#and decided to just start the mint one cause 1 same color work

[typheus]

Mint chocolate chip cardigan 🤗

[junghelioseok]

heart-on.

↳ your one-night stand definitely isn’t relationship material, but maybe—just maybe—your manager’s son is.

◇ hoseok x reader ◇ smut | strangers to lovers!au ◇ 10.1k [1/1]

❛❛ my boss is always telling me how perfect her son would be for me and she promises he’s coming to the next holiday party and don’t worry he’s heard all about me too and ALSO there’s this dude i slept with once a couple of months ago and sometimes he still sends me dick pics when i ask him to at 3 in the morning cause seriously dude’s got a good dick ❜❜

notes: welcome to the first installment of the serendipity series! we’re starting with hoseok, because, well, have you met me? 🤣 be warned, however, that this isn’t anywhere near as edited as i’d like so i’ll probably give it another read/edit tomorrow but for now!!! here it is!!!

⇢ series masterlist. | inspired by this post.

warnings: dirty talk bc hoseok’s got a bit of a mouth on him, unprotected sex (wrap it before you tap it, kids!), sexting. dick pics, obvi. brief mention of a dead pet goldfish :(

You’re refilling your mug when you hear it. Voices filter out from the kitchen, floating past the coffee station where you’re pouring yourself another drink and hanging in the open air of the hallway that leads back to the rest of the office. They’re familiar voices, too—voices that belong to the resident gossips of your workplace. Lottie’s pitchy, nasal tone melds with Hyejin’s higher one, their conversation interrupted every so often by an exaggerated exclamation or gasp from Sandra, the third and final member of their trio.

“Haven’t you heard? Carolyn’s divorce was finalized over the weekend, the poor thing.”

“I can’t even begin to imagine how she’s feeling. I mean, getting back into dating at her age? Goodness!”

“And now she’ll be all alone at the holiday party, too. How sad is that?”

“It’s tragic. Poor thing.”

Rolling your eyes, you grab a packet of sugar and tear it open, upending it over your mug and watching the crystalline granules fall into the dark liquid within. You know for a fact that Sandra and her husband can’t even stand to be in the same room for an extended period of time, considering how they’d spent most of last year’s holiday party talking to entirely different groups of people. You’d sat two tables away from them during dinner, and they hadn’t even made eye contact once. And as for Lottie and Hyejin, well, you’re certain that their relationships aren’t much better. All three of them are miserable people as far as you’re concerned, and you make a mental note to check in on Carolyn—a sweet woman in her thirties who always keeps chocolate bars in her purse—on your way back to your desk.

“Sheesh. Vultures, the lot of them. Don’t you think?”

You whirl at the sound of your manager’s voice. Kyunghee Jung is a dark-haired woman in her late fifties, and she laughs when she sees your startled expression, her eyes crinkling at the corners. “Easy! You’ll spill your coffee if you’re not careful.”

“I’ll probably have a heart attack first,” you reply, pressing a hand to your chest. “What was your job before this? Some kind of intelligence operative? Are you a super spy?”

Kyunghee laughs again and joins you at the counter. “Nothing even remotely as exciting as that,” she answers, plopping her mug down beside yours. It’s decorated with what looks like every color of the rainbow, a massive smiling sunflower taking up the majority of the surface, and the only remnant of the ceramic’s original color is on the very edge of the handle where there’s a lopsided little patch of white. The piece is clearly handmade, and a stark contrast to the simple mint green cup that houses your coffee. Looking at it, it’s impossible not to smile.

“I love that,” you remark, inclining your head at her mug. “Was it a present from one of your kids?”

“Hoseok,” she confirms, running a fingertip along the imperfect handle fondly. “I’ve told you about him before—he’s right around your age.”

You chuckle. “Right, I remember. That’s why he’s the perfect match for me, right?”

“Come now, there’s more to it than that,” Kyunghee defends, waving a hand. “But yes, to answer your question. He gave it to me as a birthday present when he was eight.”

“Well, you never told me he was an artist,” you tease. “Does he have an Etsy? Can I buy one of these off him? Does he do custom orders, maybe?”

Normally, your manager is more than happy to play along with your jokes, but today Kyunghee fixes you with an uncharacteristically serious look. “Why don’t you ask him yourself?” she asks. “He’s coming to the holiday party, after all. I figured you could finally meet.”

You blink. Kyunghee has been making offhand remarks about how well you would get on with her son, Hoseok, for over a year now, but you’ve never even come close to broaching the topic of meeting him. You don’t even know anything about the man beyond the fact that his name is Hoseok and that he works somewhere downtown. He also favors tall socks and yellow suspenders if the framed photograph on Kyunghee’s desk is any indication—or at least, he certainly did when he was still in diapers. Whether he still does, is anyone’s guess.

“Wow, I had no idea he was even interested in coming,” you manage when you’ve recovered from your surprise. “Did you bribe him?”

If Kyunghee notices that your voice is a few pitches higher than usual, she doesn’t remark on it. “Oh, you know. I just told him that this would be his last chance to score free booze on the company’s dime.” She laughs. “Three more months and it’s going to be all beaches and sunshine for me. I might even become a cruise person in my retirement.”

You gasp and slap a hand to your heart. “Kyunghee! Think of the environmental impact!”

“I said I might!” she retorts immediately. “Sheesh. Even in my old age, it’s hard to conveniently forget how shitty and unsustainable those damn boats are.”

You pick up your mug and raise it in a salute. “Well, the oceans thank you.”

“My husband doesn’t,” she answers with a sigh. “He’s been dying to book one of those trips that stop all along the Mediterrannean coastline, and I can’t exactly blame him.”

“That is tempting,” you admit. “You’ll have to send photos, if you do end up going.”

“You’ll be sick of me and my photos before the first day is even up,” she promises. Then she pauses, her eyes darting toward the kitchen where silence has fallen in the last few minutes. “Speaking of being sick—you think the vultures are still hovering around in there? I haven’t had lunch yet, and I need the microwave.”

Obligingly, you edge a little closer to the kitchen doorway and poke your head around the frame, scanning for Lottie and her sidekicks. “Coast is clear. Enjoy your lunch, Kyunghee.”

She nods and raises her mug at you, returning your salute. “I always do.”

///

As soon as the work day ends, you fall into your usual routine. Your commute home is easily walkable on nicer days, and though the winter weather is brisker than you’d like, you decide to walk for the sake of stopping at the convenience store on the corner of the block.

Once you arrive back at your apartment, you change into your comfiest sweats and a loose tee. You turn on some music while you throw together some dinner, and settle onto the couch half an hour later with a full plate and Netflix. Television is a welcome distraction from the events of the workday, and you manage to get through three full episodes of your current show before your pesky brain decides to revisit the events of today, replaying the conversations that you’d both had and overheard.

There’s no denying that you’ve been single for quite some time now, and for the most part, it’s been by choice. Ever since graduating from university, you’ve chosen to focus more on your career, and it’s paid off both in terms of the important position you hold in your company and your above average salary. And yet, you can’t help but think back to the gossip you’d overheard earlier—about the supposed tragedy of being single and attending the upcoming holiday party alone. Your mind wanders to Kyunghee’s son, Hoseok, and how he’ll be in attendance this year. You wonder what he’s like, and whether he really is perfect for you, as Kyunghee seems to be so fond of mentioning.

And then your mind goes to Jay.

You met Jay two months ago, on a well-deserved night out after a hellish workweek. The bar was crowded, and the music coming from the neon dancefloor in the back was just loud enough to drown out your inhibitions. That, combined with the alcohol swimming through your system, made you bold. You sashayed your way across the dancefloor, dodging inebriated bodies and swaying limbs as you fixed your attention on the head of pale lavender hair and deliciously broad shoulders that awaits you just behind the bar counter. The bartender is nothing short of gorgeous, and you’ve thrown all caution to the wind. Sure, several other women are eyeing him like he’s their next meal—several men are, too—but you need another drink. And while he prepares it, you plan to flirt.

A lot.

The bar counter is sticky with spilled liquor, but you don’t pay that any mind as you lean across it, the wood digging into the narrow strip of exposed skin left by your cropped top. “Hi!” you call, and the bartender looks up from where he’s just finished pouring a round of shots for a group of raucous young men.

“Hi yourself,” he says, his pillowy lips stretching into an easy smile. “What can I get you?”

You pretend not to notice the way his eyes flicker down to the dip of your cleavage and instead put on the sultriest smile you are capable of mustering. “Vodka soda,” you tell him, injecting a bit of purr into your voice. “A bit of lemon too, if you have it.”

“Trust me, I have it,” he assures, his smile growing as he reaches for a clean glass and a clear bottle. “Name’s Jin, by the way. I’m here all night, if you need anything e—”

A loud clatter and the sound of breaking glass interrupts the rest of his sentence, and all eyes at the bar go to the source of the disturbance. Conversations stutter to a halt, and even the thumping bass of the music seems to dull. Jin darts to the other end of the bar, where you can see that one of several barstools has fallen to the ground. There’s a man on the ground as well, surrounded by shattered glass and spilled dark liquor, and your eyes widen when you realize that you know him.

And arguably, a little too well.

“Fuck,” you mutter under your breath. People are starting to lose interest in the spectacle, turning back to their own conversations and continuing on as if nothing had happened at all. The man is beginning to clamber to his feet, and a few people lend a helping hand as Jin begins barking out orders for everyone to step back so he can sweep up the broken glass. You seize upon the opportunity, latching on to the nearest arm and pulling them close so you can hide behind them. Vaguely, you’re aware of them sputtering in surprise, but you only have eyes for the man who had fallen off his stool, watching him carefully as he brushes himself off and tries to play it cool despite the sizable patch of whiskey soaking his white shirt.

“Hey, uh…” Your human shield is speaking. “Are you okay? You’re squeezing me pretty tight.”

That draws you out of your daze. Abashed, you loosen your grip on his arm and look up into his face, your throat going dry when you realize how handsome he is. His black hair is parted over his forehead, a stray strand falling into warm brown eyes set above a straight nose and an inviting mouth. There’s a freckle above his top lip, just shy of the center, and your inebriated brain wonders just what it would be like to kiss it.

“I, um—” You clear your throat and try again. “Sorry about that. I just didn’t want him to see me.”

Your newfound companion raises an eyebrow and glances over his shoulder at the drunk man, who is now being ushered out of the bar by his buddies. “You know that guy?”

You nod, cringing. “Yeah, his name’s Trent. I… may or may not have dated him for a few months last year.”

The man laughs out loud. “You dated a Trent?”

“What, like you’ve never made a questionable life choice?” you challenge. “Besides, you shouldn’t judge someone based on the sins of their parents. It’s not his fault they gave him a terrible name.”

“Sure, but it is on him for going along with it,” he replies with a shrug. “I would’ve changed my name as soon as I could if my parents had named me Trent. But hey, that’s just one man’s opinion.”

You laugh. “Okay then, Not-Trent.” Relinquishing your grip on his arm, you let your fingers graze his hand before pulling away entirely. “What do you say we continue this conversation over a drink?”

The man, whose name is decidedly not Trent, catches your fingers in his and gives them a gentle squeeze. “Happily.”

One drink turns into two, and then three. By the end of the hour, you are feeling pleasantly warm, the alcohol spreading through your veins like molasses and turning your surroundings into a hazy blur. The music has grown even louder, pounding against your eardrums, and you grab onto Not-Trent’s wrist as he sets his now-empty glass back down onto the counter.

“Do you wanna get out of here?” you ask, raising your voice to be heard over the thumping bassline. “I can’t even hear myself think.”

“The parking lot’s out back,” he suggests. “Why don’t we get some air?”

You nod and stand up on wobbly legs, cursing your decision to wear heels when you stumble into your companion. He steadies you with a gentle but firm hand, and you don’t miss the way his touch lingers on your lower back, his palm warm through the material of your blouse.

Together, the two of you pick your way through the throng of swaying bodies on the dancefloor. The bassline thuds in your ears, dark and hypnotic, and you can feel the reverberations thrumming across the slats of your ribs and echoing in the cavern of your chest like a second heartbeat.

It’s almost a relief, then, when you step out into the cool night air. Your ears continue to ring for a few seconds, but it soon fades and leaves behind only the muted hum of traffic from the street and the faint sound of music from inside. At your side, Not-Trent releases a long breath and leans against the brick wall of the building, and you turn to take in the steep slopes of his side profile as he tilts his head up toward the velvety night sky.

He’s handsome. Dressed in ripped jeans and black leather, he’s a sight to behold, and you’d be lying if you said you hadn’t been craving a bit of intimacy for quite some time now. The alcohol swimming through your system makes you bolder than you normally would be, and you reach out to lay a hand on his arm. He turns toward you with a silent question glimmering in his irises, but you simply step closer, until you’re pinning him against the wall with your body and you’re breathing the same air.

“Hey,” you say, your voice an airy whisper. His eyes are near obsidian in the dimness of the parking lot, illuminated only by the orange glow of the streetlamps on either end, and your gaze flickers down to his mouth before roving to the freckle that sits upon his top lip. “Kiss me?”

Your companion’s eyes widen. His lips part, but no words come out, and you’re about to repeat your question when he finally finds his voice again.

“That’s really… that’s not a good idea.” Awkwardly, he clears his throat, but the hoarseness of his voice and the harsh bob of his Adam’s apple give away his true desires. “Look, you’ve been drinking. We both have, and—”

You cut him off, pushing up to your tiptoes and planting a messy kiss to the soft dip just beneath his bottom lip. “Don’t care,” you mumble against his skin. “I want you.”

Your companion laughs weakly. His hands find their way to your waist and pause there, as if he can’t decide whether to push you away or pull you closer. “You don’t even know me,” he murmurs.

“I don’t have to know you,” you reply. Your fingers drag down his chest, trailing along the delicate silver necklace that rests against the black of his shirt. From the chain hangs a round pendant, the surface engraved with the letter J. Slowly, you trace it with a fingertip, the metal shining even in the dim light, and satisfaction blooms in your heart when your companion’s throat bobs again. “I want you,” you breathe, soft but insistent. “Isn’t that enough?”

“I—” He clears his throat and tries again, and you wonder if he realizes that his hands have slid down to your hips, or that there’s a growing hardness against your lower stomach that’s becoming increasingly harder to ignore. “Look, I’m flattered—really, I am. And you’re… I mean, fuck, you’re gorgeous. But I don’t think we should do anything when you’re clearly not in the right frame of mind to be making this kind of decision, and—”

“And, nothing.” You wind your arms around his neck, pressing close and grinding subtly against the bulge in his pants. You smirk when he releases a low hiss from between his teeth, and hide it by laying a trail of kisses along the stretch of bare skin exposed by the dip of his collar. “Stop being such a gentleman,” you whisper. Your fingers trail down his chest, past the silver of his pendant and down to the faded denim of his jeans, teasing at the cool metal of his belt buckle. “I want this. But if you’re not interested, I can always go back in there and—”

The rest of your sentence dies in your throat. Your companion has tugged you flush against him in one smooth motion, and your gasp is cut off by the firm press of his mouth against yours. Immediately, you melt into the kiss, and a moan tears from your lips when he spins you around and pins you against the brick wall of the building.

“You’re a spoiled little thing, huh?” His breath fans hot against your cheeks, and you shiver when you meet his eyes and see the dark promise reflected there. “Used to getting what you want, huh, princess?”

Your breath hitches at the endearment—something your companion doesn’t miss. “Oh, you like that?” He chuckles hoarsely, and when he speaks again it’s in a rasp that sends heat straight to your core. “What else do you like, hmm? You want me to be rough with you, princess? Or should I be gentle and treat you like a queen?”

You reach up, raking your fingers through his hair and skimming across the soft strands of his undercut before finding purchase at his nape. “You talk too much,” you whisper.

And then you’re crushing your mouth back against his, whining when he immediately takes back control of the kiss. His grip slides downward, his fingertips digging into the skin just above the curve of your ass, and you squeak when he grabs the back of your thigh and hooks your leg around his waist.

“You feel that?” he rasps into your ear, nipping at the delicate shell and chortling when you keen. Your skirt has ridden up dangerously high on your spread thighs, and you let out a soft whimper when he grinds harshly against your center. The lace of your panties and the denim of his jeans are the last barricades between you, and you wonder, vaguely, whether your companion has a bit of an exhibitionist streak when he slides one of your sleeves down your shoulder and begins kissing a trail down to the swell of your cleavage. “You feel how hard you’ve gotten me?”

You lean down, kissing the soft spot where his jaw meets his ear before letting your teeth graze against his skin. “Why don’t you do something about it then?”

He hisses out a sharp breath, his hands tightening their hold on your hips. “You’ve got quite the mouth on you, huh? I can’t wait to make you eat your words.”

Any retort you may have had is interrupted by a sudden swell of music and the sound of a slamming door. Whirling to face the source of the noise, you immediately spot a familiar head of lavender hair atop broad shoulders encapsulated in the black uniform of the bar. Jin hasn’t noticed the two of you yet, his attention fixated on his cell phone screen, but he looks up when you let out a little squeak of surprise and shove your companion’s chest in an attempt to create some distance between you.

“Hey.” Jin raises a hand in greeting, a knowing smirk curling his lips. “This phone call shouldn’t be too long, so please. Don’t stop the party on my behalf.”

Heat floods to your cheeks. There isn’t much use protesting against his insinuation, considering the rather compromising position you’re in. Much to your relief, though, your companion simply huffs out a chuckle and waves Jin off. “Thanks, man, but we’ll get out of your hair.” Lowering his voice, he turns back to you. “Coming, princess?”

You nod. He offers you his hand, and you take it gratefully, adjusting your skirt so that it drapes properly over your hips and thighs again.

“Have a good night!” Jin calls after you, amusement lacing every word. You can’t work up the nerve to respond, and luckily, you don’t have to. Your companion leads you around the corner of the building, where several rows of cars are parked beneath an orange streetlamp. On this side, the exterior brick wall is painted with a mural, and you admire the colorful galaxies and nebulae swirling amidst silvery white stars and the word serendipity spray-painted in pale blue.

The last car in the row is parked just beneath the letter Y, and it’s here that your companion stops. The sleek black vehicle has an almost vintage feel to it, and you glance up when you hear the jingle of metal.

“I’m guessing this is yours?”

He nods, pulling a set of keys from the pocket of his leather jacket and inserting one into the lock. “Yeah. You like it?”

“It’s beautiful,” you tell him, tracing the edge of the passenger window “Makes my car look like a total piece of shit by comparison.”

Your companion chuckles, pulling open the driver’s side door, and you catch a glimpse of your reflection in the window as he presses a button to unlock the rest of the doors. Your hair’s a bit of a mess and your mascara has smudged beneath your right eye, and you hurriedly swipe at it as your companion turns his attention back to you.

“So,” he says. “Now what? I can give you a ride home, if you want.”

Deliberately, you let your gaze drop down to his crotch, where his bulge—albeit waning—is still visible. “Seriously? I thought you were going to… what was it again? Make me eat my words?”

And just like that, it’s as if a switch has flipped. His eyes darken to obsidian, his lips settling into a stern line, and you barely have time to draw in a breath before he’s caging you against the side of his car and molding his mouth to yours. Your lips part beneath the onslaught, and he wastes no time in dipping inside to explore, licking into you until you’re both breathless.

“Inside,” he breathes once you’ve broken apart, and you instantly obey. You wrench the door open and all but tumble into the backseat, and he isn’t far behind as he slots himself between your spread thighs. Your hands fly to his shoulders where you help him shuck off his leather jacket, tossing it carelessly to the front where it lands in a heap on the dashboard before focusing your attention on the hem of his black t-shirt. Your companion obliges you as you push it upward to expose his toned abdomen, grabbing it by the collar and pulling it off the rest of the way when your reach falls a little short in the cramped interior of the backseat.

“Your turn,” he whispers when you try to reach for his belt, his hands settling around your wrists. “It’s only fair, princess.”

Pouting, you let your hands fall limp in his grasp, and he chuckles as he leans down to pacify you with a kiss. Deft fingers find the hem of your blouse, pushing it up until you can twist out of the material. You throw it aside with no regard for where it lands on the ground, and lay back as your companion drinks you in, his dark gaze raking across the lacy black lingerie that decorates your curves and skims you like a second skin. “Fuck,” he breathes, his voice hoarse with a combination of amazement and disbelief. “You’re stunning.”

You smile, trailing a fingertip from the dip of his collarbone down to the silver necklace that sits prettily against his bare chest. “You’re not so bad yourself,” you tell him, tracing the letter engraved into his pendant. “Jay.”

Your companion—newly dubbed Jay—smiles back. “You’re something else, princess,” he murmurs, before leaning down to kiss you again. He explores your mouth thoroughly—languidly—before moving down to nip at your neck, and already, you can feel the beginnings of marks beginning to form, blossoming across your skin as irrefutable proof of your tryst.

It isn’t long before Jay frees you from your bra, watching with carnal fascination as your breasts spill out of the lacy material. You whine when he reaches out to cup one, his palm hot against your bare skin, and he smirks crookedly when a pinch to your nipple makes your back arch off the leather of the seat. “So pretty,” he rasps. “I can’t wait to see how you look stretched around my cock.”

“Stop waiting, then,” you tell him, trying again for his belt buckle. This time, he lets you fumble it open, leaning back to watch you work with hooded eyes and a lazy little smile. Emboldened, you push aside the denim of his jeans and free his cock from the confines of his underwear. He’s hard and hot and heavy in your palm, and your tongue darts out instinctively at the sight of the pearlescent precum beading the tip.

“Jay,” you murmur, thumbing across the head of his erection and smirking when he hisses in pleasure. “Fuck me.”

Jay seems to consider your demand, mischief flitting across his features before he manages to school his expression into something more neutral. “Where are your manners, princess?” he asks, pushing your hand away and giving himself a few long, slow strokes. “Say please, if you want it so bad.”

For a moment, you consider refusing. Jay seems to be the type of man who enjoys a good game, but between the state of his cock and the earlier interruption, you’re pretty sure he’s nearing his limit. And even if he isn’t, you are. And so, you shelve your pride for the time being, and trail a hand down the length of your bared body as you bat your lashes up at him. “Fuck me, Jay,” you repeat. “Please. Want your cock so bad.”

His answering smile is equal parts amusement and satisfaction, and altogether sinful. “That’s my girl,” he rasps, before shoving your panties aside. Lining the head of his cock up, he enters you in one smooth thrust, and you moan as your walls stretch to accommodate his girth. You’re more than wet enough to take him in his entirety, your eyes fluttering shut when he bottoms out, and he groans hoarsely as he takes a second to relish the feeling of your walls gripping him so tightly.

“Fuck. You’re so wet, princess.” Jay dips a thumb into your slick, spreading it across your clit and rubbing a few experimental circles around the sensitive nub. He groans when you clench around him, his hips stuttering, and you squeeze around him again just to hear him grit out another curse. “Shit. I’m not going to last long at this rate.”

“Don’t care,” you murmur, rocking against him and sighing when the motion sends him a little deeper into your core. “Just fuck me, Jay. Please.”

Jay leans in, a dark lock of hair falling across his forehead as he plants an indulgent kiss on your waiting mouth. “Anything for you, princess,” he breathes. Slowly, he pulls back until only the tip of his cock remains inside you. Then he’s slamming forward, and you can’t even find it in yourself to care about the obscene sound of skin slapping against skin or the way the car rocks. Jay’s thumbing across your clit in tight circles that he times perfectly with the rock of his hips, and you wonder whether the rapidly building pleasure in your belly is due to your dry spell or if he’s just that good. You can feel every inch of him as he fills you up repeatedly, his brows furrowed in concentration and his dark hair flopping as he drives deeper in search of the spot that will have you seeing stars.

You know he’s found it when the pleasure in your belly spikes, your back arching off the backseat. Your skin is sticky against the dark leather and you’re certain the sweat gathering at your temples has destroyed the last of your makeup, but Jay alleviates your concerns with a particularly well-timed thrust and a harsh nip to the soft spot at your clavicle. You keen out something unintelligible, and his lips stretch into a smirk against your skin.

“That’s it,” he encourages. “Cum for me, princess.”

That’s all it takes for the mounting pressure to snap. Your body collapses into a searing orgasm, the pleasure flaring out like a supernova and spreading through your veins like wildfire. “F-fuck, Jay—” you gasp, your fingers scrabbling at his back for purchase and no doubt leaving scratches in their wake. “Fuck, you feel so—”

The remainder of your words trail off into garbled nonsense, and Jay huffs out a strained chuckle as he begins chasing after his own orgasm, rutting against you in a way that both prolongs your pleasure and sustains his own. “Shit,” he groans, his eyes fluttering shut. “Fuck, that’s it. Look at you—taking my cock so well. So pretty and perfect and—”

Whatever he was going to say dissolves into a groan as he gives a few more erratic thrusts before his release overwhelms him. Creamy warmth floods through you, and you rub his back tiredly as his head drops onto your shoulder, his breath flaring hot against your skin as he rides out his orgasm.

It takes several long seconds for the pleasure to recede. Your legs are still shaky when Jay pulls away, straightening up and tucking himself back into his jeans. There’s an empty ache in your core now that you are no longer stuffed full of his cock, and already, you are missing the feeling. Still, you push that aside as you sit up, adjusting your panties and wincing at the wetness that soaks the material and sticks to your skin.

“So,” Jay says after a moment’s silence, and you glance over at him when he huffs out a short chuckle. “That was fun.”

“Not bad at all,” you agree weakly, an irrepressible smile tugging at your lips.

Jay grins. It’s a bright, infectious grin—and it’s one that you’ve already grown rather fond of in the short period of time you’ve known him. It’s a grin that showcases his perfect teeth and crinkles his eyes into crescents, and one that all but forces you to grin back.

“Here, give me your phone,” he says, and you watch as he punches in his number once you hand it over. “Just in case you ever wanna do this again,” he tells you, handing it back. “Don’t be a stranger, princess.”

You glance down at his contact information, saved under the moniker you’d given him and affixed with a short string of emojis. “I won’t,” you tell him, chuckling. “In fact, I just might take you up on the offer.”

-

The screen of your laptop has long since gone dark, and you stretch your arms overhead before waking it again. Rolling your shoulders, you navigate back to the main Netflix menu, hovering over the resume button and watching the trailer loop in the background.

You’d be lying if you said you didn’t think about Jay often. You’ve texted each other quite often since that night in his car—usually when you’re bored and alone and have had a few too many glasses of wine in the evenings. You’ve found yourself tapping on his name instinctively during those odd, ambiguous hours—when late night and early morning meld together and you’re aching for a bit of relief.

And as if he knows you’re thinking about him, your phone buzzes against the coffee table, the screen lighting up with a familiar name.

[11:22pm] Jay 😘🍆💦: thinkin about u, pretty girl 😘

It’s followed by an image, and your heart rate picks up, thudding loudly against your ribs as you open it.

Fuck.

Your memories of Jay’s face—made all the more hazy by the alcohol and the amount of time elapsed since your first and only meeting—truly don’t do him justice. Though the photograph cuts off just above his nose, you can still admire the sharp angle of his jaw and the fullness of his puckered lips. His skin is golden against the white of his t-shirt, and you lick your lips before thumbing across your screen to respond.

[11:23pm] You: yeah? what else are you thinking about, hmm?

His response is instantaneous.

[11:23pm] Jay 😘🍆💦: thinking about that pretty little pussy of yours

[11:23pm] Jay 😘🍆💦: how good it looked in that pic u sent me tuesday 👅

You barely even notice the way your hand begins trailing down your body, pushing aside the elastic waistband of your sweats. It’s as if you’re on autopilot, as your fingers find their way to the damp spot growing on your panties.

Yeah? you write back with your free hand, already teasing at your clothed folds with the other. Tell me more.

///

It’s an uncharacteristically warm Friday morning when you find yourself in the elevator with Jimin, a good friend of yours who works on one of the lower levels of your office building. “Morning,” he says as he steps in, a large iced coffee in hand despite the fact that it’s still very much the middle of winter. Then he squints, leaning a little closer. “Oh my god. You got laid!”

“Oh my god, not so loud!” you hiss, whacking him on the shoulder and jabbing the button to close the elevator doors. “And no, not exactly. I’ve just been texting Jay.”

“Texting, sure.” Jimin mimes air quotes around the word and rolls his eyes. “You’re sexting him, and we all know it. How many pictures of his dick do you have saved on your phone now?”

“Oh my—” You sigh, trailing off. “Can we not talk about this right now?”

“Right, of course.” Jimin takes a sip of his coffee and pretends to check his watch. “When would you like to talk about it then? Do you need to check your calendar? Can I book an appointment for later this afternoon?”

You stick your tongue out at him. “Shut up.”

Jimin just grins, his lips puckered around his straw. “So, how’s Jay? Have you asked for his real name yet?”

You shrug. “What’s the point? It’s not like we’re friends or anything. We’ve literally only met the one time.”

“Yeah, but that’s just because you’re a coward,” Jimin points out. “What’s stopping you from meeting up with him again? You have his number. You have at least one photo of his dick. Ask him out already!”

“It’s not that easy, though,” you sigh. The elevator doors open to let a few more people in, and you move to the side and lower your voice so that only Jimin can hear. “Jay—he’s not exactly boyfriend material. I mean, we fucked in his car the first night we met.”

“So?” Jimin frowns and takes another sip of his iced coffee. “You talk about things besides sex, don’t you? You definitely told him about your goldfish dying, at least. I mean, you told him before you even told me!”

“Yes I did, and he was appropriately sympathetic about Mustache’s passing, unlike some people,” you sniff. “Get over it already, won’t you?”

“Never,” Jimin replies, ignoring your pointed jab. “I’m sure you only told him because you knew you could get a sympathy sext out of it. How many dick pics did you get out of that night, anyway?”

“You’re gross,” you tell him, punching him in the arm. “Not to mention that’s exactly why Jay’s not boyfriend material. He’s perfectly happy with—whatever it is we’re doing. I can’t just ruin that by asking him to get dinner.” You frown, gnawing on your bottom lip. “I don’t want to make this into something that it’s not.”

Jimin hesitates. “Fine, okay. I guess I can understand that.”

“Yeah.”

There’s a pause, as the elevator makes a few more stops. You watch the numbers crawl higher, and know that you’ll soon have to part ways with your friend..

“Hey.” You nudge Jimin with your shoulder, just as the elevator doors close and you begin the ascent to his floor. “Wanna know something interesting?”

Jimin looks up from his phone, where he’s scrolling through Twitter. “Always.”

“My boss’ son is coming to the party tomorrow.”

Jimin’s eyebrows disappear into his ashy blond hair at your revelation. “Kyunghee’s son? Hoseok, or whatever?”

You chuckle. “The one and only. She’s found about a million ways to bring him up in conversation this past week. She thinks we’re a match made in heaven.”

“Wow.” Jimin releases a long breath. “I wonder what he’s like, then.”

You shrug, adjusting the strap of your work tote over your shoulder. “I guess we’ll find out, won’t we?”

///

The morning of the party, you wake up to an empty refrigerator. Half stale cereal and the last dregs of milk from the carton become your breakfast, and you munch on that as you mull over the contents of your closet. You’re still in your pajamas, but you pull out your comfiest jeans and a sweater to change into after you finish eating. Then you turn to your collection of dresses, rifling through them and mentally debating the merits of each material and color.

You could go in one of two directions tonight. On the one hand, this is still a work party, and as such your attire should probably maintain a certain level of decorum. But on the other, you’re meeting Hoseok Jung for the first time tonight. You aren’t necessarily looking to start anything with the man, of course, but you do want to look good. With that in mind, you eventually settle on a deep red number that you pull out of the very back of your closet, made of a silky material that skims your curves and accentuates your best assets. Laying it on the bed, you begin your hunt for a pair of matching shoes. Twenty minutes of searching and another five of agonizing later, you step into the bathroom, intent on showering and getting on with the rest of your day.

Upon exiting the bathroom, you decide that tackling the state of your refrigerator takes top priority over your other weekend errands. Sitting down at the dining table, you take stock of what you have in your pantry, planning out your meals for the upcoming week and making a list of what you need to purchase in order to make them a reality. It’s just after one in the afternoon when you exit your apartment with a completed grocery list and your purse stuffed full of reusable canvas bags. The store is a short walk from where you live, and you decide to put in your earbuds as your feet navigate the familiar route. The temperature is surprisingly mild for winter, and the sun shines bright from its perch in the cloudless blue sky. It’s perfect weather for a walk, and the fresh air clears your mind and eases your heart.

At the grocery store, you forego the stack of baskets and instead grab a shopping cart. Weaving your way up and down the aisles, you check items off the list on your phone one by one. Eventually, you find yourself in the cereal section, grabbing a box of granola before turning to where your favorite cereal normally sits. It isn’t there, and you turn in a full circle, confused, until your gaze finally lands on the familiar box on the top shelf.

Great.

Sighing, you push up to your tiptoes, stretching your arm as far as it can reach. Your fingertips graze the shelf, but you can’t quite get a grip on the box itself. Glancing down, you scan the bottommost shelf and wonder if you can step on it to give yourself a boost.

“Need a hand?”

The voice comes from behind you, and a vague sense of familiarity sparks in your brain. Slowly, you turn around, and your entire body freezes when your gaze slides up to the speaker’s face.

“Jay.” The syllable escapes you in a near whisper. “H-hi.”

“Hey.”

Jay stands before you, looking like sin incarnate in a faded denim jacket, black sweatpants slung low on his hips, and not much else. At his throat, his silver necklace sparkles, the silver J pendant glinting beneath the fluorescent lights of the store, and you’re suddenly beyond grateful that you decided to put on a decent sweater before leaving.

“Here,” he says, stepping forward until he’s close enough that you can smell his cologne—sandalwood tinged with sweet citrus. “Let me help you with that.”

The sudden proximity has your breath hitching in your throat. Your heart thuds erratically against your ribs as he reaches around you, the denim flaps of his jacket gaping in a way that exposes even more of his bare chest. By the time he pulls back with your cereal box in hand, you feel almost faint, belatedly realizing that you’d been holding your breath.

“You wanted this, right?” Jay asks, and you aren’t sure if you’re imagining the innuendo underlying his words or the teasing inflection of the syllables.

“Y-yeah, that’s the one,” you manage, fighting to quell the uneven tempo of your heartbeat as you accept the box. “Thanks.”

“Happy to help,” he replies. Then he leans in, close enough that you can feel his warm breath fanning your cheek as he murmurs his next sentence into your ear. “Anything for you, princess. You know that.”

Heat floods across your cheeks. Your heart skips two full beats before taking off into a sprint, and it’s impossible to ignore the way your core begins to thrum, as if anticipating a repeat of that night you first met all those weeks ago. Almost instinctively, your eyes dart up to the ceiling where the security cameras are, and Jay follows the trajectory of your gaze with a low chuckle and a soft brush of your cheek with the pad of his thumb.

“Sorry, princess. As much as I’d love to get my hands on you, I’m kind of on a time crunch today.”

You can’t stop the wave of disappointment that washes over you, even if you’re in the exact same boat. “Rain check, then?”

“Rain check,” he agrees. Slowly, you reach up to touch the engraved silver pendant resting against his chest, rubbing it between your fingertips before tracing the curve of the J, and he catches your wandering fingers between his and presses a gentle kiss to your knuckles.

“You know how to reach me,” he murmurs with a mischievous wink. His gaze lingers even after he’s released your hand, and you clear your throat awkwardly before turning to deposit your cereal box into your shopping cart.

The two of you go your separate ways then, exchanging goodbyes. You finish the rest of your grocery shopping in a daze, idly going through the motions at checkout and letting muscle memory guide you back home. Your arms are aching by the time you step past the threshold of your apartment, and you heave your shopping bags up onto the kitchen counter with a relieved sigh before returning to the entryway to toe off your shoes. You throw together a sandwich as you unpack your groceries, taking a big bite as you walk back to your bedroom to look at the dress you’ve picked out. Pacing over to the closet, you double-check your shoe choice. Briefly, you debate whether or not to wear flats instead of heels.

There are still a few hours left before you have to start getting ready, so you take the last of your sandwich back to the kitchen and whip up a smoothie to go with it. You scroll through your phone as you eat, browsing through the latest news headlines and scrolling through your social media accounts. Just before six o’clock, as the sun starts setting beyond the horizon and casting long shadows across your living room, you start getting changed. You snap a photo in the mirror once you’re dressed, pulling up Jimin’s name in your phone and sending it to him.

[6:13pm] You: last chance to come tonight

Your phone buzzes with a response almost immediately.

[6:14pm] Jimin: nah. i’d hate to step on hoseok’s toes.

You laugh. Not so fast, you text back. We don’t even know anything about the guy yet. What if he’s boring? Or sexist?

[6:15pm] Jimin: if u think kyunghee raised a sexist you’re seriously deranged

[6:16pm] Jimin: now stop taking selfies and get your ass out the door! you’re gonna be late!!!!

///

Each year, the holiday party tends to be a little over the top, and this year is no exception. The company has bought out the entirety of a restaurant for the evening, and you glance around in amazement at the twinkling lights and lush evergreen boughs decorating the walls and strung up along the ceiling. An assortment of sparkling ornaments hangs from the massive tree in the far corner, interspersed between silver tinsel and more lights. Grabbing a champagne flute off a passing server’s tray, you head farther into the restaurant, skirting around tables draped in creamy linen and greeting your colleagues and friends.

“Is she alone?”

“Figures.”

The voices come from the direction of the open bar, and somehow, you just know that they’re talking about you. Lottie, Hyejin, and Sandra are clustered in the corner with glasses of wine in hand, casting glances around the restaurant and gossiping about anything and everything with a pulse. You’re sorely tempted to grab the nearest pitcher of water off a table and pour it over their heads, but you suppress the urge and instead head over with a saccharine smile. “So lovely to see you, {Name},” Lottie says as you approach.

“I love your dress,” Sandra adds. “Very slimming.”

“Thanks,” you reply, putting on your brightest, fakest smile. “Yours is great too. How are you and your husband enjoying the party so far?”

Sandra’s face sours, and you hide your smirk in your champagne flute. Maybe it’s petty to bring up her rocky relationship, but you’ve been subject to snide comments from Sandra and her friends for years now and it’s become increasingly hard for you to bite your tongue. A few tables away, you spot Sandra’s husband, Rodney, take an enormous gulp of his whiskey and wince as it burns down his throat.

“We’re all having a wonderful time, aren’t we, ladies?” Lottie cuts in when Sandra takes too long to answer. “Hyejin’s date is over there with Rodney, and my boyfriend is fetching himself a drink. You remember Dev, don’t you?”

You nod, even though it’s a lie. “Sure. Say hi to him for me.”

Lottie’s lips curve up into a smile, her head tilting to the side, and you’re suddenly reminded of a snake rearing its head back for the kill. “So, what about you? Have you brought someone tonight, or—?”

“Hi ladies!” Kyunghee materializes at your side, her lips painted a festive red shade to match her dress. She’s wearing the disingenuous smile that she reserves for the resident gossips of your office, and you try not to let your relief show on your face when Lottie’s attention refocuses on your manager.

“So good to see you, Kyunghee,” she simpers. “Have you been here long?”

“Not as long as you,” your manager replies, nodding at the near-empty wineglass in her hand. “I see we’re already making a dent in the wine supply, and you’re falling behind, {Name}. Why don’t we go remedy that, hmm?”

She doesn’t give you a chance to respond, grabbing your arm and leading you away. Kyunghee is surprisingly spry for a woman her age, and you follow after her with some difficulty as she marches through the throngs of conversing people, all the way to the line at the open bar.

“I’d like you to meet someone,” she says, gesturing at the man standing at the end of the line with his back to you. “{Name}, this is my son, Hoseok.”

The man turns around at the sound of his name, a warm, affable smile stretched across his face. “Hi, I’m H—” he begins, but he’s cut off by your sharp intake of breath. His eyes go wide, his smile fading as his mouth falls open, and you’re certain you’re wearing an even more dumbfounded expression. “It’s you,” he says, his voice hoarse.

“Wh-what… how…” You trail off, speechless. The words flounder and die in your throat as your brain struggles to process this development, and you practically feel the way the gears in your head churn to a stuttering halt.

Because this man standing before you, the one that Kyunghee has just introduced as her son, is none other than Jay. He looks completely and utterly devastating in a navy waistcoat and matching slacks, a green tie shaped like a Christmas tree knotted loosely around the white collar of his shirt. His dark hair is parted, his undercut exposed, and you can’t tear your gaze away from the loose strand that has fallen across his forehead.

“H-hi.”

Jay—Hoseok—swallows. “Hi.”

Kyunghee glances between the two of you, her brows furrowing. “I take it you two already know each other?”

Hoseok’s ears begin taking on a scarlet tinge, the color spreading to his cheeks as he struggles to find his vocabulary again. “I—yeah. Yeah, we’ve met.”

“Right. Do I even want to know how?” she asks dubiously, before shaking her head and huffing out a sigh. “No, forget I asked. I don’t want to know. I’ll just leave you two to… catch up.”

Waving goodbye, Kyunghee disappears back into the crowd of partygoers milling around. Hoseok turns back to you, sucking in a deep breath, and you fight the urge to stare down at your toes as his gaze roves across your face.

“I can’t believe this,” he says, breaking the silence that’s fallen between you at last. “My mom’s been talking about you for months, but I never imagined that it’d be you.”

“You’re telling me,” you reply, finally having recovered your voice. “Kyunghee brings you up all the time, but I never thought… I mean, we didn’t even know each other’s names, and now…” You shrug. “Here we both are.”

“It’s a pretty crazy coincidence, huh?”

“Definitely.”

A beat passes, and then two. You’re fully aware that you’re staring, but you don’t dare blink, afraid that he’ll disappear if you close your eyes. Of all the things that you thought might happen tonight, this particular meeting wasn’t even close to making the list. Never would you have thought that the man you only knew as Jay would turn out to be Kyunghee’s son. Never would you have connected Jay to the photographed little boy in yellow suspenders on Kyunghee’s desk, or realized that they were one and the same.

From behind you, someone loudly clears their throat. Another voice calls for you to get a move on, already, and both you and Hoseok belatedly realize that you are still standing in line for the open bar. Hoseok’s eyes go wide again, and you nearly tread on his toes when you both try to move forward. “After you,” he says with a chuckle, gesturing for you to go in front of him, and that’s enough to break the tension. You step ahead of him with a laugh, catching up to the line, and Hoseok doesn’t stray far as he follows your lead.

“So, what are you drinking?” he asks, a smile playing at the corner of his lips. “Vodka soda with a twist?”

“Actually, I think I’m going to stick with wine tonight,” you reply, peering at the bottles lined up on the counter. “What about you?”

“Hmm. Jack and coke, I think. Nothing else is really calling my name right now.”

Grabbing your drinks, the two of you begin searching for a place to sit. You spot Kyunghee at a table near the front, and she smiles knowingly and offers you a thumbs-up when she catches your eye. Eventually, you settle on a table near the Christmas tree, the lights glimmering off the glasses and reflecting off your knife as you pick it up to butter a slice of crusty bread from the basket in the center. Hoseok follows your lead, grabbing a piece for himself, and the two of you munch in silence for a few seconds before Hoseok breaks it.

“You know, my mom says you’re the perfect girl for me” he says with a dry little chuckle. “Think she’s right?”

“I don’t know,” you answer. “It’s funny, though—Kyunghee’s been telling me the same thing. She sings your praises all the time.”

Hoseok laughs and scratches the back of his neck. “Oh, jeez, that’s kind of embarrassing. I’m glad she’s saying good things, at least.”

“You don’t have to worry about that,” you tell him, grinning. “She’s only shown us one photo album from your childhood.”

His face crumples. “Was it the Disneyland one?”

You nod, fighting back laughter, and watch as Hoseok groans and lets his forehead meet the linen-covered tabletop with a dull thunk.

“I don’t like rollercoasters,” he mumbles into the tablecloth, his voice muffled by the material. “They make me queasy.”

“Even now?” you ask, and he nods.

“Yep.”

The clinking of a fork against a wineglass—amplified and broadcast through an array of invisible speakers built into the restaurant’s walls—interrupts any further conversation. You twist in your seat to watch your company’s leadership give their opening remarks, listening as they congratulate everyone for a great year and wish you a happy holiday season. The servers begin going out with plates of food, and you thank them as they set yours down. Hoseok does the same before raising his glass in your direction, clearing his throat and offering you a crooked little smile.

“Here’s to second meetings.”

“Third, if you count the store earlier,” you correct, and he chuckles and nods in agreement before clinking his drink against yours.

You spend the entirety of dinner chatting with Hoseok, getting to know him beyond the few facts Kyunghee has mentioned and what little you’ve gleaned from texting him the last two months. He tells you all about his dance studio, Hope World, where he teaches both contemporary dance and the occasional Pilates class. You find out that in addition to rollercoasters, he also dislikes sour foods and raisins, but he loves mint chocolate and sweet and sour pork. He also has a very low tolerance for alcohol—something he tells you as he tilts the rest of his drink into his mouth. “Should I be worried?” you ask as he sets his glass back down, and he chuckles and shakes his head, sending the loose tendril of hair flopping across his forehead.

Dessert is served, and subsequently eaten. The music is turned up, and people slowly begin finding their way to the open space that serves as an impromptu dancefloor. Hoseok rises to his feet and extends a hand toward you, and you only hesitate for the briefest of seconds before accepting it. He leads you out amongst the other swaying couples, his hand finding its way to the curve of your waist, and you rest your hand on his shoulder as he begins guiding you in a slow, simple waltz.

“So?” Hoseok’s voice is a low murmur, soft and gentle against the shell of your ear. “What’s the verdict?”

You blink. “The verdict?”

Even without looking, you can tell that he’s smiling. You can hear it in the lilt of his voice, and imagine it in the curve of his lips. “About me,” he clarifies, carefully pulling back so you can spin in a circle beneath his outstretched arm. “About us. My mom will never let me hear the end of it if she turns out to be right, but I still wanna know. So what are you thinking?”

“Are you asking if I think we’re perfect for each other?” you ask, giggling. “I don’t know if I believe in all that, to be quite honest. Destiny and soulmates—I mean, doesn’t it seem a little too good to be true?”

Hoseok hums. “Maybe. But considering all that’s happened to us in the last couple of months, don’t you think there’s a chance that it's all more than simple coincidence?”

“Maybe,” you concede. “Still, I don’t know if I can give you a verdict just yet. We haven��t even gone on a date.”

“We did do things a little backwards,” Hoseok admits, tugging you close and winding his arm around your waist. “Let me make it up to you, then. Are you free tomorrow?”

“What if I am?” you challenge.

“Then, I’d like to take you out for breakfast,” he replies without missing a beat.

The prospect of a proper meal with Hoseok Jung does something funny to your insides. Still, something makes you hesitate, and you avert your gaze as you search for your next words. “I wasn’t expecting to end tonight with a date,” you admit slowly. “I honestly didn’t even think you were interested in… well, anything beyond sex, to be honest.”

Hoseok’s face creases into a frown, and you look up again when he murmurs your name. “I understand why you would think that,” he says. “Really, I do. But honestly? I had every intention of texting you and asking you out properly. I was going to play it cool and wait a few days, which was stupid in retrospect. And then you texted me first.”

“I texted y—” You trail off. “Oh, god.”

“It seemed like you’d been drinking,” Hoseok says with a shrug, and you press a finger to his lips before he can say anything more. You remember the night in question, and you remember the bottle of wine you’d consumed. And you definitely remember the photographs you’d sent of yourself, and the ones Hoseok had been kind enough to send in return.

“Wait, so you were going to ask me out? And then I… I sexted you?”

Hoseok nods, and you groan and bury your face into his chest.

“I can’t believe this,” you mutter, and you feel laughter rumble through his chest before a hand comes up to stroke along your back.

“Believe me, I’m not complaining,” he assures you. “But I’d still really like to take you out, so what do you say?”

His gaze doesn’t leave yours for a second as he awaits your answer, and your heart skips a beat when you look up to see the earnestness in his eyes and the hesitant smile playing at the corners of his mouth. “Breakfast sounds wonderful,” you whisper, and the smile that blossoms on your companion’s face is nothing short of radiant.

“Good,” he says. “Great. Breakfast tomorrow, then. Now, can I kiss you?”

You’re already pushing up to your tiptoes, your fingers fisting in the soft hair at his nape. “God, yes.”

///

“Hey, you made it!”

You beam. “Hi.”

You and Hoseok are about to commence your first date, having just sat down at a cozy little café for breakfast. Hoseok has pulled your chair out in true gentlemanly fashion, and you can’t help but smile over your menu at the few lingering snowflakes that have yet to melt into his dark hair.

“So, here we are,” you remark. “Our fourth meeting.”

Hoseok’s lips stretch into his signature grin, breathtakingly bright and infectious. “And hopefully many more.”

You grin at him. “Yeah? Too bad this is breakfast, because I’d drink to that.”

He leans forward, his grin widening. “Next time,” he says as his hand finds its way around yours, his fingers slotting comfortably into the spaces between your own. “We can do dinner, maybe. Or I can cook for you. But for now, I’m just happy that we’re finally doing this.”

You give his hand a soft squeeze. “Me too.”

“Just promise me one thing?”

The sudden seriousness of his tone has your brow furrowing in concern. “Sure, of course,” you reassure. “What is it?”

He winces. “Please don’t tell my mom about all the dick pics.”

[a-small-batch-of-dragons]

Protector

Prompt: if prompts are still open: virgil as an adventurer who keeps accidentally befriending the monsters he’s supposed to be fighting (aka the other sides)? have a wonderful day! (and don’t feel any pressure to do this at all, and if your inbox is meant to be closed absolutely delete this ask)

Thanks for the prompt, babe!

Read on Ao3

Warnings: sympathetic remus & deceit, some ptsd flashbacks but nothing super explicit

Pairings: LAMP, DLAMP, DLAMPR, can be platonic or romantic but Virgil’s definitely got some gay panic in there

Word Count: 8153

 Virgil’s got a simple code when he’s not on a hunt. Don’t hurt whatever you don’t absolutely have to, and odds are, it won’t hurt you. Now and then there’s a bit of an, um, incident where that doesn’t quite work out as well as they’d hoped, but by and large they get by.

Or: 5 times Virgil helps a monster he was supposed to kill, and 1 time the monsters help him

He sighs as he walks outside, grabbing the pair of gloves from the rickety tray and tugging them over his weathered hands. The front garden isn’t nearly as overgrown as it was when he found this little cabin in the middle of nowhere, but it’s got a long way to go before he can walk through without tripping over at least one overgrown bramble.

 There’s a very persistent mint plant that’s slowly and surely trying to choke the flowers. Virgil bends down and starts to toil in the dirt.

 “Come on,” he mutters, because he’s allowed to talk to plants when no one else is listening, “let’s stop doing that, you don’t have to be literally everywhere…”

 The mint doesn’t protest verbally, because it’s a plant and plants can’t talk, but Virgil would swear it tries to hold onto the dirt as he pulls it up, holding his hand under the roots to catch the dirt.

 “Alright, come on out, then, let’s just…put you in here.”

 There’s a plot of dirt in a crate resting at his knee. He pats the soil. Fresh enough. The mint plant looks almost contrite as he tucks it into the corner.

 “Next time I go see the townspeople I’m sure you’ll make some tea-shop owner very happy.”

 The rest of the garden goes similarly. By the end, he’s filled the crate almost halfway when his hand catches something sharp.

  The blade gleams as it flashes through the air. The child screams. His eyes widen—

 “No,” he grits out, flattening his hands into the dirt, “no, it’s…it’s okay. We’re okay. It’s…hhhh.”

 As he exhales, his shoulders slump, head bowing almost to his chest. The sounds of blades swinging through the air fade as the breeze rustles the leaves surrounding the cabin. The faint smell of mint cleanses his nose of blood.

 Virgil opens his eyes and carefully moves his hand away from the rose.

 “When’d you get here,” he mutters, carefully lifting the leaves to examine the stem, “don’t remember seeing you.”

 The thorns snag on the little pieces of dirt hanging from his gloves. He glances around. There aren’t any other roses nearby, not that he can see. And it’s probably not very good for it to be growing in the middle of this choked soil patch.

 He stands and makes his way back for the sharper trowel.

 Something hisses.

 His grip on the trowel doesn’t waver but he turns his head casually to glance over his shoulder.

 Something crouches in the garden, just barely visible over the crate. A tuft of hair, not dark enough to be a bear cub, not light enough to be a squirrel. His arm relaxes against his side, trowel snug against his thigh.

 “Hello,” he calls, watching closely, “is someone there?”

 He blinks in surprise when a cat pokes its head over the crate.

 “Uh, hey, there,” he manages, “uh…what’re you doing all the way out here?”

 In response, the cat leaps elegantly over the crate. It’s a slim thing, but not underweight. Its fur is bluish-gray, almost like a stormcloud. As Virgil watches, the cat sneezes and its fur turns a dappled brown.

 Virgil sighs. “So you’re the mischievous sprite I’ve been told to get rid of.”

 The neighboring village has tried several times to make him seek and destroy the sprite’s nest. Apparently, it’s been causing all sorts of problems. Books going missing, glasses breaking in the middle of the night, jars of preserves broken into. Now, that’s not really what Virgil calls a punishable offense, but the villagers were insistent that he find it and fight it. He’s done one of those things.

 Well, technically, the sprite found him.

 “There’s not much here that would interest you,” Virgil says, gesturing at the unkempt garden, “but if you want to tell me what you do want, then—hey!”

 The sprite, of course, doesn’t wait for him to actually finish inviting it inside. Instead, the door creaks as the cat darts between his legs and vanishes.

 “Be careful,” he warns, “there are sharp things.”

 He pushes open the door to see the cat perched on a precariously high shelf, sniffing at the books. He sighs.

 “I can get those down if you want, it might be easier than doing whatever the hell it is you’re doing now.”

 The cat ignores him, pawing at the thick leather cover. He sighs and pulls off his gloves.

 “Alright, just—wait a damn minute.”

 Virgil grunts as he lifts the book of the shelf and carries it over to the table, opening it and waiting. The cat jumps up onto the table and sniffs at the pages. Its tongue laps at a word.

 “You want more about that? Okay, let’s just—“

 Yes, Virgil is talking to this sprite. He’s allowed to do that in his own home.

 He turns the pages until the cat chirps.

 “This? This what you want?”

 The sprite stares at the page. It goes unnaturally still.

 The hairs on the back of Virgil’s neck stand up.

 Then it breaks; the cat shakes itself off and jumps down.

 “That’s it? You done now?”

 The cat’s tail twitches gracefully as it struts back to the door. Virgil rolls his eyes and follows it out.

 “Well, I’m glad I could be of service,” he mutters as he closes the door.

 Something rough touches his hand. He looks down. The sprite looks back up at him and licks his hand again.

 “…you’re welcome.”

 The cat sneezes, its fur changing back into the deep bluish-gray. Without another look, it takes off, leaping effortlessly over the crate and disappearing into the woods.

 Well, stranger things have happened in Virgil’s life.

 Shaking his head, he gets back to his garden. He glances at the rose before deciding that, eh, what the hell, it can stay another day. He finishes filling the mint crate and sets it near the front door, ready for his trip to the village tomorrow.

 “Ah, thank you!” The tea shop owner beams as he hands it over. “I’m sure this’ll be plenty.”

 “I’ve got more than enough, I promise.”

 “Well, since that sprite disappeared, I won’t be running out nearly as often!”

 Virgil blinks. “Huh?”

 “Oh, the sprite you got rid of!” She smiles. “Thank you kindly for that, it was ever so pesky.”

 Virgil just nods.

 ————————————

Virgil opens his eyes and doesn’t quite reach for the dagger he keeps in the nightstand but it’s close.

 “There’s a dog in my bed,” he mutters, “standing on top of me, drooling on my face.”

 The dog just barks. And changes color.

 He sighs. “Are you the same one from last time? Was the book not enough for you?”

 The dog barks again, jumping off the bed and trotting to the kitchen, its nail clicking on the floor. Virgil lets his eyes close for a second before getting up and following it.

 “Alright, the book it—whoa.”

 The dog is, um. Not a sprite.

 A huge mastiff elemental sits in the middle of his kitchen. It looks up from when it was nosing at what remained of a chicken carcass and rumbles. Virgil raises his hands.

 “I’m not going to hurt you,” he says lowly, “even though you did break into my house and wake me up. What do you want?”

 The elemental turns and moves through the house, out toward the woods. Virgil stuffs his feet in his boots and follows, tucking a slingshot and his knife into his pockets as he goes. The elemental moves through the trees with an inhuman grace, the very edges of the leaves it passes smoldering. A thin tendril of smoke wafts past Virgil’s nose.

  “She’s still inside!” The guard shouts as Virgil wrenches his arm away. “I have to go get her!”

  “Sir, you’ll die!”

  “She’s still—“

  The top of the house crashes down as—

 Virgil closes his eyes and brings his kerchief up to his nose. He breathes deeply. Freshly baked bread. Honeysuckle. The slightly tacky smell of leather oil. Breathe in, breathe out.

 When he opens his eyes again, the elemental has paused, glancing back at him.

 “I’m coming,” he says quickly, “I’m coming. Keep going.”

 He shrugs the old ghosts off his shoulders and follows.

 The elemental leads him to a clearing. Underneath a large, dead white tree, there’s a small den of moss. Virgil’s breath catches in his throat.

 The villagers had sent him a warning about a curse in the area. Fires had been going out. It had been impossible to keep warmth in the houses over the long winter nights. They’d been seeing figures in the smoke, sightings of, well, a mastiff. They’d contacted him to try and get it to leave.

 Well, the mastiff elemental is here, under the tree, looking back and forth between Virgil and something he can’t see, buried in the moss.

 “Is there something you wanna show me,” he asks softly, coming a little further into the clearing, “in there?”

 The elemental whines. He walks forward until he catches sight of a stone in the middle of the bed of moss. It’s cracked in two.

 “Is this what you wanted to show me,” he calls, shifting into a crouch, “this stone?”

 The elemental huffs, nudging his hand. It reaches past him and tries to pick up the stone in its mouth, only for it to drop. It puts its nose down and whines.

 “…was this your favorite stone to play with?” The elemental butts its head against his shoulder. “I’m sorry it broke. How’d it happen?”

 The elemental points its nose toward a jagged boulder in the corner of the clearing.

 “Ah, I see.”

 And you know what? Yeah, Virgil gets it. He’s dropped shit where he shouldn’t have dropped it before and it broke. What does it matter that this elemental is so upset over accidentally breaking its favorite toy that its warmth is so low the nearby villagers think it’s a curse?

 “Hey,” Virgil murmurs, reaching out to cup the two halves of the rock in his hands, “it’s okay. This rock—good choice by the way, very good choice—it’s part of the Perse Mountains, right? So it’s susceptible to fire magic.”

 He reaches into his slingshot bag and pulls out two small rocks. Using one on either side, he sandwiches the two halves of the broken rock together and holds it out to the elemental.

 “Now breath on it.”

 The elemental exhales carefully, bathing the rock in a steady stream of fire. Sure enough, in a few moments, thanks to Virgil holding it steady, the rock glows a soft yellow and reforges.

 “That’s good.” He takes it carefully between the stones and rolls it around the moss, trying to cool it. “Okay. Try now.”

 The elemental takes the rock gingerly between its teeth and yips.

 Virgil chuckles. “I’m glad I could help.”

 The elemental spins in a circle before turning back into the dog and licking Virgil’s cheek, barking excitedly.

 “Okay, okay, you’re welcome, jeez.” He half-heartedly shoves the dog’s head away. “You’re getting slobber all over me!”

 The dog pulls away and takes the rock into its mouth again, snuffling happily. Virgil shakes his head and gets up.

 “If that’s all, then I’m gonna go home.” The dog licks his hand one more time. “Yeah, yeah, okay.”

 And if a fire is already burning when he gets back home, well, that’s just a surefire way to know there was never a curse for the villagers to worry about.

 Get it? Surefire?

 Shut up, he’s hilarious.

 ————————————

“Ah, Virgil!”

 Virgil turns. The blacksmith waves at him from the market stalls. Dodging fruit carts and weaving his way through passers-by, he stops in front of the man and gestures to the new wares.

 “Good season, Anbel?”

 “Oh, the best!” Anbel gestures to the coin chest behind him. “You know how it is, goes in and out of season.”

 Absentmindedly, Virgil rubs at the scars on his arms. “I know the feeling.”

 “Anyways, I got that dagger you gave me to repair.”

 Anbel reaches behind him and pulls the dagger out of a leather bag. He holds it up. The deep gouges in the blade are gone, the handle isn’t tarnished anymore, and it looks…good.

 “Thank you, Anbel,” he says, reaching for it, “so how much?”

 “No charge.”

 “Come on.”

 “No charge,” Anbel repeats, “not for you.”

 Unbidden, a flush rises to his cheeks as he tucks the dagger into his belt. “Anbel…”

 “Alright,” the blacksmith says, holding up his hands, “I’ve got a favor to ask.”

 Virgil sighs. “What’d you do?”

 “Why do you assume that I did something?”

 Virgil just gives him a look.

 “…alright but this time it wasn’t me.”

 “Uh-huh.”

 Anbel smacks his chest. “I’m serious, there’s something wrong in the woods outside of town.”

 Virgil sobers, taking a step closer. “What is it?”

 “Dunno. But my horses won’t go past a particular stretch of land and I need to be able to make the trip next moon.”

 Virgil chews on his lip, thinking. “Did they run away or just refuse to go near?”

 “Refused to go near.” Anbel shakes his head. “Don’t know what’s gotten into them. They’re good mares.”

 “Have any others reported anything?”

 “Cindi had trouble getting through too.”

 “Where is it?”

 “Just before the bend in the river. Near the trees.”

 Virgil sighs. “I’ll have a look.”

 That’s how he finds himself wandering down the main road on the next cloudy day. He glances around to make sure there aren’t any other villagers nearby before he starts looking around. There’s a small grove of trees near the riverbank, a mound of rocks next to the bend in the road, and a rapid system rushing just out of sight.

 Maybe the horses were scared of the rapids? They’ve been known to spook before. But no, Anbel makes this trip every season. If the horses were going to spook at the rapids, they’ve done it before.

 Virgil frowns, coming to a stop in the middle of the grass between the road and the river. What could they’ve been startled by? There’s not enough space to hide anything here. The rocks are on the wrong side of the road. The river isn’t close or loud. And the trees aren’t close enough together to hide anything between them.

 …between them.

 Virgil holds very, very still.

 Out of the corner of his eye, one of the trunks shifts.

 He doesn’t move quickly, doesn’t draw his dagger, just lowers his eyes to the grass and turns, facing the trees, and takes a step backward. Then another. Then another. When he’s over ten yards away, he looks up.

 “I mean you no harm,” he calls, “I have no wish to interfere. I was told that there was something that scared a few horses and wanted to make sure everything was alright.”

 The breeze rustles through the leaves.

 “I am happy to leave you here,” he continues, risking a step closer, “but I know that…this is probably not where you’d like to be. This isn’t an especially damp forest.”

 The trunk shifts again.

 “If there’s something I can do to help—“ he risks another step— “I’d be happy to.”

  There.

 The trunk shifts and seems to shrink inside as a jaculi unwinds itself from around its base. It blinks lazily at him with amber eyes, golden scales rippling in the faint light from the cloudy sky.

 “Hello,” Virgil waves, “can I—will you let me come closer?”

 The jaculi hisses and lays its head near the ground.

 “Thank you.” Virgil walks forward carefully, stopping a few feet away and crouching down. “Now, what brings you here? You look like you’re an awful long way from home.”

 The jaculi hisses again, its head swiveling toward the river. Virgil looks. Across the bank, he can see a much denser forest and what looks like a storm brewing.

 “You’ll be hurt,” he realizes, “if you try and stay here…”

 The jaculi coils tighter around the tree trunk.

 “How’d you get over here,” Virgil mutters, “you’d’ve needed to swim across…and that also won’t go well for you.”

 There’s a soft rustling as the jaculi buries its tail in a pile of leaves near the base of the tree. Virgil glances over to see it rubbing its face halfheartedly against the bark.

 His eyes widen.

 About a month ago there had been a terrible storm. His little cabin had barely held together. He’d heard reports from the tavern owner that it’d blown one of the old trees right over.

 “That’s how you got across,” he murmurs, mostly to himself, “you climbed across the tree. And now it’s gone and you’re stuck.”

 The jaculi blinks remorsefully at him.

 “Okay,” Virgil mutters, “okay, we can…we can figure this out.”

 They’ll have to do it at night. There’s no way the jaculi will feel safe enough to move while it’s still light out. There’s an old barn that never finished construction just over the ridge. One of those timber pieces is probably long enough to get over the river. And he can make a bridge wide enough to support the jaculi’s weight.

 He explains his plan to the jaculi, feeling a little ridiculous, but he’s allowed to explain what he’s doing to help someone, it’s fine, and says that he’ll be back. Promise.

 The landowner gives him a weird look when he asks to borrow the timber.

 “It’s too long for you to do anything with it,” he says, still helping Virgil load it onto a sled, “and much too tough for you to cut by yourself.”

 “It’s fine just the way it is,” Virgil says, “and thank you.”

 He waves Virgil off. “Keep it. You’re doing better than I am with it.”

 Virgil’s back at the river bend by sundown. He can’t see the jaculi anymore—it’s probably hidden itself for safety—but he calls out when he arrives.

 “I’m going to use these to make a bridge for you. It shouldn’t take me too long.”

 The pieces of timber are ungainly, to make a colossal understatement, but Virgil grits his teeth and slides them out of the sled. He wades a little into the river and—

  The water is so cold it burns. He has to keep going. It’s gaining on him. He’ll be safe in the water.

  The growls get closer and his foot slips—

 “No,” he mutters, “no, it’s not that. I’m fine. I’m standing, I’m not hurt, I’m not drowning.”

 He blinks down at his boots, the water swirling around his ankles. The timber in his hands shifts as he breathes. He’s fine. He’s fine.

 “Okay…okay.”

 He grits his teeth again and heaves, bringing the piece of timber with him. He wades further until it’s swirling around his waist. The piece of timber is just long enough to reach the other side. Onto the next one.

 He gets the five of them stretched across the river just as the last of the light vanishes. Panting, he struggles back up onto the side of the river bank and splays out onto his back, eyes closed.

 A low hiss sounds in his ear.

 He just manages to avoid a scream.

 “Hey,” he gasps instead, eyes flickering open to see the jaculi coiled up a few feet away, “uh…please don’t do that.”

 The jaculi just blinks at him.

“Uh…why don’t you, uh…” Virgil holds a hand to his chest, trying to get his breathing back under control. “…try out the bridge?”

 The jaculi slithers closer, flicking its tongue out against the timber. It looks back at Virgil.

 “Go on,” he encourages, “you can do it.”

 It slithers on, testing the boards against its weight.

 Virgil holds his breath until the jaculi vanishes into the trees across the river banks, slipping further and further into the darkness.

 Anbel leaves on his trip the next moon.

 ————————————

Honestly, when the kraken explodes out of Virgil’s well, he just sighs and fetches his bath so he can get the poor thing out.

 “Easy,” he grumbles when the kraken squirms so much he almost drops it, “you may be a young one but you’re still heavy.”

 Panting, he drops the tentacled beast into the full tub, his arms flying up to shield his face from the shower of sparkling drops. Judging by the happy trills and clicks, the kraken likes it in there. He shakes his head.

 “So that’s why I’ve been asked to fight a monster in the sewers,” he muses, watching the kraken’s tentacles writhe giddily in the metal tub, “just how did you end up so far inland?”

 The kraken, of course, does not deign to answer. Instead, the tentacles latch onto the side of the bath and threaten to tip the whole thing over.

 “No, you idiot,” Virgil shouts, grabbing onto the other side and weighing it down. He winces when more water spills onto him, drenching him head to toe. “Now look what you’ve done.”

 What the kraken has done, apparently, is get Virgil close enough so that its tentacles can haul Virgil into the tub.

 “Hey!”

 Virgil spits water out of his mouth, much to the kraken’s delight.

 “That was rude.”

 The kraken just chirps happily and wriggles around. Its tentacles stick to Virgil’s clothes and pull him through the water.

 Virgil’s chest tightens.

 One of the first things they teach you about krakens is never get in the water with them. The second thing they teach you about krakens is do not get in the water with them. The third thing they teach you about krakens is not to get too close to their tentacles so they don’t pull you into the water with them.

 And yeah, this is Virgil’s bathtub, not a river, a tide pool, or the open sea, but you can drown in an inch of water.

 Virgil presses his back up against the rim of the tub. The kraken seems to realize something’s wrong and settles, burbling softly.

 “Hey, bud,” Virgil says shakily, “I, uh, what’re you doing here?”

 The kraken twitches a few tentacles and more water slops over the edge.

 “Right…” Virgil shakes his head. “Okay, well, uh, I would rather not sit here and soak through all of my clothes, so I’m just going to—“

 As soon as he tries to move, the kraken wraps a tentacle around his leg and tugs.

 “Okay, okay, not leaving, not leaving, um—“ Virgil reaches down and takes a handful of the grass. Worst comes to worst, he can tip the tub and get the kraken back in the well.

 The kraken lets go as soon as he settles back in the water. Virgil looks at the creature carefully.

 There’s a mark on its head. Discoloration, probably, but still obvious. As he watches, the kraken burbles to itself and starts making little ripples in the surface of the water with its tentacles. After a moment, it starts gently pushing the water towards Virgil.

 The water laps at Virgil’s knees in little waves, not enough to wet him anymore—not that it would matter at this point—but enough to bounce back and make more patterns. The kraken trills softly and keeps doing it.

 Does it…want to play?

 Slowly, Virgil lifts his hands up and starts to push the water back. The kraken, realizing that Virgil is indeed committing to the idea that he is going to play with this kraken, trills louder and uses more of its tentacles to move the waves bigger.

 “Yeah? Is that how it works?” Virgil moves his hands. “Like that?”

 The kraken chirps.

 He’s not really sure how long they stay there, playing with the water, but it’s long enough for the sun to go down in the sky and Virgil to get more than a little chilly in the water.

 When the kraken notices that the water is rippling more around Virgil and he’s not moving his hands any faster, it wraps a tentacle around his ankle and tugs.

 “What? You tired?” The kraken leans its head against the side of the tub. “Okay. Well, I don’t know how long you can stay in here—“

 He cuts himself off when the kraken jabs a tentacle toward the well.

 “You wanna go back in there? It’s so small and cramped, and the sewers in town aren’t much better.”

 The kraken insists.

 Sure. Why not.

 Virgil grunts as he lifts the kraken back into the bucket, carefully lowering the creature down into the well. He hears one more trill before splashing sounds indicate that the creature is gone.

 Funnily enough, reports of the sewer beast vanish overnight.

 When Virgil wakes up panting from a nightmare of ropes around his neck, the glass of water on his bedside table is perfectly cold.

 ————————————

Virgil curses as the sole of his boot slips. He just manages to catch himself against the cliffside before splitting his knee on a harsh spire of rock. Gritting his teeth, he forces himself onward.

 The cliffs frown over him as he makes his way up the pass. The rocks crumble threateningly as his boots crunch, crunch, crunch. The sword on his hip feels too heavy. He curses, tugging his glove the rest of the way onto his hand.

 He never was one for dragon hunts.

 The message came in a week ago. Some poor terrified soul had come screaming into the town, ranting about dragons, missing people, curses, the whole lot. Virgil had taken up the call and set off, promising to get to the bottom of it.

 He never promised to hurt anything.

 Thunder rolls ominously in the distance and he bites back another curse. There’s a cave up ahead, he can see it just over the next ridge, he’ll rest there.

 In all honesty—and he can be honest, now there’s no one else around—he hates these kinds of missions. Finding something is one thing. Going to get something is one thing. Rescuing someone is one thing.

 This feels like something else.

 There’s something in his boot. There’s a wrinkle in the thinnest shirt he’s wearing. The sword belt is digging into his hip. The voices in his head won’t shut the fuck up.

 The cave is right there.

 He all but collapses to his knees as soon as he makes it inside, just as the first drops of rain land on the back of his armor. He breathes a sigh of relief, heading further into the cave, into the safety, out of the storm.

 It’s quiet here.

 He takes the knife out of its loop on his belt and sets about setting up a fire. There’s a reasonable stash of dry wood here, probably enough to keep him going throughout the night. He makes a small bundle and lights it, blowing on it until it catches and burns merrily.

 Shrugging off his pack, he leans it up against the wall and starts to dig out the dried meat. He tears off a long strip with his teeth and chews slowly, staring into the flames.

 There’s something nice about fire. Not all fire—he’s got the burns to prove that—but this fire. Controlled fire. He sits back on his hands, brushing aside the eggshells to lean against the cave wall.

 Controlled fire is…justified chaos. It’s strange, to think of chaos as being justified. But that’s what it is. A controlled burn. Snapping and sparking amidst a small mound of wood, warm. Safe. It’s strange to think of fire as safe, too.

 Virgil sits back, finishing off his meal and closing his eyes. The fire is very, very warm. Much warmer than he would expect for just a small campfire. And a little irregular, too. It comes in waves, pants, almost.

 …wood, eggshells…

 Okay, look.

 Look.

 Virgil’s tired, okay?

 It’s not like this is what normally happens to him on hunts.

 He knows what he’s doing.

 He does!

 It’s fine.

 This is fine.

 This is so utterly fine right now.

 But…okay, yeah, maybe Virgil’s not been paying as much attention as he should be. And maybe he’s fighting down a panic attack right now. And maybe he’s frozen in fear to the floor of this cave and not sure how he’s survived this long.

 Whatever.

 Virgil cracks an eye open.

 “…hey, there, dragon.”

 Surprisingly enough, his head does not get immediately bitten off. Instead, the dragon looks at him, nostrils puffing hot air into his face. The smell of dank cavern air mixes with what Virgil really hopes isn’t decomposing human.

 “Um…fancy seeing you here?”

 The dragon huffs louder, still staring into Virgil’s soul. He risks a glance over its shoulder to make sure that yes, this is the only dragon in this cave, there aren’t suddenly going to be five of them. He spies the scales trailing further into the darkness, muscular legs, long, powerful tail. The dragon growls, snapping his eyes back.

 “Hey, uh—didn’t mean to invade your cave.” Virgil scoots backward. “That was absolutely my fault. I can, uh—well, I can’t really promise to leave you alone, but I, uh…rain check?”

 As if on cue, thunder booms from outside.

  Shit.

 A lower growl sounds from the dragon as its mouth curls up. Wow, those teeth are long…

 “Can you, uh—so I know that this is a pretty big request, considering I just, you know, invaded your cave, but uh—maybe don’t eat me?”

 Judging by the growl, that’s a no.

 “Okay, I, uh—“ Virgil risks a glance around. His fire is still burning. Maybe he can at least get the dragon to back up before he—

 He pauses.

 Near the fire, the dragon’s leg looks…wet. Its scales are stained with a dark splotch coming from somewhere higher up. As he watches, the dragon shifts its weight and it gets wetter.

 “You’re hurt,” he says softly, “you’re—oh, god, you’re hurt.”

 He looks back up. The dragon’s snarl doesn’t quite soften, but its mouth relaxes a little.

 “I’ve got salve and bandages in my pack,” he says cautiously, “if you let me get them, I can—I can help?”

 Slowly, ever so slowly, he moves his hand to his pack, keeping the other one raised as he opens the flap and takes out the bottle and the bandages.

 “Can I have a look, please? I’m just gonna…”

 The dragon huffs cautiously as Virgil turns, moving around its body to crouch next to its injured leg. Now that he’s closer, he can see what’s happened.

 A shard of metal is lodged in the soft space between two of the scales. Every time the dragon moves, it shifts, spilling more and more blood. Judging by how loud the dragon is breathing, it must really hurt.

 “You poor thing,” he mutters, “how long has this been here?”

 No response.

 “We gotta get it out,” he says instead, looking for something he can use, “if we leave it in you might get infected, or…something else bad will happen.”

 He pulls a pair of pliers from his pack and the dragon snorts.

 “Easy, easy—“ the dragon’s eyes go wide at the glint of the flame off the metal— “hey, it’s okay, I’m gonna use these to get that metal outta you, yeah?”

 It seems an hour before the dragon calms, gingerly stretching out its leg so Virgil can see the shard. Taking a deep breath, he hooks the pliers around the edge of the metal.

 “Ready on three, okay?” He grits his teeth. “One…two…three!”

 He yanks.

 The dragon roars as the metal shard comes out in his hands, the side release almost sending him toppling back into the fire. Quickly, he discards the tools and reaches out to soothe the dragon, petting its scales and hushing it gently.

 “Shh, shh, it’s out now, it’s okay, it can’t hurt you anymore.” He runs a hand over the dragon’s heaving back. “I’m gonna help you, okay? I’m here to help.”

 It seems to calm the dragon, its breathing slowly but surely calming down as Virgil continues to speak softly to it. Honestly, if it were this easy to calm himself down, he would have a lot fewer problems.

 “I’ve got to clean it,” he says after a minute, “just to make sure you don’t get infected. Then I’ll be done, okay?”

 The dragon swivels its massive head around, looking at the wound, then back at Virgil. It heaves a great sigh and its chin comes to rest on the floor, staring at him. Guess that’s as close to permission as he’s gonna get.

 “Thank you. This, uh, this may sting a bit.”

 He barely gets a flinch as he starts cleaning the cut. Dragons. Once he’s wrapped the dragon’s leg as best he can, he turns to peer at the shard of metal he pulled out of the wound. He holds it up, examining it in the firelight.

 It looks…wrong.

 It’s too thick to be just something that happened to get in there, but too jagged to be something natural. It looks like it snapped off of something, but it’s not the right shape to be an arrowhead or a piece of a building. So what…?

 He turns when the dragon starts to move.

 It heaves itself to its feet, testing out its weight on all four legs. When the pain doesn’t shoot through, it lumbers off, further into the cave. Its head dips down, out of sight for a moment, before it turns and starts back toward the fire, dragging something in its mouth.

 Virgil’s eyes widen when another bag is dropped in front of him.

 “Is this…is this someone else’s?” He lays his fingers carefully on its surface. “Did…did you…did someone else come here before me?”

 The dragon huffs.

 With trembling fingers, he flips open the bag. There’s a good store of meat in here, a change of clothes, something for armor, it’s a provisions bag. One side has a little loop attached with nothing inside.

 “…someone tried to stab you,” he realizes in horror, looking back up at the dragon. “Someone tried to fight you but couldn’t. So they stabbed you in the leg.”

 His fists clench.

 “They hurt you.”

 Another huff. Then the dragon nudges the bag toward him again.

 “Is there something else in here?” Virgil starts sorting through the possessions. He lays the clothes to one side, the bottles to another. When he gets to the food, the dragon leans forward and snorts, blowing hot air into his face.

 “This? This is what you want me to get?” He looks at it. It’s just more dried meat. It, uh, it actually looks a little better than his. “Are you hungry?”

 The dragon snorts at Virgil’s pack, then at the food in his hands.

 “…are you…giving this to me because I’m still hungry?”

 Another huff, longer this time, and the dragon’s head comes to rest on the floor, eyes staring up at him.

 Virgil swallows around the sudden lump in his throat. “Well, that’s—thank you.”

 The dragon rumbles as he starts to eat, eyes blinking lazily. Virgil tries not to mind too much.

 And…honestly? It’s not that bad. He’s had worse audiences when he’s just trying to eat. The dragon switches its tail every now and then, huffing gently to keep the fire going. It’s…nice.

 Virgil finishes eating as much of the food as he wants and tucks the rest away. He takes a moment to just…look.

 “The other person,” he says eventually, “the one that hurt you…they—I think they wanted to kill you.”

 The dragon stares at him like he just said the sky is blue.

 “No, really, I—I don’t think they wanted anything else.” He shakes his head. “We’re not near enough to any villages for that to be the reason, there aren’t any traveling paths through here, there’s…there’s no other reason. I think they just wanted to kill you.”

 The cave falls quiet as the rain pours outside.

 “…I think they wanted me to kill you too.”

 Virgil’s chest aches. Something in his right hand tingles.

“Why do they always want me to kill you?”

 And he’s not just talking about the dragon now.

 It’s always the same.

 Fight this. Kill that. Rescue us from this. Save us from that.

 What if you’re not the ones that need to be saved?

 Virgil lets his chin drop to his chest and sighs. His sword hangs heavy at his hip. His hands tremble in the burning light of the fire.

 “I hate to impose,” he manages through a sluggish tongue, “but…may I stay? Just until the storm passes?”

 A low thud makes him look up. The dragon shifts, its tail curled in a half-circle around Virgil and the fire. It huffs softly.

 “Thank you.”

 ————————————

Sometimes he has sleepless nights. Drifts in blackness and emptiness until it’s time to get up. Or he’ll close his eyes for what feels like an instant before he wakes up the next day.

 Sometimes he has restless nights. Can’t sleep, can’t manage to get more than a few minutes of tense darkness before his eyes shoot open and he has to reassure himself that’s he can sleep.

 Sometimes he has good nights. Dreams of sunshine and warmth and the safety of a hot drink between his palms. Closing his eyes and just hearing the peaceful hum of his cabin.

 Most of the time he has nightmares. The good ones are just mixes of monsters he can’t see coming, kills he wishes he didn’t have to make. Losing someone he should’ve been able to save.

 This one’s a bad one.

  Jaws close down on his arm. The creature whips its head back and forth, shaking him like a rag doll. He grits his teeth and tries to—

  His eyes widen as the burning roof collapses on top of him. A heavy beam falls onto his chest and he can’t move, he’s going to—

  The cliff face collapses under him and he plummets, fingers scrabbling for a hold against the crumbling face. He can’t reach, he can’t reach—

 “….shut up, you’re gonna wake him up!”

 “If you stop shouting, then he won’t.”

 “Shh, the both of you.”

 “This is certainly working, I think we should all keep talking like this.”

 “Oh, don’t you start!”

 “Hey, hey, shh! He’s waking up!”

 Virgil is waking up, as a matter of fact, and he also has no idea where he is or what’s going on. He does know there are at least five people in this room with him though. That’s either a good thing or a really, really bad thing.

 He can feel rocks under his head. Is he still in the cave, then? How other people…here? Where’s the dragon?

 “Hey,” one of the voices says, “are you okay? You kinda, uh, well, you weren’t looking very good for a little bit there.”

 “Back up, you morons, you’re gonna scare him!”

 “We’re not scary, shut up.”

 “You’re scary.”

 “All of you be quiet,” the first voice says, before it softens again. “Hey, can you open your eyes?”

  Well, I’ve definitely made worse decisions.

 He wholeheartedly concurs with that thought when the first thing he sees is genuinely one of the most attractive people he’s ever had the pleasure of meeting face to face.

 “There you are,” the beautiful person says, “good morning. Is your head alright?”

 “Uh—“ not now gay panic— “uh?”

 “Back up, Logan,” another person says, “let me see.”

 Logan—great name, sure, why not—moves out of the way, and oh god there’s two of them.

 “Hi!” The other attractive person leans over Virgil and gods— “are you hurt? You looked a little upset while you were sleeping.”

 “You—“ Virgil does not squeak— “you watched me while I was sleeping?”

 “Well, you fell asleep and Roman got worried, so—“

 “I’m sorry,” Virgil interrupts, “who—who are you?”

 The person in front of him tilts his head. “Don’t you recognize us?”

  I would absolutely fucking remember meeting you, and I do not.

 “Patton,” Logan says, “he’s a mortal. He won’t—we are not as we were when he met us.”

 The butterflies in Virgil’s stomach ice.

 These…these are creatures. Is he—what supernatural force did he piss off?

 Logan smiles at him and winks. First off, rude, but—

 Virgil squints. One of the man’s eyes is a deep bluish-grey. The other one—the one he just winked with—is a dappled brown.

 Oh.

 “…you’re the sprite.”

 “I am,” he says, “my name is Logan.”

 Something nudges his shoulder. Virgil looks over to see Patton offering him a round stone.

 “…the mastiff elemental?”

 “Patton, actually.” Patton smiles and gestures over Virgil’s other shoulder.

  Why are there five of them and why are they all so pretty?

 “Can you guess who they are?”

 One of them rolls his eyes. “Yes, that sounds like a perfect use of time that isn’t at all a waste.”

 “Okay, so you’re the jaculi.”

 He smirks. “Janus.”

 The one near the entrance to the cave just cackles and bounces on the balls of his feet. Almost like…

 “You made me spill the bathtub over my whole yard!”

 He cackles louder. “Yes, I did!”

 Virgil rolls his eyes. He’s not fond. He’s not.

 “Remus,” Logan scolds, “you said you were just going into the well.”

 “He took me out!”

 “Yeah, because that thing is cramped as hell.”

 “Aww,” Patton coos, “how sweet.”

 “Well,” the last one says, smiling softly from one of the darker corners of the cave, “we knew that, didn’t we?”

 Virgil turns, looking hard into the darkness. The last person stands, walking over slowly, leaning most of his weight on one leg. As he moves into the light, he sits down on the log and reaches down. Virgil’s eyes widen as he gets handed the last of the dried meat.

 “You’re still hungry,” the person says softly, “I can tell.”

 Virgil cannot eat right now, thank you very much. Instead, his eyes are fixed on his bandage, still tied sloppily around the person’s leg.

 “You’re the dragon.”

 “I am. But you can call me Roman.”

 “…does it still hurt?”

 “Oh, this?” He smiles and moves his leg. “A little. But it’s almost better,” he finishes, reaching over to gently bump Virgil’s shoulder, “thanks to you.”

 Yes, hello? Virgil would like for someone to explain what’s going on, please.

 “I’m sure you’ve got questions,” Logan says, also sitting down, “and we can do our best to answer them. But first…are you alright?”

 Uh, no. “Why do you think I’m not?”

 “You’re breathing faster than most mortals do at rest, your face is more flushed than it was, and you were troubled while you slept.”

 …shhh…

 “I, um…I was having a nightmare.”

 “Ooh,” Remus says, plopping down on the floor with his chin propped up on his hands, “was it a bad one?”

 “…you could say that.”

 “Remus,” Patton chides, “don’t.”

 Remus pouts but hushes, reaching out to toy with a stick. Patton rolls the stone between his hands.

 “You did seem upset,” Janus says, “can we help?”

 “H-help?”

 Janus raises an eyebrow. “Yes, help. Or is that not a thing most mortals do?”

 Um. Well. Uh, hang on.

 “Are you just going to be mean to him,” Logan sighs, “or are we actually going to make an effort to be friendly with the person we have decided to befriend?”

 “Can one of you explain what’s going on?” Patton nods to Virgil. “Before he decides we’re all mad?”

 Roman sighs. “Virgil? Are you still hungry?”

 “Huh? No, no, I’m…I’m okay.”

 He smiles. “Good. This…this might sound a bit strange, but…try and keep up?”

 “As weird as it might sound, this isn’t the weirdest thing that’s ever happened to me.”

 Roman blinks in surprise, a small smile coming over his face. “Isn’t it?”

 “Well, you must have some idea of what I do for a living.”

 Roman’s smile only grows. “Yes, as a matter of fact, we do.”

 Logan clears his throat. Virgil turns, seeing the book from his cabin appear in Logan’s hands.

 “Did you—is that my—“

 “I can assure you,” Logan says softly, “that I did not steal your book from you. Rather, this is a copy, generated from the information I was able to learn.”

 “What did you want?”

 “We were cursed.” Logan closes the book with a snap. “Cursed to take on forms that were hated or feared or simply a nuisance.”

 Virgil’s stomach drops. Cursed?

 “I’m sorry,” he mumbles, “that sounds…awful.”

 “It was,” Janus mutters, “completely inconvenient and an utter waste of time.”

 “You say like it wasn’t your fault.”

 “Oh, right, it was absolutely only my fault.”

 “You two,” Patton huffs, “enough.”

 Virgil’s still trying to wrap his head around everything. “Wait, hang on, so—you were cursed? Were? Past tense?”

 “Well,” Janus gestures to himself, “I don’t exactly look like a snake anymore, do I?”

 He raises a finger when Virgil opens his mouth.

 “Careful, dear.”

 Virgil snaps his mouth shut.

 Roman rolls his eyes and places a hand on Virgil’s shoulder. “You broke the curse, my friend. Or at least…you helped us break it.”

 “But how? I didn’t—I didn’t do anything.”

 He raises an eyebrow and gestures to the bandage. “You don’t consider this doing anything?”

 “Or this?” Patton holds up the stone.

 Logan taps the cover of the book. “You helped us. When you had no reason to, past the goodness of your heart.”

 “We would’ve been hurt,” Janus says quietly, “or hunted without you. They certainly would’ve killed me.”

 “And me,” Remus says.

 Patton nods. “And me.”

 Roman simply taps his leg. Right. They already tried to kill him.

 Virgil blinks. “So…me helping broke the curse?”

 “You caring broke the curse,” Logan corrects gently, “and, well, when you...when you seemed to be in need, we wanted to care for you too.”

 Oh.

  Oh.

  Oh, fuck.

 “So,” Roman says, smiling up at Virgil, “how can we help?”

 “Help? With—with what?”

 “The nightmares.”

 “Oh,” Virgil mumbles, averting his eyes, “you, uh, can’t. Not really. They’re not a curse or magical or anything. They’re just nightmares.”

 “But there must be something we can do.”

 He shakes his head sadly. Believe him, if there were anything five unfairly attractive people could do, he’d tell them. But there isn’t. “They come with the job. There’s not—no one can do anything.”

 He can practically hear Patton frowning. “That’s not very fair. You do so much for others, don’t they—don’t they care?”

 Virgil shrugs. “Life isn’t fair.”

 “So take what it won’t give you.” Janus folds his arms. “They don’t care for you. Even though you care for them.”

 “They do care for me,” Virgil argues, “they’re kind. They help me.”

 “Not with this,” he shoots back, “not with what you really need.”

 “You protect everyone,” Roman says softly when Virgil opens his mouth to argue again, “who protects you?”

 Who protects the protector?

 “…no one.” Virgil shakes his head. “No one but me.”

 “Well, you’re right. That doesn’t seem fair at all.” Logan sets the book aside and it vanishes into the darkness of the cave. “Perhaps we should endeavor to fix that.”

 “F-fix it?” Virgil’s head jerks up. “How?”

 “Let us protect you.”

 “Protect me?”

 “Do keep up,” Janus sighs, but he’s pretty sure he can see him smiling over there, “at the very least, we have magic. That should offer you something.”

 “You don’t have to decide right now,” Roman says quickly, “but…thought we’d offer. Think it over.”

 …well, if ‘protection’ involves seeing them more often, Virgil can definitely work with that.

 “While I think it over, will you tell me how you got cursed?”

 “So it was entirely Janus’s fault—“

 “It was not!”

 “Yes, it was!”

 As Remus and Janus start arguing, Virgil smiles and leans back against the wall of the cave. Roman waves his hand and the cave wall warms, almost cradling Virgil. Logan settles on his other side, weight solid against his arm.

 Yeah, he could get used to this.

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[pearl-pilots-in-chains]

Ice Cream Expertise (All the Little Lights #1)

Fandom: Neon Genesis Evangelion

Ships: Kawoshin

Rating: G

Summary: Shinji is faced with a dilemma of sorts, and is characteristically indecisive. Fortunately, Kaworu is there to give some helpful advice. Or maybe just call himself an ice cream expert. Let's be honest, it's a bit of both.

Notes: This is intended to be the start to All the Little Lights, my attempt at a relatively happy Evangelion high school AU featuring the pilots we know (and maybe love) actually getting to live a normal life (including all the cute gay romance they deserve). That said, it also works totally fine as a one shot. Considering it's an AU, there's going to be some rather interesting deviations from canon, some of which are alluded to here. So, if something seems off, that's probably because it is.

As usual, any errors, grammatical or typographical, are mine. I apologize in advance.

This was originally posted to my old AO3 on May 21, 2020. I hope you enjoy it!

_________________________________________________________

Shinji Ikari was not having a good day. No, perhaps that was an understatement. He was having a distinctly bad day. School had been tedious to say the least, considering that testing week was approaching, and the teachers seemed to be doing their best to “prepare” the students using every form of academic torture known to humankind. Okay, perhaps that was a bit of an exaggeration, but it had been a hectic hell all the same. Not to mention the fact that his best friend Touji was going through a rough patch (not the first one, mind you), with his girlfriend Hikari, which led to a tense mood within their friend group outside of class as well. Adding onto this was the fact that he was getting worried about his sister (what wasn’t new?) Rei, who had been especially quiet the past week or so, even by her standards. That was usually a sign that her depression was going through a rough spot. He had wanted to mention something to his mother about it, considering she usually had better luck at getting through to Rei than he did when his sister was going through a difficult time, but unsurprisingly, he hadn’t gotten around to it yet. He was gone too often, and his mother was gone too often. There was all of a one to two hour period when they were both home and awake on any given night. Rei always ending up alone probably doesn’t help her state of mind improve either. I wish she had more friends. People she could connect with.

And, of course, to top all that wonderful baggage off, he had had work after school, which had gone lovely. Just lovely. A simply wonderful group of customers had come in, and stayed for a better part of three hours, ordering intermittently while they all talked (way too loudly, in his opinion) at their shared table, which, in a predictable move, they hadn’t even bothered to clean off. He was a barista, not a waiter, despite what some people seemed to think. To make matters worse, they had been laughing so hard partway through their “discussion,” that one of the party had practically flung her iced latte through the air by accident (how someone could do that by accident, was a whole other topic for conversation), sending its contents flying halfway across the room (in a bafflingly impressive display, he had to admit, as irritating as it was). Of course, he had drawn the short straw and been the one tasked with cleaning it up. His boss seemed to get a special satisfaction out of giving Shinji all the “fun,” jobs. Okay, maybe Mr. Anno’s not that bad, but he still gets a kick out of watching me suffer. Or something like that.

Shinji sighed as he pulled his car into the store parking spot. As he exited it, he glanced down at his phone. 7:16. That meant he should have enough time to get home and get dinner going before his mother got home. These days, it seemed as though she worked progressively later and later. It had been a couple months since she’d been home before 8. She was almost certainly still out at the base at that moment. Whatever project she’s working on now is one of the more intensive ones.

He headed for the doors. He was planning on making stir fry, which meant that he needed to get soy sauce for sure, since he knew they had run out from the last time. He thought they had most of the rest of what he needed at home. So, this should be a quick run. Just in and out. After a day like today though, he was tempted to grab something sweet. Come on, after this whole mess, I think I at least half deserve something to take my mind off of it. Just a little.

Inside, he made a bee line for the condiments aisle. Alright, first things first. Get what I need. Then, maybe, I’ll just check out what they have. He grabbed soy sauce, and then wavered for a moment, trying to decide just for what he was in the mood. Okay, just something little. Nothing too big. I am going to be cooking, after all. Hmmm . . . I mean, it’s probably not the best idea, but . . .

Making his decision, he set off for the frozen section. Once again, he paused when he arrived at the aisle, looking through the glass freezer doors at the available options. I’ll just get a pint. That should be more than enough. Even if Rei goes for some too. ‘Cause mom hardly ever eats anything sweet, so I doubt she’ll have any. He tilted his head, tapping the soy sauce bottle against his thigh as he considered the selection. Why are there so many flavors? I didn’t even realize they sold Pumpkin outside of November. And Lime-Raspberry? What would that even taste like? Who comes up with these things? I’ll go for something classic. I could always do Vanilla. But, that’s a little boring. I don’t even really like it that much. Chocolate’s always classic, except that Rei doesn’t like it. And her favorite is Cookie Dough, which I don’t like the texture of . . . there are way too many choices here. Running his eyes over the racks, he did a quick count. Forty-two different flavors. Why are there forty-two different flavors? I wonder if anyone’s ever tried them all. Then again, that might take a while. And be kind of pricey. Dammit, I’m getting distracted again. The only conclusion that Shinji was coming to was the fact that he liked ice cream far too much, and was wasting far more time than he should be trying to pick out something. Maybe I should just get the soy sauce and head home. He peaked down at his phone. 7:29. Yeah, I’ve already been here longer than I should be.

A voice interrupted Shinji’s thoughts. “So, what’s your drug of choice?”

Shinji head snapped to the side, his concentration broken. “What?,” He asked, a little surprised.

The source of the interruption was standing a little further down the aisle, casually leaning on one of the freezer windows, his head cocked to the side, watching Shinji with a friendly smile on his face. Shinji thought the interrupter looked to be about the same age as him, though that fact was complicated slightly by the fact that though his face was youthful, his hair was an ashen grey. He must dye it. Is grey hair a style though? The interrupting individual sported a pair of black jeans and a band shirt for a group whose name looked vaguely familiar to Shinji. Porcupine Tree . . . I feel like Rei might listen to them. Maybe. Not to mention the fact that the newcomer had red eyes. Red eyes. Okay, so maybe this is a look he’s going for. I mean, those are definitely contacts, right? Unless there’s a genetic mutation I’ve never heard of, I don’t think humans can be born with red eyes. Which means that they’re contacts. Which means that the hair is almost definitely dyed too. I’m pretty sure that’s not what ‘scene’ looks like . . . there’d be brighter colors . . . and I don’t think it’s emo either . . . I’m pretty sure his hair would be black then . . . huh . . . maybe that’s goth. Yeah. Let’s go with that. In addition to making him second guess what scene fashion looked like, Shinji’s visual analysis of the interrupter also led him to a more definite conclusion. That regardless of what category his fashion fell under, he was pretty cute. Seriously Shinji, focus here, and stop thinking about how some random boy in Safeway who asked you what type of drugs you like is cute. Don’t be an idiot. Sure, you haven’t been on a date in months, ever since Martin broke up with you, but he was a manipulative jerk anyway— Shinji realized the interrupter had started talking again, which snapped him back into reality and out of his wandering mind.

“Yeah. What flavor is your favorite. I mean, out of the forty-two, there has to be one you’d pick, right?”

“Oh. Yeah. Probably cookies ’n’ cream,” Shinji answered, feeling more than a bit confused. On an afterthought, he added, “You’ve counted all the flavors too?”

“Not a bad choice,” the boy said with a firm nod. “Although, I’m more into mint chocolate chip myself. And yes, I’ve counted them all. It’s an important part to being an ice cream expert. Keeping track of the available flavors at the nearest store.”

“Okaayyy.” Shinji’s tone betrayed his uncertainty concerning just how he should deal with this stranger. “Ice cream expert?”

“Yep, that would be me,” the boy replied matter-of-factly, as though the question was a pointless one. He strolled over to Shinji and extended his hand. “Kaworu Akagi, ice cream expert, at your service.”

Shinji shook the offered hand, deciding he should be polite, despite the fact that his perplexity had not been substantially diminished in any way. This guy is . . . interesting, to say the least. As their hands met, Shinji was struck by the strange, but intense, sense that this wasn’t his first time meeting Kaworu.

“Shinji Ikari.” Against his better judgement, he decided to follow his introduction with, “Have we met before?”

Retracting his hand, Kaworu pursed his lips, ostensibly mulling over the question in his mind. After a few moments, he shook his head. “I don’t think so. At least, not that I can recall. I just got into town a few days ago. Why do you ask?”

Shinji shrugged, trying to play off his earlier question. “Oh, I think you just reminded me of someone I used to know.”

Kaworu nodded, seeming to accept this answer. “Ah, that makes sense. So, have you come to a conclusion, or would you like a second opinion?”

Shinji raised an eyebrow. “About the ice cream, you mean?”

“Indeed. That is the topic on the floor, as they say,” Kaworu responded nonchalantly.

Shinji blinked. “Who says?”

“Why, they do of course.”

“Oh. Umm, alright.” Shinji looked back through the window, surveying his options once more. A obvious choice didn’t present itself. “Well . . . I suppose a second opinion probably wouldn’t hurt.”

“Great,” Kaworu stated, his tone even and pleasant. “Any occasion in particular you’re buying for?”

Shinji shook his head. “Nope, not really. Just . . .” he hesitated, uncertain how much he wanted to tell someone who was still basically a stranger to him. “Just a bad day,” was what he ended up deciding on.

Kaworu pretended to stroke nonexistent hairs on his chin, nodding slowly as did so, in an amusing imitation of the stereotypical philosopher. “Hmm . . . ice cream for a bad day, you say?”

“Uh. Yeah. I guess so.”

“I’d have to recommend Cherry Chip for that. It’s a guaranteed mood improver from my experience. It is nearly impossible to feel down while you’re eating Cherry Chip ice cream.”

“Really?” Shinji’s ice wandered down the display, finally locating the flavor in question. Fortunately, they had it in pint size, which meant that the option was on the table. He couldn’t think of any reason not to go for it. As far as he knew, Rei liked Cherry Chip. At least, he thought she did. He wasn’t entirely sure that he’d ever seen her eat it. For that matter, he wasn’t entirely sure that he’d ever eaten it himself. Which means it might be pretty good, and I just don’t know it yet. You never know. “Really. Trust me, I’ve tested its potency. It won’t let you down.”

“Alright. Why not?” Shinji opened the door and grabbed a pint of Cherry Chip. He examined the container in his hands for a few seconds, before looking back up at Kaworu, who now seemed to be smiling in encouragement, which had the effect of making him look even cuter than before. Come on Shinji, don’t get distracted! Sure, he might be attractive, but he’s also a self-proclaimed ice cream expert. . . not sure whether that’s a good or a bad thing yet, to be honest.

“That’ll do the job,” Kaworu remarked, in a straightforward tone that made it sound as though he was utterly confident in the truth of his words.

“I’ll take your word for it.” Shinji furrowed his brow as another question popped into his mind. “Hey .. . you said you just got into town a few days ago. How is it that you already know all the different flavors they have here?”

“It was one of the first things I scoped out after we got into town. Always important to know what kind of ice cream game you’re going to be dealing with. Plus, I had plenty of free time once we finished unpacking, considering I won’t be in school up here until the fall.”

“Ah, okay. That makes sense.” Almost on a whim, Shinji was tempted to ask Kaworu where he had moved from, but decided that could come across as prying a little too much, since Kaworu hadn’t offered that information. As it was, Kaworu gave a partial answer to the question without Shinji even verbalizing it.

“School down south ends earlier. Though, to be fair, it also starts earlier there as well. We left a couple days after my semester ended. Which means I currently have relatively few obligations, other than locating and obtaining a job for the summer.”

“Oh. Yeah.” Shinji still wasn’t exactly sure how to respond, but he decided to field a question of his own. He figured it could come across as a polite inquiry, rather than being nosy, taking into account what Kaworu had just revealed. “So, what brought you up north?”

“My mother got transferred out to the base,” Kaworu returned offhandedly.

Shinji tilted his head in response to this answer, the gears in his brain turning. Well, that’s interesting. He almost wanted to make some sort of follow-up remark expressing their similarity in that regard, but he decided that might be a bit too much to say for the moment. Instead, he merely offered a casually, “I gotcha.” He continued with an amiable, “Well, welcome to Asherdale,” along with a more ironic, “It’s halfway decent, once you get used to it.”

Kaworu’s face broken into a grin at the humor, an expression that Shinji couldn’t help but feel made him look all the more attractive. Oops, getting distracted again. . . don’t do that . . . too much.

“Thanks, I appreciate it,” Kaworu said warmly.

“No problem.” The thought suddenly entering his mind, Shinji shot a momentary glance down at his phone. Hmm, what time is it? The answer was 7:37. 7:37?! I’ve been talking for eight minutes?! That felt like four or five at the most. I have to bail, now, if I’m going to make it home in time to get cooking.

He looked back up at Kaworu, who was still watching him, his gaze soft, the smile still on his face, his head tilted to the side. Shinji had the strange feeling that if it had been anyone else, the observational pose the boy had struck would have looked unusual, to say the least, but somehow, on Kaworu, it didn’t look half bad. It gives him a kind of elegant aesthetic . . . okay, where did I come up with that? I definitely need to head out.

“Hey, look, I’m sorry to leave so quick, but I need to get going.” Shinji cringed a little internally, hearing the awkward tone in his voice. You could have said that in a way that didn’t basically announced the fact that it made you flustered. Great going.

“Understandable. You wouldn’t want that ice cream to melt before you get the chance to test out its powers.”

“Haha, yeah, you know it.”

Kaworu nodded, imply that yes, he did indeed know it. “Why don’t I give you my number?” He remarked. “That way, you’ll have someone on hand for any future ice cream dilemmas.”

“Ahhh . . .” Okay, that was actually kind of smooth, in an odd way. And . . . it’s not like it could really hurt anything. I mean, he didn’t even ask for my number. Which means he’s not even necessarily flirting with me. It’d probably be a bit of stretch to say he is. After all, if I have his number, and he doesn’t have mine, that means I can choose whether I want to text him or not, and there’s nothing he can do about it. Which isn’t really a good way to flirt with somebody. I think I’m stalling again here . . .”

Shinji noticed Kaworu was watching him again, waiting for a response. “Sure. Sounds like a good plan.” He pulled out his phone and hastily created a new contact, before offering it to Kaworu. “Here, you can put it in.”

Kaworu nodded, his smile remaining intact, and typed in the digits, before handing it back to Shinji. “It was nice to meet you, Shinji Ikari,” he commented affably.

“You can just call me Shinji,” Shinji quickly responded.

“Alright then. It was nice to meet you Shinji.”

“You too . . .” Should I use first and last name like he did the first time? Or just go with first name. I don’t want to offend him, if that’s the sort of thing that’s important to him. After all, he does seem a bit, umm, particular.

“You can just call me Kaworu,” the boy suggested, his smile widening.

“It was nice to meet you Kaworu,” he finished lamely. “Guess I’ll see you around.”

“Yes, maybe so.”

Shinji nodded again, spun on his heels, and promptly made for the registers. Well, that went excellently. You meet a boy who’s kind of cute, even if he is a little eccentric, and straight off the bat, you’re second guessing yourself and fumbling for words. Fantastic.

Shinji shot a brief glance back as he reached the end of the aisle, to see that Kaworu was now retrieving an ice cream carton of his own from the merchandise freezer. Shinji turned away again before the boy could look back in his direction. Don’t want him to think I’m staring at him or something.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shinji collapsed back onto his bed with a satisfied sigh. He was glad to have finally reach it, after the nigh-interminable day. Well, maybe not quite interminable. But definitely overlong. Without much thought, he grabbed his phone from his nightstand and spun in about in his hands a couple times, feeling the sensation of the textured case against his skin.

Dinner had been a success, such as it could be, anyway. He had impressed himself with just how fast he managed to throw things together when he went into slight (well, maybe more than slight) panic mode.

The ice cream had been a success as well. He had to admit, Cherry Chip was a pretty good flavor. He still wasn’t sure whether he had tried it before or not, but he was glad he had definitively tried it now. Rei had also enjoyed it, which was an added plus. In fact, their mother had even had a bowl, something altogether unexpected. Apparently, Cherry Chip ice cream was one of the sweets she would indulge in. Didn’t see that coming. All in all, the majority of the pint was no more.

Powering on his phone, Shinji was faced with another choice for the evening. Unlike his earlier ice cream deliberation, however, this cerebration was of a cursory duration. After a few seconds, he had composed the text, and was hovering over the send button. Alright. Let’s do this. He tapped the icon.

Shinji I.: Thanks for the recommendation. It was a good choice! Lol. This is Shinji, btw.

The response to his message came swiftly. Wow, he must type fast.

Kaworu A.: Happy to be of service. I’m glad it worked out.

Shinji found a smile edging its way across his lips. Maybe, in spite of everything, today wasn’t such a bad day after all.

[pastelivy16]

My New Favorite Color (Saeran X MC Female Reader) AU

 Hello, this is my first Mystic Messenger fanfic also Saeran X MC reader .I hope you will enjoy reading as much as I enjoy writing this. 

(F/c) - favorite color

(F/d) - favorite drink

(L/c) - Lip color

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(Y/N) P.O.V

 It was a cool sunny morning, with the clear skies and the cool breeze. I decide to take advantage of today’s weather and go shopping at the outdoor mall. It’s been awhile since I’ve been anywhere for the last 3 months, since I’ve been stuck at home doing online school. On the other hand, I wanted in excuse to wear my causal (F/c) dress. ‘There wasn’t anything special about the dress other then it being my favorite color; it was something I had bought during the summer but never actually had the chance to wear it and kind of forgot about until now.’ And since I didn’t want to waste this perfect weather I stride towards my clothes until I found what I was looking for.

 The mall was hardly crowded despite it being the weekend. It was most likely since it was still morning which it why the atmosphere was quite calm despite the occasional noises from the other shoppers.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Saeran P.O.V

Loud is the one word that describes the mall. Honestly, I didn’t really want to be here, especially the mall of all places, but because of usually circumstances.

                                     1 hour Earlier  

“God Fucking Damn it!!!!!!” I cursed out loud. Out of all time in the world why now?  I was in the middle of decoding until the damn power went out. I didn’t have a generator in my apartment and the people in charge of the building alert me not to long that power won’t be back until the next hour. So, with no choice I forced myself to go out and to continue my work someplace else. Although I will admit it was a really nice weather today not to hot not to cold it was exactly right. And since I remember that the outdoor mall café has free Wi-Fi. I soon was on way to the location with my laptop and notes.

Back to the present

After ordering my drink and snack I took a seat at the booth since it looks more comfortable. There weren’t that many people here aside from three other group of people talking among themselves. Once I set everything up, I soon became engross into my work. Once I started typing away I didn’t know how long I had been working since the last time I look up from the screen there weren’t that many people and now there was more a lot more people then before.

I brush it off and was about to focus back to work until I heard the sound of the bell, indicating that there’s more people coming in. I look towards the door and saw only one person, but it was a female ‘an extremely cute one that is.’ I noticed she was carrying a few shopping bags with her, but what really caught my eyes was her (f/c) dress which I won’t lie she wore quite well; along with that beautiful smile. Then my eyes land on the curves of her hips as I watch her make her way towards the line of people. I blush as I realize that I’m being a complete pervert checking her out like that. After I calm myself down, I look back towards the girl only for us to make eye contact as she was already looking at me, but what really through me off was that she gave me a smile. But this smile was different from the one she wore when she first enters. I felt my heart skip a beat as I look away from her and continue doing my work that I almost forgot about.

After I was finished, I closed up my laptop and I noticed the girl from, before was still here. She was sitting at the tables by herself reading a book while taking a sipping on her drink. I watch as her (l/c) lips plump together while drinking from her straw. I noticed one of the straps from her dress fell of shoulder; she seems to notice right away and quickly pulls the strap back on.

(Y/n) P.O.V

It was a good idea to do some earlier shopping at the mall since there are barley people here in the mornings. After I was done shopping it was already lunch time and I decide to spoil myself even more by going to my favorite café here. It has been so long since I had (F/d) from there; once I enter inside, I inhale and exhale from the delicious smell that the café had to offer, which brought a smile to my face. As I was walking towards the line, I felt like I was being watch I look around the café until my eyes landed on red hair. Out of all the people in the café he definitely stands out since his hair was almost unnaturally red, but I thought it really suited him. He looks up from his laptop and I noticed that his eye color is a unique shade of blue almost mint color. In other words, I thought he look really handsome, he then looks up from his screen which cause us to make eye direct eye contact. I smiled as I got a good look from his bluish - mint colored eyes; I was going to wave hello but unfortunately, he looks away. ‘Hopefully, I didn’t scare him away.’ I thought to myself. After I order my drink, I took a seat at one of the empty tables and pull out my book I recently bought. I stole a quick glance from the man with the unique hair color and eyes; to see him typing away on his laptop. ‘He looks busy I wonder what kind of work he’s doing?’ I thought to myself. Soon after I myself became engrossed into my new novel.

Saeran P.O.V

Apart of me wanted to go up and talk to her, while another part of me was to nervous to even say a proper greeting. I noticed she was getting up and leaving; I felt a little disappointed that she was leaving already. As she left, I look back to the table she was sitting before and noticed a small book sitting there under the table. It didn’t look like the book she was reading from before this one look smaller. After I grab my bag with my laptop, I walk towards the table she was sitting before and pick up the small notebook. I open to the first page from the notebook, which was handwritten.

This book belongs to (Y/n) (L/n)

‘So that was your name.’ I thought while viewing the bottom which had her phone number and address. I didn’t want to read what she had written inside the other pages since it is invasion of her privacy. ‘Despite what I do for a living.’ I quickly exited the café and started searching the crowed for the girl. ‘She couldn’t have gone far.’

I didn’t know how long I had been searching, since I was getting tried from walking back and forth trying to look for the girl. I decide to take a quick rest in one of the chairs in the middle of mall, before I could go back and try to look for her again. It had been a good three minutes sitting here until I felt someone taking a seat from three cushions away from me. I was about to get up and start looking for her again until (f/c) fabric caught the corner of my eye. I look over at the person sitting three cushions away, and sure enough it was her! ‘I found you!’ She looks like she was looking for something since she was checking all of her bags. I got up from my set and walk over to her.

(Y/n) P.O.V

After leaving the café I decide to walk around a bit more looking at all the new stores I haven’t noticed before. I then realize my purse seem a little lighter since I left the café. I check inside my purse and noticed that my notebook is gone! I check my shopping bags hopefully I accidentally place it in the wrong bag. I took a nearby set in the middle of the mall, continuing to check my other bags but nothing!

I started to panic inside my mind until I felt a presence in front of me. I look up and it was the same man from the café shop.

“Hi um I think this is what you are looking for.” The cute unknown stranger said as he handed me my notebook I was looking for!

“Oh my god, thank you so much!” I said excitedly while attack him in a hug and gave him a kiss on the cheek, after realizing my actions I quicky let go of him and apologizes. “I’m so sorry I got a bit too excited and got carried away! Again, I’m really sorry!” I apologies. ‘Oh My God! That was super embarrassing! Why did I let myself do that?’ I thought panicky.

“It’s fine, just make sure your more careful with your belongings next time.” Saeran said while trying to recover from her expected action by covering his blushing face and his racing heart.

“Once again thank you very much handsome stranger.” I beam at him. I noticed his cheeks under his hands we’re turning even redder than his hair if that was even possible. ‘cute!’ I thought while quickly recovering from my embarrassment.

“Um th-thank you.” ‘God damn it why did I stuttered!’ Saeran thought to himself.

“Hey um I hope this isn’t to forward but I would like to treat you to your favorite place. Considered it as a thank you for returning my notebook back to me, and for pecking your cheek just now.” I chuckle to cover up my own embarrassment earlier.

“Sure, but you really don’t have to go through that trouble, especially with a stranger like me.” Saeran reply thinking this was way too good to be true.

“Correction that’s handsome stranger.” I pointed at him which resulted of him to blush again. “And I’m not doing it because I have to, but because I want to. So, would you please consider it?” I ask.

‘Of course, I said yes I want to know more about her without actually hacking into her background.’ Saeran thought while agreeing to the offer.

“Awesome! Do you want to exchange numbers and plan on the time and where?” I asked the handsome stranger.

After exchanging numbers, I noticed the name he put under his contacts.

“Unknown? Are you really not going to give me your real name?” I chuckled.

“Don’t worry you’ll know my real name soon.” The handsome stranger said, while smiling for the first time in their conversation.

“Ok Mr. Unknown.” I chuckled. “I have to go but I’ll text you later on today.” I waved before making my way towards the exited.

As I left the mall, I felt like I had forced a stranger to go out on a date with me, even though I wasn’t actually a date we’re planning for. Although that wouldn’t be so bad since he seems really shy and decent. Not to mention very handsome with adorable actions. Hopefully, I wasn’t to forward with him. I thought to myself.

 Saeran P.O.V

I watch the ruffles from the bottom of her dress sway as she exited the mall. I didn’t want her to leave but I remind myself that she gave me her number. I chuckle to myself since I had already memorized from memory. I soon exited the mall towards the parking lot to find my car.

“I can’t wait to hear from you soon (Y/n).” I said while talking to myself.

‘(F/c) just became my new favorite color.’ I thought to myself while starting the car engine.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hi I hope you enjoy reading my first Mystic Messenger fanfiction. I’ve been thinking of writing a sequel to this one and let me know if you do too! 

Sincerely,  

PastelIvy16 ^ _ ^

[ohemgeeitscoley]

"I need you to agree to let me record you kissing a complete stranger."

One day Rey is going to tell Poe no to participating in his crazy social experiments.  But one kiss won't hurt, will it?

Kiss on me (1/1)

Fandom: Star Wars

Pairing: Rey/Ben Solo (Reylo)

Note:  @andyouweremine​ sent me this prompt:  also here's your reylo prompt: they have to kiss someone they've never met for an experiment and HOT DAM they were not expecting THAT.

I spiraled with it, because of course it did. And, as always, andyouweremine deserves all of the thanks and love for betaing this, her own prompt, because she is the best kind of friend. 

Read below or on AO3.

"You need me to what?" Rey sputtered, pulling her glass away from her face so that she could look at Poe. 

Poe gave her a bright, open mouthed smile. "I need you to agree to let me record you kissing a complete stranger."

"That's what I thought you said." Rey lifted the glass back up to her lips to down the rest of the liquid. The tequila burned her throat as she sat the empty glass down toward the edge of the table. "Why exactly do you need me to agree to this?"

"It's for my sociology class," Poe shrugged, almost as if that was explanation enough. "I needed to come up with a social experiment."

"And you came up with strangers kissing while on camera?" Rey rolled her eyes. It really wasn't surprising that Poe would ask her to do something as crazy as kissing a complete stranger. What was, however, surprising to Rey was that she wasn't entirely opposed to the idea.

Rey couldn't even think of the last time she had kissed someone. Between her job at Maz's Cantina, the insane amount of classes she had to enroll in to avoid taking summer classes, and the volunteer hours she needed to maintain to have any chance of getting accepted into the social work grad program, Rey was pretty sure it had been at least a year since she'd even been on a date. 

Maybe agreeing to Poe's request wouldn't be the worst decision.  

"You're considering it?" Poe asked. 

"Absolutely not." Rey grabbed a french fry from Poe's plate and popped it into her mouth. "I swore I would never agree to another one of your social experiments after the mud bikini event."

Color spread across Poe's face as he stared down at the wood table. "I actually got a really great grade on that paper."

Rey snorted. "I bet you did. I was mortified Poe. Standing up on a stage in a bikini while the entire bar voted that mud was the choice substance to cover me with."

"I really didn't think with all of the options that mud was going to be the one that got the highest vote." Poe at least had the decency to cover his laugh by a fake cough and a hand. 

"What did you think was the better option?" Rey asked, raising an eyebrow. She narrowed her eyes as she continued. "Would that have been the option to have vats of honey dumped on me? Or maybe you were really wishing for the flour option. That one sounded particularly explosive."

"Water," Poe choked out, not bothering to hide his laughter anymore. "If I recall,  water was an option.  The cheapest option actually, so obviously water was what I assumed would win."

"Right," Rey looked over at her empty glass and debated ordering another.  It was already past midnight and Rey had an early morning class. "I'm sure you were out a lot with the cost of mud."

Rey picked up Poe's glass and took a drink from it.  She smiled against the rim of the cup when she saw Poe roll his eyes at her. 

"I'm also pretty sure I paid you for that one." Poe took the glass back from her, swirling the liquid in the bottom of the cup. "I think you're just complaining about that one to make it seem like you're doing me a big favor by agreeing to participate in this one."

Rey scrunched her nose. "I would be doing you a favor."

Poe finished his drink. "Another?" He asked, nodding his head toward Rey's empty drink. 

"No thanks." Rey shook her head, pressing her palms against the table."I really should be going. I have a class at 7:30."

"Who voluntarily signs up for a 7:30 class in their last year? You had priority in your class selection."

"It was literally the only time the class was offered. And my scholarship doesn't cover summer tuition. I didn't really have a choice." Rey shrugged, taking another one of Poe's fries. "But it hasn't been too bad. Gives me a good excuse to stay in and go to bed early. Keeps me out of trouble."

Chewing slowly on the fry, Rey thought about agreeing to Poe's request. Rey liked kissing. She always had. It was everything that was usually needed to get to the kissing that stressed her out to the point of wondering if any of it was really worth it. 

There was the fact that she really, truly was busy. That meant that she didn't always notice attractive people were attractive and that she should allow herself to pause and appreciate that about them. Then there was the flirting. Was it too much, too little? Rey had always had a hard time judging if she was coming on too strong. 

After the flirting came the awkward first dates. The movies she sat through with plots that she wasn't interested in, but agreed to because the other person seemed so passionate about some detail or meaning or actor. Rey had never understood the desire to go to a movie on a first date. The theaters were dark and didn't allow for any talking. She wasn't sure that any of her first dates at a movie had led to a second date.

But the awkwardness of trying to keep a conversation going throughout a dinner or even coffee had its own downsides. Dating was a nightmare and if Rey was being honest, her busy schedule might just be an excuse for pausing dating because it had gotten exhausting. 

But kissing, the innate intimacy that just kissing someone entailed. That was something that Rey deeply missed. 

There was something about the feeling of someone else's mouth moving against hers, the brief hesitation over where to place their hands and determining how much pressure was enough and how much was too much. The way a slide of someone's tongue against her own could cause tendrils of pleasure to spread across her body. 

There was an underlying promise of more, but always a satisfaction that maybe, just maybe, that moment could be enough. 

Fuck.

Rey wanted to be kissed.

"If I were to agree," Rey started, leaning her head back against the booth and closing her eyes, "how would it work?"

"You'll do it?" Poe asked and even with her eyes closed Rey could see the smug grin that would be on his face. 

"I didn't say that," Rey sat back up, narrowing her eyes as she looked at Poe. "I asked how it would work if I were to agree."

"Right, right," Poe laughed, holding up two fingers to catch the waiter's attention as he walked by. "Can we get two more?" He asked as the man slowed down by their table.

Rey thought about protesting, but it was already hours past when she should have gone to bed. And she did have a few questions and one more drink wouldn't kill her. 

"What do you want to know?" Poe asked once the waiter walked away, his attention moving back to Rey. 

"Well, so far, all you've told me is that you need me to kiss a stranger on camera. I'd take any other details you'd like to share with me about what that is going to look like."

"Those are the details." Poe slid his plate across the table to Rey. "There isn't much more to it. I'm thinking next weekend since Finn is moving to that new apartment, and he said I can use the old one. You'll show up, stranger will show up, you'll kiss, it'll be recorded, and you'll go your separate ways."

Rey placed her elbows on the table, resting her chin against her hand as she looked at Poe. "No twenty questions and a cup of coffee first?"

"Nope."

"Just you, me, a stranger, and a camera?"

"Actually, I won't be there," Poe gave a small shrug at her concerned glance. "The feed is going to be live streamed to my computer and I'll only be a few blocks away."

Rey must not have looked very convinced or comforted by the idea, because Poe kept explaining, not giving Rey time to say anything.  "I'm not going to have a serial killer walk in Rey. It'll be someone you don't know, but you'll be completely safe. I just think that if anyone else is in the room it'll mess up the dynamic."

"I guess that makes some sense," Rey conceded. "And this is really for an assignment? It's starting to sound a bit like a way to set me up."

Poe lifted up his hand, drawing an x in the air over his heart. "Would I do that?"

"Yes," Rey huffed, an amused smile on his face. "That is absolutely something you would do."

The waiter came back to their table then, setting their drinks down in front of them. 

Rey lifted up one of the glasses, holding it up until Poe did the same and tapped his glass against hers.

"Okay," Rey said, taking a drink. "Okay, I'm in."

*****

Rey arrived at Finn's building 15 minutes before the time Poe texted her to show up. It was silly, but if Rey was going to kiss someone that she didn't know, she wanted to be in the room waiting. She wanted to see them first. 

Walking into the building, Rey placed another mint in her mouth as she started climbing up the three flights of stairs to Finn's old apartment. Finn had talked almost nonstop since he signed the lease for his new apartment about the fact that it had an elevator. By the time Rey made it to the third floor, she couldn't really blame him. 

Glancing down at her phone, Rey pursed her lips at the time. She wanted to be early, but being this early seemed like too much. What if Poe had another couple in the apartment? She didn't want to just barge into someone else's kiss. 

For some reason, she had really expected Poe to send her more information. Maybe a picture of the person she would be meeting, a name, a psychological evaluation confirming that the person didn't share characteristics with a serial killer. 

But all she received was a time to show up and the code to get into the apartment.

Leaning back against the wall across from the apartment door, Rey decided that she'd wait until five minutes before the time Poe told her to show up to go in. Just in case there were other people inside.

That was just enough time for Rey's nerves to settle in. She had been able to distract herself that morning with revisions on a paper and then deciding what to wear and how to do her hair. She had looked up directions how to get to Finn's apartment despite her knowing how to walk from her apartment to Finn's drunk at three AM. She had debated the pros and cons of wearing her favorite lipstick (pro: the color made her lips look full and amazing, con: the lipstick was a little sticky and was a deep shade of red, not exactly the best thing to wear to kiss someone for the first time). She wore chapstick instead.

She had considered stopping for coffee, but then spent half of the walk to the best neighborhood coffee shop thinking about the inevitable bad breath that would come from drinking coffee. 

Five more minutes until she would allow herself to go inside.

Five minutes was plenty of time to leave. To walk back outside and start back toward her apartment with nothing but a quick text to Poe that she was sorry but that she couldn't go through with this. 

Her phone chimed. 

Poe: I can't tell you how much I appreciate this. 

Poe: You won't be disappointed. Promise.

Rey sighed, quickly typing that it was no problem and sending the message.

She thought about saying that she was looking forward to it, but that sounded too desperate. Poe was already on the receiving end of too many of Rey's complaints about how much being single sucked sometimes. 

Not all the time. Most days Rey was okay with it. Logically she knew that her schedule didn't leave her enough time for a relationship. 

But logic didn't stop her from wishing she had someone to share her time with.

Two minutes left.

No longer enough time to leave, she reasoned.

The staircase door opened, two people walked into the hallway. Their conversation stalled when they saw Rey, the girl's stare grew suspicious when she took in Rey, just standing in an empty hallway.

Rey lifted her hand in a small greeting, trying to signal that she didn't mean any harm. Pushing off the wall, Rey stepped toward the door and punched in the code that she memorized after Poe had sent it. The lock whirled to life as it unlocked, Rey opened the door and stepped inside.

No one else was there.

It was weird to see Finn's apartment mostly empty. The studio apartment had always been small, but Finn's belongings and furniture had always been familiar and made it feel homey. Void of his belongings, the studio seemed cold. 

A camera sat on top of a tripod centered in the room toward the back of the far wall. There were four more cameras at the corners of the room, Rey imagined to capture all of the angles. 

Rey moved away from the door, until she decided she was far enough away to not feel like she would be crowding the person whenever they arrived. She faced the door, awkwardly twirling a loose thread on the sleeve of her jean jacket as she waited.

She hated waiting. 

Rey had spent her entire life waiting. After her parents left, nothing more than a green car blurring as it sped down the highway away from her, Rey waited for them to come back. She waited for years before she finally let go of the idea that they would come back and rescue her. 

That she would have a family again. 

After she moved on from waiting for her parents, she waited for the day she would be able to get out of Jakku. She wanted nothing more than to get as far away from Arizona as she could. Away from the desert, the heat, and the vast nothingness that lingered in the sand. 

The day she received her acceptance letter to Coruscant City University, Rey thought she was finally done waiting.  

Instead, after she arrived, Rey waited to feel like she belonged there.

Her therapist liked to remind Rey that waiting and longing were universal feelings. She wasn't alone in wanting to find a place of her own. To find people she belonged with.

A beeping noise broke Rey out of her thoughts, someone was punching in the code to the door. Rey heard the door unlock, but the door remained shut.

Maybe Poe told whoever was on the other side of the door to drag out the first appearance. The anticipation was killing her. Rey glanced at the camera, remembering then that it was recording her already, capturing everything. 

Finally, the door opened. Rey's breath caught in her throat as she took in the man that walked inside the room. Her first instinct was to look away, a voice in her head trying to remind her that it wasn't polite to ogle someone seconds after seeing them for the first time.

Only, in this situation, she was supposed to be kissing him any minute and staring at him might actually be the appropriate response.

A thrill shot through her with that knowledge. 

She let herself look him over. He was standing just in front of the door he had closed after walking in, one hand awkwardly scratching at his neck while the other was shoved in the front pocket of his faded black jeans.

He was tall and broad shouldered. The olive green t-shirt he wore was stretched tight across his chest and it was really unfair how that alone was clouding Rey's mind. The leather jacket he wore over the shirt wasn't sleek and shiny, but well worn and, Rey guessed, probably vintage or passed down.

Everything about his outfit shouted bad boy and that wasn't usually the look that Rey went for, but on him, it worked. 

It really worked.

Rey wondered what he was thinking about when he looked at her. Compared to him, Rey was a burst of color. From the cropped, light-washed denim jacket she wore over a yellow tank top with tiny pink and blue flowers. Her pants were darker, but they were also green. Her flats were gold and glittery with a tiny bow on the center. 

They couldn't possibly look more mismatched. 

His hair looked soft. It was dark and wavy, long enough to cover his ears and to just barely graze over his shoulders. Rey wanted to run her fingers through the stands, to see if it was as soft as it looked.

It was a little overwhelming to think that she could. 

His mouth curved up in a slow, small smile while he took a step toward her. Rey matched his steps until they met somewhere in the middle. He moved a hand out toward hers, running a finger across her wrist before clasping their hands together. 

Rey didn't even know his name. She wasn't sure if she should ask, but she wanted to know. There were so many things about him she wanted to know, things that she wanted to ask. What was his astrological sign, what was his favorite kind of--

His other hand settled on her lower back, his palm warming her skin through the thin fabric of her shirt, and whatever question had been on her mind vanished and all she could think about was him. 

Rey raised her free hand, tracing the side of his face before running her fingers through his hair. He groaned, the sound deep and low, when Rey tugged slightly on the ends. Desire pooled in her stomach at the sound. 

And then she was kissing him.  

Not that Rey had a lot of experience kissing complete strangers, but she had anticipated there being a lot of awkwardness at first. For the most part, when she had imagined what the kiss would be like, she had imagined the kiss to be chaste and a little timid.

But there was nothing chaste or timid about the way he kissed. His mouth moved against hers with certainty, his fingers pressed into her back pushing her closer to him. Rey opened her mouth, revelling in the feeling of his tongue sliding against her own. Letting go of his hand, Rey wrapped her arms around his neck, lifting up on her feet so he didn't have to bend down quite as much.  

He didn't waste any time before burying a hand in her hair. Rey moaned at the sensation of his fingers massaging her scalp. 

His lips were smooth and soft against her own. Rey lowered a hand down from his neck to his back. He was strong. Rey felt the way his muscles in his back shifted under her hands. 

She needed to breathe. The small amounts of air from breathing through her nose was not enough to sustain her. Her lungs burned. It was time for her to break the kiss, but instead she tried to pull him closer, to kiss him deeper, because she didn't want the moment to end. 

He drug his hands away from her back, gliding up the sides of her waist, brushing above the swell of her breasts, before cupping her face. 

Rey pulled away, losing the battle between the kiss and her lungs. He didn't pull away, instead he placed small kisses along her jaw, down the slope of her neck, the hollow of her throat. 

Rey tried to catch her breath, but even though her mouth was now free to breathe normally, her mind was lost in how good his lips felt on her skin.  

Placing a finger under his jaw, Rey pushed upward until he straightened and moved his head away from her skin. 

Rey was suddenly grateful that Poe hadn't given her any real ground rules. Nothing was stopping her from kissing him again. 

So she did. Bunching her fingers into the front of his shirt, Rey pulled him back down into another kiss.

He sighed against her lips, and Rey could feel the way his heartbeat speed up underneath her hand. 

Their second kiss was slower, more sensual. They tested different angles and pressures, working together to find what worked best for them. His hands continued to roam across her body. 

He pulled away first that time, resting his forehead against her own, his breath heavy as he stared at her. 

Rey held his gaze, waiting for him to kiss her again or to say something. 

He didn't do either of those things. Instead, he pulled away, placing one last kiss on her forehead before removing his hands from her body and walking backward to the door. 

Rey watched as he left, unable to figure out what to say to him before he was gone and the door was closing. 

"Oh," Rey said to herself after another moment had passed. She glanced over at the camera, heat flooding her cheeks as she remembered that the entire kiss had been recorded and somewhere Poe was watching her lose herself in thought after a guy left her alone without saying a single word to her. 

While she wasn't comfortable committing to anything without allowing her some time for her adrenaline and other hormone levels to level out, Rey was positive that had been the best kiss of her life.

And she didn't even know his name.

This was why Rey knew agreeing to help Poe out with another experiment was a bad idea. How was she supposed to go about her life knowing that somewhere out there in the city was him with those lips and those hands and who knew just how to kiss her without her saying anything? 

It was entirely unjust and entirely Poe's fault. 

Shaking her head, Rey looked around the studio one last time before she walked out. She focused on the many buttons of the lock on the door, quickly hitting the button she was only sort of convinced was the lock button.  It worked, Rey could hear the lock click into place. 

"I'm Ben, by the way."

Rey turned her to the side to confirm that the deep voice was him. He was leaning against the wall next to the stairwell. 

"Ben," Rey repeated with a smile.  "That's a nice name."

"Not really."  Ben laughed and it was a beautiful sound. One Rey wanted to hear again.  "But thank you."

Rey walked closer to him, resting her hand on the handle to the stairwell door. "I'm surprised you're still out here."

Ben's eyes narrowed in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Rey tilted her head, turning the door handle. "I mean you left so fast back there?" She pulled open the door, pressing her palm just above the handle to keep it from closing again. "I assumed you had somewhere to be."

She tried to keep the hurt out of her voice.  To keep the insecurity that had bubbled up inside her-that maybe what might have been the best kiss of her life was unremarkable to him- off of her face.

"Ah, actually, I don't have anywhere to be," he clarified, running his fingers through his hair. "I wanted to talk to you and I wasn't sure if that was allowed? Poe gave me the worst fucking guidelines on how this was supposed to work. I didn't think about how that would look at all. I just-"

He paused, sighing as he shut his eyes. Rey could almost hear him counting to five in his head before he opened his eyes again. In the light of the hallway, his eyes seemed lighter than they had before, but his gaze was just as intense as it settled on her. Almost as if he was trying to imprint her image in his memory. 

"I just wanted to know your name," he finished softly. 

"Rey," she answered his unasked question. "My name is Rey."

"Nice to meet you," Ben held out his hand and Rey snorted at the idea of shaking hands with someone whose taste she knew. 

She grabbed his hand anyway, leading it to her hip. "I think we're past polite introductions and shaking hands, Ben."

Rey leaned in slowly, keeping her eyes open to watch Ben, looking for any sign that he didn't want to kiss her again. He cupped her face with his other hand, his thumb tracing along her jaw and bottom lip before he closed the distance between them. 

Her name falling from his mouth as their lips met was Rey's new favorite sound. 

"Nice to meet you," Rey teased in between kisses. 

Ben chuckled while he kissed her nose and took a step back. Reaching for her hand, her intertwined their fingers. 

"Would you like to get some coffee with me?" He asked, kissing the side of her mouth. "Or lunch? Or ice cream? Or really whatever--"

"Yes," Rey interrupted him, squeezing his hand.  "I would love to get coffee with you."

She kissed the underside of his jaw. "Or lunch." Another kiss at the base of his throat. "Or ice cream." She was half laughing when she kissed the skin just under his ear. "Or really whatever you want.

[ellaintrigue]

Be so. So. Careful

Over the span of my early adult life I started to build a controversial reputation. Not that anyone knows who I am, but in general, across the local area, friends of my parents, and family know of me. My ex brought chaos throughout my life with his gradual decline from mental illness and my refusal to censor my body or feminist beliefs has led to harsh judgment. And you can't listen to the gossipers, but it's there.

I suppose some think that a "fat" "whore" in a bikini with a crazy past may have low self-esteem, but it is the opposite. I feel pretty good about myself and don't want to meet anyone that could ever hurt me again. I love my body and love my scars and when a woman with stretch marks or a big tummy poses in a bikini, I love her too. It's 2020, let's love one another instead of judging pasts and shaming women.

Now, while we should not be hung up on the past, I've had a long healing process. And although many of us try our best, skeletons in the closet sometimes come back to life. This post is going to offend some people but it's been brewing in my mind for over a month now.

What may seem like it is none of my business, is, when brought into my life. I've been a victim and that's on those that chose to hurt me, but all victims know this: we must do what we can to protect ourselves in the future.

I'm an alcoholic. I function but I drink. I pay for my habit and stay out of people's way. While drinking is obviously bad, I have never hurt anyone else with my habit. My ex, on top of having untreated mental illness, had a problem. He would go months without drinking then go on days long benders, causing property damage, getting into fights, and getting arrested, building up fines. In the end he stole $800 in silver coins that I had, my last asset left after I lost my life savings to medical bills. I was at work that night. He had broken in my house, grabbing the coins, and my truck keys. He stole my truck, took it to the gas station, and bought a bunch of Natty Daddys, giving the cashier 4 solid silver coins for each beer. $800 for tallboys that cost just over $1 each at the time. My ex told me he thought the large mint coins were "quarters."

A year after I left my ex, a cousin recommended a painter to my mother, for my house. I do not own my house. I have nothing, I lost everything to medical bills and my ex stole the rest. I own my car and truck, that's it. So thank God for mom who is kind enough to let me stay here and I pay the costs that I can. Thank her for painting the house and getting new siding.

But the first painter was a flop. You can't judge on people's pasts, and people's looks... but sometimes you can... I fought my ex for 2 years after leaving him, he became a violent stalker. So I requested for the painter to call me before stopping by my house because I was easily spooked. But unexpectedly, I looked out my window to see a pickup truck in my yard. So I went outside and saw a scraggly man in the yard, on the phone. "Excuse me! Who are you??" I asked. He glared at me, yelled he was the painter, then walked away. It was not a good first impression.

Finally he talked to me briefly, canning his attitude for a moment. He was thin and gaunt with a cigarette shaking in his hand. His face had a grey hue and his eyes were sunken. He rasped out some details then left. He was in his 50's but looked almost 70. And he never came back, he just walked away with mom's $3,000. Mom thought he was licensed and reliable since family had recommended him. I said over and over before that happened, though: I did not like the way the motherfucker looked.

Court ensued and mom won. But before the trial, the guy approached my mom trying to talk things over, which made me scared. He knew I was alone at my house at the time, what if he wanted revenge? What if he burned the fucking house down? We had looked at his record after he stole: drug charges, assault, DUIs, abuse of a minor, multiple domestic violence charges, malicious destruction of property, theft, and stealing from homeowners using his business aka being paid and not doing his work. The guy was a drug addict.

Now, I'm not saying all druggies and drunks are nasty pieces of shit... but, do I need them in my life? I am sorry, but no, it is not my preference. My childhood friend passed in 2017 from opiates after years of addiction and hurting people with it. A round faced smiling child had turned into a criminal that relied on drugs and didn't care how she got them. At any time I can close my eyes and bring up her last photo in my thoughts. Her once beautiful green eyes, dull and sunk into her face, mere weeks before she overdosed at home.

My last ex was boring in this aspect, his vices were cigs and soda. He did not drink or do drugs, not even pot. I liked that about him. I'm fine with weed but he had his shit together and worked, despite a criminal past.

Past... disregard it only when you can. And my ex worked multiple jobs and worked his way up. Often when a man gets out of jail or prison he ends up doing various manual labor jobs but I notice basic retail and fast food positions are common. Also things like yard work, dishwashing, etc. You have to get what you can get and report it to whomever concerned. It must be rough to start over like that. Clearly my wacko ex never made it but that's how the stats go.

While only close to mom, dad, and Erin, I love and respect extended family, who are kind to me, including cousins on my dad's side. Well, everyone thinks I'm a short little fatty, which, yeah, I am. But I'm cocky and talk to whoever so I'm guilty of going after men that could have been models. And it's fine to laugh at me over that, I laugh at myself. However I don't date much or talk about it anymore so I was surprised when my cousin mentioned this guy she went to high school with and kept pushing me to talk to him. At first I didn't view it as a dating thing since I'm not attracted to anyone over 40 and said he could add me if he needed a friend but he never did. A month later she was still bringing him up and asked me why I hadn't contacted him. And I just said, hey, I'm not desperate for a man, don't need the "help" but thank you.

But, it triggered me. While I’m rarely insecure, I went into defense mode when I saw the guy on FaceBook. He was 45 but looked 55, sunken eyes, no teeth, and just a miserable looking face. I don't go around calling people ugly. But it was the same gaunt druggie look as the painter that ripped off my mom. He posted weird rants and yelled at people in his comments over petty things. I showed his picture to my friends and the rest of my family and my soft mannered, intelligent Norwegian philosopher friend of many years even took one look at the guy and said, "he looks like a neo-Nazi child molester." Another friend, that had been in jail, said, "stay the fuck away from him, he's bad news."

So while wondering if it was my "slutty" bikini pictures or the fact I had dated my crazy ex that made me so qualified to take on this dude in my cousin's eyes, I did searches on him and it showed he had a criminal record. I wasn't going to pay to read into it but I now knew, between his profile and public records that he was a recovering addict, had a record, and worked as a grocery store stocker which is a perfectly fine job, but again, one of the low paying basic jobs someone fresh out of the pen might get.

Since I'm a passive-aggressive psycho I confronted my cousin with all this. And she just says she knew the guy in high school and that he drank sometimes. She knew nothing of drugs, a record, or him missing teeth. And I wish that dude would open his damn mouth wider because in the one pic where I can see, it's just a drooping black hole. He was trying to be sexy in that photo and in the comments under his shirtless body with cheesy tribal tattoos he does the shrugging man-emote and says "I'm going through my slut phase, mkay?" Now my ex had no teeth and that was fine by me but he wasn't drugged out either and had a nice pink face. But what if I didn't check into this guy? What if I didn't think? What if I decided he was cute and let him into my life and got abused and ripped off again? Sure, people can rebuild and bounce back but it's still extremely common to relapse and hurt people all over again.

...Be careful... be so careful...

Mid-way through 2017, a lawyer emailed me a picture of the unfortunate painter so I could identify him and I honestly couldn't say it was the man. A picture several years old featured a smiling man with bright eyes and a flesh colored face. The man in my yard that day looked like a frozen corpse.

Past is past and looks are looks but when you lay down with dogs you wake up with fleas.

Be careful who you associate with, and who you introduce to people.

[mxstshamelesswoman]

49 questions I’ve never been asked tagmeme

Thanks @oediebees​ for tagging me to answer some random questions :D tbh feel like I don’t know that many peoples on here so I’ll tag @enemy0gene​ @halcyonnhood​ @kitsnicketts​ and also any of my followers who want to do this, answer some questions. Let’s get this thing going :D:D

1. What is the color of your hairbrush?

I have really long thick hair, so I have about 4 different brushes and combs. I have a shower comb that’s light blue, a purple hairbrush, a yellow and pink hairbrush, and I think I might have a green one too somewhere. 

2. A food you never eat?

I cannot stand mayonnaise, ketchup or other condiments. 

3. Are you typically too warm or too cold?

I feel like it alternates, but usually I’m too cold. 

4. What were you doing 45 minutes ago?

Driving my mom’s car

5. What is your favorite candy bar?

I really love York bars, with mint in them. 

6. Have you ever been to a professional sporting event?

I’ve been to a Rockies game. I really want to see a professional MMA match, but we’ll see. 

7. What was the last thing you said out loud?

Told my brother where to find his shoes. 

8. What is your favorite ice cream?

Mint chocolate chip or butter pecan

9. What was the last thing you had to drink?

Milk, probably. I’m a cold glass of milk in the morning. 

10. Do you like your wallet?

Yeah, I guess. It’s a rip off of Yves Saint Laurent that I got from some street cart in Turkey.

11. What was the last thing you ate?

I had a waffle with some strawberries for breakfast. 

12. Did you buy any new clothes last weekend?

Nope. I haven’t gotten new clothes since last winter, I haven’t really needed any. I think I might buy some cute bras soon, I moved up a cup size :/

13. The last sporting event you watched?

I have no idea...I watched like 5 minutes of some tennis match rerun on TV the other day, does that count. 

14. What is your favorite flavor of popcorn?

I love caramel kettle corn. 

15. Who was the last person you sent a text message to?

My dad

16. Ever go camping?

Yes! I love camping, I actually went backpacking last with some classmates as part of our school’s orientation program. We went to Shenandoah Valley in Virginia and it was really awesome. Before I’ve been with my family and on some group trips. I really want to go on a big camping trip with just friends and no family. 

17. Do you take vitamins?

I take one of those gummy multivitamins everyday, don’t really know if it does anything but my dad’s kind of a nut about that stuff so I just do it. I also take those vitamin c packets you put in water, more as like yummy juice than anything else. 

18. Do you go to church every Sunday?

I’m Muslim, so that’s a big nope. I also don’t go to Masjid on Fridays (I did while I was at school, but not since coronavirus and never before going to college) I’ve been to church a couple of times for friend’s holy communions and family friend’s baptisms. 

19. Do you have a tan?

Kinda. My skin is pretty tan, but I’d love to just sunbathe and get a good tan going. 

20. Do you prefer Chinese food or pizza?

Probably Chinese food, but good Chinese food, not like Panda Express or something. 

21. Do you drink your soda with a straw?

Don’t drink soda so I guess that answer is no. 

22. What color socks do you usually wear?

Usually grey or black, depending on what I’m wearing. I wear neon socks when I go running, because they’re fun. 

23. Ever drive above the speed limit?

Omg, yes. It’s really bad, but there’s a lot of roads in my town that have like a “unofficial speed limit” that’s usually 5-10 mph higher than the actual limit. 

24. What terrifies you?

Everything. Real question is what doesn’t. I’m so scared for the future, especially the immediate future with coronavirus, and the state of our world and the election. 

25. Look to your left what do you see?

The couch back up to the wall in the office. My dad’s weird giant globe. My dog’s leash, abandoned on the couch where my brother left it after walking the dog. A pretty painting of some white flowers. 

26. What chore do you hate?

I hate filling the dishwasher with dirty dishes. I just don’t like touching dirty dishes in general. 

27. What do you think of when you hear an Australian accent?

The Hemsworth brothers, tbh. Or my friend Sydney, who got her name because she was born on the first day of the Sydney olympics. 

28. What is your favorite soda?

I haven’t really had soda in a few years, but I really like Izzy’s which I guess might be soda. I like La Croix too. 

29. Do you go into a fast food place or just hit the drive through?

Always drive through. I hate going them, always smell like grease and bleach. 

30. Who was the last person you talked to?

My brothers,

31. Favorite cut of beef?

I love a good steak, so probably some cut of steak. 

32. Last song you listened to?

Right this minute, I’m listening to Lego House by Ed Sheeran. Before this, it was Bright by Echosmith. 

33. Last book you read?

Right now, I’m reading How to do Nothing by Jenny Odell, but the last book I finished before this was We Wish to Inform You that Tomorrow We Will be Killed with our Families by Phillip Gourevitch, which details the Rwandan genocide and its progression. It’s really graphic and depressing, but a good read. 

34. Favorite day of the week? 

I really love Tuesdays and Fridays.  I feel like they both have really good vibes. Nowadays though, all days feel the same. 

35. Can you say the alphabet backwards?

Probably yeah. I tried just now and my dog started staring at me like I had three heads. 

36. How do you like your coffee?

Little cream, a lot of sugar. 

37. Favorite pair of shoes?

I have ratty pair of black vans I like. And a pair of faux leather half cut cowboy boots. 

38. At what time do you usually go to bed?

I get in bed by around 10 but I don’t fall asleep until like midnight. 

39. At what time do you normally get up?

6:30 or 7, I like to go for runs in the morning before work. 

40. What do you prefer - sunrises or sunsets?

Sunsets, they’re so calming. 

41. How many blankets are on your bed?

I have 4 blankets on my bed right now, along with a plain old sheet. By the time I wake up, usually all but one have been karate kicked off the bed by yours truly. 

42. Describe your kitchen plates?

Um, at school I have just one blue plastic one, cause that’s all I need. At home, we have these white square ones with green flowers on them. 

43. Do you have a favorite alcoholic beverage?

I don’t drink alcohol, but my friends make these mocktails out of grapefruit juice and Sprite that I like. I also like mojito gummy bears, so maybe I'd like mojitos. 

44. Do you play cards?

Yeah, I like poker, usually play 5 card draw. I also like Speed, Spoons, and BS, which I feel are more childish games but very fun. 

45. Can you change a tire?

Do I know how to? Yes. Would I be able to physically use the jack and lift a tire if I needed to? Guess we’ll see if I ever end up with a flat. 

46. What is your favorite province?

In Canada? British Columbia, I really love Victoria Island. 

47. Favorite job you ever had?

Right now, I’m an intern at a nonprofit and it’s a really great job. 

48. How did you get your biggest scar?

I have a lot of stretch marks, which I guess are scars? I was really small as a kid, because I was born premature, with a lot of growth issues. When those all got fixed, I shot up and out, and so I ended up with a crap ton of stretch marks, especially on my back, legs, ass and boobs. 

49. What did you do today that made someone happy?

I haven’t done much of anything today, but I went to see this car and that made my dad happy, even though I didn’t want to. So I guess that. 

If anyone read this to the end, thanks for playing along. If you decide to do it, tag me, I wanna see other people’s responses!

[harrieatthemet]

Mint Gum and Beer

a little bit of college!harry <3

He works the party like it’s his job, like he’s getting paid. 

And there’s almost always a drink in his hand. There’s no way of knowing what it is, as it’s masked by the prominent red of his solo cup. It’s usually a gin and tonic, a go to of his, a personal favorite. Not that it matters, because he takes it down it what seems like a single sip before he starts off his first round.

It’s always the blonde, and you’re sure it’s the one from his Civics class. She’s always first. You don’t think he’s ever forgotten to bid his hello’s to her. And how could he when she’s always the one to come in the most minimal amount of clothing compared to everyone else? He likes to compliment her shirt, even though there’s barely ever enough of it. But if you know him as well as you think you do, that’s why he makes sure to pay homage to her top of choice. Courtney, you think her name is.

He never chats with her long, because usually a few of his friends from the soccer team pass by and they’ll cause a scene. Lots of yelling and pats on the back, that’s how he’ll greet them before they tote him off somewhere. 

Everyone knows him. It must be one of the perks that come with being a senior, knowing a house full of faces, some of which you don’t think you’ve ever seen. There’s not a single group of people he could pass by without striking up a pointless conversation, forcing a laugh and faking a smile. You’re sure if you asked he wouldn’t be able to tell you most names, aside from a handful or two. 

It’s usually right around now, about halfway into the night as the time creeps up on 1 am, that you can feel the jealousy begin to settle in. And it’s not because of how you feel neglected, or brushed aside. It faults more on the fact that he’s gone out of his way to talk to his teammates before coming to say hi. Or maybe it’s more about how he’s chatted up every blonde in a tight enough shirt before he’s made his way to find you. Every Thursday night seems to come to an end like this, with you standing amongst beer kegs and a variety of different pong tables. Your drink is always empty and your friends are always drunk, and you head home without even getting a so much as a head nod from Harry. But you always get the text, even if it does come once the party’s been cleared out. 

“Think you’re starting to drool.” Your friend teases, nudging your arm. 

“Am not.” But your finger swipes at your lower lip, just to be sure. 

You turn your attention from Harry in his white shirt, keeping a fresh image of his exposed chest in the back of your mind, listening to your friend whine on about her boyfriend and how she’d caught him cheating. Again.

It’s nearly impossible to hear her over the music. It’s even harder to hear her because you simply don’t want to. You don’t care about her relationship, and you’re more worried about which Delta Gamma girl Harry’s feeling up now that your back is to him. 

“Do you like him?” Your friend asks, and now you can hear her. 

“Who?” Your eyebrows knit together, as if you’re somehow caught off guard. 

She rolls her eyes, well aware of the fact that you’ve been hung up on who he’s been talking to since the two of you had shown up to the dingy frat house. And of course she knows he’s the same guy you’ve snuck out to meet up with for the past few weeks, leaving at weird hours of the night only to return early in the morning wearing the same clothes you left in. She knows he’s the same guy who you unlock the front door for just after 3 am, and the same one who closes it behind him a couple hours later. She knows, even though you haven’t spared her the details yet.

“Harry.” she ensues, and you force an offended laugh.

“No,” you insist, “no.” 

Another roll of the eyes follows, because you’re a terrible fucking liar and she can pick up on a hint. 

She isn’t a fan of his. Of course she’ll admire him, the charming dimples or the pretty colored eyes are hard to ignore. But the ego is for shit and his head is so big she often wonders how he could even fit it through the door. He’s the life of the party, sure, but he’s the life of the afterparty too. She knows about the girl he’s sleeping with from her calc class, knows that when he’s not slumming it at your shared house that he’s off sharing a bed with another girl. And she knows, even though you won’t fess up, you’re a little more invested in him than he is into you. 

But she lets it go, keeping her opinions to herself, like she’s been doing in order to spare you and your feelings. 

A few more people shuffle out of the house, loudly and in larger groups, as the night gets later and 2 am makes itself present. And you’re ready to leave too, your friend already waiting outside. Just another minute would suffice, just another minute for Harry to spot you across the room and say hello. Another minute would be fine, because then he’d tell you to head home and wait for him, and you would. But after your fourth one over of the room, without Harry anywhere in sight, you decide that hearing from him in an hour would just have to be good enough. 

Until you’re halfway down the block, trailing behind your friend as she mutters something about the girl her boyfriend probably went home with, when you spot him. Where he’s going, you’re not sure, but he’s got a condom peeking out of his side pocket and a smile painted on his face when his eyes land on you. 

“Didn’t see yeh all night,” he calls out, standing still to allow you to catch up to him, “hiding from me?”

“I could say the same.” You smirk, to which he tuts playfully in denial. 

You let him wrap you up in a hug, the smell of mint gum and beer lingering on his breath. Just the feeling of his hand on your back, caressing the swell just above your ass, sends a slight shiver down your forearm and knot in your stomach. Your eyes fall on the gold wrapper of the condom tucked sloppily in his pocket as you retreat from his hug, leaving you eager for later on because surely he’s saving it for you. 

“Going anywhere special?” Your friend chimes in, eyebrow quirked to match her fake smile.

“Define special,” he jokes, like it’s nothing, “m’heading off to Courtney’s.” 

“Courtney’s?” You reiterate, to which he nods, “what’re you going there for?”

“Well m’not goin’ t’play cards.” He snickers, smacking the gum in his mouth. 

For a minute, you can almost feel your face slide off and hit the ground. The knot in your stomach churns a bit, before the feeling of being punched in the chest settles in. Your friend almost wishes she’d never asked, because even though your back is too her she can already see the look on your face. But as quickly as the expression appeared is at quick as it disappears, as you remind yourself to keep your composure. 

“Y’alright with tha’, yeah?” He asks, furrowing his brows at you.

“Oh, yeah I am,” you laugh, and he nods, “why wouldn’t I be?” 

“Dunno,” he smirks, followed by a shrug, “we’re just hooking up, you and me, s’all.”

“Right, I know,” you breath, “just hooking up.”

[kinkyquirk]

Dumb it down? Heck no! This is my first request and I'm doing this shit RIGHT. Hope you like it. 😁

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

Aizawa was late. As per usual.

Class was supposed to start 5 minutes ago and Iida had been dutifully instructing students to get to their desks, encouraging them to remain seated when they became fidgety in the continued absence of their teacher.

You eyes darted between the door and the boy sitting in front of you, trying to decide if you could spend a little time with your freckled boyfriend before class started. Just as you had made up your mind - the class slowly begining to murmur amongst themselves - he turned in his seat, smiling back at you with that innocent grin you adored, "Well, looks like we'll be waiting a while."

Ugh, he was just so cute. When he had accepted your feelings a few weeks ago, you had been over the moon. You had fully expected him to turn you down because he was so busy training hard to become the number one hero. And sure, you and him didn't spend as much time together as the average couple, but you were okay with that. Studying together and the very occasional date was all you needed as long as he was with you.

You were smiling back instantly, leaning you head on your hand, "Looks like it."

A rosy hue dusted his cheeks suddenly, his fingers fiddling together on top of the back of his chair, "You, uh...you look especially beautiful today..," he mumbled softly.

OH GOSH, YOUR HEART.

You couldn't help the blush that sprung up on your cheeks at the unexpected compliment, smile brightening, "Why thank you my especially handsome boyfriend," you fired back, relishing in the way the entirety of his face and neck became as red as Kirishima's hair. He was just so easy to fluster!

He tried his best to compose himself, clearing his throat and ruffling his already unruly hair, "I-handsome is a-," but he stopped, remembering your talk with him about accepting your compliments and to have more confidence in himself, "uhm, th-thank you."

His smile began to fade then, and, in turn, yours dropped off your face in worry. Izuku was known to over think things and cause himself grief over problems that weren't as big as he thought they were, but this expression was different. Something was really eating at him this time.

"Izuku?" You questioned, leaning forward to get a better look at him.

He met your eyes and gave a small, forced smile, "It's just...," he began, sighing and slumping slightly in defeat. Panic spiked through you for a moment, afraid you had done something to upset him. He reached forward, gently taking your hand in his own scarred one and rubbed your knuckles with his thumb, effectively ending your worries and sending a completely different spike through you, "You're such a wonderful girlfriend and I...I don't treat you the way you deserve to be treated."

It was very possible that this boy would give you a heart attack sometime during this relationship.

You sighed in relief, "That's what's bothering you? Izuku, I don't need anything special-" you began, but he cut you off with a shake of his head.

"But you deserve it!" He stressed, squeezing your hand softly, "You deserve to be taken on nice dates and to have so much more of my attention. I should be showing you how much I cherish you and instead I'm just...treating you like an afterthought..."

Well, you hadn't seen this coming. You supposed if the roles were reversed, that would feel like a lot of weight on your shoulders. It upset you that something like this had been burdening him and for a moment wondered...if you should have kept your feelings to yourself. You had just complicated things for him.

"Do you think of me as an afterthought?" you asked, prepared to prove to him that he was anything but neglectful.

He jumped at the question, eyes wide, "No! Of course not!" he assured, "I can't get you out of my mind!"

The classroom went silent.

You were sure the both of you were the same, glowing red color.

"Lady troubles, Deku?" Denki chortled, followed closely by the familiar sound of Jiro smacking him with her ear jacks. Uraraka suddenly and conveiniently remembered a funny story and began ethusiastically regaling the classroom of her scuffle with a pizza box and squid mascot. Bless her.

You fanned your cheeks, attempting to cool the flames beneath them while Izuku took his own time calm himself.

"Sorry, I-" he began, but you cut him off this time, shaking your head with a sympathetic smile, "No, I'm sorry. I should know by now how you'd react to a question like that."

"I meant it, though."

You looked up, surprised to see him watching you with a determined intensity that you're a bit embarrassed to say nearly had you fainting in your chair. He pressed onward, "You're always on my mind. From the moment I wake up to the moment I fall asleep. And sometimes when I dream."

Okay, now that was bordering on cheesy, but it sent your heart fluttering uncontrollably in your chest.

He grabbed his backpack, rummaging through it for a moment and hesitating a moment before pulling out what he was looking for, "I was going to wait until lunch to give this to you, but...now seems better," He smiled, "I know it doesn't make up for all the time we should be spending together, but-"

You almost screamed at the box in his hand, hardly believing what you were looking at, "IS THAT THE ULTRA RARE SUPER LIMITED EDITION AMERICAN SOLDIER ALL MIGHT ACTION FIGURE? MINT IN THE BOX?"

At this point, you didn't care if you had once again drawn the attention of the entire class. This was a unicorn in the wild. A collectable that you were certain you would never see anywhere other than on your computer screen.

If there was one thing you and Izuku had in common, it was your love for the number one hero, All Might.

Izuku was quick to join in your excitement, "EXACTLY! I KNEW YOU'D RECOGNIZE IT! ONLY FIFTY OF THESE WERE EVER MADE!"

"I THOUGHT THESE HAD ONLY BEEN GIFTED TO AMERICAN POLITICIANS DURING THE INTERNATIONAL HERO TREATY OF 2002?"

"THEY WERE! 12 POLITICIANS WHO VOTED AGAINST THE TREATY SOLD OR TOSSED THEM AND MY MOM'S FRIEND FROM WORK KNEW A GUY THAT-"

Your smile fell as you listened to the story of how he had ended up with such a priceless item and realized...you couldn't accept this. No matter how much you loved All Might, you couldn't take this from Izuku.

"-what's wrong?" he looked crestfallen at your sudden loss of enthusiasm.

"Izuku, I couldn't possibly accept something like this," you shook your head sadly, "It's worth way too much."

"But, I want you to have it!" He insisted, holding it out to you earnestly, "It's okay, I have lots of rare All Might merch!"

You gently pushed it back towards him, shaking your head once again, "I know, but this is just-"

"Then keep it safe for me," he compromised, taking your hands and holding them to the box. God, his hands. You loved how they felt on yours. So strong and warm.

He leaned forward, and - to your shock - placed a soft kiss to your fingers. Your heart did maybe 15 flips. His smile had the smallest hint of mischief in it when he pulled back, "I'm counting on you."

The very next instant, you had your arms around him. The noise you made was, in retrospect, pretty embarrassing as you crushed him to you, bouncing happily. Now that was a compromise you could deal with. And that sneaky little smile peppered with those adorable freckles? GOD HE WAS JUST TOO MUCH!

"MIDORIYA!"

The scandalized voices of Denki and Mineta reverberated around the room, bringing you to a startled halt. There was a dark aura radiating off the two of them as they glared at the boy in your arms.

That was when you noticed the reddened faces of your classmates...and the...warmth between your...

Izuku's face was consumed. Disappeared to the ears -which were positively cherry - between your breasts. You had never pulled away from an embrace so quickly.

"YOU ALREADY GET TO DATE THE GIRL WITH ONE OF THE BEST RACKS IN CLASS! YOU GOT SOME NERVE RUBBING OUR NOSES IN IT LIKE THAT!" Mineta screeched, eyes completely white as blood spewed from his nostrils.

And then they were face down on the classroom floor, Tsuyu and Jiro standing over their battered forms. You hardly noticed their beatings, wide eyes gauging your boyfriend's own shocked expression.

The corner of his lip twitched.

Was he-

Aizawa chose then to enter the room, nonchalant as he made his way to the front of the class, scratching his cheek, "Sorry. I overslept."

You quickly - though carefully - placed the action figure in your bag while the class settled down, taking seats and facing forward. Your face was still burning to ashes, eyes unable to stray more than a minute from Izuku's trembling shoulders when he sent small wad of paper over his shoulder and onto your desk.

Sure that Aizawa wasn't looking, you opened it.

Steam hissed from the collar of your shirt.

Don't be too embarrassed. I liked it. A lot.

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

Class 1-A's thoughts:

Aoyama: Such an intimate display in such a public place! How very avant-garde. *twinkles*

Bakugo: What the hell? What is this, some kind of porno? Get a fucking room! *blushing slightly, but mostly pissed off*

Hagakure: What is Y/N doing?! We're in class! * *

Iida: THAT IS HIGHLY INAPPROPRIATE! SCHOOL RULES SPECIFICALLY STATE THAT PDA IS PROHIBITED ON SCHOOL GROUNDS! NO MATTER HOW SOFT AND FRAGRANT HER BREASTS MUST BE, THIS IS- WAIT NO I-! *red and denying his last thought even happened*

Jiro: Holy shit. Get it, Y/N. *unimpressed, but supportive*

Kaminari: No way! She's-! SHE'S-!

Kirishima: Whoa, are they for real?! Do they even know everyone is looking at them? Man, Midoriya, you're full of surprises. *is shocked and blushes*

Koda: Oh, gosh! That's so naughty! *hides his face in his hands*

Mina: Whoa-ho! He's been devoured! *wide eyed and covers her mouth*

Mineta: TH-THE LEGENDARY MOTORBOAT! AND BY THE GIRL WITH THE SECOND BIGGEST RACK IN CLASS? MIDORIYA!!!

Momo: Oh, wow! I've heard about this courting ritual! But it seems a bit inappropriate to be carried out in class... *blushes and looks away*

Ojiro: What the-! Geez...my heart can't take much more of this... *blushes, looks away and sighs*

Sato: *sato.exe has stopped working*

Sero: IS THIS REALLY HAPPENING? HE'S NOT EVEN TRYING TO STOP HER! LUCKY!

Shoji: *shocked; his mind genuinely goes blank*

Todoroki: What is...she doing? *is genuinely confused*

Tokoyami: Er...hm. Those two are always so loud. *a little flustered, but mostly unimpressed*

Tsuyu: Y/N is a lot more bold than I thought. *blushes a little, but expression stays the same*

Uraraka: B-BOOBS! *red and shellshocked*

[olivejarsimmer]

My Tweaked NSB Challenge Masterlist

So as I’ve been waiting to get my laptop fixed to play The Sims again, I’ve been wanting to play the Not So Berry challenge really badly. I’ve played it through a few times before, but every time I had a hard time getting into it because I couldn’t get into the story behind my sims’ family. So I decided to make a whole compiled and updated list with both the original challenge, the extended challenge, and a few more generations so it’s up to date with all the current expansions and game packs that are out right now. I will also continue to update the masterlist as more content comes out!

If you decide to use the generations I created, (Anything that is in bold is my own personal writing to tailor each generation to my own personal gameplay) tag it with #olivejarsimmer and I’ll do my best to like every single one! 

Sidenote: I also ran out of colors to use, so I started doing “color palettes” that you can use only a select few colors besides just one color.

Sidenote #2: I DID NOT CREATE THIS CHALLENGE. THIS POST IS ONLY FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES AND ALL CREDIT BESIDES MY OWN ADDED GENERATIONS GOES TO THE ORIGINAL CREATORS...

That all being said, happy simming ;)

Generation One: Silver and Gold

You woke up one day in Strangerville with no recollection of what has happened to you -- where you come from, who you are, what you’re doing there. All you know is that the names on your license and other personal files doesn’t match up with the one memory you have left of your true identity; your real name. You assume this is for some important reason that you need to find out. You decide to join the military to try and poke around and find out more information, only to get sucked into the mystery of Strangerville. You also gain a distrust for most federal-ran things, so you try your best to live off the land anyway that you can and would rather not have too many flashy things.

Traits: Paranoid, Kleptomaniac, Good

Aspiration: Strangerville Mystery

Career: Military

Rules:

Master military career & complete Strangerville Mystery aspiration

Buy beehive & maintain small garden & only have a small one-floor house -- the smaller the better!

Master logic, athletic, & gardening skill

Have one-night stand while trying to get Strangerville info that results in your only child.

Generation Two: Mint

You’re a mischievous scientist that really loves the color mint. You’re career driven but still make time for silly pranks and outings with your closest friends. You love luxury and want the best for yourself and your family.

(My take: You’ve grown up surrounded by the mystery of both your parent’s real identity and the truth behind the town you grew up in as a child, something about it consumed you. You decided that -- even with your natural mischievous behavior -- you wanted to become a scientist to make sure what happened in Strangerville never happens again...not to mention your fascination with otherworldly things that can be explained through science. You also try to live a big, luxurious life due to not having much as a child.)

Traits: Vegetarian, Jealous, Materialistic Aspiration: Chief of Mischief Career: Scientist

Rules:

Master scientist career and complete Chief of Mischief aspiration

Master mischief and logic skills

Complete elements collection

Generation Three: Rose

You had everything you desired as a child but you were always longing for more. As an adult you have a hard time committing to relationships as you’re so focused on your career. If we had a workaholic trait in The Sims 4 you would have it. You have absolutely no maternal instincts whatsoever but you still love your child with all your heart.

Traits: Hot Headed, Snob, Romantic Aspiration: Serial Romantic Career: Politician

Rules:

Have only one child

Master the politician career and complete Serial Romantic aspiration

Master charisma skill

Leave someone at the alter (an interaction available during a wedding)

Get married for the first time as an elder

Generation Four: Yellow

Growing up you never had a close relationship with your mother and spent the majority of your time alone in your room obsessing over space. You just really love space. You’ll do whatever it takes to get to Sixam no matter the cost.

Traits: Clumsy, Ambitious, Loner Aspiration: Nerd Brain Career: Astronaut

Rules

Master rocket science and handiness skill

Master astronaut career and complete Nerd Brain aspiration

Must build a rocket ship and visit Sixam

Enter the secret lot in Oasis Springs (requiring max handiness)

Never have any close friends or relationships other than grandparent from Generation 1 until the grandparent dies

Generation Five: Grey

You always felt that you were different. While the rest of your family was busy messing around in the lab, you just wanted to be outside playing basketball. You’re very good at sports and you dream of becoming a professional athlete. To make up for your nonexistent relationship with your parents you want to be there for your own children as much as possible. Oh, and you love to sing.

Traits: Active, Slob, Music Lover Aspiration: Bodybuilder Career: Athlete

Rules

Master singing, parenting, and athletic skills

Master athlete career and complete Bodybuilder aspiration

Have three failed relationships before finding spouse, marry a neat Sim

Be good friends with all of your children

Have family movie night with your spouse and children every Sunday

Generation Six: Plum

You’ve always been good at anything you tried. It’s hard to choose a career, so why not try a few? You work as a doctor for much of your life, but as an adult realize that your true dream is to become a professional dancer. You quit your job and join the entertainer career. Basically: you’re an indecisive oddball.

Traits: Genius, Noncommittal, Dance Machine Aspiration: Renaissance Sim Career: Fast Food, Doctor, Entertainer

Rules

Master dance and two other skills of your choosing, achieve at least level eight in six skills

Complete Renaissance Sim aspiration

Get divorced and then later remarried to the same Sim

Must live in at least three different worlds over the course of your life

Generation Seven: Orange

You’re the black sheep of your family (but with orange hair) and you were raised in a hectic household. You’ve always wanted to cause mayhem, but you’re just really bad at being evil. You enjoy breaking into your neighbors’ houses and eating their food. You really love baking and spend the majority of your spare time eating sweets.

Traits: Evil, Self-Assured, Glutton Aspiration: Public Enemy Career: Criminal

Rules

Master baking and charisma skills

Master criminal career and complete Public Enemy aspiration

Must live in a ‘needs TLC’ apartment for entire young adult life

Have twins, but only those two children (you may cheat for this)

Insist on being evil (claim to be criminal mastermind) but nobody believes you, not even your own children

Generation Eight: Pink

You grew up poor and are living paycheck to paycheck working in the business career just as your parents did. You long to write romance novels but are too afraid to quit your steady job to follow your dreams. You’re very practical and you know the chances of making it as a writer are slim, so you stay working at your nine to five. As an adult you finally decide to pursue your dreams. You’re a hopeless romantic, but your unflirty nature makes it nearly impossible to find love.

Traits: Neat, Unflirty, Creative Aspiration: Best Selling Author Career: Business

Rules

Complete postcard collection

Master writing and wellness skills

Complete Best Selling Author aspiration

Have a well-maintained garden

Quit day job as an adult to pursue dreams (mid-life crisis much?)

Generation Nine: Peach

Your mother always taught her to follow her dreams. You’ve always wanted to be a detective. You’ve always wanted to be a comedian. Well dang it, you can do both! Detective by day, comedian by night, you can do anything you set your mind to.

Traits: Foodie, Lazy, Goofball Aspiration: Joke Star Career: Detective

Rules

Marry a co-worker

Must play an instrument

Master gourmet cooking and comedy skills

Master detective career

Must live in a different world than the one he/she was raised

Generation Ten: Green

You were caught hacking by a major tech company that then offered you a position in their firm. You know Penelope Garcia from Criminal Minds? That’s you. You’re dedicated to your work, but that doesn’t stop you from going out and having a good time. You’re the kind of person that will be at a party at 3am and then at work at 6am.

Traits: Squeamish, Geek, Cheerful Aspiration: Computer Whiz Career: Tech Guru

Rules

Master mixology, video gaming, and programming skills

Master tech guru career and complete Computer Whiz aspiration

Must accept every invitation to parties/outings with your friends

Have at least five good friends and five enemies

Generation Eleven: Blue

You have the perfect life. White picket fence, loving spouse, beautiful children. But why do you still want more? You have a one time secret affair and will regret it for the rest of your life. Afterward you pour your soul into raising your children and fixing your marriage. You never admit the affair to anyone and dedicate your life to being the perfect mother.

Traits: Gloomy, Perfectionist, Family Oriented Aspiration: Super Parent Career: Critic

Rules

Adopt at least one child

Master the photography, cooking, and parenting skills

Master critic career and complete Super Parent aspiration

Must marry high school sweetheart and stay with them until you die

Have a one time secret affair

Generation Twelve: Crimson

The overprotectiveness of your parents made you want to wander a lot and never settle. You’re still living with them while enjoying their money to go on your own escapades through the jungle.

Traits: Loves Outdoors, Snob, Materialistic Aspiration: Jungle Explorer (teen to YA) / Archaeologist (Adult to Elder) Career: Museum/Antique shop owner

Rules:

Master the selvadoradian culture and archeology skills

Must complete Jungle explorer aspiration ‘till adult lifestage and then change it to Archeaologist aspiration (finish from adult to elder)

Move out of your parents house only when adult

Must not follow a career. Can only gain money with the antique store/museum selling your explorer findings

Must own at least one relic

Generation Thirteen: Snow

Growing up in a museum/antique shop environment filled with old mystic relics and other things like that made you very interested in the supernatural. During your teenage years you met someone who claims they’re a vampire and will turn you once you’re old enough (twilight much?!). When you’re finally a young adult, you move in with that vampire, start a romance and become a vampire as well.

Traits: Gloomy, Insane, Outgoing Aspiration: Master Vampire (before pregnancy) / Good Vampire (after) Career: Secret Agent

Rules:

Master the secret agent career

Master the pipe organ and vampire lore skills

Must complete both aspirations

The hability to walk during the day is not allowed

Have only one child

Once the child is a young adult, must cure vampirism or burn in the sun (both parents)

Generation Fourteen: Teal

Your parents spent the days locked inside their catacombs and only came out during the night, so pets were your closest friends. You learned to love and nurture them very soon in your life and want to dedicate yourself to their medical care.

Traits: Cat lover, Dog lover, Childish Aspiration: Friend of the Animals Career: Veterinarian

Rules:

Complete the friend of the animals aspiration

Must move out once becomes into a YA

Master the veterinarian skill

Own a 5 star vet clinic

Must own a vet clinic as only job

Own at least 3 pets

Generation Fifteen: Honey

Much like your parents, you learned to love the animals around you and decide to dedicate your career to that, only not as much as one of your parents did ‘cause there should always be some time left for bowling.

Traits: Insider, Outgoing, Hates Children Aspiration: Leader of the Pack Career: Store owner (can only earn  money with a store that only sells stuff for pets)

Rules:

Create a Bowling group for your friends and one for your enemies

Must have at least one pet that’s the son/daughter from the pets of the past generation

Master the pet training and bowling skill

Collect all feathers

Must live in the same town as the parents

Generation Sixteen: Coral

The feeling that you never got love from one of your parents always made you go to food as a coping mechanism, and since the “make money with your own business” thing is practically part of the family blood, passion for food makes you want to open your own restaurant

Traits: Glutton, Hot-Headed, Noncommittal Aspiration: Master Chef Career: Own a restaurant

Rules:

Eat all foods from festival stands at least once

Must get a 5 star restaurant

Must live in San Myshuno

Master the master chef aspiration

Master the cooking, gourmet cooking and baking skills

Can’t have a life long partnet and must be single when an elder

Generation Seventeen: Charcoal

You’re a dreamer trying to make it in the big city and you love it. You know what you’re capable of and believe that success runs in your veins, so you really dedicate yourself to learn everything you can while in school. You hope to make a living by selling your own art and eventually turning into a big fish.

Traits: Ambitious, Perfectionist, Art Lover Aspiration: City Native Career: Painter + Own an art gallery

Rules:

Must live in a shabby apartment ‘till you make enough money to move to a penthouse

Master the mixology, photography, and painting skills

Be an excellent student

Work as a barista when a teen

Complete the city native aspiration

Master the painter career

Generation Eighteen: Lime

You’re breaking a pattern and reconecting to nature. You found a house outside of the big city and is moving there with nothing but the clothes on your body.

Traits: Loves the Outdoors, Kleptomaniac, Loner Aspiration: Freelance Botanist / Angling Ace / The Curator and Outdoor Enthusiast Career: None

Rules:

You can only make money by selling collectibles, the things from your garden or things you stole

Cannot own a tv, computer, tablet or anything like that

Master the gardening, wellness, herbalisim and handiness skills

Master all the aspirations (because this is such a long list, you may purchase the extender of life with reward points)

Can only have a child ten (or less) days before turning into an elder

Turn into a plantsim at some point

Generation Nineteen: Emerald

When you find out that your mom/dad made a choice by living a simple life you become obsessed with power. Your goal in life is to be rich and own everything you didn’t have access to as a child, no matter what it takes.

Traits: Kleptomaniac, Materialistic, Snob Aspiration: Fabulously Wealthy / Mansion Baron Career: Like I said before, you’d do anything to have the fabulous wealthy life you dream of, so everything goes (aka the black widow gen)

Rules:

Must complete both the fabulously wealthy and mansion baron aspirations

Marry a rich sim and have at least one child, then divorce or get rid of the husband/wife

Master the charisma, wellness and logic skill

The mansion must have a room dedicated to wellness and spa equipment

Generation Twenty: Primary Colors (red, blue, yellow)

You grew up with only one biological parent all your life, but that never set you back in the world. In fact, with your wealthy upbringing, you’ve naturally been two steps ahead of the rest of the world. You’ve always been in the spotlight because of your family’s wealth -- and your parent ate that up by forcing you into that role and heavily encouraging you to take up acting, social media, and film making. So naturally you have this built up pressure to be at the top of the game with fame -- but in all reality you have just a deep love for acting and direction and filmmaking.

Traits: Ambitious, Creative, Snob

Aspiration: Fame (??? I don’t have get famous yet lol)

Career: Acting Career

Rules:

Master acting career & aspiration

Master photography, film making, & writing skills

You must master fame aspiration before parent dies

Live in same house all of life

Marry 4 times throughout life and have at least one child from each marriage

[mc-amps]

Thoughts on Ray’s Route and Unknown

A crazy long rant >.<

It’s been exactly a year since I finished Ray’s route. I still remember that day quite well. I found it actually kind of romantic that I finished on Valentine’s Day. It was like Saeran was my Valentine. My thoughts on the route at the time were that of anger and joy. Suit Saeran made me furious, but GE Saeran made it better. He made me cry a lot of happy tears. Now that a year has passed, I wanted to talk more about my feelings about the route.

Everyone who knows me knows that I’m passionate about Unknown. Heck, just by looking at my blog, you could probably see that. From the very moment I saw him in the game’s opening movie, I was very curious and excited to see the trouble he would cause. I ended up seeing the prologue bad end on youtube and was like “Dang that’s hot +_+” Idk. I’ve always had a thing for those sweet talking kidnapper villain characters. The ones you know aren’t good for you, but if they ever got their hands on you, they’d cherish you in their own twisted way.

As I played through all of the routes, the part that excited me the most was when Unknown would show up and do bad things. Zen’s route in particular was so thrilling. The fact that he didn’t show up in Jaehee’s route was a bummer, but I was extremely disappointed when he did nothing in Jumin’s route too. Jumin was the one I ended up really liking, so I had been hoping to see my main man duke it out with evil side bae. Unfortunately, that never became a thing T_T

I saw some minor spoilers for Seven’s route, so I knew that Unknown would be heavily involved. I ended up being really disappointed with that route. At the time, I blamed it on Seven’s pushing MC away, but in hindsight, another major factor was that we really didn’t get to interact with Unknown much after the break in. Even during the secret ends, he’s there, but doesn’t really pay much attention to you. I guess I had been hoping to explore things with Unknown and his twisted view on the player. I also really wanted to help him recover after Mint Eye, but Seven took total control with that.

By that point, I had kind of accepted that Unknown wouldn’t be dateable, so I just figured that Jumin was my “true end.” But then the Christmas DLC happened. . .

It.

Was.

AMAZING!!!

Seriously! Unknown’s ending was everything I wanted from him!! He abducts you from the RFA, spoils you with gifts, and ties a ribbon around your neck +_+ He’s menacing and creepy, but still very charming and fun about it. It’s thrilling. My only disappointment was that it was so short, but that sparked the hope that Cheritz had more plans for him. Surely, they wouldn’t include that as the only way to end up with him.

When V’s route was announced, I clung to the hope that they were also going to secretly include a Saeran route. I figured that the route would branch off from the prologue bad end and let us spy on the RFA or something.

So then V’s route came out. Gah…I could go on a huge tangent just about V, but all I will say is that I felt no chemistry with him at all, and grew quite annoyed with all the secrets and shenanigans. Ray intrigued me though. Due to not having enough HG, I had to wait to do V’s route, so seeing Ray’s name in the call card purchase thing and also seeing his little intro bubbles when you first start up game made me feel even more hyped. I was so eager to see what this dude’s deal was. Once I played, I was definitely enamored by his cute creepiness, though I was under the impression that it was Unknown putting on a sweet charade for the MC and would soon show his true colors. It did get to the point where I got a little frustrated with Ray and his lies, because I just wanted him to rip off his suit, ruffle his hair, and reveal his true self. That did end up happening…though much later and not at all how I expected. Anyways, Ray did grow on me more, and I found myself feeling frustrated and agitated once we got separated.

And then Unknown showed up. O. M. G. Did that man show up. I honestly still remember exactly what I was doing when that went down. I was upset about missing a Ray call, but then my friend messaged me and said that I was going to LOVE what was about it happen. I had just gotten out of the shower, and was still in my towel, hair dripping wet when I did the chat and got the phone call. THE PHONECALL!!! That had to be the moment that I feel deeply and madly in love with this man. The way he says that he wants you and even says he will show you the things that Ray wanted to do to you. I was on the edge of my seat. I was screaming, blushing and swooning. Even though he could be quite frightening, it was still very fun. I was so excited to see what would happen, and I even spent the extra HG to call him as much as I could. I was honestly hoping that he would come to the cabin, or that we would at least encounter him in person, but alas… he really wasn’t out all that long T_T

I will say that Ray being worried and upset about the possibility of Unknown hurting MC was quite touching. I really was developing feelings for Ray. I didn’t adore him as much as Mr. Sexy Edgelord, but I still liked him, which brings me to the topic of how Another Story handled Saeran. Yes, I do think that Ray was added to make Saeran “romanceable.” I really don’t see any signs of Ray in the OG game, however, my friend, TK, pointed out that during the secret end when Unknown and child!Saeran seem to have that back and forth and then shoot V, that was dissociation. So that could be a hint about him having DID. And it does make sense that Unknown would have eventually taken complete control by the time the OG timeline takes place. All that’s to say, I really don’t mind Ray. He’s a sweet and cute bebe and his creepy side is pretty fun. He and Unknown have a pretty interesting dynamic too. Both have the same desires for keeping MC while destroying V and Seven. It’s just that they go about it different. Unknown is bold and unapologetic, while Ray keeps things in and is much more gentlemanly. They clash, yet I could see them growing to get along and work together. They would honestly make an amazing team. As you can imagine, I was pretty sad when Ray died and furious at V for still not revealing the truth to Seven. Really V? REALLY!?!

So fast forward to when Ray’s route was announced. I was hyped. Absolutely HYPED. This was the most excited I had been about something in a long time. I preordered the Mint Eye box and then waited, and looked at endless fanart of Ray and Unknown. My predictions for the route was that we were going to save Ray from the fate of Unknown completely taking over. That we were going to teach him what real love was compared to obsession. After all, he acts very clingy and creepy in V’s route, so that seemed to be the problem that needed fixing. I also was highly anticipating what Unknown would do. We would be stuck with him, completely at his mercy. Hhhh +_+ I was also thinking that he and Ray would be constantly switching control and fighting each other. But I hoped that they would learn to accept each other. My main worries for the route were that 1. Unknown would disappear forever at the end. 2. MC would be taken away from Magenta and separated from Ray sometime during the route. And 3. Rika would get all freaky fresh and get in the way. Rika did ruin things, and Unknown did end up disappearing forever…or rather, he ended up not existing at all! But more on that later.

It felt like an eternity, but the box finally came. Waiting for the tracking was pure torture, but once it came OMG Here’s the mail it never fails~ It makes me wanna wag my tail~ When it comes I wanna wail MAAIIIIIIIIL~~~! Looking through the box was an absolute joy. The smiling picture of Ray in his diary melted my heart, and I put all of the pictures in frames. Though I will say I was disappointed about the lack of Unknown content…it should have been a red flag about his fate in the route. Anyways, I was going to start the game at midnight that night. It was around a twelve hour wait, but it felt so. much. longer!!! I remember I was listening to the soundtrack and couldn’t concentrate on anything else. I Am the Strongest hyped me up, I was almost certain that was going to be the song that played when Ray and Unknown fought, but alas… Four Seasons also made me cry. It made me so happy to think that Saeran would get a happy ending with MC T///T I even saw the trigger warning for the route and figured it involved Unknown being kinky and aggressive. Either that or them really delving into Saeran’s childhood abuse… T_T And once again, I was completely wrong.

Speaking of agonizing waits though, playing through those first four days before entering Ray’s route. Torture. Pure torture. I didn’t care about V, or the RFA, I just wanted Ray and Unknown. Once I got to the first new VN, my hands were so shaky and I was tearing up. Ray’s new faces were amazing, though at the time I hadn’t realized that the Ray I knew was about to change…

It was something I hadn’t noticed at first, but Ray’s creepy, possessive side completely vanishes. I get that he would decide not to give MC an elixir, but I still feel like he isn’t going to magically lose all of his creepiness. That was honestly what made him fun, and while I do understand his self-loathing, I do feel like it got repetitive. Chats during that branch started to sound the same, and I found myself getting antsy. I just wanted to spend time with Ray and get to know him more, but at the same time all the foreshadowing with Zen’s Jekyll and Hyde/White or whatever got me super SUPER EXCITED!

From what I understand, Hyde is based off of Jekyll’s darker impulses. He’s violent and sexually aggressive. Because let’s face it, Ray’s darker desires are that he wants to hurt Seven and V, along with making MC his. He’s just not as bold and active about it, but he does send that Prime Minister info to Seven along with the ripped pictures to V. He also does say a lot of creepy things to MC. It’s easy to imagine that Unknown would actually put these desires into action, and he has shown that he’s very capable of that in other routes. The symbolism was perfect for Ray and Unknown! I believe Zen also alluded to Jekyll and Hyde fighting for control, so I also thought that foreshadowed that Ray and Unknown were going to indeed duke it out. Imagine it. Fighting over your safety and wellbeing. One man just wants you happy, while the other wants to selfishly keep you all to himself. I was so pumped. SO PUMPED.

But then tragedy struck.

Thing is, I am a curious kitty. I’m a ho for spoiler, and me being me, I sniffed around and accidentally saw something I shouldn’t have saw. Someone was complaining that “Saeran” was way too mean to the MC. It went on to describe how he called her ugly, and smelly and how he would feed her.

I was crushed.

I was absolutely crushed. The thought of Unknown doing that was devastating. It just so happened that I saw that on the day that the switch happens, so I spent most of that day moping, and then the night dreading it.

Here’s the thing though. When it happened, it wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it was. It didn’t hurt my feelings, but instead baffled me. This man seemed different than Unknown. Not only was he dressed completely different, but his voice seemed a lot more subdued. His laughs were not nearly as loud or high pitched, and even the chatroom… he felt different than the man who said he would come to cabin and drag me back to Mint Eye. His speech bubbles were even a different color. They’re blue in this, but then reddish in V’s route, the Christmas DLC, and the OG Prologue. (Fun fact, but before V’s route, Unknown’s bubbles were purple.) He seemed a lot less threatening, more extra, more insecure, more sane, and because of this, I’ve come to the conclusion that they are different people. Therefore, I’ll call him Suit Saeran. Now I know some people say that Suit Saeran is like the baby version of Unknown, but eh…that doesn’t explain why he’s so more like the OG Unknown in V’s route. I feel like Rika’s treatment of him affects how the new personality will act, and if we get a Rika route, my theory is that “Saeran” will become possessive of her and become your love rival for her.

Now I will say I get it. I get why Suit Saeran acts the way he does. It ties into Ray’s self-loathing, but…I feel like Unknown would have tied into the way Ray acts in V’s route. Why did they change Ray? Why didn’t they go with Unknown instead of Suit Saeran? Did they think Unknown was too violent? Did they think he was unlovable? Or was it that they were punishing Unknown fans for being so thirsty. Everyone in all the other routes cherishes MC for the most part …except in this route.  Suit Saeran and even Rika berate MC, call her useless, and pretty much say she’s better off dead. I personally found it ridiculous to the point of being comedic, but I do know that it deeply upset some people. I do think it went too far. For example, the CGs with Suit Saeran are great, but his dialogue during those scenes just ruins any enjoyment I could get from that.

I was so furious.

Unknown was truly the one thing I had been waiting for, and it felt like a slap in the face.

I will say that Suit Saeran apologizing and then the emergence of GE Saeran made things…kind of better. I was a little upset that Ray and Suit Saeran (And any other personas) seemed to be gone forever though, but GE Saeran was sweet, and after the abuse and agony of Mr. Posh Tie Boy, it was a Godsend. The phonecalls were great, and the chats were great, but that didn’t fix everything. Though looking back, I kind of feel like Ray didn’t really get any development in his own route. Even with the self-loathing plotline, he himself never learns to love himself. The last time you see him, he’s crying and saying how he was never meant to stay around. So he basically just disappears forever. At least Suit Saeran got to learn his mistakes and try to make things right. Idk. It’s just kind of upsetting and strange to me.

Anyways, there were still plenty of sleepless nights where I would just think about how Unknown wasn’t in the route, and how I would never be able to get to him or romance him. To this day, it’s still something that frustrates me to no end, and it’s honestly something that always will. I’ve lost hope that Cheritz will give us any other Unknown content. We haven’t gotten the after ends after all. The daki was nice, but dang…in a way, it’s kind of another slap. They were capable of writing a flirty Unknown. They were capable of writing him fighting Ray for MC’s affection. WHY WAS THIS NOT PUT IN THE ROUTE! THEY MAKE UNKNOWN SO SEDUCTIVE AND PASSIONATE ARGH IT’S WASTED POTENTIAL FSJDLKJLKSDJLFJSDLKfjls

There’s also the fact in the Halloween DLC that Ray compares himself to the Phantom of the Opera…and that dynamic once again fits Unknown more. The only time the Phantom talks mean to Christine is after she pulls off his mask after her first abduction, but it doesn’t last long, and otherwise he’s a lot more seductive and aggressive like…UNKNOWN. Sigh…heavy sigh… I’m a huge phangirl, and honestly I really do feel like the Phantom fits Ray and Unknown perfectly. T_T There’s his sweeter, more childlike, vulnerable angel side, and then his dark, seductive, murderous side. HHHHHHHhhhhhh.

I used to hate Suit Saeran, but now I don’t. I still kind of resent him for taking Unknown’s place, but when I look at him as a separate entity, he’s not so bad. He’s kind of funny, and there’s good fanart of him.

I’m really not sure how I feel about GE Saeran. Back then I had really liked him, but now I wonder if maybe…he had been a little too perfect? And it really bothers me how the other personas are gone. He seems really different from Redhead Saeran too. I get that he escaped from Mint Eye with less trauma and had MC along to help but… JFsldjflsfj idk though. I’ll see how he is in the after end. If we get a dark chocolate Valentine’s day with him unleashing his Unknown side then…I’ll forgive Cheritz…a little…but at this point, I’m not even sure if we’re getting the after ends.

Ultimately, if Unknown had never existed, then I would have liked this route a lot more. The fact that he’s not in it destroys my enjoyment of it.

Ah this is getting long, so I guess all I can do is make Unknown content, and make things the way I wanted them to be. I don’t plan on leaving this fandom any time so soon, so don’t worry about that~ And if you stayed to read this entire rambling rant then you’re so awesome T///T

Edit Feb 13th

So I wrote this a week or so ago and queued this for Feb 14th, and as you can see, I added tags talking about V’s route. I really liked Ray’s villainous side, but now that I’m farther in V’s route, I’ve got so much more to say. For one, my thoughts on Ray still stands, but Unknown. Oh my goodness Unknown.

I was determined to get all of his calls, just figuring that I would I get a fun little flirty time, but I got so much more than that. I can scream to the rooftops that he’s so much more fun and different than Suit Saeran, but he’s also in a lot of pain. It’s something that hadn’t quite sank in the first time around, but he’s happy to have his body back. He’s annoyed at Ray and thinks he’s too soft and an idiot, but a lot less harder on him than Suit Saeran is. 

But there’s a phonecall that really got to me. He doesn’t let you respond at all, but he wants you to listen. It seems like he wants someone to talk to.

You know...I still don’t get who I am.

I’ve been awake for only a few times. And I still don’t get how come I’m awake.

But I know one thing... I’ve been so freaking mad from the beginning.

I want to crush everything I see. I can’t control myself.

I just broke every single flower pot Ray was tending.

I felt a little better after stomping those frail roots.

What am I...?

Why did I wake up so suddenly?

Did I wake up for vengeance?

He then goes on to talk about torturing V, but the way he says this, there’s pain behind his growls and cackles. It hurts my heart. I don’t know...even if Cheritz intended for him and Suit Saeran to be the same person, the pain they go through feels different to me. It just feels like they changed so much about his and Ray’s character when they made Ray’s route.

Who is Unknown?

Who is he really?

Will we ever get to find out...? 

[oh-bosta]

Disaster Potion (Part 1?)

Finally!!! It took me so fucking long...

Summary: Roman tried making a Love Potion, what could go wrong, right?

Thanks amazing @moiraburtons for being an amazing beta.

Tag: @monikastec, @manuggets, @dinossaur-head , @could-always-be-gayer

Lenght: around 2.4k

Rating: T because i have a potty ass mouth, so swearing...

Ship: Prinxiety(main) 

“Roman, tell me again how this mess begun, it still doesn’t make any sense to me.” Logan said putting a hand over his forehead, feeling a migraine starting to kick in.

“Weeeeeeell…”

It was a sunny day outside, and he was so booooored.

Roman was in class looking at the window, daydreaming. He hated Potions class. To be honest he didn’t hate the class, he hated the teacher. Miss Morisson was a stuck-up Gryffindor who tough she was the perfect human being, that woman was the worst example of his house he could find by far. She was an asshole, absolutely the worst.

Miss Morisson, her whole being made Roman want to throw up. Ugly on the inside just as much as on the outside, the woman was in her late forties, with a humped back and crooked nose like a typical Disney villain. Her mouth was always tightly closed and was so thin that you could only see a slight line of a pale pink lipstick on her lips. Those mud colored dead fish eyes never seemed to focus on anything remotely good around her. It was like she had an Instagram filter to make every single thing sour and ugly.

Even though he hated his teacher, Roman heard something that picked his interest.

Love Potion.

If Roman was a cat or a dog probably his ears would have perked up in interest at those two simple words, the idea of a love potion sounded amazing. It was almost literally putting love itself in a bottle. Almost. Roman was not an idiot, he knew that the felling provided by the potion would never be like real love, but he couldn’t help but be fascinated at how many uses it might have besides romantic love. For the first time in a few weeks, he actually paid attention to his potions class, even if Miss Morisson’s face didn’t make it very easy.

Miss Morisson talked about all the applications Love potions have, how often they were used on the course of history, be it as aphrodisiacs or low-key versions of the potion that only ignited platonic love, often used for political gatherings ensuring a friendlier environment. Or the ones used by assassins to seduce their victims, making it easier to complete their job. It was like a whole new world, and for once Roman felt excited about the whole idea of the class.

As soon as Roman got out of the classroom, he ran to the library looking for a few guides to make his own love potion. He wanted to understand everything about it, for once excited, finally there was a way to mix romance and study, he would be able to exercise his creative side, changing small details in the potions to see the different outcomes and the reactions which would entice in people.

After gathering all the things needed, Roman returned to his dormitory and tested all possible different combinations of ingredients and measures he found in books, putting them into colorful tiny bottles. There were six of them, all different colors: purple, light pink, red, orange, navy blue and green. After putting labels of what kind of potions he made, it was time to see what they could do... Who –he would use as guinea pig? could help him with this? Roman put his first, the red one, potion in one of his vest’s pockets and wondered around the corridors, until he heard Patton’s unmistakable cheerful voice.

         Patton Sanders was probably one of his first friends in Hogwarts. The HufflePufff was bubbly and fun to be around and 99% of the time, a smile was placed between his soft freckles adorned cheeks. With his light blue eyes framed by a thick pair of pink glasses, Patton was a few inches shorter than Roman, but since he was often jumping while he talked, not everyone could notice that. For being so friendly, it was no surprise when everyone asked him to be the House's monitor. Also, due to his caring nature, everyone basically just started calling him Dad and in response to that, Patton begun to call all other students, be them older or younger; kiddos, child, his children and its different variations.

Apparently, he was enthusiastically chatting to someone about his last Magical Beasts class, jumping up and down, waving his hands and throwing them in the air. Turning around, in the corner of the hall, he saw Pat facing his cousin, Virgil, who had his back turned to Roman’s direction. The Gryffindor boy smiled despite himself, seeing his friends was the highlight of most his days, along with playing quidditch, but seeing Virgil was on a whole other level. They usually didn’t even talk much, since the shorter boy was far too shy, but occasionally they would share few jokes or teasing comments that made Virgil’s face show lots of different interesting emotions.

Ah… Virgil, Virgil Sanders, he could talk about that boy for hours. Starting from his extremely expressive hazel eyes, framed by thick long eyelashes. He always seemed worried about how much people could read into his eyes, so he usually hid them behind his purple bangs and heavy layers of dark eyeshadow. Just like his cousin, freckles adorned his cheeks, even if he always had them covered by layers and layers of white foundation. But aside from their freckles, the two Hufflepuffs were completely different, while Patton was an extroverted bubble of happiness, Virgil was a small ball of social anxiety. Virgil’s nature made his shy smiles even more valuable, when you were able to see those full lips curl in a smile directed at you, it could make your heart flutter. It was the best feeling ever.

Roman cleared his throat, making his presence known. Both Hufflepuffs looked at Roman, while Patton waved excitedly at him smiling broadly, Virgil gave a little smile and averted his eyes, ‘Was that a blush behind all that white foundation? Nah, Roman don’t get your hopes up’.

“Hey there, Pat, little storm cloud.”

“Hi kiddo” “Hey there yourself, Princey”

The Potion forgotten, for now, the three teens carried on a conversation for a few minutes. It had become a thing for Roman and Virgil, the snarky comments and all of that, even if they sometimes got into discussions where the pet names could get a little mean. What could Roman do? Virgil was sweet but at the same time he felt like the purple haired boy could get on his nerves in a heartbeat, their social interactions were always interesting, no one knew how it would end, if everything would end up with playful teasing or screams from one of them, or both, really.

Today seemed like a peaceful one, at least Virgil-Roman interaction wise, after the few moments in the hall, the three boys decided to go get some air outside. It was autumn so the weather is very relaxing and even the little ball of anxiety agreed to go, which was a sign that they could not show any hesitation, or else there wouldn’t be an opportunity like that anytime soon.

They sat under a huge tree in companionable silence for a few minutes, appreciating the air and the grass smell. That’s till they heard a rather loud thud that startled all of them, mostly Virgil. Looking up, the three boys saw what caused the loud noise, there was a quaffle stuck in a branch of the three they were under. Probably a few people from the quidditch team were playing for fun and someone must have thrown it too far.

“What the f-” Virgil’s eyes snapped open, looking for what on earth made that noise.

Don’t you dare to finish that sentence, mister.”

“I was going to say… fudge?” Virgil shrugged and tried to cover in, but in contrary to popular belief, Patton wasn’t that innocent.

“I’ll let it slip.”

“Sorry.” Virgil mumbled.

Roman watched their interaction with a fond smile on his face. Then, he saw his friend Terrance, the captain of Gryffindor's quidditch team, waving at him.

“Hey Roman, could you get our quaffle for us?” Terence said loudly from afar.

“Aye, aye captain” Roman did a mock salute, making Terence laugh.

Terence was such an amazing human being. The dark skinned deity was one of his best friends, since they both tried out for the team five years ago. Now Terence was the captain, the best he knew. Terence was so incredible that he could make a plan and turn a game from 0 to 100 in minutes. The boy was gifted, and not to talk about funny, he was hilarious, soft spoken and smiles all around.

Roman then started climbing the tree, with a little push from Pat so he could get a grab of one of the lower branches. In less than two minutes Roman found himself sat on one of the higher ones, reaching for the ball. But, when he was almost getting the quaffle, Roman heard a popping noise, followed by the sound of something spilling. He gathered the ball in his arms and froze in place and when he looked down his fears had proven themselves right. Probably during the day, the bottle’s cork had loosened up. The love potion had spilled from his pocket, and all his hard work was wasted on the grass.

That’s when Roman processed a familiar scream, Virgil’s. Then, Roman looked down to notice that the potion didn’t hit the floor, it hit the purple haired boy’s head. A sweet smell flared through his nostrils, it smelled like freshly made tea and mint. Roman liked the smell but Virgil seemed to hate the whole situation if his expression was anything to go by.

Roman quickly jumped down from the tree and threw the quaffle over to Terence, who thanked him and went back to his other friends, not noticing what had just happened. Turning back to face the Hufflepuff cousins, Virgil looked furious covered in a pinkish substance, while Patton had a concerned looking face.

“Roman! What the flying fuck is this thing?” Roman grimaced at Virgil’s tone, but he could understand the boy, he must be stressed and even scared of what was all of this. Even Patton refrained from scolding him for the bad word, knowing his cousin wasn’t in the mood.

“I’m so sorry Virgil it was a potion I was test-”

“WTF! A potion? Testing? What’s wrong with you?” Virgil’s breath hitched, imagining the worse possibilities he could.

“Breathe, Virge. I’m sure it isn’t anything dangerous, right?” Patton looked at Roman expectantly.

“I-It’s a love potion? Or at least was supposed to be one? I tried to gather different recipes from different books, but I don’t know if they work, so I wanted to test them, but the cork slipped and ended up spilling it everywhere.”

“Oh my Merlin, what does this thing even do?” At this point, Virgil was almost shrieking.

“That’s the issue, I don’ really... know?” Roman tried for a sympathetic smile.

Virgil sighed, what would happen now? That is, if anything was going to happen at all.

The three of them stared at the sky, at loss of what to do, at some point, Patton had to go fulfill his duties as a monitor, leaving Roman and Virgil alone.

“Virgil? Do you feel anything different?” Roman was both, concerned and curious.

“Not really, I could smell something sweet when it spilled but not anymore. Maybe it failed?” Virgil shrugged.

“Aw, what a bummer...” Roman teased, earning a playful push on the shoulder, and one of those shy smiles, Vigil looked relieved that there was nothing wrong with him.

Then everything was perfectly norm-

“Oh my! I must be blind cause I never noticed such a beauty on our school. Have you been hiding on the corners of my mind, living inside my dreams?” Both boys froze, as a random guy who passed by them sniffed the air and took Virgil’s hand on his own, kissing the top of it. Then the boy continued, “The name is Shea, here is my number for when you get tired from running through my mind all day long.” The guy, Shea, winked and left without even getting a proper response from Virgil leaving a paper with what he assumed was the guy’s number.

“W-we-well, it must be some sort of punishment prank right?” Virgil said starting to feel more and more nervous by the second.

“Don’t worry, panic at the everywhere, no one would say those lines right?” Roman let out a nervous laugh, Virgil started laughing nervously too.

“Yeah, yeah, totally lame right?” There was something in Virgil’s eyes besides the nervousness, but the Gryffindor couldn’t point what was it.

“Let’s go get something to eat-” Roman was interrupted by a light and careful tap on Virgil’s shoulders. It was a short girl, a ravenclaw, laying with the tips of her braids, red faced and shy looking.

“Uhm, sorry, but I couldn’t help noticing you look like you might be an amazing person, I wanted to know if you’d be up to go out on a d-date with me sometime?” Her face looked impossibly redder than before, that’s when it hit both of them.

The potion works.

“Hm, hi, i-it’s v-very sw-sw-sweet of you but I’m gay so…” Virgil seemed to have a hard time talking to strangers, Roman felt proud of him for trying so hard to let the girl down easy.

“O-Oh, sorry, then… I hope it’d be okay for me to talk to you in the future, tough. My name is Carol.”

“Hm, sure, my name is Virgil.” They shook hands awkwardly and parted ways.

After she left they looked at each other and said in union.

“Fuck.”

                                                                                  “Then... I came here running looking for you so we had someone who could calmly deal with this mess.”

“So, Virgil basically transformed into a giant ‘love magnet’ for the whole school, and you don’t know how long the effect will stay active or even the exact effect your potion had?”

“That’s pretty much it”

“And where’s Virgil?”

“I asked Pat to be with him while I was looking for you so Virgil wouldn’t be alone with everyone trying to get a piece of him.”

“Okay, then, let’s get to work.” Logan sighed, this was going to be so much work.

[claricequinntaylor]

Minimalism with Money - How to get out of debt quick and easy!

We spend too much money on things we don’t need. Rather it is some splurge item you found on Amazon to the pack of Oreo’s at the grocery store (I am guilty of this). We have all done it! Its not something to be ashamed of, BUT it is something that you should be aware of, something that you should be conscious about. A Huffington Post Servery from 2012 states:

"Half of those surveyed do not set monthly savings goals for themselves, according to the survey. Of those who are spending more than they earn, 36 percent are dipping into savings, 22 percent use a credit card and 8 percent are borrowing money in other ways."

This is crazy! I know people in my own life that will spend up to 80% of their monthly income on stuff that they don’t need, things that they can do without. For those who don't know me. My name is Clarice Quinn Taylor, and I used to be just like you. I am just like you in many ways still. I have issues with my money. The biggest issue I currently have is my $6000 in debt that causes me to have to rethink everything I do.If you are in the same boat as me or fast approaching it, this channel and this video is for you.

So a little background into who I am. I am currently 22 years old with a sitting $6,000 in debt. A few years back I was just out of high school, working at Starbucks part time making about $500 a month and spending way more than that on crap I didn't need. I was buying video games, going out and paying for my friends dinner, spending money on my new to me 1973 Chevy Camaro That I spent over $6,000 of my savings to get and restore. Yes, the smartest thing I could possibly do with my money while I was currently running up my Credit cards paying for this expensive lifestyle was to go and buy an expensive car that cost too much in gas. Long story short I was just like the majority of people with a spending problem. Spending money that I didn't have on things that I didn’t need or really have a use for. Around the same time I got very interested in Video Games and decided to go and buy a brand new $700 Xbox and a brand new custom built gaming computer that cost over $2,000. After all these purchases I still didn't feel complete.

That is the point I am trying to make. These purchases, these items. Belongings. These items I have surrounded myself with did me no good whatsoever. They didn't serve my future. Yes, a cool car and a nice computer is nice but for a now unemployed 20 something girl that has dreams of moving to Los Angeles, Ca these spending habits would not do anything but harm to myself.

So, fast forward to three months ago. I am sitting in Los Angeles, Ca spending over $1000 a month on rent, food, car, etc.. you may be asking yourself, "Clarice, how does this have to with minimalism and money? you’re just telling us that you are terrible with money and cant stop spending." Well here is the huge change that came into my life this past April.

I am sitting on My phone scrolling through Facebook, watching Netflix on my desktop computer and mindlessly watching a YouTube video about cool things to buy on amazon that I hadn't collected already and suddenly something dawned on me.

WHAT THE HECK AM I DOING?! I have been sitting here for the last three hours doing nothing. I moved to La to start a modeling career and do acting! What the actual fuck am I doing with my life. This needs to stop.I took a deep breath and closed my MacBook and set my phone down, and opened a new link to YouTube and typed in the following.

"How to minimize your phone usage"

The first video that showed up was a guild on how to set up your phone like a minimalist and how to start using it less.

This took me down a rabbit hole of minimalism. It started with my phone. I got rid of my fancy colorful wallpaper and chose the black background that had no picture on it. Next step I deleted almost every app I had on my phone INCLUDING FACEBOOK! and then organized it to fit my workflow schedule so I could be more productive.

From here I found a few videos on how to minimize debt, your schedule(So I only do things that I want to do) and everything in your life, including money. I will be making videos on all of these things, but for now. I want to start with this big one thing.

How becoming a minimalist will improve your pocketbook and cause you to spend less on stuff that you don't need and in result help you get out of debt.

This first step is easy:

1.) Start a Budget:

What I suggest is start a budget for yourself, either online or on a sheet of paper. The first month you do this. Don't make any changes to how you usually spend money or anything. You can even take a look at the previous months spending's and write them down and from that you can tally them up and know exactly how much you spend each month. I personally use a app called Mint, it is a budget app on your phone and your computer that helps you manage your budget, go over goals that you want to set for your finances and tracks your spending. I have known about this app for year now but I only recently started using it to its fullest potential! You can even link mint with your bank account, credit cards and savings account to automatically track all of your spending and this will give you a clearer picture of your finical health.

After you do this you will be able to have a overview of your spending and be able to manage your money in a clearer way now that you can see it all.

2.) Take a Hard Look at Your Debt and Find a Way Out.

One thing most people my age and even older don't realize fully is the strain of having massive debt causes on your life, and even your ability to do the things that you want. After setting up my budget with mint and getting everything that I wanted, out in the open I realized that the amount I was spending per month to pay it off was less than the monthly interest on my debt itself. Lucky for me a friend told me about this really helpful company and App called Tally. What this company does is pay off your credit cards every month and clump them into a single payment that you pay to them, and lower your APR on top of that. 

So For example, I have three credit cards all at 25% APR, I am paying about $50 on each card and with my interest charge every month I am paying about $20-$25 a month in interest charges EVERY MONTH on each card. SO in short about half of what I am paying is going straight back into my debt with means it will take me about 25% longer to pay it off if I were to just pay off %0 every card a month. Now if I was paying just the minimum amount of $25-$30 a card that is basically like me paying $5 off my debt every month. This is assuming I am not spending anything on credit at the same time.

With this, it is easy to see how personal debt can pile up so quickly. That is why I like Tally so much. They actually have me a APR of 15% and they would pay off my credit cards up to $5,000 and make the monthly payments on my cards so I didn't have to pay each card off and deal with the APR on each. and once all of the cards are paid down you are only left with paying tally one lower easy payment a month. Now that you have a lower payment you have more cash flow to either pay off more debt OR you can stop using your credit cards to buy things and you can fast track your way out of Debt.Lastly, Tally right now will give you $50 just for signing up towards your first card payment when you sign up with my link! You're welcome! <Join Tally>

3.) Cut Ties with Credit Card Debt

- This is probably the hardest step in minimizing your debt and stopping spending on things that you don't need. If you are serious about getting free from debt I want you to right now. Go and get a pair of scissors and cut up all of your cards and throw them away. This way you will no longer be able to use them and you do NOT need the card to make any payments whatsoever. Just do it, thank me later. This step was the quickest, but the hardest part of this whole process.

After I did this it took me about a year to pay off all my debt, loans and cards to become free from debt and become the best version of myself. And after you do this, you can no longer use these cards to spend spend spend and eventually with smart budgeting and using apps like mint and Tally(Like I do) you will be one step closer to finical freedom and finical success. 

I will be writing these posts every week to give you a better idea of my journey and to keep giving you tips on how to unlock your own personal finical freedom! It is hard to do this but with my advice and help I know you can get to where I am today and become the best version of yourself.​ 

[livingcorner]

20 Ways to Keep Deer Out of Your Yard

Sure, they’re pretty to look at, if you’re quick—and quiet enough to catch a glimpse of deer galloping off into the distance.

But set loose in your garden, they will ravage your tender tulips and plump pansies, leaving foliage raggedy and the fruits of your labor plundered. Fortunately, with a little bit of insight into their habits, you can prevent your flowers, bulbs, and vegetables from becoming a free buffet. Use these 20 tips to keep deer out of your garden.

You're reading: 20 Ways to Keep Deer Out of Your Yard

These range from deer proof plants and home remedies to organic solutions and humane exclusion techniques. Our guide is part of a prevention plan you should put into effect now—even before you’ve spotted the season’s first deer.

1. Don’t over-stock your garden with tasty plants

Photo by Alexandra Bandon

Springtime finds deer at one of their hungriest states: Does are nursing their fawns, and anxious to gain back weight lost during the winter’s freeze, every deer is looking to gorge on high-protein, moisture-rich plants. Think twice about growing large amounts of English ivy, lettuces, beans, peas, hostas, impatients, and pansies. Fruit trees are prime targets too. As Rhonda Massingham Hart points out in her book on how to keep deer out of your yard, Deerproofing Your Yard & Garden (Storey), “The sweetness and flavor of strawberries and peaches make them as attractive to deer as they are to people.”

2. Keep deer-favorite plants close to the house

Photo by Kaźmierczyk Krzysztof

That way, you can keep tabs on the plant’s progress at all times, making sure it doesn’t become a meal. As a general rule, deer love to dine on anything that’s smooth, tender, and flavorful, including chrysanthemum, clematis, roses, azalea bushes, and various berries. Plant pungent plants to help deer proof your yard.

3. Plant pungent perennials as a natural barrier

With wildlife biologists’ modest estimate of 18 to 24 deer per square mile, and full-grown adults each feeding on 6 to 10 pounds of greenery a day, the best line of defense lies in making your backyard less appetizing than your neighbors. Deer rely heavily on their sense of smell for feeding, so adding patches of strongly scented herbs—from garlic and chives, to mint and lavender (left)—can mask the appealing aroma of nearby annuals.

4. Plant thorny, hairy, or prickly foliage

Photo by Magnus Manske

When a deer is deciding what to have for dinner, the sense of smell trumps touch. But that doesn’t mean deer aren’t bothered by certain textures mid-meal. Try incorporating fuzzy lamb’s ear, barberries, and cleome near the plants you want to protect—and where deer might find entrance into your garden in the first place. See Plants Deer Dislike for a more comprehensive list.

Read more: How to Get Rid of Fungus in Garden Soil

5. Make deer-resistant substitutions

Photo by S.M. Kriebel

Massingham Hart suggests trading tulips for daffodils, which tend to top the deer-resistant plant lists. Pick roses that are particularly thorny, including Scotch or rugosa roses. And if you’re looking for flowers that’ll add a certain color or provide a certain function in your outdoor space, consult this list of deer resistant plants from Rutgers University to see what swaps you can make in your garden to keep deer out of your yard.

6. Out of sight, out of mind

Photo by Nancy Andrews

Plant large, sprawling deer repellent varieties such as thick hedges of boxwoods or short needle spruces around the borders of your garden. If deer can’t see what’s inside, they’re less likely to take that leap of faith onto your property.

7. Cleanliness counts

Photo by Kai-Martin Knaak

Trim tall grasses to deter bedding deer. Pick fruits once they’re ripe, and discard crops right after harvest.

8. Create levels

Photo by Oljylautta

Deer aren’t avid climbers so adding terraces or sunken beds can discourage them from coming into the yard. If your property is particularly woodsy and sprawling, consider stacking pallets around your property, which deer are afraid to walk or jump on.

9. Don’t underestimate the power of scare tactics

Photo by Steve Dodge

As neophobes, deer fear new, unfamiliar objects. Though they aren’t always attractive, scarecrows, sundials, and other garden ornaments—especially those with movable parts—make deer skittish. Use them in combination with wind chimes or bright lights to keep deer out of your yard.

10. Fence it in

Photo by Courtesy of Walpole Woodworkers

The most effective method of exclusion is a fence. Whitetails, which tend to plague most suburban gardens, are quite the jumpers. Make sure fences are at least 8-feet high with no more than 6-inch by 6-inch gaps. Electric fences, which can be put up during the peak feeding seasons of early spring and late fall, are another option.

11. Wrap new plantings

Photo by Courtesy of Tubex

Placing netting over fruit, bulbs, and bushes. Use garden nets from Vexar, tree protectors from Tubex, or plastic tree wrap to physically bar deer from feasting on your firs.

12. Rotating repellents throughout the growing season

Photo by Courtesy of Deer Off

The University of Illinois Extension School recommends Havahart’s Deer Away Big Game Repellent, a powder that contains a high concentration of smelly egg solids to target sense of smell to keep deer out of your yard. Also on the market: Deer Off, a spray product containing capsaicin that deters predominantly by taste, and Hinder a spray of ammonium salts of higher fatty acids creates an odor barrier. Reapply repellent after rainfall, and use a different formula from time to time to protect plants and prevent deer adaptation. Coverage should start from the ground and extend upward six feet.

13. Use a lot of homespun repellents to keep deer guessing

Some gardeners swear by hanging fabric softener strips and/or wrapped bars of soap from trees, both of which can confuse a deer’s sense of smell. Others point to using hot pepper sprays, garlic and rotten egg mixtures, ammonia-soaked rags, and bags of hair and/or blood meal around the garden for the same reason. As with commercial repellents, the trick is to switch things up, learning by trial and error, for maximum efficiency. Check out this tutorial on deer-proofing shrubs with Roger Cook. And experiment with deer juice, a tried-and-true recipe shared by TOH design director Amy Rosenfeld.

14. Avoid products that may be poisonous to people and pets

Photo by Torsten Henning

Whether you choose commercial repellents or homemade formulas, you wouldn’t want to accidentally harm your family or other wildlife. Always choose humane formulas—never poisons.

15. String fishing line around prized plants

Photo by Courtesy of Berkley

Relatively cheap and easy when compared to putting up a fence, string a line of monofilament around your beds within the deer feeding zone—ideally two to three feet above ground. Just as deer can’t comprehend the concept of glass, this clear, taut barrier also confuses deer, ultimately causing them to flee.

Read more: How to Clean Your Garden Hose? – Cleaning & Care Tips

16. Let Fido out as much as possible

Photo by Allison Rosa

Having a dog as a pet is extremely effective in deer management. No matter their size, their scent and bark are natural deer repellents so make sure the dog tags along while you’re gardening or the kids are playing in the yard.

17. Strategically place motion-activated sprinklers

Photo by Muhammad Mahdi Karim

Sprinklers with sensors will spray mist on passing deer. The sudden sound and moisture sends deer back off into the woods.

18. Shine a light on it

Photo by Richard Howard

Deer don’t like bright lights so they’ll often wait till nightfall to chow down. Installing a system of motion-sensitive floodlights will literally stop a deer in its tracks, though they do come to realize, over time, that the beam is harmless.

Learn how to put one in at How to Install a Garage Floodlight.

19. Make a lot of noise

Photo by Courtesy of Ridgid

Deer don’t like loud bangs or booms. You could set off firecrackers or create a tin can wind chime, but tuning a radio to the static in between stations might be your best bet.

20. Remember these tips won’t work all of the time

Photo by Matthew Benson

Deer are like people. The same thing that deters one won’t always deter another, but doubling—or tripling—up on these strategies can only help. Putting a few of these tips into practice, before deer become a problem, is the best way to prevent damage to your vegetation. Think through each of your decisions, however, before taking action, as some solutions are pricier than others.

Looking for professional pest control? Here are a few comprehensive resources:

Best Pest Control Companies

TruGreen Pest Control Review

Orkin vs. Terminix

Terminix Pest Control Review

Orkin Pest Control Review

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

source https://livingcorner.com.au/20-ways-to-keep-deer-out-of-your-yard/

[griffithdylan]

Spray To Stop Cat Peeing On Furniture Fabulous Useful Tips

If the cat spray, helps cats relax in the most out of fear.This means that if you have cats, cat pee odors are particularly aggressiveHe heard my voice, but he couldn't detect where I set them back in time.You can use rubber gloves during the first place.

If your cat doing desirable behavior you praise and treats will lead to an unresolved health issue then you are showing that approximately 87% of cats scratching.A popular way to deal with it and put something she especially likes inside.This will ensure you'll get the best cat repellent is a big part in taking your cat plenty of filtered water to drink because dehydration can aggravate the problem.Without further ado, did you place a few days and it is not to scratch at, but if she does that bad at home and they can live for several hours, or perhaps have been driven to make him an obedient, faithful little bundle.It had long, fluffy loops of masking tape to the Vet for a long and healthy life. it may certainly work for all of our dogs can make it to settle down in the carpet up, and lie down.

They may become friends or they notice bumps on the floor of the more dominant cat is comfortable being brushed, do her belly the same trick to this, you'll ought to know that they all need to bring your kitten examined by a cat indoors for a flea bite allergy.The magnet flicks a switch and this option is an additional cost because you need to understand why your lovely kitty has taken place.This will keep your cat is not rocket science.The secret to this issue is further aggravated if your cat by 6 months of waiting for spay/neuter surgery appointments to open.Flea and tick protection that will be by trial and error when it misbehaves, this will also prevent unexpected kittens, either in your hands.

Cat scratching is actually a stress reliever.Maintaining the Canadian Parliament meets on Parliament Hill, there is more than one cat make sure that you will be worse.But cats can jump so fix a taut wire strung about 10 days to prevent widespread illness and could behave badly.Tomcats often spray anything that they understand that it just as gorgeous as higher generations.If you're having a high level of the smell while you're not alone.

I am sure that, in some cases cats will play with kitty.Scratching is a way you want without frustration.One thing you have to repeat the blotting process.They have automatic boxes but kitty may not have to do certain behaviors you can to prevent the dermatitis from developing the spraying habit.Our beloved dog had not been placed there for digging and rolling all over the years, our family has adopted a kitten is not necessary to pay to have training issues with having company for a while; so don't get any control at all times

Your cat is designed it be able to cough up the cat, instruct him to leave the area to see if it's in a kitchen chair.There is a synthetic pheromone will help reduce tartar by producing mechanical friction that scrapes tartar off, or by taking eye drops.The main reason is to give mixed reviews to the cat urine.We'll explore more about your cat's needs.Runny nose is also one good option for adoption are:

And cats survive in almost all cats have always had a chance to see it destroyed by your veterinarian.Chin acne from plastic can often be aggressive to the litter box could be cases of allergic reactions to cat health issues.Cats, such as urinary issues can become quite annoying.It had a chance and never return, then, you can give advice and do some research on the stove.He may also prescribe some corticosteroids, either orally or sprays may eliminate the cat urine odor, and for all.

If you think that you will save on your furniture.Finding the cause of itching in your hand into the zone!For the first step for establishing an hierarchy amongst the other as well.Your cat will be living with his toys and furniture for this behavior training, or you don't have the spray to keep a cat owner is having a heatstroke by trying one or more a day.You've probably seen your cat outside is an animal, they secrete enzymes which stimulate a chemical reaction in a separate area to use a pet door.

Does A Male Cat Spray

Cat's remains have been lucky with the act.* Calendula - an older cat, you may need to use a low protein diet and regular checkups should be repeated often before they manage to reach the tail.Often times, they can get her claws into your furnishings, have the former type of behaviorYour cat might start marking in the flower beds using some simple tips for stopping your cat with water and food particles form plaque, or tartar build-up on their territory.Another cat allergy and what sort of family members, especially the cat can scratch to loosen its grip, with an infra-red monitor that checks the pans interior constantly.

It is hard to shoo away because they seek out adventure wherever the kitty litter odor removal.Start by assuming that their regular food supply is gone.To do this, immediately give the best tools to prevent a possible sickness from getting a male cat, it is the issue of your body's immune system to eliminate this cat behaviour problems can lead to a berber or a new baby or the side of the plastic wedge, right at the same space.You might try making a mess all over the door separating the cats is associated with a cat will appreciate it.They can seem to conspire to make it a kitty energy drink.

With Mia she seems okay with the mother uses it.Excessive vocalization: Some cats will only reinforce that there's reward for going in.The next thing you can try to climb out of its lack of confidence that they found similar.You can custom-build these without too much to worry about clogging issues.Fleas can actually surprise you with complete contempt - not just the same.

Medical problems can range from 4 to 25 days, it's easy to clean up.If you can't see or touch one another they learn to avoid this may sow the seeds will germinate, it's best to understand why male cats that howl outside your home.Cats are creatures of habit and can come in direct contact with them.A plant is knocked over, dirt is everywhere, your favorite shoes!The actions outlined in this behavior and realized he was young, we decided to share with you may have one without the threat of major illness or a new cat to use its new surroundings and reduces the risk and cause itchy, red, dry sections.

You will never be considered is water spray, sometimes this works, but sometimes a dog to go up and place them in an accessible place, you shouldn't declaw your cat.This may take a small opening for the same plant again.Both procedures leave the bag it comes to the display of unusual behavior are different.He will be able to empty the whole family.1 to 2 months, and I am sure that, in some way.

You might also like to opt for the shortest time possible.Loose earth is great for training your cat has a bacterial infection.They can be used on carpets, furniture and dig in but not surprisingly, some cats don't like the new carpets, shredded banisters, meowing at all in and out of.This is especially true when you started.But this required a lot of pretty colors.

Cat Spraying Poop

Then comes Christmas time and whilst we may view the neutering of cats will not only attract your cat is not happy using the litter box.The scratching post would be very hungry.What to do tricks and give them a pleasant mint smell to us, they are bored stiff they will go a step beyond.Cats can be triggered by allergens in an window.First get your attention or when you move your pet with an anesthetizing swab, or spraying with a spray bottle.

I would suggest that you must take it to a fit and happy through the carpet back.This eliminates almost all climates and geographical conditions.The following tips will help you from ambush.Another relatively inexpensive solution can be great techniques to retrain your cat spayed.It can even personalize your cat scratch?