#Queue;; Please. Join me in the Crab

[syco-friend]

✨Stobonik Screenshot redraw ✨

[solastia]

Faith | 4

Chapters:  [1] [2] [3] [4]

Pairing: Namjoon X Reader 

Word Count: 5,321

Genre & Warnings: Fluff, angst (Cheating, Crazy Girlfriends, poor clueless Namjoonie), Smut which includes: Overstimulation, slight breeding kink. Nothing too crazy since they’re getting to know each other again. 

Notes: We are getting closer to the end! Namjoon will learn everything soon. Let’s give them a moment first. 

“Can we talk for a minute?”

Keisha, aka Namjoon’s girlfriend, was standing at your door asking to come in. Like, inside your apartment. Where there were toys scattered everywhere and Faith in the playpen right where she could be seen. 

Fuck. 

“Uh, now isn’t really a good time. What’s up?” You stammer, trying to calm Snoop down with a wave of your hand and praying that Faith continues to play quietly until you could get rid of Keisha. 

“Trey was bringing your car back to you, and I decided to tag along. Had to bring a second car so Trey could get back alright. I thought I might as well come say hello while I was here.” Keisha smiles and messes with the ends of her hair, the fake tone of her voice grating at your nerves. 

“Mamaaaaa!” Faith yells out from behind you, finally noticing that your attention had been elsewhere for far too long. 

“OH! You have a kid? How cute, I love kids.” Keisha struts past you into your apartment. Your eyes drop in defeat, and you lay your forehead against the door for a moment after you close it. Snoop is quietly growling and trying to block Faith from the woman. You’d never seen him act like this around anyone before. You gesture for him to go to his bed and he does so reluctantly, never taking his eyes off Keisha. 

“Wow, she’s super cute! Look at all that hair.” Keisha leans over and grabs Faith’s crab stuffie and waves it playfully in front of her. As if on queue, Faith’s laughter begins gurgling out, and her two deep dimples show themselves in all their glory. 

“...look at those dimples. It seems I was right.” Keisha mumbles. 

“Right?” You ask although you have a pretty good guess where this is going. 

Keisha stands up with a loud sigh, sounding as though all the burdens on earth have been placed in her hands. 

“I had a feeling “old friend” wasn’t your original title. She’s Namjoon’s.” She just states it as a fact, not even giving you a chance to try to deny it. 

“What is it that you wanted?” You ask irritably, not bothering to keep up the pretense of humoring her if she was going to try to drag your kid into things. 

“Are we done playing nice, then? Fine. Stay the fuck away from Namjoon.” Keisha smirks as she sits gracefully on your couch, crossing her legs and looking entirely too pleased with herself. 

You sit in the recliner next to the couch and stare at her as she observes you for a reaction. You’re almost are tempted to laugh when she finally notices the bruises on your neck. Her smirk drops into a thin line, and her nostrils flare dramatically. 

“I’m not going to fight about this in front of my child, but I think it’s fair to at least tell you I’d already planned on staying away from him because of you.” You tell her honestly, weary of this conversation already and just hoping to pacify her enough to get her to leave. 

Keisha snorts. “Look at your fucking neck then say that shit again.” 

“I know. I apologize I let things get too far. I told...”

Keisha interrupts, looking you up and down with disgust. “What the hell does he even see in you? Besides the fact that you’re apparently an easy lay?” She scoffs. 

“Look, I’m trying to be fucking calm and respectful about this, but being a bitch in my own home isn’t going to fly.” You grit out between your teeth, finally starting to lose your cool. 

“Like I give a fuck. Look, just stay the fuck away from Namjoon. I’m not stupid, I know he fucks around all the time, and I don’t care. But I don’t like the way he was looking at you and the fact that there's a fucking kid here doesn’t help.” Her look of disgust was now transferred to the happily playing toddler, and you felt your hackles rise. 

Suddenly she looks back at you, surprise and devilish glee evident in her eyes, looking so pleased with herself like she’d just figured out a puzzle. “Holy shit. Namjoon doesn’t know, does he? The man that I know wouldn’t fucking shut up about it if he had a kid, he’d be so whipped. So he doesn’t fucking know. This is gold.” Keisha laughs mockingly. Goosebumps cover your arms as the fear starts to rise, not knowing where she was going to take this. 

“Well, this just became simple as fuck, didn’t it? Stay the fuck away from my man, or I’ll let him know your little secret. Pretty sure he’d be pissed the fuck off, wouldn’t he? Probably even take her away and never talk to you again. How sad.” Keisha stands up and strolls to the door, smirking all the way, and slams it behind her without another word. 

You stand up and run to the door, locking it and peering out of the peephole to watch Keisha walk to her car. When she was finally out of sight, you release the breath you hadn’t realized you’d been holding and walk over to the couch. Your eyes are becoming blurry as they fill with tears, but you watch your daughter happily playing in the playpen, oblivious to the drama that just played out right in front of her. 

You reach in and pull Faith out, setting her on your lap. Pleased to have your full attention again, she grabs your face with both hands and starts speaking in her garbled toddler language. You lean down and kiss her chubby cheeks and smile at her giggles. 

You know that you’re eventually going to have to tell Namjoon about Faith and face the consequences. However, Keisha’s warning was playing in your head on a loop. You knew Namjoon well enough that you didn’t think he would try to take Faith away from you. You did know the power of his wrath though, and you wanted to avoid it as long as possible. 

So you pushed all thoughts of everyone but your beautiful daughter out of your mind and went back to enjoying your day off with her. 

Namjoon had been texting and calling all day, leaving messages that you ignored stating that he knew you were avoiding him and he wasn’t going to let you. You felt flattered, amused and annoyed at his tenacity, all very familiar emotions when it came to dealing with Kim Namjoon. 

However, your problem now was that this last text had you tempted. 

Joonie: Our spot? I promise no funny business. Please? 

“Our Spot” was a place that was about a ten-minute walk from your apartment. There was a park with a little manmade lake there, surrounded by picnic areas and a bike trail. The two of you had gotten into the habit of going with Snoop whenever your days off lined up, and you’d sit next to the bridge that went over the water, setting out blankets and snacks. You’d toss oats to the ducks and talk about your week, the two of you letting out your worries, frustrations, and hopes for the future. If the two of you had gotten into a fight, Namjoon would drag you there to sit and talk things out. Since then it had remained a place of comfort for you. You’d go there often during your pregnancy to cry and pretend you were talking to Namjoon. Once Faith had been born, you’d dragged her there too, letting her lay on the blanket and laugh at the ducks. It was a very special place for both of you, and you guess he was ready for a serious talk if he was asking to go there. 

Y/N: Okay. I’ll be there in an hour. 

You call up your neighbor who watches Faith for you sometimes, and she readily agrees to take care of her for you. You rush through getting ready and drop Faith off on your way out. You decided to save on gas and just walk there since you had some spare time. 

Once the bridge is in your line of sight, you scan the area, finding him already there. He’s sitting on a bench near the water watching the ducks, the slight clench of his jaw telling you he’s deep in thought. Namjoon in your special spot was a sight you’d never thought you’d see again and nearly brought you to tears. 

You quietly slide into the open space on the left of him and watch the ducks swimming around in silence. After a few minutes, Namjoon clears his throat and gently threads his fingers with yours and places them on his thigh. He stares at your joined hands before he turns to you with a slight smile. 

You finally take a good look at his face, and it almost looks like he’s been crying. His eyes were somewhat puffy and red-rimmed, and you found yourself even more anxious. 

“What’s the matter, Joonie?” You ask softly, and he sighs and tenderly strokes the back of your hand with his thumb. 

“Tell me what happened. Tell me why everything changed. Tell me why you didn’t want me anymore.” Namjoon whispers, his voice laced with pain. Your heart aches, and you bring his hand to your lips, kissing it once before looking at him, desperate to make him understand. 

“No. Baby, no, it wasn’t like that. I wanted you. I always want you. I just wanted you to be able to pursue your dream without worrying about dragging me along. You’d be free to do whatever you needed to do. I wanted you to have the world at your feet, and I didn’t want to be in your way, and now look at you. Everyone is begging for a piece of you, your albums are always first on the charts. You made it. That’s all I wanted for you.” You caress his cheek gently, smiling when he leans into your touch. 

He locks eyes with you and intently scans your face, as though trying to assess the truth of your words. “There’s still something else though.” 

Not surprised, you sigh heavily. “You can still read me like a book, I see. Yeah, there’s...something else. Something that I thought would hold you back and I made the decision that I thought was right at the time.” 

“Is it...something bad?” He questions carefully, and you frown as you try to figure out what he thinks it is. 

“It’s not...bad. Its just...it was unexpected. I didn’t cheat on you or something if that’s what you’re thinking.” You rush to explain, and Namjoon shakes his head with a fond smile.

“I know. I never once thought that. Are you...ever going to tell me what it is, though?” 

“Yeah. Yeah, I will. When I can gather enough courage.” You promise, and he nods in acknowledgment, his utter faith in you making you want to cry. 

The both of you let the comfortable silence surround you as he mulls over your words. You can practically hear the wheels turning, but you know he won’t question you further. 

Finally, he clears his throat and squeezes your hand. “There’s something else I needed to talk to you about. I talked to Keisha.” 

You cringe at the mention of her name, remembering the drama from earlier in the day. God only knows what she told him. 

“I tried to break things off, but she suddenly went crazy on me. She was screaming and throwing things. I didn’t know she could be like that. She...she said that if I tried to break up with her, she’d tell the media that I beat her and she’d have the bruises to prove it. She even called my manager, and he was screaming at me about scandals ruining my career. I don’t know what to do. You know the media. It would be my word against hers, and I’d be forever labeled a woman beater. Who would want to listen to my music then?” He sounds so puzzled by Keisha’s “sudden” change. Your poor Joonie who deserves nothing but the best and he’s being harassed by such trash. 

“I should probably tell you that she came to the apartment this morning too.” It was most likely a horrible idea to tell him, since the moment she finds out you ratted on her she’d tell him everything. However, you were sure you’d get the balls to tell Namjoon about Faith soon. “She kinda figured out something was off with us.”

“What? How? I was with her the whole party except for a few moments. I thought I did a pretty good job keeping myself under control.” Namjoon rumbled in shock. It was cute how smooth he thought he was. 

“"Really?" You said, with a sarcastic smile. "You spent the whole night undressing me with your eyes." He chuckled and raked his eyes over your body playfully before sighing and squeezing your hand. 

“I want to be with you so much. Just you. What do I do?” Namjoon whispered as he stares at your clasped hands. You reach up and gently wipe at a lone tear that escaped. There wasn’t much you could do about Keisha right now, not without something to hold over her. You plan on thinking more about that later. But for now, there is one thing you can do so that you and Namjoon have at least one small victory over her. 

“Then you can have me.”

Namjoon quickly lifts his head and stares at you in shock. “But I thought you said...”

You wave him quiet. “I know what I said, Joonie. It’s a little different when you’re being held in a relationship against your will, though. Don’t you think?”

“Yeah, I guess so.” 

“Okay. Then we’ll try this out. We can be together like this until we find a way to get you out.” You correctly interpret the hopeful look in his eyes. “And yes, that means sex included.” You giggle, and he counters with a satisfied smirk. 

“Oh, thank fuck.” He lunges for your lips, cradling your face with both of his massive hands. 

You lose yourself in the familiar feel of his soft, plump lips moving tenderly against yours. If there was one thing that Kim Namjoon was better at than rapping, it was kissing. He always kissed you like he was worshipping you with his lips and he could happily do it forever. 

But you wanted more.

“So...where are you staying? At your Mom’s?” You pull away to ask, loving the way his lust filled gaze stays trained on your lips as he tries to focus enough to answer. 

“Uh, yeah. Mom’s. I also have a suite downtown for when I need to get away, as well. Why?” Namjoon asked as he plays with the ends of your hair, still lost in a haze. 

“Because I think fucking me in an actual bed this time sounds great.” You smirk, trying not to laugh when his eyes widen in surprise. 

“Fuck...yeah...okay. I guess the suite is cool then.” He stands up and reaches down to help you up. “Wait...what’s wrong with the apartment? It’s closer.” 

You panic as you try to come up with a valid excuse. “I’m...not ready for that yet.”

His expression barely changes, just a slight tick to his jaw and a droop in his shoulders, but you know you made him sad. It hurt, but you weren’t ready for the atom bomb named Faith to be dropped on his poor head yet either. 

“That’s okay. It’s cool. Let’s go to the suite. I’ll drive.” Namjoon smoothly threads his fingers with yours and directs you towards the parking lot. 

“Wait, since when do you drive?” You giggle up at him. 

“Ah, well once I had the money for a bomb ass car, it kinda made sense to finally get a license. I won’t lie...I failed it like twice before I finally passed.  The first time I didn’t do that bad until we got back to the parking lot. I opened the door too fast as I was getting out and slammed it into the side of the car we parked next to. Turned out it was the car of the person giving me the test.” You laugh so hard you end up snorting a couple times, because only Namjoon. He smiles fondly down at you then helps you into his elegant black car. Once inside he is quick to hold your hand again after he fires up the engine, like he can’t bear to let you go for long. You just grin and let him, watching the scenery as he drives and taking the chance to text your neighbor, letting her know to keep Faith overnight, and you’ll pay her extra.  

Namjoon is dragging you through a lobby that you never thought you’d get to see. This hotel was one of the tallest buildings downtown, it’s posh exterior too fancy and intimidating for you to have ever wanted to enter. Everyone seems to know who Namjoon is, nodding his way politely before briefly examining your appearance. You wondered if they thought you were a hooker or something. 

Namjoon rushes you to the elevator and quickly pushes the door close button before backing you into the corner as he stares at you with ravenous eyes. He slides his hands into your hair and pulls your lips up to meet his, practically devouring you. He suddenly lifts you up by your thighs and presses you further into the elevator wall with his hips, growling against your mouth as he grinds his firm bulge against your core. You whimper at the sensation, wanting him in you so badly you were ready to beg to be fucked right now, but you were saved by the ding of the elevator reaching his floor. 

He sets you down gently and reaches for your hand again to lead you down the hall. You could only imagine the sight the two of you made right now, and you really hoped no one noticed. You knew your hair was a mess and your lips felt swollen, and anyone could probably see the wet spot on the front of your pants. Namjoon looked like a raging bull with his wild eyes and rushed gait, his lips equally red and the impressive bulge leading the way as he made no attempts to hide it. 

The two of you finally reached his room and rushed inside after he slid the keycard and opened it with shaking hands. Namjoon latched himself back onto your lips and walked you backward until you hit the end of the bed and pushed you to sit down. He crouched down and took off your shoes and socks, flinging them into various parts of the room. He did the same with your pants and shirt, leaving you sitting there in your bra and panties. He scanned your body slowly as he started stripping himself, only allowing you to finally help once he nearly trips over his jeans. 

Once Namjoon was stripped he grabbed his cock, already rock hard and leaking at the tip, and stroked himself casually as he stared at you. He reaches over with his free hand to pull the cups of your bra down, groaning in delight as your breasts are freed. He sucks a nipple into his mouth, breathing heavily and closing his eyes as he continues to stroke himself. He releases your nipple with a lewd pop and gawks at your chest. 

“I know it’s been a while, but I think your tits are bigger, baby. At least a whole cup size.” His confused gaze meets yours, and you quickly come up with an excuse. 

“I’ve been taking fitness classes with the girls. Getting thicc fit, you know.” 

His eyes drop back to your chest. “Huh. Not that I didn’t love them before, but they look great. So fucking big and soft. I want to fuck them next time.” He says it so casually you can’t think of any other response but okay. 

He pushes at your shoulder gently so you’d lay down. Once your head hits the mattress, Namjoon leans over and kisses you sweetly, making his way down your body with little soft pecks until he gets to where you want his mouth the most. He slides your panties off and throws them near his jeans. You know you are never going to see those again. 

Namjoon spreads your legs wide, kissing the inside of your thighs with his eyes glued to the sight of the wet pussy he’d revealed. 

“So wet for me. So pretty. Baby, you are making a mess down here, pretty girl.” He groans, trailing a finger through your folds and bringing it to his mouth where he sucks it off noisily. You blush at his utter lack of shame, your time away from him making you nearly forget how he’d always been all up in your body like it was his own. 

You were worried about what he would think now that you were wholly bared to him. You’d done a pretty good job of keeping in shape after Faith was born, but you naturally still had a few stretch marks and stuff. So far, so good though, considering the lust hasn’t left his eyes for a second. 

He places one last kiss on the inside of your thigh, close enough to your core that you feel his hot breath on you and you whimper and buck your hips towards him. He chuckles darkly and stands up, then walks towards his jeans and pulls his phone out of his back pocket. 

“Joonie, what are you doing?” You eye the phone suspiciously. 

He sends you a deceptively innocent smile as he holds his phone over your body. “I’m capturing art, baby. I just...want something for just in case. Is that okay?”

You bite your lip in thought before shyly nodding your head in agreement. He smirks, and you hear the ding as he starts recording. 

“Video proof that I am actually having sexual relations with the love of my life again. The most beautiful Goddess on this planet. And she’s all mine.” He films himself saying before he turns the camera back on you. 

“Did you just say sexual relations? That’s like, the unsexiest way to say it.” You mock him with a slight chuckle, and he grins before smacking your thigh. 

“Open your legs, beautiful. Let me watch you play with your pretty pussy.” His husky tone tells you he means business, so you slide your hand down where he wants it. 

You use two fingers to make a V and run them through your folds, shocked at how wet you were already, and spread yourself open for his viewing pleasure. You hear his breath hitch and smirk at him being so affected already. You take two fingers and dip them inside yourself, biting your lip and keeping your eyes trained on the phone. Being filmed didn’t do much for you, but the thought that Namjoon was going to be watching this later fueled you to do well. 

You brought your now wet fingers to your throbbing clit and rubbed vigorously, the image of Namjoon getting off to you riling you up. You use your other hand to massage and pinch your breasts. You glanced down and moaned when you saw Namjoon’s dick twitching, beads of precum leaking down his shaft. 

“You are so damn sexy. That’s right, give me a show, baby girl.” His voice was sending shivers straight to your pussy, and you actually felt yourself get wetter. 

“Shit...” He whispered harshly and crouches down to get a closeup. 

“Are you just gonna stare?” You whine, reaching the end of your patience. You need his dick in you, and you need it now.

“You’re so fucking beautiful like this. I could just watch you forever.” He leans over and lays his tongue flat against you, sliding it up towards your clit as he laps everything up. “So sweet.” 

Finally, he tosses the phone off to the side and crawls on top of you, bracing his weight on his elbows as he looks in your eyes. 

“Ask for what you want.” He orders roughly, the tone of his voice causing you to moan quietly because, fuck, why is he so sexy? 

“I want you to fuck me. I want you to own me. Mark me up. Remind me I’m yours, Namjoon.” You reply, trying your best to sound sexy. It must have worked because his eyes are darkened with lust and with a whispered shit, he aligns himself with you. 

Namjoon crushes his lips against yours then slides into your pussy, the both of you moaning quietly at the sensation of finally being connected. He pulls back out gradually until just his tip is left inside before slamming back in and hammering into you with a rough and steady pace. 

Namjoon kisses up and down your neck, biting and sucking huge marks into it, claiming you as his. His breathing gets louder, so loud now you can hear him clearly over the embarrassingly wet sounds of his hips slamming into yours. 

“Fuck, so tight and warm. You feel so good. Perfect. And mine.” He grinds out and leans up until he’s sitting on his shins. He pulls both of your legs up and throws them over his shoulders and pistons faster inside of you with a bruising grip on your hips. 

You’re probably wailing at this point, but you don’t care. All you know is that Namjoon feels so amazing, and he’s hitting every perfect part of you. You could feel tears on your face as your body was overwhelmed by the pleasure that only Namjoon could give you. 

“Joon, please!” You cry. You’re so fucking close. 

“Yeah? You wanna come baby girl?” He smirks down at your fuck out expression before placing his big thumb on your clit, rubbing hard and fast. 

“Cum first, sweetheart. Cum on my cock and then I’ll fill you up so good you’ll be dripping for days. Everyone will smell cum all over you and know you're taken.” He growled as he did what you thought was impossible and hammered into you even faster. 

He kept rubbing your clit until you felt yourself reaching probably the hardest orgasm of your life. You throw your head back, and with a final yell of his name, you clench around his cock as you cum. Namjoon removes his fingers from your clit but keeps drilling into you as you whimper from oversensitivity. 

“Can you give me one more, love?” Namjoon leans over, and whispers then presses a sweet kiss to your lips, his hips never stopping. 

You stare at him in shock. “What? Joonie, I can’t. Please.” You moan, a choked sob leaving you at the thought. 

“You can do it, baby. One more. Just once more and I’ll give baby my cum.” He latches onto your breast and roughly sucks bruises on them, looking into your eyes as he does it, waiting for you to respond. 

“Fuck...Joonie. Okay, please. Make me cum again.” 

He chuckles and pulls out, flipping you over and pulling you to the end of the bed. Your top was flat on the mattress, and your ass and legs were hanging off the bed. This was fine. You didn’t think you could hold yourself up anyway. 

With a single slap on your ass, he aligns himself back up and slams in, wasting no time getting back into his unforgiving rhythm. He grabs your asscheeks as leverage, pulling you harshly into his dick. Your moaning is increasing in pitch as you’re surprised to actually feel yourself getting close to cumming again. You clench the sheets tightly with your fingers, loving the way he’s lost to lust behind you. He’s cursing and moaning and breathing so heavily. He keeps giving you encouraging comments, trying to help you reach your climax again, but you can’t hear the words since you’re so far gone. 

Your body had craved this, craved him for so long. 

 You feel it finally. You’re actually going to come again. You clench around him and your mind blanks, although you can vaguely hear the both of you yelling and feel the warmth as Namjoon stills and fills you up. 

You grunt as Namjoon slides out of you a few moments later, and you can tell he came so fucking much. You can feel it dripping down your thighs, but you still felt so full. 

“Fuck. Babe, I think you may have squirted a little bit. You were really fucking wet when you came.” He huffed out as he rested next to you, trying to catch his breath. You hum a response, not trusting your voice just yet. 

“I love you so much. You good?” He asks as he cuddles closer to you and nuzzles into your neck. 

“Bath.” You whisper, your voice a little rough from yelling.

“You think I trust my legs right now to carry you?” Namjoon snorts before pulling back to look at your face. You needed a bath if you ever wanted to walk again and you were not afraid to play dirty. You blink up at Namjoon innocently, and his jaw drops in disbelief. 

“No, no. Not the puppy dog eyes, don’t you fucking dare.” You try to widen your eyes more and add in a cute pout. “Dammit.” Namjoon groans and you giggle and make grabby hands as he stands up and picks you up bridal style. 

“YAY, it still works!” You laugh and he mock growls at you. 

“Spoiled brat.” He grins and brings you up higher to give you a quick kiss.

Namjoon takes you to the bathroom and sets you on top of the toilet while he fills up the tub. He even throws in the bath salts that the hotel had set out. He picks you up and sets you in the middle of the tub before sliding in behind you and tucking you against his chest. The warm water soothes your raw privates and all the new aches in your body. You loved every one, because it screamed Namjoon was here. 

He’s wrapped an arm around your waist while the other one is trailing soothing strokes up and down your arm. He tucks his head in the crook of your neck and presses gentle kisses to your cheek occasionally. 

“I love you.” He whispers against your ear.

“I love you too.” You smile and lean into him. 

“Stay the night with me?”

“Okay. But you have to feed me if you want to fuck me.” 

“All you can eat buffet, coming up.” He laughs. You hum and relax, letting the contentment of the moment take precedence over your worries.

The looming darkness that was to come could wait for another day. 

[inexchangeforyoursoul]

Say, if they are also called Spanish chestnuts, but there's no Spain... would they be called Dressrosa chestnuts? … would make sense, right? (btw if it wasn’t obvious by now, this is framed as an actualy story arc)

16. Definitely not a date ( ffn ao3 )

Getting tea is another small adventure for Kat, though, as two especially chatty girls try to get into a conversation with her. Which in itself isn't a problem, trying to get 'him' join a dance party in the evening on the other hand.... was not something she would ever agree to. Not right now, nor at any other time, and especially not with people who wanted to get in her pants. The other problem she soon faced in this pickle was that Usopp ran after Luffy who was getting way too much into the 'visit everything you can' spirit and disappeared somewhere down the line.

The sweet release came in the person of three other familiar faces, two of which were beyond amused, and one that bore a mixed expression of incredulousness, desperation, anger and disappointment.

“What--- what did you...?!” is all that Law can manage after a minute of gawking at her. She could swear to see a tear in the corner of his eye. He's also dressed... tastefully, more than either of them are usually. Definitely not his style, either. One of the girls had a hand in that; apparently they've returned to the ship already. All in all, Law's pretty; some guy, probably not the first to do so, has seemingly also taken notice of that and is eyeing him until Kat catches the man red-handed... or eyed, and quickly moves along.

“Sssh,” she soothes him, squishing the cheeks of the man paralyzed by the sight of his defaced appearance.  “It's washable, the beard will grow back, and your earrings are on the wardrobe... Cute headband, by the way. Nami's, right?” she adds, looking at the golden-brownish striped accessory. Kinda odd to see him outside without any of his stuff; also, she should get a similar headband. It suits her.

“It is,” interrupts Penguin the scene which both him and Shachi, who is playing sword-bearer with Law's oversized piece strapped on his back somehow, find quite amusing by the looks of it. “The captain wouldn't stay put once he found out that you were out... Usopp told us you should be here.”

“Usopp?” she perks up, looking at them with Law's frozen face still between her hands. “Did he manage to find Luffy?”

“Yeah, the dude found the fair games and had a whole barrel full of apples and water in his mouth when we left,” laughs Shachi. “We should totally revisit that place later,” he turns to Penguin, who gives a decisive nod as an answer.

“Actually,” latter continues with just a wee bit too much artificial mulling as she releases Law from her grip, “since you've already been found, we aren't necessary here. You two can take care of yourselves,” he states, nodding towards Shachi.

“I agree,” his friend says, cracking a big smile and already stepping backwards. “Let's see what Straw Hat and Noseman are up to~”

By the time the sentence 'where the hell are you two going?!' gets formulated in Law's head as he's getting over the shock, the crowd has already swallowed them.

To Kat, this feels suspiciously like her Sunday afternoon adventure, except less bothersome or embarrassing, because her partner is just as unwilling as she is. Turning to Law, she sighs. “... do they do this to you often?” Or generally? Because she sees a trend here...

“Do wha--” the last bit gets lost as he sees her blinking at him with a face of fatigue and lament. She turns to the left, to the right, looking around with somewhat spread arms, then points them towards him. Then her. They are alone. That's what she's talking about... It's his turn to sigh. Painfully. “Oh, for fuck's sake.” They had to go and set up a 'date,' didn't they. This day is getting better by the minute.

“Took you long enough,” Kat notes, then takes a careful sip of the cup of freshly prepared green tea that just got handed to her.

“In my defense, it's been... years since they last pulled a stunt like this.” At least five, if not more.

“To be fair, though?” she turns back to him, stepping direction chestnut stand, “As long as I hang with you instead of the guys, I'm less likely to be flirted with, so... might as well play-pretend for the time being.” It's gotten annoying, so as far as she's concerned, fake date: start.

“You what?” He squeaks in her voice, deciding to follow her for the time being. He's left with little breakfast and is tempted to get something right here after running around, and those two dumbasses will be fine, too. Although... Shachi had everything on him, including the money. Fuck.

“I'm sayin' you're popular, Law.” After that, she frowns at the distance. “Some granny also slapped my butt,” she recalls the old woman from about fifteen minutes ago, shivering. It's just as bad as random old men doing the same. What was she even, back then? Fourteen? People are so gross. At least that woman's not targeting children.

“Good lord...” Law is just as mortified by the thought as she is, if not more. Shaking the image off and peeking up at her, he continues; “... I know you are not lying because you would have cracked by now, but I still have a hard time believing you. It's... quite rare for anyone to just walk up to me.”

“I'm telling you, there's been three plus-minus one women either staring or hitting me up. I guess... I make you look more attractive? Than you actually are?” she says, lifting a brow. That... just might be it. A handsome guy who's reserved, polite and just... legitimately nice? She'd be lowkey smitten as well. They stop at the end of the queue. “It also kinda applies to you and not-me,” she ponders. With that, she takes another sip of the hot drink.

“I'm... not exactly following,” Law admits after some delay. Especially the last part.

Let's try and put this into words for him... “Well... you can be quite a prick, you see- no offense. The very same quality also makes for a cute shrew, though; which you are, at the moment. That's all there is to it.”

“Um...” He can't make head or tail of what she's trying to convey, so he's just going to ignore being called a... shrew. “Am well aware of the first point. Seen enough women who don't give a damn, though.”

“Can't and won't argue with that, but it's not what I'm saying.” Seeing there are still three people before them, she turns back to drop an unadulterated truth bomb on this poor, socially inept man who's somehow worse at this than her. Preferably in a low enough voice as to not scar anyone else listening for a lifetime. They've already heard more than enough. “The thing is the following, Law: while both of us have decent looks, I'm not peppy or feminine enough to be attractive to the average man, and you are too much of a deep-frozen salt crab to be perceived as a viable partner. This much you can follow with ease, right?”

He nods, although he would argue about being that bitter. And quite frankly, she can be damn peppy when up to it.

“Okay, the catch is the following: we exchanged wrapping, and,” here she naps her fingers, “all of a sudden, I'm 'hot' and you're 'cute' to people despite everything else being the same,” she says, adding air quotation marks with her free hand. “I turned from puny buttercup into a bright sunflower while you blossomed into some brazen goth rose instead of the stinky corpse flower you like pretending to be. All because I'm a decent person with a hot male body, and you look like an underweight girl with an attitude that comes off like a crumbly butter cookie wanting to look tough. It's... some eldritch amalgamation of nonequivalent exchange... that makes us fit into an ideal for the other gender. And as such, people fucking love it.” Having finished that, she flips the sunglasses back on; it's their turn and she asks for one medium bag of chestnuts.

Law scowls at the young, but dull vendor while thinking about what Kat said just as the other looks in his direction while shoving the goods into a paper bag, and is greeted with a sudden smile. And a wink. Glaring another way, he eventually settles on two young women who giggle and whisper to each other while looking into a direction that's very suspiciously where Kat is standing. Kat, who's smiling politely while paying, and who may or may not have called him her 'worse half' just now while talking to the guy whose question he's missed.

This is quickly getting worse than being stuck in a skirt.

“You alright?” she asks a few minutes later after leaving the stove behind. “Like, I understand if you need a minute to get over the way that dude looked at you...” And talked about him as if he wasn't right next to her... so double fuck that guy, she ain't noone's 'cutie,' even if it's only her body we're talking about.

“Please, don't remind me,” he moans. They entered a less crowded section of the fair, and he still felt more people gawking at him than what's realistic.

“Chestnuts?” she asks, tilting the bag towards him. Maybe she should just... punch people who look at Law funnily. Sound plan.... except she has no memories of ever punching anyone, so maybe not. It would be weird.

He sighs, remembering that he's gotten hungry, then gives the paper bag a suspicious look. His stomach growls, too- hopefully she didn't catch that. “... never had any, to be honest. Are they any good?”

“May not be down your alley, but can't know until you give it a try,” she says, drinking some more  tea. “Careful, though, I just picked one that was still hot.”

While he's fiddling with the piece he fished out, she stops at another shop.

“... do you prefer cottage cheese and raisins, apple and raisins with cinnamon, pumpkin and poppy, or sour cherries and cinnamon?” she asks, pointing at the selection. He peeks up. Can't really tell what the food is in the first place apart from likely being something sweet. The sign says 'strudel'.

“Um...”

“You can just say no if you're not feeling adventurous,” she says, nibbling on a chestnut after securing the bag with her arm. “There's also a kind of ribbon-like cake down the road with sugary coatings, if that sounds any better. We also could go looking for actual food like meat, but there's only overpriced delicacies out here and I'm not that loaded.”

He is not feeling adventurous, that's true; does feel embarrassment upon being found out, though. But... he's hungry, goddammit, and the stuff smells damn nice. Closing his eyes, he groans. “By rule of elimination... pumpkin and poppies.” Latter is something he's also never had before. There is always hope that he won't hate it, though. Then again... explicitly sugary pumpkin? Maybe he should reconsider...

A small smile appears on her face again. “Also not a fan of raisins, huh?”

“... yeah.” He also has trouble imagining what apparently sweet cottage cheese could taste like.

Regardless, he's surprised to see her buy that kind for herself a minute later.

“Why'd you even get that?” he asks as Kat flicks one very obvious piece of raisin from the chunk of whatever she just bought.

“Because... it's my favorite, and fair food spares out the more expensive stuff from sweets, such as, guess what? Raisins~” With that, she takes a careful bite, checking for any additional suspicious brown dots before actually chewing.

He takes a tentative bit out of his piece. Not bad, though the texture is... something else. She pokes him in the shoulder to motion towards a bench. The surface is covered in dew, however.

Kat just lowers herself a bit and slides a leg across. Stuff is cold, but watcha gonna do.

“Hey, easy with my jeans!” he complains, also finally getting the chestnut piece open from one side.

“Washing machines still exist, princess.” With that, she's already settled down, putting the lukewarm bag of chestnuts in her lap and the tea cup aside as she makes a real effort at eating her piece of sugary cottage cheese. “Sit down so its noble sacrifice won't go to waste.”

He complies after short consideration. “... still rude.”

“You admitted being rude a few minutes ago, too, so fine with me,” she notes, already having devoured half of the thingamajig. She flicks it another few times to get rid of two more raisins.

Law meanwhile tries to ignore that the bench is rather cold... and that the current pad is about as wet as his pants would have been if Kat did not swipe off the water. He shivers.

“You cold?” she asks with a mouthful.

“Not really, but... I should have gone for something warmer regardless.” And ignore Nami's meddling. He has no idea what her problem with his getup was. So what if the straw hat and hoodie clashed? And he can wear anything that tells people to fuck off in a roundabout way, thank you very much. Jesus.

“Oh, hey, that guy...!” Kat perks up as one of the bushoo turns up around the corner. This one has cerulean blue mask and horns, making it stand out from the other reddish and brown ones.

“What about him?” Law asks, chewing on this weird pastry that he cannot really decide to love or hate at this point. Which is weird, because usually he can immediately tell whether he loves or hates food. Also, what even are those costumes?

“Nothing much, a nice old man who lives above the grocery shop opposite of us. He's always out on the festival around these parts, from start to finish. I hear he's had this self-made costume for decades... anyway, just say hi if he comes over, would you?” The man goes another direction, however, and is quickly distracted by a mother and her roughly 10-year-old son, both of whom Kat also knows. The lady is some kind of secretary and visits the cafe a lot with her kid, sometimes even husband. The cafe, which, well...

Kat turns around.

“What is it?” With that, Law crumples up the paper of the finished-up strudel.

“... checking how the renovation is doing,” she says, surveying the grounds. Law also takes a peek over his left shoulder.

There are two more shops closed near to the obvious target of attention down the road; one of them is nearly past saving. He didn't notice it thus far, but they've come around to the spot where that odd situation started a week back by now. The Cafe called Kukari, which he hasn't even seen until now, is near untouched by comparison. Yes, some windows and a pillar have apparently been crushed, but latter is close to being done and the glass should not be much trouble afterwards. Well, there could be more work behind the paper covers, too. What does he know.

“Yep. If the place was still in one piece... I'd be working right now. In your body. Or you in mine, but let's be honest.” She seems amused enough at the thought. Monday will be hell if she's still stuck in this body, though.... explaining this situation... how? Kat sighs. “I wonder if Adam's in there... he basically lives in the damn place.”

“Adam?” he slurs through the shell of the single chestnut he's been fiddling with, turning back around towards her.

“My boss,” she mumbles. Suddenly she has her doubts about sitting here, especially with Law around. That could go all kinds of wrong. Adam, please be at home, or at least don't notice a thing. Thanks.

With that, she also faces forward and grabs the lukewarm cup of tea. Looking back at Law, she cocks her head. “You still not done with that?”

“You bought the sweets right as I was figuring it out, okay?” Honestly, he's annoyed with this. Especially because he apparently likes chestnuts and getting the thing out is a nightmare. As is getting rid of the bitter, hairy middle layer that he hates with comparable passion.

She cracks a smile upon seeing his efforts. “Honestly, some of them are just really stubborn, it's best to have a knife around for this,” Kat muses, picking a few specific pieces from the bag. “Here, these should be easy enough.”

With that, Law gets a hand full of chestnuts that are just about popping out of their hard little prisons. “Thanks.”

As they are playing chipmunks (and making a mess of the spot as Law has no qualms about throwing the unnecessary bits onto the ground), they notice a light drizzle falling- a few seconds later, clouds dim out the already weak sunlight.

“Geez... haven't been able to keep up with the weather report,” Kat starts, glaring into the grey puffs; “I sure hope there's no actual rain involved. We could go into an actual shop... or pay another visit to my house, it's about as far from here as it's from the ships,” she muses while standing up at last and shoving the remainders of the still kind of warm chestnut bag into the hoodie's pocket.

“We're better off going straight back to the docks,” he replies to that, still seated. “You will have managed to skip another two hours, if not more, by the time we get back to business. I'd really appreciate if you stopped doing this.”

“Two hours ain't nothing,” she states, crumpling the shell-filled paper and napkins of both her and Law's strudels, then wannabe-telepaths the bundle to the dustbin when noone's looking; her aim sucks, after all. “Anyway, I need to return the cup first, so we'll take the long way around,” she says then, drinking the rest in big gulps, which she follows up with turning said object upside down. The murky leftover tea at the bottom lands with a negligible splash.

As Kat is waiting for him to pull himself together, she notices that the hair on his forearms sticks skyward. “... dooo you want your hoodie?” she asks, remembering the extra layer to spare.

Just as she utters that, he shivers. “Actually... I do. Yes,” he sighs reluctantly and visibly cold out here. Then, a second later, as she pulls it off...

“.... what the everloving fuck are you wearing?” he deadpans as the turtleneck appears.

“Bought it earlier today,” she beams. “For the record, you can't keep it.”

“Why would I?” Why would he? Good enough for a one time joke, but that's about it. Also, 'can't keep it?' That's such a Luffy thing to say.

“Because it's lame and nerdy doctor stuff?”

“Not part of my image, sorry.”

His image, he says. Kat tries her best to stifle her laughter and shoves the cartoon bear hoodie on his head. That's one image, alright. “Okay, whatever. Without the others this fair is pretty damn boring, no lie. Let's go already, if you want to that bad.”

“As eager as I am... I'm afraid of getting up,” Law confesses with a sigh as he's getting his hands into the sleeves. He just knows by now that sitting for a while will result in uncomfortable things direction pants afterwards. Sick and tired of it. Can't help it either, however, so he braces himself and gets on his feet. Can't ignore Kat's constant grin any longer, however.

“Wat's so funny?” he asks, hugging himself for warmth. This is a godsent right now- and the pocket housing the chestnuts gives a nice little extra, too.

“...you look adorable.” That big hoodie on her stick body is just... too cute. Looks as comfortable as it is, too. She could pinch his sullen, rosy cheeks.

“That would be you, not me,” he replies. Which is something he immediately regrets, placing a slightly sticky hand on his face.

She snorts. “Thanks.”

This otherwise totally forgettable line is on par on the embarrassment-meter with that last Saturday evening. Actually, scratch that. He's more embarrassed by this. And he feels he's blushing, too. Ugh...

As he's mulling over this, Kat sighs. “Don't worry, I know you didn't mean it like that.” It's always embarrassing when a comment burns you back... it just happens sometimes. Also dang, it is rather cold out here when there is no sun to shine. Just as she thinks about that, some rays break through the thinning cloud layer; not enough by far to get warm, though. “Now go, go, go, before I'm the one freezing my ass off,” she says, shoving the recovering Law a little to get started as she makes her way towards a long-ish stinky alley between restaurants to cut a few blocks of houses.

As they step inside, they fall silent. The cause of it is not just an awkward episode; as the buildings cover up the gentle warmth of the broken sun, an oppressive, cold silence sweeps through the alleyway. If the icy breeze had claws, that's what would have been tickling up their ankles and down their necks. They pass a broken cup that's just like the one in Kat's left hand.

There is a great temptation from her to take up the much faster everyday pace, and Law feels a pair of eyes on his back. Then it's two... three. If this is something bad, -and it does feel bad,- it's really bad; Kat has no experience and he has no real means to defend even himself in a brittle body like this.

Halfway through, she raises her head, and takes his hand; he feels it tremble a little as her fingers close on his. “We are running late, let's hurry.” Law follows the misplaced suggestion without protest. Hinting at being missed is good. Godspeed.

They can hear something clank behind a container as they exit back into the pallid light.

“I'm never going through there ever again,” Kat mumbles with a shiver as they mingle in the crowd while still firmly holding his hand. That was... really stressful. It was probably... some of the stray cats often in there, or a homeless person at worst, but that felt freaky as hell. And of course her lungs or something around those parts starts acting up after this. Just great.

“There was definitely someone in there,” says Law, blindly cutting through the masses by her side. May have been some thieves or other scum preying on fair-goers who took the route, but either way, no good news in there. They had luck.

By the time they are back to the booth offering tea, their speed is back to normal, but they are still kind of on edge. They take a half-hearted look at the games corner to check whether the boys are still out, which is to no avail, as expected. Walking back towards the shipyard at last and slowly getting over the experience, Kat speaks up:

“... by the way, do you want to switch hands or something? The other one should be an icicle by now.” She knows her own body well enough. When it's cold outside, her hands are just as chilly as the wind, even under some thick gloves. She hates it.

“... oh.” That is all Law can muster, realizing that he's still holding onto Kat. He kind of forgot about it, to be honest... partly because he's still hung up about the alley, and partly because, well... his body's hands are really nice to have around. Handy, one could say. … would be amused at that, wouldn't she. And Kat's also not wrong about the other hand hiding inside the paper bag with the maroni where it's decently lukewarm.

He releases her hand and puts his inside the pocket as well, looking up forward where the main mast of the Thousand Sunny is in sight. Write this up to the embarrassing shit he's done today, because boy, there was quite some of that.

As they get on deck, they are met with bright light again; the clouds decided it's time to let the sun shine just as it didn't matter anymore. They silently acknowledge that it's just one of those days when nothing goes quite as planned.

[billinghamn]

Las Vegas TP Run in Nov 2019: Day 2 - London Heathrow to Washington Dulles on Fri 22 Nov 2019

Got a decent amount of sleep for a change. I woke at around 1am, but got back to sleep without too many problems. Woke again at 6am with a very sore back - probably down to the hard mattress.

The room I selected at the Hilton Garden Inn was long and thin - not really ideal, but for one night I wasn’t going to make a fuss.

Although my first flight of the day wasn’t until almost midday, I decided it was pointless hanging around the hotel, so I got up and headed to T5 to chill out in the CCR. I’d have access to a great breakfast, Starbucks and loads of shopping opportunities.

When I reached Hatton Cross tube, I had obviously just missed a T5 train, so I had to hang around for a good 10 mins before the next one arrived. That meant there were quite a few people waiting, and there were numerous people who had switched from the T4 train a few mins earlier, to make the more straight forward connection to T2/3 via the T5 train. By the time I got on, it was packed. It’s not like this when I am on the 05:10 train - it’s always nice and quiet at that time!

I joined in the run from the train to the lift, and managed to get on with two other guys before they shut the lift doors. That’s always entertaining - I think it’s sad that people decide they need to run for the lift, but on the other hand, I love joining in with them! What does that say about me?

Heathrow T5 was very quiet. Christmas trees were up in the check in area, and TFW was also very quiet, although the x-ray scanners were a tad busy with a few passengers waiting to empty the contents of their bags.

No issues with my liquids bag this time - they didn’t seem to be too bothered. However, dopey me forgot to take out my laptop, so my rucksack ended up on the far side of the post-scanning bag collection line again. Only took one min before I was on my way though.

The CCR was also quiet, and breakfast was as good as always. Some of the staff were less than friendly - they could do with attending a customer service course! Anyway, others were much nicer. It didn’t detract from my enjoyment of my full English breakfast however.

Since my onward flight to LA was with AA, I had the normal challenge of not being able to check in and print my boarding pass for that flight. The BA website tells me to check in via the operating carrier (AA), and the AA website thinks I want to check in to the flight I am waiting to take (a BA flight). Neither mechanism allows me to check in.

I always resort to asking BA in T5 to check me in to my AA flight, which after some resistance they managed to do. It amazes me how some of the BA staff in the lounges do not have any real world experience of how to deal with these normal passenger issues. The older and more experienced staff know what they can and can’t do. The younger and less experienced members of staff initially think they can’t, but after some cajoling, they realise they can. It’s almost like us seasoned travellers are here to train the inexperienced members of BA staff!

Flight: BA0217 Equip: A380 Sched Depart: 11:50 Actual: 11:57 Sched Arrival: 15:15 Actual: 15:16 Takeoff: 12:20 Landing: 15:10

Had a walk around the terminal - it was busy but there wasn’t a great deal going on. I picked up a Starbucks whilst I was out - I always look forward to my coffee before any flight from T5.

For the first time, I downloaded a number of episodes from a BBC series so that I could watch them on the flight. Giri/Hari wasn’t on Vick’s desired watch list, so I thought I may as well finish off the series whilst I was in the air.

Headed off to Gate C65 via the Transit Walkway and when I arrived at the gate, it was already packed. Passengers were already queued up, and there must have been 250 passengers hanging around the gate area. Lots of discussion around allowing GGL members to pre-board, but this just highlights how impossible that would be, since I wouldn’t be able to physically get to the front of the queue anyway!

On board in to seat 2K, and had a quick look through the movies and was pleased to see that Yesterday was available to view. The movie about a guy that experiences an event that takes him to a Beatles-less present day. So no one has ever heard of the Beatles, nor of Coca Cola and nor of Oasis. I can understand the lack of Oasis, but not sure of the relevance of Coke! Anyway, it was a great watch - a classic British rom-com.

We pushed back a little late, but it didn’t take us long to get on to the runway. I got through two glasses of LPGS before take off, and was already feeling quite tiddly.

Not long after take off, I was offered another glass of LPGS and some canapes. Two of the canapes were very tasty indeed: goats cheese and beef. The middle one was a lobster pate which was a tad too fishy for me.

The cabin crew were really attentive, and very friendly. Had a bit of trouble getting on to the WIFI service, offered free to First Class passengers. Firstly I seemed to have a BA Air account, which I can’t remember setting up. Next, it auto logged me in, but then offered me the chance to make use of free WIFI, which when I attempted to use it told me that it didn’t recognise my seat/name details! Very poor customer experience. If I try to log in to WIFI and I’m already logged in, why not tell the user that’s the case?

Lunch was served promptly and was a decent affair. The starter was a crab pasta affair in a fishy bisque. Not my normal choice, but it was very tasty indeed.

I had pre-ordered the beef which is always over cooked. Taking that in to consideration, it was pretty good - not too tough. The veg served on the side was especially good.

Pudding was pretty nice as well.

I grabbed some shut eye. After a bottle of LPGS, I needed to sleep off my impending hang over.

I woke about three hours to go to Washington, and I finished off watching the Giri/Hari series on BBC iPlayer. It was a very unusual Japanese style finish. I’m not sure Vick would have liked it that much, but I was pleased to see the series through to the end.

Afternoon tea was served, and again it was an enjoyable experience.

The final hour seemed to shoot by, and I enjoyed the view on the way past Dulles airport. We doubled back on ourselves to land.

Arrived in to Gate B44 and there was a long delay whilst the ground staff messed about with trying to connect the air bridges to the aircraft. After about 10 mins they finally attached the low air bridge to door 2L, and we were off and on to the immigration people mover.

By the time we started moving I was feeling a tad faint. I had been hot on the flight, and although it was relatively chilly in Washington, I felt warm and sweaty. Luckily I managed to hang on without tumbling over, and causing a diplomatic incident!

[i-am-the-sage]

The Meeting

Author’s Note: (Hello there. This is my first Fanfic, those of you who make it through this I hope you enjoy and I hope you stick around because I have a lot of plans for this story. Including some more Dc comic character and obviously Joker Leto. Please leave some feedback if you want, it will be greatly appreciated 💕)

The room was dark, only illuminated by the row of tanks full of translucent jellyfish, she strolled leisurely among the tanks. Feeling calm and at ease among docile creatures, watching as they moved about their environment slowly. The lights in their tanks changed color periodically making the jellyfish change as well, making them seem more like magical creatures.

  “C'mon mommy, this way!” The shrill voice of the excited child was her queue to leave and move on to the next exhibit. It’s not that she did not like children but today was her day to finally relax and unwind and some noisy child was not going to ruin this trip for her. 

    She left the jellyfish and the little noise maker behind, and found herself in a tunnel made  entirely of plexiglass, she was surrounded on all sides by marine life. The coral reefs blossomed and loomed over head in the blue water as the seaweed danced and waved with each movement of the neighboring fish. 

Nurse sharks swam above her head without a care in the world and Moray eels poked their heads out of their hiding spots surveying the land. 

She’d always found joy in all aspects of the ocean, the animals, how gentle and unforgiving the sea could be. The way the water shimmered in the sunlight, how it moved, the way it softly caressed her skin, the thousands of creatures it held in its depths, and the way it could give life as easily as it could take it away. 

    Leaving the tunnel, she made her way past tanks that lined the walls with graceful sea dragons floating and hiding in plain sight among the vegetation. In the middle of the room were tanks full of sea crabs, some with sea horses and starfish or with other small bottom feeders.

Moving on, she left the bottom feeders to the child that seemed to be gaining on her, she came upon her favorite exhibit. Walking down towards an open bench she saw away from the group congregating against the glass. Looking up, one of the largest creatures loomed over everyone’s heads.

    The tank towered above them all, hundreds of gallons of clear blue water that held some of the  biggest and most beautiful of sea creatures. Whale sharks cut through the water like they owned the place, and giant manta rays followed close behind. Some swam to the middle of the tank and began to barrel role making all the children laugh and some adults ‘oooh and ahh’ at their little activity.  

    She always loved these gentle giants and their overwhelming presence, how effortlessly they moved around the tank captivated her. This is where she liked to spend most of her time at the Gotham City Aquarium, watching the animals swim about their confined space always calmed her. It was like watching your goldfish swim around in its tank but these were 100x bigger and were more exotic than your average pet store fish.

    With all the mayhem that spread throughout Gotham everyday she felt like this was the only place where there was absolute peace. Aside from the screaming children banging on the glass but at least nobody was getting robbed or shot. It was almost like the criminals either didn’t know this was here or they decided to let the citizens of Gotham have one special thing to themselves.

    She leaned back on her hands and crossed one leg over the other, taking these magnificent creatures. Blocking out the shrill excitement of the children against the glass and began to think about why this place was so blessed to be untouched. 

‘There’s nothing here but marine life. No priceless statues or other works of art…so i guess that makes sense.’

She jumped when she heard one of the children scream, turned out to be one of the manta ray swam down closer to the kids.

    ‘Oh, to be young and naive once again' 

    She couldn’t help but smile as she watched the child, that was hot on her trail run up to the tank halfway and gaze in awe at what he was seeing. Turning around, he ran back to his mother grabbing her hand and pulled with all his might to show her what was in the tank. Stopping halfway, again, she knelt down next to him as he pointed up to the animals, telling her all about it as she listened intently to her son.

  Looking away from the touching mother child moment, she turned her attention back to the tank, she watched as a couple of the manta rays began to barrel roll again making the children erupt into another fit of laughter.

  “Such interesting creatures, don’t you think?” She had been so focused on the kids she didn’t notice this strange man that was standing next to her. A whale shark cast its shimmering shadow down and covered everyone as she looked up to the man.

He seemed to be very muscular underneath his suit silver-grey suit. He was very well dressed, very professional with his hair was dark with a hint of grey in the mix, alluding to his possible age or level of stress his job gave him.

   “What, the animals or the kids?” She glanced back at the tank, laughing at her own little joke. The man had a deep and very quiet chuckle.

    “Mind if I sit with you?” The man asked, he seem slightly nervous, gesturing to the open spot on the bench she was sitting on.

    'I’m not that intimidating, now, am I?’

She thought sarcastically. Rising from her seat she picked up her bag and turned to face the man in the suit before he had a chance to sit down. He looked up at her in surprise at her sudden action.

    “I was actually about to move on, you’re free to join me if you’d like.” She walked around the man slightly brushing against his shoulder and headed for the exit, excited for what was next and secretly hoping the man would follow. Just as she’d hoped, the man popped up and kept pace with her. He stayed close to her but stayed a respectful distance away from her.

“So what can I do you for today, sir?” she said glancing at the man from the corner of her eye. He kept his eyes straight and still looked very nervous. 

‘He’s obviously a business man, why is he so nervous?’ 

He seemed afraid to talk to her but it made no sense, he was the one to initiate the conversation. He cleared his throat and loosened his tie before attempting to speak to her again.

“I’ve noticed you around here, quite often.” They walked through an archway that was shrouded in manufactured mist. 

“Oh, you’ve noticed me have you?” she replied sarcastically, casting her eyes down when he cleared his throat nervously. 

‘Why is he so nervous?’ He has to have to deal with people a lot worse than me.

“Is it a crime to enjoy the aquarium?” she decided to say to break the slight tension between them. Although he may have some years on her, she found it almost adorable how scared he was to talk to her. He didn’t speak until the stopped at one of the newer exhibits.

“No, I wouldn’t say that. There is so many more things to do in Gotham than to stare at fish all day.” He stood back and watched as she took in the room. 

The room was large and there was a giant open tank built into the floor. More coral reefs decorated the bottom almost forming a path of white sand that wound through the whole tank. Some clams dug themselves out of the sand while crabs meandered down the makeshift road. A whole community came to life beneath them, almost like regular life in a way.

“I guess you’re right but this happens to be my sort of happy place I guess you could say.” She said, finally turning to face the man. He seemed to be studying her face maybe wondering if she was actually telling the truth.

“A happy place?” He asked her, raising his eyebrows looking for an explanation. “I enjoy marine life, okay. Its nice to get away from the eternal chaos that is our beloved Gotham City.” She turned back around to look down into the tank. 

“So what are you here for, business or pleasure?” she said craning her neck to get a good look at the man in the suit. His head dropped as he mimicked her action of sizing his outfit. Chuckling he looked back up and walked over to lean on the bars as well.

“Business can very easily turn to pleasure with the snap of a finger.” he said leaning forward before backing away with a devilish smile on his face.

‘Looks like he’s getting a little more comfortable. I guess its time to have some fun.’ She leaned into him, stepping a little closer.

“And what kind of pleasure is it that you are looking for, sir?” staring at his broad chest before looking up at him through her lashes. She didn’t know what the look was in his eyes but they changed suddenly, becoming slightly darker, was it lust maybe? 

“The pleasure of taking you out to eat actually, ma’am” he said almost playfully. The look in his eyes disappeared just as quickly as it came. He smiled down at her, taking obvious joy in the fact that he slightly turned down her advance and took control of the situation.

“But you don’t know the first thing about me.” she said matter of factly, leaning back and blinking in shock at the sudden switch. She sized him quickly trying to make sense of what this man wanted. 

‘A date?’

“All the more reason for you to go to dinner with me tonight. We can take the chance to get to know each other” Watching her with hopeful eyes, he waited patiently for her response. This man hadn’t tried to touch her in any way since he struck up a conversation. He must have waited a while if he knew that she came to the aquarium often.

“Well, I don’t see the harm in a little dinner mister…” she finally conceded. This man was very handsome and had been quite the gentleman with her. A kind man in a business suit at maybe one of the safest places in Gotham, no reason not to try.

“Wayne” he said, sticking his hand out. Taking it in her hand, it took her a minute before it dawned on her  who she was talking to. She stared down at her hand in his and then looked at his face in utter shock and embarrassment.

“As in Bruce Wayne? THE Bruce Wayne?” she stared at him in shock. 

‘How could I not recognized Bruce Wayne!?’

‘What is Bruce Wayne doing in an aquarium, and what does he want with me? Well obviously to take me to dinner…but why?’ 

“Yes, that Bruce Wayne.That doesn’t change anything does it?” he chuckled at her reaction to who he was. Her mouth was wide open in obvious shock. Bruce reached over and softly closed her mouth for her, before slightly squeezing her hand letting her know that they were still holding hands. 

‘Is this why he was so nervous?’ 

“And your name is?” he asked as she gaped at him not saying a word.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to do that. No, it doesn’t change anything. Iris, is what my name is.” she said rambling. Suddenly she felt extremely nervous, never being in the presence of a billionaire before. Her rambling seemed to have not fazed him one bit because he stared laughing at her.

“Don’t worry about it, Iris. So, will you come with me?” he waited for her response, hoping that nothing had changed. She studied the man in front of her, wondering why the billionaire playboy took so long to ask her out and why he was so nervous to begin with. She took a deep breath to collect herself. 

“Yes Bruce, I would love to go to dinner with you.” her voice was soft and gentle in hopes to ease his nerves. As she said this he visibly relaxed, a smile spread across his face that made her smile too. He reached into his jacket and pulled out a small silver container. He opened it to reveal white business cards.

“Here is my card, I’ll make reservations for 7’o’clock tonight. Send me your address and I’ll pick you up.” Bruce placed the card in her hand and lifted it to his lips, planting a small kiss on the back of her hand, grinning against her skin. Her cheeks flushed red as he walked away from her.

‘I’VE GOT A DATE WITH BRUCE WAYNE!’

@uncensored-and-psychotic 

[anneedmonds]

Bandit Crab

After twelve weeks of complete isolation I decided to go to the post office to do some urgent returns. (I actually had to send back some clothes I had ordered and never unboxed. Because who needs clothes in a lockdown? Not I, apparently. Apart from a few special occasions, I’ve almost worn the same two outfits on rotation; the first a dress that looks like a sack, the second a pair of shorts that have taken on the actual shape of my arse, so that when I remove them they stand up proud upon the rug, and an old t-shirt that has holes in the armpits. For chillier moments, both outfits have been worn beneath the world’s ugliest cardigan.)

So I went to the post office, which is buried deep within a village shop so tiny, and so crammed full with shelves and carousels and whatnot, that it’s almost impossible to walk through it without touching anything. Which doesn’t bode well for social distancing compliance. And I have to admit I was concerned about my visit, having heard tales of people completely ignoring all distancing guidelines now that we’re allowed to fire up the BBQ and – er – play golf; what would I be confronted with? In my mind, the world had gone rogue whilst I was locked inside – it would be a Mad Max scenario, with modified sand buggies revving around the country lanes, rams’ horns stuck to the bumpers and post-apocalyptic flesh-eating zombies hanging out of the open windows.

It was fine though. At the start, at least. There was a “queueing system” outside of the shop door, so I casually merged myself into it, trying desperately to look like someone who had been outside of their house before. For some reason my legs didn’t quite work properly – they felt like cotton reels threaded onto pieces of elastic, which I think was nerves, but nevertheless made me look like a newly-born Pinocchio.

Unfortunately, abiding by the two metres rule meant that I had to position myself almost in the middle of the road, for there was no place to stand to the left or right of the queue that was prominent or obvious enough to signal my presence to queue newcomers. Queuecomers. And that’s important, isn’t it? In a country where we are borderline obsessed with queue etiquette, it’s essential that everybody – everybody – knows that you are, in fact, in said queue. This is usually conveyed with a nod and a smile and a small, pointless, forwards or backwards movement, just a very slight one, to draw attention to your presence.

In this case, there was nobody in line after me – yet! – but still, I had to stand my ground. There’s an art to queuing, after all, and one of the finest skills is ensuring that everyone who joins the queue after you knows exactly where you rank. But here was my first testing quandary/moral dilemma: to stand in the road, or risk weakening my queue presence by tucking myself into the nook-in-the-wall where the drainpipe runs down? To lose queue-face, or to be flattened by a DPD van?

The choice is yours!

In the end I opted for a bit of a compromise, darting in and out of the road like a demented badger. It was confusing for the drivers. I had more than one beep. A few motorists tried to wave me across, which meant I had to do the universal sign language for “NO! I’M NOT CROSSING!”

One mimed exchange was so painful that I just gave in and crossed the road, only to almost be hit by a fast-moving bike when I did an about to turn and crossed back again, such was my haste not to lose my earned place in the queue.

I lived to tell the tale, thankfully: it was inside the shop that everything went to pieces. I just didn’t have any experience in this social distancing thing – quite literally no experience at all. I hadn’t built up any etiquette, I hadn’t seen social distancing techniques in action: it was all entirely foreign to me. A new language. And so I entered the shop almost apologetically, creeping in an exaggerated, comedy burglar knee-lift knee-lift toe-point hop! kind of way. Bear in mind I was wearing a silk kerchief as a face mask and eyeshadow on only one eye and that I hadn’t properly arranged my nipples beneath my top so that one was about four inches higher than the other: I was quite the picture.

(Does anyone else now have to arrange their nipples to ensure levelness? It’s a right faff! If I just juggle them into position, you can guarantee that one nip will be far higher than the other, looking like a peanut has been stowed away for safe keeping. Gone are the days when they both just fell into place, like delicately-balanced teardrops.)

So in I went, my tote containing the parcels slung over my back like a swag bag, trying to greet the shopkeeper and post office man with just the joy in my eyes. Difficult to do. And then I got to the counter and it was as though a giant stopper had been removed from my brain, because the talking started. It started and I just couldn’t stop.

“I have some parcel returns! How are you? This is weird isn’t it? What happens to the protective screen once you don’t need it anymore, it would make great secondary glazing hahaha! So how many people a day come in do you think, I just need proof of postage for that one, thankfully they pay for the returns otherwise I’d be bankrupt because I pretty much do all my shopping online now, I expect most people do, which is good in some ways but not great in others. Alexa Chung was in here the other day wasn’t she? Did you serve her or do you know who she is, what is she doing here, everyone says you’re the man to ask because you know all the gossip!”

Honestly. The phrase verbal diarrhoea doesn’t even cover it. It was dysentery. Thank God for the protective screens, that’s all I can say. Even with the perspex barrier in place the shop volunteers (yes, they volunteer to serve morons like me, the mind boggles) were ducking beneath the counter, such was the ferocity of my stream of absolute crap.

…

“Please pop the parcel on the scales,” said the post office volunteer, which put an end to my impromptu monologue. There was a moment of awkward silence as he printed out the labels and busied himself with sticking them to the jiffy bag but then, scandal, a second customer entered the shop! Ignoring the queueing system and the one-in-one-out rule! They just marched straight up to the counter beside me and plonked down a loaf of bread.

How could I have been prepared for such a flouting of the guidelines? I’d prepared myself so well. Tied a silken scarf around my face like a luxury goods version of Butch Cassidy, queued outside on the road, to my absolute peril, and now – just as casual as you like – I was faced with a potential super-spreader. What’s the protocol for that then?

My parcel-returning finished, I was presented with the challenge of exiting the shop without going closer to the perpetrator than the prescribed two metres. Seeing as though the entire shop is around four metres square, I saw that it was impossible. It was like one of those Mensa puzzles they give to particularly bright children at primary school (just me? Oh lol! Sorry!) where you have to move the pieces about to get the square to the exit. Or something.

Anyway, the woman with the bread wasn’t bothered about distancing herself whatsoever and had started a conversation about deer hounds, so I was forced to plan my escape around her. But then the worst thing of all happened: she decided to use the post office counter! WHERE I WAS ALREADY STANDING!

“Excuse me,” she smiled. “If you’ve finished, I’ll just slide on over.”

Well this was a conundrum. The sliding over part sounded vaguely terrifying, but the bigger problem was where to put my body. I couldn’t very well disappear myself and there was no clear path past the super-sliding spreader – even without social distancing the passing of the two ships would have been tight.

She began her slide. What to do? Crash backwards through the bank of freshly baked goods? Send the Bakewells scattering, the sausage rolls tumbling from their pastry pyramid? Or should I Klinsmann-dive sideways over the tower of eggs and the boxes of potatoes? Neither option was favourable – it was the sort of evasive action you’d take if you were about to be steamrollered by an out of control lorry. Overkill, it could be labelled.

I settled, instead, for panic. I manically sidestepped one way and then the other, waving my hands in the air, looking for all the world like a crab on amphetamines. A bandit crab, complete with face mask, absolutely off its shellfishy tits, dancing to a song only it could hear.

The slider-spreader pressed herself closer to the counter, possibly out of sheer terror and I managed to side-crab my way past the baked goods and out towards the door. Another customer was about to enter, again flagrant disregard for the rules, but backed out with a look of surprise and horror as they saw the human bandit-crab side-lunging towards the exit. One eyeshadow’d, wonky-nipped, neckerchief slipping to reveal a mean, anxious mouth: small children wept, a border terrier whimpered, a man parking his bicycle stealthily hooked his leg back over the saddle and pedalled away to safety.

Haven’t been in to the shops again, obviously. You? How’s your lockdown going?

Photo by Felipe Portella on Unsplash

The post Bandit Crab appeared first on A Model Recommends.

©2020 " Bandit Crab published first on https://medium.com/@SkinAlley

[thepalladiantraveler]

Despite his dream of building a capital city along the banks of the Potomac River and unlike the real estate cliché “George Washington slept here,” America’s first president never once laid his head down on a pillow within the District of Columbia, aka Washington, DC. The closest he ever got was a good night’s sleep at his homestead in nearby Mount Vernon, VA.

Some 228 years later, our nation’s capital welcomes more than 22 million visitors a year. A world-class city embedded with a vibrant history, spectacular monuments, outstanding museums, plentiful parks, lush gardens and exceptional chef-driven cuisine, Washington, DC is well worth a visit. But, don’t just take my word for it, join me as I take the lens cap off and document this monumental city originally planned by Pierre L’Enfant.

For starters, there’s the Smithsonian Institution, a collection of 19 massive, artifacts-filled museums and galleries and the National Zoo, many standing shoulder-to-shoulder on either side of the two-mile long National Mall, “America’s front yard.” Art, history –– natural and chronicled –– science, and red-white-and-blue ingenuity to rocket into space, are all on display inside these titanic buildings. And, the best part? Entry is absolutely free for we, the people.

Bookending the Mall is the Capitol Building at the eastern end, where the legislative branches of government apply their checks and balances atop old Jenkins’ Hill, and the awe-inspiring Lincoln Memorial, where Honest Abe sits in deep contemplation at the western edge along the banks of the Potomac. And, smack dab in the middle of it all stands the Washington Monument, a 555-foot marble obelisk — the tallest structure in the District — honoring the “Father of His Country” that’s encircled by 56 American flags, one for each state along with the five territories and the District of Columbia.

Our historical walk around the Mall also includes a bevy of memorials: Jefferson, Vietnam and Korean War Veterans, Martin Luther King, Jr., FDR and World War II. Join the lengthy queue to get inside the National Archives to view  John Hancock’s John Hancock on the Declaration of Independence, along with the Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights. Book way in advance for access to the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the newest venue on the Mall. Spend an entire day exploring the myriad of exhibitions at the National Galleries of Art and Portrait. Reach for the sky and the stars beyond at the National Air and Space Museum. And, stop long enough to smell the plant life inside the US Botanic Garden.

The United States is a cultural melting pot and its capital reflects the nation’s sea-to-shining-sea international roots. Heavily influenced by Egyptian, Greek, Roman, medieval European and 19th-century French architecture, wherever you look, especially up, you’ll see an abundance of tall columns, massive domes and the occasional flying buttress. From the White House to the U.S. Capitol, from the Washington Monument to the Library of Congress, from Union Station to the National Cathedral, a simple stroll around architecturally impressive DC alone is well worth the airfare. Right?

The District’s a showcase of American performance arts and is home to such iconic venues as the National Theatre and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

In the early 20thcentury, jazz music had a dizzying effect here as DC natives, like Duke Ellington, played the night away on stages up and down famed U Street. Years later, homegrown go-go, a blend of funk, R&B and hip-hop set the beat around clubs and out on the street.

And, let’s not forget that John Philip Souza came marching down Pennsylvania Avenue at the dawn of the 1900s leading the Marine Corps Band, the oldest musical group in the US. Today, Souza’s iconic march music is one of the highlights at the annual A Capitol Fourth, the national Independence Day celebration that unfolds at twilight on the West Lawn of Capitol Hill.

The White House, Congress and the Supreme Court, the three pillars of the US government, all punch their clocks here, while the Pentagon, the State Department, the World Bank and embassies from almost every corner of the globe float around their orbit. Power, those that carry it and those eager to wrestle it away, is why DC emits such a 24/7/365 buzz. Can you feel it?

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Washingtonians, all 700,000+ of them, know full well the difference between the city itself and the District of Columbia, aka “inside the beltway.”

Beyond the high profile attractions, the city, all 68 square miles of it, is made up of small, distinctive neighborhoods where normal folk live and breathe; where restaurants, cafes, bars and nightclubs are hopping; where Ubers are hailed and bicycles and electric scooters are shared via smartphone apps, and one of the cleanest metro systems in the world moves the populace quickly; and, where friends share a laugh, like my DC-based fam, on colorful row-house front porches or on terraces atop apartment complexes with fab views of their fair city spread out below.

While we’re here, let’s grab some cutlery and tuck in to one of the country’s hottest food scenes. The District is a can’t-miss epicurean destination touted by the likes of Bon Appétit, the Michelin Guide and Zagat, and where celebrity chefs like José Andrés, Tim Ma and Marjorie Meek-Bradley conjure up their culinary wizardry.

From food magazine-worthy dishes created and plated at coveted tables around Penn Quarter, to local favorite half-smokes served at a 24-hour diner up in Adams Morgan, to one-stop grazing at foodie mecca Union Market, just about every kitchen on the planet is represented within DC.

Regardless of your crave one thing is certain, it’s all delectable no matter where you dine. Uh, I’ll have the Maryland crab cake sandwich topped with crispy bacon, please.

With loads of attractions and activities for every visitor, budget-minded and value-added, Washington, DC is teeming with a good-time vibe. Affording unmatched free access to museums, monuments and memorials and one-of-a-kind events, like the National Cherry Blossom Festival, not to mention five pro sports teams — Redskins, Nationals, Wizards, Capitals and DC United — the District is in a class all by itself.

Washington, DC, America’s monumental city that our first commander-in-chief envisioned, is all grown up now. I’m just happy that you let me show you around.

©ThePalladianTraveler

________________________________________________

  Washington, DC: America’s Monumental City Despite his dream of building a capital city along the banks of the Potomac River and unlike the real estate cliché “George Washington slept here,” America's first president never once laid his head down on a pillow within the District of Columbia, aka Washington, DC.

[tipsntravel4u]

10 Of The Best Char Koay Teow In Penang

Penang Malaysia advice.

The following article was shared by Penang Foodie. They will regularly supply you with materials of the very best quality and are therefore without doubt one of my current must-follow writers. I think you’ll get something out of it.

Char Koay Teow, the ultimate MUST-HAVE food in Penang. It’s the food that defines Penang. People travel miles and miles just to taste that oily, charred, dark soy sauce glazed flat noodle. If you did not try char koay teow when in Penang, you have not visited Penang.

Top 10 Best Char Koay Teow in Penang

While there are many places for char koay teow in Penang, only true locals know the best. So, whether you’re a local or tourist, you need this list. Embrace the heritage (food) of Penang guys.

#1 Siam Road Char Koay Teow

Cr: @pisces_4u

The go-to place when it comes to char koay teow in Penang, it’s no secret that they’re the best in town. Did you know the 76-year-old uncle has upped his game? The once roadside stall off Siam Road has now got its own shop, still in Siam Road. That means better environment and longer queue foodies. Expect at least an hour wait during peak hours. Hard work all pays off when you taste the charcoal-flamed, dark-sauce, oil-glazed flavorful plate of flat rice noodle filled with wok hei.

Credit: @terrenceliew

Cr: @hearmac

Credit: @kelvinding23

Address: 82, Jalan Siam, George Town, 10400 George Town, Pulau Pinang. Operating Hour: 12 p.m.-5 p.m. (Closed on Sundays&Mondays)

#2 Tiger Char Koay Teow

Cr: @cheowchincheow

One of the pioneers of char koay teow in Penang, the name originates from the owner who has a nickname of “ah hor” which means tiger in Hokkien. Ask anyone about CKT and they would recommend Tiger Char Koay Teow besides the Siam Road. Fueled with wok hei and adequate flavors and ingredient, you’ll find yourself loving this plate of oily goodness. Their prawns are juicy and plump which justifies the price, unlike some other places.

Credit: @nutpreeya

Cr: @blueskiescottonclouds

Credit: @addymcfly

Address: 179, Lebuh Carnarvon, George Town, 10450 George Town, Pulau Pinang. Operating Hour: 8 a.m.-2:30 p.m. (Daily)

#3 Cecil Street Market 七条路巴刹

Cr: @pqnoms

The secret to a good plate of char koay teow in Penang not only lies within the sauces, but also the wok hei. Charcoal-fired food always tastes better, especially when it comes to char koay teow. Sadly, not every char koay teow in Penang uses charcoal as fuel. Tucked in Cecil Street Market is this charcoal-flamed duck egg koay teow. Friendly uncle, flavorful koay teow especially with duck egg, the price is a lot cheaper compared to other places. Don’t get confused it’s located towards the end of the food section.

Credit: @lincolnogram

Cr: @limchinlee79

Credit: @clintonmak

Address: 40-48, Lebuh Cecil, George Town, 10300 George Town, Pulau Pinang. Operating Hour: (Market) 7:30 a.m.-7 p.m. (Daily)

#4 Sany Char Koay Teow

Cr: @nuyuiffa

A lot of you are skeptical when it comes to halal char koay teow because the lack of pork lard. Well Sany is here to prove you wrong. Sany breaks the common by serving ‘char koay teow basah’. Flat rice noodles drenched in Sany’s famous sauce, together with its rich prawn stock. They’re not stingy on their prawns too, big and juicy. Besides that, you can also find Western Food and other delicacies here at Sany.

Credit: @soadah85

Cr: @eidaceria

Credit: @hidshukor

Address:  4, Lorong Mahsuri 2, Bayan Baru, 11950 Bayan Lepas, Pulau Pinang. Operating Hour: 7 p.m.-12 a.m. (Daily)

#5 Bukit Mertajam Duck Egg Char Koay Teow

Cr: @thatjames

Yes, the known-to-fame char koay teow thanks to the use of duck egg, this humble stall set in Bukit Mertajam serves some really good plate of char koay teow. Who says all the good food is in the island? Piping hot plate of dark and light soy sauce coated noodle served and not-fried-together duck egg is divine. They’re so popular Georgetown has a “franchise.” But please, just stick to the original one, even if it means to cross the bridge just to get a taste of it. You also this Penang Street Food Video tour.

Credit: @sashu86

Cr: @alfredokee

Credit: @alfredokee

Address:  Jalan Pasar, 14000 Bukit Mertajam, Pulau Pinang. Operating Hour: 7 p.m.-12 a.m. (Daily)

#6 New Cathay Kopitiam

Cr: @ivytanfiesta

Who says you can’t have char koay teow for breakfast? New Cathay Coffee Shop is a popular breakfast spot flocked with locals every day. Besides their wan than mee, curry mee and roti babi, their char koay toew is also a highlight. Decent portion of lip-smacking rice noodle fried with generous amount of pork lard and bean sprout, what could go wrong? Visit before 2 p.m. as the coffee shop only serves until lunch. Parking is also a problem but hey, all for the good char koay teow in Penang.

Credit: @kevin_n_kim

Cr: @yeongboon

Credit: @1878naw

Address: 425, Jalan Burma, Pulau Tikus, 10350 George Town, Pulau Pinang. Operating Hour: 7 a.m.-2 p.m. (Closed on Sundays)

#7 Char Kuey Teow Parit/ Longkang

Cr: @ahmadmus14

We all know famous char koay teow in Penang is dark, dry, oily and with pork lards, cockles and prawn. But don’t forget Malaysia is made up of different cultures and races, our Muslim friends couldn’t have it which is a dud. Never mind because they have their own version of char koay teow, and it’s delicious as well. Char Kuey Teow Parit got its name from where it’s located, beside a drain. Rice noodles drenched in thick prawn broth and topped with a fried egg, thumbs up. We did a video on this CKT earlier this year, so click in for some visuals!

Credit: @xamiersx

Cr: @aisyahinsanul

Credit: @izzatnazry

Address: Jalan Mahsuri, Bandar Bayan Baru, 11900 Bayan Lepas, Pulau Pinang. Operating Hour: (Tues-Sun) 8:30 p.m.-5 a.m. (Sat) 8:30 p.m.-12 a.m.

#8 Ah Leng Char Koay Teow

Cr: @lancetaey

Another famous char koay teow in Penang nestled in Air Itam, expect at least half an hour wait for their char koay teow. It’s normal in Penang to queue for good local food. While Ah Leng’s noodle might be a little wetter than the regular CKT, their prawns are huge. You either go for the regular, large or special which comes with mantis prawns. They also have duck egg option, with extra charge of course. You can try some of the best sea foods in Penang.

Credit: @milkniunai92

Cr: @yujian12

Credit: @carla_supit

Address: Jalan Dato Keramat, Kampung Makam, 10150 George Town, Pulau Pinang. Operating Hour: 9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. (Closed on Wednesdays)

#9 Sister’s Char Koay Teow

Cr: @lilyteguh94

If you’re looking for a good plate of char koay teow in Penang but want to avoid the long queue, try out Sister’s at Macalister Road. While they’ve changed the operator, we find that the taste is still acceptable. Less oily, but still packs a punch. Topped with crab meat which is rare, so try it and find which one suits you best.

Credit: @chrisninowi

Photo by Grand Inn

Credit: @bella_azzurri

Address: 185, Jalan Macalister, George Town, 11400 George Town, Pulau Pinang. Operating Hour: 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. (Closed on Mondays)

#10 Song River Char Koay Teow

Cr: @trace_my_steps_2018

We didn’t know this place serves char koay teow until our foodie friend told us about it. Known for being a breakfast spot and famous roasted chicken wing during the night, turns out their Song River char koay teow is also a thing among the neighbourhood. This infamous stall is run by an uncle who passionately cooks his char koay teow. it has all the flavors and ingredients of what a good char koay teow in Penang.

Credit: @susiekoh

Cr: @christianlanguyu

Address: No. 65, Persiaran Gurney, 10250, George Town, Pulau Pinang. Operating Hour: 7 a.m.-3 a.m. (Daily)

Read also: Top 20 Cafe In Penang 2018

Join Penang Foodie Group!

Foodies, before you leave, come join our New Private Community Group! Feel free to ask questions, share your love for food, and explore the Penang community! We will also regularly post about casual promos and latest findings. Click on the image below and hunt good food with us today!

First seen here: Penang Foodie

Hope you valued the info that they shared. You can find very similar articles on our main site: https://whatsonpenang.com

Let me have your views down below, leave a quick comment and let us know which subjects you would like us to cover in upcoming blog posts.

[syco-friend]

Do it for him.........

[rabiewana]

Love Intensifies

Hye all! I’m now in KTM Commuter, heading towards Bangi for my Phd project discussion with my field supervisor at Malaysian Nuclear Agency. It’s a usual morning with many people rushing to their workplace through these hectic streets. My Baby Boo just got back from her house at Pasir Mas and she’s sleeping at the moment due to her 9-hour tiring bus trip. I have a meeting at 10 am, but now it’s 8.21 am — I have already arrived at  KTM Salak Selatan Station. I think I’ll arrive there too early, and I hate waiting! Anyway, I am too excited to see my Boo this afternoon and we’ll be having iftar together soon at Subang Parade (as planned).

I’m on a commuter train, exploring thoughts about my Boo. I am writing this sincerely for you, Syazwana. I always wanted to be different from others, especially your ex. I always wanted to tell her that I love her so much. She is a good girl and I never met a girl like her where she knows me inside-out (more or less) and she accepted me the way I am. Frankly, I always think of her most of the time. And yes, our love intensifies since I met her mum a few days ago.

I was so nervous when meeting her mum because I thought that her mum is a super strict person. Her mum is a traffic police sergeant. Many people claim that policemen are strict and fierce. Plus, I have encountered many policemen through roadblocks. Most of the time they look smart, strict and fierce with their loaded gun and embroideries. Fortunately, my Boo’s mum is a nice and a polite person, and we had fruitful conversations together. There you go, the picture of me, my Boo and her mum:

  Last Thursday, 25th May 2017, me and my Boo were heading towards Pasir Mas. My Boo started her journey from Shah Alam and I started my journey from Penang. I arrived earlier than my Boo. Because Kelantan and KL are quite far compared to Penang. While waiting for her, I’ve had several conversations with the teksi uncles wandering at the waiting area. Whenever a bus arrives at the station, these uncles will queue at the bus exit door asking the bus passengers whether they need a taxi service. I also joined them whenever a bus from KL arrived at the station. I’ve joined them queuing in front of the bus door, hoping that my Boo will pop out from the bus. My Boo didn’t tell me which bus she was in at first, but after a few trials of waiting for her in front of the bus, she finally gave me her bus trip number —  ‘B16′. Finally, we both met at Pasir Mas bus station around 5 am, Friday 26th. She looks tired and sick. But yeah, she usually looks sick after disembarking from any long bus journeys. But to me, she always looks absolutely gorgeous, because to me there is no reason why she’s not beautiful. I am not sure what’s on her made me feel that way. I think it’s not only her physical appearance that makes she looks gorgeous, but it's my attraction, affection, and passion towards my lovely Boo!

Her mum fetched us from the bus station. Her mum has just finished her 24-hour shift. I was quite nervous because I thought that her mum might not be in a good mood, well yeah, you know what could happen if you mess with a tired person. Fortunately, her mum isn’t that bad though, and her mum is talkative and that changed my perception about her moody mum! I started to realised that her mum is a cool policewoman, and she talks politely. Finally, we arrived at my Boo’s house around 6 am. My Boo’s and her mum prepared the room for me for getting a rest, and I have been given the chance to rest in my Boo’s room! She has never been using the room because she claimed that the room was very hot during daytime. Fair enough. 

In her room, I got the opportunity to look at her MSU sports gold medals. There are her high school assignment files for physics and biology as well. The thing is, I got the opportunity to see whether she is a lazy high school girl or not.  But she’s not, except that there are a few incomplete exercises in her assignment. There is also a picture of her on the make-up table. She is so sweet and I was like a melting popsicle! The room is very tidy, and it tells that she has never been using the room at all.

Early in that morning, her mum has to get back to work for on-call duty. It was just me, my Boo and her younger sister at home. I like the way my Boo treated me at that time. Her treatment clearly shows that she is a caring type of person. She gave me a bottle of water and a mug, face cleanser, and also her hand made Kopia snacks. Whenever I request her for something, she will leave the stuff on the stair. I wonder if she is my wife, she will treat me better than that! She cooked for me nasi goreng telur, one of my favourite food when I was a young kid. She prepared them in a proper way, she scooped the rice for me and I felt like I am the only King of Her Heart. I knew that she was very tired, but she managed to treat me well! I love you so much, Nana! The thing is, I didn’t expect her to treat me that way because I love her unconditionally. But since she treated me that way, I am so happy and she will always be the best in my heart! That is considered as her attribute though. In conclusion, she is caring. After that, I went back upstairs and had a nap.

A couple of hours later, she came to my room and woke me up. Her mum wanted to bring all of us out for lunch. We went to several places for eating. Unfortunately, all of her mum’s favourite restaurants were closed. We ended up eating nasi campur, somewhere in Kota Bharu, and the foods were just fine. I had several conversations with my Boo’s mum. We built the communication and we started to know each other from that moment. We went back home after lunch. When we arrived at the home, my Boo sent me to the nearby mosque for Friday prayer. My Boo and her mum didn’t allow me to walk to the mosque as the weather was quite hot on that day. After the Friday prayer, I decided to walk to my Boo’s house. The weather was OK to me, and it was my intention to walk back to her house because I really wanted to get the feeling of being a kampung guy. I like the environment of that area — Kg. Parit Cina, Salor. I love to see all of those hawkers by the road, and there are a few paddy fields at the side of the road. That area is calm and I could feel the breeze coming from the paddy fields. I love to see those uncles wearing kain pelikat while riding their motorcycle back home from the Friday prayer. 

I finally arrived at my Boo’s house, after hundreds of steps walking from the mosque. I was a bit exhausted, and my Boo offered me a glass of water. Her mum was sleeping at that time because she hasn't had enough sleep after her 24-hour shift. I had the opportunity to spend my time with my Boo at the living room. We enjoyed many jokes by me and by herself. It was really a sweet moment. I like when my Boo threw her pillow on my face because I can feel the bonding between us! A few minutes later, my Boo’s aunt came and that woke my Boo’s mum from her sleep. We had several conversations together and I built the communication between me and my Boo’s mum and also my Boo’s aunt. For some reason, I felt so comfortable with my Boo’s family and that makes me wanna join their family. When my Boo’s aunt and her husband left my Boo’s house, I started to feel that her mum started to feel comfortable with me, because she responded to my questions in a very warm way. 

A couple of hours later, my Boo, my Boo’s mum, my Boo’s younger sister, and I went out for dinner. It was around 4.30pm, and it is quite early for dinner. We went to an exclusive restaurant namely, JL Fara Crab, a seafood restaurant offering ‘shell-out’ menu. The menu is quite pricey, and I offered my Boo’s mum to split the bill with me later, but she refused to do so. She said that I am like her son because my age is more or less the same with her lovely daughter, my Boo! I was like, yeah, fair enough. I was so happy when my Boo’s mum said to me “please be comfortable with us, and just call me ummi”. I was like “yes! I made it!”. That means that my main objective going to Kelantan is a success. I was so happy. When I looked into my Boo’s eyes, I could see that her love towards me is growing more and more. Same goes for me! I love my Boo, Syazwana, freaking damn so much. By knowing her family members brought us closer. I never had this kind of experience before. In conclusion, I like the way they treat me. They seem to welcome me in a warm way. My Boo’s mum even offered me and my mum to go to Kelantan and see them again. From that moment, I realised that they are the down-to-earth type of person. I’m in love with them! While having conversations, we had delicious foods and I highly recommend you guys to try JL Fara Crab seafood because the taste is nice.

After having fruitful conversations with my Boo’s family, we finally made our way back home. We arrived at my Boo’s home around 7 pm. We went to my Boo’s aunt ‘s house,  and I met her aunt’s family members for saying goodbye. I had a few conversations with her aunt’s family members, especially my Boo’s uncle. He is a kind of a nice and cool guy because he was treating me like his olde mate. Once I say goodbye to them, I walked back home with my Boo’s family back home. I rushed for preparing myself for my next trip to my home, KL, because the bus to KL departs at 8.30pm. Once I was ready, I had some short conversation with my Boo’s mum. I was so happy when my Boo’s mum invited me and my mum to visit them again.

My Boo and her younger sister sent me to the bus station. I was a bit sad because I was about to leave my Boo and her family. Then I started to realise that I am very comfortable with their small family, and I wish that I could join them — to be my Boo’s husband in the future. While waiting for the bus to depart, I had several conversations with my Boo and her younger sister. They are humorous and soothing. From that moment, I started to realise that, it is possible to fall in love again and again. And there is no such thing as “love you most” because loving someone for nothing is never ending and has no limit. You can fall for someone endlessly. My love towards my Boo is growing endlessly. And our love is unity and it intensifies up to no limit.

 I    L O V E     N U R      S Y A Z W A N A      S O     M U C H!

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tag dump

ooc;; Peachy

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MOVIE 1 VERSE;; BASICS OF A BARISTA MOVIE 2 VERSE;; MEAN BEAN MACHINIST MOVIE 3 VERSE;; END OF THE WORLD

MAIN VERSE;; EGGMAN-LAND’S PERSONAL LAP DOG GAME VERSE;; LATTE SHAKER COMIC VERSE;; READ THE MANUEL

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Dash Comm;; Live Stream Broadcast

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My art;; Its beautiful Doctor

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Anon Ask;; I'm not telling you anything

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NSFW;; Search History

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PSA;; Do NOT reblog

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Reblog;; Spacious and Crustaceous

Promo;; He's Back!

Ask Starter;; Taking Orders

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Crack;; Goat Milker

Queue;; Please. Join me in the Crab

Relationships;; Best Of Friends