#i'm glad the shelter is really nice and took the time to take his things and give him his blanket from home to settle in the quarantine cag

[n3ongold3n]

little portrait i needed to get out of my system

we brought maurice back to the shelter yesterday because the situation was just unbearable for every creature in the household. even after having all his teeth fixed, he did not improve with marking inside the house up to 8 times a day and it's become just obvious that he is so frustrated with not having other social cats around because clips and walter are grouchy little loners towards him. we are so incredibly sad about it, it hurts so bad we had to resort to this last option but eventually i hope he can find another family who loves him as much as us with cats who love his funny lovely little character as well. he deserves the world and being pampered and loved.

[italoniponic]

Dear Freckles | Rook Hunt

Synopsis: When you have to help Rook clean his face, you finally discover that he has freckles underneath his foundation. It was simple but also a very nice little detail about him. One of a lot of reasons why you loved him.

Rook Hunt x gender neutral reader / established relationship / fluff / mention of science club / 750 words / use of “you” pronouns 

Notes: The problem when some mutuals love a character is that you slowly understand why that character torments them night and day. In this specific case, I'm looking directly at you @pandoa dear! Dedicated to you <3 Hope you all enjoy this short story! 

Dear Freckles

“How are you, lovely Trickster? I hope you don’t mind but this humble hunter is seeking your services at the moment. How can I say this? I’m in trouble,” Rook said, his chuckle soft like the song of a nightingale in the morning.

You would’ve laughed along if he wasn’t covered head to toe by a strange and unknown liquid, recently dismissed from the Science Club day’s activities. It was by chance that you met your boyfriend in the hallway.

But, maybe, it was actually really fate. Probably because he was at risk of being attacked in Pomefiore before he could step foot in the dorm state — and you couldn’t even blame them for this. In that moment, Rook was the stamp face of dirtiness, despite his own good humor. 

As you two took shelter in a bathroom that was rarely used in the castle’s tower, Rook told you about the experience he was conducting at the club and the fantastic yellow explosion it caused.

He went on a narration detailed enough that you could almost see the scene as if you were there. Though, honestly, that was making it difficult to help clean his clothes and face without you constantly breaking into chuckles. And Rook didn’t even understand why you wanted to stay stoic-ish like that.

Were you trying to reprimand him for being a dreamy scientist? He was just a little curious by nature. Science knows no limits to the imagination. And, last but not least, you looked much prettier with a free, big smile playing on your lips.

At one point, you both sat down on the floor — shiny and clean, just like the room around — and you continued with the hour-long task of running wet cloth over Rook’s face to remove the yellow liquid remains. 

Surprise surely hit you when a bit of his skin foundation came off along with it. Lucky for you, he kept his eyes closed, leaving you alone to enjoy the fascination of the moment.

Underneath the yellow liquid and hidden by one of Twisted Wonderland’s best skincare products were some freckles. You swallowed hard to complete your work until his face was completely clean. Every passing second you discovered new spots in Rook’s cheekbones that were splattered with the natural ink of the Hunt family’s genes. 

Nothing but small freckles, yet it gave Rook a special touch that you had never imagined he could have. And you already thought him to be the most handsome man in the whole world.

You were brave enough to throw hands with a combo attack of Vil and Neige’s fans if you had to!

Perhaps the discovery was the greatest advocate for the intensity of your fascination. You wondered how long it would take before you found out that Rook had other secrets beneath his surface. At the same time, taking things slow seemed more fun and productive. You would have more time to enjoy each little revelation as if it were the most important thing of your day. 

You could play around comparing and imagining two or more versions of Rook in your head, all to come to the inevitable conclusion that you loved him in every possible way. Any and every Rook was your Rook. 

“Trickster? Any problem?,” the boy in question suddenly inquired, still with his eyes closed.

However, you had a feeling that Rook could see better beyond your momentary pause than if he was with his eyes wide open.

“Nothing, mon cher,” you replied, glad the use of French had melted and distracted him soon enough. Always worked just fine. “Um, actually... Rook?”

“Oui?,” Rook opened his eyes and smiled.

But his gaze grew in surprise when you suddenly held his face in your hands. A delicate and careful gesture, full of devotion. It no longer seemed right for any of you to simply act as if all that was nothing.

“I just want to say that… you’re very handsome. In any way and shape. I’m glad the Beautiful Queen is dead, or I would have to duel with her to have your heart, o’ handsomest of all,” you declared, gallantly.

You felt a little embarrassed to put those thoughts into words, but Rook’s smile didn’t fail to elicit in you a giggle. He held your hand and kissed the back of your palm, invigorated by your sudden surge of romanticism, feeling a little warm in his freckled face himself.

“And you’re all that I’ve been wishing most, my amour.”

Special Notes: I’m wishing~ for the one I love~ my trickster~ my dear~ Ok Rook. Now get out of my head!! And remember, Savana Rook and Pome Rook are just two sides of the same coin. It’s just a matter of outfits at this point, so pls love him dearly. If not for him, for me!

[turvi]

Promises-2

For the first time in months, Y/n was somehow able to get a fully rested sleep. Severus had a spare room for her that he used to store ingredients and utensils for his potions. The room had a small library filled stacked with books from up to bottom and one small bed that was lit by moonlight.

Despite all the things Severus had stuffed in this room it still had enough space to move around. Severus quickly dusted the bed despite it looking quite clean. It looked like Severus used this room for his restless nights in the company of his favourite books with the moon overlooking him.

"This room can feel stuffy so feel free to open the window" he suggested now standing there fiddling his fingers. Before Y/n could say another word he interrupted

"If you need anything feel free to ask me I am up anyways"

Y/n nodded and Severus was out of the room in no time letting Y/n settle down in the new environment. Y/n reminisced about the last time she met Severus and how has not changed a bit, if anything his eyes looks softer than before, kinder, sadder.

She got up from the comforts of his bed, his smell so present it felt like he was there but the cold sheets said otherwise. She thought of making breakfast, it was the least she could do. She had to make herself busy it was the only way to keep her mind from spiraling into dark thoughts.

As she carefully walked down the stairs she saw Severus up and working on a potion on his makeshift table in his room. Guilt filled her heart. She felt like she was taking advantage of Severus while he was just happy with the organically grown ingredients he was using.

She went to the kitchen and saw dishes piled up in the sink. She went ahead and tried to wash them as quietly as she could. Soon she knew shy everyone called Severus a dungeon bat as he sneaked up on her and almost scared her to death.

"I'm sorry Severus I disturbed you" she gasped trying to calm her heartbeat.

"No, you didn't but why are you washing the dishes Y/n"

"You helped me Severus it is only right I help you too"

He sighed and pinched his nose bridge. He thought why can't everyone be just like him. What is the point of being so nice?

"Go sit down I'll make breakfast for you"

"You will not eat?"

"I am already late for school Merlin knows Potter and his little army will make my day hard" he complains to you. He would be lying if he said he didn't like that someone was listening to his complaints. On most days he wished the walls had ears.

"Potter that name sounds familiar"

"Yes he is the son of James and Lily Potter, great people" he snarled

"Really? Oh how lovely" you said thinking he actually meant that

Severus stared into the void questioning his existence. He really asked Merlin today how come he gets to meet such people but then again he never saw you at Hogwarts, he didn't know who you were you were just there.

"Would you mind if I ask you a question?" He asked plating her breakfast. He placed the plate in front of her and sat across from her. It felt weird having company. This felt very intimate yet Severus tried to focus on the question.

"You can" you replied with a sweet smile. Severus never saw you smile. He is glad he did now.

"I never saw you at Hogwarts yet you are somehow connected to its happenings how?"

You took a deep breath. You know you had to tell him. There is no point in hiding it. The man gave you shelter when you needed it the most no question asked. You looked up to see he was waiting patiently.

"I perform ....black magic, my mother taught me, she used it to cure people and it is one of the things that remind me of her. One day a man came by my place. He was pale and very sickly. He told how no healer had been able to heal him. So he was under my shelter until he was back on his feet." You looked back to find Severus still listening to you his finger fidgeting. "He told me his name was Tom Riddle. He was impressed by my skills and told me a powerful witch like me had been using her powers incorrectly," she said wiping away the stray tear that fell down her cheek.

"One stormy night he came back, he killed my mother. He told me I had to be on his side and make him victorious. He tortured me every night since that night and made me use black magic for the wrong purposes." Severus panicked when she started sobbing, he hesitantly held her hand which felt warm against his cold palms.

"I am sorry I didn't mean to hurt you, I just needed to understand your situation"

"It's alright Severus you don't need to apologize I can understand it is just too much and I am scared for the first time in months I felt fully rested last night, usually woken up by a nightmare or just couldn't fall asleep because news got out that the Dark Lord is returning." her voice broke.

Severus looked at the time and now the professors will start asking him questions, but he couldn't leave you like this.

"Would you like to come to Hogwarts? You can sit in the library, we have some creatures I can ask Hagrid to let you meet them, you can sit in my office albeit it can get boring." Severus never thought he would ever get to brag about Hogwarts but he knew you were hurting and thought about things that helped him distract from his harsh reality.

"You wouldn't mind that?" your voice was low and Severus was thankful it was usually quiet in his house.

"Not at all, you can get some sunlight, and meet others, especially Minerva," he added awkwardly he just hoped you were comfortable

"Thank you for being nice to me Severus"

"No Y/n I have to thank you, well now I know how you were able to heal my wounds so quickly, but you wiped my tears and reminded me that I have some good left in me, that I am not the monster everyone thought I was." his breath hitched when you got closer to him not breaking eye contact. Your eyes looked so beautiful under the sunlight Severus thought.

When you touched his arm he flinched but quickly calmed "You are a great man Severus I know it because you regret the mistakes you made and you are willing to correct them"

He nodded and looked away from your eyes "I... uh we need to leave now"

"Sure I will get ready quickly" with that you took the last bite of your breakfast and beelined towards your room. Severus watched you retreat, he wishes he doesn't get attached to you, that won't go well

A/N: REBLOGS AND FEEDBACK IF YOU ENJOYED THIS. TAKE CARE.

[unironicallytes]

Better WIP Than Never 😇✨

Tagged by: @dirty-bosmer @moriche @thegrunkiest

No-Pressure Tagging: @miliabyntite @orfeoarte @touyadraxon @areggo @ulanxxxs @unrepentant-heliocentrism @pyre-of-pages @maskedsthings @yansurnummu (I know some of you have already been tagged, but get tagged again 🫶🏾)

It's WIP Thursday baybeyyy! Since I lacked things to share last week, I sat myself down to work on a bit more of Dear Brother's Ch08. Antoinetta and Zath are still having their murder-horror bonding moments over in Chalman as they take shelter from the rainy night. Here, Antoinetta gets into the depths of her tale, and Zath shows why he's actually a good little cult priest. His advancement wasn't purely due to nepotism after all! Granted, his leadership skills are in indoctrination, but hey, that's what we're all about here in the Dark Brotherhood™️.

(As a specific CW, Antoinetta is vulnerable in talking about her experience with murder, and Zath is actively injecting cult programming in that space.)

“Eventually, that skeever-faced harlot went too far. She took the time to track down where I'd slept the night before, and you know what she did?” Antoinetta glanced up to invite my participation with hollow, haunted eyes. Something in her chest must have been agitated. Perhaps she needed the release of expressing it, of reliving it with another, of being validated for it. Had she not yet indulged in the memory of her kill aloud? Mother’s mercy, it must have only happened during Morning Star. I had forgotten just how quickly she’d progressed through initiation, and it probably didn't have time to settle amidst the rush of becoming Family. After a few seconds of her expectant silence, I prompted her onward. “What’d she do to ye?” My question permitted darkness to flood past an open gate. Pain and seething hatred suddenly twisted her expression. “She took my blankets, my extra clothes, my food, anything she could get her horrible hands on, and she tossed them into the sewers. I couldn't recover much of anything. She left me with nothing, and for what …? For what?” She attempted to steady herself, but I could tell she was quickly coming loose. “She probably thought I'd just leave after that … probably thought that she was untouchable. Just proves how stupid she was, because two can play at that game … I found out where she slept. Then, I … then … when I found her, then I …” Her breath hitched and she trailed into a circle. Seeing her waver, I became an open hand to guide her deeper into the memory's shadow. “What then? How did ye deliver her, sister?” “Then … I drove this blade into her throat.” Antoinetta finally exhaled, and when the sigh became a small titter of relief, I knew I had been right. “She woke up just before, and she struggled, so I held her down, and she looked at me, and I'm glad she did, because she saw me, she saw who I was. I saw the regret in her eyes as she died. She was terrified of me - of me. It felt ... it felt ..." Something else crept within the twitching corners of her lips. Was there lingering guilt for the deed? My duty was to ensure she felt uplifted for it instead. “Exhilarating," I affirmed. "Yes ... yes, like that, I think." "It served her right, lass. Bet she knew then that she’d made a mistake messin’ with ye, hm? Ye did a good thing.” “I did …?” Like she was waking from a dream. “Right, yes, I … suppose I did! I did.” “Aye, take pride. Remember what Sanctifier Vicente taught ye.” I leaned in closer to reassure her. None of my smiles could really be described as warm, but I hoped Antoinetta could read the sincerity in bared shark teeth. “What we do’s just as much a righteous thing as a pleasurable thing. Mother saw how yer blackened heart sent Estaanwe to the Void. Think of how proud she must've felt, seein' how ye turned to her and Father without even knowin’. Impressed her enough to call ye to duty! And that's quite a nice thought, eh?” “Yes, but ... you really think Mother smiled upon me for it?” I held my hands open towards her in Padomaic blessing. Seeming soothed, she reflected the gesture. "With such love, she did."

[tia-amorosa]

Episode 55: Underchallenged

Landgraab Residence

The same evening. It's 7:29 p.m. when Nancy comes home with her young son Marco. “Hi mom, you're home late today”/ "I know, but there were a few things to sort out with the neighbors. Have you eaten dinner yet?“/ ”Yes, Dad made sandwiches".

"Sandwiches? You know that white bread is hard on the stomach in the evening, Gerhard“/ ”At least it had a healthy topping with cucumber, tomato and a bit of ham. Don't worry… he won't get a stomach ache”/ ”That's the doctor talking, hn, all right. I'll put the little one to bed". … “Now just the last task”/ “why didn't you finish it earlier?”.

"Because I really wanted to look at the anthill outside after school. Did you know that ants also hibernate?“/ ”Yes, just like some other animals. Try to do your homework after school next time anyway. It's late now“/ ”I know, it's no big deal".

“No, certainly not,” Gerhard murmured quietly. His cold has now subsided, but he is still on sick leave for a few more days. That frustrated him a lot. Since he had been living with his family in Evansdale County, he had been able to practise medicine again. After all, Morgana sent him an e-mail with insights into the new patient files.

It wasn't too long ago that Marco had his birthday. For a long time there was some disagreement about the name, but at some point the name Marco came up in a conversation and it was a done deal. "No, we're going to sleep now, you must be dead tired already, you've played so much today. Tomorrow again, okay?".

Even in the recent past, Nancy was used to a different standard of living. She had a huge house, a housekeeper who took care of everything. So she was able to devote herself fully to her work. She now also has a permanent job again, but the house is a few sizes smaller. Nevertheless, she is happy to have a roof over her head at all.

It has become a ritual for Nancy and her husband to have a little chat before going to bed. Even if it's only about trivial things. “So, how are the new neighbors?”/ "oh, quite nice. We had a good afternoon and evening together. Marco certainly had a lot of fun there"

“By the way, I read on the net today that Nick wants to have a homeless shelter built, do you know anything about that?”/ "Oh yes, it's been under discussion for a while and has finally been pushed through. I know what you're thinking… He's probably joined the Samaritans now."

"But I really have the impression that he's slowly developing into a better person. He was a changed man when he came back from the trip to Hidden Springs. ". Gerhard nodded. "When I think back to the old days… You were both in the same position in your company. Oh, and you fought each other almost to the death every time, each wanting to be better than the other…“/ ”Today I don't want to be in a high position anymore. I'm fed up of having to control everything. I like my desk job".

“Your mother had a great influence on you, even after her death…”/ "Mhm…that's true. But the era of our family business is definitely over.“/ ”But you always wanted our son to take over the company at some point". Nancy smiled a little and looked towards the window. "You can see for yourself that he's not very interested in numbers… he'd rather be out in nature with Sam. I'm glad he has such a good friend".

"That's true. And he hasn't really been ill since we got here“/ ”I'm not as worried as I used to be. Tell me… Are you still having trouble with my last name?“/”No, why?“/”Well, my mother insisted that you take it so that the name Landgraab stays.".

"No, I no longer have any problems with it. on the contrary. ' "hn, Dr. Landgraab, when I'm called like this in hospital, I know that I'm taken seriously. I always wanted to be a doctor. And doctors with the name Flemming are a dime a dozen. Hn… Let's go to sleep now". Meanwhile… “I've finally caught the reind ones”

"Marco is still too little to play outside with me and Sam. I'll show him the anthill later when he's bigger. Tomorrow morning I'll release the fireflies again. I just wanted to watch them so much. Insects are really cool. Oh man, I have to sleep too, otherwise there'll be trouble, but it'll soon be the weekend again“. . In fact, two more sleeps.

Malcolm sat down on his bed and looked over at his brother again. He still remembered the day his mother told him that he was going to have a sibling. The joy hasn't changed. Only the little disturbances are sometimes a bit annoying. “Good night, Marco”. Harmonious family life with the Landgraabs. Hopefully Gerhard will soon be able to take part fully in the hospital again.

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

@greenplumbboblover , @solorisims , @honeywinesims ⭐

[whump-place]

Adopted.

6-Tea time.

Masterlist.

Content: Pet Whumpee, soft whump, comfort.

Theo took a sip of his morning tea. It was delicious, as always.

Liam was kneeling down next to him, waiting for him to say it was good. As he did everyday.

"It's really good, Liam. Thank you so much."

"It's nothing, Master. Please let me know if you need me for anything else."

"I think I'm all good, thank you." It has been a long way until Theo managed to get Liam to just kneel when he was taking his tea instead of pressing his head to the floor, now he did it almost naturally. "And how are you? I remember that the new little guy tried to help you past week, wasn't it sweet?"

Theo knew what Liam thought about him bringing in people that were from a shelter or from the streets, and he did his best to erase that set of thinking. The one that he got from his former mistress.

"It was, Master. They are..." Theo saw the struggling to get out the words.

Was it a good sign? Maybe Liam was going to say something mean, which was the most probable thing, but still Theo dared to hope he would say something nice. Something to show he was improving...

"Kind of a good Pet."

Theo almost jumped out of his seat. That was the most kind thing Liam ever said to a new sibling, even when it has been a really short time since they were brought home.

"I'm glad to hear that. I know you have a good eye with these kinds of things."

Even though he never said it out loud, Theo noticed the way Liam's ears turned red at the praise.

I has been a long time since he brought home a new person to help, but he was sure he would manage to. After all, it had worked out well until now, and Theo knew Liam's opinion was the most important for the others to follow.

"Ah..."

"Is something wrong, Master?"

"No, no. Don't worry. It's just... Maybe it's time to give them a name, don't you think?" It was now or never, it would be easier if Liam just agreed without a problem now, because if he said no then Leo and Star would make a big deal out of this.

"I... Yes, Master. I'll go right away to buy them a collar and a plate as soon as they have a name."

It was just impossible to resit right now. Theo got down from his seat and knelt down next to Liam to hug him.

He was improving so much, he was really getting better!

"M-master!"

For the first time, Liam didn't even try to push him away. He didn't hug him back, but that was okay, baby steps until he was ready.

This is working, it's not just a waste of time. Helping them to get better wasn't a selfish wish, if Theo could at least get a smile out of them, after all they had to endure, it was worth it.

---

If anyone wants to be added to the taglist please let me know :)

Taglist:

@otterfrost

@risk606

@octopus-reactivated

@sola-whumping

@watermelons-dont-grow-on-trees

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@taterswhump

[notsoblackandwhite101]

I love your fic. So glad to read new chapter. I also love your worldbuilding. Especially family trees. Honestly, I'm dying to know more about Demelza and David. How did she became kinda snotty yet caring, and whether Dylan knew his grandpa, if I remember correctly Dylan might have taken after him when it comes to scifi

I'm glad your enjoying the story!

I can't quiet remember if the boys were born before David passed. If any were, I'd say he likely passed away when Dylan (And possibly Dawkins) were very young. Too young to understand death or its ramifications. However everything he has left behind has had a huge effect on them to this day! His study is full of science and history books. As well as his telescope and some nerd memorabilia here and there! Even if he was gone before they were born his memory has had a lasting impact!

As for Demelza, its a sort of Nature and Nurture situation. A lot of it has to do with who raised her and how. Her parents were a big influences, but so were her Uncle Radcliff and Aunt Dot.

Her mum, Orie (Oreo), is really instrumental. Orie grew up in a poor family and had, what I like to call, terminal eldest daughter syndrome. Not terminal in that it will kill you, but in that it will kill your relationships. Orie's parents were the lowest rung on the social ladder. Both working hard at menial jobs for long hours and very little pay. Her parents were happy though, loving each other and their children. It was just that Orie (Oreo) was the eldest, so when her parents were at work, she was raising her siblings. Unlike Dolly and Dylan years later, she had NO time off because her parents took NO time off. She also started caring for them when she was very young. She was basically parenthesized against her will with zero ability to punish them. Her siblings always acted up when she was caring for them, but became angels when her parents were home, with her parents downplaying the misbehavior they didn't see when Orie complained about it. Orie always had issues with her parents because of this and a few other things. (Including her birth name Oreo, which got her picked on a lot.) So as soon as she turned 18 she left, and hardly talk to any of her family again.

However that childhood made Orie dream of a Cinderella life. Where she'd marry well and never have to cook or clean. Never have to care for a flock of screaming children, with a nice big house. Not to say she'd marry for money alone. She just knew what she wanted. Patch certainly didn't match many of these prerequisites. He wasn't rich, just well off. He didn't have a huge house, he lived in a nice one with his sick parents. He had to do some cooking and cleaning, but it wasn't alot. However he did save her life and was very kind to her. (They met during an air raid and had to take shelter in a doorway together.) At first Orie just volunteered to help him with his block captain work, but they got to now each other, fell in love and married.

It wasn't a fairytale marriage, but it worked very well! Patch was passive and indecisive, but kind. Orie knew what she wanted and wasn't afraid to get it, even if she was a little rough around the edges. They worked together very well, even if it was Patch saying 'Yes dear.' most of the time. When the subject of children came up however, Orie was not interested... at first. She spent her childhood and teenage years raising her siblings, she didn't want to do it all over again as an adult. She was finally enjoying life for dogs sake! However as time went on, Patch's siblings had children.

Orie supposed Little Dipper and Domino were cute... Plus now that she was an adult they actually listen to her. Not to mention Patch was so good with them... hmmm...

Eventually she pulled Patch aside and agreed to have ONE child. Patch was over the moon, he just wanted one anyway! They ended up have Demelza and Patch loved her to bits! Orie went through a weird phase after Demelza was born where she didn't really ... love her baby? Not that she hated Demelza, it was just she didn't feel this instant love that she expected? (This is called the baby blues and its actually really common for many mothers!) After a week though the feelings came and Orie started to bond with Demelza!

Orie was content to let Patch do most of the emotional rearing for Demelza. She took over schooling, manners and other things. She had a pretty good life... but Demelza's could be even better. She was the one who pushed her daughter to climb the social ladder. Not wanting her to be stuck with tons of kids and house work when Demelza grew up. That mixed well with Uncle Radcliff, who had just moved back into the house after a stress stroke. Uncle Radlciff owned a factory and mingled with the upper crust a lot. (He and Orie got along swimmingly, both being a bit cold and grumpy, if well meaning.) Demelza looked up to Uncle Radcliff, whatever he and mum said was gospel just about. This also coincided with Aunt Dot moving in after her husband died suddenly. She was a bit like Patch, a push over and soft spoken. However unlike her three siblings she didn't work. So she took over cooking and cleaning, much to Orie's delight. (Orie got along best with Dot and Radcliff of all of Patch's siblings. Not that she argued with any of them much.) Dot wanted children but never had any, so she enjoyed helping to raise Demelza, which did help soften her demeanor greatly.

So yeah, it was a HUGE mix of four parental figures in her life that caused this. Her friends also play a part in how snooty and uptight she can be. David used to be able to settle her, but he's no longer around...

Oh and fun fact! Demelza was named by her mother. Orie, as I said, was bullied a lot as a child because she was named after a ridiculous, American snack cookie. (Oreo) She insisted that her daughter have a refined, dignified name! So Demelza it was.

(God I love exploring generational trauma with characters!)

[etraytin]

New Solutions, Old Disasters

More volunteering this last few days; it feels like the only thing to do that makes sense right now. There's a website that local people can check to find volunteer opportunities, so I signed up to help at the local food and water distro. They get lots of help on weekends, it looks like, but much less during the week, so I brought husband and Kiddo along as well. It was us and three other volunteers, a few city librarians who have been assigned to disaster duties while some of the libraries are still closed, and a handful of National Guardsmen working this center. The National Guard contingent has set up near our house at a summer camp tucked back in the hills, and I have never seen so many Chinooks in my whole life, much less had them rattling my windowpanes. Glad to have them though, they're doing a huge amount of work and supply transport!

Anyway, Kiddo and I directed traffic all afternoon. That meant meeting every car, figuring out what they needed and giving each driver a post-it note to say what and how much of each item to give them. Anyone who comes to the center was eligible to get one box full of 12 liters of water in 1-liter tetrapacks and one box of 12 MREs per person they were picking up for, plus as much potable and nonpotable water as they wanted in the containers they brought themselves. Some folks just got stuff for themselves, some picked up for others, a few loaded up for whole neighborhoods. I taught Kiddo how to do the post-it ticket and we took turns each time a car approached. He was nervous at first but quickly got the hang of it and was getting very fast and confident by the end of the day! I'm really proud of him because socializing can be a tough thing for him but he powered through and came out the other side. By the end of the day, he was saying that this was his favorite volunteer gig of all. (It did not hurt that the weather was exquisite all day and we got to enjoy a lot of it from our chairs in a nice shady place at the front gate.)

World Central Kitchen brought lunch for us, which was wonderful and delicious. It was some kind of chili-goulash with big chunks of vegetable in it, and there were three massive pans (sometimes we have many more volunteers than we had that day!) At the end of the day, the volunteer coordinator asked us if we wanted to take the leftovers home and we said sure, if nobody else was going to take them. Turns out there was an entire pan left and with everybody else being singles, nobody wanted that much, lol. We took it home and shared it with our neighbors and still had enough for two big meals. Our neighbors are a nurse in one of the hard-hit towns and a handyman plus two teenagers, so they were also happy to get an easy hot meal! We also took home one box of MREs because we ate through so many of our emergency supplies during the days when power was out, and it feels good to be prepared. I may give them away at some point, hard to say. We have given away a whole lot of my emergency stash at this point on the grounds that it feels bad to save up for an emergency that is happening right now to other people.

Yesterday I did actual Red Cross work for the first time in awhile. (I did an overnight shift at a Red Cross shelter the day after we got back to town, but the post I made for that got half-finished and left in drafts and I'm still picking at it.) They wanted someone from the local Disaster Action Team at the shelter to help with casework intakes because we use the same program as they do and are already familiar with it. I drove down to the shelter and found there'd been a miscommunication, they wanted me working intake, but not at the shelter near me, at shelters all over the disaster area by remote. So I went home and made a bunch of phone calls instead. It was a little frustrating, but above all things you must be flexible if you want to be a good disaster worker. There are always going to be screwups and miscommunications and hurry-up-and-waits. As long as nothing life-threatening is happening, you just shrug and roll with it and do what is needed. That's one reason I've taken so much Red Cross training; if I get to a place and they don't need me for what I thought I was going to be doing, there's usually something else I can do.

I did end up in a shelter anyway, when we realized that the shelter I was trying to contact was isolated enough that they still didn't have reliable cell coverage in the area. Rather than continue beating my head against the wall, I hopped in the car and drove out an hour to the shelter, which was up north in a very tucked-away corner. MIracle of miracles, the shelter did have enough WiFi that I did not have to resort to paper forms intake and I was able to get nearly everyone in the shelter taken care of. I also got to hold someone's kitten, which was pretty great. Unfortunately, about two hours into my visit it became clear that several residents had just (as in _just_) tested positive for COVID, and this was now going to be a COVID shelter. I, who had just interviewed all the folks in the shelter, had also gotten a good solid exposure. Great.

All of that to say that this weekend is not a big volunteer weekend for us anymore, as we are staying home for a few days to make sure I'm not ferrying germs between vulnerable congregate populations and the general public. I did dig out my masks today so I could drop off some bottled water and go collect the last of my belongings from the office of my canvassing job. That is officially over, with final paychecks this week and our field director reassigned to another office. At least I got my bag of hats back! Wearing a mask right now feels surreal; nobody has given me a hard time or anything but it makes this disaster feel like 2020 again and the feeling of cognitive dissonance gets kind of intense.

At least now I can tell myself it's a good thing to see people gathering in groups again because it means that the restaurants and businesses are starting to open again! The boil order has been rescinded for a large chunk of the county, and I counted five open restaurants on the main street this evening, all of them busy. No place was as busy as the town laundromat though, which has become a huge gathering place as one of the only 24-hour laundry places in a county full of waterless folks. That place is _busy!_

[casspurrjoybell-29]

Forgotten Ties - Chapter 13 - Part 1

*Warning Adult Content*

It was starting to get light by the time they made it to the clearing next to a stream that Nim had picked out for them.

"I know it's not anything special but the water's clear and the mountain on one side closes it in a bit," Nim said as he gently set the sleeping child he was carrying down on a blanket Marigold had laid out.

"We should try to get some rest first but we might be able to get a bit of a shelter started later today," Marigold said.

"And a fire and a rack to dry clothes after we wash them..."

Nim was a little selfishly glad he'd been so standoffish with the children until more recently because it was Marigold they turned their complaints and their tears to now.

She set about getting the ones who were already falling asleep settled down and then listened to the rest and gently guided them through taking care of their needs.

For some of them it was relieving themselves, washing in the stream or having a snack.

Others just needed to be held.

Despite how good Marigold was with the kids, Nim felt bad for her.

She was only fifteen herself but she had no space to have her own feelings or take care of her own needs.

Nim had been giving Skye space after that conversation they'd had about him not being in the mood to be touched but after Skye had spent a while hunched over, eating snacks out of his bag, he walked over to Nim and seemed determined to be in his personal space.

When Nim sat down, it became clear that Skye wanted to use him as a bed.

Well, that was fine.

Nim cleared away a spot on the ground, got a sweatshirt out of his bag to use as a pillow and lay down.

Skye immediately settled in, half draped across him.

There was something oddly comforting about it, especially after Skye started drifting off and stopped holding back his weight.

Nim could hear every breath Skye took and every beat of his heart, could smell his scent.

Last night had been the kind that changed a person but at least the humans hadn't taken anything from him.

Nothing that really mattered, anyway.

When Skye woke up, his head was pillowed on Nim's sweatshirt instead of Nim's nice, firm chest and that was unacceptable.

Skye rubbed his eye as he wandered over to Marigold to make his complaints but he didn't feel like talking so instead he just looked at her and frowned.

Marigold offered him a gentle smile.

"You slept a long time. It's well into the afternoon already."

"I'm a cat," Skye murmured around a yawn.

"Are you wondering where Nim is?"

"He's gone to scout around for anything we can use. He promised he'd be back before dark, though. He says there aren't any predatory animals or humans in the area but I still feel better when he's here. If something happened, what use would I be?"

"Yeah, that's true," Skye said.

"I'm hungry."

"We have some chips and cookies. Not very healthy, I know but they were the best I could do in terms of cheap, calorically dense foods. I told Nim to keep an eye out for edible fruits, though, so maybe we can have something a bit more balanced soon."

"Hmm," Skye said as she laid out the snacks for him.

He was pretty sure what they were going to have soon was starvation.

He had seen how many bags of groceries they carried in each week.

He could see how much stuff they had with them now and at least half of that wasn't food.

As someone who ate a lot and got hungry quickly, he was already worried.

"Can I help with... stuff?"

"I need leaves and long sticks to make things with. I've enlisted the help of the children but they're a bit distracted and I don't want them to leave my sight."

"Oh, I was just being nice but I actually can do that," Skye said.

"I climb trees, so I've seen a lot of sticks and leaves in my time."

"Good. Are you also good at not getting lost? If you follow the stream, you should be safe enough but I don't want you taking any risks."

"Nim would find me if I got lost but I won't anyway."

"You'd better not. Nim won't be happy if he comes back and I have to tell him I've lost you."

Skye shoved what was left of his snacks into his pockets.

"You won't. I will find you a good stick."

As Skye wandered down the bank of the stream, he felt some of the tension he'd been holding onto relax out of him.

Life had been hard recently.

Everyone would have agreed with that but he wasn't sure it was the same parts that were wearing on the others.

Working together in a group and thinking about others just wasn't in his nature.

It was a lot of work.

The rest, with the dead people and the soldiers and the tree battle, had also been stressful but not in the same way.

It was hard to even compare how he felt about them.

Obviously maybe almost getting genocide along with all of his friends was the worst thing but it wasn't the biggest driving force behind how fragile he was feeling.

It probably wasn't a good idea to tell anyone that, though.

People often didn't understand him and past experience had taught him that not feeling the same way as the rest of the group was frowned upon when it came to serious issues.

Skye bent down to pick up a stick and when he stood up straight again, he jolted in surprise.

A huge, black panther was watching him from the other side of the stream.

Skye stood frozen with his eyes locked on the panther for several long seconds but it didn't look like it was planning to eat him.

"Hello," Skye said.

The panther dipped its head in acknowledgement.

"I see. You're no ordinary panther," Skye said.

"Would you like to be my friend? I'm also a cat, you know."

The panther stared at him for another few seconds and then turned and walked away.

Skye leapt across the stream and ran after it.

"Wait. Look at my pointy cat teeth."

The panther turned and regarded him for a moment and then kept walking.

Skye jogged to catch up to it.

"Are you hiding from the humans as well? Obviously you're not a normal panther. Or... I guess maybe the humans would want to hunt you down even if you were? For zoo reasons?"

The panther kept walking.

"My name's Skye," Skye said.

"It's spelled with an 'E'. The 'E' goes at the end, not the beginning, though. Apparently that matters."

[barry-j-blupjeans]

@taznovembercelebration - Sweet

Look, it wasn't as if Taako liked Barry Bluejeans. That was a wild assumption to make straight off the back. This had layers. But if he needed evidence in like, a court situation, or something similar that totally wouldn't happen, where he needed to prove that Barry Bluejeans was awful and an absolute nerd and not good for Lup, he had three key points.

Number one: Lup had a bad taste in men. Granted, she said the same thing about him. But Lup had a very nasty history of choosing the guy whom Taako enjoyed being around the least. And that's not to say she needed to consult Taako every time she found someone new to date. Far from it! Actually, Taako was very glad she wasn't doing that. But from that guy who stole fifteen hundred dollars from them to the man who left the smell of cigars so deeply embedded in their sofa they had to get a new one, he was always very wary of whoever Lup was interested in next.

Number two: Barry was her colleague. From her job. Taako might not be an expert in the dating scene, but he was pretty sure that was a shitty idea. Sure, he seemed decent and nice at work, but who knew what this creep did in other places? Taako very much doubted that he volunteered at pet shelters or was working on curing cancer in his free time. The fact that he arrived in a large white van with zero windows besides the ones at the front seats definitely didn't help the vibe.

Taako didn't wish the man any harm. It was supposed to have been a quick drop-off- According to Lup, Barry hadn't been to work in the past few days due to his mother passing away. Understandable, normal. At least, probably normal, Taako wouldn't know. He was coming to give Lup the notes that he had for their project and then dip.

Platonically. Lup had very much stressed that this was platonic. Taako would have believed her if she hadn't stressed it so much that he started to doubt it.

Lup was still at work, of course, so Taako had to take them. Like a nice, kind brother would. She was making him chicken and dumplings later tonight so she wouldn't be in his debt. Again, totally normal sibling things.

So when Barry Bluejeans (Lup had to be fucking with him) knocked on their door, Taako answered.

Number three: Just like, look at the guy. He looked like a depressed oatmeal cookie. He looked like a grown-up Pillsbury Doughboy in jeans. He looked like if every Hallmark loser boyfriend was stuffed into one guy.

"Uhm, hey," Barry said. He sniffled a little. His eyes were red-rimmed. "This is for Lup."

He held out a thick, bright orange binder. Taako took it and almost, almost, faltered under the weight. Damn, scientists all must have some sick gains to be carrying around shit like this with them. But Taako took it and stood straight, trying not to look like he hadn't worked out since he barely passed his high school gym class.

"I'll get it to her," Taako said. Barry nodded, looking down at his feet instead of at Taako. Taako was strongly reminded of a kicked puppy.

"Thanks," Barry said, pathetically.

He didn't move. Neither did Taako. Barry looked up slightly, caught eye contact for half a second, and then looked down again.

"I'm, uh, I'm gonna get going," Barry said.

Thirty minutes later, Barry was sitting on Taako and Lup's new sofa and crying. Taako was patting his arm. There was a tub of ice cream in between them. Technically, Lup had told him not to eat it, because it was hers, but technically, this was an extenuating circumstance.

"I'm sorry," Barry said, wiping his eyes with one of the dozens of tissues Taako had given him. "I'll- I should get going-"

"You have said that three times in the last half hour, my man," Taako said. "Just accept that we're gonna eat all this ice cream and move on with it."

"Right," Barry said, with another sad sniffle. "I'm sorry, I'm not normally like this-"

"Uh-huh."

"It's just been really hard recently and I know I need to get back to work, but it's hard-"

"For sure."

"But I don't want Lup to have to do this project alone," he said. "That'd be super shitty of me. I just- I don't know what to do. Y'know?"

Taako did not, in fact, know. But he nodded anyway because the talking seemed to be helping.

"Listen," Taako said, slinging his arm around Barry's shoulders. "You're a tough little oatmeal cookie-"

"Th- thank you??"

"And I'm sure you'll get by just fine," Taako continued. "But you're right, leaving Lup to do all the work would be super shitty of you. No doubt. So maybe you can, uh, get out there and, uhm, make your mamma proud. Or whatever. Something like that. Not that she's already not proud of you. Or, uh, that she wasn't."

This was hard. Taako was bad at emotions. What about this guy made Taako want to comfort him instead of just shutting the door? Maybe Barry was an evil wizard using magic spells to lure both him and Lup into a false sense of security before he killed them or something.

"You think so?" Barry said, with such yearning and sweetness that Taako swore he was going to get a toothache. Lup liked this guy? This was the man Lup thought was funny and handsome, in a totally platonic and normal way, thank you very much Taako? This unseasoned piece of chicken eating all their ice cream and making his way through their issues?

He didn't sound like an evil wizard, that was for sure.

"Sure," Taako said easily. "I think that's how it works."

"Thank you," Barry said, his voice wobbly. "That'- that means a lot, Tah-ko."

"Taako," Taako corrected, patting him on the arm. "I'm gonna go get more ice cream. Gimme like, a hot sec and I'll be right back."

He got up from the couch and ducked into the kitchen before pulling his phone out. He shot Lup a text that said,

What are the chances that Barry Bluejeans is an evil sorcerer who runs off ice cream?

For someone who was at work, Lup replied very quickly with a,

Eight percent. He's too sweet to be a completely evil wizard. Maybe like, neutral evil, at most? Also, he's lactose intolerant.

"Goddamnit," Taako muttered.

[dirtywresling102]

Neighbors - Jeff Hardy (18+)

Young!Jeff Hardy x Female!Reader

Summary: Reader gets a new neighbor who is bit of an asshole.

Warnings: None really, fluff, mention of death, foul language, Jeff lowkey being a dick.

Word Count: 2,675 

Follow my main blog!: @dirtywrestling

Like my writing? Leave a tip!

Enjoy!

Living alone and being young had its perks; You could leave whenever you pleased, arrive home no matter what hour of the day it was, your money went towards your bills, food, and things for your cat, Snuffles. 

No parents nagging in your ear about curfew or other problems you didn't care about. You weren't a trouble maker: Straight A's, great attendance, a goody two shoes, but you were tired of living under your parents rules and high expectations. 

Once you graduate you went full time at your job and searched for a cheap but nice apartment. Luckily, the one bedroom and one bathroom apartment was in your price range. While meeting up with the landlord to look at the apartment, you took it in a heartbeat. 

While living in the small apartment, you decided to get some company. You went to the local animal shelter and asked about adopting a pet. Krystal, the one in charge of the shelter, talked about a stray they’ve had for some time now. “We don’t know how he’ll react to being an indoor cat but we’re going to be forced to euthanize him if he isn’t adopted soon.” She said as the two of you walked into the cat room. Your eyes were immediately drawn to some beautiful orange fur. Attached to the fur were some big green eyes that looked like emerald jewels. Your heart became so warm that it felt like it was going to burst out of your chest. “His name is Snuffles.”

After quickly filling out an adoption application, the shelter contacted you the very next day to bring Snuffles home. Ending the phone call, you quickly grabbed your keys and headed out the door to bring Snuffles home. 

You tried to maintain yourself, not wanting to scare the little guy. You placed his cage in the middle of the living room, opened it and walked away, letting him explore on his own. 

That was nearly a year ago. Snuffles got used to his new environment quicker than you expected. He realized he had a home instead of being cooped up in a small cage and only getting fed once a day. Snuffles quickly became attached to you and he loved to play with you and his toys. 

The neighbors in the apartment complex were nice as well. You visited a single mother that lived below you often. She gave you a plate full of cookies and left overs. Her 5 year old son was cute too, he loved Snuffles. Snuffles paid no mind to the toddler grabbing his tail or tugging at his fur. The old cat understood the child's intentions. 

There was an elderly couple, The Johnson’s, across the hall from you. They were talking about leaving for a retirement home, which made you upset, but glad that they'd be in a home supervised and they wouldn't get hurt in their apartment. 

Walking up the first flight of stairs, you frowned as EMT's rushed past you, heading down stairs. Quickly jogging up to your floor, you saw a police officer by Mr. and Mrs. Johnson’s apartment. "What's going on?" You asked, approaching the officer. 

"Do you know these people?" His voice was gruff with a stone cold look on his face.

"Well, they're my neighbors. I've known them for almost two years now. What happened?" You asked again, getting worried. Your eyes darted to his name tag. D. Knicks. "Please, Officer Knicks."

Officer Knicks sighed, taking his cap off and running his fingers through his thin dark hair. "Mr. Johnson," He started, "he suffered a heart attack." He placed the blue and black hat upon his head again. "I'm sorry, he didn't make it." 

"And Mrs. Johnson, what of her?" You tried to get a look at the Johnson's apartment, only to see an EMT zipping up a black body bag. Your face instantly becomes white at the sight. 

"She's with her daughter. Mrs. Johnson is going to live with her for a while." 

You nodded your head in sorrow. "At least she's okay." You maneuvered your way past the tall officer, unlocking your apartment, you walked in and were greeted by Snuffles. "Oh Snuffles, Mr. Johnson passed away." You bent down and patted his head. 

"Meow." He rubbed his body against your leg as if he was trying to say 'Don't worry, everything will be okay.' 

"You're right Snuffles, Mrs. Johnson is with her daughter, she'll be alright." You tried to reassure yourself.

Fixing up dinner later that night, You heard a knock at the door. "Coming." You walked towards the front door, looking through the peephole to see your friend from downstairs, Lexi and her son, Dawson. 

Unlocking both locks, you swung the door open. "Y/N!” Lexi wrapped her arms around you. "I heard what happened to Mr. and Mrs. Johnson." She released the hug and walked in, Dawson was already in the apartment looking for Snuffles. You sat down on the sofa and Lexi joined you. 

"They were just about to go to a retirement home together." You explained to her in a sad voice. You don't want to think too much about it, dying alone must be terrible. It encourages you to go out and start dating, to search for your soul mate. But only being in your early twenties, you brush off the whole dating idea and remind yourself that you're still young. 

"Sad. Did you hear about their apartment?" 

"No?" You arched my eyebrow.

"Well, Mrs. Johnson has to get her things out before the end of the week because someone is going to be moving in."

Your eyes widen. "How morbid!" You nearly shouted, the poor woman lost her husband and now the landlord isn't giving her any time to move out. "Her husband just passed away." You frowned. 

"At least she has her daughter. I'm sure they'll figure something out." Lexi patted your knee in comfort.

"Yeah, I guess so. No matter who moves in across from me, they'll never be as nice as The Johnson's." 

"Y/N, calm down. I'm sure whoever moves next door will be nice." Lexi explained. She stood up from her place and picked up Dawson who whined slightly. "Well, it's getting late. Somebody has school in the morning and if they don't get enough sleep, they will be cranky." Lexi groaned out. "Don't have kids." She whispered with a teasing wink.

You scrunch your nose. "No thanks, I'll stick with my cat." 

"You'll have kids, Y/N. You just wait." Lexi headed towards the door, exiting herself out. 

"No, thank you." You mumbled to yourself. 

The week went on and by the end of it you were exhausted. You ran to the grocery store to buy cat food, food for yourself, and other things that you ran out of. You were almost late for your shifts down at the cafe which made some coworkers upset. Some of your bills were almost overdue but, luckily, you paid them off right at the last second. 

Christmas was coming up and you had no idea what to get your friend Lexi or your family members. The Holidays were drawing near.

Stomping up the steps with your arms full of shopping bags, you tried your best trying to see where you were walking. You heard a door slam shut, you grew worried that someone was in your apartment. "Ooph!" You stumbled backwards, it was like you just walked right into a brick wall.

"Watch where you're going." A male voice snarled. 

You made a sour face. "Well, I would if I could." You snapped back at the man. "But obviously my hands are a bit full." 

"Ever heard of a second trip?" He retorted back.

You turned your body to the side to see who you were dealing with. A young male that was nearly the same age as you or a bit older stood in your way. He wore a fishnet shirt that exposed his muscles and nipples, his hair was dyed different colors and shoulder length. His pants were black and ripped with a couple of chains hanging off of them. You scoffed. "Nice, did the circus come to town?" You snorted.

"No, I'm a professional wrestler." He gloated, puffing his chest out as if you were supposed to worship him. "Jeff Hardy is the name." He smirked, as if I should know who he was.

"Right, whatever Jeffy." You pushed past him and to your apartment. 

"Don't tell me you're my neighbor, goody two shoes." Jeff groaned.

Your blood boiled, this guy was your new neighbor?! You'd rather take back the Johnson's. "You got a problem with it, then move." You snapped, fishing your keys out of your pockets.

Jeff smirked, watching you struggle and trying to juggle the grocery bags in your hands trying to get your keys. He could offer to help but he liked to see you suffer already. 

"You could help instead of staring at me." You stopped trying to fetch your keys. 

"Yeah, I could." You heard Jeff chuckle. "Have a good one neighbor." Jeff started to walk down the steps. 

Your arms grew weak, the bags fell to the floor. Foods and gifts poured out of the ripped brown baggies. Groaning you glared down the steps to see that Jeff was already off of this floor and to the next. Ripping your house keys out of your pants you opened up the door to your small apartment. 

You hated your new neighbor, Jeff Hardy. He was obnoxious, loud and apparently, he had lots of friends because he threw parties almost every damn night. You called the cops but since you were the only one who complained. They told you to take it up to your landlord. You grit your teeth and do what they suggested. Taking it to your landlord, he just shrugged his shoulders and explained that Jeff was a paying tenant.

You couldn't catch a break. You were losing sleep, getting headaches on the regular. You confronted Jeff about the loud noises, he promised to keep it down but he was just louder the next night, you didn't think that was possible. 

"Dude, you look terrible." Lexi said, smirking as she sipped her soda. 

"Don't remind me." You grumbled, drinking your beverage. 

Dawson chased Snuffles around the apartment, the cat meowed while the toddler giggled away. "Can you seriously not hear anything from underneath him?" You asked, eyes droopy. You thought you were gonna fall asleep in the middle of a sentence. 

"Not a thing." She chuckled into her cup. "You should take a vacation, get out of town for a while."

"I guess that sounds fun." You murmured. Your attention went to Snuffles running underneath the coffee table. "But who would take care of Snuffles?" You looked over at Lexi, wondering if she'd do it.

"Nuh- Huh, I have a child to take care of. That's already a handful. I have a friend, a guy friend." She wiggled her eyebrows. "Maybe I can hook you two up when you get back. His name is Randy." 

You bit your lip, looking down at the hard wooden floor. You heard stories about Randy, you were scared he'd hurt Snuffles or throw a party in your apartment. Sighing out you scratched the back of your head. "I don't know." You sounded reluctant to have this man come to your apartment.

"I say yes, you're going out of town for the weekend." Lexi already had her phone pulled out, texting away to Randy.

It looked like you didn't have a choice. "I do have the weekend off.." You trailed off into thought. What's the worst that could happen? 

The weekend felt more like a week. You visited your parents a few towns over and all you did was text Randy. Not in a flirtatious way but questions about Snuffles. How was he? Was he eating? Can you send pictures? You knew you were annoying the man but you didn't care nor did you have any interest in dating him. 

Walking up the stairs to your apartment, you faced your door. About to place the key into the socket, you stopped and listened. It was quiet. That was new. You turned your head behind you, looking at your neighbors, Jeff Hardy's door. There wasn't a peep coming from behind the wood. Raising your eyebrows, you grew curious but that left your mind as quick as it came. 

Twisting the key you pushed open the front door. "Hey Randy." You greeted the man who was sprawled out on your leather sofa. You placed your bags in your room and looked around your apartment, there was no sign of Snuffles. You looked at his cat bowls, both the water and food were empty. 

His litter box was scooped clean and toys not even touched. Rushing back into the living room Randy still was in the same position. "Where the hell is Snuffles?"

"Who?" He asked groggily.

"My Cat!" You shouted, the man flinched, getting up and stretching.

"About that, he escaped." 

Your heart sank. "Escaped?" You whispered, almost in tears. 

"Yeah, bolted right out of the apartment the day you left." Randy stalked towards you.

"That's why you never messaged me back." You looked up at the olive skinned man with the green eyes. 

"So, should I get my reward now or later?" He licked his lips, eyes shined with want. 

You didn’t believe what he said. You raised your hand, slapping his face as hard as you could. Randy stumbled back, shocked. "What the fuck!?" He shouted.

You approached Randy, grabbing him by the shirt and shoving him towards the door. "Get out!" You screamed. You kicked your foot at him, hitting his ass. 

"I'm leaving!" He hollered, Randy fell onto all fours when you kicked his ass "Crazy bitch!" Randy stumbled to get onto his feet and rushed to the stairs. 

Slamming your door shut, you covered your face, crying. Tears started streaming down your cheeks. You blame yourself for not getting Snuffles microchipped just in case something like this would happen. 

Three loud knocks came from the door. "I swear Randy, if that's you." 

"It's not, it's me." A voice with southern drawl said through the door. 

The door seemed like miles away, grabbing the handle you swung it open, the hinges creaked. "What do you-"

"This belong to you?" Jeff teased, holding out a big orange tabby cat. 

"Meow." Snuffles purred.

"Snuffles!" I exclaimed, grabbing him out of Jeff's arms. "What- How did you?" You looked at Jeff with sparkling eyes. 

"Well, that boyfriend of yours threw him out. I guess Snuffles here kept bothering him, then scratched him and Randy kicked him out of your apartment. Snuffles kept meowing, wanting back in but that douche wasn't going to let him in so I scooped him up and let him stay here for the weekend." Jeff smiled. 

"What about food or cat litter?" 

"I got a small bag of food and a litter box with some litter." Jeff petted Snuffles head.

"Wh- Why?" You asked, "Why would you do it?" 

Jeff looked down, his eyes shining in the light. "Well, to be honest I know I was a big dick when we first met." He sighed. "I just wanted to make it up to you." 

"By saving my cat." You smiled. 

"What, you want me to bake you a fruitcake?" 

"Tis' the season." You teased.

Jeff rolled his eyes letting out a low chuckle. "If you say so." 

Snuffles jumped out of your arms and rushed over to the toys, pawing at them. 

"Well, I have pizza rolls in my freezer. It's not a perfect dinner but I'd love to make you dinner sometime?" 

Jeff let out a hearty laugh. "Pizza rolls sound amazing right now." He smiled down at you. "You got netflix?" 

"Of course I do." 

Jeff walked into the apartment, shutting the door behind him. 

"So, you say you're a wrestler. Care to show me some moves?" You giggled.

[celeste-fitzgerald]

I've been listening to Taylor so much right now too, I feel bad for all the time I spent not listening to her as much 😂 I'm glad we have some shared favourites!!

I have a cat!! She's named after one of the members of Queen 😂 and was named that at the shelter, not by me, so it was destiny! but she's definitely my entire world. I hope you get a cat one day if you want one!!

And no I don't know that story, I feel like it's a good one though, what happened??

Hi okay I'm so so sorry for taking so long with this, it's been a busy weekend.

Awwww that's so cute about your cat!! What's her name? And does she have a similar personality to the Queen member she's named after? Also, I don't think I ever asked, how did you get into Queen? You said you've been a fan for a really long time, right?

OKAY HUGH AND CLEO. I don't remember exactly who Hugh got the snake from, but she was a gift to him. And Hugh took Cleo EVERYWHERE. She'd just wrap herself around his arm under his sleeve and hang out there while Hugh did his thing. I think she even slept in bed with him. But after a brief period of time Hugh was getting worried because Cleo wasn't really eating. Until Hugh realized "oh, snakes eat live mice." So he got her some mice. Which worked fine enough until he took out the snake and the live mice in the middle of a PLANE RIDE and terrified the unsuspecting passengers around him. So the pilot landed the plane asap and then Hugh was forced to give up Cleo and he cried :'((((

I hope you had a nice weekend!

[ravensbug]

Kuvira x reader au where she gets a cat please. I'm a shameless obsesser. Of both.

Jinx

Fandom: Legend of Korra

Ship: Kuvira x reader

Request: Yes

Prompt: ^^^^

A/N: I absolutely love this idea so much. My heart can’t handle all the adorable thoughts that come to mind. You are a genius Anon. Thank you for giving me this gift of a story to write.

There you two were, in the animal shelter, picking out a pet. After almost three months of convincing, Kuvira finally gave in and said yes. She saw how you missed the cats from your parents since you two had moved in together. Getting one wouldn’t be so bad she thought. It would mostly spend its time with you, you had promised to take care of it, so there was no reason for it to ever really bother her at home.

You were weaving your way around little kids whose parents had brought them to also get a pet. Most of them were looking at dogs anyway. Not that you didn’t like dogs, but you couldn’t exactly have one in an apartment.

When you got to the cats your eyes lit up. There were so many, and if it were up to you then you would take them all. But you promised Kuvira only one cat, for now.

You read each paper of every cat you walked by, looking for one that you knew would be perfect for the two of you. You knew if Kuvira would ever have gotten a pet by herself that it would have been a cat. Graceful and nimble, just like her. Also affectionate.

You probably spent a little too much time looking at each and every cat because a volunteer walked up to you.

“Looking for anything in particular?” he asked. You looked away from the cat that you were reading about.

“Kind of? I guess one that can handle being by itself, but also will be able to handle other cats in the future,” you shrugged. You felt Kuvira glare at you, but not in an angry way. It would be a long time before she thought about getting another cat.

“You should look at some of the younger cats then. Most of those are rescued from kitten mills or found abandoned at the sides of roads. They usually come in groups, but the cats seem to do fine on their own as well.” He talked as he directed you to the section of younger cats. You noticed now that some of them were pens together. The older cats were always by themselves.

The little meows of the younger cats tugged at your heart. The age differences were fairly big, there were old cats and cats who probably should still be with their mother. Your eyes landed on one of the pens in the back. You learned from your years of adopting cats that they put the ones that were less likely to be adopted there.

In one of those pens sat a small black kitten, maybe six months old. You looked at the papers, seeing the kitten didn’t even have a name. At this point your mind was made up. You knew the poor thing would be here for the rest of her life if you didn’t take her. Black cats were almost never adopted.

“This one.” you pointed at the kitten. She walked up to you since you had gotten there and attempted to sniff your hand.

“Are you sure?” Kuvira asked.

“I’m sure.” You looked up at Kuvira. She wasn’t going to second guess you again.

Kuvira had been over your parent's house plenty of times before you moved in with her to know that you liked all kinds of cats. Your parents currently had four cats. Two of them were Calicos, being brother and sister. One was a Maine Coon, who was the ‘mom’ of the group. The last one was a black cat, who was basically yours since he spent most of his time with you. Kuvira should have known that because of which cat you spent the most time with that you would choose one that looks like him.

“I’ll get the papers then. Another volunteer will get a carrier ready for her so you can take her home.” The volunteer walked off. You knew to meet him back at the front desk, as this was the same shelter your parents got the two Calicos at. Kuvira followed along, occasionally looking at some of the cats herself. This made you smile a little knowing she wasn’t completely disinterested in the idea of a cat.

You two waited a few minutes for the volunteer to come with the adoption papers. You smiled as you saw the excited kids leaving with their new companions. It was the best feeling in the world, to get a new friend who would love you just as much as you loved them. Even if they would be gone long before you would be.

“Just sign on the marked lines, pay the fee and you’re good to go!” The volunteer handed you a pen so you could sign the papers. In your opinion, you didn’t like the fact that you had to pay to adopt an animal, but you knew it was how the shelters stayed running. If it were up to you, you would have the government put funding into the shelters so they could afford to not have fees for adoption.

“Perfect,” the man smiled. “I’m glad she’s getting a home. She was the last one from her litter left,” he explained. It hurt your heart that whoever had adopted her siblings decided to leave her there on her own.

Another volunteer came out with the kitten in a carrier. You could see she was scared, but you knew that most cats were scared during and right after adoption. Kuvira was the one who took the carries from the volunteer, careful to keep it as steady as possible. You had never seen Kuvira so attentive to each and every movement she made. It was different from her dancing, even though the basic idea of precise movement was the same.

When you two finally got back to your apartment you were so giddy to let the cat out. Kuvira adored this side of you, so happy and excited, even if she wouldn’t say it out loud. Not that you hadn’t been happy since you moved in together, this was a happiness that was beyond that. It made Kuvira a little jealous.

Kuvira gently placed the carrier down on the floor in the living room. You were already sitting on the floor, having done this situation plenty of times. You motioned for Kuvira to sit next to you, which she thought was ridiculous. She wasn’t going to spend much time with the cat so what was the point of her joining you. The look you gave her made her give in, but only to make you happy.

Kuvira opened the cage with her metal bending and you two waited patiently for the cat to come out. She walked out of the carrier slowly, eyeing her surroundings for anything dangerous. Once she saw nothing except for you and Kuvira she finally came out of the carrier. Apparently, the small time of interaction with her at the shelter made an impact. She walked over to the both of you with caution.

You were the first to reach your hand out. You placed it on the floor, to make yourself seem less threatening. The cat stood still at first before coming up to sniff your hand. She didn’t have any problems with you so now it was Kuvira’s turn.

You grabbed Kuvira’s arm and placed it down on the floor like yours had been. You can tell how tense she is. She never did this with the other cats, them being adults and all. They just looked at her and didn’t really mind whenever she came over to your parent's house.

“Just relax,” you chuckled. You telling her to relax seemed to work a little, but she was still nervous.

The cat moved over to sniff Kuvira’s hand. It took its time, longer than it had with you, and that worried Kuvira. If the cat didn’t like her how would that make you feel? She at least wanted the cat to be fine with her.

When the cat rubbed her head against Kuvira’s hand you both were in shock. You put your hands in front of your face and you couldn’t stop grinning. Kuvira was frozen with the cat still rubbing her head on Kuvira’s hand. You thought this moment was ironic and perfect. The cat meowing at Kuvira just made it even better.

“She wants you to pet her,” you said, still grinning from ear to ear.

Kuvira moved her hand so she could pet the cat. She was still hesitant even though the cat clearly liked her. She had never been known as a fragile or soft person and this cat was exactly that.  When she finally started petting it, that little bit of fear went away.

“Have you thought of a name?” Kuvira asked while petting the cat.

“I was thinking Jinx,” you smiled.

Kuvira raised an eyebrow at you. The name was cliche but you loved it anyway. Kuvira didn’t really care what you named the cat. It was more yours than it was hers anyway.

As the weeks went on you spent more time bonding with Jinx. She finally warmed up to you and loved playing with you when you had the time. Working from home really helped the bond. She often curled up next to you or even on you while you were working. Those were the moments you missed from home.

What was even better, in your opinion, was that whenever Kuvira was home Jinx would follow her everywhere. Sometimes it got on Kuvira’s nerves, especially when she would turn around and almost trip over Jinx. You always thought it was the cutest thing in the world. You eventually decided to get Jinx a collar with a small bell, so Kuvira could hear whenever the cat was behind her. She never outright thanked you for that, because that would mean telling you the cat was annoying her.

Weeks turned into months and Kuvira finally took some time off of work. You were grateful that you could spend more time with your girlfriend now. Spending time with Jinx was nice and all, but being with Kuvira was nicer.

Because of her time off Kuvira started to do more things around the apartment. One of your favorites was when she would make dinner for the two of you. She had picked up a few things from the chef back when she lived with Su. You didn’t expect her to be a good cook because you knew all of Su’s kids were horrible at it.

One particular night, when she was cleaning up after you two had finished, Jinx was sitting patiently next to her in the kitchen. Kuvira hadn’t seen her do this before so she was slightly confused. You looked over from your spot on the couch and laughed.

“What?” Kuvira asked.

“She wants a piece of the chicken,” you told her.

“I’m not giving her a piece. She’ll learn to expect it every time we have it.” Kuvira looked over at you. You had a sheepish grin on your face, telling her why Jinx was sitting there so patiently.

“You’ve been giving her some before haven’t you?” She asked.

“Maybe.” You looked away. You had given her a few pieces every once and a while either when you were putting the leftovers away or giving Jinx her own dinner.

“Look at her, sitting so nicely. How can you deny that face?” you pouted. You heard Kuvira sigh and knew she gave in.

“Fine. But stop doing it so often.” Kuvira pointed at you with the knife she was using to cut up the remaining chicken.

“I can make no promises,” you smiled. You would try, but as you said, who could deny that face.

When Kuvira finished in the kitchen she joined you on the couch. You sat there with Kuvira’s arms wrapped around your waist. You loved it when she got time off of work. She loved it more than you did because sometimes work got to be too much. Coming home to you was the best part of her day. With the addition of Jinx in the house, she had become more accustomed to the cat coming up to greet her whenever she got home.

Jinx had hopped up on the couch while you two were snuggling and decided to climb on Kuvira’s lap. You heard her sigh, but she refused to move from her position. You looked down at Jinx, who had now curled up on Kuvira’s lap, and smiled.

“Y’know, she really likes you. Like more than she likes me,” you explained.

“How, she’s your cat. I’m also not home as often as you are,” Kuvira argued.

“I think that’s why. She doesn’t see you as often so she misses you. Plus she warmed up to you way faster than she did with me.” You knew more about cat behavior than she did. You also knew more about how people dealt with cat behavior more than she did.

“Pretty sure you like her more than you’re willing to admit,” you smiled.

“I tolerate her,” Kuvira mumbled.

“Which is why you’re letting her sleep on your lap and why you let her sleep on your side of the bed?” you smirked.

“She’s not as bad as I thought she would have been,” Kuvira admits. That’s what you were looking for.

“Well, I’m glad you like her.” You moved your hand to pet Jinx’s head. She meowed and stretched out across Kuvira’s lap. You heard Kuvira sigh, but that didn’t stop you from petting Jinx.

Kuvira eventually moved from holding you to sit up carefully, so as to keep the cat where she was. When she was done with that she gently picked up Jinx and held her in her arms. Jinx began to purr even though Kuvira wasn’t even petting her.

That image will forever be in your mind. It was perfect in every way. This is what home means to you.

[moonlight-breeze-44]

Hey Em! I've gone through most of your Malec fics and I really love them! (especially the autistic!Alec one but also all those dealing with Alec's mental health issues) I was wondering if you have other recs for me of fics you love, since I'm really new in the fandom and there's so much out there?

Hi there! I’m so glad you’ve been reading and enjoying my fics! That means so much to me :) You’re so sweet! <3

I always have fic recs, so I am more than happy to give you some anytime you want. Here’s a list of a few (or a LOT because I got carried away, oops) that I love with my whole heart. I’m not sure what kinds of fics you like, so I rec’d some of my faves and ones that are specifically about autistic!Alec or Alec & mental health issues.

~ ~ ~

- Walking With Death by Aria_Lerendeair. This is a fic about Malec becoming immortal husbands, and it’s angsty but so, so, so good. Death is a character and Alec buys him coffee.

- Stone Can Be Broken by lawsofchaos and the wonderful sequel Hearts Can Be Remade by Aria_Lerendeair. Both are very angsty, but Laws’ has a hopeful ending and Aria’s has a happy ending. Be sure to read the tags on Aria’s! <3

- Five Times Alec Hides His Tears And One Time He Doesn’t by notcrypticbutcoy. This fic is about Alec’s struggles with anxiety and it is such a heartwrenching read for me. 100/10 recommend. 

- Violet by cuubism. This one deals with some pretty serious suicidal thoughts, so be cautious! <3 Magnus and Alec meet each other on a bridge. Or, the one where helping someone else is sometimes easier than helping yourself. Written by cuubism of the Malec Discord server we’re a part of!

- Wish Upon A Shooting Star by Aria_Lerendeair. Another immortal husbands fic, and it is so, so sweet and has a whimsical, optimistic energy that will surely make you smile. (Bonus points: written by our very own sassy moderator of the Malec Discord server.)

- “You are hurt” by sugarandspace. I’m not sure how much you like parabatai feels, but if you do, this is THE FIC for you. Jenna, who is a member of our lovely Malec server as well, does it wonderfully. It’s set post-3x18 Malec breakup and it has Alec self-harming and lots of feels with him & Jace.

- A Different Time by TK_Extraordinaire. This fic is basically a character study of Alec, a look at how he evolved over the years told from the POV of others.

- Tell me I’m perfect (but tell me the truth) by SquaresAreNotCircles. This fic is one of my favourite fluffy ones and it’s basically 7.5k of Alec talking about how much he loves his boyfriend to everyone who’s not him and then one time Magnus finds out about these secret compliment-fests.

- Brother Let Me Be Your Shelter by alistoney. This fic deals with Alec’s self-harm and it is an add-on to that scene in season 1 when Alec storms away after Jace & Clary kiss. Lots of Izzy and Alec feels, provided graciously by the amazing Zia of our Malec server.

- I will catch you when you fall by sugarandspace. Another fic where Alec self-harms, but this time it’s Magnus helping him out.

- Quiet now, you’re gonna wake the beast by EternallySilverMagnusAndAlec. This is a wonderful autistic!Alec fic that also goes into the emotional trauma that Alec has to deal with from Maryse. Written by EternallySilver of the Malec Discord server!

- Not So Unrequited by Aria_Lerendeair. A best friends to lovers AU that goes through their journey together as friends (including lots of delicious angst) and eventually leads to the confessing of feelings.

- The Lonely Hearts Hotline by Fatale (femme). I prefer oneshots to long fics, so this is one of the only fanfics I’ve read that surpasses 20k. This is the story of CEO Magnus and phone sex operator Alec and yes, it is absolutely as good as it sounds. 100/10 must read.

- Subjective by Accal1a. This fic was actually just posted tonight in the Malec Discord server, but I wanted to link it in case you didn’t see. Hannah has an amazing way with words. This is a 5+1 about Alec & dealing with homophobia. It isn’t all posted yet, but it will be soon, and the first chapter is SO GOOD.

- Autistic Alec AU by AceOnIce. This is a series of fics where Alec is a mundane and autistic, and it shows the journey of his relationship with Magnus. It’s amazing and also written by one of our Discord server members, Amelia.

- shed my skin, my scars by ByTheAngell. This fic is another fic about Alec & self-harm, written by the wonderful Elle of the Malec Discord server, with a few mentions of other ways of not taking care of himself, too. It’s set post-canon and portrays the way that people can fall back into bad habits quickly and easily very well.

- On Thunderstorms and Scared Shadowhunters by alxdrlightwood. The fic in which Alec slowly begins to accept that it’s okay to have a phobia, and Magnus is there to provide cuddles.

- And They Were Roommates by CoolStoryMatt. A roommates college AU where Malec are oblivious idiots that really need to learn to communicate better. Another of the rare above 20k faves of mine. Absolutely hilarious, with great plot and so many moments that’ll make you yell at your screen.

- Whumptober 2019 by Donovanspen. This is a series of works with Malec hurt/comfort and angst.

- No reason to feel like this by sugarandspace. A fic in which Alec deals with depression, and Magnus is there for him.

- it took me years to say the words that you did not even need said by arekiras. A series of fics about autistic!Alec and his life as a Shadowhunter, Head of the Institute, and boyfriend/husband to Magnus Bane.

- Red-Handed by Carmenlire. This is a fic about Alec relapsing with self-harm and Magnus being there for him. Like Elle’s fic above, it also portrays the way one can slip back into bad habits quickly and easily very well.

- Reasons To Stay by AceOnIce. This fic is a 5 times fic with 5 times Alec wanted to die, but didn’t.

- holding onto you by anonlymous. Another Alec & self-harm fic where Magnus is there for him.

- Once You Taste It by Carmenlire. Yet another Alec & self-harm fic, with Alec making the choice to go to Magnus before things get too far.

- An Unlikely Angel by thatnerdemilyj. This fic is a Fraywood brotp where Clary leaves nice sticky notes for Alec after being exposed to all of the bad thoughts in his mind. Bonus points, it’s written by the lovely creator of our Malec server, the other Em!

- First step after the fall by sugarandspace. A fic about the aftermath of 2x08 but Magnus has wings as a warlock mark and he used those to save Alec when he jumped. Lots of angst for both Magnus & Alec!

- Survive In That Despair by thattrainssailed. This fic is one of the only no-dialogue fics I’ve ever read, but it makes the emotion that much more potent. It’s another Alec & self-harm fic, and it’s more graphic than the others I’ve rec’d here, so please be extra cautious! <3

- We Care For Each Other by ZequoiaRose. A bad day fic with absolutely ridiculous amounts of hurt/comfort. So soft, I don’t even have words. 100/10 recommend. 

- I cannot touch because they are too near by jillyfae. This fic is honestly the best fic about the parabatai bond I’ve ever read. It has a truly lovely amount of wordbuilding and is told from Magnus’s POV where he wants to know more about the bond Alec & Jace have. Extremely soft and written by jilly from our Malec Discord server.

- Between The Lines by Carmenlire. If you like pre-canon fics at all, this is an absolute must-read. It tells a heartwrenching story of Alec & his repression due to the Shadowhunters’ homophobic society, told from Isabelle’s POV. 

- Starling by cuubism. One of the best fics about Alec & mental health issues, in my opinion. It’s absolutely heartbreaking in the best way. It can also be pretty intense, so be sure to read the tags and the author’s trigger warnings! <3

- Astraphobia by AceOnIce. An autistic!Alec college AU where Alec’s fear of thunderstorms causes him to meet Magnus for the first time. So, so, so cute. Like, illegally cute.

- The Breath of a Lie by Secretness. This fic is another one of the best fics about Alec & mental healh issues. Although, please be aware - it is very, very intense. This fic will fuck you up good if you’re not careful, so please take care of yourself. <3

- 11:45 by bidness. This fic is the last of my above 20k recs. It is the sweetest workplace AU you will ever read, where Magnus keeps stealing Alec’s lunch and leaving apology notes behind. Also written by the absolutely wonderful Tilly of the Malec Discord server.

- The Best High School Love Story (Maybe Ever) by Aria_Lerendeair. If high school AUs are your thing, you will absolutely love this. It features competitive Malec, best friends to lovers, and the cutest storyline to ever cute.

~ ~ ~

So I ended up giving you like, half of my bookmarks, oops. Sorry about that. I hope you find some that you like among these, and thank you so much again for reading my fics!

Thank you for the ask!

[supercalvin]

I'm in a similar boat. Thanks for making things a bit easier! 16M for Merthur?

16. Reincarnation AU + M. Amnesia

Yeah, everything is kind of up in the air right now. I’m taking it one day at a time. I hope these little ficlets are at least somethingto distract everyone for just a bit.

Prompts (or any prompt)  + Ficlets

***

Arthur was showing his new Personal Assistant around the office, seemingly a normal enough thing to do. Arthur off-handedly pointed outa photo of the company’s opening day, a grainy sepia photo that hung across from Arthur’s office, when things got weird.

“Oh I remember that year,” Merlin said, “Really hot summer, to be honest.”

“What do you mean, ‘oh your remember that?’” Arthur stared at his new Personal Assistant. “This company was founded in 1898.”

“Oh yeah, sorry, forgot I hadn’t told you yet,” Merlin said with a funny crooked smile, “I’m a RS.”

“A what?”

Merlin tilted his head, “An RS? You know, a Reincarnated Soul?”

Arthur wondered how surprised he looked, because he felt alittle stunned, to say the least. RS cases were rare. So rare that Arthur hadnever met anyone with a reincarnated soul. In fact, he was positive that everyone he knew had never met someone with a reincarnated soul. He was certain if he played the degrees-of-Kevin-Bacon game, that even then, he wouldn’t find someone with a reincarnated soul. And Merlin had just said it on the first day of his job as it was normal.

Merlin’s smile slipped a little, “Is that alright? You can’t sack me for magic-discrimination.”

Arthur shook his head, snapping himself out of it “Of course not, Merlin. It’s just that I have never met- Nevermind.  It’s fine. Let me show you the break room next.”

Arthur had never looked into RS cases before. He had neverhad a need or a want before. His father had been anti-magic, so Arthur hadn’t grownup with much of an education on magic, let alone rare forms of magic. After a month of working with Merlin though, he found himself diving in the deep hole that was RS magic, because Merlin kept saying the wildest things.

‘I miss the taste of bananas.’

‘That song was absolutely brilliant and literally no one remembers it, and I hate that.’

‘I’m so glad we invented the internet. Do you know how many stupid things I used to believe?’

‘One of my mums was kind of a hippie and after that lifetime I never went back to eating meat.”

‘That sesame seed oil thing was never a good idea, Linda. An appeal to ancient wisdom is a classic fallacy and you should know better.’

‘When you’ve been married as many times as I have, you learn a thing or two.’

Arthur was getting so many weird pieces of information about Merlin and he had no idea how to process any of them. His curiosity was killing him, but he was positive it was rude to ask that many personal questions of your employee. So he continued living in ignorance.

All the while, Merlin became one of his closest friends. (Arthur was a bit of a workaholic. He denied this on several occasions but thefact that his PA was one of his closest friends did not help his case.) Despite seemingly being on opposite ends of every kind of spectrum, they got along well.They often went out for drinks after work, and Merlin had gotten in the habit of going on a jog with Arthur on Saturday mornings and getting a coffee afterwards.

Besides the weird tidbits that Merlin dropped every once anda while, Arthur didn’t learn much more about Merlin’s other lives. But he did learn a lot about Merlin’s current life. He was young, single, and just moved to London for this job. He was a vegetarian, volunteered at a magical-creature shelter, and cried at any kind of sappy commercial or film. He grew up in a small village, was raised in a magic-positive household, and he was bisexual.

Arthur could not have been more different from Merlin, and yet, he couldn’t help but find that he was falling arse over tit for him.

It all came to head at the company’s annual charity ball. Merlin was dressed in a navy blue suit with a white scarf draped over his shoulders. On his lapel he wore a small triskelion pin and his tie clip was in the shape of a dragon. He looked stunning and Arthur was suddenly hit with how absolutely gone for him he was.

“Evening,” Merlin said with a small smile, “You look nice. And you made it here on time without my help, so it’s a miracle really.”

Arthur smiled and passed Merlin a glass of champagne, “Really,Merlin, I am your boss. You should be nicer to me.”

“Where’s the fun in that?” Merlin’s eyes strayed to his suit, and Arthur saw the exact moment he noticed the pride flag lapel pin. His face froze and he looked up at Arthur with an analytical look. “Nice pin.”

“Thanks,” Arthur’s throat felt tight, “It’s my first time wearing it.”

Merlin nodded, “Ah, I see.”

“Yeah,” Arthur shrugged, trying to put distance between himself and this awkward moment.

The rest of night went smoothly, no one else commented onhis pin, which was a bit of a relief. He may or may not have drank more than planned in celebration of it going smoothly, which was always a bad idea.

Merlin pulled Arthur into the car, “Jesus, you weigh a ton. Can you please use your own legs?”

“’m no’ fat.”

“Didn’t say you were, prat.”

Arthur laughed, his head leaning on Merlin’s shoulder, “You always call me a prat.”

Merlin was silent for a while, but Arthur didn’t notice because his drunken mind was focusing on not puking.

“How many times have you been alive?” Arthur slurred, “I know I’m not supposed to ask, but I can’t stop thinking about it. Did you meet anyone famous? Were you anyone famous? Were you always named ‘Merlin?’ We’re you queer in your other lifetimes too?”

“Arthur,” Merlin sighed, “Let’s just get you home, alright?”

“Do you not want to tell me?” Arthur pouted, “Do you not like me?”

“Jesus Christ, why do you always get really flirty or maudlin when you’re drunk? It’s such a weird dichotomy, honestly.”

“Have I been drunk with you before?” Arthur stumbled as Merlin pulled him out of the cab. “I think I would remember that.”

Merlin was silent again, but Arthur’s drunken brain needed to focus on getting up the stairs. Suddenly, they were in Arthur’s flat, andMerlin was handing him a glass of water.

“Thanks,” He drank it all in one go, already realizing he was going to hate himself in the morning.

He had been right, of course. He woke up on his couch thenext morning and remembered all the weird questions he had asked Merlin, and immediately regretted all of it. But there were a few things that stuck out tohim.

He was jolted out of his thoughts when he heard his toaster ding and the shuffle of feet. Merlin appeared in the doorway.

“Coffee,” Merlin sat down next to Arthur. “Toast. Paracetamol.”

Arthur stared at Merlin, surprised to see him in his flat, before he took the offerings without complaint.

“Feeling better?”

Arthur nodded, studying Merlin closely for a moment. “Last night… last night you said I’m always flirty or maudlin when drunk.”

Merlin’s face flushed and he rose quickly, “Oh, you know,” He laughed nervously, taking Arthur’s empty plate and trying to dash into the kitchen. Arthur grabbed his arm, stopping his flight.

“You’ve never called me a prat before.”

Merlin avoided his eye.

“Why did I say that you always call me a prat, when I don’t remember you ever saying that?”

Merlin bit his lip.

“Am I still drunk?” Arthur asked, his heart rate rising.

“No,” Merlin gave him a small apologetic smile.

“Am I…?” Arthur shook his head, “Why am I remembering things about you that didn’t happen?”

Merlin sighed, “I’m not really supposed to tell you. You’re supposed to remember on your own. I only started remembering you specifically after I started working for you.”

“But, I am…I am…”

“A reincarnated soul? Yes.” Merlin smiled, “Took you awhile. Sometimes it does.”

Arthur had to sit down. “And I knew you? Once before?”

Merlin gave him a funny smile and Arthur blanched further, “More than once?”

Merlin actually laughed, which made Arthur feel even more off kilter. Merlin said, “I’ve known you in every lifetime, Arthur. And Ireally should wait until you get more memories back, but I want you to knowthat I will find you in every lifetime after this.”

Arthur looked up at Merlin, a small hysterical laugh escaping his lips. “Fuck. And I was worried about asking you out.”

Merlin smiled, “You still have to woo me, love. I’m not that easy.”

Arthur laughed again, “This is insane. I want to kiss you. Have we kissed before?”

“Not in this lifetime, and that’s all that matters.” Merlin leaned forward, and pecked a kiss on Arthur’s cheek. “Come on, let’s get you some more food and we can weed through your memories.”

Arthur leaned forward, tilting Merlin’s head back and giving him a proper kiss, a shock of electricity going through his system that he hadnever felt before. It felt like he had kissed Merlin a million times before and like it was his first kiss all over again.

Merlin smiled at him, “Well hello there.”

Arthur narrowed his eyes, “Why am I remembering you in a feather hat?”

Merlin just laughed.

***

Prompts (or any prompt)  + Ficlets

[ariddletobesolved]

Days We Spend Under the Sun (Chapter Two)

Written for @helsa-summer-event

Fandom: Frozen

Genre: Romance, Family, Fluff, Whump

Rating: T

Summary: Summer is not her favourite season, but a certain Admiral from the neighbouring kingdom is going to change that.

Perhaps we should call this a collection of Helsa fluff drabbles. External links (including some links to the prologue and chapter one) are in the notes. Enjoy!

Prompt 2: Blue Skies and Dandelion Fuzz

—

Chapter Two

One of the best things about the forest is the serenity it offers, this pretty much she knew.

Standing near the river bank, Elsa had been staring at her own reflection for a while. It was still early in the morning when she sneaked out of Hans's warm embrace and out of her own hut in the village. Not that she didn't want to stay and cuddle—despite the fact that the weather was rather hot, but she would like some space for her to think, and the river bank being one of her favourite places in the Enchanted Forest could offer that.

Her mind began to wander to the event that happened the day before. Hans was indeed full of surprises when it came to wooing her, she was aware of that fact. But the trick he pulled, when he broke into a gallop instead of stopping to let her summon the Nokk, was one she didn't see coming. Nonetheless, she still found the journey quite enjoyable. Even during a few stops did she not try to summon the Nokk. The way he held her close to his chest was something she found comfort in. Eventually, they arrived in the forest when the sun went down, and Yelena was the first one to greet them, accompanied by Honeymaren. After having dinner, they stopped by the stable-like area in the village to give Sitron an extra bag of carrots. Tired from the long journey, they finally turned in and Elsa, of course, had to share her hut with Hans. 

Sighing in contentment, Elsa began to stretch her muscles. It had been quite some time since the last time she was back in the forest, she almost forgot how different the place was from Arendelle. It was really quiet in the morning. There was no sound of people trading or arguing, no sound of hooves clicking against the pavement, nothing but the serenity of nature. She smiled, still looking at her own reflection, before a familiar set of eyes stared back at her. The Nokk.

The water spirit rose from the river, standing tall before her in the form of a majestic horse. Elsa looked up with one hand reaching out to gently caress the spirit. Affectionately nuzzling its face close to hers, it was as if the Nokk tried to tell her that it missed her. Elsa let out a chuckle, for she was amused by the spirit.

"I've missed you too, Nokk." She said. "Sorry about yesterday, but Hans had another plan. At least we're here now."

The horse walked around above the river, and Elsa tilted her head in confusion.

"Are you complaining, now?" She raised her eyebrow. But before she could react, she saw a flash of fire. It danced from stone to stone, before stopping beside her feet. Bending down, Elsa smiled. "Hello, little guy!"

The fire died down, and a blue salamander crawled upon her open palm. Elsa conjured a small rain of snowflakes to the creature's amusement, as it poked its tongue out to catch some fallen snowflakes.

"You like it, huh?"

Blinking and tilting its head, Bruni, the fire spirit, stared at her with something like glee. It was obvious that the fire spirit was glad to have her back. The blonde grinned, finding the gesture adorable. Looking up, she saw the Nokk staring at her intensely.

"What?"

The water horse motioned at the path towards the village.

"You want to see Hans?" She inquired. At the mention of the former prince, Bruni smiled wider. "Why, so you can try to drown him again?"

If Nokk could laugh, it would certainly roll onto its belly, Elsa was sure of that. The unspoken tension between the two brought back a memory of their first meeting. It happened shortly after Hans was released from a three hour long questioning, in which the decision sparked a brief tension between her and her sister. Anna, being the wise queen she was, decided that she found nothing harmful with his presence back in Arendelle. Hans was there to deliver an invitation under the Crown Prince of the Southern Isles' order. Elsa, refusing to accept it, mounted on the Nokk and rode across the ocean towards where his ship was in the harbour. They had a quarrel which resulted in him slipped on Elsa's ice and fell into the water. The Nokk, that was offended by Hans' accidental name calling 'water horse' did try to drown him, leaving Elsa standing on her ice.

"He is not the same man, you know." She sighed, making her way towards the majestic horse. Bruni crawled up and rested on her shoulder. "He has grown to be a better person, don't you worry about it."

Elsa smiled at that thought. It wasn't easy to get where she was, but time had given them a chance. Then, faintly, she heard some footsteps walking closer. She turned, only to see Ryder walking with a smaller reindeer.

"Morning, Elsa."

She smiled. "Ryder! I didn't see you last night. How are you holding up?"

The young man returned the smile, half shrugging sheepishly. "Well, I'm fine, I guess? I've been taking care of the reindeers." He nudged the reindeer standing beside him, who nudged back. "This one is John."

"Oh," Elsa tried to bite back a laugh, "that's quite a name for a reindeer."

"I know." Ryder brushed it off as if it was nothing, certainly not aware of Elsa's amused face. "Oh, and one more thing, Hans is looking for you."

"Sure." Elsa turned to the Nokk, who was tilting its head. "I'll be there shortly."

"Great! I'll head off to the meado now." He said. "Also, the breakfast is ready, so you better go back soon."

Nodding, she looked back. "Sure. I'll see you later, Ryder."

"See you later, Elsa." With that, he took off with the reindeer.

Once again, she was left alone with the spirits. "You're coming, Nokk?" Instead of answering, the Nokk turned around and dived into the water. "So, it's just us." Elsa turned to the excited salamander, that was now crawling onto the top of her head. "Fine, it seems like you really are excited to see Hans."

She made her way towards a familiar path that led her back to the village. Taking a deep breath, she let the clean morning breeze fill her system. She looked up to the blue sky and sighed. Nothing topped a nice breezy summer morning. It was rather warm in the forest, since summer had arrived up north, but she liked it. Unlike Anna, Elsa wasn't a huge fan of summer. She couldn't really stand the heat, and would take every opportunity to take shelter under the shade. The reason why she agreed to Hans' suggestion to ditch the carriage—other than to spend more private time together on the journey—was because of her ability to conjure some clouds above them should the weather be too sunny.

The sound of children playing around and people starting the day got louder as Elsa walked closer to the village. From afar, she spotted a familiar auburn haired Admiral sitting on the ground with two bowls of steaming food beside him. He looked far too engrossed in a conversation with a brunette sitting before him, he didn't see her coming.

Elsa saw this as an opportunity to surprise him, but before she could do such a thing, Bruni already beat her to it. The salamander hopped from her head and landed safely on the ground, before it crawled towards the Admiral. Upon the tiny element of surprise, Hans almost jumped on his seat. Bruni settled on his shoulder, causing him to turn and saw Elsa standing nearby.

"Elsa." He looked a little taken aback, before flashing her a smile. "Have you been there for a while?"

"No." Taking a seat next to him, Elsa pecked his lips shortly. "I have just arrived." She then turned to the brunette. "Morning, Maren."

"Good morning, Elsa." Honeymaren smiled. "Did you see Ryder?"

"Yes, I did." Elsa nodded, taking a bowl Hans offered her. "Thank you, Hans." Turning back to her distant cousin, she continued, "So, what were you two talking about? You both seemed engrossed."

Honeymared glanced at Hans, before replying, "Nothing that would interest you, really. Hans was asking about the crops, yeah."

Hans smiled. He didn't say anything, instead, he gave her hand a gentle squeeze. But something told Elsa that it wasn't exactly their main topic of discussion.

"Okay."

"Where were you?" Hans asked. "I woke up this morning and you were nowhere to be seen."

"I was at the river bank, talking to Nokk, before Bruni came." She smiled at the beaming salamander. "They missed you."

Hans playfully rolled his eyes. "Yeah, as if the water horse misses me. I wouldn't be surprised if the little guy here did, or maybe Gale, since it greeted me earlier before deciding to play with those kids." He gestured at the wind spirit swirling around two giggling children.

Elsa grinned in response. "What did I tell you? Nokk doesn't like it."

"What will the Nokk do anyway, try to drown me?" He raised a brow, before shrugging. "Anyway, you should finish your breakfast. Are you going to visit Ahtohallan later today?"

She shook her head no. "I'll go to Ahtohallan tomorrow."

"Great! Because I have a plan for the two of us later." Hans beamed, briefly glancing at Honeymaren, who shrugged slightly.

Elsa narrowed her eyes. "What is it?"

"That, Kaere, is for me to know," Hans poked the tip of her nose, "and for you to find out."

"Fine."

Elsa beamed. Excitement surged through her, as her mind began to think of a few possibilities. She might look as if she wasn't expecting much, but deep inside, anticipation was building up. She looked forward to whatever adventure he had in store for her.