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tamakiamajikistentacles · 5 years

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Let Me {Katsuki Bakugo}

Quirks were just like any other physical ability in that overuse lead to strain. Training was always the preferred method of avoiding that strain, extending the limit to which pain or side effects would begin, but support items were also a viable option for the modern pro hero. Oftentimes, support items were used in conjunction with training so that if the item were to be lost or damaged during combat, a hero would still be able to perform their duties.

Katsuki Bakugo had spent years training his body to push past its natural limits for his quirk, and his mind to withstand the pain of overdoing it. He wasn’t stupid, though, he knew that adding in the bracers for his hero costume were an excellent idea to help him fire off explosions larger than what he could handle on his own. It worked well for him, and he had put a lot of villains behind bars thanks to the combination of skill and enhancement.

Even when the bracers were destroyed, disintegrating right off of his wrists and forearms, he got the job done. Ground Zero was a pro who did not take kindly to losing.

Which is exactly why his wrapped arms and shoulders were throbbing painfully as he stood on the platform of the train station near his agency, the late afternoon sun at his back. His messenger bag felt like lead as it dug into the muscle of his right shoulder. Every so often, his fingers would twitch from the strain throughout his arms.

He stepped on to the local train to head home, his mind only fixated on resting for the rest of the night and for the weekend upcoming. As he sat down, he let out a soft sigh of relief at the fact that the train car was essentially empty, allowing him to let his bag rest on the seat next to him. He legitimately didn’t think that he could manage moving it onto his lap.

Eyes half-lidded, he watched the LED screen scroll through the stops until his own displayed. With a deep breath to ready himself for the weight of his bag once again, he stood to exit the train.

“Shit,” he mumbled tiredly. He continued out of the station and trekked the final three blocks home, grateful that only his arms were out of commission; he could at least make it home without them.

That thought was immediately rescinded when he came to his apartment building and realized that he needed to scan his keycard to enter the lobby. His keycard that was in his wallet, which was somewhere in his messenger bag.

He glanced down to his bag, defeat overtaking his features as he stiffly moved his arm to dig around the main compartment. He fumbled through the contents, his muscles awkwardly uncooperative as he bumped against his empty bento box and the tangled headphones he could’ve sworn were neatly put away after his morning commute. Once his fingers felt the smooth leather of his wallet, he plucked it from the depths of the bag, slowly tapping it against the reader to enter the building.

Pushing the door open with his hip, he sped to the elevator and jammed his finger into the buttons hard, his arms tingling uncomfortably. The numbers ticked higher until settling on 17, a quiet ping sounding out when the doors parted. Stepping out onto the blue carpeted hallway, he moved towards the apartment marked 1701 at the opposite end of the hall.

The sight of his girlfriend lounging on the couch greeted him once he opened the door and between that and the knowledge that he could finally rest, he felt his aching shoulders sag in relief as he dropped his bag to the ground by his kicked off shoes.

“Welcome home,” she greeted quietly, sitting up to make room for him next to her. “I have the heating pads ready for you if you want those first, but I can grab some ice packs if you prefer. Oh, and your compression sleeves are clean and sitting on the night table.”

He stared at her, not registering her words at first, but when she stood up and crossed over to him, her soft hands cupping his face, he snapped back to the moment.

“You did good today. I’m proud of you,” she said, pecking him on the lips. “All thirty-five hostages rescued and not a single casualty other than the bank building about to undergo renovations anyway.”

Bakugo’s brows furrowed. “I don’t need a reward for doing my job.”

“Katsuki, I’m not rewarding you for doing your job, I’m giving you what you need to feel better since you overused your quirk. My plugging in two heating pads and pulling your compression sleeves out of your drawer was to save you five or ten minutes of dealing with your pain. Forgive me if I’m not interested in seeing my boyfriend suffer any longer than he has to,” she said coolly, lips pouting slightly.

He sighed. “That’s—I’m not trying to be an asshole. The last few hours have been hell, but I really do appreciate you helping me. Thank you.”

That allowed the pout to reform into a smile.

“You really have to learn to let me take care of you. You’d think after three and a half years together you’d get it through your head,” she teased, tapping two fingers against his forehead, secretly tickled that he couldn’t swat her hand away. “Now, heat is usually what you prefer first, so do you want me to grab those heating pads to put on your shoulders after we unwrap your arms and put the sleeves on?”

“Yeah,” he grumbled in agreement, watching as she disappeared into their bedroom. He crossed over to the couch, the plush cushions encouraging his body to relax as he sat down.

She reappeared with his compression sleeves in her hands and plopped onto the couch next to him, setting one sleeve to the side as she reached for his arm closest to her.

“You need to fire whoever wrapped your arms for starting at your wrist and going up. It’s usually easiest clipping the end at your wrist so your shoulders aren’t limited in their mobility,” she explained, gently pulling his arm out towards her and letting his hand rest on her thigh as she set about unwinding the fabric from his arm. As she worked, she could feel the tightness of his tendons and the heat of overuse, his muscles twitching every so often beneath his skin.

Once he was finally free of the bandages, she slid the compression sleeve up his arm and adjusted it to the proper position before standing and moving to his other side to repeat the process on the opposite arm.

“Shoulda been a nurse,” Bakugo mumbled as the second sleeve was put in place.

“Nah,” she disagreed. “You know I’m not good with blood. Plus if I were a nurse, who knows if Ochaco and Izuku’s wedding would’ve actually happened, honestly.”

“Got that shit right,” he said. “I still don’t know how you got green and pink to look nice together.”

She waved a hand flippantly as she got off the couch. “The right shade of mint and the right shade of blush aren’t that hard to come by; any good wedding planner knows that. It just takes some time. I’m gonna grab the heating pads for you.”

He watched her leave the room once again, gingerly bending his arms now that the compression sleeves were securely in place. They still felt heavy as he moved them around to try and work out some of the soreness, and he grimaced at the pull of his tender muscles.

“Now that pink on your cheeks would make a good color for my clients,” she mused from his left, startling him. “Maybe we should save the stretches for after dinner, yeah? Rest up with the heat on your shoulders and I’ll get cooking.”

“You don’t have to cook,” he said, reaching for the heating pads. “We can just get takeout from the ramen place on the next block.”

She held the heating pads out of his reach. “Nope, I’m making stir fry while you rest your arms. Now pick a comfortable position and let me take care of you, asshole.”

“You sure you’re quirkless?” he grumbled as he settled down into the couch cushions and she arranged the pads on his shoulders, the heat making him relax slightly. “They had to have missed your stubborn ass attitude when they diagnosed you.”

“The extra joints in my toes don’t lie; your girl’s quirkless,” she chuckled, kicking her foot up and turning to the side, wiggling her toes within her sock.

He grunted, allowing his head to tip backwards to rest on the back of the couch.

“Rest up,” she murmured, running her hand through his hair. “I’ll take the heating pads off in about ten minutes and get you when the food is done. If you wanna fall asleep, I’ll wake you for stir fry.”

An overwhelming part of him hated being told what to do to feel better, like he was some little kid who needed his parent to watch over him so he didn’t hurt himself even more. But he paid attention instead to the smaller voice within his mind that told him to listen to her, to let her take care of him. It wasn’t that she thought he was weak, he reasoned, but just as she’d said when he had snapped when he came home, she wanted to help him feel better because she cared about him.

Sighing as her hand fell away from his hair, he blinked up at her. “You gonna make it spicy?”

“I’ve got everything to make the Szechuan style we saw on that cooking show. Sound good?”

“Yeah,” he muttered, closing his eyes and allowing the heat of the pads to soothe the ache in his shoulders.

He heard her soft footsteps retreat into the kitchen, and then the quiet bangs of cabinets opening and closing. The background noise lulled him to sleep before long, the comfort of being home and knowing his girlfriend was nearby making it that much easier to relax.

The next thing he knew, the heated weight of the pads had disappeared from his shoulders and the spicy scent of dinner was hanging thick in the apartment. Blinking open his eyes, the first thing he saw was a familiar, warm smile.

“Dinner’s ready,” she said happily. “I hope you enjoyed your cat nap.”

He hummed, sitting up straight and assessing his arms’ condition. Stretching didn’t hurt as much but it still wasn’t pleasant; at least eating wouldn’t be painful.

Rising to his feet, he followed her to the chabudai that was already set with a bowl of stir fry and chopsticks for each of them.

Bakugo had never been overly impressed with mealtime gatherings that seemed to only be had to make small talk and have the “how was your day, honey?” questions he’d been a reluctant party to when he was growing up, but when it was just the two of them alone in the apartment, he liked it. It was enjoyable to recount his day’s events and watch her reactions to the gritty details of his job that he admittedly only threw in to get a rise out of her, and even better when she’d stroke his ego with praise. Listening to her tell of her days planning the arrangements of who knew how many weddings was something he looked forward to hearing, too. With as many roles as he played and tasks he had to complete at the agency, there were moments where he was in awe at everything she managed to accomplish for the people who hired her.

Quirkless as could be, she was one of the most sought-after wedding planners in the country because of her involvement in executing both the Shinto and Christian ceremonies of Deku and Uravity. With the endorsements of two new, rising heroes on her resume, she had attracted a lot of attention of other pros who were willing to pay a handsome amount for her services. Bakugo’s attention was also caught during the planning phase and the actual ceremonies, but not for her wedding planning services.

Three and a half years later, he was grateful that the damn nerd had brought her into his life, but he would be absolutely damned if he’d ever admit it out loud.

Even as she waved off his loud insistences of helping clean up their dishes, he was grateful.

“For heaven’s sake, Katsuki, it’ll take me like five minutes to get the leftovers cleared away and our bowls washed!” she sighed. “Go wait for me on the couch, I’ll be right there. Queue up that movie about the spies we need to watch.”

Grumbling the entire time, he set to work arranging the few throw pillows on their couch into a small pile that he would inevitably end up draped over while she curled against him. He grabbed the fluffy grey blanket that he knew she would want too despite the heat in the apartment and the natural warmth his body produced.

With the remote in hand, he took his place on the couch against the pillows he had set up, the blanket to the far side so that she had room to press against him, which is exactly what she did as she came in from the kitchen. She pulled the blanket around herself as he tucked her under his arm, the blanket over his arm and partially covering his chest. A quiet mumble to begin the movie came from her and he obliged.

The plot, he quickly realized, was predictable and stupid. He should have expected that really since it was Kirishima and Kaminari who had suggested the movie during their last get-together and of all the movies they had suggested to him since their time at UA, he had only ever enjoyed three. So, he checked out of the scenes on the screen and let his mind wander—the day had been long enough that he probably deserved some more time to not do or think of anything important.

His eyes closed as he moved to lay more on the pillows he had gathered earlier, but his face contorted into a grimace as it sent twinges down both of his arms.

Her weight against him disappeared, gingerly guiding his arm from around her shoulders. “Are you alright, Katsuki?”

“Yeah,” he gritted out, the dull throb that had appeared distracting. “Kept them in one position for too long. They locked up on me.”

“You want me to grab ice this time or should we go with heat again?” she asked. “I can try massaging your arms if you think that’ll help?”

He shook his head. “No, its fine, just… keep watching the movie.”

“This movie sucks, the guys were full of shit when they said we’d like it, so let me help you instead.”

“You don’t—”

“If you’re about to tell me that I don’t need to take care of you or do something that’s going to help you, I will fucking scream,” she warned, cutting him off. “Can you just let me do what I can to take care of you? I don’t like seeing you in pain and if there’s something I can do to help alleviate it, I’m going to do it!”

He took a heavy breath before speaking. “I swear that I’m not trying to piss you off, I just… you know I’m shitty at asking for help or whatever. And I’m supposed to be the one taking care of you, not the other way around.”

She sighed, lifting a hand to thread through the hair at the base of his neck. He was a complicated bastard on the best days, but he was her complicated bastard and she couldn’t ever imagine a time when she wouldn’t want to make their relationship work.

“I know that you’re able to take care of yourself, Katsuki,” she said softly. “You’re great at taking care of me and I appreciate it more than you know, but sometimes I can help you too. Relationships are a two-way street; we take care of each other, you know?”

He felt her tug on his hair lightly, small zings of pressure a better feeling than the pain he’d been experiencing so far that night.

“Maybe a massage would help,” he relented, voice quiet.

She smiled, leaning up to kiss his cheek. “Let’s leave the tidying up for the morning and head into the bedroom where you can sprawl out more.”

Bakugo hummed, once again ignoring the large part of him that was uncomfortable with being tended to, and stood up, stretching his back before heading into their bedroom. He fell face first onto the mattress, the once-pristinely made bed flying askew with blankets rumpled under him and the two throw pillows flopping over sadly.

“What a view,” he heard followed by a low, playful whistle.

He turned his head so that she could see his exaggerated eyeroll, a few giggles escaping from her as she moved to climb on the bed with him.

She tossed a leg over his torso and settled into the dip of his lower back, her hands splaying out across his shoulders. The tension was still radiating through him like it had earlier and she was determined to help ease his pain however she could.

“I’m gonna take the compression sleeves off,” she said, hooking her fingers into the band at the top of his left arm. When he gave a quiet hum of consent, she peeled the sleeve down as gently as she could and slipped it off of his wrist. Repeating the process on the other arm, she tossed the sleeves on the bedside table and traced the reddish indents on his skin softly.

After a moment, she returned her hands to his shoulders and started to knead into the muscles there, working up the amount of pressure she used to work out the tightness. His skin still felt warm from the overuse of his quirk, but it was much better than when he had first come home.

She worked methodically to massage down his arms, varying the pressure she used when he would wince or suck in a breath, unable to let himself show the pain and soreness she knew he had to be feeling. Once she reached his wrists, she started at his shoulders and repeated the process again, happy to not have as many signs of discomfort from her boyfriend. The tension beneath his skin was considerably less when she finally pulled her hands away from his wrists for the second time.

“I hope that helped a bit,” she murmured, leaning forward to press a kiss to the back of his neck.

He let out a content breath. “Sit up.”

She straightened back up and raised up onto her knees from her sitting position on his back. Bakugo flipped over onto his back beneath her and she settled back down to sit on his thighs while his hands came to land on hers. His arms were still sore with a dull ache, but the soft touch of her massage had helped soothe the pain to something more than manageable.

“That definitely helped,” he told her, looking up at her through the hair that had fallen into his face. “I should be good after getting a decent night’s sleep, but you worked out most of the tightness. Thanks for that. Thanks for everything you did tonight.”

She brushed the hair out of his eyes with a tiny smile. “I told you, I don’t like seeing you in pain. I love you way too much to let you suffer if there’s something I can do to help.”

Bakugo sat up at her words, one hand sliding up to her hip and the other going to the back of her neck as he kissed her. Her hands wrapped loosely around his neck and she kissed him back, feeling him relax even further.

Breaking apart, he let out a happy sigh and rested his forehead against hers with both of their eyes still closed. “I know I probably don’t say it enough, but I love you too.”

“I know you do, even if you don’t say it out loud; you say it when you let me take care of you like you did tonight,” she said quietly, nudging her nose against his. “You’re a man of action, and I wouldn’t have you any other way.”

He smirked, then pressed his lips back to hers. Curling his arm around her waist, he used the placement of his hands to gently maneuver her off of his thighs and down to lie with her back to the mattress, his body covering hers. He braced himself on his forearms and continued kissing her, deepening it with a soft bite to her bottom lip and feeling his skin heat for a different reason when she allowed him into her mouth. It was short lived, though, because his arms started to tremble, and before they could completely give out to make his full weight fall onto her, he rolled off of her and onto the other side of the bed, their kiss breaking far too soon for either of their tastes.

“Damn it!” he snapped, the tremors fainter without needing to hold himself up.

She grasped his hand in hers as they laid side by side. “Katsuki, it’s okay if you need to rest. We can pick right back up with this tomorrow when you’re not as sore.”

“After having a shit day like this and coming home with a piss poor attitude, you did all this shit to make me feel better and I can’t even thank you by taking care of you in bed,” he ground out through gritted teeth. He glared off to his left, not wanting to show his disappointment in himself. “Some man of action I am.”

He felt the bed shift and a hand cup his jaw, slowly moving his head to turn and look at her. Their hands still clasped together between them, he realized that she had moved to lie on her side and face him.

“Have I ever told you how goddamn self-depreciating you are?” she asked with a pout to match the one he had unknowingly adopted in the past minute. “Because it’s definitely one of those things we need to work on.”

She then sat up and once again tossed a leg over him, settling herself down firmly in his lap, causing a low groan to slip past his pout. Eager to hear it again, she smiled and began to slowly grind against him.

His eyes fell closed and his hands landed back on her thighs. “Is this about to be another moment where I’m supposed to let you take care of me?”

“My man is so smart,” she praised, leaning down to kiss him and pick up right back where they had left off moments ago.

He lifted his hips slightly to gain more friction, her slow motions not nearly enough for how worked up he was feeling, and his fingers found the hem of her shirt, pushing it upwards until she had no choice but to break the kiss to toss it aside.

With her bare skin exposed, he ignored the heavy feeling in his arms to run his fingertips across her stomach and up the expanse of her back, popping the clasp of her bra with more precision than he expected from his formerly fumbling digits. He then worked the straps down her arms and threw the fabric aside easily, his kisses moving along her jaw with the intent of finding the best patch of skin to mark as his hands came up to cup her chest, kneading the soft skin.

“Your shirt too,” she gasped out as he scraped his teeth across the side of her neck. Her hands snuck beneath his t-shirt and glided up his torso, the ridges of muscle all too familiar under her fingertips. Within a minute his shirt joined hers on the floor and she pressed their bare chests together as he continued to create a mark on her neck, her small whines filling in the silence of the room.

He pulled back once he was satisfied with the mark he had left, smirking when she let out a soft moan as he moved his hips harder against hers. The quiet, breathy moans she let out were all the encouragement he needed to tuck his fingers into the waistband of her leggings and underwear, tugging them down slightly.

Pushing herself up and off the edge of their bed, she slipped both pieces of clothing down her legs and kicked them off to the side before climbing back onto the bed as Bakugo stared at her, his joggers and underwear also shed in the time she took to stand up and discard hers.

She reclaimed her place in his lap, feeling his excitement against her thigh as she leaned down to mold her body against his, cupping his jaw to reconnect their lips in a hard kiss that only became deeper when his tongue ran across her bottom lip. Her hands threaded through his hair as they continued to kiss, a low whimper escaping her when one of his hands left her hip to press between her legs.

“Katsuki,” she panted, breaking the kiss and burying her head in the crook of his neck as she felt two of his fingers rub her clit with slow but firm strokes. His pace could almost be called lazy, but she knew that he was anything but when it came to their intimate moments, ever generous and attentive.

Her heavy breaths changed to quiet whines as he worked his fingers lower, gently easing both of them past her folds to get her prepared. The noises she let out were perfect to him—even though they had the freedom to be as loud as they wanted in their own home, it just wasn’t how either of them expressed their pleasure. Low murmurs and breathless moans were their language in those moments, only the other able to hear and understand.

“You’re the best part of bad days,” he whispered, rhythmically curling his fingers in search of the one spot he knew would cause her whimpers to become even sweeter. “Coming home to you means I fuckin’ won, no matter how shit the day was.”

The end of his sentence was punctuated by a higher pitched moan when his fingers hit just right.

“Please, I’m ready, Katsuki,” she said quietly, shifting to kiss below his ear as her hips bucked into his hand. “Let me have you.”

Bakugo groaned as he withdrew his hand and she sat up to position herself over him, thankful that they had taken their precautions that made condoms unnecessary. Each time they were together, he felt closer to her, but once they were intimate without any barriers, he had no desire to ever go back and risk the newfound level of closeness discovered when it was only the two of them and their passion.

His hands went to her hips to guide her into place, and she moved to lower herself down onto him, each of their eyes falling closed at the feeling.

“Fuck,” he breathed out as she took him completely, his already waning self-control growing even thinner, “I… you feel so good.”

She let out a choked laugh, placing her hands on his stomach for stability. “You do too. But I can make it feel even better.”

Lifting her hips almost completely off of him, she paused for only a moment before dropping back down with a gasp. She rolled her hips to start a rhythm as she began to ride him, every few movements lifting up and dropping back down. With the firm grip on her hips and the placement of her hands on his stomach, she kept her balance to make sure her movements remained uninterrupted.

Bakugo began to buck his hips up into hers as she brought herself down onto him, both of them moaning at the new rhythm’s intensity. His right hand left her hip to once again apply pressure to her clit, knowing she needed just a bit more to reach her orgasm.

“Y-you always know what I need,” she said breathily. She was close, and she knew he had to be too.

He smirked, his half-lidded eyes making it that much sexier, and let his fingers make fast figure eights to get her closer to the edge than she already was.

“Cum before me or with me, your choice,” he said lowly, feeling his muscles tense, coiled and ready to reach the high he was desperately chasing.

Her cheeks flushed, she rushed out, “I’m-I’m c-“ but cut herself off with a whimper of his name as she bent forward to press her body against his tightly as her orgasm shook through her, drawing out his release at the sudden tightness around him. After a few moments when the initial sensitivity began to disappear, she pulled off of him and lowered herself onto her side to face him. Immediately, he turned to her and his arms came around her back to pull her close as hers curled around his biceps, his skin prickling slightly at the feel of her nails digging into him and concentrating the dull ache in one area. They were both panting heavily, her body trembling against his. The afterglow was starting to hit them both, and as their breathing came more slowly and evenly, they sank again into slow, deep kisses that were sure to extend the time they could float on their own cloud nine.

Uncurling her now-loosened fingers from his biceps, she ran a hand through his sweat-damp hair and pulled back slightly to look him in the eyes. He watched her, one hand tracing an easy up and down pattern on her back.

“I love you, Katsuki.”

“I love you too,” he returned quietly. “Thank you for always being here to take care of me. I promise that I’ll always be here to do it for you too.”

She smiled. “How do your arms feel?”

“Still sore, but I’ll be alright,” he replied with a shrug.

Hugging him to her, she pressed a kiss to both of his cheeks and his forehead before giving him a lingering kiss on his lips, one he eagerly tried to chase when she finally pulled away to stand up. He grunted in annoyance but couldn’t deny that the image of her in front of him looking very blissed out and sporting a red and soon-to-be purple love bite on her neck was one he would be happy to stare at for the rest of his life.

“I gotta clean up,” she said as she walked into their bathroom.

Bakugo took the moment alone to reflect on his day. He would for sure chalk the work part of his day up as shit, no two ways about it. Any time he overused his quirk was a bad time, but also the paperwork he had to submit to get his spare bracers upgraded so that the same situation didn’t happen again in the future was frustrating and repetitive. Well, that was most paperwork he had to do, but his extremely sour mood didn’t do much to help.

But then he came home. He came home to a beautiful, hardworking, and thoughtful girlfriend that did every goddamn thing in her power to help him and make sure he was okay after overworking his power to the point of pain. She took care of him in quite literally every way possible and fuck, was he just so damn grateful.

Her voice stirred him from his thoughts as she came out of the bathroom and announced, “Your turn!”

Throwing his legs over the side of the bed, he bent down to scoop up his underwear and sweatpants from earlier to place in the laundry hamper on his way to the bathroom. As he crossed the short distance, he watched her grab his discarded shirt from the floor and set it aside on the bed. Typically she would wear his civilian clothes to sleep in, and he would bet any amount he had in his wallet that those were her intentions.

After cleaning up and brushing his teeth, he shut off the bathroom light and made his way to his drawer to find a pair of shorts to sleep in, easily plucking them out and slipping them on as he threw himself back into their bed. He settled down into his pillow and watched her put her hair into her preferred sleep style, naked still except for a pair of tiny shorts.

“Anything you need me to grab before we turn in for the night?” she asked, turning around to face him as she slipped on the dark shirt he had worn home to sleep in.

Fuck, she looked so good in his clothes and for heaven’s sake, he couldn’t take it any longer.

He raised a single finger from where his hands laid on his stomach. “Just one thing. Can you go into the closet and get my UA blazer?”

She leveled him with a curious gaze, brows furrowed in confusion.

“Please?” he added with a pout.

“Now I was told that fantasy was going to be a one and done type of deal,” she teased, walking towards their shared closet to retrieve the blazer.

She easily found it, slightly dusty from being smushed against the wall with the rest of the uniform he hadn’t touched in years. Maneuvering it off of the clothes hanger, she draped it over her arm and turned back to him. When she started to shift it over to him, he stopped her.

“Look in the right-hand pocket.”

Dipping her hand into the pocket, she felt smooth leather at her fingertips as they curled around the object.

“C’mere. You can toss the blazer.”

She kept her palm closed around the black box as best she could as she shakily set the blazer aside. When she turned back to him, he gestured her towards him, and she complied, slowly moving back onto their bed. Gently, he took her free hand and pulled her closer so that she was sitting on his lap once again.

“I’ve had this in that pocket for two months,” he said, tapping the exposed side of the box from where it lay in her hand. “Been trying to think of the best way to go about this because you plan weddings for a living and hear so many engagement stories… I wanted ours to be perfect so that anytime you hear your clients tell theirs you just think ‘yeah, but ours was better.’ Knowing you, though, you wouldn’t want any of that fancy or elaborate shit, you’d just want something us and honestly, what’s more us than stir fry and sex on a Friday night? So, after talking about letting you take care of me and me taking care of you, how about we just take care of each other until we’re old as fuck? Marry me?”

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jacqueline314 · 3 years

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Desirable Greetings

Part 1

Carts, farmers, scholars, and merchants occupies the streets of large and massive, bright structures.

Welcome to Vria. A city, made out of columns of a mixture of limestone, sandstone, and other bright colored materials. There are districts with buildings that look similar to one another, it almost feels like a maze in certain spots of the city. Other structures are consist of columns with no walls, walls with no columns, columns with no roofs, columns with roofs, and walls with no roofs.

The history of this city takes back a hundred years ago. The founders were architects. They come from the distant east, after a kingdom had fallen. They were hired by the remaining survivors of the royal family. Their down fall was caused by a war, and they accept defeat. The architects were paid with a hidden stash of gold and treasure that were passed from generations. They were tasked to locate a land that would be best suited for not just the survivors’ taste, but also where the architects would paint their canvas.

It took a few decade of travelling, maneuvering and surviving to find their canvas. As they set foot to a beach with a cliff side, where the peak could just reach the heavens, and a stable slope from the back, they settled and put their lives’ effort to build Vria from the bottom up. The surviving royal family helped maintaining the resources and financials while building their home. After Fifty years, the city was built. It was then ruled under, the royal family’s most organized sister, Queen Luisa Sevada. And every year, they celebrate on two separate days of the start and end of the harvest season. To dedicate the memory of their new found home. And that is the story of Vria.

With in the middle of the day, a tiefling merchant was selling goods to shopper. His shop consist of dried meats, fresh fruits, vegetables, and herbs. He to wards a new face that was approaching to him. He sees a human girl with Short, shiny black hair, olive skin, and dark brown eyes, wearing goggles with magnifying lenses, a brown cloak, studded armor with one glove attachment, modest orange clothing under the armor with only one sleeve that's opposite to the glove and a bag that hangs across her body. Strange to see someone wear any armor, considering that she seems to be over ten years old for a human.

As they get closer, the merchant goes “Hello and what can I get ya?”

She then replies “Hi, what can I get with five copper?” Her voice sounds lightly squeaky.

“Well, that will get you one fruit, half a meat jerky, and a hand full of herbs.”

“What kind of fruits do you have in stock?”

“Umm...just the usual oranges and apples. Oh oh! I just remembered we have one mango left in stock. These are our best sellers.”

The human girl smiles as she says “I will try one then.”

He hands over the mango to her and she pays the five copper. As she walks away from the merchant, peeling the fruit, the merchant goes “Pleasure doing business with you.” As she bites into the mango, she turns around and waves goodbye to him.

“He’s very nice.” She mutters while chewing the mango in her mouth.

He wasn’t kidding about the mango being sold out very quickly. the texture is soft, moist, and the taste is really sweet. Sweeter than any apples and oranges combined. The fruit is very drippy with every bite intake. The juices falls onto her cloak. Other drops slide to her chin and falls on her leather armor. Eventually, her hand will get soaked with the juice when she finishes it.

Amongst the big crowd, she finds a fountain in the middle. She heads towards it to take a seat. She finishes eating the fruit, but she doesn’t know where to put away the scraps. The streets are relatively clean. She finds two families sitting on the fountain as well. One of them are sitting near her and the other is on the opposite side. The human tries to secretly wash her hand and the scraps to get rid of the sticky juice, but the small toss of the fountain water, towards her hand, creates a splash loud enough to get their attention.

They glance over to the human in concern. She smiles at them and says “Hi.”

They continue to watch her as she dips the scraps with her hand into the fountain, washes it, shakes off the excess water, and places it into her bag.

The family then stood up, gather their things and walked away. “You look lovely today.” She said as they left.

A moment passes, then she hears a loud voice that goes “Attention! Attention! A big event has occurred!” It seems to be the Town Crier, giving announcements.

“The queen has said word that the princess’ coronation will be at sundown, today!”

The blacked haired human looks around and sees the surprised discomfort of the crowd. She hears some of them mutter “Sundown?”

“Our attires aren’t ready.”

“Strange.”

The Town Crier finishes handing out the papers and shouts “Alright, go and get ready! The Queen also says that she wants every one to witness this!” And they all rush their walking pace in order to not be looked down upon the royal family.”

As they all nudge and push through each other, our human swiftly maneuver through the crowd, pretty well handedly. After a while, it fells less crowded that it was. In order to not take the chance of being over run, she finds the nearest, stable column that’s short enough to climb on to, but as her hand gets a grip of it, someone bumped into her and she was pushed away from her safe zone. She’s prone to the ground and crawls towards a corner to hide in. People didn’t seem to notice her presence, considering the task at hand. She sit’s there until the sun is about to turn the sky orange.

Carts and horses are tucked away and fed by the owners before they leave for the coronation. The streets are clear of the market stands, that it’s even less crowded than it were previously. The locals are wearing formal attires, some with hints of yellow to intimidate gold. Our human comes out of her corner and walks along the crowd as they all head to the ceremony.

She eventually arrives to the palace. It’s ginormously large, bigger than any other large building she encountered. On what she can see on the front, there are two watch towers on either side, and small statues of Aasimars. One on top of each tower, and center peak of the front. There are also a set of stairs on the base of the palace, and giant columns that support the roof. Upon entering though the iron bolted doors, the main hall/throne room, has many tables and chairs, exclusively for everyone. Torches hanging on the walls and columns. Above there are a couple of large bowls of fire, hanging from the ceiling and interior balconies that over look all the central bottom floor and the opposite side of where the viewers can see. The thrones are located at the back, there are two of which belong to the queen and her mate. And a red curtain behind them.

A lot of people seem to have taken their seats. Our human finds hers as well, located near the second column from the front left. Upon sitting, she sees other people who attended the coronation, not wearing what the locals wear. They seem to be dressed modestly like her. There are mixtures of races within the building. There are Aarakocras, Dwarves, Goliaths, Elves, and a group with a tiefling, a couple humans, a pale soldier, what seems to be an orc, a pink firbolg, and a green halfling. Perhaps it’s an open house party.

Time passes as the tables are being filled. Then, a clinking sound appears from the thrones. The choir sings in a beautiful tune, in front of the thrones. What comes out of the curtained background of the thrones is the king. A Tiefling in his late fifties, with a white color stripe on his beard, wears a blue robe. He bows forward to the audience, stands up, and walks towards his throne that’s on his left, to sit down. Another clink occurs and comes out, the queen. A Goliath and also in her late fifties, wears a pink dress. She bows as well and walks toward her thrown on her right to sit. And after that, comes out the princess. A Tiefling like her father, and seems to be almost in her twenties. Has majestic long hair, a round face, and tanned skin. Wears a green dress, and seems to be holding a scepter with two hands. It’s made out of valuable material and the top of it is in a circular ring shape. There are six spikes around with non pointed shapes, and four chains, linking towards a central jewels, what appears to be a Jasper.

She then clinks the ground with it, and what appears to be an elderly female bishop. The princess then drops the scepter into a compartment, so it will stand in front of the throne. She turns and the bishop hands her, what seems to be a family heirloom. A crystal, covered out of a precious metal. The princess faced towards the audience, and the bishop raises a golden choker with a pearl attached, as the choir stops singing. She chants in a Zemnian language as she lowers the jewelry to the princess’ shoulder levels and as she was about to attach it to the princess’ neck, she finishes her chant by saying “Queen Bree Sevada” And every one in the building cheers in her name.

Then, while the audience clap, our human notices that the bishop twirled the princess’ hair on her right as she placed her hands on her shoulders. A moment passes, and servants came down the stairs on each side of the hall, bringing the guests food and beverages. When all of them were set, Queen Bree says “May the feast fill your desires.” and bows to them, then turns and joins her parents on her own throne that the servants brought to her after the coronation.

The food is consist of pastries, roasted chicken, potatoes, fruit and vegetables. And the drinks are pitchers of water and bottles of wine. Everyone, and our human, starts gathering food and eating their plate. There were not enough chairs for every one, because of tourists, though the former queen had already thought this out. There is a buffet amongst the sides of the main hall, for the extra guests to grab a plate and have their free evening meal.

When everyone finished their dinner, it has turned dark. And all of a sudden, they all hear a tune playing. There are a hand full of people who are just holding their plats while standing in the doorway.

They all looked outside and one of them shouts “There’s a band playing outside!”

One of the guests says “I wanna go dance.” And it encourages more people to go out and dance as well.

Our human stands at the door way, sees the band at the bottom of the stairs, and pairs dancing to the beat.

She hears a couple of guests, sitting on the side of the stairs, one of them tells the other “This is so weird. First the early coronation, and now a band outside? They say that there will be a dance after, but don’t coronation dances take place inside? They even said that the palace has a ball room big enough for all of us.”

It brought concern to her. If that were the case, that would mean they want to watch us dance. As she turned to check on the royal family, she finds no one at the throne area, but she does catch a glimpse of the king and queen walking through a door on the left of the throne. She rushes over them as the echoing sounds of her steps fills the room.

She reaches to the door and knocks on it “Your majesties, is there something wrong?”

The door creaks open slightly, then a voice goes “They no longer hold that title and are very busy right now, please do not disturb.” She can’t see anything from the door crack. There is no torch light in there.

The door closes and she tries to keep the gap open, but her middle and ring finger ends up being crushed by the door. “AHH-” She screamed in agony, but blocked off her sound with her off hand.

She didn’t want the citizens to panic over the disappearance of their new queen.

She then pulled in her fingers and held them tightly to numb the pain. “I know you have a ball room in the palace, why are we dancing outside anyway?”

There was silence, no reply. “I’ll help you with anything, please tell me what’s wrong?”

A minute passes, then the door opens, they waved their hands to for her to enter. She gets in, and the door closes behind her.

The sound of a spark creates a fire to light and the inside is a ten by ten feet room. A door that leads to the back and another door where the human just entered. There is a shelf of brushes and a broom. It seems to be a a cleaner’s closet.

The Goliath former queen and Tiefling former king are wrapping each other with their arms, holding one another. “What’s wrong?” said the human.

“Tell us your name.” Asked the Tiefling.

She replies with “I am Ezuvae.”

“Ezuvae what?” says the Goliath.

“It’s just Ezuvae, madam.”

“You are very young” says the tiefling.

Ezuvae replies “I helped out my master when he needed things like errands and monsters that encountered his home.”

“I see”

“But I want to help you. I have the sense that you’re in trouble.”

The two glanced over at each other and back to Ezuvae. The former queen goes “Our daughter is in trouble.” They then tell what happened two months ago. Bree was studying in her room. She wanted to learn how to solve problems, and help our people. However, she had trouble understanding some particular books she had because they were written in Zemnian. They hired the bishop since she spoke and read Zemnian. It wen’t fine until earlier today. The bishop ambushed their meal with pirates and snatched Bree. She demanded to have the coronation at sundown or the pirates will harm her. Once the coronation was over, they have to draw out the guests in order to have the new queen all to herself. She even told the two to not disturb them.

“Where is Queen Bree right now?” Asked Ezuvae.

The former king lets go of his wife, and places both hands on Ezuvae’s shoulders and goes “The bishop took her to our room. It has our family’s mark on it.”

Ezuvae is guessing that the mark is in a hexagon shape with what seems to be a weird looking pine tree going through. The trunk is too short & thin, and the leaves and branches forms a kind of tall pyramid separated into pieces. She has seen that mark when she arrived here.

As she starts to turn to the door, the tiefling hold her still and continues “What ever you do, don’t let your guard down. The bishop hasn’t been herself lately.”

She nods to him as the guard, who was holding the door the entire time, opens it and she swiftly heads up to the closest flight of stairs.

Just as soon as she reaches to the top the stairs, a crossbow bold flies pass her face and pierces to the stone wall. She lost balance when she leaned back, but she quickly grabbed hold of the railing and stands back up again. She glances to her right, she sees for a brief moment, what could be the captain, and their crew member.

A deep voice occurs and goes “Get them!” as foot steps are fading to the left.

They are in a 10ft wide/ 180ft long hall way with a set of doors on the right that lead to a room she doesn’t know. and two path that lead to the left

The pirate rushes towards her, swings his hook, but she dodges the out of the way, still holding on to the railings. She then goes pass him, grabs the pirate’s back, leans backwards, sets her feet on him, and launches him across the hall as she rolls to a three point stance. The pirate falls on to his back., just laying there. As Ezuvae stands back up, another pirate takes her swing with a light hammer, but Ezuvae manages to stop it on time. The pirate then disengages, going 10ft backwards into the open path. The other path is an intersecting hall way. The human can see the captain heading into another path, behind the pirate.

Ezuvae force kicks the pirate and tries to punch her, but she immediately gets out of the way. The human tries to kick her again, but she blocked it and punched Ezuvae right into the face. She steps back 5ft. Meanwhile, the pirate that was prone, stands up and sees Ezuvae, backing up from the punch. He rushes towards her from the back. The other pirate takes a swing at her. The hammer hits her stomach. Ezuvae pulls out her dagger and stabs the pirate on the back (literally) By this time, she notices the first pirate rushing. She passes by the other and quickly heads towards the end of the hall way. The two Pirates rush towards her, one of them throws the hammer but it misses.

As Ezuvae was running, she pulls out a small metal barrel with a wooden base and points it at them, it made a small explosion and the wall seemed to be hit my a mysterious force. With that, the pirates stop themselves from chasing. Ezuvae continued on forward into another hall way.

Based on where she saw the captain headed, she follows. Upon looking for the master bedroom, Ezuvae finds an open door. In it, was an alchemist’s lab. There is a lot of equipment, chemicals and elements, fully stocked. She finds a greater healing potion, on one of the desks and a container of sulfur pieces. She takes this opportunity to craft equipment and drinks the potion. After twenty minutes, she has crafted a blasting powder within a pouch. After that, she rushes out to the door, she accidently bumped a shelf, and a weird potion spilled on her. There seems to be no effect, so she continued onward.

Racing against time, she finds the family’s mark on the door. Ezuvae looks around and finds a few paintings on the wall. They’re portraits of the royal family. At least, what’s left of them. She takes Princess Bree’s, the painting before the coronation. Holds up the painting’s back towards the door and kicks it open. As the doors flung open, a bolt appeared on the painting. The tip nearly touches her armor. Ezuvae drops the painting to see the captain standing on top of the bed. He has long hair, wears a purple robe, and welds a hand crossbow with a long sword on his side. The room itself, is large. About 40/50ft. Four columns supporting another interior balcony, two flight of stairs, and a huge window behind the bed. The captain quickly reloads his crossbow then the human hides behind the column. He fires but it misses.

“Just c’mon and give up!” Yelled the pirate.

“Our master promises she will give us great pleasure when she’s done with the queen. She may be old, but she knows how to satisfy a man.”

Ezuvae muttered “Ew.”

He then hops off the bed and walks toward the pillar she’s hiding. He draws his sword as he continues “You might have a taste of her, if you’d stop interfering.”

He stops at the pillar and peaks around, “I promise we’ll go slow.”

And all of a sudden, she quickly draws the barrel and points it at the captains face and *Boom* nothing happened to him, except for the loud sound. He got startled and stepped back.

Ezuvae drops the blasting powder underneath him, runs away from him and points the barrel at the pouch. It explodes, launching him 3ft into the air and prone to the ground. The human rushed over to him, kicks away his crossbow, tries to steal his sword but that was unsuccessful. She then proceeds to punching his stomach and miss stabbing his wrist that welds the sword. She backs up as the captain gets up. Unable to do anything at the moment, Ezuvae stabs him twice but misses, and she grabbed him to head-butt him.

The pirate captain slashes his sword at her, but somehow, Ezuvae didn’t get cut. He aimed at her stomach, so why aren’t her gut spilled out?. With out even thinking, Ezuvae slashes him with the dagger. Her two attempts miss, but the third and punch succeeds. He aims towards her head and misses, but she manages to slash him. She also kicked the back of his leg to fall on one knee.

As he gets up and turns around, he was met with an upper cut. Falling backwards, he becomes prone once again. Ezuvae stabs his wrist, making him let go of his sword. He screams from the pain and then she kicks him in the face. He quickly gets up and grabs his sword with his other hand., but as he stands up, he gets greeted with a kick in the stomach. He manages to keep standing after backing a few feet.

Looking at his condition, he looks really beaten up. Blood is comming out of the stab wounds and from the head-butt.

Ezuvae says “You should be the one to give up.”

Without saying anything, He swings at her, but missed. She then slashes him, and points the barrel at his right shoulder. *Boom* blood splashed on to the floor, and He lies there unconscious.

After a relived sigh, Ezuvae hears a sinister laugh. And behind her are the sound of chains clanking. She turns around to see Queen Bree being lowered down. Her wrists are shackled over her head. Her dress, completely shredded, leaving behind a shoulder piece and strips of her dress. And her one-piece girdle is exposed to see. And her face expresses in a miserable exhaustion. She can see the leftover trail of tears on her cheeks.

Shocked to see her condition, Ezuvae shouts to her “YOUR MAJESTY!! CAN YOU HEAR ME?!”

The voice echoes the room “Ha ha ha ha ha,”

Glancing up, she sees a red humanoid figure falling from the ceiling and circles around her before it hits the ground, and continues saying “She cant hear you. I drained all of her energy. But don’t worry, it’ll return after a few hours of rest.” It then stops and floats in front of her.

What Ezuvae sees the figure with red skin, sharp nails, a pointed tail, giant bat wings attached to the back, and wears the attire of a bishop. Taking a closer look, she realizes that the winged figure is the bishop she saw before. Ezuvae was frightened for seeing a being like this for the first time. The bishop smirked. Ezuvae glances towards the queen behind the bishop, and shrugs off the fear. She then puts away the barrel, holds the dagger with both of hands in front of her. The bishop was impressed. Like it is her first time encountering such bravery.

But she gives Ezuvae a remorse look. “Delicious, but annoying. So, DIE!!!” She then takes her claws and swings it at Ezuvae.

Before the claw meets, Ezuvae felt a shattering force hitting on her back. Then what comes a blue mist surrounding her. The red bishop backs away from the mist, cause it harmed her mildly, and what comes are two individuals running into the bedroom. As the mist fades, Ezuvae sees them in front of her. On her right is a wood elf, welding a staff, wearing a brown robe with the royal family’s marking on the back. And on her left is a tiefling wearing chainmail armor, welding a mace and a shield.

“What was that?” asked Ezuvae.

“I just gave you an upgrade.” answered the tieflng.

Confused, she was about to ask- but was cut off when the wood elf goes “No time for questioning. We have to save her.”

He’s right. Ezuvae positions herself by widening her stance, lowering her body, points the dagger at the bishop, and rests her free hand on the bottom handle.

The elf walks forward to the bed and releases a lightning bolt, from this chest, at the bishop. The strike boils her veins, painfully. Ezuvae then gets closer underneath and throws her dagger, right on to her stomach, and backs away. The tiefling then summons a spiritual weapon next to the bishop. The weapon is in a form of Darlin the Baseball Bat. It takes a swing and hits the back of her head. The bishop leans forward from the blow.

Looking at the bat, the bishop notices Ezuvae and casts a charm spell on her. Evuvae felt her body being paralyzed as the speel takes over. She can’t speack either. All she can do is watch and feel the world around her. The bishop then flies towards Ezuvae. The elf runs toward the human and tries to hit her with his staff, but she dodged the impact. She then kicked the elf and pulls the dagger out of the bishop. But then, *POW* Ezuvae gets hit right at the face by the tiefling’s handle. The hit was able to brake off the spell. As the bishop was surprised, she gets hit on the head again by the magic baseball bat.

Frustrated, she charges toward and slashes Ezuvae and the tieffling with her claws. Ezuvae got scratched on her shoulder, it felt worse than a slap, while the tiefling blocks it with her shield. The bishop scratches the shield, and the tiefling pushes forward, grabs her arm, and the bishop feels her arm being pierced over and over again like salt rubbing her wounds. And then was pushed 180 degrees around the tiefling. As all of that is happening, the spiritual weapon flies over, behind the bishop and smacks her once again. After that, the elf also smacked her head with his staff. The bishop is weaken. The necroticy did a number on her. As she lies prone, Ezuvae kicks her over, pulls out and points the barrel at her beaten face and says, “You’re gross.” And the bishop’s head explodes, leaving a splatter of blood and bits of scorch marks all over the floor..

It’s now over. They won. After a minute passes the elf created a magical hand to unshackle the queen’s wrists. Ezuvae stands underneath Queen Bree to catch her. As the chains are freed, she falls onto Ezuvaes arms. She manages to catch her, but being bearably clumsy, she falls back, onto the bed. The queen lands flat on top of her. Her head rests next to Ezuvae’s, arms still over her head. In a brief moment, her arms contract and wraps them around Ezuvae. She’s still unconscious, but she feels like there’s someone there. Whatever happen to her, whatever she experienced, she holds that person tight and does not wish to let go. She wants to feel safe. Ezuvae felt Bree’s sorrow.

She wraps her arms around her body, holds her in close and whispers “Don’t worry, you’re safe now.”

#oc #d&d inspired #fan writing

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mefd19 · 4 years

Text

Failing Forward PT 2

PT1

Two days out from Port Zoon they paused in the route to hunt and fix a broken wheel. It was good timing, according to Caduceus.

“We should probably make a plan.” Caduceus ladled soup into bowls. Caleb tasted his politely before reaching for the salts. “There are children involved, so we should be extra careful.”

“I think Beau is good with kids,” Jester grinned, “Remember how she was with her brother? It was so sweet, Beau.”

Beau shrugged and tilted her head. “I could help with gathering information I guess. And I mean, I am your first mate, so I’m happy to go in there for you.”

“Yeah, something tells me the Matron won’t be as receptive to your brand of charm.” Fjord made an apologetic face. “At least from what I know of her she’s very protective of the children, and who she lets near them.”

“Oh!” Veth popped her head up from her bowl. “What if I pretend to be an orphan! I can change my shape and-”

Everyone shook their heads with varying degrees of intensity.

“The kids aren’t allowed in the business areas,” Fjord explained.

At the same time Caleb said, “It would be incredibly taxing to keep you in character long enough.”

“Listen,” Fjord held up a hand. “I appreciate everyone wanting to help me, but this should be relatively easy. I walk in, I ask about business details as if I’m interested in adopting, find out what Sabien’s interest is. If he’s just trying to pay it forward, so be it and we walk away.”

Caleb set his bowl aside and rubbed his mouth. “You said the Matron is protective?”

“Yes, bless her. One of the good ones, from what I’ve heard. I hope that's true.” There’s a shadow there, under Fjord’s words and behind his eyes. A shadow Caleb recognizes when he looks in the mirror.

Yasha tilted her head. “Wait, what if Sabien is there? Will he try to kill you again?”

Fjord shook his head. “He’s not in Zoon right now. At least as far as Kotho could tell.”

“So the plan is; you walk into the orphanage and ask about adopting.” Caleb asked.

“Yes, that’s about the long and short of it.”

“And the Matron will be amenable to that?”

For a moment Fjord paused. “Well, alright, maybe she will say no, but-”

“Oh,” Caduceus nodded, “I see what Mister Caleb means.”

“What’s wrong with me asking to adopt a child?” Fjord drew his eyebrows down and spread his hands wide, confused. “I was an orphan myself once, it makes sense I would come back to help another.”

“There’s nothing wrong with it,” Caleb held a hand out. “Nothing at all. It’s very in character. I just think it might be better if you had a partner. Two parents are better than one, are better than none.”

“That’s very good Caleb,” Caduceus smiled and nodded. “I’m sure you’ll be able to find any important information too.”

“Wait,” Caleb stilled, eyes going a bit wide. “I didn’t mean-”

“Suddenly I’m marrying Caleb?!” Fjord yelped, looking between Caleb and Caduceus. “Hold on just a-”

“-figured someone else would-”

“Ok ok ok!” Jester held her hands up. “We get it! Jeez. You guys don’t like each other enough to go undercover together, fine.”

Without missing a beat they both instantly started talking again.

“That’s not what I meant Caleb, I didn’t-”

“-wasn’t trying to push myself into the middle of-”

“-obviously you’re the most qualified because-”

Yasha whistled, low and drawn out. “Anyone else think they’re being weird about this?”

“Definitely.” Beau raised an eyebrow. “You two do make the most sense though, so maybe stow the panic for a second. Fjord’s got the know-how, and he talks good. Caleb talks good when he has to and he can find damn near anything that’s written down.”

“Plus he can pass messages with me,” Veth twirled the copper wire between her fingers before vanishing it back into her dress. “And it makes sense they would be at an orphanage. Newlyweds looking to start their family.”

“You can even use some of your real history in your cover!” Jester grinned and clasped her hands under her chin. “Oh how sweet, a teacher falling for his student!”

Beau grinned as she caught on. “That’s great Jess! Caleb was a teacher in, I don’t know, maybe Alfield? And Fjord went to learn magic after he got burned out working the docks.”

“And they’re coming back here to escape the war.” Caduceus nodded. “Nice and simple, I like it.”

“Great,” Fjord snapped. His cheeks were darker green than normal and he was avoiding looking at Caleb. “Now that you have my life re-written to suit your fantasy-”

“I’m sorry, Fjord.”

Caleb’s voice was so quiet, his face turned away, that it was surprising Fjord heard him at all. But he stopped and looked at the ground between his feet.

Caleb is good at something, after all.

Fucking up.

---

Caleb’s spell components were exactly as he left them. He ran his fingers over the strange assortment of things, counting and recounting, looking for any sign that they would not perform. Satisfied, he began tucking them away again, updating his internal list of things he should purchase when the opportunity arose. Each small pouch was filled, patted. The drawstring was drawn tight, bringing the smaller compartments together and cinching the top.

“All set?”

Despite what Fjord liked to claim, Caleb did not spontaneously levitate. He was startled, because he thought his traveling companions were polite, and polite people do not sneak up and startle their friends.

When Fjord stopped cackling to himself he leaned against the back of the cart Caleb was seated in. “Jester said you had some paperwork for us?”

“Yes.” Caleb had to lean to pull his bag out from under himself, muttering under his breath about sneaky green folk making his life harder. “Here, sign this one, make sure it looks alright.”

Fjord took the paper and his hand brushed against Caleb’s for a moment, eyes already flicking over the paper's contents. Caleb clenched his fingers and swallowed.

“This is uncharacteristically brazen of you, Caleb.”

His head whipped up to look at Fjord, eyes wide and throat tight. Did he think- did he know that-

But Fjord’s eyes were soft and teasing, and he tilted the paper at Caleb. “Also wholly unromantic. A marriage proposal by thrusting a certificate for me to sign? My dear we are going to have to work on your acts of love.”

“Oh.” Caleb’s mind was blank. “Er…”

Fjord rolled his eyes and turned back to the paper. “Relax, Caleb, I’m joking.” Then he frowned and tapped near the bottom. “What’s this about?”

Caleb leaned forward and peeked over the edge of the sheaf. “Those are our names, Fjord.”

In response Fjord threw him a look. “Yes, thank you master wizard. Except you took my last name.”

Looking up at Fjord’s face Caleb realized he made a mistake. Or maybe two. But one was definitely thinking it was a good idea to lean into Fjord’s space to look at the paper. He was too close to Fjord, who was looking down at him intensely. It made it hard to focus.

“Is that a problem?” He managed. Fjord’s eyes tightened and he chewed his lip for a moment.

“I mean…” Fjord thought for a moment. “I suppose it isn’t. Not really? But also, I don’t think we should use my real name. I mean, something Sabien would recognize. Or could be traced back to us later.”

Of course. “Of course. I should have thought of that.”

Fjord slid down so he was at Caleb’s eye level, resting on the back step of the cart. “Well, I don’t mind taking the name Widogast, but you’ve been using it for a while now haven’t you? That might be getting recognizable too.”

Caleb suddenly thought Fjord Ermendrud unbidden and inhaled sharply. “Probably,” he got out. “We could pick something new?”

“Hmm.” Fjord squinted out, across the fields. “Likely something Zemnian.”

“Why Zemnian?” Caleb frowned at Fjord. Did he think he needed to conform or something? Fjord had a habit of feeling inadequate, he didn’t even reveal his last name out of shame for months. Caleb had thought taking ‘Stone’ for his name would be appreciated, and now Fjord was turning things around on him. Again.

“Well my dear,” Fjord flourished a hand, cluing Caleb in that he was putting on airs. “We planned on staying in the Empire before this dreadful war started. Of course I would take a proper Zemnian name to help me fit in, so I wouldn’t draw so much attention to my beloved.”

“Hmm,” Caleb scratched his chin idly. “I appreciate that you were willing to give up your love of the ocean to be with me. But I think I was secretly thrilled to leave. We probably fought quite a bit about who got to be the martyr.”

Fjord barked out another laugh and Caduceus paused in walking by to turn and watch them. “Too true. But still- when we married we planned to stay in the Empire. A Zemnian name?”

“Gebirge?” Caleb tried. “Caleb and Fjord Gebirge? Or if you would rather have some alliteration, perhaps Felsen?”

“I like Felsen,” Caduceus said with a smile. He walked over to peer at the paper. “Fjord Felsen. Rolls off the tongue.”

After a moment in thought Fjord nodded. “It does sound rather Zemnian.”

“Here,” Caleb flipped through his papers and pulled out another, unsigned. “Let me just-” as he scribbled his new signature. Caleb Felsen

He blew on the ink for a moment, narrowed his eyes as he scanned the rest of the page, and handed it to Fjord. “Your turn.”

This time Caleb tried to keep their hands from touching, but the quill was small and delicate. Fjord’s hand covered his entirely as he slipped the instrument from his fingers.

Fjord Felsen

“Wonderful,” Caleb pulled the paper away and rolled it up. “Now you are bound to me, my condolences.”

At that Fjord grinned again and rubbed his palm. “Does Felsen mean anything or is it an old Zemnian name?”

“Stone, rock.”

Caduceus’ laugh was loud, startled out of him, and Fjord narrowed his eyes at Caleb. “You sneak.”

Caleb ducked his head, cheeks slightly flushed. Entirely too pleased with himself.

#critical role #widofjord #WIP #man idk if i should bother making this an actual WORK #and put it on AO3 #fake married #pining #im mostly just trying to get better at banter

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stopcryingsomuchlittlegirl · 4 years

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Healthy Competition

“We love you, Sweetheart.” Eveleen kissed her daughter’s forehead before releasing her from her tight embrace. Coal was next, wrapping Ophelia into a bear hug, lifting her clean off the ground as she released a sob into her father’s neck. He smelt the same as he always had, like wood shavings, pine and something herby that laid beneath the other scents. His scratchy chin rubbed against her cheek, spreading her tears. Ophelia gave her father one last tight squeeze before he set her down and she rubbed at her eyes, sniffling slightly.

Eveleen smiled bitter sweetly at Ophelia as she took Coal’s hand. Large fingers so familiar to her twined with hers and they unconsciously pressed into one another’s sides. Eveleen assured Ophelia she would be okay and to be sure to write home and of course to learn a whole lot while she was at school. After all, Easter Holiday always snuck up on them. Ophelia’s siblings had long since taken off across the platform, but Ophelia always took the longest to say good bye to her parents.

David and Danny lingered closer to their mothers, long since haven said goodbye but still waiting on Ophelia. Eventually David had to take his cousins hand and give her a tug towards the train. They had already put their own trunks on board, as well as Ophelia’s. Now it was time to go.

“I love you, I love you!” Ophelia called, blowing kisses to her parents and aunts as David dragged her onto the Hogwarts Express. Once on she sniffled again and removed the pink paw mitten in order to better clean up her face. She had worn the hat and mitten kitty set religiously since David had gifted it to her over Christmas.

She also tried to use the mixing bowls Danny had gotten her as often as she could but had quickly learned they weren’t as practical for round the clock use after wasting an entire box of cereal. She had poured it into one of the smaller mixing bowls but Ophelia still hadn’t been able to eat it fast enough for it not to get soggy. She had reluctantly left most of the set at home, except for the little plastic measuring cups that were currently functioning as sort of a key chain the way they were hooked to her back pack. She knew Danny wouldn’t mind if she didn’t use the mixing set every single day at every opportunity, but Ophelia was a sentimental bean and, well, a bit of an odd duck to be quite frank.

Ophelia followed after her cousins, one mittened hand still in David’s as Danny lead the way back to the compartment the boys had picked. Ophelia was excited to see her girlfriends once back at school but she hadn’t even thought about sitting with them on the train. That had always been something her and the boys had done together, usually playing some sort of game as they munched on snacks from home. Ophelia didn’t think this year would be the exception. She hadn’t even turned her new phone on this morning, forgetting about it to be quite honest, most of the time if it wasn’t vibrating in one of her pockets.

The three settled into their compartment comfortably, shedding their winter coverings in exchange for their basic layers, not yet ready to put on their robes but still too warm to keep on the puffy winter jackets their parents made sure they wore. Even without all the extra bits though, Ophelia was still dressed rather warmly. She had exchanged Danny’s sweatshirt which she still hadn’t given back, for the unicorn one she had received this year from Santa. Cotton candy pink leggings and purple leg warmers poked out from underneath.

As Ophelia unpacked the snacks her mother had sent her with, she came to the disappointing realization that Eveleen had mixed up the chocolate pretzals she liked with the chocolate almonds Ernst preferred. The Gryffindor frowned but got up none the less. Ernst was probably looking for her to trade anyway.

“I’ll b-be right back.” Ophelia said to the boys lounged on the opposite seat of her, bag of chocolates in hand, “M-Mum mixed up Ernst’s and I’s snacks again.”

Ophelia slipped from the compartment and headed off to where she though she had seen her brother heading earlier. Luckily she had only just stepped into the next train when she spotted Ernst’s dark head of hair heading her way. They met and exchanged, Ernst scampering off, and Ophelia squeezing past a few roving first years. As she walked into the next cart though, she tripped over someone’s pet toad and was sent tumbling down. A near by compartment door opened and out popped a familiar face.

“Ophelia?” The boy asked. Ophelia blinked up at him, rubbing her head for a moment before smiling awkwardly from where she was laid out on the ground.

“H-hiya.” The boy stepped out of his compartment and helped Ophelia up, his eyes lingering on her face with a bit of confusion.

Ophelia only knew Christopher Wolf, or Tofer as most refereed to him as, because of Danny. Tofer and Danny both made the house team this season and while that meant Ophelia had a considerable amount of classes with the young wizard being in the same year and house, they had only interacted ever very briefly where quidditch was concerned. Ophelia made it a point to go to every single game for Danny and even a few practices. She understood Quidditch rather well being from the family she was and ever could play a decent game of pick up if forced to. But she would much rather watch Danny on a broom than play herself.

“You, er, you look different.” Said Tofer, his cheeks pinkening. Ophelia however, only felt uncomfortable at the comment on her appearance. She had really only been thinking about what her mates or Danny would think of the pinned bangs and no more glasses. She hadn’t anticipated on anyone else even noticing, it was weird someone she had barely ever spoken more than two words to was even saying anything about it to her.

“D-Does it look w-weird?’ Ophelia blurted out, hand going to her forehead. Tofer however chuckled but shook his head. He was a good deal taller than her she realized, maybe almost as tall as Danny and David. She backed up slightly, bumping into the other side of the isle.

“No, you, uh, y-you look good.” Tofer complimented. Ophelia cocked her head slightly at this, staring at her house mate. She hadn’t quite expected that. She felt her face grow red, she needed to get out of there.

“Th-thanks.” She muttered, started to walk away. The chocolate pretzeled snapping slightly as her grip tightened on the bag.

“The clips are cute.” Tofer called after her. Ophelia nodded but continued walking, her heart beat rising a bit.

“Hey, Ophelia, wait, are you sitting with Danny?” He asked. She could hear his foot steps following her. Ophelia paused however at the mention of her best mate’s name.

“Yeah.” Ophelia anwsered over her shoulder. Tofer paused, face going a bit blank before he nodded.

“Good, good. I’ll walk you back, I need to talk to him. Quidditch stuff.” Tofer explained. Ophelia forced a smile and fell into silence as she let the lanky boy catch up. He had tawny colored hair and hazel eyes with a permanently tan looking shade of skin. Handsome, Ophelia knew. He had been one of the boys to make the list in her dorm’s top five fittest boys in the year. Danny had just made it at number five at Ophelia’s insistence but all were tall quidditch players. However his charms were rather lost on Ophelia. She specific taste, and that taste was Danny Cathers. No one else would do.

Back at the compartment, Ophelia slid open the door and shuffled in, Tofer coming in behind her. He sat next to Ophelia greeting Danny and David pleasently. David looked up from his novel, eyeing Ophelia. Why is he here? Ophelia looked back pointedly. I don’t know.

“So Danny,” Tofer began, “Ready for winter training? I heard it’s going to be hell for us fourth years. Starting prep for next year and all. How’s Hufflepuff looking, David?”

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wherefunsurvives · 4 years

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The Ultimate College COVID Packing List

Okay kids, you’ve seen the post about packing light for college, so here’s some specifics for all of you incoming freshmen or returning students who will be living on campus! This is NOT the year to bring extra furniture, decorations, etc. This is the year to pack light and be ready to get on out of there at a moment’s notice if you have to. i proudly present to you -

“What to bring and what not to bring when going to college in a global pandemic!!!”

STORAGE

i used to swear by my camp trunk when i packed for school and while a trunk can be useful because it has more space inside it’s going to be harder to take on a plane or bus. If you go for a trunk, make sure its combined dimensions (length+width+height) are 62 inches or less (the size requirement for checked luggage). The ideal size would probably be a 32x17x13 inch trunk.

Instead of trunks or big containers, go for a combination of suitcases and duffle bags. Your goal should be to minimize luggage - you want be able to carry everything through an airport without any help. So let’s say in theory at MOST you should have a combination that looks something like:

2 checked suitcases + 1 checked duffle + 1 carryon duffle + one personal item backpack

1 checked suitcase + 1 checked duffle + 1 carryon suitcase + one personal item backpack

1 checked suitcase + 1 carryon suitcase + 1 personal item duffle

Get creative, mix and match, calculate the costs for each combination, which will vary depending on if you’re flying, taking a bus, driving, or taking a train.

Checked and carryon luggage should ideally have 4 spinner wheels and a handle, this will make it easier to move all by yourself. Put your duffles around the handles of the luggage so you can carry everything yourself with minimal effort. If you have checked luggage and carryon luggage, consider a bag connector like this one! You can find surprisingly decent luggage at Costco and from Travelpro, which is designed for pilots and flight attendants but has massive markdowns all the time.

A good duffle should be spacious with multiple compartments or pockets. If you’re an experienced camper or backpacker, maybe use those types of bags! If you’re not, get something that’s 40 liters of space or more. i bought this 50L duffle for $30 and it’s absolutely absurd the amount of stuff i can fit in it.Leave all other storage options at home.

Don’t bring your own desk, drawers, furniture etc. Use only the furniture provided by the dorm. Don’t even bring a laundry hamper! Get a fabric laundry bag that you can easily fold.

LEARN HOW TO PACK EFFICIENTLY. Choose your fighter, the army rolling method or the KonMari folding method (Marie Kondo also has a great video on how to organize what you pack and choose only what you need). This will allow you to bring the amount of clothes you need while taking up minimal space. Speaking of which -

CLOTHING

Your goal is to minimize both items and travel (meaning you shouldn’t plan as if you’re going to travel home every break to swap out clothes). Now is a great time to learn how to build a capsule wardrobe of basic items that can be mixed and matched. Keep it simple. Obviously if you’re in a warmer climate, this will be easier. For colleges with seasons, i’d say aim for 2 pairs of jeans or trousers you like, 1 pair of dress pants, and 1-2 pairs of leggings/joggers/comfortable pants. 1 pair of shorts, no more than 2 skirts, no more than 3 dresses (1 nicer, 1 more casual and comfortable). 10-12 shirts or less (include a variety of tanks, tee shirts, long sleeves, button downs, sweaters, etc.) and 3-5 “layers” like a blazer, cardigan, hoodie, etc. 2 pairs of pajamas, one for warmer weather and one for cooler weather. One raincoat, one fall/spring midweight jacket, one good winter coat - if you’re in Chicago, NYC, etc. invest in a warm parka, and i don’t mean Canada Goose. Just something sturdy that will keep you warm.

You’re going to repeat outfits. That’s fine. You’re not going anywhere important and you’ll be spending a lot of time in your room online. Being able to get out is more important than looking cute.

Pack an appropriate amount of underwear, socks, bras, etc. Bring a hat or two, one for sun and a thick beanie for the cold. Bring one tie and one pair of snow gloves if you need either. Bring a scarf or two for cold climates (they can be an extra layer of protection over a mask). If you wear jewelry, choose up to 10 items you really want and put them in a bag or a small portable jewelry box.

You only need 4 pairs of shoes maximum - one pair of sneakers/gym shoes that you could easily walk two miles in. One pair of of easy slip-on slip-off shoes for going to get mail or do laundry (because you don’t want to walk the dorms barefoot these days) and bonus points if they can double as comfortable ‘nice’ shoes such as cheap loafers, TOMS, basic flats, etc. One flip flops or sandals if you’ll be using communal showers and bathrooms. And one pair of boots that can double as rainboots AND snowboots (duckboots are great for this!) You don’t need heels, wedges, or multiple pairs/styles of shoes for the same reason you don’t need multiple dresses or a full tuxedo - you’re not going anywhere this year! Or at least you shouldn’t! Parties, formals, conferences, etc. are all a terrible idea unless you want COVID-19.

What you should have multiples of are masks and gloves! Have a few reusable face masks you can wash (RedBubble has them in every style, almost every clothing brand sells them, and VogMask/Camridge Mask are great options for something a little more heavy duty). Invest in disposable gloves and one pair of reusable gloves such as dish gloves. Some basic eye protection doesn’t hurt either - i love blue light glasses because they provide some coverage while also being great for reducing eye strain during all your Zoom calls!

SUPPLIES

Keep it basic, and that means you too studyblr kids! You don’t want supplies to take up all your space. Buy a spacious pencil case. Buy a basic back of black Bic pens and put 10-15 in. Those things last forever. Put in 5 presharpened pencils and 5 unsharpened pencils. Bring a pencil sharpener, 1 pink eraser, and 10 eraser toppers. The eraser always runs out before the pencil does. Pack 1-2 glue-sticks, 1 pair of good scissors. Fill the rest of it with your non-essential favorites like mildliners, highlighters, felt tip pens, markers etc. But no more than what can fit in the case. And nothing too expensive, just in case you can’t bring it with you.

Small multi-subject notebooks y’all!! Just get one or two. You never use as many pages as you think you will in your notebooks and multiple full size notebooks are a pain to carry and pack. For my last two years of college i would buy 1 or 2 Five Star 5x7 inch notebooks with 5 subjects for each term. They came with pocket folders inside and i never once used all the pages. i’d often re-use at least one from last term into the next term. It also means you never have to run back for a notebook if you’re at the library and want to do homework for that other class because all your notes for all your classes are right there!!

Bring 2 rolls of scotch tape and 1 roll of masking tape in case you need to repair anything. Pack any essential medication you take, a first aid kit with bandaids, wipes, tweezers, etc. Pack 1 small bottle each of ibuprofen, Tylenol or acetaminophen, any multi-vitamin you prefer, and a vitamin C supplement to help keep your immune system strong.

1 pack of pads/tampons. You can buy more when you get to school, save the space for packing.

1 reusable water bottle. Buy plastic ones periodically/accept reusable free ones given to you at school that you can take if you need to go to the doctor/hospital/etc. so you can throw them away if needed afterwards. 1 mug, if you use one. Make it one you’re willing to leave behind if you must.

1 small set of non-breakable plates/bowls and utensils. i like the Ikea KALAS ones because they’re plastic but can be microwaved or put in the dishwasher. And it’s $2 for a set of 6. 1 small set of tupperware - again IKEA has some good cheap options - that is also microwave safe. You’ll want these solely in the event it’s unsafe to eat in the dining halls. This will let you bring food back to your room and eat, save leftovers from the dining hall or takeout orders, etc. Buy a small bottle of dish soap when you get to school to be able to wash your dishes.

If you use liquid detergent, wait to buy until you’re at school. It takes up more space. If you use detergent pods, choose your own adventure. Buy your shampoo and conditioner at school if you can, same with soap. Same thing with toilet paper, paper towels, and so on. Buy it there, be prepared to leave it behind. Do bring hand sanitizer with you though. Keep a small size in your personal item for your travels and always keep some in your bag at school.

2 disposable toothbrushes, 1-2 tubes toothpaste, 2 toothbrush travel cases. Store the toothbrush you’re using in a travel case while at school to try to prevent contamination. If you become sick, throw your toothbrush away once you’re feeling better and thoroughly wash your travel case. Buy new disposable toothbrushes as needed once at school.

A small wallet or zip ID case with a lanyard. Make sure you can fit your state ID/driver’s license, student ID, transit card, insurance card, credit/debit card, and a little cash in it with ease. One with a clear window is great because you can put your student ID in it to easily show it when required without needing to open your wallet up. A lanyard makes it harder to lose and lets you put your keys on it if you have a physical dorm key.

Your phone charger, with a wall plug. And a mobile charger of some kind (many schools give them away at some point during your first few weeks, orientation, etc. TAKE THEM). You don’t need an Apple branded one, you can find sturdy and cheap ones at Target, etc. You’ll want these in case you get stranded anywhere. And you’ll especially want these because if you need to go to the ER/doctor, you never want to let your phone die while you’re there.

1 cheap tote bag or small backpack or knapsack, etc. that you’re not too attached to. This will be your hospital go-bag. Keep a mini-notebook with your name/birthdate, emergency contact information, relevant medical information, etc. written in it in the event you cannot communicate this yourself. Keep one packed and ready. Other helpful things to have in this bag once you’re at school are a pair of shorts, a t-shirt and underwear; a granola bar, and a disposable water bottle.

1 pair of cheap but reliable headphones, ideally with a microphone. In-ear headphones take up less space than over-ear headphones. These will be great if you’re on a Zoom call or something and don’t want to be heard by your neighbors. Also great for listening to music or podcasts in the event you’re at the doctor/hospital, because just like you never want to forget a phone charger, you never want to be without something to listen to while you wait for a few hours.

DORM STUFF

Now is NOT the time to decorate your dorm. i’m sorry, i love a good Pinterest dorm board and DIY project as much as anyone else. My dorm had a whole aesthetic. It was great. But it was a nightmare to pack up when COVID hit.

All you really need is a duvet/comforter, 1 set of sheets (ideally dark color so they won’t stain, just make sure you wash them regularly), and 1 pillow.

If you want stuff on your walls, don’t bring anything. When you get to school, you’ll likely get some free swag like a college pennant you can put up. Or at the least you’ll get a bunch of papers and maps and things. Hang up the maps. Make them look cool. Draw or do calligraphy on the blank sides of the papers for DIY art and signs. Order a wall calendar with fun art or images on it. Go to Walgreen’s website and use their photo system to order a bunch of photo prints. They almost always have a discount offer happening which makes it super cheap. You can upload photos of your friends and family to surround yourself with nice memories, or upload pictures of art, landscapes, quotes, images you found on Pinterest, your celebrity crush, and literally anything else. Voila, wall decorations.

The key here is to never put up too many things. Everything you put up should be able to be taken down in 15 minutes or less and without any help.

If you really really want some decoration - buy a cheap thing of string lights from Target or something to put up. They add ambiance without much effort and don’t take up too much space. If your room is freezing with concrete floors, a small rug can help if you really think you need one. But - and you already know what i’m gonna say - BUY THEM THERE AND BE READY TO LEAVE THEM BEHIND.

No chairs. No hammocks. No lamps. No furniture. No bulletin boards. No extra bookshelves. Keep it as simple as possible.

The caveat is to bring one small grounding item from home. Maybe it’s a souvenir from a vacation you took. A mug your mom got you. A framed photo of your best friends. Choose one, and make sure it is small.

BOOKS, ETC.

Buy your class books once you get there, either from the campus bookstore, a local bookstore, ThriftBooks, Amazon (if you really must), etc. Or download them online ;) Either way, they’ll take up space while going to school so just get them later unless you have to do reading in advance.

As a book lover it pains me to say this but leave your books at home. Bring at most 4 books with you to school. i’d recommend at least one you haven’t read yet and at least one that’s a “comfort” book you like to reread. Books are one of the hardest things to move and you won’t have that much free time anyways.

Pick one hobby to pack for, and keep it basic. If you like drawing, make it 1 small sketchbook and a mini-pack of colored pencils, markers, watercolors, or crayons. If it’s photography, make it 1 single camera with 1 lens. If you like gaming, bring something small like a Switch lite. If you need a hobby to keep you busy inside, grab yourself a pair of wooden/bamboo knitting needles or a crochet hook, 1 ball of yarn, and go wild. The bottom line is only what you absolutely have to have to not lose your mind.

Have 1 large (32 GB or more) flash drive or SD card to back up your files from your laptop or tablet onto. This will be a huge help in the event something happens to your computer.

Finally, always have a plan with friends/family in the event you need to evacuate. How will you decide if you need to leave? How will you get home/to a safe place? Who will help you get there? How will you afford it? And so on.

Feel free to add anything tips that might be useful!

#college #university #studyblr #uchicago #university of chicago #covid #coronavirus #covid-19 #covid19 #packing #college packing

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turning-dreams-into-chaos · 5 years

Text

Pranks

*Not my Gif*

Request: Hiiiii I really love all your Fred Weasley Imagines so I was hoping you do one in frnship plsss (Ravenclaw Reader)

Requested by: @bengaliandslytherclaw

Paring: Fred Weasley X Reader (Best Friends)

Word Count: 2088

Post Date: 5-8-19

A/N: Hi! Hope you guys like this! Be sure to reblog, like, comment, and keep requesting! Love you all!

- Ria

~Master List~

~Open Requests~

Y/N quickly dashed through the Ravenclaw common room in to the dining hall, quickly scanning the room for her red haired best friends. As soon as she spotted them, she rushed over to their sides, telling them all about a prank she had played on a kid in Slytherin, turning their hair purple for the day.

“Ugh, I wish you guys could’ve seen him! He was so mad! I barely got out of the classroom before he caught me. He was chasing me around half the castle, I don’t think I would’ve gotten away if I hadn’t used that secret passage you showed me last week Fred. Godric, how did I get around before!” you say, panting from your running and long speech. The boys both look at you with astonishment, they knew you were good at pranks but never in all your years had the boys heard of you getting this close to getting caught. While they found themselves in detention practically every day, you somehow managed to get off scot-free every time. Fred shakes his head during your rambling, disbelief also crossing his features. When you’ve ran out of breath you wait for the boys to put their input in. You and the boys have been best friends since your third year, even though you were in different houses, you guys clicked immediately. You met on the train, Fred and George were bored and decided it was the perfect time to prank some unsuspecting person, and unfortunately for you, you were that person. The prank they pulled was a pretty quick one just to start off the year, when you opened the door a bucket of slime fell on you causing your skin to become red and gold, the Gryffindor colors. When they managed to pull it off, you were shocked at first at the twins’ laughter at your situation, but when you realized what was happening was just a prank you started laughing as well. Fred stared at you as you doubled over in laughter, joining George who hadn’t managed to pay attention to the fact you were laughing with them. At that moment, Fred knew you were going to be one of his favorite people to prank because here you were in the middle of the Hogwarts Express, skin painted red and gold, and you didn’t care because it was funny. After you laughed for a couple minutes, you sat up and looked at the boys, you put out your had for them to shake.

“Hi, I’m Y/N Y/L/N and that was probably the most interesting thing that has happened to me on one of these bloody train rides yet.” You say as Fred quickly shakes your hand, then George.

“You’re not mad? Like at all?” Fred asks leaning back in his seat a slight smirk appearing on his face.

“Mad? No. Going to get Revenge? Oh, you bet your arse I will, Fred Weasley.” You give him a slight wink as Lee comes into your compartment, pulling George out telling him that Angelina was looking for him. Giving his brother a knowing look, George scurries out of the compartment, leaving you and the older twin to talk.

“So, Revenge? You like pranks?” he asks, earning a slight chuckle from you.

“Yes Fred, believe it or not us Ravenclaw’s do like to have fun sometimes. In fact, I’ve been known to pull a few minor pranks in my common room. Although no one knows it’s me doing them, and so you better not tell them, Weasley.” You raise your brows at him, the look in his eyes changing to realization real fast.

“You’re the mystery prankster?! My brother and I had heard rumors about someone messing with you Ravenclaws. You’re practically as famous as we are in the pranking ways. You know for such a smart group of people, I’m shocked that no one discovered it was you.”

“That’s because they didn’t have me trying to figure it out since I obviously already knew.” You give him a proud smile, him snickering at your confidence in your solving skills.

“Oh, you think you’re so smart, then try and figure out what’s going wrong here.” He says as he shows you a sketch of a prank he and George were planning. Grinning at the boy, you grab the paper out of his hands, making sure not to smudge the ink on the page. While your looking at the paper, Fred watches as your brain works. He knows what’s wrong with the prank, but he wanted to see what you knew. After a few minutes, and you successfully pointing out the practically hidden mistake, Fred decided you were worthy enough to join in his pranking ways.

Now, while you’re sitting in the dining hall, Fred and George impressed once again with you, you couldn’t help the smile on your face. This being your last year, you don’t want the excitement of pranking to end, you’ve been planning something big for a while now, something that was going to let everyone know you had been the mystery prankster. Everyone knows Fred is your best friend, and you and George had gotten really close by default. You all were practically inseparable. Everyone thought that there were some secret romantic feelings being harbored between you and the older twin, and truth be told, in your fifth year you both decided to give it a shot. But once you shared one kiss you and both of you being unable to control your laughter afterwards, you mutually decided to remain best friends. George always teased you both about it, saying that you were mate less soulmates, and every time he said that, you and Fred couldn’t help but blush. Pranking had always come easy to you and the boys, but this time, you weren’t gonna let them in on your plans. You were finally going to get your revenge from when you met.

After dinner was over, you headed back to your common room and plopped down on your bed. You pulled out your papers with all the sketches and ideas you had and drowned out the world. Everything was going fine with your planning until you came across an error in your work. It turns out to make this prank successful, you would need an extra person. You hadn’t let anyone else know about you and your pranks, and you were kind of scared of them finding out and thinking you’re crazy or ratting out on you. After a while of consideration, you did the only reasonable thing you could’ve thought. You were gonna let Fred in on the prank.

The next morning, you jumped out of bed, throwing on your robes and heading to breakfast. Your brain was buzzing with excitement as you found your best friend, for some reason sitting without his other half.

“Where’s George?” You ask as you grab a bowl of oatmeal and some orange juice. You glance up to see his furrowed eyebrows and frowned mouth.

“Probably off snogging Angelina, again. Saw her then ditched me. Whatever. What’s got you all giddy.” He replies sensing the happiness practically radiating off of you. You give him an apologetic smile before trying to take his mind of his brother’s antics.

“Well. What would you say if we could get back at your brother for ditching you and help me expose my identity as the mystery prankster.” His eyes went wide at your idea. He couldn’t believe it! You were going to let everyone know it had been you all these years.

“Love, are you bloody mental?! You’re going to tell everyone? Can you imagine the kind of trouble you’ll get in? I heard that Snape was determined to stick you in detention for the rest of the year if he found you!” He whisper-yells at you, earning a few curious stares from the surrounding students. You couldn’t help but hold in a laugh at his worried expression.

“Fred, come one. We’re leaving this year, you and George had already made your mark on this school, and I want to as well. And you’re my best friend, which means you’re legally obligated to help me. Just one prank Fred. On your brother.” You could sense the nervousness in his expression as you watched the battle in his eyes. You stick your lip out as you give him your best pouty face, knowing he couldn’t say no to you when you do this.

“Ughhh, Fine Y/N. I’ll help you with your bloody plan. But if you get expelled you can’t blame it on me.” You squeal as you throw your arms around his neck, squeezing him tight as he squeezes you back. When you pull apart, you couldn’t help but redden as the eyes around you watch the interaction. Pulling your papers our of your bag, you spread them out on the table, not letting anyone see and keeping an eye out for George. After Fred had taken in your plan and made a few changes to make it simpler for you and him, you feel the prank is coming together real fast. When Fred sees George enter the hall you both hurriedly pick up the papers, making sure not to leave anything and making sure not to let George see you both in this frantic state. As soon as he got to the table he innocently sat down across from his brother. You quickly give Fred a side smile and hid your excitement.

When diner was over, you met Fred in the library and common room’s as often as you could. You normally find yourself in their common room’s and them in yours. Nobody minded really, as long as they weren’t the victims of a prank. Ginny and Hermione both noticed you spending more time in the common room but neither one of them wanted to say anything about it because they quite enjoy the calmness over the school when Fred wasn’t pranking.

Two days later, everything was ready. You and Fred set everything up in the common room and made sure no one could trigger anything before you wanted it to happen. When George came back after classes that day, he began searching the room for you and his twin. But you both were hiding behind the couch like a pair of school girls, Fred’s hand on your mouth to cover the burst of giggles escaping your lips.

“It’s time, Y/N.” he says, seriousness lacing his voice. You saw the mood change as he grabbed his wand, ready to shoot his spell as you pick up yours. You locked eyes and silently began counting to three. Then you burst out from behind the couch and hit him with expelliarmous. As his wand shot out of his hand you grabbed it and pulled on a rope you set up that caused blue and bronze paint to spill out of a bucket, the same way it had when they got you, then Fred casted aquamenti, completely drenching George with water while he slipped trying to get away. Fred then pulls on his rope, now causing feathers to rain down from the ceiling. Sure, it was old fashioned and used very little magic, but you and Fred hadn’t wanted to cause that big of a scene, so you wouldn’t get in loads of trouble. The room fell silent as the youngest Weasley Twin laid on the ground, soaking wet, covered in feathers and blue and bronze paint. No one knew what to do at this point, people stared in shock at you, a few people had put together the fact that you had been the mystery prankster, and of those people no one was really shocked, it made perfect sense. While you were all just standing there, unsure of your actions, George started to stir on the ground, you thought he was injured until you heard a loud bellowing laugh come from him. You started to giggle at the sound, followed by Fred who was laughing at your reaction. Soon all three of you were rolling on the floor laughing while everyone continued to watch with curious faces. At this moment, it didn’t matter that you all were leaving in a few months, right now you were happy with your two best friends and your pranks.

“Mr. Weasley! And Ms. Y/L/N!” you heard the sharp yells of Ms. McGonagall in the hallways.

“Run!” Fred yelled as he grabbed your arm and ran off, pulling you right along with him.

#fred weasley x reader #fred weasley #fred x reader #weasley x reader #fred weasley imagine #harry potter #hogwarts imagine #hogwarts #george weasley #weasley twins #ravenclaw #gryffindor #ravenclaw reader #gryffindor x ravenclaw

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puppyexpressions · 5 years

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Dog Digestive System Basics — How Long Does it Take for a Dog to Digest Food?

Most dog owners don’t spend a lot of time thinking about their own digestive processes, much less the basics of the dog digestive system. The only times we really engage with the dog digestive system are when we feed our dogs and when we trot them out to eliminate their waste. But what happens to a dog’s kibble or canned food from the time it enters their gaping maws to when it passes out the other end? How long does it take for a dog to digest food? If you were to hazard a guess, you could probably name the major stops along the route in the dog digestive system.

Food enters through the mouth and slides down the esophagus on its way to the stomach. From there, it takes in the sights of the small and large intestines before departing the body. If that seems too simple, it is! The dog digestive system involves a staggering number of organs, fluids and enzymes, all playing their roles to convert food into usable energy. Whatever is left over, as surplus to requirements, is expelled through the anus in the form of feces.

Let’s take a closer look at the dog digestive system and answer the following questions along the way:

Basics of the dog digestive system

Part 1: From mouth to stomach

The front end of the dog digestive system encompasses the mouth, esophagus, stomach and small intestine. Dog digestion begins almost immediately with saliva in the mouth. You may have wondered why dog tongues are so slobbery. Since they spend less time chewing food than humans tend to, all of that saliva kickstarts the process of breaking down and coating food particles for smoother passage through the esophagus. The esophagus is heavily muscled, actively pushing food into the stomach.

Part 2: A fantastic journey through the small intestine

A dog’s stomach is a super-acidic environment, which is useful for opportunistic omnivores, helping them more easily digest things like bone and raw meat. Yes! Dogs can digest bones! At this stop in the dog digestive system, solid food is rendered into a substance called chyme, which is made up of food, water and acid. All food — from your Michelin 3-star-rated fine cuisine, to your dog’s canned chunks or dry kibble — ends up as this highly acidic gloop. As this chyme proceeds into the small intestine, the real work of digestion — the isolation of nutrients that can be used by the body— is done.

There are three parts of food’s journey through the small intestine. In the first part, the duodenum, chyme is treated with enzymes and hormones from the liver and pancreas, which reduce the acid level of the chyme. The gloop is now prepared to have the rest of its nutrients extracted and absorbed. This happens in the second part of the small intestine, which is called the jejunum. This part of a dog’s small intestine is basically covered in little probes, which, like fly paper, pick up and absorb useful nutrients into the bloodstream.

Part 3: The large intestine and waste removal

The final part of the small intestine is the ileum, which absorbs whatever nutrients remain. By this point, the once-acidic chyme gloop is now a sort of thicker pasty substance. You’d be surprised how little of the food you or your dog eats is actually used by your body. Did you ever wonder why the dog digestive system produces so much poop? It’s because the actual nutrients — proteins, vitamins, fats and so on — that your dog’s body can utilize are miniscule in proportion to the physical volume of most dog food.

How long is this part of the dog digestive system? It varies by size. If you stretched out a dog’s small intestine, it would be nearly three times as long as the dog. The back end of a dog’s GI tract is fairly short by comparison, just over a foot long, give or take, depending on the dog. Its primary components are the large intestine and the anus. The large intestine is basically a water remover and garbage compactor. Having spent the first half of its journey being mashed up, dissolved and sifted, any parts of a dog’s meal that cannot be used is treated by bacteria, and reconstituted into a solid package we call dog poop.

Assorted questions about the dog digestive system!

Now, let’s answer some common questions about the dog digestive tract.

How long does food stay in a dog’s stomach?

Though dogs are omnivores, they are opportunistic ones. That means that while they can eat almost anything, the dog digestive system can’t break down and utilize everything. Animals like humans or cows, to name two, have GI tracts made to process plant matter. As a result, their intestines are much longer and more drawn out than those of dogs. Since cows depend on vegetable matter, they even get extra compartments in their stomach, and can regurgitate food to chew and digest it fully.

A dog digestive system, depending more on meat proteins, is much more efficient. Depending on its digestibility, food can stay in a dog’s stomach much longer than either a human or a cow. If the meal is not strictly meat, comprising a variety of vegetable, grains and proteins, it will have vacated the stomach completely in 12 hours after eating. Compare that to four to five hours in a normal adult human.

Where does digestion actually take place in the dog digestive system?

As you may have gleaned from tracing food’s intricate journey from the food bowl in your kitchen to the poop bag in the dog park, the multiple processes of the dog digestive system means that it does not happen in one spot. From the moment comestibles come in contact with teeth and saliva in the mouth, digestion is happening.

A dog digestive system is just that: a system, and digestion takes place at every point along the course. Food is disassembled in a variety of ways, physically and nutritionally, from the mouth to the stomach. The majority of its conversion into absorbable nutrients happens in the small intestine, and digestion is only complete when your dog assumes the familiar position for excreting waste.

How long does it take for a dog to digest food?

Finally, the question about the dog digestive system that got us started. Unfortunately, there’s no set answer! So many variables are involved, that even in a perfectly healthy dog, the time to digest a single meal can be dramatically different. Does your dog drink enough water? That has an effect on digestion time as well. Large dog breeds take significantly longer to digest food than small ones.

Is your dog sedentary, spending most of the day on the couch? Does the dog get a couple of walks a day? Dog exercise has a definite impact on motility, or the way that the muscles of the dog digestive system propel food through the process. Total time from entry to exit depends on a wide range of factors, from the size of the dog to the quality of the food. Wet food takes less time to digest than dry kibble. Speaking very broadly, operating at optimum efficiency, a dog can process a can of wet food in as few as four hours, while the same amount of dry food can take eight hours to make the same journey!

#dog digestive system #digestion #health

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bestbabydollaccessories-blog · 4 years

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Where to get the right Baby Doll Accessories?

A youngster's initial years are a period of disclosure and enchantment. Infants structure one of a kind and forceful enthusiastic bonds to objects and toys. From a kid's point of view, a doll isn't only a toy or toy, yet a dependable wellspring of solace and a closest companion.

Aside from your infant having a doll, they would likewise need to imitate adults. Doll embellishments assist kids with sustaining formative aptitudes by figuring out how to deal with their toys. What's more, there is no better method of dealing with dolls than having the correct doll frill.

In any case, finding Best Baby Doll Accessories adornments can be startling. The bunch of items in the market make the assignment much increasingly boisterous. Uplifting news is, we have investigated the best embellishments and assembled them beneath to make your work simple.

1. Barbie Care Clinic Vehicle

Why we like it: The item includes in excess of 20 intuitive embellishments for a reasonable play. This doll embellishment empowers creative mind and revelation.

Since 1959, Barbie has been rousing children over the globe to be what they need. Barbie strolls each progression with your kid and offers boundless open doors for play. This Barbie emergency vehicle changes into a center with four zones of play, a blessing shop, and a sitting area. It has a test room where your youngster can treat the patients. This intuitive playset empowers the kid to react to calls and convey care to patients. There is a TV that pulls down into a remarkable blessing shop.

Be cautious when requesting the doll embellishment as some show up with missing pieces

2. Barbie Glam Convertible

Have a good time with this convertible vehicle and appreciate a crash into all sort of undertakings. The Glam is planned prepared to take off and investigate the potential outcomes. It has space for two dolls. Notwithstanding, dolls are sold independently. This two-seater convertible is lively, smooth, and mark style. Its outside is shimmering pink with the Barbie outline enriching the hood. The spoiler includes an energetic look with the cool dark inside highlighting upholstery names. The cutting edge wheels include a popular touch. The shimmering edges coordinate the accents. Pull the vehicle to start the ride however remember to clasp the safety belts that include a sensible touch.

3. My First Denim Doll Stroller for Baby Doll

The buggy has the under-seat stockpiling bin, which is very open to fit different toys. the carriage additionally accompanies a compartment divider to stash different things. Your young one will get full focus while walking the dolls. It urges minimal ones to explore and incites their learning abilities. Everything about this toy is ok for your child. It's made of top quality materials tried through USA wellbeing standard. The seat is agreeable

4. Barbie Fashionistas Ultimate Closet

Keeping your closet slick and all around masterminded will assist you with remaining sorted out. What's more, this Barbie storage room is intended to cause your young lady to figure out how to sort out garments for her doll. The doll's closet accompanies in vogue pieces that can be organized to make numerous looks. You can dress the Barbie doll to suit your style. In any case, the doll is sold independently. The storage room is intended for design fun in a hurry or at home. the item has conveying handles to make it simple to move. All the more along these lines, it accompanies tasteful doll garments and adornments for bunches of fun and narrating. There are six holders to keep the garments sorted out and cupboards and drawers which are ideal for dolls.

5. Shopkins Lil' Secrets Mini Playset Beauty Day Spa

This magnificence spa has a d. You can open the buddy lea's Beauty Day Spa by figuring out the code. There is party pop-ups greeting where you will discover and uncover the codes. This lovely spa highlights underneath shells and an unwinding Jacuzzi for your minuscule companions. There are pearlescent, sparkles, metallic, and fleecy locks to discover. The code is printed at the rear of the playset to enable your kid to open it quickly.

6. 19 Pcs ZQDOLL Girl Doll Clothes Gift Sets

Would you like to dress your doll as you dress from head to toe? At that point this is the superset that you should purchase. The dresses are adorable and made with strong, top notch materials. It has ten distinct styles that can suit any event. This can be a phenomenal present for your daughter, and she will be glad to see it. The garments set shows your young lady how to dress child's y copying the job of a mother. Therefore, it encourages her create authoritative abilities, incites her design sense, and cause her to grow great confidence.

7. Weardoll 18Inch Doll Clothes and Accessories

It's an ideal opportunity to make your dolls look like princesses. This super occasion assortment highlights 33-piece hand-planned outfits and adornments. The pieces are intended to fit Journey young lady embellishments, age doll, and the American doll. The garments are intended to fit any event. There is an umbrella for the stormy season, easygoing wear set, party dress, bathing suit, and summer excursions outfits. You can blend and match the outfits to empower you to dress the doll and give it a look you need. All outfits and fun food embellishments are very much enclosed by a reward doll travel knapsack for simple transportability and capacity. All extras are made of great textures which are security tried and machine launderable.

8. PZAS Toys and 18inch Doll Clothes

Joy your princess with this doll garments. It will assist her with having a total closet makeover for her dolls. The ten outfits are appropriate for any event and can accommodate your 18inch doll. The PZAS toys are extraordinarily intended to guarantee no things are duplicated from different brands. The inventiveness and restrictive workmanship make the outfit remarkable, which will make the dolls extraordinary as well. The ten outfits and the planning pieces can be blended and coordinated to give a tasteful look. It gives long periods of fun and aides in building up your kid's feeling of style and design.

9. Shopkins Happy Places Beach Camper Van

There is such a great amount of fun behind the swinging doors of this bright van. Open the wonderful entryways and assist Col with setting up and pimp her upbeat camper van. The swinging doors are anything but difficult to tidy up to guarantee the doll remains in a perfect and glad home. There is a sink close to the shower with a mystery simple to-crease latrine. You have to open the table and grab a chair by a window and appreciate the cool wind.

10. 18inch Doll Travel Set

At the point when it's an ideal opportunity to travel, you ought to consistently have a rundown of things you need. This is a similar case with this movement doll set, which accompanies a bit of portable baggage. It has a ticket visa and 14 extras which incorporate cellphone, face and hand creams, hairbrush, identification and ticket, towels, shades, camera, and iPad. The portable baggage is structured with a handle that goes here and there like the genuine one. It has a strong elastic connection for the doll's hand.

11. Snap n' Play 9 Piece Doll Puppy Set

The doll little dog and adornments are appropriate for an American Girl doll. It's charming set that highlights bearer, pup, bone, bed and cover, rope, tennis ball, food bowl, and brush. These are the frill expected to deal with a little dog. The pup is cuddly and delightful. It has Velcro chain appended to the little dog's neck for simple control. It has been intended to entirely fit 19inch dolls all things considered and all made with high caliber for a considerable length of time of satisfaction. The lovable brush helps in brushing the doll. You can serve the little dog's preferred supper in the pooch bowl, and when it's an ideal opportunity to rest, there is a bed and cover for an agreeable rest.

12. Melissa and Doug Mine to Love Diaper Bag Set

In the event that you need to your daughter accept the parenthood accountability, at that point this is the ideal set to by. For over three decades, Melissa and Doug has been planning toys and embellishments that advance inventiveness and upgrade intellectual aptitudes. The set accompanies a texture sack, a holder of wipes, and a self-stick fabric diaper for an ideal fit.

For more related stuff visit https://alldollthings.com/product-reviews/best-baby-doll-accessories/

#best baby doll #girl doll #lovely doll

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quicksilversquared · 6 years

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Brought Down by Baguettes

No parent wants to see their child in danger. That's a bit of a problem when said child is the city's favorite superhero and is in danger almost every day.

Still, Tom Dupain and Sabine Cheng have never backed down from a parenting challenge, and if protecting Marinette means going toe-to-toe with the Big Bad himself, then they will grab whatever they have on hand to help.

(links in the reblog)

The day that Hawkmoth was defeated started like pretty much any other summer day. Marinette slept in, ate breakfast, then headed downstairs to help out in the bakery.

Apparently her help was sorely needed. One of the bakery's normal workers was on vacation and her parents and their sole remaining worker were a little slammed.

"I'm going to have to have a talk with my newest weekend hire," Tom said with a sigh as he started unloading loaves of bread into a basket for Marinette to take up front. "He set a tray of baguettes down a week and a half ago and apparently couldn't find them and just didn't ever mention it to me. I found them this morning, all hard as a rock."

"You could probably do some serious damage with them," Marinette said with a giggle, remembering how hard stale bread could get after only a couple of days. After a week? They would probably actually feel like they were carved out of rock. "If you had any burglars break in..."

"They wouldn't see it coming," Tom said with a laugh. "No one sees a loaf of bread swinging at their head and thinks oh, here comes a concussion."

"They wouldn't even duck!" Marinette chimed in. "They would just stand there, then wham! No more! Maybe you should keep them on hand just in case!"

"Ah, I have enough rolling pins on hand if it came to that, I think." Tom finished loading up the basket and handed it to Marinette. "There we go! Bring that up front before your mom runs out, and then we can get started on the petit fours."

"Of course, Papa!"

The bakery was bustling- it was already the lunchtime rush, even though Marinette could have sworn that she hadn't slept in that late. Her mom gave her a relieved look as she replaced the nearly-empty bread basket with the new one, piling the two remaining loaves on top of the new basket. Marinette carried the now-empty basket back to the back and then sat down at the large table to start coating the petit fours with glaze that her father had already prepared. The fondant glaze got ladled over each piece, and Marinette made sure that everything was covered before moving on to the next tray. Her dad was busy at the ovens again, checking on the eclairs that he had baking.

It was easy, quick work, if slightly delicate. That didn't bother Marinette at all- after all, sewing was often delicate, and things like beading were fussy, fiddly work as well. Little fondant flowers formed between her fingers and made their way onto the cakes. She picked up an icing bag and piped the bakery's logo onto a few of the tiny cakes. Little zig-zags formed, followed by swirly patterns and dots. Those finished soon enough, and then Marinette moved on to filling and dipping eclairs. Her dad kept the bread baskets full, working on rolling out croissants and making pain au chocolate for the afternoon crowd. Marinette grabbed a bite to eat after the eclairs were done, and then helped prepare some of the doughs and fondant for the next day.

She was just putting the newly-made fondant into the fridge when her phone buzzed. Marinette washed her hands and pulled her phone out, eyes widening at the alert that had popped up.

There was an akuma near the Grand Paris, a disgruntled cosplayer that had been turned into Spyder-Man and was now sticking people to all sorts of surfaces. It was causing a fair bit of chaos, especially since the Mayor had (naturally) gotten offended at the akuma's behavior and ended up getting suspended way up in the air.

Ladybug needed to get there, and soon.

"Uh, I need to use the bathroom!" Marinette announced, stuffing her phone back in her pocket. "I'll be, uh, right back down!"

"Of course, Marinette," her dad said cheerfully as he started working on the pile of dishes in the sink. "Thanks for all of your help today!"

Marinette nodded and made a break for it. She raced up the stairs to her room and then let Tikki out of her purse. "Tikki! We have to go!"

Tikki zipped up, doing a little spin. "Well, you know the magic words!"

"Right! Tikki, transform me!"

The next time he headed out front, Tom waited until the line at the counter had temporarily cleared out and then he approached Sabine.

"There's an akuma attack at the Grand Paris," he told her lowly. "Marinette's taken off."

Sabine glanced up. "A dangerous one, or...?"

"It seems to just be standard, but it's so hard to tell. The mayor is making a big deal out of it." Tom grinned at his wife's eye roll. "He's been suspended, like, five floors up."

"No doubt he'll distract the superheroes because he wants to be rescued right away, even if the akuma is his or his daughter's fault." Sabine didn't look happy about that. "They should just leave him there, but I'm sure it's bad publicity to not be the bigger person and help him out."

Tom laughed. "I'm pretty sure we're the ones who always told Marinette to be the bigger person."

"Yes, well, some people never learn unless there are consequences."

Tom headed back to clean up for the day. Bowls and spoons and whisks and cutting boards went into their industrial dishwasher and he got that started while he hand-washed the knives and gave them a quick sharpening-up. Surfaces got wiped down and machines cleaned. By the time Tom was starting to put the dishes away, Marinette still hadn't returned.

Tom checked the news. Ladybug and Chat Noir were still fighting, and they had been joined by Rena Rouge. He frowned at that.

Ladybug and Chat Noir only ever called out the other superheroes if they were having trouble. Rena's presence meant that Spyder-Man was somehow more difficult than other akumas. Then again, there had been a third superhero for Anansi and she had been pretty similar, right?

But they should know how to work around those superpowers then, right?

The bakery closed, and Sabine started packing up the leftovers. Most could be bagged up and sold the next day as day-old leftovers at a discount, and then there were a few things left for them to have as a family (plus a few extra cookies for Marinette to give her whatever-it-was that turned her into Ladybug). Tom finished up in the back, making sure that his employee had done the cleaning-up correctly. After the mess with the baguettes, he wanted to be extra careful. Leaving food out was just inviting the mice, after all, and, well, with the daughter of the mayor also having a grudge against their daughter for absolutely no reason at all, it was better to be safe than sorry with keeping the kitchen standards far above what was required.

With the bakery cleaned and locked up for the night, the two of them headed upstairs.

Marinette still wasn't back.

"How is this guy so difficult?" Ladybug complained as she and her teammates dashed across the rooftops, occasionally stepping on a sticky patch from one of Spyder-man's webs and stumbling as their foot momentarily got stuck. "He's way overpowered, it's ridiculous."

"I bet I know!" Rena Rouge offered. "A lot of fans of superheroes like over-powering them when they do stuff like make headcanons or write fics or whatever. Young ones, mostly, but it's not a strict rule or anything. That's probably translated over to their akumatized form. And Spider-Man has super enhanced senses anyway, so that's not too much of an exaggeration."

They jumped over a rooftop and into a hidden alleyway. Chat Noir turned to Ladybug right away.

"Why don't we go get the other two now? We could have them be a distraction while we go in to get his bracelet. That way, we don't have to escape again to go get them if we need them later on." Chat Noir glanced up anxiously, making sure that Spyder-man hadn't snuck up on them. "I don't want to overreact or anything, but this akuma is already taking a lot of time and I want to wrap it up quickly."

Ladybug nodded, glancing up at the sky. Her parents would have no doubt noticed her absence by now, since she had only said that she was going to the bathroom. "Ending it by brute force? I like it. And I actually grabbed all three when I went- er." She abruptly cut herself off, remembering that Alya was there and she probably shouldn't be mentioning Master Fu. "I have the other two with me. I wasn't sure who I would run into first."

Rena Rouge looked interested, and Ladybug winced, knowing that she had said too much. Her friend didn't need to know that there was someone else who held on to the Miraculous when they weren't active.

"All right, let's get them and then regroup," Chat Noir suggested. "But go fast, since Spyder-man will probably hear us and we don't want Hawkmoth pegging on to Carapace's identity."

Ladybug nodded. "Okay, so we need to distract him. If we're really obvious about heading back to the Grand Paris for Chloe..."

"I can sneak the Turtle to Carapace," Rena Rouge offered. "He wouldn't be expecting that."

Chat Noir looked surprised when Ladybug agreed, popping open one of the hidden compartments on her yo-yo and handing over the Turtle. "Okay. Stick to the ground at first. We'll be as visible as possible to get the akuma's attention. And I'll explain on the way," she added to Chat Noir. "C'mon, let's go."

To her relief, Chat Noir followed her immediately. He looked a bit irked, though, which she had expected.

"Rena Rouge gets to know who Carapace is?" he asked as soon as they had gotten a few blocks over. "Why? I thought there were rules about secret identities! I mean, I know Chloe told the entire city, but..."

"They're dating and I knew there was no way that I was going to get them away from each other on Heroes Day," Ladybug told him as they headed for the Grand Paris. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Spyder-Man swinging after them. "And Rena had already figured Carapace out, I think. There wasn't any time to spare, so I had to just grab both of them at once. I wish I could have at least kept Rena a secret from Carapace," she added, remembering how fast Carapace had fallen to the akumas once Rena Rouge had been affected. "Knowing each other's identities ended up impacting their ability to fight. That was why Carapace ended getting akumatized right after Rena Rouge."

Chat Noir actually cringed at the memory. "Oh, I did wonder. Okay, yeah, secret identities are important. Does Fu know who...?"

"I don't think so. He might suspect, but I haven't told him."

It didn't take long to reach the Grand Paris, especially since they were taking a straight-line path and making no effort to hide. Spyder-Man was clearly following them, so they had no time to spare.

Thankfully, Chloe was already waiting for them on the roof. She looked thrilled when they landed...and less so when she spotted Spyder-Man.

"What do we say?" Chat Noir asked as soon as she opened her mouth. She gave him a deeply disgruntled look.

"May I use the Miraculous please."

Ladybug tried not to laugh at Chloe's utterly flat tone or the amused look on Chat Noir's face. Still, her voice wavered a bit as she opened her yo-yo again and pulled out the Bee Miraculous. "Chloe, will you take on the responsibility of the Bee Miraculous today?"

"Yes!" There was a pause, and then, "Please."

As Chloe transformed, Ladybug leaned over to Chat Noir. "What did you do?"

Her partner only grinned.

"Okay, I'm ready to fight!" Queen Bee announced, flouncing up to them. "Let's go!"

And as Ladybug led her team towards Spyder-Man, with Rena Rouge and Carapace racing toward them from the opposite direction, she had to hope that the addition of the rest of their team would help them win the fight.

The additional superheroes didn't seem to be doing much to help. As less experienced fighters, they were less practiced at dodging out of the way, and with a web-shooting akuma... well, it wasn't a good combination.

To make matters worse, Hawkmoth had apparently decided that his akuma was strong enough for him to come out in person and jump into the fight. It meant that the superheroes had to divide their attention so that he couldn't attack them from behind.

"They're struggling," Sabine said anxiously as they watched the footage on TV. Their dinner prep sat forgotten, peppers half-chopped and abandoned on the cutting board. "Tom-"

He tried to sooth her, though he couldn't deny that he was nervous as well. That was his little girl, their Marinette, out there facing off against the Biggest Bad in Paris by herself while Chat Noir held off Spyder-Man and their other teammates were all trapped. "They always come out on top. Our girl can handle it."

"But three of the superheroes are already trapped by Spyder-Man!" Sabine gestured to the TV, where a reporter was frantically trying to piece together footage from the ground and a hovering news helicopter to get a good picture of the battle. "He's fast and strong. I wouldn't be worried, except Hawkmoth is there with them. And you saw the footage before-!"

"But what can we do?" Tom asked. He couldn't deny that he wanted to race out and help, unwilling to let Marinette struggle when he was her dad and was meant to be protecting her, but he didn't have superpowers or anything. "I mean, the three that were taken out were the less experienced ones. Maybe Ladybug and Chat Noir will be fine?"

"The other three were keeping Spyder-Man at bay while Ladybug and Chat Noir took on Hawkmoth. They're not going to be able to make any headway with just the two of them fighting." Sabine had straightened, a fierce look on her face. "We can't just stand by and do nothing. We can at least be a distraction."

Tom knew not to argue, not when his wife looked like that. Besides, she was right, and he wanted to help, too. "But how will we possibly get there in time?"

Sabine's lips curled up into a grin. "Oh, I know just who to call."

Their fight was going absolutely sideways. Rena Rouge, Queen Bee, and Carapace had all been glued down by Spyder-Man's webs, and now Ladybug and Chat Noir had to each take on an opponent on their own. Ladybug was fighting Hawkmoth, doing her best to snag his cane and steal it away. He was quick, though, and so she had to be on her toes at all times.

Seriously, how was he doing so well when he hadn't been to hardly any of the fights? That was truly unfair.

Her yo-yo connected with Hawkmoth's face with a satisfying whack and Ladybug smirked at the look on his face. Her yo-yo spun back and out again, this time snagging his arm. She yanked, feeling hopeful. Maybe if she could throw Hawkmoth off balance enough, she could defeat him for one and for all. It would be hard with Chat Noir distracted, but-

"Ack!"

-and now it was two against one...and not in her favor.

"You called my mom?"

"She was happy to help!" Sabine insisted, pushing Tom down the stairs in front of her. Outside, there was the sound of motorcycles drawing closer. "And she brought a friend. See, we can each ride with someone!"

"I hate motorcycles," Tom muttered, frowning. Still, he went. His daughter was in danger, and he hated that more than he hated motorcycles.

They ducked into the bakery to stock up. Sabine went for a heavy cast-iron frying pan and a bread paddle, plus a couple knives to cut the trapped superheroes free. Tom grabbed a rolling pin and then, in a panic, pulled the stale baguettes out of the trash and stuffed them in his bag, just in case.

One never knew when old bread would come in handy, after all.

They flew out the door and onto the waiting motorcycles. His mom led the way, leaning forward on her bike and speeding forward as Sabine clung to her back. Tom perched precariously behind his mom's friend on her bike, hoping that they wouldn't fall over.

The motorcycles roared up to the Eiffel Tower in record time, taking advantage of the empty streets. People had opted to stay inside or pull over as the battle raged across Paris, and while it was definitely deeply unsettling, Tom had to be grateful for it.

Well, his mind was grateful. His stomach was less so, but that could be a problem for later.

"Hold on tight!" Gina's friend yelled, and Tom winced as they went speeding up onto the sidewalk. "One delivery, right to the bottom of the Eiffel Tower!"

They wove through the barricades, making a few lingering policemen shout. Tom resisted the urge to scowl at them.

Seriously, Ladybug and Chat Noir had been struggling. Couldn't any of them do what he and Sabine were about to do and try to distract either Hawkmoth or Spyder-Man long enough for the superheroes to defeat the other threat?

"Stairs or elevator?"

"Elevator!"

"You got it!"

Both motorcycles came to a screeching halt. Tom got off gingerly, trying to ignore his protesting stomach.

He always had hated motorcycle rides, and that had been the worst of the lot.

"I can see them!" Sabine yelled, dismounting from her motorcycle in a flash and already pounding on the elevator button. "Quick, Tom, Chat Noir is down!"

"And Ladybug?"

"Cornered!"

The elevator doors opened right away, and they ran in. Much to his surprise, Gina and her friend both drove their motorcycles in as well.

"Don't look so surprised," Gina scolded cheerfully as the doors closed and the elevator headed upwards. "Of course we want to help. Ladybug and Chat Noir saved me once, after all, and made sure that Marinette was safe on her birthday."

"Mom, it's dangerous," Tom protested. It was bad enough that his daughter was fighting a superhero- not that he wasn't proud of her, of course, he was immensely proud but just worried- and he could put himself in harm's way, but his mom?

"Oh, don't worry, Tom," Gina said airily, waving her hand. "We might not be superheroes, but even supervillains are bound to sit up and take notice when they get hit by a motorcycle."

Even a Ladybug's luck ran out sometimes, it seemed. Ladybug let out a frustrated half-scream as she tried to get her hand loose. Both it and one of her feet were stuck, and she couldn't even defend herself. The other four superheroes were much the same, trying to get stuck limbs unstuck. Carapace had had the most luck so far, but his foot was still tangled and his shield was halfway across the platform.

And if he got loose...well, it wouldn't take much for the smirking Spyder-Man to get him re-stuck very, very quickly.

"Trapped at last," Hawkmoth announced smugly, striding towards them. "My lucky day. I get not one, not two, but five Miraculous."

"Shove off," Ladybug snarled, glaring at him. "You won't get away with this." Even as she said it, it felt a little pointless. He had them trapped, completely at his mercy.

Gah, who had ever thought that an upset cosplayer would cause this much trouble?

Hawkmoth snorted. "Big words from a trapped superhero."

Still, Ladybug struggled. She wasn't going to give up, not even if her earrings were ripped from her ears. She had been chosen, and she was not going to let Tikki down. If need be, she would fight as her civilian self, using whatever she could find as a weapon.

The elevator let out a quiet ding and Ladybug's eyes snapped to it even as she kept yanking at her hand. Maybe someone had come to help? If Master Fu had been watching, maybe he had distributed some of the lower-level Miraculous to temporary holders and they were coming to help?

Ladybug watched with bated breath as the doors opened... and two very recognizable figures stepped out.

Her mom and dad. What were they doing here? Ladybug fought harder. She had to protect them! What were they thinking?

Hawkmoth hadn't noticed. He was too busy with his self congratulating speech. Spyder-Man wasn't paying attention either, his attention on the superheroes in case they worked their way loose. "It's been a long time coming and a few mishaps, but now I have you! I will combine the Ladybug and Chat Noir Miraculous and have the power of the gods! And you- without any other Miraculous out, no one can stop me!"

Her parents were charging at Hawkmoth, her mom with a bread paddle and her dad with- was that a loaf of bread?

Why would he bring a loaf of bread to an akuma battle?

Hawkmoth opened his mouth again, no doubt to gloat some more, but he never had the chance. Mrs. Cheng caught the back of his knees with her bread paddle- the bakery's sturdiest paddle, the one that Mr. Dupain had carved himself ages ago and hadn't whittled down quite as much as he should have. Hawkmoth, taken off guard, want down. Before he could recover, Mr. Dupain cracked him over the head with the first loaf of bread.

A stale loaf of bread, Marinette realized. One of the super stale loaves that the newest employee had managed to misplace. It wasn't just a little hard, it was insanely hard.

...she could maybe see where her dad might pick it up as a weapon. Hawkmoth had been forced to the ground, covering his head as her mom and dad rained blows down on him. Spyder-Man made a move to go help Hawkmoth, starting to raise one hand to shoot his webs, but had only made it a step when a loud revving cut through the air. Half a second later, a very familiar motorcycle sped across the deck and rammed into Spyder-Man, sending him flying.

"Oh my god," Rena Rouge whispered, and Ladybug startled and glanced over at her teammates. They were all staring at her family in utter disbelief. "Marinette has the coolest family ever."

Queen Bee sniffed. "And yet I don't see her here- hey!"

"Her parents probably wouldn't let her come," Chat Noir pointed out reasonably, as though he hadn't just kicked Queen Bee, and Ladybug had to roll her eyes at the ridiculousness of the entire situation. "But wow."

Hawkmoth was pushing back now, throwing her parents to the side. Both of her parents landed in a roll and stood back up, ready to charge. Another motorcycle's roar cut through the air, and then Hawkmoth was flattened again.

"Now, Sabine!" Tom called, and they rushed Hawkmoth before he could get up. Tom cracked the supervillain over the head with another baguette with enough force to break it in half and Hawkmoth wavered, still on his knees. Sabine slapped him across the face with the bread paddle and then tossed it to the side, darting in and ripping the butterfly pin off of his chest. His transformation started to unravel and Tom took the opportunity to smash the remaining two loaves of bread over Hawkmoth's head in quick succession, leaving a stunned and crumb-covered Gabriel Agreste in his place.

The superheroes stared. Tom and Sabine blinked at the crumpled figure, stunned.

"Wow, are in-law dinners ever going to be awkward," Rena Rouge commented before Carapace hastily shushed her. Ladybug glanced over to glare at her friend and saw that the two of them were giggling.

Traitors.

"We still have a supervillain to fight!" Gina yelled, and Ladybug glanced over at her grandma, startled. She sat perched on her bike, helmet pulled down as she pointed to Spyder-man, who was getting back up. "Cut the superheroes out! I'll keep him distracted."

"Nana," Ladybug muttered, exasperated, but her grandma was already zipping off, maneuvering her motorcycle expertly to hit the akuma before he could register that she was coming. This time he fell over the edge and she screeched to a neat stop, utterly smug.

"We'll cut you kids out," Mr. Dupain assured them, appearing by Chat Noir's side. A knife came out of his bag next and he cut the spider web, freeing Chat's foot. Mrs. Cheng worked at freeing Ladybug with her own frankly terrifying knife. Ladybug hadn't even known that they had such large knives in the bakery. What did they even use those for? "And, uh- who wants to hold onto the butterfly pin?"

I can," Ladybug offered when it became apparent that Chat Noir wasn't really responding. She frowned at her partner briefly, concerned, but refocused herself. "Here, I can make a little compartment in my yo-yo-"

The slot popped open and Sabine slid the Butterfly in. The yo-yo slid back shut quickly with a click, and Ladybug hopped up, feeling a little shaky. Had that been real, or was she just dreaming? Her parents had taken down Hawkmoth when she and Chat Noir hadn't been able to. That was insane.

"There's still an akuma," her mom reminded her. She glanced at Chat Noir, clearly concerned as well. "Uh, perhaps I should free Carapace next?"

"Good idea!" Ladybug forced herself to focus. They had one last akuma to take down, and then they could get Mr. Agreste taken away and then- well, either call that good for the day or try to push and find Mayura, who oddly enough hadn't come into play at all.

Maybe it was just because things had happened too fast for her to transform and respond. That meant that they couldn't let their guard down at all. She might appear and try to whisk Mr. Agreste away before they could do anything else, or else use her powers to try to break him out of jail once the police had him in custody.

They had to deal with Spyder-Man and fast, and then they would have to do a quick recharge and do their best to find Mayura. Maybe Nooroo would be able to help them. He wouldn't be able to come back out without a new holder, which meant that they needed to find a good fit, someone trustworthy and willing to stand up against evil.

Ladybug glanced back at her parents, who were freeing her teammates as though they saved superheroes every day. They didn't seem at all shaken by their attack, even though they had only been armed with what they could find in the bakery, and they were making sure that all of the superheroes were all right. Her mom was helping Chat Noir to his feet, concerned look on her face as she talked to him.

Somehow, Ladybug had the feeling that she wouldn't have to look too far to find someone that was perfect for Nooroo.

#Miraculous Ladybug #My writing #Marinette Dupain-Cheng #tom dupain #sabine cheng #badass parents

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armsdealing · 5 years

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THE APARTMENT IN MUTANT TOWN HELL'S KITCHEN*, MANHATTAN. —

Hell's Kitchen's far from the predominantly tough working class neighborhood it used to be. Gentrification has given way to higher living prices, yuppies fill the streets and landlords keep trying to think of new ways to kick their old tenants out. But there's still areas left relatively intact, and Charles lives in one of them. In the last floor of a four story building where primarily families of lower income reside, he has a two bedroom, one bathroom apartment. The living-room is the first thing one sees upon entering and the kitchen occupies a corner of it, with a table for four acting as the dining area. A small hallway to the right leads to the bedrooms on opposite sides and the bathroom as the last door, in the middle. The main bedroom is the one Charles uses for himself. The other room, Cael's room, is a lot smaller, nowadays kept as a guest and storage room. There's another door on Cael's side of the hallway to a small, slightly cramped space that acts as a deposit.

All the furniture is second hand or made by him. The frame walls are brickwork painted a now weathered white whilst the inner walls are smooth, same color. The floors are a wooden laminate, with the exceptions of Cael's room, which has navy blue carpet, and the bathroom, with ceramic tiling. The ceiling is high rise and made of concrete. The place is located on a corner of the building, which allows for a window by the kitchen, one in Charles' room and a small one in Cael's.

The dining chairs do not match and neither does the three-seat couch and faux leather reclinable chair. The living room seats are positioned toward a 32 inch tv set which might be one of the most modern looking sights of the place. There's portraits of friends and family on the coffee table; in contrast, you'd find a couple photographs of landscapes hanging on the walls. Further ahead, close to the hallway sits a library stacked with old looking books.

Close to the fire escape exit are the beds for his dog and cat, along their food and water bowls, though they had the habit of sleeping with Cael on his bed or with him more often than not.

The main bedroom doesn't have much in special. It's rectangular, four by five. Furniture wise, it has a king sized bed, a nightstand, an inlaid wall closet and a desk. There's a corner that would be empty if it weren't for the brown boxing bag hung from the ceiling with an arrangement of pulleys leveraged on the other end by two weights. The floor, like the rest of the apartment, is covered in wooden laminate flooring, rugged in appearance. The walls are painted a light cadet gray, the lighting comes from a nightstand lamp and one on the ceiling. There's a mirror, near the boxing bag, a framed photograph of a forest above the bed, and a small coat hanger on the back of his door. The desk is by the window and usually natural sunlight hits it, it's where he sits down to sort through work papers and bills or where he sets his sewing machine when he has to fix a few clothes. The bed will he usually seen in monochrome sheets and the covers are made of thick plaid-patterned wool. On the nightstand rests a lamp, a clock and his keys. Inside the first drawer, which is locked with a key he keeps on himself at all times, are assorted papers and old crumpled receipts and a Glock 17, licensed, and a pair of brass knuckles,. Inside the second drawer is more trash that he should likely throw out, likely useless wires and parts alongside a small jar filled with nails and screws. Right in front of the nightstand and beside the bed is a small rug, the sort of you dry your feet on after showering or put your slippers on. Right beneath, nearly imperceptible from the rest of the flooring is a hidden compartment. Inside there is, among other things, roughly forty thousand dollars in cash earned in different ways, but consistently all illegitimate.

The bathroom tries to be as economical with space as possible, but Charles can still maneuver his way around with relative ease, and take showers without feeling claustrophobic. It's got that old vintage ceramic tiling covering the floor and the lower half of the walls, the other painted in an extra light cream. The bathtub is encrusted by the tile structure and doubles as a shower.

The kitchen too is small, but cozy. Much of it was there already when Charles bought it, other elements added over the years, so it's a mismatching mess. It has all important elements you'd expect, and the most remarkable ones would be a vital coffee machine and the first aid kit. Inside the kit is what you'd expect (compress dressings, bandages, antibiotics, painkillers, gauze, scissors, tweezers, needles and thread) to some a little less orthodox or common, like a small notebook with listings of emergency phone numbers, some of which are familiar and some which aren't. Charles is all around very big on safety and preparation, so you can expect all sorts of items handily stored for many a kind of situations. Outside of it, everything is rather ordinary. On the fridge door stuck with places of America souvenir magnets lay various schedules, assorted reminders of things to do and the phone numbers of many takeout food joints.

It's a comfortable place, all in all, and he got extremely ‘lucky’ getting it, though you could argue a couple good “connections” boosted the process too (read: it used to be owned by a prominent syndicate in the neighborhood). He got it when Cael was six and he pays a fixed-rate mortgage for it in monthly fees. Despite what might be expected, there's a sense of homeliness to the place, with a plant resting in the kitchen's windowsill, another in a corner of the living room, and another in the fire exit balcony. They are spider's plant, snake's plant and aloe vera respectively. They all have reputation of being air cleaners and the latter has many medical applications, so even when it comes to decor, Charles would rather shoot two birds with one stone and keep things practical. Add to them the constant clicking of dog paws on the floor, a cat dozing on a kitchen counter where sunlight directly hits, the melodies and voices of an old hits radio station coming from a small sound equipment, filling the empty silence, and you can't help but get a sense of peacefulness to the place, very much unlike Charles' former living places.

He's well known in the building. He'll fix people's electronics and washing machines and plumbing for quite cheap, or sometimes even for free, and he'll be quick to help people if they're in trouble with pushy collectors or scammers. People are fond of him and some are aware of his deficiencies in the kitchen, so from time to time they made it a habit of sending him and Cael meals or inviting them to dinner as a makeshift payment of sorts, and Charles can't really complain.

*Note: in the human verse, Charles lives in Hell’s Kitchen. It’s still a relatively gritty-ish version of it, though; think of Daredevil. In his mutant verse, which is his main verse, he lives in Mutant Town, an NYC neighborhood in Manhattan that (as of the late 00s) remained fiercely untouched by development efforts. It’s gotten noticeably nicer by the late 10s, but mostly through the community’s own hand.

#* charles.#hc.#i forgot i had all these essays saved up :- )

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resturant-equipment-vancouv-blog · 6 years

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What Equipment Should New Restaurant Owners Buy?

A new restaurant has many challenges ahead of it including hiring a talented staff, managing cash flow effectively, marketing and promotional campaigns, assembling a menu that resonates with customers, finding quality and reliable food suppliers, and paying close attention to many other small details that are required to enjoy sustainable success in the industry. Right near the top of the list though, is the equipment a restaurant needs to help store, prepare, and cook food, and keep all of the cutlery, plates, bowls, glasses, pots, and pans clean and sterilized. Equipment for restaurants can mean the difference between success or failure for the business, and it must be selected wisely to give every employee a platform to thrive at what they are responsible for.

This article outlines the various equipment that a restaurant needs to function properly, and offers some tips and insights to find the right equipment so your business gets off on the right foot. You as the restaurant owner are responsible for putting in place equipment that compliments your space's dimensions, that caters to the number of customers you expect to walk through the door every day, and respects your team by giving them what they need to consistently crank out delicious food that your customers rave about.

Production equipment

You as the restaurant owner have to get the production equipment correct right at the beginning of your company's journey, as the quality of the food is the lifeblood of your new establishment. It doesn't matter if you are opening a fast food place with a customer base of college students, or a high end restaurant that entertains business executives for dinners only, “your baby” needs equipment that positions it to achieve long-term success.

Every restaurant has different needs when it comes to equipment, but most share the mandate to equip a proper service and preparation kitchen that is functional. If you are buying or renting a facility that already has a kitchen in place, it's up to you to ensure that the existing equipment suits your restaurant's production needs. Some of the equipment that is already in place likely will work for some period of time, but there is likely one piece or two that will require an upgrade to give your staff what they need to deliver the results and goals you are after to be profitable.

Your restaurant's preparation kitchen takes a substantial amount of equipment to offer the functionality your team needs. If you are starting from scratch with nothing, your heavy production equipment will more than likely cost anywhere from $25,000 to $75,000 so be sure your budget is in this range, and set aside some extra money just in case you need additional equipment that you initially didn't realize, after the restaurant opens. Do your extensive equipment research, speak to other restaurant owners who have years of successful experience, look at new trends in the industry, and then decide on equipment that offers good value, is versatile, and energy saving products are fantastic to use to minimize energy costs as much as possible.

Typically, full service restaurants have a wide range of commercial equipment including but certainly not limited to: a fridge, freezer, convection oven, griddle top range with an oven, broiler, fryer, meat grinder, blender, baking tables and bins, food cutter, portion scale, mixer, preparation sinks, hand washing sinks, pressure-less steamer, and a steam kettle.

You will also need a $1,000 to $3,000 budget for small production products that start with: pans, pots, ladles, tongs, spoons, potholders, spatulas, can openers, and various other related items.

A complete service kitchen needs to be well stocked to include at minimum a prep and steam table, sandwich table, microwave, heat lamps, toaster, utensil rack, coffeemaker, ice machine, beverage stand, and a water station. This section's cost will be in the neighbourhood of $10,000 to $20,000 so budget accordingly.

Receiving and storage equipment

Your walk-in refrigerator/freezer is a key equipment component for your restaurant to store a large amount of food, and this beauty will carry an expense of $3,000 to $10,000. Don't be cheap here with this important piece of equipment, as it's your restaurant's main storage area that preserves your food, and keeps it fresh until it's ready to be used.

Also in the receiving area you will need shelving for the walk-in refrigerator/freezer, a breakdown table, and a scale. These items can be purchased at a cost of approximately $2,000 to $4,000.

Tableware and various supplies

The seating capacity largely dictates what your restaurant's needs will be for dishes, tableware, and glasses. For every seat your restaurant has, you will need each of these items to properly accommodate a sold out dining room: 2 or 3 forks, 2 spoons, a soup spoon, a butter knife, a sharp meat cutting knife, a 12 ounce water glass. Every table will require sugar, pepper, and salt containers, and 10 sets for backups. 10 sets of tongs and 10 large pans will also come in handy.

You will also want to make sure that there's lots of napkins, take-out containers with lids and bags to put them in, place mats, tissues and paper towels. Buy everything you can in volume to get better discounted pricing, and work with a supplier that you can rely on and order from automatically say every month on the 15th day for example, to keep things easier logistically.

Other important things that can't be overlooked are paper towel dispensers, garbage cans and bags, a first-aid kit, a mop and bucket, a broom and dustpan, a vacuum, and other such items that often get forgotten about with the focus typically more on the larger products. The devil is in the details, and don't overlook any size of detail in your restaurant business as they all count.

Dishwashing equipment

Your restaurant's dishwashing needs will be big, and so a three stage machine is likely required to keep everything clean, and ready to go for the next wave of hungry customers that walk through the door. Machines vary widely in cost depending on the size of your restaurant, and can run upwards of $25,000. In addition to the dishwasher, your clean up area will require a good sized landing area, dish table, three compartment sink, and a garbage disposal. These costs can also fluctuate greatly, and run anywhere from $5,000 to $25,000.

#kitchen #resturant #cooking #cook #chef #popular #dishwasher #trending #refrigerator #freezer #oven

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