#Best Raised Cat food stand of 2021

[siameseofday123]

We’ve researched for you and are now presenting our reviews of the top five cat bowls for your consideration. The majority of these are elevated for your cat’s comfort, and they are all stylish and modern, so they should go in with your home décor.

Visit: https://siameseofday.com/best-raised-cat-food-stand-of-2021/

[mortedeveles]

a whisker away― 1 | HQ Movie Collab!

COPYRIGHT © 2021 BY VELES. DO NOT REPOST, PLAGIARIZE, OR READ MY CONTENT AS ASMR OR AUDIOFICS.

SUMMARY: After a strange series of events, turning into a cat becomes part of your daily routine, in which you visit your crush- Kenma, every day after school. But he doesn’t know you’re the cat that visits him. And to make things worse, you’re not sure how long you’ll be able to keep this up before your world spirals out of your control.

PAIRING: Kenma Kozume x fem!reader

GENRE & THEME:  A Whisker Away! AU (movie), fluff to angst to fluff, pining. [(two part) ONE-SHOT] [Haikyu Movie Collab!]

TAG’S & TW: Cursing, a bit of unhealthy family dynamics. Mentions of social anxiety, rejection. Some angst, mentions of insecurities and small graphic violence. Reader might come off a bit as yandere-ish/obsessive but she’s just head over heels over Kenma, who’s barely discovering his feelings as well. 

WORD COUNT: 5.7K! 

A/N: Hey y’all! I’m here with my first Kenma fic :) Which is part of @/hitokas-angel Haikyuu Movie Collab! I’ll link the masterlist in my taglist reblog. This fic is based on the movie A Whisker Away but doesn’t follow the entire plot, and I haven’t written in a while and this is my first time writing for Kenma, so I hope it’s okay! <3 Please REBLOG, like and COMMENT if you enjoy! 

Second (and final) part will be out this upcoming week! If you want to be added to the taglist, check my pinned post. 

People are a fickle thing, Kenma thinks. And he snorts at the thought, knowing he isn't any better than any of the passing strangers he's walking by as he heads to Nekoma High. But still, there's something about people, about crowds and socializing that makes him want to crawl into a hole and never come out.

People are hard to deal with. If he can barely deal with himself, why bother with others? It's not that he's a sociopath, he does have friends and family he cares about. And he cares about what others think of him. But still, socializing is so intimidatingly hard that he'd rather just avoid it altogether if possible. 

Even with his headphones, he can hear the loud blaring of cars, the chattering of people that brush against his arms, and he tries to ignore it, tries to ignore the nervous fluttering that's sprouted in his stomach from all the alternating and overwhelming noises. Whatever, it's just a car honking. It's just a little kid screaming. So he braces his arms as he buries his hands in the pockets of his sweater, feeling a bit more relieved as he spots Nekoma High School in the near distance. He usually walks to school with Kuroo, but his friend decided to be productive today and wake up at four in the morning. The mere thought of waking up so early made Kenma yawn and feel drowsy. His eyes feel a bit heavy, though he knows it's his fault for staying up playing video games, again. 

But Kenma doesn't mind the slight drowsiness that courses through his body. In a sense, it feels comforting. Like if the world's been sedated to a more managing level. A world that he can handle without his anxiety bursting through the roof. 

A soft mew snaps him out of his thoughts, and Kenma spots a white kitten rubbing across his legs, and he smiles. It has a unique pattern across its fur, with brown and black spots. He kneels down and gently scratches the cat under its chin, and the furry animal purrs and preens with his touch.

As a small sigh escapes his lips, the boy raises his head and stares at the high school building ahead of him. Several classmates are walking past him and he watches the girls with swishing skirts and boys with their boisterous laugh and messily done ties. 

Despite a large number of students pouring into the building, the morning at Nekoma High is quiet and serene. Giving the black kitten one last scratch, Kenma stands up and heads inside the building, working his way through crowds. His gym bag is heavy in his hand and his backpack slightly thumps against his back, but he pays it no mind as he exits the building and finds his way into the gymnasium. Kuroo, Kai, and Yaku are already in the gymnasium, the three third years chattering amongst themselves. The gym's doors creaked from being pushed open, and Kuroo's gaze snapped towards Kenma, a wry smile crawling onto his lips. 

"Look who got here early. I'm impressed," the black-haired boy crossed his arms, and Kenma rolled his eyes. "You're the first second-year to get here today."

Kenma merely lets out a small grunt of acknowledgment, before trudging towards the locker rooms. He stashes his bag in his locker and then heads out back to the gym, already decked out in his volleyball uniform, but furrows his eyebrows at the sight ahead of him.

Not again. He swallows down an annoyed groan as he spots the all too familiar girl standing with Kuroo, a bright smile painted on her lips as she laughs and talks along with the boy. Why are you here?

"Kenma!" Kuroo calls out for him with a shit-eating grin on his face, "Your super fan is here with a gift." Great. Now he has to talk to you and thank you for whatever you brought. Why couldn't you just take a hint and leave him alone? He thought he made it clear last week when he ignored you as you called out his name and Kenma proceeded to ignore your every word as he raced home. 

"Hi, Kenma!" And there you go again, making his stomach twist with your wide smile. Why did you make him feel this way? He didn't like this feeling. "I had some free time today, so I decided to make you a bento box. I hope you like it," you explain before handing over the box, and Kenma ignores the way his skin heats up as your fingers brush against his. 

"Thank you," he murmurs but refuses to meet your gaze, hoping you'll go away without another second to spare.

"Aww, aren't you two adorable!" Kuroo coos at his left, and Kenma feels his pride shrivel and glares at the black-haired boy, but he pays him no mind.

Kenma drops his gaze to your shiny school shoes, hearing you stammer and step back nervously, and Kuroo's boisterous laugh echoes in the gym. Kenma lifts his gaze as he watches his best friend approach you and watches as your eyes widen as Kuroo grips your chin.

"If Kenma doesn't appreciate your gifts, I sure will. If you ever get tired of him, give me a call, eh?" Yaku and Kai laugh loudly as you squeak and nod, before rushing out of the gym.

"Poor girl, did you see the look on her face? You've tormented her too much, Kuroo," Yaku says with a disapproving tone to his words, but there's a wide grin on his face that says otherwise.

"Relax, it's all just a bit of fun. You don't mind, do you Kenma?" And the boy turns to look at the blonde, dropping his mischievous expression as he faces Kenma with genuine concern. 

"No, of course not." Kuroo relaxes at the boy's response and beams. Kenma turns around towards the benches, ignoring the loud pounding of his heart and the ugly feeling that begins to boil in his stomach. 

                    ═ ═ ═ ╰☆╮ ═ ═ ═

Despite the searing heat that spread across your face after fleeing from the gym, you'd like to think your mission went pretty well. One, you made it to the gym without chickening out and two, you talked to Kenma without looking like an idiot! And three, you handed over the bento box and it was successfully received. 

So you spend the rest of your day at school with a bright smile, the small interaction with Kenma being enough to lift your mood. Soon enough, the school bell chimes softly, and you walk to lunch with your friends, Azumi and Emiko.

While Emiko goes off to the vending machine, her brown hair bouncing with her each step, Azumi and you walk towards a lunch table. But you freeze in your steps at the sight ahead of you. With only a tree and a few bushes separating you two, Kenma and Kuroo walk languidly ahead of you and you quickly duck behind the bushes, pulling Azumi down with you. Before she can protest, you slap your hand over her mouth, signaling her to be quiet. 

"Shh!" You peek your head over the bushes, watching with rapt attention. Kenma walks side by side with Kuroo, the taller one gossiping as they approach a lunch table. They sit down at one of the tables blanketed under the shade of the trees, and your eyes widen as you watch Kenma pull out your bento box. He kept it! A small part of you was fearing he would drop kick it at a trash can, but you feel much more relieved now that you see him with your gift. The branches begin to scratch against your forearms and thighs, and your friend grumbles at your side about how the bushes are annoying, but you pay her no mind as you watch almost in slow motion as Kenma opens your bento box and begins to eat. He digs into the food with his chopsticks and you strain your ears to listen as Kuroo speaks. 

"Oh? You're eating the bento box Y/N prepared for you?"

Kenma's brows furrow as he rolls his eyes, before continuing to dig into the food, cheeks puffed out with food. He ignores Kuroo's teasing words, and you don't think the smile on your lips can grow any wider. Wow....have you ever felt this happy before? You can't describe the happiness, the joy, and the satisfaction that blooms from your chest and floods your mind at the sight of your crush eating your food. 

"Okay," you let out a deep breath as you dramatically fall back on the grass, closing your eyes in bliss. "I can peacefully die now..."

"Oh, don't be so dramatic," Azumi chides you but falls back onto the grass at your side, and you can't stop the giggle that leaves your lips. 

"But it's true," you mumble as you drape your arm over your eyes, blocking off the blinding sunlight. "Kenma took my bento box. Kenma Kozume, the boy I've crushed on for years, took my food! And he's eating it!"

"Nothing else can make you happier, huh?" Your friend says with amusement, and you hum. You push your arm away from your face, and stare at the bright sky, raising your hand upward and partially block the sun's rays. 

"There is something else," you murmur, and Kenma's face flashes across your mind. "But beggars can't be choosers. I'll take what I can."

"What do you want?" Azumi rolls to the side and propels herself with her arm, looking at you expectantly. "Tell me."

You glance at her briefly before looking away with a small smile. You gaze at the sky, and you notice a small, burning light that travels across the blue horizons. A shooting star? That can't be it. It's the middle of the day. But you furrow your brows, a small prayer whispered in your head as you respond to your friend.

"I wish Kenma's heart belongs to me as much as mine belongs to him."

Azumi snorts. She rolls her eyes and lays back down on the grass, and you stifle a giggle.

"Well, good luck with that." She murmurs, and you hum in response. You close your eyes and spread your arms on the grass as the wind gently blows across the open area. 

"Thanks. I'm going to need it." You murmur mostly to yourself, but then you open your eyes and raise yourself from the grass, peeking through the branches and leaves. Kenma is still scarfing down the food you made and Kuroo drinks some canned juice. And you feel newfound determination flooding through your veins as you turn and beam at your friend, eyes set on your goal.

"I can do it. I know I can."

Azumi chuckles, watching you with an amused smile. She then rises from the grass, stretching her limbs before outstretching a hand towards you. 

"Well if it's anyone that can do it, it's you." And you smile. With a small huff, you grab her hand and rise to your feet, feeling much more hopeful than before. 

     ═ ═ ═ ╰☆╮ ═ ═ ═

On the way home, you walk with Azumi and Emiko, but soon enough part ways since you three live on different streets. Humming absentmindedly, you swing your bag in your hands as you walk towards your home with no rush in your steps, feeling as if you have all the time in your hands. Your mind drifts back to Kenma- as it always does, and you smile. You're determined to win him over, but truthfully, you're not sure how. A small sigh leaves your lips, and you begin to pick up your pace when you hear a loud crash from the alley on your left.

Stopping dead in your tracks, you slowly turn around and look into the rather dark alley, feeling your heart pound loudly. Uh oh. This can't be good. But you're frozen in place, and all you can do is watch in slight horror as a large and tall figure stomps out of the alley, slowly leaving shadows as it steps into the light. And you find yourself looking at... a cat?

That is if you can call this...thing, a cat. 

Towering over you, the overweight white cat stands on its two paws, black and brown spots littering its fur. Strangely enough, the animal sports a dark blue kimono with a mustard yellow cloak draped over the clothing and a red scarf wrapped around its thick neck. And the weirdest of it all? The cat is smoking a pipe. Rather than being afraid, you're stuck in place as confusion swarms your thoughts.

"Uh..." You stare up at the cat, whose eyes are closed. "Hello?"

"Greetings, human." And the cat exhales a puff of smoke right on your face. Coughing, you furrow your brows with annoyance. "I've heard your prayers, so I am here with an offer."

Oh. Wait, what? How could've he heard your mental prayers? Maybe it was the shooting star- assuming it was a shooting star. But whatever the reason is, you don't dwell on it too much as you swallow and take a step back.

"Which is...?" You wait for the cat to continue. Maybe you're hallucinating, which wouldn't be too crazy to consider. Maybe you've been hallucinating this entire day because God knows it's been too good to be true. 

The cat harrumphs, before opening its cloak, revealing a set of colorful masks. Pretty, you murmur to yourself, and the cat chuckles.

"I heard your pleads, and I am here to help. But I'm no love god, so I cannot make that boy fall in love with you. However," he pauses and grins, sharp teeth glinting. "I am the Mask Seller. I give masks to cats who wish to be humans, and I give masks to humans who wish to be cats."

"..." You frown, not liking the strange glint in the cat's eyes. You don't trust him. "And how would that help me win Kenma over?"

The Mask Seller laughs loudly, his belly slightly bouncing. "I have been watching you and the boy for some time now. You, more than anyone, should know why being a cat will change things."

Racking your head for the answer, you go through your memories of Kenma. A cat? Why would being a cat change anything? But then it dawns on you, and a small noise of understanding leaves your lips. 

"He loves cats," you rush the words, eyes wide and the Mask Seller nods. "If I were a cat, I could approach him easily, and learn more about him! And then, I could use that information to become closer to him as a human-,"

"You catch on fast," the cat croons, and you nod eagerly. But then you frown. Why is he offering to help you? What does he get out of this?

"What are the conditions? Price? Rules?" You cross your arms over your chest, tapping your foot impatiently.

"No money involved," the cat's low voice has you relaxing, but you still can't let down your guard. This is too good to be true. "But there are some conditions and rules you have to follow. And a small fee." 

"I'm listening," you nod in understanding. The cat tugs one of the masks hanging from his cloak, a white cat mask that only covers the upper half of your face, with red and pink markings. He places it firmly in your hands, and then clears his throat. "The mask has a time limit. You can only wear it for one hour and a half per day. After that time, you will turn back into a human. And once my services are no longer needed, I will come to collect the mask. And my fee, of course." The glint in his feline eyes has you swallowing nervously, brows furrowing.

"What's this 'fee' you're talking about? You said I don’t have to pay you money." But the Mask Seller only chuckles before flipping backward, and you watch with a slackened jaw as he spins into the air, before floating down to a pipe and waves at you before swiftly squeezing down the passage.

"You'll see! Enjoy your new life." 

And then you're left alone, standing in front of the alley with a cat mask in your hands. 

Frowning, you stare down at the mask, turning it around. There's no engraving, inscription, or any indication of where it was made or such. Oh well. With a sigh, you hoist your bag around your shoulder and continue walking home, the cat mask held tightly in your hands.

Once you reach your home's doorstep, you stop. Pinching your arm, you wince at the stinging pain that shoots up your dream. Well, that crosses out one thing. You're not dreaming. 

Swinging the door open, you announce your arrival, take off your shoes and kiss your mother's cheek, before racing up the stairs towards your bedroom. You need to know whether the mask will work before getting your hopes up, or if you've been having major hallucinations the entire day. A part of you hopes for it to work. Dropping your school bag on the ground, you examine the mask once again, tracing your fingers over the marks. It's a bit similar to a kitsune mask. Taking a deep breath, you straighten your posture before raising the mask and clasping it tight against your face. 

And then it happens. A powerful breeze sweeps into your room, even though your windows are closed, and you feel the world spinning. Closing your eyes tightly, you slowly open them after a few seconds. 

Woah. When was your bag this big? Things look a bit different, a bit sharper. And you're definitely way smaller than before. Glancing downwards, you spot your paws. White, soft, furry paws. The paws of a cat.

Oh my God. It worked! You want to squeal and scream with excitement, but all that leaves your mouth is a small, gentle mew. 

Oh, right. You're a cat. You can't talk. So instead, you walk towards your balcony, thankful you didn't close it last night as you nudge it open with your head. Once it slides open, you take a step forward before examining your paws. You can retract your claws at your own will. That's pretty cool, you think, but it's time to test them out. Leaping forward, you sink your claws into the cement wall and climb upwards, surprised at how easy it is. Perhaps everything is easier as a cat. 

Once you've reached the top of the half-wall of your balcony, you begin to leap on roofs, tread on pipes and sidewalks until you've reached Kenma's house. Ever since you went there for a project in middle school, you've never forgotten his address. Is it creepy? Maybe- okay, yeah, it is creepy, but it's not like you stalk him! You simply memorized his address by heart. Blame it on your love haze from seventh grade, the same love haze that continues to influence your current actions. 

You walk around his house until you reach his bedroom window. You wonder what he'll think, seeing a white kitten peeking through his window. Dread boils in your stomach when you realize he might not even be home at all. What if he's still at volleyball practice? You might've come all the way here for nothing.

But much to your surprise, after climbing up to his window, you find yourself staring at him. Kenma sits at his desk, black headphones on his head as he scribbles on a piece of paper. He must be doing homework, you ponder. Deciding to not interrupt him just yet, you look around in his bedroom, observing the decoration. 

It's rather simple, with beige walls and a wooden floor. On the right corner of his room, a bed is pushed against the wall with pastel green blankets, and to the bed's left, there's a wooden desk with a PC, as well as several stacks of books, what seems to look like comics, and some gaming equipment. 

After you've gotten bored of looking around in his bedroom, you scratch at his window, mewing softly. He doesn't look up, and you find your stomach twisting. What if he just thinks you're a strange stray and ignores you? Or worse, kicks you out of his home? Dear God, you did not think this through. Why did you take that mask again? Your mother did tell you to never accept gifts from strangers. 

But before your endless cycle of overthinking can fully commence, your eyes widen as you watch Kenma pull off his headphones and stare at you through the window for a few seconds. You watch his short, dirty blonde hair slightly move with his movements and his slightly parted lips. And you know he sees nothing more but a white kitten, but a part of you hopes that he sees through the magic, and sees you. It's me, Kenma. 

Almost hesitantly, he walks over to his window and pulls it open. You sit down patiently and chirp softly once the window has been lifted. Kenma looks rather confused but doesn't say anything as he reaches a hand towards you and begins to gently scratch your chin. That feels good. You purr and lean into his touch, and you hear a soft chuckle leave his lips. Oh. My. God.

"How did you get up here?" He murmurs, mostly to himself and all you can do is meow in response. 

You watch as he stares at his closed door, before turning back to you. And then, you feel his warm and soft hands go underneath your arms as he picks you up from the edge of the window and brings you to his bed. Kenma runs his fingers through your white fur, and the heat his body emits is almost comforting and you find yourself leaning into his touch.

"You like cuddles, don't you?" He says, with a teasing smile that you've never seen before. If you were in human form right now, you're sure you would've passed out by now. 

You let out a soft mew and reach for his cheek with one of your paws, but Kenma laughs as he grabs your paw and squeezes it gently in his hand.

This is it. You've never seen Kenma smile before, much less laugh, and there are no words to describe how it makes you feel. All you can think about is that you need to see it again.

                   ═ ═ ═ ╰☆╮ ═ ═ ═

Your life has taken a strange twist, to say the least. After enduring school, you race home and pull on the mask, heading straight to Kenma's house. You spend an hour there, cuddled in his arms or his lap as he plays video games, one of his hands resting on the top of your head. Kuroo has even come over a few times and seems to enjoy your presence as well. Kenma even feeds you sometimes, but most times you refuse, not liking how your stomach feels once you turn back human. 

"Mmm." Kenma hums as you lay on his chest, pressing his nose to the crook of your neck, buried between your fur. And you purr, closing your eyes. "You smell like heaven. But I wonder," he leans back for a moment, assessing your frame. "What's your name? Do you have a family?" 

"Give it a break, Kenma," Kuroo says at his side, reaching a hand to pet you. His movements are rather brutish and rough and you grumble as he pets your fur. 

"I'm sure she has a family that feeds her. You can't feel her bones or anything, she's a healthy weight."

The boy sighs in response, before sitting up on his bed, moving you to his lap. "But I still get worried," he gently runs his fingers through your fur. "Where does she go after coming here?"

You meow in response. I'm fine, Kenma. You don't need to worry over me. He chuckles, raising you to his face, his nose gently bopping against yours. You stare into his golden eyes, wondering how someone's eyes could be as beautiful and hypnotizing as his, and you feel yourself fall a little bit more in love.

"Your birthday is coming up, isn't it?" Kuroo says as he flops onto the bed, bouncing a volleyball in his hands. 

"Yeah," Kenma murmurs, and you don't miss the way he averts his eyes and how his voice lowers. Does he not like his birthday? "It's this Friday."

"I'm gonna get you some apple pie. Let's go to the park after school on Friday, and then we can go to that arcade you like going to." You turn to look at Kuroo. If you were in your human form, you would've been smiling softly. Though Kuroo can be loud and boisterous at times, you can tell that he cares for Kenma.

"Apple pie is good," he murmurs as his fingers scratch your head. "I like it."

 Your ears perk up at this as an idea pops into your head. Kuroo's going to give him apple pie, but probably store-bought. Which means you can bake him homemade apple pie and buy him a few more gifts. He'll love it! Seeing that his birthday is only in two days, you spring up from his chest and race towards the window. You don't have any time to waste. 

"Huh- wait!" You stop, hearing the sudden surprise in Kenma's words. Mewing softly, you lick your paw and meow one more time before leaping out of the window. That should suffice as a goodbye, right? It's not like you can go up to him and say, "See you later!" You're in the body of a cat, after all.

Once you've dropped down to the soft grass, you begin to make your way home, making mental calculations of what you need to buy and prepare. And you feel giddiness shoot through your chest, butterflies awakening in your stomach. Who knows, maybe the gift will win him over? You can only hope so. 

          ═ ═ ═ ╰☆╮ ═ ═ ═

By the time Kenma's birthday, October 16th, rolls by, you feel ready as ever. Speed walking to school, you're decked out in your school uniform, carrying the warm apple pie in one hand, and a gift bag in the other, while your bag is slung over your shoulders. You can't stop the giddy smile that crawls on your lips, which only grows wider at the sight of your two friends, Emiko and Azumi waiting for you at your designated spot. 

"Hey there," Azumi chimes in while Emiko gasps at the sight in your arms.

"Y/N! What's all this?" Her words are chipper and her eyes are wide as you smile and begin to walk towards the school, the two girls at your sides.

"It's Kenma's birthday today, so I decided to bake him apple pie and I bought him some gifts. I hope he'll like them," you feel your insecurities seep in your last words, slightly frowning as you look down at your apple pie. You were a good baker, having done many other desserts in the past, but you can't help but fear that he won't like your baking.

"Wow. You really went all out," Azumi comments and you giggle. The three of you continue to gossip as you walk towards Nekoma High and it isn't long until the school building towers over you. You feel your stomach twist as you take in a deep breath. 

Azumi pats your shoulder, while Emiko beams at you and gives you a thumbs up.

"You should give it to him before classes start. Good luck!" The brunette says with a wide smile and you smile back, before marching into the building. Here goes nothing. 

It takes you a few minutes to find Kenma, knowing he'll probably be in the gymnasium, but you decide to check some other classrooms just in case. When you can't find him in any classroom, you grimace and speedwalk towards the gym, knowing you're running out of time. You only have eight minutes left before the school bell rings and then you'll have to head to class. 

Once you've reached the gym, you slowly push the doors open, silently praying that only Kuroo and Kenma are in the gym. 

But your prayers go unheard as a ball rolls right towards your feet, and the boy's volleyball team freezes when they spot you. A small moment of awkwardness passes through before you clear your throat and walk towards Kenma, giving the other boys a tight-lipped smile. Kenma sits on one of the benches, drinking from his water bottle as a sheen layer of sweat rolls down from his forehead. When you stand in front of him, he sets his water bottle to the side and stares at you, mouth slightly parted open. 

"Happy birthday, Kenma. I hope you'll like it." You slightly bow before him, handing him over the gifts. He takes them silently, staring at them, and you decide to take this as your chance to escape. Quickly turning on your heel, you half-race out of the gym, feeling your face burn with embarrassment once again. And then you press your back against the gym's wall, catching your breath as your cheeks burn. But then you smile, a small laugh falling from your lips. You did it. 

═ ═ ═ ╰☆╮ ═ ═ ═

Kenma isn't a fan of birthdays. He'll endure his friend's birthdays and he'll even help with the surprise parties, but there's something about them that makes his stomach churn. Especially when it's his birthday. He's not the biggest fan of celebrating his birthday and he tries to avoid it when he can, but of course, Kuroo won't let it slip by this year.

He's barely arrived at the gym and Kenma frowns as he notices that no one's here yet. The gymnasium is dark and empty, and he wonders if he missed a memo or something. Did they not have practice today? 

He sighs, dropping his gym bag on the ground. He'll wait a few minutes, maybe he's early today? But then he hears something shuffle, and he freezes. What was that....?

Then a grumble. Kenma raises a brow, both confused and wary. Is there a ghost or are his teammates pranking him? Neither outcomes sound pleasant.

"...Who's there?"

A sigh. And then, before Kenma can brace himself, the entire volleyball team jumps from the bleachers, shouting eagerly. 

"SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" Jesus Christ! Kenma jumps in his spot, heart thundering as he processes the situation. Okay, so not a ghost. Just his teammates being annoying as usual. Kuroo and Lev are grinning like doofuses, holding a banner that says, 'Happy Birthday Kenma!' Kai holds an apple pie in his hands, a serene smile on his face, Yaku holds the other end of the banner, and the rest of the first and second years hold balloons and throw streamers into the air.

All of this, just for him? 

"What's this?" Kenma murmurs, still wracking his brain as he tries to process his emotions. Lev's about to open his mouth, but Yaku reaches over and slaps his hand over the Russian's mouth, a forced smile on his lips.

Kuroo clears his throat, beaming. "Just a surprise celebration! We wanted to do something special. You don't turn seventeen every day."

And Kenma feels his chest warm, and there's a smile that's threatening to break onto his face, but he holds it back and gives them a small smile, not sure if he can handle so many emotions.

"...Thank you." And he is, he feels thankful and only feels even more thankful as his friends cheer and suddenly rush towards him, embracing him tightly in his arms. He can't help the laugh that leaves his lips and feels serene. Kenma's never been a fan of his birthday, but his friends make it a little bit better. 

     ═ ═ ═ ╰☆╮ ═ ═ ═

The team quickly calms down and begins practice, a few laps, then practicing their spikes and receives. Kenma walks over to the benches and takes a seat as he drinks from his water bottle when the gym doors creak open.

Everyone turns to look at the intruder, and Kenma's stomach squirms. It's you again. And he hates the way his heart skips a beat at the sight of you, and he hates the way it makes him feel.

It's dead silent, and you stand at the door for a second before quickly walking towards him, and Kenma's heart pounds even louder. He doesn't understand you. Why do you pursue him so much? You're cute, he can't deny it. So why, out of all the people in Nekoma High, did you chase after him? And why is it making his heart go wild?

"Happy birthday, Kenma. I hope you'll like it." You slightly bow before him, handing him over the gifts. A freshly baked apple pie that smells absolutely delicious, and a large red gift bag. 

Oh wow... He's speechless. He doesn't know what to say. It feels like with the surprise celebration, and it feels like too much. What is he supposed to say? But before he can even regain his composure, you're rushing out of the gym, and Kenma's stomach churns. Oh... 

Once the gym doors close with a loud slam, the entire team turns to look at him. They blink, and then they leap. Kenma yelps as the entire team rush towards him, yapping and all of them speaking at the same time.

"Lemme see what she got you!"

"Y/N L/N is so adorable!"

"Kenma, have you secretly been dating Y/N this entire time?!" Fukunaga pipes in, and Kenma finds his face heating up as his eyes widen.

"What?! Of course not!" And then Kuroo's snickering as he sits next to Kenma, slinging an arm around his shoulder.

"She's a sweet girl. Why don't you give her a chance?"

He lets out a shaky breath, his poor heart barely handling all the commotion. Kenma definitely needs at least one hour of cuddling with his white kitten after school to recover from all this. He blocks out what his friends say as his thoughts drift off, and he furrows his brows. 

Wait a minute. How did you know he likes apple pie?

A/N: Hey!! I hope you enjoyed the first half of this one-shot :)) I totally did not speedrun it 1-2 days before the collab event was live 😭😭I’ve been busy with school and just life in general so I haven’t had much time to write tbh. And plus I’m lazy :,) but anyway! I hoped you enjoyed it as much I enjoyed writing it :DD The 2nd and final part of this one-shot will be out this week!

Please REBLOG, like + comment if you enjoyed! <3 

COPYRIGHT © 2021 BY VELES. DO NOT REPOST, PLAGIARIZE, OR READ MY CONTENT AS ASMR OR AUDIOFICS.

[akari-hope]

lgbtq+ anime for pride month

decided to make this for anyone looking for new recommendations, or anyone who’s wanted to get into anime but doesn’t know where to start! all recs will include a summary, genres, applicable representation, and how accessible it is to people brand new to anime, as well as any major content warnings.

(a quick disclaimer for those new to anime - some series on here will NOT have explicit rep, but rather be heavily coded or have implied queer themes. however, these are included generally because the implication is strong enough to treat it as text, or because the series has been generally accepted as queer. i’ll be sure to clarify whether something is canon or coded in each entry.)

ouran high school host club (comedy, romance) summary: haruhi fujioka is an honor student on scholarship at the prestigious ouran academy, who’s only looking for a quiet place to study when he runs into the notorious host club. in his frantic attempt to leave, he accidentally breaks a vase valued at 8 million yen. club leader tamaki suou has an idea for how he can pay them back - working for the host club. rep: crossdressing/drag are staples of this series, nothing explicitly stated but there are definite themes of gender identity exploration, and the show doesn’t shy away from homosexual themes or ideas accessibility: newcomer friendly! the english dub of this series is notably good. content warnings: some 2000s-era language in regards to gay/trans people that may be seen as offensive today, one scene that implies intent of sexual assault (while there is no actual assault and it is quickly played off, it may still be upsetting to some viewers)

yuri!!! on ice (sports) summary: yuri katsuki is a professional figure skater, recovering from a crushing defeat at the grand prix final. he returns to his family home to debate what he plans to do for next season. he goes to the local ice rink to clear his mind, and shows his old friend there something he’s been practicing - his idol victor nikiforov’s latest world-winning routine. unbeknownst to yuri, he’s being filmed. the video goes viral, and before he knows it victor is standing right in front of him, offering to be his coach. rep: canon mlm romance accessibility: newcomer friendly! content warnings: a few scenes that briefly display anxiety/panic attack-like symptoms

given (drama, romance) summary: one day on his way to his favorite napping spot in school, ritsuka uenoyama finds a boy, mafuyu satou, dozing in his spot, clutching onto a guitar with rusted, broken strings. uenoyama wakes him up, berating him for not taking better care of his instrument. mafuyu, noticing his knowledge of the instrument, begs uenoyama to repair it and teach him to play. uenoyama initially refuses, but mafuyu is persistent, even following uenoyama to band practice. it’s not until uenoyama hears mafuyu sing that he changes his tune, offering lessons if he joins the band as their singer. rep: canon mlm romance accessibility: newcomer friendly! content warnings: discussions of grief and loss additional note: given also has a movie sequel, which has a scene involving sexual assault.

sweet blue flowers / aoi hana (romance, slice of life) summary: fumi manjoume and akira okudaira were best friends in elementary school, until fumi moved away. now in high school, fumi is back and attending the same school as akira once again. their relationship isn’t the same now, though. the two must navigate the new trials of high school while trying to revive their waning friendship. rep: canon wlw romance accessibility: newcomer friendly!

bloom into you / yagate kimi ni naru (drama, romance) summary: yuu koito has always dreamed of the sort of soft, heart-fluttering love in shoujo manga. when a boy finally confesses to her though she feels...empty. she begins to wonder if she only understands love conceptually, but cannot feel it. yuu is still mulling over how to respond to her suitor when she witnesses the student council president, touko nanami, turn down a love confession of her own. she decides to approach touko for advice, but then the unexepected happens - touko confesses to yuu. rep: canon wlw romance accessibility: newcomer friendly! content warnings: some mild sexual content, depictions of homophobia

stars align / hoshiai no sora (drama) summary: toma shinjou is desperate to recruit new members to the boys’ soft tennis club, which is on the verge of being disbanded due to poor performance. maki katsuragi, the new transfer student, immediately catches his interest due to his quick reflexes. toma persuades maki to join, and maki’s skill quickly becomes driving momentum for the entire team. through their shared sport, the boys of the soft tennis club explore their own capabilities and hardships as they navigate life. rep: canon nonbinary character, discussions of gender identity and sexuality accessibility: some prior knowledge of anime tropes and themes is desirable, but not necessary content warnings: discussions and depictions of abuse, bullying, and violence

mahou shoujo madoka magica (fantasy, psychological drama) summary: madoka kaname and sayaka miki are good friends, regular middle school girls with regular lives. one day, the mysterious homura akemi transfers into their class, and strange happenings begin occuring. they meet a strange cat-like creature known as kyuubey, injured and on the run from homura. as thanks for saving its life, kyuubey offers them a reward - he’ll grant any wish they desire, and in return they’ll become magical girls with the power to help others. homura, despite being a magical girl herself, discourages them, saying everything is not as it seems. rep: sapphic themes and implied romantic feelings accessibility: some prior knowledge of anime tropes and themes is desirable content warnings: blood, violence, major character death, unreality, grief additional note: madoka magica has 3 movie sequels, with a 4th on the way. while the first two are merely recaps of the series, the 3rd, rebellion, is a continuation of the story.

no. 6 (sci-fi, drama) summary: the world has been ravaged by war - the last safe haven of mankind lies in six walled-off city-states. shion is an elite resident of one such city-state, no. 6, given priority housing and treatment due to his exceptional abilities. one night, a fugitive by the name of nezumi sneaks into shion’s room, and threatens to kill him. despite knowing he’s a fugitive, shion instead tends to his wounds and shelters him for the night. when his transgression is discovered by the authorities, shion and his mother lose their elite status, and are relocated. now just a regular citizen, shion begins to discover a new side to the city he’s called home. years after their first meeting, he reunites with nezumi once more - their meeting putting in motion a series of events that will unveil the secrets of no. 6. rep: canon mlm romance, trans/nonbinary coded character accessibility: some prior knowledge of anime tropes and themes is desirable, but not necessary content warnings: blood, violence, major character death, body horror, insects (bees)

seraph of the end / owari no seraph (supernatural, action) summary: a virus ravages the human race, infecting and killing everyone above the age of 13. their food source now threatened, vampires come out of the shadows to take the remaining humans captive. the children of the hyakuya orphanage are among the survivors. yuuichirou detests the vampires, and is determined to escape. mikaela has hatched a plan to do just that. the hyakuya kids make their way to the exit of the vampire city, only to be ambushed by a vampire noble. yuuichirou is the only one to escape. he’s found by the japanese imperial demon army, who say they’ll use him against the vampires. believing the rest of the children dead, yuuichirou joins immediately, determined to seek revenge against the monsters who killed his only family. rep: implied romantic feelings between two men (in the manga the anime is based on this is canon, and the localization team views the relationship as romantic) accessibility: some prior knowledge of anime tropes and themes is desirable, but not necessary content warnings: blood, violence, death, body horror, unreality

banana fish (action, crime drama) summary: ash lynx is a runaway on the streets of nyc, taken in and raised by the godfather of the mafia, dino golzine. now the leader of his own gang, he begins investigating “banana fish” - the only two words his brother will speak after returning from the iraq war. ash meets his friend skip at a bar, where he’s shunichi ibe and eiji okumura, japanese photographers covering american gangs. however, their conversation is cut short, as dino’s men storm the bar and kidnap skip and eiji. ash sets out to rescue them and continue his investigation. rep: canon mlm romance accessibility: some prior knowledge of anime tropes and themes is desirable, but not necessary content warnings: blood, violence, major character death, drugs, homophobia, pedophilia, sexual assault, rape

wonder egg priority (fantasy, psychological drama) summary: after the suicide of koito nagase, ai ohto is left to grapple with reality without her best friend. under instructions of a mysterious entity, she purchases a wonder egg. ai breaks the egg in the world that materializes in her sleep, and is tasked with saving people. under the belief that she’ll be able to save koito, ai embarks on a journey where she must recognize the relationship between other people’s demons and her own. rep: canon trans characters, sapphic themes accessibility: some prior knowledge of anime tropes and themes is desirable content warnings: blood, violence, death, suicide, self-harm, transphobia, fatphobia, bullying, abuse, pedophilia, sexual assault, rape additional note: wonder egg priority has a special airing on june 30th, 2021, meant to wrap up the original series - as of writing this post, the series is technically incomplete.

flip flappers (fantasy, sci-fi) summary: cocona is an average middle schooler liing with her grandmother, no clear goals in mind for the future. she meets an odd girl, papika, who inites her to join the organization “flip flap”. cocona finds herself dragged along by papika into the world of pure illusion, a mysterious alternate dimension where papika searches for crystal shards. as cocona and papika explore pure illusion, they awaken to the power within the crystals, transforming into magical girls. they must learn to work together in order to unravel the mysteries of pure illusion, and their pasts. rep: sapphic themes and exploration of sexuality accessibility: some prior knowledge of anime tropes and themes is desirable content warnings: mild violence, unreality, mild sexual themes and nudity

noir (action, drama) summary: parisian assassin-for-hire mireille bouquet receives a strange email from kirika yuumara, a japanese student, who invites her to make “a pilgrimage to the past”. mireille makes to dismiss the email as nonsense, until it starts playing a song she recognizes from her youth. when the two meet in person, they’re ambushed by gun-wielding men. to mireille’s surprise, kirika is able to fend for herself - even more surprising, kirika has no memory of how she has such skills. the two of them team up to unravel the mysteries of their pasts, operating under the codename “noir”. rep: canon lesbian characters accessibility: some prior knowledge of anime tropes and themes is desirable, but not necessary content warnings: violence, death, implied rape and csa (not shown)

revolutionary girl utena / shoujo kakumei utena (fantasy, psychological drama) summary: after an encounter with a prince who comforted her after the death of her parents, utena tenjou is given a rose-crest ring, and a promise that they’ll meet again someday. however, utena has now committed to becoming a prince herself! after witnessing the abuse of fellow classmate anthy himemiya, utena is drawn into a dangerous game. duelists with rings matching her own battle for the ownership of anthy - the “rose bride”. utena decides she must free anthy from this fate. rep: canon sapphic characters, implied romance (in the movie sequel, this becomes canon) accessibility: prior knowledge of anime tropes and themes is necessary to fully enjoy this anime content warnings: unreality, violence, abuse, homophobia, pedophilia, incest, sexual assault, rape (for a comprehensive, spoiler-free breakdown of all potentially disturbing content, click here) additional note: the movie sequel, adolescence of utena, gives more explicit canon romance than the original series. however, the original series is considered an absolute classic must-watch for sapphics.

if anyone has questions about any series on here, feel free to ask! any other recommendations, feel free to tack on! (please include a summary, rep, accessibility, and any content warnings!)

[nakachuchu]

The Berehynia | Crowley Eusford

chapter seven of the Fairy Tales and Myths series

SYNOPSIS: He ventures into the woods.

READER: gender neutral

WORDS: 1023

WRITTEN: 03/02/2021

NOTES: pictures of Berehynia are female, but as I wrote it, it is gender neutral.

He was traveling the world, seeking out new foods and delights. He found himself in Southern Europe this time where the people flocked around him because of his attractive features.

Crowley was used to positive attention. He knew he was handsome and he was prideful of that.

He began to get curious when all the locals of the town he was staying at warned him of the berehynias.

He wasn't familiar with European folklore, so he asked one of the locals what it meant.

The old woman waved him off, barely able to keep herself steady on her wooden cane. He placed a hand on her back to help her.

"Berehynias are vengeful spirits that live in the forest," she said as she looked to the outer edges of the dark forest. "You best not to in there. No one who goes there comes out alive."

Crowley hummed. "Is that so? Well, you should be on your way. It's getting late."

She grunted and hobbled away in the direction of her small hut. Crowley smiled and waved after her. Once she was out of sight, he turned to the forest and stared at it.

"Well, what doesn't kill me, makes me stronger," he said as he walked in the direction of the forest.

He was a thrill-seeker, but he was also lazy. There was rarely a time he'd go out of his way for something unless it was intriguing or benefited him in some way.

He walked into the forest and immediately noticed the change in energy. The forest and fog were dense. He could barely see in front of him, and he had superior eyesight compared to others.

He looked around the forest, walking forward slowly so he wouldn't trip and fall. He strained his eyes for anything that may have wanted to pop out and frighten him.

He came across a swamp and stopped by the edge. He looked down at the swamp and could see the hint of his reflection in the murky water.

A ripple was created in the water. He tilted his head and leaned forward, wanting to know what type of creatures lived in the swamp.

You poked your head out of the water, touching your nose against his.

"Hello," you whispered.

He blinked. "Hello. Are you a berehynia?"

You leaned back and looked up at him. "Yes. Are you a tourist?"

"Yes. You don't look vengeful."

"You can't judge a book by its cover," you retorted. "If you know what a berehynia is, why have you come here? No locals will come in this forest."

He smiled. "I was curious."

You looked at him, slowly sinking into the water until only your eyes were showing. You roamed your eyes over his body as he stood, proud and tall, in front of you.

Then, you sat up a bit more, showing more of your body to him as you stretched and splayed your upper body on the land he was standing on.

"Has your curiosity been vanquished?" you asked.

He knelt, placing his elbow on his knee and his chin on his hand. "Not yet."

You hummed. "You're an interesting man."

"I get that a lot."

"If you'll let me touch you, then it will be vanquished," he said.

You looked at him for a moment, trying to decipher his motives. Once you determined he had no weapons or warding herbs on him, you leaned up to arm your arms around his neck and shoulders.

His hands trailed down your back, fingertips tickling your spine.

You nuzzled your face into the crook of his neck and sunk your teeth into his neck, ripping off a chunk of his flesh. A few bites in, and you immediately spat out his flesh.

Your eyes were wide in confusion and disgust as you leaned away and looked at him to see him smiling.

"Well, if I had known you were going to eat me, I would have warned you first," he teased.

You were back in the water now, a few feet away from him. Your eyes were cold and calculating.

"What are you?" you asked.

"A vampire," he lazily said.

"Your flesh tastes like shit," you retorted.

"Well, I am un-dead. Why'd you bite me? I think it's supposed to be the other way around."

"Berehynias eat flesh because we want our bodies back. We do not know if it works, but we feel satisfied and full when we eat," you said. "Hmph. Now that you've had your fun, you can leave. You've no meat I can eat."

"What if I get some for you?" he asked.

You narrowed your eyes. "Why would you do that?"

"I'm intrigued," he said.

"Curiosity killed the cat," you retorted.

"Good thing I'm not a cat."

You rolled your eyes.

“You have a body, don't you?” he asked.

“Put your head underwater. We bite, by the way, but it's not like it'll harm you,” you said.

He got on his hands and knees before ducking his head into the water. With open eyes, he looked around the murky water. He could see heaps of skeletons, including yours.

When he raised his head, you had a flesh body above the water. To make sure his assumption was correct, he dunked his head underwater and saw no flesh body from you.

“Say I want to take you out of the water…”

“You may for a short while, but I cannot leave this forest. My soul is connected to it.”

He hummed, brushing back his hair with his hand. “Interesting. I'll be back with a body.”

“You're an odd man,” you called out.

“And you're beautiful.”

You narrowed your eyes at him, not believing anything that came out of his mouth because of how charming and handsome he was.

“You're tricky. Handsomely tricky,” you added. “What’s the catch?”

“I want to see you devour a human body,” he answered. “You'll be ten times more attractive.”

“I'm essentially a skeleton,” you retorted.

“You spat out my flesh a few minutes ago,” he retorted. “Stay here.”

In the blink of an eye, he disappeared.

“Hpmh. Men,” you muttered.

[kwonhoshi0]

𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝

navigation | requests : open | 2nd march 2021

pairing : bakugou x fem!reader

genre : fluff, heavy angst

warnings : mutual pining, soulmate AU, !quirk world, heartbreak?, eating, vomit

themes : falling in love, unfair world, ‘it had to be us’, slow burns

desc : in a world where when you see your soulmate in their most vulnerable state your eyes change to the colour of the one you’re meant to be with, but sometimes soulmates aren’t allowed to be together, the way the universe was made is cruel it hurt.

a/n : i’m about to cause so much pain so i’m sorry in advance 🕴

listen to :

this world was cruel, that much was clear.

one couple in a thousand are fated to be apart, the thought didn’t scare you much since people in love always find a way, right?

when you touch your soulmates hands for the first time you feel a little spark, like electricity but for 1 couple out of 1000 they’d get thrown apart, quite literally thrown apart. they’d repel like the opposite ends of a magnet.

reading people’s experience on the matter broke your heart, people fated to be together only for their wishes to become nothing but that, wishes.

the same happened to your aunt and uncle, they’re together but apart, not allowed to touch eachother without being repelled apart. you watched it firsthand and it hurt seeing them live so happily apart in this unfair world.

your other uncle was no other then pro-hero all might, he raised you from the age of 3, your parents died when you were young, in a villain attack. they died fighting and their last wish was for you, their daughter to grow up a happy child in the care of your fathers brother, all might.

your uncle is an amazing guardian, he was nervous but he taught you everything he knows, your wish is to be a pro-hero exactly like him, exactly like your parents and that’s what he wanted for you as well even if there were dangers who was he to say no to your dream?

he trained you carefully, your quirk was powerful and sometimes hard to manage when not in control of your emotions, your quirk is telekinesis, you can lift yourself into the air with enough power and your hands stabilise the quirk, your nose bleeds when you start overusing it and you get lightheaded but with the help of all might you slowly got better at handling the power.

-> FIRST DAY OF UA

‘y/n you’re up next’ you walked up to where your class teacher aizawa was standing, steadying your feet a little you flicked the ball into the air only above your hand and then using your mind and hand you shot it up into the sky, everyone watched in amazement as you got the best score by barely trying. your eyes locked with a blondes, his eyes stood out, they glistened gold and crimson in the sun dancing in the light hitting his face but you looked away feeling your face heat up at his looks. ‘hey y/n right? you did amazing out there my names mina ashido!’ you smiled at her friendliness, ‘hi, you did pretty great too’.

-> HIM

as the months went on you caught yourself staring more and more at a certain blonde, sometimes you caught him staring back. it was no secret that you’re attractive anyone with eyes could see that, someone had recorded you trying to regain your breath during the sports festival and it went viral. when you caught him staring at you from across the table, you simply smirked at him before going back to talking to denki and mina.

at first you thought your attraction to him was only because of his looks, until you started getting to know the boy underneath. he’s caring, he’s thoughtful, he would never say it but he is. you noticed when he would do things for others, when you all moved into the dorms after the USJ attack you started to notice his small gestures to show he cares, they may not be big but you noticed.

in his eyes you are incredible, he often thought about your strength, physically and mentally. everyone thinks that you’re lucky because you got to learn from all might but they never thought about the circumstances in which you got there, your parents died but you still fought on. at first you were closed off, until you became friends with mina who introduced you to the bakusquad, you all clicked immediately. your sarcastic humour paired with their loud and bakugous equally sarcastic humour fit like a puzzle.

-> love birds

‘hey idiot, come here’, it was 8pm and the dekusquad had sneaked out to watch the sunset along the beach. you hopped down from the railing and traced it with the tip of your fingers before reaching him, ‘what is it blasty’, you looked at him, the crimson sky faded along with pink, the sun only illuminating the colour onto his face making him look beautiful he looks pretty , she looks pretty. if only you could hear eachothers thoughts.

‘look at them’ you looked down from the perch to see denki kicking water at kirishima and sero as mina threw wet sand balls at them both, you giggled at the sight, even her laugh is pretty he thought.

‘hey love birds!! get down here!’ the pink haired girl yelled.

‘SHUT UP PINKIE’ neither of you denied it, maybe because that’s what you wanted.

you all sneaked back into the dorms when it got dark, you clicked your phone ‘12am’ you whispered to your friends, thankfully no one snitched on you. the wooden floors creaked a little as you made your way to your room, you grabbed your towel and slipped off your clothes before slipping into the shower, once you got out you threw on a large hoodie which almost went down to your knees. ‘y/nn bakugou is being annoying can you help’ denki pouted making grabby hands at you. after agreeing you skipped downstairs to see the boy nagging over the dishes, smiling a little you walked over to him.

you started cleaning up the dishes he was nagging about as he made you all food since you were all hungry from the beach. ‘thanks’ you grinned hearing those words leave his mouth, even if they were quiet ‘what was that blasty?’ he glared at you ‘i will deck you’ you stifled a laugh at his words as your eyes connecting with his crimson ones for a second, both of your eyes widened looking into the others before you quickly went back to the task at hand.

he just has pretty eyes.. that’s it fuck, no i don’t like her, fuck.

———

falling in love with katsuki bakugou was not in your plans, but the way the blonde haired boy fussed about cleaning and things that you’d think he’d give no care to struck you. the way he’d pick a stray fluff or hair off kirishimas clothes but not tell him, the way he’d use his anger to mask him affection. it all endeared you, but why?

maybe it was the night you went to the beach, when he looked down at your friends messing around like it’d be the last time he’s seeing them, or the way he looked at you when you sneezed with a grin on his face,

‘why are you smiling at that’

‘you sounded like a fuckin cat’,

was it because of his eyes, his stupid pretty crimson eyes telling you to come closer, telling you to kiss him. — or the night he looked after you when you got drunk in the dorms, you had drunk a little too much and felt yourself feeling sick, before you knew it you’d ran upstairs to your bathroom and started vomiting into the toilet, he followed you and lifted your hair out of your face, ‘idiot take these’ he handed you some medicine for the pain in your head. — and he stayed with you that night so you wouldn’t be sick by yourself.

it’s been almost two years since you caught feelings for him. two years since you fell dangerously in love with the angry blonde boy.

———

today you were attacked by the league of villains while training and everything was okay, you were fighting alongside him, while you were fighting back to back you hadn’t noticed the villain to the side of you, he was aiming for bakugou, you did what you could in the moment and took the hit for him. you didn’t know what the persons quirk did but it didn’t seem to affect to you at all. ‘IDIOT GRAB MY HAND’ you quickly shook your head to get rid of the dizzy feeling taking place and grabbed his hand.

as soon as you defeated everyone you gathered near the front of the facility and that’s when you felt it. feelings from your past, the pain of having zero to very little memories of your parents, the pain of everyone but you knowing them, most of all the anger. you screamed crouching to the ground throwing your hands over your ears trying to get rid of the emotions they were overwhelming and painful. bakugou told aizawa that you got hit with a quirk but it didn’t do anything, he ran over as soon as he heard you scream.

‘y/n!, can you hear me.. fuck what’s happening’ you squeezed your eyes shut yelling out again as the stabbing feeling covered your body like needles, aizawa tried erasing the quirk but it was no use.

you gasped for air as the pain finally stopped and opened your eyes, ‘FUCK YOU SCARED ME SO FUCKING MUCH’ you smiled weakly as you realised he’s cradling you, — your eyes change colour when you see your soulmate in their most vulnerable state — ‘wait what is-’ you looked up at his words to see his crimson eyes replaced by your [c] ones, your own eyes now crimson, in only 5 seconds his eyes turned back to crimson as yours turned back to [c].

‘bakugou’ you were afraid to look at his expression, he tilted your head up and he smiled at you ‘i’m glad it’s you, i’m so fuckin glad it’s you’ you beamed at him as tears welled up in the base of your eyes.

that night you were planning on going on a date together, just you and him. mina and denki were sat on your bed crying and screaming about what happened, ‘ugh the way you looked at eachother makes me want a relationship!!’ she sobbed as her lips formed a pout, you laughed at her antics as denki did your eyeliner for you. ‘is this okay?’ you went for very ‘you’ clothes and you were pretty satisifed with your outfit, smiling you turned to them. ‘now this isn’t fair how do you look good in everything’ you scoffed before booping the pink girl.

you had butterflies in your stomach before even meeting him, the way he made you feel nervous but ecstatic. ‘hey’ you turned at the voice, smiling when you noticed you accidentally matched, you wore a black jumper with a skull on it as he wore his black skull t-shirt. you both noticed this and smiled.

‘gonna keep staring at me dumbass, come on?’

you walked after him smiling at his eagerness, ‘where are we going blasty’ he quickly looked up at the stars before saying ‘to see some memories’. after 10 minutes of walking you noticed the beach, it was the same one you came to with your friends, the one where you watched the sunset together, when you were oblivious to the others feelings. you talked and laughed about how oblivious you both were,

‘i kinda knew it was you, i think, i don’t know it’s fuckin weird.. i saw you and i just, knew?’

your heart did backflips at his words, ‘when i first saw you, at the first day of UA, you caught my eye maybe it was the pretty red eyes or the angry face-’

‘I DONT HAVE AN ANGRY FACE’ even his anger made you fall for him.

you’re down bad, you both are.

after your walk along the beach you talked more and walked until you realise it had been hours and you should be getting back to the dorms, somehow this entire time you hadn’t touched hands, it’s not that you didn’t want to you were just so immersed in talking to him it felt like you could talk to him forever.

as you got back to the dorms you stood outside the door and edged closer to him, his eyes sparkled just like they did that day, he entwined his hands with yours.

but instead of feeling the spark you felt a jolt, like a pain and you both pushed apart like magnets.

‘wait.. What, no this isn’t happening i held you this morning, what fucking changed’ he looked at you hurt and in shock, you couldnt breath, it was happening, the one you love but never be able to touch.

‘y/n, don’t fucking cry i’m here, i’m still here’.

‘but you’re not, it’s like we have an invisible box around each other you’ll never be able to hold me, or kiss me’ it was like you couldn’t feel anything but you felt everything at the same time.

‘there’s gotta be a reason, i held you fucking hours ago y/n, maybe it’s that fuckers quirk’

‘bakugou this is what happened to my aunt and uncle, they were fine for the first couple hours until i-it happened’

‘you deserve someone you can hold’

‘but i want you, you’re my fucking soulmate don’t be stupid’

‘you cant even fucking touch me bakugou’

‘call me blasty again.’

‘what?’

‘please’

his eyes were filling with tears, threatening to spill.

‘bakugou, i’m sorry, i love you’

‘then we’ll make this work’

‘we can’t blasty, you know we can’t’

A/N :

🕴i am very sorry for the pain i have caused i made myself cry

taglist :

@todoroki-shoto-is-life @blazedbakugou @luluwiie @blue-gold-demigod-clouds @gazelle-des-pres

[qqueenofhades]

pel!ivan and fedyor went through a lot of ups and some downs from the end of pel and 2021 but they also celebrated 10 years together 🥳 i hope fedyor shoved cake into ivan’s face and also you know, im sure they were mushy like the saps they are

Ivan was supposed to be out of here ten minutes ago – actually, at this point, more like twenty – but the clients are still fucking talking, and if they keep it up much longer, he’s going to add it to the bill for “initial consultation.” Drew has a man-bun and unbearably hip black glasses, and works as a developer for some start-up app that he’s tried to convince Ivan to download at least twelve times. (What does the app actually do? Don’t know don’t care.) Mia is thin, blonde, waifish, smells like essential oils, and has been flitting around with her smartphone the entire time, getting in Ivan’s way as she snaps perfectly filtered pictures of the “developmental process” and posts them nonstop on Instagram. They both have a lot of opinions on how they want the energy of the space to feel, and a preapproved list of ethically sourced suppliers. They have paid some ludicrous price for this converted loft in Prospect Heights and chose the location for its proximity to the best farmer’s markets and hippie coffeehouses. Did Ivan die? Is this hell?

Somewhat ostentatiously, he looks at his watch. “Okay,” he announces. “I think that wraps up. You have work number, so – ”

“Oh, just one more thing!” Drew has recently read one (1) book on home design and thinks he’s an expert, so Ivan is forced to suffer his idiotic opinions about the kind of tile they want to use on the kitchen backsplash. Somehow, he manages not to roll his eyes directly out of his head, for which he should be commended. Ivan has discovered that the secret of successfully dealing with people, especially clients, is to smile and nod at everything they say, while mercilessly mocking them in your head. Amazing, the things you learn as a small-business owner in Brooklyn in the year of our lord 2021. Especially when it comes to renovating overpriced tiny gentrified apartments for insufferable techno-douchebags and their vapid influencer girlfriends. And people think Ivan might want to live like this more often? No fucking thank you.

Finally (it’s another ten minutes after that, this is definitely going on the bill), they more or less wrap up, except for the fact that Mia then wants a picture with the three of them. “It’s just so important to us that we’re supporting the immigrant community,” she explains earnestly. “After all, being open, tolerant, learning from our neighbors, people who are different from us, that’s what life is all about. We just love that you’re foreign. The energy feels so right, you know?”

Ivan wonders whether to inform her that he has lived in this country for eight years and been a full citizen (passport and voting rights and everything) for three, then decides that this would venture into sharing-personal-information territory and he is having none of it. His English has improved to the point where he can handle almost all business transactions by himself, but feigning incomprehension can sometimes get him out of them when they turn really stupid. Unfortunately, that isn’t an option here, and so he diligently leans into the frame, smiling half an inch, while Mia snaps a picture of “us and our adorable Russian contractor!!” Ivan informs her of the correct flag emoji to add to the filter, decides that he’s going to add an extra fifty bucks just for that, and finally, finally, makes his escape.

It’s rush hour, and the Q is crammed as Ivan heads into midtown. So much for social distancing and not getting too close to anyone, which is the only thing from the pandemic that he wouldn’t mind keeping. Only about half the crowd is wearing masks, including him, and so he gets off at Times Square, dodges the latest lunatic standing on a soapbox and shouting about how it is all a hoax, and walks several blocks uptown, just to get some space. He finally reaches the restaurant, where he has to flash his vaccination card to get inside (Ivan, who remains Russian to the marrow of his bones, is a little irked that he couldn’t get Sputnik here and had to settle for Pfizer) and climbs up to the open-air rooftop terrace. It is only when he spots his husband, waiting at a table that overlooks the glittering evening lights of the city, when Ivan pulls off his mask and allows himself to properly smile. “Sorry I’m late,” he says. “They are the worst.”

“I figured it was something like that.” Fedyor musters a smile in return, though his eyes look permanently tired these days and Ivan would bet that he’s been scrolling through more depressing emails on his phone. Technically Fedyor is on a two-month sabbatical from work, but he can’t stop himself, and Ivan has had to pry it from his fingers on a number of occasions. “But you’re here now. That’s what matters.”

Ivan nods stoutly, they are furnished with the drinks and appetizers list, and when the waiter asks if there’s any special occasion tonight, tell him that they are celebrating their ten-year anniversary, albeit somewhat late. This was supposed to happen last spring, but obviously, nobody in New York was going out to a restaurant in the early months of 2020, and Ivan himself had barely gotten home from the hospital and still could be knocked over in a strong breeze. They’re celebrating a lot of things tonight, in other words, even if it’s now been eleven years, not ten, since the day Ivan marched into a Red Square coffee shop and engaged in – well, Fedyor has made sure to inform him that the first date didn’t go nearly as well as Ivan always thought it did. But it worked, didn’t it? Here they are, wedding bands on their fingers, a couple of successful American urban professionals who have built a nice life for themselves and are, if anything, even more madly in love than they were when this whole nutty adventure together first began. So really, if you ask Ivan Sakharov Kaminsky, it went just fine after all.

The waiter congratulates them, gives them two drinks for the price of one, and they both relax and start to talk, fully at ease in the way they only are in each other’s company. Ivan does his Mia impression in an extremely convincing falsetto (after all, [NAME REDACTED] has practice at this) and Fedyor almost dies laughing. They hold hands on the table – no need to hold them under the table – and gaze into each other’s eyes all they want, order dinner and dessert, and take a long time about it. They raise several toasts to this, to them, to ten years, may there be many more. Ivan pays the bill, his treat, and they walk slowly back to Times Square, hand-in-hand, Fedyor’s head nestled on Ivan’s shoulder. It’s New York. Nobody cares.

They ride the Q home, in all its smelly, secondhand glory, taking an hour to bang out to Brighton Beach and descending the elevated stairs into the familiar down-at-heel comfort of their Russian-American neighborhood, neon Cyrillic signs glowing in windows and somebody shouting about how if Sergei ever shows his face here again, she is going to cut his dick off. Ivan and Fedyor look at each other and snort, resisting the urge to shout up and ask what exactly Sergei did, and walk a few more minutes to their building. They climb up three flights of stairs to their apartment, unlock the door and the deadbolt, and step inside.

The instant they are home, Rasputin shoots out of nowhere, yowling as if he has been neglected for months, and curls himself around Ivan’s ankles (he is still liable to give Fedyor evil looks when he feels that this interloper has been stealing his human too often). Ivan sighs, trudges to the kitchen, points out to Rasputin that his food bowl is still half full, gets a wounded look in return, and adds an extra scoopful. Once the cat is happily snarfing down, Fedyor pulls Ivan by the hand, into the dim living room with its blowing curtains. “Come here, my love,” he says. “Hold me.”

Ivan does as ordered, because it’s his favorite thing in the world: cuddling Fedyor close, nothing but the two of them in all of time and space, swaying slowly in the blue hour with fingers and arms and hearts entwined. Ivan kisses Fedyor’s temple, and Fedyor nestles even closer, melted into his embrace. “I love you, Vanya,” he mumbles against Ivan’s collarbone. “I love you so much. I love you more than anything in the world. I love you, I love you, I love you.”

“I love you too, Fedya.” Ivan leans down and kisses him properly, sweet and slow and lingering, as they continue to waltz in stately time to a music that nobody except the two of them can hear. “I’m still not always sure why you married me, but I am very glad you did.”

[white-collar-lawmen-and-conmen]

Cat Burglar Boyfriend

A/N: My roulette wheel landed on Lawmen and Conmen a second time, so clearly this method works! Cheers to my first piece of 2021! Requested by @white-magician​

Summary: Neal reasons that if the FBI didn’t want the benefits of unconventional methods, they wouldn’t employ unconventional consultants. In the process of using said methods, a cat changes the plans and Neal flees to your apartment.

Word Count: 4,651

           The Chelsea complex soared high over gentrified properties and closed storefronts. Though it could boast an impressive list of amenities for a mid-range apartment building in Manhattan, it came just short of magnetic keys. The suspect lived on the seventh floor in an east-facing unit, and thanks to Diana’s investigating, Neal knew that no one would be in the apartment until its tenant returned to New York in two days. He looked good in all black, which worked out especially well in times like this, when he needed to blend in with the dark and get in and out unnoticed.

           With all of the neighbors rightly asleep, it was a cinch to quietly pick the lock and let himself inside. Neal moved slowly, but not so slowly that he wasted time or would look strange if anyone happened to enter the hallway before he had the door closed behind him. A large window with the curtains left open allowed light to filter into the room, but it was still darker than the hall outside, and the thief remained still for a moment as his eyes adjusted.

           Now, there were only so many good places to hide the bank statements he was supposed to retrieve. (Supposed to might be a strong term, but what Peter didn’t know didn’t usually end up hurting him.) Neal knew all the regular tricks; under the mattress, in a sock drawer, in the freezer. Even a safe was possible, and since they tended to be more noticeable, a safe was even preferable. Without a particular time crunch, though, there was no need to be sloppy and run from one likely hiding spot to the other. Neal had all the time he needed to search carefully and systematically, to better make sure that no one would notice he had ever been here.

           He started in the bedroom, where people liked to store their most valuable belongings. It made an intuitive level of sense that what was precious should be stored close by, and no one spent more time in their kitchen than the room where they slept. He started to untuck the linens with gloved hands to raise the mattress when something small moved and he froze like a statue.

           A pair of slitted yellow eyes opened and blinked at him, followed by a brief flash of pink tongue as a small mouth opened in a yawn.

           His heart slowed and Neal smiled to himself. He was getting out of practice if he got that startled by a pet. “Hey, kitty,” he crooned, voice barely above a whisper. Taking just a second of pause, he ruffled the cat’s fur behind its ears. Its fur was so dark that with the lights off, it blended in with the navy duvet – except for the lighter tone of its nose and its glowing eyes.

           He went on with his business, briefly feeling apologetic for having woken the cat. It was unsatisfied with his intrusion on the bedroom and instead of going back to sleep, it stretched out its spine and hopped off the bed, heading out the ajar door. Neal lifted the mattress to feel underneath it, used his flashlight to check behind the headboard, and then felt inside the seam of the mattress itself for any lumps or crinkling. When he found nothing, he tucked the bedding back in and got to work on the twin nightstands.

           A quick but thorough search of the rest of the room, including the closet and dresser, yielded nothing but a mild concern as to why the room’s usual occupant needed so many different sunscreens. Though the bedroom was usually the best place to start, in this case, Neal admitted it was a bust and let himself out. He left the door cracked like he had found it so that the cat could come and go between the bed and its food.

           Speaking of the cat, it had apparently decided he wasn’t so awful, after all. Neal paused to pet it again as it rubbed around his legs, and after he’d given it a few strokes from flank to tail, the furry thing left his side. Neal headed for the next closed door and heard quiet water sounds on his way as the kitty lapped at its bowl. The door opened easily, but the bright red light of a motion-detecting laser caught his eyes straight away. The even line was barely an inch away from the furthest part of the door. It was only a few inches off the ground, and Neal didn’t see any others. He put one foot over it, heard no alarms and saw no lights, and finished his step.

           This room was an office, Neal realized. There were no windows to let the outside light in, so he turned on the lamp whose outline he could barely see. The yellow light hurt his eyes after walking around with moonlight and stars as his guides. The office was crowded but looked well-used, more lived in than the bedroom, even. There was more to search, that was for certain; between bookshelves stuffed from side to side and the desk with barely a square foot of clear space, Neal figuratively rolled up his sleeves and got to work.

           A small blessing was that although the room looked disorganized, the owner was fastidious. Neal quickly found that everything was right where it belonged, it simply needed more space in which to belong neatly. He flipped through heavily-read books to check between their pages, and knocked on the bottoms of drawers for hollow compartments. He found none. Once he had finished with the desk, he turned to the nearest bookshelf and, with a small sigh, began taking books out one at a time and flipping them open, giving papers the opportunity to fall out.

           It was going to take at least thirty minutes to flip through every single one of them. Neal just kept going. He had two full days to find the statements, but every time he came back raised the chances of being caught by a neighbor or building security guard. That meant he had to do it tonight, and do it well. He finally finished the first shelf and started on the second. As if it could feel and sympathize with his increasing restlessness, the suspect’s cat started to rub on his ankles again while meowing at him. Neal murmured a distracted hello and kept going.

           On the third shelf, Neal went to pull a book down when his fingers curled too far over the top and pulled a thick cardboard stand down instead of a book. He turned it to look at it. The cardboard was printed to look like the spines of books pressed tightly side-by-side. Neal quickly raised his eyes back to the shelf where he had pulled it from and saw a small black box that had been hidden behind it.

           “How’s that for clever?” He said aloud to the cat, putting the cardboard piece down carefully on the desk.

           The box wasn’t a safe. It had a small latch on the back that Neal had to take a few seconds to find, but it opened without a key or a combination. The owner clearly thought his cardboard trickery and motion detectors would be defense enough against any nosy burglars. The blue-eyed man grinned. Neal loved winning. He browsed through the papers inside the box and his grin just grew wider, smug. The bank statements were all inside.

           In the distance, a police siren sang. It was muffled from the windows. Out of habit and tension, Neal lifted his head to look towards the open office door. The red laser was still unbroken and even if the box had been a trap, the police didn’t have a response time that fast. Crimes happened all the time in New York City; no need to overreact. He had come here for the statements, and he wasn’t getting spooked without their information.

           Neal unfolded them and laid them down on the floor underneath the lamp. The desk would have been preferable, but there just wasn’t space. Neal went through each page of each statement, taking quick snapshots on his phone of both front and back pages. All the while, it niggled in his mind that the sirens were growing louder. Before he had even finished taking the photographs, he could see red and blue lights flashing on the wall opposite the office door, coming in through the window in the main room. The cat meowed, and Neal looked down at the doorway as the cat left.

           The cat left, walking straight through the laser line. Which meant it had come in, straight through the laser line. How long had it been since he had first noticed the cat in the office? Three minutes? Four? Easily long enough that the police were feasibly close. Silent alarm. Clever. Unwelcome, but clever.

           Stubbornly, Neal took fast photos of both sides of the last few pages, then folded them up, put them back in the envelope, and hurried to put them back in the box. He closed it, then put the cardboard piece back in front of it. It didn’t need to be perfectly even as long as it looked convincingly like an uninterrupted line of book spines from a foot away, which it did. Neal turned off the lamp and took a small leap over the laser as he scrambled out of the office, pulling the door closed behind him.

           His eyes had to adjust to the dark again, but he could tell that the lights outside weren’t moving. The police cars had parked. How long had they been parked? Any minute now they would come to the door, break in, apprehend him, unless he wasn’t there. But where could he go? Without knowing how close they were, walking out and trying to make it to the stairwell or elevator could result in him being seen leaving. There was also a high probability that there were police prepared to cut off the intruder in both the elevator and the stairwell, as well as the fire escape. Even if Neal wasn’t seen leaving the apartment, with his anklet and the alarm going off, it wasn’t a big leap to make and he knew the cops would be all too quick to make it. Even though they would be right to, he didn’t appreciate it.

           Without leaving through the door, and unable to take the fire escape from the kitchen, he had one other exit point: the balcony. Neal had noticed while he came in that the balconies ran straight above one another. If he could make it to the one beneath him, he could either sneak through that apartment and escape, or he could continue swinging down balconies until he reached the ground floor. Doing that would be dangerous. Doing it at all was dangerous, but repeating it six times to get all the way to the ground was five extra times he risked losing his grasp or landing badly.

           That was a problem for the next moment. Neal opened up the balcony doors and shut them behind himself. He couldn’t lock them from the outside, but hopefully the cops wouldn’t think twice about it. It would be weird to expect a break-in from a seventh-story balcony, after all; it wouldn’t be the strangest for someone not to lock those doors.

           Oh, but it had been quite a while since he’d last done this. And he had no equipment, either. There hadn’t been much to do in prison but for staying in shape, so he knew he had the upper body strength, but the lack of recent experience was letting the butterflies grow in his stomach. He grabbed onto the silver banister with one wrist facing the apartment and the other facing the empty air, and put one leg over the balcony siding first. Once he had a small grip with his toes on the concrete on the other side, he flipped his apartment-facing hand around the other way and lifted the other leg over the edge of the balcony. No floodlights were on him; that was a good sign.

           Neal chanced a look down over his shoulder. He could see the glint of silver from the balcony rail below. If they were all the same height, that was going to be about three feet higher than the balcony itself. If he could swing his legs and get his feet on the floor on the inside of that rail, he would be okay. He might still hurt himself, but it would be hard to fall backwards over a three-foot rail with forward momentum.

           From the balcony, he could see the front door to the apartment, and underneath it the bright light of a flashlight or tactical light. Time was up. Neal very, very carefully got himself as low to the ground as he could, putting a hand around the very bottom of the balcony rail and keeping the other tightly around the top. He let one leg, then the other fall; not both at once, just in case the weight on his hands came too suddenly. When his legs were only swinging minimally, he tightened his right hand and released his left, dropping it to the bottom of the rail where it met the concrete balcony floor. Dangling from the seventh story, he heard the slam of the apartment door as it was broken open.

           Luck was on Neal’s side; he was tall enough that, with his arms above his head, he could already get his feet over the lower balcony rail. He used that as a way of helping himself start swinging, and with extreme caution and a held breath, he let go, swinging forward and down onto the sixth floor balcony.

           His feet hit hard, and his back felt like it popped as it hit and slid a few inches on the top of the rail, but he was very solidly on the balcony. Neal let out a small wheeze and lunged for the balcony doors. They weren’t locked. (See? It wouldn’t be suspicious at all that the seventh floor’s balcony doors were unlocked.) Only once he was inside with the glass doors shut behind him did he realize that the lights weren’t all out, and he wasn’t alone; in the dim light cast by a paused television, a woman in comfortable-looking pajamas was standing facing the balcony with her arms crossed, evidently having watched him drop from the floor above.

           Neal looked back at her, trying to think of something to say but coming up short. There wasn’t much he could say. Even if he turned and left, she had seen his face, just as he had seen hers. She could describe him to the police.

           “You have ten seconds to convince me why I shouldn’t use this and scream for the police,” the woman threatened once it was apparent that Neal wasn’t going to say anything. “I’m sure they’ll hear me, the floors are thin.” He looked at her hands as something small sparked a little bit of blue and realized she was holding a taser.

           Ten seconds. He had done more with less. “I’m not going to hurt you,” he promised, putting his hands out to show he was unarmed. He didn’t try to move any closer to her, knowing that that might be seen as threatening, and instead stayed put. “And I wasn’t stealing anything up there. The cat tripped the alarm.”

           “Right,” she said skeptically. As his eyes adjusted to the changed light level yet again, he could see her hair was a little messy and her neckline crooked, like she had been comfortably laying on her couch for a while before noticing the circus on the balcony. “Because innocent men dress like cat burglars, jump off balconies, and blame the real cats.”

           “I mean it,” Neal insisted, this time putting his hands out at his sides. “Look, I haven’t got anything.” He hadn’t taken anything from the apartment. He knew better. Photographs were all they would need to find a lead, anyway. He thought about offering for her to check his pockets when it dawned on him. “I work for the FBI,” he told her openly. “I’m a consultant.”

           “Not much longer, if they find out you broke in upstairs,” she predicted flippantly. He got the feeling she didn’t really believe what he was saying.

           “No, it’s true.” Neal put his left hand down and put his right one in his pocket, taking out the small C.I. badge Peter had given him. He didn’t like to carry identification cards on his exploits, but if he were to be arrested or badly injured, he wanted Peter to be notified quickly. He trusted Peter to make the situation as least terrible as possible. “Here, you can look for yourself. It’s got the federal seal.”

           He gave it a toss. The woman let it fall instead of trying to catch it, and then squeezed her taser, making it spark warningly at him while she crouched down to pick it up. She flipped it open a little bit clumsily and turned her body slightly so the light from the TV would hit the badge. Making a sound of frustration, she backed up, switched her taser to the same hand as his badge, and hit a light switch on the wall which made the overhead snap on.

           Neal blinked against the bright light while she got a better look at the I.D.. She compared him to his picture and then checked it for the government seal on the laminate. Apparently satisfied, she closed it and tossed it back to him. She also lowered her taser, but not entirely.

           “The man upstairs is a murder suspect,” Neal lied smoothly. In truth, he was only legally a suspect in a white-collar crime, hence his own involvement, but since their key witness had gone missing less than a day ago, Neal and Peter both suspected there was foul play involved – hence the urgency that led Neal to sneak into the Chelsea building in the first place.

           “I’m pretty sure he still has Constitutional rights,” she retorted, but at this point she didn’t seem nervous or even angry, just a little bit annoyed, tired, and somewhat teasing, like she enjoyed having him at her mercy. In a way, Neal thought, she was like the cat from upstairs. Except the cat probably couldn’t work a taser. “So try again.”

           “Look.” Neal’s nerves were wearing thin. She had him on facts and he only had so many tries before she would write him off entirely. “We were at a dead end. We needed to find something. I didn’t take anything, just found a lead. If you turn me in, that lead and anything that could come out of it becomes fruit of the poisonous tree, and he’ll walk on murder and everything else.”

           She thought about it for a few seconds. Neal couldn’t tell which way she was leaning. Some people were steadfast about the rules, while others saw them as somewhat more flexible. The woman was very contemplative.

           “Stake your freedom on it?” She eventually asked. Neal nodded quickly. She nodded once, mind apparently made up, and put down the taser. She didn’t let go of it, but she wasn’t aiming it in any particular direction anymore, nor was she poised to use it. Neal let out an almost silent breath of relief.

           There was a time and place for awkward loitering, but now wasn’t it. With her blessing, Neal advanced, just to skirt around her and head for the door to take his leave. He was only a few steps towards her when a rap sounded like it was trying to knock the door off its hinges.

           “Police!” A man on the other side bellowed. Neal widened his eyes and took a step back. One of them must have seen his hands on the balcony before he had let go and swung down. They’d be watching the balconies now. There was no chance of getting out with them right outside. “We’re coming in! Stand back from the door!”

           The woman, instead of calling for them to enter faster, moved towards the couch and dropped her taser between the sofa back and its cushions. Neal spotted her dropping his badge down there with it and wondered if she was panicking or up to something. It would be just his luck if he had broken into the home of a nefarious plotter.

           The police broke the door in, making Neal question why he was saying he broke and entered when they were doing that. At least he was civil enough to use the doors without damaging them. These thoughts were largely a result of panic and anxiety, he knew; it felt like the walls were closing in. There wasn’t a way out, because he hadn’t realized the cat walked through the laser until too late. This was why he was a dog person.

           “What the hell?!” The woman who lived there shrieked at the cops, to Neal’s surprise. She hugged herself tightly as if she were frightened, and with the pajamas and slightly askew shirt, it was an easy sell.

           The police didn’t immediately come for Neal. Instead, they cleared the room systematically, and then two went into the two rooms on the right, while two passed through the living room. Of the latter two, one then went into the kitchen while the other stepped out and checked the balcony. The one who had broken in paced forwards to talk to the distressed tenant.

           “Ma’am, stay calm,” he ordered with the authority of a dozen lieutenants. “We’re looking for a burglar. A home security system was triggered in the apartment directly above you and one of my men saw someone jump down onto your balcony.”

           “We didn’t see anything!” She exclaimed, not so much argumentative as shocked. Neal nodded agreement, silently holding in his surprise at being included in her statement. “You think you see someone do acrobatics and now you get to break my door and force your way in?!” She raised her voice and directed her shout at the police in her bedroom. “Get out of there!”

           The officer turned to Neal, disregarding the tenant’s indignancy. “Who’s this?” He asked, giving the con artist a suspicious stink eye.

           “My boyfriend,” his apparent alibi snapped, reaching out and grabbing tightly to his hand. Neal quickly slipped his fingers through hers and squeezed as though he were comforting her. “We’ve been watching Netflix. We didn’t see anything!”

           “Didn’t see anything, huh?” The officer eyeballed Neal’s outfit. Neal thought to himself that maybe, just maybe, the all-black outfit was a tiny bit conspicuous, after all. “Didn’t hear anything, either?”

           He didn’t understand why you were covering for him, but Neal was going to play his part and not look a gift horse in the mouth. “Like she said,” he told the officer with an honest face, feigning some worry by creasing his brows. “We’ve been watching Netflix, we probably wouldn’t have heard anything with the balcony doors closed.”

           The officer moved his eyes around the room. The couch looked rumpled enough for two people to have recently been on it. Neal suspected it was because she had been laying down, but the officer probably wasn’t thinking about that. And, of course, a show was queued up on Netflix, the frame frozen at an odd fraction of a second that left a bit of a blur on a character’s face.

           The officers from the other rooms came back and reported to their boss that the apartment was clear. Neal’s savior huffed and said that she could have told them that herself, while squeezing his hand tightly.

           The officer in charge tried to placate her. “We’re just doing our jobs, Miss…”

           She glared at him. “Y/L/N,” she snapped. She said it with the tone of an insult, trying to hasten him out of her home.

           Playing his part, Neal squeezed her hand and brought it up to his mouth, giving a chaste kiss to her knuckles. “It’s okay, darling,” he softly reassured. “They were just making sure we’re safe.”

           “Could’ve tried asking us to open up instead of breaking my door!”

           The officers didn’t apologize for the intrusion or the damage, but the one in charge did let Y/L/N know what precinct to call and to ask for the billing department if her door turned out to actually be broken. They filtered out warily and skeptically. Neal knew that the one they talked to, at least, didn’t fully believe they hadn’t seen anything, but he didn’t seem to be convinced enough to call either of them on it. Especially since there were two of them, and the woman lived there, he knew that it would have been very shaky grounds on which to arrest him. He owed her for her quick thinking and her generous decision to not just trust him, but to cover for him.

           He stayed while the police filtered out and for several minutes after, waiting for them to leave. It was uncomfortable, to say the least. Y/L/N went to the door, made it shut and twisted the deadbolt, which he didn’t think had been on before. After rolling her eyes, she complained to him. “Entitled prick. It’s dark. He didn’t know what he saw. Didn’t even see a face. He had no business storming in here like that, what if I had little kids?”

           Neal had no response, though he saw the merit in her argument. Even if he didn’t, he wasn’t about to tell her that after what she’d just done for him. Y/L/N went to the window, looking out at the source of the red and blue lights, and then she went back to the couch, where she reached in and got his badge. She tossed it back to him.

           “You said you’d stake your freedom,” she reminded him, her eyes solemn and hard. They weren’t angry, but they were certain, and warning. “If I find out something’s been stolen, or that you lied about anything, that’s exactly what’ll be at stake, ‘cause I’ll tell.”

           “You just obstructed justice,” Neal pointed out to her. He felt a lot better now that there was some mutually-assured destruction.

           “Right,” she said sarcastically. The thief was starting to think he had overlooked something. “Because when a man jumps down onto my balcony and enters my home, and I’m all alone, I’m not terrified at all. I definitely wouldn’t do what he says to stay safe.” Yep, there it was; he had missed it. “So.” She crossed her arms again and stepped out of the way between him and the front door. “If your story doesn’t get holes poked in it, we won’t have a problem. If I find out you’ve been here to get people hurt? You’re going down with your ship. Are we clear?”

           Neal nodded, swallowing and staring at her with both respect and a little bit of indignation. He was getting off easily, but he didn’t like being spoken to like this, as though he were a bad guy. Sure, he took some things that weren’t his, but he didn’t threaten women or cover up violence. On the other hand, she was quick-witted, calm, and clever. Neal was impressed (and a little bit attracted, if he were going to be honest). Luckily, he knew that it was absolutely not the time for flirting, and he had the feeling that if he tried, she would take that taser out, too.

           “Crystal,” he promised, meeting her eyes warily as he walked in a wide semicircle around her to get to the door.

           His night hadn’t been a failure, but it also definitely had not gone as planned.

[drawing-way-outside-the-lines]

Ebony Sosa *Supporting character

Voice Claim:(Jessica Lucas) https://youtu.be/dsBG3UBvmMQ?t=141 Singing voice (Jessica Lucas) https://youtu.be/ZDF9Wwj_yJk?t=37

Partner(s): Single. Parents: Lashana and Keith Sosa. Kids: None. Siblings: None. Age: 24 (2021) Birthday: 1st of May. Height: 168cm (5.5ft) Body type: Curvy. Eye color: Golden honey

About: ~ Outgoing, Elegant, Challenging, Focused, Confident, Independent, Creative,   Principled, Enthusiastic, Passionate, Neat, Organized, Serious, Complex, Perfectionist, Stubborn, Sensitive, Loyal, Resourceful, Hardworking, Ambitious and Private. ~ Aspiring to become a professional singer/songwriter. ~ Sexuality: Straight. ~ Long silky black hair. ~ Believes in her own worth. ~ Very glamorous. ~ Extremely feminine. ~ Strong woman. ~ Great dancer. ~ Doesn’t like when people assume she’s an airhead. She’s not. ~ Pretty down to earth despite what she looks like. ~ Tends to build walls when she feels like she can’t trust people. ~ A bit of a heartbreaker, but not on purpose, she just isn’t usually as committed as her partners. ~ Has been cheated on A LOT. Which hurt, even if she wasn’t too committed to begin with. She still had feelings for anyone she ever dated. ~ By now doesn’t like to be bound to someone or things, she wants to be free. ~ Chicken nuggets is her jam! But homemade, with extra spices! ~ Pretty good cook. ~ Lives with her cousin, and close friend, Monique. ~ Has a lot of piercings. ~ Born and raised in Saint James, Barbados. ~ Insanely afraid of spiders. ~ Speaks fluently English, Bajan Creole, and some French. ~ Very close to her parents and the rest of her family and often visits them. ~ Smells like: Gucci Rush 2.  ~ Would love a small dog but her roomie/cousin disagrees. ~ Loves a bit of luxury. ~ Hates Champagne and only drinks it for the company if it’s served. ~ Can’t stand sticky shower curtains! It makes her furious! ~ Would like to get treated as an equal, not a piece of meat. ~ Is very cold towards men who are too forward, or looks at her as if she’s a price to win. ~ Sometimes gets into cat fights with women who is acting snobby towards her. ~ Can be a bit feisty at times. But never without reason. ~ Lived in LA for a couple years, but had to get out as she felt the certain lifestyle she was living was not moving her forwards in life, but rather ended up in too much partying, and it was making her “too tough”. ~ Has gold grills with diamonds. They were a part of her LA lifestyle. A part she still hangs onto. ~ Likes giving compliments to the people close to her. ~ Absolutely can’t stand tuna, but likes other fish. ~ Spends a bit too much time on Instagram. ~ Works hard to get where she wants in life, and be successful in both her job and private life. ~ Takes herself and her job very serious. ~ Can often become a bit too serious and stiff, and knows she needs to loosen up. ~ Has a cute laugh. ~ Loves her family and friends, strawberries, dogs, glam, inspirational quotes, sunflowers, salted peanuts, chicken nuggets, pineapple ice cream, pampering herself and her friends/family, going out for dinner, lip balms, spicy food, shopping, ladybugs, scented candles, chilled night air, taking care of her hair, fluffy sweaters and rose scented hand lotions. ~ Her style is modern, flirtatious, a bit 'glam’ and feminine. ~ Cares a lot about what her family thinks, and always tries her best to make them proud.

Ebony’s tag Ebony’s house/home Ebony’s moodboard Handwriting/ask answer pic:

One song to describe her:  Jorja Smith - Be Honest (feat. Burna Boy) Personal Playlist: 1. Supa peach - MAD FOR A REASON 2. Snow Tha Product - No Really, Im Good 3. IAMDDB - Shade 4. Qveen Herby - Check 5. BHAD BHABIE - That's What I Said 6. Flo Milli - Eat It Up 7. Mahalia - Jealous (feat. Rico Nasty) 8. Nyemiah Supreme - CLAP CLAP CLAP 9. Flo Milli - Not Friendly 10. DaniLeigh - Dominican Mami ft. Fivio - Foreign 11. ZHEANI - LAVA 12. Yung Baby Tate - I Am ft. Flo Milli 13. Supa Peach - No Target ft . Project Youngin 14. Nyemiah Supreme - CHECK CHECK 15. Mahalia - What You Did (feat. Ella Mai)

[thesims4blogger]

The Sims 4: Sims Sessions Official Details and Web Page

The Sims team has announced Sims Sessions, a social media and in-game experience that will be free for players who own The Sims 4. Maxis has launched the Sims Sessions web page with details and information on the music artists featured in the event.

Sims Sessions (Key Features)

Light up your summer with the hottest tracks from your favorite artists. Experience Bebe Rexha, Glass Animals, and Joy Oladokun for the first time all over again—in Simlish! Catch the live event from June 29 at 10 a.m. PT to July 7 at 10 p.m. PT.

Shop the Festival – Buy artist-themed merchandise, run your own craft sales table, or snack like a rockstar at a food stand!

Camp Out – Festivals are fun but exhausting! Get some sleep in one of the tents—or Woohoo to the music.

Enjoy the Show – Gather around the stage to watch, dance, and cheer on the performances!

Perform on Stage – After the performances, go on stage and keep the tunes flowing. Jam on the piano and sing your heart out.

Sims Sessions (Featured Artists)

Bebe Rexha

Diamond-selling and two-time GRAMMY®-nominated New York City native Bebe Rexha is a musical force to be reckoned with. Her RIAA Platinum-certified debut album Expectations (released June 2018 on Warner Records) contained the Platinum single “I’m a Mess” and the global chart-topping smash “Meant to Be” (featuring Florida Georgia Line), now RIAA Certified Diamond. “Meant to Be” held the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart for a record-setting 50 straight weeks, the longest reign ever by a female lead artist, and won Top Country Song at the 2019 Billboard Music Awards and Best Collaboration at the 2018 iHeart Radio Music Awards. It was subsequently nominated for Best Country Duo/Group Performance at the 61st annual GRAMMY Awards® in February 2019, where Bebe was also nominated for Best New Artist.

Early in her career, Bebe won the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences’ Best Teen Songwriter Award, and then formally burst onto the scene when she wrote “The Monster,” a worldwide hit for Eminem and Rihanna that was certified 6x Platinum by the RIAA. Bebe went on to co-write and carry the instantly recognizable hook for the 3x Platinum “Hey Mama,” by David Guetta, which was nominated for a Billboard Music Award for Top Dance/Electronic Song. Bebe also hit #1 on the Billboard Pop and Rap charts with her 5x Platinum “Me, Myself & I” with G-Eazy. In 2017, Bebe released the critically acclaimed EPs, All Your Fault: Part 1 (with the Platinum single “I Got You”) and All Your Fault: Part 2 (with “Meant to Be”). In conjunction with GRAMMY® Week 2019, Bebe launched the GRAMMY® Music Education Coalition’s (GMEC) national campaign on behalf of its new All-Star Ambassador program. Better Mistakes, her new album, includes the hit singles “Baby, I’m Jealous” feat. Doja Cat and “Sacrifice.” To date, Bebe has amassed over four billion YouTube views and over 12 billion total global streams.

Glass Animals

Since 2010, Glass Animals have redefined alternative pop with their experimental sounds, cinematic visuals, and narrative lyrics. The Platinum-Certified UK quartet—Dave Bayley [lead vocals, guitar], Drew MacFarlane [guitar, keys, backing vocals], Ed Irwin-Singer [bass, keys, backing vocals], and Joe Seaward [drums, backing vocals]—first presented their signature style on their 2014 breakout debut, ZABA. It yielded the Platinum single “Gooey” and elevated the band into the global spotlight. 2016’s How To Be A Human Being notably garnered a nomination for the prestigious Mercury Prize. However, Glass Animals lifted off to a new stratosphere with Dreamland in 2020. It marked their first Top 10 debut on the Billboard Top 200, while their global smash hit “Heat Waves” has amassed millions of streams to date, went Platinum in numerous countries, gave the band their first #1 on the U.S. Alternative Radio Chart, Top 15 at Top 40 Radio, and hit Top 10 on Spotify’s US Chart. Skyrocketing to the forefront of popular culture, they garnered nominations in the categories of “Top Rock Song” and “Top Rock Album” at the 2021 Billboard Music Awards, delivered knockout performances on Billboard Music Awards, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, The Late Late Show with James Corden, and Ellen, and lined up global headline dates for the 2021 Dreamland Tour everywhere from legendary amphitheaters such as Red Rocks to Bonnaroo, Life Is Beautiful, Outside Lands, and more. The band sold over 130,000 tickets in three days for their 2021-2022 North American tour, with the majority of the tickets selling out instantly. All the while maintaining their unique connection to their fans by creating their open sourced website where fans can create artwork based on the world of Dreamland, putting on a “Live In The Internet” concert that sold 25,000 tickets worldwide, and more. They created unique music videos during the 2020 pandemic by DIY-shooting solo in Dave Bayley’s apartment directed solely over Zoom (“Dreamland”), asking neighbors to shoot on their iPhones while Dave walked down the street (“Heat Waves”), and inviting fans to take 3D scans of their heads (“Tangerine”). Racking up billions of streams across their catalogue, they even made history as “the first UK band to capture #1 on Triple J’s Hottest 100 since 2009” with “Heat Waves” down under in Australia, leading to the longest run at #1 in 2021 on the ARIA Official Singles Chart. Ultimately, Glass Animals continue to redefine what alternative can be, while they quietly overtake the mainstream.

Joy Oladokun

With a guitar in hand, baseball cap over her eyes, and hooded sweatshirt loose, a woman sings with all of the poetry, pain, passion, and power her soul can muster. She is a new kind of American troubadour. She is Joy Oladokun. The Delaware-born, Arizona-raised, and Nashville-based Nigerian-American singer, songwriter, and producer projects unfiltered spirit over stark piano and delicate guitar. Her music and story galvanized a growing fan base as she completed a successful Kickstarter campaign to release her independent debut, Carry. Her song “No Turning Back” soundtracked a viral baby announcement by Ciara and Russell Wilson, opening up the floodgates. She landed a string of high-profile syncs, including NBC’s This Is Us, ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy, and Showtime’s The L Word: Generation Q. On the heels of in defense of my own happiness (the beginnings), she garnered unanimous critical praise. Billboard touted the album as one of the “Top 10 Best LGBTQ Albums of 2020,” while NPR included “i see america” among the “100 Best Songs of 2020.” Predicted as on the verge of a massive breakthrough, she emerged on various tastemaker lists, including Spotify’s RADAR Artists to Watch 2021, YouTube “Black Voices Class of 2021,” NPR’s 2021 “Artists To Watch,” and Amazon Music’s “Artist To Watch 2021.” Not to mention, Vogue crowned her #1 “LBTQ+ Musician To Listen To.” She kicked off the new year by making her television debut on NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon with a stunning and stirring performance of “breathe again.”After attracting acclaim from Vogue, NPR, and American Songwriter, her words arrive at a time right when we need them the most.

[siameseofday123]

Best Raised Cat food stand of 2021 | Siamese of Day

We’ve researched for you and are now presenting our reviews of the top five cat bowls for your consideration. The majority of these are elevated for your cat’s comfort, and they are all stylish and modern, so they should go in with your home décor.

Visit: https://siameseofday.com/best-raised-cat-food-stand-of-2021/

[euphoriyoongi]

♥︎ Seven Deadly Sins ♥︎ ot7

♥︎ One ♥︎

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Summary: The seven princes of hell, who are the embodiment of the seven deadly sins, are sent on a mission to find the human with the purest soul. The prince who successfully retrieves the pure soul will become the next king..but what happens when all 7 of the princes fall in love with the beautiful soul?

♥︎ Pairings: ot7 x OC (original character)

♥︎ Genre: fantasy; fluff, smut, angst

♥︎Word Count: 4.0k

♥︎ Warnings: smut/sexual scenes and situations, heavy language, polyamory

♥︎Rating: Mature (18+)

prev. //next.

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The world is a hellish place, that's for sure.

Everywhere you look, you see some form of evil. Whether it be someone spending too much on a purse, or someone looking at themselves in the mirror thinking that they are the best thing since sliced bread.

The thing is, most of these humans don't realize what they're doing. They show little-to-no respect or gratefulness for the things they have. Most of them believe that they need more. That one dollar isn't enough. So then if they had a million...would that not be enough either?

It's all a race. For example, two brothers racing to have a better life when in reality they're just wasting it away to receive superficial things that will just be gone when they leave this world. It's idiotic, and self-centered. If people actually thought about how well they have it, they wouldn't sin. And well, every single human being sins on this planet. It's what makes it go around.

The person sitting next to you at a restaurant just ate his girlfriend's food of her plate. The waiter is stealing another waiters tip money. The owner of the restaurant is sleeping with someone else's wife. The customer threw his drink at the waitress because his food was too cold. The group of teenagers won't get up to leave to make room for the next group. Sin. It's all around. And there's no escaping it.

Well, unless you're the Pure Soul.

Choi Nari. Her name means Lily in English. And the name lily means "purity."

She's known for her ethereal looks, and cascading long black hair that flows so softly. She's sent from heaven, but has no idea of her origins. She only believes she's a human just like everyone else. And lives a life filled with peace and love.

She never harmed a single soul in all of her lifetimes. Once every hundred years, she is reborn, and every one of those years, she's avoided the devil, whom wants her all to himself. The reason? Well, you always want what you can't have, right? The devil is all sins, himself.

This reincarnation, however, will be a bit different. There's something different about her, and the only way she'll be able to avoid the devil is if she avoids sin.

The devil has his own plans, though. Hell stop at nothing to have her. He will send all of his seven sons to earth, for they need to bring her back alive so he could deal with her. And the son that successfully brings her back, will become the next king of hell.

His sons were the embodiment of the seven deadly sins. And his goal was to make the Pure Soul suffer all seven of them, and make her sin to have her all for himself.

If this plan works, he'd successfully take away all the food in the world. So, he hopes all seven of his boys will not falter at her beauty.

__

"You what us to do what?" Yoongi huffed at his father, crossing his arms over his chest. "Hell no, I'm not fucking leaving my soft bed for that."

Yoongi is the prince of laziness, and definitely lived up to his title. He dreamed of living as a rock in his next life, but sadly, his next life was never going to occur. He was immortal. There was ways he could die, though. But for now, the best he could do was imagine he was a rock while he slept.

The devil growled. "Sloth, you dare to deny me?"

All seven of the boys were gathered in the throne room, where the devil sat on a large chair that floated on flames. The room was all black, with a bit of red detailing.

The devil was very old. He wanted to retire the throne to one of his sons, but he didn't know which one he should give it to. They were all so untrustworthy and well, the only one who he probably could trust was the one who envisions himself as a rock. That's just sad.

When Yoongi didn't answer him, The devil's voice boomed across the high-ceilings. "God damnit sloth! You're so slow sometimes."

Smiling, Yoongi winked at his father. "It's what I do best, dad."

Still fuming, the devil looked towards his oldest son, who was currently eating a bowl of noodles. "I-how did you even get those?" He smacked a hand to his head, sighing. This was ridiculous.

Jin didn't even answer. He just kept slurping his noodles until his father got mad enough to move on with what he was saying.

"Listen, my sons. I need you to retrieve the Pure Soul."

"The pure soul?" Jimin smirked. "That hot ass chick from heaven?"

The devil smiled viciously. "Yes, that's right." Rubbing his hands together, he raised an eyebrow. "And son, I give you full permission to seduce her in any way." He laughed, knowing she wouldn't be able to cave in from his charm.

"So, she's hot? Does she need money?" Taehyung smirked as well, crossing his arms. "I could give her anything in the world."

This was getting out of hand. All he needed was for his boys to bring her back here. "Okay. Anyway, you have 100 days to bring this beast back here, got it? And none of you dare to get attached to her, or you'll be dead meat." He huffed, praying they wouldn't turn against him. Heh, praying. He hasn't done that in a while.

"She couldn't be any near attractive as me, father." Namjoon smiled. "You have nothing to worry about."

The devil hoped that were true, but he knew how beautiful this woman was, and also knew that his sons have never seen anyone like her. Even Lust, who's slept with countless demons and everything in between. He's never seen a pure soul. And even the devil himself wouldn't be able to resist.

“So, what do we get if we bring her back?” Taehyung smirked, looking at his brothers. They all looked as if they didn’t care. Well, except Jimin. He just wanted something to fuck. But Taehyung knew what he wanted. And what he wanted was to take his father’s place. His greed was strong for it, and wouldn’t stop for anything or anyone.

The devil smiled. Finally. He should’ve known it was going to be greed. He couldn’t turn down anything especially if he’ll get something out of it. “Well, the throne, of course.” He shrugged his arms upward, a sneer on his lips. “That is, if you earn it.”

“Oh, believe me, father. I will.” He laughed, looking towards his younger brother, Jungkook.

Jungkook was starting to get mad. He absolutely hated it when Taehyung would get whatever he wanted. It just wasn’t fair. As his eyes began to fade from a dark brown to a vibrant red, the prince of envy patted his shoulder. “Down, boy.”

His eyes faded back to their usual color. Envy was nice, when he wasn’t jealous. He was a sweetheart, and always seemed to be able to calm him down. He goes by Hobi, but his name is Hoseok.

“Alright. Now. Are you guys ready.” The devil growled impatiently. “Do you have everything you need?”

Every one of his sons nodded, except Yoongi. He was now sleeping while standing up. Was that even possible?

“Sloth!” The devil sneered, just waking him enough to blink. “Dammit I don’t even—Do you have everything you need?”

Yawning, he opened his mouth to mumble “have everything for what?”

Silence broke out among them. “You…you know what..just fucking go.” With the flick of his hand, the boys were now transported through time to the planet earth, where they now need to search for the Pure Soul. But wait..how will they find her?

__

South Korea

Spring time, 2021

The trees were blossoming. The beautiful colors of whites and pinks danced as the petals fell to the ground. Nari was enchanted with them. Their beauty was astounding. She wished she was like them, to be so graceful, even while they fell.

Her favorite season was spring. She lived a full twenty five years of life constantly waiting for spring to come back around every year. She loved to see the flowers bloom, and all the aromas of different plants. She wished she was one. They never had to worry about anything. They just looked pretty.

She never had any friends to share her happiness with. She always wished for some, praying to god that she won't be alone anymore. Was there a reason why she was? Was it because she always agreed with everyone? Was it because she was too nice?

Well, she was too nice, but she had no control over that. It's just how she was made. She didn't know she was from heaven. She only knew that her family died when she was small, and doesn't remember them. So she was alone in this world, lost and left to find her way through life. She only wished she had someone to love unconditionally, just like the couples she'd see as she'll walk down the streets.

Nari made her way back to her small apartment. It was perfect for her though. Just enough space for her to cohabitate with her cat, Mochi. There was one bedroom, and a living space that combined with the kitchen. A tiny bathroom was across from her room, but it was big enough to have a full-sized tub in it. She did like baths more than showers, anyway.

As she walked into her bedroom, her cat was sprawled out on its back on the bed, purring as it slept. Mochi was a happy cat, and loved belly rubs and being held. She’s never had a cat that loved as much attention as mochi did, and he was the type of cat that never wanted to leave her side.

“Hello, mochi mochi.” She smiled, giving him a little pet. “How’s my cutie?” The cat let out a large yawn, then started to stretch out his paws. “Ah. Big stretch.” She chuckled, letting the cat continue to sleep and walked over to her desk in front of the window.

All over it was scattered drawings and short poems she’d write when she was bored. There was something off with her, though, and she knew it. She always wondered why she flowed with everything that went on around her. No matter what it was, she’d agree with it. That includes relationships.

Nari has never been in one. Despite how stunningly beautiful she was, no one would give her the time of day. She also didn’t know her own beauty, which might be part of the reason. But was she meant to live alone in this world? Was that her purpose?

Feeling upset with herself, she walked over to her full-body mirror. There she stood, her long white dress flowed down past her knees, and her long black hair fell down towards her backside. She curled the ends of it today, feeling happy with the way it looked. Her eyes were a hazel type color, but closer to green that black. Her lips were a soft pink, that plumped and were Un-chapped. 

She was beautiful. No one would be able resist her. And now, the reason she’s never had a significant other was because she never let herself notice that someone was trying. That could be because god hated the idea of it. Her soul purpose was to keep sin away from taking over the world. He never expected her to start thinking for herself. She’s been reincarnated since the beginning of time. So why is she starting to think for herself?

 She spent 25 years of life without any sexual activity. Without anything special in her life. She never had a family, and works as an ice cream shop cashier. There’s nothing to her life. No purpose. She wanted to change that. But as soon as that thought went through her head, it left like a flicker of light.

__

“Dude, this is absolutely ridiculous.” Yoongi huffed once again, just wanting to rest. “How are we supposed to find her.”

“Yeah.” Taehyung sighed, holding pink petals in his hands that were falling down from the branches above. “Anyway, what are these things?”

“I wonder if they taste good.” Jin giggled as he stuffed a few in his mouth. Spitting them out after a few chews, he shook his head. “Nope. Not good.”

Namjoon was sitting down on the ground with his legs crossed. There were lots of people walking by, and he noticed a man fixing his hair in the camera of his phone. Smirking, he closed his eyes and made the man see himself in a new light. Too bad that new light was for him to think too highly of himself. The man then tossed his phone onto the ground and walked away, thinking he was too good to have one.

“Damn, Joon. We just got here.” Hoseok muttered. “Let’s just stick to our task.”

Nodding, Jungkook spoke up. “Yeah, let’s find this girl so we don’t combust.”

Jin side-eyes him. “What do you mean, combust?”

“Well, you were too busy eating to even pay attention to father.” Jk rolled his eyes at his hyung. Leaning up against one of the trees, he smirked. “Father said he’ll kill us if we don’t find the girl.”

Jin bursts out in laughter. “Yeah, right. As if he—wait you’re serious?” His face turned from playful to worried. “I—oh, you are serious.”

“We need a plan.” Taehyung dropped the flower petals off his palm and dusted them off. “I say we split up.”

“It’ll be an uneven number then.” Jimin pointed out, who seemed to be in and out of the conversation. There were plenty of pretty girls walking around, and he was turning himself on. “Anyway, I just want something to fuck. I’ve never fucked a human before..”

Ignoring Jimin, Namjoon agreed with Tae. “Yeah, Tae, I think we should do that too.” He pointed to Jimin, Jungkook, and Taehyung. “You guys go one way, we’ll go the other.”

Yoongi was surprisingly awake, and agreed also. “Alright. That’s good with me. As long as I don’t gotta do any work.”

As the boys set on to where they needed to be, little did they know that Nari passed them out as she was walking to work.

They kept walking, and Taehyung noticed a brand new car roll up to the curb. Smirking, he left the group to go check it out.

He walked around it with his arms behind his back, looking it over. He must’ve looked off because the owner of the car came out and asked what he needed.

Wrong question.

“What do I need, you ask?” Tae smiled down at the man. “What I need..is this car.” He smirked, his eyes turning into an icy blue. He wanted it, and he’ll get it. The man proceeded to give him the keys and stood stationary, and Taehyung called over Jimin and Jungkook.

“Let’s go boys!” He yelled, and hopped into the drivers seat. He didn’t even know how to drive, but he’ll make himself.

“That was fucking sick, hyung!” Jimin high-fived hun as Jungkook sat in the back with a frown on his face.

Jimin noticed. “What’s wrong, Jk?” He asked him, turning back towards him in the leather seat.

“I wanted that fucking seat.” He hissed at him, sending daggers through his eyes. This made Jimin nervously laugh, and he turned back around.

“Anyway!” Jimin changed the subject. “Where should we look for her? What does she even look like, anyway?”

As Tae drove, he described her. “Well, she has long black hair and a bright soul. We should be able to see who she is the minute our eyes land on her.”

“Ah.” Jimin nodded. “Well, the minute my eyes land on her is the minute I’ll fuck her.”

“Jesus, Jimin. Lay off the sex for once. Some of us need it too.” Jungkook growled from the back seat.

This made Jimin laugh. “Yeah, as if anyone would be attracted to your wrath ass.”

“Don’t piss him off, Jimin. I really want a peaceful ride.” Tae huffed, stepping on the gas. “I say we look around a shopping mall. Girls like shopping here too, right?”

“I like shopping.” Jk muttered under his breath.

“I say we should go to a park or something.” Jimin chimed in.

Taehyung scrunched his nose. “The fuck is a park?”

Letting it pass, they decided to drive to the nearest mall, while the older brothers were currently walking by foot to find her.

“Do you think she’ll like me? I think she’ll love me. I mean, who wouldn’t? Look at me!” Joon laughed, talking himself up as they walked amongst the humans. “I’m getting all the stares!”

“Um, no. I think it’s actually Yoongi. He looks like he’s dead.” Hoseok chimed, holding in his laughter.

Yoongi was sleepwalking. He couldn’t keep his head up, and was nearly walking like a zombie. He was catching all the eyes around him and Namjoon thought it was all for him. Well, he was most certainly attractive. But he wasn’t the reason for the stares.

Pouting, Namjoon rolled his eyes. “I’m sure I’m the reason for some of them at least.”

“Oh my god! Look! It’s a noodle restaurant!” Jin excitedly chanted, jumping up and down. He was a grown man, and looked like he was a kid at a candy store. “Let’s go!”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea—hey!” Hoseok got cut off as Jin grabbed ahold of his shirt.

All four of them sat down at a table, their legs too long for the chairs. All seven of the boys were above six feet tall. That was because Satan was nearly seven feet.

“Do you think that the other boys found the girl yet?” Namjoon said as he chomped on the noodles. The noodles that they weren’t going to be able to pay for.

“Nah.” Yoongi said, shaking his head. “But if they did, good for them I guess.”

Jin was already on his fifth bowl. “I don’t really want to be king anyway. I just came here for the food.”

“Jesus fuck.” Hobi grunted. The soup part was too hot for him. “This is fucking spicy. Why is it spicy?”

“Maybe because you got the chili powder.” Jin chuckled, grabbing Hoseok’s bowl. “Here, I’ll eat it.”

Hoseok glared at him with a frown. “I don’t know how you’re so skinny.”

“Alright guys.” Joon clapped. “We should get a move on with finding her.”

When no one responded to him, he sighed, shaking his head. “Maybe I should’ve picked a better group.”

As Joon was thinking this, Taehyung was thinking the same thing.

“Alright, where is Jimin at now?” Tae sighed, putting a hand up to his head as they stood in the middle of the mall. They looked like giants amongst all of the people there, making them stand out even more. Jungkook stood next to Tae, also wondering where Jimin went.

“All I know is that he said something about going to flirt with the cute girls.” Kook stated, shaking his head. “I don’t know which cute girls he was talking about, though.”

“Oh my god. It’s never ending with him. We can’t bring him anywhere.”

It was silent for a moment, until Jungkook spoke up again. “Do you ever get so mad that you just want to kill them?”

Taehyung looked at him, blinking. “I can’t take you anywhere, either.”

While Taehyung was having an existential crisis, Nari was three stores down from him in her cute ice cream shop.

A few cute boys walked in, and ordered some ice cream. As she gathered their order, one of them kept asking for her number. “My number? Like a phone number?” She mumbled, scrunching her eyebrows.

“Yes.” The cute boy nodded, a smile on his face when he thinks he’s getting it.

“Ah, that. Well, I don’t have a phone.” She smiled at him, and continued to scoop his ice cream. The bus’s friends all laughed at this, making the one who asked get upset.

“Listen here you little bitch.” The boy reached over to grab her by the neck, making her confused as to why he freaked out. She just said she didn’t have a phone. As he pulled her against the glass of the ice cream stand, someone’s voice boomed through the shop.

“Hey hey, that’s no way to treat a lady.” The boy said playfully, making the boy who was holding Nari falter. “Well, only when you’re in bed, I guess.”

His hair was a dark blue, almost black. His eyes nearly looked as if they were a pink of some sort, but maybe he was wearing contacts.

After that comment, the blue haired man stood face-to-face with the asshole who held Nari. Letting her go, he turned toward him. “Who the fuck are you?” He said, his two friends standing behind him with crossed arms.

The mysterious man didn’t even look over at Nari. He just glared at the boy. In came two more boys, who immediately walked over to the mysterious guy. One of them had longer hair than the other, but both of them had black hair. All three of them were unusually tall, and looks as if they had no fear. The longer haired guy spoke up. “I’ll beat your ass so hard you won’t be able to walk.”

The three other boys seemed to get a bit scared, knowing they had no chance against these guys. Nari stood there, in awe of their beauty. She never had thoughts of anyone like this. They were all so beautiful, she just wanted to know more. She wanted to know why they were standing up for her.

As the three childish boys ran out of the store, Nari caught eyes with the blue haired boy, who immediately dropped his jaw.

Jimin couldn’t believe his eyes. There she stood, the most beautiful soul of the human race. Her long locks were held back by a scrunchie, and her eyes were lined with black eyeliner. She was so beautiful, he couldn’t help but stare. He wanted her.

Taehyung felt the same way as well. How in the world could a creature like this exist in the world. Is this way his father wanted her? He began to experience dirty thoughts, some of them pertaining to keeping her all to himself. That could be because of who he was—Greed. He wanted her. He wanted her bad.

Jungkook was quietly staring, his eyes open wide. He’s never experienced this feeling before, but to be fair, he’s never seen someone so beautiful in all his years of life. He wished to have something so passionately, and that something was her. He didn’t care that his brothers were also infatuated with her, he wanted her all to himself, too.

Nari didn’t even know what she had done to the boys. She had no idea that she was made just to compel the sins themselves.

What was she supposed to do now? Was she supposed to thank them? She really had no idea. But before she had the opportunity to say anything, one of the boys said something first.

“Well, we finally meet.” Taehyung smirked. “Choi Nari. The Pure Soul.”

“The..the what?”

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

prev. // next.

[minetteenfers]

Lucky Cat - Day 1: Bad Luck (Adrien AUG-reste 2021)

Here is Day 1: Bad Luck of @adrienaugust!

Read, kudo, comment, or bookmark the fic here! (RATED E)

Captain Chat Noir was merely nine years old when he was tossed overboard from his father’s galleon for disobeying orders. Some said that he was born from bad luck and so he was given the name, Chat Noir due to the superstition of black cats. Having a polydactyl black cat on board a vessel was good luck and so he hoped being named after such would bring him some. But no matter how hard he tried, nothing seemed to bring him it.

He sighed and fell back into his wooden chair, bringing his mug of grog to his lips as his good luck charm leaped onto his desk. The sliding of his black cat’s paws along the maps and parchment made him curse. He grabbed the brass candle stick before it could fall to the floor and start a fire on the ship.

“Bastard cat,” Chat Noir cursed and brought his cup to his lips, taking a long drink and cringing at the less than favorable flavor. “God, I cannot wait to get to port, hm?” He scratched beneath his cat’s chin with a smirk. “Ladies, food, drink… supplies and a nice bath. Fuck, what I wouldn’t give for a nice warm bath and a warm bed with a wench in it.”

“What would any of us give, Captain.” Nino, his quartermaster, walked into his quarters to talk to him.

“What say you?” Chat Noir brought his boots down from his desk onto the wood deck and leaned onto his desk, trying to ignore how the sea made their vessel shift and bob. The weighted golden hoops in his ears only did so much to help with his sea sickness.

“We’re arriving at port soon, Captain.” Nino brought his mug of grog to his lips and sat down on Chat Noir’s bed.

“How soon?” Chat Noir ran his fingers behind Plagg’s twitching ears and scratched before a mouse distracted the aloof cat and made him run off. Chat Noir peered up at Nino with interest, finishing his drink.

“Few hours.” Nino shrugged, unsure of how soon they would be there exactly. He could only guess, which Chat Noir had taken into account.

“Gather a log of supplies that need to be replenished until then for me.” Chat Noir gestured for his friend to go away to do his duties.

“Yes, Captain.” Nino nodded and left Chat Noir alone.

Chat Noir sighed and stood up, walking over to a wooden chest to get ready. He crouched down and opened it, taking in the items that filled the inside. From clothing to treasures that he had gathered along the way as a pirate. When he was nine years old Captain Fu had found him floating on a bit of wood in the middle of the ocean. He had saved him and given him the very name he was known by. Of course, tales had broken out as he had aged. None of them pretty.

He was known for pillaging, plundering, and more unpleasantries, but those that truly knew him… which were few… knew that he wasn’t as they said. Yes, he set vessels aflame but only those that had wronged him or those he cared most about, and he had never murdered anyone. He merely would place them on an island, plunder their vessel, and then set it ablaze. Sometimes, he would simply use the element of surprise and take what he needed before leaving. Occasionally, he would tell a simple fantastical story to get what he needed, using empty threats to accomplish it. But he never murdered a man, woman, or child.

He lived by the power of vote as most did within piracy, letting every man have a chance to speak and give their case. Nothing on board was done without putting it through vote and booty was split equally amongst his crew. Most captains would take a higher cut, but he never wanted it. He’d rather stay an equal to an extent, which many did not agree with.

Chat Noir quickly went to work getting ready to go ashore, throwing on an elaborate outfit made from fabulous emerald silks and black fabrics. He rarely dressed up due to the amount of water that sloshed across the deck and along his feet. Most of his men went barefoot and wore a mishmash of clothing depending on what they had scavenged from vessels.

He focused on getting ready, trying to not think about how many more knots they had to travel still to reach the treasure that lied beneath the waves. A treasure that everyone around him was after as well. He sighed and peered up as his quartermaster returned with a log of what they needed for the rest of their journey.

“We are at port, Captain.” Nino nodded and left Chat Noir alone again.

Chat Noir nodded and grabbed his pistol, putting it in place on his holster, and headed to the docks to get off his galleon. A few men stayed on board to keep watch, as they stepped off it. He made his way down the pier, making sure one of his men was tending to the sale of jerky in order to get them some coin.

He hadn’t been to port in so long and all he wanted was a nice bath. A tavern stood off to the right and he headed towards it. But right as he was about to step foot inside, a commotion brought his attention elsewhere.

“Wife for sale! Beautiful and a good lay, she is! A fine wench!”

Chat Noir gritted his teeth, turning around to find a woman with dark hair piled up on top of her head and a dress that had seen better days. She seemed nervous and upset with the way tears streamed down her cheeks and her hands trembled in front of her hips. A loose rope was placed around her neck and the end of it trailed over to her husband. Her eyes were a beautiful blue that reminded him of the sea and something deep inside him drew him towards the auction. He hated practices such as this and usually he kept out of it, but he couldn’t when her saddened gaze locked on his. Her eyes were full of desperation, and he could practically hear her cries for help.

Chat Noir sighed and raised a hand to bid. All around him, men whistled and hollered. They laughed and called her atrocious names. Chat Noir knew it was bad luck to bring a woman on board his vessel, but there was nothing else he could do. He had to save her, had to have her.

He raised his hand again to bid. It took a few more raises before he outbid everyone and secured her as his property. She looked worried and scared as her husband took the mysterious man’s coin and passed him the rope.

“You needn’t do that,” the woman sighed and peered down at her feet.

“Let’s get this off you, m’lady.” Chat Noir took the rope from around her neck, shocking her more.

“I promise to make you happy, sir,” she curtsied, and Chat Noir sighed.

“I don’t wish for your services. What’s your name?” Chat Noir rolled the rope around his elbow and hand before tossing the bundle aside.

“Marinette, sir.” She worried her bottom lip and didn’t meet his eyes.

“Captain Chat Noir,” Chat Noir held his hand out for her.

She placed her hand in his and he bowed to softly kiss along her knuckles. He stood up straight with a cunning smile. A blush fell on her cheeks, and she let her bottom lip go.

“Thank you, Captain Chat Noir.” Marinette bowed slightly and followed him to the tavern.

“Are you hungry?” Chat Noir didn’t peer back at her as he led her into the establishment that he had been headed towards to begin with.

“Famished,” Marinette swallowed hard, taking in the music and women being railed against various surfaces.

Men played cards and drank, while eyeing the wenches around them. She licked her lips and swallowed hard, wondering who exactly she had gotten saved by. If she could even call it that at this point. She was beginning to wonder if her good luck had worn out.

“Do you intend to lie with me?” Marinette swallowed hard as he pulled out a chair for her to sit down.

“No. Did you want for me to?” Chat Noir smirked and winked at her from across the table.

“No, no. I just- I assumed since you bought me as your property…” Marinette hid in her hair and Chat Noir burst out laughing.

“If I wanted a quick fuck, I would grab one of these cheap whores.” Chat Noir raised a hand and swirled it around to gesture to the room. “I actually felt sorry for you, m’lady, or should I call you wench.”

Marinette covered her mouth as she burst out in a sharp giggle. She brought her hand down and licked her lips with a blush, “You are quite crass, Captain Noir.”

“So, I’ve been told. How about some food and drink? Surely, you did say you were famished, did you not?” Chat Noir winked at her before standing up to go to the bar to order them sustenance.

Marinette sat at the table, playing with her skirt and taking in the dirty fabric. Her husband and her hadn’t had much money and he had been selling her in order to pay a debt that he owed. She hadn’t married him for love, but rather because she was expected to. What she didn’t expect was for her husband to sell her off, but it was the way it worked. Was it legal? No, but there was no way to divorce her, so the next best thing was to sell her at port like the rest of stock around her. But for some reason this Captain had chosen to save her, and she wasn’t sure if this was a good omen or not.

She swallowed hard, watching the man walk back to her with a certain way about him. He was stopped along the way by a wench, but as he spoke to her, he kept his eyes locked on Marinette instead. A few moments later and he was on his way back to their table and setting down plates of food and drink.

“Sure you weren’t a wench for a time, Captain?” Marinette teased and giggled, as he smirked and sat down.

“So, maybe I was.” Chat Noir winked at her and picked up a roll to take a bite from it. “And you? What’s your story?”

“I was forced into a loveless marriage and when he needed debts paid… he brought me here to be auctioned with the rest of the lot.” Marinette shrugged and swallowed hard. “You?”

“Doubt I need to share my story with you. I’m sure you’ve heard enough,” Chat Noir scoffed and brought his cup of ale to his lips.

“I actually have not.” Marinette brought a vegetable to her lips.

“Really?” Chat Noir was surprised to say the least that she hadn’t heard of him.

“Nope. Your name isn’t familiar to me, but that might be because my husband tried to keep me from piracy and privateering.” Marinette sighed and fell back against her chair. “So, enlighten me.”

Chat Noir chewed on his bottom lip, realizing that he could actually tell her who he truly was, and the rumors wouldn’t corrupt her like so many others. He stabbed a piece of meat and ate it before he began to tell his story.

“I was tossed off a ship at the age of nine by my father for being disobedient. I probably floated in the ocean for days on a piece of driftwood before an old Chinese man found me. His name was Captain Fu. He took me aboard and as I grew up and learned sailing along with traditional Chinese medicine, I commandeered my own vessel. Of course, I joined the great race to find the lost treasure that is spilled through the Caribbean because what else is a man to do, who has nothing else to live for. No family, no job, no nothing. All I know is sailing and traditional medicine.” Chat Noir poked at the food on his plate.

“So, naturally, all you can do is Captain a vessel,” Marinette nodded and put a piece of meat into her mouth.

“Exactly, m’lady, all I know to do is such. Of course, that means that I also must pillage vessels. I started with a sloop and moved up to a galleon, taking in men who felt useless and giving them something to do with their idle hands besides pleasuring themselves for sport.” Marinette choked on her ale at the last words that fell from his mouth.

“I beg your pardon.” Marinette set her mug down.

“You understood,” Chat Noir winked at her and took a sip from his mug. “Men get lonely at sea. Either you pick a mate to have your way with or you got your hand. Pick wisely. One knows when to shut up and just take it.”

“Again, I hope you’ve gathered that I am not always one to just ‘shut up and take it’, Captain Noir.” Marinette gave him an insulted expression.

“I gathered you weren’t, m’lady. I wasn’t meaning you or any lady that is.” Chat Noir smiled and went back to eating.

“Even a wench?” She stressed the last word with a blush.

“Even a wench,” Chat Noir smiled and froze when he felt fingertips run along his shoulders.

They leaned closer and whispered against his ear, “Would you like to have a go, Captain?”

Chat Noir set down his utensil and peered over his shoulder to smile at the woman, “Not tonight, love, but I see a gentleman over there that is looking for a flower like you.”

She nodded and took off towards a man, who was watching from far away. Chat Noir gave his attention back to Marinette with a warm smile. She was beyond shocked that he hadn’t taken the offer.

“Call me surprised,” Marinette finished her meal.

“What?” Chat Noir raised an eyebrow at her.

“You didn’t take her up on her offer.” Marinette shrugged and picked up her mug.

“I believe I told you if I was looking for a quick fuck I-” Chat Noir was interrupted by the woman across from him.

“Then you would grab one of these cheap whores. I understood quite well, Captain.” Marinette brought her mug to her lips and finished her drink. “But am I not one?”

“No,” Chat Noir shook his head and finished his meal.

“How do you gather?” Marinette crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at him. “I already said I wouldn’t put up a fight.”

“That doesn’t make you a whore, m’lady.” Chat Noir stood up and grabbed his plate, taking hers as well.

Marinette watched him take the dishes back to the bar, tapping on the side of her mug. He was an odd man with how he could be so crass and unapologetic yet nice at the same time. It confused her. She didn’t know which side was him.

He walked back and held out his arm for her. She stood up and took it, following him out of the tavern. “Now, surely you know the rules of the sea.”

“I’m afraid I do not, Captain.” Marinette sighed, letting him stroll her around the port.

“If I let you on my ship… it’s bad luck and a capital offense to have a woman on board.” Chat Noir cleared his throat and stopped, turning her around to face him.

“So, you’ll have to leave me.” Marinette peered down, realizing what he was saying.

“No, but you’ll need a disguise to board my ship, love.” Chat Noir touched beneath her chin and raised her saddened gaze to his. “We’ll be needing clothes for ya.” He winked at her and watched a smile appear on her lips.

[siamcomputing]

Have you ever wondered how mobile apps have changed our lives drastically?

Waking up to a morning alarm, catching up daily news, having a chit-chat with a long-distance friend, ordering a quick bite, booking tickets for the weekend party, maintaining your to-do lists, binge-watching your favorite series, checking your email and quickly following up with a project, monitoring your sleep time — you have exclusive mobile apps to pull all these off and accomplish a lot more.

Mobile apps have become part and parcel of our daily routines. A day without these mobile apps is uninteresting, boring, and like going back to stone ages. The trends in the mobile app sphere are changing on a daily basis and advancing rapidly with a focus to leverage technology to ease our lives and businesses.

If you are looking forward to launching mobile apps for your business, it is crucial that you need to be aware of the contemporary trends in mobile app development. In this article, we will walk you through the latest trends and developments in the app technologies so that you can develop an app that is future-ready.

What follows is a list of most recent and top nine trends in mobile apps that you need to know:

#1 Reality is more fascinating than fiction when it is augmented [AR]

AR that stands for augmented reality isn’t a new terminology for technology enthusiasts. It is researched that the market for the AR-powered mobile apps will hit $209 Billion by 2021. Augmented reality lets your app give more real-like experiences to your users. AR is a kind of technology where computer-generated elements and models are superimposed on real-world elements to give a stunning and composite experience to the users. This augmented reality has been on its booming curve since recent years, especially in the gaming and entertainment industries. You can leverage augmented reality to offer unique and compelling digital experiences to your customers and interact with them in a memorable way.

#2 Accelerated mobile pages that accelerate your performance

It’s been more than three years since Google started giving a high-preference to mobile-friendly webpages in indexing and ranking. Accelerated mobile pages, often abbreviated as AMP is a technology used to decrease the website’s load-time on mobile devices. This has taken the mobile design industry by storm and resulted in webpages that are lightweight and load quickly. Now, mobile apps are also adapting to AMP technologies and gearing up to faster, smooth, and seamless page loads. Make sure your app pages have a decent AMP score because AMP-enabled mobile apps go a long way in decreasing the bounce rate and increasing the user retention rate.

#3 Get all things done with Internet of Things (IoT)

From the time Internet used to be a luxury to today where it has become an absolute necessity, the rate of its growth has only been astounding. The future of the Internet is more than exhilarating. Internet of things (IoT) refers to interconnecting all the objects and things around us via Internet with computer-embedded smart devices to enable remote operations from anywhere any time.

The IoT devices are majorly operated, accessed, and controlled on mobile devices like smartphones and tablets and a lot of IoT-based mobile apps are being developed these days. The concept of IoT is definitely here to stay and mobile apps can’t envision their future without leveraging IoT.

#4 From chat to call, Artificial Intelligence does it all [AI]

The scope of incorporating new-age technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and natural language processing (NLP) in mobile apps has widened like never before. AI-powered apps like Google Assistant have raised the bars and set really high standards. The percentage of mobile apps that use AI has increased drastically in 2020.

Big players like Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and IBM are investing a huge chunk of dollars on Artificial Intelligence. AI-powered mobile apps make use of advanced analytics, cognitive interfaces, and intuitive dashboards to deliver data-driven insights and insight-based actionable items to its business users.

#5 M-commerce becoming the new eCommerce

Mobile devices have redefined online shopping experiences to a large extent in the last couple of years. From adding items to the shopping cart to integrating seamlessly with the payment gateways, there are mobile apps that provide comprehensive shopping interfaces end-to-end. Payment apps like Google pay and Apple pay are replacing conventional debit/credit card payments and preferred by customers for their ease of use and transactions. The future of apps is flourishing and promising with m-commerce integration. Thus, developers need to make it a point that their apps are scalable and m-commerce enabled.

#6 Cloud-based mobile platforms gonna rain cats and dogs

Cloud storage comes with a plethora of benefits and cloud systems cater to a broad set of users ranging from non-technical users, business users, tech-savvies, and hi-end professionals. From small-medium enterprises to mom and pop start-ups, a lot of businesses depend upon the cloud storage applications. This opens up great platforms for mobile-based cloud storage applications that are handy, flexible, and scalable. Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, Microsoft storage are familiar cloud storage platforms used by numerous businesses. App developers need to learn and equip themselves to meet the humongous need of developing cloud-based apps that are going to be the order of the day.

#7 Safety and security is not an option

While technological advancement and growth have opened up the doors of innovation wider like never before, there’s a grey side to it too. The threat to security and data privacy has become a major reason to feel unsafe online. Towards the end of 2019 and the onset of 2020, the digital users’ community has become highly sensitive and more vocal to the security-related issues. The apps that are going to pass the test of the time are the ones that enforce a transparent mechanism in place to ensure safety, reliability, and data protection.

App developers need to understand the safety concerns and adopt foolproof mechanisms to prevent issues like insecure storage, privacy violation, data breach, inappropriate use of personal identifiers, and unsafe deployment.

#8 Let bots do all the chatting

Twenty years ago, if someone told us we can send unlimited free SMSes using cellular data, we must have ridiculed them. But apps like WhatsApp made it true and possible. Likewise, it should be hard to believe now that in another couple of years bots are going to take care of handling customer service, ticketing, and sales interaction completely.

Apps that have pre-programmed guidelines and logics to dictate the bots to choose appropriate and customized reply messages will take over communication all over the digital space. This replaces real-time communication and facilitates instantaneous, seamless, and effective communication without human intervention. It is expected that by the end of 2021, 85% of communication between customers and service providers will be taken care of by chatbots. App developers need to cope up with this most amazing trend to survive the competitive storm and provide unique and interactive conversational experiences to their users.

#9 On-demand apps are the next big things

As the very name reads, on-demand apps connect service providers and customers to those who have needs. Providing taxi services on-demand, delivering food on demand, running an errand on demand, rendering a babysitting service on demand, etc. are examples of providing services on demand via mobile apps.

The on-demand app market has made the Internet space a more open and democratic medium where service providers and customers interact with each other directly and effectively, thus empowering both the ends. These apps make it very easy for a customer to avail services on the go, in the blink of an eye. A lot of organizations have shifted their focus to adapt their business to an on-demand app model. It is studied that over 80 Million Americans make use of these on-demand services more frequently.

These mobile app trends are only glimpses of the future whereas, the actual and real future is more fun, interesting, mindblowing, and exhilarating. Technology enthusiasts can’t wait to see these trends get real, spread wide, and become a thing of commoners. When you hire a mobile app developer, you must ensure that they are up to date with these trends.

Follow this space to stay in the know of the latest advancements in mobile apps. This helps you leverage technology to upgrade your apps to current trends, beat the competition, and reach your customers better. For a free consultation on how to upgrade your apps to the recent trends, write to us at hello@siamcomputing.com.

At Siam computing, we help you deliver a remarkable mobile app experience to your customers. We provide mobile app development services that use the most advanced technologies and platforms. With the best app developers company, we ensure that the apps that we deliver are unique, best-performing, high-tech, and up-to-date.

In the next chapters, we will get you a handy checklist that you need while choosing the freelancer/company to develop your app.

[hayleycanalscapstoneblog]

Why does nobody want to work anymore?

Pete Shurba, co-owner of Capone’s Pizza answers the phone as a part of the hosting duties he assumed in the labor shortage. The restaurant is half-open for self-service due to lack of a waitstaff. 

Boone, North Carolina  has become a microcosm of the ongoing national labor shortage. 

The college town lies in the Western region of North Carolina, the state ranked lowest in Oxfam’s Best States to Work Index, and currently faces a staffing shortage throughout local businesses, national chains and university service departments. The shortage is raising questions about workers’ pay, protection, and right to unionize.

Josh Pepper, owner of Pepper’s Restaurant & Bar, said the shortage began in May, after Boone restaurants reopened following a 4-month COVID-19 lockdown. 

“The ones of us who have been working full-time throughout this whole thing, we’re sitting there like ‘when are we gonna have those nights where we need to send people home?’, and we just never had that this year,” Pepper said.

Customer-facing occupations like food services and retail in Boone have been the hardest hit during the pandemic, Boone Chamber of Commerce CEO, David Jackson said. 

Black Cat Burrito is one of many businesses in Boone which struggled to reopen when lockdown was lifted.

“There’s a reluctance for people to put themselves in that situation when interaction with the public hasn’t exactly been positive here in the last months,,” he said.

The pandemic, he said, has put many of Boone’s restaurants in a precarious position when it comes to workers' health and safety. Increasingly, owners are tasked with defending workers against customers unwilling to abide by mask mandates and vaccination requirements, he said. 

Pete Shurba, a co-owner of Capone’s Pizza who has filled in as a host during the labor shortage, has first hand experience with customers who ignore mask mandates. 

“All my other hosts here are students, or student-edge, and people come in that door and abuse them,” Shurba said.  “I've got plenty of masks here, just put a mask on. If you don't want to put a mask on I’ll have it, it’s okay, but you’re gonna stand outside.”  

Pepper said he tried to incentivize workers with higher pay, raising starting wages from $10 to $13.50, sometimes $15 an hour, depending on experience. He offered a $100 bonus to workers who referred their friends for the job, but the applications never came in. 

The area supervisor for the Boone Taco Bell, along with other Taco Bell supervisors through Tennessee, closed the restaurant’s lobby and altered hours to ease the work of their shorthanded staff. They estimated the Boone location to have shut down five times since the start of the pandemic due to understaffing. 

“People need to make sure that they’re having a good culture at the store that they’re in, and try to keep people,” the area supervisor said. “You know, offer some incentives, talk to the team  and see what they can do to help them be happy in the job that they’re in.”

Before the pandemic, Pepper employed 55 people, mainly students. Now, he is down to 40 staff employees. It takes 60 people to run a restaurant smoothly, he said.  

“The unemployment thing was really hard to compete with,” Pepper said. “We had several of our people that, when we laid them off in March, all of sudden they got an $8,000 check from unemployment.”

Shurba has also struggled to hire enough staff to fully reopen Capone’s Pizza since Boone’s reopening.. He estimates it could take two to five years to return to running normal shifts. 

“Last year in July, I thought it was just lazy people— they’re getting unemployment,” Shurba said. “But then I started looking at market research, and as time went on, my mind changed... I think a lot of people are just sick of retail.” 

Empty pizza boxes line the closed portion of Capone’s. Shurba said the demand for take-out boxes has been an expensive undertaking. 

North Carolina’s Labor Supply and Demand Dashboard has illustrated contradictions in the coexistence of mass layoffs and labor shortages since the COVID-19 recession. Despite these events leaving a high amount of job openings, employers are failing to attract applicants across the state. 

Les Miller, Assistant Director of Student Employment at App State, said that students have shown delay in acting upon available jobs. Miller is a member of a national organization of student employment administrators and said his fellow administrators have all noticed this issue. 

He surmised this hesitation to work shows students are prioritizing their academics over looking for jobs. 

However there may be other reasons why students are not currently seeking out service jobs. To add to the risk of working during a pandemic, wage policies, worker protections and unemployment benefits in North Carolina are ranked the worst in the country according to Oxfam’s Best and Worst States to Work in America 2021 report. 

Teresa Segovia quit her job as a server at Lost Province Brewing Company in July 2020. Segovia said the staff were “overworked and short staffed”. Before quitting, she and her co-workers attempted a strike, knowing that in a right-to-work state it would cost them their jobs. They wanted guaranteed days off and higher wages.

The owner of Lost Province Brewing declined to comment on the situation.

[livingcorner]

12 Tips on How to Attract Finches to Your Yard (2021) | World Birds

North America houses a huge variety of finches, with their admirable beauty and vibrant profiles. In addition to being flock animals, finches also require a spacious living space. 

That means that you must never house finches in vertical cages. Since parrots can potentially harm your yellow-feathered friends, you must never place finches with parrots, if you want them to thrive. 

You're reading: 12 Tips on How to Attract Finches to Your Yard (2021) | World Birds

1. Tempt with Fresh Black Seed

Brown, stale-looking seeds do not attract finches, so one must always buy strong black-colored seeds. The general preference of your yellow beauties is a combination of sunflower seeds and Nyjer seeds, which are high in oil and easy to pick with small beaks. 

If you are looking to attract finch friends all year round, we suggest offering a daily meal of the seeds duo we just mentioned. Since November to March is the least seed productive season for many food plants, it is more essential to stock up on this seed combination for your birds. 

Finches are small and clingy, so you choose hulled sunflower chips and kernels, millet, and Nyjer. The best feeders are sock or mesh-style for the tiny creatures. 

2. Add Finch Specific Feeders

The best finch feeders are Feeder tubes, socks, and finch stations. All these are designed to feed finches conveniently, but the easiest are socks because the little birds can easily access the seeds inside. Many birders usually use special thistle seed socks because the birds easily hang from them and extract the seeds from between the fibers.

If you find it inconvenient to special stock food, a small tube feeder might be a good option for your standard one. We urge you to choose tube feeders because it makes it impossible for the bigger species like Red-winged blackbirds, Blue Jays, and other aggressive and bigger species to latch on and feed.

3. Install a Bird Bath (Essential for Finches)

The most integral environmental factor for birds is water. Finches stick throughout the year, so it is imperative to have a water source that does not freeze. Since finches are always on the move, it is imperative to offer a moving water source, such as a bird bath.

There are also some who migrate, which is why you must provide a water source for their journey as well or as a welcome source after they have landed from a tedious journey at their destination. Goldfinches love to shower, so add a birdbath with a mister or dripper. A fountain or a standing bath also improves the chances of drawing in yellow finches.

4. Offer Only Fresh Seed

Birds only prefer fresh seeds, which is a vital factor. When adding new seeds, you will have to remove the stale ones first. Check the birdseed regularly for any spoilage. To appease the fresh and dry seeds needs of goldfinches, use baffles to keep them dry. Also, purchase feeders that allow air circulation and percent of seeds from molding. 

Read more: How to Landscape Using Garden Pebbles by Sydney Stone Experts

Finches tend to empty only half of the feeder so empty the feeders of the old seeds and keep filling in fresh ones regularly. Some feeders have an opening from the bottom from where you can fill in fresh seed regularly. This way, the birds consume the freshest seeds first.

5. Add Bright Colored Ribbons to Your Backyard

Birds possess extreme sensitivity for colors, which means they are drawn to colors which nature does not commonly have. Thus adding bright-colored, such as yellow ribbons to the feeder helps immensely in attracting finches. 

Ribbons are light and move with the winds. This movement assures the birds that their new feeder is a safe zone as another bird has already explored it and finds it secure. 

Most birds, including orioles, find ribbons attractive, so you must strategically place them around poles, trees, and feeders that are in plain sight. With this little trick, you will be able to attract many finches. 

6. Encourage Nesting in Your Yard

Goldfinches prefer taller trees, shaded locations, and low, dense shrubs to nest in. They usually nest later than other species, when thistles, their favorites, begin to ripen. 

The females use thistledown to line their nests and mate from June to August. Goldfinches prefer to nest in cup shapes, vertical structures, especially those with strong support. To this end, the elderberry, dogwood, hawthorn, and buttonbush plants and willow, fruit, and Monterey pine trees work best. 

If you wish to raise goldfinch chicks, provide a secure and safe place for them. You may consider downy plants such as thistle and dandelions and provide natural cotton supplements for a more natural feeling nest. Also, leave the nesting material available and protected till summer.

7. The Location of the Feeder is Key

Feeders left out in the open cause finches to feel vulnerable to predators. Placing your feeders near trees and shrubs encourages safety. Position your feeders 10 to 12 feet away from shelters so that birds can quickly escape when a predator approaches. 

Birds prefer feeders that are hung higher than the head height. For finches, you don’t need to hang the feeders under the branches specifically. If you have trees close by, you already have higher chances of attracting the yellow finches. 

If you have open fields and rivers nearby, place the feeders in areas where finches commonly dwell. Generally, finches never go deep into the forest so you can space the feeders apart from the trees safely.

8. Add Weeds to the Feeders

Feeders don’t always strike as sources of food to the finches. Also, birds flying overhead may possibly fail to spot the feeder as an active feeding area. To draw their attention to your feeders, try adding natural weeds or using thistles and dandelions to stick into the feeder holes.

Often times, when birders install new feeders into their gardens or backyards, birds may fail to recognize it as a source of food and might even vary in most cases if they have been used to feeding on an old one in your place before. Dandelions and thistle sticks will assure them of the feeding source and draw them towards exploring and discovering the food inside.

9. Add a Perching Stick

Goldfinches travel in groups and love to wait for each other to feed first. For this, add a perch or a stick to provide a comfortable waiting space. Adding a perching stick, especially rough branches, are good for birds’ feet. It gives them something rough to grip on. Before you add the branch, make it a practice to clean it first thoroughly. 

Whenever you introduce something new for the birds, you must ensure that it is thoroughly clean and disinfected. You can clean the brush with a vegetable brush and clean water simply. To disinfect the branch and to kill any microbes, pour hot water over the stick just to remain on the safe side.

10. Lure Them with the Right Plants

Natural plants, sunflowers, thistle seeds attract the yellow and goldfinches immensely. Place these around your yard to encourage more of the yellow birds to befriend you.

Read more: Keeping Cats off Vegetable Beds

Goldfinches particularly enjoy thistle plant seeds. Among the other sources of attraction are cosmos, daisies, cottonwood fluff, milkweed, cattails, poppies, marigold, and zinnias. Sunflowers are a treat for most small birds, including the finches. 

Thistles seeds are also a great favorite of the American Goldfinch. With these plant lines around your yard or on the perimeter, you will encourage large numbers of finches to befriend you. 

A bird feeder additionally will go even a step beyond to transform your property into a popular birds’ hangout club. Yellow finches particularly enjoy black-eyed Susan, purple coneflowers and asters too. 

Also read: 11 Best Bird Seeds to Attract Songbirds

11. Temporarily Move Other Feeders

By placing a new feeder in your backyard or garden, you must realize that you are breaking an old habit. This change itself takes a long time for the birds to adapt to. Birds, like humans, are creatures of habit and require days and even weeks to adjust to a new feeder. 

When you place something, they are unfamiliar with in your yard. There will be certain wariness in the birds. To warm them up to it, you will have to remove the old feeders to encourage your little friend to forage into the new routine and eat from the new feeder.

Also read: 5 Best Finch Feeders That Actually Work

12. Keep Your Feeders Clean Inside and Outside

You must regularly remove spilled seeds and hulls from underneath the feeders to minimize the risks of diseases for finches, which forage around other birds like doves and sparrows or on the ground. Dirty and unkempt feeders are also a complete no for finches that cringe away from filth and dirt.

When it rains, seeds tend to get clumpy and impossible for the birds to extract. To avoid this, add weather guards to your feeders and keep them clean. Make sure that food is always fresh and clean inside the feeder and not moldy. Also, periodically shake the feeder so that you keep the food dry and loose inside. Do not allow uneaten food to remain inside beyond three weeks.

Related: Purple Finch vs. House Finch: Songs, Habitat & Identification

Source: https://livingcorner.com.au Category: Garden

source https://livingcorner.com.au/12-tips-on-how-to-attract-finches-to-your-yard-2021-world-birds/

[vaguelyrotten]

Like a Lily in a Flood

Title: Like a Lily in a Flood Artist: @myulalie Beta: @another-random-stranger​​ Pairings: Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood, mentions of Jimon and Reyhill Word Count: 70k Warnings: Mild Gore, Beheading, Nearly being eaten alive and burned at the stake, Discrimination, Sickness Summary:  Alec returns home to find his town plagued by a mysterious illness. Unable to find a cure, he ventures into the woods to seek help from an unlikely source. We must not look at goblin men... This fic was created for the Shadowhunters Mini Bang 2021: Presented by the @malecdiscordserver

Chapter Three

The morning sun hit Alec’s eyes and he groaned, throwing an arm across his face in a pathetic attempt to shield himself from the light. “What time is it?” He mumbled, the sound muffled against his sleeve. He typically found it a lot easier to get up early, but he’d never slept quite this rough before.

“Nearly nine,” Magnus replied, snapping his finger and extinguishing the remainder of the flames as Alec pushed himself into a sitting position. “We’ve only been asleep for a couple of hours. We returned to camp late last night.”

Alec rubbed the last of sleep from his eyes, his gaze finally falling on a spread of pastries and sausages. He blinked, surprised to find nice china and a full breakfast this deep into the forest. “Uh...what’s that?”

“Breakfast, Alexander. Surely you’ve had it before?” Magnus’ voice was light and teasing. Alec could only imagine how long he’d been up this morning preparing this.

“Where did it come from? We’re in the middle of the woods.”

The half-goblin’s cat eyes sparkled as he held up a hand, blue sparks dancing playfully around his fingertips. “Magic, of course. Where else? Eat up — I’d hate to have my hard work go to waste.” Magnus handed him a plate and began to pick and choose items for his own meal. “Now, am I taking you back to the entrance today?” He asked in between bites of an apple.

Alec shook his head, loading the offered plate with a few croissants, some fruit, and a sausage. “I need to find some more ingredients to try. The flowers… they didn’t have much of an effect. If anything, they just stained my fingers for a few days.” He sighed. “I’m getting pretty desperate here. There must be something that I haven’t tried.”

“There’s nothing wrong with a little color,” Magnus replied, gesturing to his outfit. He was wearing a deep blue today, with small accents in gold and maroon. Alec found he missed the purple but this…

This outfit was something different. He found it hard to look away.

“Maybe for you, but I’ll stick with black,” he replied, trying to focus intently on his food so that Magnus didn’t catch him staring. “It’s practical.”

The half-goblin hummed and switched the subject (much to Alec’s relief.) “Did you bring your list again?” Alec nodded and reached over to pull it from his bag before handing it to Magnus.

“Isabelle said to see if we can find some of the non-floral ingredients. Do you recognize any of them?”

“Isabelle?” Magnus asked as his eyes scanned over the parchment.

“My sister,” Alec replied. “She wants to do something in medicine but my parents have prohibited her from studying it. They want her to focus on more ladylike aspirations — like finding a good husband and having children.” He snorted, thinking back to his sister’s wild appearance as she practiced with her whip in the barn. “She’s...a firecracker. She does what she wants, and she studies medicine in secret. She’s been the one helping me test possible cures.”

“Well, if the doctor ordered it, then I suppose we must do our best to please her. I know where some of these are and some that you should try that aren’t on your list. Once you are ready to go, we’ll head out. There’s a stream over there if you’d like to bathe. I’m going to double check the wards once more and see if I can get Elias’ attention. It will be easier if we don’t have to ride double today...and I’m sure your poor horse will appreciate the reprieve.”

Leaving Alec to wash in peace, Magnus disappeared back in the same direction he’d gone last night.

----------

Alec bathed quickly, neither wanting to waste precious time when they could be trying to find a cure nor wanting to spend more time than necessary in the frigid stream. He dressed in the same clothes that he had been wearing the previous day and was working on tacking up Flame when Magnus re-appeared with Elias trotting at his heels. He was holding a crushed purple ribbon in his hand and had a sour expression on his face. “Is everything alright?” Alec asked, concern slipping into his every word.

“Something triggered the wards last night,” Magnus replied, holding up the crumbled, dirty ribbon. “It should have woken me up. If it had pulled another one down, it would have gotten through the perimeter.”

“What do you think it was? Wolf? Bear?”

“Oh my dear, Alexander. Wolves and bears don’t take the time to diffuse part of a magical barrier. I think this was something human...or vaguely human. Regardless, it’s probably time that we move on. I’ll just have to find another place to make my camp tonight.” He sighed, pocketing the ribbon and dismantling the rest of the site with a wave of his hand. “It’s such a shame; it was nice here. I can hardly stay a week before I have to move again these days.” He pulled himself onto Elias’ back effortlessly and Alec followed suit with his own horse.

“I’m sorry. I hope my presence isn’t what caused something to trigger your...wards?” Alec replied, hoping that he got the last word correct since he wasn’t up to date on magical lingo.

“No, don’t you worry. This has nothing to do with you and everything to do with Asmodeus’ interest in me. He may even have discovered his missing amulet.”

Alec nudged his horse into a walk, following after Magnus. He frowned as he passed a purple ribbon that was tied from a low-hanging tree branch. “Hey, Magnus?” The half-goblin turned at the sound of his name. “What are the purple ribbons anyway? Something to do with your wards?”

“Yes and no. The wards themselves are just simple spells. They’re invisible to the eye and once I raise them, they’re free standing. If I want to keep you out, the wards will keep you out. Unfortunately, magically sensitive creatures can sense them. It does sort of give me away but it also keeps me safe. The ribbons are...more like an early warning system. I set them outside of the wards. It helps me find my camp and it tells me if anyone is poking around outside of the wards.” Magnus grabbed one off a branch as they passed, and slowed Elias until he was side by side with Alec’s horse.

“Here, take a closer look.” He handed the ribbon to Alec and waved his hand with a sparkle of blue. Alec glanced behind him, watching as the last of the ribbons that he could see disappear to who knows where and a shimmer in the air descend towards the ground. Magnus chuckled at Alec’s startled expression. “Those were the wards, my dear. No reason that we need to keep them up since I have no plans to return to this camp anytime soon.”

With the last of Magnus’ tasks done, he continued forward, humming a tune that was unfamiliar to Alec under his breath and allowing the human to finally take a closer look at the scrap of fabric in his hand. To the naked eye, it didn’t look like anything special. Like the one that he’d stumbled across his first time in the woods, this one was still made of a fabric that Alec couldn’t begin to name. It was a deep purple, with barely noticeable strands of silver and metallic blue that he could only truly see when it caught the light in the right way.

That wasn’t what Alec noticed the most. The fabric nearly seemed to buzz in his hand. The sensation wasn’t painful, instead it felt warm and safe and...curious? He transferred the fabric into his other hand and was surprised when the tingle didn’t fade. “Why does it feel...alive?” He asked, reaching over to hand the ribbon back to Magnus.

“Alive?” Magnus asked, an expression that Alec couldn’t decipher written across his face. “How do you mean alive?”

“You know, alive. It’s almost buzzing when I hold it. And it uh...feels. It’s happy and curious. I know that probably sounds dumb. And impossible.” Alec replied with a blush, already regretting his choice of words as they were leaving his mouth.

“It’s magic, Alexander. Nothing is impossible,” Magnus answered, turning to give the other man a bemused look. “Still… it’s interesting that you feel anything at all, let alone feel that my magic is alive. Most people aren’t that sensitive. Are you sure that you don’t have any goblin blood in you?”

“Not to my knowledge. I’m just a normal, run-of-the-mill human. I had to do a report on our family tree when I was still in school. I traced it back generations; there was nothing out of the ordinary that I could find.”

Magnus hummed, tapping a finger against his chin in thought. “Still...it’s curious. You truly are a mystery, Alexander, and one I cannot wait to unravel.” Alec blushed and Magnus grinned before turning his attention towards the ground in front of him. “Now, as much as I would love to investigate this further, I do believe we are out here on a mission.” Elias came to a stop and the half-goblin slid from his back. “And I do believe I’ve found our first specimen.” He plucked two handfuls of a rather plain looking leafy green. “Sage. A hardy plant that can thrive in some fairly harsh conditions outside of the wood. Your ancestors thought it was a cure-all.”

He handed the plant to Alec and watched as the human gently wrapped the plant in a soft, grey cloth and placed it gently in his bag. “Is it? A cure-all, I mean?”

“Unfortunately, not in the way that they originally thought. Sage does have a lot of uses but it certainly isn’t a miracle cure.” Magnus pulled another couple of leaves off the plant and popped one into his mouth, holding the other out to Alec. The human sniffed it curiously before following suit.

“I think our cook uses this. It smells familiar.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised. It’s an excellent seasoning, especially fantastic on chicken. I’ve got a fantastic recipe for Lemon and Sage Chicken that is absolutely to die for. I’ll have to make it for you some time. If you’re amenable, of course.”

“Uh… yeah. I’d like that; once we find a cure and this whole thing is behind us.” Alec replied, a small smile playing on his face. “I’d like to have you over for dinner as well. As a thank you for helping me. I definitely couldn’t do this without you, Magnus. I’d be lost out here...and I’m definitely not any sort of plant expert.”

Magnus glanced up at Alec, searching his face for any sort of malice or alternative plan. “I’m not sure having a goblin over to dinner would go over well with your parents. Most people in that town of yours don’t take kindly to my kind.”

“Please, you’re half human too and they should be throwing you a feast if we manage to find a cure. You deserve the recognition for the part you are playing. I don’t care what they think. I’m going to make sure that we appropriately thank you. All of us.”

Magnus blinked. In his four hundred years he’d never had anyone outside of his closest friends show the sort of care for him that Alec was showing after only two meetings. “You continue to amaze me. You have no reason to trust me and yet, here you are inviting me to dinner.”

“Well, why wouldn’t I? You decided to trust me despite your wards keeping my people out of the forest. You have no reason to trust me either.”

Magnus couldn’t find the right words to reply. Elias lifted his front fetlock and Magnus used the offered limb to pull himself up on the kelpie’s back. “Come on, let’s keep moving. The day is still young and we still have plants to find. We’re playing this one by ear — I can’t say I remember where every single plant in the forest is.”

----------

By the time the sun started to set, Alec’s bag was nearly overflowing with various herbs, mushrooms, and a few more flowers. He glanced up at the darkening sky with a frown on his face.

“Shall I accompany you back to the path?” Magnus asked gently. They’d enjoyed a nice, relaxing day in each other’s presence. It hadn’t felt like work to either of them. There was still the mysterious illness plaguing the town and Raphael’s curse looming, but today hadn’t seemed rushed or stressful.

It had almost been fun.

“I think it’s too late tonight. My sense of direction is sorely lacking out here but we seem deeper than we were the last time I was out here.”

“You aren’t wrong,” Magnus mused. “However, I don’t mind taking you to the entrance. I’m sure you’ve got very important human tasks to get back to...and won’t your family be worried? I don’t want the fine people of Idris coming after me with pitchforks because they think I’ve done unspeakable things to you and your honor.”

Alec snorted. “I don’t think you have to worry about that. Only my family knows that I came back to town and my mother left for Alicante as soon as I got back. I made my brother and sister promise to give me a few days before they came looking.”

“Well then, if you’re not in any rush, I would love to invite you to stay with me again tonight. I know a perfect little clearing right next to a stream that would be ideal for setting up camp.”

Alec glanced up at the sky and the sun that was now beginning to disappear behind the treetops. No, there was definitely no chance of making it home before night completely fell and he didn’t want to chance running into the goblins again.

He’d also get to spend a little more time with Magnus, pretending the outside world didn’t exist and getting to know the half-goblin better. Surely, that couldn’t be a bad thing. “That sounds like a great idea,” he replied, a grin spreading across his face. “Lead the way.”

----------

The site that Magnus had picked for his new camp was somewhere they’d passed by on their earlier adventure. Alec hadn’t paid much attention to the small grove of Yew trees when they had stopped earlier to pick a leafy green plant with small pinkish-purple flowers that Magnus had called herb-of-the-cross. The half-goblin had explained that it was great for general aches and pains as well as being used in numerous purification rituals and Alec’s mind had already been racing with a thousand different ways he could try the herb in a possible cure to truly notice what was around him.

The circle of trees opened to a small clearing. It was about half the size of the camp that Magnus had previously made but that didn’t seem to bother him. Skirting around the north of the camp was a stream.

“Make yourself at home,” Magnus stated, jumping off Elias’ back. The kelpie ambled towards the stream, took a sniff and walked away. Magnus frowned but said nothing, turning his attention back to Alec instead. “I’m going to set the wards. Then I’ll snap us up something to eat and get a fire going.”

“Can I help?” Alec asked as he dismounted and began to untack his gelding.

“Help with?”

“The wards...and setting up camp. I know I don’t have magic myself but you shouldn’t have to do everything and I’d like to watch you set them...if you don’t mind, that is, and if you don’t think I’ll...break them or something. Your magic is the only magic I’ve seen. I’d like to get a closer look.”

Magnus studied him for a few moments before nodding, a fond expression on his face. “Of course, setting the wards isn’t a secret. Magic puts them up and magic takes them down, there’s no way they could be ‘broken’ as you say, by a mere human. It’s just not entirely that exciting. I didn’t want to bore you.”

“Nothing you do is boring, Magnus,” Alec replied, his back turned as he placed his saddle on the ground and out of the way. He tied Flame’s reins loosely to a young tree. “I’ve never learned so much nor enjoyed myself as much as I have when I’m with you.”

Magnus stood shocked as his mind raced to catch up with Alec’s words. The man had spent just a few simple days with him but already Magnus could feel himself becoming attached to this human. Alec dusted his hands off on his pants and turned around, waiting for Magnus to lead the way or give an order. “You never cease to amaze me, Alexander. Magic is more about intent than practice. Come, I’ll give you a brief explanation on ward magic and we can walk the perimeter and set the early warning markers afterwards.” He stepped through the yew trees and he knew without a doubt that Alec would follow.

----------

After they had taken care of their safety for the evening, Magnus led them back to the clearing. True to his word, a simple snap of his fingers and that now too familiar sparkle in the air brought a crackling fire with the same blue flame from the night before. “I’m going to fill my water skin and wash up,” Alec stated, already pulling off his jacket and moving towards the stream.

“I wouldn’t,” Magnus replied, snapping his fingers again and producing a bucket and a simple cloth while the water skin miraculously (magically) had filled itself. “There’s something...odd about the water.”

“How do you know?” Alec asked as he dipped his hands into the bucket and began to scrub his face. “It looks like a normal stream to me.” He’d also filled his waterskin from there earlier in the day and thus far he felt fine.

“Did you see Elias walk over to it?” Alec shook his head, he’d been too preoccupied with taking care of his own horse earlier to notice if the kelpie had done anything strange. “Kelpies are water horses. They’re born in the lakes and rivers when lightning strikes the water. The water keeps them alive...if he wanted nothing to do with the stream, then I don’t trust it either.”

Alec tensed at the half-goblin’s explanation. Everything he had said made sense but that still didn’t change the fact that Alec had in fact been drinking water from the stream all day. “What do you think is wrong with it?” He asked idly, trying to keep his voice calm as he focused on the task at hand.

“There’s no way of telling without running some diagnostic spells on it and, unfortunately, those are more my dear friend Catarina’s speciality instead of mine. If something nefarious were at foot, I’m sure we would have found out sooner. It’s probably something as simple as a dead deer up stream. I wouldn’t worry your pretty head too much about it.”

Alec would worry about it, though he couldn’t stop the blush from forming on face from Magnus’ comment about his pretty head. He’d try to keep a closer eye on any symptoms or weird feelings that may begin to show themselves. For now though, he felt fine. Thank the angel for that at least.

“Now then!” Magnus said loudly, pulling Alec from his reverie and making him jump. “I believe we’re both owed some dinner. Any requests?”

“Magician’s choice,” Alec replied.

“Well, how do you feel about a nice steak? There’s this little place just over the mountain that makes the best steak I’ve ever had in my long and lonely life. Would you like to try it?”

Alec couldn’t remember the last time he’d had a nice steak, let alone ‘the best steak that someone had ever had.’ “That sounds absolutely perfect. I can’t wait to try it.”

Magnus grinned at his response and snapped his fingers.

----------

The steak and potatoes that Magnus had summoned had indeed been the best that Alec had ever had — and that was even compared to some of the famous taverns that he’d eaten at during his stay in the city. The steak practically melted in his mouth and he wasn’t sure what seasoning was on the potatoes but wherever it was, it was absolutely to die for.

They’d set up their bedrolls after they had finished eating and Magnus was currently propped up on his elbow, watching the glow from the fire illuminate Alec’s face. “What?” Alec asked when he noticed the half-goblin was staring at him. “Do I have something on my face?”

“I can’t be interested in your pretty eyes?” Magnus asked, amused. “I was just thinking…”

“About?”

“Every time you and I have met, the conversation focuses largely on me. Now, I do love talking about myself an awful lot but I know hardly anything about you.”

Alec hadn’t intended to withhold information from Magnus. He hadn’t been lying the other night when he said that he had trusted him, he just didn’t find his life that interesting — not compared to Magnus’, where there was magic and mystery in every waking moment. “I’m afraid I’m not that interesting,” Alec said after a moment, giving the half-goblin a sad smile and a small shrug. “But I don’t have secrets. What do you want to know?”

A smile spread across Magnus’ face that Alec could feel down to his very soul. “You said you had siblings? Tell me about them.”

Alec laughed. “Alright...well, you already know a little bit about Izzy. Let me tell you about Jace…”

Alec spent the next two hours spilling details of his life and regaling Magnus with tales from his youth until they both drifted off to a gentle sleep, not noticing the sound of pipes and drums playing in the distance.

----------

When Alec woke the next morning, it was to curious golden cat eyes watching him with interest. He yawned, rubbing his hand over his eyes to try to rid himself of the last few remnants of sleep. “Good morning. What time is it?”

“Good morning, sleepy head,” Magnus replied, a hint of laughter in his voice. “It’s still quite early, but we should probably get a move on if we hope to make it back towards the entrance by a decent hour. I’m sure there will be plenty to distract us on the way there. More flowers to pick, etcetera, etcetera.”

The corner of Alec’s lips turned up as he pushed himself up to sit and began to tidy up his bedroll. Magnus started to do the same, waving his hand to vanish his own bedding and doing the same to extinguish the fire that had remained burning through the night. “If I recall from yesterday, you are the one who gets easily distracted Magnus,” Alec replied. “You spent quite a bit of time staring at a beetle.”

“It wasn’t just any beetle, Alexander. It was a particularly lovely jewel beetle specimen. The way the light reflected off his carapace was breathtaking. I needed inspiration, obviously. I’ve been stuck in such a rut lately.” He sighed dramatically, summoning a fresh set of clothes for himself with another snap of his fingers. “Well, what do you think?” He asked, executing a twirl so that Alec could take in the whole outfit.

The half-goblin’s new attire, like the wings of the beetle that they had observed yesterday, was a shimmering cobalt blue tipped in a deep, metallic purple. He was wearing another long coat and a black vest with a dark brocade pattern. His make-up was in bright, glittering colours that matched his jacket.

“You look great, Magnus,” Alec replied, turning to begin tacking his horse up, using the action to hide the blush he could feel forming on his cheeks. “You always look great. I don’t think you needed me to tell you that though.”

“Alas, my dear Alexander, I am a vain creature. I do appreciate hearing it.”

Alec had finished tightening Flame’s girth and threw the last of his saddle bags over the gelding’s withers. He turned towards Magnus to see if the half-goblin was ready to leave and found the other man looking at him with a curious expression. “What? Do I have something on my face?”

“No but I do think a change of clothes is in order for you too. We’ve been out here for a few days and you don’t have the luxury of magic.” He waved his hand and Alec jumped as the worn leather and plain cotton that he had been wearing was instantly replaced with soft, supple leather in a quality that Alec had never seen before, and a deep blue fabric that was so dark it was nearly black. “There! That’s much better, don’t you think?”

“Magnus! Where did this even come from? You didn’t have to do that, I would have been fine in my old clothes...I am going home after all.”

“Secrets, Alexander. I have to keep some of them,” Magnus replied, giving Alec a wink as he pulled himself onto the kelpie’s back. “Let me spoil you a little; consider it a parting gift. A memento of our days together. I would hate for you to forget about me once you return to the city.”

“I could never forget you, Magnus, trust me,” Alec replied, taking Flame’s reins in his hand and hoisting himself into the saddle. “And I’ll never forget the last few days, you can count on that. But thank you — the clothes are wonderful...and I’m serious about wanting to have you for dinner to properly thank you once all this is said and done.”

Magnus merely nodded, seemingly at a loss for words for once in his life. “Well then!” He exclaimed loudly, nudging Elias into a brisk walk and heading towards the tree line. “I do believe we have some ground to cover before it gets too late. Let’s get to it.”

It was early afternoon when they finally reached the edge of the woods. “Alas, you’ve got some cures to try and I’ve got a curse to try and lift. But before I truly leave you…” His voice trailed off as he reached into the inner pocket of his jacket and pulled out a fluffy purple bloom with a bright yellow center. “For you. I left you with a flower last time and I would hate to disappoint you this time.”

Alec took the flower and twirled it in his fingers. “Knowing you, I’m sure this is more than just a simple flower.”

Magnus laughed — a joyful sound that had Alec wanting to stay here with the half-goblin longer. “A few, but none that would be suitable for your purposes. It makes a good tea though, if you’re curious, and it’s edible.” He reached back into his pocket and Alec could see his fingers linger for a moment before he pulled something else out. “I would also like to leave you with this.” He reached over with his palm down and placed a silver coin in the palm of Alec’s outstretched hand.

“What is it?” Alec asked as he turned it over in his hand. One side was emblazoned with an intricate cat and the other had a simple arrow.

Magnus hesitated, eventually shaking his head and glancing up at Alec. “A token of my own appreciation for your help in rescuing the amulet...and a safety measure of my own. That coin is imbued with my own magic...and magic is unique to the one who wields it. If you come looking for me again and you hold that with the cat side down, it will lead you right to me. No more wandering around in the woods and getting lost for you. As much as I’d love to be your knight in shining armor every time, preventing those sticky situations is honestly the best thing that we can do.”

Alec ran his fingers gently over the coin, finding comfort in the warm metal in his hand and the electric buzz that he was beginning to recognize as the presence of magic. “I…” Alec didn’t know what to say to a gift like that. The coin was not only thoughtful but it was dangerous. Magnus had told him that he’d been hunted before — by both humans and goblins — and if this fell into the wrong hands, it could lead to his death. “Magnus, thank you, truly. I know what this means for you. I’ll keep it safe, I promise.”

Magnus gave a timid smile, looking shy in a way that Alec had never seen in their brief time together. Finally, the half-goblin seemed to pull himself together. He gave an awkward half bow from the back of the kelpie. “Until next time, dear heart.”

He winked one last time before turning Elias and prodded him back in the direction that they had come. Alec sighed, gently sticking the stem of the flower in the front pocket of his jacket and making sure it was secure, before turning his own horse in the direction of home.

----------

Alec, luckily, made it home before either of his siblings had begun to organize a search party. He had cut it close to the deadline that he’d arranged with them - he was slightly surprised that they weren’t outside already getting ready to ride to his rescue. He cooled down and untacked his horse as the light began to fade and went to track down Jace and Isabelle’s whereabouts.

The house was quiet as he slipped inside, though that much he had expected. His family had never been one for an abundance of guests or fancy parties unless they were truly necessary. With his mother gone, the tension that was normally hanging heavily in the air was gone. He assumed that wherever his siblings were in the house, they were together and were taking advantage of the much more relaxed atmosphere.

“Anyone home?” He called out, setting his bow gently by the door and stepping farther into the house. The quick patter of smaller feet coming from the kitchen had Alec turning quickly in that direction.

“Alec!” Max yelled, running into his brother’s open arms. “You’re home! Jace and Izzy were worried — they said we might have to go find you. I already packed my stuff and everything!”

“Hey! I definitely did not say that, little man,” Jace replied, stepping out of the kitchen as well. “I said that I might have to go look for him and that you would be staying here with your sister, especially after that stunt that you pulled earlier. Now go wash up, you’re a mess. Now that Alec’s home, we can eat.”

Max grimaced but did as he was told, running up the stairs and disappearing into his bedroom. Jace pulled Alec into a hug. “He was right about one thing; we were starting to get worried. I was ready to head out sooner but Izzy said to give you the benefit of the doubt. If you weren’t back by morning though, all bets were off.”

“I didn’t intend to stay so long,” Alec replied, leading Jace back towards the work room to drop off the specimens that he’s collected and not surprised to find his sister already there elbow deep in books and plants. “It took me a while to find Magnus. He doesn’t exactly have an address.” He set the bag on the table next to his sister and grinned as her face lit up with the prospect of new ingredients. “Here you go. We didn’t find everything we talked about, but hopefully this is enough of a start.”

She dove into the bag and began pulling out the delicately wrapped parcels, organizing them into some unknown categories into small piles on the table. Once she was finished, she glanced back at Alec and a mischievous grin crossed her face. “That’s not the only thing that you brought home, big brother.” She plucked the flower from his pocket before he could argue and held it between them. “This is an aster. Do you know what that means?”

“Magnus said it wasn’t exactly useful for what we were trying to accomplish here,” Alec muttered, trying to snatch the flower back from his sister’s grasp without crushing it.

“Oh, it’s got plenty of medicinal uses. That’s not what I asked, Alec. Use your head. Do you know what an aster flower symbolizes.”

“How would I know that? That isn’t exactly something I studied at school, Iz.”

“Love. New beginnings. Beauty. Passion. I think your goblin has a little bit of a crush on you.”

“Half-goblin,” Alec muttered, tucking the flower safely back into his pocket as his sister laughed. He couldn’t hide the fact that he was starting to feel something for Magnus too. He’d always known that the marriage that his parents were hoping for him would never be on the books. That was another reason that he’d left for the city as soon as the opportunity arose. He wanted a chance to learn who Alec Lightwood really was without his parents and their expectations breathing down his neck.

Isabelle’s attention moved from the flower that he had placed back in his pocket to the clothes that Magnus had conjured him. “Flowers and a new wardrobe? He’ll make an honest man out of you in no time, Alec. Is this Zustrean silk?” She asked, picking at the soft, dark blue fabric of his shirt. “This must have cost a fortune. I’ve never even seen Zustrean silk.”

“It didn’t cost anything, Izzy, he used magic. Stop looking too much into it. We slept rough for a few days and Magnus said something about the water in the stream being...wrong...or so his horse told him. He summoned me some new clothes because I’m sure that I probably stunk to high heavens.”

“Alright, Alec,” Isabelle laughed, turning her attention back to whatever was bubbling away in the pot over the small fire. “You keep telling yourself that if it makes you sleep better at night. I still think your goblin is courting you.”

Alec opened his mouth to argue with her but was saved by a shout from Jace. “Can you two hurry it up? I was promised dinner and I’m starving!”

----------

Once they’d finished dinner and Alec had sent a very grumpy Max to bed, he, Isabelle, and Jace returned to the work room to begin going through their notes on the plants that Alec had brought back with him.

“What’s this weird-looking thing?” Jace asked, holding up a fluffy white mushroom that Magnus had pulled off a tree. “It looks suspicious.”

“Magnus called it Satyr’s Beard though he did say we might know it by something else. I don’t remember that being anywhere on our list.” He replied, flipping through the original book that he’d found during that first night of research. He’d retrieved the book shortly after dinner from the drawer that he’d hidden it in in his room and was pleasantly surprised to find that Jace and Isabelle had come across a few more possibly helpful tomes in the library while he had been gone. “It’s a mushroom, he said. And it’s edible though he said something about making it into a tea...I’ve got notes here somewhere.”

He reached over the table to grab the back that he’d abandoned earlier and heard a heavy thunk of something falling out of his inner pocket and rolling across the old wooden table. He winced, quickly abandoning his search for the parchment he’d been looking for and scrambling ungracefully after the coin instead. The coin had rolled to Jace’s side of the table and the blond picked it up. “And what the hell is this? Did you find some lost treasure while you were out in the woods, Alec? Are you holding out on us?”

“No!” Alec stuttered, frustrated, trying to take the coin out of Jace’s hand. His brother was quick and he darted to the other side of the table to put some more space between them. “Just give it back — it’s nothing that can help us find a cure, I promise.”

“You’re still holding out on us, Alec. What’s so important that you don’t want to tell us what it is?” Jace handed the coin to Isabelle and they both watched as she held it up to the flame to get a closer look at the symbols. “A cat and an arrow...did Magnus give this to you? You said he had cat eyes, did you not?”

“If you two must know since you insist on being so damn nosey, then yes. Magnus did give it to me but only to help me find him if I have to return to the woods in the future.”

Jace snorted. “How’s a stupid coin supposed to help you find him? Do you toss it in a well and make a wish? Will your Prince Charming come and spirit you away just like that?”

Alec blinked, scowling at Jace’s words. “Obviously not, you moron. It’s magic. Can’t you feel that?”

“Feel what, Alec? It’s just a boring coin. You can’t even spend it anywhere.”

“That...electric buzz? It feels like you're holding lightning...you mean you can’t feel that?’

Both his siblings shook their heads and Alec took the coin from his sister’s hand. As soon as his fingers brushed the metal, the magic in the coin called to him. The buzz was warm and familiar. It welcomed his touch and it almost felt...happy to be in his hands once again.

“I can’t feel anything, Alec. It feels maybe a little warmer than I’d expect from metal but I’d chalk that up to it being in your jacket pocket for who knows how long,” Isabelle replied, picking up a leafy green stalk with a small yellow bud and examining it carefully. “Not to cut this exhilarating conversation about Alec’s love life or lack there of short, but I’ve seen this plant somewhere.”

“I should hope so,” Jace muttered, “You only kept me up nearly all night going through practically every single book in the damn library.”

“No…” Izzy replied thoughtfully, handing Alec the wooden spoon that she’d been stirring the pot with. “Stir. It needs to boil for another thirty minutes, after that take it off the flame and we’ll let it cool overnight before we add the final few herbs in the morning. From there, it’ll need to sit for a week before it’s ready.”

“I don’t think we have that kind of time, Iz. Isn’t there anything we can do to speed this whole process up?” Alec asked, stirring the pot exactly like she had ordered him to.

“Unfortunately, what we’re doing is a bit unprecedented. It’s going to take time. I’ve got to check the library for something. Don’t forget to stir.”

She left the room and Alec could only do as he was told. He stirred.

----------

Once Isabelle had left the room, Jace slid closer to Alec. “Alright, spill.”

“Spill what, Jace? Surely you don’t mean Izzy’s experiment because I’m not certain she’d like that very much.”

Jace rolled his eyes, reaching over the table to tap his fingers on the surface in front of Alec to get his brother’s attention. “Spill about your goblin. I know there’s more you’re not telling us. You probably don’t want to say anything in front of Izzy because we both know that keeping secrets like that isn’t her forte but you can tell me. I’m your brother, we’re supposed to talk about stuff like this I’m told.”

Alec fixed Jace with an unimpressed look. “You’re adopted.”

“Not what I meant, stupid,” Jace responded fondly as he rested his chin in his hands like an excited schoolgirl. He was acting like one too, Alec had to admit to himself, with the way he was trying to pull the best gossip out of Alec. “You disappear into the woods for a few days, then you come back with a flower, some fancy coin, and new clothes made out of fancy fabrics. Not to mention, you’re smiling. You never smile. I can probably count on one hand the number of times I’ve seen you truly happy.”

“I smile plenty, Jace. I’m not heartless.”

“You smiled when Max was born. You smiled when you got accepted into University. You smiled when Iz punched that guy who tried to kiss her and broke his nose…” Jace’s voice trailed off as he tapped a finger against his chin in thought. “And you gave me half a smile the first time I came home from a job. So that’s three and a half times. Four and a half if you count right now.”

“What’s your point, Jace?” Alex asked tiredly, suddenly finding the pot in front of him entirely too interesting.

Jace must have sensed his frustration and exhaustion because his playful tone changed quickly. “Magnus...he makes you truly happy?”

Yes, Alec thought to himself, he makes me happier than I could ever imagine. “How did you know…” he started cautiously, trying to choose his next words very carefully. These sort of conversations were uncomfortable and unfamiliar for him and actually voicing what he wanted to say was difficult, to say the least. “How did you know that you and Simon...fit? That you were right for each other?”

Jace blinked, his brain rapidly trying to catch up to what he had just heard. “He’s the first person I want to see when I wake up in the morning and the last person that I think about at night. A moment doesn’t go by when I don’t want to be by his side and when he takes a job without me, my heart hurts that we have to part. I knew that Robert and Maryse wouldn’t approve —for a whole slew of reasons — and I just didn’t care. He makes me happy and that’s what matters most.”

The only sound in the room was the flickering flame and the wooden spoon scraping against the metal of the pot. “You deserve to be happy too, Alec,” Jace added softly.

Did he deserve to be happy? He certainly hadn’t done anything but become the family disappointment. His parents still expected him to get his law degree, come home, marry a woman from a good family, take over the household, and continue on as so many of his ancestors had before him but...that’s not what Alec had ever wanted.

He’d given up on the law degree in favor of architecture as soon as he’d gotten to Alicante. He’d never wanted to come home and join the Council like his father and his father’s father. There would be no marrying a woman from a good family and fathering a child to continue the family name in his future. He’d known that for years now.

The only item on his parents’ list of expectations for him that could possibly be in his future is coming home...as long as he could have Magnus by his side.

“He makes me very happy, Jace,” Alec replied quietly, resting the spoon on the side of the pot and giving his brother a small smile. “Happier than I’ve been in a very long time. It’s like he’s the brightest star in the night sky; the compass pointing me north. Everything is clearer than it has been in a very long time. I...don’t want to lose that now that I know what I’m missing.”

Jace reached across the table and gave Alec’s arm an affectionate squeeze. “Then I think you have your answer...and Izzy and I will be here for you anyway we can.” He let the conversation drop and Alec went back to stirring knowing that there would be a lot of decisions he’d need to make about his future in the coming days and he needed to be prepared.

----------

Alec woke the next morning to find that Isabelle was the only one who remained in the manor, despite the disgustingly early hour. From what he could gather, Jace had left before the sun had risen: called away to take care of some apparent monster or demon that had escaped Edom Forest and was apparently terrorizing a local woodcutter and his family. Max had shoveled breakfast in his mouth and had dashed out the door saying something about going fishing with a friend.

Isabelle had finished preparing the possible cure and had bottled it up to finish fermenting in a dark room for the next week. She’d already prepared another of their possible cures — a paste made of herb-of-the-cross and Rue and a plethora of other things that Alec had lost track of and had been waiting for her brother to awaken so that he could help apply it to their father’s stone-like skin.

“Is this one of the ones on our original list or is this an Isabelle special?” Alec asked as he applied the disgusting and sticky green paste to his father’s arms.

“A little bit of both,” she replied as she did the same for the other arm. “The ingredients themselves were listed in two of the books that we found: The first one that you found and one that Jace and I stumbled upon, but it had no suggestion on how to use them. I was going to try a tea so you can thank Magnus for the suggestion of the poultice...even if it is rather disgusting.”

“How long are we supposed to wait before we see, or more likely don’t, any sort of reaction?”

He wiped his hands on an old cloth and frowned at the green tint of his skin the paste had left behind.

“No idea. This is a bit of an experiment but that’s why medicine is a science. It won’t hurt him to leave it for a while...we’ll see if we get any sort of reaction over the next twenty four hours,” she sighed, accepting the rag that Alec had handed her and wiping her own hands. “In the meantime, it won’t hurt for me to get started on what we want to try next...but to do that I’m missing a couple of ingredients. I’ve made a list. Is there any way you can ride into town and see if you can find what else we need?”