#woke up late and then was delayed longer by a store run that also went longer than planned lol

[bones-n-bookles]

Park walk with the boy 💕

[mittensmorgul]

Happy Resurrection Day

A short fic in celebration of Dean and Cas’s 12th anniversary!

Rated: T Words: 3652

Summary: The world didn't end, and Dean and Cas finally get to choose each other. It only took twelve years and a little road trip back to where it all started.

Read it here on AO3

One random morning in mid-September, a few months after the world was left in their hands once and for all, Dean woke up to the nagging feeling he was forgetting something. There wasn’t really much to forget anymore. There was no looming apocalypse, no new catastrophe on the horizon. The biggest dilemma he’d faced in the last few days was whether he had enough milk to make pancakes, or whether he’d have to run out to the store before breakfast.

Sure, he and Cas took the occasional salt and burn. Easy hunts they could usually dust in a day. Sam had taken an extended road trip to see the country and try to figure out what he wanted to do with himself now that he was truly free to explore what life after Chuck could look like, but Dean already knew. He’d known for a good long time that he loved his life, loved the bunker, and loved hunting. And for whatever reason, Cas had just decided to stay, no strings attached. Whether Dean was itching to get out on the road for a long weekend on the slimmest excuse of a hunt that just as often as not turned into a detour to some tourist trap or other, or whether Dean just wanted to sit at home bingeing an old tv series or having a movie marathon, Cas seemed equally content with the slate of activities Dean conjured up for them.

He hadn’t put it into so many words, and he definitely hadn’t said it to Cas, but Dean also loved that Cas had stayed with him.

So it was strange waking up with an unsettled swirling in the pit of his stomach. He held a hand up to his forehead, checked his eyes and throat in the mirror to make sure he wasn’t coming down with something. He didn’t want to get Cas sick, if he was. He’d already survived Cas’s first cold as a human, just barely. They went through so much soup in a week, Dean was starting to wonder if Cas was just milking it for the room service. He had to admit that Cas letting him walk him through the highlights of Dr. Sexy while he was curled up in a blanket nest by his side wasn’t the worst thing he’d had to endure. But for now, Dean wasn’t sick. He just had a restlessness in his bones and no idea how to cure it.

He pulled on his robe and ambled out to the kitchen. Coffee would help him figure out what was eating at him, surely. Only Cas had beat him to it, which was unusual enough to amp up that uneasy feeling. Dean usually beat Cas to the kitchen most mornings, so walking in to a full pot of coffee and no other sign of Cas had him wondering if something was wrong. He poured himself a cup and set off in search of Cas, and whatever he was up to so early in the morning.

He found Cas sitting at the table in the library scrolling around on the internet. Dean just stood in the doorway and watched him for a moment, studying his posture as if it might give him some clue what sort of mood Cas was in. Human or not, Cas still had the intense focus he’d always had as an angel, and aside from pausing to take a sip of his coffee or navigate to the next page, he barely moved from his position hunched over the keyboard. Rather than startle him, Dean waited until Cas put his mug down before clearing his throat to announce his presence.

“Mornin’ sunshine. You’re up early.”

“Hello, Dean,” Cas said, giving him a guilty glance before going back to his work. “Yes, I had been hoping to surprise you later, but I apparently didn’t wake up early enough for that. I hope you slept okay.”

Dean shrugged as he walked around the table and sat down across from Cas. He took a sip of his coffee before replying.

“Mostly. Woke up feeling restless, and I couldn’t figure out why.”

Cas nodded at him as if he understood exactly what Dean meant. “I did, as well. And then I checked the calendar. I assume you know what today is?”

Dean’s brow furrowed as he performed a few calculations. Days all sort of blended together after a while, but they’d made a trip up to Henderson for supplies on Wednesday, and that was only a couple days before.

“Friday?” Dean eventually replied, hoping he was right.

Cas laughed, but shook his head. “It is Friday, but it’s also September 18th.”

Dean blinked at him for a moment as he mentally rocketed back to a run down old gas station where the windows shattered the first time Cas had ever tried to introduce himself. He’d just clawed his way out of his own grave, and the local newspaper had helpfully supplied him the date, and the knowledge that he’d been in hell all of four months. No wonder he’d woken up feeling weird. He might’ve forgotten the date, but somewhere deep down, some part of him would always know it.

Dean came back to himself to find Cas waiting patiently for him, like he always did. He took another sip of his coffee and set the mug down, recalling what Cas had said before sending him off down disturbing memory lane. Better to focus on the present than linger in that particular bit of the past.

“So you were planning a surprise?”

Cas shrugged. “I thought maybe we should do something to celebrate. People celebrate these sorts of milestones, yes?”

Dean wobbled his head side to side and made a face. “Pretty sure Hallmark dosn’t make a card for this one.”

Cas frowned, reaching up to shut the laptop as if he’d made some terrible faux pas, but Dean quickly dropped his hand atop Cas’s to stop him.

“Doesn’t mean we can’t celebrate it anyway,” he said more quietly, smiling at Cas. “It was a pretty noteworthy occasion, you pulling me outta hell. What did you have in mind?”

Cas’s frown deepened. “That’s where I’ve been stuck all morning. It felt inappropriate to suggest going to visit your gravesite, and taking you out to dinner seems… trite, in light of the occasion.”

“You know me, Cas. I’m always up for food,” Dean replied, trying to lighten the mood. “Plus it wasn’t just about me being un-dead, you know. It’s the whole reason we met in the first place. And look how that turned out.”

Cas had finally begun to smile again, and turned his attention back to the computer. “We didn’t actually meet face to face until late the next night when you summoned me. There was a bit of a delay due to unforeseen circumstances.”

Dean thought about that for a minute, nodding as he remembered the events of his first few days back on earth. “Well, if you wanna do it right, we could always take a road trip back to that old barn, see if it’s still standing.”

“Have you been back there since then?” Cas asked, curious now.

Dean shook his head. “Driven by it a few times over the years, but never went back inside. The whole farm’s completely overgrown. I figured someone would’ve gotten freaked out by all the weird symbols and burned the place down by now. It was still standing as of a couple years ago.” That got Dean curious. “Have you been back?”

“It’s been a while,” Cas said quietly. “I used to fly there sometimes, when I still could. It was a quiet place to think.”

Dean nodded slowly. “Then that’s what we should do. We’re taking a road trip. I know at least three great diners between here and there I haven’t taken you to yet. We can make a whole weekend out of it.”

“That sounds wonderful,” Cas replied, finally shutting the computer.

“Good. Breakfast first, then we’ll head out. Have ourselves a little resurrection day road trip.”

Dean grabbed his mug and stood up. He’d need to get dressed and pack a bag. They could have a quick breakfast if they were gonna be stopping at Dana’s Diner for lunch. It was a bit of a detour, but the burgers were worth it. He flashed a grin at Cas.

“I’m gonna pack a bag and grab some cereal before we hit the road. Meet you in the kitchen in 20?”

Cas nodded and shut the laptop. As Dean made his way out to the hall, he heard Cas mutter quietly, “Happy Resurrection Day,” as if he was testing out the sentiment. He bit his lip to keep from laughing out loud.

The drive to Illinois took most of the day. It could’ve been a lot quicker, but in addition to Dana’s, they hit a steakhouse on the outskirts of Chicago for dinner before swinging back south toward their destination. Dean bypassed the Astoria Motel where a mirrored ceiling shattered by Cas’s angelic voice had once nearly killed him. He pointed it out as part of their trip down memory lane, but pulled up at a different motel clear across town with the excuse that it would be a shorter drive back to the barn in the morning. Their room was a lot less shabby, and a lot less pay-by-the-hour feeling than the Astoria, so Dean felt it was a win all around.

As they settled in for the night like they had every night they’d been on the road together, Dean let himself really feel the usual longing the three foot chasm between their beds brought out in him. Most nights he’d just roll over and pretend to fall asleep while mashing that feeling down as hard as he could. Tonight, though, he lay in bed staring across that gap, wishing he could make some excuse to crawl into the other bed. Of all nights, and in this particular place, he really just wanted someone to hug until dawn.

The specific someone being Cas.

In the dark, in the quiet listening to Cas’s breathing even out as he drifted off, for one moment Dean allowed himself to admit that he didn’t just love that Cas had stayed with him. He loved Cas. Full stop. Dean lay there until he couldn’t keep his eyes open any longer, holding on to that feeling and knowing he’d have to crush it back down in the morning.

He dreamt of what could’ve happened in that barn, if he hadn’t stabbed Cas that first time they’d met. With twelve years of history between them now, and Dean’s quiet revelation that he was in love with Cas, his dream-self went through a series of alternate endings to that meeting ranging from love confessions to things that he would definitely not be enumerating to Cas over breakfast the next morning. It made for an excellent night’s slumber.

Morning came without the restlessness the previous day had. Dean opened his eyes to the dawn light seeping between the curtains to shine a golden spotlight on Cas’s face, which was smiling back at him.

“Hello, Dean. I take it you slept better last night?”

Dean yawned, but didn’t quite feel like getting up yet. He wanted to enjoy this surreal moment for just a bit longer. Instead he stretched out under the blankets and propped himself up on his pillow to get a better look at Cas.

“Yeah, you?”

Cas propped himself up on his elbow, no longer in the little beam of light, and blinked at him. “I’m reserving judgment until after we have coffee, but yes. It seems to have been satisfactory.” Cas frowned for a second, and Dean was about to ask what was wrong, when Cas asked, puzzled, “If yesterday was Resurrection Day, what does that make today?”

Dean must’ve still been a bit loopy from his late night thoughts, the restful sleep, and what he could recall of the dream he’d been having. He never would’ve blurted it out around a yawn otherwise, but that’s exactly what he did.

“It’s countdown to Cas day.”

He froze for a second after the words had escaped into the wild, and then slowly turned to take in the fond look on Cas’s face.

“I’m already here, Dean.”

“Yeah, well, you weren’t twelve years ago. I didn’t even know your name yet.”

“You do now,” Cas replied. “How should we celebrate it? Since I sincerely hope you weren’t dead set on a complete reenactment. I don’t have the power to rattle the roof or blow open the doors anymore.”

Dean grinned at that and sat up. “Yeah, I don’t really wanna shoot you, either.”

“I appreciate that,” Cas replied, sitting up on the edge of his own bed opposite Dean. He looked right into Dean’s eyes, as if attempting to convey some deeper meaning to his words, and spoke quietly. “I’m glad you finally believe in me.”

They sat there for a long moment before Dean finally nodded. “‘Course I believe in you, Cas.”

They took turns in the shower and packed up their bags. After a quick breakfast on the way to the farm, they drove down the overgrown dirt road that led to the barn. Dean had to leave the car a good way back down the road, and they hiked through the knee-high scrub to the broken old barn door. Dean picked up a shattered timber and tossed it out of the way as he pushed his way inside.

“Man, this place is a lot less intimidating looking in broad daylight,” he said, as the two of them stood in the doorway and took in the faded symbols Bobby had painted on every surface of the interior. Broken glass still littered the floor, now covered with a heavy layer of dust.

“It looks different now, somehow,” Cas added. “Smaller. Which is strange considering I was so much larger the first time I was here.”

Dean turned to him and smiled. “Yeah, but now you’re seeing it human. It’s gotta be weird.”

Cas shrugged, and walked around the perimeter of the barn, examining the sigils out of old habit. “This has always been a quiet place for me,” he said, touching a warding sigil with his fingertips before continuing on. “Nothing unholy could find me here. I could be alone with my thoughts.”

Dean noticed a few of the sigils Cas stopped by, and didn’t recognize them. A collection of carefully drawn wards drawn much smaller and in a different shade of paint that stood out from all the rest he’d watched Bobby create twelve years ago.

“Did you add those?” he asked.

Cas nodded. “Angel proofing. Or at least, concealing.”

Dean thought back to all the times Cas had been running or hiding from Heaven and the rest of the angels. When he’d been human and had nowhere to go, and instead of coming here he’d run in the opposite direction, because Dean had kicked him out. A bolt of guilt shot through him and nailed his feet to the floor. This was a place Dean hadn’t come back to because it reminded him that he’d been to Hell, reminded him that Heaven had wanted him for their own for reasons that frankly horrified him now. But for Cas, this was the place Dean had first met him, a place that for him would forever be about the moment he was truly introduced to humanity. It had been kind of a shit introduction, if Dean was honest with himself. But twelve years later, after all the shit had played itself out, Cas had finally made his own choice about his life, and he’d come back to where it all began.

“Happy resurrection day,” Dean said as he stared at Cas from across the room.

Cas turned to him, the look of surprise on his face quickly turning to a smile. “It is a bit like a resurrection, isn’t it? We’ve come all the way back around to where it started, and we’re free of it all now.”

Dean just nodded dumbly, letting the enormity of it sink in as Cas walked over to stand in front of him.

“I don’t have wings or the power of Heaven at my back, but I do recall something I said to you that night. Good things do happen, Dean. And they have.”

“And here we are again,” Dean said, clearing his throat. Both of their lives had changed that night, and they’d spent so much of their time fighting against everything in the universe since then. The one constant had always been each other, even when they’d totally fucked it all up and broken the natural order and sacrificed themselves to fix it all again, they’d done it to save each other. At the end of the road, and the beginning of their journey, Dean couldn’t keep his feelings bottled up any longer. “I love you, you know.”

Cas sucked in a shocked breath of air and blinked at him for a moment, before a grin broke across his face, lighting up the gloomy, dusty haze in the barn. “I love you too, Dean. I’m so glad I’m here with you.”

Dean shook his head, finally prying his feet free to shuffle closer to Cas. He reached out a hand to rest it on Cas’s shoulder, right at the base of his neck. “No, I mean, I love you. I think I always have, and I know I always will, but I only really just figured it out. I’m in love with you and you’ve put me back together in ways you can’t even imagine. You might’ve resurrected me and healed me more times than I can count, but you helped make me a whole person, Cas. And I love you.”

Dean felt the prickling of tears behind his eyes and struggled to hold them back. Like he always did, Cas stared into him, right through him, and lifted a hand to Dean’s cheek.

“I’d hoped it was obvious when I chose humanity, when I chose to stay with you, that I felt the same way for you, Dean. I didn’t have any idea how much knowing you would change me, how much you would teach me about humanity and what makes life worth living when I first walked through those doors. One thing I did know, though, was that I already loved you. I had no idea what that even meant yet, but I would learn.”

A slightly manic laugh escaped Dean’s lips at the euphoria of hearing Cas’s words, seeing the heartbreaking honesty in his face, and wondering how long it was polite to wait before kissing him. Cas gave him a relieved smile, as if he’d been holding it all in far too long, and Dean let out a sigh as he pulled Cas to him.

“Love at first stab, huh?” Dean asked, smiling right into Cas’s face.

“Don’t belittle it, Dean. I loved you even before then. The moment I laid a hand on you in Hell. Healing your soul and reuniting it with your body, resting you gently in your grave and waiting for you to emerge again.”

“You do know how fucked up that was, right? You couldn’t have just dug me out?”

Cas’s brow furrowed. “It was Heaven’s orders. I never thought to question them. But yes, it has bothered me many times over the years.”

“Yeah, well, it’s bothered me more than once that I tried to thank you for saving me from Hell by stabbing you in the heart.”

“It worked, though,” Cas replied, one eyebrow raised. “I’m still here with you.”

“Better than cupid’s arrow,” Dean muttered, and then grimaced at his own terrible reference. It amused Cas, though. “Okay, enough awful jokes. Are you gonna kiss me already?”

Cas made a considering face, as if he hadn’t already made up his mind. “Happy resurrection day to both of us, then. I suppose we know exactly how to celebrate it now.”

Dean took that as the invitation it was, and leaned in for a kiss. Their lips met tentatively at first, and then more confidently as they clung to one another in the gloom. The exploding lights were all internal this time, but no less spectacular. Dean shuffled his feet and heard the crunching of broken glass, and reluctantly pulled back from Cas.

“We should probably find someplace less dangerous if we’re gonna keep going…”

Cas nodded his regretful agreement. With one last look around the old barn, they pulled the doors shut.

“We can come back next year, if you want,” Dean said, taking Cas’s hand and leading him back to the car. “Make it an annual thing.”

“That sounds like a plan,” Cas replied. “The annual resurrection road trip.”

“Next year we bring a broom,” Dean added, leading Cas through the weeds. “Maybe a picnic.”

Cas laughed, letting his hand go when they reached the car.

“So what do you wanna do next?” Dean asked as he climbed back behind the wheel. “We still technically got the rest of the day to celebrate.”

“You mentioned several diners you wanted to introduce me to, and it’s nearly time for lunch,” Cas replied.

Dean thought over their options, then leaned across the front seat to plant a kiss on the corner of Cas’s mouth, just because he could. The look of surprised delight on Cas’s face was more than worth it. “How much of a detour are you up for?”

Cas gave him a look of mock pity. “Dean, I’ll go anywhere with you. No detour is too long if I have you to share the journey with.”

Dean gave him a proper kiss, with a promise of more for later. “Then let’s get this show on the road.”

[thewindsofsong]

Ok ok ok!!! So last night I had a dream that I rec’ed a dmbj/svsss crossover fanfic, but never actually read the fic. Then I woke up because my cat was yowling in the middle of the night.

After talking with @1ebilcat and @merinnan for a while, I managed to flesh out a basic outline of what that fic might look like. Please know that because this is a crossover with svsss, there is papapa mentioned. several times.... (nothing actually explict is described because that would make this not a not-fic)

So one day SQQ and SQH are messing around trying to figure out what this new “unique one of a kind treasure” does when SQH accideny drops some melon seeds on it or something and it suddenly activates.

Meanwhile in dmbj world, the Iron Triangle are pretty much retired from the whole tomb raiding business, but still run Wushanju (better now that wu xie actually concentrates on running it instead of running off every week). Someone comes in with a strange artifact that they found while clearing out a deceased relatives store room they want to sell. Wu xie buys it because he’s never seen anything like it before and wants to research it.

Xiaoge gets super weird vibes from the object, but it doesn’t seem overtly menacing, so he leaves wu xie be (if wu xie is preoccupied he gets in marginally less trouble). However, when xiaoge touches the object with wu xie and Pangzi nearby, it grows a point and gives xiaoge a paper cut. The blood touches the object and it activates.

One blinding flask of light and disorienting tumble latter, they find themselves at the foot of a picturesque mountain with a gate that labels them at the foot of cang qiong mountain. They’re quickly found by the cang qiong crew and everyone is super weird out by each other. Things happen and eventually LBH crashes in and says his shizun is missing mobei-jun is there too because SQH is also missing. More communication happens and everyone realizes this is the artifact’s fault. No one knows where the artifact is.

Meanwhile SQQ and SQH wake up someone completely unfamiliar to either of them. After using magic to light things up, they see that they are in a tomb absolutely covered in different depictions of penises: there’s pictures on the walls, statues of men with WAY TOO BIG penises, sooooo many dildos. Queue SQQ immediately launching himself at SQH with a shriek of outrage because “THERE’S NO WAY THIS ISN’T YOUR FAULT YOU SHITTY HACK AUTHOR!!”

Back with the iron triangle, there’s a research montage going on as they and other CQ sect member scour the libraries for any information about the mcguffin that caused all this randomness. At some point in all of this, iron triangle go to MQF to see if he can take a look at Xiaoge regarding his memory problems. After some more research, MQF learns about an herb that could stabilize his qi and stabilize the fluctuations that cause his amnesia.

Turns out that while proper cultivation doesn’t exist in dmbj world, the Zhang family line has managed to cultivate the family line to extended life but because they’re the only ones that can (maybe due to bronze gate?) it has a lot of dangers. 

The herb needed is of course incredibly rare and only found in some horribly dangerous location. Xiaoge wants to go alone because he doesn’t want wu xie and pangzi to be in danger, but knows that they won’t be left behind. There’s some agnst had about how Xiaoge feels he’s brought pain and suffering to wu xie and pangzi, but of course neither of them are having any of it. The three of them talk about how they’ve never regretted meeting each other and how the adventures they’ve shared have brought meaning and joy into their lives. 

The three of them cobble together some hotpot and spend the night before setting off soaking their feet side by side, content and secure in their bonds with each other. Its very sweet. 

The next day, the three of them set off with LQG and LBH. Right before arriving at the location, bullshit happens and Iron Triangle get trapped in the location where the herb is located and trigger a wife plot in which papapa is the only way out. Iron triangle proceeds to have incredibly kinky marathon sex. LBH and LQG can only listen awkwardly from the boundary, not able to get through, but also not wanting to leave completely just in case something else happens. The sexual tension between LBG and LQG grows to new heights. Neither will do anything about it until SQQ is back home safe. 

After the marathon is over and iron triangle has time to actually sleep, the three of them get cleaned up with the herb in tow and head back to Cang Qiong. They get the herb to MQF who tells them it will take at least a day to prepare the pill for xiaoge to take. That night, Iron triangle has sweet, tender, affirming sex because while they all agree that while xiaoge not losing his memories every few decades is for the better, it also means that he’ll have to carry the memories of wu xie and pangzi long after they’er gone, with no hope of them ever being together again.  Xiaoge assures wu xie and pangzi that this is what he wants, to know that at least at some point, he loved and was loved, that he had a connection to this world and that his life has meaning beyond his obligations to the Zhang clan. Wu xie and pangzi make xiaoge promise to live on after they pass and to find him in their next lives.

Xiaoge takes the pill and the search for a way back home continues again in earnest. Eventually, LBH travels back to the demon realm and figures out how to track the artifact through space and time because his protag halo is too strong to keep him away from his love interest for too long. 

Wu xie and pangzi learn some basic meditation techniques that disciples would learn when first arrive at the mountain. Its too late for them to cultivate to longevity and there’s no guarantee that its even possible in their home world to cultivate if you aren’t a Zhang. Regardless, wu xie and pangzi don’t want immortality, they just want to spend as much time as they can with xiaoge. Wu xie is gifted a flute made with special bamboo and pangzi is gifted a wine jug from Zui Xian Peak. Both have spiritual properties that may or may not be able to function when back home, but they’er good gifts given in good faith. 

LBH, losing patience, forces iron triangle to get moving so he can save SQQ. He bursts through time and space and iron triangle plus LBH, MBJ, and LQG end up in dmbj world, in Wushanju. After scaring the crap out of Wang Meng, the group realizes that while several days have passed in svsss world, its only been a few hours since iron triangle was pulled away. Which is good because Ershu was likely to call in an army if wu xie went missing for no apparent reason. The whole thing would have been way too messy. Probably more than one person would have died. 

What follows is a night of LBH, LQG, and MBJ attempting different divination spells to try and pin point the exact location of SQQ and SQH to varying degrees of success. None of them are good at divination. Regardless, the three of them manage to get a general location of where the two missing peak lords might be and the iron triangle gets to work searching the internet for any rumors or information of any tombs that might be in the area. (Its just wu xie and pangzi looking, but xiaoge standing around still in his beautiful borrowed robes from CQ is good moral support.) 

They hear about some local legends about an ecentric noble from a bygone era that was buried in a very peculiar tomb. Potential tomb located, the whole group prepares to head out. the SVSS gang is convinced to not fly over immediately because that would be waaaaay to flashy and draw unwanted attention to them that would delay things even more. The six of them cram in together into the van and head off. Svss gang are forced into modern clothing and are def a little too big to comfortably sit in the van. LBH hits his head on a doorway at least once on this adventure. At lease two women and maybe a guy slip their numbers to him too. The man is supernaturally gorgeous.

After some more road trip shenanigans,  they arrive at the rumored entrance to the tomb and head in. The tomb has a few traps here and there, but is practically child’s play for the iron triangle to get through. Svsss are appropriately impressed by their competence and LBH and LQG think specifically about how the iron triangle is a true threesome that supports each other and fights together. MBJ just wants his hamster boy back. 

When they near the central chamber of the tomb, they hear the faint sounds of fighting which spurs SVSSS to speed ahead while iron triangle tries to get them to at least be a little cautious about setting off traps. 

The sight that LBH sees when he breaks into the main chamber like the kool aid man is a disheveled SQQ beating SQH over the head with a baton? Kind of. Its a baton carved into the shape of a penis. SQQ immediately stops and tries to put on his “peerless immortal cultivator” mask on with a flick of his fan, but its hard for that to be effective when your hair is all over the place and your in a room covered in penises. SQH dives for his king’s thighs and cries in relief that he’s no longer trapped in a room full of dildos and penises with SQQ. 

Then the iron triangle catches up and the realization that SVSSS gang is in modern clothing sinks in. The transmigrators freeze for just a second before jumping in front of iron triangle with a thousand questions. They ask in their shitty English which leaves answering the questions mostly to wu xie because pangzi’s english is pretty spotty and xiaoge doesn’t like talking in general, let alone a foreign language.

The whole group eventually leaves the tomb and all its phallic glory behind and get above ground where there’s phone service again. After a bit of searching, the transmigrators realize that while this world is very similar to their original world, there’s no signs of “Proud Immortal Demon Way” ever being written here, no other signs pointing to the two of them existing in this world. SVSS gang are very concerned as they watch SQQ and SQH talk in a strange language to these relative strangers, but don’t feel like its the time to figure out whats going on until everyone gets back home. The now expanded group makes their way back to Wushanju in an even more cramped road trip back. SQQ absolutly ends up in LBH’s lap at least once and SQH ends up with MBJ’s head in his lap at some point. its all very cute as the feeling of everyone being accounted for and safe settles in. 

Maybe there’s some stuff about SQQ and SQH being transmigrators and them being tempted for all of half a second to stay in this world that is so very much like their original world but choosing to go back with their lovers and the lives they’ve made for themselves. 

As the complete SVSSS gang now gets ready to head back home, the Iron triangle makes a huuuuge goody bag of all the snacks and treats that SQQ and SQH have been missing ever since they’ve transmigrated and put together a basic netbook plus solar charger for them to take back. There won’t be internet service back in SVSS world, but they loaded it up with a whooole bunch of web novels and pop songs, along with a few spare parts. 

SVSSS gang finally makes their way home after having a large farewell dinner at Wushanju at Pangzi’s insistence and LBH bullies his way into helping out. Its a very sweet scene of laughing and drinking. After dinner is done, SVSSS decide to go back immediately because the time dilation thing would mean they would be away for longer than they would like. 

Once back home, LBH, SQQ, and LQG have a confrontation/conversation about their relationships with each other and figure out if they want to try being all together, all three of them. MBJ confines SQH to his northern palace. Specifically their bedroom. He was also the one that remembered to grab the artifact that caused all these problems to begin with while everyone else was distracted by dildo tomb.

Iron triangle goes back to their retirement, at peace with the decisions they’ve made and the lives they’ve chosen to live.

THE END!!!

[pain-somnia]

ssm 2k20 day 1: stuck with you Title: us and these walls Rating: M (for sexual content) Disclaimer Day’s Notes: this prompt was selected by my patrons on Patreon and I decided to make it a modern au...a quarantine au lmao so here’s a smutty quarantine au for y’all I hope it’s enjoyable. As a heads up SasoObi is mentioned often throughout the fic and it’s a minor pairing...well it’s Sasori/Obito/Third Kazekage but they’re background. I mostly put them in there for Kitty who made me fall in love with SasoObi lol this is super late but I hadn’t planned on any of my entries to be long and I failed ‘cause this is long. This fic was almost longer than it is.

us and these walls

It started with a couple of White Claws. And it ended with Sakura in the wrong bed and severely under dressed.

Sakura woke up with a start, giving an unattractive snort before clutching her aching head. The throbbing around her eyes delayed her in realizing that there was an arm slung around her waist and something hard poking at her ass.

No, Sakura grumbled inwardly. No no no no.

She already knew exactly who was in bed with her. There was only one person that she had been stuck with for the past two weeks in her cousin Sasori’s house.

Obito, Sasori’s husband, had a younger cousin that she was always grouped up with at family events because he was the closest to her age, only being eight months older than her. Other than sitting next to each other at brunch or at holiday meals, the both of them didn’t really talk much to each other. Not that Sakura didn’t want to.

Sasuke Uchiha just made it so difficult to get to know him as anything other than Obito’s ridiculously hot cousin.

Two weeks ago, Sasori had asked Obito to call Sasuke over to fix the sink in the kitchen. Sakura wasn’t sure what it was exactly that Sasuke did for a living, only that he had remodeled parts of the house before Sakura moved into her cousin’s house and he may or may not have also been the bartender in the blurry photos Ino had sent her one night many weeks ago.

Because Sasori was the way he was, Obito had called Sasuke at eleven at night and for some reason the man had responded and was awake at the time. Instead of letting him go home, Obito begged Sasuke to stay the night in the guest room.

And then the quarantine order was issued.

Somehow, Obito was able to convince Mikoto Uchiha that it was best for Sasuke to remain at his house for the quarantine. Somehow it had worked and of course Sasuke had no choice but to listen to his mother. And somehow the two of them ended up stuck living together alone because Sasori had packed his and Obito’s bags and took off.

Whoever the fuck the man that went by the moniker “Third” was, Sakura had to assume he was loaded. The morning of the second day of quarantine all she had was a note left by her cousin about where he and his husband went off to and three days later there was a post to his Instagram about how he and Obito were living it up by the pool at their boyfriend’s mansion.

It was no wonder Sasori had ditched her. She wasn’t that surprised he had. Sakura felt more betrayed by Obito.

Warm breath fanned against her temple and the arm slung around her waist pulled her in closer. Sakura adjusted herself so Sasuke’s cock nestled between her thighs instead of digging into her behind and Sasuke released a content sigh, curling around her more.

God.

This wasn’t like her. She didn’t have casual sex. Sakura had been suffering from a three year dry spell ever since she had ended her last relationship. Sakura wasn’t the kind to go out and find someone just for the sake of hooking up. She could almost hear Ino and Karin chanting in her head, “One of us. One of us. One of us.”

“Anything we need to do today?” Sasuke mumbled into her hair. Sakura tensed up. She hadn’t noticed that he had been awake.

“We already went shopping yesterday for groceries and the essentials.”

She and Sasuke tried to stock up on everything they needed the day before. They had almost ended up going home with nothing when a middle aged man without a mask on got too close and Sasuke opened up a disinfectant spray they were going to buy and sprayed him in the face.

They had also stopped at the liquor store because nothing said essential like alcohol.

Which is exactly how they ended up in their current predicament.

Sakura wasn’t sure how to take Sasuke’s behavior. He didn’t seem to mind that they had woken up naked and spooning and was even nuzzling her hair. She wasn’t opposed to the bit of affection but she would have preferred it happened when she wasn’t feeling nauseous and had a headache.

“I think I’m gonna be sick,” Sakura mumbled, disentangling herself from Sasuke’s hold and rushing to the hallway bathroom.

She was dry heaving and spitting up bile for all of a few seconds when she felt Sasuke’s presence next to her on the floor. He stroked her hair, pulling it back away from her face until her heaving stopped.

“Thanks for putting pants back on.”

“Yeah. Here.” Sasuke handed her a black shirt that must have been the one he had been wearing the night before. Sakura pulled it over her head and tugged it so it covered her until midway down her thighs.

Sakura was grateful that Sasuke had the mind not to turn the light on in the bathroom; the open bathroom door casted a strip of light from the hallway.

“So…” She opened the conversation, not entirely sure what it was that she was trying to say. She blanked out, not having an actual thought beyond her ass being cold from the tile floor and so she shifted so she was sitting on the fluffy bathroom mat.

“Do we, uh, need to get anything?”

Sakura scrunched up her nose in confusion. She was too hungover for conversation. Sasuke looked at her pointedly, raising a brow and it finally dawned on Sakura what he was getting at.

“Oh, no. No. I’m on the pill.” Sakura averted her gaze, chewing on her lower lip in discomfort. “And I’m clean.”

“Same.”

The both of them sat on the bathroom floor in silence for an awkward amount of time before Sasuke cleared his throat and said he needed to make a call.

Well, this is shit, Sakura groaned inwardly, pulling her knees to her chest and running her hands down her face.

.

.

Sakura kept herself busy with preparing orders for her online store. She was fortunate enough to be self-employed but there was going to be a delay with her orders because the mailman kept missing her scheduled pickups.

“Do you think Sasori would kill me for this?” Sasuke asked her, putting down his drill.

Sakura looked up from her sewing machine and up at the racks Sasuke had made for her bolts of fabric. He wasn’t able to go to any of his jobs and ended up using his free time on small projects in the house. Sasuke had helped her organize everything by creating a proper work studio in the spare room that was originally Obito’s exercise room. Sasuke had moved all of the equipment into the garage.

“Oh, definitely.” Sakura went back to stitching the pair of tulle panties with an embroidered butterfly motif. “But you put a nifty set of cubbies in his mud room.”

Sasuke moved around her to measure for a set of shelves she had wanted.

“You’re making panties?” He raised a brow at Sakura’s current project.

“Yeah they’re a parallel set to that dress.” She pointed at a mannequin with a tulle sundress with the same butterfly motif. “My shop’s name is Naughty & Nice. That’s the nice and this,” she lifted the finished pair of panties, “is the naughty.”

“Those are too cute to be naughty,” Sasuke scoffed.

“Well I also have those.” Sakura pointed to a different mannequin dressed in a custom leather harness.

“Huh.”

“Yup.”

That was how the past two weeks had gone. Sakura would work and Sasuke would exercise or keep busy making improvements to Sasori’s house. Sometimes Sakura would find him playing video games, speaking to his friends over his headset.

Sasuke had to break his lease with his landlord. It was the loudest Sakura had heard him as he argued with the man about granting him an extension to pay his rent the following month. It hadn’t sounded good and the man couldn’t be reasoned with.

Unfortunately for Sasuke, his parents thought it would be better if he continued to stay at his cousin’s house. Due to the kind of jobs his parents had—police captain and nurse—they thought it would be safer for Sasuke to stick to the house where the only other occupant didn’t leave unless she absolutely needed to.

Sasuke had placed a majority of his belongings in storage and brought over his cat and anything he thought he would need and the guest bedroom became his.

At some point Sakura became curious about his finances. He had no job that she knew of that he could do from home, but he still had money for all of the takeout that he had been ordering until Sakura had put an end to it and told him that she would cook enough for the both of them as long as he helped provide the groceries. She was used to cooking for three anyway and Sasuke ate enough to make up for Sasori and Obito.

They were the only two occupants of the house and had to work around each other. It forced them to communicate beyond the uncomfortable small talk they were accustomed to.

Sakura found it easier to carry discussions without the presence of their family members, especially that of Mikoto Uchiha who always gave her soft yet sly smiles whenever she stood or sat closely to Sasuke. It was a calculative expression she was used to seeing on her older cousin whenever he wanted something and knew he was going to get it.

As much as she wouldn’t have minded to get to know Sasuke better, Sakura was sure that whatever his mother wanted to happen wasn’t what Sasuke wanted. They had worked well together and cohabitated amicably, but the closest they got to anything beyond that was a drunken tryst that she wasn’t even sure was going to be repeated sober.

.

.

He fucked up. He had fucked up.

It started with simple boredom. Sasuke had been stuck living with his cousin’s husband’s pretty cousin because Sasori couldn’t be bothered staying in his own house during a quarantine and had blackmailed Sasuke into playing babysitter.

They had been watching a marathon of slasher films and decided on turning it into a drinking game. Sakura curled up on the small extension of the L shaped couch with her pack of White Claws and Sasuke laid out on the other end with a pack of Ithacas. Somehow that had ended up with Sasuke joining Sakura on the extension and his fingers curled inside of her panties, stroking her as she clutched onto his arm and released high pitched cries of joy.

He’s not sure how they got to a bed, but he wouldn’t doubt it if he had just thrown her tiny body over his shoulder and carried her to the guest room that had become his temporary room.

That wasn’t how Sasuke had planned on dealing with Sakura and his ridiculous crush on her that wouldn’t go away.

It hadn’t taken much convincing for him to come fix the kitchen sink in the middle of the night. Besides Sasori blackmailing him because of his OnlyFans account, Obito had sweetened the deal by mentioning that if he stayed over he would be fed a free breakfast. Obito was a mediocre cook but free was free and he would be able to spend some time in Sakura’s company without his mother hovering with her knowing smiles.

He hadn’t expected to wake up to the smell of something cooking and walking into the kitchen to find Sakura wearing nothing but a baggy cream colored button down cable knit cardigan that hit mid thigh and a pair of black thigh high socks.

Sakura hadn’t expected him either. She had thought she was home alone because of a note from Sasori explaining that he and Obito had taken off to their boyfriend’s place. Sakura had called Sasori immediately for answers, but he didn’t pick up his phone.

At least, that’s what her flushed face and drawn down brows made it seem like. He hadn’t been paying attention to the phone calls she was trying to make but to the curve of her pert breasts that peeked from the v-cut of her cardigan. Sakura hadn’t been wearing a bra and he just wanted to drag his tongue up her sternum.

He was distracted from those dangerous thoughts when he received a phone call from his mother about the quarantine orders and how Obito had already told her that Sasuke was staying at his house. Sasuke didn’t have much room for an argument, especially considering his landlord Kakuzu wouldn’t give him an extension for his rent and Sasuke had had enough and broke his lease.

He cursed Kiba for moving out to live with the blondie he had been dating for the past few months and had only made it official a month ago. Kiba had been mostly staying over there and using Sasuke’s and his place for storage so it had made sense for him to officially move in but that had left Sasuke with paying the full rent on his own because he refused to move.

That decision was biting him in the ass now that he couldn’t bartend or go do some jobs as a contractor. He was heavily relying on his not safe for work accounts where he posted nudes for pay.

And speaking of not being safe for work…

It was three days after the drunken bedroom incident and Sakura needed help taking photographs for her online shop.

When Sakura had told him what she did for work he had been impressed that she had owned her own business and at how talented she was. When she told him that usually Sasori modeled her prototypes and she took the photos for her site, he was slightly disturbed. Looking at Sakura wearing her dresses and her lingerie, he couldn’t imagine Sasori wearing the same things and it looking as well as it did on her.

There may be some bias though. He was actually attracted to Sakura and he and Sasori were more enemies than they were friends and unfortunately related because Sasori was married to Obito.

“Move your arm back like this,” Sasuke instructed Sakura as she posed in a tulle panty and bra set that left nothing to the imagination. The butterfly patterns tastefully covered her nipples but didn’t do much to completely hide the small, pink thatch of hair between her thighs.

He was supposed to be focusing on showing off the lingerie to advantage, but his eyes kept drifting to the small bruises scattered on Sakura’s inner thighs and the red blooms of kiss marks that made her body look well loved.

“I can edit those out,” Sakura remarked shyly when she noticed where his gaze was directed. “I do it for Sasori for my site. He prefers keeping them though for his personal collection of photos.”

“I didn’t need to know that about Sasori.”

Sakura laughed at his discomfort and took her camera back from him. “Thanks again for the help.”

“Any time,” Sasuke muttered, watching her walk through the living room and down the hall to her bedroom.

.

.

Sasuke had the terrible━wonderful━habit of going without a shirt and exposing his tattoos when he was stuck inside all day.

It had been barely five days since their drunken mistake and the hickeys all over her body and bruises on her inner thighs and hips from the rough pounding she must have taken had yet to completely heal. Which also meant that the scratch marks on Sasuke’s shoulder blades, the hickeys all over his neck, and the bite mark on his left shoulder were still visible as well.

They hadn’t discussed what had happened. They spent the first day in an awkward state of avoidance and kept to their respective areas in the house. The second day had them going back to normal and just silently agreeing not to mention it.

But the curiosity was there now. It was there when they shared meals. It was there when he walked in from the garage after working out. It was there when he lazily strummed his guitar aimlessly. It was there when she finished her yoga routine and he was waiting to use the living room to watch or play Call of Duty.

It was there when they sat around reading in the living room and drinking tea. It was there when he made sure she took proper breaks instead of keeping herself hunched over her sewing and embroidery machines. It was there when she randomly heard his drill or hammer or the dragging of planks of wood and other materials into the house when he found something to fix or improve.

The curiosity became a yearning when she found him laid out on the couch, watching some aquarium building show. Sasuke just looked so cozy and she just wanted to curl up with him. Or straddle him.

Straddling him was definitely a favorable option.

Sasuke was immediately on alert, body stiffening under Sakura as she settled herself over him, straddling his hips. His hands slid across the sides of her bare thighs and over her small cotton shorts, until he gripped her hips through her thick oversized pullover.

He watched her warily as she pressed her hands on his stomach. His abdominal muscles twitched under her fingers as she slid her hands up his stomach.

“I was thinking…” Sakura’s cheeks heated up as Sasuke’s hands slid under her sweater and he took hold of her waist, his thumbs massaging circles on her skin. “Do you want to try it sober?”

Sasuke sat up faster than Sakura had expected him to move. In lieu of an answer to her question, he gripped the back of her neck, fisting her hair still damp from her shower, and pulled her closer to slant his mouth over hers.

There had been heated stares and what Sakura had hoped were looks of longing. Here was proof that she had been right.

Sakura sighed contently as Sasuke palmed her breasts, squeezing and fondling her with his large hands. Pulling back for air, Sasuke laid his forehead on hers, looking her directly in the eye as he continued to massage her flesh and tug at her nipples and roll them under his thumbs.

“You sure about this?”

“Absolutely.” Sakura cradled the back of his neck with both of her hands and pulled his mouth back to hers. Using her hold as an anchor, she fell back slowly, guiding Sasuke to follow her and nestle in the cradle of her thighs.

Sasuke pulled back, giving Sakura room to remove her sweater. It had barely been tossed aside when he returned to her, pressing kisses to her stomach and trailing his mouth up to her breasts, sucking on the underside of them before rolling her nipples with his tongue.

While Sasuke laved at her nipples and sucked on the flesh of her pert breasts, he worked on sliding her shorts off. When he didn’t find anything under them except for skin he looked up at her, head cocked quizzically.

“I planned to be out of them so why bother putting on undergarments?”

“Next time,” Sasuke pressed a kiss to her knee and then the other, “let me take them off.”

“Next time,” Sakura’s breath hitched as he gave her clit a flick of his tongue, “huh?”

The look Sasuke gave her was all heat as he sucked one of her nether lips into his mouth before working her with his tongue. Sakura sank her fingers into his thick, black hair and wondered if he had done this for her the other night. If he had it was a shame she couldn’t recall it or had a heads up to just how wonderful Sasuke’s tongue was. Her fingers tightened their hold on his hair, keeping him in place as her thighs trembled around his head. She cried out, high and sharp, when Sasuke pressed deeper into her, his tongue working harder as he alternated between strokes and suckling on her hardened little nub as if it was his reason for existing.

Sakura’s ankles locked behind Sasuke’s shoulders as her hips grinded against his mouth to chase the wave of her orgasm. With a keening cry she collapsed back onto the couch, her chest heaving from exertion. As she tried to control her breathing, Sasuke made his way back up her body, pressing kisses and nips to every bit of skin he could. Humming with satisfaction, she cupped his face in her hands and pulled him back up so she could kiss him hard, tasting herself as she rolled her tongue against his.

“Take off your pants,” Sakura panted, sliding her hands down to the waistband of Sasuke’s sweatpants.

Sasuke shook his head and licked up her sternum with one sure lick, pressing his tongue hard between her breasts. “Turn around.”

His voice was a low rumble, vibrating against her breastbone, and causing a shiver to run down her spine. He used a hand to guide her to turning around until she was stomach down on the couch. With her back exposed to him, Sasuke pressed open mouth kisses down her spine. She flinched when he reached the center of her back, the spot surprisingly sensitive. He palmed her ass with both hands, massaging the cheeks before biting down on a fleshy area.

“Hey!” Sakura squealed at the sensation. He chuckled against her, sliding a hand between her thighs to where she was softest.

“I think you liked that.” He stroked her with his fingers, spreading her folds and dipping his middle and ring fingers inside of her. “I know you liked that.”

“Hmm, maybe I did.” Sakura pressed her cheek to the couch cushion and lifted her rump higher in the air and rocked her hips from side to side teasingly.

Sasuke sat up on his knees and grabbed her by the hips, pulling her closer to him. He pressed his hips against her and rocked back and forth, his clothed, hardened length digging against her core. Sakura moaned softly against the couch cushion as Sasuke grinded against her in alternating rhythms.

“Just put it in already,” Sakura pleaded.

“Fuck,” Sasuke hissed as she rocked back against him. “Do you want me to go get a condom? I think Obito has some in the master bedroom.”

“Don’t bother,” Sakura panted. “Don’t make me wait.”

“Alright.”

Sasuke stood up and pulled his sweatpants and boxers off. He helped her turn back around and settled himself between her legs. Bracing himself on one forearm, Sasuke licked his fingers and rubbed the tip of his cock before taking himself in hand and gave himself four quick pumps before guiding himself inside of her wet heat.

Sakura moaned at the fullness as he stretched her pleasantly. She cupped his face in her hands once again and kissed him wherever she could reach with her mouth—his chin, the corner of his mouth, his upper lip. She hadn’t realized how empty and aching she was feeling until this moment.

“You good?” Sasuke asked, keeping still but adjusting her legs around his hips for her comfort.

Sakura nodded, wrapping her arms under his armpits and clutched his shoulders. She tilted her hips up and rolled them until he began to thrust.

She didn’t know if this was how they did it the other night, but she was enjoying it. Sakura expected him to grope at her breasts and her ass as he pounded into her, but Sasuke kept to a steady pace and with his forearms caging her head, he wrapped her hair around his fingers and kissed her languidly. It was so warm and affectionate she almost forgot that it started as her just wanting a fuck on the couch to figure out if it was as good as she had thought it would be and to make up for being robbed of the experience by her inebriation.

“Harder,” Sakura demanded and without missing a beat Sasuke gave her exactly what she asked for.

He sat up on his knees and lifted her legs straight up so that her ankles crossed behind his head and he thrust harder, holding onto her knees to keep her in place. One of his legs slipped onto the ground so that he could brace himself with his foot and make sure they didn’t fall off the couch.

“You feel so good,” he praised her, kissing her left inner ankle.

“Yeah?” Sakura smiled mischievously up at him and squeezed the muscles of her core, causing Sasuke to falter in his movements. She giggled at his expense but choked on air when he readjusted his footing and thrust particularly hard into her.

Sasuke pushed her knees up into her chest and held her there as he set a punishing pace, hitting her repeatedly in a spot she liked. Her staccato cries of joy filled the room, drowning out the sound of the television.

She fell apart again and Sasuke slowed down his thrusting in favor of feeling her flutter around him and kissing her lazily. They lay like that, him still inside of her, and they exchanged kisses.

“Your turn,” Sakura murmured against his mouth as he stroked her side, brushing her ribs with his knuckles.

“Flip over,” Sasuke ordered, voice low and causing her stomach to clench in anticipation. Settling behind her, Sasuke chased his finish, his chest pressed to her back and panting in her ear.

They both collapsed on the couch and Sasuke turned on his side so that he could pull Sakura against him. They lay in a boneless sort of manner and sated, intertwining their legs and their bodies slick with sweat.

After a moment of silence, Sakura spoke up.

“Well that was definitely better sober.”

Sasuke snorted, his silent laughter rumbling in his chest and vibrating against Sakura’s back.

.

.

He was supposed to be getting some water. Somehow a trip for water turned into him making out with Sakura. She was seated on the kitchen island and he stood between her legs, one hand pressed to the small of her back and the other cradling her face.

“I’m supposed to be making dinner,” she whined but made no move to pull away. She gasped when Sasuke slid his hand between her thighs.

“We can order pizza.”

.

.

She couldn’t remember what her question was. Not with the way Sasuke moved underneath her, breaking her rhythm and holding her hips down to meet his every thrust. He had her crying out and collapsing onto him, weak to his relentless pounding.

Sakura panted, struggling to catch her breath after they both came, as Sasuke rubbed her back soothingly.

“Yeah, I’ll change the bulb in the hallway closet.”

That was the question? Sakura frowned against Sasuke’s clavicle. Well, alright then.

.

.

“Shut up!”

Sakura hid her face in her hands, trapping the heat radiating off of it with her palms.

“Tell us everything,” Ino insisted. Karin nodded vigorously in agreement from her window on Sakura’s monitor.

The three of them were using Zoom to video chat and it was supposed to be wine and movie night, but it had instead turned into a gossip session now that Sakura admitted to them that her three year dry spell had ended during the quarantine.

“We keep fucking,” Sakura whined, pulling her knees up to her chest and falling sideways on her bed. “He’s like the fucking energizer bunny: just keeps going and going.”

Karin snorted, earning herself a glare from Sakura. “How is that a bad thing?”

“It’s not.” Sakura chewed on her lower lip. “We hang out and do other stuff too.”

“Like what?” Ino asked, blowing on her nails. She had taken out her nail polish and had given herself a pedicure as she waited for Karin to pick their movie and their change in plans hadn’t stopped her from continuing.

“We watch movies and take care of Obito’s garden and his plants. I’m teaching him how to cook.” Sakura sighed and groaned softly under her breath, “We take naps together and just...cuddle.”

Besides sex being added to the list of their activities, the only change to their cohabitation was that sometimes they curled up in Sasuke’s bed just to sleep together or hold each other as they lay in the comfort of the blankets. It sometimes led to sex, but that wasn’t the goal. They simply liked being together and exchanging kisses between the sheets and listening to music.

It was sometimes more enjoyable than when he was making her come like a train. Sometimes. Alright, always. Coming was nice but she had a drawer of toys for that. She couldn’t cuddle and joke with her vibrator.

“Now that you’re boning him,” Karin smirked at her, “do you think you can introduce me to his older brother?”

The three of them burst into laughter, Sakura burying her face into her pillow to drown out the sound.

.

.

When Sasuke had remodeled Sasori’s master bathroom, he had found a bath to install that would fit his cousin’s tall frame perfectly inside. It was for that reason he knew he and Sakura could both fit comfortably, considering he and Obito were the same height.

“This is nice,” Sakura sighed, settling between his legs and resting her back against his chest. “I thought Sasori had locked his bedroom before leaving to Third’s.”

Sasori had in fact locked his bedroom, but Sasuke had picked the lock so that he could use the master bedroom for the setting of his photos for his OnlyFans. Sasuke had money to make and he needed privacy and also didn’t want to get into Sakura’s way while she worked and took care of the house.

Things had been good so far between the two of them. They hadn’t discussed what they were doing, but Sasuke was enjoying being trapped in the house with Sakura. Her affection for him even traveled outside the walls of Sasori’s house. She would hold his hands as they walked down aisles when they went shopping for things they couldn’t order or when they went for walks around the neighborhood.

Now they were taking a bath together. Sasuke had used the large bathtub for some photos, carefully placing bubbles to cover his penis, but then making them dissipate with a flap of his hand to take uncensored shots for his Patreon tiers that involved full nudity.

It was as the water cooled and the bubbles became flat that he thought about Sakura and if she would want to relax with him.

When he suggested a bath to Sakura, her eyes lit up and she found all of the candles in the house, played some soft music, and prepared the bath with scented oils and bubbles.

“This has got to be a fire hazard.” Sasuke gestured around the room at all of the candles. Their flames reflected against the tiles of the bathroom, creating a nice ambience.

“Shhhh.” Sakura kissed the inside of his wrist, and snuggled into him more. “Don’t be a killjoy.”

Sasuke leaned back and closed his eyes. This would probably be a little better if I were high, he sighed inwardly. He should have rolled a joint before they got into the bath.

“Would this be considered a date?” Sakura asked, breaking the comfortable silence between them.

“Some people would consider it a date. I would rather be clothed during most of a date.”

“I don’t mind,” Sakura chirped. “You’re exactly how I would want you to end up anyway.”

Heat that had nothing to do with the bath traveled up the back of Sasuke’s neck and settled in his ears.

“If the world wasn’t so fucked up right now, where would you wanna go?”

“Hmm…” Sakura hummed one thought, her knees swaying from side to side. “For a walk in Old Town to get some ice cream. Maybe check out the hibachi spot and then watch the boats on the river.”

“I don’t even like ice cream and that sounds good. Just to be outside.”

Two months had passed since the quarantine had begun and Sasuke was beginning to feel restless. He didn’t usually care about going out, only really went out for work, but now that he was forced to stay inside all day, every day, he just wanted to go out and do something.

After the quarantine was over, he and Sakura were going to need to take a road trip just to feel normal again.

“My friend Karin got tested and her results were negative so she’s going to come over and give me a haircut.” Sakura tugged at the ends of her long hair. “I procrastinated getting one and then everything was shut down.”

Sasuke huffed air out of his mouth and blew at his bangs. They had grown long enough to fall to his chin. “You think she’d mind giving me a haircut too?”

.

.

Sakura couldn’t stop giggling. She rubbed the back of Sasuke’s head, right at the nape where Karin had shaved his hair so it was a close crop. She had buzzed him into an undercut before Sakura and Sasuke could say anything about it.

“I just needed a trim.” Sasuke scowled. Karin had done a really good job and the hairstyle looked great on him, but Sasuke had only wanted to take care of his unruly bangs. “If I put my glasses on, I’ll look like a wannabe Skrillex.”

Sakura snorted, curling up in his lap. “His undercut is on the side like Karin’s. Yours is on the back.”

“Whatever. Don’t you dare give her my brother’s phone number.” Sasuke ran his fingers through Sakura’s new bob cut and kissed her forehead. “Anything you wanna do before bedtime?”

For the past few weeks they had tried to make sure they were preoccupied so that they wouldn’t get bored. Sakura was still attempting to teach him to cook but she has better results teaching him yoga.

“We could have a Lord of the Rings marathon?” Sakura wrinkled her nose in thought. “I can work on some crochet crop tops while we watch.”

They had settled into a comfortable, domestic routine. Sakura was enjoying living with Sasuke and didn’t care about Sasori and Obito having ditched her. She was kind of glad they did. She was especially glad for it the week before when Sasuke made her ginger and honey tea and always had a hot water bottle ready for her when the cramps got really bad. Sasori had the weird idea to feed her liver whenever she was on her period. He never cooked it, always handing it to her raw.

It was nice living with Sasuke. Sakura wasn’t looking forward to when Sasori and Obito returned and ruined the tranquility they had.

She prayed things wouldn’t change when they were around other people. That they wouldn’t go back to how they used to be when they sat awkwardly next to each other at holidays.

.

.

Usually a morning person, Sakura was always first to wake up out of the both of them.

She woke to the feeling of him pressed against her back, erection settling against her ass and warm breath puffing against her nape. His arm wrapped around her body and held to her chest as her fingers were laced with his.

“Sasuke.” Sakura attempted to separate their limbs. “Sasuke. We fell asleep on the couch again.”

Sasori’s couch was ridiculously comfortable and with the wide extension sticking out to make its L shape, Sakura found herself falling asleep on it often. During the quarantine she always lay there when watching TV or movies which was pretty typical from pre-quarantine life, but now instead of selfishly taking up the best spot, she was sharing it with Sasuke who was surprisingly cuddly.

“Sasuke,” Sakura whined. The more she tried to pull away, the more he clung to her. She disentangled their legs and he bit down softly on the back of her neck. “I have morning breath and, dude, I definitely need a shower…”

“Like I care.”

Sasuke was talented at distracting her. One moment she wanted to get ready for the day and in the next all she wanted was to roll around in bed all day. Sakura made no protest when Sasuke helped her remove one of the shirts she kept stealing from him and pulled off her sweatpants and tugged her panties off. Thanks to Sasuke, she was spending an incredible amount of time naked on Sasori’s couch.

“I was supposed to,” Sakura’s breath hitched when Sasuke bit the inside of her left thigh, “be making breakfast.”

“This is preferable,” he murmured against her folds, burying his face between her legs.

During the weeks of their cohabitation, Sakura had discovered that Sasuke liked going down on her more than he enjoyed when she returned the favor. He apparently liked to take advantage of the fact that she could have more than one orgasm in a single round of sex and even though getting blown was nice, he didn’t like the recovery time or how sensitive he became afterward.

Sasuke was in the middle of getting her to the first orgasm he wanted to give her when the front door opened. Not that Sasuke or Sakura had noticed.

“Oh my God,” Sakura sighed breathily, sinking her fingers into Sasuke’s hair.

“Oh my God!” Obito cried out, snapping Sakura out of her pleasure induced daze.

“My couch!” Sasori hissed, eyes narrowed in distaste.

Sakura sat up, almost kicking Sasuke in the face, and saw both her cousin and his husband and a giant man almost half a foot taller than Obito on the other side of the couch.

“Oh my God,” Sakura moaned softly in horror, grabbing the throw she kept on the couch and wrapping it around her body. Sasuke straightened himself and took a seat next to her, bare as the day he was born, cock hard and hair mussed, with a shiny smear on his chin from the activity that had just been interrupted.

“Holy shit, Shisui was right.” Obito stared in awe at Sasuke’s crotch, only snapping his attention away when Sasori slapped his arm and shot him a look of disgust. “What? I thought he was exaggerating how big it was. Oh, fuck. I owe him one-fifty now.”

Sasori rolled his eyes and made his way to the kitchen, calling out behind him, “Please tell me you mean a dollar and change.”

Obito rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “No. Hundred fifty.”

“Hello.” The giant man waved at Sasuke and Sakura, flashing them what in a normal situation would have been a charming smile if it weren’t for the severe lack of clothing and what he had walked in on. “I’m Third, It’s a pleasure to meet you.” He held out his hand. He put it down as soon as he realized they weren’t going to shake his hand. “We came over because Obito has been raving about your cinnamon chip scones and Sasori said that you could teach me to make them for him.”

“You could have called first,” Sasuke drawled, bending over at the waist to reach for his sweatpants and boxer briefs.

“You could have not been fucking on my couch!” Sasori’s voice carried in from the kitchen, followed by the slamming of cupboard doors.

Sakura rolled her eyes and stood up, careful to keep the throw wrapped around her body. Leave it to her to be caught by her cousin, his husband, and their boyfriend getting eaten out in the early morning in the middle of the living room.

“Come back in one hour and I’ll teach you how to bake anything you want,” She told Third, craning her neck to be able to look him directly in the eye. “But you gotta take them with you.”

“Anything?”

“Anything.”

Much faster than she expected someone of such great bulk to move, Third was escorting Sasori and Obito━who had already found her homemade yogurt and was eating it━out of the house.

“Are you really going to be teaching their boyfriend to bake?” Sasuke asked, yanking his pants up and following her as she walked to her bedroom. Sakura snorted and shook her head.

“I can teach him over FaceTime. We’re changing the fucking locks.”

.

.

Day’s Notes: There’s a high chance I may revisit this AU because I used some AU ideas of mine and mashed them up to make this fic and I’m very attached to my OnlyFans Sasuke AU. I have so much to write for it.

[irwinkitten]

quarantine and chill | poly!lashton

notes: so as some of you may know, i got hit with covid-19. i’d kept socials updated with my symptoms and how i was dealing with it but i’ve been quite on the aftermath of what i went through. so i did what i do best, i wrote. similar with teulu, i decided to write it out in the form of a fic. a lot of what happens is what i’ve had to struggle through with regards to recovery and what i’m still struggling with. there is a lot that i haven’t really talked about with it either, however i got the main points down and just wrote. if i was feeling better, i’d probably have shifted it to an oc but this felt much too personal to do. i was debating on whether or not this was going to be posted. at first i wasn’t, then i wasn’t sure. i finally decided to because i enjoy writing and i enjoy giving people something to read, something to enjoy. i also decided on poly!lashton mostly because of the interview on one of the instagram lives where ash said he cooks and i think it was with @sexgodashton​ where were talking about how ashton would mother hen you when you’re sick lmao and then i got daydreamy because i’ve been dealing with the whole situation alone and it’s difficult when your loved ones (both friends and family) are too far away and unable to be with you. i’m rambling at this point but yeah, tldr; this is really personal on how i recovered from that godforsaken virus. warnings: talks of dying, depression, sickness word count: 9k (oops)

donate to my ko-fi here

-

When you’d come home from closing up the store, it had been an almost nightmarish day for you. It felt surreal that the store was closing until further notice and you had no idea when you were going to even be back in your job again.

What frustrated you was the fact that you hadn’t been able to book a flight out to LA before the travel bans kicked in, leaving you to be self-isolating in your apartment for the duration of the lockdown, alone.

Luke and Ashton had both voiced their complaints, but no amount of money being thrown at the problem wasn’t getting you back to LA with them.

 “How are you feeling?” Ashton asked over facetime whilst you tidied up. The simplicity of living in communal housing meant that you only had two rooms to tidy and keep clean. Luke and Ashton loved it for the fact that it afforded the three of you some privacy away from prying eyes of the media because you were tight-lipped about where you lived.

“Tired. I’ve cried a lot and I’m missing the both of you.” You admitted quietly as Luke popped into the screen, his head resting on Ashton’s shoulder. His lips wore a tired smile, one that you could match.

“We’re missing you too, love.” Luke’s voice was comforting. You finally settled down on the couch, your body sinking into the cushions and sighed.

“You know you don’t have to worry right? Ash and I are gonna help you.” The reassurance from Luke made your lips twitch up.

“I know. I’m just frustrated. They should have made this decision well over a week ago.” 

Neither of them could say much against that. You’d told the company bosses that you were at risk, you’d warned them that the store wouldn’t pull in enough money to warrant staying open for the week.

But they’d simply said that they were following government guidelines. It had been nothing but frustration for the three of you.

“Are you both home finally?” Your question was much quieter and Ashton grimaced. 

“Because I have a cough, they’ve organised us to be quarantined since we’re together. They’ve done the tests but I don’t think it’s anything, I think it’s just allergies playing up since I’ve been sneezing non stop.” Ashton explained and you sighed.

“Irony at its finest.” You received sad smiles in return from your boys.

“I’ve got some last minute paperwork to finish up and send off since I couldn’t do so at the shop. How about I call you both tomorrow?” Luke pouted and you giggled at the expression, your heart lifting that little bit.

“Fine but next time I’m hogging the phone.” Luke muttered and you laughed before blowing them both a kiss.

“Love you both, I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” 

The paperwork was easy to finish off and left you a few hours to shower and change whilst tidying up around. 

When you crawled into bed, you checked your phone to see a photo of the two of them snuggled up together, Ashton practically smothering Luke. You sent them one back of you with the bear they’d gotten you, sprayed in their cologne. 

When you woke up the next day, there was only a slight difference, your blocked nose making you groan. 

“Fucking allergies.” Was muttered as you made your way to the bathroom, waving to one of your neighbours who was just leaving the kitchen.

You’d decided to stock up on food, making quick work of the short walk. It was nice to be able to still move about in the fresh air at least, offering a small, yet nervous smile at the cashier as you paid for your shopping, packed it in your bag and made your way home.

Before you even realised it, you’d settled on the couch and fallen asleep, wrapped up in your fluffy blanket, eyes heavy as you set an alarm. 

You slept through the alarm and when you next woke up, there were three missed facetimes from Luke. You called him back immediately.

“There’s the love of our lives.” Luke crowed when he answered, making you laugh. It was followed by a cough which made Luke pause, his eyes studying the screen. “Said love of our lives doesn’t look too well.” The concern was evident and you rolled your eyes.

“It’s probably allergies and my body finally relaxing from the last three weeks of stress.” Luke didn’t look convinced but you managed to switch the conversation. “Did you find out the results of Ashton’s test?” 

“Yeah, he came up negative. Since we’ve been quarantined for what, three weeks now? We’ll probably be on the next essential flight back home. But that won’t be for another week from what they’ve said. We both agreed to hang back long enough to let other people go ahead.” You frowned at that.

“But baby, you guys need to be back for the launch.” He shook his head.

“Ash was quite forceful with management on this one. There isn't going to be any kind of physical launch so we’re cleared to be delayed, just as long as we have a good wifi connection for the weekend for the various streams.” You sighed but understood their concerns. 

“How is our no longer sick drummer boy?” You finally asked and as if he was waiting for the question, he all but piled himself on top of Luke, a muffled whine escaping as he tried to shove Ashton off him.

You laughed.

“Behave children otherwise no rewards.” You teased them, making the two of them laugh as they settled themselves  down on the sofa they were on.

The conversation was easy between the three of you as they both excitedly discussed the possible plans they had for the album release, relying on them being home on time to do so.

“It wouldn’t do well to be still in the air when we do the release party, but knowing our luck...” Ashton trailed off, making you snort.

“Knowing our luck, that’s what would happen.” You grinned and he rolled his eyes.

“Probably.” 

The three of you talked until you were dropping off, and despite voicing their concerns, you waved them off, pointing out that you always got like this during allergy season. Ashton didn’t argue the point, but Luke still frowned in concern.

“We love you, sunshine. Get some decent rest please.” He’d pleaded with you and you gave them both a gentle smile in return, hoping that it was at least semi-reassuring.

“I’ll be fine, but I’ll go to bed. Love you two.” 

“Love you more.” Came the unified response before the call dropped and you settled back asleep.

Part of you knew that you should’ve realised that they had every right to be concerned when you woke up the following morning.

Your entire body was aching. And what concerned you most was the tightness across your chest coupled with the pain radiating across your body.

When you checked your temperature, you felt your stomach sink at the fact that your fever had crept up and was alarmingly high. So you called the helpline, putting the phone on speaker whilst you waited to get through, sending a text to the group chat you had with your boyfriends.

‘Woke up with fever and body hurts. Struggling to breath too so checking in with the helpline to see what i need to do. Don’t know if I��m gonna be up for calling later bc I wanna sleep.’ 

You felt bad but you could already feel the drowsiness pull at your body. 

When you got through and described your symptoms, the lady on the other end advised you to self-isolate and upon the symptoms getting worse, to call the emergency services.

You relayed the information back to Luke and Ashton before falling asleep after taking some medication, trying to desperately ignore how much your body ached as you slept.

The first few days, it felt like you’d been run over with a truck repeatedly, but what concerned you was the pain that was radiating from your kidneys. Both Luke and Ashton knew of your previous history with kidney failure and both had been urging you to go into the hospital, but you’d couldn’t help but feel that it wasn’t that bad.

By day four, both of your boyfriends were worried because you’d mentioned to them that you were unable to breath properly. It was late at night, but with the pain reaching an overwhelming point, you knew it was pointless to argue. Even your friends had been urging you to contact the helpline once more.

You’d been on hold for over an hour as the pain got worse. You were struggling to focus and it was everything you could do to try and breathe through the agony that was radiating through your body, so you cut off from the hold music and contacted the emergency services. 

This time fear started to settle into your stomach as you answered the questions posed to you, trying to get across that it wasn’t a block of flats but a shared home.

The operator understood and urged you to get help from your neighbours to at least let the crew into the building. You were nervous enough about standing up by yourself but you managed.

When you stood from your bed, the walk to the door, even though it was five steps away, the agony that shot up your legs had you stumbling into the door. 

Pulling it open, despite your neighbour’s door being six feet away, you knew you weren’t going to be able to stumble that far. The pain was steadily getting worse and tears started falling down your cheeks.

“Can someone help?” You finally got out, gasping for a breath once the words were out. Your neighbour was quick to open the door and knew something was wrong.

“What’s happened, are you okay?” 

“Can’t breathe. Called medics, but need someone to let them in.” You gasped out and he nodded, taking a step closer.

“Lets sit you down and I’ll get one of the others to go and wait for them.” The firm grip on your arms supported you, your own hands grasping his arms to keep you from falling as he slowly walked you back to the edge of your bed, setting you down gently.

The pain receded slightly.

“I’m gonna prop the door open and get one of the others to come and give me a hand, is that okay?” And you could only nod tearfully as you tried to take in slow breaths, despite the pain that was radiating from your chest.

With the door propped open, you could hear him banging on the other doors, calling for help and explaining the situation. The hallway wasn’t very long but their voices carried down to you as you tried, and failed, to calm down.

And then the medics were there, pulling the blanket from your shoulders despite how cold you were feeling.

“It’s because of the fever, your body is already warm, you won’t be helping yourself with the blankets.” 

They asked various questions and you tried to answer in the gasping breaths, but then the pain shot up and it felt like you couldn’t breathe.

“Okay, we’re getting you to the hospital.” 

You could barely move, but between the medic and your neighbour, they managed to get the things you needed and help you down the stairs. It took much longer, but you knew that rushing wasn’t going to help and the pain was pushing close to hitting 10 for you. 

Once in the ambulance, you had a cannula inserted, laughing breathlessly between your tears at the first failed attempt and the second attempt to find a vein. 

When you reached the hospital, waiting to hear where you needed to be taken, you finally got out your phone, the morphine hindering your ability to focus, hitting the audio button instead to send a voice note to your now worried boyfriends.

“At the hospital. Been given some morphine but still hurts. Missing you and love you lots.” You could barely keep your eyes open, the words slurring together. The medic gave you a kind smile.

“Partner?” You nodded, the motion making you feel nauseous. 

“Need to drive to the other side, they’ve got a specific ward set up.” You heard and realised belatedly that the driver must have turned up. The drive was short and finally you were helped from the vehicle into a waiting wheelchair. You were too tired to protest and you knew it would be quicker for you to get situated.

You could hear them talking, explaining your medical history and the symptoms you were displaying. Part of your mind was listening but the other part of your mind was wondering how Ashton and Luke were. 

You missed them.

Once in a room, the nurses took over and did some more tests. Eventually you were left alone, your fever creeping higher despite the fact that you felt so cold. You were tired, but the pain that was radiating from your kidneys and joints, it was enough to keep you awake, unable to relax to sleep. 

Your phone was going off every few minutes, various people messaging you, making sure that you were okay. The only ones you were really replying to were Luke and Ashton, but even then it was sparse. 

It didn’t stop them from worrying.

When the doctor on shift came into your bare room, it took every effort to focus on her words.

“We’ve taken some bloods to help rule out any other possibilities, despite displaying symptoms of the virus. When we have the first results of your bloods back, we’ll be moving you onto one of the wards, so it should be another hour or so.” 

You nodded your head, eyes heavy as you let out a tired sigh.

“Any idea of how long I’ll be here for?” Despite the mask in place, you could see her cheeks lifting up into what you assumed was a smile.

“Less than 24 hours, I’d assume. Try to get some rest, another nurse will be taking some obs in about an hour, before you need to be moved hopefully.” You nodded tiredly, curling up on your side. It seemed to be the only relief you could find.

You drifted in and out, the stark quietness of your room so different to the usual noises you had of cars passing by or Ashton and Luke’s steady breathing.

 When the nurse came back in, you were beyond exhausted. You felt nauseous and the pain wasn’t receding. 

“We’re going to be moving you instead, they’ll do all the obs that they need once you’re settled in the room. I’m just waiting on the porters.” You nodded tiredly as she unplugged your phone charger and placed your bag at the bottom of the bed.

You kept your face turned into the pillow, the lights hurting your eyes. 

“Sensitive to the light?” Came a kind voice, you could only let out a muffled noise of agreement. When you were wheeled into the room, the light was dimmed down and you felt more relaxed. 

Glancing at the time you hadn’t realised it’d been so long. The numbers read 7am and you could feel your body shaking, your mind taking a minute to catch up with the fact that you were cold.

The next few hours were difficult. You went from being too hot to freezing cold, the pain creeping up as you tried to curl in on yourself to warm up. Even with additional blankets, you were still shaking, teeth chattering when you tried to talk.

When they took the second round of bloods, you didn’t offer any argument, simply holding out your arm for them to take the blood from. Things were getting hazy and you couldn’t focus on the nurse as he spoke to you about what was going to happen. 

You knew some of it was tiredness. Despite the mini naps you were having, you hadn’t slept solidly in nearly 48 hours. 

“We’re going to be coming in to do the test in a moment.” You found yourself confused as a different nurse explained what was going to happen and she took her time to make sure you understood each part. 

Once it was done, your cough having flared up after having the swab hit the back of your throat you noticed that you had missed calls.

‘How did I not hear them?’ You thought to yourself, confused. You clicked on the notification and realised it was Luke that had been calling.

“Hi angel, we were just checking in.” His voice seemed to set off the tears, unable to understand why you were so tearful. But he heard the sniffle. 

“Sweetheart, I’m so sorry you’re dealing with this. You know we’re here for you.” 

“I just wanna be home with you two.” You choked out, a cough escaping, the motion making you feel sick. 

“I know angel, what have the doctors said?” You tried to steady your breathing so you wouldn’t set your coughing off again. 

“Two weeks self quarantine.” You finally got out, wiping a few stray tears away. You heard the two of them sigh in unison. 

“Maybe we could—”

“Ash no. If they are sick with the virus, it’s likely to just pass between the three of us.” Luke interrupted and you had to hold back the sob. 

“I’m scared.” You finally admitted quietly and tried to stop the sob that was crawling up your throat. You knew that if you’d started, you were most likely not going to stop. 

“Baby.” Ashton whispered and you sucked in a deep breath, determined not to ask the question. 

“Lu’s right. It’d just pass between the three of us. I should have maybe another week of symptoms.” Your voice was quiet but they heard you. 

“We’re not going home.” Luke’s voice finally filtered through. “Not with you being in hospital and not with you being so sick. We’re staying in a hotel till your symptoms die down and then we’re gonna come and look after you.” 

You couldn’t even argue with them. They were both as stubborn as mules and having them would make the recovery easier with some help. 

“How are you gonna get here?” You finally gasped out. 

“We’ve got a rented car. We extended it the day you got sick.” You felt your heart warm at their words.

“Okay.” You finally muttered. 

Eventually you were discharged with medication for the fever and a reminder to keep your fluid intake up at least. 

The journey back was exhausting. 

The medic was kind enough to chat to you about your job, about Luke and Ashton. He didn’t bat an eyelash when you mentioned them both. He was quick to help you figure out where the turning was, especially in the dark. And he helped you to the door of the building. 

Just the journey up the stairs was tiring, and your neighbours heard you arrive, the three of them checking that you were okay. 

“Until my breathing gets worse, I can self manage at home. However, I need rest and my body currently feels like I’ve been run over multiple times.” 

One of them checked about collecting your food shop the following morning and you smiled in return before getting into your bedroom and collapsing on the bed. 

You made sure that your phone charger was plugged in before sending a text to Luke and Ashton saying you were home. It was barely another five minutes before you fell into a fitful sleep. 

The following day you were woken to a knock on your door, but you could barely move. Sleep had been scarce and your joints felt so heavy. 

“Don’t try and get up! Just letting you know that I’m off to get your shopping! I should be back in an hour or so.” Your neighbour called through the door and you felt a little bit of relief flood you at that. 

“Thanks!” You called back before coughing, twisting sharply to the side where the bowl lay, your body aching when the coughing stopped.

You’d had the bowl lay there since the night before you’d gone into hospital, terrified that the coughing would lead you to throwing up. You weren’t good with vomit at the best of times but this was another level. 

Collapsing onto your back, taking in slow deep breaths as you tried to calm your heart down, you took a few moments before taking some meds, pulling the covers off your body to help you cool down. This was the one thing about fever that wasn’t fun for you.

You ended up napping on and off, unable to pay attention to your phone at the various texts coming through from concerned friends before there was another knock on the door which jolted you awake, despite feeling disorientated.

“I’m leaving the bags just outside your doors! Give me a couple of minutes and I’ll have them all up.” You didn’t reply as you heard the hallway door shut, and instead slowly moved to collect one of the face masks you’d been given, slipping it on with ease before grabbing disinfectant wipes. 

You ignored the dizziness that caught you off guard, taking a steadying breath as you waited, leaning heavily against the door.

“Right, they’re all there for you chicken!” Your neighbours voice was more distant and you hesitantly opened the door. He was standing halfway down the hallway, a kind smile on his face.

“How are you feeling today?” The concern was genuine and you could only shrug.

“A lot of pain. Not sleeping well.” You got out breathlessly. He frowned.

“Well if you need anything, you’ve got my number now, so just give me a text, especially if you need any drinks. You take care of yourself now.” You lifted your hand in acknowledgement before propping open the living room door and heading in there where your fridge sat.

When the food was put away, you were half staggering the few steps back to your bed, barely getting your mask off and on your desk before you half collapsed on your bed.

Glancing at your phone there was a missed call from Ashton.

“Hi love, you weren’t responding so we figured to call you.” His voice was hesitant when you’d accepted the call.

“Everything hurts Ash.” You finally sobbed, your body protesting the movement, but in that moment you couldn’t care. You missed them both and with the combined pain, it didn’t help.

“Baby.” Luke’s voice was soft and you knew they were worried, but you were too far gone to understand their worries. You just wanted them.

“Want you both, and can’t even have that because of this fucking virus.” You got out a cough ending the sentence as you tried to catch your breath and not choke.

“Calming breaths sweetheart. You’re okay.” Ashton soothed immediately and you tried to follow his instructions. But everything hurt. There was a sharp pain in your chest, coupled with the pain in your lower back as well as the joint aches. It practically burned you.

“Do you think you can manage a shower later, love? It might help.” Luke’s voice was hesitant once you were calm enough and you took in a deep breath.

“Maybe.” You got out, your voice quieter and they knew you were tired.

“Rest for a bit angel, see if you can try and get a few hours at least.” Ashton encouraged and you could feel the heaviness wash over you as you settled down.

“Love you both.” You tiredly got out before you let yourself sink into sleep, taking a slow deep breath as you did.

You didn’t hear their returned words or them cutting the call, you’d fallen asleep easily and your body relaxed just a little bit as you slept.

When you next woke up, it was dark. Making sure that you were at least drinking, you had another glass of juice followed by some water before pulling yourself up to take a shower. You texted them both and your best friend to let them know you’d slept some and you were about to attempt a shower.

It was slow going, trying to keep yourself upright, but the steam helped clear your sinuses, making sure you got every part of you with the scrubber before just standing under the shower, your hands pressed into the cold tiles to keep you upright. 

It’d been thirty minutes by the time you’d returned to your room, feeling more tired than when you’d first woken, so you took the opportunity to try and get more sleep. 

That was when the coughing became so violent at two in the morning that you felt like you were practically choking on air, unable to catch a breath until you’d rolled onto your side and something cleared enough for you to take a gasping breath, your heart racing so fast that you had to call your best friend to calm down.

It became frightening as days began to pass and you could barely recall them, your mind confused and muddled with exhaustion mixed in with the hunger that was plaguing you. But when you’d eaten, your body had rejected the food immediately so you didn’t try again. 

By day ten, you were struggling. You’d cried far too much and your body felt like lead. You knew that both Luke and Ashton were concerned at this point, knowing that this was the point where either you’d start to get better or it could get worse.

Two days later, between fitful nap and gasping breaths after a coughing fit, your phone went off.

It was Ashton.

“Baby?” You got out tiredly, keeping measured breaths as you sat up slowly.

“Take a look outside your bedroom window.” You frowned, moving to the otherside of the room, leaning enough to peer out of your open window before a sob escaped.

They both stood there, arms laden with bags. Both were looking up at you.

“Reckon you can come let us in angel? Lu and I are gonna commandeer your living room ‘till you’re better.” It took everything in you not to go racing down the stairs. You knew it would set you back further so you took hesitant breaths before looking back to your phone then you heard a voice in the hallway.

You were quick enough to catch your neighbour as he was heading back to his room.

“You alright there petal?” His voice was concerned and you held your hand up indicating you needed a moment to catch your breath. He waited patiently.

“My, my partners, they’re downstairs with some shopping and taking over my living room till I’m better. Could you let them in for me please?” You were hesitant in asking, but the pleading eyes you had seemed to have his shoulders wilt as he took a step forward.

“I take it they’re gonna be self-isolating for the two weeks they need to?” You nodded. 

“I’ve got to wait seven days after my fever stops as it is before I can even be in the same room as them. I know that they’re worried and being so far hasn’t really helped.” He smiled kindly.

“Got you, petal. Get back in and I’ll go get them for you.” 

You could hear their voices get closer and it took everything in you not to throw yourself out of the room at them. You didn’t want them to get sick.

“Delivered safely petal, feel better soon.” Your neighbour called and you tried not to let out a sob.

“Hi angel.” It took everything in you not to open the door. You had to clench your hands into a fist, head resting on the door.

“I don’t know what’s harder. You both being away, or you being so close but I can’t even see you.” You let out a choked cough and Luke let out a soothing noise.

“Well we’ve got you some good wifi now, and we’re here for you angel. We’ve got a couple of streams and you best be watching when we go live.” You let out a breathless giggle. They were there.

The first few days were the hardest. They’d leave cartons of juice and bottles of water outside your door. It finally added to fruit when you managed to keep an orange down.

Watching them do the streams from your living room was strange, but it seemed to settle your anxiety that they were so close. You could see it was being brought up about their shared change of scenery which prompted them to explain after you’d texted Ashton and told him that it was okay for them to know about your situation.

“So our partner, well they got pretty sick at the start of last week. We were already stuck in the UK at this point, so we just extended it so that we’d be with them when they got better. None of us handle being sick alone very well.” This made the other three laugh. You grinned.

“I think that extends to the rest of the band too.” Luke piped up, making the other two complain loudly. You giggled before coughing violently.

“Oops. As you can probably hear, it got real bad and real close by the end of last week. It’s why we were so distracted on the live because we were so worried. When they told us that they’d slept for a solid six hours last night, we made the drive back to theirs, shopping in tow to help look after them. We can’t see them, and Luke and I are stuck on the couch for the next two weeks at least, but we couldn’t just fly out and leave them alone.” 

Ashton’s explanation had well wishes pouring in for you and it warmed your heart to see that there were fans that cared. 

Part of you wished you could at least be watching them, or better yet, be cuddled up with them, to hell with the stream. But you knew they were trying to keep the focus on the album. You’d already had texts from the others to check in with you and you took your time to reply to them and settle down, your eyes heavy as you snuggled under the covers.

It was nice to watch them, seeing the ease in the way they joked about. You knew they worried but it was obvious to anyone who saw them when you’d gone into hospital that the tension that was sat on the both of them was both obvious and heartbreaking. 

You could see the shadows under Luke’s eyes and you wondered if they traded the nights between each other to make sure they wouldn’t miss an update or a call. 

You tried to squash down the guilt instant that reared up. They were doing this because they cared. There was nothing in it for them, apart from the possibility of you getting better. But you knew they expected nothing back. 

Your eyes were tired and you took in the time. It was creeping closer to midnight so you closed off the stream and texted the chat to let them both know you were going to sleep. Had you stayed on the stream a few moments longer, you’d have seen Ashton’s face relax as a gentle smile crept onto his lips, causing the two that were still stateside to tease him. 

The following morning was better in some way but also worse. Your cough wasn’t easing up but your fever seemed to have broken in the night. 

You weren’t overheating but you weren’t cold either. You took a few moments to move your limbs and regretted it almost instantly. But you knew that if your fever stayed down, it would be a further week until you weren’t contagious. 

Part of you wanted to practically sing in joy, but as you took in the early morning, you decided against that, knowing your men would be fast asleep still. 

Slowly you got yourself up, collecting your shower stuff before making your way down the hallway to the shower. The warm water felt almost luxurious on your skin as you took care in washing your hair, still leaning against the cold tiles to keep yourself upright, your legs trembling as you did so. 

It took the same amount of time as the previous shower, but once you were clean, you knew it made a small amount of difference as you stumbled back to your room, crawling under the covers to take a well deserved nap. 

You missed the text from Luke asking if you were awake. 

Now that you seemed to be stomaching food, Ashton kept it simple with dry toast, not willing to push your body too far. And you agreed with his judgement after he’d placed it in front of your door and you waited for the other door to close before you opened yours. 

“Love you.” You felt your heart melt as he spoke through the door. 

“Love you too Ash. Thank you.” You returned quietly before stepping back into your room. It was getting harder to stay in, especially when your cuddle monsters of boyfriends were just in the next room. 

It hurt. 

They FaceTimed with you to keep you company, both of them making a strong effort to not only keep you company but to also stop you from giving into temptation to just join them. 

Ashton was practically insistent on that. 

You knew by the time that you would be allowed to have them back in your room, their own self isolation would be over. 

It didn’t fail to amuse you how Ashton started cooking once you started being able to stomach more than dry toast. It took a few goes but he kept it plain enough to not make your stomach complain but changed it up so you didn’t get bored of it. 

What made it even better were the small notes of affection they left for you on the tray which held your food. You had them pinned up to your cork board without a second though, the small pieces of heaven from them only making it feel that much cosier. 

Something to ward away the bad days in the future. 

Luke snuck you some of your favourite snacks, even after the scolding Ashton gave him when he tried sneaking you a chocolate bar. 

It’d made you giggle and they’d both paused to hear it. 

It was a sound they hadn’t heard in nearly a month and it made their hearts soar. 

Despite the pain you were in, it felt like you could at least breathe with the both of them with you. Even if you couldn’t see them. 

By day nine after your fever had broken, you were beginning to feel semi human once more. You still had issues with exhaustion and light sensitivity, but you certainly felt more better than you had done in weeks. 

Luke had given up on waiting. 

“Ash, they said a week after the fever went down, they’d no longer be contagious. This is killing me.” You’d chosen to curl up on the side that was proclaimed as Luke’s side. 

Your heart was feeling heavy again. 

“I mean. We’re what? A week and a half?” Ashton’s voice was hesitant. You missed the mutter in return before the door opened and there was a knock on your door. 

Luke stuck his head in and you wanted to cry. 

“Reckon you can put up with some self care cuddles?” You simply nodded your head and shuffled into the middle of the bed. Luke wasted no time, his arms wrapped around you and you could feel every part of you seemingly shaking. 

Ashton followed a few minutes later and your memory seemed to fail you in that moment. You could barely remember the last six weeks, but the feeling of comfort was something entirely different as they held you. 

That was when you began to sob in earnest because you’d missed them. And they knew it. 

When you’d calmed down, part of you felt torn because you wanted to hold them both, not let go and just lay there. But they didn’t protest when you’d snuggle up to one, legs tangled and arms wrapped around tight and eventually switch to the other. 

If anything, it amused them both. 

As the day got later, Ashton untangled himself, pressing a kiss to your shoulder. Luke was your current cuddle buddy of choice. 

Turning your head, your confusion must have shown because Ashton smiled gently. 

“We need to keep up with the meals, love. I’m gonna make some soup for all of us, how does that sound?” You hummed in agreement. 

“It’s allowed I guess. But you gotta come back.” And he chuckled, leaning over to kiss your forehead, doing the same to Luke before disappearing out of your room. 

“You realise that he’s going to mother hen you to death, right?” Luke teased and you shrugged. 

“He’s here. You both are. That’s more than enough for me.” You murmured softly. Luke held you that little bit tighter.

“You up for a shower sweetheart?” You hesitated, your mind drifting back to the previous two times you showered. The hesitation must have been obvious because Luke pressed a kiss to the top of your head, not willing to push you.

“Will you, will you help? It’ll be a tight fit but, I struggled the last two times.” You finally admitted to him and he smiled. 

“C’mon. We can let the chef know as we pass him.” You giggled at his words, allowing him to help you out of the bed and making your way slowly across the room. Luke didn’t push, but he kept his arms available and easy for you to grab if you needed him.

You’d made it to the kitchen before you relied on him a bit more, your joints achy and your legs shaking. 

“Gonna get this one showered and clean.” Luke called into the kitchen where Ashton was cooking. He glanced back and grinned at you both before turning back to the food and you two carried on. 

Luke was nothing but patient with you as you climbed into the shower, his tall body fitting into the rest of the space. He was gentle as he helped you and it took the pressure off you, focusing on keeping yourself upright as his hands started working the shampoo into your hair.

You’d forgotten how well he massaged your scalp when washing your hair, and you only protested when he rinsed it out, making him laugh.

“I forgot how nice your head massages were.” You groaned as he worked the conditioner in. You carefully washed your body with the shower gel, cleaning Luke’s body whilst you were at it. 

He tried to stop you but you gave him pleading eyes and he relented easily. Using the time whilst your hair was soaking in the conditioner to wash his own hair quickly whilst you cleaned his body.

And then his fingers were back in your hair, cleaning out the conditioner and you had to stop yourself from leaning into him.

Once you were clean and dried off, dressed and the towels over Luke’s shoulder, you could feel yourself begin to flag again, leaning heavily on Luke for the short trip back to your room.

“I’ve got you sweet.” He murmured as you passed the kitchen. Ashton was talking with one of your neighbours who gave you a small wave but didn’t stop you to talk. Part of you felt guilty, but the larger part felt relieved because you were almost certain once you’d eaten something, you were going to be asleep.

Once you were back in your bedroom, you scooted so that your back was resting against the headboard whilst Luke let the towels hang so that they could dry and put everything back in its place. He understood your need for everything in its own place, whilst Ashton understood, but still sometimes made a small game of moving things to see if you’d notice.

Luke could see that you were too tired to even be playful.

When Ashton returned, he frowned for a moment before resting the first bowl on your lap, spoon already in the bowl.

“Don’t worry about eating it all. Just try to eat something for us.” He encouraged gently, handing Luke his own bowl before heading back to retrieve his own.

You were slow and methodical before your stomach protested and you left the spoon in the bowl, your head resting on Luke’s shoulder.

“M’ready for sleep.” You muttered and he hummed in acknowledgement. He’d long since finished his bowl, as had Ashton.

“You alright with Ash for a bit, love? Since he cooked, I’ll clean.” Luke murmured and you just nodded before shuffling till you were laid down. Ashton followed and you snuggled into him. 

You barely heard his murmured “sleep well” before you were fast asleep.

It was the first night that you’d slept for eight hours and it felt almost refreshing, especially after having the shower the previous night.

You were still nestled into Ashton’s side, Luke’s arm was slung over you both, his hand resting on Ashton’s stomach. You felt very safe between your men and you were so grateful that they were with you in that moment.

It was another hour before either of them stirred, but you’d been resting in that hour, not really awake but not asleep either. Luke was first to move, pressing a kiss to your shoulder as he moved off the bed.

“Morning, love. How are you feeling today?” He murmured as he stretched. You shifted onto your back and gave an experimental test of your joints. They weren’t so bad and your cough had eased up that your chest no longer hurt if there was the occasional cough.

“Better, I think. It’s only a dull ache, the kind I get when you two put me through the paces at the gym.” You admitted softly and Luke grinned as Ashton stretched out, almost like a cat before turning on his side to face you.

“Nice to hear that, angel. And good morning.” You grinned at him and kissed him gently before glancing at the time. 

“What are we doing today?” You asked quietly as Luke continued to stretch out his muscles. Part of you felt bad for them both to be stuck inside with you, but you were much too selfish to let that bad feeling linger. 

“I’m gonna do some exercises and then Ash is probably gonna do his own. And then a movie day for the rest of the day?” He posed the question and you paused before nodding your head. It sounded good to you and it meant you had some individual time with each of them.

The morning passed by easily. They did their exercises and showered before returning to your room that Luke had playfully dubbed ‘The Den’. Ashton had laughed at that as he went to set up in the living room for another live, but this time Luke was staying with you. They’d been trading off which had bothered you first, but then Ashton explained their reason.

“We don’t really want to leave you alone. Not that you can’t take care of yourself,” he hastily added on upon seeing your look of outrage, “but being so far away whilst you were so ill, it kinda scared us. We don’t want to leave you by yourself yet. It’s more to ease our own anxieties.” And you relaxed before shoving any negative thoughts to the back of your mind.

Luke was napping when your phone went off-Ashton was still on the live-and you answered the No Caller ID hesitantly. 

It was the hospital that you were at, a nurse confirming who you were before she’d go any further. It took a few moments before she got to the point of the phone call.

“So we’re calling you about the various tests. I’m assuming that you know you were confirmed with COVID-19, correct?”

“Yeah, about two days after the test, someone called to let me know.” You responded hesitantly. You wondered what this was about.

“And how are you feeling?” You were confused.

“I mean, I’m coming up to two weeks of no fever and starting to feel a lot better. I’m just more exhausted but I suspect that’s because of what my body went through.” You explained quietly and you heard her hum in agreement. Luke shifted beside you and you noticed that he was  awake, only because his hand had started to drift up and down your spine.

“That’s good to hear. What I’m calling about is that you’d said your kidneys had been hurting upon admittance, correct?” 

“Yes.” You were worried now.

“So when we looked at the numbers, we noticed that they’d started dropping. Not drastically enough for us to have you in intensive care, but that was why we moved you to the ward. It was as a precaution.” You felt your heart race at her words.

“They’d started failing again, hadn’t they?” You whispered and she sighed.

“Yes. However, because the numbers were back on the rise when we took your second blood test, we felt that we could discharge you safely. Had they dropped further, you’d have been admitted to intensive care. The only reason why you weren’t told immediately was because we didn’t want you to panic or go into further distress which could’ve made it much more worse.” 

It hit you like a ton of bricks what she was saying. 

“Is there anything I need to worry about?” You finally choked out, your hands trembling.

“At this time, no. When things ease up, we will request you get another test just to confirm you’re clear of the virus. Otherwise for now, just rest up and feel better soon.” 

“Thank you.” You got out, ending the call. Luke took the phone from your trembling hands and he sat up, pulling you onto his lap, his arms around you.

“What happened, love?” You were trying to take in slow deep breaths to stop the panic attack, knowing that it wouldn’t help you.

“They’ve just told me, when I went into hospital, my kidneys were failing.” You whispered and his arms tightened around you tighten enough that he understood the implications.

You’d told them both of the previous two times when you’d been so ill that your kidneys had started failing and as a result you’d been on death's door. 

You didn’t realise you were hyperventilating until Luke began to rub his hands up and down your arms to try and distract you, but your mind was too focused on the fact that you’d escaped death, again.

“Ashton!” Luke called loudly, a tinge of panic in his own voice.

Ashton practically crashed through into your door and his face was ashen as he took in your state, a look of relief followed by concern filling his features. He clambered onto the bed, his hands cupping your face gently. When you didn’t flinch away, he ducked his head to catch your eyes.

“Slow deep breaths sweetheart. We’ve got you.” It took you a while before you could finally focus on Luke’s hands which were still rubbing your arms gently.

“How’s your sense of smell?” Ashton teased as he noted that you were fighting to keep your breathing under control.

“Smell you and Luke, favourite smell.” You muttered and he grinned. You closed your eyes for a moment, leaning into his touch and he let his thumb brush across your cheeks in comfort.

“What happened?” Despite the question being directed at you, you knew that Ashton was also asking Luke.

“A nurse from the hospital phoned I think. They explained about the blood tests they’d run. Apparently their kidneys were failing when they’d gone in, but not enough to alarm the hospital staff or get them rushed to intensive care.” His voice was calm and you needed that. 

You knew that Ashton understood what he wasn’t saying, but also you weren’t too sure if you could voice it properly without crying.

“Come here sweetheart.” Ashton’s tone brokered no arguments and you moved so that you were cradled in his lap, his back resting against the headboard. Luke was nestled as close as possible.

“Part of me knew something was wrong, but, not that.” You whispered finally. Ashton made a soothing sound as you let your head rest on his shoulder, face pressed into his neck.

“It’s one thing to guess, it’s another thing to be told, love. You’re allowed to cry because it’s a frightening thing to be told.” His voice was one of reason and you finally let it out, allowing them both to comfort you as you processed what had been said.

He wasn’t wrong. It was one thing to guess, but to be told that your kidneys had started failing once more, it was frightening.

Neither of them moved away from you as you got it off your chest. You couldn’t pin how long had passed until you finally took a steadying breath, lifting your head from Ashton’s neck. Luke was first to move, his thumb wiping the tear tracks and you gave him a weak smile.

It dawned on you then that Ashton had been on a live.

“Ash, I’m sorry.” You finally whispered and he gave you a confused look.

“What are you sorry for? You’ve got nothing to be sorry for.” He murmured, pressing a kiss to your temple.

“The live you were doing...” You trailed off and he shrugged.

“They’ll get over it. You’re more important and we’re doing more radio interviews on the live so it doesn’t matter.” He muttered and you didn’t push, relaxing in his hold. Luke glanced at the clock and gave you a gentle smile.

“My turn to make lunch. Nothing cooked unfortunately, but I make a damn good sandwich.” He teased playfully which made you giggle, a sigh escaping your lips as he left after giving you both gentle kisses.

“Just think, tomorrow we can take you out for a short walk.” 

“Freedom.” You muttered deadpan, making him laugh as his lips found yours.

“Even for half an hour, it’ll help. Home stretch now.” You mustered up a smile for him before stretching your legs out and he moved with you, his arms not quite leaving your body.

“Am I not allowed to lie down?” You queried and he shook his head, a playful grin on his lips as he pulled you flush against his body, his lips finding your neck.

“No, all mine to have and feast on.” The cackle like laugh that he let off had you giggling as he blew a raspberry on your skin. This earned a squeal from you, laughing as he rocked you back and forth. “No one can take you from me!” 

You were still laughing when Luke returned with three plates, an amused grin on his lips as he raised an eyebrow.

“Save me Lu! Ash is gonna feast on me!” You shrieked again as he blew another raspberry into your neck, the ticklish sensation making you laugh as he held you tightly. 

Luke set the plates down before climbing on the bed, his lips curving into a smirk, making you pause.

“Can I feast with you Ash?” And you groaned as Ashton laughed as Luke straddled the both of you, his body causing the three of you to fall back onto the bed, effectively trapping you between the two of them as Luke left gentle kisses along your neck and you held back your moan, knowing that if he started to pull at the skin you were a goner.

Pulling back, he had a cheeky grin on his lips and you groaned as Ashton laughed.

“You two are the worst. Let me eat, you monsters!” You cried out playfully, making them both laugh as Luke shifted himself off you to get the plates once more and Ashton loosened his hold on your waist.

The rest of the day passed quietly, Ashton had apologised for having to ditch and the three of you settled watching movies long into the early hours of the morning.

Despite the lack of sleep, you were still up early excited that you were finally allowed to go for a walk today, and both of them laughed at your excitement.

Once you were dressed, they followed your lead and got ready. And then you were out of the building and the fresh air felt glorious, even if there was a spattering of rain. You didn’t care.

You led them both to a small pathway that led to the river that ran through the town, the edge of the river filled with cherry blossom trees. Both of them were taking as many photos as they could and you couldn’t hide your smile if you tried. 

Ashton managed to get a nice selfie of the three of you under one of the trees and before long, you realised that the half an hour had gone by and you were beginning to struggle, your legs becoming a little bit shaky. 

But it didn’t deter from the fact that you’d been able to go out for a walk and enjoy it. Both Luke and Ashton could see the immediate difference.

“We’ll go out every day and stay an extra five minutes longer. Build you up. How does that sound?” Ashton asked as you walked up the driveway, arm in arm with the both of them.

“That sounds good. Onwards and upwards from here and I am so going to kick your butts at Mario Kart now.”  

Their laughter rang around the empty drive as you reached the building and you felt much more positive with them by your sides.

-

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if you’ve been removed from my taglist it’s because i couldn’t tag you!! 

[withabackpackandcamera]

July 5th, 2021

Day 10: Meeting Up With A Friend Before A Sprint To The Finish Line

This morning, because my parents had an earlier flight home than we did, we woke up to drop them off at the airport before coming back home to finish some last minute laundry, packing, and cleaning up. The only real thing on our last day’s schedule was a meet-up with Kristin Julia Erlingsdottir (pronounced “Christine” in Iceland), a pediatric resident in Iceland who I met 4.5 years ago when we were both medical students doing rotations at Landspitali. Even though we didn’t rotate together at Landspitali, we met each other in the cafeteria through other students who went to school in Slovakia with Kristin and since then, we have kept in touch via Instagram. So the plan this morning was to grab a quick breakfast with Kristin before flying home. 

Because Minh didn’t want to join for breakfast, he ended up doing his own thing for an hour or two while Cynthia and I went out to meet with Kristin at a cafe nearby. Along the way to the cafe, because we wanted to load up on yummy pastries to take home from Sandholt, I dropped Cynthia off to buy them while I went on ahead to Grai Kotturinn, a cafe down the street, to meet with Kristin first. But before I left, we learned that Sandholt wasn’t selling any almond croissants today. So sad. But I did get a chance to take a look at and pick out the pastries I was interested in trying, with Cynthia eventually settling for a cranberry scone, two cinnamon rolls, a brown sugar roll with cream cheese, and a pain au raisin. That’ll probably do the trick. 

So after I left Cynthia, I walked over to Grai Kotturinn, a cafe that Kristin had suggested nearby, to meet up with her after her night shift at the hospital. I was very grateful to Kristin for making time to meet up with us despite her busy residency schedule, and I was glad that I could actually fit her into my tight schedule as well. Anyhow, once I approached the cafe, I recognized her standing outside in her stylish all-black outfit and greeted her. It was so nice to see her again after all these years, even though we weren’t best buds but just quick friends from a brief time together. 

Because there was a line at Grai Kotturinn, we stood outside for a bit and started catching up about our individual lives in medicine in our respective countries while waiting for Cynthia to join up. Before long, Cynthia had arrived but the line hadn’t really budged. Because of how tight we were on time and how I didn’t want to make Kristin take too much time out of her morning waiting in line for food, we pivoted and changed course with regards to where to eat. Because both Grai Kotturinn and Sandholt had waits due to the recent influx of tourists, Kristin suggested that we drive over to a spot further from downtown called Kaffihús Vesturbæjar to skip the lines. We agreed, and she drove us over to Kaffihús Vesturbæjar for breakfast. 

We arrived at Kaffihús Vesturbæjar pretty early so their lunch menu wasn’t yet available. So, despite all the great suggestions that Kristin had on food options, we ended up having to choose some breakfast items from their simple breakfast menu, with me and Cynthia ordering a ham and cheese croissant to go with our pain au raisin we bought from Sandholt earlier. The cafe meet-up wasn’t really about eating so much as it was about finding a comfy place to catch up and share stories. And even though the food at Kaffihús Vesturbæjar was OK, the cafe was the perfect place to sit and chat for a little less than two hours. And Cynthia and I had a terrific time chatting with Kristin and learning more about her life before and during residency (like how she grew up briefly in Oklahoma, how she was sort of out of place as a returning Icelander once she was back in Reykjavik, about her doctor boo, how her pediatric residency has been, and about traveling, education, Icelanders, real estate, tourism). We also enjoyed sharing our stories with her too and I could tell that she really enjoyed the company. It was really great to find yet another opportunity to catch up with a local friend. Trips are always so much better when you can do something like that. Thank you again Kristin for making time after a busy night shift to meet up with us! 

Before we knew it, we were running tight on time because of how much fun we were having with Kristin at Kaffihús Vesturbæjar . Luckily, we saved some time when Kristin offered to drop us off at home. Once we were home, we thanked her and said our goodbyes. With Minh already home and relatively ready to go, Cynthia and I quickly finished packing our stuff before loading all of it into the car. After one last sweep of the flat, we left for one more quick visit to downtown for last minute souvenirs. Cynthia and I ran through downtown looking for things we thought we might want to buy but eventually decided not to buy anything at all. So we hurried back to the car where Minh was waiting and headed for the airport. It was nice to get a last jog in through Reykjavik before flying out! 

Once we were close to the airport, we made a pit stop at the grocery store where we had previously stopped on the first day to buy some chocolates for friends. Then we stopped by Subway to buy some subs for the long trip home before driving to Blue Car Rental to drop off our rental. Funny enough, we ran into Will and Mary again at Blue Car Rental and shared stories about our respective trips while walking over together to the departures terminal. Once we were in line (it was a very long check-in line at Icelandair because of all the Americans heading home after the long weekend), we had this awkward “see-you-every-few-minutes” situation with Will and Mary because of where we were positioned relative to them in line. So we didn’t get to catch up much after that. After chowing down on our food and getting through the line, security, and passport control, we finally made it to our gate, where we waited longer than expected to finally board our long flight home. 

Iceland, it was great seeing you again. And it was great finally introducing you to my parents and Cynthia. I’m not sure when I’ll get to see you, your beautiful landscapes, and your nice people again but when the time comes, I’ll be excited to come back for my fourth visit. Till then! Takk takk! 

5 Things I Learned/Observed Today:

1. It takes a lot of years to finish a pediatric residency in Iceland. Per Kristin, you can only do two years of training in Iceland (after one required internship year) before having to apply to pediatric programs outside of the country to complete your five years of pediatrics training (six years including the one internship year). The reason why pediatrics residents have to leave Iceland for their last three years is because the program is small and because the hospitals in Iceland see such small volumes of kids that residents don’t get enough exposure to be properly trained. Therefore, they have to get more exposure in other countries in other programs. For example, most people, if good enough, will go to Sweden to continue their training or they can go to a different Nordic country. Surprisingly, the Iceland peds program has a partnership with a Connecticut pediatrics program and they send one or two students a year there. 

2. In the Icelandic pediatric program, when you’re working nights, as Kristin was doing, you work the pediatric wards as well as the NICU (there is no PICU at Landspitali). Luckily, the ED has their own resident so they don’t have to cover that at the same time. Very fortunate. 

3. Interestingly enough, pediatric illness in Iceland came about very late this year as a result of the COVID pandemic and restrictions that came with it. For example, from what Kristin saw, RSV cases peaked in June instead of way earlier in the year in winter. And they had zero cases of the flu (though I’m not sure if that was just among kids or among both kids and adults). And pediatric gastroenteritis was only starting to appear in early July, which is a bit delayed as well. I’m sure public health and epidemiology data from this COVID period will be fascinating to look back at and study in every country.

4. Here in Iceland, people are primarily vaccinated with AstraZeneca, Pfizer, and Janssen vaccines. And unlike the case in America, most people in Iceland are itching to get their vaccinations and are ready to run up when their name is randomly drawn. Additionally, it sounds like Icelanders have vaccine envy of others. That’s crazy and so good! And the great thing about all of this is that around 80% of the country is at least partially vaccinated against COVID, which is the best percentage among all EU related countries. Good for you, Iceland! Keep up the great work! 

5. At this time in Iceland, the government is pushing Icelanders to buy homes instead of renting. To incentivize people to buy, banks and other financial institutions are offering ridiculously low interest rates for home loans with rates at a historic low. And people have been able to borrow significant amounts of money for their home. For example, Kristin was able to get a loan with a really low interest rate that covers 95% of the cost of the home. Her flat is a 2-bedroom apartment located in downtown Reykjavik (close to where Sveinn lives). Cost: 53 million Icelandic krona (around $420k). That’s insane! Especially compared to the hellish housing market in Los Angeles. I wish it was that cheap in Los Angeles...

[screamingatanemptyroom]

Waking Up Prompt #5

Credit to @kcl-teaches for the prompt list. Thanks to @sprinkleofstress  for suggesting the prompt! 

Prompt was: 5. “Hey, [roommate]? I have to go to work, so why do I only have have left shoes in the closet???”

Today was not going to be my day.

My alarm clock, the one constant piece of technology in my life, was on the fritz. I woke up to the sight of blinking red numbers; yelping when I realized just how little time I had to get to work. I pulled on the nearest clothing I could grab, sending up a silent prayer that they would match somewhat, all the while loudly cursing the name of the warlock I had enchant my clock. 

Seriously, it wasn’t my fault that electronic devices went on the fritz around me, that was part of being half fairy, but I had paid good money (as well as a couple pints of blood) to that scumbag to have that alarm clock work consistently! I was so going to ask for my money back (he could keep the blood). I finally got all the right pieces of clothing onto the right body parts, but now, I stared at a whole new problem in my closet.

All. Left. Shoes.

Seriously was not my day.

I stuck my head out into the hallway, yelling as loudly as I could.

“Hey, Marryn? I have to go to work, so why do I only have have left shoes in the closet?” I was trying not to sound accusatory, but judging by my roommate’s disgruntled expression as she exited her room, I had failed miserably.

“Why are you asking me?” her innocent expression was a sham, and we both knew it. Marryn, a quarter pixie, could be called many things, but innocent was not one of them.

I crossed my arms, “ I am about to be late to work, and if I lose my job due to one of your stupid pranks, I swear I will hex all of your clothes to itch like crazy.”

She gasped. “You wouldn’t dare.”

“Try me.”

Marryn sighed loudly, running a hand through her short crop of pink hair. “Look, as funny as it is to see you get all riled up like this, I really didn’t do it this time.”

I stared at her, focusing to see if her aura changed. It stayed a calm yellow hue, although as I watched it became tinged with an annoyed orange.

“Are you freaking scrying me?” I stopped at her shrill accusation, slightly ashamed at myself.

“Sorry, Mar, it’s been a bad morning.”

She grinned, placing her hands on her hips. “Well tough luck, hun. Put your big girl fairy panties on, wear two left shoes and head to work.”    

I glanced at her feet and groaned. Taking after her pixie mother, she was fairly short, and her feet were definitely a few sizes too small for me to borrow from her.

Two left shoes it was then.

The day did not improve from there.

My coffee spilled on the way out the door, staining my already wrinkled clothes, not to mention the mild scalding. Distracted while riding, I hit the curb with my bike en route to work, managing to gash front tire on a rusty nail. This of course delayed me even further; despite the hobbled together charm I placed on the bike to allow it to continue moving at normal speed. I arrived several minutes late, having to endure a stern lecture from my manager. You would have thought the world had ended, because our tiny little magic bookstore didn’t open exactly at 8am. I listened quietly, nodding at all the right places while contemplating my bad luck this morning.

It seemed a little much, even for me. There had to be something else going on. This made me nervous. I was the  half-breed black sheep of a noble fairy family. Things I didn’t know COULD kill me. My imagination ran wild, each scenario worse than the last.

Fortunately, I wasn’t kept in suspense too long. Less than an hour after opening, the door opened.

“Welc…” my greeting died on my lips as I saw who walked in. Well, really, who flew in, I guess.  A full-blooded pixie, only a few feet tall with neon hair and pointy teeth, stared at me with silver eyes. I reached down, grabbing a silver knife, wincing slightly as the metal tried to burn my half-blood skin. It wasn’t unusual to see some supernatural types in this store. We did sell magical tomes after all. But it was mostly witches, half bloods or human passing creatures. A pixie in this part of town? Not a good sign.

I covertly checked her aura: yellow, she was calm. I loosened my grip on the dagger but didn’t move my hand far away. She may not be hostile at the moment, but things could change quickly.

“What do you want?” My voice was borderline rude, but she just smiled.

“Now, now, is that any way to talk to a customer?” Her grin reveals multiple rows of sharp teeth, like a shark.

I simply stared at her silently. She didn’t last long.

“Fine. You’re no fun at all.” She floated forward, glancing covertly around the shop as if checking for eavesdroppers. “Look, I’m here on behalf on the royal family. I have a message for you.”

I raised an eyebrow at that. “I thought they disowned me. Why reach out now?” I thought back to the all the mishaps since I woke up and groaned, a pixie, of course. “Also, did you really have to screw up my whole morning just to deliver a message?”

“I glad to say I don’t know the inner workings of the minds of Royals, so I can’t comment on the timing of them passing on a message now. As for the pranks…” She shrugged. “It’s in my nature. Do you want the message or not?”

I really, REALLY wanted to say no. But I wasn’t stupid.

“Go ahead.”

“It’s simple, thankfully, although I don’t understand it.” She flew closer, whispering in my ear.

“The evening star rises.”

I stepped back, feeling the blood drain from my face, my ears ringing, as the darkness of my memories rose up and overwhelmed me.

I’m sixteen again, beaten, bloody, angry. Staring into a face I once trusted. Someone I loved. He raises a bloody silver dagger, his eyes are no longer silver but coated in shiny dark gleam, like obsidian. Darkness surrounds us, there is no one to help me.

I am about to die.

“Elfrie? Elfrie?” The darkness faded away as I focused on the sound of the voice in the room. The pixie floated nearby, looking worried, I wondered how long I had been distracted.

“I’m fine.”

Her expression was cunning. “No you’re not. That message means something to you, doesn’t it?”

I kept my face blank. “Nothing that concerns you.”

She shrugged, disappointed. “Oh well. I get paid either way. Good luck, half breed.” She paused at the doorway. “Oh, speaking of which, give my regards to my cousin, whenever you get back to that dump you two share.” With that last jibe, she flew out the door.

I loosened my grip on the silver knife below the table, flexing my hand as the burned skin slowly healed itself.

Not again. I shook my head slowly, trying to clear it. I would worry about the message later. For now, I had to get through my shift. With two left shoes.

I went to take a sip of my remaining coffee and yelped with frustration. It was frozen solid.

“Freaking pixies.”

[theolddarkmachine]

Must Love Cats- Chapter 8

Levy hadn’t planned on being a pet sitter when she’d moved into the city. She also hadn’t planned on pet sitting for a sex god either, but here she was.

AKA the one where Levy is a pet sitter, Gajeel is her client, and Lily is the glue that binds them together.

The writer’s block on this was REAL you guys. Sorry there ended up being a week delay, like I said I didn’t want to give you guys a pile of poop just for the sake of getting it out on time. Y’ALL DESERVE GOOD THINGS AND I WON’T GIVE YOU POOP JUST BECAUSE. Sooooo, hopefully you don’t think this is poop lol This chapter was a bitch because I wasn’t happy with what originally happened, then I wasn’t happy with what I’d come up with instead, then I got writer’s block, then I still didn’t like the direction it was going. And then when I woke up this morning i was like AHA THAT’S WHAT I WANT TO HAPPEN so, there ya go lol As always, thank you so so much for reading! I love and appreciate each and every one of you!

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

There was only supposed to be five days until he came home. Why did this have to happen now? Gajeel tapped his fingers impatiently on the armrest of his plane seat as he bore holes into the window with his glare. When he'd finally gotten his phone charged enough to turn it on, he was stunned to see so many missed calls and texts, the majority in which had been from Levy. He'd never felt anything like the pit that had formed in his stomach when he saw her name so many times. It wasn't that he didn't think she'd text him while his phone was dead, but he knew she'd only call if something had gone wrong. Without even checking any of the messages, he had called her back only to be met with the news that Lily was sick and that they were both at the vet. It hasn't taken him long to find a last minute flight back home, but even the few hours it had taken to get into the flight were enough to drive him crazy.

Things had been going so well, and he was going to be home in five days, and he was going to ask Levy out. Why did this have to happen now? Lily was going to be fine, that he was sure of. Lisanna was an excellent vet and he knew it would be fine, but Levy's terrified voice continued to echo through his mind. It wasn't her fault, and yet he could tell just by how she'd sounded that she thought it was. Gajeel's fist closed tightly around the armrest as he closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. He needed to get home.

***

Levy wasn't even sure how long she'd been at the vet anymore. While she knew it had to only have been hours, it felt like days. The kindly receptionist had informed her it was okay if she wanted to step out and maybe get something to eat, but Levy just couldn’t bring herself to leave. She knew Lily couldn’t possibly know if she was there or not, but it didn’t feel right leaving him alone. At least that’s what she told herself. Really she just couldn’t bring herself to go back to Gajeel’s apartment just yet. Mirajane shot her a worried look when she passed on the opportunity to go, but didn’t say a word as she returned to her desk. With a sigh, Levy dropped her head into her hands, and closed her eyes to the outside world. She shouldn’t have been so preoccupied with him and paid more attention to Lily. That was her job for fucks sake, she should have caught that something was up, and now he was in surgery and Gajeel was on the first flight home probably worried out of his mind and hating her for letting something happen to him. What must he have thought of her when she’d told him? That she was completely irresponsible and shouldn’t have this job most likely.

What an idiot she was, letting herself become so preoccupied with an owner that she wasn’t able to properly care for their pet. She had known this was a bad idea, and yet, she just couldn’t stop herself. Her phone started to vibrate on her lap, alerting her to a phone call. It wasn’t Gajeel, that she knew, and yet a shock of panic still rocked through her body before she looked at the screen and saw Lucy’s name. Quickly standing from her seat and heading towards the exit to take the call outside, she answered it.

“Levy!” Lucy’s voice shouted into the phone before she could say anything first. “Are you okay? How’s the cat?” Levy had almost forgotten that she’d texted Lucy about everything when she hadn’t been able to get a hold of Gajeel and first arrived at the vet.

“H-he’s going to be fine,” she stuttered, unaware up until that moment that she’d started crying. “They said the surgery went fine, but they want to keep him overnight just to be sure.” A small, wet hiccup escaped her lips. Lucy let out a relieved sigh on the other end.

“That’s good,” her friend replied. “But how are you?” The emphasis on the word only let Levy know that Lucy was more than aware of the inner turmoil she was suffering about the whole situation.

“I’m,” Levy started before she paused. How was she? Not good, that was for certain. Far from it actually. If she was being honest, she was exhausted and her spirit felt so low. Her worst nightmare had been a situation in which a pet ended up at a vet on her watch, and it happened to happen with Gajeel, who she had allowed her feelings to grow out of control for. It left her with a hollow feeling in her chest, and apparently, it was making her cry.

“I’m fine,” she finally said. Lucy would pick up on the lie, but at this point Levy didn’t care. She didn’t want anyone to tell her it wasn’t her fault, or give her a pep talk. This was something she would deal with on her own. The beat of silence between the two of them stretched as Lucy considered if she would pursue the lie or not.

“That’s good,” Lucy replied, letting the lie slide. For now anyway, Levy was sure she’d say something later. “Are you going to be home soon?”

“No,” Levy sighed as she rubbed her eyes with the heel of her hand, spreading the tears around her eyes. She was thankful she wasn’t wearing any makeup. “Gajeel asked me to meet him at his apartment tonight since he’s headed home right now because of this.” All Lucy responded with was an affirmative hum.

“Just don’t beat yourself up about this, Lev,” her friend said suddenly. “This doesn’t sound like the kind of thing that can be avoided, so don’t shoulder too much of the blame, okay?” This caused even more tears to slip down her face. A part of her knew this already, and yet she still couldn’t shake the feeling of responsibility.

“Yeah, alright,” she mumbled, sniffling back some of the tears.

“I gotta go though, I only stepped out long enough to give you a call. I’m sure Natsu has destroyed the store already in that amount of time. Call me for anything though, okay? You have the store’s number too.” Lucy’s voice was thick with worry for her friend. Great, now she’d caused someone else emotional pain too.

“Will do, Luce,” was all Levy said before she hung up the line. The bluenette shoved her phone into her pocket and took a few breaths of fresh air, allowing it to clear her mind as she mopped up her tears with her hands. It was time to head back to the apartment. Gajeel wouldn’t be home for a couple more hours, at least according to the itinerary he’d sent her before hopping on his plane, but there was still a matter of the mess that had been left at the apartment when she’d left. With one last steadying breath, she headed back to the apartment and what was most likely the end of whatever it is that her and Gajeel had been doing.

***

After cleaning up all the spots of vomit, taking out the trash and cleaning and changing the bedding, Levy was ready to sleep for days. She hadn’t realized how late it had gotten, and especially hadn’t realized just how tired she was feeling until she let herself fall onto Gajeel’s couch. The furniture wrapped her into a soft, warm hug of cushioning. The worry she’d felt the entire day was finally ebbing away as she accepted the fact that most likely Gajeel would let her office know he never wanted her watching Lily again and that would be the end of that. They’d had a good run, but all good things come to an end, right? It just wasn’t meant to be, she told herself as she yawned. Stretching out slightly, Levy propped her arm on the arm rest of the couch, using it as a makeshift pillow as she rested her head on it. Gajeel should be home any minute now. The thought ran through her mind over and over as she felt her eyes slowly start to drift shut. Gajeel should be home any minute now...

***

That damn flight had taken far longer than necessary, Gajeel thought angrily to himself as he hauled his luggage into the elevator of his building. He wasn’t actually sure if it had taken any longer than he’d been told, but it sure as hell felt like it. By the end of the flight, he’d been a bundle of nerves worrying about Levy and Lily. When he’d hopped off the plane, he’d received the text from her saying that Lily was going to be okay and that they were keeping him overnight but that he should be able to come home in the morning, but it hadn’t said anything about how the little bluenette was feeling, which only caused him to worry more. If there was anything he’d learned about her in the short time they’d been talking, it was that she took her job seriously, and shouldered a lot more of the blame of things than she needed to. Lily would have gotten sick no matter what, that was the nature of what happened. Yet he couldn’t shake the feeling that Levy would think it was all her fault and he wanted nothing more than to assure her that she was wrong. The elevator finally dinged as it reached his floor, and he stepped out before the doors could fully open. Unlocking the door, he threw it open, Levy’s name stopping in his throat when he saw her on his couch.

Levy had her head resting on her arm on the arm rest, with her legs tucked underneath her, as she breathed slowly and evenly in what seemed like a very deep sleep. Her cornflower locks fell partially across her face and down her shoulder, and her mouth was open slightly as she breathed. Gajeel’s heart skipped a beat as she took her in, afraid to wake her, but also afraid of what the sight of her in such a peaceful state in his living room as doing to his heart. While he really wanted to speak with her, he could only imagine how hard of a day she’d had, so without a word he closed his door and left his luggage by it. Walking overly quietly, he gently lifted her from her sleeping position on the couch, careful not to jostle her too much. As he lifted her from where she was, he paused for a moment as she squirmed before she nestled her face into his chest and sighed deeply. The room was suddenly very hot and he swallowed back the feeling that had suddenly started to burn within him. With as much care as possible, he walked towards his room, and set her gently in his bed, covering her with his comforter. She was still sleeping heavily as she settled herself further into the covers and clutched the edge of the pillow before sighing what sounded suspiciously like his name. (Not that he was going to dwell on that or anything. It did not make his heart fall into the pit of his stomach for a moment.) He carefully brushed a lock of hair from her face before he left the room and closed the door behind him.

He would make sure she didn’t blame herself for anything in the morning. For now, he would let her sleep.

***

Light was pouring across Levy’s face, not only making her inexplicably hot, but also waking her from what may have been the best sleep of her entire life. Which, was weird, given her side of the room didn’t have the window. Suddenly the entirety of the day beforehand flashed across her mind’s eye and ending with the last thing she remembered: Falling asleep on Gajeel’s couch. It was only supposed to be a moment to let her tired eyes rest, but she must have slept for much longer. Sitting up quickly, her eyes darted around the room, only disorienting her further as she didn’t quite recognize her surroundings. This wasn’t his living room either.

“What the hell?” She muttered under her breath before it hit her that she was in Gajeel’s room, and tucked into his bed. Throwing her legs over the side of the bed, she quietly padded to the door and opened it. Low snores greeted her as she slunk into the living room to find Lily’s owner sprawled across his couch, one leg hanging off the side and one arm thrown over his eyes. If the guilt of the day before hadn’t awakened in full force, she’d have found the moment to be endearing. She may have even noticed the slice of stomach that peeked out from the hem of his shirt that had been raised as he slept. Her veins were coursing with guilt though, and she just couldn’t bring herself to wake him to speak with him about what had happened. It was cowardly, and she knew it, but she just couldn’t do it. As silently as she could, she walked over to the kitchen and grabbed the magnetized notepad that hung on the fridge. Scrawling out an apology and a recap of what the doctor had told her, she hung it back on the fridge. Grabbing her purse and shoes that were by the door, she opened it quietly and stepped out, turning back to take in Gajeel one last time.

“Goodbye, Gajeel,” she whispered under her breath before she closed the door behind her.

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

[proposalstorytousleegit2quit]

Secure the Bags

After a few days in loud and bustling, Rome. They boarded a train to Florence for a quieter and more relaxed (so they thought) couple of days. Every time LeAndria was in the bathroom both at the hotel or while they were out exploring Florence, Toussaint was tying up loose ends of his proposal speech and with the photographer--the exact location, time of day, where she’d stand, and what she’d be wearing so he could recognize her in the distance. He picked out the Piazzale Michelangelo because of its high ground and panoramic views of Florence, but the photographer humbly recommended a location even further up the hill outside of a church called San Miniato al Monte because of smaller crowds and even better views. Sticking with the theme of panoramic views, Toussaint also made reservations at La Loggia del Piazzale Michelangelo for their celebratory dinner at sunset. That’s right, the man who idolizes spontaneity made one of the most air-tight plans of his adult life.

On the morning of the proposal, LeAndria woke up with excitement. Her friend, Pallavi, recommended that she check out The Mall Firenze, a luxury outlet 45 minutes outside of Florence. LeAndria exclaimed to Toussaint’s blank face that one could purchase a $2000 purse for as little as $500! This meant nothing to Toussaint who once agonized over buying himself an $80 backpack. LeAndria asked that Toussaint push his Ferrari expedition back a day so he could accompany her for safety. He reluctantly agreed, under one condition--that they didn’t burn the entire day there shopping. Toussaint made it clear that he would like to return to Florence before sunset (say around 4:30PM) to check out a cool church on a hill he’d read about. LeAndria agreed, Toussaint snuck the ring box into his coat pocket, and they were off on their adventure of conspicuous consumption.

As soon as they arrived at the mall around 11:30AM, LeAndria scanned the Gucci store and fell in love with a neat-looking black purse. Toussaint was delighted as he assumed that they’d buy the purse, browse for another hour, and be heading back to Florence by 1PM. Instead, this was just the beginning, as she wanted to take a look at the other stores before settling on a purchase. LeAndria later spotted another purse she loved that even Toussaint could understand the novelty of, but she didn’t buy it just yet. After dozens of shops, including about three different Armani stores, Toussaint put his foot down. It was almost 2:30PM. There’d be just enough time to buy both the Gucci purse and the exquisite Prada bag, catch the 3PM shuttle back to Florence, arrive at 3:45PM, and take a 15 minute cab up the hill to the San Miniato church with little time to spare. Toussaint went to the bathroom for the third time to practice the proposal speech in the Notes app on his phone, then met LeAndria at the Gucci store. 

It took about 10 minutes for her to buy the Gucci purse. They were on a roll! All they had to do was go across the street, buy the Prada purse, and be on their way. Then LeAndria asked a question Toussaint dreaded, “what are we doing for food?” Toussaint didn’t notice hunger because he was running off of adrenaline. LeAndria’s hangriness was only being temporarily staved off by the euphoria of luxury purses. Out of fear of hunger-induced moodiness and against his better judgement, Toussaint suggested grabbing a quick lunch upstairs at Gucci cafe. He saw pizza and assumed that LeAndria would pick an equally quick bite. Instead, she grabbed a sparkling wine and pasta dish. Looking at the time, Toussaint figured that they could now take the 3:30PM shuttle back to Florence, arrive at 4:15PM, and be a couple minutes late for the photographer, who he’d booked for the hour from 4:30-5:30PM--plenty of time! Toussaint scarfed down his pizza and beer then nervously watched LeAndria eat and drink meticulously and slowly. In an effort not to blow his cover, Toussaint gently reminded LeAndria that the goal was to make the 3:30PM shuttle back to Florence. 

They headed to the Prada store for her final purchase. Everyone who entered the store was given a small card with a number on it. LeAndria pointed out the bag to one of the attendants, who keyed in her number and the purse style into a small hand-held device, returned the numbered card, and directed them to the check-out line. The line was long but moved quickly. Toussaint’s nervousness began to show. LeAndria commented on the visible sweat beads forming on his forehead. He nervously dismissed it as his eagerness to make the 3:30PM bus to see the cool church on a hill in Florence before the sun went down. LeAndria insisted that he go on his own to see it and she would just take the 4PM shuttle back. Toussaint declined (thinking that it’d be hard to pull this proposal off without her present) and tried to hide his anxiousness.

They reached the register with around 7 minutes to spare. After handing the cashier the card, the employees initiated a long discussion with the correct purse in hand. Toussaint continued to impatiently look back prompting LeAndria to offer for him to go on without her one last time. Through tightly-closed teeth, Toussaint replied, “It’s fine, I’m sticking with you.” After what felt like an eternity to both of them, the staff returned to the register with the purse and began the purchasing process, starting with asking LeAndria if she would like to sign up to join the mailing list. LeAndria stated that she was not interested and was hoping to speed things up so that they could catch the 3:30PM shuttle. They immediately stated that it wouldn’t be possible as they had she had to fill out a form if she wanted to bring it back to the US and save another ~$100; plus there was an attachment sheet because the purse contained materials from a protected species. Toussaint figured that it was the perfect resolution! LeAndria certainly would not buy a purse that required the slaughtering of an endangered animal. She’d walk right out of the store onto the shuttle back to Florence and be rewarded with a romantic proposal for being so principled. Instead, she sighed and accepted that they’d have to settle for the 4PM bus. 

Toussaint ran to the bathroom, immediately sent the photographer a WhatsApp message apologizing profusely for their new 5PM ETA, and offered to pay her whatever to stay there until 5PM. She agreed, so Toussaint practiced his proposal speech another time and checked his coat pocket for the ring. When he returned to the check-out register, LeAndria was finally beginning to show signs of her own impatience. They waited longer, missed the 4PM shuttle, and eventually, a staff member emerged apologizing that they did not have the special form for tax exemption, but one could be procured at the mall’s police’s kiosk or the airport. Toussaint, deflated, messaged the photographer and explained the further delay, to which she offered to come back the very next day at the original time--4:30PM.

The entire ride back, Toussaint sulked and barely looked at LeAndria while she was on an emotional high of two of the flyest purchases she’d ever made. Back at the hotel, Toussaint, feeling sorry for himself almost decided to leave the ring on the bathroom counter in the middle of the night for her to find in the morning. He was so indignant that he didn’t realize that even his little punishment might have come off as a planned romantic surprise. 

[ask-me-about-datlof]

Thank You, Friend - Prologue 7

Whoo! Hiatus is over!

On another note, while this chapter is longer than the last one, it’s not quite as long as I would’ve liked it to be, but hey that’s life.

You can read this chapter (and all the other chapters) on AO3

Weeks turned into months and the weather grew colder and darker as the trio worked on fixing up the spaceship. During their time together, they grew closer, laughing over silly jokes and stupid moments and learning about each other and moments from before they had met. Simon had told the others how he had chosen to leave his home; a rare and unusual decision for a dwarf to make. Lalnable had mentioned how his parents had died in a science experiment gone wrong when he was quite a bit younger than he was now. Lewis didn’t have any stories to tell, but he was happy to listen and happy to talk with Lalnable about anything scientific; their conversations and discussions often running late into the night long after Simon had left them to go to sleep. The trio had also built themselves a more permanent shelter close by the spaceship, as they decided that although staying in Lalnable’s home was nicer than sleeping out in the open, it was tiring to trek back and forth each day. Their new home had been build partially underground to help shelter it from the weather and Simon had constructed a forge inside which also acted as a heater for the place so it rarely went cold. Lewis still had his nightmares but as the months rolled by they came with less frequency and and intensity. Simon still sometimes slept beside Lewis when he woke up and heard the spaceman having a nightmare.

The days had become very short and cold, and now instead of rain, snow fell from the skies coating the world in a blanket of white as a chill blew through the air. The spaceship was nearing completion and Simon found he had less and less work to do as fewer minerals and materials were required. And so he spent the short days digging, not because he had to, but because he wanted to and it filled the time in which he would otherwise be waiting for Lewis and Lalnable to finish working on the spaceship.

Simon trudged through the snow on the forest floor with a sack of rocks over his shoulder and his pickaxe in his hand. The skies had already grown dark and a few small snowflakes had started tumbling down from the sky as he walked. He was heading back to their camp. He figured Lalnable and Lewis would probably already be back, having finished work on the spaceship for the day. Simon’s breath fogged in front of his face as he repositioned the sack over his shoulder. The air was still growing colder and colder as the days went by and the cold temperatures made Simon grumpy; he was used to warm tunnels heated by hot forges and he immensely disliked the cold. Although he would admit that he did rather like snow; the pure white coating over everything was beautiful to look at and it was entertaining to throw snowballs at Lewis and Lalnable. Simon had been instigator for many snowball fights between the three.

The warm glow from the lights at their camp shone through the trees and twinkled on the ground, indicating that Simon was almost back home, making a feeling of relief well up inside him and he quickened his pace at the prospect of sitting in front of a warm fire with a mug of beer in his hands. Eventually the trees in front of him parted and revealed the entrance to their camp, a small wooden and stone building. Simon walked through the door and down the small set of stairs to the main open area below, snow falling from his feet as he went. He could hear Lewis and Lalnable chatting ahead of him as he dropped his sack to the floor and placed his pickaxe beside it.

“Hello!” Simon called out as he walked through the room towards where they stored most of their food and drink in a sort of makeshift kitchen.

“Simon!” Lewis called out, standing up from where he was sitting and walking over to the dwarf. “Simon we have something to tell you.” Lewis said as he caught up with Simon who was pouring himself a beer. Simon looked up at Lewis who was grinning excitedly and could barely stand still he was so excited.

“What?” Lewis’s grin widened.

“Take a guess, friend.” Simon frowned slightly as he took a sip of beer and peered past Lewis towards Lalnable, who was also grinning widely.

“You discovered some exciting science thing?” Lewis shook his head chuckling slight.

“Nope.” Simon tried to think back on what the pair had been working on with the spaceship, but he drew a blank as most times he zoned out when they were talking about anything remotely sciency.

“Uh, you managed to get something working?” Lewis grinned even more.

“Pretty close.” Lalnable called out from the other side of the room. Simon raised an eyebrow.

“We’ve finished the spaceship, Simon!” Lewis blurted out, still grinning widely. Simon stood still for a moment before his eyes opened wide.

“You’ve finished the spaceship?” Lewis nodded. “You’ve actually finished the spaceship? Like we can actually go to the moon now?” Lewis nodded again.

“That’s right, it’s completely finished and we’ll be able to go to the moon now.” Lalnable chipped in. Simon cheered, raising his mug of beer up into the air, some of it sloshing out onto the floor.

“This is great! When can we go?” Simon asked excitedly. Lalnable and Lewis looked at each other for a moment.

“Well unfortunately we’ll want the weather to clear up a little before we go, so that means waiting until all the snow’s gone.” Lewis explained, the excited tone leaving his voice as he spoke. Simon’s excitement deflated suddenly.

“So we’ll have to wait until spring?” Both Lewis and Lalnable nodded. Simon let out a long sigh and walked over to where Lalnable was sat down and plonked himself down beside him. “Well what are we going to do until then?”

“Don’t worry, friend, this is actually not a wholly together bad thing.” Lewis said as he came and sat across from Lalnable and Simon. Simon looked up at Lewis. “We still need to build the scaffolding for the spaceship to help it launch into space. And you’ll be able to help us with that, friend.” Simon thought for a moment.

“So what you’re saying is that the spaceship isn’t ready to go to the moon yet?”

“Well, we weren’t lying when we said the spaceship is ready, we’ve done all we needed to do on it, but we’re not ready yet.” Lewis replied.

“Mmhm.” Simon said, raising his eyebrows as he took a sip of beer. Lewis smiled slightly.

“We’re so close, Simon, in just a couple of months we could be flying to the moon!” Simon tried to hide his grin behind his mug but failed as it lit up his entire face.

“Well I don’t know about you two, but I’m going to celebrate. I’m going to pour myself as much beer as I can fit into a mug and keep it filled up the entire night.” Lalnable said, standing and heading towards their little makeshift kitchen. Simon grinned as he raised his own mug of beer.

“Now that sounds like a mighty fine plan! How ‘bout you, spaceman?” Simon asked, turning his grin towards Lewis.

“You know what, that sounds like a pretty good idea.” Lewis replied, grinning himself as he stood and headed over towards Lalnable.

“Tonight, gentlemen, I’m going to show you how dwarves celebrate!” Simon called out, standing up and downing the rest of his beer before belching loudly and holding the empty mug in the direction of Lewis and Lalnable. “Fill me up, lads, we’ve got some celebrating to do!”

The rest of the night passed in a drunken stupor, with Lewis being the first to get completely smashed, closely followed by Lalnable and it was only after those two had been drunk for many hours, and bottles lay scattered at Simon’s feet that he too joined them in their drunken state. Eventually they collapsed in a pile with Simon snoring gently as the first light of day began shining above the treetops.

It was a bright and clear morning with no trace of a cloud in sight and the birds were singing loudly as Lewis, Simon and Lalnable stood admiring their handy work. Lewis’s spaceship had been fully repaired and was gleaming in the morning sunlight, supported by a frame of wood and metal that towered high into the sky.

“Well, fellas, this is one fantastic spaceship, even if I do say so myself.” Simon declared proudly as he stood with his hands on his hips. Lalnable nodded alongside the dwarf.

“Yep, I reckon this will do the job to get us into space and to the moon.” Simon grinned as Lalnable mentioned the moon.

“And today is a perfect day for going to space I think.” Simon said gazing up at the sky.

“Yeah, we won’t get weather much nicer than this I don’t think.” Lalnable agreed as he also turned his gaze upwards. Lewis frowned slightly as he also looked up at the skies. The feeling of unease had returned to him, reminding him of the nightmares he still occasionally had and the feeling that he was running from something hiding in the endless expanse of space.

“What do you think, Lewis?” Simon asked, shaking Lewis out of his thoughts.

“Well, I mean the weather today is pretty good, but maybe we should wait a week or so, just to make sure we have everything ready.” Lewis said, leaving his gaze pointed up at the sky.

“We have everything ready, Lewis. We all have working spacesuits, we have loads of oxygen, the spaceship is in fully working order, we have food and water for the trip, the weather is perfect… what exactly are you waiting for?” Lalnable asked, looking over at Lewis. Lewis shrugged, feeling slightly uncomfortable. He couldn’t deny that there was really nothing that could delay them any longer.

“I guess you’re right. I just wanted to make sure, you know, make sure we had everything ready.”

“We do have everything ready. If we don’t do it today, then we might not get a chance again; who knows when the weather will be like this again?” Lewis sighed.

“Alright. We’ll do it. We’ll fly to the moon today.” Lalnable grinned as Simon cheered. Lewis looked at them, forcing a smile onto his face. He felt sick to his stomach. “I’m going to get everything together.” Lewis said as he started walking away from the spaceship. Lalnable nodded and Simon stopped his celebrating long enough to watch Lewis walk through the trees.

“Is Lewis alright?” Lalnable asked, looking down at Simon. The dwarf shrugged. “Only he seems a bit nervous or something.”

“Yeah, I picked up on that. Maybe it’s just because the last time he was in that spaceship, he crashed it.” Simon’s gaze was fixed on where Lewis had vanished into the trees.

“Maybe.”

“I’ll have a talk with him before we go, see if there’s anything we can do to help him.” Lalnable nodded.

“Good idea.” He gestured up at the spaceship. “I’m going to do some last minute checks on the spaceship.”

“Alright!” Simon’s grin returned to his face. “We’re going to the moon!” Lalnable started grinning too.

“This is gonna be great!”

Simon eventually found Lewis sitting on his bed, holding his spacesuit in his hands and staring at it. The man seemed completely absorbed in his thoughts as Simon walked up to him and sat down beside Lewis on the bed.

“What’s up, spaceman?” Simon asked, distracting Lewis from whatever he had been thinking about. Lewis glanced over at Simon before he sighed and looked back at his spacesuit.

“It’s nothing, friend. Don’t worry about it.” Simon frowned slightly.

“Are you worried about crashing again? I mean if this is really worrying for you we don’t have to go.” Lewis looked up at Simon and smiled.

“No, it’s nothing to do with the crash, friend. And besides, I promised I’d take you to the moon, and a promise is a promise. I’m fine, don’t you worry about me, friend.” Lewis got to his feet and turned around to face the dwarf. “Now, I’m going to get changed into my spacesuit, and you should probably do the same friend. We’ll want to set off sooner rather than later in case the weather suddenly turns.” Lewis smiled at Simon once more before he walked off somewhere to get changed, leaving Simon still sat on the bed.

It was roughly midday when everything was ready for the trio to blast off into space. There was a feeling of nervous excitement buzzing through the air as they went about doing their last minute jobs. Lewis was sat in front of the control panel running through some checks as he spoke to Lalnable on a radio wired through their spacesuits as he checked details on a computer that was wired up to the spaceship. Simon had little to do and was pacing in front of the door to the spaceship, a huge grin on his face that he was unable to wipe off. Lewis suddenly appeared in the doorway of the spaceship, his feet on the side of the door to stop him from sliding further down inside the spaceship. Simon stopped pacing and turned to face Lewis.

“Alright, friend. We’re nearly ready to set off, so it’s time for you to get strapped in.” Lewis said, smiling at Simon. Lewis stepped out of the spaceship so that Simon could clamber inside.

Simon climbed into the spaceship and made his way up to the console where two other chairs had been fixed in place, one slightly smaller for Simon to occupy and the other for Lalnable. Simon climbed into his chair and worked at strapping himself in. As he busied himself with the straps, Lalnable climbed into the spaceship, closely followed by Lewis. Lewis closed the door and locked it shut as Lalnable climbed into his own chair and like Simon, began strapping himself in place. Lewis Eventually climbed up to the console and sat down. He glanced over at Lalnable and then Simon.

“Simon, your helmet.” Lewis reminded the dwarf who grabbed the helmet that had been resting on his chest as he’d strapped himself in. Lewis glanced over the spaceship, trying to spot anything that wasn’t in the proper place before he too strapped himself in. Once he was tied, in he took a deep breath and glanced at Simon and Lalnable. “Are we ready?” His voice was slightly tinny through the speakers in the spacesuit. Simon just grinned widely, putting his thumbs up.

“Yep. Everything’s in working order.” Lalnable replied, nodding.

“Ok. Alright then, make sure your harnesses are fastened securely, and if everyone’s ready, I’m going to ignite the engines.” Lewis looked at the other two as they checked their harnesses, waiting for confirmation from the both of them before he turned his attention to the console in front of him. Information was running over the screens and lights were blinking on and off. He swallowed nervously as butterflies began writing around in his stomach. “Igniting the engines in three, two, one.”

On one, Lewis flipped the switch that ignited the engines. The spaceship instantly started rumbling and shaking as the engines began burning. Simon giggled excitedly as information began scrolling across the screens faster and faster.

“Is everything running smoothly, Lalnable?” Lewis asked, not turning his attention away from the readouts in front of him.

“Everything’s fine.” Lewis took another deep breath, trying to calm his nerves.

“Alright.” He grabbed hold of the lever that increased the power of the engines. “Hold on tight, this is going to be a rough ride.” He said before sliding the lever up.

The shaking and rattling in the spaceship grew and from outside, the trio could hear the roar of the engines. Then suddenly the spaceship started climbing up towards the sky. All three of them were pushed back into their seats as the pressure rapidly built up. Numbers were flashing up on the console as Lewis scanned his eyes over them, occasionally flicking a switch. The spaceship started gaining speed, traveling faster and faster, all the while placing the trio under more and more pressure as they climbed higher and higher into the sky.

“Hey, Lewis.” Simon’s voice rang through the internal speakers of the spacesuit.

“Mm?” Lewis replied, focussing most of his attention onto the console in front of him. Simon took a breath, fighting hard against the pressure that was building in the spaceship.

“How long is this going to go on for?”

“About 8 minutes.” Simon took another breath. 8 minutes wasn’t that long. This would be alright.

After what seemed more like 15 minutes, the engines suddenly stopped and the pressure that had been pressing against their chests suddenly lifted and they started floating in their harnesses. Lewis let out a long sigh and Simon started grinning as he looked around at the darkness of space, stars twinkling brighter than he’d ever seen them before.

“Lalnable, can you go make sure everything is still fixed in place?” Lewis asked as he started flicking switches and typing commands into the console.

“Sure.” Lalnable unclipped his harness and started manoeuvring himself around the spaceship, still floating in the air as he went.

“Can I get out of my seat?” Simon asked, looking over at Lewis. Lewis gave Simon a swift nod that the dwarf almost missed as it was partially hidden by the helmet that Lewis was wearing.

Eagerly Simon unclipped his harness, grinning widely as he started floating, completely weightless in the almost nonexistent gravity. He laughed as he pushed off from his chair and went shooting back through the spaceship towards Lalnable. Simon twisted in the air as he went and caught onto the back wall before he crashed, slowing himself down gently. Lalnable looked up at Simon and grinned as the dwarf did a somersault, giggling as he did so.

“How’s everything back there, Lalnable?” The pair looked up to see Lewis almost standing with his feet hooked through some handholds, anchoring him to the floor. His helmet was off and Lewis had threaded part of the harness through it to keep it from floating around. There was a slight smile on Lewis’s face as he looked over at Lalnable and Simon.

“Everything seems to be alright, it’s all still fixed in place.” Lalnable replied, taking off his own helmet with his arm hooked around a pole to stop himself from floating around. As Lalnable’s helmet came off, his hair floated around his head almost like a golden mane. Lewis smirked slightly at the sight and as Simon looked over to Lalnable he burst out laughing. “What? What is it?”

“Your hair is sticking up and it looks ridiculous.” Lewis said, still smirking. Lalnable reached up and tried smoothing his hair down, but because he was still floating about slightly, his hair refused to stay in place and continued floating around his head like a halo. Simon was still laughing as he watched Lalnable struggle.

“You know what, I think I’m just going to tie it up and keep it out of the way like that.” Lalnable grumbled quietly.

“That sounds like a plan, friend.” Lewis turned to Simon. “You can take your helmet off now.”

Simon slowly stopped laughing and pulled his helmet off, his beard floating around in a similar way to how Lalnable’s hair was acting. Lewis grinned at his friends before he unhooked his feet and pushed off towards the back of the spaceship.

“Well I’m going to get changed into something more comfortable, you two can do the same if you want.” He said as he flew through the air.

One by one everyone changed into their normal attire, storing their spacesuits where they could be quickly accessed if needed. Lalnable had found a position in his chair where he wasn’t floating about too much, and Lewis was at the back of the spaceship, typing away on a laptop that was fixed onto the wall of the spaceship as Simon spun through the air, delighting in the low gravity. Eventually he came to a stop by Lewis, peering over his shoulder at the screen in front of him.

“What’s that?” Simon asked. Lalnable glanced up slightly as Simon spoke up.

“I’m just keeping a log of the journey. It’s a good thing to do.” Lewis replied as he hit save and closed the lid of the laptop.

“That reminds me, how long is it going to take to get to the moon?” Lewis leant back in the air and crossed his arms, completely at ease with the low gravity.

“About three days, friend. We’ll be stuck on here until then, but we’ll have some spectacular views while we’re here.” Lewis craned his neck to peer out of the window and a large grin spread over his face as he caught sight of the earth below him, almost seeming to glow. Puffy white clouds covered the surface and beneath them he could see patches of land and sparkling blue where the ocean was. The sight was truly magnificent and it almost took his breath away as he gazed out at the planet. “It really is something, isn’t it?” He murmured gently as he moved himself around to get a better look at it.

Lalnable pushed off from where he was and joined Lewis and Simon by the window as they gazed out at the earth. For a few minutes the three stared at the beautiful blue planet in wonder, knowing that whatever they said, words wouldn’t do it justice. It was only when a shrill insistent beeping arose from the console that either of them moved. Frowning, Lewis pushed off towards the console, wedging his foot under a rail to anchor him in place as he looked at the console, reading off the information. Lalnable and Simon joined by Lewis as he started flicking switches, still frowning.

“What is it? What’s wrong?” Lalnable asked as Lewis became more frantic. Lewis shook his head slightly.

“I don’t know, I don’t know, something’s malfunctioning, I don’t know what.” For a moment Lewis thought he could hear sirens blaring and screaming but a moment later the sounds vanished. But the feeling of dread and panic that had accompanied the noises remained with him and he could feel his hands beginning to shake and his heart began to race as he started typing a command into the console.

“Lewis?” Simon asked, placing a hand on Lewis’s arm as the man started to tremble violently.

“Simon, I don’t know what to do!” Lewis gasped out as he turned to look at Simon, a wild panicked look in his eyes. Simon glanced at Lalnable for a brief moment before he turned back to Lewis. He let himself float up until he was looking into Lewis’s eyes, keeping his hands on Lewis’s shoulders.

“Take some deep breaths, Lewis, and calm yourself down.” Simon said gently. “Whatever it is that’s going wrong, I’m sure you and Lalnable will be able to sort it out. Between you, you’ve got it covered.”

“But I don’t know what’s gone wrong, Simon!” Lewis gulped, glancing back down at the console.

“So take a deep breath.” Simon commanded. Lewis obeyed and took a deep shuddering breath. “And let it out, and then take another couple of breaths.” Lewis did as Simon said and he began to calm down, but the beeping from the console was still ringing in their ears. “Alright, now look at the console and read what it’s telling you.” Simon let go of Lewis’s shoulders and managed to push himself back down to where he could reach the floor as Lewis looked at the console again.

“I don’t know, it’s not saying,”

“Just breath deeply and look at what it’s telling you.” Simon said calmly, despite fear beginning to build inside him. If something went wrong out here, there was no one to help them. Lewis took another deep breath and held it as his eyes scanned over the console, flicking from side to side as he read the information that was scrolling along the screens. For a few tense moments he was silent, but then his eyes widened. Lalnable and Simon held their breath, expecting the worst. What they did not expect was for Lewis to suddenly burst out laughing.

“Lewis?” Lalnable asked tentatively as Lewis curled himself up, laughing. “Is everything ok?”

Lewis wiped a couple of tears from his eyes, the small beads of water floating in the air around him. “I’m sorry.” He said, still laughing slightly. “Everything’s fine. You want to know what was malfunctioning?” Lalnable and Simon glanced at each other.

“Yeah?” Lalnable asked tentatively.

“The toilet.” Lewis snickered slightly before he burst out laughing again. Lalnable stared at Lewis incredulously for a few moments before Simon started laughing too. Their laughter was infectious and eventually all three of them were laughing loudly, rolling around in the air.

Lewis finally stopped laughing long enough to grab hold of the chair and pull himself over to the console once more where he pressed a button and the alarm that had been beeping fell silent. He grinned as he turned to face Lalnable and Simon who were still trying to control their laughter. Slowly they stopped and were able to anchor themselves back down by grabbing hold of railings and chairs. Lewis grinned up at Lalnable.

“Well, we know what’s wrong now. And unfortunately this means that no one will be able to go to the toilet until we fix it, but that should be pretty easy.” Lewis said, still grinning childishly.

“I can’t believe the toilet broke.” Simon said, wheezing slightly from laughing so hard. He started giggling again. “We all thought we were going to die and it was just a broken toilet.” Lalnable and Lewis grinned as Simon giggled, floating about in the air.

“I should probably get to work fixing it.” Lewis said. “Let me know if either of you become desperate to go.”

Lewis pushed off and headed towards where the toilet was. Lalnable hooked his foot under a railing and leant back as Simon continued giggling to himself.

“The toilet broke.” Lalnable smirked as he watched the dwarf spin through the air laughing and giggling at the ridiculous stupidity of the situation.

[estefikrol]

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Short Story 03

-Inspired on true events-

Los Angeles, California.

And the police never came. The girls were scared to death at first, but cried for laughter the minute they knew what really happened.

It was April, season were California becomes the spotlight for music lovers. Where influencers, instagramers and any other type of millennial celebrity chooses their best hippie-chic outfit to go take selfies in Coachella and dance to the most mainstream music. A time to inhale cheerful vibes, when the summer gives it’s firsts steps making the weather perfect to enjoy an exciting three day festival. By that time, while playing some local classics like The Doors, these two argentinian girls started their adventurous road trip through the routes of the West Coast. Since then, a bunch of exquisite moments come into being. As a friend once said: 

“In the city of L.A In the city of good ol' Watts In the city, the city of Compton We keep it rockin”, California Love by 2pac.

But not all that glitters is gold... after days of having fun, drinking wine and attend to epic hip hop gigs, their last night in Los Angeles burst with a series of frightening unfortunate events.

Let’s start from the beginning of the end. The story is about two mid-twenties girls, who came from a land far, far away - well not that far, I meant to be poetic but Buenos Aires is just a couple of hours flight- to enjoy the dreamy city of Los Angeles. They rented an Airbnb in Fairfax District, located a few blocks from The Grove shopping mall, a pretty cool area actually. It was a big two bedroom apartment, luminous with big windows in the living room and an impeccable nice view. They were supposed to stay there until they flew back home. On saturday morning, they woke up early to seas the day, they had plans to spend some golden hours wandering around the outstanding Malibu beaches. Minutes before taking off, without another apparent reason more than a hunch, one of them took her phone to check the emails and saw a message from the apartment owner. It went something like this: “Girls, the cleaning lady is waiting for you to go so as to organize the apartment for our next guests. Let me know when you leave the keys on the front door. Thanks!”. When she read it, her face went pale and immediately took her iPhone calendar to check the dates. Her eyes wide opened as realizing she and her friend were completely wrong since it was scheduled to leave the flat that day. And they did it in a blitz.

No hesitations, they packed her stuff in a rush and left. Wherever they put foot a bad mood cloud could be seen from miles, angry with no other than themselves and carrying their entire lives in their bags, they went to have a matcha latte at Whole Foods. They couldn't even speak, not because they were mad at each other but due to the feeling of stupidity that  surpassed them. While having mini pretzels they found a super nice apartment in an online renting web. It was located in the Beverlywood neighborhood next to Beverly Hills, it was kind of suspiciously cheap for the cool photos shown. With haste and without laps, after a simple click they had a place to spend the night.

Half an hour later they arrived to the direction given, still curiously nobody was there. The sun was burning the girls’ white skins during some eternal minutes as they waited for the owner to show. Suddenly, a peculiar woman in a black long dress, with suspicaz look in her eyes, appeared walking towards the place. Once next to the girls, while trying to open the building door, slowly turned her head towards them and asked:

Resting bitch-face lady: “Who are you waiting for?”

The brunette girl: “The apartment owner”

Resting bitch-face lady: “Why? are you moving here?”

The blonde girl: “No, we are staying just for the night”

Abysmal resting bitch-face lady: “Airbnb is prohibited here. You are not staying, I’m calling the police”, she added as she crossed the door and slammed it in their faces.

They were stunned, speechless, without knowing what to think more than that something very strange was going on. The street was empty, so empty that the girls could listen loudly to their own anxious heavy breathings. Okay, not that empty, they saw a man who walked twice in the same block and watched them every time he passed by. After two or three deep sighs, when about to leave, a mid thirties man came from around the corner calling her names. Looked like a regular guy, with kind of geeky vibes and weird from the top to the bottom beige clothing.

Nerd looking guy: “Hi, sorry for the delay”

-Received no answer from the other side-

Nerd looking guy: “I gave you the wrong address, i’m so sorry for that too. The apartment is a few blocks from here, we can walk… let me help you with the baggage”.

The argentinians with the worst and coldest look: “You gave us the wrong address? How come!? Uhmm That’s weird”.

He gave a shitty explanation on how the community manager working for them got it all wrong and messed up with the direction. The girls did not believe it so easily, but they were so tired that agreed to go with him, leaving the situation to God’s will.

Within a 5 minute walk, not a soul in the streets, they arrived to a small building. The guy who couldn’t stop talking about unimportant stuff, lead the girls in to their apartment. Detail by detail he explained every little thing about the place. No words heard from them, their attention quickly dispersed wishing for him to finally stop talking. A while later he miraculously ended and after exchanging phone numbers, for the relief of the girls, he finally left. To make the situation more weird, while unpacking, they saw labels in all the furniture like if they were recently bought, like if no one would’ve ever step foot in the place... A lot of terrible things crossed their minds, what if this place did not existed before? Is not an Airbnb at all? Just a place dressed up like a sweet home but meant to kidnap innocent tourists?. “Haha that’s too much”, said one of the girls laughing. Even though knowing they were maybe embellishing the situation, genuinely dramatic, they did not want to stay much longer and went off to the beach with one song on repeat in their minds:

"All I am is a man

I want the world in my hands

I hate the beach

But I stand in California with my toes in the sand", Sweater Weather by The Neighbourhood.

It was too late then, so instead of going to Malibú, they spent a not so chilling time in Santa Mónica. The peer was disappointing, dirty and invaded with cheesy tourists carrying their big cameras with cheap lenses. What made it worst, they saw how a man was having heavy convulsions on the floor, yelling the names of dead historic hip hop artists (Yeah, WTF). And what did make it even worse, there was a man standing like a statue staring at this ‘crazy’ screaming dude, and who he was you may wonder? The same who passed by a couple of times, watching them back in Beverlywood. Gave them the creeps!

They got back around 7pm, the sun was about to vanish when one of the girls said: “I need red wine, a whole bottle”... And that’s how the second part of the thrilling adventure begun. Once again, the neighborhood was weirdly empty, block by block everything seemed to be dead and that desired red was nowhere to find. A whole hour of intensely and almost desperately searching passed as quickly as the blink of an eye. Whilst the alcohol detectives were in duty, a glorious super small and almost hidden liquor store appeared. They got the wine, but spoiler alert: the happy beam in their faces did not last long.

Both ran out of battery, no phones meant no maps… no maps meant: “How the hell are we going to find our way back to the apartment?”. One of the girls shook her head and said: “Don´t worry, it’s easy, I think I remember”. The sun came down completely as they walked in circles for half an hour. How to describe the desperation that was growing inside of them, like a fire in the stomach mixed with deep cold sweat rolling down the neck, symptoms that combined nervousness and fear. But please, stop crying your heart out, the solution was about to come. For second time, the sky opened and a spotlight went down to show them the glorious solution: A Starbucks Coffee to charge their iPhones. Of course, due to the time, it was closing its doors. Like cry babies they asked for the biggest and life savior favor, simply to open the door and give them some energy. And so it happened. “Thank you super handsome Thor for showing us the path”, they prayed. The phone turned on and the route magically showed up.

Finally they arrived, breathless, with the feeling of being followed, but safe and sound. Although this sounded mega exhausting, just wait to read what happened next.

Saturday, around 9pm, the girls started packing the luggage as they were leaving early in the morning. Tired? Nah… They were definitely going out, nothing could ruined their last night in the city of angels. They had plans to meet up with some local friends at the indie-cool club named Tenants of the Trees at around 11pm. Also, above important, it was their last dinner, what undoubtedly did they ordered? To be faithful to all the movies they ever saw in their lives, they called Domino’s Pizza.

Lana del Rey as background music, chilling vibes all over the place and a wine bottle waiting to be opened… one of the girls went to take a bath while the other was waiting for the double cheese non spicy pizza to come. As you can expect, this nice atmosphere did not last long, one more setback was around the corner. When the girl realized they had no corkscrews, she sighed annoyingly, took her phone and write to the owner asking if there was any bottle opener in the place, having no answer at all. She was determined to drink that damned red, so, she put some blue jeans on and went down the hallway to knock door by door, no matter what she was going to find or who was going to run into. It was a long dark hallway, it was impossible not to think of films like The Shining, for example. One, two, even three doors and nothing, there was cemetery silence. She kind of panicked a little because clearly there was nobody in the entire floor, they were all alone in a place they did not know, in a dim neighborhood and in an apartment that looked pretty much like taken out from The Truman Show. Run baby run, after having all that thoughts invading her head she looked around and rushed faster than ever.

When she got to the apartment, she locked the door and tried to shake off that odd sensation left in her body. By that moment, the doorbell rang so loud that made her jumped almost half a meter. "Domino's Pizza", a voice intoned. That simple phrase was like music to her ears, hunger won any other feeling she could had. That's how the hungry lady took the keys and ran downstairs. The main hall had a big glass door through from you could see the street, so the minute she got there, saw there was no pizza man at all. "Maybe he's in a car outside", naively said to herself. Once again, the goddamn hungry girl, went out alone to the street hoping to find that die for fast food. Oh boy! She was all alone again but this time outside in the darkness without her phone. She heard a crunchy noise in the corner, a couple of meters away, automatically she turned to see who or what it was. What do you think? Noup, not the delivery guy, it was the creepy guy again! The one that mysteriously appeared everywhere that day. He was in his middle 50s, had white hair, pale face, was a little chubby and looked like a Yeezy fan -Kanye West's clothing brand- because all of his clothes were ripped. Or maybe he was a homeless, a crackhead, something totally common to strike in L.A. Now she was truly scared, as he passed through her, she intended not to move or even breath. Unfortunately, the freakish stopped walking and stayed in her flat, to fan the flames, he had a bunch of keys in his hand with which he tried one by one to open the door. A tear rolled over the girl's cheek, over dazed she saw death. What to do? Well, she decided to act like nothing happened planning to get in to the place and not let him enter. Once she gave a step, the man put his gaze on her and asked with a peculiar and friendly voice: "Hi lady, do you live here?". The chat went something like this…

Scared girl: "No, I'm just waiting for my boyfriend". With deep fear in the tone she continued "You might know him, he goes by the name Harry Styles". (Lol just kidding, the Harry part did not happen).  

Creepy guy: "Oh, cuz I'm looking for two friends… you maybe saw them. They are argentinians...Are you one of them?"

Super mega scared girl: (Swallows) "What? No, uhmm I'm from here, I definitely don't know what you are talking about and really, sir, I can't help you".

Even creepier guy: "Okay, they are in the third floor, apartment E, can you let me in? I need to get in".

WTF he knew exactly were they were staying, her mind went blank and had no words to say more than speak up her last wish. What would that be? Perhaps, let her eat the last pizza. Oh wait! Where was the pizza guy? Was even real that he came? Wondrously in that exact moment, he came into view, he was walking from inside the building. The girl's head almost exploded in a thousand pieces, how could that be possible. She approached the door, went pretty close to it so the second the delivery boy opened it she could enter speedy without letting the other one in. Clap, clap, clap, her plan succeed. She did not let the man in but did not let the pizza guy leave either. "Excuse me I have to go", Domino's said. "No please, that man outside is creeping the hell out of me, stay while I go for my phone and call the police", she begged. "Sorry I can’t, I have to deliver these pizzas and go home", not a bit kindly he replied. "Okay go, but give my pizza first", she ordered while he assured he had already delivered her stupid pizza. She grabbed the door and slammed it as hard as she could in the disturbing guy's nose, as he yelled to let him in with his fist hitting the glass.

An intense noise came about when the man broke the door, little sharp pieces spread all over like confetti in a piñata. Suspense classical music was playing from who knows where. She was already in the elevator, its door was about to close when a knife appeared to stop it with the intention of not letting it go. She closed her green eyes and counted to three. Once opened, the man was not there, the music was not on and the elevator was clear. She imagined the scene so vividly that genuinely thought it was real.

The elevator arrived to the third floor -Ding- it went as it swished opened. She ran into the apartment, locked the door and exclaimed: “Call 911!”. The place looked like a murder scene, her friend struggled to open the wine bottle hitting it from the bottom with a Nike sneaker. It worked yet not as expected, the cork came out yeah, but a huge amount of the liquid fell on the carpet leaving a stain that hinted like a bloodbath on the floor. On the top of everything, Domino’s Pizza was served on the table. Everything was so fucked up that she didn’t even dare to ask how on earth the delivery entered the building and went upstairs in a matter of seconds, without running into her. Total and completely mind blown. However, she focused on the actual problem: “There’s a guy, the one we saw a couple of times today, in the door asking for us… he wants to get in, he wants to kill us or rob or rape us. IDK call the police right now”, desperately cried. She could not finished talking when the doorbell started ringing incessantly. Deeply frightened, they looked at each other and screamed loudly. They knew they were alone in the entire place, so nobody would listen their crave for help. While the bell went on ringing, they called the police. “911 what’s your emergency”, the operator cinematographically went whilst her friend was thinking how to tell the story. “Just tell them there’s a crazy person threatening our lives”, the girl yelled to her friend, who did it with a trembling voice. Unluckily they hung up on them, twice in a row. Could this be worst? Definitely. The bell stopped, letting a deep uncomfortable silence posses the room. Suddenly footsteps and other messed up noises came from outside, like if the psycho was trying to get in by reaching the window. Still in shock, after shutting the curtains, with a knife in one hand they sat down on the floor to take another shot in calling the police. Can you believe they never answer nor came? Sadly astonishing.

“Let's think straight, maybe is your phone that’s not working so let’s make the call from mine. Or I can tell Ben (a local friend) to send help!”, she whispered. “Yeah but quiet please”, the blond one replied while nodding his head. So she silently crawled to the other room, unplugged the phone and when the screen went bright she saw a million messages coming from the apartment owner.

9:21 pm: “Hi, sorry we don’t have a corkscrew. Do you need it right now?”

9:35 pm: “Hey, do you still need it?”

9:40 pm: “Stay alert, I’m sending you one”.

9:50 pm: “Heeeeeey. Alfred is at the door, he has the corkscrew. Can you open him?”

9:51 pm: “Don’t worry, he is my partner… Are you in the apartment right now?”

10:21pm: “We don’t need it anymore, we went out for dinner… please tell him to leave”, the girl wrote after taking a relief breath.

She grabbed her head and called her friend, who went desperately running to see what was going on. Without any sound coming out from her mouth, she showed the messages and asked her if they should believe all this. Everything was so weird, the guy looked so strange… Why did they run into him several times that day? Why he did not say he had a corkscrew? Or even better question, why he did not have it when the girl saw him?

Despite the many ends to tie, they both calmed down and decided to ‘believe’ the owner, maybe they had no other choice, no friends or family close, no police to the rescue.

"Down on the West Coast they got a sayin. If you're not drinkin' then you're not playin', West Coast - Lana del Rey. Ergo, the only thing left to do, the only reasonable choice was to drink that problematic wine till it was over, eat the cold pizza, cried for laughter and go out till dawn. And so it be!

They left the next morning, joking about the mistaken situation, rejoicing at the great tragi-comic anecdote they could now tell everyone back home.

A week later, among a beautiful stormy grey morning in Buenos Aires, one of the girls was reading an online magazine when an article headline captured her attention. She numbed, as she took her hand to her mouth with surprise, the toast she was eating fell down on the side fully loaded of raspberry jam, Murphy's law of course. “Los Angeles, California: Two men arrested for robbery, sexual abuse and fraud”, followed by a picture of two terrifying men. Yes, of course, one was whom rented them the place and the other, the stalker.

[atravelersseoul]

Flight and First day in Seoul

6.24.17~6.26.17

Our flight to Toronto left Columbus around 10:30. It was a fairly small flight, seating no more than 50 people. It was a pretty fast and easy flight, which was lucky because the bathroom was broken on that plane, so that could have been disastrous.

We got into Toronto and the airport may have looked small from the outside but the inside was very big, fancy and artsy; they had mini art galleries and shopping boutiques; there was a coach store and a Victoria secret store. Our connecting flight to Seoul was delayed by about 25 minutes so we all decided to get some snacks and whatnot since we were all hangry.

After about an hour and a half we boarded the connecting flight to Seoul and the take off preparations/safety instructions were very interesting; they were repeated in about 5 languages: English and french because we were in Canada, and then Korean, Chinese and Japanese because we were flying into Seoul. i can’t really remember, but there might have been Spanish too, for some reason. For about the first few hours we were very excited about the flight: the food, the mini television screens that had everything you could want on them. We all watched a movie together but towards the end of that one I was starting to doze off every now and then. During that movie we got our first meal which was a dinner. It was surprisingly very good, especially for being airplane food. The main part was rice with marinated beef, cabbage and lettuce. There was also a salad, bread, and a brownie.

 At this point it already felt like it had been forever since we had been on the plane even though it had only been roughly 3 hours, so I decided to try and get some sleep even though we had all been playing on staying up so that we could been on the time zone when we got there. It was not a very deep or comfortable sleep but I did what I could. When I woke up I looked through some more movies and shows and found some episodes of the middle so I watched all of those. I then found an episode of fairly odd parents and watched that. With nothing much else to do I watched the latest bourne movie. Somewhere in the middle of that we got a small snack that had a mini sandwich, pretzels, some type of cracker/cookie, and I ended up getting some coffee to help me stay up. I finished the bourne movie and finally picked a Korean movie to watch. Id heard that it was really good so I decided to watch it…I ended up crying at the end, it was sooo sad…even though it was in the comedy section. towards the last few hours of the flight we got a breakfast and that was even better than the dinner. We got an omelet with sausage and potatoes and a spinach sauce. There was also a fruit cup and bread.

The descent and landing was a bit rough; there was a lot of turbulence, probably the most I have ever felt. There were a few times that you could actually feel the plane drop for a second or two and you could feel your stomach drop. It was almost like we were on a roller coaster. The landing itself went pretty smoothly though.

After we landed we had about 3 hours until the shuttle bus left to take us to the dorms so we exchanged currency, got some food and other little things we needed to do. at that point we were all just so exhausted and wanted to get back and sleep as soon as possible. once we got on the shuttle we had about an hour drive from Incheon airport back to the dorms which are about half an hour outside the very middle of Seoul. The drive there was very interesting, the way people drive here is insane, especially the bus drivers. People just weave in and out, and change lanes so fast and seemingly without a care. When we got to around the campus the driver had no idea where our specific building was or where to drop us off so he just stopped the bus in the middle of the road to call someone and ask where to go…that was very mind boggling. When we eventually figured out where to go, walking to the building was a whole other adventure in itself. I don’t think there is a flat piece of ground anywhere in this city, so we had to lug our bags up and down multiple hills to get to the dorm. On one very steep hill one girl accidentally let go of her bag and it went flying down the street and almost took someone out. that gave me so much second hand embarrassment, it’ll last me enough for a lifetime.

We got to the dorm around 10pm and had to do some stuff for check in and whatnot. Once we got to the rooms we realized there were several things that we were all missing, so we all went down to the convenience store that is right around the corner. Let me tell you, the convenience stores in America have nothing on the ones here, they are amazing. They literally have everything you could need and everything is so cheap. They have an entire section just dedicated to different types of ramen and they even have a ramen making station, complete with a microwave. They know what they're doing here. One big thing was that none of the rooms had toilet paper so we bought two giant packs to share with pretty much the entire hallway, but we have not really given them to anyone yet so I currently have about 15 rolls of toilet paper sitting under my desk.

Once we got everything we headed back to the rooms because everyone was pretty tired. I ended up just taking a shower and then going to sleep. Another thing that is awesome is the shower. The whole bathroom itself is pretty much the shower; the floor in the bathroom is about an inch or two below the floor in the rest of the room, and there is a drain in the shower but also in the middle of the floor outside of the shower door. That way, it doesn’t matter if you get water everywhere…it stays in the bathroom and drains.

Waking up the next day was kinda hard because we had to meet the program staff outside the building at 8am sharp to head to our orientation at the program office in the city. The trek there was the first time we were all going to be taking public transportation to the city, and the transit system here is very intimidating at first. In the Seoul metropolitan area, I believe there is a total of 18 subway lines and I don’t even want to think about the buses. Despite it being scary, the transit system is sooo nice and it works so well, so much better than in the US. To ride the subway and buses you have to buy a card, called a “T-Money” card. You basically just load money onto that card every now and then to scan and pay at the stations. Whats really nice is that if you need to take the bus after the subway, it doesn’t charge you for the bus if you get on it within 30 minutes of getting off the subway.

So getting to the office wasn’t too hard but it was really frustrating. The third party program that we went through that brought us to Korea University had a total of 66 students in it. taking 66 american students on the subway is very complicated and very headache inducing. Especially when a lot of these students are heavily reinforcing the stereotype of loud obnoxious Americans by being so loud to the point of being disrespectful. But we mad it there in one piece without being scolded so I guess that’s a mission accomplished. From the subway we had to walk quite a ways to get to the building and it was scorching hot. From what I recall it was around 85 degrees with 80% humidity: I was literally dripping sweat. While we were all dying of heat, there were so many people that we saw walking that were in pants or long sleeves that looked perfectly fine, not a drop of sweat on them.

Once we got to the building they told us that the office was on the 11th floor, which was somewhat shocking. That is one very cool thing about the city, everything is just stacked on top of each other. Since Korea itself does not have a lot of land, (apparently the entire country is smaller than Minnesota), things are built upwards instead of outwards. The building however only had one elevator and only took like 6 people at a time, so at some point we just decided to take the stairs, which was a bad idea. By the time we got to the top, I felt very American. I was sweating buckets, breathing like I’d run a marathon and it made me realize how long it’s been since I last exercised.

The orientation itself wasn’t too interesting, just going over stuff we needed to know about classes and safety and whatnot, and it lasted way too long. After we got done, they took us to Gwanghwamun market that was nearby for lunch. We didn’t have a lot of time so we found a little place to just stop by and get some food at. We got some ddeokboki which is spicy rice cake and I got naengmyun which is a buckwheat noodle soup. It took longer than expected so we had to leave before we could finish all the food so we felt pretty bad, but we were gonna be late if we didn’t.

after lunch we headed to Gwanghwamun square that is a big plaza in the middle of an eight lane highway that leads up to Gyeongbok Palace. In the square, there are two statues, one of Admiral Yi Sun Shin and one of King Sejong, who invented hangul, the written alphabet during the Joseon dynasty. Across from the square in the main gate of Gyeongbok palace, which was the royal palace of the Joseon dynasty and was built in 1395. It was really just incredible to see this beautiful old palace right in the middle of the city among huge modern buildings. Inside the palace it was amazing to see a lot people in hanbok, which is the traditional Korean dress. It seemed like a lot of people, especially couples go there to take pictures in their hanboks. The architecture was absolutely breathtaking and it was hard to take in how big the whole place was. It really made me wonder about what it would have been like when it was built and what life was like inside of it. everything about it was just so beautiful and incredible, it was so amazing to be able to walk around and experience it.

one funny thing was we actually met someone from ohio while we were walking around. We wanted to take a group picture next to one of the buildings and the person we asked to take our picture was from here. He was actually a part of the broadway tour that was performing the musical Chicago in seoul, so that was just very interesting to meet someone coincidentally like that.

After touring the palace, we went to a shop that rented out hanboks and had sessions for people to try them on and take pictures. It was definitely a new and interesting experience, but it was towards the end of the day so we all were tired and sweaty and probably smelled really bad. but after we finished there, we were done with group activities so they just released us into the city to do whatever and then find our own way back. Amanda has a friend who lives in seoul and owns a brewery/restraurant so we headed to one of his restaurants in Hyundai Mall for dinner around 6. I ordered some chicken and ended up getting what seemed like 2 whole chickens, I think there was around 20 wings, so I definitely did not finish them all. While we were eating we saw a mini stand that was serving drinks in lightbulbs. It was the cutest thing and we simply could not pass it up. It was called “Bulb Smoothie” and for some reason that just cracked us up. The guy working the stand was very cute and charming so that made it even better hehe. We ended up staying until the mall closed at 9 and then made the long ride back to the dorms and pretty much knocked out as soon as we got in our rooms. We had early morning the next day for another orientation so we all wanted some good sleep.

I think i’ll save the next day for a different post so this one doesn’t turn into a novel, although it’s already pretty long by now. So if you made it this far, all the way to the end I applaud you.

-Bea

[janiklandre-blog]

Tuesday, May 9th, 2017

Tuesday, May 9th, 2017  9:31 a.m. chilly days - back in the computer room, fighting endless distractions - lots of things I should be doing in my apartment, if I looked at all the things coming up on the screen I would never begin writing, answering mail from readers - that I much appreciate - then do find, like long ago when I had wonderful correspondences with individual friends - I then for the most part could freely write about things on my mind. These correspondences probably could fill a few volumes - as the correspondences of "known" writers do - letters by. It is already written about how email no longer fills previous functions - though of course now we do read endlessly about much harm and distress caused by emails found in computers. Manual typewriters coming back into style! For years it was 8 or 9 quite random people to whom these here writings went - carefully chosen to be out of New York and not in contact with any one close to me - and actually since I had that wonderful lazer printer right next to my computer I did print reams of them, now sitting in folders in milk crates under what should have been my dining table filled with the stuff I should be upstairs and get rid of it. It was people expressing interest in my writing that led to expanding this writing - and now somehow, without giving it too much thought - true for a lot happening in my life - I began sending it to people close to me - who actually would make up the major topic in my life, but cannot, since they are reading this. The dilemmas we cause ourselves. Early on Ken was telling me that in the most miniscule ways I was creating some sort of face book - but an old techno phobic woman - never had a business sense - found so little in my life to turn into dollars and cents - this here blog after some fashion has become what others seem to post on face book - kind of keeping people up to date on my doings - constantly careful of not stepping on toes - but still stepping on toes here and there. Enough of my musings. In the mornings the clock seems to move much faster than in the evening when I am tired. I do plan today to go for soup to the C.W. - in an hour I must sign out. Then do a little shopping, by 1 p.m. ready to close eyes for a while, with a little bit of luck falling briefly asleep - Napoleon it is said was a master of brief naps. Today off to my uptown library, four weeks ago I took out a book trying to read a book again instead of newspapers - the account of an Israeli writer who as a young man was a soldier in a Lebanon outpost  describing the utterly senseless dying of young men. Flowers of Pumpkin Hill is the title of the book. My memoir reading. The book is due and must be returned. I will combine it with a walk in Central Park. That's the plan. The trip yesterday. You heard from me from the Smith College library, a large library, Neilson Library, about to be closed for three years for renovation. I had used their guest computer before - on May 21st the library will be closed. My son has been going there to work on a history paper and found a lovely quiet desk at a window and he also has been meeting there with a friend - they found each other not that long ago and realized they had been class mates at an elite public school in New York, actually located in the Bronx, called the Bronx High School of Science. Quite often mentioned. The other man is working on a book and they established a little ritual meeting at the library and having lunch - now by the closing of the library to be rudely interrupted. Yesterday I joined the two at lunch - in Norhampton, places overrun by customers, nice place, the name of some couple, Alice? and ?? - I enjoyed the fish chowder and then my son walked me to the train - I fully expecting a delay - at 2:01 on the minute it arrived. Amazing. Many travellers. Comfortable. Slow. No bullet trains in America the country of cars. I got off in New Haven to switch to  Metro North - a fellow traveller knew the schedule - leaving, on time! - 4:42 p.m., soon after we had arrived. On this train the pleasure is that as a senior, read old woman, you can pay the conductor, no fine. For Amtrac my son went though a tedious on line reservation - it was $23 and then $11 on metro north. Metro North at times is faster running express, it was almost 7 p.m. by the time we crawled to a stop in Grand Central. This train goes underground on 96th Street under Park Avenue - 96th street became the dividing line between the Upper East Side and Harlem - for years two worlds - now what we call gentrification is crawling up into Harlem. On Sunday there was a review of a book (NYT book review) trying to explain the tremendous changes this city is undergoing. Not easy. As we were crawling very slowly under Park Avenue from 96th street to 42nd street where Grand Central station is, I was already standing by the door that also is a window and the scenario you get to watch is a scenario totally falling apart, another witness to the neglect of our rail system. At one time actually small colonies of homeless had settled in the crumbling nooks and crannies until they were evicted. But one pleasure for me again is that I get off the train and on a quick straight line walk to my subway, the number 6 train - while Penn stsation is a labyrint and none of the west side subways once I find them take me where I want to go. When long walks were still short I usually walked from the West side to my East side. I had texted thee friend that I was coming, I'm always happy to come home to a friend - in my refrigerator was what last Thursday my older son and I had taken home from dinner at the Ukrainian restaurant - Hungarian goulash and mashed potatoes - I often eat things cold, the friend insisted on heating it (I don't want a micro wave - a pan is fine) and it made a good dinner for me. I like to talk, she likes to talk, we had a lively time. When she left I lay down on my bed, was out in seconds and woke at 2 a.m. again to do a few thing - quickly then fell asleep again until 6 a.m. Among my many struggles is my wardrobe. There is for instance a thrift shop in Brattleboro, Vermont - with a big sign we only take good, clean clothing - and there are women my size there who share my taste in long skirts, long dresses and also tops I like - and not that long ago I would drive there by car and at very low prices renew my wardrobe a bit. Lately I have not been able to get there any more and I realize my denim jumpers are fraying at the edges, and so is a black, very simple linen dress that I bought many years ago in a store around here that of course no longer exists. I never wore blue jeans with holes in them but marvel how now women pay a lot of money for faded blue jeans with big holes and hope that before too long fraying dresses and skirts also will become an expensive style. Pre wrinkled is in vogue, straight hair is chic - once upon a time it was only curled hair - well, it is almost 11 - I've carefully omitted writing about conflicts in my life - stuck to the very neutral and possibly boring topic of trains in America - time to sign out. Adios, Marianne