#I get over there they’re out of parfaits they’re out of fruit cups they’re out of kale salads the front is coming in and having to take

[adashofniallandasprinkleoflunacy]

home from work

[nixie-writes]

I totally just thought of smth: angel dust and Alastor (separate) with an s/o who gets aggressively hit on while they’re out on a date. They’re about to step in when all of a sudden s/o slips their heel/shoe off and slams it into the guy’s face. Idk why but thinking of their reaction is so funny to me

-🍥 anonnie!

Hi sushi anon! This one is funny omg

Alastor and Angel w/ S/O Getting Hit On During A Date

Alastor

He'd only take you to the most decadent restaurant to serve demon meat: Rosie's personal restaurant, only guests allowed.

He'd eat some venison and order you a slice of pig meat with a cup of wine to match the taste. It was lovely.

Until some demon slipped over and wrapped his hand around your waist seductively, suggesting he take you somewhere more private.

Alastor was about to get up and make a scene but you simply took off your expensive high heel shoe and smacked him straight across the face. Alastor sat back down, he was so proud.

Angel Dust

He took you to a little hidden restaurant he often attended with his buddies. He ordered you a parfait and champagne while he just got some jello and white wine. Tonight was the night you two ate nothing but sweets and since it was your anniversary he had to take you somewhere special.

It was as you were digging into the fruit of your parfait that a fox demon with a cigar in her mouth slithered over to you, blowing smoke in your face. She suggested you ditch the porn star and go with her to her turf.

Angel was furious. He stood up to make a scene but you took off your ballet flat and simply smacked the cigar from her mouth. "I'm not interested," was all you had to say. Your strong smack and Angel's fury was enough to drive her away, ditching the cigar.

Angel picked up the cigar and examined it. "Cheap," he commented before dropping it and stomping it out. He was so proud of you for standing up for yourself and him.

[blitzturtles]

Title: It Goes Like This (It Starts Like This Universe)

Rating: Teen and Up

Fandom: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Vento Aureo

Pairing(s): BruAbba

Summary: Abbacchio isn’t a morning person. Never has been. He prefers the comfort that comes with a blanket of darkness to the bright hours of the early morning. There’s less eyes. Less people. Less performance. Unfortunately, he’s gone and fallen in love with a man that believes that the day begins before the sun has even broken the horizon.

Notes: This is for the first place to my 300 Follower Giveaway! @bucciaratisfishmarket requested BruAbba set in my It Starts Like This verse with some disabled slice of life/morning routine. Ngl, I was super excited to get to do something in this verse, so thank you!

Thank you to everyone that followed and participated, and a special thanks to @bucciaratisfishmarket! I hope you like your fic!

Additional Notes: Also, the pill organizer described in the fic can be found on Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1022344896/boneyard-real-bones-weekly-7-day-pill It's cool and beautiful, and I probably don't do it justice. Definitely go check it out!

-

Abbacchio isn’t a morning person. Never has been. He prefers the comfort that comes with a blanket of darkness to the bright hours of the early morning. There’s less eyes. Less people. Less performance. Unfortunately, he’s gone and fallen in love with a man that believes that the day begins before the sun has even broken the horizon. It’s leftover from Bruno’s days helping his father with the boat, and, later, his days running Polpo’s errands. Chasing people down for money and answers. What comfort Abbacchio can find in the night, Bruno can find just fine in the light hours of the morning.

Fortunately for both of them, Abbacchio is more than capable of running on a schedule, of waking up at the same time everyday and forcing his mind and body into cooperation. He did it for years for school and then the academy. It’s nothing he isn’t used to, and he’s happiest when Bruno is happy, no matter what that entails, which is how he finds himself waking up to Bruno’s second alarm before the man can snooze it again.

The thing about Bruno’s new medication—a pill large in size and equally ridiculous in the length of its name—is that it makes it damn near impossible for him to get going in the morning the way he used to. Before, Bruno practically operated on his own internal clock. Waking up before his alarm had even gone off and fetching them both their first cup of caffeine; it used to be the thing that made greeting the day a bit more tolerable.

Now, Bruno snoozes. Alarm after alarm, until they run out. He’s tried music, absurd volumes, and even relocating the damned clock halfway across the room. None of it helps, so Leone compensates. He wakes up around the second or third alarm, turns the rest off, and kisses Bruno’s cheek before he rolls out of bed.

Sometimes there’s a quiet plea, “five more minutes”, that endears Abbacchio so completely that his mood settles, not nearly as bitchy as he could be upon reaching the kitchen and finding someone else already there.

“Why are you awake?” Okay, so. Still bitchy. But he doesn’t sneer his words quite as bad.

Narancia, for his part, looks completely startled by the prospect of someone else existing at such an ungodly hour, but he manages to avoid outright screaming. That’s a plus. Abbacchio isn’t sure his head could take it this early. “What are you doing?”

“I asked first.”

Narancia narrows his eyes, but he caves within seconds. “I got a test in like two hours, and Fugo’s gonna kill me if I don’t pass.”

Abbacchio snorts at the idea, “Yeah, he will.”

“Not helping!”

“Never said I planned to,” Abbacchio points out as he starts rummaging through the cabinets for two mugs. He sets them on the counter and gets to work brewing their coffee. Decaf these days, for Bruno’s sake. Abbacchio could keep drinking his usual, but he takes solace in the bitter taste of his coffee instead. It seems kinder that way, especially when he knows how much Bruno’s been struggling without caffeine.

“Why are you awake?”

“I’m always awake this early,” next is breakfast, which is easier said than done. It’s rare that Abbacchio wakes up with a stomach for anything. Too many years of skipping breakfast in favor of a bottle did a number on him, but it’s not optional anymore. Neither one of them will be able to keep their meds down without something to eat, so he picks through the refrigerator until he comes up with fruit and yogurt as his best solution.

“Really?” Narancia asks, wrinkling his nose, “Why?”

“Ask Bruno,” Abbacchio says, dismissive. He’s really not in the mood to talk to people that aren’t currently snoozing in his bed.

“You’re not much fun in the morning.”

“Am I ever?”

“Touché.”

Abbacchio snorts. He should be offended, but he knows the kid is being a smartass. It’s his own fault for setting himself up. “Why don’t you go bother Fugo? I’m sure he’ll be happy to help you study.”

“Have you ever tried waking Fugo up?”

“No, can’t say that I have.” That’s always been Bruno’s job, assuming that Fugo hadn’t already woken up on his own.

“It’s too early to get stabbed.”

“Touché.”

They go back and forth for a while longer. At least until Abbacchio’s patience runs out, and he’s finished putting breakfast together. He dismisses himself with little warning and doesn’t feel the least bit guilty when the kid looks a little startled by the abruptness of his departure. He has things to get done for the day, and those things don’t necessarily include being part of Narancia’s obvious effort to procrastinate.

“Bruno,” Abbacchio calls when he steps back into their room after Moody opens the door for him. “Your five minutes are up.”

“Five more?” Bruno asks, voice muffled. His head is barely visible with only a tuft of hair sticking out from a pile of blankets. It’s cute, and Abbacchio is a complete sucker for giving in.

“Last one, tesoro,” Abbacchio warns as he sets Bruno’s cup and food down on the bedside table.

There’s a muffled reply that might be a quiet thanks, though it’s almost impossible to tell with the way Bruno pulls the blankets even tighter around himself.

Abbacchio rummages through the drawer of his nightstand until he finds what he’s looking for before taking up a spot at the end of the bed with his food and drink in hand. He sips at the decaf slowly, wrinkling his nose at the first taste. God, he misses caffeine. As expected, he doesn’t feel much better about his first bite of homemade parfait (and he can almost hear Polnareff’s protest at his calling it that). The rest goes down about the same, but the motion is mechanical at that point. One bite after the other with the occasional sip from his mug to wash it all down until everything is gone.

Abbacchio sets the dishes on the floor and reaches for the pill organizer sitting on the bed beside him. He absently runs his fingers over the lid, where small bones have been set in resin. He can still remember the first time he saw it. The black shine had caught his eye first, but, on closer examination, the thing that had convinced him to buy the organizer had been the mouse bones, delicately placed and striking against the background.

What he hadn’t realized then is that the little organizer would a significant adjustment to his daily routine. Having a week’s worth of medication in one place, already sectioned in dosed amounts, had significantly increased his medication compliance. Oddly enough, it’s had a rather hefty impact on his overall mental health. Now, when anti-inflammatories and bronchodilators and steroids are part of his daily regiment as much as his SSRI’s, it’s even more vital for him to consistently get his meds in. Otherwise, the consequences tend to be pneumonia and an unwanted hospital trip with a round of antibiotics and even stronger steroids. And that’s to say nothing of what happens when he’s running low on serotonin.

He’s caught up in his own thoughts when Bruno hooks his chin over his shoulder and peers down at the little organizer.

“I never did ask you if those are real,” Bruno muses quietly.

“I thought you were taking five more.”

“‘m awake,” Bruno answers, clearly half-asleep.

Abbacchio huffs a soft, amused laugh. He turns his head to press a kiss to the side of Bruno’s nose. “Sure you are, amore.”

“I am.”

“M’hm,” Abbacchio smiles, reflecting the expression on Bruno’s face, though his is notably less sleep-depressed. Bruno looks a lot like a light gust of wind might knock him out, and it’s so damn endearing that Abbacchio can barely handle it. Instead, he looks back down at the pill organizer and answers Bruno’s earlier question, “They are. Real, I mean.”

“They’re lovely,” Bruno says, and he means it. Odd as some might find Abbacchio’s taste, Bruno has always found beauty in it. “Perhaps I should get one.”

“Might be a good idea.” It would be easier to see if Bruno ever missed a dose, and it would certainly be easier to avoid that disaster all together. “There are other options. You could go with something—oceanic, maybe?”

Bruno hums at the thought. “I think I’d like that.”

“I’ll keep an eye out,” by which Abbacchio means that he’ll actively go looking for one. Anything to make Bruno’s life a touch easier.

“Oh, you brought breakfast,” Bruno says, moving away from Abbacchio to peer curiously at the morning’s offerings. “You’re entirely too kind.”

Abbacchio huffs a laugh at that, “For all that you’ve done for us? Hardly.” He pops open the side hatch of his organizer and dumps the day’s pills into his hand. Abbacchio pulls a face at the number of them and looks down at his mug. Right, he had meant to save a sip.

“Here,” Bruno offers his own with a smile. “We’ll get more in a bit.”

“If you’re sure...” Abbacchio could always go get his own, but he has a feeling that doing so will result in more small talk, and he’s not quite up for that yet.

“I am,” Bruno reassures him before taking up the bowl of yogurt and fruit in absence of his coffee. “Just leave enough for me to take mine.”

[somuchnonsense]

October Drabbles

Previous drabbles

26. Garden          (post-canon Wangxian featuring bunnies)

Wei Wuxian doesn’t have a farm yet, but he does have a garden on the back hill in Cloud Recesses. “Why here?” Lan Wangji asked him when he started planting. “The rabbits will eat everything.”

“I don’t mind if my hard work goes to feeding the rabbits,” Wei Wuxian responded, grinning. “Besides, I’m not here consistently enough to tend to it and harvest things when they’re ready. At least this way, someone will enjoy the fruits—or vegetables, I suppose—of my labor. And maybe then they’ll love me like they love you.”

Lan Wangji smiled, petting one of the rabbits as they both curiously watched Wei Wuxian work. “I’m sure they will.”

It’s debatable, a few months later, whether the rabbits love Wei Wuxian any more than before, but they do love Wei Wuxian’s garden, and Lan Wangji loves watching him kneeling in the dirt, celebrating the first shoots of a new plant or complaining when the rabbits ate one before it even had a chance to grow. He looks so happy, so comfortable, so relaxed, not the fearsome Yiling Laozu or the brilliant cultivator Wei Wuxian with his ever-active mind, but just an ordinary young man, content with his simple life, with no fears and no painful memories weighing on him.

“What’s that look for?” Wei Wuxian asks, eyeing Lan Wangji with a freshly pulled carrot in his hand. There’s dirt on his cheek and a sparkle in his eyes.

Lan Wangji says nothing, keeping his thoughts to himself, but Wei Wuxian smiles like perhaps he knows anyway, and cheerfully turns back to his garden.

27. Serendipity          (Wei Wuxian canon gen/character study)

It would be easy to think that Wei Wuxian has bad luck. He lost his parents young, and then the people who took him in when he was alone. He lost his adopted sister, and the people who lived with him like family for a year. He lost his golden core and the trust and respect of his peers, and the love of his adopted brother. He lost his home, and the one he found to replace it. And after all of that, he lost his life too soon.

But if you ask Wei Wuxian, he’ll tell you he’s lucky. He lost his parents, but then he was taken in by a new family. Sure, they weren’t perfect, but they saved him from a lonely life on the streets and they loved him, mostly. He lost them too, though not all at once, but then he had the Wens to care about him. That didn’t last, but he got Wen Ning and Sizhui back, at least, and he has the other junior disciples who are ready to fight for him, and Lan Wangji, of course. As much as he’s lost, he’s also been loved by many people, and isn’t that lucky?

As for the rest, well, the loss of his golden core was a fair trade for Jiang Cheng’s life, and it led him to abilities that helped avenge the Jiang Sect and defeat Wen Ruohan and later Jin Guangyao. He’s not the strong cultivator he was as a teenager, but he’s found new ways to be strong and fight the battles he needs to fight. He’s also blazed a new path and invented new things and made a name for himself, in his own way. Isn’t that lucky?

And yes, he died once, painfully, but that’s over and done with and he got a second chance at life. In his second life, he’s fallen in love, made new friends, done some good in the world, and at least done a little to make up for his past mistakes. So few people get a chance like that, including many who are much more deserving than him, so in the final sum, isn’t he lucky?

28. Drunk Confessions          (junior quartet gen)

It started with a few bottles of wine and Zizhen declaring that true friends share their secrets with each other, but nobody could have imagined that it would end like this.

"You're what?" Jin Ling asks, his voice low and strained.

"You're what?!" Jingyi echoes in a loud squawk.

"I'm a Wen," Sizhui repeats, his nervous expression belying his calm voice.

"You never told me!" Jingyi's voice is still far too loud, his expression almost comically betrayed. "How could I not know that?"

"You knew Hanguang-Jun took me in," Sizhui points out.

"Yes, but I thought your parents were Lan cultivators who died back then, or at least non-cultivators from Gusu. Not...Wens." Jingyi grimaces, but wipes the expression of his face when he sees Sizhui's face fall.

“Sizhui is still the same person, right?" Zizhen puts in. "And we know Wen Ning's a nice guy. It's not like all Wens are bad."

"Right," Jingyi firmly agrees. "But I can't believe you didn’t tell me sooner!”

"I didn't know until recently. After meeting Wei-qianbei and Wen Ning, some memories came back." Sizhui finishes the drink in front of him, getting some liquid courage before he looks at the conspicuously silent Jin Ling. "I'm sorry," he says quietly. "I hope this doesn't change anything between us."

Jin Ling clenches his fist on the table, brow furrowed, and for a long, tense moment, the whole group is silent. Finally, he sighs exasperatedly and says, "Well, it's far from the worst secret I've heard about someone I knew. Do you two at least not have any dark secrets?" He waves his cup and Jingyi and Zizhen.

"None, I promise," Zizhen declares.

"If I do, I don't know them myself," Jingyi says.

"I've met his parents," Sizhui interjects. "They're nice, normal Lan cultivators for several generations back."

"Good," Jin Ling says. To Sizhui, he adds, "For this, you can at least buy us another bottle or two of wine."

Sizhui smiles brightly, getting to his feet. "Right away."

29. Cars          (modern AU Wangxian featuring the Jiang sibs)

Jiang Cheng says Wei Ying drives like a maniac. Wei Ying says Jiang Cheng is a wimp and also boring and besides, he doesn’t go any faster than he can safely drive, but he does always slow down when he sees Jiang Cheng’s knuckles turning white.

“You’d better drive more carefully on your date with Lan Zhan,” Jiang Cheng tells him. “He probably drives perfectly the speed limit and obeys every traffic law to the letter. He won’t be able to deal with you.”

“I’ll be fine,” Wei Ying insists. “And it’s not a date!”

“Just don’t rush,” Yanli says. “You’ll have more time with Lan Zhan that way. And I’m pretty sure it is a date.”

“Not you too,” Wei Ying whines.

Later, though, when he picks Lan Zhan up and sees him looking very dashing even though he’s in what passes for casual clothes with him, Wei Ying has to admit that okay, yes, he wants it to be a date, and sure, okay, he wants to impress Lan Zhan, or at least not scare him away by driving too wildly. He forces himself to go only a little above the speed limit as he drives to the cafe where they’re going to study together, and Lan Zhan doesn’t complain or grab the panic handle like Jiang Cheng does.

On the way home, though, after endless hours of Lan Zhan sitting across from him looking casually hot but looking at his textbook or talking about economics instead of kissing Wei Ying, he forgets himself and drives as usual. Lan Zhan doesn’t say anything, so Wei Ying doesn’t realize what he’s doing until he stops in front of Lan Zhan’s building and sees him looking suspiciously paler than usual, his hand still gripping the door handle. “Oh, uh, Lan Zhan…you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Lan Zhan says tightly.

“Say, um…” Wei Ying feels bad and all, but he’s spent hours not kissing Lan Zhan and wishing this was a date and he just has to know if maybe it was, or at least could be. He unbuckles his seatbelt, turns in his seat and presses his lips to Lan Zhan’s. He’s not expecting to promptly get pulled into Lan Zhan’s lap, but he’s definitely not complaining, especially when it’s followed up with a whole lot more kissing.

They only stop when someone honks and Wei Ying realizes he didn’t pick the best parking spot for making out. “So,” he says, grinning shamelessly as he moves back into the driver’s seat, “let’s go out on another date some time soon?”

“All right,” Lan Zhan agrees without hesitation. He’s not smiling, but he is eyeing Wei Ying in a way that he really likes. “But next time, I’ll drive.”

30. Dessert          (modern AU Wangxian, just a tiny bit NSFW)

The first time Wei Ying sees Lan Zhan in a cafe daintily eating whipped cream off the top of a parfait, he can’t believe his eyes. There’s something so unexpected about strong, serious, stoic, ever-responsible Lan Zhan enjoying any kind of dessert, let alone the same kind Wei Ying’s sister and her friends love—unexpected and adorable.

“Wow, Lan Zhan! I had you pegged for the health food 24/7 type,” Wei Ying says, sneaking up on him from behind. He’s obviously trying to surprise Lan Zhan, but he doesn’t expect it to actually work, so he’s thrilled when it makes Lan Zhan jump and then turn a glare on him. “Hey, no judgment. There’s nothing wrong with enjoying something sweet.” The temptation to stick his finger in the whipped cream and dab some onto Lan Zhan’s nose is so strong, but Wei Ying doesn’t want to die today, so he restrains himself.

It takes nearly a year after that encounter for them to start dating, though Wei Ying does manage to put whipped cream on Lan Zhan’s face twice before that. (Maybe he should have guessed that Lan Zhan liked him, despite never mentioning it, by how he didn’t murder Wei Ying for doing that.) It takes another five months after they get together for Wei Ying to convince Lan Zhan that whipped cream will also be delicious when licked off his body, but oh, is it worth it.

31. Trick or Treat          (modern cultivation AU, A-Yuan and Wangxian)

    “I want to go as Uncle Wen!” A-Yuan declares.     Wei Wuxian blinks at him, turns and blinks at Lan Wangji, and then starts to laugh. “I mean, I think a ghost or a vampire or a cat or something is more typical, but sure, you can go as a fierce corpse.”     “Not a fierce corpse!” A-Yuan protests. “Uncle Wen!”     Lan Wangji gives Wei Wuxian his patented You are not treating this child as he should be treated look. “Yes, of course,” Wei Wuxian amends. “We’ll find you the best Wen Ning costume anyone has ever had.”    “Can Uncle Wen come with me?” A-Yuan asks.    Wen Ning won’t do well with crowds or a sugar high A-Yuan, but on the other hand, he’ll blend in on Halloween in a way he usually can��t. “We’ll all come with you,” Lan Wangji tells him.    “Yay!” A-Yuan jumps up and down in excitement. “What will you be? Ooh, I know! You should be a bunny.” He gestures at Lan Wangji, and then to Wei Wuxian, “And you should be a carrot.”    “A carrot?” Wei Wuxian grimaces. “Come on, between the two of us, don’t I look more like a bunny?”    “At least he didn’t say a donkey.” Lan Wangji keeps his voice low, and before A-Yuan can demand that he repeat it, says, “Those are excellent choices.”    “You’re so mean to me,” Wei Wuxian whines, but that doesn’t stop him from going out on Halloween evening in a big carrot costume, hand in hand with rabbit Lan Wangji, with mini Wen Ning skipping on ahead of them and actual Wen Ning looking fondly on.

[subserviiient]

Anzu can expect some gifts for Mother's Day (even though the boys didn't make it too obvious). Rei: a shiny crystal pen with pink ink. Keito: a Mizuhanome original drawing. Midori: her favorite pizza. Souma: a large cup of bubble tea. Kaoru: a pair of fish hairclips. Hajime: box of club sandwiches. Eichi: an antique dagger-like letter opener. Koga: bbq meat skewers. Adonis: an invite for fruit parfait. Tori: a teddy bear charm. Makoto: a box of heated eyemasks.

Given that she wasn’t really expecting anything from Mother’s day due to the fact she wasn’t their biological mother, the gifts from each of the idols certainly came as a surprise to her, but she did accept each one at each point of the day ( despite the fact she rarely ever eats due to her work, it appears when offered, she may have a harder time turning someone down gently. )

Upon being given a pen by Rei, the producer’s eyes lit up and she stood on her tiptoes to pat his head, excitedly thanking him for getting her a pen, telling him that she didn’t have any time to go shopping for stationary lately and that she’d be sure to make it up to him at a later date. “I promise, I’ll buy you something in return, thanks again, senpai! This is a really cute pen!”

With Keito she was clearly surprised with the present and she smiled up at her upperclassmen when she received it. “Thanks, Hasumi-senpai, or Mizuhanome-sensei,” The girl giggles and looks up at him with a nod, speaking genuinely soon after. “I’ll treasure it, seriously. It means a lot to know you’d give me something like this.”

When Midori gave her a meat feast pizza, the producer was surprised that he knew about her favourite kind of Pizza and let out a laugh. “You sure make it hard to refuse you, huh, Midori? You pay a lot of attention to people, I think.” With that she thanks him, and gave him a brief hug afterwards. “You wanna eat together?” 

It was a little after that when Souma found her and after offering her the Bubble tea, the producer seemed surprised, slipping off her headphones and patting the space next to her. “Sure, thanks Souma, you’re the best,” she hums, sending the samurai a smile. “I’d give you a hug but I dunno if you’re too fond of that idea.”

When Kaoru came and gave her hairclips, she was...frankly stunned for a second. “Is-Is this okay? I wouldn’t wanna put you out-” but when he told her it was fine, she sent him a smile. “Thanks senpai, I’ll make it up to you.” with that, she pops her current music note hairclips off and replaces them with the fish hairclips.

“Oh, thank you, Hajime! Would you like me to get you something in return? You really do go out of your way for people all the time, don’t you?” The producer takes the club sandwiches and carefully pulls her underclassman into a hug. “You’re really too sweet for your own good, sometimes.”

Upon being passed something that looks like a dagger, the Producer took a second to stare at it before she realised it simply looked like one, and she grinned. “Is this your letter opener, senpai? It looks pretty fancy,” when he said it was for her, however, the producer blinks a couple times. “T-Thank you senpai, but let me get you something in return! This looks mad expensive and I wouldn’t want to be the only one taking.”

She was in class at lunch doing some work when the door swung open to reveal Koga, who was clearly irked that she was working during her break, and when she went to duck under the desk to continue, he told her off further before offering her a selection of BBQ meat skewers. “Thanks, dude,” She hums, with a laugh. “You wanna eat together for a while? It’d be cool to hear how you’ve been doing lately.”

When Koga left and a little before class started, Adonis came to class and offered her an invite for fruit parfaits, she was surprised by the invitation but she’s sure she has time after school for that for a considerable time period, so she nods and agrees. “Sure, thanks for the invite Adonis! It should be fun, plus, I think you and me don’t hang out enough anyways.”

The brunette was walking in the halls, on her way to a practice room to over see one of the unit’s new choreography when she sees Tori approaching her, she turns to hug him when he offers her a teddy bear charm. “Thanks, Tori, it’s super cute. Guess we’re matching a bit, huh?” she asks, pointing to his own charm.

“Makoto, my beloved friend, you are too good to me,”  she announces when he gives her the box, leaning over her desk to pat his shoulder. “I’ve never used these before, they seem pretty cool though! Would you mind explaining how to use them right? I mean, I know they’re for eyes but do you like...crack them like a glowstick to make them work?”

[razorblade180]

Twin Snowflakes pt14:Getting ready

It was the middle of the night and Veronica was still awake. She sat on the floor of her happily swaying her tail side to side as she admired her own tailoring work. ‘Not a bad job on such short notice if I do say so myself.’ She thought while rubbing her stomach.

A low growl came from it. Walking away from dinner was a mistake. Veronica looked at the clock to see it pass midnight. ‘Technically it’s breakfast time.’ She decided to poke her through the ground to see what was underneath her. Sad to say, it was a bathroom. A very fancy bathroom, but not a kitchen. Still, it had to be on this floor. Veronica phased through the rest of the floor; landing in the shower before exiting the entire room to the hallway.

It didn’t take her long to find the kitchen. Her eyes might not work in the dark but her nose was just fine. Veronica stared at the various options in the fridge and got a little tempted. They had smoked ham; cured smoked ham. The smell alone made her eyes constrict, becoming cat-like until she shook her head. ‘Don’t even. If you start then you won’t stop. Self control Veronica, self control.’ She took her attention off of it and saw someone had wrapped up her unfinished meal along with Summer’s; Yang’s doing no doubt.

Veronica grabbed the plate and took it out. She was tempted to eat the pasta cold when the unexpected flick of a light blinded her. Veronica instinctively hissed and shielded her face. “Ow, who the-”

“Oh, you’re here. Now things make sense.” Said a familiar but entirely different voice. Veronica felt the hair on her tail stand up and she looked to see Summer there. Except, the sensation she was getting immediately told Veronica that it wasn't Summer, but Shiva. The frosty girl rubbed her eyes and walked closer until Veronica was forced to move around to the other side of the kitchen. Not taking any chances and walking across the counter top. Shiva opened the fridge and grabbed milk, ice cream, and parfait filled with fruit.

Shiva:You know...walking up there is very unsanitary right?

Veronica:.....

Shiva:Okay, do whatever you want. Can you pass me a spoon though? First cabinet below you.

Veronica did nothing for a second before Shiva held out her hand. Veronica slowly reached for a spoon and tossed it into her hand. Shiva smiled and got busy grabbing a cup and started making a milkshake. Veronica didn’t move. This was the first time she had actually seen Shiva. Nick had told her about the physical difference thankfully but that wasn’t all. Shiva’s voice held a certain distortion like faint cracking ice. Then there was her smell. It was different from Summer's. It was… disgustingly fresh; like the feeling of chewing a mint in the cold while the wind blew. Against her better judgment, Veronica got back on the floor.

Shiva:Finally coming down Veeeerrr… Veronica? That’s your name. Sorry, Summer May think about you from time to time but that doesn’t mean I have to pay attention or am around. I gotta say, I thought you’d be taller.

Veronica:What the hell is going on?

Shiva:I was wondering the same thing before I walked in here. Summer never forgets to turn on her heater. She wasn’t even under her covers; that’s a new level of recklessness. “How could she be so exhausted and distracted” is what I was thinking. My guess, a total accident because she was distracted. You say something to her?

Veronica:(Of all the fuc-) The dumbass was probably pouting after our little chat and dozed off.

Shiva:Yeah she's like a bicycle wheel. Her mind runs pretty well until you throw something in between the smokes. I however, am more like a monster truck.

Veronica’s body tensed as Shiva reached for the milkshake. ‘Is she trying to get colder?’ That could get bad. Yet Veronica was strangely okay. Her ears faintly hearing the rest of the residents soundly snoring. Then something clicked.

Shiva:I can’t remember the last time this body even had a milk-

Veronica:Let her go.

Shiva:Huh?

Veronica:You heard me. *cracks knuckles* Let Summer go.

Shiva:Well then, someone went from spineless to bold in no time. I’m just trying to enjoy-

In the fraction of a second there was no longer a milkshake or parfait near her. Instead she was looking up at Veronica who stood over her with a glare just as frightening as her own. Shiva couldn’t help but smile out of intrigument and agitation.

Veronica:I was never scared. Startled for sure, but never scared of something like you. In case you didn’t know, Summer’s never beaten me in a fight and you’re giving me the perfect excuse to hit her in the face.

Shiva:You’d have to be real stupid to think it would be easy to-

Veronica:To what, beat up a body that’s starving for food and apparently calcium. I know when Summer’s at her best so believe me when I say I can knock you on your ass in five seconds and catch her body before she wakes up; something you definitely wouldn’t like right now.

Shiva:.....Hmph, I like your eyes. They’re broken like hers. Count your blessings you aren’t the one with dust in their veins. Now that. Would be interesting.

Veronica:You really are insane if you’re comparing me to her.

Shiva:And you’re dumb to think I’d try anything in this place again. So many thermostats, so many loved ones and ground to cover. I couldn’t make it out this place on the coldest day; especially with your pain in the ass of a mom.

Shiva chuckled as Veronica grabbed her shirt. ‘They are definitely similar, and yet..” Shiva couldn’t put her finger on it but there was something about Veronica she particularly hated. This girl she just officially met had instantly become number two in her list of people to deal with if she got the chance. But for tonight, Shiva was out of time. Not like she actually had a plan. A milkshake was the goal because yes, this body needed calcium.

Shiva:Can you do me one favor since you ruined my night? Seriously, get this girl some milk or something. The cold has a way of screwing with bones. The fool knows this and purposely does it in fear of me taking over. She would have broken something today if not for me.

Veronica:You almost sound like you care.

Shiva:Her health is my health. You know what they say, your body is a temple. And from the way you were eyeing the ham it looks like I’m not the only temple that isn’t being well kept.

Veronica:Tsk, do me a favor and fuck off already.

Shiva:That answers that. Goodbye Veronica. For your sake I hope you never stand in my way. I might enjoy myself too much dealing with you.

And with those words, Shiva fizzled out. Leaving nothing but a sleeping Summer Schnee that fell into the faunus girl’s arms. Veronica stood there a moment to collect her thoughts. This was far more excitement than she was looking for at night. Worst part was she wasn’t entirely sure what to do. The situation was handled, so should she wake someone anyway? Does she tell them later?

Veronica lifted Summer like a bride and looked at her before looking at the food left out. ‘I guess I’m having a cheat day today.’ Her eyes looked at the milkshake as she came to that conclusion. ‘Since I’m destroying evidence, maybe it was best to keep quiet? If this encounter was my fault then that means I can control it so it won’t happen again.’ She reasoned. Carefully she started the walk to Summer’s room with a look of pure displeasure. ‘Just another reason to be on my best behavior I suppose. Tsk, as if I needed any more.’

xxxx

The night might’ve been eventful for Veronica but to Summer, it was over in a wink. The girl’s body had naturally woken up and she stared into the darkness of her room that barely had any light coming through her blinds and the red dot on her heater.

“Still early” Summer groaned, “even by Nick’s standards most likely.” There was no real reason to get from underneath her cozy covers just yet. A shower could wait for a bit. Besides, Veronica had her uniforms; there was no rush to see her so early. Valerie definitely wasn’t up this early. The mental list of people to chat with quickly shrunk. There was one person possibly awake Summer thought, and she actually should’ve called them yesterday.

The girl rolled over near her nightstand and grabbed her scroll, hitting a custom icon in the shape of a cane.

Oscar:Hello?

Summer:Hey Oz. Sorry if I woke you up, and for not facing timing for my appointment.

Oscar:Don’t feel bad about it. Yesterday was a busy day for you from what I saw.

Summer:Man you wouldn’t bel-....saw?

Oscar:Penny showed me the video.

Summer:Ugh! *covers face*

Oscar:I heard a face palm. Everything okay? And I mean really okay?

Summer:.....No, no it isn’t. I completely blew it yesterday. All that training over winter break, no, all the training this year and I’m not strong enough to stand on my own. Nothing is changing. I fight, get overwhelmed, Nick steps in; this time with a new ability. I’m the one who’s an expert with glyphs and yet he completely overshadowed me with summoning. Not only that, but now I have Veronica to deal with for a while. Who probably is eavesdropping right this moment. I feel like I can’t get a win! Even my music doesn’t feel up to par recently which is terrible considering I have to perform soon. What if I-

Oscar:Summer!

His shout stopped her from spiraling. He couldn’t see her face but he could hear her sniffing. Oscar waited patiently, listening to the girl trying to calm herself down with deep breathing exercises they had practiced day in and day out. Summer’s camera turned on and Oscar was greeted with rosy cheeks and slightly red eyes.

Oscar:If you gotta cry then go ahead.

Summer:I’m sick and tired of crying. What good is it anyways?

Oscar:Hey, crying is great sometimes! I cried a lot whenever I got frustrated traveling with everyone.

Summer:Really?

Oscar:Hell yeah. I was stressed and overwhelmed constantly because I felt weak. Also I constantly dealt with Qrow being dumb.

Qrow:You’re alive aren’t you!?

Oscar:Sir, I’m in the middle of a session. I’ll be with you after. *smiles*

Summer:Hehehe, I forgot Winter said something about him tagging along.

Oscar:He’s not the only one. Adrian wanted to tag along and then of course you know who’s ship we ended up on.

Summer:!!!? You're on Sparrow’s ship!?

A loud voice off screen answered her question. “Did someone say my name!?” The voice cried out. Oscar rolled his eye playfully as he flipped his camera to show Summer that Qrow and Adrian was fishing right next to a man. A young man that was barely in his twenties and wearing captain’s uniform, as if he was running some fancy cruise liner. Complete with the hat.

His face was clean shaven for once and his wavy brown hair that matched his eyes was put up in a bun. He looked over at the camera and immediately greated Summer with the goofiest smile he could make.

Summer:Hey Sparrow, it’s been awhile. How’s the sea life?

Sparrow:Better now that I’m not in the military!

Qrow:I’m telling Winter you said that.

Sparrow:Stop, she’s already mad I didn’t stop by in between jobs.

Adrian:Catch a giant fish and maybe you’ll buy our silence.

Sparrow:You’re on!

Oscar:Your cousin is the only sailor crazy enough around here to go searching for the gods. Also he’s extremely affordable; helping family is free of charge.

Summer:Thanks, all of you. Personally I wouldn’t want you all to go this far for me but-

Sparrow:You’re family. Since when the hell is there a price or distance on that?

Adrian:He’s right.

Qrow:If I taught this numbskull anything, it’s that right there.

Sparrow:Beer pong too.

Qrow:Ssssshhhhh

Oscar:Getting back on track, progress wasn’t made in a day. Sometimes it’s not even made by training. I’ve watched that video at least a hundred times already.

Summer:I wish you didn’t tell me that.

Oscar:My point is that progress just happens in an instant. A moment that makes everything click or demands your body to push beyond what it couldn’t do. Don’t trick yourself into thinking Nick got this moment in wanting not to waste yours and Valerie’s efforts. So he dug deep in order not to disappoint you both.

Summer:I….I know this. We’ve always pushed each other along; the ultimate duo. Yet I’ve always felt like he’s not only giving more than I can give, but he’s preventing me from giving all I’m able to give.

Oscar:Oh?

Summer:Hey...can I say something? Something you won’t write down?

Oscar:Go right ahead.

Summer:For awhile now I can’t help but feel...like he’s in my way. And it makes me so irritated to see that no matter what, my big brother is right there. Always ready to put things on hold for his baby sister. I’d rather take a loss than see him do damage control.

Oscar:You feel like he’s smothering you? Have you told him?

Summer:Almost, then I lost the nerve. He’s so patient with me and understanding. Yet I wish he’d be upset with my mistakes and hold me accountable. I wouldn’t mind him raising his voice at me or calling me out like-

Oscar:Veronica?

Summer’s eyes went wide. Is that what she wanted? No, well...no. Not exactly.

Summer:That would be a little much I think. I don’t think I could cope.

Oscar:But you do realize that maybe you continue to associate with Veronica and egg her on because you admire her confidence and you desire some form of tough love?

Summer: I mean...I do admire her confidence; not to mention her looks. Tough love though? That’s sugar coating it I think. She hates me.

Oscar:Maybe. I’d love to talk to her one on one at least once. I can’t say what her exact opinion is on you but it could be possible that you think she hates you way more than she actually does? Now may be a good time to figure it out.

Summer:I think I would need about a hundred journals to even express what one day of being around her would feel like.

Oscar:Speaking of journals, have you gotten a new one? I’m not letting you slack on this.

Summer:All my journals are underneath my bed. Including the new one. Not sure how much it’s helping. Writing down my personal feelings, it scares me. Like the words might jump out at me.

Oscar:...I may be out of line here and off base but, Summer, don’t hesitate to call me or Penny for anything. And I mean anything. Life is a precious gift.

Summer flinched at those words. The look on his face was one of complete calm and concern all at once. Summer got the message clear. Playing dumb would be an insult, and yet she smiled anyways at him.

Summer:You worry too much Os. Things are bleak but not that bleak. Don’t worry your pretty little head; honest.

Oscar:...Okay, I trust you. I just wanted you to remember that people can only help so much and help so effectively, depending on how much you let them in. Walling us off from anything important, it could be risky.

Summer:Thanks for your concern but I promise you that I’m fine. I should probably start getting ready for school now. Call you again, Regular appointment time?

Oscar:I’ll have my scroll charged and ready. Have a good day at school. Remember-

Summer:One step at a time. You say it constantly. Penny really needs to finish this baby chamber thing she’s making. I think you have baby fever or something. Always doting on me.

Oscar:You’d be jealous the moment Penny and I have a baby.

Summer:I would. Take care of yourself...uncle.

Oscar:!? Did you just call me-

Summer hung up immediately. Yeah she meant those words, but saying it out loud was too embarrassing to deal with. Not even out of her pjs yet and she was already a little drained; and she still had one more person to talk too!!!

‘Let’s get this over with.’ Summer hopped out of the bed and quickly made her way to Veronica’s room. The faster she gets there means the faster it will be over.

It only took a second Summer to stand at the door. She only got two knocks in before the door swung open and Summer was greeted with tired eyes. Veronica’s hair was ruffled and her tail was frizzy around her waist, yet she was already fully dressed in the uniform she borrowed. Veronica made it fit like a glove. Even in the simple white button up and black skirt, she looked gorgeous. Veronica bent down to fix her black calf high socks while keeping eye contact.

Veronica:I take it you’re here for your clothes? Give me a sec.

Summer:H...how long have you been up?

Veronica:Don’t know. A couple hours? Had to make sure I could readjust the size of this when I gave it back.

Summer:You wrap your tail around your waist for school.

Veronica:What’s with all the dumb questions so early? It’s your uniform. Cutting a hole for my tail would be stupid; I’m giving this back. Unless you want people looking through a hole in your skirt?

Summer:*red* Now look who’s asking dumb questions?

Veronica:Shut up and be productive. Strip and try on the clothes while there’s still time.

Summer:S-Strip? We don’t have to. I mean it’s no big deal if whatever you did is a little-

Unamused eyes glared at Summer, shutting her up. Of course Veronica’s designs were a big deal. Everything is a big deal with her. Summer didn’t put up a fight and walked in, closing the door behind them.

Summer:Can you at least turn around until I’m finished?

Veronica:That doesn’t do me much good. I intend to make sure I have your proper measurements. Suck it up and deal with it. We’re both women and don’t you have P. E. as a class? Undressing shouldn’t be a problem.

Summer:I...don’t undress typically. If I do I try to do it alone. The eyes on me are unnerving.

Veronica:You’re a performer.

Summer:That’s completely different and you know it. I display my voice on stage. Not my scars.

Veronica:This again?

Summer:Tsk, I don’t even know why I try with you sometimes. Of course you wouldn’t understand this. Must be really easy to say the things you do when your body is perfect.

Veronica:If you’re assuming that I judge people by their body or appearance, then everyone gives you too much credit when it comes to how smart you are. Only scum would ever be so shallow and daft. Since when the hell have I ever belittled you about your scars, something you couldn’t control?

Summer:......

Veronica:Think before you speak to me like that again.

Bickering was normal between them. This is how it’s always been. So why did Summer feel guilty about it this time? More importantly, why did Veronica sound so defensive? The only other thing she said after was asking Summer if she had permission to touch her. A question that confused her for a moment before she nodded. Maybe it was a designer thing.

Veronica grabbed the sleeve of Summer’s shirt, as well as the waistband of her pants. There was a brief moment of nothing happening that confused Summer. She almost asked what was going on until Veronica tugged on the clothing and it passed right through and off of Summer’s body; making the girl yelp. Just what else could Veronica do with her semblance? The faunus was entirely too good with it for someone who doesn’t wanna be a huntsman.

Summer had no time to think about it however since Veronica’s warm hands on her Summer’s hips snapped the girl back into reality. Veronica took her time with whatever she was doing. It was definitely more than measurements. Her hands gently traveled down each leg, feeling the muscle groups and gently touching each scar on the way down. Sometimes her thumbs pressed a little harder in certain areas.

Veronica could feel different spots of tension and the cold dust that ran through each scar. Her hands finally started to go up after examining Summer’s feet. The accent went to the waist and upwards. Each digit rolling over a rib. Veronica made sure to be very thorough and listen to the sounds Summer and Summer’s body was making. The sounds told a story and Veronica’s ears could listen to it. Last place was her chest and back which Veronica gave a little more force over places like Summer’s spine and scars. Summer oddly felt like she was being sculpted out of clay.

Veronica finally let go and grabbed the tape measure. That only took a few seconds though. Summer figured it might’ve been because those numbers weren’t high to begin with unfortunately. Step three of this process also went quick. Veronica grabbed one of the uniforms and phased it right on to Summer’s body perfectly. The length remained but all the excess baggy material was apparently tucked in or removed. Nothing felt too tight or loose as Summer moved her body around. Even that felt lighter. These adjustments were outstanding. All this progress in a night!

Summer:Woah, this is….disturbingly comfortable. Form fitting around my arms, but not tight.

Veronica:The only thing disturbing is how impressed you are about clothes that fit. Any complaint you have about the skirt length you can fix with simple leggings.

Summer:...Thanks for this, and sorry. I was out of line a moment ago.

Veronica:Hmph…...I prefer actions rather than words. If you really feel that sorry about it then I expect compensation.

Summer:What…? You want me to pay you as an apology?

Veronica:Your money is worth absolutely nothing to me. You are going to help me with a variety of tasks I need in order to make the best outfits possible. Then you’re going to wear them.

Summer:Oh, So you want my influence and connections to get free self promotion?

Veronica:This kingdom has its eyes on you. Someone is bound to talk about who’s doing your wardrobe. Considering how one of these outfits happen to be your tournament outfit, I think offering to lift a finger or two wouldn’t be too much to ask.

Summer:I thought it was finished?

Veronica:Not with the measurements I just got from you. Too small for you and I have some ideas to improve it now. So do we have an agreement or not?

Summer:.....

Veronica:You hurt my ears yesterday.

Summer:Fine, don’t have to guilt trip me.

Veronica:Perfect, you can start right now.

Summer:What!?

Veronica:From now until I leave I expect you to stretch your entire body when you wake up and before bed; dynamic stretches that focus slight tension around the ligaments in your left wrist and right knee especially. I could feel how worn out your body is. I expect better from a fighter that can pay for any spa. The unnecessary stress in your shoulders need to be fixed too.

Summer:(She got all that from just touching me?) Why does this sound like a health care routine and what does it have to do with-

Veronica:Questioning my methods won’t get you any closer to understanding them. Just do it.

Summer:Next you’re going to tell me what to eat with demands like this.

Veronica:Milk, at least two cups a day. Vanilla, regular, chocolate, warm, I really don’t care.

Summer:I wasn’t being serious!

Veronica:Well I am. Your bones need calcium from what I could feel. If I punched your ribs right now they would probably crack like a glow stick.

The way she worded that made Summer scrunch her face in pain. She could feel them ache already.

Summer:Fair point, but I have this thing against dairy-

Veronica:Are you going to keep making excuses, or are you actually going to give something your all for once? Not that I care. I can use a few more videos of you getting flung like a rag doll.

Summer:That’s not going to happen again.

Veronica:Less words, more action. I’ve said my peace, now I’m heading out.

Summer:School isn’t for another two hours.

Veronica:I’m aware. Perfect time to explore a little and find something remotely inspiring.

Summer:I don’t think Yang would like you walking around all-

Veronica:Summer, have I ever listened to you before? Like at al?

Summer:....

Veronica:Exactly.

On that note, Veronica grabbed the scarf she was given and fell through the floor, their conversation over. It went pretty well considering all things. They bickered and said a few choice words but strangely, Veronica wasn’t as mouthy. ‘Maybe mornings aren’t her thing.’ Summer concluded. They definitely weren’t hers.

Summer pulled out her scroll and decided now was probably a good idea to pass the baton to Nick instead of keeping quiet about Veronica’s plan to galavant around.

Nick:Hello? Summer, why are you calling me so early? Wait, why are you calling me?

Summer:Too lazy to walk. Just thought you should know that Veronica decided to go exploring around the town.

Nick:I’m sure she can find her way around.

Summer:She’s in a school uniform. Not to mention she isn’t wearing a bow or anything. It’s only gonna take one stupid person making a tasteless comment and-

Nick:Our school ends up taking heat.

Summer:To be fair, she looked pretty quiet and not very energetic. Just thought you should know.

Nick:What’s your plan?

Summer:To let you deal with it. I’m going back to bed for awhile. Feeling a bit drained.

Nick:I’m pretty sore myself. I’m sure she’ll be fine.

Summer:If you say so.

Their call ended immediately and Nick rubbed his eyes before laying face down on his pillow. ’She’ll be fine.’ He told himself whilst trying to go back to sleep. At least ten minutes had to pass before he flipped over on his back. “.....”

Nick silently cursed under his breath and hoped out of bed, annoyed by his troubled mind. It’s not that he didn’t trust Veronica, but it would really suck if something did happen. Especially after Yang asked him and Summer to keep an eye on her. “Looks like I’m getting dressed early today.”

His morning routine wasn’t long, or even complicated. In half an hour he was physically ready for the school day. The cold air outside should wake him. Nick was about to leave when he smelt something cooking the kitchen. He poked his head around to see Yang cooking some eggs. Nothing unusual, but he’d be lying if he didn’t say he was more than a little uncomfortable with how short her shorts were and loose fitting tank top. He wondered if she forgot that this wasn’t her house.

Nick:Ummm…

Yang:Oh, Hey Nick! You’re up early.

Looks like she just did not care. Now he knew Veronica got a trait from Yang that wasn’t physical

Nick:Yeah I couldn’t sleep any longer.

Yang:Well if you wait a little longer before leaving then I can make you some breakfast? I’m hoping the smell of eggs and some ham will get Veronica down here. With you she’s bound to eat it.

Nick:Uhhh Summer said Veronica left like forty minutes ago.

Yang:She wha- that little sneak!!! I bet she knew what I was planning. Sigh...damnit…

Yang cracked an egg a little too hard and it splattered on the stove. The yoke that got in her hand started to sizzle faster than in the pan. Then look in her eyes wasn’t anger though, but concern.

Nick:Is breakfast a big deal for you?

Yang:It’s not breakfast that matters, but the food. It’s been like three months since that kid has eaten actual meat.

Nick:I’m...not sure I see the problem. Does this have something to do with the kind of faunus she is. Actually, now that I mention it, I’ve never seen Veronica eat meat.

Yang:Because she intentionally doesn’t eat it around people or tries to avoid it in general. Can you keep a secret, or at least keep it within this house? Weiss and Jaune already know.

Nick:Yang, keeping secrets is like my best quality. That actually sounds bad out loud. Second, it’s my second best quality.

Yang:Hehehe. Look, having two faunus traits isn’t as simple as dealing with a tail and ear problems; her very genes are turned up to an eleven. Her hearing is better than Blake’s by a wide margin and even her sense of smell is extremely sharp. It sounds helpful but…

Nick:It’s overstimulating?

Yang:She’s gotten pretty good at honing it early on, but not so much with other things. Different faunus have different...impulses. Their fight and flight reflexes are even different than humans because of whatever animal instinct they have. Blake is a feline, a panther. If she’s angry, she gets angry. When she craves food, it’s typically fish. Any urge she has is related to that of a panther.

Nick:Okay, that’s not exactly new to me. So Veronica feels these “urges” or “instincts” in certain situations, but it’s more intense.

Yang:Let me put it to you like this. Blake on her worst day is still very much in control of her actions. It’s simple for any faunus to stave off any particular urge because it’s basically the same thing as refusing to act on adrenaline. Veronica’s worst day makes her as intense as Ghira fighting for his life. Regular days are Blake’s worst days.

Nick:That...explains a couple of things.

Yang:Basically, her hormones are a little frazzled. Veronica gets around this little hurdle by choosing to not indulge in what feeds those instincts. Panthers are predators…

Nick:So she rarely eats meat. The way you talk makes it seem like that’s very bad.

Yang:Image being a grimm coming at you and telling your body not to do the instinctual thing and move. She represses those instincts because she finds them uncivil and deplorable. Pushing it down only builds tension however. Veronica is naturally hot headed and scrappy but being irritated and having a short fuse comes from her eating habits.

Nick:Indulge too much, and she feels like she becomes essentially feral. Don’t indulge at all then…

Yang:She’s a bomb trying not to blow up about every little thing.

Nick:High school is gasoline then!

Yang:That’s why I wanted her to eat! Once she gets actual food that her body wants then she can control that temper way better and think clearly. Her eyes and nails even stop being feline like and just go back to normal.

Nick:Why didn’t we know any of this before?

Yang:It’s a lot for people to handle, and Veronica hates people knowing. I try helping her with this sort of thing but it’s not like I can exactly understand what she’s feeling. She only really comes to Blake about it. All I do is find ways for her to expel all that tension through boxing and anything else. Eventually we get her to eat normally but then she goes back to her regular routine until the urge becomes too overpowering.

This really did explain a lot. Nick wondered if he'd actually seen Veronica function at a hundred percent. He could recall a couple times he’d seen get out of hand, furious about one thing or another that ended in a fight. Nick vividly remembered her and Valerie giving each other black eyes. That was years ago. Yeah, she’s definitely gotten better in comparison.

Nick:Well I’m actually about to go chase her down and just make sure she’s okay. I got worried something could happen to her.

Yang:*smiles* It’s terrible how accurate Weiss praises you. (I can also see why Veronica is head over heels for you) I hate to be a bother but-

Nick:I’ll make sure she eats something fatty. School doesn’t offer much vegetarian options so it shouldn’t be hard.

Yang:I owe you big time for this. I mean it.

Nick:I’m paying it forward. Veronica is always in my corner. Being in her corner isn’t anything new. I’ll try to not tell her you told me all this either.

Yang:Trust me, she’ll figure it out. I pray for your success!

Nick gave a thumbs up and ran out the door. Yang started to clean up the mess she made. A long sigh escaped her lips as she continued thinking about her daughter and the kind boy willing to try. A twinge of guilt hit her heart. She couldn’t tell if it was because she talked about affairs Veronica didn’t want people to know, or because she didn’t tell Nick everything. Not the most important pieces. No one knew the important pieces. Yang wiped a tear from her face. Even she knew that she was missing an important piece. She was sure of it.

Yang:(Maybe…just maybe, she’s what he needs right now. Obviously I’m not.)

Part 13

[alounuitte]

cactus blossoms

(or, some can only bloom with water from the desert sky)

Adam needs some support while he recovers from a surgery, and Shiro volunteers to be his best friend's roommate for the summer after their first year in the Garrison. Somehow, it turns out he's not the only one Adam gets a chance to get closer to, and an operation isn't the only thing he's recovering from. (pre-relationship, but no romance will be in this.) [Updates Wednesdays!]

chapter 9.

(chapter warnings: medical drugs throughout and brief emeto warning towards the end.)

--

Shiro frowns and checks his phone again, kicking his foot anxiously against the edge of his chair, and sighs when he sees no new messages. He’d expected a text sooner than this, but he’s determined not to worry too much until it’s been at least an hour. Probably nothing’s actually wrong, just a minor delay.

As he goes to put his phone away, the intercom clicks on, and a woman’s voice on the speaker says politely, “Commander Montgomery to infirmary, please, Commander Montgomery please report to the infirmary.”

His heart jumps into his throat, and in a second he’s on his feet, running down the hall towards the medical wing. Since Montgomery’s name is on Adam’s medical assistance form, technically she’s the one responsible for him right now, and that means the call is probably about him. He knows he’s not going to be allowed to see Adam if something’s actually wrong, but he wants to be there to find out what’s going on as soon as Montgomery knows.

“What’s going on?” he asks as soon as he gets to the waiting room and sees Montgomery standing by the counter. “Is he okay?”

To his relief, she laughs, and gestures with her head to the back row of seats. “See for yourself,” she says.

He looks over and sees, on second glance, that Adam is there already, sprawled awkwardly on his back across three seats and apparently asleep. Shiro bites his tongue to keep from laughing too. “What, they give him too much anaesthetic?” he asks.

“Apparently he got fighty when he woke up,” she says. “They had to give him another shot of anxiolytic to calm him down, so he might be pretty out of it for a bit.”

Shiro crosses the room to crouch down in front of him, grinning as he pulls his phone out to film. “Hey, man,” he says. “You up?”

“Why’re you yelling…?” Adam asks, cracking one eye open. “‘m right here.”

“Sorry,” Shiro says, more quietly, though he hadn’t really been speaking all that loudly. “You comfortable there?”

“Mm…” Adam muses, frowning. “No, this is terrible.”

“Yeah, these chairs aren’t really meant for laying down,” Shiro agrees, fighting not to laugh as he turns his phone camera to show the row of hard seats. “You wanna get up and go back upstairs?”

“That sounds like a lot of work,” Adam complains. “Mm…’na...just...sleep on the couch.”

Shiro can’t help snorting at that, as much as he’s trying not to lose his composure. “What couch, buddy?” he asks. “You gotta get back to our quarters for that.”

“No,” Adam says, looking sullen.

“Sorry,” he says, shrugging. “What do you think about some lunch?”

That makes Adam sit up, though he sways as soon as he does, his eyes unfocusing for a second. “I haven’t eaten in…” he says, and trails off, thinking hard. “Four… days.”

“Don’t think that’s right,” Shiro tells him, standing and offering a hand to help him up. “But it’s been a bit. Let’s get some food in you to offset the drugs, huh?”

“Oh, they gave me a lot of drugs,” Adam says, stumbling as he gets to his feet. “So… so many drugs. I think… seven...teen.” Shiro shakes his head, flipping to the front camera to film them both as Adam leans on his shoulder.

“I’m gonna let you handle him,” Montgomery says dryly, straightening her glasses. “Seems like you’ve got the situation under control.”

“Situation normal, Commander,” Adam assures her, and clumsily tries to salute, which makes him overbalance and fall into Shiro’s side. “Whoa, shit, not normal, we’re en...countering some, uh, some… weather.”

Shiro quickly switches to film her as she covers her mouth with one hand and closes her eyes in an excellent attempt to hide her amusement. “Very good, Cadet,” she says. “Shirogane, get him something to eat and get him to bed. I’ll send you the post-surgical notes to look over while he sleeps.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he says, grinning, and turns the camera back on himself and Adam. “Come on, let’s go,” he adds as he guides Adam out of the waiting room. “Any idea what you want for lunch?”

“Hm,” Adam hums, frowning, but doesn’t offer any actual answer.

“There’s leftover pizza still,” he offers. “Or cafeteria has, uh, chicken today, I think, or soup.”

“Too early for soup,” Adam says, shaking his head. It’s nearly noon, but Shiro decides he’s not likely to get anywhere by pointing that out. “I want...um…” Adam continues, staring hard at his hand as he slowly runs his thumb across his fingertips. “Pan...cakes. Eggs and pancakes.”

“Yeah, well, I can’t make either of those,” Shiro tells him, “and the cafeteria stopped serving breakfast three hours ago.”

“I can make them,” Adam says. “I’m a good cook, gonna make pancakes and… eggs. Toast. Eggs and toast. And pancakes.”

“Mm, no, you’re not gonna make anything right now,” Shiro says, trying to hide his smile. “You’re still doped up, remember?”

“But,” Adam protests, a whine creeping into his voice.

“I can get you frozen waffles?” Shiro suggests. “That’s sort of like pancakes.”

“Waffles are nothing like pancakes,” he argues. “They… they’re…” He falters, stops walking as he tries to figure out the difference. Shiro turns towards him to film his expression as he finally manages to explain,  “They’ve got...squares.”

Shiro has to take a few seconds to compose himself before he can speak without laughing. “Uh, yeah, that’s pretty much the thing that makes them different,” he agrees. “But they’re made of the same stuff, and they taste just as good.”

“I guess,” Adam says.

“Tell you what,” Shiro says. “I’ll get you frozen waffles and a smoothie from the smoothie machine.”

“Fuck, yes, I want orange juice,” Adam says, his eyes lighting up, and despite his best intentions, Shiro really can’t help laughing out loud at that.

They stop at the commissary snack shop on the way back to their quarters to get Adam breakfast, and Shiro shakes his head, grinning, as he watches Adam wander around the shop in a daze while they wait for the smoothie machine. His hands hover in front of him, fidgeting aimlessly, his fingers curling and uncurling as he examines the cooler with a kind of bewildered intensity.

“Whatcha looking at?” Shiro asks, zooming the camera in on his pensive expression.

“There’s so many fruits in here,” Adam replies, looking over at him with a frown.

Shiro laughs. “What are you doing, counting them?”

“No, they’re all… all different… in different…” Adam tries to explain, gesturing vaguely with one hand while the other tugs at the zipper of his hoodie. “There’s not the same, pineapples and grapes and… and… what are they called? They’ve got all different numbers of all the fruits.”

The smoothie machine whirs to a stop and Shiro grabs the cup when the door opens, still filming with one hand. “You want your smoothie?” he asks, snapping the lid on.

“For me?” Adam asks as he comes over with it. “What kind?”

“You said you wanted orange,” he says. “Did you forget because you were trying to count the fruit in the fruit cups?”

“Yeah, I want…” Adam says. “Uh, I want a fruit… this one, it’s got...milk in it.”

It’s a parfait cup and has yogurt in it, which Shiro makes sure to get a close-up of on his phone. “You want that instead of waffles?” he asks.

“I want… I don’t like waffles,” Adam says. “I wanna… put it on them.”

Shiro raises an eyebrow. “You’re gonna put the parfait on your waffles?”

“Yeah,” Adam says, nodding.

“Alright, whatever you say,” Shiro agrees, shaking his head. “Here, I’ll take that, you drink some of this smoothie, okay?”

“You’re giving it to me?” Adam asks again, and grins. “Oh, that’s… that’s really nice of you, thanks. Thank you.”

“No problem?” Shiro offers, putting a hand on Adam’s shoulder and guiding him to the counter so he can pay.

They take the elevator up to the officers’ quarters, Adam clutching his cup in both hands as he quietly sips his smoothie. “Hey, Shiro,” he says as they reach the door. “You’re a really great friend, you know that?”

“Don’t get all sappy on me,” Shiro teases, grinning. “You know I have you on camera.”

He laughs, covering his eyes with one hand as he takes another sip of his smoothie.

“You sit down,” Shiro tells him. “I’ll throw some of your waffles in the toaster.”

“Okay,” Adam agrees, and sits down. “It’s fucking cold in here, though.”

It’s really not, Shiro is pretty sure, since he’s perfectly comfortable in a t-shirt compared to Adam’s hoodie, but then, he’s not the one drinking a smoothie. “You want a blanket or something?” he offers.

“Mmmmmmmmmmmyeah,” Adam decides after a moment, and wraps one arm around himself while he sips his smoothie.

Shiro nods and goes to get one from his bed, bringing it over along with the parfait cup and a spoon. “Waffles will still be a minute, but if you wanna eat that while you wait go ahead,” he says, leaning against the counter to wait.

The idea of eating the parfait with a spoon seems like it’s a hard one to grasp, because Adam picks up both and sets them down again a moment later, looking confused. Shiro tries not to laugh again as he pulls up his camera to take some more video, watching him examine the parfait cup carefully. By the time the waffles are ready, he’s only managed a few bites and still doesn’t seem to have quite figured it out, so Shiro decides he better not complicate things further with more silverware, and brings them out with just a plate and a napkin.

“You need a hand with that?” he asks after a moment as Adam fumbles to scoop yogurt and strawberries onto his waffles.

“I got it,” Adam says. “I think the smoothie’s helping, my head’s not so… not so… like the drugs aren’t...in there. The smoothie’s, um… absorbing them, so now they’re in… the smoothie, in my… stomach…”

He puts his spoon down, frowning, one hand pulling absently at his sweatshirt. Shiro raises an eyebrow and sets his phone down on the counter. “Are you gonna puke?” he asks, already moving to help him up.

“Mmm,” Adam hums, thinking. “Maybe.”

“Alright, come on,” Shiro tells him, pulling him to his feet and leading him over to the sink. He sways on his feet, leaning heavily against the counter. Barely a moment later, he hiccups and slumps forward to vomit smoothie and chunks of strawberries into the bottom of the sink. Shiro winces.

“Sorry,” he says thickly, lifting his head.

“You’re fine,” Shiro says, turning on the tap and offering him a napkin to wipe his mouth. “You want some water?”

“Wanna go to bed,” Adam mumbles, his eyes fluttering closed.

“Okay,” Shiro agrees, grabbing a glass from the cabinet and filling it halfway. “Rinse your mouth first, you don’t have to drink any if you don’t want.”

Adam nods and takes the glass, spitting out his first mouthful into the sink before drinking the rest. “Tired,” he manages. “‘M gonna sleep.”

“Yeah, let’s get you to bed,” Shiro says, putting an arm around his shoulders to guide him to his part of their partitioned quarters. “I’ll put your food away for later, alright?”

He nods. “Too much drugs,” he mumbles, collapsing into bed and struggling briefly to get under the comforter. “Night, Shiro.”

“Night, Adam,” Shiro tells him, amused, and waits a few moments by the edge of the partition until he’s asleep, before retreating to the living room to read up on the paperwork Montgomery sent. 

[ladyfogg]

May I? - 14/?

May I? - 14/?

Fic Summary: Ensign Faith Diaz struggles to hide her mental illness from her fellow shipmates aboard the Enterprise until an intrigued Data goes out of his way to try to understand her behavior. At his insistence, Faith tries to figure out what she’s truly passionate about and eventually seeks the professional help she needs. Fic Masterpost.

Fic Rating: NC-17

Pairing: Data/Female OC

Warnings: tw: depression, tw: anxiety, fluff, friends to lovers, eventual smut

Screenshot by @ geekygwen

Faith didn't remember falling asleep.

She remembered closing her eyes and feeling the ever-steady rise and fall of Data's chest under her cheek. His hands had reached up to stroke her hair and then, sweet peaceful rest.

The next time she opened her eyes, she was alone in the bunk. A blanket had been draped over her and the quiet hum of the shuttle made her consider going back to sleep, but she missed Data.

Faith sat up, shivering when she realized her uniform was still bunched around her waist. Her body grew warm at the memory of Data's hands on her back and mouth at her breast. She flushed, feeling her sex throb with need. He hadn't even touched her, yet she had come anyway just by riding his thigh.

She would never forget how he looked at her. It was like he could see everything she was or ever wanted to be.

Faith pulled her uniform back up, tucking her arms into the sleeves as she headed for the bathroom. She rinsed out her mouth, washed her face, and undid her hair from its braid. As she studied her reflection in the mirror above the sink, she couldn't help but smile. 

Last night was amazing, she thought, running her fingers through her hair to work out the knots. I should do something for him today. I wonder if he has something specific he wants to experience.

Faith left the bathroom in search of the android in question. She found him in the cockpit, hard at work per usual.

Leaning against the door frame, she took the time to admire him, trying to freeze every aspect of him into her memory. 

"Lieutenant Commander Data reporting in," he was saying into the console. "We are twelve hours and eighteen minutes into our journey. So far there is nothing to report. All systems operational."

"Good to hear your voice, Data," Riker's voice came through the com. "Our repairs will take other forty-eight hours to complete. I will send you a subspace transmission when we are on our way. Riker out."

Data sat back in his seat. He must have sensed she was there because he slowly spun around to face her.

"Good morning, Faith. Did you sleep well?"

Faith smiled, crossing over to him. "Better than I have in a very long time."

Data stood as she approached and she wrapped her arms around him. He followed through, pulling her into a hug. "You were sleeping quite soundly. I did not feel it was necessary to wake you."

"Thanks for that. And for last night." She leaned up to place a peck on his lips.

"But I did not manually stimulate you."

"Trust me, you did plenty," Faith assured him. "Do you want to have breakfast with me?"

"That would be acceptable."

They walked hand-in-hand to the dining area where Faith got a fruit parfait. Data joined her at the table. 

She suddenly found herself nervous again. She couldn't stop thinking about the previous night and with nothing really to do until they reached their destination, her mind was creating all sorts of naughty scenarios.

One orgasm and you want to jump him again, she scolded herself. What happened to the whole being an adult thing? Get it together!

She ate her breakfast as he watched her. There was something in his expression that made her worried. He was clearly deep in thought, his eyes moving from side-to-side as he took her in. 

"Everything okay?" she asked. "You seem more pensive than usual today."

"Faith, do you wish to have children?"

Her spoon slipped from her hand and clattered to the floor. His question caught her completely by surprise. She was no way prepared for it.

"W-Well, um….hmm, guess I've never given it much thought," she said, trying to reclaim her composure. "Why do you ask?"

"Last night while you were sleeping, I was examining our relationship and the possible outcome of our future," Data explained. "It is a fundamental instinct among humans to want to bear offspring. As I am an android, I cannot give you a child. Furthermore, we cannot grow old together because I cannot grow old. I understand if these particular factors will cause you to terminate our relationship."

Faith blinked rapidly, trying to process what he was saying. Her breathing became erratic. "Data, are you breaking up with me?"

"I do not wish to," he said. "I was merely stating that I could not give you those things if they are what you desire."

It took her a moment to realize he was self-conscious. The panic faded away, replaced by affectionate understanding. Faith smiled and moved her chair closer before reaching for his hand.

"I don't need children to be happy," she said. "And as long as you don't trade me in for some young hot ensign when I'm old and gray, the growing older thing doesn't bother me."

"You may change your mind down the road."

"Yeah, well, you might too," she said with a shrug. "But we don't need to think about those things because they're only hypothetical situations. If I learned anything from Counselor Troi it's that we have to focus on the here and now. Otherwise, we'll get tangled in the 'maybes' and 'what ifs' until they strangle us."

Data studied her for a few moments, his hand unmoving underneath hers. "As I understand it, our relationship is progressing to a more serious status," he said. "I was only attempting to provide you with all the facts so you may make an informed decision about continuing."

"I know. But you don't have to worry. I'm not going anywhere. Are you?"

He shook his head. "No."

"Do you want children, Data?" 

"Since the passing of Lal, I have not considered attempting again."

Faith knew about Lal. She had seen the painting of Data's daughter some time ago. He explained what had happened and she had offered her remorse already. But she hadn't asked if he wanted to try again as it seemed too personal at the time.

"But it is a possibility," he added.

"Well, I'm not entirely opposed to the idea but how about we cross that bridge when we get to it?"

"That is an Earth saying I am familiar with," he said almost proudly. "I agree. Let us discuss it in the future."

"Good." She slid her hand to cup the back of his neck, bringing him into a deep kiss. 

He responded automatically, lips moving eagerly as his hand squeezed hers. When they parted, they remained with their foreheads touching.

"Last night was the best night of my life," she said in a soft voice.

"It was most intriguing."

"I'm sorry I didn't return the favor."

"There is no need to apologize. I do not have sexual needs."

"It's not about needs, Data. It's about sharing the experience. About wanting to make the other person feel as good as they make you feel."

"I cannot feel. While I do have a sense of touch, I cannot experience pain or pleasure." He paused, considering her words. "However, I did appreciate the closeness we shared last night and the way you looked during our intimate moment. It did make me...curious."

Faith felt a stab of desire deep in her belly. "Oh? Curious about what?"

"I am often curious about experiencing all aspects of human life, including sex."

Grinning, she rose from her chair and slid onto his lap, looping her arms around his neck. "I'm more than happy to help."

"I have compiled a list of sexual acts and positions that will be beneficial for both of us in terms of pleasurable for you and pleasing for me."

Her heart skipped a beat. Stars only knew what was on that list. Data had access to every bit of digital knowledge he could access. Just the thought gave her heart palpitations.

"I'm almost afraid to ask what's on the list," she said.

"It is extensive."

"Well, what's at the top?"

Data stared into her eyes. "Perhaps we should return to your bunk."

Heart hammering in her chest, Faith rose to her feet, taking Data by the hands and pulling him out of the kitchen. 

There was intent in his stare. It was the same calculating look he had when he worked, the one he had last night. She realized it was the look that meant he was giving his entire focus to something. Which for someone with a positronic brain, that was the highest compliment imaginable.

Once they were in the sleeping quarters, he spoke again.

"Last night after your orgasm, I was curious about how you would look pleasuring me. I understand if you do not wish to at this time. I am more than capable of focusing on your pleasure, as you can actually feel it."

Faith felt like he was backtracking, trying to give her a way out. But she didn't need one. "As I said, it's about sharing the experience," she said, sliding her arms around his waist. "If you want me to pleasure you, all you have to do is ask."

She noticed the twitch in Data's throat as he swallowed. It almost seemed like he was nervous.

"Faith, can you pleasure me?"

She kissed him, clinging to his waist in excitement. Data squeezed her hips before his hand cupped her cheek. They remained that way for a few minutes, kissing heatedly. 

Faith slowly slid her hands up his back, searching for the zipper of his uniform. Once she found it, she pulled back to look him in the eye. After a deep breath, she dragged it down. His clothing loosened the further the zipper went. 

Gently, she took the open ends of the fabric and, with his help, peeled it off his chest. His skin was pale and flawless. She admired the plains of his chest, tracing them with her fingertips. 

Data remained still, watching her. She leaned up and kissed him again. There was hesitation in his response which made her pause to check in.

"Are you alright?" she asked. "You're allowed to change your mind too you know."

"I find myself...concerned about what you might think when you see me like this," he admitted. 

"You have nothing to be self-conscious about," she assured him. "I want you. All of you. Just the way you are."

He gave her a small smile before kissing her again. She responded enthusiastically, trying to show him exactly how she felt since words weren't going to do it justice.

Her hands continued their exploration, mapping his bare chest and back before continuing lower. Her hands brushed against the fabric around his waist, making her intentions clear before she pulled it down his hips. 

His uniform crumpled at his feet and Faith drew away from the kiss, searching Data's face to make sure he was alright. When she reached down, her hand met smooth skin before finding rough curls. She had expected him to be wearing underwear but he clearly hadn't felt it was necessary. 

She ran her hand along his length for the first time, her body growing warm at the implications. Data's eyes strayed downwards to watch her. She didn't look at first, too focused on his thoughtful expression.

She wondered what he was thinking at that moment. He seemed to watch her stroke him with rapt attention. His cock wasn't quite hard yet, but after a moment or two of stimulation, it began to swell against her palm. 

Faith looked down. 

Fully functional indeed, she thought, her breath catching in her throat. 

Even half-hard the thickness of him was noticeable. Whoever made him had certainly made a point to endow him well. 

Faith kept stroking Data, watching as he grew harder until his cock was sticking straight out towards her. It was a wonderful sight.

"Is this what you had in mind?" she asked, eyes flickering up to meet his. 

Data was already staring at her. "Yes." 

"What do you think?"

"Intriguingly erotic."

She kissed him deeply, hand still stroking his length as he stepped out of his uniform, leaving him fully naked. Letting go of his cock, she placed her hand on his chest and pushed him back, breaking the kiss so he was forced to sit on the bunk.

Faith sunk on her knees in front of him. 

Data watched with wide eyes, head tilting as he studied her. "You know I will not feel your mouth on me."

"But you can see it," she said, pushing her hair back. She paused. "Unless you don't want me to. I can go back to using my hand."

"No, please continue."

Faith gave him what she hoped was a sultry smile before placing a gentle kiss on the tip of his cock. It didn't twitch or jump when she put her mouth around him. There was no taste to him, not really. She moved up and down on his shaft, closing her eyes and losing herself in the task.

It was a strange experience. She was used to some kind of indication that what she was doing was working. But with Data, none of the usual signs were there. She had to look for other indicators. He didn't moan or make noise. 

However, if she listened carefully, she could hear his breathing pick up. She knew his internal systems were self-cooling. If he was breathing heavier, it meant that he was burning hotter and she hoped that had to do with her mouth.

Suddenly, his long fingers ran through her hair, pushing it long strands back from her face where they had fallen.

She opened her eyes, meeting his as she bobbed her head up and down on his lap. His mouth hung slightly open, almost as if he were stunned by what he saw. She took that as a good sign, closing her eyes once more.

Faith worked him with her mouth and hand, following each upward movement with a stroke before taking him all the way in again. Hesitantly, he thrust his hips upwards to meet her, burying himself halfway down her throat. Her eyes watered as she tried not to gag, forcing herself to swallow around him. That drew an audible reaction out of him but it wasn't the one she wished for.

"Please stop."

Faith immediately pulled away, letting him slip from her mouth. "Are you okay? Was that too much?” she asked breathlessly.

"I want to kiss you."

He pulled her up and onto his lap, immediately sealing his mouth over hers. Faith smiled into the kiss, letting Data take the lead. He seized her hand and closed it around his cock, directing her movements this time.

In the back of her mind, Faith had so many questions about the logistics of his sexual process but she ignored them all in favor of living in the moment. She'd ask another time.

Data's hand was like a vice around hers, forcing her to move faster than she could on her own.

"My orgasm is close."

"Tell me how you wanna finish," she panted against his lips, eyes burning into his.

"Just like this."

Data stared at her when he came. The only change in his expression was a brief closing of his eyes and a rush of air living his mouth. A second later, something warm and sticky coated her hand as his hand left hers, giving her the chance to work him through his orgasm herself.

He came a lot more than she anticipated. It almost seemed endless, or maybe she was so wrapped up in the moment that time trickled to a crawl. She expected his cock to soften once he was finished, but it didn't. Not right away at least. 

Data held her close. "I can now remove three items from my list."

Faith laughed, still breathless. "I'm glad." 

They remained that way for some time, basking in the warmth of the other.

"Shall I pleasure you now?" he asked.

His words drew attention to the throbbing between her own legs. 

"Let me clean up first." She kissed him one more time before sliding off his lap. She looked down at her hand which was still coated in his release. "Would it be rude to ask what this is made of?"

"A modified, water-based lubricant," Data explained, sitting perfectly still. If he wasn't naked, she would never have known anything sexual had happened to him. "Made to simulate ejaculation yet remain safe for my partner."

"Good to know." She considered licking it off for show but lost her nerve. "Be right back."

In the bathroom, she was quick to wash her hands, too eager to get back to Data. Before she left, however, she paused in contemplation, before carefully stripping off her uniform. 

He was sitting in the same place when she emerged, fully naked. His eyes scanned her body rapidly.

"I thought I'd save us some time," she said, slowly moving towards him. 

Data stood as she approached, eyes never leaving her nude body. For the first time in her life, she didn’t want to cover herself. She felt confident and sexy, if not slightly nervous at what he might think. But Data only gave her one of his soft smiles before one arm slid around her waist to pull her flush against him. 

"I believe it is your turn now."

"My turn for wh—ohhhh!"

Before she could finish her sentence, Data pinned her to the nearest wall, kissing her deeply. The sudden action took her breath away, Data stealing the rest with his magnificent mouth. A moment later he dropped to his knees, placing a trail of kisses down her stomach.

"May I use my mouth on you?" he asked, gold eyes meeting hers.

"Stars, yes, please."

He was not tentative in his actions as she had been. Gently spreading her thighs, he buried his face between her legs, lips immediately closing around her clit.

Faith gasped in surprise, hands falling to his head to steady herself. The sudden and intense jolt of pleasure lasted seconds before he withdrew, running his tongue along her aching slit. 

It wasn't perfect by any means but it was pretty damn close. His technique was flawless but he seemed like he was trying to go quickly which didn't give Faith enough time to adjust or enjoy.

"Slowly," she cooed, stroking his hair. "Slow down. I want to feel everything you're doing."

Data obeyed, stroking her leisurely with his tongue, first along her slit then up to circle her clit before trailing back down again. She moaned, moving her hips along with his mouth, losing herself in her bliss. With deft swiftness, he lifted one of her legs over his shoulder, giving him better access.

He closed his lips around her clit again, sucking gently which pulled a string of swears out of Faith. One of his slender fingers slid inside her and she jerked in surprise before melting against the wall that propped her up.

Her body never felt so alive. Everything stroke and flick of his tongue sent flames licking through her veins. Beads of sweat began to form across her brow as she rocked with Data's mouth, silently pleading for more friction. 

"Data," she moaned, eyes closed and head thrown back. "Data, please, more."

A second finger joined his first as his mouth remained closed around her clit, sucking and licking with such precision she was about ready to lose her goddamn mind. 

She wasn't going to last. Everything was too perfect, too intense, too good for her to try to draw it out. She didn't even get to warn him. Her orgasm came fast and out of nowhere, pulled from her by Data's talented mouth and exquisite fingers.

Her body froze in place, back arched as she moaned loudly, before slumping against the wall when the waves of pleasure subsided. If his grip wasn’t so strong, she probably would have slumped onto the floor. 

Data continued as though nothing happened until Faith haphazardly patted his head. "S-Stop...I'm good. You're good…"

He withdrew, lips glistening from her slick. She watched as his tongue darted out to lick it away.

"What I would not give to be able to taste you," he lamented.

Boneless and thoroughly blissed-out, Faith's sweaty leg slipped from his shoulder. Data stood, swooping in for a kiss which she breathlessly granted. She could taste herself on him. Deep in her chest, a primal sense of ownership took hold. He was hers now, just as she was undoubtedly his.

Their blissful moment was rudely interrupted by the shuttle suddenly jerking, throwing them off their balance.

Fear replaced calm as both rushed to the cockpit to see what had happened. They had barely sat in their seats before it happened again, more violent than before. 

"What's going on?" Faith asked, wildly trying to find the source of the problem.

"I do not know," Data said. "All systems are operational. There are no malfunctions. Senors do not detect any disturbances."

The next time the shuttle jerked, they had to hold onto the consoles to keep from being knocked from their seats. 

"We are being dragged towards the nearest planet," Faith realized when she managed to get the map up. "Something is pulling us in."

"Engaging thrusters to maximum power," Data said, hands moving so fast they looked like two blurs to Faith. "The pull strong. Contact the Enterprise."

Faith was way ahead of him. She pressed the subspace communicator. "Enterprise, this is Lieutenant Diaz in shuttlecraft three! We are being pulled towards the fourth planet in the system! Do you copy?!"

"Diaz...this...Riker...what...on?"

Whatever had them was breaking up the transmission signal. Faith did her best to try to compensate. The shuttle shook violently as it was suddenly caught in the planet's atmosphere.

"Thrusters are failing," Data announced. "We cannot break free."

"Riker, we're caught!" Faith said, praying that the message got through. "We're going down!"

The shuttle suddenly lost power. Everything seemed to happen at once. They were pulled down towards the planet, thrown about by the shock and change in gravity. 

Faith flew out of her seat and onto the floor with a yell. The world spun as the shuttle did and as Faith felt herself being thrown about, she yelled for Data.

Suddenly, his solid body was around hers, pinning her to the floor in an attempt to keep her from bouncing around. With his strength, he held onto the base of the pilot seat, keeping them in place.

The shuttle hit the ground hard, bouncing several times before skidding to a stop.

Faith was shaken but unharmed. She clung to Data the entire time, only loosening her grip when the world finally grew still.

"Faith? Faith! Are you injured?" Data asked.

She pulled back to look at him, gasping when she saw the circuits on his forehead exposed. "Data, your head!"

"I am fine," he assured her. "Are you?"

She nodded, still shaking with fear and adrenaline. "I think so." She reached up to smooth his skin back over his wound where it began to seal itself. "What the hell happened?"

"I do not know." Data got to his feet, helping her to do the same. 

The shuttle was dark, say for the weak sunlight that hit the windshield. Not even the emergency lights were on which meant there was literally no power in the shuttle.

Faith's chest felt tight and she tried to take deep breaths to avoid panicking. "What do we do now?"

"Stay here. I will access the emergency supplies."

Data left her embrace to traverse the wrecked shuttle. Faith remained where she was, arms wrapped tightly around her still naked frame. It was getting harder and harder to breathe. Each slow breath only seemed to make it worse.

Faith suddenly realized it might not only be anxiety.

"Data," she gasped in a panic. "Data!"

He was back at her side in an instant, his hand clutching hers. "I am here. You are safe now."

She shook her head, gasping for breath. "Can't...breathe."

Her legs gave out and Data caught her before she fell. "Faith, remember your techniques," he urged. "Slow breaths in and out."

"Not...anxiety…" she gasped. "Oxygen…"

The world spun and her lungs shriveled as the lack of breathable air made her struggle. The last thing she heard before she lost consciousness was Data yelling her name.

[consulting-celiac-in-the-tardis]

Clumpy Cantaloupe Coconut Granola (Gluten Free, Vegan, Oil Free)

New blog post! Anyone who’s followed this blog for a while knows that I am a homemade granola addict. I make a big batch every week, and I love experimenting with new flavor combinations...so, in honor of summer and all the cantaloupe on sale, I thought it was only right to make a secretly healthy cantaloupe coconut granola recipe.

This vegan granola was actually inspired by the tons of cantaloupe seeds and pulp I had leftover when cutting a fresh cantaloupe. I was feeling a little too lazy to clean the seeds entirely and roast them, but throwing away completely safe seeds and pulp didn’t feel right either. Gluten free granola to the rescue!

This granola is naturally sweetened with cantaloupe pulp and puréed banana, and the cantaloupe seeds actually offer various health benefits. Not only are they high in protein (with researchers hypothesizing that cantaloupe seed milk could rival soy milk in protein!), but they’re also full of fiber, Vitamin A and Vitamin C. Combined with goodies like buckwheat groats, sunflower and pumpkin seeds, coconut flakes and cinnamon, this vegan granola recipe tastes sweet enough to enjoy as dessert but is healthy enough to eat for breakfast or as a gluten free snack. 

Plus, who doesn’t love a crunchy granola with chewy nuggets of shredded dates and cantaloupe pulp? Vanilla extract also seems to make the cantaloupe taste extra sweet while the coconut flakes add an additional layer of “tropical” summer flavor. Warning: once you taste this coconut granola, it’ll be hard to stop chowing down!

If you’re ready to turn food waste into a fabulous gluten free breakfast, start by gathering the ingredients below. This will make roughly three trays of thinly packed granola, which usually lasts me around a week. 

Ingredients for Cantaloupe Coconut Granola:

1 cup buckwheat groats 1 cup rice flakes (or gluten free oats, quinoa flakes, buckwheat flakes, etc) 2.5 cups crumbled rice cakes or puffed rice cereal 3/4 cup coconut flakes 3/4 cup mixes pumpkin and sunflower seeds 1.5 tbsp of cinnamon 3 dates 1 cup cantaloupe seeds and pulp (from two large and one small cantaloupe) 1/4 cup banana purée (or puréed cantaloupe) Splash of vanilla extract 

Little water to wet final mix

How to Make Homemade Granola:

Whipping up this vegan granola is super simple. Start by preheating your oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit and pouring your dry ingredients (the buckwheat groats, rice flakes, crumbled rice cakes, seeds, coconut flakes and spices) into a large bowl. Mix thoroughly before adding your wet ingredients. 

I’d recommend chopping up some of the cantaloupe pulp with a knife before adding it in so that the fruit is spread equally throughout. If you want big chunks, though, you do you! You can also either chop the date or pull them apart with your fingers. The main goal is to add some caramelized chewy goodness throughout your vegan granola.

Once you’ve added everything and mixed your gluten free granola throughly, you might add one or two tablespoons of water to the mix. You want the uncooked granola to be damp but not dripping wet. I’ve found that a little bit of water binds everything just as effectively as oil, and you can still get crunchy, crispy granola even while making it oil free. 

When your gluten free granola is binding together relatively well and everything is incorporated equally, you can spread it on three (parchment-covered) baking sheets. When I used to make granola right on the baking trays, I often had to deal with it sticking to the pan, so I do highly recommend lining your baking trays for this granola recipe. 

If you want crispy clusters of granola like I show in these recipe photos, you’ll also want to line your trays with a thin layer of granola and press them firmly into the pan. If you’d like a looser, more trail-mix-like texture, feel free to just gently place the granola on the trays instead. 

Then, pop your granola in the oven and cook for around 25 minutes, turning the trays halfway. If you want a looser consistency, also stir the granola halfway through so that you break up any big clusters. For cluster-lovers like me, don’t stir your granola while it bakes for the best results!

You’ll know the granola is ready when it’s golden and crispy to the touch. For the ultimate clusters, let this cantaloupe coconut granola cool completely before breaking it apart and storing it in a sealed bag or container. If it’s hot where you are (hello summer!), I recommend storing the granola in your fridge as the high amount of liquid from the fruits can make it go bad quickly in high temperatures.  I can also happily report that ALL of my homemade granola recipes - ranging from my Secretly Healthy Coconut Pumpkin Granola to my Cacao Crunch Granola - can be frozen in a sealed container and defrosted in the fridge later. They’ll taste a little softer than they were originally, but just as delicious, so if you can’t make it through this big batch in a little over a week, you can always freeze some for future gluten free snacking. 

Enjoy Your Gluten Free Granola!

Just like my other gluten free granolas, there are also plenty of ways to enjoy this cantaloupe granola. Sprinkle it on smoothie bowls, yogurt parfaits or ice cream. Eat it with fruit and nut butter for a quick gluten free snack. Treat it like cereal and pour it in a bowl with milk. Or, like I often find myself doing, snack on this vegan granola straight out of the bag! 

Although I’m addicted to my Berry Coconut Granola during berry season (AKA, now!), this cantaloupe granola is honestly one of my favorite granola recipes because of how it uses up ingredients that are often thrown away. I love coming up with unique ways to transform random ingredients like lettuce stalks, radish greens, and, in this case, cantaloupe seeds from trash to delicious dishes. This summer, I challenge you to do the same, whether it’s by throwing wilted lettuce into your green smoothies or whipping up this cantaloupe coconut granola. 

And trust me. Once you bite into this sweet, crunchy, chewy granola, you’ll never throw away cantaloupe seeds and pulp again! 

What’s your favorite way to get creative with often discarded ingredients? What is your favorite summer fruit? Tell me in the comments! 

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[josai]

Merry Christmas and happy holidays to @its-love-u-asshole! I’m your Secret Santa for the @haikyuuwriters Secret Santa Exchange. I hope you like what I wrote for you - I loved all of your prompts, but ‘study date’ just popped out to me!

“Hajime,” Tooru says, “I just can’t do this anymore. I feel like my head is gonna explode if I try and shove any more of this into it.” He slides off his glasses to set them down on a free space on the table and drops his head down onto the history textbook they’re trying to work through, letting out a big sigh.

He really hates Japanese history.

But he hates even more that with finals right around the corner and all of their classes getting more intense and giving ridiculous amounts of homework, he barely has any time to see Hajime.

A study date seemed like the only way they’d actually get to spend some time together longer than the fifteen minutes they put away their books and phones for lunch time, and the half an hour they usually talk on the phone before bed.

The only problem with that plan is that now they have to study.

Tooru groans as he lifts his head up off the book, looking across the table at Hajime who is smiling at him.

“I’m glad my pain amuses you,” Tooru teases. He makes a pout, which earns him a nudge under the table with Hajime’s foot. Maybe he’s trying some tough love, but it’s far too soft to be anything but tender.

“You’re doing great,” Hajime says with that soft smile of his. Damn it. No, Tooru’s not blushing. “We got through almost all of the exam review for Japanese history. How about we switch to something else?”

Tooru makes a face.

“Okay,” Hajime laughs, “we can also move to the couch, if you want? Everyone else is upstairs asleep.”

Now that sounds a lot more appealing.

Tooru smiles and nods, pushing back his chair so that he can stand up. His legs feel a little wobbly and weak from too many hours sitting at this damn table.

“Stretch first,” Tooru insists. Hajime must be just as stiff as he grumbles while stretching out his back, stretching his arms high into the air. Tooru finishes first, after stretching out his calves, and walks over to Hajime so that he can poke his side when his sweater (the sweater Tooru got him as a gift, by the way, which was not just a gift for Hajime) rides up just enough to expose a bit of skin. “I’ll make something to drink. You want some tea or hot chocolate?”

Hajime laughs when Tooru tickles him, quickly batting away his hand and pulling back down his sweater. “Tea. You have milk?”

“Sure do,” Tooru says and nods. He heads into the kitchen to rummage around in the fridge until he finds the carton. “You want it heated up?”

“I can do it,” Hajime says, but Tooru shakes his head and pushes him out of the kitchen.

“I got it. You pick what we’re doing next! Grab whatever books we’ll need, okay?” Tooru suggests, turning back to the stove to put on the kettle. He listens to Hajime unzipping his backpack and pouring through his books while he picks out tea for them to drink-

Earl gray. Perfect. Hajime’s favourite.

It’s just the two of them awake - Tooru’s older brother went to bed hours ago, and with his parents out of town and unable to send them to bed, they’ve stayed up later than usual to study.

What time is it anyway? Tooru squints at the clock, since his glasses are still back on the table-

12:16. Yikes.

Well, at least they don’t have school tomorrow morning, as it’s their last weekend before their exams.

“How about some French?” Hajime suggests from the living room.

Tooru sighs. His French is… not great. “Okay,” he calls back nervously. He knows that he needs to practice it, but he’s a bit afraid it’ll all be for nothing.

“The exam is just oral, so we can just practice what we learned in class,” Hajime says. “Wanna try talking to each other in French?”

“Go easy on me, okay?” Tooru says, peeking out from the kitchen nervously. Hajime laughs, nodding.

“Oui,” Hajime answers, and Tooru knows that one. Yes. Okay. An easy start.

“D’accord,” Tooru says, remembering that there’s more than one way to say okay and hoping he’s picked the right one.

“Comment ça vas?” Hajime asks. He really is starting out easily - Tooru remembers their teacher asking them every day in class how they were doing.

“Bien,” Tooru answers. Surprisingly he is doing well. He’s not as tired as he’d expected to feel after spending a solid five hours studying, and the thought of having a warm cup of tea and cuddling up to Hajime is very energizing. “Ça vas?” he asks, repeating the question back to Hajime.

“Oui,” he answers and laughs. Conversation comes surprisingly easily here - they flow through a few of the practice phrases their teacher had given them to study for their oral exam. Tooru finds some fruit in the fridge and busies himself cutting it up for a bit of a study snack. He’s glad he remembered to pick up some peaches on his way home from school. They’re laughing and joking around, when Hajime’s voice calls from the other room.

“Tooru, je t’aime.” Hajime says.

Tooru pauses as he drops the peaches on a plate. “Hajime!” He cries, “that wasn’t on our exam review! What does that mean? I don’t remember-”

The kettle starts to whistle and interrupts his train of thought completely. He curses under his breath in surprise, plucking it up and moving it off the hot element so that it quiets down.

“Sorry,” Tooru calls, back in Japanese, “quick break while I finish this up?”

“N-no problem,” is Hajime’s hasty reply, followed by a “do you need help?”

“No,” Tooru responds. He pours the hot water into the teapot which he’s already prepared with some tea bags. While that steeps, Tooru pours some milk into his frother and turns it on, the quiet familiar hum filling his otherwise quiet kitchen. Hajime’s gone quiet in the living room, so Tooru figures he’s probably bored waiting for him and has moved on to scrolling through Twitter on his phone. So he finishes up quietly, pours two cups of tea and splits the milk evenly between the two.

Tooru returns to the living room with the two mugs, balancing them on a tray alongside the plate of cut-up fruit. Hajime looks up when he enters with a smile, putting his phone away.

“Peaches?” Hajime grins when Tooru puts down the tray. “You’re the best.”

“I know,” Tooru grins proudly, sitting down on the couch next to Hajime. He hands Hajime one of the mugs, taking one up for himself. “I figured we needed a bit of study fuel.”

Hajime nods in agreement, picking up a few pieces and popping them in his mouth. “Definitely.” He makes a very contented noise as he tastes it - Hajime loves peaches, but with his mom’s allergy, it’s not something they ever have at home.

Tooru takes a nice sip of his tea and leans back against the back of the couch to get comfy. “Want me to do some reading now?” He asks, “I can read some passages from that book we read to see what we remember.”

Hajime nods. He wastes no time in cuddling up to Tooru’s side, resting back against him and letting Tooru’s arm fall across his shoulders. “Parfait,” he answers, sipping on his tea.

It really is perfect, Tooru feels, as he squeezes Hajime in a hug. He shifts a little until he’s comfortable, and pulls out his book after taking a nice sip of tea.

“Okay, let’s see…” Tooru hums as he picks out one of the pages highlighted by their teacher and begins to read.

Hajime finishes his tea, and leaves the mug on the table. Tooru reads two pages, and then three - the peaches all but disappear, and Hajime pulls a throw across their bodies.

Tooru’s French definitely isn’t the most fluid or proper thing in the world, but he powers through. Hajime only has to correct him a couple of times, too, and soon enough Tooru makes his way through their most important chapter, pausing at the end.

“Okay, where do you think we should go next?” He asks, running his fingers through Hajime’s hair.

Hajime doesn't answer.

“Hajime?” Tooru whispers, brushing the side of Hajime’s face with his thumb. “Babe?”

Still no answer. Tooru shifts the slightest bit and moves just enough to see Hajime’s face-

And he’s asleep.

His hair is a bit mussed from how he’s leaned up against Tooru, but he looks so calm and relaxed in a special, vulnerable way. He’s cuddled up under the blankets, and the rise and fall of his chest is so steady and gentle. When Tooru shifts, he snuggles in closer, burying his face against Tooru’s chest.

Tooru should wake him up.

They’ve got a few more chapters to get through before they’re done, and they should really finish it tonight instead of letting it wait until tomorrow, but-

He looks so... cute.

Relaxed.

...Soft.

Hajime doesn’t relax like this nearly enough, and Tooru can’t bring himself to wake him up.

Instead, he pulls the blanket a little bit further over the both of them and snuggles in. He’s about to pick up his book and do a bit more reading before he falls asleep before he remembers what happened earlier.

“What was that thing Hajime said to me?” Tooru mumbles, thinking out loud. He still doesn’t know what Hajime had said, and if Hajime knows it there’s a chance it could be on the exam-

Je t’aime?

Was that it?

Tooru wiggles his phone from his pocket, pulling up the internet so that he can translate the word. He isn’t quite sure how it’s spelled, but does his best to sound it out and type it into Google translate. He knows Je, which means I, but that other word-

His browser refreshes and Tooru’s heart stops.

Oh my god.

A blush sweeps across his face and he reflexively covers his mouth with a hand as he reads the translation.

I love you.

He looks over at Hajime, who is sleeping soundly against him.

Hajime loves him.

He can’t hold back the smile that blooms across his face, lighting him up and filling his body with an indescribable warmth.

He drops his book on the floor, leaving it forgotten, and snuggles up to Hajime’s side.

His whisper is low and quiet, but filled with all the love in his heart, “I love you too.”

[homular]

Create the Kitchen Design of Your Dreams

We've had so many requests for a kitchen tour and that's exactly what we're gonna do today. We're gonna go through everything and this really is our dream kitchen. Enjoy.  When we designed our house we really wanted an open concept. So it goes from the kitchen to the dining room and on into the living room. Everything just flows together which is really great for entertaining and lighting was really important to us because our first house was really dark so we wanted to have huge windows with great daylight and tons of lights in the kitchen. You can never have too many light bulbs in the kitchen 'cause a bright space is a happy place . Alright, let's take a look at our island. And as you can see it is huge . I think it's like 10 feet by five feet. Massive and it takes up a huge footprint in the house so we wanted to make sure that it was super useful. We made good use of every bit of this island.

So on this back side where I would normally have bar stool and let me know if you have some recommendations 'cause it is so hard to find bar stools. So we've got cabinets on this side all along this side starting from here and we've got, we keep our camera gear and things like that in here. Once I get bar stools I'll probably have some art supplies for this kids in here. So cabinets all along this side and then we have camera gear in here along with some of our photography surfaces and all kinds of stuff.

And then another cabinet here where we keep tripods and such. And then everything is soft close which is amazing. It makes for a quiet kitchen. I love that. let's get to the fun part of the island. When we organized the kitchen we thought about how we would be using it. So, we made sure to put in drawers everywhere we could so that you don't have to open cabinets and then dive into your cabinets to find something. Drawers are so much more useful. So, down here at the bottom, we have our casserole dishes and bake ware. Things we don't use quite as often. Then in the next drawer we have, some more bake ware. We've got our salad spinner, salad bowls, food chopper, just minor tools. And then in the top drawer here we have our tools that are useful but we don't use quite as often. So mostly bake ware type things. This is where we keep things like our Thermapen. This is really handy for meats. And then our jar opener, safety gloves.

 You can see those have gotten a lot of good use, and this little doodad that the kids love, so they're always look-in' for that one. Rolling pins and then just general bake ware type things. And I do love this rolling pin though. I can't tell you but, it's my favorite. And this top drawer has my most used tools. So these go to favorites that get used over and over and it's really nice to have these when we're filming or if I need to have something to get to the stove. These are my all time favorites. I've got tons of measuring cups, measuring spoons, and these ones are the best. They're magnetic so they stay together really well. And then we have our fruit scoops. We use this for mango, this one for avocado or kiwi. More fruit scoops and our lemon squeezer. This one's our favorite brand so far. Homular was two different ones and this one is still goin' strong so, that is good. And then we've got our cookie scoops and ice cream scoop. I love these trigger release ones. We use them for everything. And then all of our spatulas and tongs, ladles, more spatulas, the cheese grater gets a lotta use. And of course, a digital kitchen scale. And I'll leave links to all of these things in the notes. And then the next drawer down, we have pots, pans, skillets, sauce pans . Lots of them. And then also in the following drawers more pots and pans and skillets because you can never have too many.

And my very favorite part of the island because I work right here, I do all of my prep here, we film here, I love having this prep sink. It is amazingly useful. I can drain my pasta coming off the stove, I can fill up anything . And then having this water filter on the sink is awesome because it's so much more handy to fill up a coffee pot right here then from a refrigerator. And it's filtered water. The kids love it too. And of course it has the disposal button. So I can just sweep off my mess and dispose of it . Okay, and there is a garbage can right here. So if you've ever wondered where I just sweep my garbage it's not going on the floor. It's going into the garbage can. Here it is. Garbage and recycling. So handy. And then we also have a paper towel dispenser right here. Right where I'm working. It's awesome. And then under the sink we've got stuff, you know. Sink stuff. Nothing terribly exciting. Little step stool for my little one who loves to help me in the kitchen. Hopefully we'll never have to use it. And then up on top we've got our medicine cabinet over here and that's the one that didn't get tidied up. So we're not opening it . And then over here we have our big ol' honkin' bottles of spices because with these you really want the big ol' honkin' bottles . Very well used. Okay, and then we're still moving in. There's not, there's a lot of cabinets and we're not used to this many cabinets so it's gonna take us awhile to fill them up. Okay and then over here, I love this drawer right next to the stove. This is, oh I love having my spices in a drawer and these racks. They are so handy. It's nice to see all of your spices. Easy to find. Makes cooking so much nicer. As you can tell, I'm a spice hoarder.

Here we have bake ware. Cupcake, bake pans, pie pans. All that jazz. And then, whoa. That's empty . Work in progress and then we have cabinets built in on both sides of the stove which we use for cutting boards, drying racks, hot pads. All that good stuff. We've got our huge cutting boards in this one and plastic wrap, foil, things that are used all the time. And now  the moment we've been waiting for. I wanna talk to you guys about my range. It is a beast. It is a fabulous beast .  I love it. Is a Thermador and it's a 48 inch. Huge. It has six burners and a griddle which I've never had a griddle before but it's just so good. It's like a giant skillet that fits all of the things. And then each burner is super strong and I love that they're spaced out so you can fit, you can fit six huge pots on this stove and they're not crowding each other. That is the best and then this little panel light is so cool. It's just, I turn it on just so I can look at it and enjoy it . Okay, I'm gonna try to calm down. And this gigantor oven down here fits any size baking sheet and multiple baking sheets next to each other. And I also love that the racks come out like this so that you can pull out the rack and then lift up your casserole dish so you're not diving into the hot oven for it.  and then it also has this little oven here on the side for smaller things like chicken nuggets. 'Cause I'm a mom that makes chicken nuggets . I know you're judging me, it's fine. I don't care and then the hood above the range is just a dream. It sucks up everything. Like sometimes I feel like it's gonna suck me in there because it's so strong and we actually had to create a vent that pulls air from the outside because the suction is just so strong. Like, I'm not even kidding. It is fabulous and it's not loud either.

That's full strength and it's like, you can feel it. It's good. It has great lighting. I just love this thing. Okay and then also this is something that I have always dreamed of having 'cause it looks cool and it's actually really useful. So this is a pot filler. So when you've to a big heavy pot, like these cast iron ones that I love so much, you can just fill them right on the stove.  I get excited about these things. moving on. To the left of the stove we have some more really useful things. We've got the salt, the pepper, oils, vinegars, vanilla extract.

Things that we use all the time. And then over here we keep our Tupperware, measuring cups and our breakfast bar. So this is our homemade granola and I have a recipe for it on my blog. It is so good and we always stock it at home because we love yogurt parfaits in the morning. One of our favorite breakfasts. Kind of a hodgepodge but, we know where stuff it . And then down here is the practical life stuff. We have our silverware. Easy to grab, easy to reach for the kids. And then we keep all of our dishes in here because the kids can easily put it in here. Our son unloads the dishwasher for us and these plates, I mean they are inexpensive. The Corelle ones but I just love them. They are so handy. They're lightweight. They don't seem to break and I don't know why I'm obsessed with them . And then down here we have all of our mixin' bowls. Our stainless steel ones and then this set because each one is a bowl and a colander so you can strain things or use it as a mixing bowl and we'll have these in our shop too. Super handy and then of course, our collection of glass bowls.

And tucked back in here across from the pantry we have an extension of the kitchen called the butlers pantry. I don't know why. We don't have a butler . But this is where I keep all of my photography props in the cabinets above and below and where we keep all of our small appliances. So tons of outlets on this wall. Also on this wall we have a second oven and this is so handy during the holidays or if you're a food blogger and you do a lot of test baking. So, very useful. And we have a built in microwave right on top of that. We don't use this as often but it has it's place. And then cabinets up here, just random house stuff and we keep our more small appliances down here.

We've got the instant pot, slow cooker, hand mixer and such. Then over here we have our baking sheets conveniently located next to the oven and then we also have some silicone liners for those baking sheets. And now we move on to the sink. My second favorite thing about this kitchen. We went with a farmhouse sink because it was dreamy  and I love these racks inside because they protect the sink and if you're drying something like a big pot it's not sitting on the bottom. They're really convenient. Highly recommend. And then we have the  motion sensor faucet which is, I have a love, hate relationship because like, sometimes I reach over and I'm like That happens a lot. Shoot  anyways we designed this with function in mind. So this is super functional. We have another set of garbage cans right over here. Garbage and recycling bin which is so handy and functional.  so, imagine this. I've got my dirty dish, I scrape it off in here, I rinse it or wash it in the sink and then I put it in the dishwasher which is currently packed with dirty dishes. We're not gonna open that. And then we have our glasses in this cabinet.

[weightlossfitness2]

Peanut Butter Granola (Refined Sugar Free + Gluten Free +Vegan) – Live Better with Kat Detter

Happy New  Years Eve, babes!

I hope you all had a beautiful vacation season and are prepared for the brand new 12 months. To be trustworthy, I all the time battle with the brand new 12 months…my favourite time of the 12 months is over, January is my least favourite month…BUT it’s all about mind-set–and this 12 months, I’m specializing in what’s GOOD, and I encourage you all to do the identical. 🙂

If certainly one of your objectives this 12 months is to make extra meals from scratch, meal prep/plan, or simply cook dinner extra at house, this peanut butter granola recipe NEEDS to be in your listing. I do know I’ve shared plenty of granola recipes on right here, however belief me. This one is the very best but!

Lots of retailer purchased granola’s might be excessive in fats and sugar. This recipe makes use of 1 tablespoon of coconut oil to assist bind the components to make , chunky granola (they’re my fave!). Other fats sources are present in pure peanut butter–a coronary heart wholesome fats to maintain your hormones comfortable and your physique fueled for the day. Instead of conventional granulated sugar, I take advantage of maple syrup and monk fruit sweetener. The maple syrup additionally provides a binding agent to the granola guaranteeing we get these chunks we would like!

Why Monk Fruit Sweetener? Have you ever heard of monk fruit? Since the Keto Diet emerged, monk fruit sweetener has been “on trend” as a result of analysis exhibits it doesn’t spike blood sugar like desk sugar, making it various sweetener for these with diabetes, PCOS, or different power illnesses. According to Michigan State University, monk fruit sweetener is derived from a southeast Asian fruit referred to as “luo han gu” and is chemically processed (normally mixed with eryitritol) to kind a calorie free sugar various. Like stevia, monk fruit sweetener is rather a lot sweeter than common cane sugar, so you should use much less in a recipe (though most packaging firms state monk fruit has a 1:1 ratio with desk sugar).

**Disclaimer: While I do like utilizing naturally derived sweeteners (like maple syrup, honey, stevia, sugar alcohols, monk fruit, and so on) as a result of I can use much less in a recipe in comparison with desk sugar, I additionally consider that each one meals can match right into a wholesome life-style when not utilized in extra. I’d not suggest somebody use any of those options in extra however to focus extra on entire, pure, plant based mostly meals.

Now onto the recipe!  This peanut butter granola recipe is akin to my favourite retailer purchased model, however I like making granola from scratch as a result of it’s economical, simple, and minimal components.

A couple of ideas to remember:

If you should not have monk fruit sweetener, no worry! Use 1/Three-1/2 cup of maple syrup (as a substitute of 1/four cup) to present the granola the sweetness + binding issue for the chunky granola

Feel free to make use of any oil you could have readily available–I like utilizing coconut or avocado oil (excessive smoke level to lower manufacturing of free radicals).

To make granola chunky: Pack the granola right into a rectangle about 1/four inch thick on parchment paper lined sheet pan. If the granola isn’t packing nicely, you might want so as to add extra maple syrup or coconut oil. Bake at 325 F for 20-25 minutes, take out of oven and permit to chill utterly. This is a vital step to make the granola chunks.

Additional add ins: Once granola is cooled, you might add any toppings you want! Some concepts:

darkish chocolate chips

raisins (or any dried fruit)

chia seeds

nuts (cashews, peanuts, almonds, and so on)

 freeze dried fruit (like strawberries or apples)

To make an entire & balanced meal, add granola to protein smoothie bowls, Greek yogurt parfaits, or protein oats.

Peanut Butter Granola

Ingredients: 2 cups Old Fashioned Oats 2 teaspoons cinnamon 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1 Tablespoon of coconut oil 1/Three cup pure peanut butter 1/four cup monk fruit sweetener 1/four cup Maple Syrup (or 1/Three-1/2 cup of not utilizing monk  fruit)

Directions: 1. Preheat oven to 325 F. 2. In a medium sized mixing bowl, add oats. Set apart. Three. In a separate mixing bowl, add cinnamon, vanilla extract, coconut oil, peanut butter, monk fruit, and maple syrup. Microwave for 30-45 seconds till clean–OR warmth over range high. four. Pour peanut butter combination over oats and coat nicely. 5. Pour granola combination onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet. For chunks, press granola right into a rectangle, 1/four inch thick. 6. Bake at 325 F for 20-25 minutes or till golden brown. 7. Allow granola to chill utterly (1 hour). eight. Break granola into chunks and retailer in air tight container. 9. Enjoy!

    Sources:

https://www.canr.msu.edu/information/sweetener-stevia-monk-fruit-sweeteners

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Published by Katrina Detter, RD, LDN

Greetings, y’all! My identify is Katrina, and I’m a registered dietitian who loves all the things well being and wellness associated. My mission is to assist encourage YOU to reside a greater life bodily, mentally, and spiritually. Check out my weblog web site! View all posts by Katrina Detter, RD, LDN

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[thespecialrelationship-phff]

Chapter 12

AN: Happy Friday! Blanket disclaimer for the rest of the chapters that there could be mature content (not saying this one has some) but just keep that in mind. Thank you for all the amazing feedback from the last chapter! You guys rock. -M

FLOTUS POV

I’m sitting at the breakfast bar as the sun rises. I couldn’t sleep last night, at least not well. Every time I closed my eyes the events of last night just kept replaying: our conversation, his laughs, the kiss.

Oh god, the kiss. My stomach flips at the thought.

Unable to sleep I woke up, worked out and and got dressed. When Anna makes her first appearance I’m picking at a fruit parfait. She falters when she sees me, something that only would happen before her first cup of coffee. Usually she’s on her second pot by the time I’m up to have my first cup.

“Good morning Kennedy.” She walks over to the coffee pot. “You’re up early.”

“I know.”

She stares at me warily, “And you’re dressed.”

“I know.” I smooth my hand over the starched material. The light yellow fabric is covered with wildflowers, green, pink, blue. It’s one of my favorite dresses.

“Coffee?”

I shake my head, “Not right now.”

Anna looks at me with wide eyes, “Why don’t we go sit on the couches?”

I let Anna slowly walk me over to the collection of couches. I sink into the soft cushion, conscious to not wrinkle my dress. My eyes drift out towards the windows, the sun makes the surface of the lagoon sparkle with the first boats of the day beginning to make the journey across the water. Anna holds a mug of coffee under my nose. Routinely I grab the cup.

We both sit quietly for a moment, the two of us sipping on our beverages.

“So, how was last night?”

“Last night?” I ask innocently then drink again. “It was fine.”

“Just fine?”

“Really, it was fine.” I insist. I know that I could tell Anna anything and everything but not right now. I don’t need to overthink this, it was just one kiss. Well two kisses, but they were so short.

“Okay.” She stands. “I’m going to look through my press packet for this morning, right over here. If you want to talk…”

“Okay.” I interrupt, then continue to sip on my coffee. Slowly I can start to feel myself wake up and with it more and more conscious thoughts from last night. I can hear Anna typing away just a few feet from me, but vivid thoughts from last night still overcome me.

I jump when my phone beeps. Café downstairs in an hour.

So we’re definitely still having coffee. I’m dreading the moment when I have to tell Anna and my secret service that we’re meeting Harry for breakfast. I’m about to call out to Anna when I hear her curse.

“What?” I ask.

Anna walks back over to the couches, her iPad in hand. She sits across from me and reads, “Prince Harry looked at @FLOTUS all night, whispering, giggling. Definitely a romance happening there.”

“What’s that from?”

“A tweet, complete with a picture of you and Harry in a monorail, you in his arms.” Anna shows me the IPad.

I look at the photo, knowing the precise moment it was taken. Then I glance down at the retweets and favorites. This picture is going to be all over the place.

Anna wrenches the IPad back. “Then there’s this one: ‘Spotted Harry & FLOTUS last night, all over each other.’ And that user attaches a photo of the two of you in the lobby, embracing.”

I bite my lip, rumors are one thing, but pictures are always worse. And those pictures tell one specific type of narrative. I’m not struck with the usual dread. No, this morning I’m looking at the way Harry’s looking at me in those pictures. And I want to kiss him again.

“You’re not angry.” Anna says flatly. She puts the device down. “What the hell happened last night?”

“He organized a private monorail ride.” I say, hopefully keeping a straight face.

“How private?”

“Completely, no officers or anything.”

“Wow.” Anna leans back. She purses her lips.

“What?”

“Honestly that sounds kind of boring.”

I throw a pillow at her. “We talked.”

“Those pictures don’t look like two people who were just ‘talking’ for an hour.” She glares at me, not falling for any of my bullshit. “What else happened?”

I can feel myself blushing.

Anna’s eyes go wide. “Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god.” She stands, speaking purposefully. “You had sex with Prince Harry.”

“No!” I stand too, holding out my hand to stop her. “We didn’t sleep together.”

“Oh.” She sounds disappointed.

“We kissed though.”

“Really?” I nod. She screams. “Oh my god you kissed Prince Harry!”

Her excitement is infectious. “I kissed Harry. Oh my god. Holy shit, holy fucking shit I kissed Harry.” I collapse back onto the couch. “Shit. I’m in trouble.”

“Probably.” She pauses, then adds thoughtfully. “I would imagine he’s a decent kisser.”

“It wasn’t that long of a kiss.”

“Then kiss him again.”

“May I remind you that as my Chief-of-Staff you should be discouraging me from this.”

“Where is it in my job description that I have to tell you not to hook up with attractive, wealthy gingers?”

“When the man in question happens to be a prince, I think it applies.” I sigh. “The West Wing isn’t going to like this.”

“No, they won’t. I can handle them though and the public, that actually is my job.” She begins typing on her phone. “You’re going to meet him right now, aren’t you?”

I nod. No point in lying. My whereabouts are rarely kept hidden, especially from her.

“Promise me you’ll think about what you want from this, then conduct yourself in public accordingly.”

“Fair enough.” Now just to decide what I actually want from here.

I make my way down to the café without incident, struck by a massive sense of déjà vu. It was only a few days ago that I was meeting Harry in another restaurant in the same hotel.

Unfortunately, the walk hasn’t enlightened me any. I don’t know how I feel about the kiss beyond the bundle of nerves twisting in my stomach. From excitement? From dread? I wish I had a fucking user manual sometime.

Fortunately, when I arrive at the delicate Victorian themed café Harry isn’t there. I have a few more precious moments to think.

The dumbfounded waiter leads me to a table near the windows scattered around are a few other couples. It makes sense I suppose this environment doesn’t really scream family friendly.

I order a coffee and water while I wait. Thinking, trying to decide what to do. I was tipsy last night when we kissed and revealed too much to be sure. However, I’m not sure if I’m to the point where I regret anything.

I sigh. Then get angry. It was one f-ing kiss, a good kiss, but not something to be worried about. I’ve been kissed plenty of times before. I’ve been kissed more thoroughly before. I’ve been kissed by more attractive men. I’ve been kissed by more interest-

I frown. That must be the problem. I’m just intrigued. Which means the best course is to just play it cool. A fling.

A fling with a prince. A fling with a prince and the daughter of the leader of the free world…no big deal.

“Kennedy?” His voice breaks me out of my reverie. I glance up then flinch. He’s much closer than I expected. “You looked like you were in your own little world.”

I chuckle lightly, yeah something like that.

I stand and get a better look at him this morning. His eyes are soft today, maybe still hazy with sleep. Of course he’s wearing one of his Invictus polos and a pair of jeans. I’m starting to doubt that he’s packed anything else.

Instinctively we both lean forward for a kiss on the cheek. I can smell his cologne, dark, comfortable this morning. It feels intimate.

He leans back and squeezes my hands, “You look great.”

I blush then look down. “We should sit.”

He agrees and we both sit. “How did you sleep?”

The question is innocuous enough, but I contemplate on whether or not to tell the truth. I decide for a half truth, “Restless a little.”

The waiter returns for our orders.

I can feel his eyes on mine throughout the whole process. His gaze is like a weight, palpable and not necessarily unwelcome. When the waiter leaves I glance at him. He’s staring at me, not in a penetrating way but in a thoughtful way, as if he’s trying to remember something. A slight smile on his face makes me want to know just what he’s thinking.

I try to stare back, but end up looking away. “You have to stop looking at me like that.”

“Make me.” He says laughing lightly. The man is basically a five-year-old trapped in an adult body, a very handsome adult body.  “I’m just thinking about that kiss.”

Immediately I scan the area around us looking for prying eyes or ear. I lean forward and hiss, “You can’t say that word.”

“What word?” He replies innocently.

I roll my eyes, “Don’t be obtuse.”

He chuckles, “Fine. We’ll refer to it as swimming.”

The code word isn’t a bad idea. I nod my head.

“Good. I was just thinking about how much I enjoyed swimming with you last night.”

Never have I word the swimming used in such a loaded sense. Each syllable was laced with innuendo. How in the world does he manage that?

I sigh, and decide to feign detachment. “If this is how you act after one ki-” Harry raises a brow in warning. “..after one swim I can’t imagine…” I trail off dramatically.

“You’re right.” His smile drops slightly and he nods solemnly. When he looks back up his eyes have lost that sleepy element. Now they burn slightly, they’re darker and deeper. “Did you imagine what I would be like after more? Is that why you slept so restlessly?”

I’m at a loss for words, my mouth dry.  This is a side I haven’t seen. This isn’t flirtatious teasing, no this is seduction. And I’m ill-prepared.

His fingers gently brush again mine, soft but full of purpose, promise. A trail of goosebumps is left in its wake.

Then suddenly he leans back in his chair, resting his elbow comfortably on the back. “But something tells me that you’re about to tell me that last night won’t happen again.”

He sounds confident, but I can pick up a bit of disappointment in his eyes. A fission of pleasure works its way through me. He has no idea.  And I do love being contrary to him. “You’re wrong.”

“What?”

“I’m not opposed to it happening again.” I lean back as well, folding my hands above my crossed legs.

“Really?” He asks suspiciously.

“But I have some ground rules.”

He frowns and rolls his eyes, looking much more like a disgruntled child than a handsome prince. “There’s always rules.”

I can’t help but laugh. “So you don’t even want to hear them?”

“Now I didn’t say that.”

Just then the waiter returns with the pastries we ordered for breakfast we both murmur our thanks. I take a bite or two and sip my coffee.

Harry sighs impatiently.

“I can’t, won’t do long term.”

Again, he frowns. “I remember why.”

“So that goes hand in hand with no public displays.”

He pauses for a moment, thinking it over. His fork carefully breaking through the fluffy pastry. Part of me wants him to say no, to demand a change of the rules. But I know that it wouldn’t matter. I really do only have so many options and I’m willing to be only so reckless.

“Someone showed me twitter this morning. You know that our attempts at discretion only get us so far, people assume.”

I nod, it’s a logical thing to point out. “Fair, but all I’m asking is no smoking gun.”

He opens his mouth then abruptly closes it.  The smirk tugging at his lips makes me want to know just what he’s thinking. “What were you about to say?”

“I had the fleeting thought to say…” He stops again, his shoulders shaking with the effort of suppressed laughter. “I could show you a smoking gun.” He leers and sends a wink.

It’s just not what I was expecting. The cheesy pick up line coupled with the delivery…I hold my napkin to my mouth to muffle my laughter. Harry’s looking on as well, shoulders still shaking. Eventually we both calm down.

“Sorry, for the record you asked. My filter actually worked for once.” I smile at the ‘for once’ addition.

He sets his cup down, all business once again. “Today’s the second to last day of the games. And you say there’s no chance for long term. So what you’re proposing is a-”

“A fling. Yes.” I look at him unflinchingly. Yes, I’m propositioning a prince but I’m still the First Lady. I’m going to be confident about it.

“So quickies in hotel rooms?” He doesn’t sound too pleased by the idea.

Frankly, neither am I.

I put out a steadying hand. “I’m just saying whatever happens, happens. I’ve really enjoyed myself the past few days and you are a part of that.” I shrug. “Let’s just have fun, relax.”

He looks at me thoughtfully. “Basically you’re not guaranteeing anything.”

“Pretty much.”

I can tell he’s not totally sold on the idea. I just wish I knew why. Is it because I want casual? Or because I’m not saying ‘let’s go do it in a closet’? While he’s thinking I realize that I just need him to realize why this sounds perfect to me.

I lean forward, “Two days. Nothing planned, nothing contrived, just us. You can’t tell me that it doesn’t sound amazing. We’ll be hiding the biggest secret right under the world’s nose.”

He looks away out towards the windows. The resort is starting to become a little more populated, the sleepy tourists beginning their day. Harry’s thinking but I see the moment he decides. He licks his lips just barely then smiles. He can’t resist the opportunity.

“Okay.”

“Great.” I smile, satisfied with myself.

“On one condition.” I scowl. “Would you expect anything else?”

I huff. “No. What’s the condition?”

“For the next two days, just be yourself Kennedy. Don’t put on the character.”

“Harry…” I say warningly. “That’s not fair.”

“Watch the people be charmed by you not her, just like I was.”

“I don’t see how that would affect anything between the two of us.”

“I disagree.” He leans back again, looking annoyingly calm. “Kennedy, she’s the one I want to kiss again.” I look frantically around when he says that. “Not Margaret Randolph.”

It’s two days, only two days. Yeah and it was only two kisses. Now look where I am: actually contemplating this scheme. Maybe the promise of Harry was the motivation I needed. Or maybe it’s the surreal world of Disney. But I’m actually considering this.

“What do I get out of this?”

“Me.” He responds. I raise my brow at the hubris. “Sorry, joke. Seriously, you get me but without hampering you for something more. I’m not a fling kind of guy, Kennedy. But I’ll make an exception.”

I try not dwell on the fact that he’s making this exception for me.

“So?” He asks.

I take one last fortifying breath. Then I brace myself. “Fine. Yes, deal.”

“You’re sure?”

“Positive.”

He smiles fully now. “Great. Come on.” He stands abruptly then holds his hand out. I look pointedly at his hand then at the restaurant. He drops his hand. “Oh, right. Follow me.”

I stand slowly, then walk slightly in front of him. “Where are we going?”

He jerks his head to the side once we leave the confines of the restaurant. We’re still in the resort though and surrounded by our security guards. Harry quickens his pace until he’s leading me, towards the exit I think, maybe.

Quickly we’re moving through the halls, I’m struggling to keep up in my heels. I’m tempted to ask him to stop once we step outside.

But he stops first as we round a corner and he jerks me towards me. We’re in an alcove, partially hidden by a large palm tree and the curved wall. My back hits the cool stucco. I look up at Harry in confusion. “What the-”

And his lips are on mine again. I’m not prepared and the effect is tremendous. I have no preparation no place to ground myself so I’m lost in him. I’m lost in the way that his lips press against mine soft and gentle at first. Then he shifts, a shift I can feel like there’s an electric line from him to me.

I part my mouth opening to him, needing him to be closer. He smirks, growling slightly. His hands tightening on my waist to pull me closer.

We’re pressed against one another. I can feel every hard inch of him. I revel in it, finally melding my tongue with his. Harry’s lips pull and press with mine, as if they want to know every secret. Goddamn, if I don’t want to show them all of it.

Instinctively, my leg bends, placing my heel flat on the wall. It has the effect of pressing me closer in the most intimate of ways.

Harry pulls back slightly. He looks at me, eyes hooded. We both just watch one another. I run my tongue over my lips slowly, daring him to kiss me again. Harry bites his lip in response, his eyes shifting close just every slightly.

His hand finds purchase on the wall next to my hand, his palm slapping the concrete flat. He’s caged me in against the dull noises of the resort.

As we hold each other’s gaze his other hand leaves my waist. I pout slightly. Harry nips gently at my lip.

Then I feel his hand on my knee, rubbing slow, large circles. His hand isn’t soft, but the calluses feel as if they mark my skin, each rough patch marring the smooth expanse of my leg. It’s jarring, leaving every nerve at attention.

His voice is low and rough as he continues to rub my lower thigh. “I’ve wanted to do this since you wore those shorts last night.” He squeezes roughly and I inhale sharply, never more aware of that space. Then he moves higher. I can feel his hand disappear under the soft material of my dress and slip. “And then I see you in those heels today…” He groans softly. “I’m so fucking glad you said yes.”

“Me too.” I say breathlessly, enjoying each caress on my thigh.

Finally I pull him back to me, tired of talking when there are much better options. This kiss is just slightly more desperate than the last. His lips are more forceful, pushing and caressing. I match his passion, mingling my tongue with his.

I lose myself in the moment, focusing on the sensations, his lips, his chest and his hand resting so comfortably on my thigh. It’s been ages since I’ve felt this spark, this hunger. Not a part of me wants to deny it.

Good Mickey Morning Montogmery family!

Harry and I pull apart abruptly. I wince as my head slams into the stucco.

All the way from Ohhhklahoma, Ready to have a magical day? The all too cheery tour guide continues.

Harry looks down at me with a smirk. I roll my eyes, but stay silent. As we wait for the group to keep walking the rest of my senses come back. I can now hear the dull sounds of people, families, employees, and even the occasional seagull. The sweet aroma from the kitchen floats out to greet us as well. And the sticky heat begins to collect on my skin.

Carefully I look around.  The alcove was private enough, but I can only imagine how much our protection saw. Slowly I pull my leg down, Harry frowns playfully.

Finally the group passes.

I exhale I breath I wasn’t aware I was holding.

Harry steps back. We both look at one another for a moment. Until finally we both smile. “Two days.”

“Two days.” I echo.

Then he smiles, “Two whole days.”

I shake my head, “Come on Charming. We have work to do.” We walk out of our hiding spot. Immediately our protection appears. Shit. I will away any embarrassment. Surely these men have seen worst, right?

I do notice that none of them are looking at me. They’re all glaring at Harry who looks supremely uncomfortable. I have to admit, I’m kind of enjoying it.

“Miss Randolph.” And now it’s ruined it. Paul has appeared once again. He’s wearing another ill-fitting suit with a rather large tie. “Your Royal Highness.”

“Do you need something Paul?” I ask tersely.

“You weren’t on schedule.” Paul glances at Harry then back at me. “May I suggest you return to your room before attending your first engagement.”

His tone doesn’t sound very suggestion like and I can only imagine what I look like now. Self-consciously I touch my lips, hoping to pick up any smudges of lipstick.

I look over at Harry who’s smirking at me, no doubt satisfied with his attempt to muff my appearance. With a self-satisfied smile I rub at my chin pointedly. There’s a large red mark there. He blinks then wipes at it quickly.

“Until later, your royal highness.” I do a mock curtsey, still high from the effects of that kiss.

He bows deeply, “Miss Randolph.”

I walk away, swaying my hips just a tad more.

Chapter 11                                                                                         Chapter 13