#Organic Basket Delivery

[universalinfo]

Organic Basket Delivery - Discover The Versatility Of Cider Syrup

Explore the versatility of cider syrup with organic basket delivery. Delight in its culinary uses and elevate your dishes with sweetness.

[solar-sunnyside-up]

imma day dream bout a functioning comfy world for a sec,,, im watching bluey and feeling idealistic and v pregnant so stick with me while i day dream Putting out your garbage bin at night, and in the morning having a cup of tea on my porch watching as the garbage bin comes by and they wave at me, maybe sometimes i catch them and give them a snack for later in the day Taking the bus but instead of it being a horrible ordeal the bus stop is comfortable and covered in plants. Its got a fruit stand, overly comfy seating with wind chimes creating some ambient music while waiting for the bus.

Going to the library with a giant list organized by books and items your borrowing and craft supplies, walking into the library its like an archive of stuff for you to have without worry.

Biking your way casually to a park thats holding a movie night, a picnic basket attached on the back, and meeting up with your friends on the way over at sunset just as they start airing the bloopers before the movie starts and you settle in.

Spending sleepless nights in a cafe with an open ceiling so stars pour in while you paint some project and work away while sipping tea until sunrise. Catch up with a neighbour who wakes up early to deliver mail on the way out

Grocery delivery day where the little kids around you are buzzing all day, keeping an eye out the window for the delivery truck, cheering filling the house when it shows up and the adults get to work to help bring in the supplies. Offering a tea or snack for the deliverer and chatting a while.

[anon-amiss]

hello, I have a request of Wally Darling x singer y/n

at first, Wally and the others did not know the reader could sing. One day they all decided to have a group picnic and Wally was the one who would get you. Wally knocked at y/n home and Y/n didn't answer he noticed the window open and he heard Y/n singing. (Love like you by steven universe)

then and there Wally fell in love he could not bring himself to stop the reader from singing.

you can pick what happens next :)

Beginning notes: I love this! I'll do my best! Thank you for the request! Another quick mention is that the reader might be referred to as "neighbour". I don't mind using Y/n at all, but people give it so much bad rep :[

Some warnings: Nothing triggering, just reader being mildly embarrased haha

Wally Darling x Singer!Reader

(Platonic or Romantic)

(a bit more on the romantic side haha)

"...Turns out, I was holding the letter all along!! Now isn't that just hilarious??" Eddie boasted out, laughing while waving his arm around rapidly. Barnaby fell to the floor, rolling around and snickering in response. It was as if he'd just heard the funniest thing in Home, which, honestly, could have been probable.

Wally giggled after hearing the passing conversation, placing the picnic blanket down on the grass with ease.

The sky was perfect, and the weather calm. This meant only one thing: it was finally time for the monthly picnic party! Everyone was invited, which meant you were too! It was going to be your first time at this event, and everybody was very excited to have you join them as their special guest! Everyone came extra prepared, bringing gifts and items they thought would help with getting you acquainted with their tradition.

Sally weighted the blanket down with what looked to be a large sewing machine and a bag full of various fabrics and sewing materials. Wally turned his attention to her and tilted his head.

"What are all these for?" Wally asked, a little surprised she was able to carry all these items on her own.

"Why, I wanted to show our new friend how to make hand puppets! They've been asking me all week, and I thought this would be the best opportunity to teach them!" She beamed, organizing some of her tools on the blanket.

"Yeah, and I brought my makeup so we could do a little fashion show with them!" Julie interjected, placing a few of her bags, presumably filled with makeup, on the blanket next to Sally's items. "I made sure to bring everything I had just in case they wanted a certain look!"

"Oh! I brought along some arts and crafts if that helps at all!" Eddie chimed in, holding out a delivery bag filled to the brim with tons of crafting materials. He placed himself on the blanket next to the growing pile of goods. It was starting to form a little mountain by now.

"Whoa now, buddy! Make sure to leave some extra for the butterfly nets!" Frank blurted out. He held nothing, but Wally assumed they would use some of Eddie's resources to make the nets.

"Do we have to participate in this event before or after lunch?" Barnaby joined, with Poppy following suit. He placed down a picnic basket full of the most delicious smelling food. Oh! He seemed to have placed it on Eddie's head! It's perfectly balanced!

Frank shot him a glare and sighed. "We'll do it after lunch just so you won't complain the whole time."

"What can I say? Small dogs like me need lotsa energy to run!" He jested, laughing to himself with a wide grin.

"You better not eat it all this time, Barb! Poppy and I spent a lot of time gathering the most perfect ingredients for this specific batch of food!" Howdy blurted out, tapping his foot at the fluffy 'little' pup.

"Don't worry, Howdy! I wouldn't dream of ruining our new neighbour's first picnic! Besides, a tiny guy like me can't finish all this by myself," he replied, giving him a pat on the head for reassurance.

"Speaking of our new neighbour, where are they?" Poppy asked, turning to Wally with a motherly smile.

"Yeah! We can't possibly start without them!" Julie added on, turning to face Wally with an excited grin.

"I told them I'd come and pick them up as soon as we were done setting up!" Wally replied, clasping his felty hands together with the happiest expression he could give. "Would you all be so kind as to help me finish up while I go get our neighbour? I'm just too excited to wait."

"Of course! We'll have everything prepared in a jiffy!" Sally exclaimed, jumpstarting the task and immediately organizing the items on the blanket. Julie joined in, working at the same pace as her.

"Thank you so much! I'll see you all soon. I love you!" Wally waved to them, setting off to your home with an overjoyed feeling in his body. He felt so lucky to have friends like them.

Your home wasn't too far from the picnic site, only a few minutes away, so Wally got there pretty early. He told you earlier that he would probably finish up by noon. By now, according to the town clock, it was about 11:30pm. Though a few minutes definitely passed after Wally's struggle to remember how to read the clock in the first place.

Wally stood in front of the door to your home, ready to knock before hearing a quiet melody. Curiously, he turned his head to the source of the noise, which appeared to be coming from a nearby open window.

He hummed and looked away. Wouldn't it be rude to take a look inside? This place was your privacy, so maybe it was best to ignore it.

Another melodic tune began to ring out quietly, followed by the deafening tone of piano keys being smashed rather aggressively. "Oh dear..." Wally refused to look through your window. That would be unneighbourly!

Then he heard groaning and began to grow worried. Maybe just a peek. For your safety. Definitely.

He followed intuition and looked through the window, his eyes searching rapidly for the source of all the noise. His gaze happened upon you. You were sitting at the piano, holding what looked to be a journal and a pencil.

You were grumbling to yourself and writing angrily in the book, but other than that, you seemed to be doing relatively well. Perhaps you were just experimenting with new sounds. Wally's suspicions began to die down, and he would have left it at that, but before he could turn away, you did something completely unexpected.

Once you cleared your throat and placed your journal down, you began to press numerous keys, getting acquainted with the feeling before you began to play what sounded like an actual song.

Your fingers gingerly glided across the piano, leaving Wally entranced and more breathless than he already was. If he had a pulse, he was sure it would be beating critically by now.

He blinked, dumbfounded. Not about the fact that you were talented, but of the fact that you had kept this a secret for so long. He couldn't fathom why someone would hide such a gift.

Then another surprise emerged. Not from your movements, but from your voice. You began to sing! He nearly tripped himself inside your home, not realizing how far he was leaning into your window. He held onto the frame, his mouth agape from the sheer astonishment you managed to succumb him to.

He could only make out a few words from so far away. "If I could begin to be...... I could do about anything...... Could even learn how to love like you...." You continued on with the song, putting all the focus you could on playing the right keys. It was hard to concentrate when you sang and played at the same time, which was why you were practicing in the first place.

You didn't want to necessarily practice for anybody but yourself. You never planned on anyone hearing your singing, mainly because of how embarrassing and distracting it felt. It would most definitely make you mess up, which would only be more humiliating for you in the end.

You weren't a professional, and honestly, you were okay with that. As long as you could finish the song at all, you would be just fine. The accomplishing feeling was worth much more than the sound of cheers. You steadied your breathing and began to focus on your singing a little.

Meanwhile, Wally was lost in thought, watching you with a dreamy gaze. He absolutely adored you. He was so proud knowing he had a friend who could do so many beautiful things. He so badly wanted to learn this song so he could sing with you. He wanted to praise you right there and then, but he knew it was probably not the best idea.

He leaned on the window frame, crossing his arms and watching you intently. He was baffled, feeling himself just melt into the mixture of sounds you were creating right before his eyes. He sighed and closed his eyes, falling into the deepest state of peace he's ever had in Home.

He loved the concocting mix of your voice and the piano. The sounds succesfully meshed to create a hum that reverberated off the walls and vibrated the glasses around you, which, in turn, created what sounded like an extra voice. Angelic!

Then you did something else totally unexpected!

There was the tiniest note out of place, which was proceeded by the loudest smash of keys Wally's ever heard. Mortified, he opened his eyes and looked up at your figure.

You were frustrated with yourself. You were doing great, but you just had to take your attention away from the piano, didn't you? You groaned and rubbed your forehead. You'd been practicing for a while now, so maybe now would be the best time for a break.

You turned your body and got up from your seat. Water sounded good right about now.

Wally didn't have enough time to react before you laid your eyes upon the window. Panicked, he flopped down on the ground, feeling himself heat up. He wasn't sure if he had the capability to blush, but if he did, he was definitely doing it now.

At first you were shocked by the sight of Wally, but even moreso when he launched himself back from the window???? You hurridly rushed towards the opening and looked down at the ground. There he was.

"Wally?? What are you doing here??" You asked, observing as his felty face began to grow a few shades darker. He chuckled nervously and sat up quickly.

"Well.. Erm..."

"Wait there! Let me help you," you interrupted, making your way outside as hastily as you could. You grabbed his hand and led him in your home, helping him dust off some of the grass that seemed to have stuck to him when he threw himself back.

You invited him to sit at your dining room table, grabbing two glasses of water and placing one in front of him as an offering. He seemed to just stare at it quizically. Oh wait, did he drink water? Now that you thought about it, you don't think you've ever seen him consume anything.

But as you snapped yourself away from your thoughts, you found the water to be gone. Oh. The cup was too. Did he eat it? Maybe it was a puppet thing???

"I'm so sorry for my actions, neighbour," Wally started, staring up at you with dejected eyes. "I was going to knock on your door so I could escort you to the picnic, but I guess I got a little curious. I shouldn't have looked through your window. That was very uncouth of me." He hung his head low, expecting you reprimand him for his actions or get angry, but much to his surprise, you just laughed.

"Oh, Wally. You don't have to apologize. I would have gotten a little interested, too, if I heard all that noise I was making," you stated, laying a hand on his shoulder. "Besides, I wouldn't have minded having you listen to me. I can always depend on you to be kind and unjudgemental." You took a sip of your water, reassuring him with a smile. "I should be the one apologizing to you, in all honesty. All that key smashing was probably very... erm... unsurprising, to say the least." You gave out another laugh, Wally doing the same.

"Well, I must say, I just love your singing. It was gracious," he admitted, making you feel gaucherie-like. It wasn't unlike him to compliment you, even for the smallest of things, but you always knew he was genuine. It was refreshing to hear that he liked something so personal about you. "I could listen to you all day, really." His eyes had a glaze to them that you couldn't understand the meaning of, but it made your heart pump.

"Thank you, Wally. That means a lot to me," you replied, grinning proudly. He nodded and got up from his seat.

"Well, we should probably be heading to the picnic now. I wouldn't want everyone else to worry haha!" He pushed his chair in and offered his hand out to you, which you did take, but you had to admit you were a little bashful while doing so.

You both headed out, only stopping once for Wally to ask if he could hear you play sometime.

"Of course!" You responded cheerfully, feeling bubbly from his excited expression afterwards.

"Then it's a date!"

End

End notes: Haha, in the end I guess it was more on the romatic side. I might write a oneshot for the 'date' and the picnic as well if anyone wants that. I had fun writing the transitions between the characters, and in my personal opinion, this oneshot was a little funky, but hey, that's fine! I liked writing it! Thanks for your request! I appreciate your amazing idea!Sorry if it's not what you completely had in mind!

Another note: this is what I imagine he looked like when listening to you sing. I'm not the best artist, but I do try >:]

[azurevi]

wild roses

pairing: leona x gn!reader, heavy jack & reader (reader = prefect)

summary: ace and deuce’s matchmaking plan for valentine’s day goes wrong, and both you and leona realize that something needs to be changed in your relationship. (fluff, secret relationship, bad matchmaking, possibly ooc leona 😔) 9k (chonky)

note: HAPPY VALENTINE’s DAY!!! ok. first of all, jack is there for like, a majority of the fic because i felt bad just using him as a plot device and decided to write more about his interaction with reader. but it’s still somehow centered around leona and reader. secondly, this is like really messy but i didn’t have time to flesh out everything i already had to cut down on what i originally planned 💀 hope y’all enjoy it anyways ^^

“I don’t know if this is a good idea, Ace.” Deuce rubbed his chin, looking between the redhead and the wrinkled paper titled ‘ The Foolproof Matchmaking Plan: 2023 ’. He wasn’t sure if he should be more concerned about the content or the implication that this could become an annual thing.

“No, no, you don’t understand,” Ace was pacing and gesticulating. “This will work for sure, because we already know for a fact that there’s something going on between the prefect and Jack. All they need is a little push!”

“Do we though? I mean, we could’ve misinterpreted everything. Not to mention how much trouble we’ll be in if the plan falls through.”

“Sure, both of them are going to whoop our asses if it fails, but if it works, we will appear in their wedding speeches. It’s a risk I’m willing to take. If you really need concrete evidence, turn to the back of the paper.”

Deuce did as told, and found another list scribbled on the page.

Undeniable signs that they are into each other (in case Deuce acts like an idiot and doubts my plan) 

The prefect is always spending time at the Savanaclaw dorm. There must be a reason they choose it over Heartslabyul, where TWO of their best friends reside.

Last time we went over, we literally found a Savanaclaw uniform mixed in the prefect’s laundry. They're already dating in all but name!

Asked the prefect last time what their type was: tall, strong, has a secret soft side. Who else fits all the criteria if not Jack?

They're always talking among themselves when we’re hanging out as a group. 

They always have this stupid lovesick look on their faces whenever they get a notification. I bet my lunch money they're texting each other.

T

“T?” 

“Trein confiscated it before I could finish writing that line.” He scratched his head. “The point is, the signs are right in front of us! Or are you so blind that you can’t see it?”

“I'm not blind-”

Ace sighed. “I know that you don’t have a lot of experiences when it comes to romance, but still-”

“Wrong! I had a whole group of admirers back when I was… ugh. Nevermind, it's not something I'm proud of. I am capable of picking up signs of romantic interest, and my expertise tells me… that you are right. They are interested in each other!”

How gullible. Ace had to stifle his urge to laugh. “I am honored that you deem my opinion valid, oh great romance expert. So are you on board or not?”

Success was pretty much in the bag, but he asked nonetheless, watching as Deuce struggled with his conscience. Finally, with a stern look, he nodded. “I’m in, for the happiness of my friends. When do we carry this out?”

Ace straightened his spine, snatching the paper out of his hands and straightening it. With a sly smirk, he said, “Tomorrow, Valentine’s Day.”

———

The school had this ‘candy delivery’ thing going on for Valentine’s Day, and you happened to have garnered enough secret admirers that the organizers had to pack your sweets into a basket. As soon as you'd gotten it from your locker, you hugged it close to yourself and rushed into the room owned by the Gargoyle Research Society. Malleus was the only one who used it anyway, and he’d long ago given you the permission to enter as you pleased.

Anticipation coursed through your veins as you rummaged through the pile, looking for one specific note. You weren’t sure whether Leona had participated in something like this— chances were he would've considered it ‘an asinine way to help cowards confess their feelings’— but it didn’t stop you from hoping.

After putting aside a few chocolates and their atrocious pick up lines, you finally found the one you’d been looking for. It was a single candy wrapped in a yellow wrapper, and it looked like the kind of stuff teachers gave out to kindergarteners who answered questions in class. 

A note was stapled around it. You unrolled it to find a familiar handwriting. 

Happy Valentine’s Day. Although this event appears to be an asinine way to help pathetic cowards confess their feelings, I reckon that I should still give you something since you mentioned looking forward to it. I will meet you at Ramshackle tonight, 8pm sharp. — Leona 

With a smile curling your lips, you ripped the wrapper and popped the candy into your mouth. The fruity sweetness coated your tongue as you pulled your phone out.

The line rang for a few seconds before it got through. “Hello?” He husked.

“Good morning, is this Mr. Kingscholar?”

“Cut it out.” It sounded like he was shuffling in bed. “I take it that you’ve received the candy thing?”

“Yup. And the invitation. Have you just woken up?”

“Thanks to you, yes.” 

Rapid knocks appeared in the background, and he cussed under his breath.

“Is that Ruggie?” You chuckled.

“Yea. He’s about to break the door. I’ll see you tonight, ‘kay? Don’t forget about it.”

“As if I would. I’ll make sure the coast is clear when you arrive.”

“Yea,” he said with a hint of hesitation, as if he was taken aback by your words. “Okay. Bye.”

Having to sneak around and meet up was nothing new to you. From the very beginning, you’d agreed to keep your relationship under wraps. 

While his brother was usually preoccupied with more crucial matters, Leona was still a royalty, and words spread like wildfire in this school. People were bound to talk if he were to be seen with a romantic partner, and they were probably going to tell their mothers, who would tell the other mothers, on and on until the media caught wind. Then the chamberlains would get involved, eventually alerting his brother.

Knowing Farena, he'd probably make a fuss of you, demanding a dinner and a private audience. On top of that, all kinds of reporters would be knocking on the door, trying to get a candid photo of you two. If that happened, his chances of getting a good sleep would drop to zero. Or worse, they would bring unnecessary burdens to you.

As for you, your reasons were simple: your friends would never leave you alone if they knew of your love life. Ever since they'd noticed the different air around you, they'd been not-so-subtly trying to figure out whether you were seeing someone. They were definitely going to tease the living hell out of you once they figured it out, so you’d rather dodge all the troubles.

Plus, it was pretty nice to have this quiet little thing going on between you, just that it's hard to pretend like you didn’t want to throw yourself at him in the corridor sometimes.

Really, it’s nice.

Despite your intention to maintain discretion, so far two people had already blown your cover. The first was Ruggie, no surprises there. The second was Jack, who walked in on your napping session at the botanical garden. (That one’s on you, you’d totally forgotten to be discreet.) 

Both of them were trustworthy friends, so it didn’t bother you. But if someone like Ace or Deuce was to find out…

A chill crawled down your spine.

As if on cue, you heard their voices outside and hurriedly stuffed the note into your pocket.

“Where did they go?” Deuce asked.

“I don’t know, man. Maybe they went back already?”

“Let’s just call them.”

You scrambled to mute your phone, but Deuce was faster. The ringtone penetrated the silence in the hallway, and not a second later, the door was opened.

“Hey, guys.” You smiled innocently.

“What are you doing here?” Ace poked his head in, a knowing look dawning on his face. “Ahhhh, I see. Are you perhaps looking for candies from a special someone?”

“Nope.” You stood up and hung the basket around your elbow. “I was just checking to see if one of you guys would give me something. The result is heartbreaking, by the way.”

They shared a suspicious look. 

“Allow us to piece your heart back together then. We have a mission from Sam.” Deuce fished out a piece of folded paper from his jacket. “Gotta pick up something from town.”

“Great. Let’s go.” You wiped the invisible dust from your pants. It was always a treat to be able to leave the campus, and the trip might give you an opportunity to buy some flowers for tonight's date.

“Nuh-uh, not so fast.” Ace threw his arm around your shoulder. “We are going to make a stop at Savanaclaw.”

———

Ruggie was the first to greet you as you stepped out of the mirror, a large sack swung over his shoulder. He looked like Santa Claus. “Morning! Are you looking for Leona?”

“Nah, we’re here for Jack.” Ace said.

“Then he should be in his room.” Ruggie pointed vaguely behind himself, and your friends headed over, leaving you two alone.

“You’re quite the popular hyena, aren’t you?” You jutted your jaw at the bag.

“This? Nah. I just collected them from people who don’t like sweets.” He eyed your basket. “Any chance you’re one of them?”

“I mean, I’ve already got the one I want, so…” you handed him the whole thing, and his grin grew wider. Grim would've whined about it if he'd been here, but he was too busy getting his fill at Kalim’s.

“Touche. Between you and me, Leona actually spent days ruminating on what to do for Valentine’s Day. You didn’t hear it from me though.”

Thank the heavens no one was around to catch your lovestruck expression.

Speaking of the devils, Ace and Deuce promptly returned with Jack. Trailing behind by a few steps was a grumpy Leona. His eyes spotted you first, softened around the edges, before returning to drill holes in the back of Ace’s head.

Jack greeted you as soon as you were all standing together. “We’re running errands for Sam right? Let’s get to it.”

“Yes-”

“Not so fast.” Leona spoke over Deuce. “I’m coming. Jack can stay.”

“Woah, Sam’s permit only says our names, so technically you can't be off schoolground.” Ace waves the paper in the air, passing him a pointed look.

“I don’t care. There's no way I'll let you trouble magnets go out on your own.” 

“Relax, we’re not that unruly. Plus Jack's here, he’s our voice of reason.” 

Jack nodded firmly. “That’s right, I’ll make sure they don’t fall out of line.”

The irritation on Leona’s face was indisputable. Something was definitely going on in his head. 

“Be real here, why would you even want to come with us? You don’t care if we got into trouble.” Ace scrunched his face into a frown.

Leona stared down at your red-haired friend before his gaze moved to you, unreadable yet solemn. Perhaps he was anxious that you couldn’t make it back in time for the date.

“Don’t worry, we will be back before it gets dark.” Your addition seemed to be making things worse for him. He clicked his tongue and swiveled around, tearing himself away from this mess. 

After some contemplation, he bit out, “Fine, go have your fun.” 

With that finally settled, Ace and Deuce ecstatically looped their arms around Jack’s and your elbows, as if preventing you from running away, and hopped into the mirror. The last thing you saw was Leona mumbling something to Ruggie and the drop of the hyena’s jaw.

———

The townspeople took Valentine’s Day a lot more seriously than you’d expected. Bakeries had all kinds of pastries displayed readily to the lengthening queue, and customers swarmed into flower shops in hope of grabbing the last bouquets available. Even booksellers decided to join in on the fun, slapping discounts on all romance novels and comics alike. Just around the corner, a few buskers were playing some sappy love songs on their guitars in front of a thin audience.

“It’s like a whole festival here.” You commented as you weaved through the crowd with Jack. He was tall enough that you didn’t have to worry about losing him in the waves. Meanwhile, Ace and Deuce were keeping up from behind, engrossed in their own conversation. 

“I agree. I didn’t expect Valentine’s Day to be such a big deal.” He said.

“You’re not the kind of people who think it unnecessary, are you?”

“Not really. You can express your love any other day, so it’s kind of pointless from that point of view, but I guess it’s a good opportunity for people to confess their feelings.”

“I also like to think of it as a reminder for people to show their love more bravely.” You caught sight of a heart-shaped chocolate the size of a cauldron through a shop window. “...Though it can also become an unfortunate tool for capitalism.”

“I assume that you will be celebrating?”

You sensed what he was hinting at. “Yup, after some convincing. By the way, is it just me or are Ace and Deuce acting a bit weird today?”

“I thought I was the only one.” He looked back briefly, though he couldn't spot anyone with their distinctive hair colors. They were probably just distracted somewhere. “They barged into my room and told me to dress up. Who dresses up to run errands?”

Evidently he went along, seeing as how he was wearing a white dress shirt instead of his usual comfy t-shirts. 

“You don’t think they’re pranking us, are they?” 

“I wouldn’t put it past them.”

Just then, your phone vibrated in your pocket. You tugged at Jack's sleeve to pull him to the side of the road. It was a rare text from Leona.

Leona: where are you?

You: just got into town

You: good thing you didn't come along, you would've gagged at the amount of lovey-dovey stuff here

Leona: so you don't know

You: ?

He spent a few seconds typing and re-typing. In your wait, you looked up and found your two friends still missing.

Leona: they're trying to set you up with jack.

What.

What the heck.

Your thoughts sped up. The picture started coming together in your head. No, it made sense. Them insisting that Jack came instead of Leona, literally telling him to dress up? 'Allow us to piece your heart back together'? All of their actions verified Leona's words. 

You: damn, ur right

You: wait, how did you figure it out?

Leona: they told me in my face when they ran into me just now. said that they were going to be matchmakers and put an end to your 'endless pining'

You: -_-

So that's why he was acting all frustrated back there. You stole a glance at Jack, who was trying to call your friends, albeit to no avail. He was definitely not going to like what he was about to hear.

You: at least we now know of their absurd plan. i'll tell jack

Leona: k

You: are you upset?

Leona: no. even if i were, i would only be upset with your nosy friends

Leona: just make sure to come back on time. you were the one who wanted to celebrate vday after all

You: roger that :)

"Was that one of them?" Jack asked as you pocketed your phone.

"Nope. You can stop calling, by the way. They're not going to answer."

He frowned as you pulled the shopping list out of his hand. "Why?"

"Because they left us alone on purpose. They're trying to play cupid." You waved the unfolded paper in front of his face. He read the content carefully before sputtering. In his head, he tried to put two and two together. The moment it all clicked, his shoulders tensed. "No way."

It was an actual shopping list from Sam, stamped by him and all, but the items were absolutely ludicrous, not to mention obvious. Roses, jewelry, plushies… and the definite proof that he was in on it, or was at least held at gunpoint as he drafted the list: the line ‘Treat yourself, little imps! Everything’s on me’ at the bottom of the page. Despite its absurdity, it was also a binding term. If you failed to get everything as instructed, he had the right to report you for leaving the campus and skipping some classes without a justified cause.

Not that he would, right?

As much as you hated to admit, there didn't seem to be a way you could get out of this mess.

"What do we do?" He shook his head. "I don't even know how they got the idea of bringing us together. And you were supposed to spend the day with Leona, not me. This is so messed up-"

"Hey, it's okay. Leona already knows. He was the one who told me."

He blinked at you blankly. "Is he going to come after me?"

You let out a laugh. "Not on my watch. Look, how about we just go along with it and get everything on the list? Then we will head back on time and I can have my date with Leona. After that we can dangle Ace and Deuce upside down outside Ramshackle."

Jack turned to the crowd, donning his deep-in-thought look. You could almost see the cogwheels moving in his brain, trying to find a way to avoid this. There was none. He shook his head at last, "Alright, let's get the stuff as soon as possible."

———

After deciding that you would buy the roses first, the two of you ventured through the streets to find a less packed flower shop. As you strayed farther from the center of the town, the number of pedestrians dwindled, and soon you could walk side by side without being bumped into and feeling your shoulder dislocate.

The silence between you was not awkward, but it was stretched, begging to be filled. Jack had always had the habit of using his words sparingly, believing that actions spoke louder, but this was different. You could tell that he was on edge, eyes darting around as if trying to catch every passing shadow, hands stuffed in his pockets, tail swishing stiffly. 

He was uncomfortable. And he was acting like he wasn't, because that's what he'd been saying for the past thirty minutes. Eventually you gave up, opting to protect that tense little bubble surrounding you.

As much as you'd like to argue that this wasn't how you usually interacted, you realized that you couldn't. Truth was, you seldom hung out outside of a group setting, and even when you were alone, it was usually for matters like how he could help cover you up as you left the group to find your favorite lion, and homework. 

To be frank, you didn't know that much about Jack.

A humble little shop was chosen at last, but even it had quite the amount of customers loitering around, most of them attempting to conceal their last-minute anxiousness. You assumed that they must've forgotten to buy something beforehand. 

"How may I help you, lovebirds?" A tall woman with baby-blue glasses greeted you enthusiastically. Jack tensed up like someone had just stepped on his tail.

"Would you happen to have red roses?" You asked instead.

"Oh, of course. How many would you like? A lot of couples go for a hundred, but the really earnest ones go for as much as two. You two look quite sweet together, perhaps you would–"

"We're not," Jack rushed to say. "We're not a couple."

"Oh," the shopkeeper squinted at you. "Ohhh… it's like that, huh? In that case, you should take a look at this guide," she pulled out a laminated sheet and slid it across the wooden counter.

It was a comprehensive guide to the number of roses and all of their meanings, from one to twenty, then skipping to hundreds and thousands. 

"Who would buy three thousand roses?" You whispered to Jack.

"I don't know," he said. "How many should we get?"

Most of the numbers carried love declarations, but there was one that fit. "How about thirteen?" 'Friends forever'.

"Looks good."

"Alright, we'll get thirteen," you gave the sheet back to the lady. She checked your choice briefly, looked up, lifted her glasses with her index finger, then nodded meaningfully. 

"Alright, thirteen red roses coming right up. You can fill this up while you're waiting." She handed you another white card and a black marker to be put together with the bouquet. The vaguely printed words instructed you to write some 'sweet words for your beloved'.

When you turned to Jack for help, he looked like he was going to run out of the shop at any given moment.

"Hey, is everything alright?" You questioned. "And don't lie to me, I can tell."

He ruffled his snowy hair, averting his eyes. "I apologize. It's just… I'm not very comfortable with all this coupley stuff."

You nodded slowly, contemplating his words. 

"It's not you, don't worry, it's just…" he shut his eyes, trying to escape the embarrassment. "You're Leona's partner, and I'm just a friend. It feels wrong to do all this with you."

Oh. Oh. 

Shit. You almost felt bad for not figuring that out by yourself. Jack, even after everything, still looked up to Leona as an accomplished role model. Not to mention he was his dorm leader and a literal force to be reckoned with. He probably thought that he was crossing some lines. 

Maybe he was. Perhaps there were unspoken rules among beastmen. And lions were known to be protective of their own pride…

When you thought about it this way, it wasn’t hard to see why he felt like a fish out of water at all. 

You tapped the marker against the counter. You never imagined that dating Leona would inadvertently cause Jack to be extra careful around you, but now that you knew, you were determined to thaw the ice. “How about we treat this as a normal, friendly hangout?” 

He arched his brow, clearly finding the idea of pretending you weren't surrounded by romance-centric decorations all around you unrealistic.

"Valentine's Day is just an excuse to promote love anyways, and love is not limited to romance, you know?" You took off the cap on the marker and started scribbling. "I can write some sweet words for you as a friend too. For one, I admire your unerring determination and your strong morals. There you go."

There was still uncertainty shimmering in his eyes as he took in your written words, but eventually he nodded. "Fine, I'll give it a try. I admire your bravery and courage."

"Aw, thank you, my dear friend." You elbowed him playfully, and he stifled a grin. 

"Here's your order, darlings!" The shopkeeper came back with the roses hugged by a pink wrapping paper. It looked like she was trying very hard not to peek at what you'd written down on the card.  You paid for the flowers and passed your thanks before heading out to the next mission.

“The best pastries in town… should we go to the pâtisserie Vil mentioned before?” Jack suggested. You agreed in a blink; it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to crown it the best among its competitors in the world.

Though on second thought, it didn't seem like a feasible idea after all. A dense group of exasperated customers had blocked the front of the shop, so much so that you could only see the boss' hands waving in the air like a drowning man's. Everyone's voices overlapped, but you could make out some common protests: not enough, waited for a long time, unfair, et cetera. 

"-ys. GUYS!" The boss' squeaky voice somehow managed to calm the ocean of complaints. The whole street dropped to silence at his command. "We are really sorry, but this is the only one we have left!"

"Then you should've baked more!' A gruff voice yelled.

"Maybe you should've ordered earlier!" The boss countered. "Anyways, I know y'all aren't going to leave me alone anyways, so to be fair," he made an air quote. "I'll let y'all fight for it. Whoever is the best at arm wrestling gets the last piece."

You turned to Jack. He bobbed his head knowingly.

Immediately, people got into groups and looked for any kind of flat surfaces– the outdoor seats of a nearby restaurant, the top of the pâtisserie's empty display case. Two men were laying on their stomachs on the gritty pavement. The crowd dispersed like ants under a rock, desperate to get that final piece of cake.

Jack grimaced. "I fear Valentine's Day is driving people insane."

"Hopefully not us." Bowing forward, you tried to take a look at the pâtisserie's sole survivor. An opening between two struggling contestants revealed that it was a piece of fruit cake.

"Pear compote." Jack blurted out.

"What?"

"That's pear compote dripped on top."

There was a distant… longing in his eyes. "Is that what you like?"

"It's my favorite. It's just the right amount of sweet, it's versatile, and my mum used to make it all the time. Everyone in my family likes it, in fact. I wish I'd brought a few more jars with me."

"Well, I'm sure we can get you the cake. I don't think there's anyone who can beat you in arm wrestling."

"No. There's one."

You crooked your brow.

He tipped his head back, staring at the sky as he relieved the memory. "Back then, Leona beat me effortlessly even after I used my unique magic."

"Whaaat." You dragged out the word. "For real?"

"I couldn't believe it at first too. It was humbling, to say the least."

"I bet I can beat him though." You mused. 

He exhaled sharply. "This is a battle of physical strength, not running head first into troubles."

"Unprovoked. But it's also a battle of wits. There's quite a few of his weaknesses I can use." The random theory took a contemplative turn as you started counting the cards up your sleeves: Leona might look like he had a rock for a heart, but you pulled a rare reaction from him the first time you called him your king. Caressing the back of his ears always elicited honest shivers. Would a smothering look or a wink catch him off guard? Hopefully he wouldn't mind you experimenting on him.

"You're probably one of the very few people who can say that." Jack shifted his weight to his other foot, briefly scanning the progress of the contestants before adopting a low voice. "I hope you don't mind me asking, it's been on my mind for some time now. How did you actually end up together? I'm aware that you got close after the Magift tournament, but the rest was a mystery… Nah, forget it. I shouldn't violate your privacy."

"I don't mind sharing," you reassured him. "Obviously it wasn't easy. He barely cared about me at first, even after the tournament, but I was determined to get to know him. There's no shell I can't crack, after all. He's strong and fierce and self-assured, but I also sensed that there was a brightness inside him that got snuffed out over time. I'm sure you're aware too. 

Anyways, the more we opened up to each other, the more I realized that he's not who he seemed to be on the surface. He's caring in his own way, and he's unfaltering when he has his mind set on a goal. His words may appear sharp, but he's not unsympathetic. Despite his arrogance, he's not so full of himself that he can't admit his faults. Where no one noticed, he was the one who found out that I was feeling out of place here… I got to know so many new sides to him. To be honest, I wasn't planning to fall in love, but this kind of thing just happens, like soft knocks on the door."

A tall woman marched past you, cursing loudly after losing her game. You stepped aside, realizing now that Jack had gone quiet. "Sorry for rambling, I got caught up in myself."

"Don't apologize. I think that it's sweet," there was a hint of a smile on his face. "You looked like my sister whenever she sees a pink morning sky just now. It's great to have someone you can rely on wholeheartedly. I'm sure he feels the same about you."

You were certain of that too. "Aw, stop. You're making me embarrassed." You punched his arm without a concern for your force; he probably didn't even feel it. 

The various battles seemed to have narrowed down to a few. The boss was standing in front of two straining men, faces red with blood, veins bulging on their necks. A battle cry forced its way out of one of them, only for him to be overwhelmed immediately. His body was loose as his boyfriend dragged him off the ground.

"Jeez. Alright, is there anyone else?" The boss asked. The victorious guy smashed his fists together, shooting silent warnings at anyone who was bold enough to even consider challenging him. No one moved.

"Me." Jack stepped forward, and you did a small, encouraging whoop from behind. The man glared into his eyes. He wasn't a lot shorter than Jack, and their physiques were similar, but you had faith in your friend.

"Start whenever you want, I'm getting sick of this." The boss mumbled.

Jack bowed his head respectfully before positioning his elbow on top of the counter, flexing his fingers. His rival mirrored him, assuming a strong grip on his hand. 

It started without a countdown, like they managed to communicate with facial expressions alone. All around you were held breaths as they struggled against each other–

–for one second. Jack immediately slammed the man's arm down like he was flipping a book.

"What the hell?" He cried out, holding his wrist in disbelief before making a run for it, as though in shame. 

"Congrats, you've won the cake!" The boss feigned enthusiasm. When the bystanders booed, he resumed his annoyed scowl, "Go home! It was a fair game!"

"That didn't go as expected," Jack told you as you watched the cake enter the safe protection of the corrugated box. "But I'm glad we won."

"All thanks to you. I didn't even get to chant my slogan. We will, we will, rock you-"

"Please stop."

"Okay." 

Laughter bubbled out of you a second later. Even he failed to hold in the titters that slipped past his lips as he shook his head. The ice was melting away already.

Jack volunteered to hold both the bouquet and the cake, so you took on the role of navigation. "Next up, we need to buy jewelry. I know a place."

It was a chain store of a brand Vil had not only done promotion for, but also personally approved of, so the quality was sure to be high. But so was the price. 

The two of you stood silently in front of the suited employee who went by Eris, staring unblinkingly at the silvery chains in the vitrine. The price tags glared back at you, who looked like you'd wandered in by accident.

"I was going to propose getting an expensive one since it's not our money anyways, but even the cheapest earring is worth ten times my life." You whispered.

"I wouldn't compare you with an earring, but I agree with the prices." 

"May I help you?" Eris asked for the third time since you'd entered the shop. 'We'll have a look around' probably wasn't going to work anymore. "Any particular kinds of accessories you're looking for?"

The thing was, neither of you wore that much jewelry anyways. It would only get in the way of his training, and you could barely spare money for your friends' birthdays, let alone luxury like this. But throwing it into your drawer with other miscellaneous trinkets was just sinister. 

"How about rings? We have promise rings for couples–"

"No, thanks."

"How about necklaces?" You suggested, which earned a satisfied look from Eris as she left to find you some styles.

"Why necklaces?" Jack asked.

"Well, neither of us is going to wear it, so I thought, why not give it to your cacti? You can put it around the pot. It'll be like dressing them up."

“A designer necklace for my cacti?” His brows knitted into a disapproving frown. “I mean, they deserve nothing less, but still-”

“Then it’s settled.” You replied. Eris arrived just then and ended any argument that might be forming in his head.

Most of the necklaces came in pairs, and each pair held no significant differences between one another. Sure, the charms varied in shapes and colors, but they were all just… argent.

Your attention landed on the pair on the fair right. Each half had a hand-shaped ornament that fit into each other when put together. The rest were pretty much the same: two halves of a heart, two halves of a cat, the same design but flipped over.

Your mind wandered. Adjacent to you was another couple admiring the opal bracelets hugging their wrists. Streaks of azure swirled within each crystal, as if there was a vast sea contained in every single one.

You really weren’t a jewelry person, yet once in a while, this kind of thing still had you indulging in daydreams. And only daydreams. It would be stupid to wear matching accessories anyways. It defeated the purpose of the whole secret relationship thing.

"In that case, I'll have this one." Jack referred to the pendant with a leaf-shaped charm. "Just one, thank you."

Eris looked bewildered, but she shrugged it off, picking up the chain and shelving the others away. It still hurt when you had to fish out all the money you had and then borrow some from Jack, but the knowledge that you could claim it all back gave a little relief to your throbbing wallet.

Jack pocketed the velvety box. "I hope it looks good with my cacti."

"Of course it will, I have immaculate taste." You wiped the tip of your nose with your thumb. 

Time flew past without a sound. You'd left school mid-afternoon, and now the blue sky had already been painted over with an amalgamation of warm hues. Your phone showed that it was already six. "We're kind of against the clock. Let's grab the last item and head back."

Your last stop was the local gift store, where a bunch of plushies and toys were displayed. As expected, the dolls were all related to love in all kinds of ways. There was a pink bear holding a love letter, two frogs with their hands sewn together, an elephant hugging a pillow in the shape of a heart. The only ones exempt from the influence of Valentine's Day were at the back of the shop. They were graduation plush toys and one that specifically said 'Happy Mother's Day'.

"Once again, this isn't my thing. I feel like you would be more interested…" he trailed off, spinning around to look for you. "Prefect?"

"Jack! Look at this! It's adorable!" You waved him over. In your hands were two avocado dolls, one with the seed in the middle and the other without. "Oh my goodness. And this!"

You picked up two monkeys that had their arms wrapped around each other. The fluffy fur seemed to melt away under your touch, and their hands could reach all the way around your waist. 

Truth was you'd already made something for Leona, but these monkeys? It was love at first sight. He was always complaining about your inability to stay over in his room anyways, so this could work as the perfect substitute. Even though he wasn't the type to hug plushies as he slept (it would probably end up on the floor), it would still remind you of each other. No one would even notice. It's not like people could just wander into his room. And yours–

Your dorm was basically a public area by now. There were times when Sebek and Epel invited themselves over and scared the living hell out of you because you'd left your phone inside with Leona's contact on the screen. Every time you had an impromptu sleepover, they made a competition out of stealing your plushies, except Sebek who had his own Malleus cushion. Deuce might not take note of the new plush member, but Ace was observant to a fault. You could already hear his voice yelling 'why do you have this monkey plush and where is the other one' in your ears.

"Then let's buy it." Jack said. 

You shook your head ruefully. "Ehh, maybe not. Now that I think about it, I don't really have that much space left on my bed."

"I thought you'd started invading Grim's?"

"Yea, but still." Returning the monkeys to the shelf, you turned around and started searching around again. 

If Ace was observant, then Jack was eagle-eyed, always detecting details in the most unlikely places. It wasn't difficult for him to notice where your attention had drifted off to back at the jewelry shop either. 

He cleared his throat. "So, about you and Leona. Have you decided how long the secrecy will go on for?"

You petted each plush you walked past, ruffling their heads. "Not yet. We'll see."

"Right," he turned the words over in his head, looking for a more natural approach. "But you’re both fine with the arrangement, obviously.”

“Of course.” You had to be. After all, you had your own reasons for keeping up the confidentiality, and you’d hate to be involved in any royal scandal Leona had mentioned. Even if the rules weighed on you at times, it was still better than attracting attention, right? “I think so.”

All this time you’d been walking on tip-toes believing that it could do more good than harm, but a short trip down memory lane proved otherwise: That one time you'd had to hide Leona in the closet, his legs had gotten so sore that you'd spent the whole light massaging the stiffness away. Your forehead was swollen for days after running into a tree while staying out of Rook’s watchful eyes. All those times you’d had to swallow the words you wanted to say to each other in public, a much needed embrace reduced to a pat on the shoulder.

It was supposed to get Ace and his naive accomplice off your back, but look where you were now: entangled in a web of misunderstandings, not only did it not work as intended, but you also got Jack into this predicament.

“...Back home, my brother always picks fights with my sister,” Jack started. “He’s at the age where he feels the need to act like an ass in any given situation. He’s stubborn about it too. Never apologizes to her afterwards. They could spend days ignoring each other.

Any time it happens when I’m around, I try to figure out how they feel. My sister thinks that he probably hates her, that’s why they never see eye to eye. Meanwhile he does feel sorry, but he doesn't know how to get over his ego."

"Typical siblings." 

"That's right. And then I sit them down and make them talk to each other."

"And it works?"

"Like a charm. Effective communication can pretty much solve half of the conflicts in the world, but it's hard to take the first step, especially when you don't know what the other person is thinking."

You let his words sink in, turning them over in your head. If you were to lay your heart completely bare, it would certainly be singing a different tune. Perhaps a chat would really make things better instead of pretending that nothing was out of place.

"You have a point there." It wasn't hard to grasp what he was trying to say, but if he wanted to be roundabout about it, then you weren't going to bring it to light. 

The two of you came to a stop in front of a felt box holding five keychains, a sweet rendition of a puppy family. He picked it up carefully. "Would you mind if I got this? My sister has always liked collecting keyrings like these."

"Sure. You're never beating the best big brother allegation, are you?"

A proud smile dawned on his face. "Hopefully not."

By the time you’d ticked off the very last item on the shopping list, night had already fallen. 

“I just realized something awful.” Jack said from behind. He was still holding the roses and cake, while you had the rest. “You didn’t get anything at all. I mean, the cake and the necklace, and even the recipient of this bouquet-”

“Hey, don’t worry. I was the one who ‘invited’ you to hang out, wasn’t I? It’s only fair that I treat you to something nice. Even though it’s Sam’s money. It’s the sentiment that counts.”

His face faltered for a second, then he assumed an earnest expression. “In that case, I promise to make it up to you, not just for the gifts, but also for the amazing company.”

"You're not so bad yourself, Jack."

The mirror portal was situated on a nearby hill, giving you the perfect view of the town under your feet. Streams of people weaved through the streets, the uniform structures and red roofs now adorned by pink banners and decorations. 

A strange sense of satisfaction filled your chest knowing that you’d completely defied what Ace and Deuce had planned for you guys. Although this wasn’t planned, you still had an amazing time roaming around town.

“Let’s head back now.” Jack said. You sent him a nod before stepping through the mirror together.

———

It was 7:45, and you were pacing around your room.

After returning to the campus and claiming the sweet thaumarks from Sam, Jack bid you goodbye and returned to his room trying to juggle all the rewards in his arms, earning envious glares from passing students.

That was half an hour ago. In that time you’d managed to rush back to Ramshackle, got dressed in the most formal outfit you could find in your humble wardrobe, and walked ten laps around the house trying to practice what to say to Leona when he got here. 

Hey, remember when we agreed to keep all of this under wraps? I kind of don’t want to do that anymore. Yea, the press could be after us. Yea, my friends are going to be a pain in the ass. No, I still want to go public with this. 

What if he felt that it was not worth the trouble? You trusted that he would respect your choices, but still-

Rapid knocks on the door pulled you back to reality. You all but stormed down the stairs and rushed to the foyer, swinging open the door.

There he was, clad in a simple black button down shirt and pants, his hair gathered in a high ponytail. In his left hand was a bouquet of roses, and in his right, for some reason, was his broom.

How did he even manage to look perfect in everything he wore? 

“Happy Valentine’s Day, kipenzi,” he stepped in and met you half-way with a kiss, trying to lean in for another when you pulled away. You almost forgot that you’d been anxious just a while ago. 

“Happy Valentine’s to you too, mpenzi,” The nickname never failed to make his tail swish in contentment. You beamed as he handed you the roses. The card indicated that there were 33 in total, and if your memory served you right, it symbolized ‘I love you’ with affection. 

“How was your day with Jack?”

“It was great.” You answered briefly, pulling him into the lounge by his hand.

“Just great?” 

“If you must know, we walked around town and bought tons of stuff. We decided to treat it as a friendly hangout.” 

“I see.” He said tersely, willing his jaw to unclench before you could see it.

“You/re not getting green-eyed, are you?”

“They’ve been green my whole life, sweetheart,” he smirked as you rolled your eyes. 

“Touche.” You headed to the sofa and picked up a huge paper bag. “Ta-da! Here’s something I made you.”

Placing his broom against the wall, he reached inside, expression shifting when he felt the soft fabric. Slowly, he pulled out the content and let it fall to the floor soundlessly.

It was a crocheted blanket big enough to roll both of you into a burrito, the pattern mimicking a chess board. The only detail you’d tweaked were the king pieces, which had been turned into two snoozing lions. 

He spent a good minute observing the blanket, as if trying to take in every single detail. Finally, he asked, “So this is why you couldn’t stay over at my room for the past two months?”

“Yea. It could’ve taken me a month, but I had no prior knowledge about crocheting, so I had to start from the ground up.”

“You could’ve just commissioned someone, you know. Would’ve saved a lot of trouble.” He said mindlessly, running his hand down the smooth yarn. 

“Maybe I should take it back then-”

“Hands off, it’s mine.” His face scrunched up, arms holding the blanket close to himself. During winter, his family had sent him more than enough blankets and duvets, all made with the most exquisite of fabrics, but this might just outshine all of them. “And it’s unique this way. So… thank you.”

If you were going to start the conversation, you reckoned that this was the perfect timing. "There's something I've been-"

"Wait a sec. I have more surprises." He wrapped the blanket around your shoulders so that only your head was uncovered and grabbed his broom. "Close your eyes."

You did as told, pulling the blanket up to shield your face. Some distance away, you heard the light switch flip. "I didn't know you had this many things planned."

It sounded like he was talking from a great height. "You didn't think I was just going to give you roses, did you?" Something cut through the air. "Though it did take me some time to figure out what to do, so you better appreciate it with all your heart."

"Roger that." You paced around in an aimless circle, listening to the faint winds trailing behind him as he flew around the lounge. For a moment you wondered if he was cleaning the place, but it was highly unlikely that he would volunteer doing so. 

"Okay," the next time he spoke, he was right in front of you. "You can look now."

The lights were out, which normally meant the room should be cloaked in darkness, but it was different today. On the roof were densely scattered glow-in-the-dark stickers piercing the dimness, mimicking stars. A few of them extended to the walls, as if the sky was melting. Some were larger in shape, others mere dots, but together, it looked like the whole galaxy had been moved inside.

Your mouth fell open as you took in the constellations spread out in front of you. There was seemingly no word that could encapsulate the feeling welling in your chest.

"I promised that I would show you the night sky of Sunset Savannah before, but the opportunity hasn't presented itself, so this will have to do." He leaned in to observe your face. "Hey. You're not crying, are you?"

"No." You croaked. Half amused and half concerned, he reached for your arm and pulled you into a tight embrace.

Being held by Leona never failed to make you feel like the most treasured person in the world. His fingers threaded in and out of your locks, pressing kisses to the crown of your head as you hid your face in his shoulder. You leaned into him, so close that your hearts might as well melt into one. 

Leona Kingscholar had always shone in every room he was in, but nothing came close to the version of him only you got to see. His love came in both showers and drizzles, both intense and tender. It blew you away and made the lining of your stomach feel warm. He was the island you'd go to when you felt like drowning, the person you could call home in this scarily foreign land. Sometimes it felt like every bad thing would go away so long as he was holding your hand. 

He's undoubtedly the best thing that had ever happened to you, you thought, and you wanted to love him wildly for that. No hushed secrets, no retreating in the dark. You wanted to braid his hair and let the world see. You wanted to let him rest his head on your lap while you worked. You wanted to pass him tooth-rotting notes in class, and you wanted and wanted and wanted. You wanted to liberate all of these hopes and desires.

There was no way you could hide what you felt for him when it was brighter than all the stars in the universe combined.

"I need to talk to you about something." His voice was muffled in your hair. 

"So do I, actually." You tore yourself away, wiping the warm trails on your cheeks.

You followed him and sank onto the floor, shifting closer so you could get under the blanket together. He fixed his gaze on the chair behind you for a second, looking like he was trying to declutter his mind, before returning his attention to you. "What happened with Jack today has got me thinking about things between us."

Your breath hitched. It was like he was reading your mind.

"Most of the blame goes to your dumb friends, obviously. But I believe that some misunderstandings stemmed from us trying to keep everything a secret. And I know I said that it was troublesome to just go public and stuff, which I still agree with, but the truth is…" he ran his hand through his hair and it sprang back into place. "You're worth it. All of it. The press, the nosy halfwits in this school, my family, they are nothing compared to how much I absolutely adore you. Screw the troubles. I want to let everyone know that you're mine, and that I'm yours." A beat later, he added, "Plus, if something like this happens again, I'm not sure I can keep my cool."

He drew a deep breath. "The only question left is, what do you think?"

"I think-" you chuckled, feeling the previous nervousness dissipate. It's funny how effortless it was for you to be on the same page. "I think the absolute same! I've been pondering about how all this secrecy has been keeping us from each other, and I just despise that. Nothing is critical enough that it should be able to make me compromise my feelings..."

His grin grew wider and wider as you rambled on and on, until he had to cut you off with a kiss right there, laced with relief and unbridled joy. You couldn't help but smile into his touch, relishing in the new found solace. It was like your heart had found air again.

Under the starry sky, Leona rested his head against you, hand finding yours and giving it a small squeeze. "I love you."

"I love you more."

"Oh yea, you want to make this a competition?" He quirked his brow, and before you knew it, you were going back and forth without a regard for the passing hours.

You might not have been able to spend the entire Valentines' Day with him, but you knew that there was still tomorrow and the days after that, enough for you to tell him all the ways you loved him as much as you wanted. It would always be like this– bathing in each other's presence, letting the love drape over you two like a blanket. 

Only this time, you wouldn't have to hold back anymore.

———

"Hey," Trey walked up to Cater, who was walking to and fro in the middle of the corridor. "What's this emergency you were talking about?"

"Trey! Thank the Queen of Hearts you're here." He pulled the taller man towards one of the dorm rooms, where the door was slightly ajar. A stern voice could be heard from within, though it was too faint for him to string together a coherent sentence.

"Jack asked me to let him in because he had something urgent to say to Ace and Deuce, and it looked like a storm was verging on his face so I complied," Cater moved aside, signaling Trey to take a peek. "He's been in there for a good while, and it doesn't sound like fun."

Trey let out an exasperated sigh. He'd spent the past few days baking cookies and chocolates, and he could frankly use a break. Still, as the vice dorm leader, he couldn't just turn a blind eye when the underclassmen got into trouble. Bending down, he squeezed one eye shut to get a clear view of what was going on inside.

Jack was standing in the middle of the room, arms in front of his chest, tail moving stiffly. The usual seriousness of his expression was mixed with an edge of irritation. 

On the edge of the bed sat Ace and Deuce, who were as still as twin popsicles, hands clenched on their laps and head low. Deuce looked especially guilty, like he'd just done something terrible like eating Riddle's tarts. Ace was mildly annoyed, but unable to utter a retort.

"...totally inconsiderate and disappointing behavior… the result could've been egregious!"

Trey blinked, then backed away from the door. "We'd better give them some more time. They've done something egregious ."

"Wow. That's a big word. I wonder what exactly they've done…" At Trey's disapproving squint, Cater waved his hand dismissively. "Don't look at me like that! Of course I won't use our cute first years as topics for gossip~"

The two made their ways back to their rooms then. Another thirty minutes later, Jack finally ended his speech in resignation, rendering the two culprits and frankly inadequate cupids speechless. In his deep breaths, he picked up the faint fragrance of roses lingering on his clothes, and let out a soft sigh.

Hopefully it was enough to repay all the presents you'd given him today. 

[nobaraisalive]

Since the government of Milei started, they have stopped the distribution of food to thousands of soup kitchens and community kitchens around the country, that with the increase of prices of food have everyday more demand. During the six months of government the poverty reached 57% of population and 18% of indigency. The minimum wage is 230,000 pesos while the basic basket of food cost is 830,000 pesos. It was denounced that 5 tons of food sit in warehouses as the government cuts soup kitchen deliveries. The Justice ordered the deliverer of the food, Federal judge Sebastián Casanello ordered the Ministry of Human Capital, headed by Sandra Petovello, to develop a plan in 72 hours to distribute the five tons of food stored in warehouses for social aid that were not distributed for “immediate execution.” The government of Milei has said they will appeal the decision as they refuse to deliver the food. They claim that they will keep the food for an “emergency”. However during their government two major climatic emergencies happened in Bahía Blanca and Concordia and no help has been sent there. 

Argentine Social Debt Observatory of the Argentine Catholic University (UCA) which indicates that “57.4% of the Argentine population is in a situation of poverty, within which more than 60% of children and adolescents are found. , of which 32% suffer from food insecurity - 14% severely."

The government not only is not sending food, they stopped sending medications. Since Javier Milei took office on December 10 until last April more than 50 people died who had been receiving treatments that were discontinued. While medications prices have increased more than 170% since November, according to pharmacists.  Organizations of patients with cancer, chronic and autoimmune diseases presented a collective judicial protection, which fell to the Federal Administrative Litigation Court No. 7, so that the Directorate of Direct Assistance for Special Situations (Dadse) responds for the files in process.

When asked about the economical situation of workers whose salary can’t cover their basic needs of the month, Milei said “if people don't reach the end of the month (with their salary), they will be already dead”.

[turnipstewdios]

Half-Lives Chapter 4

Read the full chapter here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/48120073/chapters/121902058 The air conditioning in the CVS felt wonderful, and Danny relaxed a bit as he passed through the doors. He grabbed a hand-basket from the stack by the entrance, and snagged a bottle of soda as he went by the register. Roof running in the heat had made him thirsty. Then he went straight to the first aisle that looked like it might have a fan. He wasn’t going to walk out of here without one. He found them without too much trouble, and started looking at his options. He had been planning on going for the cheapest one earlier, but the money from the restaurant gave him more options. He could probably pick up a few other things while he was here too. He picked out a decent looking medium-ish sized fan. Small enough that he could carry it back via rooftop, but powerful enough to actually move some air. He also bought an extension cord with a power strip on it, because for some reason the apartment only had a few outlets, and they were all placed inconveniently. He’d never be able to set the thing up close enough to the bed to be usefull without it. After that, Danny wandered the store for a bit, looking for other things that might make the heat a bit less miserable. Any excuse to stay and enjoy the AC for a while. He grabbed an Ice cube tray, and a water bottle that he could take with him while roof running. A cheap set of extra washcloths. He remembered a trick that Mo- that he’d learned on a camping trip, to keep cool by draping a wet cloth over yourself. Sunblock, maybe? If he was going to be running around making deliveries in daylight he might need it, even in Gotham’s stupidly cloudy weather. It was sunny outside right now, though it was filtering through a miserable haze of pollution. Could he even get sunburn while he was invisible though? He was debating the practicality of a cool looking pair of sunglasses when the robbery started. He almost didn’t notice at first. He was standing in one of the aisles, a bit away from the entrance, when four men in ski-masks walked in the door. He definitely noticed when one of them fired a shot into the ceiling though. Danny flinched, slapping his hands over his ears and ducking down behind the shelf. The gunshot was loud. Ecto-guns didn't make that much noise. Several people screamed and Danny peered around the corner of his aisle. Two of the men were at the checkouts. One of them had a gun pointing at the cashiers, shouting at them while they opened the registers. The other hung back closer to the door, gun at the ready and watching both the store and the street. The other two were moving deeper into the building. One headed for the pharmacy, and the other was rounding up customers. Danny ducked back into the aisle, and ran for the back. He didn’t think he’d been spotted yet. He didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t use his powers in the store. Not with the camera’s watching everything. Even if he managed to get out of sight or escape out the back and go invisible, if he came back in and started beating up the crooks, it would be obvious something was happening. And if anyone mentioned that someone invisible had been in the store, and word got back to the wrong people, and they looked at the cameras, he was already on film from his time walking around shopping. He couldn’t just try fighting them either! He was stronger and faster than most humans, but if he managed to take them out it would just get him more attention. And that was if he didn't get shot. He’d never been shot with a normal gun before. He didn't know if it could kill him, but he… also didn't know if it couldn’t? If he went intangible the bullets would go right through him, but if he did get hit, he was pretty sure it would still hurt him badly. His ghost form was almost invincible unless he was exhausted or his core was damaged, but his human body had organs and he probably still needed them more or less intact. But, he couldn’t just do nothing. He made a decision. He ducked into the little bathroom at the back. His shopping basket, which he only now realized he’d been holding onto, got tossed aside, and he ducked into one of the stalls and locked it from the inside. If anyone asked, he’d be able to say he was hiding there from the robbers. It was even sort of true. He went invisible, then intangible, and slipped back out into the store. He couldn’t just beat them up or steal their weapons without being noticed, but maybe he could trip them, or distract them, or slow them down till the cops got here somehow. He had just floated up over the shelves to try getting a better look at things when several things happened very quickly. A child screamed. Danny’s ghost sense went off, icy cold and stronger than he’d felt it since he left Amity. Another gunshot rang out. The man by the door collapsed in a spray of blood.

And Danny was buried in a tidal wave of rage that wasn’t his. Full chapter on Ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/48120073/chapters/121902058

[beikonsims]

With Puck gone to work, Tank decided to take a stroll around Strangetown to clear his head. They needed groceries anyway and he never trusted those delivery people not picking the overpriced items to the basket.

As he was done with the groceries, he noticed a small commotion outside and asked the cashier girl if there's something going on. She explained they're organizing a cooking contest every week with judges from Sim City coming around to award the winner.

Reluctantly, Tank made the decision to give it a shot. He was allowed into the kitchen space for contestants and prepared one of his best dishes for the contest.

[grits-galraisedinthesouth]

"The Kate Effect:" Often imitated, never duplicated 👑

Determined to help, Kate has now persuaded 19 British brands to donate more than 10,000 NEW items to more than 40 baby banks across the UK.

The Duchess of Cambridge donned a mask, apron and gloves today as she launched a major initiative to support vulnerable babies and children. On a visit to the baby bank charity Baby Basics UK in Sheffield, she revealed how she was moved to tears by the stories of families she met during secret lockdown visits to its West Norfolk branch near her Anmer Hall home.

As she unloaded pallets and unpacked the first deliveries at the charity’s temporary distribution centre, she told volunteers: "It can get very emotional. I remember a couple of the families I met from King's Lynn and I went home and literally burst into tears, their stories were so moving. The struggles they have gone through, the bravery they have shown...in extraordinary circumstances. Helping their families through extraordinary times."

Volunteer-run baby banks provide essentials such as nappies, clothing and bedding to vulnerable families who are referred by health visitors, midwives and social workers. But while baby banks across the UK have seen an increase in demand during the Covid-19 outbreak, many have been unable to accept second-hand donations because of health and safety concerns.The Duchess also spoke via videocalls to Amy Cotton, who fled a violent home with only her baby son Ricky, now three, and received a buggy, clothing and toys from Little Village. She is now a volunteer for the charity and has a 12-week old daughter, Ellie-Rose.

Kate told her: "It is brave and not often the easiest thing to do but it is really fantastic that you've reached out, that you are so open about your own struggles but also the fact that you are in such a fantastic place now. I suppose it is real credit to you, the journey that you've undertaken and the courage and strength you've shown to get there. So well done. And I love the fact that you are volunteering too."

She also spoke to Ella-Mae Michalski, whose 21-month-old twin girls Bella and Ruby were born prematurely with chronic lung disease. Little Village provided them with a double pram, clothes, muslins and other essentials.

"As a mum the one thing you want to be able to do is to provide for your children and it was difficult not to be able to do that but Little Village helped," said Ella-Mae. "It's something as basic as getting a cup of tea when you come here and people asking how you are and being able to offload without fear of what people might think."After learning about the situation during private visits to her local branch, where she helped to pack Moses Baskets with essential products for babies, the Duchess spearheaded a campaign to get UK companies to donate items to baby banks run by Baby Basics UK, London-based Little Village and Aberdeenshire-based AberNecessities.

Retailers taking part include John Lewis, M&S, Tesco, Sainsbury's, The White Company, Matalan, Trotters, Boden, Frugi, Mamas & Papas, Jojo Maman Bébé and Kit & Kin. Green People (Organic Babies), My Little Coco, Bloom and Blossom, Kokoso Baby, Childs Farm and Bramley have also made donations, while DHL Express is providing transport.

In Sheffield, Baby Basics CEO Cat Ross told the Duchess: "Often in a world where there is a lot of judgement and stereotyping about being poor, that additional stress can be even more difficult for parents who are doing amazing things to keep their families going with such strength, such determination."

"Yes," agreed Kate, "One of the mums I met was a nurse. These are families who do fantastic jobs and even they are struggling."Talking about community spirit during lockdown, she added: "It is those small volunteering acts that everyone can contribute to that make such a difference. That inter-generational support system has been amazing. Knowing that you can make such a big difference to another family is wonderful."

Kate also met Ali Wartty and Sahara Hamawandy, and their one-year-old triplets San, Shan and Laveen. An emotional Sahara told the Duchess how she was referred to Baby Basics after struggling to cope. The charity provided them with a triple pram, Moses baskets and starter packs, as well as clothes and toiletries as the babies have grown.

"I was living on the 12th floor of a block of flats and trying to cope with the three of them," she told the Duchess. "It must have been so stressful," sympathised Kate.  

Sahara told her: "How do you take your three babies down from the 12th floor without a pram? We weren't able to go out at all." Speaking afterwards, Sahara said: "To give support to mum means giving support to the whole family. That’s why the charity has been so important to a mother like me. It gave me power. It transformed me. I just want to say thank you to everybody."A Little Village survey of more than 50 baby banks has found that 77% desperately need more nappies, mattresses and other products as demand for their services increases. The charity is set to support more than 6,000 children this year, double the number they helped in 2019.

Founder and Chief Executive Sophia Parker said: "The pandemic appears to be making the situation much, much worse for many families. Every child should have the right to a good childhood and this new initiative is a much welcomed step towards tackling child poverty in the under 5s."

Danielle Flecher-Horn, Founder of AberNecessities, added: "By providing parents with the resources to build a positive relationship with their children - from pregnancy and throughout the first years – we can make a real difference to a child’s development, health and overall happiness."Speaking aftewards, Baby Basics CEO Cat Ross said: "A lot of people have heard about food banks but don’t necessarily know about the baby banks and what we do. Having someone like the Duchess behind us is amazing and her helping us by getting in all these amazing brands has been incredible."

Announcing the initiative, Kate said: "Over recent months, I have heard from families who have been supported by baby banks through the most difficult of times and I have been deeply moved by their stories. Having somewhere to turn to for support is important for all families, and baby banks work every day, up and down the country, to provide immediate, tangible and practical help for parents and carers when they are most in need.

"Baby banks are driven by incredible volunteers, demonstrating the power of community spirit in supporting families and coming together to raise the next generation. Thanks to the generosity of the companies taking part in this initiative, baby banks across the UK will be able to support even more families through this particularly challenging time."

"In everything, then, do to others as you would have them do to you. For this is the essence of the Law and the Prophets."¹

@skippyv20 I remember when you told us to spot the difference. No photos of "the wife" out shopping with mom for baby items.🧐

¹Matthew 7:12

[asleep-in-the-keep-sideblog]

Asleep In The Keep: A DP x BNHA fic

Summary: Danny goes out with his new face

Word count: 2851

Chapter 17: Coffee Beans

17/?

There was one blessing to come out of last night, Danny now could go out into public and not worry about being arrested! Would he be arrested or would they call it being apprehended? He knew nothing of this world’s legal system, the only law he did know was that using your quirk in public without a license was illegal. He supposed that made a little sense? You had to be 16 to get a car license, even if you could reach the pedals when you were younger. They probably had a test that you took around the same age to get the license, so you could understand the responsibility and all that. The news was probably freaking out because they didn’t know if he had one or not. Stupid bureaucracy.  

Still, it’s nice to see his human face again, he had almost forgotten what it looked like. He touched his face again, it wasn’t smooth like human skin, it was tough and didn’t stretch unless he pulled it. He felt like a doll, something non-living trying to replicate being human, being familiar. It was uncanny how every little detail of a ghost was them trying to imitate their human selves. They were so close, but everything little thing set them further apart. It was sad as much as it was desperate. 

Danny sighed. He had to reminder, despite everything, it was still him. He still glowed a little, but if he concentrated enough he could turn it off. He also had the pleasure of ignoring his blue skin since the hazmat suit covered everything. If he ignored everything inhuman about himself, he looked like how he did before he went into the portal. Since alternate dimensions and realities exist, maybe this is what he looks like in one of them. A reality where he didn’t die and just got cool powers. Other him was probably still with his family right now…He doubted it though. If such a reality were real, Tucker was probably the mayor because of how little sense it made. Of course he would die if he got zapped to hell and back (literally). But it was pointless to wonder about these types of things. 

Danny snapped back to the task at hand. He still hadn’t gotten the chance to really explore the place. The last time he was out didn’t really count since he was paying more attention to Deku than the surrounding area. Danny has also been putting off looking for the portal so who knows, maybe this time he’ll just walk into it. That’d be convenient. In the end Danny didn’t really need to have a justification for himself to go outside, but it helped him from feeling less lazy. He was (practically) an adult and could do what he liked. 

Right now he was pondering his updated human disguise. While his clothes covered the remaining blue skin, they were so conspicuous that it would give him away immediately (he kinda regrets giving Deku his jacket). All he had left was the hat and mask, but that wouldn’t help at all. He still had his old disguise, but he found it in the garbage and hasn’t washed it since. Danny stared at the clump of old clothes on the floor, it smelled like wet onions. He briefly debated it, he’s been in stinkier situations, but grimaced. He already stole once it’s not gonna hurt to steal again. 

He flew out undetected to the same shop as before. There were no new deliveries since then, so he had to go inside the store warehouse. There were still unpacked boxes so Danny just phased his hand inside and grabbed what felt like a jacket. He didn’t get any time to inspect it before a retail worker (who looked like a cat-boy) walked in. He sat in one of the baskets and started crying about customers. Danny suddenly felt bad for stealing… Not bad enough though, he quickly got out of there. 

He went to an empty alley behind the store to check out his newest steal. It was a zip-up hoodie whose main colors were yellow and white. Something seemed familiar about it but Danny couldn’t put his finger on it. There were also letters on the front with a G sandwiched between to F’s, and had white strips on the arms. It was really starting to bother Danny where he knew this from. Maybe he just saw it at the Hero Museum and the design just got stuck in his head? He did see a lot of heroes when he was with Deku, though that doesn’t mean he paid complete attention (the kid could ramble), but he did try his best. Danny checked the tag and it had a little cartoon of a man with a big body and a little head wearing the hoodie…

OHHHHHH! That’s right, Danny ran into this guy when he first came here. What was his name? Bubble gum? Big Gum? Something like that, he knew it had something to do with Gum. Maybe the guy could stretch out his limbs and body like a character he saw from an anime (it was one of Tucker’s favorites). 

He looked at the jacket and then back at the store, briefly debating returning it and getting a different one. He didn’t want to interrupt the worker there, even if he couldn’t see him (he needed the space), and it wasn’t that big of a deal. The hero was just weird (which was a crime Danny was also guilty of). It didn’t really matter in the end what he wore, as long as he covered his upper half (the bottom passes as cargo pants). He put the jacket on without any more hassle. 

He looked at his reflection in a store window close by. He looked pretty human if he did say so himself. The standard wasn’t high here either, he did just see a cat boy, after all.  No ones gonna notice or care if he has sharper than normal canines or gray hairs. He could always wear the mask and put the hood up if anyone stared. Wait no, that would make him look so creepy. Maybe just one at a time. Now reassured, Danny walked into the throng of people outside the alley. He had no way of tracking time here (time flies by when you're dead), but from all the teens in the street it must’ve been a weekend (that or after school). He missed weekends (when ghosts didn’t attack) and he got to be a kid again. He was only 17, how did he get so old so fast? 

He lifted his hood up and joined the throng. He had no idea where he was going so just followed whatever felt right. He was downtown and so got to see plenty of shops. He still had no money, so he didn’t go into most of them. One he did go into was whatever the Japanese equivalent of a bodega was. It was humid and smelled bad, but temperature didn’t affect him and he didn’t need to breathe so he was able to browse around comfortably. It was mostly hero themed knick-knacks and off-brand American brands (or maybe it was the brand in that dimension?). Most of the hero stuff was that buff guy Deku was into, Danny was pretty sure his name was All Might (that was one of the only names that stuck since the kid kept talking about him). He looked like if the American flag threw up and a baby crawled out of it (like the girl from the Ring) and then grew up to be a hero. Danny cringed. It was too much. They also had other figurines like an angry looking fire-man, but Danny didn’t recognize any of them. He must’ve been staring too long cause an employee went up to him and asked him if he was gonna buy anything in a sickly sweet voice. Danny shook his head no and the person's face turned sour and he walked off, still eyeing Danny and mumbling something about tourists. Danny got the hint and left the store. 

A similar pattern happened at other stores as well (although most of them were more pleasant). A lot of them were able to clock something other about Danny, and interpreted that as him being a foreigner, and asked him a lot of questions. Apparently he also had an accent and people kept trying to guess where it was from. They were shocked when Danny told them it was American, one guy (apparently a linguist) straight up told him he was wrong. She told him that it was too “throaty” (whatever that meant) to be American and insisted it was more Latin or Spanish in origin. Danny said, “Ah you caught me.” and just walked away from the conversation. People can be so weird. 

It was during this time that something he noticed from before kept popping up. When people talked, their mouths didn't match their words. When Danny first came into the world, he thought he just had a concussion (but you need a brain to have a concussion), but his new theory is that sound travels differently here so that’s why their mouths are weird. He didn’t notice the same problem for anything else, but maybe the biology is different here and it gets expressed in weird ways. 

Danny came upon a coffee shop. It had two stories; the 2nd probably being where the owner lives; and the bottom being the actual shop. There were no signs on the building except “Coffee & Tea” in gold letters, and it was pretty plain on the outside. It had one massive window that looked into the shop and Danny could see empty seats and little figurines on a shelf. The place would’ve looked closed if it weren’t for the door being prop slightly open. They were probably starting to close since It was late so not a lot of people would be out getting coffee. 

Danny was gonna walk past it when he noticed shadows dancing on the alley walls beside it. There were grunts and pained noises that echoed off the walls. It made his core leap out wanting to defend them. Danny bolted in the direction of the sound, and his footfalls echoed in the ally from the puddles on the ground. Before he reached the corner, he heard something fall over and a panicked voice. Within the second, Danny reached the end and was able to see an old man sweating as he bent down to pick up a box that had fallen over. They both looked at eachother, confused.

“Oh sorry kid, thought you were somebody else,” the old man recovered quicker than Danny, and he let out a small laugh. Danny didn’t know who the man was expecting, but it was clear something was going on in that alley. Whatever it was, it wasn’t any of Danny’s business.

“I heard noises and thought someone was hurt?” Danny cocked his head, still confused by the situation. The old man started struggling again to pick up the box. There was an open van with similar sized boxes still packed in. “Do you need any help with that?” Danny didn’t know what was going on but he couldn’t not not help an old man. He offered his hand out to the man, not that he expected him to hand him the box, but more of a gesture of good will. 

“No, it’s alright,” he shook his head and stood up, eyeing Danny. His back was bent and he put a hand on his lower back to straighten his posture, Danny could hear several pops and cracks. Now standing slightly hunched, the old man was about 5’3, and looked like there was nothing but bones and wire under his clothes.  “I may not look at it but I can take care of myself.” Clearly, Danny thought to himself. 

The man watched him as he bent down to grab the box again. Danny stopped him by just grabbing it for him. The air between them was so awkward that all Danny could do was smile nervously. A soft but slow trickling sound came from the box and he looked down to see tons of beans spilling from a hole. Thank god it’s not drugs, Danny thought. He moved one of his hands to cover the hole, and then flipped it around so it was at the top. The old man had been eyeing Danny suspiciously since he got there (why are people so paranoid here?), but his gaze shifted more to confusion as the seconds ticed past. He gave Danny one final up and down and then squinted as he let out a breath. He grabbed a pair of glasses (but honestly they looked like goggles with how big they were), and cleaned them off on his shirt. When he looked at Danny again his eyes widened and he jumped back. Danny just nodded, used to that reaction. He stepped back, as if he had to get more space to look at the entirety of Danny. He seemed to have come to a decision. 

“What’s your name kid?” He asked Danny, although he still looked apprehensive about him. 

“Da-” Danny swallowed his tongue, “-amn. What a crazy question?” if ghosts could sweat, the alley would be flooded. The old man tilted his head back and laughed. 

“Want to give that another try?” He smiled at Danny knowingly. The glasses made his eyes look big and manic and the lens had a green tint to them. 

Danny thought about the name that he found in the library. Since he was still a ghost he couldn’t get his picture taken but it still helped cement some things in his mind. 

“Thomas,” Danny paused, “or Tommy is fine?” Thomas was too formal for his liking, he doesn’t even like being called Daniel, and he chose that name. 

“Nice name, kid.” Oh he knows. The old man put the glasses back into his pocket and sat against the wall of the shop. Despite his small size, the man seemed so much bigger than Danny. He looked at Danny again and shook his head and laughed “Well Tommy, since you’re already holding that box, would you like to load the rest of them in?” 

Danny nodded. He was already this far and it would be rude to say no. 

★

Danny was finishing unloading all that was left in the van. The man meanwhile was leaning against the wall fiddling with some type of screw or file and little block. He would watch Danny and bark orders occasionally about where to put stuff or to be careful with something. Danny didn’t really pay attention to the man much, he just focused on the boxes or other random thoughts that came into his head.

From the sounds within the packages, most of them were full of loose coffee beans. Danny didn’t find it suspicious until he unloaded actual bean bags with fancy words in fancy fonts on it. Why would there be loose beans in the packages and not in the bags like the others? Was there something else in the boxes that the beans hid? But again, none of his business.  

Danny was directed to put all the boxes into the small room that connected to the outside. It was bare of anything except another door to get into the shop’s kitchen or storage room. It seemed more like a weird decontamination room than one leading into a café. 

“Don’t you want me to unload it in the actual shop? I’m not really doing anything right now so it would be no issue.” Danny was still raised with manners, plus he really wanted to know what was in the boxes. 

“No, it's fine.” The old man got up from his spot, “I have people to do that later.” He came up to Danny and handed him something. Was this hush money?! “Here’s my card.” It was sleek and professional looking, not something that a café owner would handout (unless it was for his other business). Maybe Danny walked into a weird smuggling ring and was now being invited to join said smuggling ring. “I’m always on the lookout for… people like you to come work for me, if you’re willing?” He smiled and it was all teeth.  

“I don’t have a phone” Danny said with a blank face. It was true since his phone was with his other pair of legs that he no longer had access to. 

“You should fix that.” he had an annoyed look on his face but it also looked amused. “Oh well,” he shrugged and took back the card as if he didn’t care what happened next, “If you change your mind, just ask the door for “Tanaka” and I’ll be right out.” And with that he slipped inside the dark room and shut the door. Danny could hear six instantaneous clicks of locks sliding into place. 

Definitely sketchy.

[r-o-s-e-f-i-r-e]

(kiki's delivery service! au)

“She should’ve been back hours ago,” Steve said, for about the hundredth time. He peered through a crack in the blinds out into the dark street like a creep. Nothing, still. They’d closed up the bakery as usual, to dissuade any potential customers, but had kept the lights on so that Max would know they were awake and waiting for her, so that she’d use the key they’d had made (This is for me?” She’d said, so shocked her eyes had gone big in her face and she'd looked exactly as young as she actually was) to let herself in and tell them how her first delivery had gone, whenever she finally fucking got back.

“You’re right,” Eddie agreed, joining Steve at the window, cinching up the blinds fully with a sharp jerk and squinting out into the dark. He’d tried to placate Steve for the last few hours, perched behind the counter with a book while Steve paced in endless circles (“This is her, like, witch adult rite of passage, we can’t treat her like a kid, and she’s so smart, she’s okay,” he’d said, watching Steve wear a groove in the shop floor.) But since the sun had gone down he’d gotten just as restless as Steve — clearly stuck on the same page in his book for the last hour, tapping out endless rhythms on the counter, fiddling with the radio. 

“What should we do?” Steve said, getting frantic all at once now that Eddie had finally agreed with him, running his hands through his hair. “Do we call the police? No, I know, I know, they wouldn’t be able to fucking do anything,” he finished, seeing the look on Eddie’s face. 

“We have the lady’s number, right? The one who asked her to do the delivery?” Eddie said, going behind the counter, opening all the drawers and ruffling through Steve’s very meticulously organized inventory notes and sales receipts and client records; Steve literally couldn’t care less, in that moment. “Maybe we can call her and she can call the house she was delivering to and tell us if she made it there —“

“Right right yes,” Steve said, finding Ms. Kelly’s number at last and going over to the phone and carefully beginning to dial, heedless of the fact that it was 10pm, when Eddie slapped first his back and then his arm and then the heavy receiver right out of Steve’s hand. “OW,” Steve started —

“She’s back, look, c’mon,” Eddie said, pulling at Steve, and through the open window Steve could finally see Max, just touching down, tucking her broom under her arm, Heathcliff the cat perched on her shoulder. 

“Oh thank god,” Steve said, twining his fingers with Eddie’s, and they pulled the front door open and ran out into the street to meet her. 

“Oof, hey—” Max said, when Steve collided with her, wrapping her in a hug. 

“Thank god you’re okay, what the heck happened,” Steve said, pulling back so that Eddie could get his own hug in, running his eyes over her — messy hair, a rip in her dress, but back safe, all in one piece. 

Max lit up. “It was crazy,” she gushed, while Heathcliff wound around her shoulders; Eddie started steering her inside. “We got hit by this huge gust of wind, and the toy cat fell out of the basket and I lost it, and then these crows tried to attack us, but the crows were friends with this nice girl who lives in the woods named Robin, who’s a writer, she’s so cool, and she fixed the real toy while Heathcliff pretended to be the toy, and—”

“Whoa, Red, hang on,” Eddie said, laughing, pushing her upstairs. “I think I’m gonna need you to slow down and start at the beginning—you want some hot chocolate? Steve?”

“Yes,” Steve said, following them up the stairs, knowing Eddie would be able to hear the please spike mine with our strongest liquor in his voice. “Meanwhile, I think we ought to get you a radio to take with you on deliveries, just in case this happens again — maybe one of those nice young nerds you made friends with can help? What’s his name? Lucas?” Steve said, faux innocent, while Max whipped her head around and glared at him.

“He’s not my friend, he’s a total stalker,” Max started, and while Heathcliff the cat wound around her ankles yodeling for milk and she went off on her tirade against the club of preteen boys who’d been trying to befriend her all week Steve just smiled at Eddie, over her head. Eddie looked back at him, just as fond and relieved and overwhelmed. We’re not her parents, Eddie had said, earlier, gentle with it, and Steve knew that — really, he did, that she had a family somewhere, that most likely Max was just passing through their lives, that they had no real claim to her. But, Steve thought, searching in the cupboards for the marshmallows he’d hidden away earlier that week, as long as she was here, with them, for however long that actually was, he’d make sure they were her port in the storm, the solid ground she needed, in order to kick off and zoom away on her broom, climbing higher and higher, up into the clear blue sky. 

[musewrangler]

The house was very tidy—undoubtedly the droid had been helpful—and all delivery boxes and packing material were gone. ND-7 was already humming into the kitchen to clean the bottles as Sola moved lightly toward the sofa where Firmus lay sprawled and deeply asleep.

Beside him was the basket where Luke was sleeping angelically, small hands relaxed on either side of his head. But Leia was snuggled on her husband’s chest, a fuzzy pink blanket covering her and one small hand gripping his sweatshirt, much as she had the very first day Firmus held her.

Something special there, Sola thought. Her husband was clearly exhausted, but his left hand was firmly on Leia’s back and his datapad lay on the floor where it had dropped from his right hand.

Sola brushed a finger over Luke’s round cheek before she carefully pushed the hover basket to the side so she could kneel beside Firmus and press her lips to his.

He stirred immediately, drawing in a startled breath, before his mouth curved under her kiss.

[softlyfiercely]

wait. why did you need to visit a catholic store. what were you trying to find.

well you see.

i work in children's and youth ministry at an episcopal church.

and at this church we have a tradition.

a tradition called "the easter baskets."

i do not like the easter baskets. let me tell you about these godforsaken easter baskets.

actually im gonna put a cut here...click through if you want to read about the agonies and side quests of children's ministry in this day and age.

So. One thing you must know about the episcopal church is it tends to be an institution that likes things done...consistently. there are jokes about how the number one question that search committees ask when hiring new priests is "do you intend to change anything."

the children's program at my church has some LONG institutional roots. Like, the priest who's been there for over 20 years, whose kids are now adults with their own kids - his wife used to run the children's program when the church kids were little. so there is still a lot of memory about How Things Are/Were Done

and one of those things was THE EASTER BASKETS.

twenty years ago, it worked like this: there was Someone, Like, An Entire Person whose job it was to maintain and manage a list of people who were members of our community but are now sick and can't come to church in person for whatever reason. usually getting treated for cancer, in hospice/dying/end of life, or caretaking someone who is.

and then, every year, that person coordinated with the Children's Program person, who coordinated with the Very Involved Parents, and they'd get the "shut ins" list and gather materials and organize that on the Saturday before Easter, the kids get together and make easter baskets to be delivered to these people.

this requires a LOT of work. But it was just something very baked in to the yearly planning. There was never a question of whether the Easter baskets "were happening" or "who was doing what." the infrastructure was just...there.

HOWEVER. I became children's minister right at the beginning of the pandemic. So everything went BUGFUCK CRAZY and we lost a lot of people, momentum, institutional knowledge, etc. So when it was time to do the easter baskets again, I was told by everyone that it sort of "just happens," because no one had documented the entire process.

like, I knew I had to organize it, but I didn't realize that a lot of steps like "get the shut-in list from [the person who maintains it]" are no longer possible because everyone kinda quit doing everything and we have no volunteers and the world fell apart

So I'm trying to sort of re-ignite this long standing tradition, that people have STRONG feelings about (but not strong enough to take it on themselves!!!)

I'd gotten the feedback from multiple people that the previous baskets were too kitschy and just full of junk people had to deal with - but I didn't realize that this was because The Lady Who Sources Stuff For The Baskets was just...Like That, so when I told her "hey we have a new plan for the baskets this year, people have asked to tone down on the useless junk" she was...well. her feelings were hurt.

Also, I'd planned for it to be like, a cute thing the kids could make, but when we started to assemble them, it turned out some of the adults had Strong Opinions about the aesthetics of the baskets, so the kids didn't really get to do anything so it was just a bad experience programming-wise for me and the children.

AND THEN IT CAME TO THE DELIVERIES. I had asked multiple times of various people "how do we get them delivered?" and the answer was always "people just take them" and I was like is that coordinated ahead of time, how, who used to do it, what does it usually take and they were like oh just ask the families to take a few as they leave the basket making event with their kids

WELL. That did NOT WORK and I ended up spending my entire saturday driving around the whole peninsula navigating senior living complexes and it was fucking miserable, ESPECIALLY SINCE THIS ALWAYS TAKES PLACE ON THE SATURDAY BEFORE EASTER, AND THE EASTER VIGIL - AT WHICH I WORK - BEGINS AT 5:30AM.

I was like okay, so, literally every part of this sucked. This was not a good formational, spiritual, community building experience for the children OR me OR the parents OR the recipients of junky baskets or really anyone

So when the next year came around, I decided...I AM GOING TO RE-WORK THIS TRADITION. Now I am aware of the ingrained bullshit with it, and the core of what needs to be done, and the relative shape of the hill i am about to battle upwards. I CAN DO THIS. I AM A CHILDREN'S MINISTER. THIS IS MY VOCATION.

So this year I decided that instead of easter baskets, which have the following problems:

genuinely no one we are sending these to has a use for the actual basket object

require some sort of filling/padding, which again is more garbage

cost money

need to be "arranged" for a visual aesthetic, so hard for kids to actually assemble

I was just going to save glass jars from pasta sauce and stuff, and clean the labels off. And the kids are going to tie Easter colored ribbons around the rims. And I am going to get a bunch of cut flowers from the local nursery and have the kids make flower arrangements in the jars. this means that the kids get to be as hands on and creative as they want, but it's pretty hard to fuck up "fresh flowers"

also, the whole thing can be guiltlessly and easily tossed/recycled/composted, PLUS fresh flowers were an actual request from someone who does caretaking for the elderly (unlike most of the stuff that previously went into the baskets)

Then, we will just get a simple paper bag or envelope to include things that were traditionally in the baskets: cards that the kids color/decorate/sign, the printed bulletin from the Easter service, a note from the clergy, and a nice chocolate bar

BUT ALSO....i was told by the priest that the baskets/gifts (i keep calling them gifts, they are easter gifts NOT easter baskets in all my announcements etc and have explained to everyone that THEY WILL NOT BE BASKETS THIS YEAR but everyone keeps saying baskets so whatever) should also include....a "scriptural item"

PRAY TELL, MY LORD. WHAT THE FUCK IS A SCRIPTURAL ITEM

he was like oh you know, basically something kind of Jesus-y, something religious, something prayer-y, idk, something spiritual

(In previous years, the kitschy stuff lady always provided something like little cross figurines or little bookmarks with bible verses on them - but again we are trying not to send dying people and their caretakers random crap)

so i'm like, okay. I'll find a nice card, something that says "A Prayer For Easter" or something and has like lily flowers and a sunbeam, and it'll have a generic Jesus Peace Love Easter poem on it. Perfect.

That has to exist.

Right?

RIGHT?

NOPE. SUCH A THING DOES NOT EXIST

Because, you see, we at the Episcopal church like things tasteful. all things. including our theology.

every single thing i found on the internet was either offensively cheesy or had some bullshit like white jesus, lots of male God language, or hardcore atonement theory

i found one (1) 'good' one, but the minimum quantity it sells in is 400...we are delivering nine easter gifts this year

so i was like well fuck it. and googled "christian store" on google maps. and the thing is... episcopalians don't really do storefronts. but you know who does? Catholics. and episcopalians and Catholics do have some things in common. found a Catholic gift store a 13 minute drive away. perfect.

and i was like okay. I jsut have to find one thing. one thing i can buy nine of. one thing that says "thinking of you <3 in a specifically christian way :)"

i circled the store twice.

i examined EACH OBJECT.

i wanted to find something.

i needed to find something.

I did not think my criteria were that outlandish

I FOUND NOTHING. EVERYTHING IN THAT STORE WAS SOME KIND OF INSANE

also, this was 11am on a Thursday, so I was the only person in the store, and the lady at the counter kept asking me if i needed help finding anything

and i couldn't exactly be like "can you help me find something that's not theologically or aesthetically offensive"

there were so many random tchotchkes specifically for first communions and confirmations. and a LOt of pope stuff

and lots and lots and LOTS of saint stuff. saints for every disease. saints for every job

but nothing useful for an easter basket.

and i am not usually one to judge! i am actually a bit of a magpie, I love me some trinkets. they had all these charms and coins and rosaries and cards - all things i usually like! i am pro jesus and generally pro tchotchke!

but oh my lord every single thing in there was like Bigoted Great Aunt -core in both form and content

i found two things that might have worked for the easter gifts, but one was too catholic and one was too small for old people to read.

so i just took a few photos of especially bonkers things [post here for those who missed it] and went home and designed my own damn ScRiPtUrAl iTeMs

anyway now everyone has to experience I'm The Daddy Of A Nun. also FUCK these easter baskets. the end

[oopsallfanfic]

Chapter 16: Sofubo

The days following Hamamoto Chinami’s death were a mix of vulture-like grief counselors and funeral directors. You understood they were doing their jobs but their pushiness irritated you. To add to your sad and confused mind, #2 Hero Endeavor was responsible for handling the villain that was apprehended. The fire-type quirk user was a poor match for the earth type but took him down nonetheless, leaving carnage in their wake. How the situation was handled infuriated you and confused you more about the field you were intending to enter in a few months. The Endeavor team took no responsibility for the dozen people hurt or killed in such a careless fight, and there was nothing legally your father could do about it. Akira knew the rules heroes had to follow but Endeavor’s team of lawyers kept their side airtight. 

It would be three days before either of you could face anyone who came by, save for the delivery person when they brought food. Your father lifted your punishment and encouraged you to seek comfort in friends but you’d been ignoring their texts and calls for days. He was out now organizing funeral arrangements, while you elected to stay home on account of ‘bad weather’. Hamamoto Akira encouraged you to invite Hanai over or see about having Chiyo spend some time there. You reluctantly agreed to reach out to your friends but couldn’t bring yourself to do it. Not until you got a message from Chiyo.

Chiyo: I’m coming over now and you can’t stop me.

Chiyo: I don’t care how long it takes me to get there, I’ll walk if I have to.

You: Ur writing in full sentences

Chiyo: I need you to know I’m serious.

You: Fine. Can’t stop you if your mind is set.

Chiyo: Really?

Chiyo: It’s okay?

Chiyo: I hadn’t packed yet just in case

You: You made me think you were at a bus station already

Chiyo: I can be, give me 15 minutes and I’ll be on the way.

Chiyo: Oh, besides the train is much faster. I can be there in like an hour.

You: Are you coming then? I should tell my dad

Chiyo: Yee

You: Alright

It felt like the two of you hadn’t talked in ages. With the end of the school year wrapping up, you were sure she was just as busy as you were finishing exams and papers. Not to mention her breakup with Kazuki. He had forgotten Chiyo’s birthday which resulted in an argument that he couldn’t recover from. Chiyo told you he gave a bogus excuse that when she followed up on it turned out to be a lie. Chiyo elected to dump him instead of resolving the issue, you couldn’t entirely blame her though.

With a friend on the way, you decided to clean up your room. Even before the depressive hole you found yourself in, the bedroom was already in a state of catastrophe. You started by opening the patio sliding door to air out the room, cold wind rushing in to replace the stuffy stale air. Trash found its way into the bin, and sheets were tucked neatly around the mattress. Lastly, dirty wrinkled clothing found its way into your laundry basket which you took downstairs to wash. After loading the clothing you stepped out to hear a soft knock at the door followed by the doorbell. It had only been 30 minutes at best so surely Chiyo wasn’t already here, and you hadn’t expected any other guests today. You made your way to the front door quickly as the knocking and bell rang again. You looked out the peephole to see a well-dressed elderly couple, their silver hair and wrinkly skin leading you to believe they were well past retirement age. The older man grumbled something, prompting his wife to give him an unsavory look. You unlocked the door and gave them the best smile you could, the muscles in your face feeling achy as they stretched in a way they hadn’t in a while.

“Hello there,” The couple eyed you up and down as you swung it open to your unexpected visitors, “How can I help you?”

“We’re here looking for Hamamoto Akira,” The woman answered. She had a familiar-looking face framed by shoulder-length hair, silver-weaved earrings, and a necklace made of many silver strands led you to believe she was rather wealthy. “I take it that he’s not home?”

“He’s already found a younger mistress, how about that,” The man grumbled and crossed his arms over a tailored grey suit, framing the broad shoulders and belly of an aging man. Your fake smile melted as the man spoke.

“My father has done no such thing,” The implication of your father ruining his vow to your mother lit a furious flame in your chest. This snobbish man who didn’t even know your family was making assumptions based on what he’d seen in the last second.

“Your father?” The man adjusted his stance and looked you up and down again, his eyes lighting up as he saw the similarities between you and your mother.

“Yes?” You raised a quizzical brow, “Who are you exactly?”

“We’re your grandparents, Miss Hamamoto,” The woman looked at you with sad eyes, “Your mother Chinami was our daughter.”

Your heart was already heavy with the loss of your mother, but the wrench that is finding new relatives in your life suddenly was thrown in. Chinami never talked about her parents much, the vague notion of the Tsukishima clan made you think that they were long dead. Especially since you’d never seen them all your life, not to mention there was never a single picture of them anywhere. For a moment you felt distrust in the couple before you, perhaps they were lying and were con artists trying to cash in. The unease you felt at the strangers on your doorstep was eased when from behind them your father called out the man’s name.

“Mr. Tsukishima,” The older man turned at the sound of his name, his face growing sour at the sight of Akira.

“Just the man we wanted to see,” Mr. Tsukishima said, taking a step down from the porch and approaching slowly. Mrs. Tsukishima turned to observe her son-in-law, his hair grayer but his figure just as fit and lean as it had been in his younger years.

“It’s been a long time, sir,” Akira strained as he said the honorific. He gestured to the house and smiled plainly, “Would you two like to come in for some tea?”

“I’d be delighted,” Mrs. Tsukishima said.

“(Y/N),” Your ears pricked at the sound of your father calling your name, “Can you show your grandparents to the tea room while I prepare the water?”

“Yes sir,” You gave him a slow unsteady nod, now more nervous your actions were being taken with more scrutiny as you led your grandparents into the room next to the genkan. It was a smaller square room, rarely used because there were hardly any guests or tea to be had. A simple square kotatsu sat in the center with cushioned zaisu’s surrounding each side, you were about to sit with your grandparents when you remembered your manners.

“Ex-excuse me,” You bowed your head, “I’m going to help Father with the tea.”

You quickly backed out of the room, shutting the sliding doors behind you in time to see your father rounding into the hall to bring tea. You shuffled towards him quietly and spoke in a whisper, “Since when were grandma and grandpa alive?”

“They were never dead, sadly,” He muttered the last word soft enough that you could barely make it out. The one-word helped set what kind of relationship your father had with his in-laws. Your first impression was stuck up and snobbish, your suspicions were quickly confirmed when your father tried to explain briefly why your mother cut off her family. “The Tsukishima’s tried to marry your mother off when she was about your age, she ran away after finding out and never turned back. They never reach out except to stop us from getting married.”

“Really? Mom invited them?”

“Funny thing is she didn’t,” Akira’s eyes flitted towards the door just a couple meters away. “They kept an eye on her the entire time but let her keep the distance she had. They knew I bought a ring before she ever did.”

“Obviously it didn’t work, you two are married,” So how much power could they have over the lives of their children? You thought to yourself.

“We almost didn’t get married,” Your father's eyes dropped to the tea on the tray and looked back to the room. He skirted around you and pulled open the door to enter, leaving you to process in the hall.

You weren’t quite sure what he meant by ‘almost didn’t’, but something told you that your grandparents had everything to do with it. Your stomach twisted at the sight of them when you walked up to the open door, turning to hide your discomfort in their presence and close the door behind you. With eyes facing the ground you made your way to the remaining chair and sat carefully. Everything about being around the Tsukishima’s made you feel like you were walking on eggshells like you needed to be more aware of how you were sitting and breathing because it might set one of them off. Hamamoto Akira on the other hand had met the Tsukishima’s twice before and had enough training from his late wife to know how to act around the famous Tsukishima Gendo.

“Your tea, father,” Akira bowed his head, holding the bottom and side of Gendo’s cup with gentle fingers. Gendo from across reached for the cup and set it down gently, bowing his head politely. The frown engraved on his marble-like face made you believe that this man was truly unhappy to be in the presence of such company. Though inside Gendo couldn’t be happier to have finally met the grandchild he knew he had. “Your tea, mother.”

After Akira repeated the action for Tsukishima Junko and yourself, you all sipped on the tea. Despite the warm tea in your hands and the new warmth in your mouth you couldn’t help but feel overwhelmingly cold from the sparse conversation at the table. You set down your cup and folded your hands gently in your lap as your father stood straighter to address your grandparents.

“I take it you’re here to talk about funeral arrangements?” Akira said.

“Yes, we understand you want to stick to Buddhist tradition,” Gendo cleared his throat before continuing, “I support this decision.”

Akira undoubtedly felt a bit of surprise from Gendo’s support but wondered if the old man had ulterior motives for agreeing. “I’ve already spoken to a funeral director, her body is going to be delivered tomorrow. It’s a closed casket of course, so-”

“What do you mean ‘of course’?” Tsukishima Junko asked, her eyebrows drawing close in irritation. Before your father spoke more sensitively about the events of her death you found the need to blurt out what you remembered seeing that day and every night in your dreams since.

“Her head was caved in by concrete,” Your voice was dead and monotone, after days of not speaking very much it felt as if you had forgotten how to speak altogether. The image flashed again in your mind, leading you to close them tight and face your lap.

“How does she know that?” Junko was shocked and disgusted by the thought of her daughter’s gruesome death.

“(Y/N) was there,” Akira’s voice was slow and soft now, looking over to you with your head hung low. “She found her before I did.”

“A girl her age shouldn’t be witnessing such things,” Junko shook her head in disapproval. “It’s going to mess with her head.”

“(Y/N) was just working with her mother that evening,” Akira reached for your hand and placed it on the table with his, sandwiching them together. “I’m just glad she wasn’t taken as well, aren’t you?”

You felt your chest seize at the thought of your father weeping over the loss of his only child and wife on the same day. It could’ve been so much worse for him.

“Yes, that is a blessing,” Gendo nodded and sipped his tea. He set the cup down gently and let the tip of his finger tap gently on the lip. “So when do you plan on having the wake?”

“Day after tomorrow,” Akira said, “Then the funeral to follow.”

“Very well,” Gendo nodded and looked to his wife before continuing, “We’ll be staying in a hotel a little bit closer to central Tokyo. We will see you soon though, thank you for your hospitality.”

At that, your grandfather stood and held a hand to his wife. You stood with your father and escorted them to the front door. As you all said your goodbyes, your grandmother turned one last time before stepping off the small porch.

“You know, introducing yourself to new people is how modern society dictates if you have manners or not,” Junko began to turn away before you surprised her and your father with a deep bow.

“I’m sorry, grandmother, please forgive me,” You stood up straight and looked her in the eyes as you introduced yourself. “My name is Hamamoto (Y/N).”

You sat with your back against your bed, Chiyo’s legs on either side of you as she twisted your hair into a complicated weave. She had called it a fishtail braid, claiming it would give you cute wavy hair in the morning if you slept with the braid in. You didn’t feel the need to protest against her so you shrugged and sat on the floor. The surprise visit from your grandparents still bothered you, the idea that your mother kept something so big a secret from you ate away at your mind. After they left you vaguely mentioned Chiyo coming over that night before running back up to your room to clean. Your father didn’t bother coming back to talk to you about what had happened, he only came to let you know Chiyo arrived and to check on the two of you.

After your father left the room, leaving behind a tray of snacks, Chiyo kicked your hip. You turned and gave her an irritated look which she returned with a tongue childishly sticking out of her mouth.

“What’d you do that for,” You grumbled as you reached forward for the tray. Chiyo yanked the halfway-finished braid to bring you back between her knees. “Ow!”

“Why have you been so rude to your father?” Chiyo’s nimble fingers worked quickly to finish the braid in her hands.

“Kind of giving him the cold shoulder at the moment,” You gave yourself a second to process how you were going to word what you said next, wanting to give Chiyo a good handle on the situation before she went too wild with the story. “My grandparents stopped by, to check on preparations for the funeral, but the thing is they were my mom’s parents.”

“And?” Chiyo and you were close, but you weren’t sure if you mentioned anyone in your family outside your parents. So she might not think anything strange of the situation unless you outwardly say it.

“I’ve never met my mom’s parents, my entire life she never talked about them,” You shifted your feet under you, “I thought they were dead. Turns out they’ve been alive and well.”

“What?” Her voice was soft as what you said began to sink in, her fingers slowing as they neared the end of the braid. “So these two popped up out of nowhere after their daughter died, having seemingly no contact with her before this?”

“My dad said that they tried to marry her off around my age so she ran away,” You picked at your nail beds, already red and dry from the extra attention you’ve been sparing them recently. “I couldn’t imagine being married at this age.”

“I’d run away too,” Chiyo tied the end of the braid and swung her legs around you to stand up. “I see then, why you’re acting like this I mean. He-they all unloaded a huge secret on you suddenly, I think I’d be pretty pissed too.”

“My parents were almost not married at all,” You sighed and laid your head back on the bed. “Whatever that means. I’m guessing if they would send off their daughter to some random man, then they’d probably stop at nothing to make sure she wasn’t married to someone else like my dad. They seemed rich too like their clothes didn’t match what most of the older people in the neighborhood wear.”

“What do you mean?” Chiyo’s eyes lit up as a realization crossed her mind, “They were probably trying to sell your mom, not just give her away! If you’re saying they’re like rich rich, then they must’ve tried to arrange a marriage pact with someone.”

“Not unlikely,” You stood to your feet and picked at the tray on your desk, settling on a few grapes. “My grandma was wearing all this silver, and the broach on her jacket was made only out of jewels.”

“They have to be rich then,” Chiyo nodded gently, “My grandma’s broaches are made out of sequins, beads, and maybe 1 jewel.”

“I like her bee one,” You noted, the image of Mrs. Tanaka preparing dinner and hugging you goodbye after visiting warmed your heart. It was the ideal image of a grandmother, not whoever you saw that afternoon.

“Me too,” Chiyo nibbled on the edge of a cracker and sat on your desk chair. “I’m really sorry this is all happening to you at the same time you should be grieving.”

“I suppose it’s a welcomed distraction from crying all day long,” You subconsciously wiped the tear that wasn’t there away.

“Distractions are nice, but don’t forget you can take your time if you need it,” Chiyo rubbed your arm gently, “And don’t forget if something makes you happy, don’t feel bad for being happy. Your mother wanted you to find your happiness in the world, don’t let her being gone get you down.”

“It’s not just her being gone that’s bringing me down,” You felt you indeed to voice the noise in your head. The idea of your failure at U.A. Exams was constant, no matter what you did to make the little voice go away she was always there to torment you. Even at the wreckage of the accident she was present. Telling you that maybe becoming a hero was a mistake if you couldn’t even save those who were close to you. “I don’t know if I can make it at U.A. anymore. I think I’m going to fail my exams and I’ll have nothing to fall back on-”

“Hey, listen to me,” Chiyo grabbed your shoulders and made you look up at her. “I’ve known you a long time, that little voice in your head is just your anxiety trying to get the better of you. You are so smart and so strong, the examiners are going to see this in your tests and admit you immediately. There is no doubt in my mind that you aren’t going to go out there to your exams, nail them, and become a great hero in the future. One that goes out and gives people hope when you arrive.”

“Thanks, Chiyo,” You could feel that her words were not having any effect on you, the numbness in your chest spreading to your arms and legs. The sudden need to curl up in a ball and cry was overwhelming as a wave of grief washed over you. You choked on the tears coming up and hugged your sides. Chiyo wrapped her arms around you in a heartbeat, her warmth did nothing to warm the cold achiness of your heart.

After realizing you wouldn’t find sleep again, you pulled the comforter off of yourself and swung your legs off the bed. At the sign of movement, Chiyo didn’t stir, telling you she was fast asleep. You reached for your phone and glanced at your most recent notification, a text message from Katsuki just 10 minutes ago.

B. Katsuki: I hope you’re starting to feel better today, let me know if you need anything. Goodnight.

You: R u still up?

B. Katsuki: Yeah. Wanna talk?

You: Can’t on the phone, wanna meet in the yard?

B. Katsuki: On the way

You glanced down at the pajamas you wore and decided socks and a jacket were enough to keep you warm enough in the winter night. The stairs were forgiving as you quietly stepped down and made your way towards the front door. You slipped on your canvas loafers and opened the door to see Katsuki waiting at your front door. His cheeks were red, you assumed from the cold air, and his hair was dusted in snow. You looked past him to see the flurries floating gently down from the sky.

“I’m sorry,” You said looking back to him, “I didn’t realize it was going to snow.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Katsuki gave you a small smile paired with concerned eyes, “I’m just glad you’re reaching out.”

“I've realized I have a tendency to push people away when things are a little rough,” You shut the door gently behind you and stared down at the road ahead of you, Chiyo made you see the pattern you were too involved in to see. When things got rough for you to handle you started pushing people away, it had happened to her a few times too. After talking with her, you realized you had done it to Katsuki plenty of times too. “I’m not the best at handling my emotions sometimes, but the least I could do is apologize when I know I’ve been ignoring someone I care about.”

“You don’t have to apologize for anything,” Katsuki walked to stand in front of your line of sight, his fists stuffed deep into his pockets as he shook from the cold. 

“I do Katsuki,” You were picking at your thumb before you were able to muster the courage to look into his eyes. “ I shouldn’t have avoided you in school after we kissed, we should’ve talked about it, because I really liked it. I just didn’t have the courage to tell you just how confused I was afterward. I’m really sorry for pushing you away after your fight with Haru, I shouldn’t have done that. I’m sorry-”

You were cut short by surprise when Katsuki’s hands reached out to hold you, pulling you forward into his body. He gently laid a hand on your lower and upper back to pull you in closer. You felt the flutter in your chest grow and warmth began to replace the once cold pit in your chest. Your head found a home nestled into Katsuki’s neck and your hands wrapped tightly around his back. There was safety and comfort in his arms as he held you close, making your chest shudder as you struggled to breathe against the silent tears. 

“You don’t have anything to be sorry for,” Katsuki reached up to stroke your hair gently, “You can push me away but I’ll always be here for you. The only thing I need to hear from you is go and I’ll go.”

“D-Don’t,” You struggled to say the words, the tight feeling in your chest making it hard to speak without breaking down in his arms. “Please don’t go Katsuki.”

Mucus and tears mix to stain his shoulder as he holds you close to him, his chest rattling with your cries. Katsuki held on tighter, not wanting to let you out of his arms until you felt better. You didn’t want to let him go either.

“Okay.”

[jedi-bird]

There are currently 17 delivery boxes in the living room.

Some are quite large and some are tiny. Most arrived right before my busy doctor appointment week and vaccination brain fog, so starting tomorrow I'll be dealing with them. The ones that are my partners seem to be forgotten for now. I'll have to remind them about them this weekend.

Five of the boxes are for the garage or the cats. I bought them some new heated huts and a set of pet stairs because they're getting old and some can't jump up onto their couch anymore. There's also a new cat tree that came last month but I need to clean up more stuff and get rid of things before I can build it. I also got them some new cases of food that need to be put away.

Several boxes are for the kitchen. I bought some shelf organizers and storage baskets for snacks. My plan for tomorrow is to get those installed and start tidying up in there. That's easy to stop if I get tired, so even though I'm feeling pretty good today I'm not going to push myself this week.

The rest are assorted things for upstairs. Things for the work room, things for the linen closet, and things for the loft. Those will get dealt with eventually. Kitchen and garage are priorities right now. I also kind of want to move the giant bookshelf I brought from my grandparent's house upstairs but I might need to hire someone to help me since my partner doesn't seem keen on that. But that would let me put a better storage system in place in the living room as well as an actual shoe cabinet or shelf instead of just leaving them lying around.

I am currently feeling very ambitious. I'm not sure I can get it all done before I get frustrated and stop again.

[poppy930]

Settle in!

Yoongi should've expected this. He really should have, he needs to start trusting his gut instinct more when it concerns his husband. It's the third day of his paternity leave, and through the planned lazy day they had set aside when he was officially going to be home for months, he had noticed Taehyung continuously staring at any clock around the house, as he tended to do if there was someone or something important to come up, thumbs rapidly pressing on his phone keys with a barely concealed smile, sneaking off to the bedroom to have a hushed conversation with whoever, and when Yoongi asks, he gets a shake of his head, and a soft reply of "Nothing, hyung." Yoongi doesn't press on the matter, thinking it might be a client wishing Taehyung good health and a good delivery as Taehyung had came home from his last day of work with an unending supply of fruit baskets and gift cards, his Eomma verifying if she needs to bring any necessities for the birth that they haven't already bought, or one of his just as cuckoo friends asking of his plans for the placenta. Yes, that happened, and Yoongi wishes he could bleach his brain of the conversation of turning Taehyung's placenta into meatloaf.

[wolviecat]

Sick day - Wolviecat - Hamilton - Miranda [Archive of Our Own]

Day 8 of Febuwhump, prompt "Panik".

Modern day AU for Hamilton.

At first, it's just a tickle at the back of his throat, nothing to be worried about. He was talking a lot yesterday - well, not as much talking as shouting, screaming, arguing on the top of his lungs - so he should be glad his voice is working at all. Still, he makes himself a thermos of tea to drink from during the day. It tastes vaguely like dust and the chicken soup that was in the thermos before, but with enough honey, it is drinkable. He burns his mouth on it, but it is comforting, somehow. He likes to imagine whatever bug is trying to infest him burning as well.

In the afternoon, it turns into a cough. Not something that can be hidden, muffled into his shoulder, but an ugly thing that tears through his throat and lungs and leaves him gasping for breath. He runs from the lecture hall when he could no longer keep it in, when he could no longer bear the nervous/disgusted/worried looks around him. In the bathroom, he splashes his face with cold water and tries to ignore the way the world around him tilts and blurs. 

Normally, it takes twenty minutes to get from campus to his room. It's almost an hour now, and he feels so tired that he just falls face first on his bed, jacket and shoes and everything, and passes out. 

When he wakes up, it's dark outside and it takes an uncomfortable and panicky moment to figure out if it's evening or morning. No matter how long he's been sleeping, he feels more tired than before. He's sick, no matter how much he wants to deny it, he's sick and alone and too weak to get to safety… He takes a deep breath - it hurts and almost makes him cough again, but it still helps - forcing his mind out of the anxious spiral. He's not dying. It's just a nasty cold, he needs to change into something dry, turn the heating a little higher, take some pills and maybe order some chicken soup to deliver. 

Getting up, walking to the heater and then finding a semi-clean t-shirt in the clothes pile on the floor takes so much time and energy he sleeps through several calls from the delivery driver. At least they are kind enough to leave the bag at the door. He pulls one of the plastic cups out, takes one look at the floating bits of fat on the surface of the soup, and promptly throws up into the sink.

He doesn't feel that hungry anymore.

He thinks about going to the hospital, or to the campus med center, but the thought of putting another load on his already straining health insurance feels worse than just letting the infection take its course. That, and the fact that he can't remember where he's put his shoes, and that he's almost fell over when he tried to stand up.

He has no way to check his temperature, but he knows it's too high. He throws up again, into the paper basket next to his desk, even if there is nothing left in his stomach anymore. His hands shake when he tries to drink, spilling water all over his pillow. And his thoughts swirl around and around, bringing back the smell of salt water and sickness and bleach, bringing back the destruction that brought him here in exchange for everyone he loved, bringing back the hurricane and everything that came after.

Crying only makes his head hurt more.

He's cold. He's burning, He's  too tired to do anything.

The soup is going to spoil if he doesn't put it in the fridge, but he can't look at it, at the little chunks floating in the water without getting sick again.

He's no longer sure he's not dying.

He doesn't remember if he called someone. Maybe they've just noticed he hasn't been in the class for too long. Or maybe his neighbors noticed his room was starting to smell, and raised an alarm. It doesn't matter.  

What matters is something cold on his forehead, hand behind his head, bitter taste of pills and tea and the cold glass of the thermometer in his mouth. Someone sighs, kisses his cheek and says something that can be an endearment, or maybe just calling him an idiot. He's warm and finally feels a little better. Good enough to forget about the hurricane.