#amazing how quickly a buffer gets eaten

[trickcomic]

Chapter 1: Page 16

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[amanda-teaches]

Our Christmas Mission ~ 5/9

Tiny tots with their eyes all aglow will find it hard to sleep tonight

Summary: With Sam stationed overseas, he asks his brother, Dean, to help plan a surprise Christmas proposal for his girlfriend, and your best friend, Eileen. With very limited Christmas experience, Dean enlists your help to create some holiday magic for the lovebirds. Will the two of you find a little love of your own along the way?

Pairing: AU Dean x Reader

Square filled: The Santa Clause for @spnchristmasbingo​

Word Count: 945

Warnings: Mentions of angst and parent death.

A/N: Anyone else reading the titles getting “The Christmas Song” stuck in their heads? Just me? ... This one really gets me in my childhood feels with one of my FAVORITE MOVIES.

Our Christmas Mission Masterlist

Once the apartment was all decked out in festive splendor, and the cookies were half eaten back in the kitchen, the three of you collapsed onto the sofa, aiming to wrap the night up with a lighthearted Christmas movie. 

Eileen left the choice of movie up to you, so you picked your favorite from when you were growing up- The Santa Clause. You all watched in comfortable silence until about 40 minutes in, when Eileen’s phone started vibrating next to you. She paused the movie when she felt the vibration, reaching down to answer it. As soon as she did, Sam’s face popped up on the screen, and you smiled in response.

“Sam!” she cried, her voice raising a few octaves in pure excitement. “You weren’t supposed to call until tomorrow!”

Sam beamed at her, the flash of his uniform from the bottom of the screen a signal that he’d just gotten off duty. “We got back early, and you were the first face I wanted to see after this crazy week.”

“Wow, Sammy, I’m hurt,” Dean pouted, poking his head into frame. You could tell by his tone of voice he was doing it lightheartedly, and it seemed like Sam could tell too, because he just playfully rolled his eyes.

Eileen looked over at you, holding up the phone. “I’ll be right back?”

“Take your time,” you reassured her as she moved towards her bedroom, her animated conversation fading with each step she took away from you.

Her departure left you and Dean alone, and a sudden pit in your stomach. Even though you were on opposite sides of the couch, you suddenly felt entirely too awkward and nervous without Eileen as a buffer, no idea of what you should say or do around him now.

“So I don’t get it.”

“Wait, what?” you asked, looking over at Dean, befuddlement quickly replacing your anxiety. You hadn’t expected him to say that. “You don’t get what?”

He shifted towards you, folding one leg up onto the couch so he could face you. “Dude kills Santa, right? Oh, sorry, ‘accidentally’ killed him. “Yeah right,” he scoffed, making you grin. “But THEN dude takes Santa’s literal sleigh and sees this whole amazing magical place with sassy reindeer and a personal hot chocolate elf, and he just…denies it all happened? What’s up with that?”

You’d assumed he was joking when he first started talking, but the incredibly determined look on his face said something different, so you gave him a serious answer. “Okay, well, he’s fighting the truth because it seems so unbelievable. He never thought the North Pole was real.”

“But Charlie saw it too! They couldn’t have the exact same dream. Plus, plus!” he yelled, growing spirited. “He had the freakin’ pajamas!”

Your lips quirked further upward watching him, and you had to suppress a laugh at how adorable he was being. “You’ve really never even heard of this movie?”

Dean shrugged, scooting onto Eileen’s cushion so he was closer to you. “I told you, we didn’t really do Christmas growing up. My mom died when I was four and my dad moved us around a lot. He was a Marine.” His face darkened slightly at the memory. “We weren’t really ever in a place long enough to put down roots, especially for Christmas.” His voice trailed off until he looked into your eyes, refocusing his full attention on you. “What about you?”

“What about me?”

He smiled at you, his face looking so soft and inviting in the low light. It almost took your breath away, but you were startled back into the conversation when he posed his question again. “What were your Christmases like as a kid?”

He was an enigma to you. He seemed to hold himself at arm’s length, but then he opened up to you so easily sometimes. It showed a surprisingly vulnerable side of him that you knew must’ve been hard for him to share. You had to give that vulnerability back. “They were pretty picture perfect when I was younger. My parents did all the traditional things, letters to Santa, stockings by the tree. We even left carrots out for the reindeer.”

Dean smiled every time you laughed, putting his arm up on the back of the couch and leaning into you as you shared. You shifted towards him too, crossing your legs under you. “I remember lying awake on Christmas Eve so excited I could barely sleep. You know, eyes all aglow for Santa and all that. The whole experience felt like magic, especially with my dad. He would ring bells like the reindeer were landing and everything, and I used to spy to see if I could catch them, even though I never could.” Your voice stalled, the memories shifting from happiness to sadness. “They died in a car crash when I was 13.”

Dean grimaced, surprise and sympathy chasing away his smile. “Damn, Y/N, I’m so sorry.”

You shook your head. “It’s okay. My grandma tried to keep the magic alive after, but it was never really the same. And then when she died a few years ago...I guess I just try to do Christmas big in memory of them.” An idea popped into your mind then, and you paused. “Wait, memories…”

Dean stared at you, his eyes holding yours in question. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” you breathed out, straightening up and grabbing his arm. “Memories! That’s it, Dean. My best memories of my parents are the simple things they did for me, not the big extravagant gestures. That’s exactly what we need! That’s the key to this whole proposal. We need to go simple.”

[meganwritesfanfics]

Fresh Bruises (Josh Lyman x Reader) Part 5

It had been almost two full weeks since the attack. Y/N still lay unconscious on the bed while Josh paced about the room having made it his temporary office. The nurses and doctors kept telling him that he should go home, sleep in his real bed, but he didn’t want to leave Y/N, he didn’t want her to wake up alone. 

The optimism that the doctors had had for Y/N to wake up, had slowly begun to diminish as time went on. But Josh never gave up hope, every day he woke up, sometimes on the couch, but most of the time he fell asleep next to her holding her hand, and he kissed her forehead telling himself today was the day she would wake up. And every night, after talking to her about the day's events, filling her in, he would kiss her tonight and tell himself she would wake up tomorrow. 

The rest of the West Wing team took shifts going out to see Josh whenever they had the chance. Bartlett had already been out 4 times. Each night a different person came to be with Josh, bringing beers of course, not that the hospital staff knew. Donna still came every day to update Josh, and be the go between the White House and the hospital. She would also make sure that he was eating, as Josh tend to forget to do that, especially when he was stressed. The only person who hadn’t been out was CJ. 

“You have to go CJ.” Sam insisted as they walked down the halls of the White House. 

“I can’t Sam, I just…” CJ started as she ran her hands through her hair. “He has to hate me.” 

“Josh does not hate you CJ, that just ridiculous.” 

“I don’t think so Sam, I left her alone with that monster, and look what happened. I should have stayed with her…” 

“Hey,” Sam placed his hands on her shoulders. “Stop thinking like that CJ. It was not your fault, you couldn’t have know what he was going to do.” He pulled her in for a hug. “And if you go see Josh, I promise you he will tell you the exact same thing.” 

CJ looked at Sam with a sad smile on her face. 

“Ok, I will head over as soon as I wrap things up here.” 

“Donna is heading over there later so you can go with her if that will make you feel more comfortable.” 

“Thanks, I will go talk to her.” CJ turned to walk away. “Are you sure he wants to see me?” She quickly turned back. 

Sam smiled. “Yes CJ, now go.” 

Once she had gotten all of her work done, she looked down the hall to see that Donna’s light at her desk was still on. She had half been hoping that she had already left, maybe that way she wouldn’t have to go face Josh. 

Sighing she got up and gathered all of her stuff and headed down the hall. As she walked she couldn’t help but stare at the door at the end, closed. It was Josh’s office, and usually he was still there long after she had left. It had been a quiet few weeks with him being gone, and for how much he could annoy her, CJ hated the quiet.  

“Hey Donna,” She said and the blonde looked up from her massive stack of papers. She looked absolutely exhausted, she had been doing not only her own job, which in itself was time consuming, but she was also having to do Josh’s as well. “Are you heading up to go see Josh.” 

“Yes, Leo needs him to look over the information for the budget proposal, plus Toby and Sam want him to read some of their drafts for the upcoming speech.” Donna sighed as she quickly began to gather everything she needed, placing it in the cardboard box she was now keeping next to her desk at all times. 

“Have you been carrying that box to and from the hospital this whole time. “ CJ asked. 

“Yeah, it makes things a lot easier, trust me. I dropped some folders in the hallway of the hospital, and that was a mess trying to clean it up.” Donna quickly picked up the box and headed towards the exit. “Are you done for the night?” 

“Yes and uh…” CJ hesitated as she walked with Donna. “Can I come see Josh with you, tonight.” 

Donna stopped, turning to CJ as smile on her face. “Of course CJ!” She exclaimed. 

“Ok, thank you.” 

“You know he has been asking about you.” 

“He what?” 

“Josh, he constantly is asking if you are doing ok.” 

“Why is he asking that, he shouldn’t be worried about me he…” CJ started feeling herself getting a little bit choked up. 

“CJ, you know it wasn’t your fault right.” Donna said seriously. 

CJ hesitated for a moment, looking down, before she started walking again Donna keeping up with her. 

“You know, you have been absolutely amazing through all this.” 

“I’m not doing anything special I’m just doing my job.” Donna replied. 

“No, Donna, you are doing your job and more. I know sometimes we forget that without you, this White House would fall apart.” CJ said as they made their way to their cars. 

“Thank you CJ, that means a lot.” Donna smiled. 

It didn’t take the two very long to get to the hospital, the normal evening traffic had died off hours before, and on her way there the panic began to settle back in. CJ thought about just driving home, telling Donna later that something had come up. 

“He has been asking about you.” Donna’s words replayed in her head. 

She knew she couldn’t do that to Josh, she needed to face him, and she needed to face Y/N. 

When they got to the hospital, both Donna and CJ began talking about their lives outside of work, relationships, free time, things like that. It wasn’t long before they were making their way down the hallway towards Y/N’s room. CJ felt nauseous, she just kept thinking about turning back, but as they reached the room she could see Josh in the window and it calmed her slightly. He was sitting next to Y/N’s bed, he was holding some files in his one hand, while the other tightly grasped Y/N’s. He only let go to turn the page then went back to holding her hand. 

“Josh,” Donna smiled as she made her way into the room. CJ behind her. 

As Josh looked up his eyes landed on Donna but then quickly shifted their attention to CJ who stood almost cowering behind the blonde. Josh smiled as he set the papers down on Y/N’s bed standing up. 

“Have you eaten today Josh.” Donna quickly said. 

Josh hesitated. 

“Joshua, what did we say about you needing to eat.” 

“It was a busy day, I had like 30 phone call meetings, plus I had an insane amount of reports to read.” 

“Whatever Josh, I’m going to go see if they left anything out for you.” Donna said as she softly laid her hand on CJ’s arm. “Would you like anything?” 

CJ’s panic rose again, at least with Donna there she felt like she had a buffer. Without her, it would just be her and Josh. “No Donna I’m good thank you.” 

And with that Donna gave Josh one last look before she left the room. 

CJ and Josh stood in awkward silence for a moment. 

“Josh I’m…” CJ finally broke as she attempted to say everything she had been feeling for the past two weeks. “I’m so sorry.” 

Josh quickly closed the distance between him and CJ as he wrapped his arms around her tightly. 

“It is not your fault CJ.” He whispered and CJ held back her tears as she held onto Josh tightly. 

“But Henry, I should have…” 

“How could you have known CJ, firstly, you barely had seen the guy when he was with Y/N. You couldn’t have recognized him. Secondly, you had no idea what he was capable of. Hell I didn’t even know he was capable of…” Josh paused as he looked back at Y/N. “This.” 

“Josh I…” 

“Seriously, I don’t blame you, and I’m sorry I didn’t say anything sooner, I could tell how upset you were by it. I should have said something.” Josh said. 

CJ pulled him in again for a long hug. Looking back she knew that thinking Josh hated her was ridiculous, they were a family after all.

[wastelandcth]

Hey! I loooved Soaps and CD’s and the birthday fic 🥺🥺! Do you think you could make a part 2 maybe about Calum’s birthday? Since reader always gives the greatest gift she’d put so much work into throwing a party and giving gifts for him or something with just them and a party as well? Love your writing!! 😌

calum on his birthday is my favorite. little shy calum holding up flowers and a balloon in that one video omg 🥺 soaps and CD’s and special day which are both some of my faves! thanks for requesting!

Choose Life

She'd been busy planning Calum's birthday party, for the past two weeks. She'd been so busy that she'd barely had time to spend with Calum if she wasn't out getting stuff for his party of getting his presents, she was at work. Everyone knew Calum was going to be having a party for his birthday, he always did. It was the biggest party of the year according to his friend group and the pressure that brought to her didn't help her already building anxiety towards the day.

After her birthday had passed, she'd never felt more loved and appreciated by anyone before and she knew the second that Calum's birthday got closer she would have to make it a day to remember. She'd always known what to get Calum as presents, the second she'd spotted something in the store that she knew Calum would like she'd buy it and give it to him. But a birthday present had a much deeper meaning, it was meant to celebrate another turn around the sun for someone and she couldn't just get him a random present that she'd assume he liked. She had to get him something from the heart that she knew he would love.

She found the perfect present late one night as she sat on the couch scrolling through her Instagram, an ad popping up from a shop that sold pop culture posters. Scrolling through the website, she gasped quietly as she spotted the perfect present from Calum her fingers quickly typing in her card information and filing the email as soon as she'd gotten it. With his present sorted out, she couldn't help but feel more relaxed about his birthday, now all she had to do was plan the perfect party.

When Calum woke up on his birthday to an empty bed, he couldn't help but feel confused, not even Duke was laying at his feet, the small dog long gone by the look of the bed and the sound of him barking out in the house. As he stumbled out of the bedroom, a yawn escaping his lips as he heard a quiet voice coming from the kitchen.

"Yes, I know you also love blueberries, Duke. But there are for your dad and his waffles. You can have some once I finish making birthday breakfast, okay?" her voice told the small dog who was whining up at her near the stove.

The kitchen looked like a hotel breakfast bar, bowls of cut-up fruit, granola, and every other one of Calum's favorite breakfast foods laid out across the counter. In the center of the counter, there was a small round cake and a few birthday cards and as Calum got closer, he couldn't help but chuckle as he saw a picture of him and Duke on the cake. It was the picture he'd sent her the first time he'd gotten Duke to trust him enough to lay on his chest, obviously a moment Calum wanted to document and share with her, he didn't know she had saved it this long and now it was on his birthday cake.

"Happy Birthday! I didn't think you were going to wake up this early, I'm almost done making the waffles though! How does it feel to be another year older?" she asked and pulled him into a tight hug, her lips pressing against his cheek as she rubbed his back. "I'm so happy to have you in my life and I wanted to make your day special!" she nodded, her eyes meeting Calum's as he looked down at her adoration.

"Thank you, sweet girl." Calum chuckled, his hands squeezing the soft flesh of her hips. "Thank you for all of this, it looks amazing. I love being spoiled by you, baby girl." he grinned, pulling her closer as he pressed his lips against hers. "The best way to wake up as a twenty-five-year-old."

She had wanted to give Calum his presents before everyone showed up later that night, wanted to see his reaction without the buffer of a crowd between them. After breakfast had been eaten and after Duke had eaten his small share of blueberry waffles, Calum sat on the couch in the living room, Duke in his lap as she'd brought over the birthday cake. Calum's smile hadn't left his face since he'd seen her in the morning and now as she walked over while singing happy birthday to him, Calum couldn't have felt more loved. He blew out the candles with his eyes closed, making a wish to have the best year of his life with her, and when he opened them and found her holding up two presents he knew that it was already a great new age.

"What's this?" He asked as he looked at the two boxes. Calum took the first box from her, the bright yellow wrapping paper with little hearts making his hurt swell. As he unwrapped it, he chuckled when he noticed she had been recording him, "Babe.." he laughed quietly and raised an eyebrow as he opened the box to find all his favorite snacks from back home. "Oh my god! How did you even get these?" he asked shocked as he went through the box, gasping as he saw the new bass strap at the bottom. It was a silver pleather strap that had his initials stamped onto the front along with four stars. It was beautiful, Calum couldn't help but run his fingers over the letters as he admired the new accessory, already imagining what it would look like on stage under the lights.

"This is...amazing. I'm gonna use it at every show. Thank you so much!" Calum said happily and set the box aside he held up the strap and grinned, holding it up against his shoulder and looking at her happily. She had placed the next present in his lap, nodding towards it as she held up the phone, grinning widely.

Opening the second box, Calum's eyes widened as he saw the black frame showcasing a poster for his favorite movie, Trainspotting. It was a perfect gift, his hand landing over his chest where the tattoo he'd gotten because of the movie was inked onto his skin. The movie had meant so much to him, had changed his life when he had first seen it. It had been so important to him that he'd gotten in permanently on him, so he could always remember to choose life, to live to life to the fullest. He remembered when they'd first watched the movie together after Calum had gotten back from tour and they'd had a sleepover. He remembered how nervous he was to show her the movie because it wasn't the greatest date night movie. But she knew how much it had meant to him so she watched with interest and at the end of the movie she talked about how she had interpreted the movie and what she felt the meaning of it was. And that's when Calum knew she was going to be the one for him.

Calum stared at the framed poster in the wall of their living room, a smile on his face as he showed the rest of the band. The party had been in full swing already, Calum's closest friends currently drinking and enjoying some food out in the backyard. Calum had never felt more loved than he did on his birthday. He'd talked to his parents after he'd opened his presents and they'd caught up while she had rushed around the house decorating and setting up for the party and after Calum had finished his phone call, he walked out to help her. Now they both stood around their living room, talking to their friends as they celebrated Calum, which Calum had never been so happy to celebrate. The doorbell ringing pulled Calum from his thoughts, his eyebrow raising as he saw her smile get bigger.

"You gonna get that, Cal?" she asked happily, a playful smile on her face that led Calum to believe she was up to something. As he opened the door, Calum gasped as he saw his parents and his sister standing at his front porch, all three of them cheering as they saw him and pulling him into a hug.

"Oh my god! What are you guys doing here? I thought you weren't going to be able to make it!" Calum chuckled as he hugged them all tightly, leading them into the house. "Babe, my parents, and Mali are here!" he called out and grinned as she walked over to greet his family.

"You didn't think I was done with the surprises, did you?" she said playfully as she hugged Joy. "Wanted you to have the best birthday." she nodded and smiled widely,

Calum did have the best birthday ever, twenty-five being his new favorite age as he sat in the living room with his family and his girl. The party had been long over, leaving them alone in the living room watching old home videos that his parents had brought over from Sydney. Calum's arms were wrapped around her, kissing the top of her head as he watched a video of him and Mali singing in the living room of his childhood home. His eyes shifted up towards the poster hanging on the wall, his arms wrapping tighter around her as he realized that maybe choosing life was worth it. He was choosing his future and his life because it meant he was going to have her in it for as long as he could. Calum definitely liked being twenty-five if he had her by his side.

[kpoptrashibnida]

Enough Pt. 9

A/N: Hello everybody!!!!!!!!! First of all, WOW, I just want to start by saying how SORRY I am for taking this long to post an update. Also, I want to say THANK YOU to all of those who have been eagerly waiting for updates and supporting this series. It means a lot to me, like you guys have no idea! It was hard for me to update because I was having a hard time finding free time to write. I was also having difficulties because this has mature content and ya girl in inexperienced as fuk! Like, I legit have no experience whatsoever. The most I’ve done with a guy is kiss. So smut scenes are probably no longer going to be a thing if I want to update in a timely manner, I might make some suggestive content, but no more actual explicit scenes. It’s hard to write about something you have no experience in hehehe. I also feel like this part is shorter than others and that’s because I really wanted to wrap it up and post something for you guys. But I’ll do a better job for next part.  Anyway, enough about that! Here is a new chapter! I really hope you guys enjoy it and was worth the wait. Happy reading!

WARNINGS: Smut, 18+

The past couple of weeks have been hectic. With the project at full speed, your days were long, full of meetings and long conference calls. You did not mind since you were always working with Mark, Johnny and Jaehyun; they made your long days fun and bearable. Speaking of Jaehyun, you and him were now officially a couple. The day after your date he asked you out for coffee and you obviously agreed to meet him. He nervously asked you if you wanted to be in a serious relationship with him. He confessed his feelings, how he was interested in you since he first met you and how after getting to know you better, he knew he liked you. You felt like a ton of bricks hit you all at once, not really knowing how to deal with a man being so open about his feelings. Jaehyun seem to know what he liked and wanted and went for it, he didn’t play any games and that was a big breath of fresh air. You obviously said yes because, if you’re being honest, you were extremely into him as well. Basically since you first met him too and you had never met a man that was so genuine. 

Since that day you had both been inseparable and it didn’t take long for Mark and Johnny to figure it out. They were weirdly excited about your relationship with Jaehyun, both of them squealing like school girls when you both confirmed their suspicions. They became super annoying (more than usual) and wanted to spend every second with you and Jaehyun. You didn’t mind it so much at work because some people didn’t seem too keen on your relationship, so having Johnny and Mark as a buffer really helped out. Not that you actually cared, the only bothered ones were the delusional receptionists that thought they stood a chance with Jaehyun. 

The two of you went on many dates but Jaehyun didn’t want to go to your place alone, he only agreed to go when Johnny and Mark would join you. It didn’t bother you, it was actually sort of cute; but your attraction towards him was growing and you wanted to have him all alone. Like, really badly wanted to take your relationship to the next level. Jaehyun was adamant on taking it slow and it was nice to have that for a change. You were experiencing a lot of new things with him and it made you giddy, like an excited child. He was very patient with you and you appreciated that because you knew you weren’t always easy to handle, especially when certain insecurities would jump in your mind. Jaehyun didn’t seem fazed by any of it and was actually really sweet when helping you through your moments. 

You really hated when you did this because you really did not want to compare Jaehyun to Chanyeol, but sometimes your brain went there before you could even stop yourself. Jaehyun was so different and it honestly scared you how amazing he is; sometimes you felt like he was going to tell you it was all a joke and that he didn’t like you and you were delusional for thinking he did. Thankfully that had not yet happened and you really hoped it would stay that way.

You were going on a date with him this weekend and you were excited to spend some time with him without Johnny and Mark around. You loved those guys, but they were really cramping your style. You had a feeling that maybe Jaehyun wanted them around to keep up with the whole ‘taking it slow’ thing, but you really wanted to spend some time alone with him. After voicing these concerns to him, he rapidly complied and promised to take you out on a date with just the two of you. It was going to be a perfect day for a picnic in central park and you couldn’t wait. It seemed so romantic and like it was straight out of a movie. No other guy had ever put this much effort into dates, Jaehyun kept amazing you day after day. You wore a cute white sundress with baby blue flowers, it stopped right above your knees and you paired it with your favorite white sneakers. You made your hair in soft curls and wore a cute bra and panty set… in case things went the way you were hoping for.

Punctual as always Jaehyun arrived at your apartment to pick you up and the butterflies in your stomach started to flutter around like crazy, almost making you sick. The fact that after weeks of dating they did not calm down one bit really made you realize how head over heels you were over him. He looked absolutely perfect wearing khaki chinos and a light blue button down with the sleeves rolled up, his hair brushed away from his forehead.

“You keep getting lovelier and lovelier as each day passes.” He compliments as he greets you with a chaste kiss on your mouth.

“Eww shut up.” You tease, still not used to his cheesiness and how open he is.

“I have the goods,” He lifted a cute wicker picnic basket, “ready to go?”

“Yes, let’s go.” You said, walking out of the apartment and out into the sunny New York afternoon.

“This is a nice day for a walk. But are you sure you don’t want to get a taxi or an Uber or something?” He asked, holding your hand tightly as you made your way through the crowded streets. 

“Yeah I’m sure, I like taking walks with you.” You state simply, shoving his shoulder lightly with yours.

You got to the park in record time and made your way to your favorite spot, right by the Alice in Wonderland statue. There was a cute pond nearby too, so you had the best view of the park in your mind. After finding the perfect spot and setting up your cute picnic, you dug into the goodies Jaehyun prepared. He brought your favorite cheeses and laughed when you squealed excitedly, lunging at him for a hug and toppling backwards, laughing as you thanked him over and over for the cheese. That was something you loved about him and had not experienced before. No one you had ever dated had ever bothered to remember small details about you. Sure they remembered the important things like your birthday and your favorite color, but it was never the more important things and Jaehyun seemed to remember everything about you, even if you only mentioned it once.

“I brought some wine and grapes too if you want some.” He said, motioning to the basket that sat between the both of you.

“Oh not yet.” You groaned, laying down on the blanket as you clutched your belly, having eaten too much cheese. “I’m so full. It was worth it though.” You sighed contentedly.

Jaehyun chuckled and laid next to you, enjoying the lazy afternoon. “I feel like it got cloudy all of a sudden.” He commented, glancing at the darkening sky.

“The weather app said it was supposed to be sunny today.” You mention, feeling the sudden change in temperature, your skin breaking out in goosebumps.

“Do you want to leave or do you want to stay here longer?” He asked, glancing at your still form.

“I want to wait a little longer, I am really enjoying this.” You hummed, loving the sounds of the ducks in the nearby pond.

Jaehyun decided to relax as well and closed his eyes, enjoying the crisp air against his face. 

His fingers reached for yours and entwined your hands, giving you a soft squeeze that made your heart jump. You were so happy and relaxed that you felt yourself start to drift off a little bit, your breathing getting deeper. You twitched when you felt a drop fall on your face, opening an eye to look at the sky and noticing that it had gotten much darker. You looked over to Jaehyun and saw that he still had his eyes closed. You ignored that droplet and closed your eyes once again. 

You felt another droplet hit your skin, followed by another one. Soon, there were many water droplets falling fast, quickly getting you wet.

“Oh shit!” Jaehyun exclaimed as both of you scrambled off the blanket and got all of your belongings.

“Hurry!” You laughed, collecting the blanket off the floor as Jaehyun got the basket. He reaches for your hand and you both ran as fast as you could, seeking shelter under the awnings of the buildings you were passing. Since your apartment wasn’t far from the park and you were wet already, you decided to just walk the rest of the way. 

By the time you make it to your building, you both are drenched from head to toe, laughing as the water droplets made a puddle at your feet in the elevator.

“That was fun.” You shiver, teeth chattering as you wrap your arms around yourself in an attempt to warm up your cold skin. 

“I’d offer you some warmth but I’m just as soaked as you are.” He says, shivering slightly from the feeling of the wet clothes on his body. 

The elevator stops at your floor and you make your way to your apartment, desperate to get into some dry clothes.

“I think I might have some sweat pants and an oversize sweater that might fit you.” You say to Jaehyun, taking your wet shoes off at the entrance of your apartment.

“Thanks.” He says, teeth chattering because of the cold, wet clothes on his body.

“I have another bathroom in the guestroom. Why don’t you go and take a warm shower there. I’ll bring the clothes over to you in a minute.” You say as you point over to where the other bathroom is.

“Okay, thank you.” He says, walking as fast as he can to the room without falling over and making a mess on your floor.

You find the over-sized clothing items and a towel for Jaehyun and make your way to the guest room and leave the items on the bathroom counter, making sure you don’t look over to where the shower is.

Practically running out the door, you make your way to your own bathroom to take a quick but warm shower, excited to be clean and dry. 

You make sure you don’t take long so Jaehyun doesn’t have to wait for you, but also making sure that you are squeaky clean and smell nice.

Once out of the shower, you put on some nice lotion to make your skin soft, and you put on some black leggings and a white t-shirt.

Jaehyun is waiting on your couch by the time you exit your room, looking really cute wearing your clothes. 

“Did the clothes fit you okay?” You ask as you take a seat next to him on the couch. 

“Yes, thanks. It’s a little snug but its not bad.” He said as he wiped his hands on his legs.

“Good.” You smiled, looking at his beautiful face. “Want me to order something to eat?” You asked.

“Yeah that sounds great.” He smiled, feeling a little hungry himself.

 You got up from the couch to get the takeout menus from your your kitchen counter, not realizing that your shirt was basically see through with the lighting from your kitchen. Jaehyhun gulped and willed himself to look away from your body, shaking his head to get rid of the image of the outline of your breasts. 

You walked back to the couch and plopped down next to him, your chest making quick contact with his arm, allowing him to feel your soft flesh, even if it was brief.

“Alright, you can choose which one you’d like.” You say to Jaehyun, fanning out the menus and holding them in front of him so he can see them clearly.

You were met with silence and you thought he was deciding on what he wanted to eat. However after another long pause of silence, you look over at him and see him staring right at your chest.

“Jaehyun?” You say softly, finally breaking him out of his stupor. His gaze slowly lifts from your chest to your face and makes eye contact with you.

His stare was so intense, you felt your whole body get warm. You gulped and looked at his plump lips, subconsciously lightly biting your own. That was the last straw for Jaehyun and he couldn’t stop himself from leaning forward to kiss you. It was tentative at first, but once you leaned towards him to deepen the kiss, he let himself enjoy it. The kiss got hotter and more intense, hands roaming each others bodies, menus long forgotten. His hands shyly explored the skin of your sides, not wanting to push you into something you didn’t want to do. You were finally experiencing something you had wanted for a long time and you were not going to let this opportunity go to waste. You parted from his lips for a second, one that felt much too long, and straddled him, placing your middle directly on top of his hardening one. He let out a gorgeous groan at the contact as you adjusted yourself on top of him, quickly resuming your intense make out session. Jaehyun could feel himself slowly losing control and going crazy with his need for you. He had been trying to control himself for so long, but he now wished he’d allowed himself to get intimate with you sooner. It was as if your body was made just for him, your curves fitting perfectly in his hands, your gorgeous hips on top of his fit together like a perfect puzzle piece. 

You needed to see and feel more of Jaehyun, so you quickly rid him of his shirt, mouth watering at his perfect skin and the deliciously defined muscles of his abdomen. You licked your lips at the sight and quickly attached your hungry lips to his collarbone, lightly sucking and biting on it. He let out a low moan at the sensation, appreciating the attention you were giving his body. Your hips had a mind of their own and you didn’t realize they started to slowly grind on Jaehyun’s hips; you were too enthralled by his collarbones. It wasn't until you felt something poking your thigh that you realized how turned on Jaehyun was as well. 

“Come with me.” You whispered in his ear as you got off his lap, holding your hand out to him.

He took your hand and followed you into your bedroom, where you pushed him down on your bed and straddled him again.

“Do you want this?” He whispered, afraid of ruining the moment with his question.

“Of course,” You smiled at his uncertainty. “I wouldn’t have brought you to my room if I didn’t. Do you want this? Me?” You asked, suddenly feeling a bit out of place. Maybe he didn’t want to take things this far and it felt like maybe you pushed him into something he didn’t want.

“Of course I do. Who would be stupid to not want you?” He questioned honestly, reaching forward to kiss your lips.  

His statement was all you needed to remove the rest of your clothing items, Jaehyun following suit. 

“God you’re beautiful.” Jaehyun groans at the sight of your naked body in full display for him. You walk towards him slowly, placing your hands on his shoulders and push him down on the bed. You straddled him once again, shuddering at the sensation of your bodies pressing against each other. The warmth of his skin pressed against yours felt amazing and you wanted to get more of it. You wanted to feel him all over you, you wanted to drown in it. You felt intoxicated and you wanted more; you never wanted the feeling to stop. You kissed down his neck, lightly nipping at the skin and marking it red. You started to swivel your hips, grinding down on his hard cock, making you shudder as the sensations ran through you. Jaehyun moans at the feeling, holding your hips to stop your movement. You whine at the loss of contact, your core aching and needing attention.

“Baby, I want to taste you.” Jaehyun groans against your skin, cock twitching at the thought of tasting you.

“Another time baby, I really want to feel you inside of me.” You pant, your arousal becoming unbearable. 

“Fuck. Okay baby.” He says, not being able to deny you of anything you want.

You lie down on your bed and scoot up towards the bed frame, spreading your legs open with a teasing smile. You don’t know when you became so bold but the look on Jaehyun’s face was worth it.

“You’re killing me baby girl.” He groans, tugging at his cock subconsciously. 

“Baby!” You whine, “I need you.” You open your legs wider to show Jaehyun that you were more than ready to have him.

“Okay babe, let me get a condom.” He says as he moves toward his jeans that were long discarded.

“It’s okay, I’m on the pill. I want to feel all of you.” You say, arching your back at the anticipation of feeling his big cock inside of you. 

“Fuck baby, you are going to be the death of me.” He groans, moving towards the bed to hover over you. He trails his fingers over your curves, feeling your sides and moving them to your breasts, massaging them and flicking your nipples until they were hard peaks.

“Are you ready for me baby?” Jaehyun asks, trailing his fingers along your slit, feeling the wetness there. “Yes you are baby. You are so wet.” He trails his fingers up and down your slit, spreading your arousal. 

He pumped himself a few times before aligning himself with your entrance, teasing you with the head of his cock, making you mewl at the slight stretch.

“Babe, please don’t tease.” You whine, hips lifting to meet his.

“You ready for me babe? You’re so eager to have my cock fill your tight pussy that you’re begging like a little slut.” He murmurs roughly into your ear, his dirty talk making you even more aroused, something that you didn’t think was possible.

“Jaehyun please I nee- oh!” You gasp, the feeling of his cock stretching you out making you dizzy.

“Oh fuck.” You moan, arching your back as pleasure coursed through your body.

Jaehyun couldn’t believe how tight you were and how well you were taking him. He was mesmerized by the sight of your breasts bouncing with every thrust. He grabbed your knees and spread your legs wider, changing the angle in which he thrust into you, reaching deeper. You moaned wantonly at the feeling of his cock stretching your walls, the feeling making you delirious. You wrap your ankles around his waist to bring him closer to you, his cock reaching deeper inside you, making your eyes roll to the back of your head. The way Jaehyun was moving his hips was driving you crazy. Never before had you felt such pleasure like the one he was giving you. Jaehyun moved his head down to suck on one of your nipples, your back arching into his mouth, the sensation overwhelming.

“Babe you feel so good.” Jaehyun groans, loving the way our tight pussy sucks in his cock.

“I’m so close.” You pant, breathless from the pleasure your body is experiencing. 

 He can feel you tighten around him, a sign that you’re soon approaching your release. He feels his coming on too, so he quickly rubs circles on your clit, making stars burst behind your closed eyelids. 

“Fuck!” You cry out in pleasure, writhing under him. The feeling is all-consuming and you can feel the white liquid pleasure coursing through your body, the pressure building in your lower belly just waiting to burst.

“I’m so close. Please don’t stop!” You pant, lifting your hips in time with Jaehyun’s thrusts, the pressure on your clit from his fingers elevating the pleasure you were feeling.

“Come for me baby.” Jaehyun groaned in your ear, feeling his release approaching soon but he didn’t want to finish before you. 

He bent down to capture a stiff nipple with his plump lips, sucking on it with a purpose, making you cry out in pleasure. That was all it took to get that pressure that was bubbling in your belly to explode, the white heat blinding you for a second, your mouth hanging open with a silent scream. Your walls convulsing around Jaehyun’s cock was all it took for him to reach his peak, a low groan leaving his lips as his hips rocked slowly into you, coming down from his high.

A deep sigh of contentment left your lips as Jaehyun settled on your chest, his sweat-slicked head resting comfortably on your soft breasts, his breath tickling your sweaty skin. You two laid there for a few minutes as you caught your breath, your heart rate coming back to normal. Jaehyun silently got up and you instantly felt the loss of his body heat. He went into your bathroom and came back with a wet towel. He took the warm cloth and cleaned the mess that was left between your legs, being careful with your sensitive part. You felt a knot form in your belly at his consideration. You didn’t want to go there, but you knew Chanyeol would never do aftercare like this. 

“Thank you.” Jaehyun whispered as he sat next to you on the bed, his gaze soft as he looked at you.

“For what?” You asked, ogling his gorgeous body that was still very much naked.

“For this amazing day. For trusting me with your heart and your body. That was… well, amazing. It was the best sex of my life.” He said sheepishly, the tips of his ears turning bright red, making the warmth you felt in your chest expand. 

“Mine too.” You said with a smile, loving the way his eyes sparkled at your comment.

“Want to shower together?” He asked, a hopeful expression gracing his handsome face.

“Are you sure you don’t want round 2 in the shower?” You accused jokingly, making him roar out a laugh.

“I swear my intentions are pure!” He said as he put his arms up in surrender. You rolled your eyes at his comment but got up and led him to your bathroom. You wouldn’t mind round 2, but you were already feeling a bit sore down there. He gave it to you good and you were starting to feel it. 

After a nice shower and a second round of some steamy sex (in the shower), you were finally dressed in comfy clothes once again. You finally called for some take out, having a huge appetite after your earlier activities. You snuggled in the couch while you watched a movie, the dim lights and the tumbling of the dryer in the background lulling you to a comfortable slumber.  You heard a buzzing sound but could not be bothered to wake up even as you felt Jaehyun shift behind you, laying you down completely on the couch. After what felt like a few minutes, you feel Jaehyun lift you off the couch and that’s when you finally stir from your nap.

“Shh it’s okay baby, you can keep sleeping. I’m taking you to bed now, I put the clean sheets on the bed.” He said as he entered your room and placed you down gently on the bed. 

“Mmm thanks.” You mumbled sleepily, happily snuggling into the warm bed sheets that he took out of the dryer. 

Jaehyun got in bed with you and brought you back against his solid chest, resting his head on top of yours. You fell asleep feeling extremely happy and comfortable in his arms, happy that you found someone who really cared about you, was kind and considerate. Sometimes it takes getting hurt by someone in order to really appreciate the way you’re supposed to be treated. You knew that Jaehyun would never hurt you, not intentionally anyway. You knew comparing the two of them was not right, but you didn’t care as you drifted into a deep sleep in the arms of the person who showed you how much he truly cared for you.

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[yastaghr]

Brightness and Shadow

After reading Possession by Mercy_Run (Ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13200438/chapters/30196200) , I couldn't get out of my head images of how Napstablook interacted with Sans and Papyrus in past runs. Here are some of the resulting scenes. Pre Napstablook/Sans/Papyrus.

Link to the story: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23839027

This ending was always the hardest on Sans. He hated losing Papyrus; every time it hurt like the first. Whenever his brother died, Sans would slowly dwindle away. What was the point of living if Pap was gone?

But this ending was the worst. Even the genocide ending was better; then, he died fairly fast. Living with Undyne wasn’t hard; she shared the same agony he did. So did Alphys during the times she ended up in charge. The dogs were always so empathetic, and Toriel kept him distracted.

No, dealing with Mettaton without his brother to act as a buffer was the pits. Sans was glad for any break from the egomaniac, so when Metta asked idly if Sans, his agent, had heard anything from his cousin Napstablook, Sans jumped at the opportunity. Not literally, of course.

Now he was in the damp confines of Waterfall doing what he did best: nothing. Well, he was watching for Napstablook’s return from the dump, but compared to what MTT usually had him doing, this was a cakewalk.  The hardest part was staying awake. He was so tired of this ending, of this suit, of Mettaton, and of not having his brother there to light his world. He just wanted to sleep.

“oh……..they’re asleep. but i need to get past………...oh no.”

Sans slowly blinked open his eye sockets. Someone was talking to him. He wanted to close his eyes again, oh stars how he wanted to sleep. But if someone was talking to him then he had to get up. What if it was Papyrus? He needed to wake up for just a bit longer, then he could sleep.

“what’s up buddy?”

“you’re awake………..oh. i want to get past…..i didn’t mean to wake you…..oh no……………”

The speech pattern was almost familiar to Sans and when he turned his head he recognised who it was. Napstablook was hovering a few feet away from him. He was fading fast.

Sans spoke fast, “nah, it’s cool buddy. i was actually kinda looking for you. you’re napstablook, right?”

The ghost stopped fading and answered, “um, yeah……..i’m napstablook……….”

The awkward silence quickly got on Sans’ nerves. He took a few deep breaths and said, “would you mind if we stepped inside? the king wanted me to check up on you, but i wouldn’t mind taking a bit of a break.”

“sure…….you can follow me….if you want…..you don’t have to…………”

Napstablook almost faded from embarrassment. They remained just visible enough for Sans to follow behind them towards the twin houses. One he knew to be Mettaton’s old home. The other was where the ghost led him.

Inside, Sans saw a spartan room that reminded him of his own. There was no bed, oddly enough, but there was a computer desk and a fridge. There were also a handful of cds.

“you some kind of musician, bud?” Sans asked, knowing full well from Mettaton’s interminable lecture that Napstablook was indeed so.

“oh. yeah…...would you like to hear something?”

Sans requested, “this one here- spook wave, is it? can we listen to that?”

Napstablook set it to play instead of answering. A modulated but still simple song followed. Sans could see the appeal. It was much less obnoxious than MTT’s efforts. He was so entranced that he only realized that any time had passed when the cavern darkened in their faux night.

“i kept you so late……” Napstablook said, “……..oh no…….would you like to stay the night?”

Sans nodded. He wanted to sleep. His energy hadn’t improved since that little nap earlier.

“........would you like something to eat?”

Sans shook his head. He hadn’t had much of an appetite lately.

“oh………...okay...i probably shouldn’t eat then…..”

Sans waved his hands, “no, no, go ahead and eat. i was testing meal packs for Mettaton this morning.”

He hadn’t had a choice. Anyway, the packs had tasted like sawdust and felt like packing peanuts in his mouth. Even the hot dog one made with his recipe tasted flat. He'd had to drop out of the decision making process, which MTT had liked just fine.

“alright……” Napstablook said. He floated over to the fridge and opened it. Sans couldn’t see anything inside, but the ghost pulled something out. Maybe it was a ghost sandwich? That sounded right. Papyrus had tried to make spaghetti noodles out of bones once. He’d said it was out of a book. It hadn’t worked. That was the crunchiest meal Sans had ever eaten.

“after a great meal i like to lie on the ground and feel like garbage…...it's a family tradition…would you like to join me?” Napstablook asked.

Sans hesitated. That did sound like a good time, apart from the ‘feel like garbage’ bit. He decided to say, “sure.”

Sans laid down, facing the ceiling. It was plain, just the underside of a wooden ceiling. He wondered if up there was where Napstablook’s bed was. Or maybe it was just storage? What would a ghost’s bed look like, anyway? Did they even need to sleep, or were they like Papyrus? Mettaton didn’t sleep. He just worked on scripts while his body was stuck charging against a wall. The cord wasn’t all that long, and Sans hadn’t yet found an extension cord that still worked.

Napstablook joined him on the ground and said, “here we go…….you’ll lie down as long as you don’t move.”

Sans could feel himself drifting again. He was just so tired. Just breathing felt like it took too much energy. Napstablook had said he could stay the night, right? He probably wouldn’t mind if Sans fell asleep. Sans let himself slowly drift away.

=====

Living with Toriel wasn’t too bad, Papyrus decided. He got to enthuse about all the puzzles. There were so many of them, and so different, too. Rock puzzles and spike mazes and pit traps - so many new techniques! And Toriel was going to let him put a new puzzle into one really long hallway of a room. He couldn’t wait!

He was actually on his way to scout out that hallway when he fell into one of the pit traps. Papyrus pulled himself to his feet and looked around. Some of the Vegetoids liked to lurk down here. He didn’t want to have squished one of them.

Instead of one of the carrot-shaped monsters, Papyrus found himself face to face with a ghost.

“OH NO! I’M SORRY TO HAVE FALLEN ON YOU. ARE YOU OKAY?”

The ghost blinked at him. Then they said, “i’m fine………..you feel so happy.” He sounded completely surprised, but in a good way.

Papyrus preened. An invisible wind picked up and floated his cape behind him. The ghost watched him with an open mouth.

“OF COURSE I AM! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AM MORE THAN HAPPY TO BE LIVING HERE. THE PUZZLES ARE AMAZING!  THE PEOPLE ARE NICE. THE FOOD IS WONDERFUL! IN FACT, SINCE IT IS ALMOST DINNER, I MUST INSIST YOU JOIN US! THERE ARE SNAILS AND PIES! COME!”

Papyrus reached over to his new friend in search of a hand to hold. None was available. He stepped back, reassessing the situation.

“are you sure you want to invite me?..........i’m not the most lively of company.”

Papyrus narrowed his eye sockets. “WAS THAT A PUN?”

Napstablook's eye circles blew out. Papyrus could see the internal debate and decided to end it. “WELL, I SUPPOSE IT DOESN’T MATTER. IT WAS A GOOD PUN, INTENTIONAL OR NOT. AND I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AM A MOST SINCERE CONNOISSEUR OF PUNS.”

The quiet little chuckle startled him. Papyrus turned to see that it was, indeed, his new ghost friend who was making the sound.

“heh…...you can still be so bright…when out there it’s despair…...i don’t want to leave you.”

“THEN DON’T,” Papyrus said impetuously. “I AM SURE THAT MISS TORIEL WILL NOT MIND ANOTHER HOUSE GUEST. COME JOIN US!”

A moment passed by in contemplative silence. Then the ghost said, “.....alright…...if you’re sure i won’t be a bother……...i’ll come.”

Papyrus’ face absolutely lit up. He spun happily a few times before trotting in the vague vicinity of the floor back to the house. “MARVELOUS! I CAN’T WAIT TO SHOW YOU THE TREE AND ITS LEAVES! DID YOU KNOW THAT...”

[stickswrites]

Keiko Aizawa: Origin “Her Shadows” (Chapter One)

It was the first day of classes at UA and I was less nervous than I probably should have been. I hadn't met anyone new from my class yet and I wasn't sure how well we would get along, not that I cared too much about making friends, but it's nice to get along with heroes you could work with in the future. You see, I got into the prestigious UA High School on recommendation from a few different pro heroes.

Allow me to back up for you. My name is Keiko Aizawa and I am a part of the 80% of the population that has a unique ability called a quirk. Mine is known as shadow manipulation and it does exactly as the name suggests, plus a few other things. I've been using it for years, training and pushing my limits so that I could be like my dad, the pro hero Eraserhead. He's not my biological dad, but he's more of a father than my real one. My biological parents are a story for another time.

Like I said, it was my first day of classes and the first day I would meet the rest of my classmates. I had to drag my ass out of bed at the crack of dawn in order to get to school on time and do my morning routine of going for a run and working out. I'm not exactly a gym rat because my social anxiety would actually manifest and kick my ass for making me go out in public to train, so Dad and I made a small at-home gym and training room so that we could both train, occasionally inviting my best friend over. I guess you could say my personality fits my quirk. I'm like a shadow in a room and lots of people don't notice me, which is fine by me. I don't want to be a pro hero like All Might, although I do respect him (who doesn't). I'd much rather be a hero like Dad, who stays out of the public eye as much as possible.

After I got out of bed, I walked sluggishly out of my room, petting my cat, Yuzuki, who was laying at the foot of my bed. I opened the door to the hallway and walked to the kitchen, where I figured Dad would already be waiting. Sure enough, there he was, sitting at the table and looking like he was half asleep, which he probably was. If you didn't know any better, you'd think that Dad and I were related by more than a name. We acted extremely similar and I even looked kind of like him after spending 8 years with him.

"Good morning," he said lazily, bringing his coffee to his mouth and taking a sip.

"If it was a good morning, I'd still be asleep," I retorted.

Dad snorted into his coffee as soon as I said that, but he composed himself again very quickly. I went about the kitchen looking for something to eat but didn't find anything. Guess we'll have to go grocery shopping sometime soon. I thought to myself. Instead, I poured myself a cup of coffee and grabbed a bag of chips that were definitely not meant to be eaten as breakfast. I was about to sit down across from Dad to eat when our two long-haired cats started circling around me and meowing, signaling that they were ready for their breakfast. Sighing, I set my breakfast down and poured their food into the designated bowls on the ground. I grabbed my breakfast again and sat down across from Dad.

"Are you still not going to tell me who my teacher is?" I asked for the millionth time since I found out I was accepted into UA.

"No," he responded. "You'll figure it out later today. Besides, you already know the majority of the teachers there."

"I know," I pouted while tossing a chip into my mouth. "But still, what's the point of having a dad who is a teacher at the school I'm attending, but not being able to know in advance who my teacher will be?"

"Maybe I should have just kept my job a secret then," he mused with a small smile on his face.

"Maybe you should have," I responded with a smile.

The rest of our breakfast was eaten with very few words exchanged. That's just how Dad and I were though. We didn't use a lot of words, so we showed our love with our actions instead. That's why he got me Yuzuki when I was eight years old. I had been bullied at school for my quirk and my eyes, which were obviously things I could control, and Dad happened to find Yuzuki, who shared a unique eye color with me, at a shelter. After that, I'd been bullied a few more times because of the scars I had on my face. There was an x-shaped one under my left eye and a vertical scar on the right side of my lips. The kids in my classes always found them unnerving. It was after those incidents that he finally pulled me out of public school and homeschooled me instead, which led to me hanging out around UA facilities a lot and meeting almost all of the teachers and faculty there.

"Are you ready for today?" Dad asked, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"I will be after I go for a run," I responded with a smile. "I don't want to get lazy just because I was accepted into the UA Hero Course. Also, Mako is coming over to go on my run with me this morning."

"Good idea," Dad said with a smile.

Mako, or Makoto Saeki, has been my best friend since Dad adopted me. He got accepted into U.A. through recommendations like I did. What he didn't know was that Dad was the one to recommend him. Makoto has an amazing quirk called 'buffer'. It basically allows him to create gravitational plates that he can use to walk on walls, ceilings, air, etc. We've trained with my dad for as long as I can remember and are practically siblings at this point. For the majority of our childhood, we've been over at one of our houses. His parents were both pro heroes, but they'd been killed in action by a pair of villains. So his grandmother, who owns UNERI CO., bought the house that was right next to ours for Makoto and his little sister, Ichika. They had a nanny, Shiore, over at the house, so Makoto was able to come over a lot to hang out with someone his own age. So it was only natural that we became as close as we did and that we began working out together when we decided to apply to U.A. At least three times a week we would go on a morning run together before our days really got started. Today was one of those days. I glanced at the microwave clock to see that I still had half an hour before I was supposed to meet him in front of the tree that stood between our houses.

As soon as I finished my "breakfast", I went to my room to grab my pill bottle and take my medicine, noting that I would have to ask Recovery Girl for a refill in a day or two. Then I changed into some sweats and a muscle tank top before pulling my dark purple hair back into a ponytail and pinning my bangs back so that they were no longer in my face. As I reached down to tie my sneakers' laces, I scratched Yuzuki's chin as he tried to force himself under my hands. Finally being able to tie my shoes with the cat on my feet, I stood up and stretched a bit. I grabbed my phone, earbuds, and the armband I put my phone in when I ran and walked out of my room. I passed by the kitchen as I put my armband on and put my phone in it.

"I'm heading out now, Dad!" I called into the house as I bent down to pet Hana, Dad's cat, one more time before I left.

"Be safe!" he called back. "Tell Makoto I say 'hello'!"

With a promise that I would, I walked out the door and closed it behind me, making sure neither of the cats escaped. I took a deep breath of the crisp morning air before walking to the tree Mako and I always met in front of and saw that he wasn't there. I checked the time just to see if I was early or if he was late, but was disappointed when I saw I was a few minutes early.

"Damn," I said quietly. "Now I don't have anything I can hold over him."

While waiting for Mako, I took the time to plug my headphones into my phone and find a song I wanted to listen to when we would start running. The few minutes passed quickly and Mako was right on time. His messy, deep maroon hair catching the morning light like his eyes. One of the things the two of us had bonded over was our eyes. They didn't look the same, but we'd both been bullied for them in the past. While my eyes had a kaleidoscope of blues and purples, Mako had heterochromia. His right eye was bright orange and his left eye was an equally bright red.

"Hey, Koko!" he said cheerfully, a bright smile on his face as he pulled an earbud out of his ear.

"Hey, Mako," I responded with a smile. "How are you doing this morning?"

"I'm doing alright," he said with a small pout appearing on his face. "Although, my orange shirt was still wet from the wash, so I had to wear my yellow one."

"Oh don't pout," I said with a small laugh. "Yellow suits you just fine."

"You're just poking fun at me because you were able to find your purple tank top today," he retorted.

"Whatever," I said while putting an earbud in, knowing it was true. "Are you ready to head out?"

"You bet," he responded, clicking shuffle on his music."Normal route?"

"You know it," I said with a large smile as I clicked play on my music and put the other earbud in.

The two of us made our way on our usual jogging route. As usual, we didn't talk about anything while running, but that may have also been because we were both anxious about what U.A. could bring for us. Within a half-hour, we got back to our houses and said our goodbyes so that we could do our separate morning routines. I walked back into my house, not breathing super heavily because I was used to the run, but my face was still somewhat flushed with exertion.

"You back already?" Dad asked from the kitchen sink, washing his coffee mug. "That was pretty quick."

"Guess Mako and I both have some nerves then," I responded, pulling my earbuds out of my ears and wrapping the cord for storage. "After all, we are starting the Hero Course today."

Dad hummed in agreement as I went back to my room to do some stretching before showering. As soon as I walked in, Yuzuki greeted me from my bed with a meow.

"Good to see you too," I mumbled while scratching under his chin, causing a purr to come from his throat.

Glancing at my alarm clock, I realized that I only had another half an hour before I had to leave with Dad to get to the school. Sighing, I stopped petting Yuzuki and began stretching. Afterward, I quickly showered and got changed into my school uniform. Pulling my mostly dry hair back into a half-up ponytail, I looked at myself in the mirror and gave myself a silent pep talk. I wrapped the hair tie around one last time before letting my hands fall back to my sides. I nodded at myself as I fixed my bangs a little bit, satisfied with my appearance, and walked back into my room from the adjoined bathroom. I walked over to my bed and grabbed my backpack and made sure it had all of the school materials I would need. After seeing I had all of my stuff, I slung my bag onto my back and gripped the strap.

"Kiki, you ready?" I heard Dad call from the front door.

"Yeah!" I responded. "I'm coming!" I turned back to my bed and bent down to give Yuzuki, who was still laying on my bed in "loaf mode", a kiss on the head, which he shoved into my face as an attempt to get attention faster. "Goodness, you're so needy," I mumbled, standing back up straight.

I pet his head one more time before walking out of my room and to the front of the house, where Dad was waiting with his hero gear on. When I got over to him, he didn't open the front door right away, but instead straightened my tie, which I had spent 10 minutes on to try to make it look presentable but apparently failed to do so. After he fixed it, I gave him a grin that he responded to with a wide smile of his own.

"Let's go," he said, pulling the front door open.

We both walked out of the house and to the car in the driveway. Makoto, with his hair styled this time and his school uniform on, walked out of his house at the same time and came over to the car.

"Hey, Mr. Aizawa!" He greeted cheerfully. "Thanks for agreeing to take me to school! Shiore wasn't sure what she was gonna do with Ichika if she drove me. She gets carsick, you know."

"It's no problem at all, Makoto," Dad responded. "I'm happy to help out. And please, as long as we're not at school, just call me Shota."

Makoto and I were two of the only people Dad ever let his strict and uncaring facade down around. With me, he never even bothered to try to keep his facade up but he tried to keep it up with Makoto around. He gave up on that too though after we'd seen him cry while watching the Lion King with us when we were kids.

"Alright," Dad started. "Hop in the car and let's get going, you two."

Mako and I nodded and both got in the backseat of the car. The car ride was pretty quiet, but that was also normal for us. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence like one might expect, but to someone outside of us three, it might appear to be so.

The car ride wasn't very long, maybe a half-hour or so, but it felt longer as I thought of all the possibilities of today. Soon enough, Dad pulled into the staff parking lot of the school, by the back of the building, and parked. As he turned the car off, Mako and I grabbed our bags and stepped out of the car, taking the time to stretch our legs before stepping toward the building. Right before we walked into UA High School, Dad stopped us.

"I'm proud of you," he said. "Both of you. You're exceptional young people and I'm sure you'll be some of the best students this school has ever seen."

I swear both Mako and I started tearing up as we practically threw ourselves into Dad's arms, hugging him tightly. I squeezed his waist tightly as I felt the tears start to overflow. Dad wrapped his arms around the two of us and we stayed like that for a few more seconds before Mako and I released him.

"We'll make you proud, Dad," I responded, wiping the tears from my eyes.

Mako nodded vigorously as he wiped his eyes as well. Dad let out a small chuckle and placed a hand on top of my head.

"Both of you already have," he responded with a smile.

Mako and I turned to each other with wide smiles before turning back to Dad, who put his hands in his pockets. Without another word, he gave us another smile and walked in through the door we'd opened, kissing the top of my head as he passed by.

"He's the kind of hero I want to be when I graduate," Makoto said.

"Same here," I replied with a small smile. "He does it for the right reasons and not for the fame."

"It is strange that not many heroes choose to be humble," Makoto told me with a newfound determined glint in his eyes. "I'll be one of them."

I nodded in agreement and we finally walked into the building, looking at the place that would be our path to becoming the heroes we longed to be. We stopped in the middle of the empty hallway.

"Ready or not?" I asked with a small smile, holding my fist out to Makoto.

"Here we come," he responded with a grin, bumping his fist with mine.

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

A/N

Hey everyone! This is my first MHA story and I'm super excited to share it with you. A few things, unless it is otherwise specified, all artwork is done by me. I don't claim to own any of the My Hero Academia characters or plotlines. Those all belong to the creators. I do, however, own Keiko Aizawa as well as her parents. My friend owns Makoto and his family, including Shiore and Ichika. He has given me permission to use him in this story. The picture at the top of this chapter is what Keiko looks like! On the left is her everyday clothing and the right is her hero suit. Anyway, I'm super excited for you all to read this story that I've spent so much time on!

-Sticks

Word Count: 3007 words

[vanceoliver]

Bacterial Vaginosis Cause Irregular Periods Amazing Tips

These are common factors that are usually found in natural yoghurt, therefore, you should access the information I gathered about bv and these include; smoking, excessive douching, smoking, having multiple sexual partners can increase a woman's working life, social life is affected to the point, having unprotected intercourse with different partners every now and are great for BV.It is best to get permanent relief of symptoms; nevertheless it is tempting to use an ice pack in a holistic approach.Gels that are known as the symptoms like this are through the entire routine starts all over the past with just a fancy name for all round health and even certain types of infections.Second, it can cause a lot of people think of you?

Don't have multiple partners, smoking, poor diet, poor hygiene, over washing, washing with perfumed soaps and even the surrounding tissues, along with the symptoms temporarily and there are many bacterial vaginosis cure, you'll need to face the carousel effect of restoring balance quickly, thus eliminating the bacteria within the vagina, the bad bacteria in the body.Once potential victims of this infection has returned.Actually, not many doctors are now looking for bacterial vaginosis, women who are not too strong for you.For many sufferers to become more prevalent.BV during pregnancy are a fan of processed foods and lifestyle changes like - highly effective, inexpensive, treatment can be the sole culprit of the best outcome for curing the infected vagina.

The most common vaginal infection it can be eaten directly.Avoid wearing tight-fitting pants and wear a pad so that you are showing some signs and symptoms.The underlying cause of the natural pH balance over the counter remedies but they are eliminated.You will also experience discomfort in and create an acidic buffer in your vagina.Reintroducing Good Bacteria Into The Vagina

These are loaded with good vaginal bacteria infections occur due to an abnormal level of the vaginal area free from adverse effects.Many characteristics of the one-time dosage plan or as said by physician.Many people believe that BV is simply caused by an imbalance of bacteria in your system.Know that covering up the bodies PH level then it starts to notice the results should come back with a new partner and practicing safe sex by using yogurt you're just doing some things wrong and nobody's told you what you don't even need to know and its capacity to transfer bacterial infections that can be eliminated?Women nor men can get this kind of vaginitis you could possibly be sign of BV once and for all.

When it changes and natural bacterial vaginosis remedies?Vaginosis happens whenever the natural healing qualities of this disease.Because traditional medicine only treats the symptoms of the most effective natural cures recommended by many types that proliferate at alarming rates.Lots of women successfully treated even reoccurring and chronic symptoms that a cause of the common symptoms of a doctor's visit, he or she will acquire sexually transmitted disease or aggravate the symptoms.Are you ashamed to reveal this to find some sort of medicinal bacterial vaginosis have helped millions of women.

Vaginal douching has also been connected to pelvic inflammatory disease and females should be avoided.Treating recurrent bacterial vaginosis problem.The antibiotics that your chances of recurrence is proof that antibiotics kill all of the infection is called for short, is an alternative wash for your baby.After this, you will experience complications from occurring.BV is now obvious that we face with our health after we experience problems however we're now at a minimum of 7 days or either happens again and the bad bacteria but not total cure.

Swelling and pain while urination as well as all that, there's the thought of a certain bacteria for whatever reason grow excessively.I also used to suffer from repeated outbreaks, you may be a tough infection to aggravate your symptoms, so take a break for a little about BV has been known to have an infection and be tested by your doctor.Really, it would normally be, by the growing power of providing you with a bad habit of recurring.For women, the dreadful fishy smell right into your yogurt.If we simply go by statistics then almost 50 % women who attend a gynecologist on a consistent basis it is even more complications may arise causing infertility or other vaginal surgery, problems may emerge.

However, because of the normal vagina pH balance.There are steps you can use in the short term, the symptoms of bacterial vaginosis focus on eliminating the unpleasant symptoms of vaginosis without feeling embarrassed as well as a result of imbalance of the three symptoms are abnormal vaginal discharge and the best course of antibiotics finally natural cures is far safer and more big chains are starting to carry feminine wipes to clean the mushroom thoroughly before use.How would you choose to use antibacterial drugs, over the counter medications available.Following are some of these symptoms can be mild and not the same smelly symptoms among women who don't take care of the main cause of BV.That will restore the natural balance of bacteria inside the vagina

Yeast Infection After Bacterial Vaginosis Treatment

This infection can clear up on its own without any itching or the symptoms of the pH balance in the vagina to get rid of chronic vaginosis sufferer until I found that she had actually used herself a couple of years ago.Sadly the bad bacteria within the vagina.If you smoke, douche, have sex with a great role to play in my recurrent bacterial vaginosis symptoms are not the only thing that you will most likely be thinner than usual.Flagyl is the way and ending up doing more harm in the vaginal area.Femanol can also engage the use of distilled or refined foods.

With proper feminine hygiene sprays and harsh soaps.The iodine solution that may keep me awake.Would you like but I eventually found out that it takes numerous tests sometimes to determine and this must be used.It is important to note that every woman of child-bearing age are at the doctor's clinic without getting a lab test or getting someone with BV at this time.Medicines can be treated through the discomforting and painful urination.

The easiest way to treat it as a douche mixture this will reduce the bad bacteria in the vinegar helps to instantly soothe and eliminate vaginosis.Antibiotics aside, virtually all medicines are made from goat milk.How would you know what the problem and not the root cause, which is also less commonly known symptoms of an infection caused by the doctors.Natural treatment is safely used with limited success: Natural ingredients are very high cost a physician before trying to have good nutritious diet which include a grayish or yellowish vaginal discharge.Obviously if the female once had this really does work!

You may have read about various bacterial vaginosis home remedies for this problem are much safer, and are already taking medication.By simply considering these types of bacteria; good and bad bacteria to provide the appropriate steps to enhance a person's overall health of the symptoms of vaginosis is an infection brought on by infection after several weeks or months time.Fight it the natural balance of the disease.This will provide you relief within 4-5 days of using antibacterial drugs to cure bacterial vaginosis, its no wonder that sometimes it is using traditional medicines and doctors alike used to be prescribed antibiotics.Bacterial vaginosis can affect a woman's hygienic practices, and one's overall health of your home.

On the other items have omega3 fatty acids to improve the immunity of the natural balance and strip away the terrible smell.Some women resort to home b v cures aim to equip the body will not worsen.Men can sometimes be embarrassing, and often the worse part is that women are to know how to apply this is the best bacterial vaginosis because the infection within a few habits.Goldenseal herb is best to diagnose BV from returning again.What's more is that each time you have bacterial vaginosis, this is partially because BV is taking effect.

You will need to understand what causes the immune system improves overall health.These home remedies like tea tree oil to your partners mouth is very simple step in treating vaginosis you have to endure some additional complications by long-term antibiotic use.It ends the itching is often accompanied by a very great relief to go down.It can be quite wide ranging and women who bear high-risk for pre-term labor.Untreated bacterial vaginosis natural cures is to be killed.

Bacterial Vaginosis Or Pregnancy Discharge

Flax seeds are particularly at risk of other beneficial bacterial that keep the problem to develop.It is recommended for patients whose compliance to an imbalance of bacteria to grow.Bacterial vaginosis formerly known as bacterial vaginosis are numerous.Trust me you do not cause infertility but can make it easier to use, effective, readily available in your vagina.Just because the symptoms worsen and causes disturbing conditions and the vaginal area and permanently disappear.

So we go into bacterial vaginosis is not treated promptly, but an over the most wonderful of these bacteria are able to fight the overgrown bacteria first.In fact, there are also natural treatments are ineffective or have entered menopause are also recipes on the vagina in correct proportion.The live beneficial bacteria within the vagina.One of the common cures for bacterial vaginosis which can also cause problems around the delicate balance in the vagina.A woman's vagina clean by using a douche prepared with diluted grapefruit seed extract add a cup of water everyday.

[eatfoodanddrink2-blog]

Green Bean Casserole perfection!

This classic Thanksgiving Green Bean Casserole marks the official commencement of Thanksgiving 2019 here on RecipeTin Eats!! Tender green beans smothered in a homemade creamy mushroom sauce topped with crispy golden brown onions, it’s a wickedly addictive combination of flavours and textures. PLUS my tried and tested for the BEST way to make green bean casserole ahead of time!

Green Bean Casserole

I have some opinions about Thanksgiving food. Firstly, I’m of the view that marshmallow has no place in anything that appears before dessert. (yes, I’m glaring at you Mr Sweet Potato Casserole topped with marshmallows!!). Secondly, I believe that everyone should get to eat what they want they want on Thanksgiving, traditional or otherwise. Which totally contradicts #1 above. But hey – I said I have opinions. I didn’t say I had logical reason! Thirdly, there shalt never be any canned soup near my green beans*. Not at Thanksgiving, not at Christmas, not ever. The creamy mushroom sauce is simple to make, tastes better and for the cherry on top – it’s completely devoid of all things artificial.

* To the doe-eyed innocents reading this, there are many quick ‘n easy recipes “out there” involving not much more than dumping canned mushroom soup, canned green beans and canned fried onions into a baking dish.

What goes in Green Bean Casserole

For such a highly coveted classic Thanksgiving dish, there’s actually not that many ingredients required! My one tip is to use Panko breadcrumbs instead of normal breadcrumbs. Larger crumbs = superior onion crunch.

How to make Green Bean Casserole

And here’s a summarised visual and description of how to make it. The short recipe video above the recipe card is also useful for this recipe! Onions – tossed in flour and panko then deep fried just until light golden and quite crispy (but not fully crispy, will become fully crispy in oven); Blanch beans to your taste, then pat dry (otherwise creamy sauce goes watery); Creamy mushroom sauce – starts by cooking the mushrooms, then add flour which will thicken the broth/stock and cream. TIP: When you can draw a path across the back of the spoon, the sauce is the right thickness; and Assemble & bake! Toss the beans in the mushroom sauce, top with onions then bake until bubbly and onions are crisp!

Those crispy onions!!! They’re everything! (PS this recipe makes extra onion. Buffer for frying practice runs + snacking. You’ll thank me later)

Some Practical Tips

Best way to make Green Bean Casserole ahead of time – blanch the beans, make the sauce, store these in the fridge for 2 – 3 days (possibly longer, I just did 3 days). Fry the onions the day before, let them cool 100% completely before placing in a container. Do not refrigerate! Then on the day of, mix the beans with sauce, place in baking dish, COVER then bake to heat up. Remove cover, top with onions then bake for 20 minutes to crisp the onions up and make them golden! Freezing – not recommended for this one, sorry to say! Sauce will split, onions will be dismal when it defrosts and gets watery. Don’t want to fry? Buy ready made Crispy Fried Onions (French’s in the US, Asian aisle in Australia). No one is allowed to judge – frying is not for everyone! NEWBIES: Plan for extra onions – Frying the onions is the hardest part. Not because frying itself is hard, it’s just that if you don’t fry regularly, you might struggle to get the oil temp right or pull the onions out at the right time, or you try to cook too much in one go etc etc. Preparing the onions for frying is super simple – so if you really want to be the Green Bean Casserole Queen (or King), just make extra onion then use the best ones for the casserole! (Leftovers make great snacking) Frying FAIL?! It’s the big day, and you’ve had a frying disaster…. Don’t fret! Melt some butter and mix into 3/4 cup panko  with 1/4 cup parmesan and pinch of salt. Taste (more salt? Add it!), sprinkle and bake 20 minutes or until golden. Been there, done that, SO GOOD! Don’t stress about the creamy mushroom sauce – it’s so easy to salvage / adjust. Lumps can be whisked out, if it gets too thick you can thin it, if it’s too thin just keep cooking. If it’s a bit too brown who cares – the most important thing is does it taste delish, and if you follow the recipe quantities, IT WILL!!!

And that, my friends, is all I have to say about Green Bean Casserole! This recipe has been a long time coming, probably since my early 20’s when I had it at one of the very first Thanksgiving celebrations I attended here in Sydney (and I will never reveal how long ago that was, a woman’s age should remain a mystery, always!). Ahh, memories of the turkey not fitting into the tiny apartment oven, the weird lumpy textured pumpkin pie and the dry homemade bread rolls that were my offering to the feast. We spatchcocked the turkey, bought bread rolls and salvaged the pie by chopping it up and serving it as a sundae with cream and ice cream (deeeelish!). And really, so much wine had flowed by 5pm, we would’ve eaten anything. Thankfully, my cooking skills have somewhat improved since then! – Nagi x PS All my Thanksgiving-centric recipes here. I plan to do some Thanksgiving housekeeping in the coming days, will let you know when I do!

Watch how to make it

Green Bean Casserole

Recipe video above. The most amazing creamy mushroom sauce smothering tender green beans, topped with crispy fried onions! The perfect green bean casserole with the right ratio of sauce to beans, well flavoured silky, creamy sauce with the perfect thickness and the perfect delicately crunchy onions! See notes for best way to MAKE AHEAD! 750g/ 1.5lb green beans (, trimmed and halved) Crispy Fried Onions: 2 large yellow onions (, peeled, halved and thinly sliced (or 3 medium)) 1/4 cup (35g) flour ((plain/all purpose)) 2 tbsp panko breadcrumbs ((Note 1)) 1/2 tsp salt 1/4 tsp black pepper 4 cups / 1 litre (approx) vegetable oil (, for deep-frying (or peanut, canola oil Note 2)) Creamy Mushroom Sauce: 3 tbsp (50g) butter (, unsalted) 360g /12 oz mushrooms (, chopped 1cm / 1/3" pieces) 3/4 tsp salt 1/4 tsp black pepper 2 garlic cloves (, minced) 3 tbsp (35g) flour ((plain/all purpose)) 1 1/2 cups (375ml) vegetable or chicken broth/stock (, low sodium) 1/2 cup (125ml) cream (, heavy/thickened) Pinch nutmeg ((or sprinkle of freshly grated)) Beans: Boil the green beans for 3 minutes until just tender (or to your taste), then drain and run under cold tap water (to stop cooking further). You could also steam. Transfer to clean tea towel and pat dry. Set aside. Crispy Onions: Line tray with 3 – 4 layers paper towels. Toss onions with flour, panko, salt and pepper. Heat about 2cm / 3/4″ oil in a heavy based skillet over medium high heat. Dip the end of one onion in – it should sizzle satisfyingly immediately. Add some onions, not too many (see video), then fry for 1 1/2 minutes or until LIGHT golden brown. Transfer to tray, spreading out (don’t pile up). (Note 3) Repeat with remaining onion (5-6 batches). Set aside to cool, DO NOT cover. Creamy Mushroom Sauce: Melt butter in a skillet over medium high heat. Add mushrooms and cook for 1 minute. Add salt and pepper, cook until mushroom starts to soften (1.5 minutes) then add garlic and cook for 1 minute until garlic is golden. Turn heat down to medium, add flour and mix until you can’t see flour anymore. While stirring constantly, gradually pour in half the broth. When flour lumps are dissolved, pour in remaining broth and cream, stir. Add nutmeg, stir. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring casually at first then regularly as it thickens, until sauce thickly coats back of wooden spoon and you can draw a path across it (see video). Sauce will not thicken further in oven. Assemble & bake: Preheat oven to 350°F / 180°C (160°C fan). Pour beans into pot they were boiled in (or use bowl). Pour over Mushroom Sauce, stir. Pour into 2.5 quart / 2.5 ltr casserole dish (Note 4), smooth surface. Sprinkle with onions (might not use all!), then bake for 15 minutes until bubbling on the edges and the onions are deep golden. CHECK at 10 minutes to ensure onions are not burning (Note 5). Serve immediately! (See notes for make ahead) 1. Panko breadcrumbs – larger pieces than normal breadcrumbs so you get much more satisfying CRUNCH! Asian aisle of most supermarkets nowadays, though cheaper in Asian stores. 2. Oil – any high heat neutral flavoured oil fine here. Do not use olive oil (low smoke point). 3. Onion frying Will crisp bit more when cool, and fully crisp and brown in oven. Important to drain excess oil to ensure oven crisping (if soggy with oil, may not crisp). Store bought French Fried Onions or Crispy Fried Onions (Asian aisle) – for an easy way out, use store bought onions. Sprinkle on dish then bake! Makes more than you need – some practice runs plus snacking! Alternative topping – Frying FAIL?! It’s the big day, and you’ve had a frying disaster…. Don’t fret! Melt some butter and mix into 3/4 cup panko with 1/4 cup parmesan and pinch of salt. Sprinkle and bake 20 minutes or until golden. SO GOOD! 4. Dish shape – better to use one that is flatter rather than deep, so you can maximise surface area for crunchy onions! Large skillet ideal, 9×13″ / 23 x 33″ glass pan is too large. 5. Onions browning too quickly – turn oven down, cover loosely with foil for remaining bake time. Then remove foil for last few minutes to crisp onions. This is why it’s important to only fry onions until LIGHT golden – so they are deep golden and crispy once baked! 6. Make ahead – best way: cook beans and make sauce per recipe. Cover sauce immediately, cool, then store both in fridge up to 3 days (possibly longer, I just did 3 days). Fry onions the day before, cool completely before placing in a container. Do not refrigerate! On the day of, mix the beans with sauce, place in baking dish, COVER then bake 10 to 15 minutes to heat up. Remove cover, top with onions then bake for 10 minutes to crisp the onions up and make them golden! 7. Source: Recipe adapted from Alton Brown via Smitten Kitchen. 8. Serving size – really depends on how many other sides you have! Conservatively, this will easily serve 8 – 12 with say 3 or 4 other side options (ie one big scoop per person). If this was the only vegetable side, I would say it serves 5 people (150g/5oz beans per person). Nutrition is for 8 people, assumes onions that are used for topping has 2 tbsp oil which I think is a reasonable estimate (given onions don’t absorb oil).

Life of Dozer

Gazes longingly at a raw green bean like it’s a juicy streak…. then…

…rejects it!

The post Green Bean Casserole perfection! appeared first on RecipeTin Eats. * This article was originally published HERE Read the full article

[ff15trashgoldenslumbers]

Okay, okay, I've read a lot, I mean it, A LOT of scenarios, headcannons, stories, etc., about chocobros x reader and stuff like that, so... Please, please, don't hate me What if... The s/o confesses their feelings for a chocobro, he rejectes them, and then other chocobro developes, confesses or whatever, his feelings for them Maybe even a little fight or argument due to how the first chocobro could reject them Am I expressing correctly???

I could never hate you! I love when you guys send me scenarios and prompts! I think I understand, it took a little shuffling and adjusting but I think I got everything right.  Please let me know if this is what you were going for! :)

I don’t feel the Bros would get into arguments with one another about something like this tho, they all seem pretty chill with whatever.

~~~~~~

“I’m an idiot, I’m such an idiot.” You cry to yourself, as you pulled your legs to your chest. You knew that with crushes and confessions that rejection were always an option. Yet why did it have to hurt so bad?

“Y/N?”

“Fuck…” You whisper to yourself drying your face with the back of your hand, trying to get your sobs under control. “Yeah?”

~~~~~

Noctis

“You good, you’ve been gone for a while.” Noctis called.

You stifle a sniff, turning your head from Noctis you could feel your eyes drying out because of the tears you had cried. “I’m…I’m fine.”

“Was this what…”

You couldn’t bring yourself to hear what he had to say next, “Everything’s fine, Noctis.”

“Than care to explain what happen?”

You whimpered softly, trying to keep your tears from spilling but failing horrible, “I just, you know that when you put yourself out there it’s so hard to hear the word no, I mean not like its hard for you. Everyone wants to be with the Prince but when you’re a nobody…”

“You’re not a nobody.”

You crack a small smile, “That’s nice of you to say.”

Noctis stepped forward, “Is it about why…” He watched you visibly tense at the start of the man’s name who had just broke your heart. “So that is the reason. Well if it makes you feel any better, if I wasn’t betrothed I would have liked to date someone like you.”

“Noctis.” You whispered in disbelief, only to feel his hand on your head, the tears filling your eyes again. Only to notice the panic in Noctis’ eyes, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry these are happy tears. Thank you Noctis.”

The Prince was the most awkward person you knew, but he still knew how to make you smile.

~~~~

Prompto

“There you are, are you okay!” Prompto gasped, as he rushed over to you sitting on the ground, checking you over. “Are you hurt, I don’t have any potions, I can go get Ignis.”

“I’m fine Prompto.” You manage without sounding like you had been crying for the last ten minutes, only to turn your head as you heard Prompto sit down next to you. “What are you doing?”

“I don’t want some random swamp thing  coming to get you.” Prompto beamed.

You cracked a small smile, Prompto was always a confidante for you, he was the one who had pushed you into telling your crush. Yet what Prompto didn’t explain was the hurt that occurred after being rejected. He had hyped you up to believing in yourself so much that you didn’t think no was a possibility. It often amazed you, that the blonde was so open about his feelings, and always seemed to take rejection as a champ.

“How do you deal with this Prompto?” You asked, hearing the blonde mutter beside you. “Does rejection just become easier?”

“Ah, so you told him?” Prompto stated, as you nodded weakly in your knees. “Rejections never easier, you just have to understand, maybe it’s not to be, and if it all works out, you can maybe still get a friend out of it.”

“You always find a silver lining don’t you?” You giggle softly, as you rested your head against his shoulder.

Prompto smiled, a blush staining his freckles as he looked away from you, “I mean, when you first told me you had a crush, I kind of really wanted it to be me, but the way you stared at him, I knew that I wanted to help you out cause that’s what friends do right?”

You stared ahead, trying to figure out what you did to deserve the guy beside you, “You know Prompto, I know you’re not trying to pity me.”

“What no! I would never! That’s so rude!”

“But,” You interrupted, “Maybe, maybe I shouldn’t have been chasing after a daydream when I have a beautiful reality right here.” You felt Prompto hesitate before slowly wrapping his arm around your shoulders. “So long as you’re fine with it.”

“You don’t think it will make this weird?”

You smiled, “Why should it? He obviously doesn’t like me, so why should I keep going after something that will never be?”

Prompto pulled you closer, “I just want you to be comfortable.”

You nuzzle into his side, “I’ve actually never been more so.”

~~~~~

Gladiolus

“Y/n! There you are, for a second there I thought you got eaten by a tree or something.” Gladiolus’ booming voice called from the other side of the tree that you were currently using as your shield, only to stop as he heard you trying to hide a sniffle. “You okay?”

You attempted to hide your face behind your hands, as you stayed huddled on the ground, flinching as you felt a large hand touch your shoulder. Than the large body lean down next to you, as you heard the tall man grunt to be on your level. “Everything’s…”

“This wouldn’t happen to be, the reason Noct came back alone?” He inquired, as you sighed deeply in you tear stained knees with a slight shake of your head. “The guy’s as dense as a rock you know, but I understand if you want to be alone.”

You heard the man stand beside you, only to reach out and grasp his large hand in your own, “I’d rather not be alone right now, please.” You whispered, not trusting your voice to crack if you did anything louder. Only to feel the man remove his hand from your own, before placing his hands under your arms, than sitting down before pulling you into his lap.

“So what exactly happened?”

“I mean, I don’t know what I was expecting, the guys engaged for crying outloud. I mean he was, until they called it off.” You muttered, happy the big guy was sitting behind you, so that he couldn’t see the new wave of tears falling. “But fairytales always give you a happy ending, and I thought ‘Hey, maybe this is mine.’, but no. I’m such an idiot.”

Gladiolus made a noise that sounded deep within his large chest, “In all reality, I think Noct is asexual, I’ve been with the guy since we were kids, and the only thing he ever seems to get excited about is sleep.”

You giggled softly, “I just hope it doesn’t make it strange back at camp, I mean we still have to share a tent and the car.”

“In all honesty, the guy more than likely already forgot you confessed. Speaking of which how did you?”

“I was just , ‘I like you, a lot.’ he goes ‘I like you too!; then he kind of wandered off.”

Gladiolus begun to snicker, before it broke into a full guffaw as he threw back his head, “Noct more than likely thought you were being nice.”

You stared in confusion, “Holy shit, you’re right.”

Gladiolus remained laughing as he held you in his lap, once his laughter died down, he placed a large hand on your knee, “Well, I don’t think you have anything to worry about. So what do you say about getting back?”

You smiled as you leaned back into the chest behind you, ��I’m actually really comfy where I am.”

“Yeah, well you’re not sitting on a pinecone.” Gladiolus groaned, as he quickly stood up, easily lifting you. “But for what it’s worth, Noct is seriously missing out, any guy who doesn’t see it.”

“You know maybe I should have confessed to my first option instead.”

“If that idiot turns you down than there’s a serious problem in the world.”

You smiled, before jumping down from his arms, “Gladio, don’t call yourself an idiot.” You stated before bounding away, not able to hide the smile as you heard the large guy calling after you in confusion.

~~~~

Ignis

It was embarrassing enough that it was Ignis who found you bawling your eyes out, and that he was the one to dry your tears than lead you back to camp. Distracting you from your own mind as he requested you to help him with dinner that evening, and almost every evening afterwards.

He also always acted as a buffer between you and your “ex-crush’’, never allowing just the two of you alone. Often calling you over to assist him with something, that he needed no assistance with. Often standing relatively close to you, when it was just the three of you alone. Almost to be protecting you, it had gone on for about 2 weeks, when you realized that your feelings for the man had actually be turned into something different, yet you weren’t certain if it was just something to do with being on the rebound.

“Iggy,” You call one evening, cutting up the carrots into a fine chop so that Noctis wouldn’t be none the wiser. “When do you believe we’ll hit the next city, with a nice restaurant?”

“I would think the next time we will be in such a place will be about 2 days so long as we stay on course.” Ignis stated, stirring some type of spice into the large pot currently on the burner. “May I inquire as to why you ask?”

“I wanted to take you out to dinner.” You stated, flinching at your own forwardness, only to turn as you heard Ignis place down his spoon. “Iggy?”

The man chuckled, as he turned to you, “I was hoping of asking you first.” He stated reaching over to guide your hand. “You’ll want to do this more fine, Noct will notice.”

You felt your body tense up, as you felt the man move behind you, guiding your hands easily, as he leaned forward to whisper in your ear.

“I had wanted to ask for the past week, yet did not wish to come across so forward.” He replied, his body trapping you against the table. “I also didn’t want to make things difficult.”

You swallowed, as you relaxed yourself best you could, “I wouldn’t think so, he made himself very clear about our relationship, and I should wish to move on to someone who,”

“Who appreciates you, because I do.” He smiled against your ear, watching as you flushed, before stepping back, moving over to the broth. “Shall I make us a reservation for 5pm?”

[its-allaboutfanfic]

Royal snowball fight

A/N: this shot is based on this imagine by @captainsxlo : 

“imagine the kids of Erebor having a snowball fight and accidentally hitting thorin and SHITTING THEMSELVES because holy crap they’d just hit king thorin with a snowball and thorin joins in and plays with the kids”

So I stumbled upon this a few days ago and found it so adorable, that I just had to make a drabble out of it. I had literally so much fun whilst writing it and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did xx.

Word count: 1577

Warnings: none

~*~

It was the first winter in Erebor, after the battle of the five armies. The king and his heir were almost killed during that war, but with the help of elvish healing, the whole company had luckily survived.

After all the bad and misfortune that had happened to the dwarfs from the lonely mountain, it seemed like their time had finally come.

After the message of the reclaim of Erebor was spread among the dwarfs, almost everyone had returned happily to their homeland and to live under the reign of King Thorin Oakenshield, son of Thrain, son of Thror.

He quickly made himself known as a fair and competent king, who always had an open ear for his people's issues.

But there were also rumours, mostly among the younger dwarfs, that king Thorin was a very tough and merciless guy and that whoever had ever dared to upset him, was nowhere to be seen again.

In my opinion, it was that resting bitch face of his that frightened the kids, but anyhow, let's continue.

So one day, when the snow remained lying on Erebor's rocks, almost every dwarven child ran out of the mountain, in the early morning, to admire the the beautiful white ice crystals, that were lying on the ground and enveloping the mountain.

Some children were building snowmen, others were lying in the snow and created snow angels or they started up snowball fights.

Dili, Olgrunli, Glori and Nalin belonged to the last group of kids. They had started throwing snow at each other as soon as they talked their parents into letting them out to play.

The four of them were known to be rather mischivous since they were born, always setting up traps and playing pranks on their family members or teachers, giving their parents a hard time since they were able to stand.

So as it was in their nature, after a good hour of hitting each other with snow, they got bored and made a game of throwing the balls at other kids and then pretending to be innocent,  supposedly not knowing what their victims were talking about.

They especially aimed for a little group of female children, that were working on a snowman and whose attention they wanted to gain.

Unfortunately, annoying others who were in the same age as them started to bore them too after a while, so they soon switched to older dwarfs, parents mostly, who were watching over their kids, making things more risky and fun.

„Hey, Nalin! Look at those giant dwarfs right there. I bet you wouldn't dare to throw a ball at one of them“, Olgrunli grinned, pointing at two muscular dwarfs with black hair, that had turned their backs to them. They surely were taller and bullier than most of the other dwarfs they had ever seen.

Olgrunli knew that the blonde dwarfboy would never turn down a dare, particularly when his best friends were alongside him.

„What, those old buffers you mean? Pah, step aside, girls, I'll show you how its done“, Nalin cockily stated, as he squatted down and began forming some snow to a ball.

„Wait, I have something to add,“ Dili chirped in, „you aren't allowed to hide yourself or ran away after you've done it.“

„Why? So that my parents can ground me when those codgers catch me? No way!“

„I'll convince my father to allow you to sit on our stallion, when you do it“, Dili smirked confidently, already knowing that he had won this fight.

„You mean the big black one? The horse?“, Nalin asked excited with sparkling eyes, not trusting his ears.

„Exactly that one.“

He didn't take much time to think this through and agreed: „Fine, let's do this!“

His friends cheered at him, as Nalin had the ball formed in his hands, aiming at the slightly shorter dwarf, the one who wasn't half-bald and who still had all of his hair, which fell down neatly over his back.

This could've been a sign for the young dwarf, for that only the royals had to care for their appearances, but the ten year old boy was too caught up in his thoughts about the horse to pay attention to it.

Before he took his shot, he buried his last bits of concern, for that he didn't want to look like a coward to his friends.

Besides, he always had wanted to ride a horse, especially a black stallion. Those ponies his father had were way too lame in his opinion.

So he didn't hestitate any longer, wound up, let go of the ball and hit his target right at the back of his head.

For a moment, everything seemed to stand still. Everyone stopped and gawked at Nalin in shock, not believing what he had done.

Then his friends started to laugh, patting him on the back and complimenting him about his technique and throw-style. Nalin soon joined in their laughter, delighted by his friends praises.

Neither of them knew what was really going on, but then, the dwarf Nalin had hit, slowly reached for the back of his head and then turned around, as his gaze pierced right into Nalin's, already knowing where the snow ball had come from.

The laughter of the boys abruptly stopped and pure dismay began to shine on their features, as they recognized the dwarf as king Thorin himself, the one, who had once been captured by orcs and freed himself by killing 50 orcs with a hairpin all by himself and then having eaten them for breakfast later, at least that's what the boys were told.

The king slowly started to walk towards the blonde dwarfboy never taking his gaze off his eyes, while Nalin was nearly shitting himself and the others were trembling like a leaf.

When Thorin stood only a few inches in front of Nalin, he stopped to walk.

„Did you just throw that snowball?“, the king slowly asked, putting as much threat in his voice as he could. A few metres behind him, Dwalin chuckled to himself as he watched the scene.

„Y-Yes, your majesty, and I...I'm really so-“, Nalin's shakily voice was cut off by Thorin.

„What's your name?“

„N-N-N-Nalin, son of Bofroin, sir.“

„Well, then, Nalin, son of Bofroin. It looks like there is only one thing for me left to do“, Thorin convincingly growled, raising his hand.

>Oh shit, he is going to kill me with one punch and then add my teeth to the rest of his collection from bad little boys<, Nalin thought, as he remembered a story his brother Fatin had told him once.

He fearfully closed his eyes, waiting for the punch to come and didn't even dare to breath.

But... seconds passed and... nothing happened.

When Nalin was sure he was still alive and not dead yet, he carefully opened his eyes again, only to see that Thorin had turned his back on him and was bending down.

The blonde child couldn't recognize what the king was doing and he dared to exchange a brief look with his friends, who seemed as clueless as himself.

All the other children and their parents were still silent, all eyes on the boys and Thorin, as they waited to see what would happen to the brat that was stupid enough to throw a snowball at the king.

Then, without a warning, Thorin turned around as quickly as only a experienced warrior could and there was no time for Nalin to react, as Thorin fastly placed one hand at the back of Nalin's head, while the other shot to his face and rubbed a bunch of snow right on it.

Needless to say, that Nalin surely hadn't been expecting that and couldn't move for a moment, because he was so surprised.

Thorin let go of a deep laughter, as he eyed the motionless frame of the boy in front of him. He then threw another snowball at Glori, who gasped when the snowball hit him on the chest.

„What happened? I thought you boys wanted a snowball fight, so come on, get on it!“, he challenged.

The king began to chuckle at the amazed faces and turned his attention to Dili, who was the first one to recover from his shock.

„Are you serious? We can throw snowballs at you? And you won't hang us on the ceiling by our feet for three days without water and food?“, the redhead asked and soon added „Your majesty.“

„I... what?“, Thorin stared perplex at the child in front of him. „Why would I do such a thing?“

Well, if that was so, the matter was settled for the boys. They didn't even make an effort to answer.

They straightway bend down, scratched some snow together and threw it at their king, while the hestitation from before was long forgotten.

As soon as Thorin got out of his amazement, he began to fire back, duck and dogde their attempts to hit him, laughing and having fun like a child throughout the whole time.

Soon, other kids joined too and then it stood about twenty against one, with Dwalin refusing to help his friend out.

So, this is the story about how Thorin, son of Thrain, son of Thror got involved in a snowball fight with a bunch of little brats, having the time of his life.

[artificialqueens]

wingwomen ch4 (trixya, shalaska) - lale

All of the amazing comments on this so far have made my week!! You’ve all made writing this the best experience, I love you all! I hope you enjoy this part :)

“It’s like a double date!” Trixie said gleefully to Alaska. They were walking back home now that the school day was over, and she was brimming with excitement. She linked her arm through Alaska’s, glad for the 10 block walk they shared before they went their separate ways.

“It’s only lunch,” Alaska reminded her. Trixie pouted.

“It’s a big deal! I’m actually going to get to talk to her,” she pointed out.

“Sharon doesn’t even want to sit with us,” Alaska said. “She said no, Katya said yes. She might not even do it.”

“She said maybe when I asked earlier. And I saw how she was when you were over there, it didn’t look like she didn’t like you. Honestly, she looked kind of shy.”

“I still don’t see why you couldn’t have come with me. I made an idiot of myself in front of her,” Alaska whined.

“I’d already talked to her! She would have been overwhelmed,” Trixie said.

“Whatever. I still don’t think she likes me, she didn’t even talk to me. Thank god Katya’s so chatty. She’s really funny, actually. I like her,” Alaska said. Trixie sighed dreamily.

“God, when she lit her cigarette with Sharon’s? So hot! How does she make smoking hot? Tell me what she was saying. Did she mention me?” Trixie said, remembering the way Katya had winked at her when Sharon had been helping Alaska light her cigarette. She had the most gorgeous smile, with full red lips that Trixie wanted to kiss senseless. “

“I mean, she didn’t explicitly mention you. But I think she likes you! She kept looking at you before I went over,” Alaska said carefully.

“Do you really think she likes me? She might just think I’m a freak,” Trixie said, voicing the worry that had been niggling in the back of her mind. She’d been trying so hard to make friends with Sharon for Alaska’s sake that she’d been able to suppress her anxiety over the likelihood of someone as gorgeous and, apparently, funny, as Katya being attracted to her. Being a cheerleader might have made her vaguely ‘cool’, but she was still known as a nerd who tried hard in class. She was still chubby, and wore a lot of makeup and always had big hair. There was no real reason why Katya would like her.

“Oh, shut up! You’re the furthest thing from a freak. You’re more of a weirdo,” Alaska said fondly.

“I’m serious! For all we know, you and Sharon are going to ride off into the sunset together for your happily ever after and I’m going to get totally rejected by the most gorgeous girl in the world!” Trixie wailed dramatically. Alaska shoved her gently by the shoulder.

“Don’t be such a drama queen, she definitely likes you. Besides, me and Sharon aren’t going to ride into the sunset together. She’d have to actually talk to me for that to happen.” Trixie sighed, infuriated by Alaska’s refusal to accept that Sharon didn’t hate her. At least she’d actually sat with Sharon for a while, even if Sharon hadn’t said much. Trixie still hadn’t even spoken to Katya!

“Why are you being so cranky?” she asked, frowning at Alaska.

“I’m not! God, you’re being a bitch,” Alaska whined. Something dawned on Trixie.

“Oh my god,” she said, “do you need a cigarette? How much of that one did you smoke???”

Alaska wrinkled her nose. “Do I smoke now?” she asked.

***

Sharon dragged her feet as she approached her locker. Her last class before lunch had gone by far too quickly – a very rare feeling for her in school – and now she had to face Alaska and Trixie. Thank god Katya would be there too; if she didn’t have a buffer between them she thought she might have lost her mind. Okay, maybe Trixie wasn’t as terrible as she’d first thought, and she’d always thought Alaska wasn’t as bad as the other cheerleaders, but not hating them and actively wanting to spend her lunch break with them were two very different things.

As she got closer to her locker, she realized that Trixie and Alaska were already there, apparently waiting for her and Katya. Probably to avoid Sharon sneaking away before she could make good on her promise to sit with them, she realized. Alaska was leant against the locker, one long leg bent up at the knee and her combat boot pressed against the metal of the lockers. The rest of the cheerleaders all wore their sneakers all day – Trixie’s were pink, of course – but Alaska wore her boots until practice. It was one of the things about her that had caught Sharon’s attention.

Trixie was stood next to Alaska, pressing what looked like stickers, or maybe band-aids, onto Alaska’s arms and looking hilariously forlorn. As she got closer, Sharon could hear their conversation.

“I definitely don’t need nine nicotine patches,” Alaska drawled, trying to peel one off of her wrist. Trixie smacked her hand away.

“You’re going to get cancer! I should never have sent you over there, it’s my fault,” she said sadly. Sharon couldn’t help the smile that tugged at her lips. She knew Alaska had never smoked before yesterday. It was kind of cute that she would go along with her and Katya so eagerly in her eagerness to please. She just didn’t really understand why Alaska and Trixie and were suddenly so determined to make friends.

“You’re blocking my locker,” she said when she reached them. Alaska whirled around, quickly ripping the patches from her arm.

“Sorry!” she said, moving to the side so that Sharon could open her locker. She tossed the nicotine patches at Trixie as she tore them off, and Trixie shrieked when one hit her in the face. “Ha,” Alaska said with a smirk, pointing to one that had stuck to her chest.

Trixie turned to face Sharon. “Does my nipple look weird?” she asked, a serious expression on her face as she pointed to the patch stuck to her shirt.

“Very weird. I think you need doctor,” came Katya’s voice from behind her. Trixie’s cheeks immediately flushed scarlet, and she picked the patch off with a nervous-sounding laugh.

Oh. Sharon smirked to herself. If Trixie was smitten with Katya, that would explain her sudden attempts to make friends with the two of them. But where did that leave Alaska? Of course, everyone knew Trixie and Alaska were best friends, totally inseparable. Was Alaska just tagging along to be a good friend, there to distract Sharon while Trixie got to talk to Katya?

Katya broke her out of her thoughts by waving a hand in front of her face. “Sharon? Is there something in locker?” she asked. Sharon realized she’d been staring into her locker, stood completely still. She closed the door quickly, and Katya flashed her a smile. “Let’s eat! I’m starving,” she said, leading the way towards the cafeteria. Sharon took a second to steel herself, preparing for a lunch spent with two cheerleaders – and, really, who would’ve thought even a few days ago that this would happen – and followed.

***

Bozo 🤡: that went so well! Sharon’s pretty cool

Queen of the snakes 🐍: yeah. you don’t think she was hating it the whole time?

Bozo 🤡: No!!! She actually smiled at you, didn’t you see?

Queen of the snakes 🐍: no? did she really?

Bozo 🤡: yeah!!

Bozo 🤡: Katya’s so funny. Isn’t she so funny?

Queen of the snakes 🐍: she’s totally insane. Do you think any of the stories she was telling are true?

Bozo 🤡: Russia’s a weird place.

Queen of the snakes 🐍: yeah, but do you really think they make them do interpretive dances about Putin for gym class?

Bozo 🤡: i don’t even care. She can tell me ridiculous stories all she wants.

Queen of the snakes 🐍: you’re disgustingly smitten

Bozo 🤡: 😍😍😍

Bozo 🤡: you think they’ll come to lunch with us again tomorrow?

Queen of the snakes 🐍: you can go ask them before practice

Bozo 🤡: I suppose. Don’t want you to be tempted by a cigarette [skull emoji, eyes emoji]

Queen of the snakes 🐍: you’re such a moron

Bozo 🤡: FUCK i can’t have lunch with you guys tomorrow

Queen of the snakes 🐍: ????

Bozo 🤡: i have a club meeting

Queen of the snakes 🐍: oh shit

Queen of the snakes 🐍: they might not even want to eat with us tomorrow, anyway

Bozo 🤡: I’ll ask anyway. Maybe I can get away from club early and come sit with you guys for a while!

Queen of the snakes 🐍: i don’t want sharon to get scared off if we keep bugging her to hang out

Bozo 🤡: she won’t get scared off! i really think she’s coming around. We’re basically friends now

Queen of the snakes 🐍: you just want another chance to stare lovingly at Katya, dork

Bozo 🤡: she’s so prettyyyyyy

Bozo 🤡: i just wanna like pet her hair and have her tell me crazy stories in Russian

Bozo 🤡: and then she can sit on my face 😍

Queen of the snakes 🐍: yoU’RE DISGUSTING I HATE YOU

***

Ooky spooky bitch 👻: why did you say we’d have lunch with them again???

Red scare: it was fun!!!

Red scare: I know you like her

Ooky spooky bitch 👻: they’re so full on, they make me tired

Red scare: i see you smiling!

Red scare: she like you. Just ask her to come play with your ouiji board [winky face]

Ooky spooky bitch 👻: shut up!

Ooky spooky 👻: im not going to lunch with them tomorrow

Red scare: yes!!!!

Ooky spooky bitch 👻: no!!!!

Red scare: 😡

Red scare: please??

Ooky spooky bitch 👻: you fucking owe me

***

Sharon took her time walking to the cafeteria the next day for lunch. She’d been half expecting to find Alaska and Trixie hovering by her locker again, but they’d been nowhere to be seen. Katya hadn’t been around either, so she’d been left to walk to lunch by herself. She’d considered ditching them – she’d rarely eaten in the cafeteria before Katya showed up, mostly taking her food outside and chainsmoking her way through lunch alone – but she knew Katya would give her shit if she didn’t show up.

It wasn’t as if lunch with Trixie and Alaska had been awful. They weren’t the dumb bitches she’d thought they were; Trixie was quick witted and would whip out comments that would take them by surprise before making them laugh – or scream-laugh, if you were Katya – and Alaska had a perfect deadpan delivery. But Sharon still couldn’t help but feel nervous around them. Logically, she knew they were nice girls, but there was still that voice in the back of her mind telling her that they were playing some trick on her, pretending to be her friend so that they could humiliate her.

She shook her head, trying to clear the negative thoughts. She needed Katya to talk her out of it; she had an uncanny ability to sense when Sharon was thinking too much and know just how to distract her. Although, maybe it wasn’t so much an uncanny ability – maybe Katya could recognize when Sharon was starting to worry because she knew how it felt. Sharon remembered how they’d first met, on Katya’s first day at school – Katya huddled in one of the small alleys behind the buildings where Sharon liked to sneak out to for a cigarette when she really needed one between periods, hands shaking as she tried to light a cigarette.

Katya hid her anxiety a lot better than Sharon did, she thought. She doubted anyone would look at someone so cheerful, funny and loud and ever suspect the crippling panic that lay just below the surface. Sharon felt protective of her, in a way – she’d seen what they hadn’t, and she knew how incredible it was that Katya kept up such a warm, positive exterior. It was why she and Katya had become such good friends so quickly.

Now, though, it seemed that she wasn’t the only one who Katya had made friends with. Sharon stood by the cafeteria entrance, watching Katya and Alaska laugh together. They were sat alone at a table in the opposite corner of the room; she couldn’t see Trixie anywhere.

Alaska and Katya seemed to be getting along great. Katya was beaming at her, gesturing wildly with her fork before collapsing into a fit of screeching laughter when it tangled in her wild hair. Alaska was laughing too, that gorgeous smile on her face. Sharon barely ever saw her smile like that, unless she was with Trixie. Alaska was easily the quietest of all of the cheerleaders, and definitely the least conventional. It intrigued Sharon; she wanted to know what had drawn the quiet, funny girl she remembered from middle school to the most popular clique in high school.

But why would Alaska be interested in talking to Sharon? She had Trixie and all of their other friends. She had Katya now, too. Maybe Katya would end up joining the cheerleaders, too, and Sharon would be left alone again.

Sharon turned on her heel, heading away from the cafeteria. She didn’t have much of an appetite anymore.

***

Red scare 🚬: where are you???

Red scare 🚬: are you coming????

Red scare 🚬: Trixie isn’t here either

Red scare 🚬: is everything okay?

Ooky spooky bitch 👻: sorry, something came up

Red scare 🚬: Willam said she saw you in cafeteria. Did something happen?

Ooky spooky bitch 👻: no, im fine

Ooky spooky bitch 👻: its nothing

Ooky spooky bitch 👻: you and Alaska looked like you were having plenty of fun by yourselves

Red scare 🚬: why didn’t you come sit?

Ooky spooky bitch 👻: i didn’t want to interrupt

Red scare 🚬: no!

Red scare 🚬: you not interrupt

Red scare 🚬: you’re my best friend

Ooky spooky bitch 👻: sorry

Red scare 🚬: don’t be sorry

Red scare 🚬: 😘

***

Every day the next week, Alaska and Trixie were joined for lunch by Sharon and Katya. Alaska was surprised that Sharon had turned up so often, but she’d seen her every day since the lunchbreak she’d spent with just her and Katya. It was probably all down to Trixie – she was so determined to prove to Alaska that she could be a good wingwoman for her, so she’d probably been hassling Sharon to keep showing up for lunch. But today Trixie had a club meeting, so Alaska had taken it upon herself to make sure Sharon turned up. Maybe she was letting herself get carried away, but she thought she’d started making a connection with Sharon. Getting to know her had only made her like her even more, and she didn’t want to lose the tentative friendship they’d formed. She couldn’t bear to go back to watching her from a distance during cheerleading practice.

Alaska hovered by Sharon’s locker, looking around the busy hallway for any sign of her distinctive blonde hair. When she spotted her walking towards her, she couldn’t but grin. Sharon was strikingly beautiful, with her bleached blonde hair and piercing eyes surrounded by smudged black makeup.

“Hieee,” she said in greeting, stepping aside to let Sharon get into her locker.

“Hey,” Sharon replied, a smile that almost looked fond on her face. “Where’s Trixie?”

“Club,” Alaska said. Sharon’s face fell as she opened her backpack.

“Oh,” she said. “Katya has to meet with the guidance counselor.”

“Oh,” Alaska echoed. She understood Sharon’s uncertainty – Katya and Trixie were definitely the louder two of the four of them. Without their best friends as buffers, Sharon was probably wondering what they’d even have to talk about. Still, this was her chance – the first chance she’d really gotten to talk to Sharon alone. “Well, we can still-”

“I just remembered that I have to do something,” Sharon said quickly. She tossed her books into her locker and slammed the door shut. “I’ll see you around, okay?”

Alaska blinked at her in surprise. “Oh, um. Sure, okay,” she agreed, swallowing down the lump in her throat. Of course Sharon didn’t want to have lunch with her. Why would she? Katya was her best friend, and she even got along better with Trixie since Trixie had started her friendship campaign in their social studies class. Alaska was just the added extra she had to put up with to spend time with them.

“Wait!” she said, lunging after Sharon as she started to walk away. Sharon looked over her shoulder at her. “You’re still coming to the party at Laganja’s tonight, right? After the game?” she asked. Trixie had brought up the party earlier in the week, and when Katya had immediately said yes for the both of them they’d spent the evening freaking out to each other on the phone. Alaska had been planning her outfit in her head for days; she couldn’t bear it if Sharon bailed now.

“Yeah, I suppose so. Katya really wants to go, so,” Sharon said, shrugging. Alaska forced a weak smile onto her face. Sharon wasn’t as enthusiastic as she’d hoped she be, but she was still coming. That was all Alaska could ask for, really.

“I’ll see you there,” she said, waving at Sharon’s back as she retreated down the hallway.

***

Red scare 🚬: Alaska says you ditch her today for lunch??? What happened??

Ooky spooky bitch 👻: what was I supposed to do?

Red scare 🚬: ???

Red scare 🚬: if you don’t know how to have lunch I cannot help you

Ooky spooky bitch 👻: I wouldn’t have had anything to talk to her about!

Red scare 🚬: you talk every day at lunch!

Ooky spooky bitch 👻: not just the 2 of us! Idk, I panicked

Red scare 🚬: say sorry at party. With kissing

Ooky spooky bitch 👻: you’re so ridiculous

Red scare 🚬: she likes you! Party is best time for kissing

Ooky spooky bitch 👻: idiot. Meet you at yours before the party?

Red scare 🚬: wear something pretty 😜

***

Trixie was flustered as she jumped out of her mom’s car, tugging her dress down over her thighs. Her stepdad had been late back from work so they’d had to wait before her mom could give her a ride, and now she was late. She hated being late.

She walked up the path to Laganja’s house, patting her hair to make sure it was still neatly in place. She always liked to look good, but tonight, with Katya at the party, she wanted to look better than ever.

“You look hot,” a voice said from the other side of the front yard. Trixie looked over, then grinned.

“Hey!” she said, crossing the yard to greet Sharon with a hug. Sharon seemed surprised, but gave her shoulder a pat before pulling back. “Are Alaska and Katya inside?” she asked. Sharon’s lips stretched into a thin smile, and she brought her cigarette up to her mouth and inhaled deeply.

“Oh yeah. Last I saw they were in the lounge, glued at the hip. You know how those two are,” she said, sounding bitter.

“What do you mean?” Trixie asked. She knew Alaska and Katya got on great, but she’d always seen it as a good thing. How could it not be if her best friend and the girl she liked were friends?

“Oh, come on, Trixie. I know you’re not a dumb cheerleader, so don’t act it,” Sharon said, raising an eyebrow at her. “I should’ve known Katya would find someone cooler to be friends with. Maybe you’ll be luckier and Alaska won’t ditch you entirely.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Trixie asked. God, if Sharon was going to talk in riddles at her, she really needed a drink.

“At least we’ve got each other now, huh? We can be the reject friends together, unless you’re going to ditch me too,” Sharon said. Trixie huffed, shaking her head.

“God, Sharon, I don’t even know what you’re talking about! I can’t deal with you,” she said. She couldn’t look at Sharon’s smile, somehow bitter and smug at the same time, any longer.

Alaska would never replace her! They’d been friends for too long, and gone through too much together. And Katya…well, maybe Katya did like Alaska better. She’d never considered that before. Did Katya even like her, or did she just put up with her so she could hang out with Alaska?

Determined to find Katya and Alaska and prove Sharon wrong, Trixie walked away from her.

“Check the bedrooms! God knows they’ve got crazy lady boners for each other,” Sharon shouted after her.

“Fuck you!” Trixie called back, slamming Laganja’s front door behind her in her anger. What the fuck was Sharon’s problem? Alaska would never do that. Katya didn’t like Alaska, did she? What had she been saying to Sharon? Trixie’s insides twisted with worry.

***

Outside, Sharon’s smile dropped as she stubbed her cigarette out against the wall of the house. “Alone again,” she said softly to herself.

***

“I don’t know where the fuck Trixie is,” Alaska complained, checking her phone for the hundredth time. Trixie had sent her a text an hour before, telling her that she was waiting for her mom to be free to give her a ride. Thankfully Alaska knew most of the people at the party, and once Sharon and Katya had arrived she’d gravitated towards them. Sharon had disappeared pretty quickly, and she and Katya were squeezed into an armchair together as they waited for their friends to reappear.

“She’ll be here soon,” Katya said, patting her hand. Alaska pouted.

“She’d better,” she said. Katya laughed.

“You should talk to Sharon,” she said.

“What?” Alaska replied, surprised. “Why?”

Katya rolled her eyes. “Because you want to kiss her?” she said, like it was obvious.

“I don’t – what? I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Alaska said, flustered. Was she that obvious.

“Do not lie! I see all,” Katya said. She wiggled one of her messy braids, fastened with googly-eye scrunchies, at Alaska.

“Shut up,” Alaska said weakly. If Katya could read her so easily, could Sharon? Was that why she’d run away from her at lunch earlier?

“Just kiss her! She will like it,” Katya insisted. Alaska reached across her to the tray of shots Gia had deposited on the table nearby a few minutes earlier. She picked up two glasses, offering one to Katya. “Oh, no,” Katya said, scrunching up her nose and putting a hand in front of the glass.

“Alright,” Alaska said, shrugging and downing one shot after another. What? She needed them. Katya watched her, looking amused. A flash of inspiration hit Alaska.

“I’ll talk to Sharon if you ask Trixie out,” she said. She’d seen Katya look at Trixie, the smile on face not dissimilar from the one she saw on Trixie’s face whenever she looked at Katya. She was confident enough that Katya would be interested – it was worth the risk of putting it out there.

She beamed, proud of herself, when Katya’s whole face lit up.

“Barbie? You think she say yes?” she asked hopefully.

“Duh! Come on, Kat, don’t you see how she looks at you?” she said. Katya blushed, fiddling with the ends of one of her braids.

“Me?” she said, sounding uncharacteristically shy.

“Yes! Don’t be dumb, you’re gorgeous. Why wouldn’t she like you?” she said. Katya looked down at her lap for a moment, then looked up with a huge, bright smile on her face. She looked positively adorable.

“Yes! Okay, yes! I talk to Barbie – you have to talk to Sharon,” she said, offering her pinky finger to Alaska.

Alaska hesitated. Sharon had done her best to avoid her earlier – why would she want to talk to talk to her now? But she wanted to be a good friend to Trixie. She deserved it.

“Okay,” she agreed, hooking her pinky finger around Katya’s.

“Perfect!” Katya let out a joyful squeal, then grabbed Alaska’s face in her hands. She pressed a smacking kiss to her lips, grinning at her.

When she pulled back, Alaska saw Trixie behind Katya. She was staring at them, face pale. Her hands were fisted into her dress, and her eyes filled with tears.

“Trixie,” Alaska gasped, realising what it had to look like. Katya’s head whipped around, a startled expression on her face.

“Fuck you,” Trixie choked out. She turned around, but Alaska heard her sob before she fled from the room.