possible!” Azula announced, as if it were the answer to all their problems.  Her eyes were lit up as she stood up on the couch.

Her words were a blow to Ursa.  “Azula, we can’t-”

“It’s perfect.” Azula continued on, her brows furrowing as they did when she was planning something.  “If we move here, we’ll see Dad without him having to come to your house.  And since he works a lot, we won’t miss him when he comes home because we’ll be here.”

Ursa ran her hand down her face.

“And we’ll be close by!” Now Zuko was voicing his approval and Ursa felt another blow.    “We can walk home from school.”  

Her children finally had their father in reach.  She knew why they wanted to stay at his house, but she couldn’t.  She could barely get through an afternoon with Ozai, how could she live with him day after day?

“And we can move in soon.  Uncle Iroh, did you know we’re going to go furniture shopping for our bedrooms this weekend?” Azula said, looking up at the screen.  “Zu-zu and I already picked our rooms.”

“We helped!” Katara added.  

“Well, that’s wonderful to hear!” Iroh laughed, smiling with eyes filled with mirth.  

“When can we move in?” Azula looked over the couch, to her father still in the kitchen.  She looked so excited.  

Ursa looked to Ozai, unsure of what he would say.  To her surprise, he looked just as unsure.  He lifted his eyes and met hers, as if asking what he should say.  

And of all the things he had said and done that evening, his uncertainty was what overwhelmed her.  Even then, after leaving him for another man and taking their children away, he would not make a decision on them without her approval.

“Ursa!”  She heard Kya’s voice behind her as she ran down the hall.  

“I forgot something at the house!” she said, shouting as she ran to the front door.  She fumbled with the locks, ignoring Kya yelling for her as she ran out of the house on unsteady feet.

“Ursa!”  A chill shot through her as she looked over her shoulder from the driveway.  That wasn’t Kya’s voice.  “Ursa, hold on!”

Every fiber of her being told her to do the opposite.  She looked straight ahead and continued her attempted run in wedges to Hakoda and Kya’s house as Ozai ran after her.  She could hear him catching up.  Longer legs and an athletic body closed the gap between them in a matter of moments.

“Ursa!”  She was nowhere near the other house when his hand grabbed her wrist.  “Wait a moment!  What is wrong with you, suddenly running out of the house?”  

She glared at his hand rather than meet his face, knowing it would show unfamiliar concern instead of a stoic expression she associated with him.  

“Nothing, I just remembered I forgot something at the house,” she said as she pulled back, trying to free her wrist.  

“And so you’re running there now?”

“It’s my phone!”

“What are you talking about?  It’s in your back pocket-”

“You know what I’m talking about!”  She lifted her head and watched him jerk his back.  His hand released her wrist and she stumbled backwards.  She rubbed her wrist as she looked away once more.

“I’m sorry to have pushed you.”  Ursa looked up once more.  “I know being around me bothers you; I was unaware of how much.  The children are of course welcomed at the house any time, but if you feel that uncomfortable-”

“How could I not feel uncomfortable?” Her voice was low and filled with unexpected anger.  “Hospitality from Kya and Hakoda is one thing, but from you...from you and your family?  After what I’ve done?” She shook her head.  “How can you be so welcoming to me after I left you?”

Ursa almost missed the look of pain on his face at the reminder.  Ozai took a deep breath, as if to collect himself before he answered.  

“I take care of my own, and Azula and Zuko are my own.”

She pursed her lips.  “And since I’m there mother, I just happen to be extended that care?”

Ozai said nothing as he seemed to study her.  His eyes narrowed into an irritated glare.  “Do you have a problem with that?”

“I’m not your wife any more.  There’s no reason for you to be so...so....”  She grit her teeth and her hands clenched.  “To be so kind!  I hardly know you.  Since we got here, you’ve been kind and attentive.  You’ve done nothing but show that if you were in their lives, you would’ve been a great father.”

“We don’t know that,” Ozai said.  “When they were in my life, I was hardly around.  I was a terrible one.”

Her eyes began to water.  “You would’ve been a better one than Ikem.”  

The words slipped from her mouth before she could stop them and Ozai��s face became unreadable.  

“This is my chance to be their father,” he said, his voice almost unheard.  “Agni knows Kya and Hakoda are drilling that into my head.  I want to be their father.  I want my daughter to call me to ask for souvenirs when I’m on business.  I want to have water gun fights with my son.  But I’m not going to ask you to come back to me and pretend we’re one happy family when you don’t want to be with me. If you’re worried that I’m going to make you live a life you don’t want, let me put your mind at ease.  I don’t want to.  I’m not going to, and I won’t use ‘trying to be a good father’ to make you.”

For a moment, Ursa felt the pit of her stomach drop.  Was she disappointed?  Was she angry at him?  

Ursa lifted her hand and wiped her eyes.  “I just don’t understand how you and your brother and Lu Ten can be so welcoming to me.  I left you.  I took our children away from you.  You should hate me.  Iroh and Lu Ten should, too.”

Ozai took another deep breath and gave her a small shake of her head.  “Have you ever stopped to consider that perhaps we are so welcoming because we don’t want you all to leave again?”

Ursa stiffened, her hand stopped wiping her eye.  “What?”

“It might not have changed anything, but perhaps if I had been more attentive and not so focused on work and my father’s approval....”  He trailed off and his lips tightened into a line.  “Mistakes were made on both our parts and I’d like to get over them so I can be the father they deserve.  Iroh and Lu Ten were saddened and disappointed when we divorced, but they harbor no ill will. You saw how happy they were to see the children.”  

“I wouldn’t deprive Zuko and Azula of there father now, or their uncle and cousin, so you don’t have to worry about us disappearing again,” she told him.  “You don’t need to give me a place to live and take me on vacation just so you won’t lose them.”

Ozai’s eyes narrowed.  “Is that what you think?  If you are adamant on refusing any assistance, fine, but don’t assume I’m only offering help because I’m afraid you’re going to leave with them again.  They’re my children and it’s my duty to care for them.”

Ursa inhaled a sharp breath, her wide gold eyes staring stunned at Ozai.  “Your duty?” She almost choked.  “Is that all?”

“Of course not-”

“Why can’t you just say you love them?”

“Why can’t you just accept that I do.”

She drew her head back.  A voice in her mind answered: because she wanted to hear him say it.  She just wanted to hear it...that maybe hearing him say he loved someone would confirm that he wasn’t an emotionless, single-minded man who valued work over family.  

“Fine,” she said.  “I would like you to remain in their lives; they can’t go back to how it was before.  But I want to be clear: I can take care of myself and our children without your help if I had to.”

The stern look on his face never faltered.  “I never said you couldn’t.”  

“Well...you’re making it appear like I can’t.”  His lips were still tight, but she could see a small flicker of surprise in his eyes.  

He swallowed.  “I’m sorry,” he said.  “I didn’t realize our pushing made you feel as if that were the case, especially in front of the children.  That was not our intention.”

Ursa forced herself to keep her eyes on his and not to waiver.  “I won’t stop you from being a father and supporting them, but you don’t need to provide for me, too.  That’s all, Ozai.”

Ozai nodded.  “I’ll speak to Lu Ten about the town house.  However, the trip to the villa...please seriously consider it.  I’m sure Azula and Zuko want you to go and besides, when was the last time you went home?”

Ember Island hadn’t been her home for years.  Her eyes crinkled up.  She couldn’t remember.  Did she ever go back with Ikem?  It was their home island and yet they never went back.  Her father died shortly after she and Ozai were married and her mother moved to Republic City to be try to be closer to them before she died.  

Ikem left the cremation early to shoot a film in the desert and her uncle flew her mother’s ashes back to the island.  She hadn’t visited.

Ursa closed her eyes.  “We didn’t go when I was with Ikem,” she said.  Her voice was oddly flat and she was cold, as if she were empty.  

Ozai cocked his head.  “What about when Rina died?” He always referred to her parents by their first name, as they insisted.  “Didn’t you take her back?”

“No, the cremation was in Republic City,” Ursa said.  “Uncle Ran brought her ashes back.”  

“I see.”  His voice was strained.  “I thought that since she was placed with your father, you had arranged it.”

“I did, but Uncle Ran brought her.”  She paused for a moment and stared at him.  “How did you know their ashes are together?”

“Someone mentioned it,” he said, nonchalant.  Ozai looked over his shoulder, back towards his house.  “What should I tell them?”

Ursa followed his gaze and saw the curtains in the front window move and the door close.  “Azula will be crushed when I tell her we’re not moving in.”

“You’re not moving in,” Ozai said.  “They will be, even if they’ll only stay here every so often.”  

“Fair enough.”  She took a deep breath and released it slowly.  She reached into her back pocket and found her phone.  She turned on the camera and used it to check her eyes.  “My eyes are red.”

“Just a little.”

“Let me stay out here a bit longer...until it clears.”  

Ozai nodded.  He took a step to return to the house, only to stop and look back at her with a quizzical expression.  

“By the way, what did you want to talk to me about?” “What?”

“Earlier, you said you wanted to talk to me.  Was it about the town house?” he asked, once more sounding as if it were business.

Ursa furrowed her brows, trying to remember.  At once, her face began to heat up.  Lu Ten’s voice echoed on her ears: ‘he loved you’.  She looked away, embarrassed, and shook her head.  

“It was nothing.  Don’t worry about it.”

He looked a bit sceptical, but nodded.  “All right.”  He began to walk back to his house.  He made it three steps before she opened her mouth.

“Wait, Ozai.” He looked over his shoulder and she cursed her curiosity.  “This is a ridiculous question, or rather thought, but earlier, when we arrived...Lu Ten mentioned that you were devastated when I left.  I think he got the wrong idea.  I know you were angry, but I don’t think you were devastated.”  

Ozai looked as if he were ready to lecture his nephew.  He turned to face her once more.  “If you must know, Lu Ten doesn’t have the wrong idea.  I was indeed devastated when you and the children left.”

Of course - because she took the children.  Seeing how he was around them now, it made sense.  Ursa nodded.  “I see.”

Ozai gave her a nod and turned back to the house. “No man wants to see the three people he loved most leave.”

She stood outside for a few moments longer, trying to dissect his words, but not coming up with any satisfying answer.  Ozai said the ‘L’ word.  The last time she heard him say it, it was during their wedding vows and she was sure he only said it because he thought he was supposed to.  

Days passed since she returned to Ozai’s house that night, assuring her children that she didn’t forget something as she thought.  Kya and Hakoda didn’t pry, but sooner or later, Ursa knew she’d crack and tell Kya.

After all she told Kya everything.  Everyone told Kya everything.  She probably knew things that people didn’t know about themselves, so that afternoon, a day before they were supposed to leave for Ember Island, Ursa recounted Ozai’s words and received and an unimpressed:

“I told you.”

“That’s not what he meant.”

“How else could he mean it?”

“I don’t know, Kya, but I’m sure he didn’t mean it that way!”  Ursa scowled as she folded laundry into three separate piles for her, Zuko, and Azula on her bed.  Kya was pulling out the children’s suitcases from the top of the closet in the spare bedroom Ursa was in.  

“Is it that hard to believe that he loves you?” Kya asked as she put Sokka’s blue spinner next to Katara’s, which bared some sea creature print.  

“As a friend, no.  I think after how long we have known each other, he had some affection for me, if only nostalgic.”

Kya snorted.  “Some affection...please....”

“He probably cared for me, but it wasn’t like he was in love with me.”

“I can’t believe we’re middle aged women who are mothers and we’re actually discussing whether or not a guy likes you,” Kya said with a roll of her eyes.

“Fine, let’s change the subject.  I’m more than happy to.”

“Okay, then.  When do you start the drama department gig at the Ba Sing Se University Extension?”

“My first official day is in exactly a month and a half.”

“Then why aren’t you coming with us to Ember Island if you’ll be back a good three weeks before it starts?” Kya gave her an expectant look and Ursa sat up straight on the bed.  

“I still have to go to some faculty meetings and talk to the other staff members.  They’re in and out in the coming weeks, so I need to stay here to be able to catch all of them.”

Kya didn’t look convinced.  “Uh-huh.”  

“The department head wants me to be as caught up as possible.”

“I thought you’re working with first year students.”

“I am, but there is a rigorous curriculum they need to follow and I need to know the ins and outs of it before we start.  I can’t go in there blind.  I’ll look like an idiot and none of the kids will respect me.  If they don’t, that’s it.  Authority gone.  No one will listen.  They won’t get the education they deserve,” Ursa said.  

“And you can’t do any of this at the villa?”

“I won’t get anything done.  You know I’ll focused on the kids.”

“Hakoda, Iroh, Lu Ten, and I will all be there to watch them, so you’ll have time to go over coursework,” Kya said.  

“With how awkward it will be staying at my ex-husband’s family’s beach villa?  Every red column and tile will scream the Sozin name.”

“Is that so bad?”

“Yes, because I divorced from it.”

Kya sighed.  “Your children are still legally Sozin.”

“I never got the chance to change it to Hiraa,” Ursa said,squirming in her seat on the bed.  “Anyway, they won’t miss me.  I’ll call in the evenings, Sokka and Katara are there for them to play with, and besides, Ozai will be there and I’m sure they’ll be clamouring for his attention.”

“Yes, but he’ll only be there the last week and a half.”

Ursa snapped her head up.  “What?  I thought he was going with you.”

Kya shook her head.  “They just won a bid they put in with a Western Nomad Territory transportation firm and Ozai has to go over the final details with their executive committee.  Their sales team just closed it last night.”

Ursa’s face fell.  “Azula and Zuko will be so disappointed.”

Kya glanced out the window, where screaming could be heard from the pool as another water gun assault was in the midst of taking place.  “Ozai is said he would break it to them himself when he comes for dinner this evening.”

“He did?”

“Yeah...I mean, Hakoda told him to, but he said he would.”  Kya looked back at Ursa.  “There is still a chance for you to come if you tag along with him.”

“Not going to happen,” Ursa said.  “Besides, he’ll be in in the Nomad Territories.”

“No, he won’t.  Their executive committee is coming here so they can tour the data center.”  

For a moment, Ursa panicked at the thought that she’d be alone with Ozai, but logic quickly quelled it.  “Still, it’s not like I’ll see him.  We’ll both be working.  I doubt he’ll drop by if you and the kids aren’t here.”  

Kya sighed, resigned.  “I suppose you’re right.  Anyway, did you make an appointment with Lu Ten to see his town house yet?”

“No, I didn’t get his info.  I was hoping you could call him?”

“So, you’re actually interested?”

“I just want to give it a chance.  He already thinks badly of me, I don’t want to make it worse.” “Ursa, he wouldn’t be offering his home if he thought badly of you.”

“I would think badly of me.”

“Okay, you have to stop.  No one here hates you,” Kya said, about to drag the luggage out of the room to have the children pack them under her supervision.  “Just accept some help from old friends.”  

Ursa watched her friend walk out of the room, two bags in tow, and let out a heavy sigh as Kya closed the door behind her.  “Easy for you to say...you didn’t take your kids away from their father.”

She fell back on the bed and released a heavy breath.  She still had to pack Azula and Zuko’s things for their trip, though Azula already had a packing list ready.  She had Ozai look over it for his approval and “in case she forgot anything”.  

Ursa knew that they wouldn’t want for anything at the villa.  Snorkel gear?  Done.  Life vests?  Check.  One word and Iroh would have a boat ready to set sail for his niece and nephew.  Lu Ten would arrive later along with his girlfriend, but he’d probably spoil the children, too.

A small knock sounded at the door and she remained laying on the bed, staring at the ceiling.  

“Come in.”

“Ursa, I apologize for bothering you.”  She shot up in bed at the sound of that deep, solemn voice that seemed to haunt her as of late.  Her wide eyes stared at the door as it opened enough for a person to peek through.  “May I have a moment of your time?”

Her first thought was there was no where for her to hide, but she quickly shook it out of her head.  She was a grown woman, such a thought was unbefitting.  Yet, her eyes still darted around the room or a place to dive into and avoid coming face to face with her ex-husband.

“Ursa?”  He called out again and she tensed, still seated on the side of the bed.  How long was she panicking?  

“Sorry, yes, can I help you, Ozai?” Good.  Her voice wasn’t shaking.  She could do this.  

The door creaked open a bit further and part of her died a little.  

He was still dressed in his business suit.  It was three pieces that time, most likely to deal with the the Western Nomad Territory transportation firm Kya mentioned.  Of course he wouldn’t wear it to impress her.  

“It doesn’t,” she muttered under her breath, despite knowing it was a weak lie.  She always thought men looked good in suits and Ozai in black with a slight hint of blood red and gold in his tie and pocket square was no exception.

“What?”

“Nothing.  Did you need something?” She forced herself to look attentive and ignore the blush on her face.  

“Yes, actually you can.  Did Kya tell you that I won’t be able to go with them on Friday?” he asked.  She nodded.  

“Congrats on landing the transport firm, but it looks like you’ll be stuck here for a while.”  

Ozai shifted uncomfortably as he gave a small nod.  “It’s a win for the company, but inconvenient.  I haven’t told the children I’ll be arriving later.”  

“They’re going to be very disappointed.”

“I know,” he said, frowning at the reminder.  He met her eyes with firm ones.  “I was hoping you’d help lessen the blow.”

She cocked her head to the side.  “How so?”

“I’d like you to go to Ember Island.”  

Ursa was already shaking her head.  She stood up and dusted off her pale gray cotton jogging pants.  “I’m sorry, but I have meetings and trainings to go during that time.”

“Surely you must have some time to spare.”

“I don’t.  And even if I did, I wouldn’t have time to get ready and arrange a flight.”

“Don’t worry about the flight.”

She almost wanted to scoff.  She shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest.  She was almost insulted.  Didn’t they just discuss this?  “You don’t have to pay for my flight, Ozai.”

He narrowed his eyes.  “Pay?  I offered no such thing.”  

Ursa had to check herself to make sure she didn’t jerk back in surprise.  Her proud stance faltered a bit.  “Then what are you saying?”

Ozai remained standing tall at the doorway.  “I’m saying you’ll fly there on the Sozin jet.”

“That’s even worse!” Ursa couldn’t hold it back, her face reddening with embarrassment.  “I can’t accept the jet coming just to pick me up!”

“Who said it’s picking you up?” The corner of Ozai’s lip curled upwards and her irritation flared.  Was he amused at her frustration?  “Iroh is sending it to pick me up,” he said in a matter-of-fact voice.  “You’ll just happen to be there with me when it does.”

Notes: So you thought I was dead, huh?  You’re only partially correct.  I’m sorry for taking so long; I know this is just an exercise and I’m not under any promises to complete it, but I still kind of really do.  Anyway, since it has been over a year, I’m going to try to make it up with a borderline-smutty chapter, I guess?  Or maybe just have them hang out.  IDK.   Anyway, thank you for reading!

[travelcenter-uk]

Visiting the Maldives - Where tranquillity meets luxury

Every day feels the same, doesn’t it? Cross-legged in the dim light, reading a timeless tale, scrolling through your timeline on Twitter, occasionally dozing off & feeling lowkey depressed – yeah, I feel you. That’s why we’re bringing you the antidote to change with few reasons why you should be visiting the Maldives now.

You’ve been looking for a way out; we happened to be finding out what that exactly is – and after some research, I think it’s safe to say we have an answer.

So, if you’re like a lot of us, just downright tired of welcoming normalcy into your life, keep reading.

But before I tell you more about visiting the Maldives – I hope you’re a fan of sugar-white sand and crystalline water! And while we’re on the topic, I hope your take on ocean view resorts overflowing with luxury & the underwater world is anything but bad, because that’s what visiting the Maldives is all about!

We’re insanely sure you’ve heard a lot about this country! But we’re here to remind you anyway. So, let’s start.

Why The Maldives ?

In addition to the regular reasons used & echoed in every corner of an article about visiting the Maldives, we’ll be giving you a set of other incentives to book a getaway to this country.

Beaches In The Maldives

I’m 110% sure this isn’t the first time you’ve heard about the beaches in the Maldives. I mean, this country is basically hailed as the all-time destination for the ideal beach escapade. So, if it’s one thing the Maldives does right, it’s painting your portrait with shimmering shades of blue, white and green!

Reethi Rah

I’m sure you’ve dealt with your fair share of beaches, but surely never like the beaches in Reethi Rah. What do I mean by that? Let’s just say the beaches promise luxury, unlike anything you’ve ever experienced before. It’s the perfect cherry on top of a cake filled with layers of bright blue lagoons, secret coves & slender stretches of sand, making it one of the best beaches in the Maldives.

Fulhadhoo Beach

Away from the bustle, Fulhadhoo Beach is all about seclusion. Unarguably one of the most sought-after beaches in the Maldives by both tourists & locals alike. It’s also the go-to place for love birds who chase surreal sunsets & quiet strolls.

Four Seasons Beach

The four seasons beach is for the wide-eyed first-timers. It’s one of the best beaches in the Maldives if you want your beach day to be full of wave lapping dreamscapes. I’m probably not the first to say this, but yes, if you’re planning to have a beach retreat full of soul-stirring moments – I’d suggest the Four Seasons Beach any day. It gets the job done effortlessly, and I’m sure that’s what you would want.

Honourable Mentions

Hulhumale Beach – The most popular of them all!

Vabbinfaru Island Beaches – For the ones who love jet-skiing!

Nika Island Beaches – For the laid-back vibe you’ve always wanted.

The Vaadhoo Island – To experience stars getting envious of the playful Sea of stars at the bioluminescent beach.

Dhigurah Beach – For the ones who want to dive with the sharks.

Bodu Mora – If you love swaying palm trees & an endless supply of coconuts.

Hotels In The Maldives

The hotels in the Maldives are quite frankly out of this world. So, the only real problem you’ll have is choosing where to stay, but then again, it depends on your budget. Oh, and by the way, it’s not as expensive as you think. Yes, hotels in Maldives have a reputation for oozing with opulence and resorts for everyone & and every budget possible.

Sun Siyam Iru Veli 5*

Five stars in accommodating you; Sun Siyam Iru Veli is a chic, and sumptuous exotic paradise in disguise making it the ultimate tropical getaway!

Sun Siyam doesn’t only mesmerize you with its beauty but also making you feel like serenity has taken over the atmosphere. With front row views of the stunning lagoon and a freshwater pool for every luxurious suite, all you have to do is sit back and sink your toes into the softest white sand as you witness the entertainment provided at the property. Nothing gets better than this.

Indulge in culinary innovation, with the daily-changing menu at the main restaurant that fuses seasonal flavours, with succulent seafood. Feast your eyes on the vibrant exotic fish as they swim by under the glass floor below as you sink into a relaxing massage at the spa with restorative natural ingredients to help you rebalance body and mind.

The spacious rooms offer you complete calmness with star-class amenities you’ll have everything you’ll possibly need. We are looking at the fun part as well here; Snorkelling, diving, and a wide range of water sports to make your stay even better. Why wait? Make your way here to make the best holiday memory.

Secure you next getaway!

Adaaran Prestige Vadoo 5*

Adaaran Prestige Vadoo, a prestigious Maldives Luxury Resort, is where time ceases to exist and the call of the sea casts a spell on you. Get ready to experience the grandeur at its best; at the Adaaran Prestige Vadoo, which brings your dream holiday to life with its striking views and more!

A list of indulgences awaits you at this Maldivian Island resort that can only be matched by its captivating lushness of its sumptuous dwellings that feature a range of modern comforts, and offer intimate living spaces above the turquoise waters of the ocean.

Take pleasure in a myriad of traditional therapeutic treatments, to naturally purify body, mind and soul. Be spoilt for choice with its culinary delicacies at Adaaran Prestige Vadoo which gives you the chance to relish in delectable dishes at the best luxury restaurants in the Maldives. Revel in the vast expanse of the milk-white sand lapped by shimmering clear waters or enjoy a plethora of activities and discover the unique sights, adventures and sounds of these exotic islands. You wouldn’t get enough of the, the happy tan lines and the winds that caress your hair with grace. Witness the blissfully satisfying Adaaran Prestige Vadoo and fall in love with its story of luxury.

Paradise awaits you!

Sun Siyam Olhuveli 4*

From the time you step off your flight, this stunning island of Olhuveli is a perfect place to simply sink into blissful relaxation. Sun Siyam Olhuveli offers modern villas to Maldivian-inspired suites that ensure that you have everything you possibly need to enjoy a wonderful break. Created to cater to your every need, this resort offers you lush facilities, amenities entertainment and activities from world-class water sports, to everything will make you go wow. It’s a happy tale; if you want to stay back and relax your mind; with Maldivian inspired.

Holistic health, beauty and wellbeing that sheds light to your soul, or even if you’re going to keep the adrenaline rushing with all the activities like parasailing, kitesurfing or even diving, we’ve got you covered with Sun Siyam olhuveli and they will make sure you go home with the best memories.

Plan a blissful stay!

Sheraton Maldives full moon resort & spa 5*

All your senses will be captivated at Sheraton Maldives Full Moon Resort & Spa, located in the gorgeous North Malé Atoll. Encircled by a shimmering turquoise lagoon, pristine white sandy beaches, and swaying palms, that awaits you at this 5-star star family resort that sets the stage for a memorable getaway.

This lavish resort opens is all about serenity, calmness and splendour blended in perfect harmony. Enjoy the epitome of bliss at the meticulously designed rooms, villas or overwater bungalows, many equipped with private plunge pools functional furnishings and amenities. Nourish your well-being at the Shine Spa, located on a private island with generous treatment to rejuvenate and balance the body, mind and soul. The property offers a plethora of activities that includes a kids club, lively water recreations, including diving, snorkelling and jet skiing and entertainment that keeps you excited throughout your holiday. Indulge in diverse and delectable the in-house restaurants and bars, that features international cuisine, signature cocktails, and breath-taking vistas.

Turn new experiences into lasting memories that gives you many reasons to come back as well (I certainly would!). Take this perfect chance to feel the bliss at the Sheraton Maldives Full Moon Resort & Spa.

Get your next holiday mood on!

Also, it really does depend on when & who you’re booking with. See where this is going? No? Well, let me spell it out for you; some of the hotels in the Maldives are expensive, and while there are other cheaper choices. You can always get loads of discounts for the most lavish resorts of the Maldives with us at Travel Center.

(Just putting it out there in case you were interested, feel free to ignore if you aren’t)

The Underwater Kingdom

You didn’t think I’d write an article about visiting the Maldives and not include the part where it’s known as one of the best diving & snorkelling destinations in the world. From the whale shark A.K.A., the world’s largest fish, to vibrant coloured corals and friendly manta rays, the richness & variety of the Maldives’ underwater world is purely astonishing. Think we’re lying? Maybe you can check it out for yourself!

More Reasons To Put The Maldives On Your List Of Places To Visit!

It’s home to the world’s first underwater spa, restaurant & hotel. Click here to read more about that & other unusual hotels!

To see more in one-go as you hop from one island to another.

The seafood. No place does seafood like the Maldives. So, make some space for the delicacies, it’s not worth missing.

The architecture – not many tourists know this, but the Maldives is actually an architectural behemoth. From glistening domes and ornate chandeliers to Arabic calligraphy, there’s a lot in store.

The Maldives are what dreams are made of – meaning it’s going to be picture-perfect in every way. A great way to add a little flavour to your social media feeds, especially if you’re an upcoming influencer.

So, there you have it – some of the best reasons to visit this country. From the hotels in the Maldives to the white sand splendour of its many beaches and water sports sites, no two moments will ever be the same in the Maldives.

Travel Requirements When Visiting The Maldives In 2021

All visitors can travel to the Maldives at present, as long as they have proof of a negative COVID-19 test. Cruise ships are currently banned, however. The PCR test must be carried out within 96 hours before departure. The laboratory’s name and address should be clearly shown, along with the date the sample was taken. The result must be attached to the Traveller Health Declaration form, which must be submitted online within 24 hours before arrival.

So, what’s the hold-up? Call our travel experts at Travel Center and get the specifics of your next trip underway now! From all-inclusive luxury adventures to wallet-friendly holiday discounts and other tailor-made deals, we can assure you of the kind of getaway you’ve always dreamed about.

Read More:- Visiting the Maldives - Where tranquillity meets luxury

This Article, Information & Images Source (copyright):-  Travel Center UK Blog

[seakittens]

Take Your Marks Review

Okay, general disclaimer first. I don’t speak Japanese nor understand it very well. I have, however, reviewed all of the existing summaries of this movie on Tumblr and am part of a collective (RH Discord Group) that includes people who speak Japanese fairly well. This has informed my knowledge of general dialogue. For the sake of fairness, most of this review will focus on visuals, rather than dialogue. I believe I can speak to what I saw to a reasonable degree.

Look I have proof I was there!  

I’m also doing this review in terms of what I enjoyed rather than a pure summary (though it will be summary-ish because that’s how my brain works) because of said Japanese language barrier.  As I said, there are at least two direct summaries available. I’m going to try to touch on things that lack elaboration from what I’ve seen.

Okay, let’s dive in!

The third stage greeting featured Samezuka on an island resort. They were all so casually dressed. It looked like they just rolled out of bed, even Rin. XD Who did his classic leg crossing sit. This was before the image of everyone as pirates. The theater rules were presented by Natsuya and Nao.

The fourth stage greeting featured Style 5 on the resort. They were all formally dressed but not in suits. They looked amazing. As did the Roadshow pic. Theater rules were presented by Ikuya and Hiyori.

Episode 1: - This episode starts with Makoto dreaming and it’s absolutely gorgeous. Makoto is humming “Clear Blue Departure” while he cooks breakfast and it’s adorable. The scene shifts to Haruka  stripping and then diving off the terrace into the endless pool that the city’s transformed into, it’s stunning. The water looks super crisp and the wind that blows back at Makoto is lovely. I loved Makoto reaching out for Haruka and then tripping off the terrace and falling into the water. Super symbolic. What an opening. - The dream ends with Haruka reaching out for Makoto, as Makoto wakes up on the train. Which is a nice switch from their usual dynamic. Makoto still calls him “Haru-chan” and Haruka still is tsun about it. - The OP sequence is a combination of OP sequences from Free and Eternal Summer, with some fun extras thrown in. You get some running Samezuka, along with running Iwatobi. You get a cute shot of the Matsuoka family cat, a black and white fatty named Steve, along with Rin’s mom. Gou is mixed in here and there with Iwatobi. You also get Nao and Natsuya, Ikuya and Hiyori (his roommate) and Kisumi and Asashi (hanging out together). There are some quick profiles of minor characters such as Sasabe, Miho, Seijuurou and Hayato. - A cute highlight is two group shots. One of these comes from the Timeless Medley endcard and features Haruka seemingly starting to put his arm around Rin. Another seems to be a new one that also involves Rin leaning toward Haruka. - The OP basically ends with the key visual for the movie. - The first episode involves a lot of Makoto and Haruka searching for Haruka’s apartment. Kisumi is working for his uncle’s real estate agency and is super cute with said uncle. I did crack up when Haruka tried to leave twice upon seeing Kisumi. Poor boy. - Haruka is so picky about his apartment. He rejects one for too small a bath and another for a stove that did not allow for proper mackerel grilling. Kisumi then shows them an apartment that Makoto really approves of and seems to meet Haruka’s standards, but Kisumi tells them someone died there and Makoto freaks out and hides behind Haruka. I lost it at this scene because Kisumi is so casual the whole time. What a troll. - I think Makoto also comments on Kisumi having a license while Kisumi is driving them around and says he doesn’t have his yet but Haruka does. - Eventually, Kisumi gives them the instructions for another apartment with a very nice pool and surrounded by sakura trees. This is where Haruka and Makoto must navigate the Tokyo subway system. Having done this, I FEEL THEIR PAIN. Eventually, they find the apartment, along with  Misaki, a little kid who’s standing by the door. Misaki is adorable and his relationship with his rival/friend makes Haruka think of Rin, causing him to flashback to his times around young Rin. Haruka’s eyes also do this sort of sparkle and the camera zooms in on them. Haruka tells Makoto to take Misaki to the pool, and it’s super sweet how Makoto invites Misaki to go with him, all coach-like. - Interspersed among the Makoto and Haruka journey are separate scenes of Rei/Gou/Nagisa and Rin. This involves visiting the Iwatobi Swim Club and getting a quick cameo of Hayato who says nothing but gives a cute wav. Precious child. Iwatobi is painstakingly sewing replicas of the outfits from the Splash  Free OP. They end up talking to Rin on the phone about Haruka’s apartment search and Rin seems antsy that Haruka hasn’t found one yet. Since Rin is still packing up his dorm, Momo shows up a lot and tries to steal the phone to talk to Gou. Cue shouting from Rin’s end. All of the Samezuka relay team shows up in Rin’s room to help him pack and there are some cute scenes of Sousuke teasing Momo about the beetle book he wants to give Gou. - Gou meets up with Rin at the train station and they walk home together, with Gou hanging off him and leaning into him. Rin again asks about Haruka’s apartment search and Gou teases him. Rin is super indulgent of Gou this whole time and they’re very adorable siblings. I loved this scene. Gou also shows Rin a special cake she bought for the occasion. - I really loved Makoto coaching Misaki too and Haruka watching proudly. Also Misaki’s super focused eyes upon seeing Haruka swim. Such a good scene. - Haruka and Makoto return to the apartment Haruka wants and have a nice talk about futures in the sunset (SYMBOLISM) before finding an abandoned phone. - Haruka drives them back to the real estate agency and is so focused. He gets a little close to another car and Makoto panics and starts backseat driving while Haruka calmly makes his turn. Makoto is gripping his chest like he just had a heartattack. He’s a goofball and this scene is absolutely hilarious. - Nao shows up at the end to get his phone and speaks briefly to Kisumi’s uncle.

Episode 2: - This has great stuff about the Matsuoka family. We see Rin trying to pet Steve and Steve pointedly walking back to sit by Gou’s feet. We also see Rin unpacking things like his pillow, while humming. Rin gives such a content smile while eating cake with his family (Steve naps under the table) and looking at the measuring marks left on the wall for him and Gou by Toraichi. I also want to point out that his mother Miyako is drop dead gorgeous. I love the way her hair falls over her neck. Rin also offers the cake to a picture of his father and prays to him. We get to see all of Toraichi’s trophies around his picture, along with a picture of Toraichi and little Rin and Gou. - We get a cute scene of Ai being captain with Samezuka. He’s really grown on me as a character. - This also has some great Sousuke/Samezuka (the less known team characters) interaction. After Momo and Ai win two onsen passes while Momo is trying to win another beetle thing, they send Sousuke and Samezuka on a crazy puzzle scavenger hunt. Samezuka is adorable as they try to work with Sousuke to figure everything out, from rearranging lettered cookies to finding the shark in front of the school. - When Sousuke calls Rin to tell him about the paired tickets (Rin is surprised it’s just them), Miyako pulls out another pair so that Ai and Momo can go too. I died. - I love Momo and Rin’s interactions in this episode. He’s so indulgent of him. He helps him find the onsen’s mascot, capybara, to take pictures with, poses in ridiculous cutouts at Momo’s insistence and follows Momo around to shop for capybara merch. In general, Samezuka is such a good team in this. They’re like a little family. After getting their own cutout picture (where Rin says “say cheese” in English), Momo and Ai cajole Sousuke and Rin into doing the same. They’re disappointed that Sousuke won’t smile since Sousuke’s fairly sad and reflecting on swimming throughout this episode. But Rin tickles Sousuke and they get a nice smile out of him for their picture. - Rin also tries to pet another cat and it  walks away, leading to Sousuke laughing at him.  Oh yeah, Rin sits in a vibrating chair, and the sounds he makes are hilarious.

- Later, Natsuya’s team also shows up at the onsen. Natsuya is the captain. One of his teammates wants Momo’s capybara plush and glares at him, but Momo doesn’t know why the guy is so annoyed. This later results in the two battling in a fierce pair tennis match for the plush. Ai and Momo win. Rin hears about the match as a fight and rushes in to save the day, only to realize his team is ridiculous. 

- Around this time, Sousuke and Ai have a really nice scene in the onsen together. The general consensus is they talk about how Sousuke helped Ai become a better swimmer. A similar discussing is had with both Sousuke and Rin before the onsen, during their special dinner. Ahhh, Samezuka. - Natsuya runs into Sousuke while Sousuke is getting a coke (Natsuya drinks black coffee) and they discuss his shoulder and Nao. Lots of implications for Sousuke’s future. I love this scene. (This may be a new ship for me, even though I do enjoy Natsuya/Nao, who are never together in this movie for some reason.) - At night, they’re all sleeping on futons and Momo is noisy. Sousuke notices Rin is awake and Rin tries to talk to Sousuke about something (probably swimming) but Momo interrupts him with some sleep-talking and Rin loses his nerve after he yells at him. He’s all contemplative when he finally goes to sleep. - The scene with Momo and Ai giving Sousuke and Rin their charms is also really sweet. - We see Sousuke and Rin finishing up their packing in the dorm. Sousuke shows Rin a mecha that transforms into a salmon. It ends with Sousuke staring at a team picture as he packs his things and looking at  his charm. The implication is he’s made his decision about his future.

Episode 3: - I’m not going to lie, I think this was the weakest episode. The focus wasn’t as strong and it kind of dragged at points. But a large part of its issue is that Iwatobi as a team pales in comparison to the camaraderie we just saw Samezuka display in the previous episode. I dislike how Makoto and Haruka do not feel as unified with the rest of Iwatobi as Sousuke and Rin do with the rest of Samezuka. It’s hard to really describe why but it’s somewhat disappointing. 8( It still had some good points though. - Also because of said reason, I kind of don’t remember this one as well. Sorry. - Rei having a dream about finding a genie and asking it to recruit more members, only to still not receive any was cute. As was Nagisa napping in Rei’s room. - They eventually come up with a plan to shoot Rei’s dream as a recruitment video. Makoto and Haruka return and Haruka gives Nagisa special Iwatobi bread. - Iwatobi recruits Rin to drive them to the sandy part of Tottori. This was seriously the best scene of the episode. His mom’s car is so very red, and Nagisa gushes over it lots. Rin takes most of Iwatobi in mom’s car, while Miho takes Gou and more supplies. Haruka rides shotgun with Rin, and Nagisa compliments Rin’s driving. Which leads to Haruka saying he can drive better and pointing out his Tokyo experience. This of course goads Rin on and his gives one of his classic toothy smiles before going faster. Miho notices this and goes faster in turn. Makoto freaks out again. - Nagisa pulls out all of the costumes once they reach their destination and starts describing roles. When Rin teases them, Nagisa shows that they also made a costume for Rin, but Rin bails for a meeting with Ai. He does give Nagisa a pat on the head and the rest of them a super cute smile before leaving though, and he and Haruka have a nice silent stare at each other. - Key points of their video shooting is Makoto trying to be a villain (though still wearing his original Splash Free outfit) while blushing and being awkward, Haruka staring blankly at a camel before sitting atop it and Rei and Nagisa doing some sort of butterfly where one supports the other on his back (so weird). Haruka appears to be very good at his part. I also want to point  out that I’m fairly sure that Makoto has Splash Free Rin’s part, seeing as how he holds the water goblet all haughtily. - Rin and Ai eat at a McDonald’s-like restaurant, where Rin gets a toy Loosey-kun from a Happy Meal. I think Asahi is also talking on the phone to Kisumi outside the restaurant here. - The rest of the episode is kind of slower, with Iwatobi figuring out the video. Makoto and Haruka aren’t around as much, though there is a scene where Nagisa finds his Iwatobi-chan carvings and he and Haruka talk about handing them out again. Gou is cleaning the team room and ends up knocking over a filing cabinet that has a recruitment manual from the old Iwatobi Swimming Team. It says the key to recruitment is PKM. So most of the episode is devoted to solving the mystery of what that means. - This involves going to visit Sasabe. Meanwhile, Makoto and Haruka talk proudly about their kouhai. - They eventually realize PKM means some perfect muscle thing and are all disillusioned. Makoto suggests they clean the pool for old time’s sake and Rei and Haruka have a super cute scene. Rei sees a butterfly and flashes back to Haruka teaching him how to swim. I love how the butterfly  flutters between them. It starts on Haruka but ends up on Rei’s forehead.Ugh, I  love Rei and Haruka. This episode needed more of this. I think Makoto and Nagisa have a talking moment or two. -  Iwatobi all watch the promotional video together and it ends with Rei delivering a message about team bonds that makes everyone smile and look up at the stars. The stars are shining various colors, including red and blue.

Episode 4: - This is Rin’s episode and I was dying the whole time from how precious Rin is. - It starts with a flashback to Makoto and Ikuya talking in middle school. Ikuya mentions he’s going to America to train. The scene ends with grown-up Ikuya. - Then we see Iwatobi trying to come up with ideas for Rin’s surprise party. Gou suggests something about the guys showing off muscles for Rin, Nagisa suggests carrying sleeping Rin to the pool (to which Gou adds the muscles thing again), Haruka suggests a bunch of mackerel dishes and eventually a more Western one. - They eventually decide on a different plan but need Momo and Ai. - I absolutely loved Rin crying about the stupid romance movie based off the Fly and being tsun about it. When Sousuke goes to the bathroom, Rin sees Gou meeting with Momo and since he’s fresh off his romance movie, immediately assumes they’re dating. I love how he has to lower his phone when Sousuke calls to tell him he’s lost. So he’s kind of freaking out in a rough whisper. - The rest of Iwatobi and Ai show up to meet with Momo and tell him about the Loosey-kun toy Rin got. I think his role in the surprise party is to challenge Rin to a swim-off for the toy. - Rin goes home and is still miserable about Gou dating. He flashes back to her as a little girl and imagines her walking off with some imaginary guy and is very distraught. He tries to talk to her about it, but Gou is evasive to avoid spoiling the surprise. It just leads to Rin looking really awkward. His mother’s advice doesn’t help either. - Momo confronts Rin to ask about the toy but doesn’t specificy and Rin thinks he’s asking about Gou. I love this scene since Rin is clearly frazzled but he tries to stay all mature and when Momo challenges him to a race for the thing he wants, Rin is super serious in accepting. Why are you so cute, Rin? - Somehow Samezuka hears about what’s going down and is all gossiping. Seijuurou just happened to be around so he hears it too and he tells Momo they’re going to race together, thinking if they win, they’ll be able to date Gou. - Rin realizes he now has to race two people for Gou and is even more distraught. He runs into Nagisa and Rei when they come to meet with Ai to discuss the party. Somehow the two get the impression that Rin won’t go to Australia if he doesn’t beat the Mikoshiba brothers. - Words gets back via telephone to Gou, Haruka and Makoto, who all panic that Rin is going to quit swimming again. Haruka is especially distraught and frustrated, while Makoto is whimpering and whining. Haruka decides to join the match on Rin’s side. - Haruka calls Rin, who seems to recognize Haruka’s number but is very confused to see  him calling. - The next scene has them sitting on a bench together. The sky is full of swirling (literally swirling) stars, like a whirlpool of them, and the colors are so vibrant. The whole scene is shot in such soft lighting. It’s so over the top  beautiful. Haruka tries to get to the bottom of Rin’s issues, but Rin is evasive because it’s a personal problem. I must add that most of this talk is super soft and concerned. Haruka  is precious. But Haruka does get more and more worked up the more evasive Rin is until he’s shouting and practically crawling over Rin. Their faces are like less than an inch apart. It’s nuts. Haruka is so intense. Rin has his leg up to block Haruka from ending up in his lap. But Rin realizes the misunderstanding explains his issue with Gou. Haruka calms down and confesses about the party. They’re both so soft and cute again. Rin has this smile that kills me when he teases Haruka about spoiling the party but then reassures him. The general consensus is Rin says something along the lines that swimming with Haruka again is enough of a surprise. Haruka gives Rin an awed sort of look. - Despite clearing everything up, Rin and Haruka are still set to swim against the Mikoshibas. Rin catches Haruka’s attention for a high five prior to the match and Haruka gives another great smile before eagerly slapping his hand. So much assertive Haruka in this movie. I love it. - The race is beautifully animated. One of Free’s epic races. Before they swim, Seiichirou teases Haruka and Haruka kind of snarks back. Very nice. But Sei still outswims Haruka. Haruka reaches the wall and gives this huge shout of RIIIIIN, identical to the way Rin shouted for him during the race in S1 Episode 12. Rin dives over Haruka and Haruka’s eyes do this super focused thing as he watches. Rin overtakes Momo  at the  flip-turn and then charges back to the starting block. He sees Haruka waiting for him and goes into his Sight-Mode, with the bright lights and the intense stare (again think, Episode 12) and rushes back with another wild grin. He wins the race for them and has a super happy reaction. - Momo wails about losing and Rin tries to reassure him, as all the lights go off and  inflatable toys of everyone’s image animals appear in the pool. Samezuka shows up with a huge banner for Rin. Rin’s about to cry and both Sousuke and Haruka encourage it in their own ways. Everyone jumps in the pool with Rin and there’s a super cute shot of Haruka snuggling his inflatable dolphin. - Afterward, Rin gives Momo the Loosey-kun toy. He gets some nice quick moments with Rei and then Iwatobi as a whole. He flashes back to him and the original relay team. Then he fist-bumps Sousuke and flashes back to when they were kids as well. The general consensus is that Haruka says something to Rin about looking foward to seeing him again. He gives another nice smile here, and Rin smiles back. - Last scenes are a montage of what everyone’s doing. Rin is going to the airport, while his mom and Gou see him off. His mother waves Steve’s paw at Rin. Makoto and Haruka are jogging. Nagisa, Rei and Gou are doing more  recruitment things. Samezuka are doing other team things. We see Rin’s plane leave and then we see Haruka and Makoto staring at the cherry blossom tree at Iwatobi ES. There is a flash to the Iwatobi bricks with “I swim Free best for the team.” Then the classic Haruka bird shows up and flies over them, dropping a feather on Haruka, as he smiles. - Truly last scene is Ikuya and Hiyori looking at some roster of Japanese swimmers, including Haruka. Both look very interested. -  "See You Next Stage" appears  at the end. The credits role with all of the main 8 characters in Elvis costumes. I like to point out that Sousuke isn’t dancing in his picture and is kneeling on one leg because he’s a lazy butt. It’s a cute song involving bits for pretty much every single Free character. -  After the credits is the picture of Haruka in his new red and white uniform with “Free continues Summer 2018.” -  Oh I should add that every episode has a commercial card with either Miho, Sasabe or Seijuurou saying “Take Your Marks.” So random. They should have included Miyako. Or Steve.

Final Thoughts:

As said overall, this is a really fun and really sweet movie. Yeah, it’s a glorified OVA, but it was cool to see how much all the characters have matured and developed, especially Haruka and Rin. Haruka was so cool throughout this, and Rin was both super mature and devastatingly pretty in every shot. Like distractingly pretty. I  also loved  all of Haruka’s beautiful smiles. So many smiles. I’m  very curious how they will follow Haruka’s story in S3 and what Rin will be up to. I’m also curious how they’re going to work in other characters. I admit I’m not crazy about following the juniors since I’m all about the pro life.

Oh yeah, this was also the special seiyuu event so I got to see Tsubasa Yonaga, Daisuke Hirakawa and Akeno Watanabe (Gou and baby Rin). They were very cute. I love how Yonaga refers to everyone as “chan.”

I will hopefully see again on Saturday before I go back home. If you have any questions about the RH scenes or any scenes really, feel free to message me or send me an ask. Remember, I can’t answer dialogue questions. Only visual ones.

[orbemnews]

8 hidden beaches in Hong Kong Editor’s Note — CNN Travel’s series often carries sponsorship originating from the countries and regions we profile. However, CNN retains full editorial control over all of its reports. Read the policy. (CNN) — Hong Kong is known to dazzle visitors with its neon skyline and urban canyons. But don’t let that glittery cosmopolitan facade fool you. The territory is home to more than 260 outlying islands, 100-plus beaches and endless miles of raw coastline. Sunseekers may already be familiar with popular sandy spots such as Repulse Bay, Stanley and Shek O. But it’s worth seeking out farther-flung crescents for cleaner sand and clearer water, too. Here are some of Hong Kong’s more hidden beaches, which you might even have all to yourself when you travel: Long Ke Wan Long Ke Wan Beach: Soft white sands. AFCD The sandy stretches of Sai Kung East Country Park could be straight out of the Philippines, especially the stunning soft white sands of Long Ke Wan. Backed by forested hillsides and overlooking clear water, this beach isn’t easy to reach but it’s well worth the journey. Hiking over the first hill from the nearby High Island Reservoir, travelers are rewarded with sweeping views of the South China Sea and a picture-perfect crescent sweep of sand, all surrounded by mountains. The remote location in Hong Kong’s northeastern corner protects the beach from overuse. Long Ke Wan is just the beginning of a string of beautiful beaches along Tai Long Wan bay. Getting there: From Diamond Hill MTR , a 30-minute taxi ride reaches the High Island Reservoir. From there it’s another 30-minutes on foot. Tung Ping Chau Tung Ping Chau is one of the best places to snorkel in Hong Kong. AFCD Located in the northeast corner of Mirs Bay — closer to Shenzhen, China, than to Hong Kong — Tung Ping Chau is the city’s most remote island. The sunny speck in the sea features curious rocks formations along the coastline, great snorkeling, clean water and soft, sandy beaches. To break up the day, follow the island’s three-hour-long walking trail through the Hong Kong UNESCO Global Geopark to explore the many natural formations and rock pools. Hong Kong might not be your stereotypical beach town. But it’s home to some truly stunning stretches of sand. Video by Black Buddha Along the way, you can stop in Tai Tong Village for refreshments, though we’d recommend coming prepared with your own supplies. Getting there: Ferries to Tung Ping Chau depart from Ma Liu Shui Ferry Pier, in northeastern Hong Kong, and take roughly 1.5 hours each way. As ferry services are limited, it’s wise to check times before the journey. Ham Tin Wan Ham Tin Wan: Clear water, rugged mountains. Chingleung/Creative Commons A discussion about Hong Kong’s most beautiful beaches never fails to include a mention of Tai Long Wan. The remote bay is home to four beaches — Sai Wan, Ham Tin Wan, Tai Wan and Tung Wan — each separated by hills. You’ll need to set aside an entire day to hike from beach to beach. But if you prefer to focus on just one of the four, we’d recommend Ham Tin Wan. Not only does the beach offer clear water and rugged mountain scenery, but there’s more infrastructure here — think a snack stall, bathrooms and water sport rentals. Along the trek from Sai Wan beach to Ham Tin, you’ll come across Sheung Luk Stream, which branches into the woods. Follow this stream for about 15 minutes until you reach tiered waterfalls and a series of rock pools. It’s the perfect place for a quick swim, picnic or bout of cliff jumping (at your own risk) before continuing on to Ham Tin. Getting there: Departing from Central, make your way to Sai Kung Village. From there, you can either take a kaito ferry or minibus No. 29R to the trailhead at Sai Wan Pavilion. If hiking, the journey takes about 40 minutes to reach Sai Wan. Lo So Shing Find yourself an empty plot on Lo So Shing beach. Leisure and Cultural Services Department On the western coast of Lamma Island, this quiet beach is oft overlooked in favor of the more popular Powerstation or Hung Shing Ye beaches. But after a short hike, you’ll be rewarded with exceptionally clean water and, quite possibly, a cove all to yourself. The facilities are pretty bare bones here — there’s a refreshment stand, some water sports vendors and bathrooms — but the powdery sand is hard to beat. After hitting the beach, visitors can wander up to Yung Shue Wan village for a leisurely lunch or sunset drinks. Getting there: From Central, take the ferry to Sok Kwu Wan fishing village and follow the Family Walk for roughly 20 minutes. When you reach the hilltop pavilion, turn left and walk downhill until you reach Lo So Shing. Turtle Cove It’s nearly impossible to find a quiet plot of sand on Hong Kong island, but Turtle Cove might be the rare outlier. This oft deserted beach sits on the southern side of the island, just south of Tai Tam Reservoir. You can’t see it from above, as it’s hidden at the bottom of 200-some stairs. Descending through the tree-fringed corridor, the beach finally comes into sight — nothing but golden sands and mountain scenery in sight. On site, there are a few government-run facilities, including lifeguards in season, barbecue pits, toilets and a refreshment kiosk. Getting there: From Sai Wan Ho MTR station, take Bus No. 15 to the Tai Tam Reservoir. Hoi Ha Wan Hoi Wa Wan beach is home to an abundance of marine life. AFCD On the northern coast of Sai Kung East Country Park, Hoi Ha Wan usually draws kayakers, snorkelers and nature lovers. Part of a protected marine park, the boulder-hugged beach is home to an abundance of colorful marine life, including more than 120 species of fish, 60 types of hard coral and labyrinthine mangrove forests. Back on land, there’s a scenic village that’s home to traditional temples and a few observation points. At the village, you can stock up on snacks, drinks and snorkeling gear before diving in. Getting there: From Sai Kung Village, take Minibus No. 7 to Hoi Ha Tsuen Village and make your way to the beach. Tong Fuk Beach A small strip of sand on Lantau Island’s southern coast, Tong Fuk Beach offers the best of both worlds. It’s within walking distance to more popular Cheung Sha beaches, where you’ll find popular beach bars such as Bathers … but just far enough that it’s nearly always deserted. Tong Fuk Beach doesn’t provide much more than a changing room and toilets; however, what it lacks in infrastructure, it makes up for with firm gray sand, clean water and spectacular sunsets. Getting there: Take the ferry from Central to Mui Wo, then catch Bus No. 1 to South Lantau and alight near the beach. Hap Mun Wan Sharp Island’s “Half Moon Bay.” Hong Kong Tourism Board Meaning “Half Moon Bay,” Hap Mun Wan is one of the most remote beaches in the territory. It’s no secret to Hong Kong residents, but few travelers make the hike. Located on Sharp Island off the coast of Sai Kung, in northeastern Hong Kong, the beach can only be accessed via a kaito (local ferry), which you can catch from the Sai Kung Town pier. Once you reach the beach, you’ll find a brilliant stretch of golden sand, Grade 1 water (the cleanest in Hong Kong) and leafy hills on either side. The government-run beach includes all the basic services, including snack kiosks, toilets and barbecue pits. But be sure to pack your own lunch — plus lots of sunscreen. Also on the island, adventurous travelers may want to tackle the one-hour trek northwest through Kiu Tsui Country Park. Part of the Hong Kong UNESCO Global Geopark, the western coast is home to volcanic rock formations — dubbed “pineapple bun rocks” due to their resemblance to a namesake Hong Kong baked good — and a tombolo (natural sand levee) that connects to smaller Kiu Tau island. Getting there: At Sai Kung Village, hop on the next kaito at the pier. If you’re on a tight timeline, you can also hire a private boat. Source link Orbem News #beaches #hidden #Hong #Kong

[the-pontiac-bandit]

put it out to sea and perfect our chemistry

thanks to @jakelovesamy for spending basically her entire day alternating between providing ideas and being a generally reassuring person. thanks to anonymous, who sent in the prompt below. and thanks to kokomo, for providing a passable title. 

75. “I’m going for a swim. Do you wanna join me?”

The 2018 Detectives-Only Getaway takes place in an icy New York February. It begins with the hot tub and one of Charles’ less adventurous meals, but by late afternoon on the first day, the inhabitants of the house have moved into the basement and uncorked several bottles of wine. From the outside, it would be easy to assume that the beach house is deserted, its owners waiting for warmer months to use it. All of the lights are off, the curtains are drawn, and everything seems still and quiet. There’s no reason to believe that anyone would be spending a weekend at a beach this far north in the winter. And yet, invisible from the outside, dim lamps are flickering in the basement where six adults are crowded in a circle, voices rising as their third game of Never Have I Ever comes to a close.

Amy stares across the coffee table at Jake from her position on the floor with a ferocity that unnerves her friends. Charles is slowly scootching away from his best friend, distancing himself from the subject of Amy’s scrutiny, and even Gina has inched away from Amy, trying to pretend that the lasers shooting out of her friend’s eyes aren’t the most terrifying thing she’s seen this week. Amy holds four fingers on her right hand in the air defiantly, almost as though she’s daring someone to force them down. Only Jake, sitting across from her with heavy-lidded eyes and an absent-minded grin, seems unfazed by her glare. He holds his one remaining finger casually in the air as he takes a few large gulps from the bottle of beer he’s grasping loosely in his free hand.

“Jake! You can’t just drink whenever you want! We’re playing a game!” Amy is scandalized, shifting her weight as though she’s getting ready to leap over the table and knock his beer out of his hand, like she did during the first round.

“Come on, Santiago, lighten up. Drinking is fun,” Rosa contributes from her position in the corner, where she’s curled up and hugging a bottle of vodka. She lost their third game nearly half an hour ago, and since then she’s been heckling from the sidelines and drinking vodka like it’s water. Amy had tried to cut her off an hour ago, when she first started to slur, but Rosa had pulled out a pocket knife and chugged her drink defiantly, so Amy decided to leave her be.

“Yeah, Amy!” Jake sounds less like a boyfriend and more like a whiny teenager, but everyone’s too far gone to tease him for it. “Anyway, it’s your turn! Just go so I can drink already!”

Amy nods, pausing for a few seconds to think. She chews her bottom lip and furrows her brow - three rounds into Never Have I Ever and even she’s running out of new activities to trap people with. To stall for time, she takes another sip of her beer, pretending she doesn’t hear Rosa and Jake protesting about fairness and equal enforcement across from her.

And then, in a burst of inspiration, she has it.

“Never have I ever kissed Amy Santiago.”

The room is silent for a moment, while everyone takes a second to think through the sentence. And then, with resignation, Jake lowers his final finger, and chaos erupts.

Amy jumps off the floor so hard she almost knocks the coffee table over - Terry, whom she’d assumed to be asleep, catches it with one hand, eyes still closed. And then Gina and Rosa are pointing at her, shouting incoherently about legality. Charles is trying to provide comfort for a remarkably untroubled Jake, who’s busy chugging the rest of his beer, laughter etched in every line of his face.

Amy is ignoring all of them, doing her best victory jig around the room. She manages to find a clear space, which is a relief because she can only seem to control two of her limbs at a time, and she definitely kicked Charles’ shin on her way out of their tight circle.

“Undefeated champion!” she shout-sings. “Beat that! Three rounds in a row!”

Gina, who’s now stretched out into Amy’s vacated spot, replies lazily, “You know that means you’ve done nothing, right? Never been to a sewer rave? Never stabbed anybody? Never performed in an interpretive dance competition?”

“I mean, we all knew you were a nerd. The real tragedy is how little you got to drink, Santiago,” Rosa slurs.

In response, Amy throws her head back and chugs the rest of her beer without a breath. Then, on impulse, she slams the bottle to the floor with a flourish.

What she intends to be celebratory and badass quickly turns into a mess. The bottle shatters, and she discovers that it was much less empty than she thought when beer splatters across her toes. Charles shrieks, concerned for the carpet beneath them, prompting Terry, who’s been jarred fully awake by the commotion around him, to clap his hand over the smaller man’s mouth. Rosa and Gina, meanwhile, are shrieking with laughter on the floor. All of a sudden, Amy sees the hilarity in her position, one leg extended sideways, caught mid-dance, and her foggy mind decides that lying down and laughing sounds like an appealing course of action.

Finally, as one in the morning wears into two, Rosa and Gina doze off with Terry, leaving Amy and Charles to casually toss a ping pong ball back and forth from their respective pillow forts (made earlier in the night during a burst of energy) while Jake air-guitars to the songs playing quietly in the background. Amy’s back rests against the couch, and she decides the carpet feels surprisingly good against her legs. Her thoughts are murky and confused, and she’s enjoying the feeling of running her fingers through the shag carpet while she does her best to catch the ping pong ball with one hand (she fails most of the time, but somehow still succeeds more frequently than Charles).

And then, without warning, Jake gets up and leaves. Amy isn’t aware of his absence at first - she’s far too engrossed in trying to talk a disheveled and frantic Charles into emerging from his pillow fort, where he’s hunkered down because he’s convinced a rival food blogger is hunting him - but then “Don’t Stop Believin” starts to play, and she realizes no one is singing along to the guitar solos - a cause for Level Four concern. A quick scan of the room confirms that her boyfriend has disappeared, and she’s been feeling antsy anyway, so she leaves Charles to whimper dramatically from behind a mountain of pillows that they’re coming for him and edges carefully up the stairs to the main floor (she only trips twice, which she considers to be an accomplishment on par with her perfect score on the sergeants’ exam).

She notices when she enters the living room that the door to the back of the house is ajar, the freezing breeze from the ocean swaying it gently on its hinges. She can see the moon shining on the ocean in the distance (this really must be a nice house when a parka isn’t required, she decides). As she steps through the door, shutting it softly behind her, she looks up and notices the stars, twinkling above her. The sight takes her breath away for just a moment - she’s in the city far too much, and she’s missed views like this. There are thousands of them winking down at her, bathing the world in just enough light for her to navigate the patio towards the shuffling and muttering she hears coming from the side of the house, by the pool.

And as she rounds the corner, she sees him - her nerd of a boyfriend is struggling to pull his flannel pajama pants off his leg, planted firmly to the ground. He seems confused by his inability to lift his foot and entirely unaware of the fact that his opposite leg is still hovering in the air. His hair is disheveled, and his t-shirt is thrown haphazardly on the pool deck, rapidly collecting water from the puddle it landed in.

Amy watches the scene unfold from her vantage point behind the corner of the house, her shoulders shaking with the effort of suppressing the laughter bubbling up in her chest as her boyfriend grows increasingly frustrated with the pajama pants still tangled around one ankle. She lets out a snort when he falls backwards, landing with a thud, and he freezes, looking for the source of the noise. When he sees nothing, though, he shrugs and uses the opportunity to finally pull off his pants.

Amy manages to hold it together through his dramatic stretching routine, but she loses it when he moves towards the edge of the pool, curling his toes over the edge. He bends over and slaps his shoulders as he announces his own name in a deep voice.

“And here’s Jake Peralta, lining up in Lane Eight. The best swimmer in the state, nay, the country, nay, the world! Faster than a Great White Shark, a better floater than a barracuda, stronger than an octopus!”

And Amy loses it. Laughter floods through her chest and out of her mouth, shattering the stillness of the moment and pulling Jake out of his elaborate daydream. He turns towards the source of the laugh he knows as well as the back of his hand and catches sight of his pajama-clad girlfriend, clutching the side of the house for dear life as laughter shakes her entire body.

Finally, Amy manages to catch her breath. “What are you doing, you weirdo?” she gasps, still giggling a little bit as she stands back up.

“I’m going for a swim - obviously. Do you wanna join?”

Amy stares at him for a second. The temperature, already low during the day, had plummeted when the sun set, and she could already feel the goosebumps rubbing against the sleeves of her sweatshirt. How Jake hadn’t turned into a block of ice, standing by the pool in his underwear, she wasn’t entirely sure.

“Jake, it’s below freezing - even if the pool’s heated, even if Charles turned it on--”

And then, before she can finish her sentence, Jake’s bridged the gap between them and picked her up, groaning complaints as he lifts.

“Jake!” Amy’s shouts of protest punctuate Jake’s steps as he carries her to the edge of the pool. “What are you doing?”

“We’re going swimming!” is his smug reply. And then he dumps her unceremoniously into the pool, clothes and all, and jumps in after her with a splash so large it manages to soak his phone, which he had carefully stashed by the side of the house.

Amy surfaces, sputtering and trying to shake her hair out of her face. Finally, after she realizes that it’s just hopelessly stuck in front of her eyes, she sighs and pushes her hair back so that it’s sitting straight up on her head, drawing a laugh from Jake, who’s stuck his head up a few feet away.

“Why would you do that, Peralta?” She’s trying to sound annoyed, but she can’t wipe the smile off her face. His antics are obnoxious, but all the more annoying because there’s a part of her that can’t help but find them endearing.

“You looked like you needed to cool off!” His smile is wide and mischievous as he swims towards her, clearly angling for a kiss.

He just threw her in a pool. She’s not ready to kiss him yet, no matter how quickly her heart beats - even now - at the sight of him. So when he moves into range, instead of swimming up to join him, she splashes him with all of the force she can muster.

He reels back, coughing violently as he spits out a mouthful of water (his fault for going in mouth-open, she thinks a little smugly). Then, when the coughing continues, she swims forward, growing a little concerned.

In hindsight, she should have known this was coming, but instead of being cautious and keeping a safe distance, she enters the Splash Zone, where she immediately receives several consecutive face-fulls of water from her boyfriend, whose apparently fake coughs have dissolved into laughter.

“Oh, you’re going to pay for that, Peralta,” she sputters as she retreats, already planning her next attack.

“How?” He’s laughing, far too confident in his own swimming abilities. She shakes her head slightly at his cockiness - he’s apparently forgotten she grew up swimming with so many older brothers there was hardly room in the pool (she’s guessing his experience with girls and pools comes mainly from Gina, who once informed Amy that getting chlorine in her hair was “tacky”).

“Get ready for the dunking of a lifetime.” The ferocious glare from earlier has returned, with such intensity that even Jake pushes himself back an inch or two. If, at this moment, he were told Amy could literally shoot lasers out of her eyes, he might believe it.

“Twenty dollars says you can’t,” is his only retort as he begins to swim away.

Before he can even really move, she’s on top of him, but he’s a much better swimmer than she anticipated. Her initial dive, where she lands both hands on his shoulders and pushes, hardly moves him at all. A second one only sinks him an inch, leaving his chin still well above the water line.

Then, she looks down and sees his toes pressed against the bottom of the pool. Her eyes look back up to meet his, and the smug grin threatening to crack his face in half only strengthens her resolve. He’s laughing at her pinched lips and fiery eyes (her angry face is supposed to scare him, but it’s by far the most endearing thing he’s ever seen, as he discovered on her second day at the Nine Nine).

And then, when he least expects it, she dives, sweeping his feet off the bottom and tipping him backwards. She lets out all her air, laughing triumphantly from under the water, but then she realizes that somehow, all of his flailing has managed to keep his head in the air despite being pushed almost parallel in the water with no footing to hold him steady.

She struggles for a bit longer, but she’s quickly forced to surface for another breath. “Did you fart down there?” he asks her with a self-satisfied laugh. “That was a ton of bubbles, Santiago!”

“I laughed, Peralta.” She’s pulled out her librarian voice now, but frustratingly, it leaves Jake unfazed.

“I mean, because it’s totally fine if you did. I’m not saying I didn’t. I mean, I didn’t if you didn’t, but, like, if that was actually--”

She dives at him again, cutting him off before he can confirm that he did, in fact, fart in her general direction while she was underwater, but he catches her this time, and before she knows it they’re full-on wrestling in the pool, shouting at each other through laughter and frequent mouthfuls of water. She manages to steer him towards deeper water, taking away the advantage his height provided, but he knows her way too well for this - he’s ready for every single move she makes, and his head bobs stubbornly above the water despite all of her best efforts.

Her mind is still sluggish, thanks to more drinks than she remembered to count, but the sharp chill of the night air has cleared the fog, and as she struggles she notices that Jake did, in fact, turn on the heater in the pool. She would thank him for the courtesy, but he’s currently her arch-nemesis in the most violent, intense pool battle of her lifetime.

Jake is busy trying to push her under water while her legs tangle with his, forcing him down with her, when they’re interrupted by a shriek that could wake the dead. They freeze, waiting for gunshots, explosions, fire, something, but nothing comes. The screech continues as lights turn on in surrounding houses and neighbors throw open curtains to see what’s happening. Amy turns around frantically, disentangling from Jake as she spins in the water to see who could possibly be capable of making that kind of noise.

It’s Charles. She shouldn’t be surprised.

“I only came out to check the perimeter for security reasons but instead of cannibalistic food bloggers, I found this!” His screeching dissolves into incoherent babbles.

The only complete words that she can discern are true love, beautiful moment, and babymaking. She is far, far too tipsy to process what he could possibly be screaming about, but she can hear neighbors shouting back to keep it down. She tries to come up with some words to calm him down, can hear Jake stuttering out incoherent questions beside her, but she can’t seem to spit out enough words in a row to ask Charles what on earth is going on.

And then, from the second floor of the beach house, a light flips on. The window is thrown open, and Captain Raymond Holt sticks his head out to assess the chaos happening below. No one had seen the captain since the first round of Never Have I Ever, when he decided that hearing the details of his detectives’ sexual exploits crossed a line of familiarity that he desperately wanted to avoid. Amy’s mouth clacks shut, and she considers diving under the water to avoid being implicated in this mess. Jake, likely predicting she’d do just that, grabs her by the waterlogged hood of her sweatshirt to keep her visible above the surface - if he’s going down, she’s going down with him.

Amy watches Holt shake his head quickly a few times, seemingly trying to jolt himself awake. “Boyle? Is everything alright?” he calls down blearily.

The sound of his captain’s voice jolts Boyle out of his shriek. He turns, already starting to babble an explanation. And when Amy’s brain finally processes what Charles is saying, her stomach drops.

“--Jake and Amy, I mean, Detective Peralta and Sergeant Santiago were making passionate love in the pool and it’s just so beautiful and--”

Amy and Jake immediately begin shouting up at Holt that that is obviously not what they were doing, but Holt just puts up a hand to halt their loud, frantic denials.

“Detectives, Sergeant, this has gotten far too loud. Please maintain a respectful outdoor volume so as not to disturb the local wildlife. I’m certain you’ve already disturbed the natural circadian rhythms of the local birds, but…” Holt pauses for a moment, his mouth pursing as though the words at the back of his throat are sour. “It would perhaps be best if all...smooshing of booties could be kept within the confines of your designated bedrooms, for the sake of the birds, of course, and also to preserve what remains of my sanity. Additionally, there are...hygiene concerns.”

Amy and Jake immediately begin shouting up denials again, but it’s too late. Holt’s window is closed, and Amy can feel the fiery blush burning across her cheeks at the thought that her captain, her mentor, her rabbi, would believe she was capable of pool sex on a work retreat, but Jake and Charles are chatting genially next to her as though nothing had happened.

“--Charles, I swear there was no magical, life-affirming sex being had in this pool--”

“But Jakey! You’re shirtless! And the wrestling! And pool sex is only a few steps away from hair washing!”

Amy has never been this mortified in her life, but some part of the back of her brain has the presence of mind to swim to the shallow end, where she stands straight up, a task she finds exceedingly difficult thanks to the waterlogged pajamas that she’s trying to show Charles. As she stands there, the cold ocean breeze cuts through the night air, raising goosebumps all over her body as she feels her core temperature drop to what she’s pretty sure is below freezing. Somehow, though, her face is still burning as Captain Holt’s voice rings through her ears.

“Ch-charles, w-we weren’t h-having s-sex” she stutters through her suddenly chattering teeth. “S-see? Clothes.”

“Oh. Then what were you doing?” Charles sounds a little confused.

She takes a breath, forcing herself to stop shiveringlong enough to speak. “Jake bet me $20 that I couldn’t dunk him.”

“Oh, Amy,” Charles sounds sympathetic now, in a way that makes her desperately want to punch him. “You know Jake doesn’t have $20.”

Amy lets out a stream of curse words inside her head as Jake swims over to the side and lifts himself out of the pool triumphantly.

“Aw, come on, Charles, why’d you have to spoil the fun?”

Jake walks over to Amy and reaches down, offering to help her get out. Soaked and freezing, Amy sees her opportunity. Really, he should know better, she reasons, doing her best to still her notoriously expressive face and give away nothing. She walks over and grabs his hand, but as he bends over to help pull her out, she pulls him in with a large splash before rapidly pushing herself out of the pool. The commotion startles Charles, who had been distracted by supposed movement in the bushes.

He stands up, abandoning the hedges and walking rapidly back to the house “Guys, I think Adelaide Shuffington is out there! She’s coming for me!” His eyes are glassy and he stumbles a little as he breaks into a jog, calling one final, “Food bloggers are ruthless! It’s not safe out here!” over his shoulder.

“Well, that was weird!” Jake notes cheerfully as he pulls himself out of the pool, walking over to join his girlfriend, shivering in her soaked pajamas, arms crossed tightly against her chest in some vain effort to preserve warmth.

Jake wraps his arms around Amy, engulfing her in his scent (now mostly chlorine and alcohol) while she burrows her face into his bare chest. She wishes she could say it was warmer like this, but her equally-freezing, mostly-naked boyfriend isn’t providing nearly as much heat as she’s going to need to recover from her early-morning swim.

“You owe me $20,” she mumbles into his chest. Her breath tickles, just a little bit, but he resists the urge to pull back. Instead, he carefully unwraps one arm and uses his hand to gently tilt her chin up, so her eyes meet his.

She looks up at him and sees that the mischief written across his face is only just barely covering affection so strong it fills her chest with warmth. So instead of waiting for his reply - she knows he doesn't have $20 anyway - she steps up on her tip toes and kisses him.

His lips move against hers lazily, and it takes everything she has in her to kiss him back, instead of stopping to smile against his lips. It’s comforting and familiar, and yet somehow, as he pulls her closer, her toes are curling against the tile of the pool deck. She moves to deepen the kiss, unwrapping her arms from her chest to drape them around the back of his neck, pulling his head down to her level.

He moves his hands up her back to run his fingers through her hair, but it all falls apart when his hand gets hopelessly tangled - the wrestling and the chlorine have rendered her usually soft, shiny hair entirely unmanageable. She’s laughing so hard she has to pull back, and she takes a second to enjoy the shake of giggles she can feel against his chest as he works to free his hand, forced to untangle finger by finger.

And then he’s looking at her again, and her heart is melting just a little bit, and if she were sober she would hate how sentimental she’s feeling, but then Jake shatters the moment.

“Ames?” His voice is low.

“Mmm?” Her head’s buried back in his chest (warm enough feeling is returning to her face), and she decides this might be more comfortable than the shag carpet she’d been so enamored with only half an hour earlier.

“Can I borrow $20? I owe money to this asshole who definitely cheated in a bet.”

“Dammit, Peralta.” Amy can’t help but laugh a little, making sure to keep her voice low.

She pulls him closer for a second, and then two. Finally, she takes a step back, planting her hands on her hips with resolve. “Anyway, I’m going to go wake up Captain Holt and explain. It’s ridiculously unprofessional to be having pool sex at a work event, Jake!”

“Amy, it’s,” he grabs her wrist to check her watch, “2:40 in the morning - it’s definitely equalinimously unprofessional to wake him up to explain right now! Come put on dry clothes instead.”

“Equalinimously?”

“I tried.”

“And anyway, what if he tells Kevin? Or Chief Garmin?”

“Amy, why would he tell Chief Garmin about his best sergeant having sex in a pool at two in the morning?”

“You never know, Jake!” She tries to look stern and defiant, but her severity is quickly undercut by her violent shivering.

“Come on, Ames. You’d turn into an ice block halfway up the stairs. Then Holt wouldn't be able to get to breakfast in the morning because you’d be frozen and blocking him - talk about unprofessional!”

“I could...warm up a little bit first,” she concedes, secretly grateful that speech writing can wait until she can hold her hands still.

“You definitely could. I’m happy to help, of course…” He tries to wink, but instead he ends up squinting both eyes and sporting a comic grimace.

His message isn't lost on her, and she spends a second considering. “I mean, everyone already thinks we did,” she muses carefully.

“Yup.”

“And Chief Garmin probably won't be awake until at least six.”

“Can't believe that's a factor, but yup.”

“Let’s go,” Amy reaches up to take his hand, and tugs him towards the house, where their designated bedroom awaits.

As they walk back through the kitchen, Amy catches a glimpse of Charles, dancing victoriously in the living room with a wine bottle that looks much emptier than when she last saw it. She tries to tug Jake out of sight, but before she can, Charles sees them

“Guys! I did it! I vanquished Shuffington!” he slurs in their general direction, pointing to a fork he stuck in the raw chicken breast he’d brought for lunch tomorrow. Then, without warning, he lets himself collapse backwards onto the couch, letting out a huge snore that rips through the room, echoing against the kitchen appliances, as soon as his head hits the fabric.

“I’m glad he caught the evil food blogger?” Jake comments in a whisper, a question in his voice.

“Yeah, we’re locking the door,” Amy replies, dragging him the rest of the way to her room before Captain Holt can come out to ask who started a lawnmower in the living room.

[pendragonfics]

The Grumpy Man in Blue

Paring: Leonard McCoy/Reader

Tags: female reader, reader is a doctor, psychologists, fluff and angst, medicine, outer space, divorce, tenderness.

Summary: Reader is aboard the USS Enterprise, and works with Dr. McCoy. Or, known to as his staff as the grumpy guy, which everyone tries to take advantage of, and try and make him not be his sarcastic self for a while. Or, at least until a special guy from HQ comes down to give Reader a heads up on her boss...

Notes: You have no idea how much I love Bones. He's my favourite in Star Trek for the simple reason that he's so sarcastic and I love metaphors. If I ever met Bones, he'd be first, much, much taller than me, and more importantly, much better than me because I would be nearly useless out in space on the Enterprise. Unless they want a creative writer?? Or even an assistant? That's basically my use in life. 

I actually pre-wrote this when I was getting my wisdom teeth out (all four out in the dentist's chair). 

Word Count: 2,040

Posting Date:  2016-09-18

Current Date: 2017-05-23

"Nurse ________ ... look me in the eye and tell me that you love your job."

You raise your head, and gaze into the brown eyes which stare you down. "Dr. McCoy, I love my job."

---

On the USS Enterprise, there was little to do but duties. It was five years; longer than you had studied your degree in psychology and in Starfleet. It would make anyone restless, homesick for a planet which had all of your family and friends aboard. Not that this spaceship was uncomfortable. No, no, it had some of the greatest people ever to graduate and be named heroes by Starfleet. Captain Kirk. Mr. Spock. Mr. Sulu, Mr. Scott...Dr. McCoy.

He was a grumpy, terribly stubborn man, whose grim frown could darken a doorway further than three feet away from where he stood. He had done many great things for the medical field, yes, but there was something that a trained psychologist-slash-nurse could pick up from him which he didn't want touched. It almost irritated you, but...you never let it get to you. You were a professional. And despite what people thought of medical staff, you got your job done.

At first, you noticed his grumpy nature firsthand. Your fellow nurses and doctors had been around him for only a mere four minutes when the first batch of sarcasm struck, and before you knew it, most of the people in your division made a pool to debate if there could be one person to remove his usual frown for the longest amount of time. There was no time limit, but it felt strange being around people who went out of their way to make the grumpy grump of a CMO scowling, and ultimately, making life hell for people in his warpath.

But no matter how many nurses trying to butter him up with dates and nights off spent with choice alcohol, you could read him like a book, and though it was written in another language, you could see something wrong.

On certain days, he would forget to shave. His uniform and hair would be unkempt, frown lines deeper. His voice harsher. Hands unsteady. But no matter what mood he would be in, his attention to practising medicine would not waver.

"It's useless," Simon, a technician, sighed, head held in his hands. "The longest he's gone without being a Grinch has been fifteen minutes."

Anders nodded, flicking potato across the tables to hit a red shirt. "Tell me. That was Martinez after he told a him a really boring story, at the end of the shift," the nurse rolled her eyes, pouting. "You put the damn man to sleep, not made him less grumpy."

Martinez shrugged, his shirt swimming more so than usual on his small frame, "It's not my fault he frowns in his sleep - but at least he didn't yell at anyone!"

A shadow darkens the table you are all seated at in the cafeteria, and accompanied by a throat clearing, you glance up to see firsthand, the face of the captain himself, Jim Kirk smirk, "You're not talking about who I think you're talking about, are you?" he grins.

Simon scrambles to his feet, smacking his knees as he rises to salute. "Captain! We - no! We weren't gossiping!"

Anders shakes her head, and scoots closer to you to make room for the captain. "We totally were talking about Dr. McCoy. It's lunch, man, and he's not here. Care to join the loser table?" she offers like she speaks to the man in charge like she often converses with people up on the main bridge of the ship on the regular.

"You know what? I'd love to." Jim grins, lowering himself into the bench. Opposite, Simon is beacon of red, a human embodiment of a blush, and Martinez is silent. "So, what's the hot talk down in the Medbay? You know, besides my good friend Bones."

"I've been working with engineering to create an early warning device to be set up at entrances and exits to warn of foreign bacteria contracted while on an unexplored planet," Martinez blurts out.

Kirk raises a brow. "That's so cool! Good job, man!"

You push your plate away from you. "What brought you here, Captain?" you ask, leaning forward to see through Anders' tall hair. "You're not one to traipse into the cafeteria often, and I sense an ulterior motive here."

Kirk raises his eyebrows.

"Don't mind her," Anders pushes you back, giving a big toothy smile, "She's the leading psychologist on board."

Captain Kirk grins. "You read me like a book, Miss..."

You hold your hand out across Anders' front for him to shake. "Nurse ________, pleasure to meet you Captain," you greet, and add, "Although I'm a doctorate in psychology, but nurse in medicine."

Martinez rolls his eyes. "Why don't you just call yourself Dr. ________?" he blurts.

The captain nods. "Why not?"

Anders slides down the bench as so to sit on the floor below the table, and ignoring her dramatics, you brush hair from your face. "If I was just a psychologist on Earth, sure, but here...I'm not here to analyse the mind primarily. I don't want to be confused as overqualified in an emergency, plus, it's embarrassing to have a PhD at twenty." you admit.

Simon nods. "Tell me about it..."

---

After lunch is over, you feel a hand on your elbow, and glance up to see the honey-mustard yellow shirt that stood out over the lunch table like a sore thumb. It's the captain, and in his eyes is a look you're used to hearing over and over again from your superior officer Dr. McCoy.

"I need to ask you a favour," his voice is low, eyes searching for eavesdroppers not inherently dropping eaves at that moment nearby, "I need you to keep an eye on Dr. McCoy this week. It's ... I know it's none of my business, or yours ... but he needs someone near him he can rely on, and it's -,"

Your face pales. "Are you asking me to interfere with his behaviour if my superior officer becomes grumpy?" The words sound as incredulous and silly as they did inside your head spoken aloud.

Captain Kirk shakes his head, and biting his lip, nods. "Just ... you're a psychologist. You've been around him for a year now ... please, you have to trust me on this." He pleads.

You close your eyes. "You have no idea what trouble I can get into for spying on my boss," you gush, but before the yellow-clad man before you can speak more words to convince you, you add, "But I'll do it. Because whatever he's going through, I can help more than anyone else aboard this ship."

Jim Kirk goes to interrupt, but a woman calls his name out. She's wearing red, and looks in a hurry. "Thank you so much, Nurse ______, you have no idea what good you're going to do."

At this, you notice the clock above the doorway, and rush back to where you're supposed to be on duty a minute and a half ago. But as you appear, the usual frowning face of Dr. McCoy doesn't scold you for your tardy timing. He just nods.

The same thing happens for the rest of the week - it's almost as if he's out of it. Yet, his attention to the patients, as always, doesn't waver.

Come Friday, you enter the Medbay bright and early for your ten hour shift. You expect to see the usual red shirt in for a splinter or missing limb, and not what meets your eyes.

He sits on the end of a sickbed, blue shirt stark in the brightly lit barren sickbay surrounding him. Hands clutching his head, lowered, you can't help but remember the promise you made the captain of the ship. From your training as a psychologist, and as a real, live human being, you feel your feet creep up to where he is bent like a man caught up in thoughts and age and circumstance, slowly and surely.

"Dr. McCoy? Are you alright?" you wonder.

He jolts, and in his action, something tumbles from his hand. It makes a small clatter upon the white floors, shining bright like a star caught in a spotlight not a step away from your feet. Slowly, you bend, and pick up what Dr. McCoy dropped.

He clears his throat, "I'm fine, Nurse _______." His eyes are rimmed with red, and stare at you. "May I -,"

You nod, and place the gold band back into the creased palm of the doctor. "Why haven't you said anything?" you whisper, eyes searching his light brown eyes for answers you weren't going to find there.

"Nurse ________ ... look me in the eye and tell me that you love your job."

You raise your head, and gaze into the brown eyes which stare you down. "Dr. McCoy, I love my job."

He nods, his fingers slowly hiding the wedding ring once more. "I love my job," he repeats, not meeting your eyes. "If I'm to remain the CMO of the USS Enterprise, I need to place my past and personal problems on the back burner, no matter the toll on my mental state or whatever," his voice is grating, and Dr. McCoy adds, "Besides, if I'm to be out, you're in."

Your eyes widen. "Dr., that's no way to speak..."

"I mean, if I'm out of order from personal neglect, you're promoted to CMO for the time I am away," he corrects himself. "I'm confident that you can step up to take charge of all the medical officers here to best standard. Better standard than me."

You take a breath, "Sir, please know I'm very grateful to hear that, but ... as a psychologist, and someone who is close to you often, this is no way to treat yourself. I've noticed all week that you've been not yourself. I can only assume this is an unresolved issue that's causing you grief." you place a hand on your superior officer's shoulder, and slowly lower yourself to sit beside Dr. McCoy.

"Why are you damn smarter than me?" he sniffs, head lowered.

You shrug, "I don't mean to be, but if it makes you stop this erratic behaviour, I'd be smarter than you for the rest of this five year mission." You promise, noticing a small smile taking over the face of Leonard McCoy.

"Erratic? Don't you mean grumpy?" he smirks, and glancing down to his hand, his fingers loosen around the small plain wedding band. "I've spent enough time crying over Pam. She isn't coming back, nor I ... I'm going to throw this thing away."

"Sir -,"

Leonard McCoy raises a brow. "I thought you psychologists recommended throwing away traumatic pieces of people's history and whatnot," he challenges, and crossing the room, makes it to the garbage chute where all the dirtied gauze and used casts are cast. “I won’t waste any more time on her.”

---

Simon isn’t his morose self when Tuesday comes around. At the lunch table, he’s quiet, and eyes wide and the notebook he carries to keep track of the bet on Dr. McCoy is wide open. “You guys won’t believe what I just saw,” he gushes, like a manic maniac hopped up on too much laughing gas. “I just saw the CMO laughing.”

Anders shakes her head. “Uh-uh. No way. McCoy doesn’t laugh, Simon.”

He shakes his head. “Yeah, he does! And he hasn’t been frowning since Friday, and that’s almost five days of him being completely out of his mind and probably on the verge of a breakdown -,”

Martinez places a hand on Simon’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, it’s probably temporary.”

You look down at your plate.

“Anders, ask ________ if she knows something,” Martinez raises a brow. “She’s looking really suspicious.”

“_________?” Anders’ practically sings.

“I may or may not have cured the chief medical officer from his blues,” you admit. “But he’s human, and prone to emotions and things, so I’m not completely to blame. It’s confidential, actually, so, I would prefer it if you all don’t pry.”

Anders beams. “Confidential is basically code for horizontal -,”

Simon shakes his head, “No, they wouldn’t have. She’s more of a -,”